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Post by Charlie Willow on Feb 7, 2015 14:42:13 GMT -5
Charlie matched every one of Silas's steps with two of her own, quietly counting them in her head. Each step was a beat, and she measured out her breathing with it, almost automatically. In for five, out for ten, and slowly her nervous ticks settled into a smile.
"Do I have to frown at the corner so it looks right?" She grinned, nudging Cate gently with her right elbow (unfortunately swinging her limp forearm full of trail mix around in the process). "Positivity at every angle!" She beamed. The gravity shift did not phase her in the slightest, she didn't even spare it a second glance. Huh.
The Narid scientist however, was spared a second, third, and fourth glance. And it seemed the the young engineer agreed with Cate's thoughts on bugs in silly outfits, considering the snort that escaped her grinning face. She swung her barely stifled laughter toward the pilot, stage whispering, "That doesn't look like Silas at all, you liar!" And then, "They'll never scrub my smell outta here, Cate. Guaranteed." Her grin got the slightest mischievous tilt.
It seemed all it took was a few deep breaths and some mixed nuts to calm the little wrench monkey down.
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Post by The Tired God on Feb 7, 2015 16:49:44 GMT -5
The scientist, easily assumed as the lead researcher with how he carried himself, eyed the three women over before bowing yet again. "There was an . . . incident with a researcher. The records will be sent momentarily," he explained, holding out his hand for something to transfer the files onto. "In the meantime, come, this one will show Soline's kind investigators the hospitality they deserve," he croaked, turning for the door once he had something to move the files onto.
Through the doors they were met with an even taller room than before. The station was designed in a circular dome-like fashion, with three docking ports at equal intervals, and a massive room with a reinforced glass ceiling, to allow those who lived on the station to look out into space if they so desired. Elevators allowed for travel deeper into the complex, where the spire of the station went downwards into several more layers, likely where each individual project was being worked on, whatever they may be.
The chief scientist led the three to an elevator, big enough to fit them and then some, and pressed his hand against a keypad. The box chimed in response, and the doors sealed in front of them, and with it the elevator started to descend. Down and down it went, with no sign of how quickly they were moving besides the subtle hum and shake of their metal container. After what felt like a solid minute of descending, a chime signaled their stop and the door opened, revealing rows of computer stations, almost all of them manned by nervous looking humans who seemed too busy to even look up from their work, likely stressed about some unstable compound or deadline they had to meet.
There were ten computers in total, and seven researchers hard at work. At the end of the room there appeared to be some sort of glass-sealed office, which the Narid began to lead the trio towards, saying nothing the whole way.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Feb 10, 2015 20:27:27 GMT -5
"You're arm's shakin' Char." Cate nodded toward the hollowed attachment, referring to the shaking noise and not any jittery motion. She figured by now there was no way to really stop Charlie from jittering. Her attention returned back to the Narid as it spoke, the clicking that punctuated his words added more emphasis than any human accent.
Not having any sort of tablet for data to be stored on, Silas hadn't told her to bring anything, she waited for either of the others to move. "Or maybe ya could jus' tell us yourself? Since ya got us here already an' such?" Assuming any pause before the researcher responded she second guessed herself when it came to the combined ideas of 'Soline', 'incident', and 'Charlie'. "Or ya know. The data works. We can jus' read that."
There was an extra click as as Cate's cane accompanied her walk, following the Narid through the facility. The fact that the entire station seemed as clean as the entry room was a bit disturbing. Honestly, how could people live in a place that was so clean?
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Feb 11, 2015 22:32:11 GMT -5
To her credit, Silas was prepared for the data transfer, producing a small device from an inner coat pocket. She offered it to the Narid and gave Cate a knowing wink, making herself seem much less serious than earlier. "Piece of cake," she started, following behind the scientist. "We get this data, call in a no big deal, then get back and maybe get scheduled a resort world to check in on next, mm?" The idea of relaxing under the sun, artificial or otherwise, inspired the gunslinger to new heights.
As the four moved through the station, Silas gave everything her usual appraising once over, studying for quick details rather than trying to gleam anything hidden or vastly important. So far things felt like a normal walk in the park, and so the need to be wary wasn't there.
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Post by Charlie Willow on Feb 13, 2015 20:33:48 GMT -5
Charlie hung back with Cate, still, as the Narid led them through to the elevator. Her eyes scanned slowly over the ceiling as they passed beneath the dome, speedily counting every visible star in her head and comparing it to the views she used to get in her old station's observatory. "One-thousand two-hundred and thirty seven," she mumbled, smirking to herself--and nearly running into Silas before focusing back on the task at hand.
But only for a little while, finally answering Cate as the elevator opened. "I got trail mix. Want some?" She offered her floppy right forearm toward Cate, revealing a little flap near the elbow, fastened with a button and marked "2 Share" in messy red stitching.
Whether or not Cate partook, she offered the same arm to Silas a minute later, "What's a resort?" She asked, with a tilt of her head.
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Post by The Tired God on Feb 13, 2015 22:25:42 GMT -5
Approaching the office, the Narid stopped before the door and keyed in a code, each digit chiming with the same tone to prevent those with keen ears from making it out. The glass whooshed open, and the scientist gestured for the trio to enter before he joined them last, sealing the door behind them with a second whoosh. He approached an elegant looking desk and seated himself behind it, deftly tapping away at holographic keys and summoning up a display.
"Transfer started. Please wait while this one copies the data," he croaked, head bowing yet again. "While waiting, tell this one of Soline's group. What were the words Soline offered about this venture?" he prodded, eyes narrowing as if he was looking at them for the first time, most of all Silas. She hardly seemed like the professional representative sort, especially with the burns on the side of her face.
Though the glass door was sealed, they could still make out sounds from the room behind them, as scientists started to slow down in their work, mumbling to themselves. To the particularly observant, this started to bother the Narid, making him go slightly rigid.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Feb 14, 2015 0:12:57 GMT -5
Shaking her head at the offered snack-arm with a slightly raised hand, Cate did opt to answer the question. "It's one o' those places that Si would kill for if it meant she could spend even an' hour at. Y'know, the fancy stuff. Beaches an' sun an' loungin' with the drinks that have those little umbrellas in 'em?"
As they followed the Narid into the office Cate took a moment to curiously survey the room, her brow furrowing slightly as the Narid took the seat. "I uh... I sorta expected... someone less... uh... Narid to be meetin' with us about all this to be honest. No offense or nothin' just, ya know. You guys aren't exactly known for bein' social like."
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Post by Charlie Willow on Feb 14, 2015 10:53:13 GMT -5
Charlie's eyes were drawn to their guide's display screen like a moth to a flame, her curiousity always piqued by some fancy technology. They didn't stay still for long, though they narrowed ever so slightly.
She responded to Cate in her usual mumble, "I thought that stuff was fake, for those Holo-mags that everyone passed around. With all the naked people and stuff." She snorted herself into a little chuckle, then dropped her voice lower. "So, don't these bug people like to make all their tech all... ugly? Looks sorta clean in here, right?"
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Feb 15, 2015 1:04:35 GMT -5
Silas shook her head at Charlie's continued antics, focusing on the task at hand over trying to explain how lovely it would be to bask under the sun in a two piece swimsuit. The warmth of the rays . . . the cute beach fairers . . . Focus, Silas, she chided herself, snapping back to attention just before Cate expressed her suspicions.
Normally Silas was the one to eagerly rush to the defense of the Narid, but the C-Team had a point. Narid weren't especially known for their cleanliness, and if this was the chief scientist, there wouldn't be so much human and Aether tech around. Odd that they hadn't run into a single piece of Narid engineering.
" . . . There's a party at mother's," cryptically said the gunslinger, her hand shifting and readying to draw her pistol. Something wasn't adding up here, and Cate's keen sense of curiosity noticed it before her own paranoia had.
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Post by The Tired God on Feb 15, 2015 1:17:33 GMT -5
The Narid twitched as he endured the insults of the humans. They weren't particularly subtle with their back and forth, and how intensely did Tunzas loathe being referred to as "bug people". He was superior in many ways to this one armed sack of dotted flesh, and yet she had the audacity to insult his people's finest creations by calling it ugly. He understood the finer workings of the Adimar, he could hear their song and translate it into other works of art, when the best she could do was likely repair a central heating coil.
He nearly lost himself to his own mental rantings were it not for Silas' comment. He froze for several long moments, blinking at her in confusion, not sure how to exactly respond to that. Had she gone mad? Was she speaking in ton-- . . . oh, he thought. A code phrase.
His long pause was broken as he reeled back and drew a mangled piece of technology hidden in his belt, behind the back of his coat. It looked like it might have been a pistol at one point in its life, but had been so heavily modified since its creation that one might wonder if it had a single original piece left to it. Ugly and chaotic as it may be, it crackled to life and let out a shriek as it fired, narrowly missing Charlie and striking the glass behind her, shattering the wall that kept them contained.
The bolt was green and sickly, and it fizzled and hissed into the metal plated floor behind the broken glass barrier. If the initial force of the shot didn't kill someone, the acidic plasma would roast their insides and handle the rest of the job.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Feb 15, 2015 22:42:57 GMT -5
"Oh shi-" Was about all Cate could get out before the bug fired a glob of something at them. It missed thankfully, but she didn't have much time to think in a firefight. These weren't particularly her forte afterall.
Only equipped with a small sidearm, Cate nonetheless pulled the pistol from her hip and prepared to fire at the Narid. It would take her a moment to aim and her inexperience meant her shots were likely to follow after Silas' should the more savvy member of the group choose to fire.
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Post by Charlie Willow on Feb 15, 2015 23:35:12 GMT -5
"There's the ugl--" Was all the engineer could say before it morphed into a shrill yelp. Narid-modified melty-goo-guns were not particularly covered in the UER Standard Physical Defense Manual, but Charlie's fight-or-flight instincts took over and she dropped into a delayed, but apparently well-trained, roll to the left. Hopefully before the scientist could line up another shot and melt her.
Assuming she wasn't reduced to liquid, her hand scrabbled for her lower left breast-pocket, withdrawing a handful of little black balls with green buttons protruding out the side. Charlie logic stated that she would rather throw something she had a bit of experience with, than try to use that pistol and add some more scars to Silas's face. And she was much more experienced with homemade "cherry bombs".
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Feb 16, 2015 0:59:08 GMT -5
Silas certainly chose to fire. Before Cate's shot even went off, and before Charlie's cherry bombs cracked, two rounds had been fired on the gunslinger's part, a bolt from each gun, one through the Narid's throat, just under the chin, the other at his hand, blasting the weapon away before it could harm anyone via death rattle.
She was crouched, guns still pointing at the Narid, by the bombs went off. She shot a scolding glance towards Charlie, feeling that tiny explosives were worse than an untrained shot from a low-power pistol. "So much for negotiations," she grunted, turning around to check their six for other false employees.
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Post by Charlie Willow on Feb 16, 2015 17:25:37 GMT -5
Charlie gave her most sheepish, innocent smile. A little haze of smoke cleared, and one of the little balls didn't even pop. She had a shaky hand gripping her pistol by now. "They... were supposed to make a smoke screen. I panicked. I'll work on it." Her eyes avoided the researcher's corpse, mostly flickering between Cate and Silas to make sure no melting was happening. She didn't even think to look at the door.
"Didn't realize he... could hear me saying that stuff. =" Her right elbow rubbed her aching temple, and she could feel the blood rushing through to her head. Her pistol stayed pointed down toward the floor. "Sorry." Still not even a glance toward the body.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Feb 16, 2015 19:13:46 GMT -5
Cate was less squeamish than Charlie when it came to the corpse, or at least was acting the part. "Awh gross." She remarked, nose wrinkling in distaste at the various fluids that were now leaking out of the Narid. Glancing to Charlie she tried to reassure the engineer. "It's fine. Consider it as shakin' off his cunnin' disguise, right? Now we know what we're in for."
She carefully turned to move toward the glass of the office to look down at the various scientists. Should anyone look up, she'd respond with a full armed wave and an awkward grin. "Now this. This is why I stay on the Paragon. Alrigh' Si, you're in charge now. What're we doin'? Do we just go righ' for the elevator, grab the ship an' get the hell outta here?"
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