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RP: The Wayward Back in Business (Ep4.1)

Syaoran

Syaoran

Retired Staff
Cloud Harbor Station

Inside of the secret station in the ASE-006 System, a large ship was being supplied and prepared for departure. Its mission was to follow the Anbruch, which had left earlier and keep a safe distance from it and provide logistical support when needed.

While this was a big task for the ASE personnel on the station, there were some individuals who were allowed to relax. They were members of the Anbruch crew, however for their own reasons they could not arrive in time for the initial launch. These individuals were now seated in the cafeteria on the station, allowed to go about their business, however, there was a tough looking Abwehran woman at the door who was assigned to be their babysitter and make sure they do not go anywhere they're not supposed to, otherwise, they were free to move about.
 
Nan sat opposite Quinn at the cafeteria table. He looked hard and serious at the man as he peered ominously over the cards splayed in his hand. Nan's eye twitched with the focus he poured into his current situation. Slowly, ever so slowly he reached up and grabbed one card, pulled it dramatically from his hand and in a flash pounded the card face down on the table!

"Go fish," Nan exclaimed excitedly! He raised his hands up in celebration with a loud whoop. If one were to observe they were to think he just won some grand prize.

Of course the truth of the matter was that he had won nothing, not only that but they were not even playing 'Go Fish'. In fact, Nan actually had no idea what game they were playing. Well sure, Quinn had explained it to him, several times in fact, but usually about half way through Nan got bored, distracted or otherwise too fidgety to pay attention.

"Boom shaka-laka Q-man, you just got poned," he said pointing at Quinn. He smiled broadly in that teenager way when they feel like they know everything.
 
Quinn was amused at Nan's lack of ability to sit still and play any card came he was trying to teach the fidgety youngster. After Nan's next words, and putting down a card Quinn put his own cards down and stretched. "You're not even sure what card came we're trying to play." He pointed out, though he wasn't grumpy about it. He glanced around and decided it really wasn't worth it to get up and eat yet more food before they were supposed to depart. "Though if you're so set on Go Fish, we could play that too." He mused idly, collecting up the loose cards and shuffling the incomplete deck before setting it back on the table. "I'll even give you a head start." Quinn offered, anything to burn the time between when they could leave the station and join the others. He was excited to see everyone again after a time away from them all but he kept it contained and under wraps for the moment.
 
"I can't wait to be back on board and see the Captain, Ana too. It feels like it's been a gazillion years since I saw them," Nan said as he sat back down but obviously not interested in cards at the moment. In typical fashion he had gone from overly enthusiastic to moody and sad.

He sat dejected with his head in his hands. He said, "I have been trying to reach them on our WC's but they must be pretty far out cause I have had no luck."

Then, with a start an idea hit him," Wait so, I can't reach them with these but maybe..." He paused and looked sidelong at the Abwehran. Almost like he didn't want anyone to know he was looking but come on, who was he kidding, subtlety was not exactly in Nan's wheelhouse.

He leaned in conspiratorially towards Quinn. "You know, we, you and I could try and contact the Anbruch," he said with a disturbingly mischievous smile forming. "I bet I could totally hack their comms and see what this ship can do. It would be pretty easy. Whataya say?" Nan pumped his eyebrows and again looked sidelong at the woman across the way.
 
Quinn quietly retrieved the cards Nan had discarded and shuffled them in with the rest of the deck, setting up a solo game of solitaire so he had some way to keep himself from being super bored. He studied Nan and then gave a sigh. "I want to see them just as much as you do, believe me, but I don't think hacking the station's comms in order to reach out to the Anbruch is a wise idea." He told Nan. "If I got this right we'll be joining them sooner rather than later and when we get there we can swoop in like the cavalry. Our Comms should work once we're back in range too, so we can contact them and let them know we were just running a little late." Logical. "I suppose, if you want, we can go back to our temporary quarters with our baby sitter and I can teach you another song on my guitar." At least their shared love of music seemed to be something he could bond with Nan over, and distract him with too.
 
Nan sighed heavily as he sat down. The wind flew from his sails as Quinn logic'd all over him. He resigned that after all, Quinn was right. He was just bored and that it probably wasn't the best use of his time hacking the Anbruch's new allies.

"Yeah, let's head back. I forgot to show you these new toys I made. Man, they are so cool, you are going to love them! I have more plans too, things that could really help the whole crew in self defense," Nan said as he got up and excitedly waved his arms as he spoke. Nan turned and spoke to a FARS unit that had been floating idly around them room, "Come on Mom, we are gonna show Quinn our new toys! Why didn't you remind me to tell him?"

"I am terribly sorry sir. I did not know you wished to share those details but yes, let us reveal the little ones," the unit designated 'Mother' said softly in reply.

With that Nan seemed to bop towards the door, stopping briefly in from of them stern looking Abwehran with a crisp mock salute and then moving on.
 
Quinn gathered the deck of cards again and tucked them into his coat. He got up and followed Nan from the table, past their babysitter and then he made sure they were following. Quinn had already done the work of finding out where they could go and setting up a map of sorts in his mind. That made it easy to keep Nan on track on the way back to the room they shared there on the station for the brief lull of time they had to wait for their own ride to be ready to leave.

When they got there Quinn shed his coat and went to settle down and wait, working his hairbrush through his hair and tying it back up behind his head where he liked it best. "So what kind of new toys have you got?" He asked, knowing Nan was amazing when it came to technology. He was also fairly certain Anna would fawn over the new little robots, and then idly wondered how her own little robot was doing.
 
"So check it, you knew Pearl from before," Nan said gesturing to the nearby FARS unit now floating languidly throughout their shared room. "I tweaked her AI and renamed her Mother. See, with all these great drone ideas coming to me I knew I would need an eye in the sky. So she is it, I hooked her up with some sweet imaging goodies to help.

"Then, and I think Ana may like this one, I created a Utility drone." Nan placed a small device on his temple and a holographic visor slid into place.

Almost immediately a roundish ellipsoid hovered up off the floor near Nan's bed. "So, it's really easy to pilot and I am hoping that Ana can pick it up pretty easily. I am even thinking of making you a med drone for emergency cases.

"Lastly is my current pride and joy. The Svalinn shield drone," Nan said with a flourish as yet another drone floats up. It is a vertical hexagon plate with a slightly bulbous unit attached to the back. "It projects a force field and can be flown to attempt to deflect projectiles." Nan moves the drone around the room making vroom noises.
 
Quinn paid close attention to what Nan had to show him. He studied the FARS unit again and nodded, remembering it from their last time together before he'd gone off into the wild black for a bit. Then it was onto the little Utility drone, which he did indeed approve of, since it likely would indeed help Ana with her work. Finally the shield drone, which intrigued him the most. He reached out and gently caught the drone as Nan moved it past, running his fingers gently over the surface for a moment before gently releasing it.

"Very creative Nan." He praised, giving the other a grin. "I do think Ana will like the Utility drone, and this shield drone will come in handy for certain." Especially if everyone continued to insist on getting shot at. He ruffled Nan's hair and tilted his head. "You know, I think another thing Ana might like is if we get some good pictures around the place here. Don't you think? Give her something pretty to put up on her cabin walls." He already had some other pictures of various places he'd been and things he'd done that he thought she might like.

He went to their stern looking babysitter and gave the other a charming smile. "I don't suppose you have an observation deck we can go to?"
 
When Quinn approached the raven haired pale skinned woman looked straight at him. She like the captain of the Anbruch was a nightwalker, but she cut a much more imposing image. Her hair was extremely short so that it didn't get in the way, and though she was shorter at only five and a half feet, her uniform could barely contain the muscles in her biceps as she folded her arms.

"An observation deck? Yes, we have one." Despite her appearance, however, her voice was soft and carried a friendly tone, albite a forced one it seemed. The woman made a gesture for them to follow and then began to walk.

It did not take long for them to reach just what they had asked for, the observation deck, with nearly three hundred sixty degree view. It was obviously intended for guest as there was plenty of lounging furniture and no sign of military equipment.
 
Nan practically ran over to the large viewing window looking out toward the stars as if it were his first time. It was a common occurrence for those who knew him that the young Yamataian had a serious wanderlust. He lived in the moment and took nothing for granted.

He smushed his face against the glass and looked out and to the sides, as if he could see where they were going and where they had been if he could only get his face closer to the glass.

"Mother," he cried out, "Mother! Come take a picture of me in front of this gigantic window!" He spun and leaned back against the glass, holding up the peace sign. His facial expression and pose seemed to scream 'Yamatai Teen Beat' hearthrob of the year.

Mother dutifully bobbed over and lined up taking the photo with a quip, "Of course sir, because it is not like you do not already have hundreds of similar of these so called 'selfies', " the robot said in it's calm motherly tone.

As if he did noteven comprehend what she was saying he was remarking excitedly, "Come on Quinn! Ana will love a pic of us."
 
Quinn took his time, upon arriving at the observation area, to admire the view and then turned to watch Nan skitter to the glass and stare out at space like he'd never seen it before. It was actually quite endearing, or at least Quinn thought so. At least Nan kept things exciting with his seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm.

When Nan called out to him Quinn turned and grinned, heading over and posing with Nan for a picture or two and then he ruffled Nan's hair. "Now I'll show you something neat." He headed for the center of the observatory, settled himself and turned around in a circle where he stood, letting his eyes take in the whole observatory, and then he did another circle with his head tilting up so he could catch what had just been out of range.

Then he went back over to Nan, pulled up a program on his tablet, plugged himself in, and brought up the images. It took a little trickery but after a moment he had a perfect panorama of the entire observatory and what you could see from it, including Nan standing there posing for more pictures. He grinned "A new trick I learned while I was out and about. What do you think? We could have some fun with it if you want. You could go pose in different spots and there'd be a picture with several of you lounging about. I think Ana would get a giggle out of it, don't you?"
 
It's like Quinn was offering Nan a goose that laid golden eggs. "A picture w...wi...with several me's" he stutteringly asked? " That would be totes awesome!"

He was already planning out several poses in different places. One would even be a quick peck on the cheek to their chaperone before she could stop him.

Another would be him hanging from Mother, another using his levitation so he was completely upside down like it was natural, so on and so forth.
 
Quinn grinned at Nan's enthusiasm. He set up the program that would allow him to import snapshots from his eyes to the 360 picture he'd already taken of the observatory and then he encouraged Nan to go pose for him where he wished. When it was all said and done he walked over to Nan, pulled up the completed panorama, that had included the best half dozen poses of Nan in various places, and showed it to him. "See? Don't you think Ana will just love this?" He asked, quite pleased with his work. With that little film trickery done he glanced around for their chaperone. "How long until the ship leaves?" He asked, wanting to know how much longer they had to poke around the station before they had to gather their things from the room and head for the ship that would take them out to meet the rest of the crew.
 
"Um, of course she will love it, look at that handsome devil," Nan exclaimed as he gestured to the photos of himself.

"That eye camera trick is really great. Good idea to have that installed, though I could have done it for you. Do you want me to upgrade it any more," he asked as he invaded Quinn's personal space. Really going in and looking at the mans eyes.

"Maybe lasers? Or a microphone in your eye too? Oooooh, what if I set it up like a flashlight! Or better yet a strobe light! We could rave out!"
 
The Abwehran woman reacted rather strongly to Nan suddenly kissing her, a large step back and placing her hands out in front of herself to keep him back. "What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was firm and direct, but she had not brought herself to shouting, a sign of her discipline as a soldier. “I will have to treat that as assault if you do that again.” She gave Nan a stern look and kept her distance, forcing a stoic expression once more.

Her attention was then turned to Quinn at his question “The ship will depart soon after we receive a signal from the first beacon placed by your captain. So it should not be much longer.”
 
Quinn gave a curt nod to the Abwehran woman and turned his attention back to Nan and his excited babbling.

He ruffled the other's hair and wiggled his fingers. "Come on. We can chit chat while we go get our things." He was eager to be away of course, wanting to see the others he was missing. He slid an arm around Nan to get him moving again, towards the exit of the observation deck.

"As far as my eyes go; I can already see in the dark. Ultraviolet, infrared, and just about anywhere in between." He informed Nan. "I don't need lasers, I have a pistol for that, and as for microphones my ears work just fine." Quinn laughed. "Maybe, if you're interested that much in checking out programming for cybernetics I could see about putting you in touch with an old friend of mine who does such things."
 
Nan made a very embarrassed face at the ear pulling he received from their chaperone.

"Sorry miss, I uh, well I didn't mean to offend," Nan said sheepishly. His cheeks slightly red.

As he was swept away by Quinn he perked up a bit at the chance he could meet another robotics fan.
 
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