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RP: SFS Chapter One, Part Two - Orientation

"Don't worry Nines-O," Lisa nodded back to the tiny adorable freespacer with freaky eyes. "I grew up on my dads ship. Met few Freespacers in my time. Can't say I understand you much, but at least I know what to expect. I mean after all, I bey we look bloody quirky to you, as you look to us. I just usually shrug these things off. Though if I ever do somthing to piss you off, just tell me."
 
In an uncharacteristic display, Adam seemed to visibly relax. He took in the rub until he realized what was going on. He shrugged off the little Freespacer's hands with a grunt.

"So, the very little I know of Freespacer's is that you all have some kind of telepathy like the Yammies. Also, why do you need training. I've heard of tons of you all with crazy weaponized tech," Adam asked looking over his shoulder at Cloudheart.
 
"You serious greenhorn?" Lisa turned back to Adam. "Having tech is useless if you do not know what the fuck you are supposed to do with it. You can give man a tank, but if he does not know how to even start en engine, all he got is a really fancy bunker. And even if they can shoot their crazy Finnagles rifles or whatever, you would have just bunch of amateurs with guns that are bound to shoot as many friendlies as enemies. Hell how did you even pass basic if you can't even see what is the training for."
 
Adam looked unimpressed at Lisa's outburst and shrugged, "If they were serious about training they would send them to the same basic Nepleslians use. Or build one themselves for us to teach 'em.

Besides, who are you to be talking to me like this. Just a lady who labels herself 'pain in the ass to Officers' and couldn't cut it in Navy school."
 
Lisa laughed back at the man and put out the cigarette against leg of the chair. She then tossed it into nearby bin. Lisa then fished pack of cigarettes from her pocket and lit new one. Blowing out a thick wad of smoke and turning back to private Edison.

"Listen here greenhorn. First to you I am not 'just a lady', but a corporal. Second they are serious about the training, that is why they sent Colonel Black. Giving the guidelines is useless, you need to have people who know the guidelines to teach them. Third, I might be pain in the arse for officers, but I make sure to do my job as well."

Lisa decided to let the navy school remark go, because it was pretty much the truth. Lisa did fuck up back then, but she did not fuck up in Marines. There was never anything serious. She did her job, pissed off few officers and mouthed off to Admiral Valken, but nothing that would warrant anything worse than slap over fingers.
 
"As you say, Corporal," Adam said with a fresh dose of snark. In a way, he knew she was right. She was above him in rank and he knew that Black would only allow a limited range of disrespect to Officers.

The powers that be wouldn't put Commandant Black in charge of such a sensitive mission if it wasn't serious. Also, Black wouldn't recruit him out of jail if it was a cush job. For now, Adam decided to try and hold in his outbursts.
 
Cloudheart made a very loud and purposeful sigh. She'd turned to sit up on the table after Adam had removed her hands and used them instead to set aside Roy's hat and affectionately pet the young private's hair while the other two marines had their argument. Internally, she monitored both of the defaulters for some indication of their mental state other than 'neurosis buried beneath false pluck without moral fiber'. Externally, she frowned a tired frown.

"So..." Cloudheart's free hand extended, palm up. "You don't... Eh, you don't wanna know about our history or anything? Don't care if it's safe to hug your Freespacer squadmates? You guys just want to sit here and show each other how tough you are, huh?"

Another tired sigh.

"That's fine, I guess." Cloudheart remarked, throwing up her hands in surrender, "Warmonger Edison, since you're clearly determined to intentionally reply unkindly to everyone... I guess you'd just be happier someplace else. I'll let the Commandant know and we can probably transfer you to a unit on another ship or something, maybe with some people you like."

It was entirely unclear whether the little girl knew just how awful this would be for Private Edison. She seemed to be operating under the assumption that he would still be free if he didn't join up with the Free State Joint Patrol. Resuming her casual petting of Roy's hair, the 'Spacer toyed with her brightly-colored slacks with a dour expression that on her child-like face appeared to verge on tears. Her brain, however, was doing something. And soon, PO Hartley appeared at the door again, holding up his communicator with a curious face.

"You needed something Miss Nixt-- Oh, for fuck's sake, marines!" Hartley ignored whatever it was that'd summoned him and withdrew a rag from his pocket to attack the ashes Lisa had left on the table. "I told you guys the Admiral is riding the Flag Captain is riding my Chief is riding my ass, gosh. The ship needs to look nice, in case one of the GA's shows up. I could've brought you guys an ashtray, I could've even-- you put it out on your chair! Why would you do that?"
 
"Well there is no bloody ashtray Petty Officer." Lisa said and folded her arms defensively on her chest, the lit cigarette slowly burning in corner of her mouth. "Who ever saw a fucking wardroom withhout an ashtray.: Lisa did feel a bit bad though. She stood up, pulled her sleeve into palm of her hand and after leaning the chair to access it a bit, she proceeded to wipe the ash-mark.

"See good as new. No one would fucking notice anyway." She grunted, before planting her well shaped arse back in the chair.
 
Roy sat and watched the two bicker at each other as Cloudheart combed his hair with her fingers all the while smiling slightly. His smile however faded as he listened as Cloudheart went on with her dishearted words and could hear her distress vividly. He continued to stay silent as the PO came in and grinded his tongue at Lisa for the cigarette ash.

"I'll make sure that the room is clean before I leave, Petty Officer." Roy spoke out to ensure the man that his ass will not be sliced off and mounted. "It'll be like no one step foot in this room."

He wanted to maintain his professionalism even though he was as green as freshly cut and watered grass. A good impression never hurt anybody he thought.
 
At the mention of a transfer Adam knew exactly what it would mean. He wouldn't go back to that hell hole again. He straightened up and tried to reduce his sneer, being mildly successful.

"What? No, no Corporal and I were just hashing things out over a difference of opinion. Uh.. everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you," Adam incredulously blurted out in anxiety, barely holding together his aggressive demeanor.

Hoping to move the discussion away from his momentary break down he asked Cloudheart, "Since you brought it up, what IS the deal with all the rumors about radiation and you Freespacers? Are you made of the stuff? Am I gonna get sterile? Not that that's a bad thing though..."
 
"I doubt that she's made of radioactive material, otherwise we should probably be wearing protective suits with Geiger counters." Roy spoke as he looked towards Adam. "Maybe other Freespacers are radioactive, I'm not sure. I think Cloudheart can confirm or deny that for us. And becoming sterile is the least of your worries when you're exposed to radiation."

Roy scratched his nose before moving his hands down to his lap to twiddle his thumbs and occasionally stared off at objects. He waited for the next person to speak.
 
"We organic Type Threes usually have blood-borne plankton or lichens that absorb radiation." Explained Cloudheart, cheerfully indicating the swarm of purple crystalline spires crawling across her upper neck and jaw, "In my case, I have symbiont crystals growing here as well as a healthy population of plankton. No lichens on this girl, you'll find. But-- the lichens themselves are perfectly safe if you encounter them. They're soft and clean. Really, you'll get more radiation from walking around in your engine room than you would from sharing a bed with any of us. In fact, I have to swallow a small metal pill that's been heavily irradiated every morning just to keep from getting sick on a ship like this."

The tiny 'Spacer hopped down from the table and moved back to her own chair. Once again, the tiny eight-legged drone that'd been bothering her earlier scuttled up to her and climbed onto her shoulder. She patted it affectionately and went on, explaining it was well. "We also have automata like these. Some are directly controlled and others are independant. This one is a Junker drone with modified behavior parameters. Most Junkers-- and you'll notice that they even make their homes here on Nepleslian ships, are programmed to build new Junkers out of scrap metal and fix any machines they find that they can work on. They have roughly the intelligence of a dog or a cat, and building new Junkers is their way of reproducing. This one is modified, which is why it's made itself so small. It's not interested in reproduction, or in fixing machines. Its purpose is to serve and observe."

Cloudheart slid a palm beneath the tiny robot and hefted it down onto the table where it skittered around adorably for a moment before stopping to look up at PO Hartley, who was in the process of rousing out an ashtray for Lisa. He looked down at it for a moment, and then grumbling he pushed it away from himself and set down an ashtray in its place. The machine instantly skittered around to Lisa's side and clung on to the Corporal's arm, its monoeye extending over her mass to examine the Petty Officer from a distance.

"And on the note of sexuality," Cloudheart changed topics, raising a finger and closing her eyes so she could speak with some reverence, "You'll find that Freespacers, organic ones who have their gentials still intact, are anatomically compatible with Nepleslians. We do tend to value sex differently, as many Nepleslians view it as a component of romantic intimacy-- whereas most Freespacers are both sterile and polyamourous. Incestuous practices are viewed with no more cultural disdain than breathing, and multiple partner interactions are perfectly acceptable ways to spend time when there's no work to be done. We do have romance, but sexuality is really more of a recreational endeavor for us, and many do not pursue this endeavor. In fact, I was what you would call a 'virgin' until I began my research in Nepleslian culture and found that sexual stimulation is such an important feature for them, specifically males."

She didn't tell the story of the poor idiot who she'd tricked into actually taking her to bed, nor did she mention that her last romantic partner was a starship. These were things that seemed of little importance, though they were no doubt of great curiosity to the people around her. Still, Cloudheart felt she'd done a good job so far, covering the most important topics: Radiation, sexuality, and robotics. Looking satisfied, she leaned back in her chair again and added thoughtfully, "I think you'll find us to be industrious, loyal companions. My people are proud to be working with the Imperium, and we're even more proud to be learning how to take care of ourselves on the galactic frontier. While the Consensus has yet to create a working government for us, it's pretty much everybody's opinion that we should be able to police ourselves."
 
Adam was actually quite impressed by the rundown on the basics of Freespacers. It was interesting to hear the truth of the radiation and surprised that a seemingly hardy race could become sick in, to him, a normal environment.

What really interested Adam though was the 'Junker'. He would never admit it at this current point in time but he had always wanted a companion like a dog. Having seen the little Junker drone Adam was even more enamored. Something about it just appealed to him inside, a loyal small companion that would be hard to kill. He had tried having dogs when he was younger but they always ended up dieing, hit by a car, killed by a mean bastard, collateral damage, etc.

Trying to sound disinterested Adam said, "Well, I actually knew none of that before now. Some good things to know. Can I ask though, those drones. Do they only listen to Spacers? Could they be used as weapons?" Adam only asked the last question because he was curious, he didn't actually think he would use them as such. These people didn't need to know that however.
 
"Thank you Petty Officer." Lisa said calmly as ashtray was put on the table in front of her, while she listened to the petite Freespacer.. She quickly put her cigarette that was in danger of dropping ash on the carpet again. Lisa flicked it and discarded the burnt ash. She then felt some movement on her arm. Looking at it, she saw the small Junker drone that Cloudheart was talking about.

"Hey there little one. You look like a curious fellow." Lisa said to it. She was an engineer, things like these interested her. The blonde corporal knew that no one had better robots than Freespacers. Though important thing to know was that not all automata were just robot servants. From what she hear, some Freespacers actually used automata bodies and became pure mechanical beings.

Lisa was curious if there was a way to communicate with a little junker drone. She activated her cybernetic ear an tried to 'hear' for a frequency that the little droid might use. If that would fail, she still had her mindware. Since it was freespacer, it shoul be able to be communicated with it, using mindware after all.
 
Roy sat back and enjoyed the large amount of words streaming from Cloudheart's mouth until she finished. Unlike the other two Marines, he was more or less uninterested in the robotic spider pet climbing around. It was still enjoyable to watch it skitter about on its own to examine things however.

Roy took off his field cap and brushed his hair towards the right, fixing the short and loose strands of hair that drooped in front of his forehead. He decided to let his hair breathe a little and left his field cap off. Roy stayed silent as he listened to the others speak, finding what they had to say interesting.
 
"Certainly they can be used for weapons," Cloudheart assured Adam. "Automata can be used for all sorts of things. Portable storage, delicate repairs in small places, remote access to tiny areas, a secondary body with which to interact with the world... Some even use them purely for companionship. Aside from Junkers, which tend to replicate themselves and are often what you would call 'feral', most of our drones are purpose-built. A synthintelligence engineer would design the program, and a Dollmaker would design the body-- though so often either one can do both."

The tiny 'Spacer let her Junker react to Lisa's encouragement, it clinging onto her arm after shuddering on the table for a moment. After she felt the drone's animal-like intelligence had been adequately demonstrated, she silently called it to heel with her Mindware and without a moment's loss the tiny robotic beast swiveled and skittered back to her side where it crawled onto her shoulder, it's typical home. She patted it affectionately again, and then turned back to the table. "Another thing about my people you should be aware of is our fondness for titles." And so began another short lecture, "I'm a Mindtwister, for instance. That means I specialize in psychological health, as well as synthintelligence engineering. Matters of the mind are my purview. Most Freespacers you meet take great pride in their work. It is, after all, the favored aspect of our society. Our entire lives and afterlives are based entirely on how well we can do our jobs."

After another moment of silence spent looking around the table, Cloudheart tapped her fingers on the smooth surface a few times and finally said, "If there are no more questions, how would the three of you like to accompany me in some mental or physical stimulation-- entertainment? We can build rapport together! Doesn't that sound like fun?"
 
"Yeah, I'm pretty game for that. Sitting here isn't going to get any more climactic." Roy spoke as he began to reach for his field cap and fixed it on top of his head. He stood up and stretched his arms and legs in order to get his blood running properly again. He was tired of sitting down and hoped to do something worthwhile.

"So, what are we doing? Aside from becoming great friends, which I'm sure some of us are already." He smiled jokingly as his eyes moved to meet Adam and then Lisa. He wondered if more back and forth type situations would come from them again though he doubted it since Cloudheart had threatened Adam with a relocation.
 
"Oh he was not bothering me," Lisa said to Cloudheart as the tiny spider was called back. In fact Lisa wanted to play with it some more, but well if Cloud wanted him back, that was entirely her right. "Heh I wonder what kind of title tech sentry like me would have." Lisa wondered out loud.

"Games eh? Why not i guess. We should get to know each other more after all." Lisa did not stood up, but she looked at Roy and then back at Cloudheart. The blonde corporal wondered what kind of game this would be. After all it was supposed to be about mental or physical stimulation. Lisa was pretty good at least with the physical stimulation, but Cloudheart probably meant something a bit different.
 
"So your people are focused on working? Is there like a class system? You all don't shit on each other like the rich do to the poor in Nepleslia do you? Cause that shit ain't right," Adam said with obvious past grudge.

"Fun," he continued," not really looking to have fun. Though I'll do whatever as long as it's not going back to sitting around in my bunk. But I'm not hand holding, singing or dancing. That crap is just too much." Adam obviously wanted to show further disdain but he couldn't stop thinking about Cloudhearts threat to send him back to jail.
 
"Yeah, holding hands and singing is a pretty straight thing to do, I'm too gay for that. But I'm sure Cloudheart won't make us do any of that. Well, not much of it anyways." Roy continued to joke with a sarcastic tone all the while cracking a sunny side up smile. What's the hurt in some jokes, he thought.

"In all seriousness," Roy shifted into a more sincere tone, "are we done here? This room is starting to get to me. I also got to make sure the room is nice and tidy before I leave anyways, might as well start now." He began to step around the room glancing his eyes at anything out of line before fixing it. The sooner he finished, the sooner he can leave the room of which he had become so bored of. He also felt a cauldron of curiosity stir within him about the next activity they might be doing.
 
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