RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 5] A Unique Encounter

Meanwhile...

Noboru was still leading Claire through the labyrinthine corridors of the Cirrus, hoping he would blunder upon the Engine Room. He only knew vague directions to get there (go down, go down, go down...), and this was the third flight of stairs he had taken.

"Well, this is embarrasing," The security officer said off-handedly, "I'm completely lost." He stopped in the hallway just as Claire caught up and called out. "Kess, Mimi, anyone on hand, direct me to the engine room please." Then, instead of waiting patiently, Noboru began slowly moving down the hallway again.

Unfortunately, Noboru received little more than complete silence as he called for assistance from his squads' assigned Savtech duet.

"Kess. Obtain volumetric direction for the engine room ASAP." Noboru ordered. The cold, uniform walls of the station hallway. He repeated the same query to Mimi, recieving no response. He scratched his head. Looking around, he noted that the projector ports hidden in the cieling were still there (even through his clouded purple vision he could tell), and should have been operational.

"What the hell... Claire, I think we've got a problem. You willing to cut that drinking break short?" Noboru scowled up at the cieling, briefly telling Mimi and Kess (if they were indeed there) to "come down and stop fucking with him" before turning back to Claire. "Kess and Mimi have gone missing. Go back up to the hangar deck and warn the crew; tell them as fast as you can."

Once Claire had gone (if she had indeed gone), Noboru turned back to the hallway he was standing in and rubbed his temples. He was searching his near-eidetic memory for the name of the AI that Vanderhuge had used earlier up in the observation room... What was her name? Jess? No...

"Tess," Noboru said loudly. "Scan the Cirrus Station's SAVTECH databank for Kess and Mimi." The Yamataian was bluffing, of course; he didn't know if SAVTECHs were all responding to some central databank, he just prayed that Tess got the gist of it and looked for Kess and Mimi in the systems.

If, indeed, Tess was still on board the Cirrus and not making its merry getaway with Laj and Marissa.

Noboru continued to receive no answer from any Savtech assistant. Usually either Kess or Mimi were the ones to answer their squads questions, but occasionally another Savtech would appear if either of the two were too busy. In this particular instance, however, none of the station Savtech assistants were materializing. Given the fact that the Savtechs had been online and running every waking moment since the sending-off of the Cirrus Research Station, this seemed rather odd.

Possibly worrisome.

Possibly worrisome for anyone except Akio "Fucked Shit Up on his First Day" Noboru. The instant Tess didn't respond, Noboru was off and running. He pumped his legs up the three flights of random stairs he had taken up to the Weapons Lab, back down the hallway, bombing past Serrah and Deacon along the way ("SORRY!") and back into the hangar bay.

"OhmygodAdministratorMontreal theSAVTECHunitsareallmissing!" Noboru spat, rapid fire. Whether or not the administrator understood, Noboru continued between massive intakes of air- "Iwasonmywaydown -*pant* -totheengineroomand-*pant*-IgotlostandItriedtohail- *pant* -KessandMimiand neitherofthemrespondedand- *pant* -thenItriedtohailAdministrator Vanderhuge'sassistantSAVTECHTess-*pant* -butshedidn'trespondeithersoIhightailedit-*pant* -upheretotellyouguysthat- *pant*-ALL OF THE SAVTECHS ARE MISSING!"

Cora said:

Serra also disliked the way Cassifin had handled the situation, though from a logical standpoint, she couldn't actually fault her for her choice. There was no hard evidence, the witnesses were a squad she personally lothed and one man she admired who vouched for them, The Vinross Yu-Cranker was an influential company, that Cassifin probably didn't want to cross.

Seeing how she was one of the few remaining of her squad in the hanger still with Montreal, Serra saluted and walked up to her. Speaking candidly, and quietly Serra tried to see if her hypothesis was trye.

"Administrator, you didn't want to let them go either did you?" Serra asked, "you knew something was off after all of us told you, and Abeck backed us up. But, we didn't have the burden of proof to give you cause..." After making her statement, Serra saluted again. "If you do not need me I shall accompany the rest of my squad."

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During the time Serra spent conversing with Cassefin, the Vinross Yu-Cranker Materials ship had completed its speedy launch preparations. As its gravitational drives slowly lifted the massive hull from the docking plates, the Cirrus Station's own positioning system assisted in floating them out through the suppression field and into open space. Cassefin Montreal watched the ship leave with a strained gaze, remaining silent until the moment the ship had left the confines of the Cirrus Station.

"I..." Cassefin started, turning her head to meet Serra. "...am unsure. There are a lot of things that don't add up. And..." Cassefin stopped for a moment, catching sight of movement from Abeck's end. The guard captain had moved to stand beside Serra, perhaps in an attempt to assist the Elysian in regarding the Head Administrator. Cassefin sighed heavily, casting sidelong glances over at the slain dockworkers being queried on the opposite end of the bay.

"I don't believe they'll be needing any help...cleaning this up. Once you've all given your reports to Abe-...the Guard Captain, you may end your shift early. I am going to return to my personal quarters; I still have many things that need to be attended to," Cassefin ended in a tired tone.

By that time, Noboru had dashed in and assaulted the Head Administrator with a string of lethally punctuation-free tidbits of wisdom. Cassefin took a deep breath as she gathered just what the Yamataian was attempting to explain, placing a flat palm on her forehead as she gave him an answer.

"Yes...I know. Some of the pirate managed to break their way into the Savtech cores in the Central Station. The servers are banged up pretty bad, but nothing was permanent. The Savtechs won't be able to connect into the Cirrus Station's core computer, however, until we're able to assess the damage and fix the link."

MoonMan said:

"We dunno," Lenny answered as he shrugged his massive shoulders. "Yeah, we've been workin' on that kitchen youse guys won a few weeks ago," George continued, shifting his hold on his CSS:VW as he spoke. "But I think it's somethin' pretty big, 'cause the Boss was all serious and shit and we shot at a couple a pirates. You think you could...uh...maybe check it out for us? We're not supposed to leave this post."

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The incog-neko nodded and smiled at George before heading toward the access stairs for the cargo bay. She got about halfway down before Noboru made his mad dash down into the bay and she arrived just in time to catch the tail-end of his rapid-fire report and to hear Cassifin's response. She stayed in the stairwell, though, keeping out of sight. No need to draw attention to her state of dress...but she started looking for someone to speak to; a SavTech repair crew sounded like something she wanted to be a part of.