RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 8] That Sinking Feeling

[MissingNo]

The sight of the scanning equipment made Tweak nervous. From what she read, she knew that her body was prone to self-destructing when subjected to deep scans, but she didn't know what sort of scan would affect her. How much was considered "invasive"? And, even if she survived, surely something would show up of her abnormal physiology.

Tweak glanced over at Kokuten, who had already laid his weapon down. Radio channels may be compromised. she thought. There were no other options, though, so she decided to risk it anyway.

"Sir? May-may I volunteer s-stay outside?" As soon as she said it, Tweak closed her eyes in embarrassment, realizing how tense she had become. Of all the times to begin stuttering, why now?

 

[MoonMan]

"Aww, don' be all spoiledsport about it, 'ey?" Nell said, nodding to the Unique behind the scanner as she stepped around the scanner. From the looks of it, only Uniques could carry weapons beyond that point. "If ya got cybahnetics, dat's cool... it ain't loike we gonna make ya take ya arm off o' nothin'."

While the others placed their weapons in the bin, nothing would ring out to them. Kokuten's turn, however, seemed to raise a bit of concern for the security force. Sure enough, there was a feint beep when Kokuten had passed through. One of the Uniques on the other side of the gate held up a hand for Kokuten to halt while the one behind the small scanner terminal looked up, her faceplate reflecting the lights above them. "He has some non weapon-grade cybernetics... and what's this? Some sort of needle gun?"

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten looked back at Tweak before he decided to step into the scanner. This sort of scan would probably set off some alarms when it came to her features, but they would need her if something went wrong. Despite what they may see, he and the rest of the squad would have to lie for the Freespacer if her condition garnered any condition. He straightened up and smiled, his mouth only slightly visible.

"There is no reason to be worried, any unusual modifications you have can be calmly explained if they have any concern to them." The Captain said in a reassuring voice, before walking through the scanner himself.

Kokuten's turn, however, seemed to raise a bit of concern for the security force. Sure enough, there was a feint beep when Kokuten had passed through. One of the Uniques on the other side of the gate held up a hand for Kokuten to halt while the one behind the small scanner terminal looked up, her faceplate reflecting the lights above them. "He has some non weapon-grade cybernetics... and what's this? Some sort of needle gun?"

"I believe you're referring to the miniature Nano-Construction System. Otherwise, known as the Hypolathe. It is a piece of medical equipment that is capable taking biological samples from organisms and reconstructing broken, infected, and damaged tissue. Not only that, it comes equipped with the ability nano-construct an incision instrument when there is lack there-of. Finally, is the hypospray, which at a certain distance can be used as an injector when a needle is placed over the nozzle." explained Kokuten in a benign, professional fashion, gesturing to each part of the Hypolathe as he explained it. He cheerily held it high enough for each unique to see, but in a grip to where two of them would have to pry it from his hands.

 

[MissingNo]

Tweak frowned. She checked her settings...she had used a private channel to make her request to the medic. Then again, anyone looking at her could guess at what she was balking at, she quickly realized. Still, she double-checked her channel settings before radioing Kokuten again.

"It's not...q-quite...that." She closed her eyes behind the visor and tried to get her speech under control before opening her eyes and continuing. "The scans themselves. They might not be good-good for me."

 

[Stovaa]

Stovaa placed his rifle and pistol down, eyeing the pile of weapons carefully. It galled him to leave his weapons here, and it made no sense tactically to enter a potentially hostile situation unarmed, but he had to play by the rules. He left his knife tucked away in his belt, however, unwilling to leave behind one of his only personal belongings with an emotional attachment.

"Sa'right, I'm sure these lovely ladies won't intrude upon a girl's personal business," he said to Tweak before heading through the scanner while the Uniques were occupied with Kokuten.

 

[MissingNo]

This isn't good...you are drawing attention.

Tweak reluctantly set her rifle down next to Method's. She looked at the scanning rig and did her own scan of it, appearing as though she was getting up the nerve to walk through it to everyone watching her. Behind the visor, she squinted.

The mechanisms are all wrong for it to be anything more than a sub-surface scanner, she realized, analyzing the scan results. And the radiation bands, they likely can't see more than bone-deep. If my safeguard has anything to protect, it's the genetics. Everything else is disposable. So...maybe this won't hurt me. But they may see more than I want them to anyway.

She slowly took a step forward, her brain flying through options. There had to be something she could do.

Wait. Radiation. The 'Spacer neko's mind clicked over her abilities again and she took another step forward. She glanced back at Method, then faced forward again.

Please let this work. Please...

She quickly walked through the scanner frame. As she did, some of the monitor images flared with a multi-colored nimbus that obscured her shape while other screens were clouded in static until she made it through. She stopped abruptly once she was on the other side, almost positive they would ask her to stop anyway, then slowly turned around. Tweak looked at Kokuten and making a visible shuddering gesture, along with one that looked like she was sighing in relief before reopening the private channel to her squad leader.

"Tell them it was a reactor. All Freespacers emit radiation and it will only disturb their equipment more if I go through again." It had been as close as she could manage to simulating the effects of a dense, broad-spectrum, short-range radiation source that originated inside her passing close to the sensors. And what Tweak could manage was incredibly accurate, taking her results from scanning what Method emitted and kicking it up several notches...hopefully it was enough to obscure any details and disrupt much of what did come through with phantom data, causing anything they saw to be unreliable. The neko stood still, waiting for the okay to move.

 

[MoonMan]

Two of the Uniques behind the terminal looked at each other and seemed to communicate with one another silently, discussing Kokuten's hypolathe. "Is there any specific reason you want to take this thing with you? You understand we're having to scrutinize pretty severely," the Unique started, pausing afterward as she looked at another Unique farther along the lane. Upon receiving a single, wordless nod, the Unique turned back to Kokuten.

"Alright, you're clear. Stand on the other side please."

---

As Stovaa stepped through another scanner on the side, the alarm also went off in a short, simple beep. It didn't take long before another Unique looked over her terminal at his belt. "Knife is pushing it, soldier. Aren't planning on taking a senator hostage, are you?"

---

Tweak's ploy seemed to have some effect... but whether or not it was her desired one was yet to be discerned. The Unique behind the scanner terminal looked at the screen for a long time, looking between several other Uniques as they shook their heads and nodded, privately discussing a seemingly hot issue. After a moment, a Unique approached Tweak, holding her weapon aloft in front of her. The woman was much taller than the disguised neko, towering over her as she spoke from behind her emotionless faceplate.

"Ma'am, we're aware of your Freespacer background, and we have seen that you are not carrying concealed weaponry, but..." the Unique continued, shifting her weight onto the other slender leg. "If you could refrain from removing your suit, we won't have a problem with your presence at the conference. Your suit does contain your radiation, correct?"

"It does," Cassefin answered immediately, her own scan on a nearby lane starting. The Uniques didn't bother asking either her or Purina if they were carrying weapons, letting the scanners do the job for them. Purina's strange glass case raised the alarm, but the Uniques were quick to disregard it. Cassefin, on the other hand, raised the alarm herself as she passed through.

Holding her chin up high and indignant, the red-haired administrator cleared her throat as one of the security women approached her. "I have some minor cybernetic brain augmentations," Cassefin admitted. The Unique nodded once, pointing the end of her weapon in the general direction of her briefcase. "I am also carrying with me some papers and other materials for a presentation I have been asked to give about a new method of refining clear durandium that produces less waste."

 

[Kokuten]

"Thank you." Kokuten said warmly, giving a short bow of his head before advancing to the side, awaiting for the others to finish. The Doctor was happy that these women saw reason behind his words. Perhaps they understood his philosophy as well, he thought. As he stood at attention, awaiting for the others. His smile seemed to stay constant on his face. In truth, his eyes were darting in between the certain squad members and what they were deciding to keep and take through. Though, it was difficult to keep this surveying action subtle as the green lights under his visor seem to transition from left to right.

Stovaa seemed to want to keep his knife close. Despite how obvious of a risk that was, the Captain decided to let the ID-SOL settle that matter with the Uniques. Just like the Hypolathe, Stovaa may have some thought or attachment to the item, and could fully understand if he wanted to hold on to it. He looked over at Tweak, breathing a sigh of relief as her scan went along with no problems. He closed his visor for a moment, sending a silent transmission through the channel she had created.

"See? Nothing to worry about!" Kokuten reassured the Spacer before reopening his visor slightly, allowing some of the smell of the medicine he had used earlier to fume out again.

 

[Dragonnova]

Claire, suprisingly enough, placed her weapon down next to the others. She knew it was a piece of crap, and that in a fight it would likely end up doing more harm than good by weighing her down in even the slightest since the rounds themselves may as well be fired rubber bands against armored targets. She also took her knife out, but instead of placing it down next to the rest of the weapons like normal, she spun it in the air and deftly grasped the sides of the blade, flinging it down next to the pile and wedging it behind the trigger and it's guard of her own weapon. She wasn't pleased about leaving her knife, but if there was one thing she learned from her friend while singing in the seedy parts of town, was that anyone could be subdued without a weapon, wearing armor didn't change that.

That said, she would likely be relying on Deacon to help her out on that should it come to such. She stepped forward through the scanner without hesitation, rubbing her palm as she did so.

 

[Stovaa]

"Wasn't aware there'd be any Senators here. I'm here to guard Miss Montreal, and honestly, if I wanted to hurt someone, I'm over seven feet tall and built like a tank. You think a knife would make me more dangerous?" Stovaa paused, drew the knife and held it aloft, letting it gleam in the light. "But fine, I'll leave it here. I warn you though, I get it back chipped, blunted or anything other than as it is now, I'll throw you into that hole outside, alright? This isn't just a knife, it's a reminder of every struggle, every life and every victory I've come across."

He stepped back through the scanner, pulled out the small leather holster, slid the knife back inside and strapped it to his rifle. He headed back through it again. "I imagine the only cutlery we get is spoons, and there aren't any objects that could be weaponised? I mean, it'd be pretty bad if you de-armed everyone's bodyguards and a lone madman went on a rampage using a candlestick or a kitchen knife."

He looked the nearest Unique up and down a few times. "...And what process do you girls go through before selection? In my experience, beautiful women who are trained killers have a good chance of being out to kill someone. You vetted by any government bodies?"

 

[PlaidMage]

Method watched her squadmates pass through the scanner one by one, noting Tweak's reluctance. She had found that there was something off about her, but she hadn't determined just what it was - after all, just about any irregularity in a Freespacer could be explained away by the fact that they were a Freespacer. She decided she would talk to the woman about it later.

She stepped through the scanner behind Claire, waving at the detecting devices cheerfully with her oversized robotic claw. "Hi!"

 

[TeslaTornado]

Noboru removed the UCK strapped to his lower thigh, the .45 Service Pistol around his waist and the Variable Rifle on his back, placing them each on the counter. He noted, much to his amusement, that he might be able to get away with taking the Variable Rifle through the gates. It was little more than a glorified pellet gun, after all - it would only hurt someone with light armor, and the battle-armored Uniques wouldn't even bat an eye. He'd seen the rifle's combat effectiveness firsthand, and thusly preferred his pistol as his primary weapon; station collateral and Cassefin's regs be damned.

He shrugged as he moved into position behind Method, and when his time came he stepped through the detecting array.

 

[MissingNo]

"Ma'am, we're aware of your Freespacer background, and we have seen that you are not carrying concealed weaponry, but..." the Unique continued, shifting her weight onto the other slender leg. "If you could refrain from removing your suit, we won't have a problem with your presence at the conference. Your suit does contain your radiation, correct?"

Tweak nodded at the same time that Cassefin interjected. The Unique's comment gave her pause, though. They were "aware" of her background? How did they know who was on the squad?

The neko engineer thought about it a bit while walking away from the scanner. It was entirely possible that Cassefin had been required (or volunteered) to deliver a briefing report concerning who was going to be in her entourage, including backgrounds. Also possible that the head admin had given fake-yet-accurate backgrounds for all of "Squad 101".

That part's over and done with now, though. Remember the information, but don't worry about it if you can't do anything, Tweak thought to herself as she went over to stand in an out-of-the-way spot that happened to be near the squad leader. As she did, she noticed Method looking at her.

To outside eyes, the small squad member was standing at ease, face forward. Behind her visor, though, Tweak was unnerved by Method's attention, particularly the odd look on the other Freespacer's face before walking through the scanner. It was if Tweak were a mystery to her. Didn't all Freespacers have access to the same information? Tweak wasn't sure how the Polysentience worked, especially not in the restricted form that was available on the Cirrus. Maybe it was like a conventional network; you had to look up information to know it. It wasn't a hive-mind, she knew that much just from what she read about Dream and the other Freespacers she had met.

Maybe I should introduce myself. There isn't anything on her in my memory, so maybe she is new to the squad. Tweak nodded mentally, making a note for later. When they weren't surrounded by potential enemies without intel, for example.

 

[Cora]

Serra placed her Service rifle down along with all the others, along with her near constant companion, her tool satchel. After waiting for all the others to walk through, she followed along, making sure she was able to fit through the scanner, wings and all. Then afterwords, demanded her satchel back.

"It contains nothing but simple tools, there are nothing that can be considered a serious security risk. Unless people are worried about being conked on the head by a socket wrench." She said plainly through her mask.

 

[MoonMan]

"The CEO of Vinross Yu-Cranker, Laj Vinross Yu," the Unique replied to Stovaa in a very serious, matter-of-fact tone. "Is, in fact, the current senator of the Delsauria system. So, yes, we are taking into consideration the more rambunctious of the invited crowd and making sure they aren't armed with anything that could promote bad behavior. So don't worry; I'll take good care of your precious butter knife." The Unique's condescending tone was almost palpable as she accepted Stovaa's combat knife and haphazardly tossed it into the bin.

As Stovaa stepped through to the other side, Nell gave him a short smirk, finding the exchange between the two a little amusing. She had to strain her neck slightly to gaze up at the large ID-SOL before giving him an answer to this other question. "I was recruited in Funky City 'bout three months ago. Jus' took a couplah tests, made me read dis fatass rulebook... all that jazz. Not too sure where th' restah th' goils" the silver-haired Unique explained her recruitment process just as another Unique approached her from the side.

"Nell, why aren't you wearing your helmet," the Unique's outgoing voice module spoke in a low voice. Apparently the communication systems for the Unique's armor was stored inside the helmet; the faceless Unique's tone seemed to imply that she had been trying to reach Nell for some time. The short, plain woman shrugged and held her helmet aloft. "If they want me tah wear dis thing, they shoulda made it sneeze-proof; I told 'em I'm aloigic tah all dis sand."

---

After Purina Popjoy had finished her own scanning process, she began to walk to the area where the others were congregating... but was halted by two Uniques who had been waiting for her to finish. The pink-haired administrator squeaked in surprise as the two women impeded her direction, looking between the two as one of them spoke to her.

"Miss Purina? The R&D lab has the animal we found earlier in the week, and they want you to take a look at it before you attend the Eco-Eco Summit," the Unique said, featureless faceplate motioning slightly along with each word. "If you would follow us, we'll lead you there and you'll still have enough time to join the rest of your group before the meeting starts."

At first, Purina didn't seem all too enthusiast about the idea... apparently, Squad 35's bickering on the shuttle to the facility had put some rather fearful ideas in her head. But with some short, wordless coercion from the Unique behind her, Administrator Popjoy straightened up and gave the rest of her companions a forced smile. "Umm... alright. I... guess I'll see you all soon!" Purina said, waving shortly as she was led to a secondary terminal leading to another part of the facility. Cassefin turned her attention to Purina until she was out of sight, making sure to hold back any individuals who would have wanted to go with her... she seemed to believe they were better off escorting herself.

---

When Squad 35 had all finished passing the checkpoints, Nell led them to one of the nicer personnel elevators along the wall. The silver-haired Unique allowed everyone to enter the elevator before letting the door close behind her. The carriage itself was large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably, the walls and floor decorated with a plush velvety red material. Nell mashed one of the buttons on the control panel up in the front and leaned against the wall near the door with a sigh and a smile. The small contingent of Cirrus Station personnel could feel the elevator begin to move quickly downward, into the heart of the complex running alongside the sinkhole.

It was long, however, before a small bit of turbulence shook the elevator, emitting a low rumble. The light fixture above them flickered for a moment as things seemed to return to as they were, but Nell didn't seem too happy with it. "...th' hell wuzzat?" Nell mumbled under her breath as she looked aimlessly at the ceiling.

After a few seconds, another shockwave seemed to hit the elevator... this time knocking the lights out completely, the elevator coming to an abrupt halt in the shaft. As Nell, apparently not expecting the sudden change in vertical velocity, stumbled to the ground, a series of faint yellowish lights began to glow along the top of the elevator.

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten, after feeling the first vibration that shook the elevator, steadied his legs. Since the Unique escorting them didn't seem act like this was normal, he decided to act on experience and steady himself just in case something else happened. It did, and when it did, Kokuten only stumbled a few short feet before he was able to regain his balance.

"Hmm..." Kokuten thoughts simmered for a moment, Now now, this doesn't mean some thing has gone wrong. A simple malfunction, or mistake with the machinery.

"Is everyone alright?" Kokuten started as he walked over to the fallen Nell, guided by what lights the yellow lights offered, squatting down and offering an obligatory hand along with his question. "I'm assuming that this is not a common occurrence?"

 

[Cora]

Serra looked up at the ceiling and frowned behind her masked faceplate. "Looks like some seismic event knocked out the power sir." She said through her audio system. "So much advanced equipment and they can't even design an independent elevator power system." She muttered.

 

[Dragonnova]

Much to Claire's displeasure, where Nell decided to fall happened to be where the geshrin was standing. As such, she soon found the unique to be falling on top of her own failing footing as the elevator shook. The internal communications between Claire and the rest of the squad gave out a short and loud burst of static as the woman spat some curse while shoving Nell off of her.

"Yeah... how convenient. Disarm us then trap us in an elevator. This will be a wonderful trip." This was said in the tone of someone who was barely biting down on the spite and hate they were restraining themselves from displaying.

Claire slowly stood herself up, wishing she had a gun to point at the unique with the unarmored head, but for now she would have to settle with stepping on her neck if she made any sudden movements.

 

[MissingNo]

Serra looked up at the ceiling and frowned behind her masked faceplate. "Looks like some seismic event knocked out the power sir." She said through her audio system. "So much advanced equipment and they can't even design an independent elevator power system." She muttered.

"Maybe they did have an independent power system and that one went out," Tweak murmured over the squad's radio, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she tried not to panic. The tension from the situation was bad enough without claustrophobia coming into play.

Close-quarters, no room to move, stuck...

Survive. Evade. Resist. Escape.

NO!

Tweak closed her eyes and shook her head to clear the whispers of her Tactical Operating System, then tried to distract herself by looking around and switching through her vision modes to give the tactical mind something to do other than make her anxious.

<visual mode change>
"Note: Selected vision modes are passive by default and require external radiative source to be effective."
<set wavelength detection parameters>
>initiate mode: "x-ray detection (short range)"
>>{0.010nm, 0.020nm, 0.030nm,...10.00nm}
<scanning...analyzing... ... ...>
<continue> <abort>
>CONTINUE
>initiate mode: "ultraviolet detection (short range)"
>>{10.00nm, 11.00nm, 12.00nm,...400.0nm}
<scanning...analyzing... ... ...>
<continue> <abort>
>CONTINUE
... ... ...

If anything showed at all through the sides of the elevator, she would see power conduits and other energy emission sources as she rotated through vision modes. The electromagnetic disturbances and auras acted like small light sources for her, casting 'shadows' where solid objects blocked or partially blocked the normally-invisible radiation, helping her determine basic material compositions and traits which she could use to guess at the details as well as spot weak points or damage, but probably only in the construction of the elevator car unless they were passing through the complex now instead of still heading toward it.

Whether or not she actually found something useful was not a goal, though, unlikely as it was to begin with. And Tweak wasn't able to keep up the scanning for long as the data streams gave her a headache after a while. She gathered what she could and let her TacOpSys have its distraction as she closed her eyes and tried to imagine being inside a maintenance tube on the Cirrus instead of in an elevator who-knew-how-far underground...

...and before she could stop herself, she knew how far down she was. The disturbed engineer mentally hissed at her tactical mind, which had so helpfully offered that information.

Thank you very much...now would you kindly shut up?

 

[MoonMan]

Nell seemed to be too preoccupied with the current situation to mind Claire's harsh tone, also ignoring Kokuten's helpful gesture as she quickly got back up on her feet, gripping her helmet tightly in her hair. The silver-haired Unique put the opening of the helmet to her ear and listening intently. "Command, what th'fucks' goin' on?!" Nell practically yelled into the inside of her helmet as more rumbles shook the elevator shaft. The team could make out faint sounds echoing through the shaft, mostly loud voices shouting.

Tweak's sensory scanning would find interesting results, to say the least. It would appear that immediate power was not only cut to the elevator, but nearly everywhere she could sense, save for a few key areas with remarkable amounts of interference. Were she still attempting to intercept the transmission signals floating through the air, Tweak would also hear several new things; the encryption that was previously present seemed to no longer be in effect, however the messages themselves were broken, numerous, and far too frequent to make much of the din other than a few key words which seemed to be turning up a lot in all of the transmissions: attack, terrorist, pirate, Code Rose Red, and Secure Victor Yalta.

"Gawdammit!" Nell said after a few short moments of listening to her helmet's built-in radio. The situation must have been urgent, as the Unique attempted to put her helmet on and immediately raised the reflective faceplate, the mess she had made before still obscuring the one-way material. "Awright, jus' stay calm-like. There's some sortah attack happenin', an' it's pretty big," Nell explained as she attempted to force open the door of the elevator. Unable to get enough leverage into the small crack between the sliding doors with her bare hands, Nell backed up a step and attempted to jam the large stiletto heel of her armored boot. It took a couple shots, but she had managed to use the awkward fashion accessory to her advantage as she forced the door open enough to finish with her hands. It would appear that the elevator had been caught leaving a floor, as the upper part of the doorway opened to one of the floors, the lower part blocked by the shaft wall.

"Youse guys will be safer in here, I think they're aftah the CEOs," Nell spoke quickly as she attempted to scramble up into the crevice leading to the floor. It took her a couple tries; she was rather short in stature and the distance was well above her head. Eventually she was able to grip the ledge after discarding her weapon in order to use both of her hands. After she was out, she got back on her hands and knees and peered back into the elevator. "So jus' stay here, I'll come back aftah with more help aftah I know it's safe. Hand me mah gun," Nell finished, looking down at her rifle on the floor. Behind her, several shouts were ringing out through the hallway.