RP: ISC Phoenix [Interlude 2] - We know what we want

RenCorp, Factory Floor
Surprised, Luca looked over to Makari. "Oh, hey. Enjoy your burger?" he asked before looking back to Seiren. "So basically its untouched by human hands in the creation process? Hm, guess you'd get good stamps for hygiene."

Then Luca considered something. "Would the air where you're gravity hammering this candy together be clean?" Of course, he had no idea of the specifics, but he was onto something all the same. "Or would it be a vacuu-hmmh?" He looked down at something on his shoe, raising an eyebrow at what he saw.

It looked a bit like shimmering... glitter? He flicked it off of his boot and it spread onto the floor by Seiren's feet into a larger pool of glistering glitter, then looked back at Seiren, legitimately surprised. "How do you do that anyway?" He wondered as he scuffed his boot against more of the glitter.


Lady of the Night, Lounge
"Mm." Melissa sighed non-committally as she grabbed herself a cock choc, reaching across Enzo into his duffel bag of pilfered goodies, grabbed and bit into it. What would normally elicit a wince from anyone with such tools only progressed to further horror as she chewed down the rest while the opening credits and spiel started to play on screen.

The usually snippy sniper started to mellow out, a sight that would've made most men who knew her reputation confused and perhaps even more frightened. Her head resting on Enzo's thigh as she chewed on the rest of the chocolate and started watching, now merely content instead of looking for someone to deck.

As the episode progressed and Melissa's head slowly looked up at Enzo midway through a calm period where Jack a "So why does this Jack fella go t' such lengths 'bout his clones? How'd 'e get 'em?" She asked. "'ow many strings 'e have to pull to get..." she tried counting the clones on her fingers. "Four? Five 'o them, now?"


Crimson Kestrel, Roof
Rebeka could hear the roof access hatch opening, and then a metal arm peering out of the hole. Then another metal arm, followed by the rest of Echelon climbing up and standing there. "0H41." She waved to Rebeka, not expecting company on the roof as she made her way over. "G4Z1NG 4T TH1NGS?" She asked as the Freespacer automaton sat down next to the Sourcian to look at things. The strange geometry of the Sourcian didn't seem to phase Echelon in the least, at least compared to other people. Echelon had copper wiring to reroute her uncanny gut feelings most of the fleshbags would feel. Hell, even Luca's nerves of steel wobbled a little when the non-euclidean lady was around.

Echelon always felt as though Rebeka's shape, with a neck too long, hands big enough to grasp an entire head, legs as tall as a person and a curved back; she looked more like a representation of a person, an anthropomorphic Lorath. Rebeka could hear the camera in Echelon's head focussing and looking deep into the distance, around Sargasso. The rest of her body was perfectly still as the head moved around and the camera equipment inside moved. "C0M3 H3R3 T0 R3L4X?"

Though, it occurred to Echelon that Rebeka probably didn't know what 'relax' was as she gazed at the Ori-Mart and saw Zeta and Shayla's IFFs still there. Her attention focussed over to RenCorp, and she could see the IFFs of Luca, Seiren and Makari together, perhaps on tour. "S31R3N'S R34LLY 3NJ0Y1NG H1S F4CT0RY. D1D Y0U G3T TH3 M3SS4G3 TH1S M0RNING?"

Rebeka could hear the roof access hatch opening. A metal arm peered out of the hole before rising to clutch its edge with a clunk. And then another: up, over and bonk. They whirred, hauling a familiar shape up through the gap: Echelon climbing up onto her feet.

♫ Perigeo - "Pensieri"

"OH41" she nodded in Rebeka's direction, not having expected to find her. "G4Z1Ng 4T TH1NGS?"

She sat down next to the Sourcian. Looking at things had its appeal. For now, Echelon took in Rebeka's shape, not having seen her up close like this before. The strange geometry of her body didn't phase the Freespacer in the least. Then again, she was also cheating: wonderful copper-wiring rerouting whatever uncanny guttle feelings either real or simulated within her that plagued most fleshbags into other places. In this moment though, Echelon felt the way Luca's nerves would wobble around this strange non-elucidean mind called Rebeka.

Her observations continued; neck too long. Hands big enough to grasp a head like it were an onion, shrinking and growing size so easily. Legs taller than people. And a curved back that looked more like some automotive designer's representation of a person or a bizarre anthropomorphic expression of Lorath dynasty.

Ruby eyes shifted as Rebeka caught Echelon staring at her, listening to the whir of camera lens as the Freespacer focused to look deep into the distance at the dreamy tired hungry sprawl that was the Sargasso. The rest of her body was quite perfectly still as her head moved like a CCTV camera.

"C0M3 h3R3 TO R3L4X?"

Echelon's words felt foolish as she realised Rebeka probably didn't even know what relax was or what it meant.

She watched the Ori-mart, seeing Zeta and Shayla's IFFs still there. Her attention then shifted to the new development she'd heard so much about; the new RenCorp building. She could see the IFF's of Luca, Seiren and Makari together, perhaps on a guided tour.

For the first time, Rebeka moved. Laid over the baking hot decking, she propped herself up on elbows. And then her knee, elbow to meet it as her back canted forward. She turned to greet Echelon, though only in spirit with a subtle motion of her eyes. Still perfectly still; no breathing, no fidgeting. Like a lizard on a hot rock in the sun or a statue.

"Factory?" she replied

"Y34H Y0U KN0W, 4 F4CT0RY." Echelon smiled with her words. "S33?" Servos whirred as her arm rose, pointing the structure out. It was quite fresh compared to the rest of the sleepy Sargasso landscape; over in the city's north west, on the edge of the commercial district and by the old aerospace runway.

"It... Doesn't look like a house..." Rebeka began.

Silence returned, hanging between the two. Rebeka took some time to scrutinize the structure she was looking at. She was particularly interested in the clouds of condensation bubbling up through pipe-work and the general sense of business and moving parts of heavy well organized metals within the otherwise unassuming structure. It was almost a full minute now: the second half of her sentence never came.

Echelon could see Seiren's IFF. He was quite animated in his little candyland. Realizing Rebeka was not to continue her sentence, she looked over; neck twisting with a CCTV whir.

"R3B3K4?"

Again, silence.

But why?

Did she function on some different time-frame from the rest of sentient life? Was she running all these scenarios through her head to come up with a good answer like a skilled manipulator would? Was this some sort of bizarre form of deduction found only in literature? Was there some great alien intelligence behind those eyes?

"It doesn't look like a place people woUld live in. It looks uncomfortable."

An aperture clicked into place; something like a blink for the Freespacer who was somewhat taken aback.

"...3R... N0. 1T 1SN'T".

She watched Rebeka again, trying to puzzle her out.

"S31R3N 3MPL0YS P30PL3 4ND M4CH1N3S T0 M4K3 4ND S3LL C4NDY TH3R3."

"...Why does he need other people to do it?" Rebeka frowned. "Is he hurt?"

Echelon shook her head.

"TH3Y H3LP H1M. M4K3 SUR3 1T T4ST3S G00D? M4CH1N3S N0T BR34K1NG?" A quiet hiss of white noise before Echelon threw up her hands with a hiss of joints. "1'M N0T 4 SUG4R0L0M4G1ST L1K3 TH3 K1D 1S."

"...If there are more people working there at once..."

The conversational quicksand of silence returned. Like meditation, the Sourcian was at work.

Echelon debated whether or not this sentence would be orphaned off like the last. She watched the immense focus in Rebeka's features: the way she tracked features in the sprawl.

Maybe she'd get to see Rebeka say or do something amazing and otherworldly, worthy of an intelligence that evolved away from the likes of humanoids like herself.

She could picture it: slow heavy powerful cogs of deduction at work; thousands of years of experience and millions of hours all condensed into something almost mythical thing.

Here it comes...

"...Doesn't this mean he can produce more confectionery?"

Was she serious? Is this a joke?

"GU3SS S0, WHY?"

Rebeka's boots, bonded to her environmental suit met the deck with a pitter-patter of clunks: unwieldy toes like fingers balling up into fists and hiding within the mouth of her shoes between the toe and the heel to appear normal. Rolling her shoulders, Rebeka could feel the wind passing through her features. There was a calling that she couldn't describe.

"I want... To go to there."

Echelon held her position. Watching the Sourcian, the way the mid-day sun struck her, giving her a positively statuesque look from her position. Those strange proportions made more sense if you were lying between her legs and looking up; feet touching Rebeka's strange feet -- undoing the skewing and bizarreness of foreshortening.

"Uh... G0?" she suggested. There wasn't anything stopping her.

The statue turned.

The alien's eyes gleamed. Framed by pastel red blotches to emphasize them, they were for the first time meaning something. In this moment, the seven foot tall monstrosity of proportion and organs did something more alien than Echelon could have possibly imagined: Eyes eager. She could almost hear in silent excitement "Can I? Can I really?" like a child at the fairground. Like a finger on the trigger.

"G0 0N. G0 R1GHT 4H34D."

The very beginnings of a crease formed about the Sourcian's lips as she drank in those words; rising up into something Echelon thought was almost a... Was that a ... Smile? Another slow silence drifted between them before Rebeka gave the determined nod not of a soldier but of a child, someone who had been entrusted with something impossibly important. A crunch of muscle whipped through the air as Rebeka's body rose up like a bullet; sailing through the air to sink on the space-port beneath. The decking beneath crunched with a resounding "whunk"; her impromptu stress-test failed as what had formerly been a large re-enforced metal tile now resembled a cubic shuttle-cock; having failed the test.

Echelon shivered in place as she felt the the gout oof air left behind, watching her desperately trying to catch up with them. Echelon didn't shiver out of coldness; that wasn't even something Echelon was capable of feeling. Rebeka smiled. The beast had in Echelon's own opinion, like, the best poker face Echelon had ever ever seen. Though technically it wasn't a smile.

From the docklands, Rebeka glanced back one last time back up at the Crimson Kestrel, watching Echelon. It was like watching a wolf in the distance acknowledge another atop some distant hill. And then she turned about, disappearing.

"Oh, that's easy, i- WOAHMYGODWHENDIDYOUGETTHERE!?" Seiren sputtered, nearly jumping out of his skin from the sudden appearance of Makari. "How long have you BEEN here?"

The inventor puffed his cheeks at Makari in frustration as Abhiya turned up - with a handheld vacuum cleaner. The snake stooped down to vacuum up the glitter as Seiren finally responded, "Do what? The injection process? It's kind of complicated but yeah it does involve a vacuum. . . and as for you!"

He made a dangerous gesture - pointing his finger at Makari like a gun. The nerve!

"I'll have you know, I've made some pretty dangerous things! I've made a spice bomb that's just as effective as mustard gas, but only mucks up an area for a few seconds - so you don't need to wear a mask after hitting a guy! And I've got some really cool things cooking, just you wait! Just you wait!"

Meanwhile, the reason Abhiya returned was unknown, but she tossed the vacuum to a nearby working before patting her suitjacket down giving a nod of recognition to Seiren's new visitors. "And you all are? . ." She asked, not exactly showing pleasure at their appearance.

Orimart

"Sorry only thing I ride, are bikes and Luca," Zeta replied to the giant neko. She then proceeded to take you her communicator out and ringed Echelon. She let the volume up so Shayla could hear. "hey Echelon you there? Got any idea where Tamano went? She kind of ditched us. I am worried she might get into some trouble."

Sargasso, Ori-Mart
Zeta got a reply quickly. "1 S4W H3R, Z3D." Echelon's voice could be heard from Zeta's phone. She was looking at the two from her lofty perch, spotting their IFFs in the Ori-Mart. "SH3'S 0N TH3 CR1MS0N K3STR3L, 4RR1V3D 4FT3R V1T4 0N LUC4'S M0T0RB1K3 F1FT33N M1NUT3S 4G0."

"BY TH3 W4Y, D0 N0T 4TT3MPT T0-"

A Rebeka-shaped blur ran past the front of the Ori-Mart, and in her wake was a trail of wind, paper and rubbish that caught up in her rush. A startled citizen thought they'd seen some manner of sprinting beast, and stumbled backwards into Ori-Mart's exterior glass, looking behind them and looking at Zeta and Shayla before trying to go on with daily business. Other citizens and Fruna Ruica con-goers were similarly startled by the huge, indistinct running monster, some trying to take pictures and video.

"-ST0P R3B3K4. SH3'S 0N 4 M1SS10N. WH4T W4S TH4T N01S3?"


RenCorp, Factory Floor
Luca pointed to thumbs to himself. "I'm Luca Pavone, but you might know me as Captain Phoenix of the ISC Phoenix~" He flashed his winningest smile at Separa'shan, wiggling his eyebrows. "Seiren makes my gadgets, like this here." He opened his right hand, sheathed by the Grapple Stunner, though the sleeve of his jumper had hastily been rolled up to accommodate for it properly. He snapped his fingers and produced a brief spark.

"Spice bombs and candy with singularities in the middle are only the beginning with this kid, trust me," Luca chuckled as he ruffled Seiren's hair, though it had the unintended effect of rubbing static electricity through it and making his hair stand up. "He's a reliable kid who's earned his keep."

In that sentence, he was genuine for his feelings about the 'kid' who usually got no respect for being short, for being girly, for playing with toys and candy well beyond his years, but Luca found something equally whimsical and resilient in how Seiren kept a shred of innocence, mirth and joy close to them at all times. Something Luca had lost a long time ago.

He lowered his hand with a disarming smile and pointed his thumb backwards to the cowboy by his side. "And that's Makari. Phoenix personnel, good crack shot too."

A low rumble, met with the repeated clunking like the hooves of a horse billowed in the distance, slowly building into a near deafening crescendo. A black blur poured through the factory door with a "wham!" of metal, gliding like thrown oil and then with a and almost deafening bang smashing into the wall opposite those within.

The air filled with smoke and dust, the monster in question a shadow amongst it all.

As the smoke finally died down, Rebeka stood: One foot on the ground, one firmly in the wall. Setting her hand upon it for support, she tried several times to remove her foot, bringing bricks with it the third time.

Her gaze was calm but her shoulders rose and fell, panting without drama, another brick falling from the wall. She was scuffed but the wall had come away worse off from the experience of her impatience.

"The Freespacer said you'd be here. Is what she said true?"

"Phoenix. . . like the energy drink guy?" was all Abhiya managed to get out before the Sourcian blur blew past her, throwing her hair around like she was outside during a storm. Silence fell on the group while Rebeka. . . extricated herself from the wall. It was even longer after Rebeka's question before any of them finally answered her.

"Well, you're looking at me, ain'tcha? Also, Rebeka, don't break my factory! I just got it!" Seiren said, fixing his hair from Luca's ruffle. The snake nearby just stared, slack jawed at the display until this.

"Are any of you even HUMAN?" Abhiya asked in some form of twisted irony of the term, all the while pulling her hair back over her shoulder and running her hands through it. "Alright, everybody out! This factory needs to be shipshape and I will not have your. . . associates wreck up the place before it is even finished, boss!"

Seiren could almost taste the venom coming from the snake's tone, wincing on that punctuated last word. "A-alright, c'mon guys, let's leave the workers to their work," he said, running over and taking Rebeka by the hand before attempting to push Luca and Makari out. Abhiya glared at the lot with her slit eyes.

Rebeka's gaze shifted from Seiren, scanning the bowls of the factory - scenting the air and then back to him. She repeated the process several times, increasingly disappointed in ways that couldn't be expressed, as her expression never changed.

Though... Was this the equivalent of puppy-dog eyes?

Orimart

Zeta quickly ran out of the store, the commline still in her hands. She scratched her head and watched the setting dust in the distance. If there was a time to say 'too late' it was now. Zeta wondered what the hell was going on, but she did say to Luca in past that those Lazarus people will be trouble. Zeta just hoped it will be just some silly trouble and nothing threatening.

"Well Ech," Zeta replied to the freespacer. "Too late. She just ran by at a speed of light. She ran into some building and I mean directly into a building. It is a good think Lazarus covers for her, might get expensive."

Makari chuckled at Serien's flustered response. "They cal me a cowboy, but I appear to have some ninja blood, huh? Oh, I'm sure you have made deadly devices. But this one just sounds like it makes some great candy. I'm ok with either/or." he replied with a smirk. He turned to Luca. "Burger was great, boss, I saw your kid cycle racing. Was pretty great."

Ori-Mart

Shayla barked a laugh at Zeta's response. "Hey, don't knock it until ya try it! Flyin' is definitely one of the best perks." She paused to listen to the communication, head suddenly jerking to attempt to follow the blur as it rushed past them. "What the hell!?" It took her a moment to add things up, as Echelon and Zeta continued to speak. "...she better be careful, or they'll start callin' her the Sargasso Streak and expect her to rescue runaway baby carriages and shit like that." She chuckled.

"Guess we found where the party's at, Go-chan. I ain't runnin', though." The giantess began to walk towards the slightly damaged building Rebeka had been so eager to get to, bare feet slapping the ground. "Luca might wanna keep her under control, can't have her crashin' into buildings left and right. People around here might think he failed this city if that keeps up."

"Eh, they never really tells you." Enzo replied, his hand working around the bag for a pair of edible panties in 'sour watermelon' flavour. His other hand, meanwhile, was working around Melissa's waist out of curiosity, gentle fingers feeling for scars or just taking in the details of the sniper's midsection. Enzo watched Jack 5 read over the instructions for the kaserine-laced spaghett sauce and added, "Since it's supposed to be more about what happenses when yous gots all these clones doin' their own things, they just made the main guy rich an' yous kin just assume he spends his money on most shit so yous kin spend more time thinkin' about what the clones's gonna does next. Savvy?"

"Also, eh...." Enzo looked slightly away and cleared his throat a bit before continuing in a soft, almost manufactured complimentary tone, "You, eh, you got soft skin on yer tummy, there. That's, uh..." He cleared his throat again, "That's nice."

RenCorp, Outside
The tour group found themselves pushed outside into the courtyard of RenCorp. Seiren was yet to glitz the courtyard up since there were a couple of planted trees and some greenery, but there must've been something he had in mind to introduce guests with to make it his. For now, Luca found himself pushed out onto white concrete. He saw Shayla on the way. "Hi Shayla," he said, looking at the footprints she was following, followed by the footprint in the wall to his left.

The culprit was hand in hand with Seiren, the lanky woman stepping gently and awkwardly, bent down to ensure her companion didn't come to harm. "He's got it under control." As far as Shayla knew, Seiren seemed to be Rebeka's handler, since he spent the most time with her. "Cheque's in the mail, okay kid?" Luca told Seiren, regarding the damage.

It was about midday in Sargasso now, the breeze was still cooling the sun tanned city and its inhabitants. The radio still played beachside, synthetic tunes. Apparently David had found some stuff by the Super Earbrickers and managed to decode it a couple of nights. It was being played because it reminded him of his old home before moving to Sargasso.

♫ Goemon's Great Adventure - Worldly Town ♫

"I think the tour's over, Shayla, we better head home and let Seiren get things sorted out." Luca patted the Neko Hulk on the shoulder as he walked past, looking behind him, he gave Rebeka an order, "Rebeka, follow me please." He knew she always followed through with orders from him. "Seiren will be home this evening with a treat, I promise."

Please get her a really, really big rock candy or something to tide her over, Luca sent to Seiren, knowing full well how Rebeka was without Seiren, and especially when she was teased with an abundance of sugar. She's going to be all restless while you're out and surrounded by sugar!


Lady of the Night, Lounge
Two blue eyes followed Enzo's fingers as they pushed against a stomach. "Oi," Melissa said. "Erryone got a soft tummy, Enzo. Even big Delsaurian wildebeest do." She'd know because she'd skinned quite a few for their pelts and meat. "Bet ya got a bigger tum than me wid all that whiskey 'n lager." She reached over and poked Enzo back.

Clearly some mickey was being taken as the conman was poked in the abdomen but Enzo was correct. Melissa had a healthy figure from the training regimen that Luca put his Phoenix crew through when he felt like enforcing it. Enzo had seen that muscle move and take good shots that'd saved someone's ass, sometimes even his.

Then something funny happened on the TV. One of Dave's clones, the one who spent his time trucking around the galaxy and doing as they pleased, had to hide someone in the back of his truck because the cops were getting snoopy, but he had to move in a hurry because he was over schedule. Gunning it, he forgot to let the person out and they ended up being delivered along with a man's office furniture. The hidden person was very unhappy about this since the recipient thought that it was a bonus.

"Bloody 'ell 'e don't check 'imself before 'e wrecks 'imself eh?" Melissa pointed out.


Crimson Kestrel, Vita's Room
Tamamo could hear the door opening in her sleep. She could hear something being placed on the chair next to her. She'd been asleep about half an hour, but still one eye open, proverbially. Then, she felt something dab her face, a cloth to dry the tears away, followed by a pat of the forehead before footsteps proceeded to walk over to a desk, sit down in a chair, and start doing some typing.

"Hoplite..." Tamamo heard Vita's voice mumbling to herself as she finished typing. "Damn thing doesn't have a hull. First thing's first... durandium... hmm, maybe an alloy... we might have an engine on hand, might be able to build a volumetric interface... cockpit controls need a SPINE put in... shit where am I going to find that... might have to bother Echelon..."

Tamamo heard all of her mumbling, and by the sound of it, it seemed the girls had a project on their hands now, with Vita taking the helm while Tamamo was taking a rest. She was getting her ideas together and taking inventory. "Where the hell are we going to find guns for this, or shields... hrm... maybe the big scrap yard..."


A FEW HOURS LATER...
The news bulletin that evening made a note of Rebeka's run through Commercial Lane to RenCorp. Zeta found that her enormous purchase from Ori-Mart was delivered intact, just as David had promised. John took the receipt and filed it away after running the numbers.


A WEEK PASSES...
As predicted by the news report that week, the rest of the week was pleasantly warm and sunny, with a breeze cooling things down. The weather was starting to go from hot to pleasantly warm as the breeze picked up and some humidity begun to seep back in.

The Fruna Ruica left a couple of days after the Phoenix touched down, thankful for their services in rescuing their ship. Allison was noticeably buoyant even after they'd left, but once things had to get to business, things got to business quickly. She was back to modelling and fabricating parts for the Phoenix's needs. Especially since Tamamo had a fixation on the gutted Hoplite that was sitting in the hangar, a project spearheaded by Vita as a sort of "girl's get together", except with a gutted aerospace fighter and spare parts instead of a doll house and an overpriced miniature hat.

Melissa, meanwhile was spending her days trying her darndest to unwind, and could only do so when she was sufficiently boozed. She ended up watching most of All My Clones with the ship's resident psychopath here and there. John, meanwhile found himself keeping an eye on things quietly, using the time to keep an eye on the cheque books and make sure the inventory was up to date. Echelon helped when it suited her, and kept an eye on the data streams for word from DATASS, or anything about Soruk's family. So far, it'd been quiet on both fronts.

Meanwhile, RenCorp, the first week was spent getting acquainted, inputting the recipes, and getting operational. The intake, mixing, cooking, cooling, packaging and storage lines were operational. Wade reported that the new-fangled Gravation system was working as anticipated as a trial run. Abhiya was pleased that nothing had gone wrong operationally so far at the management level, and got to meet Lina now that the Fruna Ruica madness had died down and lined the town's pockets.

Though, now that Rebeka knew about the place, Seiren had to keep an eye on her whereabouts so she didn't raid the sugar silo - not difficult with the Phoenix's IFF system keeping a tab on everyone but she moved quickly. And the wall was fixed too, thankfully.

Over to the rest of Sargasso, Cass found herself liaising with Lina, finding that with the increased wages and a stage built into Lina's Palace now, she could live her passion and sing for a legitimate employer while the team was in Sargasso.


Crimson Kestrel, Mess Hall
Luca, sat down for breakfast with whoever else was nearby, having cooked himself a meal of eggs, bacon, toast, sausage and beans. The sort of meal you get from Nepleslia, high in protein, low in fibre unless you used wholemeal bread like Luca did, and heavy on the cholesterol. Maybe Nepleslians were bulletproof because of hardened arteries. During the week he also noticed an absence of rabbits. The rabbit in question hadn't left her room all week, and nobody had seen her eat - either because she wasn't eating, or because she was doing it when nobody was awake. Red would've noted the occasional midnight attack on the pantry.

"Nothing quite like it," Luca complimented his handiwork as he impaled some bacon, beans, a bit of egg white that was over easy, a square of toast and finally a bit of sausage onto one fork, and ate it in one bite. Crunchy bacon, chewy beans, crispy egg, warm toast, bountiful sausage. A good way to start the morning as he washed it down with his morning tea. "Hey Red," Luca got the chef's attention from across the mess hall "Melissa told me someone's arriving today to live with us. Who is it?"

John was enjoying a cup of coffee and some toast with hazelnut spread while Vita sat opposite Luca with a datapad in her hands projecting a hologram of a Hoplite, and a checklist on the pad. Allison was drinking her coffee on the go, drinking from a liquid breakfast carton from a straw in one hand and her mug in the other. Melissa was sharing a heart-starter first drink of the day with the assembled company, and watching people trickle in from the living quarters.

Curiously, Red didn't respond immediately to Luca when he asked the question. He dipped back into the kitchen proper, and dimly, over the din of the kitchen's overworked dishwasher, he could be heard saying something, followed by a loud clatter. What came out of the kitchen next was a comically large stack of comic books, seemingly supported by a pair of skinny brown legs that teetered haphazardly under the load. Red followed the stack of books (and possibly a person) back out, pausing only to remove his heat-resistant dishwashing gloves and rubber apron.

The stack of comic books rushed to Luca's side, where it deposited the stack next to Luca's breakfast (knocking the plate askew, how rude) and revealed itself to be a girl. Her body language only seemed to speak of nervousness and excitement, indeed, she could barely stand in one place.

"OhmygoditssocooltomeetyoumynameisPiat." The words coming out of her were fast and staccato, almost impossible to understand. "CanyoupleaseautographallthesebooksI'myourbiggestfanpleasepleaseplea-"

Redrick smiled, the first time anyone on the ship had seen him do so in the past week. "She just got here earlier this morning boss. This is Piat - spose the closest thing I'll get to a daughter. She's a uh, big fan of Captain Phoenix, and when she heard about my new j-"

"My CPU almost overheated." She seemed to calm down somewhat, but she was still talking very fast. "It would've been very embarrassing."

"I'll say. You got our stuff off the shuttle so quickly..." Redrick shook his head. "Anyways, everyone. I hope you all get along with her, and I'll try to keep her pestering all of you too much. She gets 'excited' around people."

"Hey!"

"What? S'true." Redrick rolled his eyes, and Piat stuck her tongue out at him. "C'mon, let's get back to the dishes. And take your comics back off the table, the boss doesn't wanna sign all that during his breakfast."

She grumbled, and gathered up the collection, following Redrick back into the kitchen, dragging her feet all the while.

Crimson Kestrel, Mess Hall

A pair of quiet impacts followed shortly by a second pair, louder and closer, then a third and a blur of blue, grey, and pale violet and Tamamo settled in a modest kneeling position proper enough as to have been befitting a Samurai, if she hadn't been wearing a large grey poncho that turned her into a deformed cloth cone with a head. That and she was kneeling on the ceiling. Her rapid and energetic entry had was the result of a discovery while exploring the information networks and had become her method of choice around the Crimson Kestrel in recent days.

Settled in now she slowly pivoted her head, wide dark jade eyes focusing in on the room's residents focusing in on what each of them as well as briefly examining the information her internalized HUD displayed. His food seemed to have been displaced and there was no apparent reason for it though perhaps the unfamiliar voice in the kitchen area was the cause?

Elsewhere John seemed content and self contained with his breakfast encouraging Tamamo's eyes to slide elsewhere touching on Allison, and Melissa, who seemed to be enjoying contrasting breakfasts of convenient food, and some form of alcohol a thing she hadn't quite discovered the purpose of.

Her gaze eventually settled on Vita, an ally of sorts and one of the crew that she had seen the most of. Tamamo's mind flashed back to the distorted memories, fear, a lack of understanding, an attempt to hide in a safe place. Being moved and against all expectations comforted and cared for.

After waking up somewhere warm, safe, and soft, with things making much more sense and none of the stress of before Tamamo had asked plainly why Vita had been so nice only to get the answer, 'I get it from Dad mostly.'

They had talked for a little before Tamamo had eventually gone on her way, and since then Tamamo had seen much of Luca's daughter while darting about between her myriad of self assigned tasks that had kept her very busy during her first week in Sargasso.

As it stood Vita had proven to be surprisingly helpful with the restoration project involving the Ki-V1 Hoplite that she had unexpectedly discovered in the Crimson Kestrel's cargo bay. Reviewing recent events she considered her brief time spent learning the basics of piloting from John, the acquisition of schematics, piloting simulations, as well as help procuring materials all courtesy of Echelon, while Allison handled fabrication of needed components between helping with the assembly when she could spare the time.

Blinking slowly and shaking her head Tamamo re-scanned the room before retreating inwardly content to review information quietly while waiting for a good opportunity to harass the chef for her first of many intended meals throughout the day.

"Rebeka, there isn't any candy here yet anyways! They're still buildin' the place!" the inventor chided the Sourcian. He made a note to put in for a few nonlethal sentry turrets before he rejoined Abhiya in the factory.


~~Present Day~~

Seiren rejoined the lot looking. . . tired. His hair was a mess, he had a dead gaze in his eyes, his shirt was wrinkled. In fact, the only signifier of terrible sleep that was missing was the lack of bags under his eyes.

"Uuuuugh. . ." he groaned like a brain-eater, heading into the kitchen and retrieving a box of Captain Phoenix cereal ("Put some Punch in your breakfast!") filled with twelve essential sugars and cardboard for one's daily diet. He nearly broke a bowl, trying to retreive it from the top shelf, and proceeded to spill half a cup's worth of the sweet, sweet styrofoam breakfast stuffs onto the counter before heading to the table. With dry cereal.

He set to eating it with a knife, before realizing that wasn't physically possible and switched to a fork instead.

♫ SpongeBob SquarePants Production Music - "Tomfoolery"

Seeing the colorful vacuous crunchy chunks, Rebeka stood in the kitchen, seemingly out of nowhere. Rather than her typical bodysuit which screamed of high performance matte motor-cycle aesthetic, space-suit, pilot-suit and carved onyx statue, she instead wore... clothes?

A loose gray tank-top and what Seiren could have sworn were boxer shorts; feet covered by sandles. It was rare to see her skin like this: gleaming white but not the usual slick quality she had when peeling her suit off: matte and mortal, worn by the air itself.

Glancing slowly to Seiren, she took the box, lifting it and placing it back on the top shelf with great ease. And then she did something strange: hand down flat onto the cereal on the counter, swiping slowly. The colorful mess disappeared like a slug over leaf as she mopped with her hand; within a few moments the cereal gone. She repeated the process with the floor before searching the cupboards.

Knees up in the air above the table, the Sourcian met her chair with a thud as she sat down; in her hands a navy blue and bright radioactive cyan ball in nebulae swirls with white dots, framed with purple gradients. There were two of them, each the size of a tennis-ball. They clacked in her palm as she revolved them with careful movements of her finger in baoding fashion: the sugary spheres tainting her pure white fingers, the sticky residue gradually vanishing as it was absorbed.

She sat with her wrist on the table doing this, eyes on the balls as they went round and round. Apparently this was what constituted breakfast.

"Is something wrong with your spoon?"

Crimson Kestrel, Mess Hall
Seeing that one of the comic books had been left behind by the little kid named Piat in their haste, he paused his breakfast to pull out a marker, flip to the blank spot on the first page, and draw his signature in black, then waited for it to dry and closed the book gently. A big fan with all the enthusiasm.

Luca knew that look in Seiren's body language as he stumbled towards the counter with his empty bowl of cereal. Luca grabbed a carton of milk that was on the table and poured it into Seiren's bowl, making the cereal taste as intended, and while he was at it, he placed a spoon in the bowl. "Kid, pace yourself a little or you won't be able to run a factory like this." Luca advised, seeing that Seiren didn't even take a day off for this. Passion was a hell of a drug. "The weekend exists for a reason you know."

Vita looked up at Tamamo on the ceiling and gave her a nod. "Hey Tam. We still have to get the cockpit's volumetric UI and the last spare parts of engine sorted today." She asked. Tamamo knew that it wasn't far from a test flight. "Allison, did you make those hoses and pipes like I asked?"

Allison sipped down the last of her breakfast in a box and nodded. "Yeah I'll deliver them down-" she took a sip of coffee to wash the quick meal down "-as soon as my coffee's done."

"Great, think we'd be able to do a test flight?"

Allison scrunched the breakfast in a box and tossed it behind herself. It landed in the bin with a swish. "I'll need to take a look at the right hand fusion ramjet. It had some stutters in it after I adjusted the throttle to deal with a lighter hull. You and Tamamo can work on the cockpit and UI. Ech gave you the right software and hardware?"

"I think she and Tamamo wrote their own together, yeah." Vita replied, then looked up to Tamamo. "Hear that? We might have a test flight!"

Meanwhile, Luca was wondering where Rebeka's recognisable suit had gone. "Going au-natural, Rebeka?" He asked as he watched her 'eat' breakfast with her hands. He then asked, "Has Seiren been sleeping alright since the factory opened?" It seemed that his concern for the 'child' was common ground for them.

Crimson Kestrel

Shayla was following Tamamo at a distance, more likely unwilling than unable to keep up with her. She was picking up some weird habits, but as long as she stayed in good health, they were harmless enough. After hearing about the young Neko's little breakdown at the candy factory, she'd been keeping a closer eye on the rookie. She didn't interfere with her new hobby or any other activities, just made sure she actually remembered to sleep and eat at all of the proper times, logging her vitals once a day. She seemed to be settling in well enough for Shayla to stop worrying, and seeing her heading to breakfast so energetically reassured her.

The Amazon had kept herself busy securing her hold on the space set aside for a Medbay, locking things down just how she liked. Which was an odd mishmash of proper Star Army regulations, Nepleslian disorganization and frontier jury rigging. Settling into her assigned cabin with her old belongings and new, taking trips into town for 'fresh' air and the company of friendly strangers.

"Hey, Cookie, what's for breakfast?" She bellowed to Red as she headed through the kitchen first, spotting the old man. And a mobile pile of comic books. A step closer and she could easily look down at the person on the other side. "Eh, who's the kid? Comin' with?" She ruffled the girl's hair with one giant hand, giving her a quick look. "Need a checkup, physical, all that crap? Er, wait..." Shayla squinted a bit closer. "...or should I send her off to see Ech instead?"

Soruk walked in the room, using the door for once, with news learned earlier still distracting him. He shook his head and glanced around the room, taking note of all the inhabitants before making his presence known, "Greetings." Simple, fitting for addressing a group. The crew had probably figured out by now that the gartagen didn't talk too terribly much, especially in groups. With some grace, the blademaster maneuvered around the other people in the room to reach the refrigerator, fetching a fruit from within.

He sat with a bit of distance from the group, observing while idly eating his choice breakfast. It was... 'good' to just watch and listen to the antics of the rest of the crew. At the very least it was distracting and at its best it was mildly entertaining.

For the rest of the crew, it was a somewhat rare occasion to just see Soruk 'hanging out' around the ship, even more rare to see him eat. If anyone had a question or proposition for the illusive blademaster, it was a relatively good time to ask.