RP: YSS Heartbreaker [Mission 3] Call My Name And It Feels Like Home

Docking Ring, Unidentified Ayame-class Cruiser

The Kourui aligned itself with the docking ring and Ingrid stacked up behind the sprites wielding her LASR. She fidgeted and flexed, twitched and tensed, waiting for the jammed door to be pried open. A clunk sounded and the door began to creep open. She aimed through the gap as the airlock door was forced aside by Veronika. She lowered her rifle’s muzzle as Bettie stepped across, raising it again and then lowering it as Veronika moved across her sights. Both of the sprites vanished into the darkness of the derelict and Ingrid’s rifle came up again. She waited.

The call came all clear and Ingrid stepped across into the ruined Ayame taking it in. The scorch marks, the fallen bulkheads, the pits and cracks, the spatters and smears of blood, the shreds of cloth, the wreckage, and the dangling wires. The corpse.

Ingrid’s eyes were drawn to it. As she looked over the body, she found herself surprised by how much she retained control over her response. It was so desiccated by vacuum that it looked sanitary. Not a wet, rotting mess, but a dried flower, a decoration kept by war.

As Edtoto scurried across the walls and the rest of the squad entered the ship, Ingrid holstered her rifle and pulled up her scanner. The chemical analyzer was utterly bored with the vacuum so she pulled the attachment out and let it float in the air in front of her while she reached into her bag to get the lifeform scanner. She stodged it in and put away the chemical scanner attachment. She ran the scanner through various settings, probing randomly for anything she could find. Once she was done with that, she put the emissions scanner in and ran through another series of settings, just to see what she could see.

Kourui Shuttle

Skade tilted her head in thought as her attempt at reassuring Edtoto was shut down. She does have quite a few abilities that I didn’t know she had before…I should pay attention to aliens more often. As the Vekimen continued to talk, the Neko wondered how she could better word her response. Yesh. An entire race of agoraphobes? What’s their homeworld like to produce that?

Well, I'll worry about that later. Let’s see what this ship has to tell us, Skade thought as the shuttle mated with the cruiser’s docking ring. Looking at Edtoto, she noticed that the alien’s suit didn’t look very pressurized. Wait…she doesn’t need a pressure suit? Dang. Let’s just hope she doesn’t need armor…

Ayame Cruiser, Docking Ring

Augh! the Neko thought, looking at the blood splattered hallway. Not cool. She chuckled a little at the Vekimen’s scurrying along the walls, investigating every nook and cranny. If the scene wasn’t so macabre, that would be cute. Passing by the symbol, probably something to do with Uesu’s fleet? I think I slept through that class, she went to the elevator and looked at the mess that the shaft was, along with the body. Rest in peace, comrade.

Hmm…this is going to be a pain to clear. Maybe I can use my Sabre to cut and loosen the rubble? Taking a moment to activate her nodal module, the Technician popped out a couple of Nodal Support Bits, leaving the bits to hover at her shoulders for the moment.

“Ma’am,” the Neko said, after Edtoto had announced her willingness to crawl through the rubble, “If we do send her in, I’d like to send one or two of these bits in with her to get us a video feed and also protect her some, you know, just in case.”

Ayame Cruiser, Docking Ring

The corpse and war-torn ambiance of the docking ring did not put any reassurance of a non-violent incident in Hasewega as she took up the rear of the team. The butterflies in her stomach began churning even more as the situation slowly began dawning on her. Whatever did this must've been overwhelming to force everyone off this ship, though she couldn't fathom what it is or if it was still even on the ship judging the damage to the docking ring. She watched as the Vekimen of the team move across the walls before stacking up with the rest of the team near the elevator.

The young infantrywoman moved up with the group, silently listening in on them devising who should squeeze through into the elevator and scanning the scene. She kept her rifle lowered but ready in the event there was some form of contact, if any on this dead cruiser. She periodically peered behind her in case something somehow got behind them.

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

The corridor was dark, although Veronika and Bettie had activated the flashlights on their weapons and Mindys during their entry sweep. The display on Ingrid's scanner was also well lit, although it was up to the others if they wished to activate their own lamps or rely on other types of visual input from their Mindys. Much like the alien, who seemed comfortable enough in the darkness.

The small drones Skade had released also had no trouble seeing in this environment, although they hadn't ventured far from the Neko yet. The bits had less than a minute of charge available before needing to recharge. An active CFS would keep them buzzing about as long as they could slip back into range fairly often, but activation wasn't recommended with a non-combatant nearby who didn't have proper CFS shielding of their own to protect them. For now the bits buzzed out for a moment, poked into the debris filled area, then popped back into Skade's hanger module to report their findings.

It was likely that Edtoto could squirm her way through, with her suit to protect her from sharp bits of debris, but the stability of the tunnel was still in question. One of the crew in a Mindy could also likely slash or blast their way through the barrier, although that risked damaging to ship or causing further complications. There were also other docking bays and lifts that might possibly provide a way forward, although there was a good chance they were all as damaged as this one before them.

Ingrid's scans didn't find anything immediately dangerous in the area, no radiation to be concerned about and no chemicals leaking or lurking. The blood on the walls was definitely hemosynth, and the body belonged to a Neko, although there were a few curious readings. Some of these same inconsistencies also popped up in scans focused on the bits of blood and flesh staining the jagged metal crammed into the lift shaft. It was hard to make any conclusions without a more direct examination, and that was difficult considering the mess and the current state of the body. There were no other active life signs within range, beyond the away team and their guest.

Docking Ring, Ayame-class Cruiser

Ingrid racked her LASR onto her shoulder mount and got the life form analyzer out again. She warily approached the crushed neko, the muffled sound of her boots' magnetic clamps attaching to the floor resonating through her suit with each careful step. She kneeled down to take a closer look at it, but with all of the debris in the way, it was hard to see anything unusual. She signalled to Sara and said, "Hasawega-hei, come over here and help me shift some of this debris. Let's try to get this body clear of the rubble. And Bettie, can you give us some light?"

Ingrid wasn't sure what she was looking for. It may take a detailed laboratory analysis to find out just what the unusual sensor readings were being caused by, but maybe there was something obviously different about her. Ingrid reminded herself of the peculiarities of older nekovalkyrja models, such as their fewer fingers and weird digestive capabilities. As strange as those aspects were, she had to consider them as normal right now.

"Use your support drones to spot and make sure it's clear of all the debris. I don't want to accidently tear it apart while we shift it," Ingrid said to her helper, deploying one of her own drones to peer inside the wreckage. "The lack of gravity should make this pretty easy."

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Hoshitomo-shoi was unusually quiet on the ride over to the derelict vessel with her squad in the Kourui, her demeanor serious and business-like as she observed the relatively uneventful docking procedure and unloading with a careful eye. Perhaps even a degree of simmering tension for reasons unknown was present, though underneath her Mindy's helmet it was difficult to tell as she took in the scars of the battle that had occurred here with her weapons ready. The Neko had definitely been fleeing from something, abandoning ship in a hurry under small arms fire... and not all of them had made it, either. Seeing the team taking the initiative, she gave an approving -- though largely silent -- nod to their efforts, especially the alien's surprising adeptness at navigating this environment.

But then something caused her to break the quiet with a light gasp, as her visuals caught sight of the black and white emblem on the wall next to the Hinomaru that Veronika was studying quizzically. Rin, however, knew exactly what it represented, an icon that was burned in her memories so deeply that she could never forget it...

Taking a step closer towards it to verify it truly was authentic and not an optical illusion, the teal-haired soldier couldn't help but recall a time when she was a little girl tugging on her father Yoshi or mother Masako's grey sleeves when they came home to Yamatai from their military campaigns on the frontiers for leave. The same patch was on their blue berets as they smiled down at the young Rin, eager to hear their stories of the victories of the mighty UE Spacy over their enemies across this and even other universes...

"This logo.... it's the Uesureyan Star Empire's," spoke the XO over the comms with a bit of shakiness in her voice, suppressing her nostalgic emotions to remain focused on the mission. "It hasn't been used since YE 21, when the Grand Star Army was formed from the merger of UE Spacy and the Army of Uesureya. But the Ayame Class Cruiser was only brought into service three years later in YE 24... and no Uesu's Fleet ships like the Heartbreaker have used this symbol before. So why, then, is this here?" There was a long pause as this question didn't have an immediate answer, though Veronika could feel the weight of Rin's gaze passing her way in the vain hope she might know something of the Emperor's recent heraldry that the Shoi did not.

The sudden recollections of her parents did however spur the Minkan to action now, her tense feelings only getting more justification. "Investigate the remains here another moment, and take care using CFS modules too close to Edto as she is unshielded. I'm going to quickly check the next docking bay over in the ring... there may be a clearer path deeper into the vessel, or a similar scene as this." Rin launched her handful of built-in nodal bits from her leg hardpoints in formation down the curving hallway a fair distance, as she held the ellipsoid shield in front of her protectively with LASR at the ready to shoot over it's partial cover. If anything like Parasites jumped out, she was more than ready to ward it off the team's position... though in truth, part of her simply wanted to see if the USE symbol was ubiquitous on-board, or if only this particular bay was an outlier.

Ayame Cruiser, Docking Ring

Hasewega nodded as a couple drones from her armor while moving to help with the debris. The drones zipped by and around the wreckage , relaying a feed through to her suit's HUD as she looked around for any risks of damaging anything further. The body was still stirring some discomfort inside her and the XO talk about Uesureyan Star Empire started bringing back a small tinge of her father's judgement to sting in the back of her mind. She froze for a moment before glancing over Edtoto, the previous events with the Vekimen starting to inch back to the dominating the thought.

The infantry women shook her, she needed to focus and not think past mistakes. As soon as the drone finished their search, she gave a thumbs up to Ingrid. "It's clear." Her quiet voice carrying over the radio as began moving the rubble away.

Ayame Cruiser, Docking Ring

Who’s an idiot? I’m an idiot! Skade thought as she recalled her bits back into their hanger. I’ll pop them out when I have more room to maneuver…and the extra firepower is necessary. Turning the night vision and thermal vision of her armor on, she looked at the other soldiers as they dug through the rubble and at Rin as she talked about the old Star Empire. Wait…when did Uesu leave? YE 30? Plenty of time to get some Ayame cruisers in his fleet before he left. As for the logo…maybe he’s got a little power hungry out here in the fringes of space.

Keeping Edtoto in the corner of her eye, the Technician put her Sabre-Rifle to her shoulder, covering the entire group. I really don’t trust this whole, ‘there’s no signs of trouble,’ tripe. Something killed the Nekos on this ship and no one else is dying on my watch, if I can help it.

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Veronika stood up straight as Rin gave her that look. "I recognize the symbol only from the education on Uesu-sama that we were created with. We were all expected to know the history of the Ketsurui royal family. But I never saw it in use on board our ship." She turned towards Bettie, who glanced back and shook her head before hearing Ingrid's request. "Haaaaaiiii~!" She cheerfully complied, rotating around to stand on the ceiling with her lamps beaming down onto the debris, focusing on the body as best she could while the others worked. Veronika watched Rin walk down one of the corridors after giving her orders, and there was a short pause before she turned to walk the other direction.

Rin found a similar sight at the next docking bay, just out of sight of the group due to the curvature of the ring. A damaged airlock and signs of some sort of skirmish, and a destroyed lift. There were no bodies that she could see. Well, nothing in one piece. From the large splatter of hemosynth and other biological materials, along with the much more intensive damage done to this airlock, it seemed likely that one or several crew members had been killed in some sort of explosion. Whether it was used to prevent them from fleeing, to damage the airlock to make it inoperable or to destroy it entirely and provide an escape route was unclear.

"Hoshitomo-Shoi, I have found further damage in the other direction. This lift is also destroyed." Veronika's voice piped into Rin's helmet, followed by pictures of her view of the docking bay she'd taken it upon herself to investigate. There was much less blood than the other two Rin had seen firsthand, although this time the airlock seemed to be half melted on this side, as if someone had taken welding equipment or something similar to it. "From my examination, I would conclude that the lifts and airlocks were purposefully destroyed. If hastily. And this was done well before the power and engines were shut down. The...escape attempt would have had to take place when the debris initially settled, before gravity was removed." She was silent, as the feed from her camera shifted to a view of the nearby, useless control panel. It was marked with the same symbol as the one Rin was staring at in her bay.

With several pairs of eyes and hands working together, the now weightless chunks of metal were able to be delicately shifted away from the body, clearing a space around it for Ingrid to partially free the corpse. The head and body had been crushed in places, one arm pinned to her side and the other, outstretched, was badly mangled. There wasn't enough left to attempt to identify her, although it wasn't like any of them would recognize the nameless Neko. Several of them did recognize the dried husk attached to her neck, right below what was left of her skull.

Even though Edtoto had no idea what the strange little worm-like creature was, or had been, the sight of it, head lodged into the deceased Neko's neck, was unsettling. The reaction of several crew members, including Bettie's high-pitched yelp as she back-peddled across the ceiling, sending her light source bouncing unhelpfully away, was not at all reassuring.

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Skade hissed at the corpse. NMX parasite! Reacting with all the speed and desperation her training had beat into her, the Neko flew over the heads of her comrades, lit her Sabre mid-flight, and stabbed the corpse of the squid into the deck. Well, the Technician thought, lifting her weapon off the NMX carcass, that was probably an overreaction, but…oh well. “Sorry, ma’am,” she said to Rin, turning off the Sabre. “I guess that NMX training did stick.”

Cutting the rest of the parasite off of the dead Neko, Skade wondered at squid presence out here. Why is it always these things ruining our day? Ehh, she shrugged. At least it isn’t giant crabs.

Edtoto was prepared to crawl through the Elevator to see what was on the other side. The body didn't bother her, but the Heartbreaker crew seemed to want to move the elevator for her. No problem by her. She "Sat" patiently on all fours, allowing her starkly less advanced magnetic system do the real work of holding still. When the rest of the body was revealed, however, she was more shocked by the reaction to the worm than the actual worm itself.

To demonstrate her naivety in regards to what the worm was, she reached out and grabbed the corpse of it. She brought it up to her visor and examined it closely. Anyone who spent any decent amount of time observing the Lizards habits could probably tell she was looking to eat it... as she had the nasty habit of trying to do to anything organic.

"This is... interesting. I have not seen a life form quite like this. It seems a little odd for such a reaction, though, yes?" She asked, examining the group. "I take it this is a problem?" She asked,

Docking Ring, Ayame-class Cruiser

"Okay, here we go," Ingrid said as she gently tugged the body's legs. She grimaced at the injuries the cruiser's crewmember had sustained from the debris and rolled the body over onto its back, revealing the parasite embedded in the neck. "Gah!" she yelped, and scrambled away, losing her footing on the deck plates and pushing herself into freefall. She fumbled for her LASR as Skade burst into action, skewering the parasite with hot Aetheric energy. Ingrid made awkward noises as she flailed her limbs trying to right herself, before using her gravitic organ to get her feet attached to the deck plates again.

"Is it dead?" she asked, as Skade excised the rest of the parasite from the neko's corpse. She looked at it, then at Skade and asked, "Was it dead?"

She watched with horror as Edtoto took the monster in her hands and examined it. She'd gotten to know Vekimen well enough to have an inkling of what was going through Edtoto's head. She suppressed a gag, then explained, "It's a Mishhuvarthyar; one of the smaller forms. You don't ever want one inside of you under any circumstances. It burrows into its host and suborns its nervous system, taking control of them. So yeah, it's a problem.

"Shoi," she called, "we've got Mishhu here. We found a parasite lodged into that body." She looked closely at the thing in Edtoto's hands, not wanting to actually touch it herself. What was left of it was clearly desiccated. "It's all dried up in the vacuum, so it was already dead, but who knows what else is on board."

She unholstered her LASR as she looked around, taking stock of the situation. She looked at the elevator lift and then at Edtoto in her nimble little suit. "I guess we need to press on. Edtoto, if you can get into the lift shaft, go for it. Try not to shift any debris while you're in there. Vibrations travelling through the metal could alert someone to your presence."

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

The infantrywoman took a step back first and aimed her rifle at the husk before Skade flew over and and impaled it. Hasewega barely stopped herself from pulling the trigger from the suddenness of the flying neko but kept from blowing a hole in her by accident. She paralyzed in for a moment, her heart beating loudly inside the suit. She reached over and tapped Skade on the shoulder. "Please do not jump in front of me." The soft whisper carrying some concern over the radio.

Hasewega stepped back and looked at the parasite in Edtoto. "Hopefully the lack of any life-support systems has killed most if not all possible threats on the ship. Still, if there's anything hostile left on the ship, I'd rather we find it than it find us." She nodded over to the dead neko. "We should hurry this up."

Edtoto just blinked. So it was a parasite. Interesting. She would have to keep that in mind for further references. Meeting whatever race these parasites are a part of could be a brutal affair. Regardless, she had a "Job" to do, getting down this Elevator shaft. "I'll keep you informed of anything I may see of interest then" She said simply with a two finger tap on her visor. She knelt down and quickly slipped through the shaft. She was careful not to shift or bump into anything, but it seemed like a passive concern more than anything...

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

The withered parasite was torn away from the body by Skade's vengeful stab, burning out a large chunk of its midsection. The corpse was also damaged even further, neck ripped open as globs of blood and flesh began to lazily drift about. Bettie slowly recovered her courage as the others examined the parasite, explaining the danger to their alien friend, who could now only think of the dangerous meal as some sort of rare and exotic treat, likely as delicious as it was poisonous. Edtoto would have to puzzle that out later, and do more research on these Mishhuvurthyar. Surely at least one species had to be edible...she had heard one type referred to as a crab, after all, and her studies had promised her those were considered very delicious.

Veronika returned as the others finished removing the corpse from the lift, further widening the hole for Edtoto to explore. Strangely, Rin was lagging behind in her investigation. Perhaps she'd circled the entire ring to determine if every connecting point and airlock was similarly damaged? Bettie immediately moved to her partner's side for comforting, as the assembled Heartbreaker crew members watched Edtoto eagerly slither her way through the debris clogging the lift shaft. She was able to cling to one side of it, taking a similar route to the unlucky Neko host. The hole they had already widened for her was easy enough to squirm through, debris being gently nudged out of the way as she went.

At the end, another set of lift doors were half open, one of the sides having tipped over into the corridor, making it easy for her to wriggle free. The other crew members could dimly see her at the far end, getting her bearings. The ship was laid out somewhat similarly to the Heartbreaker, but on a much larger scale. The hallways were the same size, so it wasn't threateningly wide at the moment. There was another body nearby, floating on her back near the floor, torso torn open as if something had clawed its way inside. Or outside. A few other lumpy shapes hovering further down the hallway were just as still and nonthreatening to the Vekimen.

The nearest door seemed to lead to the Bridge, an area of the other Star Army ship that she had been denied entry to. There was noone to stop her now, although Edtoto didn't think it would be long before the crew members followed her, now that the path was widened.

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Being one of the infantry within the unit, Hasewega decided to take the initiative and try to help move the sqaud into the breach after Edtoto by moving some debris. If there wasn't away get through, then she'd at least dig out enough of a space to poke her rifle through and cover Edtoto Though she tried to be delicate, she was a little more heavy-handed with pushing and pulling some of the debris out of the way to get to follow after the vekiman. Hopefully this wouldn't cause too much of a disturbance, she thought to herself.

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Skade barely kept herself from giggling at Ingrid’s reaction to her acrobatics, nearly oblivious to either of her comrade’s rifles that were pointed in her general direction.

“Yeah, Ingrid,” the Technician said in response to the scientist’s question. “I’m pretty sure it’s dead.”

The Neko got really confused when Edtoto picked up the parasite and looked at it hungrily. She better not be thinking about that thing. Thankfully, Ingrid explained the situation and the Vekimen kept the parasite away from her mouth.

Before the group made their way through the elevator shaft, Skade was surprised to have Sara come talk to her, even if it was to tell her to not get in the infantrywoman’s way. Yeah, I did jump in the line of fire, didn’t I? Couldn’t help getting a little excited. Good thing Rin wasn’t here, huh? Over the radio, she replied, “Sorry about that. I’ll keep behind you from now on.”

After Edtoto went down the shaft, the Technician saw what Sara was doing, and helped her shift more of the debris out of the way, so the rest of the crew could get down easier…and a quicker exit could be made if this whole thing went south. “Once we get enough room for the Mindys to pass through,” the Neko said over radio, “You guys go ahead. I’ll stay here, clear the rest of the shaft, and keep an eye out for the XO. I can turn on my CFS now that Edtoto is out of range, so the drone bits can cover me while I work.”

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Ingrid watched Edtoto disappear. She swept her rifle across the area behind the team as they began moving the debris. She furrowed her brow and radioed, "Hoshitomo-shoi, Edtoto is advancing down the lift shaft. We're clearing the debris so we can follow her. Do you copy?" She waited a moment for the reply, then she radioed to the Vekimen, "Edtoto, keep us updated. Anything of interest down there?"

It took a few minutes for Sara and Skade to clear out the debris. Once there was enough room, she listened to Skade's plan and nodded. "Sounds good. Veronika, I'd like you to stay with Skade. Sara, Bettie, we're going to go down the lift shaft." She looked at the Minkan already halfway into the shaft and said, "Hasawega-hei, you're on point. Let's follow our lizardy friend and see if we can find more clues."

Edtoto was curious about what had happened. The bodies were mangled, and the one she was looking at was eviscerated by something. She could see where the bridge was, and she pushed herself across the lift so that she could head towards it. Then she heard Ingrid over her radio, a little startled. "Well, there is another dead body. Eviscerated. Do you think maybe those parasites did it, and if so, can they survive in a Vacuum?" She asked, the magnets in her gloves and boots sticking to bulk again.

She pushed herself off, using the moment of free fall to increase the heat of her suit. She needed to be alert and figured she wouldn't be here long enough to kill her batteries. She inched into the room, her rifle at the ready. "I'm on the bridge. I haven't noticed anything, and I can't see any unusual IR readings" She said, floating to one of the bridge computers. "There doesn't seem to be power to any of the computer systems. Maybe if we get the ship running I'll be able to do more. Get the defense systems up and hope they aren't broken and such" She explained, still incapable of starting the computer up.

Ayame-class Cruiser, Docking Ring

Veronika nodded in response as Ingrid laid out her plan, having to pry Bettie off of her before shooing the other Neko off with the others. Sara was able to wriggle down the lift shaft without scraping her Mindy against any debris, which was now able to be safely wedged out of the way. Ingrid and Bettie had an easier time following her, now that the path was clear.

"Roger that, Blesi-Hei." Rin responded to Ingrid's call before her voice traveled to the other crew members, although Edtoto was temporarily left out of the loop. "I located another lift that appeared to be partially cleared of wreckage. I've located Engineering. Veronika-Hei, could you...one moment."


Ayame-class Cruiser, Bridge

Edtoto was easily able to push open the unpowered door to the Bridge, finding it undefended but not quite abandoned. Another fallen Neko had been half-slumped against the door, body drifting away as the alien crept inside. Other corpses were still at their stations, some belted in and others floating nearby. They seemed to have perished when the life support systems failed along with the power, although a few showed signs of familiar injuries to their necks, backs or stomachs. Moving to the closest computer without a body blocking her view, Edtoto didn't have much to work with.

"I think I can fix that, Officer Sivaro." Rin had picked up on Edtoto's broadcast, and remembered to include their guest in the conversation this time. "There were signs of a skirmish, but Engineering was largely unaffected. The hallway outside was scorched, but..." She trailed off, before Edtoto noticed the console flickering to life, lights powering on. Sara, Ingrid and Bettie had made their way through the shaft and could see the Bridge coming alive through the open door. "Emergency power activated. Now we just need life support...gravity..." Rin was half mumbling to herself as she informed the others of her progress.

They could feel a hum through the hull of the ship around them, as power was gradually restored. More lights flickering on, air beginning to circulate. This background noise was drowned out by a loud crash as all of the debris in the lift shafts suddenly slammed back into place. Skade watched as her path to the others was cut off, leaving her stranded with Veronika for the moment. Various bodies thudded to the floor, new splatters of blood and gore created all over as weight returned to the corpses.

"There we are. Didn't seem to be any damage. The systems were just...off. Strange. Now if we could just get the MEGAMI and the eng-" Rin's running commentary was suddenly cut off, as the communication abruptly ceased.


Ayame-class Cruiser, Engineering



Ayame-class Cruiser, Bridge

The main screen on the Bridge flickered to life a few moments after the crew members joined Edtoto. It had apparently been observing Engineering before the ship had powered down, so the view returned there. They were able to spot some sort of unfamiliar, humanoid shape on screen, standing over what was easily identified as a fallen Mindy, before the picture disappeared again. A large 'ACCESS RESTRICTED' warning appeared in its place, flashing red.