Zack
Inactive Member
"This is the freighter long haul to YSS horizon, come in horizon," Came the voice of someone who was paid to sit on their ass while they watched a machine do all the work. The being in charge of running the freighter continued to run his gums from the small cockpit compartment of the freighter transporting the first shipment of Leistung group property in its many holds of its segmented, caterpillar like body. "I hate doing runs inside of nebulas... can't see a damn thing." The captain thought out loud before returning to his radio in an attempt to find the horizon. His ship had recently dropped out of FTL travel before entering the Feynar cloud that the NC facilities occupied. With a burst of fire from its drive system the ship shoved itself through the cloud toward the location it was p
"YSS Horizon responding. You are entering NovaCorp protected space. Identification is required to proceed." Blared a loud computerized voice. "Repeat: Identification required before you may proceed."
"affirmative horizon, transmitting authorization codes now. " With a lethargic grunt the captain scooted forward on his chair and brushed a container of powder covered pastries out of his way as his large fingers fumbled around for a swipe card on his dashboard. He swiped the card through a slit on the panel in front of him and flipped a few switches, sending the data to his primitive radio array and then to the horizon or anyone else within range of his transmitter. As he waited for the next response he slouched back down into his seat, "do do... dum dum do..." He hummed.
"Confirmed Long Haul. Welcome to NovaCorp space, enjoy your stay. Proceed to dock gamma. beacons deployed to indicate your safest path." said the voice and a rough line of radar pings were sent out as guidance beacons activated.
"Affirmative horizon," With that he reached up and flipped a pair of switches to turn on his auto-pilot and give it control of the maneuvering thrusters. A series of thrusters on the ship fired to alter its course and bring it in towards its destination.
The vast bulk of the modified colony ship came into focus through the clouds of dust. Dwarfing the smaller transport as it closed, a bright patch near the rear of the behemoth vessel grew wider - the docking bay doors slowly grinding open.
The captain of the transport pushed a bar to its side, flipping a series of switches that lowered all of the 16 supports that allowed the ship to land. With the ease of a professional the captain took hold of the control stick and levers in front of him and guided the ship into the landing bay, setting it down softly and waiting for the external door on the horizon to close before opening his own cargo bay. "Hello horizon, docking successful on this end."
A completely different voice came through the channel this time - human. "Welcome aboard guys! This is Grant, I'll be down in the bay in just a moment. If you would like to tell your passengers to leave the ship captain? Unless, of course, you are with the group. In which case... no, you must come yourself anyway! Your journey must have been tiring... so feel free to make use of our R and R facilities."
"Thanks for the offer Mr. Grant" The captain replied, "but I have a schedule to keep. Once they finish offloading I am out of here. The doors on either side of each segment of the transport opened and folded down into ramps, exposing the various heavy duty crates and a small group of people.
"Roger that. Grant out... and thank you captain." said the director over the radio as a small group of security officers trooped out of the irised hatchway a few meters from the ship, accompanied by Grant himself. Folding away the portable radio, he shouted "Welcome, one and all, to the good ship Horizon! I trust you had a good journey?"
"About as good as you can get for a cargo container," Came a female's voice. She was dressed in a form fitting black bodysuit that covered the entirety of her well endowed body, leaving only her head exposed. Draped over her shoulder was a small black oxygen mask that had a hose which traveled over her shoulder and into the down jacket she wore over her entire outfit. The small remnant of people in the group were all dressed in regular street cloths, the kind of type found on Ayenee even though that was a rather broad category. Some had a typical shirt and tie, others robes, while still others just wore baggy pajama looking outfits. "I'd love to see what you have in the way of RnR," She started, "But first I'd like to be show to the areas that have been rented out. I'd like to know we have
"Alright miss....", Grant paused for a moment, "Alright. We'd better get introductions done here before anything else. I'm Grant Williams, the science advisor of NovaCorp. These are minions number three, seventeen and two-one-two." He grinned at the security team's annoyed expressions. "Don't worry boys, you can meet them informally later!"
"Well then, I'll look forward to meeting you a bit more informally later," She said the scientists starting grabbing the crates and pushing them along. Built in anti-grav generators allowed the crates to float above the ground and move with a minimum of effort, "Officially I'm going by the name of Harm while I'm here. I'm in charge of security for the group members as well as keeping things running smoothly. They aren't supposed to talk with anyone while on the ship about what they are working on but I'm sure we shall all get to know each other very well regardless." She flashed them all a charming smile.
Grant looked her up and down, taking in the suit. "Harm huh? wow... not to be rude, but that ... fits your attire!" He chuckled and returned her smile, continuing "No... i joke... anyway Ms. Harm, would you and your entourage care to follow me? It's a very short walk to your assigned labs, we made sure we could get you close to the bays for any transport you need." Smiling again, he turned and walked back toward the hatch, flanked loosely by the guards
She simply nodded to him and followed as did the rest of the people in the transport... eventually. They didn't come off as a very highly disciplined but in the field of RnD that wasn't such a bad thing.
striding down the dingy corridors with the security guards in tow, Grant seemed in his element. "Come on people, we don't have all day!" He called over his shoulder. "You'll need to get settled in quite quickly, unless of course you want to move to a different location on board - it's the ship time dinner break in a few hours, and after that there's no opportunity to grab food until tomorrow... unless you have change handy!" he nodded to a vending machine set into the wall as he passed, then turned suddenly and disappeared through a brightly lit doorway
Harm followed as did the procession of people pushing floating crates. "This is long haul to horizon, My unloading is complete and I'm heading out of the cloud," With the last of the containers removed from the ship its doors closed and landing gear retracted as forward thrusters pushed in clear of the docking bay and turned it around to face outer space. "What currencies do the vending machines accept? Probably only the KS?" She asked.
Grant looked distractedly at his radio uplink and murmured ingratiatingly, "Thank you Long Haul. Have a safe journey!" then folded it closed. "Yes... they accept standards, I'm not sure what else. There's documentation for them somewhere but I never got around to reading it..." He grinned and gestured widely around the spacious, well lit room they had entered.
"How do you like it? You have basic equipment in here, more advanced gear in the next room along, " he pointed to another door in the opposite wall, "and we've taken the liberty of providing you with a pair of fabricators. If you don't know already, you can program them with molecular codes, shapes... lots of stuff, and they'll make it for you. Comes out pretty hot though..." he winked and stuck a hand into the open hatch of the closest fabber. "I took the liberty of preparing this earlier." he drew out a small cube of dull metal. "Iron. the edges of the cube are straight down to the atomic level, so don't touch them..." he murmured and held it out to Harm
"this looks sufficient, but the final say will go to the science team when they are finished setting up. If you can, we'd like to get a blueprint of this room so where know where all of the interfaces with the ship are and their power outputs ect. I'm assuming it will be alright if we make modifications to this room to accommodate our unique pieces of equipment." Harm picked up the cube by the faces with her fingers and examined it, "Do you believe in a god?" She asked.
"There is a saying that when you see a 20 ton beam held above your head by a string is when you truly start seeing god in technology." harm chuckled to herself slightly, "In any case I'm looking forward to working with you. Any chance you could give me a tour of the entire place while my associates start getting things in order around here?"
"Of course! Where would you like to start?" said Grant. "I assume you mean the R&D sector, although the rest of the ship is just as easily accessible."
"I'd like to start with the RnD sector, the living quarters, and everywhere in between." Harm said.
"And I can give you the grand tour!" Kip sprang into existence with a *pop*. "I'm Kip, resident AI, pleased to meet you." He reached out his had to greet harm, while still standing two feet in the air.
"Well that answers a few questions about the nature of your ship," Harm thought out loud as she extended her hand to shake with what she assumed to be a hologram in front of her, "I have a few questions I'd like to ask you later if that is alright,"
Her hand slipped through his suddenly, less than solid form. Kip found this hilarious. "Of course, ask away. I can tell you anything I want."
Grant jumped backward, startled. "Wagh! you have to stop that Kip! Gonna do my heart in!" he yelped, blushing at his reaction. "Um... yeah. Harm, this is Kip, Kip, this is Harm, the leader of the Leistung group" he said quickly, trying to catch up. "Um... Harm... do you want a tour from Kip? It would help, because I still have some admin work to do..." he paused, aware that he nobody had been listening to him. "Err... yeah."
"Don't worry Grantie. I'm always listening." Kip tugged on Grant's ear lobe, still floating in the air. He laughed and flipped backwards. "I look forward to seeing these wonderful experiments, I love science, and since Ephesus has gone things have become dull." Kip put on a exaggerated mournful expression.
~not solid?~ she thought to herself as her hand returned to her side, "That is fine, I'm sure we'll bump into each other later on" She briefly tuned her head to flash him a courtesy smile before looking back at Kip. "Quite the energetic one... and looking at experiments is just what I wanted to talk about. What is the extent of your presence on this ship, or should I say your ship?"
"Total. I see pretty much everything. And I mean everything," He gave a knowing wink, "But if you wish for privacy, I'm sure some form of arrangement could be made." He bent over and picked up a scalpel, rotating it between his fingers at great speed.
Harm couldn't resist a playful grin back and a witty retort, "Well if you've already seen all of me shouldn't we get along to seeing all of you?" Her grin returned to a more serious expression soon afterwards, "In any case privacy is the main reason we are out here and its one of the things I would like to discuss with you."
"Right. To both" Kip crossed his legs and floated serenely in mid air. Naked. "Discuss away."
Harm shook her head, "I'd like to know that your sensors in the lab we have rented are disabled along with the sensors in the group's living quarters. I'd like them to know I'm the only one spying on them." She took a moment to look over the hologram's nude form, "You body artists were quire detailed weren't they?"
Kip glanced down. "Yes, I suppose they where. Anyway, you want to rip out my eyes?" He waved his hand over his eyes, revealing empty sockets.
"Not rip them out," She said, point to her own eyes to emphasize her point, "Merely cover our more sensitive places," Again, she covered her more sensitive places with her own arms to compliment her words.
"I'm sure I could limit my sensors in quarters. I'm afraid I can't stop some of them, security, but visual and audio feed I can do. For these labs," He looked around "I'll limit them. Just a few vague scans to make sure your not trying to kill or maim me. And yes, I consider the ship part of myself." Kip sighed. "'m feeling a bit overweight actually. Being over a kilometer long makes you feel like that."
"what type of scans are we talking about? I also assume you won't mind us taking precautions in the lab for our own piece of mind?" She returned her hands to her sides and her eyes to his unique form, "Its long, but not that long," She said, referring to the length of his ‘ship'.
"Depends on the precautions, within reason I don't mind. You value your privacy, I value no-one's, but I think we can get along. And I know I'm not big compared to that Destiny thing. You should her Avatar."
"Well you are already much more than a handful," Harm said before turning to look back at the lab, checking to see if everyone was getting in alright, "May I see the living quarters now?"
"Sure." Kip vanished and then appeared in the hall, clothed now as a museum curator, compensating for his small size. "On your left you will see a metal wall, on your right more of the same. Oh wait, there's a door."
"Artificial personalities are just wonderful, just who programmed you? I'll be sure to be careful around any more of his creations." Harm said as she stepped up to follow him.
"You know, I never searched my memory banks for him. Ephesus helped design a slight update though. nd here we see an exquisite piece of ceiling. He began to walk down the corridor, his head turned 180o around his neck, to face Harm.
"Perhaps we could move ahead to something that I haven't already seen?" Harm asked the AI's face and the AI's back.
"Of course. See you on the floor with your rooms on them then. It's corridors until then, and since you've seen them, you don't need me to guide you." Kip vanished.
"The word WE means more than one person, and those people would be me and you." Harm said, ~Or maybe people is the wrong word to use~ She thought to herself as she tapped her foot, waiting for some retort from the AI.
"Your obviously royalty and using it to mean I." Kip's disembodied voice rang out. "The lift's down the first corridor. Hit the illuminated button. It'll take you to where you need to go." This was followed by some disembodied humming.
Harm followed the lit path to the lift and pressed the appropriate button. "So what have you run into out here in this cloud?"
"Dust mainly. I destroy rocks before they reach me, and I steer clear of the micro-blackholes. Their was one high-light with some pirates which I destroyed. At least I think they where pirates, certainly weren't speaking any language I could understand. Oh, and their was the run in with the Thaxarians. Not much else really." The humming now consisted of eight complimentary melodies.
"Thaxarians? I'm afraid I haven't heard of that one before. Would you mind me accessing your databanks and getting some background information on them?" Within a few moments the lift had reached its destination and Harm walked out, waiting for her guide to show her the next step.
"They're a warrior race with inappropriately advanced technology. I'll give you access to some of the information we have, but I'm afraid we're researching they're technology currently, and we need are secrets too. Just follow the humming." The now ten part ostinatobegan to fade down to hall.
Harm got a laugh out of that one, following the sounds, "Hardly one for being subtle now are we?" She asked as she looked around, "About how many people are on this ship? The place seems so empty."
"Not too many. NovaCorp doesn't have a huge number of personnel, so I'm mostly empty. And of course large parts of me have gone to be part of the Destiny. Here." A large florescent arrow appeared in front of a door, connected to a neon light saying "Yep, here."
Harm held out her hand just in front of her body as she walked toward the door in hopes it would open automatically. "Is this room going to be for the entire group? Or just me with other rooms elsewhere in this hallway?" She asked before she walked inside. "And what is the Destiny you keep talking about?"
"It depends how cozy you are. If you want to all be in this room, I'm fine with that, although this corridor is yours." The signs vanished, and where replaced by kip, now wearing a Kimono.
"That is good, Sharing a room is not high on my priority list." Harm walked through the door and looked inside, "What are these rooms equipped with anyways?"
"They have the latest in comfortable mattresses, and showers. They have personalized Gravity generation systems, lighting, hot and cold running water, and a magnificent view."
Harm took a walk around the room, turning on the shower to get a feel for just how hot and cold the water could get, "Its good to be back to civilization again. War showers are a few and far between when traveling on transports, I'm going to have to get some use out of this later." Harm played with the shower settings for a time before going to the bed and laying down in it, "Heh, I guess I shouldn't be wasting my time here when there is so much more you could be showing me?"
"I don't mind. I have the patience of a saint." A halo of gold appeared above his head "And as the old saying goes, if your happy, I'm happy, and probably plotting something."
"I wonder, just what could you be plotting that involves me on a bed?" Harm got another laugh out of that before looking around, "Just what is the view of? Or do you have real windows?" She asked, looking around for the 'view' it spoke of.
"Yes, right over there". he pointed at a largish window, showing the interior of the cloud "Your lucky actually, most of the cabin's have much smaller windows. And I'm not plotting anything."
Harm got off her bed and took a look outside, "Nothing but nebula," She said to herself, not really expecting a response. "I'll get a better look at the rooms a bit later. Mind showing me around elsewhere now?" and after a moment of thought she added, "And is there anything I need to know about the crew?"
"I lead you around then. Where would you like to see? The crew are in the mess halls currently, or eating at their homes, you don't need to concern yourself with them currently. Just don't offend anyone unless your willing to fight, dueling is an important part of NovaCorp regulations."
"And we wouldn't want someone as pretty as you to get hurt." Kip smiled widely.
"I'd like to start with the mess halls actually," She said, "And how important is dueling? and is there anything I need to know about it in particular?"
"Your an outsider so you might get immunity. Basically someone goes to their commanding officer and reports and offence, if it is regarded as worthy it goes to be a duel, with the accused deciding on the weapon, he accuser the location. It's usually to first blood, or too submission. The loser's loss is documented, and they can receive a dock on their salary while the winner's success is noted and pay raised, usually by the same amount. The Mess Hall? Well ig you insist." Kip didn't seem too interested, as he converted into a blond-haired, leather clothed handsome man. "Felt like a change." He explained, flashing a smile to Harm.
"Hmm... well inform whoever needs to be informed that I will take the place of other members of the group if they are accidentally drawn into a duel." Harm looked over his entire new image before asking another question, "something wrong with the mess hall? You sound like it is the most boring place on this ship."
"It's a place to eat, and where a lot of people eat. Not exactly fascinating stuff. But if you want too see it, who am I to tell you any differently? I'll take you too the nearest one." Kip's new form stood to one side of the door, gesturing that Harm should take the lead with a polite bow.
Harm walked past, "Just how many of these mess halls are there on the ship? And do you have any particular taste for the food they serve there?" Harm kept an eye out for some sort of directions on where exactly to head now that she had left the room.
Kip laughed. "I don't eat. Not much in the taste department, although I can cook. There are plenty of mess halls dotted around the place. The officers and some of the crew have their own kitchen's so they don't join. This way." Kip led the way down the corridor, his feet in contact with the floor for once, and apparently solid. He began to whistle a soothing, almost hypnotic tune.
"Not a taste for food, but one for music perhaps. I'm afraid I don't recognize the tune." In a few moments she had fallen in step beside and slightly behind it.
"I compose." Kip shrugged. "You need something to pass the time. Left here."
She made the turn and asked, "What type of music do you prefer?"
"No real preference. Classical style has the most complexity, while the modern variety is more in your face. A bit from the Romantic period's always good though." He winked.
"Everyone enjoys a bit of romance now and then, but getting in your face can be so much more entertaining." She replied with a grin
He laughed. After a few more steps he stopped at a door, which opened to reveal a large chamber filled with NovaCorp employees bustling around, getting their meals and sitting down to eat them. "You first, I insist."
"I'm starting to think you just enjoy looking at my back," she said as she walked into the mess hall, wiggling her rear teasingly as some females do.
"Maybe a little." He laughed again. "I've altered my current personality a little, you might have noticed, a slightly more .... mature personality."
"I never would have guessed," Harm said as she took a look around the room, taking in the people, places, and things inside.
"Had enough? There isn't exactly much to see unless you getting pangs of hunger."
"Sure, I guess I'll let you pick the next thing I'm going to see," she said.
(two JPs edited together, all characters played by their respective players.)
"YSS Horizon responding. You are entering NovaCorp protected space. Identification is required to proceed." Blared a loud computerized voice. "Repeat: Identification required before you may proceed."
"affirmative horizon, transmitting authorization codes now. " With a lethargic grunt the captain scooted forward on his chair and brushed a container of powder covered pastries out of his way as his large fingers fumbled around for a swipe card on his dashboard. He swiped the card through a slit on the panel in front of him and flipped a few switches, sending the data to his primitive radio array and then to the horizon or anyone else within range of his transmitter. As he waited for the next response he slouched back down into his seat, "do do... dum dum do..." He hummed.
"Confirmed Long Haul. Welcome to NovaCorp space, enjoy your stay. Proceed to dock gamma. beacons deployed to indicate your safest path." said the voice and a rough line of radar pings were sent out as guidance beacons activated.
"Affirmative horizon," With that he reached up and flipped a pair of switches to turn on his auto-pilot and give it control of the maneuvering thrusters. A series of thrusters on the ship fired to alter its course and bring it in towards its destination.
The vast bulk of the modified colony ship came into focus through the clouds of dust. Dwarfing the smaller transport as it closed, a bright patch near the rear of the behemoth vessel grew wider - the docking bay doors slowly grinding open.
The captain of the transport pushed a bar to its side, flipping a series of switches that lowered all of the 16 supports that allowed the ship to land. With the ease of a professional the captain took hold of the control stick and levers in front of him and guided the ship into the landing bay, setting it down softly and waiting for the external door on the horizon to close before opening his own cargo bay. "Hello horizon, docking successful on this end."
A completely different voice came through the channel this time - human. "Welcome aboard guys! This is Grant, I'll be down in the bay in just a moment. If you would like to tell your passengers to leave the ship captain? Unless, of course, you are with the group. In which case... no, you must come yourself anyway! Your journey must have been tiring... so feel free to make use of our R and R facilities."
"Thanks for the offer Mr. Grant" The captain replied, "but I have a schedule to keep. Once they finish offloading I am out of here. The doors on either side of each segment of the transport opened and folded down into ramps, exposing the various heavy duty crates and a small group of people.
"Roger that. Grant out... and thank you captain." said the director over the radio as a small group of security officers trooped out of the irised hatchway a few meters from the ship, accompanied by Grant himself. Folding away the portable radio, he shouted "Welcome, one and all, to the good ship Horizon! I trust you had a good journey?"
"About as good as you can get for a cargo container," Came a female's voice. She was dressed in a form fitting black bodysuit that covered the entirety of her well endowed body, leaving only her head exposed. Draped over her shoulder was a small black oxygen mask that had a hose which traveled over her shoulder and into the down jacket she wore over her entire outfit. The small remnant of people in the group were all dressed in regular street cloths, the kind of type found on Ayenee even though that was a rather broad category. Some had a typical shirt and tie, others robes, while still others just wore baggy pajama looking outfits. "I'd love to see what you have in the way of RnR," She started, "But first I'd like to be show to the areas that have been rented out. I'd like to know we have
"Alright miss....", Grant paused for a moment, "Alright. We'd better get introductions done here before anything else. I'm Grant Williams, the science advisor of NovaCorp. These are minions number three, seventeen and two-one-two." He grinned at the security team's annoyed expressions. "Don't worry boys, you can meet them informally later!"
"Well then, I'll look forward to meeting you a bit more informally later," She said the scientists starting grabbing the crates and pushing them along. Built in anti-grav generators allowed the crates to float above the ground and move with a minimum of effort, "Officially I'm going by the name of Harm while I'm here. I'm in charge of security for the group members as well as keeping things running smoothly. They aren't supposed to talk with anyone while on the ship about what they are working on but I'm sure we shall all get to know each other very well regardless." She flashed them all a charming smile.
Grant looked her up and down, taking in the suit. "Harm huh? wow... not to be rude, but that ... fits your attire!" He chuckled and returned her smile, continuing "No... i joke... anyway Ms. Harm, would you and your entourage care to follow me? It's a very short walk to your assigned labs, we made sure we could get you close to the bays for any transport you need." Smiling again, he turned and walked back toward the hatch, flanked loosely by the guards
She simply nodded to him and followed as did the rest of the people in the transport... eventually. They didn't come off as a very highly disciplined but in the field of RnD that wasn't such a bad thing.
striding down the dingy corridors with the security guards in tow, Grant seemed in his element. "Come on people, we don't have all day!" He called over his shoulder. "You'll need to get settled in quite quickly, unless of course you want to move to a different location on board - it's the ship time dinner break in a few hours, and after that there's no opportunity to grab food until tomorrow... unless you have change handy!" he nodded to a vending machine set into the wall as he passed, then turned suddenly and disappeared through a brightly lit doorway
Harm followed as did the procession of people pushing floating crates. "This is long haul to horizon, My unloading is complete and I'm heading out of the cloud," With the last of the containers removed from the ship its doors closed and landing gear retracted as forward thrusters pushed in clear of the docking bay and turned it around to face outer space. "What currencies do the vending machines accept? Probably only the KS?" She asked.
Grant looked distractedly at his radio uplink and murmured ingratiatingly, "Thank you Long Haul. Have a safe journey!" then folded it closed. "Yes... they accept standards, I'm not sure what else. There's documentation for them somewhere but I never got around to reading it..." He grinned and gestured widely around the spacious, well lit room they had entered.
"How do you like it? You have basic equipment in here, more advanced gear in the next room along, " he pointed to another door in the opposite wall, "and we've taken the liberty of providing you with a pair of fabricators. If you don't know already, you can program them with molecular codes, shapes... lots of stuff, and they'll make it for you. Comes out pretty hot though..." he winked and stuck a hand into the open hatch of the closest fabber. "I took the liberty of preparing this earlier." he drew out a small cube of dull metal. "Iron. the edges of the cube are straight down to the atomic level, so don't touch them..." he murmured and held it out to Harm
"this looks sufficient, but the final say will go to the science team when they are finished setting up. If you can, we'd like to get a blueprint of this room so where know where all of the interfaces with the ship are and their power outputs ect. I'm assuming it will be alright if we make modifications to this room to accommodate our unique pieces of equipment." Harm picked up the cube by the faces with her fingers and examined it, "Do you believe in a god?" She asked.
"There is a saying that when you see a 20 ton beam held above your head by a string is when you truly start seeing god in technology." harm chuckled to herself slightly, "In any case I'm looking forward to working with you. Any chance you could give me a tour of the entire place while my associates start getting things in order around here?"
"Of course! Where would you like to start?" said Grant. "I assume you mean the R&D sector, although the rest of the ship is just as easily accessible."
"I'd like to start with the RnD sector, the living quarters, and everywhere in between." Harm said.
"And I can give you the grand tour!" Kip sprang into existence with a *pop*. "I'm Kip, resident AI, pleased to meet you." He reached out his had to greet harm, while still standing two feet in the air.
"Well that answers a few questions about the nature of your ship," Harm thought out loud as she extended her hand to shake with what she assumed to be a hologram in front of her, "I have a few questions I'd like to ask you later if that is alright,"
Her hand slipped through his suddenly, less than solid form. Kip found this hilarious. "Of course, ask away. I can tell you anything I want."
Grant jumped backward, startled. "Wagh! you have to stop that Kip! Gonna do my heart in!" he yelped, blushing at his reaction. "Um... yeah. Harm, this is Kip, Kip, this is Harm, the leader of the Leistung group" he said quickly, trying to catch up. "Um... Harm... do you want a tour from Kip? It would help, because I still have some admin work to do..." he paused, aware that he nobody had been listening to him. "Err... yeah."
"Don't worry Grantie. I'm always listening." Kip tugged on Grant's ear lobe, still floating in the air. He laughed and flipped backwards. "I look forward to seeing these wonderful experiments, I love science, and since Ephesus has gone things have become dull." Kip put on a exaggerated mournful expression.
~not solid?~ she thought to herself as her hand returned to her side, "That is fine, I'm sure we'll bump into each other later on" She briefly tuned her head to flash him a courtesy smile before looking back at Kip. "Quite the energetic one... and looking at experiments is just what I wanted to talk about. What is the extent of your presence on this ship, or should I say your ship?"
"Total. I see pretty much everything. And I mean everything," He gave a knowing wink, "But if you wish for privacy, I'm sure some form of arrangement could be made." He bent over and picked up a scalpel, rotating it between his fingers at great speed.
Harm couldn't resist a playful grin back and a witty retort, "Well if you've already seen all of me shouldn't we get along to seeing all of you?" Her grin returned to a more serious expression soon afterwards, "In any case privacy is the main reason we are out here and its one of the things I would like to discuss with you."
"Right. To both" Kip crossed his legs and floated serenely in mid air. Naked. "Discuss away."
Harm shook her head, "I'd like to know that your sensors in the lab we have rented are disabled along with the sensors in the group's living quarters. I'd like them to know I'm the only one spying on them." She took a moment to look over the hologram's nude form, "You body artists were quire detailed weren't they?"
Kip glanced down. "Yes, I suppose they where. Anyway, you want to rip out my eyes?" He waved his hand over his eyes, revealing empty sockets.
"Not rip them out," She said, point to her own eyes to emphasize her point, "Merely cover our more sensitive places," Again, she covered her more sensitive places with her own arms to compliment her words.
"I'm sure I could limit my sensors in quarters. I'm afraid I can't stop some of them, security, but visual and audio feed I can do. For these labs," He looked around "I'll limit them. Just a few vague scans to make sure your not trying to kill or maim me. And yes, I consider the ship part of myself." Kip sighed. "'m feeling a bit overweight actually. Being over a kilometer long makes you feel like that."
"what type of scans are we talking about? I also assume you won't mind us taking precautions in the lab for our own piece of mind?" She returned her hands to her sides and her eyes to his unique form, "Its long, but not that long," She said, referring to the length of his ‘ship'.
"Depends on the precautions, within reason I don't mind. You value your privacy, I value no-one's, but I think we can get along. And I know I'm not big compared to that Destiny thing. You should her Avatar."
"Well you are already much more than a handful," Harm said before turning to look back at the lab, checking to see if everyone was getting in alright, "May I see the living quarters now?"
"Sure." Kip vanished and then appeared in the hall, clothed now as a museum curator, compensating for his small size. "On your left you will see a metal wall, on your right more of the same. Oh wait, there's a door."
"Artificial personalities are just wonderful, just who programmed you? I'll be sure to be careful around any more of his creations." Harm said as she stepped up to follow him.
"You know, I never searched my memory banks for him. Ephesus helped design a slight update though. nd here we see an exquisite piece of ceiling. He began to walk down the corridor, his head turned 180o around his neck, to face Harm.
"Perhaps we could move ahead to something that I haven't already seen?" Harm asked the AI's face and the AI's back.
"Of course. See you on the floor with your rooms on them then. It's corridors until then, and since you've seen them, you don't need me to guide you." Kip vanished.
"The word WE means more than one person, and those people would be me and you." Harm said, ~Or maybe people is the wrong word to use~ She thought to herself as she tapped her foot, waiting for some retort from the AI.
"Your obviously royalty and using it to mean I." Kip's disembodied voice rang out. "The lift's down the first corridor. Hit the illuminated button. It'll take you to where you need to go." This was followed by some disembodied humming.
Harm followed the lit path to the lift and pressed the appropriate button. "So what have you run into out here in this cloud?"
"Dust mainly. I destroy rocks before they reach me, and I steer clear of the micro-blackholes. Their was one high-light with some pirates which I destroyed. At least I think they where pirates, certainly weren't speaking any language I could understand. Oh, and their was the run in with the Thaxarians. Not much else really." The humming now consisted of eight complimentary melodies.
"Thaxarians? I'm afraid I haven't heard of that one before. Would you mind me accessing your databanks and getting some background information on them?" Within a few moments the lift had reached its destination and Harm walked out, waiting for her guide to show her the next step.
"They're a warrior race with inappropriately advanced technology. I'll give you access to some of the information we have, but I'm afraid we're researching they're technology currently, and we need are secrets too. Just follow the humming." The now ten part ostinatobegan to fade down to hall.
Harm got a laugh out of that one, following the sounds, "Hardly one for being subtle now are we?" She asked as she looked around, "About how many people are on this ship? The place seems so empty."
"Not too many. NovaCorp doesn't have a huge number of personnel, so I'm mostly empty. And of course large parts of me have gone to be part of the Destiny. Here." A large florescent arrow appeared in front of a door, connected to a neon light saying "Yep, here."
Harm held out her hand just in front of her body as she walked toward the door in hopes it would open automatically. "Is this room going to be for the entire group? Or just me with other rooms elsewhere in this hallway?" She asked before she walked inside. "And what is the Destiny you keep talking about?"
"It depends how cozy you are. If you want to all be in this room, I'm fine with that, although this corridor is yours." The signs vanished, and where replaced by kip, now wearing a Kimono.
"That is good, Sharing a room is not high on my priority list." Harm walked through the door and looked inside, "What are these rooms equipped with anyways?"
"They have the latest in comfortable mattresses, and showers. They have personalized Gravity generation systems, lighting, hot and cold running water, and a magnificent view."
Harm took a walk around the room, turning on the shower to get a feel for just how hot and cold the water could get, "Its good to be back to civilization again. War showers are a few and far between when traveling on transports, I'm going to have to get some use out of this later." Harm played with the shower settings for a time before going to the bed and laying down in it, "Heh, I guess I shouldn't be wasting my time here when there is so much more you could be showing me?"
"I don't mind. I have the patience of a saint." A halo of gold appeared above his head "And as the old saying goes, if your happy, I'm happy, and probably plotting something."
"I wonder, just what could you be plotting that involves me on a bed?" Harm got another laugh out of that before looking around, "Just what is the view of? Or do you have real windows?" She asked, looking around for the 'view' it spoke of.
"Yes, right over there". he pointed at a largish window, showing the interior of the cloud "Your lucky actually, most of the cabin's have much smaller windows. And I'm not plotting anything."
Harm got off her bed and took a look outside, "Nothing but nebula," She said to herself, not really expecting a response. "I'll get a better look at the rooms a bit later. Mind showing me around elsewhere now?" and after a moment of thought she added, "And is there anything I need to know about the crew?"
"I lead you around then. Where would you like to see? The crew are in the mess halls currently, or eating at their homes, you don't need to concern yourself with them currently. Just don't offend anyone unless your willing to fight, dueling is an important part of NovaCorp regulations."
"And we wouldn't want someone as pretty as you to get hurt." Kip smiled widely.
"I'd like to start with the mess halls actually," She said, "And how important is dueling? and is there anything I need to know about it in particular?"
"Your an outsider so you might get immunity. Basically someone goes to their commanding officer and reports and offence, if it is regarded as worthy it goes to be a duel, with the accused deciding on the weapon, he accuser the location. It's usually to first blood, or too submission. The loser's loss is documented, and they can receive a dock on their salary while the winner's success is noted and pay raised, usually by the same amount. The Mess Hall? Well ig you insist." Kip didn't seem too interested, as he converted into a blond-haired, leather clothed handsome man. "Felt like a change." He explained, flashing a smile to Harm.
"Hmm... well inform whoever needs to be informed that I will take the place of other members of the group if they are accidentally drawn into a duel." Harm looked over his entire new image before asking another question, "something wrong with the mess hall? You sound like it is the most boring place on this ship."
"It's a place to eat, and where a lot of people eat. Not exactly fascinating stuff. But if you want too see it, who am I to tell you any differently? I'll take you too the nearest one." Kip's new form stood to one side of the door, gesturing that Harm should take the lead with a polite bow.
Harm walked past, "Just how many of these mess halls are there on the ship? And do you have any particular taste for the food they serve there?" Harm kept an eye out for some sort of directions on where exactly to head now that she had left the room.
Kip laughed. "I don't eat. Not much in the taste department, although I can cook. There are plenty of mess halls dotted around the place. The officers and some of the crew have their own kitchen's so they don't join. This way." Kip led the way down the corridor, his feet in contact with the floor for once, and apparently solid. He began to whistle a soothing, almost hypnotic tune.
"Not a taste for food, but one for music perhaps. I'm afraid I don't recognize the tune." In a few moments she had fallen in step beside and slightly behind it.
"I compose." Kip shrugged. "You need something to pass the time. Left here."
She made the turn and asked, "What type of music do you prefer?"
"No real preference. Classical style has the most complexity, while the modern variety is more in your face. A bit from the Romantic period's always good though." He winked.
"Everyone enjoys a bit of romance now and then, but getting in your face can be so much more entertaining." She replied with a grin
He laughed. After a few more steps he stopped at a door, which opened to reveal a large chamber filled with NovaCorp employees bustling around, getting their meals and sitting down to eat them. "You first, I insist."
"I'm starting to think you just enjoy looking at my back," she said as she walked into the mess hall, wiggling her rear teasingly as some females do.
"Maybe a little." He laughed again. "I've altered my current personality a little, you might have noticed, a slightly more .... mature personality."
"I never would have guessed," Harm said as she took a look around the room, taking in the people, places, and things inside.
"Had enough? There isn't exactly much to see unless you getting pangs of hunger."
"Sure, I guess I'll let you pick the next thing I'm going to see," she said.
(two JPs edited together, all characters played by their respective players.)
