RP: Cirrus Station [Post Episode 8] The Less Fortunate

"Now now now," said Kokuten, putting his hands on Adrian's shoulders. The Doctor leaned, arching a brow at the other medical man. "No need to insult customs more than you've already done, Adrian. This isn't a shore-leave so there's no ship we can run to call base when the heat riles up." He slinked of the man's shoulder, throwing Claire a cursory glance, before looking on to Kess.

"Considering that he's being led by our always most helpful station attendants." he gave a warm smile to the cold A.I. "I would say that he's in our own Squad 35."

Daniel followed about four seconds behind the robot, dodging the hall's other occupants with hurried "Excuse me"s before running headlong into the same unfortunate scientist that had nearly tripped over the robot. The other man, still off-balance from his near slip of a few seconds earlier, was sent toppling over and landed spreadeagle on his back surrounded by his papers.

Daniel skidded to a halt, knelt, and began to haphazardly gather the man's various documents into something resembling a pile, all the while repeatedly turning his head down the hall so as to not lose his quarry and spouting a string of disjointed apologies. Having put everything into a more or less holdable stack, he shoved it into the arms of the grumbling commuter while simultaneously pulling him halfway to his feet. He misjudged the man's footing, however, and let him go too early, nearly sending him back to the floor. By the time the scientist had regained his composure, Daniel had already reached the next corner and shouted a final "Sorry!" over his shoulder before vanishing around the bend.

He rounded the turn to see the robot duck into the recently vacated barracks. Seeing the other security guard, he slowed his pace to a quick walk and tried to not draw the man's attention to the fact that he was about to go snooping around in his cabin. It didn't take long for the hurried guard to disappear at the next intersection down the hall. Confident that this side-corridor was now empty, Daniel trotted over to the barracks door and paused before reaching for the entry panel.

He thought for a second how he might justify this to a superior, not that one was likely to ask him about it, but he worried all the same. He probably technically wasn't suppose to be here. Still, this was...sort of security related... After a moment of considering, Daniel's penchant for interesting gadgets won out and he decided that line of reasoning would have to do. He slowly clicked open the door and poked his head in to look around, turning his floodlights on the lowest setting. The room became immersed in a dim, amber-white glow.

The barracks were like the ones that housed Squad 35: A long aisle lined on both sides with bunk beds stacked three beds high and arranged foot-to-head, lengthwise down the room. A the far end was a pair of vending machines, filled with Cassefin's...well, nutritious fare, along with two doors leading into the showers and restrooms (one for the men, another for women).

As the squads that inhabited this particular barracks were on duty, the lights were low and no one was inside. Daniel's floodlights cast shadows among the bunks, all empty, most messy from hurried preparations and late wakings. All he heard were his footsteps and the soft whir of the Cassefin Reservoirs.

Until he passed the fourth set of bunks. On the left, there was a soft squeaking sound, repeated in a steady pattern.

Squee-squeesqueesquee...squee-squeesqueesquee. It seemed to be coming from the top bunk, beneath blankets that had been shoved into a corner between the foot-board and the wall...and it almost sounded like laughter.

Perhaps stealth was in order.

"I didn't say you were my enemy, mate. But those bloody fascists over there... and who said I was running, Koku? Fuck man, I can take that prick over there." Adrian was fuming, but calmed himself down somewhat when Kokuten gave his prediction about squad placement, and a frightfully angry grin spread across his face.

"Now that, that sounds like fun. Can we do random searches? Like on that fucker over there. I think I smelled some contraband on him. And he seems the like the type of bastard that'd resist detainment."

"Really? Well welcome aboard then, friend. You'll be patrolling these halls with the good captain and myself, listening to Cassie rant at us, and occasionally have something blow up and we have to contain whatever experiment got loose while it tries to eat your elbows." Claire smiled sweetly despite just explaining both the monotony and the insanity of the job in a deceptively bland sounding way.

"Though you're lucky. Now that you're with us, you can have access to our little kitchen that I keep stocked. Be good to me and maybe I can find something for you, as long as it won't have another squad busting down our door."

Mimi gave a short nervous laugh at Adrian's demeanor, smiling weakly at Kess. "Hah... well... he certainly seems to be spirited. I think he'll fit into our team just fine!" The auburn-haired Savtech spoke to her partner, who didn't look near as enthusiastic about him as Mimi did.

"Just try and tone down your attitude when you're actually on duty, Decane," Kess said in a reprimanding tone and furrowed brow. "Squad 35 has a good reputation with the administration and we would prefer to not have it tarnished."

Adrian's mood shifted to decided elation at hearing about the promised stash in the kitchen. "I'm beginning to like the sound of this more and more by the minute, mate. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

The sergeant turned to the Savtechs with a wicked grin. "Yeah, I'm the most spirited motherfucker in the whole fucking DIoN. Just ask Kokuten here. And what's there to tone down? I'll keep your reputation so fucking shiny you'll blind yourself just looking at the fucking thing. I'll be the best damned cop you've ever seen."

Daniel heard the muffled whirring above him and tensed, stopping in his tracks. He tilted his head and tried to pinpoint the sound. A fuzzy highlight on his overlay confirmed its general position somewhere on the top bunk. After a few seconds, he realized he was hearing primitive robot laughter and was forced to give a soft chuckle himself.

Ah, so you want to play, do you? he thought.

Daniel paused to consider his approach. The robot had thus far evaded his attempts to grab it, though they had been fairly ill-planned. He wasn't even quite sure what he planned to do once he caught the thing. On the other hand, he'd followed it this far, and he couldn't just leave it there. The blame would probably fall on him if the robot caused any trouble.

Glancing back to make sure the door had closed, Daniel shut his floodlights off to not give away his movements. He gave his eyes a good half minute to adjust to the near darkness, then slipped around to the bunk in question, feeling his way around for the slats used to scale the beds.

He ascended the bunk as quietly as he could manage, listening for any more noises from the robot, in case it let slip that it knew he was there. He peeked over the top bunk and saw a lump under the mass of piles bedsheets. Grinning slightly with anticipation, he hoisted himself up until his knees rested on the bed frame, ready to jump back down if the robot made any sudden dash for the floor. When it made no such move, Daniel slowly braced one foot against the edge of the frame, drew his arms back to his sides, and leaned forward slightly.

"Gotchya, you little blighter!" he shouted as he pounced onto the bed, throwing him arms onto the blanket around the robot to pin it down.

The limbs froze in place, giving the impression that Daniel had just grabbed a sculpture rather than a machine, then they all went limp as the 'bot gave the impression of sighing. It remained still after that, waiting to see what Daniel would do with it.