- RP Date
- 35日 9月 YE 20 to current time
- RP Location
- Osman, then Sirris Vi
As the Freespacer ship got hit by Aether Weapons, the Cyborg pilot inside shook as she tried with futility to fight back against those who would do her harm, Her shields were going down, taken hits by Aether weapons and impacts from debris from ship and rock. Finally, shrapnel penetrated her ship, fires formed, the lights dimmed and turned red, shrapnel entered, and got her, hard forcing her to release her control as she fell back on the seat. The ship spiraled and then drifted away, ignored by Yamatai due to the other ships and the anomaly shielding her from being detected.
Finally, there was peace, but the young girl groaned in pain and anguish as she tried with a blurry vision to remove the damaged shrapnel from her body. Power began turning off, everything but the lift support leaving her drifting off into space, away from the battle, away from her people, and closer unexpectedly to safety. To people that could help her, and possibly to someone she could flirt with.
As time passed by, the ship drifted and pushed around by Space’s radiation, and space born creatures.
Dormant for years, the ship was carried far, as empires changed and new wars raged. The universe seemed to pass the spacer girl by, eventually collecting with other debris. One that seemed to be the sector's waist bin of ancient wrecks and remains.
The search for particular detritus brought a few ships and crews out there in curiosity of what could be used. Pods were dispersed, umbilicals extending as they would supply power and air for the hours of work ahead. However, one bay held not a salvage pod,.......but a mech.
Screens turned on, one by one to show dark hangar interior, a final check given. A silent rumble followed as the old hangar doors swung open from top and bottom like ramps. Zeke eased the controls forward on the borrowed Kirin, a loan from sergeant Tazar.
Thrust carried it into space, the tether pulling taunt before releasing, he was then cruising through the debris for anything that looked useful.
Around him, his fellow salvagers worked, pulling part debris to look at what they could use. A debris got loose and flew, hitting another debris, causing a vibration, that shook the severely damaged space girl. She felt the vibrations, causing mechanical optics to glow faintly as she tried to look over, hoping that the vibrations she was feeling, while strapped to the seat weren’t all in her head.
She could barely see out, but she saw something, ships that didn’t look Yamataian fly by the crevice that she saw. These might not be Yamataians, but she didn’t know if they were pirates, but she chose not to care. She was weak.
Weak, but her self-preservation was strong. She lifted her hand causing further sparks. She was certain now the shadow she was seeing with her low power optics couldn’t be her imagination. She kept jamming a button a certain way, repeatedly, Morse code. "Over here", the message repeated. "please help me over here”
Zeke's helmeted head turned, panning across his screens, looking at all the broken pieces before him until the system of an unknown signal lit up on his center screen. A quick search gave him the general direction, the freespacer seeing the mech's singular red optic turning their general direction. A moment later the rest of the body followed, the machine was now fully cruising towards the general location of the ship.
The emotion, the feeling that the Freespacer began feeling was Hope, true unadulterated hope. Someone heard her message, and they were coming closer towards her. She saw the red optic, and she knew they weren’t Yamataian, but at that moment she didn’t care. “Yes, keep coming closer” the Morse code transmitted.
She wished she can show off some light, something more to catch attention, but the Morse code would have to suffice. Soon he would be close enough that he could see the hole and the Freespacer inside the damaged ship. Her hands lifted, one showing the peace sign while the other waved. Sparks also visible, the crushed and damaged torso, and the somewhat dim optics of her eyes.
The machine passed closer and closer until the signs point to the closest craft. That red optic scanned over the vessel, pausing at the hole in the hull where the bridge would be. The pilot blinking his eyes in disbelief, a woman!......somehow alive despite being exposed to the vacuum of space.
Zooming in answered why as it became clear they were a spacer, very little organic left in them to worry about. But that was beside the point as Zeke deployed his feather drones, launching grappling tethers to the hulk before collectively tugging away.
"Hey Jay? We got a live one here.", The pilot spoke as he reported in.
".....what? A Hades leftover?"
"No, ship and individual are Freespacer. Ship is derelict and not functional, passenger is alive, but not sure just how......okay they are. I'm tugging them back for extraction, prep the hold for me.......medical team too." He answered as he followed the wreck back, the craft being pulled into an empty cargo bay.
"This isn't really procedure, but whatever, your ass if your damsel is a Hades trap."
Her body jolted as the hulk was tugged at before things broke apart, and the wreck of a Freespacer ship came to lose, soon to be tugged towards a cargo hold. Her hands were lowered mostly to conserve whatever energy she had left. They knew she was there, but as she was pulled along, the ships didn’t look Pirate related at all. Some were advanced, others looked familiar and not at all used by Pirates.
Her body jolted again as the wreck was set down, and teams began working at a fast pace, trying to undo the ship to get her clear. There was a collective curse when they saw just how damaged she was, Aether damage all over her, and the ship which the Engineers will note was old.
The Freespacer was unplugged from her ship, to be plugged to a new full-power source, keeping her alive longer.
“Ok people, move your asses we have a limited window to keep our new friend alive, and repaired if possible and I don’t want to waste it,” Said a gruff-looking Male with Bear ears. The Medical team practically flying as they ran out with their patient heading towards the Medical bay.
As the mech landed, it knelt to the deck before opening the hatch, Zeke in his Origin power armor dropping to the deck with a thud. He watched as they carried what was sadly left of her by, the blonde mercenary feeling bad for just how bad she was right now.
Not sure what else to do, he followed after, stopping in the medical bay as they figured how to even tell the woman's vitals. He waited inside out of the way as they brainstormed quickly, eventually figuring out they just didn't have the equipment to save her body. Finally it was decided if they couldn't save her body, they would save her mind.
Given she was a freespacer, her mind more like that of an AI then a organic person anymore, they downloaded it into an AI core usually kept on hand for an EVE from one of the drones. Once her life was no longer in danger, the doctors looked at each other awkwardly, unsure where to put her until they got back. That was when Zeke spoke up finally, "Well I found her, I can hold onto her until we get back. I'm sure you all have more pressing duties, and I'm just the independent here after all. Let me watch over sleeping beauty here, I'll keep an eye on her...promise."
The Bear Anthro looked over at Zeke and his suggestion. And nodded,” Yeah, I agree, we need someone to watch over her and I think you're more than an independent, so I think we can trust you, we’ll get her a new proper body when we get back, we just don’t have the tech here,” He said, his voice less gruff as it had before.
A static sound came up as she activated the default voice ”” The Sleeping Beauty is fine with that” She said, though the voice didn’t show whether or not she was amused. She was alive, she knew this, alive, and in some kind of drone core, it looked like. She watched as the decision made, her old body was moved onto a different gurney to be put away. They would need the DNA later to create her new body or some of what they can use anyway.
Zeke carried the core in his hands, carefully to his chest plate almost like a infant child would be carried. It might have seemed odd if he thought about it, but he was trying to be gentle and careful with his charge. "Well good to hear, you're lucky to still be alive missy. Umm...I think you're a girl right? I know I called you sleeping beauty, but you were kinda ragged to tell for sure. You have a name?", Zeke said as he carried the spacer mind out, planning to head to his bunk and chill. After all, this had been his third salvage run today, surely it would already net him a nice pile of script with what he had already gathered.
The default gave a robotic sound of the hahahaha before she spoke ”yeah, I am a girl, I understand though, my armor can sometimes hide that bit. But underneath that, I am pure 100 percent woman. “She said as she was carried away. “Antibody 77-6454-333, though I think I might go by a new name soon enough, I mean new body new name. What about you, what’s your name, and I probably should be asking, where are we exactly, and... How long ago was the war with Yamatai?’ she asked him, though she didn’t feel it, the last bit gave her some worry.
The man paused as he made it into the bunk, "Well you're about a decade after that one.....I....wouldn't say it was a battle though. That would be too prettied for what it was."
Zeke took a seat on his bed still in armor, knowing he hadn't given his name yet, but figured he's give a face before he did. Beside, he wanted to give her a moment to let that sink in as he removed his helmet, then released the locks on his torso armor. Thinking about it for a moment, he turned the core around to where her optics faced away for a few. Anti would hear only the sound of him standing and clammering out of the suit, before something opened and the sound of fabric could be heard move.
With a few clunks, the sight of the suir being stowed in a crate on the edge of her vision range could be seen, before he could be heard and felt plopping back down on the bunk. She was turned back around to see the lean, yet toned man in cargo pants and a tank top, his blonde hair and blue eyes now seen along with his face. "Name's Zeke by the way, Zeke Rykiel, so what do you plan to do once you have a body again?"
Ayla remained silent for what seemed like hours as she processed the information she was just given. 10 years, she was alone adrift for 10 years! She heard sounds that were foreign to her but she had enough on her mind, plus the question would be answered when she was turned back around and she saw the new state of dress.
He was probably changing his clothes, and he turned her away for privacy reasons. “Nice to meet you, Zeke Rykiel, and thank you for getting me out of there,” she said and soon realized she hadn’t thanked him yet. “I don’t know, I’ve had my turn at war, and I’m not sure I want to go back to being a soldier, maybe something more along the lines of protecting and serving the people, maybe law enforcement. “ She said before she asked the question that was on her mind.
“Zeke, how many Freespacers survived? how many are there left of my people?’ she asked him.
"Not enough to ever be counted as a nation again, and barely enough as a people. There are still thousands of you out there, scattered among the worlds, or living in small nomadic groups. Actually, there's even a few where we're headed, and we've used your technology before. You guys are hanging in there.", Zeke answered, as he awkwardly sat there, wondering what the hell was he going to do with her. They couldn't just sit here on his bunk all night cycle, and it might be weird if he just held onto the core while laying down. He didn't just want to put her on a shelf, or in a container so rudely either though.
Ayla was pleased to hear there were thousands of her people out there; hopefully, they can grow from those thousands. The few where they were headed could be friends of hers too, so that was good. She was surprised to hear they worked with Freespacer tech before, but then it was 10 years so things could have happened, so she tried not to let it bother her.
She was about to ask something when the door pinged. That surprised her, but she didn’t move since she was only a core. Once opened it would be a medic that they’d recognized from the Medical area. “Hey, sorry to disturb you, I have some bad news, but some good news too.” He’d say and in response, Ayla sighed “what’s the bad news?” she asked unable to stop herself. He was surprised by the core’s location ”oh, well, the human DNA in your body was unfortunately not enough there are some holes likely in place, but there are things we can do to patch those holes, and still get you a body, but It’s going to be different. “he turned to Zeke “may I?’ he asked
"Not my ship bud, I just sleep in this bunk, no need to ask for my permission.", was Zeke's answer as he casually lifted his legs up and over to lay on the bed behind Ayla. Now the medic had more room in the cramped space to walk in and present what he had to the essentially freespacer in a can sitting next to him. "Doc, if I'm honest, you make different sound like you're about to turn our lass here into a unicorn or sumthen."
The Freespacer in a can watched as the doctor entered the room, and watched as two legs flew up missing her as they did so. Zeke’s words got a hehe from her. “Yeah not sure I like the idea of having a horn on my forehead.” The doctor chuckled before he set up; soon there was a volumetric display. “I mean with additions to the body new changes could happen, not so much a Unicorn, though little girls would love that. To patch those holes we add new DNA, mostly compatible one, such as Anthro, or Nepleslian. We can create any kind of body. And using this display, we can decide on what to add, and by doing so, we will get your future body. “ He told them both though it was more to Ayla.
He turned to Zeke" Sir, according to our records, your Nepleslian right? Would you be interested in perhaps donating some blood for our use?" He asked.
The man had his hands laced behind his head as he was laid back, eyes closed almost like he hadn't been paying attention before, one opening to show a glowing blue iris. He extended one arm out off the bed for the doctor, "Yeah, human, but Nep born. Guess I got lucky and missed the lottery on mutations. Got a medical kit with syringe in the backpack behind you if you need it doc."
The volumetric showed a woman, with most of the body flickering. The head appeared stable, and it had hair, but the rest of her looked like nothing was set. “I can choose what I want the body to look?’ She asked as she took note of the face, her face without the metal plates. The Doctor nodded, so they spent an hour with the volumetric until finally, a Faun, stood there in the volumetric girl’s place, with long elf looking ears. “That one,” she said finally satisfied. The Doctor smiled and nodded “I’ll go have them make it, thank you for your time, both of you” he said and after a final goodbye, he left.
It hadn't bothered Zeke as blood had been drawn, he'd had it done enough for medical check ups, and medbay visits in his time in the marines. There were far worse things to enter your body then a syringe, making the collection a trivial matter. He still rubbed his arm a little, always hating that feeling of even just a bit of blood missing in the system regardless. "So, soon you'll have new duds, maybe a new home if you want it, and work. For a survivor, you sure won the lottery with rescuers."
Ayla saw his eyes on the corner of the core’s optics, they were glowing, she was certain that normal eyes didn’t glow like that, Mechanical eyes did, but it didn’t look like he had that either. Just how advanced were these people?! The doctor took Zeke’s blood using the syringe and after carefully containing the blood, he was gone, as was the display. Her mind processed what she had seen, not the body of course, but his glowing eyes. “Yes, I sure did won the lottery, and I was incredibly lucky you got to me,” she said before “Zeke, I have to say something. I saw your eyes glowing, they don’t look mechanical to me, just how advanced are your-our people that you can have organic eyes that glow?!’ she asked
The voice though mechanical didn’t show the amazement she was feeling in her voice. The glowing eyes were probably the most important thing, and while she was concerned about having a home, she knew that it will be with the new group she found herself with. She owed Zeke so much, he was a good man.
Both eyes were open now as they both looked to the core, a hand reaching over to turn it around and face him. The spiky blonde sat up before picking the core up and holding it in his lap, then leaning closer and pulling his eyelids back. "Advancements in nano-technology, and bio-tech integration into the body. It's called a G1-NI, or Geist mark 1, neural interface. It allows us to control technology wirelessly, even take mental possession of craft and calculate data faster with no physical medium. Implant is implanted into the central nervous system at the base of the neck, right into the spinal cord, and the nanoes have restructured all the pathways from it to my eyes and brain."
With him this close, Ayla's borrowed optics could zoom in on the veins of his eye, and the iris itself. Small paths and blips of almost unseen light could be seen traveling through the veins, and pulsing across the nerves of the Iris's radius around the pupil. Letting go to let his lids go back to their rested position, he sat the core next to him again. "Pretty crazy stuff, something we did to be a bit more even with races like the yams, and spacers like yourself. You guys were one of the inspirations to say the least. Still learning with it though, and similar technologies, even advanced AI."
Ayla watched as her vision changed, the pillows and blanket were gone replaced by his lap and body. She watched as he leaned close and pulled back his eyelids. She made the optics zoom closer and she got a better view as she saw this and heard him talk about it. It amazed her to hear about what they were able to do, and also about how her people were the inspiration too. This Geist of theirs seemed even more amazing in what it was capable of doing too,
“Is it a Mindware?” she asked him wanting to know more about the Geist, and how he was describing its location seemed like a mindware to her, like she had once used. She might be interested in seeing it in action. “How are AI treated for your people?’ she asked him, having remembered AI like Androids and Gynoids are treated as citizens to the Freespacers.
"Yes and no. My mind is not digital, but in a way, it is slightly by how the implant interfaces with the brain and rewiring it essentially does. I can process information faster, but still within the limits of my fully used brain capacity.", the nep man answered as he ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair, not really doing anything to his doo honestly. Taking his laid back position again, he casually continued to answer her questions, "If it's sentient, then it has full and equal rights like any other citizen of our very infantile nation."
She was very surprised to hear more about the Geist they were using, it was amazing how technology had advanced in the 10 years she’d been gone. She’d love to see what else they could do as time passed. “I’d love to see how you can control technology sometime when I am in my new form.” She said She was pleased to hear about how they treated AI ”so just like us then” she commented.
He had a cocky grin now, "Well I'm no drone commander, or anything as large scale as that, most of my skill is with piloting mechs as you probably guessed. But I can do some cool stuff with them I guess. I'll give you ride sometime once you have your body."
“Ha.ha.ha” was her response before “yes, I do remember seeing that Mech, though with the limited power, I didn’t have as much to see, I could see the red of your Mech though. “ she said and soon time flew by for the Freespacer in a can and the Merc. They’d gotten contacted that the body was ready so she was taken to where she can be transferred to her new form. The first thing she needed to learn was how to breathe since she was holding her breath, but she got the hang of that.
The next thing was getting up and walking, but seeing the gown they had the form wearing, was soon removed since she didn’t want anything to distract her as she got up, her hoofs clacking on the floor as her body arose from the bed. Her arms spread out as she balanced herself, before she took a step forward, and fell against Zeke since he was there. She grabbed hold of him and used him to steady herself. He certainly had muscles she noticed but she was paying more attention to steadying herself. “ok.. “ she said as she held onto him and smiled.
The mercenary was a bit red faced as he averted his eyes from her bare body, really hoping Sydney never walked in. "Are you s-sure you had to take the gown off? Not saying you aren't attractive, but a little, ya know.......inappropriate maybe?" That being said, he still on tight to her so she wouldn't fall, holding her arms as she held his. He was cute when he was shy.
Ayla looked up at him and realized he’s blushing ”sorry, I thought the gown will distract me as I try to walk “ With his support she began walking, they mostly moved to the bed to grab the gown to cover up, but they moved to one side of the room, and back, soon she was doing it without support walking. “Alright, I have mastered walking in my new form,” she said feeling proud of herself, and then looked over. “You’re cute by the way when you were blushing,” she told him.
"Void you make me a mess Ayla, it sucks I'm taken, otherwise I'd flirt back. In all honest, it's an internal struggle not to. And by the by, you're cute when you giggle, so now we're even on cute compliments.", he said with a nervous chuckle at being called cute. Though he was a lot more relaxed now that she was decent, though that single moment of a peak, was still guiltily engraved in his mind.
Ayla just grinned at him as he complimented her, though it sucked he was taken, but she admired how decent he was. She laughed when he said they were even on the cute compliments as she sat back down, making sure things aren’t showing as a sign of respect. He was a good man and a funny one. “By the way, I’ve decided on a new name.” She told him ‘Ayla Knight” She made sure her gown was closed as she bowed.
He bowed back out of courtesy, giving a chuckle, "Damsel no more I see, adopting the ways of the knight in name and practice. It suits you, you've come along way, and you are a knight against the harm that would befall your people,....our people. I swear, moving on from cute, straight on to bombshell in personality and quirks. I'd dare say they almost made you perfectly."
Ayla laughed as he bowed and smiled as he spoke. He was right; she was a Damsel no longer. “Yeah, our people let me stay; they gave me a new body, and a new life. Void yes, I will do my part to defend us, even if it’s going to be in law enforcement. “ She said then grinned as she was told she was made perfectly “maybe they did” she said as a sign of agreement. “I like what was created, I was used to having antennae, so these long ears would just be like that only thicker. Truth be told, Fauns were my favorite creature when I could get time to read something fantasy related. “
"Ahh, so a girl into fairy-tales, something a bit of a lost archetype these days. Most I've ever known are more into fashion, glory, power, honor, or some other more modern idea. Then again, Elves are real, and we have an ex-demon queen running around. Almost makes you wonder if at one point in time, they were more then just stories.", he answered already well accustomed with the features of her body, after all, that's what he had been studying with his eyes closed in detail when the doctor had helped her design it that day.
With a sudden urge Zeke pulled the woman into a hug, being one of the only other people he'd consider a close friend.
Ayla smiled when he commented on her interest, and about how it was a bit of a lost archetype these days. She learned about those he’d known and what they were interested in but it was what he said next shocked her to her core. “wo wo wo! Demons?! Actual, real-life Demons?! And there is actually a queen?! She was shocked and awed, but she was surprised by the hug. She missed hugging someone, and she hadn’t had a chance to since the battle those 10 years ago. “What’s this ‘ex Demon queen’ like?” She asked her as she hugged him, before stepping back.
"Ummm......probably not how you'd expect, she's kinda like a......innuendous southern country mom......yeah no expectation were heavily subverted. She's seeing my brother's sister I think.", Zeke answered, glad that she hadn't thought the hug weird, or inappropriate. Orias really was an enigma though, the woman fit the bill on arrival, but something happened when she met the princess. It was a strange metamorphosis, but then again, who could say they had a real life demon queen as their shrink?
Ayla still found it hard to imagine that Demons are real, and also, one’s dating a member of his family. She wondered if maybe; she died and got reincarnated or something, she’s not in her universe. “This is amazing,” she said to him, smiling and shaking her head. “I don’t know whether I have died and been transported to a whole new universe or what” she chuckled.
"Oh no, don't worry, you're still among the living haha! She got dragged here from her's actually. Even Jack was hard pressed to believe that one, but his sister's happy, so he rolls with it. Though Mark seems to know more about her then anyone, and she always gives him this sad look, like someone regretful for something they've done." He chuckled at her awe, giving a shoulder pat before looking over that gown. "Maybe we should find someone to help you pick out clothes, not knocking the gown look, but probably should get you something more then that thin thing."
Ayla laughed “Well I am glad I am among the living!” she said and soon she discovered the name of his brother. And he mentioned a Mark who she didn’t know, as well as mentioned some things he’d noticed like the demon giving Mark a sad look. She got a shoulder pat as a result of her awe at what she discovered.
She looked at the gown and nodded ”Yeah, it’s not very fashionable, but there are too many openings, and I am a little concerned about walking in this on a windy day. Based on your reaction, not sure everyone will like it too much.
Finally, there was peace, but the young girl groaned in pain and anguish as she tried with a blurry vision to remove the damaged shrapnel from her body. Power began turning off, everything but the lift support leaving her drifting off into space, away from the battle, away from her people, and closer unexpectedly to safety. To people that could help her, and possibly to someone she could flirt with.
As time passed by, the ship drifted and pushed around by Space’s radiation, and space born creatures.
Dormant for years, the ship was carried far, as empires changed and new wars raged. The universe seemed to pass the spacer girl by, eventually collecting with other debris. One that seemed to be the sector's waist bin of ancient wrecks and remains.
The search for particular detritus brought a few ships and crews out there in curiosity of what could be used. Pods were dispersed, umbilicals extending as they would supply power and air for the hours of work ahead. However, one bay held not a salvage pod,.......but a mech.
Screens turned on, one by one to show dark hangar interior, a final check given. A silent rumble followed as the old hangar doors swung open from top and bottom like ramps. Zeke eased the controls forward on the borrowed Kirin, a loan from sergeant Tazar.
Thrust carried it into space, the tether pulling taunt before releasing, he was then cruising through the debris for anything that looked useful.
Around him, his fellow salvagers worked, pulling part debris to look at what they could use. A debris got loose and flew, hitting another debris, causing a vibration, that shook the severely damaged space girl. She felt the vibrations, causing mechanical optics to glow faintly as she tried to look over, hoping that the vibrations she was feeling, while strapped to the seat weren’t all in her head.
She could barely see out, but she saw something, ships that didn’t look Yamataian fly by the crevice that she saw. These might not be Yamataians, but she didn’t know if they were pirates, but she chose not to care. She was weak.
Weak, but her self-preservation was strong. She lifted her hand causing further sparks. She was certain now the shadow she was seeing with her low power optics couldn’t be her imagination. She kept jamming a button a certain way, repeatedly, Morse code. "Over here", the message repeated. "please help me over here”
Zeke's helmeted head turned, panning across his screens, looking at all the broken pieces before him until the system of an unknown signal lit up on his center screen. A quick search gave him the general direction, the freespacer seeing the mech's singular red optic turning their general direction. A moment later the rest of the body followed, the machine was now fully cruising towards the general location of the ship.
The emotion, the feeling that the Freespacer began feeling was Hope, true unadulterated hope. Someone heard her message, and they were coming closer towards her. She saw the red optic, and she knew they weren’t Yamataian, but at that moment she didn’t care. “Yes, keep coming closer” the Morse code transmitted.
She wished she can show off some light, something more to catch attention, but the Morse code would have to suffice. Soon he would be close enough that he could see the hole and the Freespacer inside the damaged ship. Her hands lifted, one showing the peace sign while the other waved. Sparks also visible, the crushed and damaged torso, and the somewhat dim optics of her eyes.
The machine passed closer and closer until the signs point to the closest craft. That red optic scanned over the vessel, pausing at the hole in the hull where the bridge would be. The pilot blinking his eyes in disbelief, a woman!......somehow alive despite being exposed to the vacuum of space.
Zooming in answered why as it became clear they were a spacer, very little organic left in them to worry about. But that was beside the point as Zeke deployed his feather drones, launching grappling tethers to the hulk before collectively tugging away.
"Hey Jay? We got a live one here.", The pilot spoke as he reported in.
".....what? A Hades leftover?"
"No, ship and individual are Freespacer. Ship is derelict and not functional, passenger is alive, but not sure just how......okay they are. I'm tugging them back for extraction, prep the hold for me.......medical team too." He answered as he followed the wreck back, the craft being pulled into an empty cargo bay.
"This isn't really procedure, but whatever, your ass if your damsel is a Hades trap."
Her body jolted as the hulk was tugged at before things broke apart, and the wreck of a Freespacer ship came to lose, soon to be tugged towards a cargo hold. Her hands were lowered mostly to conserve whatever energy she had left. They knew she was there, but as she was pulled along, the ships didn’t look Pirate related at all. Some were advanced, others looked familiar and not at all used by Pirates.
Her body jolted again as the wreck was set down, and teams began working at a fast pace, trying to undo the ship to get her clear. There was a collective curse when they saw just how damaged she was, Aether damage all over her, and the ship which the Engineers will note was old.
The Freespacer was unplugged from her ship, to be plugged to a new full-power source, keeping her alive longer.
“Ok people, move your asses we have a limited window to keep our new friend alive, and repaired if possible and I don’t want to waste it,” Said a gruff-looking Male with Bear ears. The Medical team practically flying as they ran out with their patient heading towards the Medical bay.
As the mech landed, it knelt to the deck before opening the hatch, Zeke in his Origin power armor dropping to the deck with a thud. He watched as they carried what was sadly left of her by, the blonde mercenary feeling bad for just how bad she was right now.
Not sure what else to do, he followed after, stopping in the medical bay as they figured how to even tell the woman's vitals. He waited inside out of the way as they brainstormed quickly, eventually figuring out they just didn't have the equipment to save her body. Finally it was decided if they couldn't save her body, they would save her mind.
Given she was a freespacer, her mind more like that of an AI then a organic person anymore, they downloaded it into an AI core usually kept on hand for an EVE from one of the drones. Once her life was no longer in danger, the doctors looked at each other awkwardly, unsure where to put her until they got back. That was when Zeke spoke up finally, "Well I found her, I can hold onto her until we get back. I'm sure you all have more pressing duties, and I'm just the independent here after all. Let me watch over sleeping beauty here, I'll keep an eye on her...promise."
The Bear Anthro looked over at Zeke and his suggestion. And nodded,” Yeah, I agree, we need someone to watch over her and I think you're more than an independent, so I think we can trust you, we’ll get her a new proper body when we get back, we just don’t have the tech here,” He said, his voice less gruff as it had before.
A static sound came up as she activated the default voice ”” The Sleeping Beauty is fine with that” She said, though the voice didn’t show whether or not she was amused. She was alive, she knew this, alive, and in some kind of drone core, it looked like. She watched as the decision made, her old body was moved onto a different gurney to be put away. They would need the DNA later to create her new body or some of what they can use anyway.
Zeke carried the core in his hands, carefully to his chest plate almost like a infant child would be carried. It might have seemed odd if he thought about it, but he was trying to be gentle and careful with his charge. "Well good to hear, you're lucky to still be alive missy. Umm...I think you're a girl right? I know I called you sleeping beauty, but you were kinda ragged to tell for sure. You have a name?", Zeke said as he carried the spacer mind out, planning to head to his bunk and chill. After all, this had been his third salvage run today, surely it would already net him a nice pile of script with what he had already gathered.
The default gave a robotic sound of the hahahaha before she spoke ”yeah, I am a girl, I understand though, my armor can sometimes hide that bit. But underneath that, I am pure 100 percent woman. “She said as she was carried away. “Antibody 77-6454-333, though I think I might go by a new name soon enough, I mean new body new name. What about you, what’s your name, and I probably should be asking, where are we exactly, and... How long ago was the war with Yamatai?’ she asked him, though she didn’t feel it, the last bit gave her some worry.
The man paused as he made it into the bunk, "Well you're about a decade after that one.....I....wouldn't say it was a battle though. That would be too prettied for what it was."
Zeke took a seat on his bed still in armor, knowing he hadn't given his name yet, but figured he's give a face before he did. Beside, he wanted to give her a moment to let that sink in as he removed his helmet, then released the locks on his torso armor. Thinking about it for a moment, he turned the core around to where her optics faced away for a few. Anti would hear only the sound of him standing and clammering out of the suit, before something opened and the sound of fabric could be heard move.
With a few clunks, the sight of the suir being stowed in a crate on the edge of her vision range could be seen, before he could be heard and felt plopping back down on the bunk. She was turned back around to see the lean, yet toned man in cargo pants and a tank top, his blonde hair and blue eyes now seen along with his face. "Name's Zeke by the way, Zeke Rykiel, so what do you plan to do once you have a body again?"
Ayla remained silent for what seemed like hours as she processed the information she was just given. 10 years, she was alone adrift for 10 years! She heard sounds that were foreign to her but she had enough on her mind, plus the question would be answered when she was turned back around and she saw the new state of dress.
He was probably changing his clothes, and he turned her away for privacy reasons. “Nice to meet you, Zeke Rykiel, and thank you for getting me out of there,” she said and soon realized she hadn’t thanked him yet. “I don’t know, I’ve had my turn at war, and I’m not sure I want to go back to being a soldier, maybe something more along the lines of protecting and serving the people, maybe law enforcement. “ She said before she asked the question that was on her mind.
“Zeke, how many Freespacers survived? how many are there left of my people?’ she asked him.
"Not enough to ever be counted as a nation again, and barely enough as a people. There are still thousands of you out there, scattered among the worlds, or living in small nomadic groups. Actually, there's even a few where we're headed, and we've used your technology before. You guys are hanging in there.", Zeke answered, as he awkwardly sat there, wondering what the hell was he going to do with her. They couldn't just sit here on his bunk all night cycle, and it might be weird if he just held onto the core while laying down. He didn't just want to put her on a shelf, or in a container so rudely either though.
Ayla was pleased to hear there were thousands of her people out there; hopefully, they can grow from those thousands. The few where they were headed could be friends of hers too, so that was good. She was surprised to hear they worked with Freespacer tech before, but then it was 10 years so things could have happened, so she tried not to let it bother her.
She was about to ask something when the door pinged. That surprised her, but she didn’t move since she was only a core. Once opened it would be a medic that they’d recognized from the Medical area. “Hey, sorry to disturb you, I have some bad news, but some good news too.” He’d say and in response, Ayla sighed “what’s the bad news?” she asked unable to stop herself. He was surprised by the core’s location ”oh, well, the human DNA in your body was unfortunately not enough there are some holes likely in place, but there are things we can do to patch those holes, and still get you a body, but It’s going to be different. “he turned to Zeke “may I?’ he asked
"Not my ship bud, I just sleep in this bunk, no need to ask for my permission.", was Zeke's answer as he casually lifted his legs up and over to lay on the bed behind Ayla. Now the medic had more room in the cramped space to walk in and present what he had to the essentially freespacer in a can sitting next to him. "Doc, if I'm honest, you make different sound like you're about to turn our lass here into a unicorn or sumthen."
The Freespacer in a can watched as the doctor entered the room, and watched as two legs flew up missing her as they did so. Zeke’s words got a hehe from her. “Yeah not sure I like the idea of having a horn on my forehead.” The doctor chuckled before he set up; soon there was a volumetric display. “I mean with additions to the body new changes could happen, not so much a Unicorn, though little girls would love that. To patch those holes we add new DNA, mostly compatible one, such as Anthro, or Nepleslian. We can create any kind of body. And using this display, we can decide on what to add, and by doing so, we will get your future body. “ He told them both though it was more to Ayla.
He turned to Zeke" Sir, according to our records, your Nepleslian right? Would you be interested in perhaps donating some blood for our use?" He asked.
The man had his hands laced behind his head as he was laid back, eyes closed almost like he hadn't been paying attention before, one opening to show a glowing blue iris. He extended one arm out off the bed for the doctor, "Yeah, human, but Nep born. Guess I got lucky and missed the lottery on mutations. Got a medical kit with syringe in the backpack behind you if you need it doc."
The volumetric showed a woman, with most of the body flickering. The head appeared stable, and it had hair, but the rest of her looked like nothing was set. “I can choose what I want the body to look?’ She asked as she took note of the face, her face without the metal plates. The Doctor nodded, so they spent an hour with the volumetric until finally, a Faun, stood there in the volumetric girl’s place, with long elf looking ears. “That one,” she said finally satisfied. The Doctor smiled and nodded “I’ll go have them make it, thank you for your time, both of you” he said and after a final goodbye, he left.
It hadn't bothered Zeke as blood had been drawn, he'd had it done enough for medical check ups, and medbay visits in his time in the marines. There were far worse things to enter your body then a syringe, making the collection a trivial matter. He still rubbed his arm a little, always hating that feeling of even just a bit of blood missing in the system regardless. "So, soon you'll have new duds, maybe a new home if you want it, and work. For a survivor, you sure won the lottery with rescuers."
Ayla saw his eyes on the corner of the core’s optics, they were glowing, she was certain that normal eyes didn’t glow like that, Mechanical eyes did, but it didn’t look like he had that either. Just how advanced were these people?! The doctor took Zeke’s blood using the syringe and after carefully containing the blood, he was gone, as was the display. Her mind processed what she had seen, not the body of course, but his glowing eyes. “Yes, I sure did won the lottery, and I was incredibly lucky you got to me,” she said before “Zeke, I have to say something. I saw your eyes glowing, they don’t look mechanical to me, just how advanced are your-our people that you can have organic eyes that glow?!’ she asked
The voice though mechanical didn’t show the amazement she was feeling in her voice. The glowing eyes were probably the most important thing, and while she was concerned about having a home, she knew that it will be with the new group she found herself with. She owed Zeke so much, he was a good man.
Both eyes were open now as they both looked to the core, a hand reaching over to turn it around and face him. The spiky blonde sat up before picking the core up and holding it in his lap, then leaning closer and pulling his eyelids back. "Advancements in nano-technology, and bio-tech integration into the body. It's called a G1-NI, or Geist mark 1, neural interface. It allows us to control technology wirelessly, even take mental possession of craft and calculate data faster with no physical medium. Implant is implanted into the central nervous system at the base of the neck, right into the spinal cord, and the nanoes have restructured all the pathways from it to my eyes and brain."
With him this close, Ayla's borrowed optics could zoom in on the veins of his eye, and the iris itself. Small paths and blips of almost unseen light could be seen traveling through the veins, and pulsing across the nerves of the Iris's radius around the pupil. Letting go to let his lids go back to their rested position, he sat the core next to him again. "Pretty crazy stuff, something we did to be a bit more even with races like the yams, and spacers like yourself. You guys were one of the inspirations to say the least. Still learning with it though, and similar technologies, even advanced AI."
Ayla watched as her vision changed, the pillows and blanket were gone replaced by his lap and body. She watched as he leaned close and pulled back his eyelids. She made the optics zoom closer and she got a better view as she saw this and heard him talk about it. It amazed her to hear about what they were able to do, and also about how her people were the inspiration too. This Geist of theirs seemed even more amazing in what it was capable of doing too,
“Is it a Mindware?” she asked him wanting to know more about the Geist, and how he was describing its location seemed like a mindware to her, like she had once used. She might be interested in seeing it in action. “How are AI treated for your people?’ she asked him, having remembered AI like Androids and Gynoids are treated as citizens to the Freespacers.
"Yes and no. My mind is not digital, but in a way, it is slightly by how the implant interfaces with the brain and rewiring it essentially does. I can process information faster, but still within the limits of my fully used brain capacity.", the nep man answered as he ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair, not really doing anything to his doo honestly. Taking his laid back position again, he casually continued to answer her questions, "If it's sentient, then it has full and equal rights like any other citizen of our very infantile nation."
She was very surprised to hear more about the Geist they were using, it was amazing how technology had advanced in the 10 years she’d been gone. She’d love to see what else they could do as time passed. “I’d love to see how you can control technology sometime when I am in my new form.” She said She was pleased to hear about how they treated AI ”so just like us then” she commented.
He had a cocky grin now, "Well I'm no drone commander, or anything as large scale as that, most of my skill is with piloting mechs as you probably guessed. But I can do some cool stuff with them I guess. I'll give you ride sometime once you have your body."
“Ha.ha.ha” was her response before “yes, I do remember seeing that Mech, though with the limited power, I didn’t have as much to see, I could see the red of your Mech though. “ she said and soon time flew by for the Freespacer in a can and the Merc. They’d gotten contacted that the body was ready so she was taken to where she can be transferred to her new form. The first thing she needed to learn was how to breathe since she was holding her breath, but she got the hang of that.
The next thing was getting up and walking, but seeing the gown they had the form wearing, was soon removed since she didn’t want anything to distract her as she got up, her hoofs clacking on the floor as her body arose from the bed. Her arms spread out as she balanced herself, before she took a step forward, and fell against Zeke since he was there. She grabbed hold of him and used him to steady herself. He certainly had muscles she noticed but she was paying more attention to steadying herself. “ok.. “ she said as she held onto him and smiled.
The mercenary was a bit red faced as he averted his eyes from her bare body, really hoping Sydney never walked in. "Are you s-sure you had to take the gown off? Not saying you aren't attractive, but a little, ya know.......inappropriate maybe?" That being said, he still on tight to her so she wouldn't fall, holding her arms as she held his. He was cute when he was shy.
Ayla looked up at him and realized he’s blushing ”sorry, I thought the gown will distract me as I try to walk “ With his support she began walking, they mostly moved to the bed to grab the gown to cover up, but they moved to one side of the room, and back, soon she was doing it without support walking. “Alright, I have mastered walking in my new form,” she said feeling proud of herself, and then looked over. “You’re cute by the way when you were blushing,” she told him.
"Void you make me a mess Ayla, it sucks I'm taken, otherwise I'd flirt back. In all honest, it's an internal struggle not to. And by the by, you're cute when you giggle, so now we're even on cute compliments.", he said with a nervous chuckle at being called cute. Though he was a lot more relaxed now that she was decent, though that single moment of a peak, was still guiltily engraved in his mind.
Ayla just grinned at him as he complimented her, though it sucked he was taken, but she admired how decent he was. She laughed when he said they were even on the cute compliments as she sat back down, making sure things aren’t showing as a sign of respect. He was a good man and a funny one. “By the way, I’ve decided on a new name.” She told him ‘Ayla Knight” She made sure her gown was closed as she bowed.
He bowed back out of courtesy, giving a chuckle, "Damsel no more I see, adopting the ways of the knight in name and practice. It suits you, you've come along way, and you are a knight against the harm that would befall your people,....our people. I swear, moving on from cute, straight on to bombshell in personality and quirks. I'd dare say they almost made you perfectly."
Ayla laughed as he bowed and smiled as he spoke. He was right; she was a Damsel no longer. “Yeah, our people let me stay; they gave me a new body, and a new life. Void yes, I will do my part to defend us, even if it’s going to be in law enforcement. “ She said then grinned as she was told she was made perfectly “maybe they did” she said as a sign of agreement. “I like what was created, I was used to having antennae, so these long ears would just be like that only thicker. Truth be told, Fauns were my favorite creature when I could get time to read something fantasy related. “
"Ahh, so a girl into fairy-tales, something a bit of a lost archetype these days. Most I've ever known are more into fashion, glory, power, honor, or some other more modern idea. Then again, Elves are real, and we have an ex-demon queen running around. Almost makes you wonder if at one point in time, they were more then just stories.", he answered already well accustomed with the features of her body, after all, that's what he had been studying with his eyes closed in detail when the doctor had helped her design it that day.
With a sudden urge Zeke pulled the woman into a hug, being one of the only other people he'd consider a close friend.
Ayla smiled when he commented on her interest, and about how it was a bit of a lost archetype these days. She learned about those he’d known and what they were interested in but it was what he said next shocked her to her core. “wo wo wo! Demons?! Actual, real-life Demons?! And there is actually a queen?! She was shocked and awed, but she was surprised by the hug. She missed hugging someone, and she hadn’t had a chance to since the battle those 10 years ago. “What’s this ‘ex Demon queen’ like?” She asked her as she hugged him, before stepping back.
"Ummm......probably not how you'd expect, she's kinda like a......innuendous southern country mom......yeah no expectation were heavily subverted. She's seeing my brother's sister I think.", Zeke answered, glad that she hadn't thought the hug weird, or inappropriate. Orias really was an enigma though, the woman fit the bill on arrival, but something happened when she met the princess. It was a strange metamorphosis, but then again, who could say they had a real life demon queen as their shrink?
Ayla still found it hard to imagine that Demons are real, and also, one’s dating a member of his family. She wondered if maybe; she died and got reincarnated or something, she’s not in her universe. “This is amazing,” she said to him, smiling and shaking her head. “I don’t know whether I have died and been transported to a whole new universe or what” she chuckled.
"Oh no, don't worry, you're still among the living haha! She got dragged here from her's actually. Even Jack was hard pressed to believe that one, but his sister's happy, so he rolls with it. Though Mark seems to know more about her then anyone, and she always gives him this sad look, like someone regretful for something they've done." He chuckled at her awe, giving a shoulder pat before looking over that gown. "Maybe we should find someone to help you pick out clothes, not knocking the gown look, but probably should get you something more then that thin thing."
Ayla laughed “Well I am glad I am among the living!” she said and soon she discovered the name of his brother. And he mentioned a Mark who she didn’t know, as well as mentioned some things he’d noticed like the demon giving Mark a sad look. She got a shoulder pat as a result of her awe at what she discovered.
She looked at the gown and nodded ”Yeah, it’s not very fashionable, but there are too many openings, and I am a little concerned about walking in this on a windy day. Based on your reaction, not sure everyone will like it too much.
