Chiharu sat in the Captain's chair on the bridge as she watched the morning crew relieve the Dead Dog shift's bridge crew. by now, her coffee mug was long since been empty and her heat exchangers had closed, once again giving her the appearance of a human being save her ears. She sighed a bit, noticing that she was still short on crew, but from the looks it, more were going to transferring in within a day or so.
Acara headed back to the bridge since it would be the best place to start......again. Upon arrival, he noticed that the Chujo was there. He stood silently by the door, waiting to be noticed.
Chiharu's ears twitched as she heard someone approach and then stop at the hatchway. ~That's odd, I didn't hear footsteps..~ She turned to face the door and the chair swiveled as she redirected her body. Her dark red eyes appraised the man in a Technician jacket and raised a curious eyebrow. "Can I help you? You can enter, you don't have to ask permission..." She glanced towards the soldier's insignia, "Technical Specialist.." She said the rank uneasily, not happy to have to call the boy by his rank.
"Ma'am, I am Technical Specialist Acara. I transfered here from the GSS-Shindo. I am supposed to present myself to you upon arrival.
"I'm Chujo Ketsurui Chiharu." She smiled friendly, another male crew member, boy she was going to have to get used to it.. "Nice to meet you Acara. I take it that you've taken a look about the ship already?" She had a cheerful and comfortable tone to her voice, nothing that you'd except to hear in a commanding officer's voice. "Well, since you're a Technician you'll be serving under Juni Kuru, the Chief Engineer, she's also new here. Don't worry too much about her, she may seem a bit gruff she's a pretty good worker and NCO. I'm sure that you'll have no end of things to do while you're on duty here." Her smile never seemed to cease.
Acara was taken a back at this open show of friendliness. This was not at all what he expected of a Chujo. ~ Now I realize what Keenara meant, be polite no one in his right mind would be otherwise. If any one was rude, thirty people would be in line to beat you.~ "Yes ma'am, I did get a look at the ship while you were away, and it looks very well maintained."
Chi cast an approving glance around the bridge, still smiling. "That it does, Taisho Yui and her crew have kept it in good condition. And now your job will be to help it stay that way." She smoothed a lock of dark brown hair back behind her ear again as she continued, "I think that you'll do very well working here, so hopefully you won't have to move again for any reason, unless you really want to transfer away from us." She was glad that she had already looked over the new crew roster and had commited it to memory, it gave her a little insight into the situation of each crew member so she could better understand them. "I have confidence in your abilities to make the GSS Yui the best maintained ship in the fleet." She smiled again, a strong sense of pride and confidence in her voice, she was being very honest and sincere and she hoped that Acara believed her sincerity.
Acara began to like his new officer, she was kind and forward. He relaxed becoming less solid. " I will do my best. If I may, I must leave and stock up on fluids now."
She nodded. "You are dismissed then, just be sure to check in with Juni Kuru whenever you're ready to get your assignment for the day. Take care Acara."
"Yes ma'am." As Acara left the bridge, heading towards a food outlet, he wondered how his time here would affect his future.
Chiharu smiled softly as her meeting with Technical Specialist Acara ended, the soldier seemed like he was a hard worker so she was happy. She just hoped that Kuru won't give him too hard of a time.
An encrypted transmission was sent to the GSS Yui from the surface, text only. The subject bar noted it was for the Chujo's eyes only.
Arume, a bridge officer on duty, looked up as the message was received. "Chujo Ketsurui, there is a text message from the service that's for your eyes only." Chiharu nodded and turned back to her station, "Patch it to me." The Chujo, looked over the message curiously, now what was this about?
"Chujo Ketsurui Chiharu. In lieu of recent events, we are sending up a specialist to join your team. She is to be kept separate from the rest of your crew, interpersonal contact is to be minimal. We are sending her via shuttle, ETA is five minutes." There was appropriate authorization, the transmission was from the Organic Weapon division of PNUgen.
Chiharu grimaced a bit, oh joy, this didn't look good. She sent a message back under the same encryption, "Any reason why she's to kept separate from the rest of the crew?"
"Further instructions are being sent with the weapon. Further attempts on this encryption will be ignored. All questions may be addressed to the accompanying officer."
The transmission ended, and a few seconds later only the record of the transmission remained. No copy of what was said could be found.
Chi rolled her eyes, damn secretive bastards. She gave an order over the ship's announcement system to clear the docking bay and to remain out of it until further notice and started off towards to bay, double checking to make sure her energy pistol was loaded and charged. "Busy first day."
Meanwhile....
It was early morning when Lavinia woke up, stretched and got her bearings. Seeing Ritsurin still asleep, she nudged him with her elbow, "Ritsu, time to wake up." She said to the sleeping warrant officer.
"uhh... Ten more minutes please..." He said still asleep.
"Come on Ritsu, wake up, you need to go present yourself to Chujo Chiharu." She said nudging him some more.
Yawns: "Ok, five more minutes please Lavinia..." He replied drowsily.
She punched in the shoulder lightly, "You have to wake up now Ritsu, it's time to go."
"zzzz...two more minutes..." He replied now half awake.
That's when she leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Time to get up lover boy." She said afterward.
Ritsurin jolted awake feeling her kiss him; "Why'd you do that?" He asked in mild amazement.
"I thought it would be the best way to wake you up." She replied smiling.
"Well, it worked quite well... and what was up with the 'lover boy' comment?" He asked her with an eyebrow raised.
"You can't guess?" She replied with a false pout. "Anyway, we need to go to the bridge."
They stood up and Lavinia kept an eye on Ritsurin, watching him do a few stretches. ~He's so cute in the morning.~ she thought, watching him. They mutually decided that it was indeed time to go to the bridge, so that he could present himself to the Chujo.
"By the way Lavinia, what's the Chujo like?" He asked curiously; putting his arm around her as they exited the room.
~I don't care what anyone else says, I'm keeping her close to me.~ Ritsurin thought, looking at Lavinia.
~I believe he's catching on...~ she thought gleefully. She smiled as they walked. "She's rather nice, if not a little flaky at times, but she's one the best officers out there." Lavinia replied brightly.
"Just so long as she doesn't flake out too much; we shouldn't have a problem then." He said in a serious tone.
Over the intercom: "This is Chujo Chiharu, all personnel are to avoid the shuttle bay until further notice."
"I wonder what that's about." Lavinia stated.
"I don't really know." Ritsurin answered cocking his ears around to hear anything else.
They walked onto the bridge to meet the new captain.
(This is describing what anyone on the bridge sees)
-A tall young man with dog-ears, long blonde hair with red highlights; tied back into a pony tail at the neck; and a scar on his cheek.
-And a long, dark green haired neko, who was wearing her blue armband; holding onto the young man by interlocking her arm with his.
Strode confidently onto the bridge.
"Greetings, Lady Chujo Chiharu, my name is Daijinshi Ritsurin, the ship's warrant officer and head of security. Yui told me that you'd be replacing her, it's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful young lady..Ow!" Ritsurin said as Lavinia elbowed him in the ribs.
"And this is Taiensho Lavinia, a transfer security sentry from your old ship, the Now-and-Forever." He said indicating the dark haired neko who was holding his arm.
Lavinia smiled brightly to the Chujo. ~This is my friend from the academy, the one one I fell in love with.~ She telepathically communicated to Chiharu.
"...Anyway, what's our nrew mission Lady Chujo?" Ritsurin asked in his serious tone, inadvertently wiggling his ear to rid it of an itch.
"As you can see mistress, he's quite serious about his job." Lavinia told her. ~Which is why I fell for him, not to mention that he's handsome wouldnt' you agree?~ she sent to the Chujo telepathically.
Chiharu offered a friendly and very brief smile to the Sentries. She spoke quickly and apologetically, "Juni Daijinshi, Specialist Lavinia, I'm sorry but I am a little busy right now to give a proper introduction to hold a friendly conversation. I have a meeting to keep but since you two are here, I'd like for you two to keep watch at hatchways that join the Shuttle Bay to the ship from the ship's side. I do not WANT anyone to enter that area until I give the order that it is clear or unless I give them permission to enter, that includes yourselves or any Sentry on your staff." ~Lavinia, I'm happy for you but I have less than 5 minutes to get this issue taken care of. Please forgive me, but it is very important.~ Her tone was not her usual tone of voice when it came to giving her crew orders, which was that she sounded like any other officer instead of usual friendly self. "Please take care of this immediately."
She nodded to the two sentries.
"Yes ma'am" both Ritsurin and Lavinia saluted, and went out into the corridor. "Why are we going to the shuttle bay Ritsurin?" Lavinia asked.
"I don't know, but asking questions wasn't part of the assignment." He replied sprinting down the hallway, "Go around to the other side!" he shouted as he ran down the corridor.
Lavinia nodded in agreement and sprinted off in the other direction going to the same place. As she reached the door she saw Ritsurin nodding in acknowledgment of Chiharu's order not to go inside. Ritsurin looked over at Lavinia and signaled for her stand guarding the door and monitor the hallway she had just come from. He then did the same thing on his side of the door. As they stood there in silence, a few crew members passed by, but a quick nod from either Ritsurin or Lavinia told them this wasn't the place to be at the current time. It was Lavinia who broke the silence:
"Just like back at the academy eh Ritsurin?" She asked.
"Yeah it is, except we had to keep the administrators out back then." He replied. "Compared to that, this is easy." He added.
"That was also the first time we met, if I remember correctly." She said with a wink.
"Yeah it is, I'll never forget that day, but now is not the time for a trip down memory lane Lavinia." He said in all seriousness.
"I know, I know." She said smiling.
A few more crew members walked by, stopped and asked them what was going on. "We don't know, and it's none of your business." was the serious Ritsurin's reply.
"Oh Ritsu, I brought someone and something aboard for you to have and meet, after this is over of course." Lavinia said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
"........." Ritsurin remained silent.
After that conversation, they stood in silence, awaiting the time when Chiharu would relieve them.
Back on the bridge..
Araiah got up and stretched. He pulled something from his satchel and set his hand on it...his eyes flashed brightly before he put the device back in its pocket. Getting up, he stretched again, then left the nest. The Chujo brushed by, bumping his arm. "Hey, where're ya going?" he asked, sensing something urgent.
Chi quietly spoke in hushed tones, hoping not to attract anymore attention than she was already attracting to the shuttle bay. "Somethings coming in from the surface in 5 minutes, all I know is that it's most likely dangerous. Gotta go see what it is." She offered a small smile.
The smile seemed incongruous with what she was said, causing Araiah to smile a bit in return. "Has security been alerted?" He took up stride and walked along with her, doors whisking open to admit them into the shuttle bay.
"Yes, two Sentries have been posted at the hatchways to the shuttle bay to keep people out. I want as few people in here as possible." She hurried with Araiah to the docking bay, hoping that this nasty little surprise wouldn't destroy them all before they even got to start their mission. "I trust that you are packing?"
"Always," he nodded with a grin. The little cylinder that he had used against Wazu was hanging by his side...he trusted his own weapons more than the ones he had found in the armory. He took it in his right hand, it quickly deployed into a the useful prod device. Quickly checking it, he nodded to the commander. "Locked and loaded, ma'am."
She smiled again, "Good, if nothing else, I'll get to test out this new body since I got my upgrade." She smoothed her hair back behind her ears again, glancing about for any stragglers that might be loitering around the shuttle bay despite her orders.
Araiah glanced around...the bay was fairly clear, cargo containers were stacked along the starboard wall near the Yui's own shuttle craft, leaving room for another and anything smaller that that. Exactly five minutes from the time of transmission, a shuttle approached the GSS Yui and requested permission to board...the bay doors opened and it slipped through the atmosphere retention force field and landed gently on the deck.
Chiharu kept her hand instinctively close to the grip of her energy pistol as she waited for whoever this was to exit the shuttle. "Time to see what this is about." She straightened, glancing to the hatchways into the ship, hoping that no one tried to get past Lavinia and Daijinshi.
The hatch opened and a PNUgen scientist strode out. "Chujo Ketsurui, I presume?" The scientist nodded, as if she already knew the answer, surveyed the bay, then disappeared back into the shuttle. A few moments later the lady reappeared pushing a antigrav unit carrying a long, gray case. The casket-like case was made of steel and lined with impurvium at all corners and weak points. Whatever was inside was very important. A screen was set into the upper quarter of the case, currently dark and inactive. She tilted the unit until it rested its end on the floor holding the case at a high angle, almost vertical.
Chi carefully and guardedly approached the casket. "What exactly is this thing Doctor and why do I have to keep it away from my crew??"
"Because if you don't, the effectiveness of the weapon may be compromised, see?" was the calm reply. The scientist turned to the case and addressed it. "Security measure Alpha deactivate." Voice recognition software turned on, the screen flickered to life as it analyzed and accepted the handler's voice. The screen cleared and flashed an image of the contents of the case, a neko. She appeared asleep. Fairly normal looking for an NH-7, she had dull jet black skin and the green hair of an independent. "She's been in stasis for a week since her last examination. She won't be happy...never did like being in confined places, see?" Carefully, the handler tapped a control on the side next to the crease where the lid met the case.
Araiah stood to Chi's right and slightly behind her, watching the proceedings quietly. His eyes never missed a beat.
"What do you mean the effectiveness of the weapon will be compromised? Who the hell are you bringing onto my ship?" Chi spoke through a forced smile, getting more and more uneasy.
The doctor paused what she was doing and faced Chi. "To answer your question, this is an experiment. Your ship was chosen because it is the most recognized vessel in the fleet, not because of its own merits, but because of its crew. We can trust that instructions will be followed. To further answer your question, this neko's name is Kago Nanashi. She is a prototype, not in body but in mind. Her programming is fragile. Contact with any except her, pardon the term, "handler" might disrupt it, see?" Removing the screen (some sort of hand-held computer) from the case, the handler handed it to the Chujo. "This has been programmed with everything we have on her. Minimal crew contact is recommended, otherwise, she will be useless, see?"
Chi looked over the hand-held computer and the specs. "So she's a test model like myself and the Taisho.." She nodded with a sigh. "So she's a berserker?"
The woman gave her first smile. "No. Those were too uncontrollable, which earned them the name....Nanashi is different. You'll see what I mean in a moment." The case beeped ready, and the hiss of pressurized air being released was followed by the lid lifting and sliding to the side of the casket. There lay Nanashi, her arms, legs, head, and torso strapped to the walls with padded metal bands.
Chi's stance did not relax but she did stop keeping her hand on her pistol's grip. "So who is supposed to be her new handler, because I assume that you're not going to stick around for this mission?" She spoke without looking at the Doctor, instead waiting the Neko that was probably going to be waking up extremely cranky from stasis.
The scientist ignored Chi, and tapped another control to release the straps. The neko awoke at the same moment, ruby red eyes blinked open. She rubbed them and frowned, but it was one of sad confusion, not anger. "Mistress, why did you make me go to sleep again? I don't like the dark," she said, turning sad puppy-...kitty eyes on the doctor.
Smiling, the lady rubbed Nanashi behind the ear. "It's alright. We had to take a trip and you wouldn't have liked that either, see? But it's over now. Meet your new parent!" The handler gestured toward Chiharu.
Chi offered a friendly, motherly although startled smile to Nanashi, although she cast a rather nasty glare in the doctor's direction. Chi cast a pleading look towards Araiah. "I am her only parent or does she get to have 2?"
Nanashi stared blankly at Chi a moment, then she smiled and walked up to the captain, giving her a big hug. The scientist smiled slightly. "If you want, you can share the responsibility. You can ask the computer if you have further questions." (c)
Araiah looked at the new neko with a surprised expression, then nodded. "Mistress Chiharu, I'll be glad to watch her since you have the rest of the ship to run." He paused and looked at the scientist. "Wait, how is this child going to help us?"
She returned Nanashi's hug. "Hi there Nanashi." She looked at the doctor again, "It's no fun to be a single parent. And when do you want her back in your care?"
"Her favorite game is called Genocide....I think you can get what I mean." The lady looked at Araiah intently, she couldn't place his species...but he was probably a Geshrin. "She can be returned upon completion of the Angel assignment."
Chi nodded to the doctor again, this was gonna be hell. "And what do I do to care for her, any 'toys' or special treats or anything?" She looked over to Araiah again. "Guess what, you're daddy."
The doctor narrowed her eyes at Chi. "Just give her her own room and keep everyone else away. If you have to, she can be put in stasis, but she doesn't like it, see? If you have any insubordinate crew members, go ahead and let her play with them...she'll like it, see?" To Nanashi, the doctor tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Nanashi, this man will be another of your new parents. But only listen to them now, no one else, understand? Everyone else lies, they will try to take you away. You don't want that, do you?" A scared look came to Nanashi's face and she shook her head emphatically. "No, no one else. I understand."
Araiah tilted his head. "What about VR? That would probably help..." The doc nodded and smiled. "There's an idea...but it can't be a room, she has already learned to distinguish between the two. Just be careful with her, see? She's important." She tapped the control on the case and it closed. Leaving it in the bay, the doctor waved at Nanashi with a smile, then looked at the Chujo. "You will not be able to contact us, we will contact you." The handler started to return to the shuttle, then thought of something else. "If there is any chance of that manual being copied or captured, it is able to self destruct. Please use that feature if either of those situations come up."
Chi nodded, and smiled despite herself and her concerns. "Understood Doctor. Please send my regards to your superiors."
The woman nodded and vanished into the shuttle. It started up, performed a tight turn, and exited the bay.
"This just keeps getting better," remarked Araiah, who was taking his turn at being hugged by the enthusiastic neko.
Chi looked from Araiah to Nanashi back to Araiah again. "We can find her, her own private quarters and we can talk to Wazu about working on something to allow her to play without killing off the crew to raise her score." She paused and looked at the Neko. "We'd better clear out the sentries before we get her settled I guess."
"Unless you have any suggestions?"
Araiah stood there thinking, then hugged the neko in return...she let go almost immedately. So that's how to get her off...He smiled and looked at the captain. "I can probably make something that would work. R'Lari tech is based off of virtual reality, so it can probably be adapted for this purpose. As for getting her to her quarters...maybe we should just leave her here and find someplace to put her before taking her all over the ship. And I can handle the transport, don't worry." He smiled again.
Chi returned the smile, being sincere this time. "Are you sure you want to leave her in her alone?" She looked at the Neko again, ~hmm... being the captain of the ship is like being a parent...~ "I'm concerned that someone will come in here and get themselves into a big mess."
"Good point." Araiah watched the neko wander around the bay, tapping on the hull of the lone shuttle and looking at the cargo containers.
"Hmm.. any ideas of where we can have her live? I haven't gotten a chance to look over the ship's blue prints."
The shifter frowned at the captains question. "Uh, neither have I. Wait a sec, the computer can display a map on the panels over here." He walks over to a computer access panel on the wall of the bay and requests data on the ship layout..."Yeah, there we go! There's an expansion area open over here, near the bridge." He waves Chi over and lets her look. "So, who gets to stay?"
Chi walked over and look at the panel, nodding in approval. "It'll work out wonderfully. We'll get a chance to keep an eye on her." She looked over at Nanashi again and then glanced back at Araiah. "Do you want me to be fair or be a pain?"
"Would a pain be very painful?" he replied hesitantly.
"Only if you want me to order you to babysit. Fair is we flip a coin or something." Chi replied.
He sighed. "I'll babysit."
Nanashi walked up and started watching the two officers. She smiled and tilted her head, the lock of hair on the side of her head falling over her cheek. "Whatcha talking about? Can we play yet?" Araiah looked at the girl and raised a brow. "Mistress, before you go, could I see that computer pad?"
Chi smiled again. "You'll make a good father for Nanashi." Her tone was playful and then she looked back at their "daughter". "Nanashi, I'm going to go get your room set up. Araiah is going to watch you for a little bit so be good." And then she looked back to Araiah, "I will be back as soon as I can." She handed the computer pad over to Araiah.
Araiah nodded and scanned the information on the pad, the words and images flashed past in a blur as the reports and videos went by in fast forward, but he got it all. "Wow. They really did a number on you, didn't they? the shifter mused as he finished it. "So, you like to play? What do you do when you play, Nanashi?" he asked the neko.
She grinned eagerly. "You can call me Nashi, daddy..."
Chi flashed them a quick smile as hurried out of the shuttle bay, running off to get Nanashi's room ready. She quickly gave the sentries on duty a quick order to return to their stations before she continued on her way. When she reached the bridge and she gave a new order.
"Attention, this is Chujo Ketsurui, all crew please report to your duty stations immediately and remain there until further notice. Repeat, all crew please report to your duty stations and remain there until further notice. That is all."