Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[Juliette]

Break time!

That sort of felt odd to think about at all. After all the time she'd spent on the Heion Riese with worries about Apotheosis learning to pilot, and the crisis at the Colony, added together to make a real chance at a break almost strange. Of course, it wasn't as if Juria was going to say no, and escaping the hustle and bustle of life on a military ship was refreshing to the younger girl as she toted Reo around with her as she idly walked around the plaza area near the Central Base.

Even so, she found herself walking towards a store to get robotic parts as her first thought. There were probably awesome new games to buy at GameStart!, and maybe she could actually pick up a book to suck less at English, but she had the urge to get to tinkering again and that could not be ignored! She barged in rather gracelessly to the store and approached the counter. "Hallo! Ahm... was wondering if I could be getting parts here for something similar to robot cat here?" She pat Reo on the head, who mewled at her attention. "Am not the best at knowing name for all stuff would be needed for another robotic animal type of thing, was make from scraps for cat, but want to do cleaner job when make for someone else, yes?" Juria smiled with childish joy at the idea. Bunny, wasn't it?

[TheRoon]

"Orange Theocracy? Sure sounds great!" She spoke and watched the girl fail to land the basket and followed with a smile. "I used to date a girl that worked at an Orange Theocracy actually. She was nice." Another date story ensued as they walked toward the clothing store.

Once Aliza was content with her special BBQ chips she gladly followed Elaine into the clothes store, and she took a good look around the store. "Man it's been a while. Haven't been in one in weeks." She walked over to a display with a nice yellow ensemble with a matching purse. "Hm...kinda bright. Not for me but...oooh they have one in blue..." She turned to another. Aliza looked like a kid in a candy store with all these nice sets to look at. "Hm..." You would think she wanted to get one for herself but not quite. No she was too busy imagining the female crew mates back at the Riese in some of these. Specifically Olivia and Abby. Olivia might look quite nice in that red top and those hip hugger jeans. Whereas Abby herself with her slightly forward attitude might enjoy the black halter and matching skirt. Quite a sight to behold indeed... "Hmmmm~" She couldn't help but smile to herself as she got lost in her slightly perverse thoughts.

Edited February 21, 2018 by TheRoon

[Shin]

Nikolai's age was somewhat of a mystery, even to Tarquin. From his general appearance and behaviour, Tarquin had assumed that his friend was somewhere in his late teens. However, considering how emaciated and votalile he was, Tarquin wouldn't have been surprised if he learned that he were approaching thirty. Most of the characters and pop cultures were lost on Tarquin. He only knew the Apotheosis parody due to his exposure to the group. It would have been a rather unkind gift for Nikolai considering the recent happenings. The only way he could make the gesture of a gift even more insensitive would be to offer him a pair of boots. The picturesque scened shirt was probably what he was leaning towards, if only because he found the clown rather disturbing.

"I think he has plenty of pants." Tarquin replied, purposefully witholding the fact his friend lacked legs. He was surrounded by so many things that people liked, but deciding what somebody else would enjoy was a level beyond him. Nikolai enjoyed classical music, but, from the general atmosphere of the store, he considered himself unlikely to find any. The T-shirt would be passable, but it didn't really have a personal touch.

"He also likes music. Do you have any headphones?" Tarquin asked, the shelves a labyrinth of products to his eyes. He'd never heard music from Nikolai's room, but perhaps that was because he had no means of doing so. Finding some sort of music playing contraption would be the next on his list, but it was a good start at least.
 

[Xinnidy]

Apologies

Just Firmia. Good, that would make things less awkward going forward. Even if it was a formality, calling someone that young 'Ms. Alkaev' just felt... wrong. Still, it was a shocking contrast to how disapproving of Jessica she could be in the meetings, Roxanna would never expect somebody like Firmia to sympathize and care (or pretend to) enough to be nice to her of all people.  "I... Hm." Apologizing about speaking only with the essential people? What a curious girl, this one. She wasn't part of their crew in any official sense, and had just joined a few days ago, so sticking to the Captain was a pretty natural decision. Roxanna didn't see what was wrong with that, even if she used to resent Jessica being the one in the position. "It makes sense to rely on the Captain, especially when you're a stranger on the ship. It's just... you know, Gefalscht." She waved her hand briefly, "I don't have the same degree of access to internal databases and priority to speak with a commander like she does. I doubt anybody else in the ship has, really, but I... get what you mean." That didn't come out too smoothly, but Roxanna didn't want to just brush over Firmia's apology if she was going as far as to vocalize it.

"I'm not too sure what the top brass is thinking, really. During our first mission, I thought it made sense. The Riese was a prototype in testing and the situation was best for it: A crew of young and old pilots either on loan or unremarkable, and a captain fresh out of the academy. Not the worst thing in the world if it proved to be a failure." Let's be real, they were prime candidates for an ANF suicide squad, except maybe the non-Russian TK. "The fact we've survived all these odds makes me think the Riese is a bit more than a prototype. Perhaps even planned, with the timing of our first mission... but then the casting doesn't make sense." It was honestly somewhat daunting.

New Parts

The clerk was certainly not expecting such an entrance from Juria, taking a moment to lay his eyes on the robot cat before looking at its enthusiastic owner again. "Uh, small parts, then? What you're trying to do... a small scale robot like this one, so a few small servomotors, a compact FPGA... are you trying to fit a whole Operating System in it, or is it meant to be used with controls?" That was probably going to be important. The clerk seemed to be thinking to himself of a few pieces to suggest, as well. At least it was going to be a big purchase. "Uh... about the same size as that one?" That was important as well.

Sufficient Pants

"Ah, okay, then... no pants." As Tarquin decided on a shirt, the bit of anxiety that hit the employee seemed to calm down. Perhaps she was glad about not being put on the spot any longer, or maybe it was because she was going to get some bonus if he bought something? Nonetheless, the same stump seemed to hit the sleep-deprived girl as Tarquin asked another question, and now she had to think of what to recommend again. "Uh... well, there isn't really a lot of humor you can put on a headphone..." The employee seemed to mumble to herself, but maybe she was talking to Tarquin? She seemed to think of something rather quickly. "Um... we have those. Sure." She guided him to the notably smaller section where the accessories were put to show. Just like the shirts, some of them had logos and references to pop culture, but it seemed to be less practical to put them in such designs, most of them relied on their main colors and shape to stand out.  "Do you know if he has a favorite color, or ...?" Same song, probably shorter dance.

[Shin]

"Yeah... I wasn't busy for a weekend. It was something to keep me busy." she replied, deciding that revealing that she had watched it out of crippling loneliness wouldn't exactly help her reputation as a complete loser. Things seemed to be going smoothly so far, either she was managaging to achieve her expected social requirements or Makoto had such low expectations of her that simply existing was more than enough. Did he really think so little of her? Was he babysitting her out of pity? She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She'd been invited by him, that had to mean that he actively chose to have her come along with him. That practically made it a date, right? He was a little nerdy, but when it came to judging people for being lame, Talia knew that any sort of evaluation would be hypocritical. She needed to take it step by step, her own sanity depended on it. She smiled nervously, deciding that she needed to keep going with her outing. The hesitance in his voice raised alarm bells, was he not an avid shipper? Did he like other things instead? Boys always liked explosions and cool fight scenes, maybe that would be more to his tastes?

"They were the main pair... the other characters just seemed to fall into place." she added, eager to try and keep his interest. "But it's not the only series I've seen. Did you ever watch Mechanical Trousers Dragonbar? It was strange seeing how a fictional interpretation of mecha piloting was perceived. A little too dramatic, the real thing's way more serious of course, they dramatise it otherwise it wouldn't keep the interest of the target audience..."

Mecha series were always a sore subject for Talia, they were a harsh reminder that even fictional characters did a better job of it than her. Even Whingey from Gospel seemed to succeed more than she did. She could feel her heart starting to race, no matter how much she distracted herself from the truth her own failures always crept back into her mind. 

"The Gospel spin-off's a bit too cheerful compared to the source material, but it's nice if you wanted more of the series. Garland... was one of my favourites, I'm glad he's getting some attention. Sometimes a series will neglect people outside of the main cast." she replied quickly, trying to get the conversation away from Gospel. "I... I can buy volume 7 for you, I don't mind. I need to buy the other volumes anyway, and it was really nice for you to invite me. Back at Corona Ten, I didn't really have anyone I could talk to. Most of the people I knew were researchers and security staff, there weren't many people my age around after the first few years. Sometimes... only sometimes, I'd get a little lonely... so I ended up watching a lot of TV and playing loads of games."

It must have slipped out, but Talia knew that she'd managed to destroy any sort of reasonable image for herself. In one fell swoop she'd painted herself as a loser, with no possible chance of redeeming her image. But, thinking about it, Makoto wasn't exactly super cool either, right? They liked the same things, surely that meant that she wasn't too far below his level?

[Phoenix]

Gefalscht, indeed. Firmia's feelings about the crew hadn't changed much at all, but limiting connections to the Captain had cost her time and, as she mused moments earlier, opportunities. Even Sasha, as distracted as he was, supposedly managed to get something useful out of one of the mechanics. One way or another, those days were over. It was going to feel like opposite day starting tomorrow, but so be it.

Roxanna went on to talk about the ship's arrangement in general, something that had bothered Firmia since the moment she arrived here. Ignoring Apotheosis, the circumstances surrounding the Heion Riese's deployment were definitely strange. If the Dry Lake roster was nothing more than someone in ANF High Command hedging their bets, then the Riese was about to get a fresh infusion of personnel and equipment. Or maybe ...

"Is that Admiral from Dry Lake Base solely in charge of this ship and its crew, or can someone else butt in and make changes?" Firmia asked, wondering if perhaps one Admiral had high hopes for the ship, while another was making life difficult for everyone involved. "Maybe someone thinks the budget should focus on making more conventional warships instead of prototypes." That happened a lot in Russia. The fiscally conservative bent of the Kremlin was holding back their entire military, but it gave companies like her family's a golden opportunity to make those risky investments for them. Ship manufacturers were few and far between, however, so anything resembling a new line of ships was decades down the road.

That aside, Firmia believed Alphonse was the one overseeing things when she dropped Brant off the first time, but without so much as a clue as to the true inner workings of the ANF, she could only reach a conclusion based on whatever the XO could tell her.

---

Brant sighed at the lieutenant. "Would you stop worrying about that? If the Artemis could solo one of those things in one move, we'd have cleaned up the ANF's war theater in a few days." That monster was significantly stronger than most Apotheosis machines, after all. "We'll figure out how to take them down eventually ... and if worse comes to worst, we'll all unload on them and see if that does the trick. If it doesn't ... that's when you can start worrying."

Another big bite, and a little less hunger left to hound him during his next coding session. "Anyway, sorry I haven't checked in on you two, lately. I'm not passing on the blame, but Firmia's got me ... pretty busy. I'm probably not even going to make it off the ship to have a look around at the rate we're going ... not unless I fly off in the Regalia." A fun thought, but it would definitely raise some eyebrows.

[Nanami Touko]

Positive Thinking

"Yeah! Don't be so negative Kim. We're here at Central, we're alive... We can probably figure something out. Central probably has some cool machines or weapons or something that we can use. They wouldn't just leave their best ship undermanned and without the latest tech... Right?" Hopefully Brant would back her up. "Anyway, let's not worry about that... This food looks good. I-It's almost done, right?" She was almost drooling, her first impression had been entirely destroyed. Gonna enjoy this... Huh? Hannah had walked away... And she looked worried?

"Uh, Brant? Is the robot broken...? Are they supposed to get worried like this?" It was certainly odd behaviour, but Hannah had been acting certainly more human for a few days now. "Don't worry about checking up on us. We've got each other... I appreciate it, though. Oh, uh... If you have a moment before you check on Hannah," she gulped. "Have you talked to... Chris, yet? Is... Is she okay?" Maybe the concern was odd, but it was there.

[Phoenix]

As long as the focus wasn't directly on her, Christina seemed reasonably optimistic. Hannah on the other hand ... Oh right. Brant remembered her reaction just before they came into the cafeteria. That whole discussion had been put on hold, hadn't it? "Don't worry about her. I'm more the-" No, best not to even get into that. "It'll be fine. Just the same, I should-"

Of course Christina just had to keep him there longer to ask about ... Chris? The question itself was harmless, but the only reason Brant had spoken to her was because Elaine was in trouble and needed the information. That was something he couldn't get into just yet. It would have been a good idea to visit the 'new girl' for something other than anti-espionage purposes, but he wouldn't have been able to find the time for that. It took dumb luck to have so much as a run in with Christina and Seung-Min, after all. Brant felt especially awkward saying anything about the clone to her template, but it couldn't be helped now. "I ... don't really know if she's alright, but she's ..." Brant paused to shrug, thinking back to the visit. "... coping."

Brant wondered if he should go ahead and ask Christina about Chris now that the latter had become the main topic. Their minds were different, but not on a fundamental level. At least that was what his intuition told him. Asking Christina why her clone was flirting with him and how serious she was might actually net him some useful insight into both of their mindsets ... but that didn't mean he wanted to spring that on her. If there was one thing Christina handled poorly, it was the spotlight. It might be better to just drop this once and for all and let his own prediction play out like he'd planned.

The fact that he still cared, even after coming to a sound conclusion about Chris and then shelving the issue ... had him a little worried. "Well, she's probably going to come find me again once her house arrest is over. Favor for a favor. Can't get into the details right now, but I'll let you know if anything changes ..." Nope. This wasn't near important enough to bring up, Brant decided for the second and hopefully last time. What was really important right now was getting back to Hannah about his other situation.

Come to think of it, there was no 'other' situation to get back to. All of this, the romantic aspects, as well as the more platonic aspects, were all interconnected: Brant's feelings for the Captain, what seemed to be her feelings for him, his admittedly far more substantial relationships with Tonya and Hannah, the epic room sharing faux pas that resulted from those relationships, his rocky friendship with Firmia, Chris' flirting, his past with Rosa. All of it. If this didn't all find a way to blow up in his face, Brant would consider himself an extremely lucky man. So far though, the bomb he had unwittingly put together had a respectable yield.

[Nanami Touko]

Coping

Christina nodded. If she was getting along fine then that was good... A favor for a favor though? And he couldnt tell? Christina narrowed her eyes at Brant for a moment and puffed up her cheeks just a bit. "I know she's pretty, I mean... She's me. But... That fast?" She'd definitely gotten the wrong meaning, but Brant saying he couldn't say was very mysterious. What had they talked about? Was it military stuff? Was it important? Maybe he'd say later, but...

"Well, glad she's talking to people. I know she hates me in every way... But... I want to get along with her. Help, if I can. Technically we're sisters, and... Family shouldn't fight, right? And I guess since I was alive first I'm, the big sister? Or something... Her existence is sort of my responsibility too." She'd been putting a lot of musing into this, and was going to try, even if it was difficult.

"Thanks, Brant. I won't keep you any longer. Go... Sort out the machine. Won't do to have her broken during next sortie." Whatever her hangup was.

[Phoenix]

What did she mean 'that fast'? Oh, of course she meant it that way. That meant there was nothing left to do but make light of the situation; if Christina figured out that there was more to that visit than just her little sister's flirting, things could get a little complicated. There was a reason he'd opted not to come to the Artemis girls about Elaine's situation starting out. Now how to play this ... "... she started it," Brant shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich in the hopes of not having to elaborate. 

Christina was taking this big sister thing fairly seriously from the looks of it. Brant barely stopped himself from asking that stupid question, again. It still wasn't important, but Christina was just involved enough to warrant asking. "Kay. See you around," Brant got going to shut himself up, leaving the two with a small wave as he followed after Hannah. It was tough hearing her referred to as a robot or a machine over and over again. Brant could only imagine how it would feel to be on the receiving end of that ...

Once he caught up, Brant called out to her. "Hey. I guess I should try and explain that situation, now ..." He hadn't taken even one second to seriously deliberate on that, but it seemed like some other part of his brain had been tackling the problem in the background. Brant had a good idea of how he was going to explain the situation with the Captain and how that was affecting everything else he was doing. It was just a shame he couldn't keep Rosa out of this. Not throughout all of it.

[Dandragon]

Already, Aliza was off to take a much closer look at the different selections of clothing Orange Theocracy had to offer. It got a small giggle out of Elaine, seeing how eager her newest friend seemed to be. Elaine walked over to the general area of the store where Aliza was browsing, and soon saw several sets of clothing that were far more stylized than she ever cared to think about, before. Fashion was not a strong suit of hers, pun completely intended, and she normally just bought whatever was comfortable to wear in public, and whatever she could get away with wearing in private, hence the yoga pants she was wearing today instead of any jeans or sweat pants, though she had plenty of those within her wardrobe. Shirts and coats were usually the same deal, save for the leather jacket she owned, and admittedly hadn't worn since her first day on the ship, and likely wouldn't wear during the midsummer heat. The last thing she wanted was the black of the jacket to attract all the sunlight that she didn't need to her. However, it had been a while since she had gone out to shop for clothes with a friend, or anyone, really. The last time that had happened was with Jane, and she hadn't seen her for a year, now. Normally, Elaine would simply ask whatever store clerks were at the desk for recommendations of the latest fashion, or what might look good on a redhead like her, but standing here, eyes quickly looking around for anything to catch her interest and finding nothing, she wondered about asking Aliza instead.

'I can't possibly see me coming to you for fashion advice'

Of all the times for her to once again hear the words of others in her head. It was just that single piece of a sentence that made Elaine think back to Abigail, and everything it had meant. She recalled how Abigail thought that they would never become close enough to warrant that kind of friendly relationship, and as Elaine turned around to look at Aliza, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, she wondered if the few hours that the two girls had been speaking together allowed that kind of advice, or if it would just make things more awkward between the two. So far, Aliza certainly hadn't seemed like the kind to aggressively put someone down, though she did seem just as forward as Abigail in her own way. Elaine took a deep breath, and decided it was worth it to at least try.

"Hey, Aliza?" She said. "I'm honestly not that good at the whole fashion business. And, uh, I'm having a hard time picking out something new to wear. I...I was wondering, maybe...what do you think would look good?" In hindsight, Elaine had offered many decisions up to Aliza, and they had more often than not resulted in the same 'It doesn't matter to me' response, except for the music that they had listened to in the drive over. Elaine wondered whether or not Aliza would give a similar response, or if she had her own set of preferences. Well, Elaine had put out the question, so it was too late now, as she doubted Aliza would take a 'nevermind' so well, and didn't want to disappoint.

[Shin]

The Heion Riese had faced great danger over the last week, the constant threats they faced were on multiple levels - and their chances of getting away without consequence were relatively low. Bill had learned that firsthand, he had lost a trusted ally in battle. The HAL 10000, otherwise known as the Hydraulic Anterograde Leviathan, had been defeated in their patrols of the halls. Unbeknown to Bill, a long sock had worked it's way into the cooling vent and decided that it would prefer if his contraption were to not be cooled. It hadn't been the mess, the following explosion or even having to extinguish his jumpsuit that had bothered him, it was the lost of his valued floor-cleaner. Dissatisfied with the ANF standard equipment, he had used his own funds to purchase one. It had taken months of saving and hours of completing the paperwork, but it had become a brother-in-arms against filth.

Having been given some downtime, Bill had ventured to the mall in an attempt to repair or even replace his beloved floor-cleaner. His chances of finding something were slim, but an adventure could never start if one never stepped outside! Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, he'd entered the robotics store to begin his search. The widgets and gizmos around him were somewhat above his level, even trying to figure out what some of the parts were was enough to melt his brain into an optimistic puddle.

"Just need to find a new cooling fan and she'll be as right as a mouse with a cheese wheel." he muttered, scanning the shelves around him. "That and a new chassis, set of wheels and a sweeping mechanism. Could be harder than the limeys winning the Ashes."

There was at least one family face, one of the engineers back from the Heion Riese, Juria Mizushima if he wasn't mistaken. She was probably up to some mechanical hijinks of her own but it never hurt to say hello. He approached her, slipping alongside her and giving her a jovial wave.

"Seems like your sort of Milk Shop this one. Might have to pick your noggin when you're free, this ocker's gear got into a right bingo." he chirped, stepping back to let her reply to the clerk. 

[Juliette]

"Hmm, well idea is it function with small AI, did one for Reo, so it should work for this one too, yes?" Juria nodded along with the shopkeeper's suggestions. "Those are making sense, am thinking... ah, hello." Someone else approached now too- he seemed familiar, she thought she had seen him a few times around different spaces on the Heion Riese. "You am need help? Sure, will be helping when finishing with own parts-getting here today!" Still, she seemed to be lost in thoughts for a few moments when he asked what size it would be. What... size? It was a serious question. If it was going to be a gift, she wouldn't want it to be messed up due to not knowing the details. "Actually, am not so sure about that.... Juria imagine they are close, but not seen real cats or rabbit bunnies before to know which is bigger? Are you knowing what difference should be, about? Would be sad to be making mistake."

[Xinnidy]

Coolest Nerd

"Makes sense, a free week is a perfect time. No better chance to do it than during vacations, really." Vacations were nice, Makoto was technically on a break from college, too, but obviously the situation wasn't so simple that he could drop everything. Not in good conscience, anyways! "Ah, Dragonbar! I watched it. Yeah, it's a bit different from the real thing, need to dramatize it some. Unfortunately you can't just get into a mobile suit and expect to be an ace from the start... I'm still struggling to get the controls right myself..." He couldn't pilot more than the Colonial trooper series and cars right, yet. Military equipment was an entirely different thing, figures. You needed training, and it wasn't that simple to take a crash course on. "It's a  bit daunting to go on a colony mech, I feel really dwarfed, and it feels like I'm using peashooters compared to what Army-grade mechs get, at times." It wasn't an even playing field, for sure. "Then again, sometimes it's surprising how much damage a missile or gun can do, even if smaller, and it's not like it's easy to hit it back..."

Ah, he was going way too long on that tangent, that wasn't good! He shook his head quickly, focus on why they were there! Books, comics! "Y-yeah, Gospel was pretty depressing. I really hoped things were going to turn out okay in the end... I'll give the spin-off a chance." It was kind of frustrating to see Whingey fail again and again, and his father was scarily cold... wait, was she offering to pay for it. "Wha-wha?! Can you really? Oh, geez. I'd feel bad if I used your money, if you need it..." It occurred to him that Talia and Tarquin's financial situation was a complete mystery for him. Would the Federation cover for the need of both? That was actually a good question... but how could he say that without it sounding awkward or nosy? "Uh, if you're sure it's fine, then thanks. That's a really nice thing to do, I wasn't planning on buying much." It wasn't like he was getting paid for his volunteer work. Maybe one day he would be rewarded, but that was not today, and wasn't the reason he signed up for it either.

Speaking of anime and video games somehow devolved into Talia coming out about her loneliness... and that was a fairly common thing for their generation, to be honest. Not to the level Talia went through, everyone was at least somewhat connected through the internet. Hmm, would she be into web communities? "You used to live in Corona Ten. That's a military base cut-off from the rest of the world, right? I can see how rough that would be... well, I can't imagine how it felt, but I'm sure it sucked a lot." Compared to everybody else, she needed her life to be a secret, just like Tarquin. Another layer to the mess. "A lot of people enjoy video games and your odd show here and there, myself included! Well, I'm not the hottest gamer out there, really, but I wouldn't turn down a fun co-op... I'm sure you'll do fine with the right people." A dynamic, energetic salute. Makoto was getting pretty used to the role of trying to cheer up girls, it just kept happening for some reason. Getting to know somebody that shared interests was always nice, but the situation surrounding Talia and Tarquin did have its darker side. "Talking about your Doctor's experiments might not bring pleasant attention, though. So that's a thing you probably want to keep to yourself out there..."

Tricks of the ANF

Now, that was a tricky question... "The Admiral in charge of outfitting Dry Lake was Alphonse Martinson..." Her uncle, as it would be easy to infer from their common last name. If Firmia even remembered or knew that, Roxanna wasn't keeping track of her interactions that well. Another issue to the list... "But that doesn't mean he can do everything without approval from Commander Vance at the very least, and I know for a fact at least one pilot was added with permission by another person altogether... uh, the Greenland guy, fuck, what was his name..." He was so utterly forgettable to her, for some reason she always got uncomfortable vibes from that man. "He was the least interested at first, but seemed to turn around around halfway through preparations. He was the one that pushed Specialist Eriksson to us. I think he just wanted to get rid of the guy, or something. I don't think the Specialist's record was very noteworthy, but he turned out to be a good leader." Credit where it was due, somebody mature like him was very welcome on the field, giving the other members at least a sense of normalcy.

"Other than that... I'd have to do a background check on everybody. It's pretty much guaranteed that my u-- ...Admiral Martinson couldn't do it all on his own. The crew itself is too big, from the mechanics, engineers, ground crew, and health doctors... at least some were sorted out by HQ itself. A lot of the lower-ranking crewmen were already on standby in Dry Lake, and they also prioritized people with some background related to Bismarck, I think." Roxanna frowned. Through all these thoughts and hunches, she couldn't come up with something concrete. "I don't know how many I'll have permission to do a background check on, but now you've got me curious..." Maybe that would give them a clue on the moles, after all.

Bunnies and Electric Brains

...Was he really being asked about the average size of bunnies? At least, that seemed to be what this girl was trying to ask. "Uh... Not really much bigger than cats? Some can get bigger, I guess? Uh..." And he could barely understand what the other guy could say. Hoo boy. "I don't know what you're going to do with an AI bunny, but you're probably going to need something more complex, then. Memory storage, processor, a cooling fan as well. It's going to be... a bit complex." He took a breather, no being blunt and rude to the customer. He couldn't imagine why somebody was looking for parts for an AI bunny at that time of the night, with their situation as it were, but he had to give the benefit of the doubt. "...Are you sure you can cover the costs of everything? Depending on size, you're going to need more materials, and a better processor." It was going to be a big purchase, at least.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Xinnidy

[Juliette]

"Hmm... little bigger?" Juria had always imagined bunnies would be smaller than cats. "Ok, so only little bigger than robot cat. That make sense, then." With the most important priority out of the way, she listened to him list some more ideas for options. "What do with? Well, Reo cat is cute, yes? Am know someone with little girl who would like to have cute bunny, want to make something to help her be happy when dad not around. Anyway, lots of parts is fine, will get whatever need. No stranger to complex projects, already am make cat once, see? Want to make sure to use nice parts since bunny will be gift." Really, it was a perfect explanation, there wasn't anything else that could possibly be said about her project to make a robotic bunny, it would be ridiculous to assert otherwise.

As she poked at Reo's nose gently, coaxing quiet mewls, the shopkeeper mentioned pricing. "Huh? Yes, it fine... what, am looking too young? Juria am head engineer on Heion Riese for the ANF, and wanting to get whatever best to make project go right. Can be afford whatever necessities required to make world's cutest robo-bunny for girl." She smiled cheerfully. "Make big order is okay."

[Nanami Touko]

Explainings

"Brant? Er, no, that's fine, if you're still eating, then... Am I that obvious?" Emotions were difficult, weren't they... Almost pouting, Hannah glanced over at the Artemis girls, wondering what had gone on after she'd walked away. "Are they alright?" was her initial concern, considering they had once again been subjected to something ridiculous during battle. She didn't really want to ask about anything else he'd talked to them about, he was probably wrestling over how to explain whatever issue this was... So she left it at that, and waited for more.

Broken Into

"Hmmm..." Chris was hung up on those training machines... She wanted to practice more! But, getting all the way out there without some escort... That wasn't going to happen. She'd have to talk to the captain or someone else to get any proper permission to do anything... Would they even let her do that? A frustrated groan followed her sitting up, and climbing off her bed... Wait. Eyebrows furrowed, she went over to the panel near the door... These things worked as communicators to the rest of the ship, right? "Let's see... Christina Troy... Password? Password..." What would Christina have used for a password for this ship? Maybe her original works... Uhhh... It was Jackie0250?

'Error. You have one more attempt.'

Chris sighed. Christina's old home password was her dog's name, the year it had died. If that didn't work... What did you use as a password, me? What did you... There's no way. Got no other idea, anyway, so might as well... Chris' fingers tapped away at the small screen, and--

'Password accepted. Welcome, Miss Troy.'

"Pfft, you sad fucking sack. Well, it works out for me... Now let's see." The captain was probably busy with her priorities at this time of night. What about the XO? Finding Roxanna in the recipient's list, Chris quickly typed up an email, hoping to get a timely response.

'Hey, XO, it's Chris. I broke into Christina's login access, I needed to ask you a question. Can I have permission to access the Riese's simulation machines? While being monitored, of course.'

That'd do it... Hopefully the part about breaking into logins would fly by.

[Phoenix]

So it was turning out as Firmia suspected. At least one patchy placement had occurred. Very likely it was more than just the one. Either way Greenland didn't sound like an Admiral, or maybe he was and Roxanna had omitted the rank while she tried to remember his full name. Either way, it also seemed that plenty of assignments to the Riese were handled by HQ. Then there were staff that had been at Dry Lake more or less to begin with. There were lots of opportunities to slip spies into the mix, especially since Apotheosis had been active for a long time already, well before this open declaration of war on the entire world. Firmia was still hesitant to blame the entire situation with the crew on Apotheosis' own meddling; military organizations always found ways to royally mess things up without outside interference, particularly the large cumbersome ones. Even so, those alien backed degenerates had a hand in at least some of this.

It was interesting that the XO was trying to stay formal where Alphonse was concerned, but Firmia didn't want to take any detours figuring out why. This was important, and it was probably just Roxanna trying not to get off topic with familial matters, as well. Probably. It was just a shame that neither her rank nor her familial ties were enough to get her access to all of the information she would need to figure out what was going on. Jessica wasn't off of Firmia's extremely short list of suspected moles, but if they had to look into the backgrounds of even the most unassuming crew members, she or Alphonse--Roxanna's own detractors, were their best bet. It occurred to Firmia, but seemed extremely unlikely, that even the Captain wouldn't have access to all the crew's files. That was a bridge too far off in the distance to worry about crossing just yet, though.

"Are you going to ask for clearance on information you can't already access?" Firmia inquired. It was way too convenient that anyone aboard interested in tracking down the moles, with perhaps the sole exception being the Captain, lacked the means to do so. Without full access to all crew profiles--and any other information relevant to their assignment to the Riese, a thorough and conclusive investigation was probably impossible. They could be suspicious of whomever they wanted, but pointing fingers really hard wouldn't necessarily land anyone in the brig. Firmia's 'kill on discovery' policy only applied to a betrayal in the moment, a 'hot discovery.' It would need some revision for a 'cold discovery' ... to put it mildly.

---

"Yeah, you're incredibly obvious," Brant admitted with a firm nod and an apologetic smile before taking another bite. He was close to halfway done now, and while he appreciated being given more time to finish his midnight snack, Brant was hoping to clear things up sooner rather than later.

The next question was well off topic, but Hannah left that discussion early on, so the curiosity made sense. Brant nodded, again. "Kim's a little worried about the Artemis' DPS, but we'll figure something out. Anyway ... about that date ..."

Even though Brant had a good idea of how to explain the situation, he was still trying to settle on a starting point. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to preface it with a question, otherwise he might wind up trying to explain some fairly basic things Hannah already understood. "You know about the whole 'dating' thing, right? How couples like to get together and try to have fun and whatnot?" It seemed extremely likely, but the details were what really mattered.

[Ether]

So Brant had gone to visit the clone, had he? Christina seemed to care about this 'Chris' more than expected... according to the blonde's own explanation, she felt responsible for her coming to be, and thus facing whatever hardships Apotheosis had put her through... in a way it made sense, but it also just seemed to feed into Christina's habit of putting far more than was necessary on her own shoulders in these situations. With Brant breaking off from the conversation to go check on Hannah, that just let finishing up in the kitchen for now, unless it looked like he would need backup on that front. 

Pulling the tuna and accompaniments off of the heat, Kim began to spoon them over the seaweed and rice, before rolling them rather tightly... were it not for the fish being cooked, and the rather unusual additions, one might have mistaken the dish for a sushi roll. Cutting it into smaller pieces, Seung-Min doled them out onto a platter, pulling the sides from the heat as well to join it. A hot and spicy squid salad joined the platter first, steam rising from it as it was transferred to the dish, as well as a generous helping of kimchi. That was the main done at the very least. Setting the platter aside, Kim moved her attention to the still frying desserts. Soon they would be finished as well.

"Almost done... I am... surprised you care so much... about her. She's more... Apotheosis' responsibility than yours... you know that, right?"

[Nanami Touko]

Obvious

Being so obvious wasn't a good thing... Hannah would have to observe some of the more reserved of the crew and figure out how to apply their mannerisms to her own better. She couldn't be a completely open book at all times. Hmm. "DPS? Searchi-- Damage per second. But, the Artemis functions perfectly fine as a combat unit, does it not? She must be worried about the encounter with those unknown machines." That would be the only way she would be worried about such a thing... The Artemis put holes in nearly everything else.

"About dating? Yes! Where two people spend time with each other, either going out, or staying home together, typically with a romantic mindset in place." Hannah smiled like she was answering for a teacher, before tilting her head a bit. "Why do you ask? If you're wondering if I have enough knowledge to go on a proper 'date', do not worry. I have sufficiently looked into the subject and am prepared to provide ample entertainment and satisfaction for a day away from service. I have already downloaded a map of the mall off base!"

Caring

"No. I don't know that." Christina bit her lip and folded her arms, scowling at the floor. "If I'd been a better pilot I could've avoided getting caught in the first place... And she's not their responsibility. They threw her away, like an empty cartridge. We're related, literally the same genetics... I don't care if she hates me. No one else is going to watch over her. Brant checked up on her, but that was probably business. She knows a bunch, after all... And I doubt you're gonna try to play friends after she barked at you." She sighed, looking up at the ceiling, shaking her head a bit.

"Besides, I want to. I know me... I wouldn't want to be alone. So despite her exterior, and how snappy she seems... I bet she feels the same. Can I... Can I ask for your help with her, Kim? If you don't want to, I can do this alone, but... I think it'd be good for her to have some anchor that isn't just, me. She might've snapped at you, but I think she hates me a lot more."

Edited February 23, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

Kim sighed audibly... there was Christina's trademark stubbornness cropping up at the worst possible time... it was an admirable idea, but Kim could only hope it didn't bite her in the rear. Flipping the sizzling dessert on the griddle, Kim turned towards the blonde for a moment.

"I will... try. She is... starting on thin ice, but if that is... what you believe. And what you... really want, then I will try." Seung-Min replied... there really was no way to change Christina's mind at times like this, so she'd simply have to try and keep things in check.

[Phoenix]

Brant figured Hannah understood, and she did. It seemed his quip about the Artemis wasn't lost on her for the exact same reason, a persistent connection to, and near instant access to the great internet of things. With that kind of knowledge just waiting at the edge of her thoughts, there wouldn't be a whole lot to explain, really. Brant felt comfortable continuing. "Well, that's an exclusive feature with most couples." 'Feature'? That sounded far more technical out loud than it did in his head, almost like describing the interactions of a pair of programs ...

Best to try that again. "What I mean is, most of the time they agree not to do those kinds of things with anyone else." Now for the most nebulous part of this explanation ... "There's ... nothing 'official' going on, but the Captain and I were talking about this at one point. There was definitely a mutual interest there. I wanted to try and make it work. After the crap I've pulled, though ..." She probably was avoiding him at this point. He was busy, certainly, but the last message Brant had gotten from Jessica was as impersonal as things got. He honestly wasn't looking forward to that meeting ... whenever it was happening. "Letting you and Tonya stay in my room was a pretty bad idea in hindsight. I know nothing happened, but anyone who knows about it has to assume I'm sleeping with both of you ... even Jess." Brant heaved a heavy sigh. "Even though it's not true, an 'Abrams harem' is a pretty fair assumption to me. You even took my last name for good measure." Brant couldn't help but be bitterly amused by that one. Jessica must have been extremely forgiving to not have confronted him after that ... or perhaps too confused or hurt ... "I screwed things up without even noticing ... now I'm worried going with you to the base without clearing things up with her is just going to make the situation worse ... if that's even possible at this point." Brant could agree with Firmia on a particular point: communication was extremely important.

[Nanami Touko]

Bad News

"The captain?" Hannah was confused. Perhaps this had been from before she had come aboard, but... "While I understand your reservations, do you not think it would be unfair to Tonya and myself were you to drop us as well for her? Rather, Tonya, as I have already stated that I am content either way, and this will not change. Still..." Hannah looked troubled, but not over what Brant might've thought. "I... Believe you may have waited too long for this to come to pass. It is merely an assumption, but, I think Abigail and the Captain are an item." Hopefully he didn't take that poorly.

"Maybe Jessica is more nervous or sensitive than I had first assumed, but when Abigail hugged her during the meeting, her physical response was much greater than I would've expected for something so simple. You may wish to ask her, if you want this cleared up, but... That is all, from what I can see. I hope that is not disappointing, or, anything... I'm still here for you." In whatever capacity he cared for her.

Thinnest Ice

"If you're not up for it you don't have to join me, but... Okay. I was thinking..." Christina started, parsing words and taking a glance at the food-- fuck, that looked good. Was there seriously nothing Kim couldn't do? I guess her english isn't amazing, but, geez... "I was thinking if we could get the Captain's permission, we could all go to the mall together. Try and have a nice day... Give her something normal. I don't know exactly what's wrong with her brain, but I can feel it... And I'm not a doctor, so I don't know if there's a solution. Maybe just, introducing something nice will help? Clothes or a movie, or, whatever else is here..."

Christina couldn't help but look at the food again, staring with a bit of an open mouth. "I-Is this all almost done yet...?"

Edited February 24, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

"That is... moving a bit fast. At this point... I doubt she would even go along with... something like that. I'll go with you... if you can make it work, but i that's your theory... maybe ask Doctor Amparo?" Kim replied, skepticism rampant on her face. It seemed doubtful Chris would even comply with such a thing, even if everything else worked out... but she couldn't let Chrissy go it alone either, there was little doubt in Kim's mind that, given an opportunity, the more aggressive clone could overpower the original and enact something less than pleasant with her anger. On a more positive note, pulling the stuffed pancakes off of the griddle and setting them down on a second plate, there appeared to be nothing else let cooking.

"Now it is... all done."

[Xinnidy]

Smell of Trouble

"I could... I could ask for clearance. If Admiral Alphonse knows of the situation, he'd at least give me this much." A mole was too serious a risk, and at least she was his family, so having her on the case of weeding them out would be reasonable. She was family, somebody he'd trust to not be one of them tampering with the database... right? ...Alphonse wouldn't think she could do that, would he? "I... No, I think I have the best chance of getting permission of anybody within the ship, save for maybe Jess." Alphonse trusted her so much... it was kind of frustrating.

"Do you think--" Timing. Her communicator set of a beep. At such a time, late into the night, she couldn't imagine who it was. Maybe it'd be important. Who in... Christina? But she was right there--Wait, the text said it was Chris. So she was using Christina's login now, like it wasn't confusing already. Sighing, Roxanna swayed her head to the side, hand over her forehead as she stared a good moment at the message, rubbing her temples. "Great, 'Chris' already hijacked Christina's access account, because that's okay. And somebody told her about the simulation machines." Her deadpan voice was followed by a click of the tongue as the XO already worked on a response back. Quick and curt.

"It's not even been a day since you were captured and you already want to go shoot things again?"

Wait, another line to add.

"Who told you about the machines?" 

Since it was already out of the bag, it meant that one pilot must have encouraged her. It would be nice to know who. Letting Chris play with ANF information and get further details on their machines seemed weird... but then again, she did have some spite towards Apotheosis. She gave them a lot of information, and her status as a clone meant she'd probably not be picked up by the terrorist organization again. Bah, more writing.

"Fine, I'll let you go, but only if there's a physical person escorting you and seeing you while you use the machines."

Big Orders

"Well, some are bigger, some are smaller, some can be real small... it really depends on the breed of bunny. I guess they just look ...plump." The clerk wasn't at all confident in his knowledge of bunnies, it seemed. "So, it's a mechanical pet, huh... I see. Those aren't very common, if you are custom-making one, you probably know how to work your AI, then?" As Juria continued to speak of it with confidence and even mention her job, the clerk's hesitance seemed gone. "Isn't that the ship that's on the news? You're probably swimming in money if the ANF hired you for that. Hope it keeps doing the good fight."

Pleasantries over, the clerk moved over to a table holding one of the shop's personal terminals, bringing up a list of the shop's items and starting to tick the a few at a time. "Servomotors... memory chip... connecting cables... probably hydraulic pumps... you want to decide the size before getting parts to make up the skeleton, about as big as a cat?" He asked, just to be sure.

[Phoenix]

Roxanna reasoned that she could get clearance from Admiral Martinson, but she wasn't very convincing. Firmia immediately thought back to when this whole exchange started, when Roxanna was drinking to cope with the situation. Aside from her father dying, her uncle was none too pleased with her performance, and she didn't get along with Jessica. She could ask for clearance, but whether or not she'd get it seemed pretty up in the air. Regardless of the severity of the situation, they could always decide to put someone specific on the case, and give them perusal privileges, instead. Even if she wasn't working with Apotheosis, that might just turn out to be the Captain's recommendation ...

The doubt was showing on Firmia's face, but she wasn't going to argue against asking. Roxanna had to do at least that much before things were completely out of her hands. The XO stopped in the middle of what sounded like a question to respond to a message. It turned out to be Chris, apparently using her template's login to get a message out. Firmia wasn't sure what to say about that. The fact that someone's account got hacked was rendered all but meaningless by one crucial detail: The person doing the hacking was probably just relying on inherited memories. The message Chris had sent was also pretty mundane. Overall, not worth Firmia's time even thinking about. "What were you going to ask me?" She waited a bit before asking, just in case there was another message for Roxanna to address.

Firmia felt a sudden shift centered a fair distance away, and took a moment to glance in the direction she felt it from. Brant and Hannah were out of earshot, discussing ... something. Whatever they were talking about, it was negatively affecting the former. While problems were bound to arise while coding for her Golden Eyes project, Brant wasn't the kind of person to have such a sudden and dramatic shift in his mood over something like that. He was too patient and easily distracted for that. It had to be something personal ... likely finding out Hannah had looked into Rex's notes, perhaps? Firmia turned her gaze back on Roxanna, but kept her mind's eye on Brant and his aura. The plan was to ask about it later if the problem didn't find its way to her first.

---

Hannah's response caught Brant a little off guard. Tonya may have been willing to sleep with him, but they were by no means in that kind of relationship. If anything, she was merely offering a kind of therapy, realizing she'd already been his coping mechanism for a time almost a decade prior. It wasn't to say that was normal behavior, or a normal student-teacher relationship. It was far from normal on Brant's end. His feelings toward Tonya were beyond man and woman. Teacher, mother, sister, lover, not a one of these mattered in the end. She was far closer to a goddess, the object of a religion that he and he alone adhered to. The mere fact that Tonya was in his life at all left him somewhat content, and there was a piece of him that would always be hers, no matter what happened. Brant couldn't remember how he'd gotten to this point, but of all his issues, this wasn't one he was interested in redressing.

Still, unfair ...? Hannah was fortunate that her more negative emotions tended to center on what she herself couldn't do, rather than what others could do in her place. Few had that luxury, but it was probably why she didn't seem to mind his feelings for Tonya, Firmia, or even Jessica. Brant could at least admit that his focus on Jessica was spurred on by her authority over him. Come to think of it, he'd been in a similar situation with Firmia for several months too ... but nothing serious ever came of it; Firmia seemed to avoid things of that nature like the plague. This 'loyal knight' role, though ... it was something Brant could feel himself gravitate toward. The women he felt most drawn toward were like metaphorical queens. ... likely due to Rosa. It didn't matter how much he nurtured his hatred of her, she'd still made him this way. It was like his subconscious mind was trying to recreate the situation with Rosa, but having things turn out differently. Even now Brant could hear his memories with the Captain playing back, going on about how grateful he was to be under a lenient authority figure. Then there was this strange yearning he had for Firmia to go back to being clingy and dependent on him. To think all of this may have been motivated solely because of Rosa's shenanigans. It was a little nauseating to think about all of this on these terms.

Hannah also had a rather troubling theory about Jessica and Abigail to throw into Brant's struggles. He hadn't actually noticed the hug, but he would have questioned it if he had. Sure, the captain had given Abigail favorable treatment when the woman could have otherwise expected to be sitting in the brig until the date of her execution ... but could something have really blossomed from that? Then again, in Brant's experience, that kind of relationship could blossom out of anything. He shouldn't be surprised ... and he supposed rather than jumping to conclusions, he really should look into it.

"You think so?" Brant frowned, wondering if he'd be able to get back to his sandwich at this rate. His own musing had left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Well of course I'm disappointed, especially if it turns out to be true. It means I'm a complete idiot and we couldn't even understand each other in the end." ... not that the Captain wouldn't be better off. Abigail was a little rowdy, but maybe that complimented Jessica somehow. And vice versa ... She also probably wasn't a complete idiot. Either way, Brant couldn't trust his own feelings for Jessica anymore, not after spotting that damnable pattern. Brant could tell he was quickly rationalizing things to soften the blow in case Hannah's assumption was correct, but that didn't necessarily mean any of it was untrue. "It's a bit late, but ... I guess it's better than wondering ..."

Edited February 24, 2018 by Phoenix