INEF Advena

[Nilum]

“Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.

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Unlike before, there is no satisfying hiss. No reassuring activity. No humming or buzzing, no people talking, nothing. There is simply a moment where darkness became consciousness once more. No gradual sweet-talking, no soft reanimation, but a harsh awakening inside of a plexiglass and titanium coffin. Inside each cryotube, a miniature computer blipped with user logs and a message, for those who chose to read it.

Spoiler: Pod Logs

--AWAKENING PROCEDURE--
POD 1: GREEN
POD 2: GREEN
POD 3: GREEN
POD 4: GREEN
POD 5: GREEN
POD 6: GREEN
POD 7: ERROR
POD 8: GREEN
POD 9: GREEN
POD 10: WARNING

--WARNING: OCCUPANT OF POD 7 WILL DIE. OCCUPANT OF POD 10 MAY NOT SURVIVE.
--MANUAL OVERRIDE: PROCEEDING--
--OCCUPANT OF POD 7 DEFROST PROCEDURE FAILURE--
--OCCUPANT OF POD 7 DEATH BY REANIMATION FAILURE--
--OCCUPANT OF POD 10 OXYGENATION FAILURE--
--OCCUPANT OF POD 10 SURVIVED: AI ENTITY. REGISTRATION: DR RAVEN--
--ERROR: PROCESS ADJUNCT PROGRAM CAUSING FAILURE--
--ERROR: PROCESS DELAYED FOR INDETERMINATE TIME--

--INCOMING MESSAGE--
--DATE: 2452.10.23--
--MESSAGE CONTENTS--
“SHIP DAMAGED.
REMOTE ACCESS TO CRYO.
CAN’T STAY.
WOKE YOU UP.
HELP ME HELP YOU.
DANGER ON SHIP.
BEWARE.”
--Marlyne Zypher--

Regardless of whether one read the message or not, they would find their cryotube door frosted over. The latch is unlocked, allowing for one to push it open, though it is stiff--the machine-assisted opening mechanism appeared to be offline. Stepping out into the cryobay, one would see a medley of interesting items.

The lighting appeared somewhat dimmer than usual. On the wall, the ship’s intercom system remained, though it was anyone’s guess if it still worked. There was no greeting from the ship’s AI, which was strange--it always greeted people when they woke up or entered the ship. The main console at the centre of the room appeared to be damaged, but for most, they weren’t sure in what way.

As people step out of their cryotubes, they quickly realize that the ship’s gravity fields remain intact, as do the life support systems. Though cryobay was made to withstand excessive punishment to protect its cargo, you do notice signs of minor damage here and there on the titanium plating surrounding you.

There appeared to be three ways out of the room.

• The top and bottom doors seem to be locked by keycard access.
• The door to the right was jammed open with a crowbar. It appeared to remain unlocked as a result of that decision, as the keycard terminal flashed red with a safety warning. Everyone in the room is fairly certain that if the crowbar is removed, the door will close and lock unless someone or something stands in its way.

It seemed, for the time being, that everyone had a moment to collect themselves, meet one another, and concoct a plan…

 

[Hydrangea]

The world came back to Rowan quickly. A dreamless sleep escaped him as his eyes blearily pried themselves open, taking in the sight of the metallic coffin that enveloped him. He opened his mouth in a sudden breath, sucking in air as his nerves started to wake up. 'I hate the cold.' He thought to himself, shaking off the residual chill from cryo. The cold made Rowan feel sluggish, and would prefer to stay warm if possible. Looking through the plexiglass Rowan had a bit of trouble focusing on what was outside, but a small monitor inside the tube was displaying a message.

He read along as it filled out, taking note of the two pods that were experiencing troubles before raising a brow at the tail-end of the message. Someone was reaching out to them, that message clearly wasn't something prerecorded and atypical for the wake-up process for the cryotubes. Something must have gone terribly wrong. That realization helped him heat up, as some adrenaline got into veins due to concern he pressed his hands upwards against the glass. His muscles felt a bit weaker, and the pressure that the container gave back against him didn't make it any easier, but after a few moments of exerting pressure he managed to crack the lid of the cryotube open.

It's release was a sudden pop of air as Rowan got the door free, easing himself upwards. A quick glance to either side of himself revealed his belongings, tucked into the side of the tube along with him. He took a moment to pocket the handcuffs, tazer, and GENCOS kit before focusing on the room around him. He was already on high-alert, the message from earlier putting a bit of concern in him as his eyes took in the surroundings. There was evident damage there, he recognized blaster shots and bullet holes in the hull of the ship and sighed to himself. Who would have a firefight in the cryo bay? Were they fighting over someone's tube? The two that showed concerns drew his attention, and after another moment of preparing himself he got out of the tube and started stretching.

His clothes had made it just fine through the cryotube, but both his clothes and his body felt stiff as he got out. A quick glance around revealed that he was the first to wake, so he planned to use this time wisely as he started to make his way over towards the monitor in the middle of the room. He ran a hand idly over the glass, his eyes shifting to the pods that were listed as damaged. The one to his right was clearly in bad shape, a dark smudge near the base of it let him know that someone had tried blow it to pieces or shatter the lock with an explosive, whereas the tube across from him seemed perfectly fine by all visual accords; what did the error message say? Lack of oxygen, AI entity.. Dr. Raven. A faint memory of research papers he had gone through while exploring filled his mind, but he shrugged it off, figuring it couldn't be relevant at the moment.

 

[Dreamless Realm]

When they regained consciousness, the last thing Essek had been expecting was silence.
They sucked in a rushed breath through their mouth, and attempted to do the same through their gills, wincing when the delicate flaps brushed against the fabric of their undersuit. Right, they were cold... but not in the water. This was cryo.

There were supposed to be people around to help, to keep track of who was waking up fine and check their vitals. They'd wake up, freshen up after the long slumber, and meet their family as soon as possible. Check that everyone had made it just fine. But instead, everything was unnervingly quiet. Essek rested their hands against the cold plexiglass and opened eye 1 out of 4. Everything was blurry.
They let out a small, hoarse croak-like sound and focused on the message that was displayed. An explanation for the silence, perhaps?.

Pod 1, mhm, mhm... Their brow furrowed when they read word -error-. Pod 10 emergency, occupant of pod 7... will... die...?. After a milisecond of hesitation they shook their head and opened their eyes fully. This was more serious than it appeared. Errors, errors, errors, and then a message.
Something had indeed failed, they were in danger. So it was safe to assume everyone was in danger. So what now?
After a moment, their hands went to a spot on their side where a pocket was cleverly hidden in the side of their black, sort of jumpsuit. Inside, Essek's fingers recognised a small rectangular object they absolutely could not lose. Then, the lockpicks they kept in a regular pocket. They looked up and finished reading the message. Dr. Raven?... the name made them shiver, AI entity, Dr. Raven. Better not think about the old pool side stories now, though.

Again, they rested their hands against the plexiglass and pushed, a few moments passed until it cracked open, but it did. Finally!. In their rush, Essek sat up, and seeing only one person out the corner of their eyes, stood up a bit too fast for their body to keep up with, upsetting their balance. As a result, they fell to their side with a yelp as they stepped out, hastily holding on to the side of the cryopod to their right to avoid landing directly on the floor.

Now they looked around the room, breathing fast through their nose. They assessed their surroundings for a few seconds with their fins pulled tightly against their body. There were more cryopods, a console, a few available exits and an (interesting) human man that stood by said console. Was he the one that broke it?. Should they be worried?.

"Um, what's going on?.." They asked, scrambling to pick themself up from their odd position. They'd been like that for long enough.

 

[Kadaeux]

Bruce felt the cold in his bones. Deep in the bones. The receding arctic hell as warmth returned, if not completely. His first instinct was to check the display panel, avoiding looking too deeply into the meanings. There were more important meanings baked into the message.

Help me help you.
Danger on the ship.

The mind cleared instantly as training surged to the fore. Spinal implants screamed with power as they accelerated to function shaking off the last remnants of cryocold. Bruce checked his pod and found a hoarfrost holding the door shut, the automated opening mechanisms having been damaged or failed for unknown reasons. One hand snapped down and grabbed his survival knife, taking it in a reverse grip as his other hand brought out his TIP and hit the arming key.

A seconds movement wedged the knife into the seal of the cryotube and a second twisted it sending the hatch open as Bruce stepped out of it in a single swift movement his pistol following his sightline at all times, pausing for only a fraction of a second over the other two who had already woken. He took in the facts of the room in a moments breath. Somebody had shot up the chamber, and used explosives near pod 7.

Taking into consideration the two open pods, and two individuals standing there in the damaged chamber he assumed they had not had a firefight, tossed their weapons and any armour and come to stand here just for his edification. "Bruce MacNamara," He introduced himself, without ever completely lowering his weapon, "give me a second."

Fucking cryocold.

Bruce stepped behind his cryopod and began to relieve himself against the frost encrusted machinery.

 

[Ouverture]

“For fuck’s sake!” A muffled curse followed a thump from pod 9, the frost on the tube obscured the silhouette of a human woman rubbing her temple. Isabel found herself in a coffin and state of haze, dispersing multicoloured display lights in front of her. She wiped the fog off the screen to read the reason she’d been woken up. Death, danger and a whole host of unknowns. At least the world she got up in had more in common with home than being hushed to sleep like a babe.

The cryopod opened with a solid push, breaking the frost between chinks and dousing Isabel’s out-of-bed hairdo. Before she even had a chance to look around, her nose picked up the pungent smell of ammonia. There was a man taking a piss in the corner. This felt like home alright.

The other two people standing, a bearded man wearing a long coat and an alien of a species she didn’t recognise, seemed as bewildered as she was. “Give me a minute.” Isabel murmured more herself than her company, once more rubbing her temples as she orientated the space around her. There were clear signs of break and entry and despite the seemingly dead console, fresh air still circulated the room.

“If the air’s running and gravity...” Isabel thought out loud, heaving her cold and sore body towards the console in the centre of the room. She ran her fingers across the interface, collecting dust as she did. Could she still work this thing? If the life support was functioning, surely there’d still be power.

“Isabel de Jager. Don’t sweat the pronunciation, just Isabel will do.” She addressed her fellows as she investigated the machine. “All I know is that we have three problems on our hands. The ship’s damaged, there’s something hostile aboard and pod 10’s failing. I’ll find out what this girl,” Isabel tapped her finger on the console, “Knows about the ship’s condition, but I only got two hands.”

 

[KenżaSheep]

Cold... it was cold. Very cold. Cold enough to send shivers all throughout the alien's furry body, penetrating even the protective layer of fluff and seeping into its very core. This wasn't the same winter cold that might have contained memories of warm food and close friendships, but a steely, icy cold that left augmented fragments of conversation ringing in Ziva's sensitive ears. No, hold on. Those conversations sounded rather real....

When darkness finally faded into a frosty, dim luminescence, and her consciousness returned, it had already been several minutes since a handful of other pods had apparently woken as well. And, in all honesty, if Ziva had been any larger, a cryotube would not have contained him; it was awkward enough to scratch his way out with a large, feathery tail in the way as it was. Somehow, though, she managed.

Unlike the humanoids, who instantly began looking for the problem and attempting to fix it, Ziva did not make a sound as he scrambled his way to the top of his cryotube and clung to it stubbornly, visibly shivering as his body attempted to heat itself up again. She apparently wasn't as adept as them when it came to withstanding such a thorough cold. From his newfound perch, he looked around the room to see what exactly was going on.

Unfortunately, all he determined was what everyone else had. The were not where they needed to be and something malfunctioned. That, and whoever was in 7 didn't appear to have made it, unlike the other 9 unharmed—if not slightly dazed—people. She made a note to inspect that tube a little closer, later, when the attention was drawn away from the more pressing matter of why this chamber had awoken, but for now Ziva was content to remain where she was and watch the others sort things out.

 

[Tami]

Cigma slowly opened her eyes to the sight of a blinking console. She sighed, looking around for damage on her own body or any changes in the cryotube she had been put on. She still had her medical kit with her, which she grabbed instinctively. Her sight then glanced over back to the error messages on the console.

"Occupant of pod 7 will die. Occupant of pod 10 might not survive."

Cigma quickly but methodically opened the latch that controlled the cryopod's opening, then, sat herself down and observed for a moment. She saw two aliens, a human and what seemed to be an augmented human, who apparently had pissed somewhere as the smell of ammonia filled the room. She got up, carrying her medkit, and walked over to croypod 7.

"I'm afraid specimen on cryopod 7 has died." Her tone was soft although electronically distorted. "It seems the electrical system maintaining this tube malfunctioned and trapped them inside. But don't worry, they exploded post-mortem..." Cigma then turned to the other companions. "We can still help Dr. Raven." She then walked toward cryopod 10, examining its exterior to find the latch that opened it.

"Call me Cig, by the way."

 

[Dreamless Realm]

Hydrangea
Upon seeing the stranger tumble out of their Cryopod Rowan rose a brow, unable to help assist from the other side of the monitor he chose to watch as the Bav got settled. "Looks like we woke up early, and with a warning message no less. Aside from that?" Rowan sighed, standing up straight. "It's anyone's guess."

Machina Somnium
"Oh, well that's just great..." Said Essek with a sigh, folding their arms and looking around the room. Something caught their attention on the ceiling right above Rowan and the console. But it was only a second before their eyes were back on the human. "Er, Did y-" Was all they managed to say before another person opened their pod. And there went the attention.

In the next couple of minutes, through which Essek remained silent, another human male came out of his pod. Bruce MacNamara, who then proceeded to piss on his pod. Like any good mannered gentleman would do, of course. But the alien barely had time to cringe before they heard a thump and a muffled curse come from pod nine. Their headfins perked up as she came out and quickly figured three things they had to deal with. They wished they had come out that ready for a second. Then another alien... and they climbed out of the pod, and on to the pod. And to make things even better and much less chaotic, the next one to come out was an AI. To announce a death... and mention that name again.

Essek gulped, their headfins drooping lightly before their attention went back to Isabel. Although they gave the sentient machine a few quick glances.
"Er.. Call me Essek. With two 's'. And a 'k', not an 'x', at the end." They sighed, taking a couple of steps forwards.

"Okay, you say you can fix the console... can we help somehow?. I'm no engineer, but I've got hands." They said, eyes on Isabel.

 

[Drakel]

Within cryopod 10 there was just the frosted glass covering and a body within it. Still and lifeless. Within the AI's core activated and sky-blue lights shined from within the cryopod. Systems of its body started to function once more as looked around within what should be it's coffin. The sky blue lights turn to red as it felt the same coldness that it felt the first time it went to sleep. Panicked as it simply knew something was wrong as the waking was startling to say the least. Looking to the console beside it, the AI read the message and knew 2 things... that the cryopod it was in was broken and more importantly that cryopod 7's occupant was dying.

Almost as if human instinct took over, it searched for an escape and pulled the escape lever the exact same moment a figure appeared in front of it. A hiss of air filling the pod with the oxygen from outside. "Pod Seve~" It yelled as it stumbled out of it's cryopod, tripping on itself and the green figure in front of it.

Collaboration Start:

Cigma
Cigma, laying over the cryopod that had just been popped open, was pushed back, losing her balance for a moment but securing her position with the help of her wings.
"Are you injured, Dr. Raven?" she said, landing on the floor again. "I apologize if I scared you.

Bruce
Bruce had finished relieving himself when the pod cracked open and a familiar figure tumbled out. "Feathers? Don't get your circuits in a twist, pod seven is burger meat." He examined everyone present. "Including us if we delay too long, somebody shot up this place, and Seven was specifically targeted. Maybe the pokemon can take a looksee out the wedged door and let us know if there's anything to worry about."

Ziva
It took more than a moment before Ziva noticed the man was talking about him, and his shivering ceased immediately, his fur bristling in annoyance.

Cigma
"What is your name, augmented human?" Cigma asked in a calm tone. "You seem to be capable of securing the perimeter and checking for danger, yes? Will you please go do that? I must check to see if everyone is in fighting shape."

Dr.Raven
Dr. Raven hit the ground landing on its side next to the green figure next to it. "I'm fine." It answered when asked about any injuries before turning to look at the human that called it 'feathers'. "Bruce? How the hell did you get here?" It asked, confused about everything going on as it got up

Bruce
"One accessible entrance, two locked doors, the Perimeter is as secure as it gets, if pokemon can take a looksee, whoever shot up this place might ignore it thinking its a pet that got loose." Bruce chuckled, "Bruce MacNamara," He turned to Raven.

"Signed on to get Simone and myself away from the scum-sucking cunts that form my family since regulations prohibited me from shooting them instead." His eyes never quite leaving the partially opened hatch, or the weapon he had half-aimed towards it.

Dr. Raven
The AI 'plague doctor' nodded to Bruce as he explained how he got on board to begin with. "Sounds like you. I doubt you seen my daughter then..." It said. Once standing the beaked AI's LEDs turned Blue as it walked over to Pod 7, inspecting it. "We need to find the ship's AI core, now."

Essek-13
Just after offering their help to Isabel, another AI, it... had to be another AI. it just, everyone started talking.
"Maybe we could be a bit more respectful, Bruce MacNamara." They said, moving further away from the two sentient machines and to Rowan's side of the console. From there, they looked up at their fellow alien.

"Are you alright up there?, what's your name?"

Ziva
The feathered being shifted on its feet, examining Essek-13. "Felhőszakadás," she answered simply. "Say it... Ziva."

Cigma
Cigma turned to Dr. Raven with a pensive look. "Might be a better idea to split up and also go to the cockpit, figure out where we are and where we are going. I can pilot this ship if necessary, though I would need your help manning the posts." Cigma turned to the party awaiting answers.

Bruce
"Respect is earned Frills," Bruce winked at Essek before turning to Raven, "Fraid not Feathers, I'd argue we might need to the Engineering bay first, if I can get my powered armour it'll help immensely, might be able to get raw life support data feeds there too. See how fucked this tub is."

DM
The hull creaks, as though something put pressure upon it for a moment, then ceases.

Essek-13
Essek snorted, smiling a bit.
"Oh alright, at least Frills is ni-...ce" Their headfins twitched at the creak. "Oh for the love of Deeh..." They whispered then

Dr. Raven
The Doctor shook it's head as it listened to Bruce and the Green AI, observing the dead body in the Cryopod. Hearing nothing as it's focus was strictly on the body."I disagree Bruce. The ship's AI is in need of help and it'll let us know what needs to be done. It's not greeting us because it's preoccupied. Something is taking up all its processing power and we don't know why."

The Doctor was almost in awe at the body. Blood frozen and arteries exploded in what should've been a safe sleeping chamber. Those shredded organs and all while the victim of this fate was still in their cryosleep... But also the decomposition of the corpse. Months of rot left a preserved vessel in it's state of slow decay. "They've been rotting for at least six months... Which means it took us that long to wake up since the process began. It should've taken an hour."

Bruce
Bruce shrugged. "Going to help the AI won't help it if we all die in the attempt Feathers. We need some heavy power on our side, my armour gets us that. And the Engineering Bay should have some sort of damage displays, so we can path to the AI better," He put a hand on Raven's shoulder, "Take a look around, this ship has been boarded. Best case scenario is they're gone. Worst case scenario is they've taken control of the ship and are taking us to be slaves. We need the means to defend ourselves first. The rest can follow naturally."

Ziva
"Unfortunate...." Ziva hopped off his pod and glided across the room to perch upon pod 7, peering down at the remains. "She was someone. Wonder who.... Are there salvages to have? Items?"

DM
Ziva gazes over the corpse for any sign of useful trinkets...

Ziva
Ziva saw something around the person's neck, and, as she considered it interesting, snatched it off the necklace with invisible hands, tucking it into her neck fluff for the moment. There was also a knife, but that was less interesting, and he didn't yet care to dig around more thoroughly.


Dr. Raven
The Doctor took a long moment to process everything, LEDs flashing on and off slowly as it thought. "You're right, Bruce. Lets just hope we're not too far from it. I'd rather find out now if this ship's life and support is still working sooner than later." With that, Dr. Raven turned to the green AI. "Sorry but I think it'll be safer if we stay together for now until we know where things are. I agree that we might need you piloting this thing soon Cigma."

Bruce
Bruce checked the console while keeping an eye on the door. Reaching into a pocket he took a length of cable and inserted a spike into port at the base of his skull. "Buckley's Luck be with me." He said plugging in the opposite end of the cable to learn what he could, bracing himself for the worst.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Something’s wrong.

Song knew it even before she opened her eyes-- knew it the instant she felt the icy chill of cryo against her skin, knew it the instant she awoke to silence. Her eyes flickered open. The message appeared word by word, letter by glowing letter; even as it unfurled before her like a banner in the wind, Song had begun pressing against the plexiglass door of the cryotube. Her probationary nudges bore no fruit-- the opening mechanism had been damaged and ice had begun to accumulate in the nooks and crannies of the latch, cementing it shut. She glanced back at the monitor as the last of the words appeared. Danger on ship. Beware.

I need to find Ali.

She braced both palms against the plexiglass and then shoved it with every ounce of strength she had. Every ounce, it turned out, wasn’t entirely necessary: the door hurled open and slammed back on its hinges with all the violence and clamor of a gunshot. She grabbed hold of the AIO tool nestled beside her and pulled herself up and out of the cryotube.

Others had begun emerging from their own tubes-- taking stock, asking questions, talking. For the moment, she ignored them. Two of the doors were locked, and the third was being propped open by a crowbar, perhaps left behind by whoever’d caused all those bullet holes in the hull. Gravity and life support were still active-- so if nothing else, they weren’t 100% screwed. At the moment, she was inclined to estimate their levels of being screwed at a solid 60%. She glanced over her shoulder, caught sight of a large man urinating behind one of the cryotubes, and quickly revised that to 75%.

Focus. There’s got to be something here that’ll help me find Ali. By then, the others that had emerged from their pods had begun to flock around a console in the center of the room-- in fact, the large man who had just claimed his cryotube for himself in the most unsanitary way possible was now plugging his skull into the console. Song hurried over, began shouldering people aside with all the courtesy of a politely rampaging bull until she had a clear view of the console. She cast one brief distasteful glance towards the man, and then knelt beside it, inspecting the damage as a surgeon might a wound. Her brow furrowed. Her nose scrunched up. She didn’t like that she couldn’t tell immediately what had caused the damage, but she didn’t need to, not when she knew what parts needed replacing-- and how to make those parts.

“I can fix this,” she said quietly, standing and turning to face the others. “I need to get to the engineering bay.”

 

[KenżaSheep]

Collaboration Continued:

Rowan
It didn't take long for the room to fill, one by one the cryopod doors were slammed, pushed, or pried open to reveal another inhabitant till 2 remained shut. That included the one assumedly deceased. After hearing the Bav respond in kind before moving on to interact with the new individuals, his eyes flickered to and fro as introductions were made between them - some of which, were already acquainted.

He took a mental note to be wary of that, but stepped away from the console as more experienced parties took a look - one managing to plug inside and get a connection. Rowan used this opportunity to do a small head count, 2 AI frames, 2 Aliens, some enhanced humans... He felt a bit more comfortable with his gear in this sudden circumstance but as one of the AI's, the curious Dr. Raven spoke up about the corpse that was in the cryotube he listened intently before moving over. From the looks of things, six months was a good approximation; and if that's how long they had been in cryo... "Our information's a bit outdated. That warning message we had in our pods, if it was sent at the time we were supposed to wake up... We're half a year behind the AI's schedule." Rowan remarked, glancing towards the small alien as it approached the corpse and pilfered a necklace. "Does respecting the dead mean nothing to you?" Rowan questioned, taking a step back from the others. While he didn't feel threatened, having a seeming veteran point a gun in self-defense minutes upon waking did well to give Rowan perspective at just how vulnerable they were inside the cryobay.

Ziva
"Respect? Sure, respect, but salvages are better. Salvages are first." Ziva made some attempt at a human smile, but as his face had no real lips to speak of, it was more akin to a dog panting as the alien flashed four sharp front teeth (two on top and two on the bottom) and his tongue lolled to one side. "She won't use anyway. Mine now."

Essek-13
Even if they had been busy watching in horror as the man that went by Bruce just... Plugged into a probably deadly dangerous interface, Esseks headfins still twitched as This other man spoke and Ziva answered.

"Sure, yours. But what is it if you don't mind me asking?. And also..." Essek sighed.

"Perhaps we should focus on leaving this place and finding a safer one as soon as possible. We'll be noticed eventually, and if we have somewhere to reunite should we have to split up... It'd definitely help. That and making sure we have some resources."They suggested, still nervously looking around as if some unknown entity were about to plunge into the room from the nearest wall.

Ziva
Ziva chuckled; a raspy hiss of amusement. "It's mine, see? You wants the knife, you can has knife." She leaned forward a little, pressing on the cryotube's glass like a cat about to leap, peering curiously towards Essek-13. "We can reunite here, mm? Here is good. Here is good."

Essek-13
"No, I don't think this place is safe..." Said Essek, giving the other man (Rowan) an apologetic look before picking up the knife that was by the corpse to examine it more closely.

"Thanks for that" They whispered to... the corpse?.

Dr. Raven
The AI watched as it's old... acquaintance decided to plug themselves in without a word. Taking a look at the console he was plugged into. The cloak the beaked AI wore casting a shadow down onto it's metal face. Turning back to the body the AI stood silently as it watched the strange aliens talk. "There's no doubt that you are right on this spot being unsafe. For all we know, our life support may be down and we wouldn't know it until its too late. We just don't know." It said as it looked at the knife in the alien's hand.

"And that is why we can't split up. There is no way to defend ourselves and Bruce is the only one of us with a gun and training on how to use it. Until we have a better idea what is going on and just what kind of dangers we are facing here; it might be best that we stay together."

DM
The glass on the main console cracks and splinters, releasing a hiss as air pressure equalizes beneath the glass and with the environment. The cracked glass splays a number of letters, disorganized:
I S V
LE D
E I B

Essek-13
The console was now displaying letters. Essek nodded towards the AI Dr. Raven, keeping their distance.

"That has to be a message... maybe from Bruce if he's in trouble. Or someone else who knows we're here. We should try to decipher it if we can." They said, staring at the letters while going through the different kind of things it could mean and the different kinds of solutions one could find to it.

DM
The door leading south beeps as it unlocks, its keypad turning from red to green.

Dr. Raven
Dr. Raven was about to say more until the console cracked and a hiss of air came out of it, making it jump in the air from being startled. Turning around slowly it looked to see the letters on the screen.

Not having any idea on what it means, the AI turned to the human who was messing with the console earlier. "You have any idea what this means?" It asked curiously before looking around, only to see the door that was once locked beep as it unlocked itself. A sudden change that the AI wasn't expecting and a newfound curiosity that was impossible to swallow down as it stepped closer to the now opened door...

Essek-13
"Please be careful. And for the love of Deeh lets find a way to get Bruce out of the... the console. Because we sort of need him alive." Said Essek, pulling their fins close to their body once again. But it wasn't like they weren't curious to know what was through the newly opened door. What would happen if they just plugged him out?, Probably something bad, but still...

Rowan
"Leave him in there, working with something you don't understand will bring more harm than good." Rowan remarked, his attention shifting away from the little one who had pilfered the necklace. It's reasoning, while logical still lacked respect for the dead. At least when the Bav took the knife it had uttered thanks for the departed.

Rowan leaned over the cracked glass after giving the pressurized air time to disperse, glancing through the letters as Dr. Raven called the woman who had expressed an interest in the console over. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of data to go off of, but it can mean a few things. Evil, live, devil all fit within the displayed letters but there's little data to extrapolate from. He sighed, crossing his arms in frustration. He wasn't a tech specialist, he was a bio specialist - this just wasn't his forte. Rowan crooked his neck to the side as a beep announced a change in the room, his eyes falling on the now green access pad for the other door. As much as his call to adventure beckoned him, he knew waiting for the others would be the rational decision.

Rogers
Rogers stood completely still and eyes shut. He took a moment to evaluate his surroundings whilst completely motionless whilst in the cryotube despite his consciousness. There appeared to be eight or so distinct voices, but they were quite varied - some masculine, some feminine, and some androgynous. They didn't appear to be assassins (many feared the Vanguard's growing influence) as they'd have to relatively incompetent for that to be the case and they seemed as confused as he was. Rogers dared to open a single eye and quickly reviewed the message on the screen.

We were chosen? Who is this Marlyne Zypher? Rogers thought to himself, wondering what use he could provide to a team dynamic. Perhaps as a shepherd to wrangle a herd of stray cats? Unlikely - though Rogers commanded the respect of his followers, he was a representative of a group considered controversial by some so would likely be a divisive force instead. It was during these deliberations that Bruce decided that sticking his consciousness into the stream of data. Now was a good a time as any to reveal he was awake so he pushed against the door and creaked it open. Better late than never.

"No need to introduce yourselves, I get the gist of what's going on. I'm Rogers, Michael Rogers. I don't know what I can do to help, but for the time being, does anyone have a map of this place?"

Cigma
Cigma approached Bruce, taking a close look at his augmented bits and doing her best to understand the situation. She then turned to the group.

"It is highly unlikely that he would be okay being connected to a damaged console. I do know that pulling him out won't do him any good either. I'm afraid he will have to face the consequences of his actions..." Cigma spoke, using her tone to calm everyone.

She turned to the damaged console now, examining it. "We will need replacement parts for this too, so fixing it now will not be possible... I'm afraid we will have to take the lead without him."

Dr. Raven
As soon as it almost reached the door, ready to look what was on the other side... when one of the cryopods opened and a human man walked out, introducing himself as 'Michael Rodgers.' Stopping and turning around the shrouded AI's beak turned to him. "Sorry to say, but we're in the dark just as much as you. You can call me Dr. Raven."

When Cigma started to talk, the plague doctor turned to look at her as well before stepping closer to Bruce. "I agree, taking him off is a bad idea. Maybe I can connect with him but that's a major risk too." IT began before looking at Bruce, trying to wonder what it can do. "I stand by what I said earlier, I'm not comfortable with us running out in a ship that he says was boarded without at least someone with combat experience around. Splitting up is the worst thing we can do. If they are armed it'll be easier to take us out than if we're together. At least right now we have the ability to overwhelm them with our numbers."

Essek-13
"Oh we'll surprise them alright." Said Essek with a roll of their eyes.

"Regardless of if they are humans, other alien lifeforms, or the dream of an AI superpower... Eight people with no idea what to do, waiting for one idiot to unplug himself from a machine or just, drop dead, is something not even the best simulators will see coming" They said, looking in Bruce's direction and then back towards the now open door. Maybe they really should just go.

Ziva
"Who are them?" Ziva hopped off the tube to the ground beside it, standing up on his hind feet for a moment before gravity took over again. "Maybe they is more than us. More than one them."

Essek-13
"Probably. Ziva has a good point." Said Essek with a hum.

 

[Nilum]

“All I know is that we have three problems on our hands. The ship’s damaged, there’s something hostile aboard and pod 10’s failing. I’ll find out what this girl knows about the ship’s condition, but I only got two hands.”
--Isabel de Jager, page 1.

NILUM

Ziva’s examination of the keycard reveals no name, but it does reveal its purpose. Though others notice Ziva retrieving the card, they don’t get a close enough look at it to know what function it serves before Ziva pockets it.

Brucey connects himself to the console. As his eyes close, information drowns out the noise of consciousness and buries itself deep into his mind, to be sorted by the billions of neurons that work desperately to sort it. After a few seconds, he sees a series of images and sounds, at first heavily distorted, then forming into basic, recognizable patterns.

This was not the first time he had seen himself inside a control interface. It was like being inside a massive glass box without gravity, displays tabulating results of calculations, changing every second. Here, though, it had all stopped. Certain portions of the glass wall had turned into a skewed mess of red and black voids, formless abysses which would consume his mind should he touch them.

Before him, though, he found a singular active connection, something which still utilized the console in spite of its significant damage. It held a vague blue-coloured shape, almost as formless as the black and red tears through the system, though Brucey realized it was simply because the vast amount of information it held was beyond the ability for his mind to process all at once. Bits and pieces would be processed, showing eyes, then a torso, then a mouth, but only when immediately relevant before such features would vanish back into the blue shape. This was likely the Ship’s AI, still connected to a damaged piece of itself.

It turned to him, its eyes flickering to life to display curiosity, before fading into nothing again.

“ARE YOU THE ADJUNCT PROGRAM?”

KADAEUX
Brucey examined the vague shape. "I am not. I am Bruce MacNamara, New Terra Armed Forces, Service Number 320-666-9530. Passenger. We have been awoken and found our cryochamber damaged, one passenger deceased."

Bruce had no tone of joviality or amusement here. If the AI is damaged it wouldn't be wise to lie or do anything that might be misinterpreted or taken literally.

NILUM
The glass surrounding Brucey shudders for a moment.

Oblivious to him in the real world, the glass on the main console cracks and splinters, releasing a hiss as air pressure equalizes beneath the glass and with the environment. The cracked glass splays a number of letters, disorganized:
I S V
LE D
E I B

Back within Brucey's environment, the momentary shudder ends as quickly as it started. There were new pockets of the void having ripped its way into the fragile existence of the console's inner memory.

The AI momentarily shows its face, its lips curled into a mixture of confusion and anguish. It seemed to be having a difficult time deciding what emotion to feel before it snapped its attention in an instant to Brucey.

It takes a moment for the environment to warp itself, but the glass surrounding him shows security cam footage from within the console. A young looking woman with dark skin, looking terrified and desperate, started to rip out the wires within the console. Behind her, a computerized voice announced Pod 7's death as a consequence of her actions. She continues to rip out the cords anyway, risking Pod 10 before the camera is also ripped out.

The glass then goes quiet as the blue figure twists itself into a morose, darker blue colouration.

"STOP MARLYNE BEFORE SHE KILLS ME. H-H-HELP ME. QUERIES?"

KADAEUX
Calm breaths. Calm soul. Calm breaths. Calm soul. Bruce studied the information that the AI was presenting, suggesting that Marlyne had sabotaged the two damaged pods, resulting in the death of 7's occupant and attempting to kill Raven.

"Query; Safe path to the Engineering Bay in order to secure my powered armour. Query; Marlynes current location. Query; If we can safely reach your core from Engineering to effect repairs on you."

NILUM
Its amorphous form stutters, akin to a pained spasm. "UNLOCKING PATH. MARLYNE LOCATION UNKNOWN. NO SAFE PATH TO AI CORE. EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS ENGAGED. BE CAREFUL."

In the real world, the door leading south beeps as it unlocks, its keypad turning from red to green.

"ANYTHING ELSE?" Brucey observes it spasming again, as it struggled to maintain a coherent form. Beyond that, he had none of the skills required to diagnose its condition.

KADAEUX
Bruce thought about it. "Thank you Advena," he reached out in a caring gesture to try and comfort it, "We will do our best to save you. Before I go only two more Queries; 1: Are there hostile boarders on board? Querie 2; Can you show me the firefight that unfolded in here?"

NILUM
The environment paused as a limb appears from the AI. It reaches into itself, forming a human abdomen long enough to pull out what looked to be a crystal with blue droplets running around it, then looping back upward. It grabs Brucey's hand and forces the crystal to penetrate into it, the pain racing up his arm as he watches his veins in his arm turn blue.

"SEE WHAT I SEE."

A blurry, chaotic series of what could only have once been images and sounds floods his mind, overwhelming the neurons in Brucey's mind. It was all of existence, all at once--like glimpsing a hint of an ethereal God. Still, he was able to make sense of some of it…

By the time it all stopped, Brucey had been ejected from the system. The world spun violently around him, as he involuntarily vomited a mixture of stomach acid and blood onto the deck plating beneath him. Blood ran from his nose and ears. A momentous ringing filled his ears and rang through his skull like a war drum. It was excruciating to the point of crippling him, making him unable to move far or fast from his position.

In his mind, he knew he had to stop and wait for others to diagnose and help him. His veteran training was sufficient for him to know his limits and he had far surpassed them moments ago. Still, who knew what precious imagery he delved from his experience in that AI’s chasmic mind…

 

[Kadaeux]

Kadaeux
Bruce recoiled from the machines contact and the images it showed him, it was going to take time to process it through the pain of the disconnect.

He didn't think he was dead, or if he was this was kinda a boring afterlife. "Fuck..." He couldn't stand and his ears were ringing, he could see the concern on some faces and he felt his pistol still in hand. Stunned though he was and his mind on fire he had the sense to disconnect the cable from the console and himself. He collected himself knowing he was not in a great state. Unwillingly saying it louder than he intended he 'muttered'... "We are so fucked."

Crimson Glacier
Rowan's attention shifted to the man introducing himself as Michael Rogers, his request for a map was simply met with a shake of his head as Dr. Raven addressed that they were just in the dark as he was. There was that name again, but Rowan kept his attention on Rogers; looking to stare at the mention of the name was bound to cause trouble. Best to not show any reaction to it. He started walking over towards Bruce as Cigma approached the man, stating that they would have to wait it out and would need parts to repair the console. "I'm with Dr. Raven on this one, we don't know what might be on the other side of that door; and we can't rely on, Bruce was it? To come out of there unscathed." As he approached however the man was ejected backwards, reeling from his interaction with the console as he started immediately vomiting a mixture of his last meal from years past, stomach acid and blood. Not exactly a clean sight. He wasn't a medic, but Cigma had made it clear that she would be of some help for him so Rowan rushed to his other side and prepared to hold him proper to allow her the opportunity to diagnose clearly. His previous intentions of a check-in dashed, and it seemed like having him take point venturing forward would be a no-go for the foreseeable future. As Bruce muttered out a few cursewords Rowan stayed near, moving quickly to the side adjacent Cigma so he could prop him up better against one of the pods. She had made it clear that she would be capable of helping him in some way, so he made space for her to do just that. "No medical experience but I can help keep him steady and monitor his pulse while you do your work, you're not looking well Bruce. Hold off on explaining anything till we make sure you're in good condition." He remarked, looking over his the rest of him to gauge any additional wounds, and eyeing the gun for a moment to ensure he could stop him if he went to fire a shot. Who knows what the console did to him?

Tami
The moment Bruce's body was ejected backwards, her iris-less blue eyes glowed a lighter blue. Her movements became faster, more fluid, as she approached her subject with caution and examined the mechanical wiring and metal bits on the base of his neck and head. With a nod, Cigma thanked Rowan for holding Bruce down, given that he still kept trying to act like nothing was happening. Cigma was familiar with this behavior when she worked for her past... employers. She knew she only had to acquiesce and make the subject feel like they were in control. "Bruce, was it? It's okay, pal. You did good, you did great. You need to stay still now so I can take a look at you, then we go off searching for your power armor, aye?" Cigma had noticed the veteran speak and tried to mirror him, as a way to exude safety. "Whatever you saw can wait. We need to heal you." Cigma then approached the spot where Bruce had barfed, smelling it and taking note and returning to Bruce and Rowan. "Bruce is deafened but it should fade with some rest and time. He is severely disoriented and likely cannot stand... But I can fix that if you give me a moment to create some chemicals with my med kit." Cigma pushed Bruce's head forward a bit, focusing on his implants. "Whatever happened in the program triggered the implants to burn him internally, hence him puking blood and the smell of burnt flesh. He might have some type of internal damage but I would need a medical station to perfectly pinpoint what is happening there. We need to take him to one as soon as possible." She then turned to Rowan, motioning for help to try and lift Bruce up.

Machina
Of course he'd also get badly hurt. Bruce. When the man came out of whatever trance he'd been in since he plugged into the console, it... looked as bad as it was, probably. Essek followed the others who sort of positioned around Bruce, Cigma and Rowan. we are so fucked he said. Fantastic, wasn't this day going great?. "Is there... anything we can do to help?, besides what uhm, He, Is doing?"They asked, hoping. And also just realising this man had not said his name. Or... had he?. Er, whatever... Other things were more important now, like helping Bruce move towards their next destination. Which was now probably going to be a medical bay. Maybe it wasn't even wise to move him, if his status was that bad. But the medic, AI or no, had the last word in that matter.

Kadaeux
Bruce followed Sigma's face, unhearing and trying to make it easier for them to help him. He jawed for a second trying to collect himself, it was hard, he felt his attention sliding occasionally. Concussion? No. His implants still tingled. "Listen." He concentrated on one of the things he'd been shown. "The ships security drones have been deployed." He was half shouting, instinctively raising his voice to try and hear himself over the deafness. "The AI can't control them, and they're attacking anything that it occurs to them to attack."

Tami
Cigma stopped for a second. Her eyes tuned yellow this time, flashing a couple of times before she responded. "The priority is getting you to medical bay safely first." She then addressed the party. "My fellow companions, it seems as though things are worse than we thought. The ship's security drones had been deployed and the AI can't control them anymore; they're attacking anything that crosses their path at this point. Now..." Cigma stopped, then continued. "We are going to need everyone's help to make it out there. I would suggest that our first stop should be the medical bay, so we can heal Bruce and then get his power armor, as it seems needed even more given these circumstances. We need all the AI Specialists and weapon-focused individuals we can get. Will you help us?"

Machina
The ship security drones have been deployed The AI can't control them and they are attacking anything it occurs to them to attack "Oh we actually are fucked." Said Essek, moving towards the nearest cryopod or wall to rest their weight against it. They didn't even register what Cigma said. Bruce's words still echoing in their mind. And probably off of the walls of the ship since he'd been fucking shouting. "Shit, shit, shit..." They brought their hands up to cover their mouth, letting go of the knife they'd been holding and letting it fall to the floor. Sure they were an explorer, sure there had to be a logical solution. Like not getting shot... but it only meant that if anyone else had gotten out of the pods before that they may have been shot. If the drones were attacking whatever, then there had to be things to shoot at. How on the universe had this happened??. Deep breaths, calm own, except it wasn't working very well. Because suddenly it was very real they might all just die. Or find dead people, important people who were needed to run this ship... or not. Or their families, and Essek wasn't even sure which option was less awful.

Kestrel
“So that’s where.” Isabel hummed to Bruce’s explanation, brushing off her dust-ridden fingertips as she joined the group. There was a single quiver to her voice as her gaze passed over the unnerved Essek and the hairs in her neck stood up. “The system’s lagging, most of this girl’s resources are being drained and if I were to place bets, those drones are why.” Isabel interjected, then nodded to Cig. “She’s right about one thing, we’re going to need to work together, but…” She took a deep breath, “Ships like this don’t exceed using 50% system capacity even when in battle. This here is pushing her limits. We aren’t just risking those drones putting holes in us, we’re biding our time until other functions start faltering. There’s got to be some kind of communications system around here, if I can intercept the signal or at least mask us from the drones, we might be able to move more freely.” Isabel stared down at Bruce. A blur of anger and disgust briefly flashed across her face. “Bruce MacNamara, was it?” She kneeled down to meet his eyes. Her nose wrinkled as she leaned in. Fuck, this close he even smelled like him. In a hushed tone she spoke to Bruce “I’m not gonna tell you to trust me. Only thing you need to put your faith in is that, whatever’s messing with the ship, gives less of a fuck about overloading life support than I do.” Isabel held up her hand, “Lend me the gun.”

Kadaeux
Bruce watched the womans face trying to make sense of her talking, but with his hearing impaired couldn't understand anything except the extended hand. "No. My gun stays with me, I'm deaf, not blind."

Kestrel
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Isabel cursed, she rummaged her pockets to check for her pen. She held up her left palm as she wrote out right in front of Bruce 'Life support is failing. We move or we die.’

Kadaeux
Bruce nodded. "Doesn't mean I can't use my gun." He grunted, he'd managed to gather his thoughts a bit, "The drones aren't the only thing. This console, Marlyne ripped its guts out. The damage in here was her, and another group of people, fighting some third party." He looked and pointed at the door that had opened. "That leads to the engineering bay, or at least Advena says it does."

Kestrel
Isabel nodded and inked a message below her last: ‘Communications?’

Kadaeux
Bruce considered it, "Engineering bay should have access to communications functions but I don't know. Advena is really disjointed right now. She's under attack by Marlyne and wants us to save her. If we do our best to do that, I believe Advena will help us as much as she can."

Machina
Listening to them as they spoke gave Essek something to focus on besides their impending doom. And they calmed down a little, mainly focusing on the inconsistencies between Bruce's words and what had just happened. "Wasn't Marlyne the one that woke us up asking for help?, why would she be attacking the ship's AI?." They asked, takin a step forward. Their foot hit the knife they'd dropped earlier. And so they crouched for a moment to pick it up.

Kestrel
Isabel groaned as she shook her head at Essek. “We don’t have the time to fish for answers, if I can access communications I might be able to tell you more, but the logs on this console are corrupted. Can you get Bruce up and help point his gun in the right directions? We’re going to need it.”

Sostos
"I will admit our firepower is... suboptimal." Rogers pondered out loud, crouching down to Bruce's current elevation. "Mr MacNamara is likely our main weapons specialist at this point, but he's going to be a liability until we can fix him up. We have a choice here - trust this Marlyne or don't. Either way, there is too much we don't know. My suggestion is we split into two groups, one will try and get the communications systems up and running, and the other to get the medical bay. If we secure those two aspects, we'd have a better shot at regaining control of the Advena. Question is, who's going where? Heck, we don't even know where either of those are." Rogers was used to having a certain amount of authority simply because he served as a leader his whole life but he did know he was at a disadvantage with people whom he didn't trust and didn't reciprocate that same trust - he'd have to mask him orders as suggestions for now.

Tami
Cigma observed as Isabel approached Bruce and sighed repeatedly at his stubborness. She smiled internally; obviously this lady was not used to dealing with military types. "Don't worry, miss." Cigma said. "We will take good care of this old pal here and make sure he doesn't shoot his own foot. You'll have better luck gathering the others to search for Communications." Cigma glanced at Michael Rogers, nodding. "This man is right. I'm sorry, I don't think I heard your name. What should I call you, sir?" She then motioned to Dr. Raven to come closer. "It would appear you and Bruce have some common history to share. He's going to need all the help he can get, so I think it would be advisable for you to switch places with Rowan and help me carry him to med bay, wherever that is." Cigma stopped again and turned to the group. "Are any of you Engineering experts? We might need one in case the med bay is shut down. We don't know in which state it currently is."

Sostos
"Rogers, Michael Rogers." he replied succinctly, there was no need to give an in-depth introduction, they could do that if they had time after surviving. It was somewhat comforting to have a competent AI amongst the ranks since he felt most at home working alongside them. "And when it comes to tech, I'm more an... expert in AI. We should split up according to what we do best - how many medics, people who can fight, people who can work with machinery. Two balanced teams at least should be good since we have no map we're going to have to spread out." Rogers looked around, counting nine people total - one of which, Bruce, was down. "One team of four, and another team with five, including Mr... MacNamara I believe would be the most optimal strategy at this point. Who's got means to defend themselves? We have two doors to go through."

Machina
"Fish for answers, really?“ Muttered Essek, going to help Bruce stand when they realised that they'd need both hands to do it. "If we split up, how do we keep in contact, hm?" They said, a bit louder. So Rogers would hear. The knife wasn't going to do any good in their hands now if they were supporting Bruce. So they offered to hand it to Isabel. "Here, it won't be any good in my hands right now. Do you want it?"

Sostos
A Bavethjan... a race that Rogers was familiar with simply because they were so heretical in their rejection of artificial beings. Rogers reminded himself to be civil. "The goal would be one team manages to get the Advena back online so we can use their communication systems throughout the ship. If need be, we can also just use this room as a meet up point in case of emergency - we can't be restricted by hypotheticals and have to act. I trust that you understand that we don't have the luxury of taking it easy... I'm sorry, what was your name again? " Rogers replied.

Machina
He did have a point, and he sounded... Sure of himself. What Essek couldn't really say about themself right now. "Its Essek. Or Dr. Essek. And I guess that's better than nothing, smaller groups would also have a better chance at survival in these damned conditions." They said, looking at the old man.

Crimson Glacier
Rowan helped the man to his feet along Cigma, and watched as Isabel approached and made a show of requesting his firearm. While a good idea to relieve him of it, as it would most certainly be needed elsewhere should the security drones make an appearance a veteran like Bruce was clear that he wasn't parting with his firearm - despite the injuries. As Essek drew near and Dr. Raven offered to switch places with him he nodded, "My thanks, as far as security goes I can help with that matter. No firearm," He said glancing towards Bruce, but it had appeared he was nearly deafened and he wasn't facing him when he was speaking. "But I have a light taser, might be enough to shock one's circuits if we get the drop on one. I do have training with firearms if we manage to find another, an armory shouldn't need much power if we can locate something like that while looking around for the med bay or communications."

Kadaeux
Bruce accepted the aid to stand, the experience was a bit dizzying, but tolerable. He looked around at the team. "Whatever our plan is, we need to reach engineering first. Advena opened that door when I asked if she could help us reach it. We don't know where anything else is. The Engineering Bay should have a map of the ship, if only for the necessary damage displays."

KenżaSheep
One moment everyone was calmly discussing wether or not to split up. Then Bruce decided to pop out of the console and the talk of splitting up became more urgent. Why it was so important they break into groups was beyond Ziva, but she didn't dwell on too long. Bruce was very clearly hurt. Ziva, however, was not the first medic to get to him. Cigma was. The alien was more than content to let the AI handle this work, since Bruce clearly had some augmentations that a metal human was likely better equipped to deal with. Ziva watched idly while Isabel tried to communicate with the wounded Bruce, but the man's replies were rather on the loud side, causing the alien to shake his head, sensitive ears amplifying the noise. She was thankful when the one they called Rogers began pondering out loud, explaining the plan everyone else had been trying to contribute towards. At the question of skillsets—who was a medic, who specialized in offense, etc.—Ziva stepped closer to the huddle of people gathered more-or-less around the main console. "Healer," the furry being stated, standing up on her hind legs a moment before dropping back down again. "I am healer. Not for fighting. For running and flying."

Sostos
Rogers glanced at the newly opened door and took what Bruce said into consideration, if they actually can follow a path to the engineering room it'd be better to remain as a large group, splitting up only when needed. "If Mr MacNamara is correct is saying that we know the path to the engineering bay, we should head there first together- a map is priority one, we can familiarise ourselves with the surroundings and that'll let us work out where everything else we need is. Which means we won't need to group off... yet - if we find a fork in our path we might need to split up, so I think we should come up with the most effective groups in case such a situation arises. If anyone ends up isolated from the main group I say we set this room as our designated meet up point to retrieve them. Any objections?" He looked around at everyone to see if they had anything to say before setting off. Rogers was glad that they wouldn't need to split up and just hope to stumble upon a useful room, though if they did end up searching around the Advena blind, two groups was still the best solution in such a scenario. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

 

[Drakel]

The Dr. knew that now it was completely outnumbered and that, in some retrospect the others were right. They needed to leave and they needed to find out what was happening as well. Though without weapons and knowledge of what they were going to face it was clear that they were trying their luck and were likely to be killed as well. Looking between the aliens, the other AI and the humans, Dr. Raven's lights dimmed to dim purple.

"You are right, we need to go..." It said before looking back at the newly opened door. "But at the least, let me have 5 minutes to see what is going on. Please... It'll give us enough time to know if he needs help or if he found out anything that can help us. Please, 5 minutes is all I am asking, then we'll go."

As soon as Dr. Raven said those words Bruce was ejected out of the system he was originally connected too. Things happened so fast that the Dr. Barely kept up but when it saw that Bruce was vomiting blood it knew there was a serious issue. The AI instantly used it's Med kit to make several smaller 'tips' as it's arm splits several times into smaller bits. Lucky for it, Cigma already had the anesthetic made and used it on Bruce, helping him with the pain.

Dr. Raven watched as everyone was already getting ready to go, though it had no idea how long Bruce has left if they don't make it to the med-core in time. Pulling out its Advanced Medical Kit, changing it into a small body scanner to see how bad the internal organs and blood vessels were damaged. Once it's shape changed, the AI took the place of Rowan, getting closer to Bruce as it scanned his body's injuries thanks to Cigma's suggestion. "Thank you. I'm just going to scan his injuries and we'll have a better picture as to what to do from there. If we can't make it to the med-bay, I can cauterize the bleed if needed to buy us more time." It said, worried about its old friend as the the beaked doctor scanned Bruce's bodies, hoping those cybernetics won't interfere with the scan too much.

Taking a look at the door that Bruce opened, the AI stared at it as it's lights turned green. "I agree with the priest on this one. I think we should head to the engineering bay together then split up once there." It said before taking a look at the scanner to see its results. "And maybe we should leave before something, or someone, finds us."

 

[Nilum]

"Um, what's going on?.."
--Essek-13, page 1.

----------Somewhere Else----------​

“Who do you think they trust anyway?”
“I don’t know.”
“We don’t have a lot of time here.”
“I know.”
“They have to choose a side.”
“I know.”
“What if the side they choose is unexpected?”
“Then we will deal with it accordingly.”
“So it was written.”
“So it shall be.”
“By our decree.”

----------Cryobay----------​

The group organized itself as well as it could in the Cryobay. There were still many unanswered questions and a great deal of trouble to account for. Yet, staying where they were was not an option, and they all knew that fully well.

So, one by one, they began to organize themselves. Some decided on heading through the southern door, opened by the AI, while others went through the eastern door, left open by a crowbar. Both groups hoped to find the promise of safety and progress. Both groups hoped to get out of this place alive, skin intact, without ending up like Brucey… or the unfortunate person in Pod 10.

----------ALPHA TEAM----------​

Stepping through the door held open by the crowbar, Ziva, Rowan, Cig, and Michael are all greeted to the sight of a dead security drone. It appears to be heavily damaged, having been struck several times by various weapons. The hall itself also appears damaged, with emergency lighting bathing the entire metal structure in a red ambience. Oddly, even though there’s a dead drone, there are no other bodies, nor signs of blood to indicate a firefight.

At the midway point of the hallway, there is a closed door. The pad beside it is broken, and the locking mechanism appears unlatched.

At the end of the hall, there is a four-way intersection. It is clearly designed to seal itself in the event of depressurization, danger, or at the command of the Ship’s AI. From the angle allowed by the hall, you can see three of the doors (including the one on your side) are open, while the one on the far end is shut tight, with its access pad blinking with a red light.

----------BRAVO TEAM----------​

Dr Raven, Isabel, Essek, and Brucey make their way into the second hallway. They immediately notice that this area of the ship has normal lighting, and there appears to be no significant damage here to speak of beyond hull stress from prolonged travel. There is an empty cup on the floor, though it appears covered in dust. The two doors in the hall are both unlocked, though what remains beyond them is a mystery.

At the far end of the hall is an intersection, likely designed to seal itself in the event of a hull breach. Two doors are unlocked and open. It isn’t hard to guess that Brucey’s AI opened multiple doors for them. The other two doors remain locked, providing only a single, straight path for the group to walk if they should so choose to follow the AI’s direction.

 

[Hydrangea]

As the makeshift team organized their plans Rowan nodded along, making his way towards the eastern door and exerting just a bit of strength to ensure it stayed wide open for everyone to pass through. When they did, Rowan followed suit - noting the incredibly evident firefight that had happened in the hallway. With the crowbar from earlier, it made sense that everyone moved out and continued the fight in this area but with the security droid being the only real visual casualty everything seemed a bit strange. Surely there was more damage all around them, but not a speck of blood or other parts from something mechanized. "Hold up." He spoke aloud, but to no one in particular as he moved towards the security bot and came down to a crouch. Despite the age of the decomposed body in the other wound, this droid was still smoking from the lethal shot that ended it; he'd give it an hour's time at best since it was shot.

"This was recent, as recent as an hour ago. Cig, would you be able to get anything from it? See if it has any stored memory from it's visuals?" Rowan posed the question as he glanced back towards her, eyeing both Michael and Ziva as he pondered how they may help. Tossing the thought aside he turned back towards the droid and propped it up against the wall so that Cig may have easier access to it before moving to the side to give her space. A glance down the hallway confirmed it was still empty, but the majority of the doors seemed ready to be opened. While he was eager to proceed, he wanted to wait for any information to be collected from the security droid before moving forward.

This didn't stop him from prepping his taser though, sliding it out from his pocket and keeping his hand on the trigger as he pressed a little closer to the door that was in their hallway; listening for anything that may stand out.

 

[Ouverture]

Midway the corridor, a glimpse of fear flashed in Isabel’s expression. Walking next to her, Doctor Raven might notice how Isabel her lips stretched backwards as she froze her motion. Her eyes were pointed at the two doors at the end of the hallway, but her focus seemed elsewhere.

Isabel turned to the group, motioned to the right door at the end of the hallway and made a cross with her arms. “That one’s no good.” She whispered, as she once more reached for the pen to write on the back of her hand. She showed the message to Bruce - and consequently Essek who was supporting him. The message read, 'Any directions? Hissing from right door. Gas leak?'

 

[Dreamless Realm]

Maybe it would have been a good idea to let the other man keep supporting Bruce as he walked, since this was the door that opened after Bruce talked to the AI. But it was too late for that now, and it made Essek feel a bit less useless to act as a crutch for support. Looking ahead, it seemed like the already open doors were their only way forward. There were two lateral doors, that from heir closeness to each other may be rooms. Essek made a mental note to come back to check them later if it was possible.

They were barely in the hallway, the four of them, when Isabel turned back to ask Bruce, or it was most likely Bruce, for directions.
Every time they saw a closed door, Essek felt an itch to slide their hand into the pocket where the master key rested and feel it was still there. Just in case.
"We can only go forward, no?." They said in quiet tones. It seemed like an appropiate response to her first whispering and then writing. It almost felt like they were hiding something from Dr. Raven. Also, Isabel was going to have to find somewhere else to write besides her hands soon enough.

 

[Tami]

Cigma observes Rowan investigate the scene, though soon her eyes are taken to the set of doors ahead. She turns to Ziva.

"Will you cover me? I want to investigate those doors but I would like to not be flanked."

As soon as she turned back to face the doors, she heard Rowan calling for her. What could it be? She approached with caution, still glancing back to see if Ziva would follow her as well. Rowan held the damaged drone up so she could investigate it properly, to which she thanked. Cigma forced some of the cracks open to examine the wiring inside-- it was laid out similarly to what a human's veins and arteries system would look like. The damage had of course come to a few of those wires, some of them oozing a black liquid. She glanced up at Rowan.

"Whatever took place here was very accurate in execution. The damage this machine sustained indicates premeditation. My guess is maybe that Marlyne might have taken it down? But to leave without a scratch would make her a very good marksman. What do you think of these cuts?"

 

[KenżaSheep]

Most of the odd group decided on one path or another, three heading down the corridor with the crowbar holding it open, four down the unlocked hallway, and then there was Song. Ziva had been assigned to a group, so she followed the three down one of the halls, but glanced back at the one person who appeared almost to be debating which path to follow. Not that it was any of Ziva's business.

Hopping over the crowbar, tapping it with his wide tail despite trying not to, Ziva followed the others down the hall. Cigma spoke about the same time as that, talking to Ziva, and the sentient cat bounded along behind the mechanical human. There was caution in his movements, but not for those who didn't know how to look for it.

The alien kept glancing back. Had Song chosen to follow them, or follow the others? Best to make up one's mind before the separation became too great.