Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[Deske]

"Ah, so this is our stop," Seena said, almost making it a statement as she let Colorado help her out.

Colorado nodded and helped his beloved out, "I believe so." He checked a clock as they passed by, "The day drags on, here's hoping you know what kind of clothes you like- I mean, not that you wouldn't of course. It's just that y'know the whole thing with women and.... clothes..." He blinked when he fully realized what he was saying before staring straight ahead and practically holding his breath waiting for some sort of divine action to save him from himself.

----------------

em to be adapting well so far...Oh, dog, I'm falling over my feet... So I'm sure you'll get on fine, Denver.[/color]"

Denver gave a small sigh, "Glad I seem that way, but I can tell you that it's mostly a facade that keeps myself sane and my patients from questioning me." He gave a light eyeroll and stared over Sana's head, a light frown creasing his muzzle, "But honestly this place doesn't seem to bad," he looked back down at Sana with a smile, "At least nothing bad has happened yet. How about you? You seem to have found me so easily if I was your target, things must be looking up for you right now as well?"

----------------

turning to chris and noticing the helmet, she sputters "How did you... what? I expected the helm alone to take all night..." sounding rather confused.

Chris shrugged, "It's my power. It fixes things. Pretty useful for when your don't wanna go to the forge. It's fairly fast even over a large area. It fixed the ship was came in on in just a couple of minutes."

[CyberDragon]

Tatiana nodded at Hivemind's words, "Aye, aye boss. Some grub sounds good." She walked her way to the public kitchen, giving a wave to Traci as she entered, "Heya Traci, hiya Hive. I think I'll just have one of those burgers I've heard so much about. " She said, simply enjoying the evening atmosphere after the mission.

"Will do!" Hivemind pulled some raw hamburger from the replicator in addition to some lettuce and tomato and buns. He put the burger on the grill and started cooking it.

Traci entered the champion tower's cafeteria not long after she left the hanger, then headed straight to the public kitchen. "Hey again Hive! Can I have, uh, a small bag of chicken strips? I'll cook a proper meal when I get home later.." She asked the human-looking droid calmly, leaning on the counter.

Hivemind nodded and walked over to the replicator. He produced some chicken meat and put it in the fryer. "What did you think of your first mission, Traci?" he asked as the food cooked.

----------------------------

"Yay," Jaken called at the news before pausing with a handpaw holding a skittle he'd just purloned from Junes' pizza. "How can I protect her if she leaves me behind," he asked with a touch of plaintiveness.

june's response is a single word: "Shark."

"Fair enough." He said. "We should talk about where you are going to be staying tonight, June. Or at least what you're going to do once most of the ship is asleep."

- - - - -

Rika followed Hivemind along, shuddering slightly as she exited the portal door. "Aw, that's so nice of him.. I'll be sure to thank him for thinking about me when we get there." She replied, standing by the droid as they waited for the maglev.

The maglev arrived quickly and took them to the station near Power World. Normally they wouldn't have allowed Rika inside without a ticket, but hivemind vouched that she was just there to pick someone up. Even that wouldn't have worked, but being who hivemind was has a few privileges. Pretty soon, they were entering into the pizza place.

"Here's the place. I've already paid for the pizza, so you can just go ahead and start eating when you want."

----------------------------

"Suggest you turn the main computer back on, Captain," Corp advised. "I turned it off for safety. Who else did you find, Hivemind?"

"Among the survivors? The Smith family, the Rodgers family, and a couple engineers who were previously trapped unconscious behind debris." he said.

----------------------------

"Thanks for that," Jenevive sighed. "It's going to hit home soon, you know? All the stuff that's been lost."

"I know. Many things you lost won't be able to be replaced. Pictures, memories... The only advice I can offer is to make new ones. Explore the ship, see the sights, take pictures and make memories with the family. Be glad your family is safe as possible here, and love them all like every day could be the last one." He offered as advice, sounding a bit experienced in this regard.

----------------------------

hivemind might notice four odd things. 1) a private taxi shuttle just returned to the beacon empty, having apparently transported someone to the surface, despite a complete lack of proper launch authorization. 2) the paper trail from that anomaly leads to the business owner responsible, who neglected to file the fare properly, and has clearly been heavily bribed. 3) tracing the funds reveals that detailed scans of a handful of different hive drone models are circulating on the black market, the money from which was sent to a public terminal on the beacon, last used two hours ago, shortly before the shuttle went plannetside. and lastly, 4) epsilon and three quarters of the credits from the black market sales are missing.

((Epsilon has been removed from the rp, and will remain so indefinitely. she was never meant for this setting.))

Groaning, Hivemind responded in the only real way he could. He confronted the taxi shuttle owner, activated the stolen droids and used them to arrest the buyers (much to their surprise), and question why she went through all of this trouble when she could have just taken a legal shuttle at any time as long as the ship wasn't in transit.

----------------------------

"Riiight... and give sir wikipedia an excuse to explain something? can't i get a cliff notes version from someone who DOESN'T alternate between long winded and infuriating?" Kobor complains, though still taking the letter.

The old man let out a jolly laugh. "Yes, he does have a bit of a problem with over-explaining, doesn't he? It's not his fault though. His brain has problems letting something go until it's been resolved or explained." He took a step back. "One way or another you will learn about this parallel, and you will learn soon. If you do not wish to ask about it, I will not force you." The old man, as well as the entire area, started to fade. "For now, I will let you go. You have a killer to catch after all." With that, he was gone.

The area around them was no longer open, instead being a simple alleyway. In front of them, hiding behind a dumpster and looking through a purse was a hooded figure. He turned to the twins. It was the criminal they were looking for. He jumped back in surprise, acting as if the two twins had just appeared out of nowhere.

[~\Rook/~]

"Just looking for work, my lover," Keeva purred. "Seems they're looking for volunteers to upgrade a certain ship of ours?" She leaned back and kissed him.

Dan kissed her back as he put his arms around her (as best he could with his cast), then rested his chin on her shoulder. "That's good, means the Steelhaven is still going to be running." He replied, then his expression turned numb. "But I'm not sure.. I-If I could still work there.." He added lowly, looking down. "I.. My dad.." He choked back a cry, a tear rolling down his cheek..

-----

The maglev arrived quickly and took them to the station near Power World. Normally they wouldn't have allowed Rika inside without a ticket, but hivemind vouched that she was just there to pick someone up. Even that wouldn't have worked, but being who hivemind was has a few privileges. Pretty soon, they were entering into the pizza place.

"Here's the place. I've already paid for the pizza, so you can just go ahead and start eating when you want."

"Thank you, Hive." Rika said before walking further in to find Jaken and June at a table with another Hive droid. "Hey you two, I'm back!" She said happily, waving as she walked up to them.

-----

Tatiana nodded at Hivemind's words, "Aye, aye boss. Some grub sounds good." She walked her way to the public kitchen, giving a wave to Traci as she entered, "Heya Traci, hiya Hive. I think I'll just have one of those burgers I've heard so much about. " She said, simply enjoying the evening atmosphere after the mission.

"Will do!" Hivemind pulled some raw hamburger from the replicator in addition to some lettuce and tomato and buns. He put the burger on the grill and started cooking it.

Traci entered the champion tower's cafeteria not long after she left the hanger, then headed straight to the public kitchen. "Hey again Hive! Can I have, uh, a small bag of chicken strips? I'll cook a proper meal when I get home later.." She asked the human-looking droid calmly, leaning on the counter.

Hivemind nodded and walked over to the replicator. He produced some chicken meat and put it in the fryer. "What did you think of your first mission, Traci?" he asked as the food cooked.

"Hi Tatiana. It was alright, I kina wished it wasn't as easy as it was.. But not like what I've heard about your first mission, eh Tatiana? Fighting a, what was it? Oh! A really big snake, wasn't it?" Traci replied, turning to the liquiform whilst still leaning on the counter. "Must've been pretty hard for Rika, she hates snakes!"

[Welsh Halfwit]

Keeva sighed and held Dan. "We'll never forget him, Dan," she said, putting her head on his shoudler so their cheeks were tight against each other. "Just like mine. But... they'd... want us to go on, love. You... you're strong, I know." She just made do with the unusual hug now. She didn't know more words to help.
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"Miss Rika," Jaken said, feigning indifference for all of two seconds before running up and jumping to hug her. Then he licked her cheek affectionately. "I got you a Chicken salad pizza," he said happily. "They said it was weird but I thought you'd like it!"
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Corp made his way back to the security office, ignoring the smells and doing his best to ignore the feelings of despair and triumph that haunted the ship.. Memories of old victories and casualties floated deeper than any stained bulkhead in his mind as he went, checking on what had survived and what hadn't. His stasis safe was probably OK, he guessed, so he went for the personnel files stored in there. The intact bottle of Whisky was also there and in one piece. Evidently the safe had done its' job even against the dimension shift that had cracked the ship. He made a note in his file to congratulate the company behind it if they ever got back. |Forward. Whatever. It was becoming harder to block out the dourer emotions here, surrounded by old ghosts, so he moved on into the ship to reconnect with the Captain.
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"I wish," Sana muttered. "As an agent, I'm best in front of a computer. And now I get to be the agent afloat on a ship that's run by several thousand of the one person who's..." she caught herself and paused, mouth open and finger about to point at a Hivedroid. "...MIGHT be better at computers than me. So that's out. I should really be taking this as holiday."
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"So says the Dog who makes Hospital Scrubs look good," Seena joked back before starting to choose outfits and underwear, asking Colorados' opinion on each item as she tried them on. She made judgement partly on what he said and partly on his expression at each item. For some items, the hungrier the better.
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"Oh, Bernice," Garrett replied. "She works in one of the bars down the way. She's just starting, I just finished and Thomas is staying over at a friends. That's our son, by the way. I told him you were alive and here, Jenny, and he said that's great but he'd arranged to go stay at his friends place tonight and he'd meet you tomorrow, was that OK and bye. Out the door he went. He's seven going on twelve. Oh!" He clapped his hands together. "I forgot to offer drinks!The Coffee's fine, by the way. Better than the stuff on the colony. Tea's passable. Beer's cold and the real ale's warm. What can I get you?"
"Won't say no to a cold one," Jenny replied.
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"I suppose we should head off," Hannabelle said, walking up to Hivemins and Jenevive. "Give you time to settle in for the evening, Jenevive."
"If you must," Jenevive replied trying not to sound too cold. "Thanks for trying not to destroy our lives."
"You're welcome," Hannabelle snapped in reply. "And always will be. Hive, we'll need to stop by a computer with Galnet access on the way."

[Buster]

Chris shrugged, "It's my power. It fixes things. Pretty useful for when your don't wanna go to the forge."

"Can... Can you do alterations?" She asked, pausing a moment to glance around, making sure a certain machine good isn't within earshot before continuing, "my armor is well made, but the design is rather plain..."

[Deske]

"Maybe. I know my way around a shop but my power seems to only fix original items. Any additions will still take some time," he explained while keeping pace with her.

[CyberDragon]

T"Hi Tatiana. It was alright, I kina wished it wasn't as easy as it was.. But not like what I've heard about your first mission, eh Tatiana? Fighting a, what was it? Oh! A really big snake, wasn't it?" Traci replied, turning to the liquiform whilst still leaning on the counter. "Must've been pretty hard for Rika, she hates snakes!"

"That mission wasn't as bad as yesterday's mission. Granted, I'm still cleaning up after the zombies. It's going to take a while." Hivemind said as he pulled the cooked chicken out of the fryer and gave them to Traci. "Careful. It's hot." He warned. "Anyway, it's nice to have a quiet day sometimes. Savor this mission, you two. In my experience, it's rare for things to go so smoothly." Hivemind pulled the hamburger off of the grill, assembled the sandwich, and put it on a tray with fries and gave it to Tatiana.

-----------------------------

"Thank you, Hive." Rika said before walking further in to find Jaken and June at a table with another Hive droid. "Hey you two, I'm back!" She said happily, waving as she walked up to them.

"Miss Rika," Jaken said, feigning indifference for all of two seconds before running up and jumping to hug her. Then he licked her cheek affectionately. "I got you a Chicken salad pizza," he said happily. "They said it was weird but I thought you'd like it!"

"Now that we're all here, should we take a seat?" Hivemind said, gesturing to an empty table.

-----------------------------

Corp made his way back to the security office, ignoring the smells and doing his best to ignore the feelings of despair and triumph that haunted the ship.. Memories of old victories and casualties floated deeper than any stained bulkhead in his mind as he went, checking on what had survived and what hadn't. His stasis safe was probably OK, he guessed, so he went for the personnel files stored in there. The intact bottle of Whisky was also there and in one piece. Evidently the safe had done its' job even against the dimension shift that had cracked the ship. He made a note in his file to congratulate the company behind it if they ever got back. |Forward. Whatever. It was becoming harder to block out the dourer emotions here, surrounded by old ghosts, so he moved on into the ship to reconnect with the Captain.

Hivemind stood at the entrance to the Steelhaven and waited for the three of them to gather their things, or ask him for help. Whatever they needed, he was ready to help as usual.

-----------------------------

"I suppose we should head off," Hannabelle said, walking up to Hivemins and Jenevive. "Give you time to settle in for the evening, Jenevive."
"If you must," Jenevive replied trying not to sound too cold. "Thanks for trying not to destroy our lives."
"You're welcome," Hannabelle snapped in reply. "And always will be. Hive, we'll need to stop by a computer with Galnet access on the way."

"What for, specifically?" the droid asked as they left the house. They passed several droids carrying boxes of food and clothes to Hannabelle's family.

-----------------------------

"Maybe. I know my way around a shop but my power seems to only fix original items. Any additions will still take some time," he explained while keeping pace with her.

MT was following behind as well. "Chris. If you intend to take the time to modify her armor, you are welcome to use the tools in my garage. It should speed things up, and I can offer real-time advice to avoid accidentally disabling features the armor has that might not be immediately obvious." the giant dragon robot offered.

[Deske]

Colorado gave her a smile, "Well, scrubs are comfortable. They're like pajamas but for work." He sat and watched her pick out clothes, tail thumping the seat as she showed off what she wanted. Most of the opinions he gave were variations of "Yes", with a few of them having valid reasons for saying "Maybe".

--------

"Thanks MT. Better than having to go somewhere that isn't close by if I want or need to work on things." He turned back to Kol, "Depending on what you want done with it, I can have it done by tomorrow morning. So how 'bout it, what'd you need done?"

---------

"Then why don't you? What's stopping you from taking this as a holiday?" Denver slipped his trash into a nearby wastebin, "I can understand the need for a vacation and look at where you are! There's probably a bunch of stuff to do here!"

[Buster]

Really?
Just taze him...

Ten minutes later...

"Jobs done." Kobor states, dropping off what appears to be a hobo bindle in front of hivemind at the entrance before leaving. though such an item is usually carried by a person, rather than containing an unconscious person.

- - - - - -

Kol literally jumps two feet when MT sneaks up on them. followed by clnoking him on the head with her (thankfully deactivated) staff and uttering some kind of untranslatable admonishment. (the only word the translator catches is 'sneaky')

[~\Rook/~]

Keeva sighed and held Dan. "We'll never forget him, Dan," she said, putting her head on his shoudler so their cheeks were tight against each other. "Just like mine. But... they'd... want us to go on, love. You... you're strong, I know." She just made do with the unusual hug now. She didn't know more words to help.

Dan stifled back his tears and hugged Keeva tighter, letting her warmth calm him. "Y-Yeah.." Was all he could say in reply.

He stayed like that with her for a while before kissing her on the cheek and breaking away so he could get up to use the bathroom..

-----

"Miss Rika," Jaken said, feigning indifference for all of two seconds before running up and jumping to hug her. Then he licked her cheek affectionately. "I got you a Chicken salad pizza," he said happily. "They said it was weird but I thought you'd like it!"

Rika caught Jaken as he jumped, hugging him back, and she genuinely laughed as he licked her cheek. "Thank you very much Jaken, it sounds delicious!" She replied happily, still smiling.

"Now that we're all here, should we take a seat?" Hivemind said, gesturing to an empty table.

Rika nodded, then carried Jaken over to the table Hive pointed at and sat down. "So, how's your evening been with June?" She asked as she set Jaken down beside her on another chair. "I bet you've had a lot of fun without me, huh?"

-----
[Will post for Traci after Neon replies]

[Hlaoroo]

The TV turned on to the news. The news anchor, an avian female, was reporting on the events of the previous day.

"It was an eventful day at the Bahamian resort, Poseidon's Kingdom. This resort, run by former Champion, Luke Stevens, was hit with a string of attacks from different sources. The sources are believed to be unrelated to each other, leading many to question why they all attacked this family friendly resort all at once." As she spoke, different videos taken by civilians played all at once in a box in the upper right hand corner of the screen. In the upper left corner of the box was a video of a portal opening and something streaking through the sky towards town. Next to it was a video of the battle mech firing ineffectively into a crowd, taken by one of the running civilians. On the bottom left, people were screaming and running as sniper fire rang out. In the bottom right, the dark abomination rose from the sea, cloaking the sky in darkness and driving a bladed hand through an armored warship with no effort. "All of these attacks came just hours before an attempt was made on the Bahamian Prime Minister's life. Miraculously, only two major injuries were reported. The pilot of the attacking mech was shot repeatedly and is recovering in a Beacon hospital. The Lycan also was injured, but has been released from the hospital. No other major injuries or fatalities occurred due to the efforts of a team of Champion Rookies who were in the area on an unrelated assignment. The motivation behind these attacks has yet to be released, however we do know that the pilot of the mech has a history of attempts on Mr. Stevens' life."

The camera switched to a different anchor, a male feline. "Eventful is sounding like an understatement there. It's incredible how few people were hurt..." He commented before things started to segue into the next story.

"Sae this world's apparently just as messed up an' depressin' as oor own." Conall comments.
"Aye...Dae ye think we'll e'er get back there, Sarah?"

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Ah 'ope so," Sarah said, signing for Conall, "Ah want summ've th' people I grew with t' see me livin' in a castle."
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"I never have anyone to... ah..." Sana hid her head under her arms again. Her wrist computer beeped and she looked at it before typing a few commands. "Just some information I was waiting for," she said quickly. "Sending it to the Darvus Colony Sheriff to pick up some bank E-robbers."
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Hannabelle glanced at Hivemind as they proceeded, her body shape all business now, none of the friendly granny of a few moments back remaining in her attitude."Well, if we are going to... confront certain people tomorrow, it might be an advantage to have the layouts of their buildings to plan the assaults," She glanced at the surroundings before continuing. "I prepared in case I needed to 'visit' some of the central buildings. I have the plans they don't make public."
------------------------------------------------
Jaken accompanied Rika back to the table. "It's been good," he said, kinda meaning it, "spending time with June and Mr. Hive. So how did the mission go? Did you save everyone? Did you get in danger?"

[Legotron123]

”I’ve heard of this “beer” before, though I haven’t tried it. Wouldn’t mind doing so sometime.” Kolt said, completely oblivious to the possibility Garret would view it as a request for a glass. ”So uh, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you wind up on the Beacon? I was told you got rescued?”
-
As the Walkers walked into what was left of their quarters, they were disappointed (though not unsurprised) by what they found. ”I suppose it was too much to expect that Chris’ power would repair the furniture too.” Lewis said, as he looked across all the shelves and tables and other items that got ruined in the warp.
”No point in fretting over it now. You go search for your collection, I’ll go check on the safe with all the heirlooms.” Liz said, as they split up to search their rooms.

[CyberDragon]

"Thanks MT. Better than having to go somewhere that isn't close by if I want or need to work on things." He turned back to Kol, "Depending on what you want done with it, I can have it done by tomorrow morning. So how 'bout it, what'd you need done?"

Kol literally jumps two feet when MT sneaks up on them. followed by clnoking him on the head with her (thankfully deactivated) staff and uttering some kind of untranslatable admonishment. (the only word the translator catches is 'sneaky')

MT's shields deflected the hits pretty easily due to the staff being turned off, but he did find it somewhat annoying. He grabbed the staff and yoinked it out of Kol's hands. "Please do not hit me. My 250 year old components may be unstable and difficult to replace once damaged." He handed the staff back to her. "Now, I believe Chris asked you something?"

-----------------------

Really?
Just taze him...

Ten minutes later...

"Jobs done." Kobor states, dropping off what appears to be a hobo bindle in front of hivemind at the entrance before leaving. though such an item is usually carried by a person, rather than containing an unconscious person.

Once they were out of the Necropolis and into the fresh air of the transportation hub, Hivemind confronted the twins. "Thank you, you two. I've transferred payment for the job to your accounts. Though I have a question." He said before they got to the public high-traffic area. "I lost track of you for a couple minutes. Like, you just dropped off the face of the universe. What happened?"

-----------------------

Rika nodded, then carried Jaken over to the table Hive pointed at and sat down. "So, how's your evening been with June?" She asked as she set Jaken down beside her on another chair. "I bet you've had a lot of fun without me, huh?"

Jaken accompanied Rika back to the table. "It's been good," he said, kinda meaning it, "spending time with June and Mr. Hive. So how did the mission go? Did you save everyone? Did you get in danger?"

While Jaken and Rika caught up with each other about their days, Hivemind turned to June. "So, did you have fun today?"

-----------------------

The camera switched to a different anchor, a male feline. "Eventful is sounding like an understatement there. It's incredible how few people were hurt..." He commented before things started to segue into the next story.

"Sae this world's apparently just as messed up an' depressin' as oor own." Conall comments.
"Aye...Dae ye think we'll e'er get back there, Sarah?"[/quote]

"Ah 'ope so," Sarah said, signing for Conall, "Ah want summ've th' people I grew with t' see me livin' in a castle."

The news program went to commercials. The first add to play was either eerily appropriate for their situation by chance, or evidence that targeted advertising was a little too good at predicting things. It was an advertisement for a Champion run "Empowered Mentorship Program" where different Champions worked with newly empowered people to train them and teach them how to deal with their powers. The advertisement seemed to indicate this was a new program looking for both volunteers as well as people looking for training.

-----------------------

Hannabelle glanced at Hivemind as they proceeded, her body shape all business now, none of the friendly granny of a few moments back remaining in her attitude."Well, if we are going to... confront certain people tomorrow, it might be an advantage to have the layouts of their buildings to plan the assaults," She glanced at the surroundings before continuing. "I prepared in case I needed to 'visit' some of the central buildings. I have the plans they don't make public."

The droid nodded as they walked. "Understood. It will be good to have a backup plan in case the idea to gain their trust doesn't pan out. Knowing how things have been going, it wouldn't surprise me if things went south."

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana chuckled, taking her burger and fries, "Yeah, something slightly wrong in Necropolis? Turns out to be a whole zombie apocalypse. And if i remember right Rika actually played a huge part in that. One of her pill thingies explode so Lycan was able to blow it up from the inside, not that intimidating in the long run. But honestly that was a cake walk compared to the mech. Granted it cheated but still, taught that jerk to break my armor... I never did get to thank the glowey man for fixing my armor for no reason." She gripped the bottom half of the Cheshire smile on her helmet and twisted until there was a small cracking sound, the smile once again a functioning mouth, of which she used to bite into her burger.

[Buster]

"An irritatingly smug old man happened." the two commented in unison as they walked, popping open the side compartment and handing hivemind the letter. "Speaking of which, this is for you."


You think the old man knew I could see the entire letter the moment he held it out? paper and ink have different densities.
how should i know? i can never get a read on him. anything interesting in it?
No idea, i'd need to run it through a substitution cypher first, they're still using variants of the old latin alphabet here remember?
right, right... You'd think they'd have switched to icarin by now.
nope. far as i can tell that whole movement never happened here. or if it did, it didn't catch on.

- - - - - - -

MT's shields deflected the hits pretty easily due to the staff being turned off

((you have a typo in there; Hit, Singular. not hits. also yoink is an onomatopoeia, yank is the verb.))

back on track, kol launches into an explanation of traditional Rhoui hunting gear, and warrior attire. the stylizations, how the armors incorporate furs, the inclusion and meanings of engraved emblems, the meanings ascribed to particular colors on particular parts of the outfit...

[Deske]

Chris turned to stare at MT like he couldn't really believe what he'd heard.* He found it funny that MT had anything to say about the difficulty of being repaired. He grinned and turned back to Kol as she began her explanation. He nodded along with her rant, creating a design in his mind as she spoke. Once she was finished, he explained what he had in mind to her, including any limitations her current armor would bring and how he could get around them if it was possible. When he was done, he turned the conversation back over to her, listening for any problems or modifications she had for the planned design.

---------

"It's fine. Anyway, have you ever tried asking someone? I'm sure there's a lot of people who'd be willing to take a couple days off work to go de-stress."

---------

Colorado shifted to a more comfortable position as Cherry tried on a few more clothing items.

[~\Rook/~]

"That mission wasn't as bad as yesterday's mission. Granted, I'm still cleaning up after the zombies. It's going to take a while." Hivemind said as he pulled the cooked chicken out of the fryer and gave them to Traci. "Careful. It's hot." He warned. "Anyway, it's nice to have a quiet day sometimes. Savor this mission, you two. In my experience, it's rare for things to go so smoothly." Hivemind pulled the hamburger off of the grill, assembled the sandwich, and put it on a tray with fries and gave it to Tatiana.

Traci thanked Hive and quickly put a strip of the chicken in her mouth. It was hot. She instantly started trying to eat it faster so it didn't burn her tongue.

Tatiana chuckled, taking her burger and fries, "Yeah, something slightly wrong in Necropolis? Turns out to be a whole zombie apocalypse. And if i remember right Rika actually played a huge part in that. One of her pill thingies explode so Lycan was able to blow it up from the inside, not that intimidating in the long run. But honestly that was a cake walk compared to the mech. Granted it cheated but still, taught that jerk to break my armor... I never did get to thank the glowey man for fixing my armor for no reason." She gripped the bottom half of the Cheshire smile on her helmet and twisted until there was a small cracking sound, the smile once again a functioning mouth, of which she used to bite into her burger.

"Oh wow.. That sounds pretty cool!" Traci replied. "I kind of wish I was there to see those things, but then again I don't think I'd have known what to do.." She added.

-----

Jaken accompanied Rika back to the table. "It's been good," he said, kinda meaning it, "spending time with June and Mr. Hive. So how did the mission go? Did you save everyone? Did you get in danger?"

"Oh it went very well actually. The team saved who we needed to and I fixed a broken nose. No danger for me, personally, but I think a few of the others got shot at.. We're all fine though." Rika said calmly. "It was a little boring, I'll admit, but I enjoyed it. I'm also glad no-one was badly injured, makes my job easier." She added with a smile. "Anyway, after we've eaten, what would you like to do? I know it's a little late, but we can still do something.."

[Buster]

june's answer is unintelligible due to the mouthful of pizza in the way.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Good," Jaken said, biting a chunk off his pizza. "Makes it easier for me, too. I don't like you in danger if I'm not there to protect you." He eyed the topping curiously. "They said that is Crab meat. It does not seem like meat...Um... I don't know," he added. "What is it you want to do?"
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"I copied them before giving them back after a Lappinean agent stole them for Balbury, their intelligence chief. Officially I never saw them, of course. The layouts of Parliament, the Presidents' bunker and a few other high profile buildings. I needed some sort of card up my sleeve. You always do with that ******* Rabbit!" There's almost a tinge of fear in her tone as she mentions the name.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Beer," Garrett said, "of course, I'll get you one now." He headed into the kitchen.
"Better make it a light one," Jenny called, "just in case."
"Right ho." He returned with a bottle and a glass to pour the pale yellow liquid in and did so. "Anyhow, yeah, I was rescued some ten monthslater. It seems news had got out about Colony fourteen due to some interest from, uh, Federal sources? Not that I knew too much about the whys and wherefores of that until today, of course. That brought the beacon down on them. It seems they could fend off several not-really-interested governments who were morally outraged but not these fellas. The last thing I'd seen of Jennifer... sorry, Jenny... she was trying to evade the people who'd caught me. They'd told me she was dead. Held up her ripped and torn pack with blood on it..."
"Their blood," Jenny said, picking up the thread and dropping back into her accent a little. "One of them grabbed me. I nutted 'im and cut 'im with me claws, Seein' as using me powers would kinda give me away, yeah? I kept 'em 'id until I comes across a guy in trouble wearin' an outfit like I never saw before. I 'elped him an' he 'helped me.
That were Agent Miles. So he kinda dragged me off the colony and kept me with 'im as 'e shut down Sevastopol's power stitchin' place.
Found no hint of Garrett no matter 'ow hard we looked." She coughed. "And it took two years to lose the accent," she chuckled in her normal voice.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corp spent less than a moment in his room. He'd never kept anything of value here really. He'd never had anythong of value to keep. But he took the picture of his old army squad off the floor and cleaned the glass off it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well," Sana said, "I might have to ask. And at least I have done one thing right today. Two if you count the E-Robbery thing. You're smiling. I like it."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seena came out with several outfits for later use and adjusted the tie Colorado wasn't wearing. "Your turn," she said quietly, kissing him after she finished so he couldn't formulate an argument against it.

[Deske]

Just as she'd planned, Colorado was about to say something before being interrupted by the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her neck, trading places with her as he stood up and lowered her down to the seat before pulling away. "Lets just say letting the imagination roam while you picked out clothes had a bit more visceral a reaction than intended," he said as he turned around to pick out clothes. He quickly picked out a few items to get the ideas for outfits flowing. He turned around to show them to his love, for approval, of course.

-----------

"Ahh being romantic again are we?" Denver chuckled before reaching into his jacket for a pen, "How about this," he grabbed a napkin and put it on the table in front of him, "If you can't find anyone to go with you," he paused to write a housing number on it and slid it over to her. "Highly unprofessional, I know," he said without a hint of sarcasm. He pulled his hand back, thinking about whether these were actually his feelings or the feelings of his counterpart. Is this just a rebound? he thought to himself.

[CyberDragon]

"An irritatingly smug old man happened." the two commented in unison as they walked, popping open the side compartment and handing hivemind the letter. "Speaking of which, this is for you."


You think the old man knew I could see the entire letter the moment he held it out? paper and ink have different densities.
how should i know? i can never get a read on him. anything interesting in it?
No idea, i'd need to run it through a substitution cypher first, they're still using variants of the old latin alphabet here remember?
right, right... You'd think they'd have switched to icarin by now.
nope. far as i can tell that whole movement never happened here. or if it did, it didn't catch on.

Once Talya translated the message, it would read only one simple sentence: "I told you not to, Talya." And that was it.

Apparently Hivemind was reading something completely different, however, as he stared at the letter for quite some time, his robotic eyes moving back and forth as he read, and the droid's expression getting more serious.

Finally he looked up from the letter. "Thank you for bringing this to me. Make sure you are prepared for ground operations tomorrow. It's going to get chaotic and I'll need all of the help I can get. I don't know what you do to rest, but you should get some." The droid said before he started to walk off. Before leaving, he turned back to them for a moment. "It was a warning. That's all I know that I can say." He turned again and walked out of the room.

------------------------------

MT's shields deflected the hits pretty easily due to the staff being turned off

((you have a typo in there; Hit, Singular. not hits. also yoink is an onomatopoeia, yank is the verb.))

back on track, kol launches into an explanation of traditional Rhoui hunting gear, and warrior attire. the stylizations, how the armors incorporate furs, the inclusion and meanings of engraved emblems, the meanings ascribed to particular colors on particular parts of the outfit...

(I thought it was repeated hits. It only occurred to me after writing it that it might only have been one. Also I know yoink is onomatopoeia, but "yoinked" sounded funnier, even if it wasn't correct.)

Chris turned to stare at MT like he couldn't really believe what he'd heard.* He found it funny that MT had anything to say about the difficulty of being repaired. He grinned and turned back to Kol as she began her explanation. He nodded along with her rant, creating a design in his mind as she spoke. Once she was finished, he explained what he had in mind to her, including any limitations her current armor would bring and how he could get around them if it was possible. When he was done, he turned the conversation back over to her, listening for any problems or modifications she had for the planned design.

MT was recording what Kol was saying and creating his own design in his mind, prioritizing functionality and reducing the possibility of breaking already existing features. In the meantime, he knew what Chris's look meant. He sent a message to Chris: I'm aware that you can fix any damage done to me in an instant. However, if I say any damage done to me is immediately fixable, it does not discourage people from beating me in the head with a metal rod. I would rather not break in the first place.

------------------------------

june's answer is unintelligible due to the mouthful of pizza in the way.

The droid let out a small laugh. "Sorry, I couldn't understand with your "mouthful of pizza" accent. Might want to swallow before answering."

------------------------------

"I copied them before giving them back after a Lappinean agent stole them for Balbury, their intelligence chief. Officially I never saw them, of course. The layouts of Parliament, the Presidents' bunker and a few other high profile buildings. I needed some sort of card up my sleeve. You always do with that ******* Rabbit!" There's almost a tinge of fear in her tone as she mentions the name.

The droid let out a small mechanical growl at the name. "For his sake, he will keep his nose out of our work tomorrow. If any of my droids or champions detects him, I'll throw his fluffy tail in the Vault faster than he can call out "excessive force"." he claimed. He knew this would come off as bragging. He knew how dangerous Balbury was. He knew how smart and unpredictable Balbury was. But he also knew how to deal with smart and unpredictable people. Balbury might be the most dangerous person in the system, but he wasn't the only one like that out there, and the Hive tends to be too powerful and too intelligent to be outsmarted by that kind of criminal.

As they walked back to Hannabelle's house, Hivemind stopped by to pick up the computer they needed.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Oh, he'll never turn up in person here," Hannabelle asserted as they neared her place. "Though he might have someone here spying for him." She chuckled. "He once dealt with serveral hunters hired to kill him. His people captured or killed them all except the last one. He told him that he'd put out a number of the contracts himself. Which meant there would be no pay for the hired killer if they succeeded. You'd be surprised how many killers hesitate when they wonder if they're going to get paid." She opened the door. "And I take it that computer's been isolated so I can get on galnet but can't upload to the system here, hmm?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaken burped after stuffing his face a bit too fast.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Figured you'd be here," Corp said from the Captain's doorway. "Need any help carrying things?"

[Legotron123]

”Oh. Thank you.” Kolt said, taking a small sip of the beer.... before spitting it out almost immediately, dragging his tongue along his forearm to try and get rid of the taste. ”What was that!?!” He asked, looking as though the drink had betrayed him. ”It tasted like rotten fruit juice! Or like that stuff you use to sterilize wounds.”
-
”Oh no thanks, I’ve got everything.” Liz said, holding a box filled with trinkets and papers. ”I have to thank you for that safe recommendation. It wasn’t even scratched by all that happened. Shame Lewis’ stuff didn’t do as good.” She said, looking at her son, who had a noticeably displeased look on his face.
”It seems the closet I stored most of my collection in was one of the parts of the ship that got warped out of existence. All I have left are my games and the box of Magiranger/Mystic Force stuff I had under the bed.” He said, before sighing defeatedly. ”Let’s just hope I can replace the stuff I lost.”

[Buster]

Chris turned to stare at MT like he couldn't really believe what he'd heard.* He found it funny that MT had anything to say about the difficulty of being repaired. He grinned and turned back to Kol as she began her explanation. He nodded along with her rant, creating a design in his mind as she spoke. Once she was finished, he explained what he had in mind to her, including any limitations her current armor would bring and how he could get around them if it was possible. When he was done, he turned the conversation back over to her, listening for any problems or modifications she had for the planned design.

"Well, I don't really know what an ache-you-dee is, or why etching a design would make it messy... I had hoped that would be more dooable now that it's not broken." Kol began, looking over her repaired helmet as the trio walked, wondering if it had something to do with the distractingly glowy lines that appeared inside the helmet whenever she put it on. "I started trying to do the helmet etchings myself earlier, but it was already cracked from yesterday, and it just made it worse."

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana shrugged, enjoying the burger fine, "Honestly it'd be no different than the mission we were just on, or the training. You'd just do what you can." She bit down on one of the fries and chuckled, "Though I wouldn't have minded having you to help with the Mech. Don't like almost losing like that."

[Deske]

"Ah, so a H.U.D is a heads up display that usually gives you useful information whenever it is activated. Here's the thing, I wouldn't do it on the glass because it'll make it easier to break and it probably messes with that heads up display since it needs to be projected on to something. But what I can do is engrave them on the sides or if I could get my hands on a nano-engraver that isn't an antique, I might be able to mark them on the face without obstructing your vision, the HUDs ability to work or damaging the overall structural integrity of the helmet. I don't really know much about this universe, so it's a big IF. Not to mention the problems it would cause if this thing has some sort of liquid display built between sheets of glass. If I can acquire all the tools I need I should be able to make this to your specifications, including fabrication of the various furs and pieces necessary to complete it." Chris rambled on for a few minutes longer before he changed topics from additions to the existing suit to an entirely new suit based off of what Kol had explained earlier. Unaware that Kol required the suit to not overheat, he made a pretty convincing offer, even offering to discreetly include some of the old suits tech into the new hunting outfit. It would take more than a night for that though, whereas modifying the existing outfit could be done overnight and be ready by the next meeting they had.

----------

Colorado came out of the changing room with a new set of clothes on, making sure they fit and all before giving a turn to show them off for Cherry. "For the record, we'd both fit."

[Buster]

"I'm quite certain this isn't glass. Or not normal glass at least. Glass would be covered in little ice crystals every time i took a breath. this holds heat well enough not to do that, but without burning me..." kol tries to explain, fumbling a little. "like, things touching it can't make it cold, and it cant make them warm..."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Well, it proves you'll not be a drunk," Garrett said charitably as he took the glass away. "Coffee it is. Some drink to forget. Some to remember. Some just think it tastes OK. Reasons for beer vary," he added, setting the kettle on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"I did see some shops with odd toys in on the way over," Corp grunted. "You'll probably find stuff you know there."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can accept that, I suppose," Sana said, before her computer beeped. "Oop, looks like break time's over. Back to the grind. E-Crime never sleeps so neither do my computers. I'll pay," she added, paying before Denver could stop her. "See you later, Den." She gave him a little smile, stood up (and lowered down in height from the seat) and gave him a little bow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Seena took the hint and joined Colorado in the changing room for warmth.

[CyberDragon]

"Oh, he'll never turn up in person here," Hannabelle asserted as they neared her place. "Though he might have someone here spying for him." She chuckled. "He once dealt with serveral hunters hired to kill him. His people captured or killed them all except the last one. He told him that he'd put out a number of the contracts himself. Which meant there would be no pay for the hired killer if they succeeded. You'd be surprised how many killers hesitate when they wonder if they're going to get paid." She opened the door. "And I take it that computer's been isolated so I can get on galnet but can't upload to the system here, hmm?"

"Not entirely. Instead, it is hooked directly to the Hive. I will be monitoring all activity. Anything suspicious happens from any source, I can shut it down and forbid access." The droid responded, opening the door to the safe house.

------------------------------

"Ah, so a H.U.D is a heads up display that usually gives you useful information whenever it is activated. Here's the thing, I wouldn't do it on the glass because it'll make it easier to break and it probably messes with that heads up display since it needs to be projected on to something. But what I can do is engrave them on the sides or if I could get my hands on a nano-engraver that isn't an antique, I might be able to mark them on the face without obstructing your vision, the HUDs ability to work or damaging the overall structural integrity of the helmet. I don't really know much about this universe, so it's a big IF. Not to mention the problems it would cause if this thing has some sort of liquid display built between sheets of glass. If I can acquire all the tools I need I should be able to make this to your specifications, including fabrication of the various furs and pieces necessary to complete it." Chris rambled on for a few minutes longer before he changed topics from additions to the existing suit to an entirely new suit based off of what Kol had explained earlier. Unaware that Kol required the suit to not overheat, he made a pretty convincing offer, even offering to discreetly include some of the old suits tech into the new hunting outfit. It would take more than a night for that though, whereas modifying the existing outfit could be done overnight and be ready by the next meeting they had.

"I'm quite certain this isn't glass. Or not normal glass at least. Glass would be covered in little ice crystals every time i took a breath. this holds heat well enough not to do that, but without burning me..." kol tries to explain, fumbling a little. "like, things touching it can't make it cold, and it cant make them warm..."

"You are correct in this. Technically speaking, the visor on your helmet is not glass. However, due to it's similarities in appearance and usage, people often call it glass anyway for simplicity." The robot dragon explained. "The actual material appears to be an insulated pico-synthetic plastic with an adjustable level of Aurum. So... just refer to it as glass. It's easier that way." He turned to Chris and spoke more directly to him. "The presence of gold in the helmet's visor indicates to me it was designed with EVA capabilities. Ensure any modifications made do not inhibit this feature."

------------------------------

Hivemind was still waiting for Corp, Liz, and Lewis to return from gathering their things.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Ah, there's no trust," Hannabelle chuckled. "Can't say I blame you." She let Hive set up the computer before she logged in to an obscure web hosting facility on one of the outer planets in the system. Even with the hyperspeed transfer speeds Galnet offered it took a moment or so for each instruction to be carried out and she was able to make a cup of Chocolate before the files on the buildings downloaded and displayed on the screen. "Here we go," she said.

[~\Rook/~]

"Good," Jaken said, biting a chunk off his pizza. "Makes it easier for me, too. I don't like you in danger if I'm not there to protect you." He eyed the topping curiously. "They said that is Crab meat. It does not seem like meat...Um... I don't know," he added. "What is it you want to do?"

Rika smiled. "You're a good kid, Jaken.. I was thinking we could do something at home. Like, watch a movie! I think I remember where I put my little stash of vid-discs, we could watch one of those." She said in reply before receiving her own pizza and begining to eat it.

Jaken burped after stuffing his face a bit too fast.

Rika looked up in surprise. "Excuse you!" She added simply, then returned to her food.

-----

Tatiana shrugged, enjoying the burger fine, "Honestly it'd be no different than the mission we were just on, or the training. You'd just do what you can." She bit down on one of the fries and chuckled, "Though I wouldn't have minded having you to help with the Mech. Don't like almost losing like that."

Traci's eyes lit up. "Really?!" She asked excitedly. "That really means a lot to me, thank you!" She danced a little on the spot and took a bite of another chicken strip as she did so.

---

Dan returned from the bathroom after a small while, clambered back onto the bed and returned to cuddling Keeva. This time, he did so in a more comfortable position.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Keeva leaned back, twisted around and returned the cuddle, letting her legs twist around after the rest of her body so she was lying face towards Dan. "We'll have to apply for that if you want to, Dan," before distracting him with a kiss. "I don't know who'd know the place better than us," she added with a purr.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can go for that," Jaken said after pardoning himself - without really knowing why he did it. "Bet your dad'll be wondering where you are, June! Unless you want to join us?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As her family settled in and maligned the inability to order live Chickens for food, Hannabelle and Hivemind plotted tomorrows' events.

[Buster]

"Don't need to. ever. about a quarter of the colony is in a resting state at any given time. we just alternate." Kobor answer as he's on the way out, heading back to the machine shop, where the salvaged parts and beginings of a new ship are.

- - - - - - -

after about ten minutes of nonstop eating, june is out of pizza and can answer. pausing a moment to giggle at jaken's loud burp she asks "What was the question again?"

- - - - - - -

(Waiting for chris to acknowledge kol's comment and answer MT)

[Deske]

"If it's clear and used as some sort of see-through shield for the face, then it's generally just referred to as glass." He looked over at MT, "Well I can still do it with a nano-engraver. Just one more layer to work around," he shrugged.

--------

Colorado picked out a few more outfits and gathered them up to take to the checkout counter.

[Legotron123]

”.....How does something like that help people forget or remember?” He asked, his disgust slowly getting replaced with confusion and intrigue. ”And for that matter, how can the same substance cause the opposite reactions in two different people? Unless one of them is a different species or has some sort of genetic defect, they should cause similar, if not identical, reactions. Also, I think this translator is broken. According to it you said I wouldn’t become the past tense form of the word drink.”
-
”I hope you’re right Corp. I’d hate for all that to be lost forever. Lewis said, before sighing and shaking his head. ”Now come on. Let’s take this stuff to our new homes and hope my consoles are compatible with the TVs here.”

[Welsh Halfwit]

"It's an intoxication effect, Hon," Jenny explained. "It produces a mild euphoric effect but, if taken too heavily, it can negatively affect behaviour."
"Which is why Hive uses a system that monitors unit intakein case they use too much," Garrett advised. "Droids to help people home, Education plans and so on."
"He drunk-proofed the Beacon," Jenny asked. "Oh, that's what they call someone who's been negatively affected, Kol. They're temporarily Drunk."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's one new home, remember," Corp advised. "And of course they will be." He added a little smile. "I couldn't get that lucky(!)"
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Was wondering what you were gonna do tonight, June," Jaken asked, curiously watching an M&M that was hanging on to June's top lip for dear life. It fell off.

[CyberDragon]

"Ah, there's no trust," Hannabelle chuckled. "Can't say I blame you." She let Hive set up the computer before she logged in to an obscure web hosting facility on one of the outer planets in the system. Even with the hyperspeed transfer speeds Galnet offered it took a moment or so for each instruction to be carried out and she was able to make a cup of Chocolate before the files on the buildings downloaded and displayed on the screen. "Here we go," she said.

"I trust you." Hivemind replied. "But when it comes to Intelligence gathering, I can't afford to act like it." He explained before the two of them gathered as much information as they could.

-----------------------------------

Traci's eyes lit up. "Really?!" She asked excitedly. "That really means a lot to me, thank you!" She danced a little on the spot and took a bite of another chicken strip as she did so.

"Tatiana's right." The hive droid replied. "You would have been a big help yesterday, Traci. You're a better match for this job than you think. You not only have the power and talent, you have the enthusiasm and desire to help others that makes this group what it is. And if you are worried about "inexperience" or "being new" keep in mind that the most experienced members of your team have been working here for three days. You'll pick up on things quickly."

-----------------------------------

”I hope you’re right Corp. I’d hate for all that to be lost forever. Lewis said, before sighing and shaking his head. ”Now come on. Let’s take this stuff to our new homes and hope my consoles are compatible with the TVs here.”

"It's one new home, remember," Corp advised. "And of course they will be." He added a little smile. "I couldn't get that lucky(!)"

When the three got back to the Steelhaven's entrance, Hivemind was there to help them. "Did you find everything you were looking for? Do you need help carrying anything?" He asked.

[Buster]

grinning happily, kol held up a claw in a sort of 'wait here' motion, ducking into the armory momentarily. when she returned she'd be in civilian clothes and her armor stuffed into a medium duffel bag she must have found in there, holding it out to chris.

- - - - -

"Um... i dont know? Stuff?"

[Welsh Halfwit]

"I'dsay you can come watch the film if you want but I think mo...Miss Rika is looking for calm down time?" Jaken told June, looking a tiddly bit sorrowful as he did. "\See you tomorrow?" He grinned. "Don't bite Mr Hive. I think he's too hard, June." He gave his pizza-crumbed friend a quick hug. "Unless you, y'know, really wanna come?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corp looked up at Hivemind as he 'regreeted' the trio. "None needed on my part but we may need to stop by an anime store."