The central park is not overgrown like in the previous biodome. The grass is kept trimmed, the trees and hedges sculpted and the waterways clear. A deer kneels to drink from a stream, watching the Karnor, Vartan and Lapi with big brown eyes as her two spotted foals cling to her shadow. Birds sing out from an apple tree, and there is even the buzz of flying insects adding to the mix.

"Perhaps I am being paranoid," Layth remarks as he raises his right index finger, "But what exactly is keeping the grass, bushes, and trees trimmed? This place has been kept up. We may not be alone."

Akkers rubs his chin. "Some of the Farmer Browns might still be working after all this time. They were built to work for years outdoors, so with sunlight and a mild environment they could still be going," he suggests.

"And that is what, exactly? A robot?" Layth asks.

"It could be automated, Layth. Would a people who build something like Orpheus really need gardeners?" The Vartan looks around, particularly at the deer, grinning a little. "This place also makes me a little hungry."

"My point is nothing else much functions on this old ship, so how would this place," Layth points out to Tasha. "It does not follow with the patterns established by observation in other sections."

"Yes, a robot," Gabriel says. "Which means there might be fresh vegetables around here too." He ignores the deer, and points across to the structures behind the park. "We'll find the supply stores, workshops, medical and agricultural cloning systems over there, along with the military training area."

"Just do not let your guard down," Layth tells the others before he heads in the direction Gabriel pointed.

"That's not true," Tasha counters, waving a hand back towards the engineering section. "Bellerophon may yet still fly, and the Imperial-ward machine complex is currently lighting the bay. Even the Fenris had some working systems." Tasha smiles at Gabriel before she heads in the direction she pointed. "The only thing that moves me more than crew and this place, is the fear of losing it all, Layth," the woman confirms, showing she's just as worried as he is, even if she doesn't show it. Still watching Gabriel, she asks seconds later, "So, there's a military training facility here?"

The path through the park is odd. It meanders at times, passing marble statues of humans and beds of flowers and even a patch of melons, all surrounded by fences of barely-visible wire. The bridges here are of stone (or something that mimics it) so none have collapsed, and the small lake off to one side appears to have amusement rides next to it.

"Yeah, I remember the firing range," Gabriel replies. "More importantly, there's a motor pool. We might be able to find another working buggy to haul stuff."

"One that hasn't been modified and painted with flames?" Layth calls back.

"I kind of liked the flames," Akkers admits.

"It probably has a human on front," Tasha jokes, grinning at a human statue as she walks past it.

The buildings on the far side are tall and boxy, without the charm of the residential buildings. Most have windows on all of the floors, but a few are blank. Closest to the park road is one with a big red cross on it, with 'HOSPITAL' underneath in raised red letters. The roads here are also wider, with even more of the hanging rail systems running here and there.

"Mm, utilitarian," Layth observes as he heads towards the hospital. "Now it looks like a military base; all purpose, no form."

Gabriel points to a building just behind the hospital, which has large doors. "Motor pool," he notes. "A lot of the vehicles were made to operate on Orpheus specifically, so should still be there."

Tasha gazes up at the building, shielding her eyes against the light. "This is the sort of Rephidim quarter style area I usually got frowned at in," she remarks. Lowering her gaze, she tilts her head and tries to look inside. "When we were injured on The Rake, we either had to suffer it or see a back alley healer."

"Since we are close to it, I recommend we check the hospital first for supplies," Layth suggests.

"I'll leave driving to you two," the woman concedes. "My talents are mainly in the air."

"We can always stack what we find out here to pick up later," Gabriel notes, and turns for the hospital entrance, which is a pair of glass doors with no obvious handles.

Layth heads for the doors as well. He pops his knuckles, figuring he'll have to force, or break, the doors somehow to get in.

Tasha peers at the doors again, then grins. "The Expedition really knew how to make things shiny, didn't they? So much glass … " She steps forward to help Layth, nodding to him as they walk up to the door.

As soon as they are within a few steps of the entrance, the doors slide open with a quick and silent motion. Lights begin to come on in the lobby beyond.

"Hospital has it's own power system," Gabriel notes. "Glad to see it wasn't torn out."

Layth blinks. "Handy," he has to admit. The buck then grins and asks, "Is that an invitation for us to tear it out?"

"Oi," the Vartan remarks as she suddenly steps away from the automatic doors as they suddenly open, reaching for her weapon. She glances at the other two and, seeing they're not panicking, clears her throat and marches inside, muzzle up. "Well. Let's see what's inside, then."

"Hello!" comes a young, cheery voice from within. There is a young human woman at the curved desk in the lobby, saying, "Welcome to St. George's Military Hospital. How may I direct you?"

"I don't think we should mess with it," Gabriel replies to Layth, and approaches the desk nurse.

Layth's brow goes up a bit. His head tilts, and then he nods. "Ah, of course," he remarks and follows after Gabriel.

Tasha's ears perk when she's addressed, rotating towards the nurse a second before her gaze follows. "Rrr?" She peers at the woman, sniffing in her direction as Gabriel walks past her. "I didn't smell anyone?"

"She's not alive," Gabriel tells Tasha. "A robot. Probably controlled by a PersoCom." To the nurse, he says, "We are outfitting Bellerophon, and need to requisition these items." He then hands over the list of things Zerachiel had given them.

"It is a machine," Layth remarks to Tasha and taps his ear. "People don't make clicking noises."

"Oh. Well, now I feel stupid," says the youngster of the group. "Please don't tell Nora I jumped at the door and couldn't pick out a robot." She follows Gabriel to the desk to get a better look at the human-like machine.

"I won't tell her, I will write her a letter," Layth promises.

"You're such a comfort," Tasha complains, turning and making a face at Layth. "I'm going to cook one of those rabbits later, I think!"

The automaton makes a show of reading the list. It's face isn't quit like real skin, but some sort of flexible fabric. When it actually moves, the motions are deliberately mechanical. With a whir, another nurse-bot rolls into the lobby. The humanoid torso is attached to a turret at the front of a wheeled cart. It looks a bit like the one Blammo found, but is taller and narrower so it can fit through doors, and the cargo space includes various compartments bellow the main bed. "Automated security locks are inoperative," the new one reports, sounding just like the one behind the desk. "Please follow me to access storage units manually."

"I have to admit, a torso stuck to a cart is vaguely disturbing," Layth comments as he moves to follow the robot. "Did others find them as creepy back then?" he asks Gabriel.

"They used to be much worse – nearly indistinguishable from a human woman," Gabriel says. "But they were off just enough to make it seem like you were talking to a reanimated corpse. These can carry out the same functions as a human, as long as bending down isn't required."

"I have to agree with Layth, the new robot makes my hackles raise," the Vartan admits. She straightens from where she had been leaning to examine the desk nursebot, looking about to push off so she can follow the new one, but pauses and asks the nurse, "Do you have anything about Vartans here, nurse?"

Layth twitches at Gabriel's description of the previous model. "You are right," he agrees, "That is worse."

"We are not programmed for Vartan patients," the nursebot says, spinning around on its turret so it's facing backwards towards the others, while still going down the hall. Ahead, lights come on – and go out behind them once they've passed. "Xenobiology is Level Four, but the staff are not available at this time."

"Have you had any patients recently?" Layth decides to ask the robot as he follows it.

"I was expecting her to say 'Vartans are not permitted within the Orpheus,' or some-such. Then I'd feel even more like I'm in the better parts of Rephidim," remarks Tasha, grinning. She then nods to the nurse as she follows along. "I'm a Vartan-Karnor hybrid, does that help?"

An operating bay is passed, with several medical robots stationed within – all looking like the one that was aboard Fenris. "No patients have been admitted within the past – the past – the past -" here the robot's voice stutters. "Clock error. There have been no recent admissions. Xenobiology is Level Four, but the staff are not available at this time."

"I would have been more worried had she given a recent date," Layth notes.

"Me too. All clocks I've encountered have suffered errors or outright failure. Chronometric disruption is one of the signs of SPM corruption in systems; plus, they're old," the young woman explains, her Nora-given vocabulary at odds with how she tends to look around like a gawking tourist.

A series of automatic swinging doors are passed, and the group enters a sort of automated warehouse area. Everything seems to be mobile; shelves can slide along rails to bring anything needed to any other location. Some of the rails run up through openings in the ceiling. What supplies their are are packed in transparent boxes.

"This is a big building," Layth remarks as he looks around too. "With all this automation … what did people of your time do?" he asks. "I have these terrible images in my mind of grossly overweight pink things because they moved so little… "

A heavier, locked door labeled 'Bioactive Agent Storage' is where the nursebot eventually stops. There is a complicated looking keypad on it. "The supplies you request are stored here," it says. "Automated Security is down, as we have no active connection to the central computer network. You must enter the security code manually."

"Does anyone have the code?" Layth asks.

"Oh, we kept active," Gabriel notes, looking over the keypad. "We just left the menial stuff to the robots." He presses a button that makes the pad light up, and leans forward to look into a lens that opens up above the keyboard.

"All the codes in my head mainly focus on Fenris, Bellerophon and Titan command codes," Tasha admits, head shaking.

"Retinal Scan search failure," the door says, sounding like a nursebot. "Enter medical access ID code."

Layth sighs, walks up to the door, and just tries to force it open with brute strength.

Alas, the door is a lot tougher, and is locked as well.

"So much for having something old and broken work for us for a change," Tasha says, sighing. She eyes the door a moment, then turns to the robot and Tasha says, "I am Lt. Commander Nora Argentine and require the access code for this door; this is a military emergency."

"Military Personnel database is offline," the door replies. "Only medical personnel can be identified by this console."

Tasha's ears perk, then she glances at Gabriel. "Can we reach Remy's PersoCom from here?"

Layth, meanwhile, looks for something he learned about on the ship; he looks for an air vent that may cross into the next room.

Akkers smiles, and touches the communication collar around his neck. "P.C. Caravelli, please respond." A few moments later, the voice of Dr. Caravelli's PersoCom comes through, although not very clearly. "Yes? What do … need Comman… ?"

"Your medical access ID code please," the Karnor replies. "One character a time."

There aren't any obvious air vents that Layth can see. Perhaps the storage room is hermetically sealed.

Aside to Layth, Tasha asks, "I always wondered, Layth: why did you chose to follow us this far? Aren't you worried about Aisha, what she'll do without you?"

"Aaron is looking after her right now. She doesn't need me," Layth answers.

The PersoCom's voice recites a slow string of numbers and letters, which Akkers enters into the keypad as they come.

The door chimes, and says, "Hello, Dr. Caravelli. Access granted." There is the noise of bolts being withdrawn, and a quick hiss as the air seal is broken. Then the door swings out slightly, to where it can be opened by hand.

"That's true, but that doesn't explain why you've come with me. You don't have someone like Gabriel, or a role model like Nora, so is it the adventure? A hunger to know and learn? Are you still worried I'll do something and get someone killed?" Tasha studies Layth's face, head tilted.

"The door is open. We have supplies to get," Layth tells Tasha by way of not answering. He takes hold of the door and opens it the remainder of the way, then steps inside.

Tasha watches Layth walk off, frowning and shaking her head before she follows after him.

To speed things up, Akkers just calls out the name of an item on the list, and storage panels pop open for that particular item. Most of them reveal small cubes or cylinders, but a few are in pillow-like bags. Everything looks like it would fit in the nursebot's cargo bed.

Layth goes about collecting the items and handing them out the door to be put into the nurse's cart. "Should we empty the bins or leave some in case others come after we leave and need supplies?" he asks.

"We'll just stick to the amounts listed on the paper," Akkers suggests.

The Vartan goes up collecting items within her reach, which, being the shortest person here, means she's mainly collecting from the lower sections. "I have no idea what any of this is," she remarks.

"Nanobots and bio-gel seeds, mostly," Gabriel says. "Stuff we need for the medical tubes."

"So, is the plan still to, ah, grow a new crew?" Layth asks.

"Even if it wasn't, we'd need this stuff in case someone was seriously hurt or we needed to use hibernation again," Gabriel notes.

"Ah, a fair point," the Lapi agrees.

"I'll, um, have to ask P.C. Remy about this later." Carrying an arm load over, Tasha begins stacking them on the cart. "I look forward to telling a younger version of myself what to do six thousand years in the future."

"Take a flying leap?" Layth asks.

"We need to try to find cell cultures at the meat-factory," the Karnor notes, as he closes up the storage bins.

"Meat factory? That is a disturbing name. You produce meat without animals?" Layth asks as he exits the medical storage room.

"Very funny, Layth." Done, the Vartan steps away from the cart and stretches, wings out. Her ears twitch at the mention of a 'meat factory.' "That sounds both disgusting and it makes me hungry."

"Animals are expensive to keep just for meat," Akkers says with a nod. "Sometimes we had whole ones grown for special events, but cloned meat is the usual source."

"Disturbing," Layth declares.

"Really?" Tasha asks. "At least it gives us a way to feed Blammo so he doesn't hunt down the wildlife."

"Have you ever hunted?" Layth asks Gabriel. "Or dressed a kill?"

"So, then artificial meat is what we'll use for cloning, too? We can't use, um, samples from us?" The woman then nods. "You didn't see much of my airship life, Gabriel, but we hunted off the bow whenever we were lucky enough to pass over herds."

"Not since basic training," Akkers admits.

"A person can only stand so much salted meat," Tasha adds.

"The Khatta I often traveled with hunted regularly. They taught me how to skin and gut a kill. Not that I ever ate any of it, but I know the method," Layth remarks.

"Our own cells aren't designed for rapid, error-free replication," the Karnor explains. "Clones are grown from specially engineered stem cell cultures."

"Stem cells? Plants?" Layth asks.

"Oh." Tasha's ears flick, and she blinks twice at the explanation. "That will be another thing to ask Dr. Caravelli."

"No… they're special cells that can differentiate into all the other kinds that make up your body," Akkers explains, although his brow is furrowed. "That's how I understand it, anyway. I know there's more, like something called 'gene invasion' and genomic templating. All I really needed to know was that if something got shot off, there was a good possibility a new one could be grown and attached… "

"That … is remarkably handy," Layth comments. It's also followed by an amused grin.

"I like that explanation better," Tasha agrees. "I already have Nora trying to get me to understand atmospheric approach angles and gravity stator flux management, my brain can't handle much more without cloning me another head."

"If you had two heads, all you would do is argue with yourself … and never sleep. You snore," Layth notes.

"The key is that everyone is really almost exactly the same on a cellular level, with just a few things changed to give them a distinct… uh… flavor," the wolf notes, as they're led back to the lobby. "I can't wait to be out of here though – hospitals make me nervous."

"Bad experiences?" Layth asks the Karnor as he follows.

"I do not," Tasha insists, glaring. The glare fades a little with sudden realization, however, as she leans back and angles her brow. "I do argue with Nora though … How can I like someone so much, and also want to growl at her?"

"The medical robots creep me out," Akkers admits, then chuckles at the byplay. "It was suggested when PersoComs were first developed that if you met yourself in a virtual reality, you would either start fighting or … mate. It didn't turn out that way in practice though."

"I cannot picture you sleeping with yourself," Layth tells Akkers and pats him on the back. "Fight, yes. Seduce, no."

"M-mate?" Tasha nearly trips over her hoof upon hearing that little scientific tidbit, glaring at the limb as if it had intentionally got in her way. "I, um … you and P.C. Gabe and … Ow." She reaches up and clutches her ears. "I may need medical attention now."

"It really turned out more like having a twin," the Karnor explains. "Which… really, is odd. The materialized PersoComs seem a bit too real, compared to the original ones."

"They seem nice enough, though," Layth remarks, "Even the loud one has some charm."

"Nora looks a little too much like me. It's worse now. She's like the older sister I never had, and she's smarter than me. The worst part is, I'm sure she knows how I feel now, because she has my memory of her in her head," says Tasha. She nods at the mention the PersoComs seem nice, though. "I like Fred," she adds, "he reminds me of a lot of crew members of The Rake. Even a bit of me."

"Yeah, it worries me," Akkers admits. The lobby lights up for them, and the nursebot stops short of the doors. "You will have to carry your items from here on," it tells them, somewhat apologetically.

"Why does it worry you?" Layth asks as he unloads the cart o by taking as much as he can carry, then taking it outside to stack on the curb.

"Worries you?" Tasha begins helping to unload the supplies, stacking them just outside the door. "Me, it's nice to have so many Karnors around that don't look at me like I'm a freak."

"My own PersoCom never seemed so… lively… before," Gabriel admits. "I suspect that artifact is enhancing them somehow. Zerachiel mentioned he was going to do some tests on them."

"In truth, he doesn't seem that much like you," Layth notes. "When I speak with him, I do not think of you at all."

"Except I want to argue with Nora now that we've settled," Tasha adds, thoughtfully, " … and maybe growl at Mariel, too. I didn't have this problem on The Rake, do you think it's all the Karnors?" She wanders back to the cart, gathering more to bring out.

"There's always some jockeying for social status," Gabriel notes, setting out some of the supplies as well on the hospital doorstep. "At least in us early-generation models. I haven't seen it too much in the current breed."

"Well, I am louder than most … " Tasha gives a little shrug, standing by her stack of carried out supplies. "Then again, I am half-vartan, so who really knows? Some day I think I want to ask Dr. Caravelli about that." She glances at the stack, thoughtful. "Is it bad I think of P.C. Nora like a real person?" She suddenly asks, looking up.

Layth gets the last armload of supplies out of the cart and carries them to the curb. "If you two wish to talk, I can go look for a cart in the motor pool," he offers.

"The motor pool is dangerous; we should all go," Akkers notes.

"How is it dangerous?" Layth asks.

"Is Blammo there? I can talk to Gabriel another time," Tasha inquires, ears suddenly perking.

"Well, it had a lot of volatile chemicals in it, and I don't know how they've held up over the centuries," Gabriel admits.

"Your faith in me is underwhelming," Layth remarks and heads in the direction of the motor pool. He waves for them to follow.

"Oh well, I should get along with it then. Layth says I'm volatile," Tasha remarks as she follows after him.

Outside of the motor pool building – which also rises several stories – Akkers test the personnel door. "Unlocked, but stuck," he notes.

Layth tries to see if he can force the door.

"Maybe our next search should involve something that can open doors," suggests Tasha as she regards the entrance.

There's been some warping, but with enough leverage door swings open. Inside is an office, although it's mostly debris. The walls are discolored and a door in the back is blown out, while a larger passage to the side seems unharmed.

"I think your chemicals exploded," Layth deadpans as he surveys the destruction. The buck enters anyway and looks, as well as listens, around cautiously.

The woman grimaces at the scene before the party, ears flattening. "This is another situation where we shouldn't fire weapons, isn't it." She follows Layth to the door, sniffing the air.

"Hopefully all of them by now," Akkers says, sniffing the air. "I don't smell anything, so it must have been quite a while ago."

Seemingly satisfied, Layth heads through the undamaged side passage.

The corridor off to the side is short, and doesn't show much sign of damage. There are wide double-doors at the end with small glass windows set high up in them.

And of course Layth tries to look through the glass windows, either by tiptoes or by jumping…

Tasha enters and unbelts her flashlight, shining it into the area of the distended door as her keen eyes try and spot anything useful or hazardous.

The room beyond is dark, but the echoes that get through the door hint that it is large or long.

"Big, dark, room," Layth declares. He tests to see if the doors open next.

The blown-out room in the back is… well, it looks like whatever went off in there didn't leave much residue.

The handles turn and the doors open easily enough.

So, the buck opens the door. "Use your torch in here, Tasha," he tells the hybrid.

"The damaged room is clear," Tasha reports. "Whatever happened destroyed everything inside without as much as a stain." She then nods, leaving that section and hurrying to join Layth, shining the light inside the big empty room. "Find something?"

The light flashes over – a giant mechanical claw! Although a few more passes reveal a vehicle with legs, a claw and a drill – in fact, it looks like the mechanical 'Vykarin' that Tasha tried to start up back on the Fenris.

Layth actually takes a step back. "I think my heart just skipped a beat," he admits as he shakes his head. "I don't think that is exactly what we are looking for… "

Tasha's hand twitched for her weapon, muzzle breaking into a snarl that dies off before it completes. "Oi," she breathes, putting her free hand on her chest. She shakes her head and walks over towards the walker, saying, "I remember this. I sat in the one in the Fenris; the seat broke and also scared me."

Gabriel finds a switch next to the door, and overhead lights starts flickering and buzzing to life. The outer garage doors become apparent, as does the size of the room. It runs the full length of the building and is two floors high, with stairs along the back wall leading to more rooms on a mezzanine. There are machine bays and workshops and piles of colored cylinders and boxes. And the vehicles. Aside from the walking monstrosity there are trucks with wheels and treads, with open and closed cabs, along with smaller vehicles and include what might be an aircraft of some sort, all folded up. Mobile cranes fill the ceiling, mounted on rails that must meet up with the ones outside somehow.

"There must be a utility cart in here somewhere," Gabriel mutters.

"Do we need any of these?" Tasha slowly walks down the isle, examining the various vehicles with a judging eye. "The Bellerophon's vehicle bay is empty, isn't it? It could be useful to have some on board … "

"Would any of these be worthwhile to take to the ship?" Layth asks. He thinks about it a bit, then appends, "Probably, but there is no way any would fit through the halls. Pity." Lacking the wisdom and education of the ancient Karnors, Layth takes his own approach in looking for a cart … he starts walking and looking.

"Of course they can be brought to the ship," Akkers notes. "If they still run."

"There has to be some way to get them to the ship. The vehicles in the Fenris were probably stored on Orpheus and loaded before it left," suggests Tasha. She stops before the aircraft, finding it a curiosity among so many vehicles obviously built for the ground. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Ornithopter," Gabriel identifies the bubble-headed, bug-looking device. "We didn't have any on Fenris. I think it's reverse-engineered from a Confederate design."

"We should decide if any would be useful, then see if we can get them to the ship," Layth calls back as he keeps looking. "I imagine we would have use for something that could help us build."

Behind the vehicles, in the maintenance and machine bays, are even more machines. Some of these look like wearable forklifts, and one is similar to the 'Grendel' armor that terrorized the Lapis in Fenris Gash, although stripped of the actual armor to expose the powered exoskeleton.

"I'm both tempted and a little nervous about this thing," Tasha admits, eyeing the vehicle. "These look like airship propellers, but they're above the hull? Wouldn't that just suck your wings into the blades? Still … " The Vartan seems to wrestle with her curiosity, then shakes her head and begins walking back towards the clawed walker. "I'll try the walker. If there's anything I can pilot here that's the most likely."

"We should take one of these suits," Latyth says and pats the stripped power suit. "It would be useful in moving heavy items in the hold. If it came to it, we could even be a trade ship and transport cargo. I imagine we could earn a high price for fast delivery of large supply amounts."

"Hmmm," Gabriel grunts, eyeing the big machines. "We need to get Fred or Mariel to look at these. I'm not a mechanic," he says, and goes back to searching the bays for some sort of motorized cart.

"Fred cannot come this far, though," Layth points out. "Does our communication things allow them to see what we do? I could try to show them the state of the equipment if so."

"That's smart of you Layth," Tasha calls out as she works to open the walker's cockpit. Looking back, she spots the suit from more than half the hangar away, and grins. "It reminds me of you, really." Glancing towards Gabriel, she nods, forgetting most people can't see the motion at that range. "Fred can't manifest this far, so I'll see if I can pilot this back. I won't be driving anyway and I don't fit in any of the suits. Now, how did this open … ?"

"We'd need something more powerful than the neck bands," Gabriel admits, but holds up a device from one of the workbenches. "Computerized scanner. If we can download a PersoCom to it, or… " he seems to notice the stripped armor now. "Or rig that thing to be remotely controlled by one of them… "

"Even if they don't run, some of these have chairs we can use," Gabriel notes.

"Does this mean no, I shouldn't try and pilot this now?" The Vartan is half way into the cockpit, pausing for confirmation of yay or nay.

Layth taps his communication collar. "Fred, can you hear me?" he says.

"You can see if it'll start up," Akkers suggests.

"Bunny!" comes the reply, although it sounds a bit distorted. "Your sig… is bouncing … … the place."

"It's best no one be near this when I do," Tasha warns. She sits in the cockpit, very, very carefully, making sure she isn't about to fall on her butt in to a pile of debris again. "Okay," she says hesitantly, "I think I recognize some of this, there's no mind-computer interface … but these seem similar to Themis-Skoll manual controls … so … lets see … Ah! Here we go." Tasha pulls her wings all the way inside and tries to start the vehicle up.

"We're in something called a motor pool. I'm standing in front of one of those big, wearable suits," Layth says slowly in hope it will get through. "We were thinking we could use this and I was wondering if you could talk me through how to get it so you can control it and walk it back to the ship."

The panel in front of Tasha lights up with all sorts of green symbols this time, indicating the status of various components – actuators, manipulators, life support and so on.

"Oh, that's … idea!" comes the reply over Layth's collar. "Sit tight on that firm … of yours. Give me … min… and I'll … see you there."

"The console is displaying at least. I'm looking at what I think is a … Yes, it's a status report, a bit like the Bellerophon … Let's see … " The woman scans the list, looking for anything showing critical.

"What? You can't project this far, can you?" Layth asks worriedly. "Don't do anything crazy."

There are few lights that come on red, but then cycle to green. Another section lights up with symbols that look like a compass with various elements hanging from it, and there's a slight electrical 'click' sound as lights on the joysticks come on as well.

"Never tell Fred not to do something crazy," Gabriel warns, too late. "I found a cart!" It isn't much of a cart though, as it looks like it's meant to be towed behind something – there is no driver seat, but there are some controls.

"I heard crazy," Tasha calls out, sounding alarmed, "Is someone doing something crazy?!" The woman looks up and around until she hears the click, gaze flicking down again. "I'm getting a green board now. I think I have control. Clear the way, closing the cockpit." She reaches up and closes the translucent hatch, shifting until she gets her wings into a reasonably comfortable position. "Tasha here," Layth and Gabriel's collars repeat, "Here goes. Moving … forward!"

There's whine, and then a snap sound before the hulking machine takes a step forward, crushing an empty metal can that was in the way.

"Gah! You're doing something crazy!" Layth complains over the collar. "I think you just scared a year off my life."

Gabriel, meanwhile, is holding some sort of oval thing in his hands, and making gestures with it that make the cart move around.

"I was giving you a running heads-up, how much more cautious can I be?" Tasha relays. She keeps the vehicle where it is as she checks its status again, fearing she may have broken something just by moving it. "I've barely moved here! Although, I think I smashed a can."

"By not doing anything!" Layth claims.

The machine takes another lumbering step forward – and then another. It's making slow but steady progress towards the closed garage door.

"What, so you can do it first? I think not!" There's a pause as Tasha checks systems, then tries to work the readout until it displays any on board tools. "I'm being very careful here. You'll be thankful I'm learning how to spot system problems now, rather than when I'm piloting the Bellerophon. So far, nothing going red." Inside the cockpit, Tasha waves to Gabriel.

"Of course I should do it before you. I'm better than you," Layth claims and grins. While he waits for Fred to blow up, he goes to see what Gabriel found for a cart.

"It's a dog-wagon," Gabriel tells Layth, and holds up the white control gizmo. "It pretty much follows this thing, called the 'bone' even if it doesn't look much like one."

"Oh gods, it's like talking to Nora. Now I have a whole ship full of people who are better than me," Tasha mock-complains. The vehicle lumbers ever forward, progressing towards the hangar doors. "No problems yet. From this readout it has something called 'manipulator claws,' a drill, … What's a plasma torch? Gabriel?"

"So, you could hide that thing on someone and drive them crazy by having the cart follow them around?" Layth asks as he peers at the odd control in the Karnor's hands.

"It's a flame that cuts metal," Gabriel says, finally glancing over. "Uh, does it have a button to open the garage door?" he asks Tasha.

"Well, you could it hide it in someone's pack I suppose," Gabriel tells Layth.

"Not that I would ever do such a thing," Layth says innocently.

"It's got a belt clip," the Karnor points out. Tasha's mech is now only a few feet from the garage door…

"That sounds handy." One of the large clawed hands reach in Layth and Gabriel's direction, opening and shutting with a ominous clang, clang! "Button for the door? Let me see … " Again, Tasha finds herself blipping through menus as she tries to locate something relevant – something she's been doing entirely too often lately.

Tasha glances up, ears perking. "Oh, I better stop now I guess!" She eases back on the throttle, hoping, very much, 'stop' still works.

Layth takes the cart control and plays with it a little. "I sense disaster looming," he remarks to Gabriel. The buck then looks back towards Tasha and her death-approach on the garage door.

Tasha's walker slows down… but doesn't stop.

"I … think there's a … malfunction here," Tasha reports, sounding a little worried. Her gaze rapidly flicks between the looming door, the controls she's easing back more and more quickly, and the display as she tries to locate a door opening option with her free hand. "You may want to … To get away from the hangar door. Now."

Layth decides he had better do something. So after tossing the cart control back to Gabriel he looks for a lever or button near the garage door that might open it.

"Uh oh?" Akkers says, after catching the bone control.

There is a fairly obvious lever near the door, at that!

Layth darts for the level near the door!

The door starts to lift up, but there's a shadow outside: something is standing in front of it! Something big!

"I feel like we may have just found Blammo," Layth remarks as the door starts upward and the shadow looms into view.

"I'm really a much better pilot than this," Tasha insists, almost sounding panicked. "I really, REALLY am!" The walker's arms go up to meet the door, bracing for impact that doesn't come … yet. The door opens, but the shadow looms, right in her path. "Gak!"

The door rises enough to avoid being hit by Tasha's machine, but the figure outside isn't Blammo! It's tall, and green, and armored. It looks like the Grendel, but without the more Karnor-styled features. "Hey, did you know you could upload a PersoCom into one of these… " the figure starts to say, before the nose of the walker bumps into its chest and tips it over onto it's back. It sounded a bit like… Fred.

"Tasha, if you kill Fred I'm going to kick your butt! The first rule of any leader is not to kill your crew!" Layth calls out into the collar. The buck rubs his forehead, looking like he's having a really bad headache.

Tasha jerks the controls to the side, trying hard to avoid trampling what may well be one of her crew members. "Fred! Are you alright?" The woman scans the readouts, making sure her vehicle isn't about to explode. Satisfied, looks up, then down at the fallen green robot. "This isn't what I pictured my first piloting victory to look like," she says with a sigh.