COLLISION DETECTED – EMERGENCY STOP

The message flashes yellow on the control panel before Tasha, as the hulking machine takes one step backward and then refuses to budge again. Fred's voice comes over the radio link, saying, "Whoa there, boss-babe! I've been bowled over by women before, but nobody's ever come on this strong to me before! Woof!"

Layth covers his eyes. "Sad," the buck mutters. He takes a moment to draw a breath and then asks, "Fred, are you all right?"

In the cockpit of the hulking walker, Tasha can be seen rubbing her temples, her face illuminated by the screen before her. "While I'm flattered you think of me as a 'babe,'" she says, slowly and a bit painfully, "I'm VERY sorry that happened. This old machine isn't responding as well as I hoped, and why didn't you warn us you were outside?"

"I think I'm good," Fred reply, as the armored suit slowly gets to its feet. "And I wanted to surprise you! But you're right about old machines: they need to be inspected and checked out… and you should probably read the operations manual before trying to control heavy equipment. Let me look over these vehicles to see which can be made ready, and I'll get you the instructions that go with them."

"I'm glad you're okay," Layth remarks into the comm-collar. He then puts it on mute and looks back to Akkers. "As for you, well … I need not say anything, you already understand the doom you have accepted," the buck notes with a grin.

"I'll just shut this one down for now, and wait for my heart to stop racing," Tasha replies over the comm. She can be seen manipulating the controls a moment, touching various buttons, then there's an audible whine as the giant machine shuts down, lowering itself to the floor with a rumble and a clank. The cockpit opens, and Tasha hops out to walk over to Gabriel.

"I hope you had your seatbelt fastened for that," Gabriel tells Tasha, while deigning not to reply to Layth – at least, not in front of Tasha!

"The only thing I hurt was my pride, and maybe Kohler's chest plate," the Vartan says before giving a sigh. She pushes her hair out of her face, looking at Gabriel, then Layth and back again. "Why do I feel like the more I try to show I can do this, the less competent I actually look?"

"Because you are trying to do stuff before you learn how to actually do it," Layth says rather honestly. "You cannot run before you walk, as the saying goes."

"Yes, hon, you can't just hope you have the knowledge encoded for everything and see if it shows up by trying things," Gabriel notes. "These machines are complicated, and even I wouldn't try to operate one without studying how first."

Tasha seems to think about that a moment, holding her hair back with a hand as she adjusts it, then nods slowly. "You know, I think you're right," she agrees, perhaps surprising everyone around her by not looking the least bit angry about it. She glances at Gabriel when he speaks up, then nods to him, too, letting her hair fall. After leaning over to kiss him on the side of the muzzle, she smiles and says, "You're right. You both are. Now, let's go help Fred, and I'll try to learn first and act second."

"Indeed. If we can recover some of the machines, it will give you time to learn about them," Layth notes as he heads over to robot-Fred to see what he's examining.

"I'll do my best," Tasha promises. She takes a moment to grin at Gabriel, in that way she likes to do now and then, before following after Fred. "Have you found anything, Kohler?"

RoboFred is opening a panel on the side of the big machine and plugging a line into it that connects to an open panel on his own chest. "No need to wait for me, since this could take some time," he explains. "I need to run diagnostics on all the electrical, computer and power systems and then check the actual mechanicals. I can do most of that myself, so will still be here when you get done doing whatever you're doing next."

"I suppose we could collect chairs from machines that are obviously broken and stack them with the medical supplies. We also need to load the dog cart," Layth notes.

"Then we ought to move on," observes the red woman. "There's still a lot of Terran area to cover, if my eyes didn't deceive me." She nods to Layth, then blinks, asking, "Dog cart?" as she heads back to the cart itself.

"Yes. Gabriel and I decided we would lash one of the carts to you and you can pull it back for us," Layth says in complete deadpan. "Care to strap her in, Captain?"

"This is where I insist I'm a Vartan and not a dog," Tasha says, crossing her arms.

"Ah… I think I should just use the bone here to control it," Akkers says. "You can stay in the dog-house, though, Layth. If you want!"

"For a captain, you are entirely too easily controlled by her," Layth notes with an amused grin. "In any event, let's collect a few chairs and then load up the supplies."

"Check storage locker 4 over in the mech warehouse," Fred advises.

"For?" Layth asks.

Tasha's still looking at Layth with a raised brow near-glare as the party sets out again. "Gabriel knows I'm only leading to save him the burden and because it helps me learn," she insists as they walk, "he can, at any time, ask to take command and I won't hesitate to step aside." She then glances back, nodding, "Storage 4? Thanks, Fred!"

"Chairs, silly!" Fred notes. "Easier than trying to disassemble stuff to get them."

"Ah. Thank you, Fred. I could kiss you," Layth notes and follows after the others.

"I've recorded that, Layth!" Fred calls as they leave the motorpool. Now they are faced with more towering buildings. At least they have numbers and letters on them, and one of them is designated 'M4' so that could be it.

"This is a lot more organized than the Rephidim docks, for which I am thankful," Tasha remarks as she scans the buildings. Spotting the large 'M4,' she points towards the designated building and says, "I think that's it."

"Out of curiosity, did you ever kiss him?" Layth actually asks Gabriel and gives him a sidelong glance. He then looks in the direction Tasha points and nods. "It may be."

"It looks big enough," Akkers notes, as he loads the medical supplies into the dog cart. He gives Layth an odd look. "Of course not. I was his superior officer," he notes.

"You kissed Nora, though," Layth points out. "Anyway, should we worry about anything dangerous in this 'Mech Storage'?"

Tasha seems very curious about this matter of kissing, glancing to watch Gabriel's response. When her mate replies with an odd look and military professionalism, she smiles and looks forward again. "Do you think these other mech buildings may have parts for the Themis-Skoll? Or any mech? We may need them to repair the Titan if it can be recovered, or Nora may NEVER forgive me."

"And besides that, I heard that he was a slobberer," Gabriel adds quietly. "Ahem. The warehouses shouldn't be too different from the hospital storeroom, just… bigger. As for dangerous… it depends."

"On what?" Layth presses.

The wolf can only shrug to Tasha's main question though. "I've never been in any of them," he admits.

"I WON'T touch anything without knowing what it does and how to operate it," Tasha promises, perhaps expecting she is the source of the possible danger.

"On what's inside," Akkers notes to Layth. "There could be old military ordnance, fuel, giant robots ready to fall over, zombies, sea monsters… how should I know? I just filled out a requisition form and the stuff showed up… "

"Because this ship isn't so large as to not be explorable within a year or so. I presumed you looked around," Layth points out and shrugs. He helps finish loading the dog cart so they can head off to the warehouse.

Tasha's ears flick. "When Captain Eyeshine wanted something, usually he'd fill out a yell order of "Oi, Tash! Go get me stuff," and then I'd carry it," reminisces the Vartan.

"I was kind of busy with training and such," Gabriel notes.

The Vartan then leans over and rubs her love's arm. "Don't let him get to you, Gabriel," she insists, "He's hard on everyone – including himself."

Layth's brow arches a bit, but he doesn't say anything. He heads towards the building labeled M4 instead.

The warehouse looms large, and even the main door is two stories tall. As usual, there are smaller doors next to it, including one similar to the motor pool's. It's sticky, but not locked, and luckily nothing explodes when it's forced open.

Following along, Tasha pauses to give Gabriel another kiss before they reach the mech storage structure. Having to sleep in a separate room, and as busy as she's ever been, the Vartan takes her romance where she can get it now. "I'm surprised it wasn't locked," she observes, frowning a little. "Layth, take point?"

"Well, it isn't impossible that they emptied it and saw no reason to secure it, but caution is wise," Layth says and nods, "Heading in. If it seems clear I will call back." And so … in the buck goes.

"Is sending someone in always this difficult for a leader, Gabriel? I've done this several times now, and I never get past that worried feeling in my gut," Tasha inquires of her mate, powerful eyes scanning the dark interior as best she can.

Almost as soon as Layth steps inside, a bright floodlight nearly blinds him, shining at head-height from just a dozen feet away. "ALIEN INTRUDER DETECTED! DIE ALIEN SCUM!" booms a recorded voice, and Layth feels several hard impacts against his chest armor! And Layth comes crashing back out the doorway and onto his butt. He blinks, then says "Ow."

"Dagh's fangs in an airbag, Layth!!" Tasha races forward to grab Layth from behind, pulling him to the side and towards the cover of the exterior wall left of the entrance. "Get down!"

Layth blinks, then says "Ow." Layth then raises a hand and says, "There appears to be something defending the building. Caution is advised."

The buck's combat vest is covered in green splashes of goo.

"You've… been slimed," Gabriel points out.

"Better than dead, I suppose," Layth remarks and wipes off his chest as much as he can. His hand is then wiped off on the now nearby wall.

Tasha kneels near Layth, inspecting the damage and blinking at the strange green goo. "Is this some kind of weapon, Gabriel? I don't see any injury, the body armor isn't penetrated, but we can't rule out that this stuff may be poisonous." She shakes her head, careful to avoid contact with the goo.

Akkers peeks inside the door and then waves his hand around. The message repeats, and a volley of goo balls splashes the ground some distance away. "Ah, I thought I recognized that voice," Gabriel says. "It's just Sargent Chunk."

"Who?" Layth asks as he gets to his feet and actually pulls out the machine-pistol he brought.

"Sergent … Chunk?" Tasha peeks around the corner, then offers, "This is Lt. Commander Nora Argentine," in her best voice of authority, "stand down, Sergent!"

Gabe shakes his head, and says, "Try shouting out: it's okay, we're all monkeys here."

"Are you trying to make me look stupid agai- … No, nevermind, I know you wouldn't. But what's a monkey?" Tasha shakes her head, then shouts, "It's okay, we're all monkeys here!"

"THEN EITHER FLING CRAP OR GRAB A BANANA, BUT DON'T DO IT HERE!" the voice bellows. "Okay," Gabriel says, wearing a huge smirk. "It should be safe now. Damned engineers and their jokes… "

"Can I shoot it?" Layth actually asks.

"If you want to," Gabriel says. "Just don't make a big mess."

"I'm tempted to say yes," Tasha answers Layth. She sits up, then carefully edges her way inside, gun drawn.

Layth finally goes back through the doorway, perfectly prepared to shoot if he's hit by anything again.

The powerful spotlight is off, revealing a statue of an impossible human in exaggerated armor which for some reason leaves his head completely bare. Then again, no helmet could possibly fit such a square-jawed head, since the jaw looks wider than the skull. It holds a scary looking weapon that must be the goo gun.

Tasha eyes the curious machine, doing so down the barrel of her gun as she edges around it. "I hope Fred doesn't have this kind of humor," she remarks, darkly.

Behind the figure, lit by skylights, is the huge expanse of the warehouse. Huge, transparent containers line the walls on mechanized shelves, with even bigger things wrapped in plastic and attached to standing frames.

"Oh, his usually revolves around embarrassing odors," Gabriel notes.

Layth doesn't shoot it, but he does try to remove its gun.

"That sounds a lot like my last ship's engineer, actually," says Tasha with some surprise. She holsters her weapon, then turns to regard the interior of the complex, keen vision scanning. "There's a control panel somewhere, I'm sure, right Gabriel?"

The weapon seems to be a part of the statue itself.

So … Layth tries to turn the statue to face the wall.

"There should be several," Gabriel notes, making sure to not be in the line of fire as Layth turns the statue. He looks around, and then points to a cabinet on the wall. "Maybe in there? I remember the cargo guys always had computer clipboards in their hands… "

After looking a moment more, Tasha suddenly laughs. "I guess to you, Gabriel, Layth and I are "alien scum,"" she notes, her tone empty of the usual self-conscious irritation she feels over being regarded as strange. "Alright, I'll look inside." The woman heads towards the cabinet.

"What? No, it's not like that," Gabriel claims, putting his paws up. "He's a character from a vid series… I guess the guys made the stand-up out of boredom or something… "

Tasha laughs even more as she works on opening the cabinet, head shaking. "Oh it's all right," she assures him, trying to manage a mollifying tone despite her laughter. "I'm not offended. If I've learned anything, I'm going to have to get over being thought that way if I ever want to work with the people of Abaddon. Still, Sergent Chunk was funnier than most of them."

In any warehouse that would be in a port, city or just on the ground in general, there would be keys and locks for everything. Here on Orpheus, where you couldn't really hide a theft and everything is tracked by the computer the cabinet is unlocked and easily opened. Inside are racks of thin white rectangles the size of a piece of paper and not too much thicker.

Once facing the wall, Sargent Chunk says, "AAAARGH! THEY GOT ME! CUT OUT THE SPORES BEFORE I MUTATE!"

Layth kicks the statue in the butt and tells it, "Shut up, you." Turning his attention back to the others, he asks, "Any luck?"

These the Vartan gathers, bringing two over to the others to take and retaining one for herself. Her eyes flash to regard Sergent Chunk at his outburst, then she slowly shakes her head as she offers the datapads. "Here you are. I'm afraid the Sergent is done for, and won't need one."

Layth takes one of the data pads and stares at it. Remembering the crystal one from the Silent-One, he looks for some sort of on button.

With a more practiced hand, Tasha starts up her datapad with a deft touch of a button. "Gabriel, you'll know more about these than any of us. Just tell us what's needed and where, and Layth and I can try and get them."

The pads light up, showing a menu of options. The first item is, conveniently, Inventory Search.

Layth finally gets his pad to turn on as well. "I assume we should search for Karnor compatible chair?" he asks.

"They should have control stations too," Gabriel notes, looking around at all the transparent storage bins. "And this is just one of four warehouses… although I think at least two of the others are full of fabber-fodder."

"Yes," Tasha agrees. "I'll search for any relevant Titan parts. Gabriel should be able to help you, or look for other items we may need." After answering, Tasha enters, "Titan parts," seeing if it will list all Titans and their parts, so she knows what Terran Titans were on board.

"Full of what?" Layth asks absently as he types in the first query involving chairs.

The list is several pages long, and doesn't make much sense to Tasha – it's all part numbers without really describing the parts. The chairs show up under Ergonomic Components, and there are several different kinds, including the command chairs.

Layth pokes the line indicating the command chairs. He hopes somehow they will be illuminated in the warehouse.

"Semi-processed material that the factory could turn into… whatever was needed, really," Gabriel says. "You can't plan for everything you'll need, after all. Sometimes you have to be able to build it from scratch."

"I'm going to have to show this to Nora," Tasha relates, scratching at her left ear. "I don't recognize these numbers." She then enters "Themis-Skoll," to see if that clarifies anything.

Lights come on, and motors whine. Things clunk and wheeze and grind as the storage bins start moving along their tracks. It's like watching a sliding tile puzzle, until one crate reaches the ground and opens up.

"Ah, raw materials. Ore, fabric, that sort of thing," Layth remarks. His attention quickly goes to the moving bins though and he watches them sort, then one come to the ground. Once it opens up, Layth heads towards it.

Narrowing the search by Titan name reduces the number of parts listed, at least. A few spotlights even highlight some of the big tarp-covered pieces in the middle of the warehouse.

"Those will not fit in the cart," Layth calls back.

The opened bin is full of vacuum-sealed seats. There are the heavy, reinforced command chairs (which show a lot of electronic connections) and also chairs for the Captain's Mess and crew quarters.

Looking up from her search, Tasha watches Layth's crate advance, then shifts her gaze when the tarp covered pieces are lit up. "I guess chairs are easier to find than Titan parts," she remarks, before nodding to Layth. "Yes, but I'm going to take inventory of them so I can describe them to Nora and Fred, for pickup later." She nods her head towards the tarp covered parts, adding, "I'll be right back after I look at this."

Layth tries to pick up one of the command chairs to carry back to the cart. To collect enough chairs may take several trips. And end with a very sore back.

Gabriel seems torn between helping Layth and following after Tasha… but she did promise to stay out of trouble, so he helps the buck instead. "You're lucky you can use the human chairs," he tells the giant rabbit.

"I do have a tail," Layth points out. "They're not entirely comfortable for me, either… "

"Oh, those little heart-shaped ones, like the priestess' had," Akkers asks, looking momentarily nostalgic.

True to her word, Tasha approaches the giant parts and begins walking around them, eying them with caution and checking their stability before she hops into the air. Rather than try and pull the tarp off from the ground, she perches on a nearby shelf and pulls the tarp back from there, where the part can't accidentally crush her.

"Stared a bit, did you?" Layth asks, amused. "Just try not to think about them wiggling against … " He leaves the rest to the Karnor's imagination.

Under the tarps, Tasha finds some big pieces of machinery that could be parts of legs and arms, just stripped of the outer casing. There are also non-transparent crates that might hold other pieces, and bigger standing boxes as well. All are labeled with letters and numbers, and a few have smaller patches of text as well, but even Vartan eyes can't make them out clearly through all the clutter: things are packed very tightly.

Tasha begins noting the parts down, clicking through her data device until she locates the list again. Reaching up to touch her comm collar, she says, "Tasha to Nora, can you hear me Nora?"

"You are trying to distract me," Gabriel points out to Layth. "That only works on Zerachiel and Caravelli; I'm immune to the charms of bunnies. The giant ones still scare me."

"Are you now?" Layth asks as the first chair is lugged out to the cart, "Or are you more afraid of Tasha getting revenge? And if you haven't noticed, I'm one of the giant ones."

There's nothing but clicking this far out. If the motor pool was just on the edge of radio range, then the warehouse is out of it for good. Unless there are also longer-range communicators stored here.

"Yes, but you're still smaller than Euphrosyne was," Gabriel says. "I'd been dreaming for 6,000 years you know. I thought I was dreaming that I was a cub again, with a giant bunny nanny with huge… muscles."

The woman frowns to herself, sitting on her perch and thinking a moment. Again she touches her collar, and says, "Tasha to Gabriel, Fred: is there any way to extend our communications through Orpheus?"

"You could try to activate the Terratown comm-net," replies Fred, although not very clearly.

"Thank you Fred," Tasha speaks into her comm. Sliding off her perch, she lands with a heavy clack of her hooves before walking back to the others. "I can't reach Nora here, so the Titan parts will have to wait. Fred thinks we can extend communication if we activate Terratown's comm-bet, though. Do you want help loading the chairs?"

After putting the chair in the cart, Layth picks Gabriel up and puts him in the cart too. "I should point out I defeated Euphrosyne in sparring," the buck notes and grins.

"Are you loading my mate?" Tasha eyes Layth, brows raising. "Am I going to have to separate you two?" She walks over and hefts one of the chairs up; despite her shorter stature she seems able to manage the heavy command chair without too much strain. "Lifting … cargo, something that … never changes."

The dog-cart is just about full with the two chairs, once Gabriel climbs out. "I'm not sure where the main computer center is," the Karnor admits. "I'm sure that's where we'd turn it on from though."

"He looked like he wanted to be loaded," Layth claims

"Layth is suffering from withdrawal now that he is not surrounded by nubile young women," Gabriel counters.

Tasha nods, then reaches to her comm-collar again and asks, "Fred, where's the computer center so we can turn on the comm-net?"

"I will have to be satisfied with your Fred," Layth deadpans. "How many more chairs do we need?"

"I'll have to look for a Confederate storage area for my chair," Tasha answers as she waits for Kohler's reply. "The Silent-One seat was okay, but it still cramps my tail AND my wings after an hour."

"Well, we can probably get by with these for the bridge," Gabriel notes. "We can get more later."

"Is that all we needed, then?" Layth asks.

"You need to head for the Military zone, past M1. It should be in Command Building 1," Fred replies after a pause, his voice still skipping in places.

"For Karnor officers, yes," Gabriel notes. "We should stock up on the other sorts too though, if we actually make it to Abaddon and want to have other species in the crew."

"What else do we need, then?" Layth asks. "I have never worked on a ship like this before. I don't know what will be required."

"I won't be able to catalog the repair parts properly without Nora, so that's it for me," answers the Vartan. She pauses to listen to Fred's response, then nods, even though he can't see her. "Well, you heard Fred. Command Building 1."

"Hmm," Gabriel ponders. "Food would be good."

The Karnor hands the bone to Layth. "Your turn to be the dog."

"Would any food here still be good?" Layth asks, "Surely even your military rations cannot last eons?" He then blinks and comments, "Ah, right, we need to collect the tissue samples from your meat factory." The buck then accepts the bone and says, "Woof."

"I'd like to always be in contact with the ship, in case it falls under attack or there are other problems," adds the red woman. She glances at Gabriel and grins, asking, "Do you want me to cook, or is there somewhere to eat here? And that reminds me, didn't the crew live here in Terratown?"

"There's a restaurant, if we can get it working again," Gabriel notes, heading out of the warehouse. "And the ship's galley of course. I forgot to see how much of it was still intact."

Layth uses the bone to make the cart follow him and the others.

Tasha follows as well, gaze distant, perhaps concerned with all the worries of command. Or, maybe she's wondering if any of Nora's clothes would fit her; perhaps she's just pondering a factory of meat.

The factory in question is passed along the way to the command building, which itself is next to a clear-walled building that has a miniature battlefield inside that itself is multi-story. The destination, though, is covered in windows and lots of glass.

"That is a lot of glass," Layth comments.

"Shiny," Tasha observes.

"It's not really glass," Akkers explains. "It's sapphire. Transparent aluminum." The main entrance has a CB1 over it, and doors like the hospital which open when they sense the people approaching it. The lobby also looks similar to the hospital, with lights that slowly brighten and a fake human behind the desk.

"I have this urge to decorate the fake people in silly ways," Layth comments as they approach the counter. The cart and its bone was left outside

"Aren't sapphires incredibly valuable on Sinai, Layth?" Tasha looks to her friend in askance, knowing he worked with a merchant for many years. Once inside, she approaches the desk. "Lt. Nora Argentine," she greets the human, "I'm here to restart Terratown's comm-net; it's an emergency."

"Not as valuable as other gems, but they are still worth a significant amount. This building could buy Abu Dhabi," Lath answers.

"Only if they wanted windows," Gabriel jokes.

"He-He-Hello!" the desk-bot stutters. "Welcome… to… BZZZZZZZZ. Network… Operations are on… level 6… "

"Your humor is transparent," Layth tells Gabriel.

"Thank you," Tasha offers the machine, then she begins for the elevator. Glancing at Gabriel, she asks, "Is there any way to get Orpheus to recognize me as a military officer without using Nora's identity? It feels awkward – for both of us, I'm sure."

"Well, we aren't dealing with Orpheus' systems yet," Gabriel notes. "Each race had their own communications systems, which would connect through Orpheus for talking to one another. But we're only concerned with the Terran network right now."

"Understood," Tasha replies in that oddly military style she's adopted, not to mention her new vocabulary. She reaches the elevator and pauses, examining it. "I suppose it would be just as odd, who ever heard of 'Officer Tasha?' I envy that you two have last names. That always bothered me about being a bastard."

"You could just give yourself a name," Gabriel suggests, and pushes the call button for Tasha. There's a grinding noise, and then a red flashes. "Okay, this elevator is dead, I think," he says. "Race you up the stairs?"

"That's not unheard of for Vartans," Tasha considers at Gabriel's suggestion. She then grins at him, looking about to go for it – but stops! "Oh no," she says, in the tone of someone realizing a trick. "You're not going to get me to go back on my word. We'll walk up slowly and carefully. And, I'll think of a name."

"Besides, I would win," Layth claims as he heads up the stairs behind the two.

The stairs are just opposite the elevator, along the outer wall of the building – so they have an almost entirely clear walk looking out onto Terratown. The park is visible from here, along with the lake.

"He's right," Tasha agrees with Layth. "I'm not so fast on the ground – but I'd slag him in an air race." She glances out the window as they ascend, smiling at the scene, if a bit sadly. "It's beautiful," she whispers. "I always wondered what it would be like to live in a nice town, rather than a ship or a slum."

"Technically, this 'nice town' is on a ship," Gabriel notes. "And while not a slum, I suppose it still counts as a ghetto."

"Home is where you make it, Tasha," Layth notes as he seems content to follow and look out the window. "You focus too much on what may be instead of what you have right now. It is no wonder you are often unhappy."

"I could give myself a name, Vartans like to change their name when important or memorable things happen. But I guess I'm not that Vartan, because I always thought of my missing father, and I wanted a REAL family name. Eyeshine, Dizzy, Red and Blacktails, Glitterfeathers, they all changed their names. I guess I could, but … " Tasha looks a little gloomy until Layth tells her she's often unhappy – that makes her look a little angry. "I am NOT unhappy," she insists, and just to prove it, leans over and smooches Gabriel with some force.

"You were just now unhappy you do not have a last name," Layth points out and shrugs. "You focus too much on what you don't have. Appreciate what you do." The buck then walks around the pair and heads up the stairs ahead of them.

"Glitterfeathers?" Gabriel asks, looking confused.

"Focusing on what needs to be done is part of what drives me to make things better. That's why I'm here, among other reasons," the Vartan explains as they near the sixth floor. Glancing at Gabriel, she smiles and explains, "Glitterfeather is like Fred Kohler, only more interested in men. I think? He liked to dust his feathers with glitter – we're a blunt people, Vartans. There was another Glitterfeather on another crew we met in Babel, and the two fought for an hour over who should have the name."

"I… have difficulty imagining a swishy Vartan," Gabriel admits. Luckily, Layth reaches the 6th floor door by then, sparing the Karnor from idle imaginings.

"It's something impressive," the female Vartan agrees. "He's a good man, though. Just, … swishy." The woman looks to the sixth floor door and prepares to exit the stairwell.

Layth goes ahead and opens the door, fully prepared this time to be shot, or worse.

Perhaps thinking the same thing, Tasha takes cover on the opposite side of the door frame from Gabriel.

The lights are out on the 6th floor, at least in the hallway. Since the outer wall is all windows however this hardly makes it harder to see. There are a few doors along the wall, but at the end of the hall is a double one labeled Network Operations.

"I'm glad officers like us don't have a sense of humor," Tasha tells Gabriel, grinning at him before she heads into the hall.

"If the lights do not work, there is a change neither will the communication thing," Layth comments as he heads towards the door.

"I used to have a whoopie cushion collection before I got married," Gabriel admits.

This door isn't automatic, but it's transparent so there aren't any surprises hiding behind it. The operations center is dark, full of desks with odd machines on them – and one of them has a blinking red light.

"A whatie cushion collection?" Tasha heads towards the command door, checking it to see if it automatically opens, or requires some form of code. Seeing there's nothing, she pushes the door open and steps inside, proceeding towards the blinking red light. "If I'm current on red lights," she begins, eying the light, "this either means pay attention, or danger."

"Blinking red is often a sign of trouble, yes?" Layth asks as he peers through the transparent doors.

"No, just a sign of a low-power mode," Gabriel notes.

"Is this machine important? I'm not sure how to work with this … " Tasha steps aside so Gabriel can approach the machine.

Gabriel hmms, and taps on a portion of the desk. A crescent of blue light appears, and a keyboard and other controls seem to rise up out of it. A rectangle of light appears floating above the desk as well. "I think the system is just asleep," he suggests.

"Do you want me to try and use it, with your help Gabriel, or would you prefer to do it?" The Vartan peers at the floating rectangle, always amazed at how the Expedition could make light seem to be substance.

"Uh… Nora was more into data operations like this," Gabriel admits, and steps aside.

Tasha's brows raise, she looks to the two with her, then, after a deep breath, approaches the console. Karnor-like hands reach out and begin to work with the keyboard. "I can't reach her, so lets hope my role model gave me what we need," she says, sounding distracted by her focus.

The floating screen, while appearing flat, suddenly has depth as well, with all sort of objects floating around in it. Some have glowing auras, and various lines of light connect them to one another. One pulses, with 'Main Power' floating as a label within it.

"If … If I'm reading this right," Tasha begins, sounding uncertain, "this is a map of Terratown, or at least this building, its power routing – just like Bellerophon – main power and damaged connections. Main power looks active, BUT, let me check the routes so nothing blows up when I activate it." Peering at the 'screen,' Tasha goes about accessing various routes, making sure main power can connect without the aforementioned disaster.

Most of the routes glow green, while a few seem to be flashing and have a 'Reroute' marker attached to them.

Tasha nods slowly, absorbed by her task. She makes an occasional "hmm," or "mhmm," noise, until at last she says, "Most routes are intact; the remainders can be rerouted. Rerouting now," her fingers touch across the keyboard, "and … Initiating main power startup and connection."

The building itself seems to vibrate for a moment, before all of the lights and consoles come to life, along with the air conditioning. Outside the windows, even more lights come on back in the residential areas.

"I'm impressed. Nothing exploded," Layth comments.

Somewhere outside, a transformer explodes in a shower of sparks.

"Oh, wait, nevermind," Layth corrects.

"So am I," Tasha admits, blinking a few times. "There may be something to this slow and careful sty-" she pauses when the transformer explodes, then just shrugs. "Well, that's NOT my fault."

Fingers moving again, Tasha stares at the three dimensional display. "Now, let's see if Terratown comm-net is online. Layth, try reaching Fred. Gabriel, could you try reaching the ship, please?"

Layth flicks the mic on his collar back on. "Fred, can you hear me?" he asks.

There are a bunch of beeps and clicks, and then, "Hey, you got it turned on!" Fred says.

"With minimal damage, surprisingly," Layth tells Fred. "Gabriel is trying to reach the ship."

"Bellerophon," Gabriel says as he taps his own collar. Nora's voice replies, "I see you're coming through the comm-net this time, Captain. Still looking for chairs?"

Tasha's face bursts into a grin, and she raises her hands in triumph. "Tasha, technomancer!" Then, she's laughing as she turns back to her companion. "Anything else I need to do here? It looks like I may be able to access the whole of Terratown from this building."

"See if the meat factory is working?" Layth suggests.

An image of Nora's head pops into view in the screen. "Oh, hey, there you are," she says, and seems to focus on Layth. "You need a bath, I think."

"Why do you say that?" Layth asks.

"On it, Junior Technician Magic Bunny." The Vartan rotates her chair and returns to working with the interface. She's watching her hands find the keys when she suddenly looks up and finds Nora's face there, causing her to nearly fall out of her seat again. "Nora!" She rests a hand on her chest as she feels her heart race, "I … I have main power restored to Terratown, and you can see the comm-net is working."

"What did you do to Layth?" Nora asks. "He's all covered in goo!"

"Sargent Clunk," Layth says.

"Sergent Chunk shot him," Tasha relates as she attempts connecting to the meat factories systems. "I'm afraid he may not survive; his dignity is dead."

Icons whirls around through the space around Nora's head, until Factory Systems comes into view. It looks like an anvil for some reason, and has several status bars. One is fully green, while the others are dark – power is restored, but nothing else is active.

"And WHY are you asking about Layth? Are you sure you're Nora and not me? Because if you're me and I'm you, I'm going to find your apartment and steal your clothes." Tasha works her way through the access gateways, shaking her head – although it's not readily apparent if she shakes it over computer troubles or Nora issues. "My role model, the woman I've followed for almost a year, across planets … broken," she mutters darkly. Now connected, Tasha sees about restoring the meat factor systems remotely.

"I am fine," Layth insists, "I am certain Tasha will lick the goo off later."

"I will NOT," Tasha protests as she works on powering up ancient machinery, her left ear having suddenly started twitching.

"Are you jealous, Tasha?" Nora asks, with a silly grin on her face. "And my clothes wouldn't fit you, not without being let out a bit, I'm afraid. I can get the rest of the systems up and running now if you want to move on."

"RRRrrrrr," is Tasha's only response to the question of jealousy. The menu suddenly takes several moves towards 'comm-net control,' but Tasha pauses, easing herself back. "Yes. Thank you, Nora," she says, a little stiffly. Then she grins a little herself, and adds, "I guess you won't want to hear about Themis-Skoll repair inventory then."

"Bring the inventory back with you," Nora says. "It won't do us any good until we see what the damage is, of course."

"Of course she doesn't. She knows you only want to repair it so you can break it again. Tell her about breaking Fred," Layth quips. "Anyway, I'll wait outside while you work. I am not needed here." Out the buck goes.

"I am GOING for a WALK NOW," the Vartan insists, even more stiffly. Very deliberately, she stands up, pushes her stool in, turns, and walks out.

"I have no idea what is going on between you two," Gabriel tells Nora-head, as he turns to hurry after the others. "Tasha, what's gotten into you?" he asks the Vartan.

"I don't know!" Tasha has stopped outside, staring out the window. She throws her hands in the air in a gesture of frustration. "Nora was – IS – my hero! I look up to her! I want to BE like her, or like she WAS! BUT," and here Tasha's ears perk and her tail raises, quite dominantly, " … I also want to STRANGLE her!"

"Hmm, you've never had an older sister I see," Gabriel comments, and rubs the back of Tasha's neck.

Some of the tension eases out of the woman, her hands falling to her side and she sighs. "No, I never had any siblings," she admits. "I love Nora, on some level, but she knows EXACTLY how to annoy me. I don't know if that's because we're similar, or because we're in each other's HEADS, but she does – AND SHE USES IT." Turning, Tasha pushes a finger to her skull, "She knows everything I knew for several days before I reached the Fenris, and if I were me, doing what she's doing, I'd be doing it because I want to ANNOY me, because I ENJOY it. I mean, I would have enjoyed it! I LIKED making other women mad."

"And it's hard to be on the other end of that?" Gabriel asks. "You should know that Nora was always a bit of a smart-ass."

"So was I. Or maybe I was just mean," Tasha admits, shaking her head. She stares at the floor a moment, then inhales, holding her breath a moment before letting it out. Her eyes flick to her mate's face, and she blinks, asking, "Did you say sister?" Her head tilts. "Do you think Nora is my sister?"

"Well… you do seem to act like it a bit," Gabriel notes. "Sisters are usually very close, yet can still be competitive. I'm just wondering what you're trying to compete over?"

"Maybe Layth, or … what did you call it? … POSITION, or who's superior or … anything. If Nora is like me, then she wants to be on top, or to just fight, because it's fun. Maybe we just need to challenge ourselves, and who better than someone who looks like us?" Tasha shakes her head again, then reaches to squeeze Gabriel's hand. "I know one way to settle this, though," she tells him. Releasing his hand, she walks back into the center and approaches Nora's image, putting a hand on her hip.

"OI! Nora!" Tasha's voice is loud, challenging. Her eyes fix on the other woman, ears forward, tail up.

The wolfish head reappears over the desk. "Yes Tasha?" Nora asks.

Tasha takes a moment to glare, not wanting to waste her challenging stance, and then asks in what almost sounds like a demand, "Can I be your sister?"

"… " replies the floating head. "I'm sorry, but… you know I'm dead right? But I suppose, if you want, you can be my younger sister… " Nora finally says.

"I'm just a stupid Vartan," Tasha insists, gesturing at herself like it was obvious. "What do I know about the living and the dead?" The woman then nods, not arguing about being the younger and seemingly satisfied. She looks about to step away again, but pauses, asking in a much kinder tone, " … You really don't mind?"

"I'm flattered," Nora admits. "I mean… I'm literally nothing at the moment. But I suppose it fits. You have been doing fine pretending to be me so far."

"Oh, uh, um … Flattered?" Tasha's ears lay back, her tail drooping, a look of surprise washing across her face. She had been so angry and determined, she hadn't thought much more would come of this except a "yes," "no," or argument. Now, she looks a little uncomfortable, looking down at her hooves. "You're not nothing," she insists. "I followed you – PersoCom you – this far. You're with us now. You are NOT nothing. When we find this cloning facility, then you'll be even more. Just as I said I'd do."

"I'd have to be the little one then," Nora points out. "Which reminds me, the Zerachiels… the real one and the PersoCom one… say they've found something unusual about that artifact that makes us solid. So be warned that he'll probably want to talk your ears off when you get back."

"I'm always happy to listen to him – them," Tasha tells Nora. She then nods her head, somewhat awkwardly, stepping back. "We need to return to our work now, so, well … What I mean is, I'll see you later. Sister?" She smiles a little, liking the feel of calling someone else family. "Oh," her ears perk, "Can I use your last name? I don't … Well, I don't have one. And I use yours. A lot."

"Sisters are supposed to have the same last name," Nora notes. "Unless you're going to go with 'Akkers' instead?" The floating head gives Tasha a wink.

"I'm working on it," Tasha replies to Nora, winking back. Perhaps thinking Gabriel might be becoming suspicious by now, she steps back again, then smiles. "Well back to work. Tasha Argentine, out."