The Valiant IC

[Anglkate]

A large ship slowly maneuvered its way through the remains of what was once a thriving border planet of the galaxy. It was just one of many thus far that had been obliterated in the ship's pathway to 'glory'. If nothing more on the simple principle that they denied allowing the leader of the large ship colony to overthrow the government and take over. A distress signal had been sent to the IGA, but it was too late to do anything in response.

The culprit ship, The Destroyer. The culprit mass murderer, Gallatros. Gallatros sat upon his winding thrown within the massive main ship and peered at the planet remains as they floated through the wreckage. He was still a long ways out and had a long way to go until he reached his main goal, but time would bring him closer. Good thing he could be a patient individual if he so pleased. His crimson eyes peered emotionless at the planetary debris floating past. Slowly, though, a wicked grin spread across his thin lips, "move forward.." he commanded as they continued on their quest. One way or another he would rule the galaxies, or destroy anything that dared defy his rule. Slowly, the ship moved on in an almost snake like-fashion...

~~

Isolde sighed as she continued to work upon the wounds of the members of the ship she was a part of. They'd recently finished a mission that had gotten at least half the crew injured in one way or another. They claimed it was a mixture of the hungry cannibals and the government ships chasing after them upon their exit. She personally claimed it was male stupidity, but that was her. She was just a medic-droid programmed to treat wounds. That was it. Why should she have any emotion toward these crew members? Well that was part of the problem. Even though she was a completely artificial life that should be void of emotions she had a grasp of what they were. That's how she'd ended up on Valiant in the first place.

Finishing the patch upon the captain she stepped back "You're finished, captain" she stated in a level tone as he got off the examining table with a soft groan and moved quickly away to tend to other matters. Isolde watched him go quietly and then began to sterilize the instruments as her next patient came in. The part that got her most about this whole ordeal was that at least two of the people injured weren't even off the ship once. They Intergalactic Police Federation had been tagging the ship for illegal products, and taken chase to them for a short bit. Luckily they managed to escape from the IPF and keep the goods for delivery, but they'd all gotten quite shaken up.

Silias and Hardware were in the weapons room last she checked doing a twice over of weapon inventory 'just in case' they hadn't given the IPF the total slip. Anderson was back to tending the pilot seat, and her next 'victim' was Zaak, the resident engineer, third weapon specialist upon the ship, and the self proclaimed chef. She wasn't too worried of his condition, he was a naturally fast healer, but the captain had ordered that all personnel seek a medical once over by Isolde before resuming duties, just in case. Fixing the wound upon his arm she nodded, "Alright you're done..." she shooed him away back to whatever duties he might have to undergo. Shaking her head she finished cleaning up and walked through the familiar halls of the ship to her personal quarters. Closing the door behind her she moved to a large computer terminal where she took a seat and began to look up some information.

At the moment they were assuming they'd gotten a clean get away. That left only the drop off point of the stolen goods. Their next destination was Aspearas Prime, a bog planet. Where their contractor, Kira Moonshine, would be meeting them to give them payment and take the illegal goods off their hands. As they were moving along there was a sudden jolt of turbulence through the ship as they lost yet another buffer to the ship along the way. As much as she liked Valiant, it seemed the thing was always falling apart, no matter how many repair jobs it underwent. She couldn't help but curl her lips into a slightly amused smile, though, after making sure all her things were secure. Such was life upon the Valiant. One rough ride after another.

~~

Naidia sighed as she went through the check of the ship. Currently the only people upon the ship was her and the trusty pilot Marcelo. She'd recently picked him up a few months ago upon a rather disaster filled bounty she'd been hunting. If it hadn't been for his assistance she might have been killed once and for all. As payment she allowed him passage upon her ship, and was pleased to find that he was an excellent pilot. As was her ship Aquarius, though the AI of the ship wasn't to thrilled.

They'd recently passed through an asteroid junk belt where Naidia had scavenged for some spare parts to get them through. Her form of survival was day to day making a living off of bounties and other illegal acts. As a result she was often flying under the radar and getting into scraps, which meant money was tight because of the cost of repairs. Food didn't help either, but at least she didn't have a large crew to feed.

Naidia...we have a small problem her AI Aqua reported while she was doing a quick engine check. Naidia sighed as she turned to see a holographic image of her AI standing there,"What is it Aqua?"

It seems that we are running low on fuel

"What? I just checked fuel supplies and it said we were near full!" Naidia exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

Yes well...it seems with our last encounter we had a slight fuel leak that had gone undetected and well.. Naidia cut the AI off as she gave an exasperated sigh, "god damnit!" she muttered with her faint accent as she moved from the engine room toward the pilot room. Once there she turned a few switches and amount slammed her head into the wall out of annoyance, "we have a slight problem Marcelo, dear...tell what might the closest planet or station be from our current location?"

She was sure Marcelo was used to her antics and crazy life style by now, but one never knew. He took some of the situations they got into quite well at times, but Naidia had to admit it was nice to have someone else aboard the ship besides the AI. Aqua appeared again Why didn't you just ask me? He's almost worthless when it comes to locations! Besides the man won't double check the locations with me and half the time he's wrong! Aqua said angrily. Aqua and Marcelo didnt' exactly get along, but Naidia figured they could work it out. She wasn't their mother and Aqua was just an AI after all...

 

[Jumi]

​

Zakk had meanted to ask Isolde something, but before he could she shooed him off to his work of checking the ship for damages. As he walked down the corridors towards the ships engine room, Zakk looked at his right hand, watching the arificial skin continue generate over the small cuts. As he moved his fingers, he could still see the small pistons, and rods rotate, lift, and settle with each individual movement. He'd never really thought it until now, but the site was odd to him.

The momentary thought was put out of his mind as he turned a corner, and ducked into the engine compartments. Reaching for a large wrench of some sort, he began walking the large engines, looking at each of them in great detail. An exhaust pipe was leaking, but that was an easy fix... Reaching forward with his right hand, he watched as the super hot steam melted the skin from his robotic arm. The pain sensors responded in full, and caused him to grit his teeth, but Zakk just continued with tightening the bolts along the pipe's coupling, and then returned to walking around the engine in order to find anymore wear and tear.

As he passed by a small intercom, he pressed a few buttons that would link him to the ships paging system, and as he did he saw his arm's generators graphing a new layer of artificial skin around his hand. He smiled absently, and then spoke into the intercom "Captain. The engines are good to go. Just a minor exhaust leak, but it's patched. Commencing checks of all other essential ship components."

Without waiting for a response that he knew he wouldn't get, Zakk left the engine rooms, and jumped into a maintainence shaft, and began climbing up towards the generator that was located off into a nice little hold that was always a pain in the ass to reach.

 

[riku]

Anderson was busy running maintenance checks on the ship. He gritted his teeth as he felt the ship rock on them. A red flash appeared on the screen and he quickly checked it. Just another buffer. That wasn't good. But it could have been worse.

Rerouting the other buffers to make up for the loss of the other, he went back to checking the systems. The engines were still running, luckily. Their shield was still working, if just barely. He had turned it off to save energy from being wasted. As long as they weren't being fired on, he felt no reason to waste it.

All Anderson had wanted was some cake. The captain had said this mission would get them some payment. And if they were paid they he could by cake. The things he went through to get cake. It better be the best cake he ever ate.

Considering what they'd just gone through, they were better off then they could have been. As long as they managed to get to Aspera Prime in one piece, they would be fine. Then they would get paid, they could leave, get repairs and he would get cake.

Steering the ship as he ran another check, Anderson tried to keep everything in order as best he could. He wasn't about to die now. No matter how comfortable his chair was, it wouldn't end here.

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde wasn't sure how long she had been sitting before the computer collecting data about this and that. Clicking on a hidden file folder, she brought up a stream of coded content as her eyes quickly skimmed it. All information she already knew, yet at the same time there was still so much hidden within the encryption. Experiment failed. Experiment failed. Reformatting. Irregularities. Familiar words laced throughout the information. Finally she hit the close key as the computer shut itself down. She felt in the mood to be wandering around and or tinkering around with something or another. Walking over to what appeared to be a closet of sorts, she stepped within and the doors closed upon her. When she stepped out, she appeared in her off duty outfit, and left her long hair down.

She decided to check the medical supplies and see if she needed to pick anything up while the others were out and about finishing the mission. Usually while they did their thing she gathered supplies and such in the main cities and transported them back to the ship. Unless it was a high risk mission, but this didn't strike her as one so medical assistance probably wouldn't be necessary. It seemed that today everyone was hiding in their own nooks and crannies, as the halls of Valiant seemed quite empty. Pausing, she listened to the creaks and groans of the good ol Valiant, her eyes shifting to the walls a moment, "someone is crawling about.." she muttered in a level tone. Perhaps Zaak was up to his usual checks of the generator.

 

[Jumi]

​

If Zakk had to make a long story short when it came to the generator's... it was as simple as this. "They're runnin' fine." He'd been on his way back down the ladder when his left hand had lost it's grip on the slick metal ladder... and that mistake had hurt like hell. He plummeted down a good five stories while smacking his head, arms, and just about every other part of his body on the random ledges, and metal surfaces that felt like taking a free shot at him...

A dull crash hinted to his eventual landing, followed by a muted groan... A slow creak then came as he pushed open a small grate and stepped out of the service shaft. His right arm looked like it was broken in three places, but his crew knew better... The slow sickening sound of metal grinding together, and cracking into place could barely be heard, but it was apparent as his robotic arm snapped itself back into place, and started grafting skin open it's open wounds.

His other side didn't look to bad... just a few more open cuts, and a large gash on his forehead that was healing slower than the rest... "Captain... we need a new evaporator for the service shafts... it's kinda slick up there..." Zakk said plainly as he'd pressed the button on the intercom switch just outside the shaft. A quick glance told him he was back in the medical bay... ironic. "Guess it's just my luck... one of these days there ain't going to be anything left of me... nothin' normal at least." He said to himself softly as he rested on a small chair, and waited for the large gash on his head to close.

He remembered Isolde asking him once if his injuries every hurt... she'd asked because she'd seen him heal once from a really bad burn. He'd responed with 'Every goddamn time, Ma'am... every goddamn time.' So as he waited he did what he usually did. He fished out a cigarette from his pocket which seemed to be the best place for him to keep his fragile things oddly enough. Placing it between his lips, he light it, and took a long drag. As he exhaled he smirked slightly and closed his eyes in order to wash out the sharp pain that was beginning to turn to a dull ache.

"Guess my luck isn't completely shot..." He then turned his head, and saw Isolde standing there in her off duty clothes. Poor lass... it was hard to believe she ever had a chance to dress like that considering how the rest of the crew managed to get banged up as much as they did. "Sorry bout the loud noise... I slipped." The apology was sincere, but for some reason Zakk always got the impression that people were more interested in him leaving versus him giving out his rare apologies. "You should keep your hair down like that all the time. It looks nice on ya." He then said as he rested his head against the wall looking up at the ceiling, and took another long drag from the cancerous cylinder that now could no longer threaten his newly upgraded life.

 

[Anglkate]

She wandered back to the infirmary to start her check, and standing inside was an injured Zakk with a cigarette in his mouth. He apologized for the noise and complimented her hair. Isolde simply stood there a moment with her arms crossed and leaning against the door frame. When he'd finished speaking she looked quietly at him a moment and then moved forward. Taking the cigarette from his mouth she closed her fist about it as it disintegrated and vanished, "you know there is no smoking in here. It is more practical to keep my hair tied back while on duty if I am performing any form of surgery" She said in her usual level tone. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she reached forward, the tip of her finger splitting as a small instrument came forth. She carefully traced her finger along the cut upon his head as a laser-like light came forth and helped finish closing the cut. The item withdrew once more as her features returned to normal.

"Quite the fall you took...I'd ask if you needed assistance but your body seems to be doing fine. Is there anything I can do for you?"

All business and no small chat. She never had been good with deep conversation, human emotions tended to interfere, and her processes were still trying to compensate for such things. She stood back with her arms politely folded before her as she waited for his reply. Though she had a kind smile upon her face, she had no real emotion behind it.

 

[Arsenal XA4]

Weapons bay...

"Next time I say we let them board us." Hardware said to Silias as he sat atop a Power Transformer Service Bus, a metal jerry can in hand. He had been rather put off that they hadn't stuck around to engage the IPF. One of their benefactors had given him a Mk 216 Weapons Control System to replace the Mk 172 he had been using up until that point.

"You don't think those skinnies on Pea gave us much fight, do you?" Silias asked as Hardware took a long swig from the can.

"I've seen sperm fight it's way up the falopian tubes harder than those fuckheads." the mercenary replied, handing the can over to his fellow armorer. "I hear the IPF got new Landmates for space combat. I'd love nothing more than to go toe to toe with one of them."

"Just so you can say you fought one?"

"Just so I can rip the pilot's head out of the armor plating." Hardware replied. "I was a Headhunter in a past life, remember." Silias nodded, taking a swig of the can's contents. He then held it up in a toast.

"To victory... Life or death." Hardware grabbed a knife from the workbench and held it up.

"Victory... Life or death..."

 

[Jumi]

​

Zakk sighed as he watched Isolde take away his cigarette. He had half a mind to try and snatch it back, but he knew that she'd more than likely lay him down on his back for trying to. "Can't a guy just say something nice from time to time?" Zakk asked with sincerity as he ran his hand over his forehead after his laser treatment "Thanks for the stitch Ma'am... You've been looking out for my health since y'all found me out in the black... which I've been meaning to thank ya for. Awful nice of you to do so for a stranger. I think I'll be alright though. We've all had worse haven't we? I could definitely go for a beer, but you're not a bartender, and as the doc you'd suggest against it while we're in flight... specially after that last chapter right?"

"If it's alright with you Ma'am... I think I'll just sit here a while longer. I've been pretty tired lately, and I don't know why. Maybe I'm just starting to feel a little stressed out... though that doesn't make me special in the least. We're all kinda bogged down lately."

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde nodded faintly, "Very well. Allow me to run a diagnostics on you to see if I might diagnose the problem?" though she said the last part of the statement in the form of a question she was going to run a diagnostics scan whether he agreed or not. After he'd taken a seat, Isolde took a few steps back and extended her hand before her as if telling him to stop where he was. A small hole opened up in the palm of her hand as a scanner flashed a blue light which swept over Zakk's body from head to toe and back again. The hole closed as Isolde closed her eyes a moment. When she opened her eyes again, they would have a slightly blank look to them as she was inwardly taking in the information and scanning through it.

"Everything seems to be reading normal on my scanners. Your cholesterol is a bit high, but I'm assuming that is because of the amount of energy you must take in to sustain life." She paused as the dull look in her eyes slowly faded and her amethyst color came back in full force once more. "Your mechanics are fine tuned and seem to be in working condition. Only spike I found was in neurological stimulation. If I am correct that means that you organic organisms are deep in thought."

Normally someone might ask the other individual 'what is on your mind' after such a statement, but Isolde simply stopped there. She would stay there to monitor his condition as she was trained to do.

 

[Jumi]

​

"Sustain life? Oh... you mean life..." Zakk said absently as he lightly rubbed his forehead. She then began to go off on some more medical terms that woke him up a bit. "Organic parts... yeah those things... I think I can recall them. You must mean my brain. Yeah... that should be deep in thought I'd hope. The heart doesn't usually think... that's the one that tends to get one in trouble... heheheh..." he finished with a soft chuckle.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that I'm fine right? I had a feeling I'd be... haven't had a reason to care about any health problems for a bit... probably won't need to either for a good while..." he trailed off as he noticed the blank expression on her face. "Well I know you've got work to get to, and I'm just eatin' up company time so I'll just be on my way I suppose. Thanks for listenin' for what it's worth. Very kind of ya, Ma'am." Zakk said with a slight salute to her, and then placed his hands in his pockets as he turned to the doorway.

"I need to get some red shirts... white's a bad color on me..." he said softly to himself as he exited into the hallway after looking at the blood stains that were still moist in the cloth.

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde listened to his speech carefully, but was slightly confused about the comment of the heart getting one in trouble. He muttered some more and then turned and left the infirmary. Isolde watched him carefully processing her own data feedback of the situation. Shrugging she let out a soft sigh as she moved forward to start the inventory. She made a stored not to ask Zakk what he meant about the heart comment. Perhaps he could help her understand things. Of all the crew members he was one who could possibly relate to her the most.

It didn't take Isolde long to take inventory. They were low on things from the last two missions, but they should have enough money for her to get a sufficient amount of supplies. At least enough to last her until their next big blunder. She smiled faintly and even chuckled some as these thoughts crossed her mind. There was another jolt of the ship as they continued. She wondered how long it would be until they reached their destination. She could just tap into the mainframe of the ship and find out, but she decided to go ask Anderson himself to tell her. People were already creeped out enough, or so she figured, that she was an android. Artificial life. But, she wanted to prove she was more than just that. Trying to interact more with the others might help convince them and herself of that fact.

Slipping into the halls again she moved quietly toward the pilots cockpit.

 

[Jumi]

​

First was first... Zakk went back to his quarters, and took a nice shower in order to get the blood out of his hair, and to change into a fresh pair of clothes. As he stepped out of the shower, he slipped in a pair of pants, and some socks. He paused a moment as he looked in the mirror, and stared at the few colored lights that glowed dully under his skin just over his right lung. The sight of the machine lights from his robotic parts always made him look in fascination.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that..." he then said plainly as he looked down at his arm, and saw the few red lights that flickered now and then. "Trippy..." He turned from the mirror walking out, and grabbed a guitar that was hanging from the wall. He'd made it a hobby of his to build them when he got the time, and due to his need for little sleep he'd managed to make five so far... This one was very unique... It was made purely from raw metal, which had been painstakingly ground, and polished to the shape of a Randy Rhoads shark fin, and given a mirror finish after being painted with a dark translucent green.

"Feels like it's lighter every time I pick you up." Zakk spoke softly to the guitar as he sat down, and rested it against his lap. Pulling a chord from the floor, he plugged it into the guitar, and plugged the other end into a large amplifier. Zakk had certainly gotten good at electrical wiring. If he'd been around back in the day, he'd probably have worked for Gibson, or Fender. But that would have been a long time ago.

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde was on her way to see Anderson when she heard music being played from Zakk's room. She paused as she listened a moment and decided to wait on seeing Anderson for now. She might just be better off hacking into the ship's main systems to find the information she sought herself. The ship jolted again a bit but soon it leveled out as Anderson gained control again. She had to give the man credit, he was good at what he did.

Moving toward Zakk's room she stood outside his door a moment listening to what he was playing. A curiosity was growing as she reached forward and knocked on the door gently. She had to be careful as sometimes she underestimated the strength she used and could easily break down a solid door with one light tap. Lowering her hand she waited for the door to open or an answer to be given.

~~

Naidia sighed as she listened to the AI complain. Moving Marcello over a bit she began to type in a few codes. A mapping system came up across the holographic screen as she moved it about and brought up the nearest planet. Asperas Prime. She pondered a moment in thought "well...it wouldn't be the safest land, but it's a land"
Ma'am...you sure? You're a wanted outlaw on the planet The AI responded. Naidia only sighed some as she rubbed her temples "It was a simple misunderstanding. How was I supposed to know that that man was a government official upon the planet" she shook her head some as she plotted out teh course, "take us to Asperas Prime. We'll be docking under the disguise of a merchant ship. We'll get some gas and supplies and get out of there as fast as we can"

And what about your appearance?

"...I'll deal with that when I need to. We should be there in a few hours which will give us JUST enough fuel I believe" with that Naidia turned and left the pilot pit to get things prepared.

 

[Jumi]

​

Zakk lifted his eyes to the door. He'd never had anyone knock on his door before... most of the crew tended to page him. They didn't really like talking to him face to face or so he thought. He set the guitar against the wall, and stood up. Walking to the door, he pushed a few strands of hair from his face, and then opened the door. Seeing Isolde there he lifted an eyebrow in surprise. He'd never expected her of all people to knock on his door.

The red, and blue lights that glowed under the skin of his chest, and arm on the right side of his body illuminated the shady hallway some, and reflected in his green eyes. "Isolde? Is there something I can help you with? I'm pretty sure I just had my checkup." From what Isolde should be able to see of his room, it was remarkably... empty... a small cot along with the very basic amenities were seen. It was obvious that Zakk kept only the bare essentials other than the guitars.

"Did you want to come in?" He asked in a surprised tone. "Or did you need me for something? What's broke now?"

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde's eyes scanned the room and then fell back upon Zakk before she stepped inside his primitive room. "I heard music from your personal quarters and was enticed to come investigate." She shrugged a bit, "My sensors indicate mild confusion on your part. Is it because of my presence? I can vacate the area if you wish?"

She waited a moment and then changed the subject randomly, "You'd stated earlier that the heart can get one in trouble. How is this so? Or what do you mean by this?" She paused another moment before continuing, "when your body was reassembled...did you feel pain from the heart? I suppose I do not understand." her mind seemed to be wandering off on tangents. Though she had been curious as to his 'condition' being both organic and mechanic at once. If she had a better understanding of emotion she might feel envy toward him.

 

[Jumi]

​

"Enticed to investigate? I'll admit that I think I'm good at guitar, but I must be really good if I got your attention." Zakk answered with a chuckle. "It's not you... it's just no one ever knocks on my door. I'm not exactly like everyone else here, but you and me have that in common don't we? Even though I think of you as human." Zakk reached behind him taking the glass that was sitting next to the sink, and took a small sip from it before he began talking again.

"I thought you'd be curious about that..., but to answer your second question first... I felt pain from every inch of my being. I never knew that pain could be felt in even your hair follicles..., and that's not making a mountain out of a mole hill... What I was getting at is the heart..." He lightly tapped against his chest "mine, and yours..." he then said pointing towards where her's should be "often make us do things we'd never do when we think logically. Which can get us into trouble. You may not think you understand, but I think you're the kind of woman who's got it down." He raised his glass slightly to that, and took a long drink from it.

Reading her facial expressions was usually easy for Zakk, and it was no different right now. "Now please tell me that you're not feeling envious about me... I'm more of a wreck than y'all think... If anything I'm jealous of you, and the rest of the crew. Y'all are human."

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde sensed a slight buzzing sensation in her head as she tried to process and understand what Zakk was telling her. Though it was straightforward stuff she shook her head and sighed some, "My processing abilities are lacking. The organ that you call a heart I do not have within me. Perhaps the closest thing that is similar to your species that I possess is a computerized wired network similar to your nervous system" she turned her hand so that it was palm up as the skin compartments shifted to the side to reveal the mechanics underneath and the fine wiring. She turned her hand again as the compartments shifted back into place, "Is jealous what this thought process is? I still do not understand the complexities of your human emotions. And if this jealous emotion is what you feel for me you must be mistaken. I am merely a copy...a model of many with no distinguishing features of my own. You humans are each individuals of your own kind, no two being quite exactly the same--" her voice trailed off a moment as memory flashes shifted before her visual screening. Her body twitched a bit as she blinked a moment and reached forward to grab for something to support herself with.

"--a m..m..model of..m..m..many" she repeated in a glitched tone before everything calmed down. With a shake of her head she seemed to get past the glitch as she stood again "sorry. I have been experiencing some mechanical interference lately. I am not of your kind..I am not a human"

 

[Jumi]

​

"Here, hun. Come sit down before you fall." Zakk said as he placed his hands gently on her shoulder as he guided her to an empty chair. He then took a stool, and sat down on it as he regarded Isolde with a slight smile on his face. "That there is confusion... that's human. As for the heart... it don't have to be flesh and blood... I don't have a heart no more. It's more like a hydraulic pump now... The heart is more of a symbol in my line of thinkin'."

"Now before I talk anymore... I'm going to have a cigarette. We've got some learnin' to do you and I." He fished out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a long drag from it. As he exhaled out of the side of his mouth so it didn't blow into Isolde's face, Zakk lightly tapped his chest a moment. "Jealousy.... envy.... it's a desire to have, or to be what you aren't, or can't have, and there's no sense in being jealous of me, or anyone else for that matter. When you've lived like I have... you soon learn what's human, and what's machine, and Ma'am... you ain't a machine. I have never met a woman that acts like you, so wouldn't that make you one of a kind? Machines don't usually socialize on a decision of their own... AI should be called AL cause to me means Alternate Life. You just have habits, and even human's have habits... or programming."

Taking another drag, Zakk smiled again, but this time it was wide enough to where he showed his pearly whites which was rare... "Truth be told... no one is of my kind don't ya think? I'm that which should not be... I should be dead, but here I am... alive for what it's worth."

 

[Boss Frost]

On the planet of Asperas Prime, a lone Sharttan works on what seemed to be a gigantic drill. Many mechanical arms from his back worked in the same area as the feline individual, protective goggles over his eyes making him look more serious than he actually was. The sizzle of one of the arms - a welding blow-torch, lit up the man's wildly grinning face as he worked, very clearly setting off "mad scientist" vibes.

A moment later, he lets out a long-winded laugh, not helping his mad scientist appearance to the individual who stepped into his workplace - an anthro feline male. "...Excuse me, but may I ask what you are doing to my drill...?" In the anthro feline's hands was a crowbar, raised to attack.

"Hmmm?" The sharttan stops what he was doing, leaning back a bit and raising his goggles. He grins, dual sets of ears perking, and he leaps over. "My apologies, friend! I just heard that there was a diamond mine here, and that you use these gigantic drills sometimes... I just wanted to check it out, make some adjustments..." He then dodges the man's crowbar.

"Thief! Sabotuer!" The anthro man yells, as the sharttan continues to dodge. "Wait! Wait! You've got it all - whoa!" He dodges a closer strike, "You've got it wrong! This drill was operating at 67% efficiency, and I've improved it to 83% so far!" The crowbar stopped swinging. "...You've given me a sixteen percent improvement...?"

The sharttan nods. "Yes. It was very simple if you have the right tools. All I had to do was-" He was interrupted by the anthro male raising his hand. "...Show me."

A few moments later, after showing his improvements to the man, now a lot more impressed, they walk out. "So it's at one hundred percent efficiency now, and I've actually reduced it's fuel consumption by a considerable amount. You should be seeing an increase in profit quickly."

The happy anthro feline shakes his hand. "You're amazing! But... surely you didn't do this for frLet me pay you... at least give me your name!" The sharttan grins. "It's Kriv... Kriv Heskan. Freelance inventor... and really, you already paid me. I got to see inside that machine, tinker with it... and I just got an idea for a new invention..." His grin changes to a lewd expression, "...Though if you've got a cute daughter..." The anthro feline responds, "Don't push it."

Kriv shrugs, "Ahhhh, well. Later, pops!"

 

[Anglkate]

Isolde held a somewhat blank expression upon her face as he spoke. His words seemed to spark another memory file of hers. I'm that which should not be... I should be dead, but here I am... alive for what it's worth.. He was different, yes, but he also reminded her of an old acquaintance. Before she'd stowed away upon Valiant and become a member of the crew, she'd been traveling with another individual. A cyborg like Zakk. His name had been Malachite Fitzpatrick, and he had a genetic disease that caused his body to deteriorate at a faster rate than normal. Most of his body parts were replaced by mechanic parts to keep him alive, so he was technically more machine than man. She'd traveled with Malachite for a half year before they separated ways.

"You have very interesting views Zakk. Perhaps you are a one of a kind...yet I've met organisms like yourself before..." for a moment a look of sadness spread across her face as she thought more of her old friend. "The human body is a fragile thing...yet I'm supposed to be modeled after the human body, at the same time I am not. You humans have such a fascination with creating artificial life, but what about natural life? You age, and go through a cycle of life and death. I never age or know the trials or feelings of life. Just a simple existence until I happen to shut down, but even then I can be brought back...unless thrown into the trash. I am essentially what someone might call garbage" she chuckled some at the comment as she turned her head a bit to look at Zakk "Forgive me. My speech drive sometimes becomes unfiltered and I just say whatever might be stored on my memory"

She moved to stand, but the malfunction kicked in again as her visual sensors began to flutter before going black. Her eyes became dull as her legs gave out and she began to fall toward the ground as if passing out.