After hearing what drink Kato had, Robert replied, “Sounds great Kato.” he didn’t really mind when Kato, As Rob would say, “space out”, he figured it kept him busy, and that’s one of the few things that this ship could actually deliver on. Robert then brushed the walls with his fingers, the wall was cold, rough, metallic and dented. he wondered why almost all of the ship was like this, he then brushed the question aside, and continued down the corridor.
Riley barely seemed to notice the annoying young man dragging along slightly behind her like some persistent pup, struggling to stay astride while not looking too enthusiastic about walking fast. Given the girl’s stature it actually wouldn’t be difficult to keep up with her at all - if one wasn’t so intent on maintaining appearances.
She didn’t look at him when he stated the obvious - but likely to Ike’s surprise, she did reply.
”Oy. Mechanic, engineer, technician an’ programmer.” She said gruffly, her inner pride not allowing her to pass up an opportunity to strut, just a little. Granted, ‘programmer’ was stretching it, but not technically untrue. ”Wassit to’ye?” She wasn’t yelling or snarling at least. She no less resembled the small, angry dog that she was usually akin to - but at least she didn’t appear to be interested in biting or chasing away ‘intruders’.
As if to intentionally throw him off balance, RIley stopped suddenly to glance over a wall-mounted terminal, likely making Ike bump right into her or stumble a step or two past her. Then she promptly continued on, likely thwarting any attempts on his part at a graceful recovery from whichever slip she had pulled on him. If it was intentional, she gave no sign - barely even acknowledging his presence. So things were actually going pretty well for Ike.
Until, that is, he said exactly the wrong thing.
The instant Ike got to ”authorities”, Riley froze - likely making him walk into her again - but that didn’t seem to affect the girl one way or another. In the same instant she darted her head around to shoot him something of an uncharacteristic look - the usual intensity was still there, since the kid’s eyes were essentially steely laser guns - but there was no anger on her face - nor any visible emotion, save for something that approached alarm but was superseded by focus. There was a darkness to it that was entirely unplaceable.
And then, within barely two seconds, she was striding on again - but with some invisible thing seeming to hang over her.
”Iss’at so.” She said after a moment of pregnant silence, not looking back. Like the look she’d shot him, it was monotone and low, devoid of any real emotion.
Except, perhaps, an animalistic, paranoiac suspicion. That had been visible in her blank-faced glare, hadn't it?
There were discrepancies in Riley’s mind regarding the Federal Government too numerous to count. Her M’Draani “heritage” conflicted with the fact that she was now, in fact, technically a Fed herself. It was an issue she had been trying not to think about since being approached the week prior by the recruiting officer. When she had thought about it, she made the hasty decision that the crew of the Last Light would just be an exception, and it was the politicians and generals she had a problem with rather than the common units and why bother thinking about the past anyway.
It had been a hasty decision simply to convince herself to stop thinking about it. And now here was this guy - this synth - who had been built by the very people she’d decided to hate.
But that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem with this ’person’ being a government-sponsored robot?
Why in the absolute @#$% was he so interested in her, of all people?
Riley Miles was not the type of person that anyone felt any desire to 'get to know'. To some extent it was even intentional - though whether her unsociability and abrasiveness was purely engineered or merely encouragement of an already persistent natural lack of charm was up to debate. The girl was plainly nd simply unlikable. Her walls built to keep others out were thick and high enough to write a progressive rock album about. People didn't even try...Unless, on the off chance, they wanted something.
It was weird enough that he was trying to be all friendly. She hadn't understood why - what was wrong with him? But being a government robot? That would explain it.
Maybe back home she had been bottom of the barrel, but among the greater population, the centuries of eugenics and gene manipulation that had led to her existence and her inhuman engineering prowess was a valuable thing.
It wouldn’t be the first time...
The girl picked up her pace, just slightly - it suddenly seemed as though rather than simply not noticing Ike, she was outright ignoring him now. Hands seemed to be shoved just a little deeper into pockets.
Not that the synth would necessarily know what he'd said to shut her down. After all, most people only knew the absolute bare bones of the M'draan-Mortuga story, if that much. And hardly anyone at all knew the bad parts . Maybe Ike' s lofty status would have him privy to uncommon information, but not necessarily.
Maybe her being officially welcomed onto the crew hadn't really meant anything after all. It had seemed too good to be true from the start. Much too good to be true. Had she walked right into some kind of trap...?
She didn’t look at him when he stated the obvious - but likely to Ike’s surprise, she did reply.
”Oy. Mechanic, engineer, technician an’ programmer.” She said gruffly, her inner pride not allowing her to pass up an opportunity to strut, just a little. Granted, ‘programmer’ was stretching it, but not technically untrue. ”Wassit to’ye?” She wasn’t yelling or snarling at least. She no less resembled the small, angry dog that she was usually akin to - but at least she didn’t appear to be interested in biting or chasing away ‘intruders’.
As if to intentionally throw him off balance, RIley stopped suddenly to glance over a wall-mounted terminal, likely making Ike bump right into her or stumble a step or two past her. Then she promptly continued on, likely thwarting any attempts on his part at a graceful recovery from whichever slip she had pulled on him. If it was intentional, she gave no sign - barely even acknowledging his presence. So things were actually going pretty well for Ike.
Until, that is, he said exactly the wrong thing.
The instant Ike got to ”authorities”, Riley froze - likely making him walk into her again - but that didn’t seem to affect the girl one way or another. In the same instant she darted her head around to shoot him something of an uncharacteristic look - the usual intensity was still there, since the kid’s eyes were essentially steely laser guns - but there was no anger on her face - nor any visible emotion, save for something that approached alarm but was superseded by focus. There was a darkness to it that was entirely unplaceable.
And then, within barely two seconds, she was striding on again - but with some invisible thing seeming to hang over her.
”Iss’at so.” She said after a moment of pregnant silence, not looking back. Like the look she’d shot him, it was monotone and low, devoid of any real emotion.
Except, perhaps, an animalistic, paranoiac suspicion. That had been visible in her blank-faced glare, hadn't it?
There were discrepancies in Riley’s mind regarding the Federal Government too numerous to count. Her M’Draani “heritage” conflicted with the fact that she was now, in fact, technically a Fed herself. It was an issue she had been trying not to think about since being approached the week prior by the recruiting officer. When she had thought about it, she made the hasty decision that the crew of the Last Light would just be an exception, and it was the politicians and generals she had a problem with rather than the common units and why bother thinking about the past anyway.
It had been a hasty decision simply to convince herself to stop thinking about it. And now here was this guy - this synth - who had been built by the very people she’d decided to hate.
But that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem with this ’person’ being a government-sponsored robot?
Why in the absolute @#$% was he so interested in her, of all people?
Riley Miles was not the type of person that anyone felt any desire to 'get to know'. To some extent it was even intentional - though whether her unsociability and abrasiveness was purely engineered or merely encouragement of an already persistent natural lack of charm was up to debate. The girl was plainly nd simply unlikable. Her walls built to keep others out were thick and high enough to write a progressive rock album about. People didn't even try...Unless, on the off chance, they wanted something.
It was weird enough that he was trying to be all friendly. She hadn't understood why - what was wrong with him? But being a government robot? That would explain it.
Maybe back home she had been bottom of the barrel, but among the greater population, the centuries of eugenics and gene manipulation that had led to her existence and her inhuman engineering prowess was a valuable thing.
It wouldn’t be the first time...
The girl picked up her pace, just slightly - it suddenly seemed as though rather than simply not noticing Ike, she was outright ignoring him now. Hands seemed to be shoved just a little deeper into pockets.
Not that the synth would necessarily know what he'd said to shut her down. After all, most people only knew the absolute bare bones of the M'draan-Mortuga story, if that much. And hardly anyone at all knew the bad parts . Maybe Ike' s lofty status would have him privy to uncommon information, but not necessarily.
Maybe her being officially welcomed onto the crew hadn't really meant anything after all. It had seemed too good to be true from the start. Much too good to be true. Had she walked right into some kind of trap...?
Kato barely slowed his walk to press the series of buttons needed to get into his own cabin, although to be honest anyone could work out the code used. The buttons his fingers pressed into were worn, far beyond the wear inflicted on those around them. He'd never bothered changing the code in a long, long time. He'd never needed to, every member of the crew by that point who wanted into his room would have been around long enough to have learned or know the code already, besides it was always nice to have someone duck in every-so-often to chat. It took his mind off the rest of life.
"So Rob, what do you make of the cadets? How many do you think will take the next shuttle back after realising what a mess this place really is?" He grinned faintly at the line, it wasn't a joke, but he'd seen enough greenfaced cadets who'd been expecting something so much more, leave after understanding the true nature of the decrepit ship.
"Take a seat, I'll pour us two glasses."
It seemed to be all going well for Ike, at least at first, especially when considering the antagonistic nature of the girl he was attempting to communicate with. The fact that she even gave his her first reply was one he should have felt proud of, if only he got past the idea that it was something inherently owed to him in the first place.
What he did find annoying was the pace the girl walked at, moving just too fast for him to catch up with at the pace he'd decided to stick to. It beyond frustrated the synth that she, at least to his mind, was making a conscious effort to do this. Everyone back at Tessa had all walked in such unison, such beauty. He guessed he'd have to forgive her since she clearly wasn't a born and bred Fed.
Her list of titles, at least self-given ones did little to impress or move the Synth, after all the nature of his creation had placed him centrally among world leading technicians. So it was his reply was rather non-committal, bordering on the disinterested. "That's nice."
Of course, when she attempted to pull her little trick on Ike he neatly sidestepped away, pirouetting elegantly in his maneuver out of the way of what could have been a less than graceful moment. "Hey, what was that?"
So wrapped up was the Synth in his own righteous indignation that he failed to notice the second sudden stop, slamming straight into her back, catching the animalistic, suspicious glance thrown his way and within a second had jumped to exactly the wrong conclusion.
The young Synth knew basically nothing about the war and so that idea hadn't even crossed his mind, the few wars he had learnt about were far in the past and seen between opponents on a gigantic scale. What he did know is that he'd been told a vague statement that others, specifically non-feds were going to dislike him for what he was. He'd taken no notice of it at the time but now the words came back to him.
"Wha, hey?" He threw up his hands in gesture of annoyance and confusion. "What's all this about? Do you not like Synths? What about synths? Are you more of a robot person? Bio-modder?"
He paused his furious questioning for a second, still trying to keep up with her, attempting to wrack his brain for more reasons for this sudden turn of attitude. "Is it because I didn't get personally welcomed by the captain? I mean come on!? Help me out here! I'm no bot interconnected into some sorta system! Not that this thing would be getting any signal, Oh! are you nervous? Don't worry, I've got no hidden functions, none that I'm aware of!"
He lapsed into a momentary sullen silence before spitting out in the most hurt voice he could manage. "I just wanted to be friends, got no one to talk to up here and you seemed interesting, the way you stood up to the captain intregued me."
"So Rob, what do you make of the cadets? How many do you think will take the next shuttle back after realising what a mess this place really is?" He grinned faintly at the line, it wasn't a joke, but he'd seen enough greenfaced cadets who'd been expecting something so much more, leave after understanding the true nature of the decrepit ship.
"Take a seat, I'll pour us two glasses."
It seemed to be all going well for Ike, at least at first, especially when considering the antagonistic nature of the girl he was attempting to communicate with. The fact that she even gave his her first reply was one he should have felt proud of, if only he got past the idea that it was something inherently owed to him in the first place.
What he did find annoying was the pace the girl walked at, moving just too fast for him to catch up with at the pace he'd decided to stick to. It beyond frustrated the synth that she, at least to his mind, was making a conscious effort to do this. Everyone back at Tessa had all walked in such unison, such beauty. He guessed he'd have to forgive her since she clearly wasn't a born and bred Fed.
Her list of titles, at least self-given ones did little to impress or move the Synth, after all the nature of his creation had placed him centrally among world leading technicians. So it was his reply was rather non-committal, bordering on the disinterested. "That's nice."
Of course, when she attempted to pull her little trick on Ike he neatly sidestepped away, pirouetting elegantly in his maneuver out of the way of what could have been a less than graceful moment. "Hey, what was that?"
So wrapped up was the Synth in his own righteous indignation that he failed to notice the second sudden stop, slamming straight into her back, catching the animalistic, suspicious glance thrown his way and within a second had jumped to exactly the wrong conclusion.
The young Synth knew basically nothing about the war and so that idea hadn't even crossed his mind, the few wars he had learnt about were far in the past and seen between opponents on a gigantic scale. What he did know is that he'd been told a vague statement that others, specifically non-feds were going to dislike him for what he was. He'd taken no notice of it at the time but now the words came back to him.
"Wha, hey?" He threw up his hands in gesture of annoyance and confusion. "What's all this about? Do you not like Synths? What about synths? Are you more of a robot person? Bio-modder?"
He paused his furious questioning for a second, still trying to keep up with her, attempting to wrack his brain for more reasons for this sudden turn of attitude. "Is it because I didn't get personally welcomed by the captain? I mean come on!? Help me out here! I'm no bot interconnected into some sorta system! Not that this thing would be getting any signal, Oh! are you nervous? Don't worry, I've got no hidden functions, none that I'm aware of!"
He lapsed into a momentary sullen silence before spitting out in the most hurt voice he could manage. "I just wanted to be friends, got no one to talk to up here and you seemed interesting, the way you stood up to the captain intregued me."
Robert was in thought, but heard what he asked, and while he sat down on the aged, worn seat, he said “I’d say the usual, but something tells me that Rileys gonna stick around, if not permanent, at least for a while, and hopefully, I won’t need too many drinks.” He had a semi-joking tone, and he was fairly relaxed while sitting the chair.
Riley kept her head somewhat ducked as she walked, almost as if walking past someone that she hoped wouldn’t notice her. For all intents and purposes she seemed to be intentionally ignoring the synth as he yammered on, seeming more desperate with every word. It was charming, in a way – but that was not something that the diminutive mechanic would perceive. Her mind raced as she strode down the corridor, turning sharply with only a cursory glance to confirm that she was still going the right way before returning her hard iron stare to the floor in front of her.
This was crazy. She was crazy. Just because she had run into trouble before didn’t mean she was going to run into it again. That was gambler’s logic, virtually a mortal sin as taught by the tactics instructor back home.
She really needed to stop thinking of it as ‘home’…
What, was she going to go through life jumping at every shadow, distrusting everyone who looked in her direction, acting like some mad paranoid conspiracy theorist convinced that everyone was out to get her? That was no way to live. She was tougher than that, surely. Tough enough to not be jumpy and suspicious of everyone she met. Snapping at people, pushing them away, and generally making people dislike her? That was one thing. That was simple survival tactics. But accusing everyone with the audacity to speak to her of being out to get her? That was weakling @#$% and she needed to cut it out. And besides – if someone was actually out to get her, acting suspicious of them would only make her situation worse.
With sheer, brute force, Riley calmed herself. Singed her fraying nerves. She was no guru of inner control – but she knew how to do that much. If she was going to be a part of this crew, she was going to have to at least tolerate the presence of the others – this wanker included. He wasn’t some government spy sent to ‘collect’ her. Why would anyone higher up than the captain of the Last Light have any interest in her, anyhow? She shouldn’t have let her ego get the better of her. And Ike hadn’t even sounded remotely impressed with her little resume either, so who was she kidding? She wasn’t a strategist or tactician – they had been the most valuable of the ‘resources’, and consequently they were the fewest in number. She wasn’t a marine. She wasn’t a pilot. She wasn’t even a logistics specialist. She was a bloody mechanic. She fixed @#$%. That was it. Sure, she was good at it - good enough to be sought out for a position on an ancient boat that nobody really cared about anymore – but certainly not good enough to be worth anything more than that.
All of a sudden she felt fantastically stupid. That didn’t stop her from snapping fiercely ”I ain’t ‘nervous’!” the instant it was suggested, but following that she did seem to deflate somewhat. Her pace slowed to something more casual. She let silence hang over them for a moment. Just when it was starting to seem like she would ignore him indefinitely though, she spoke up in a grumbling, begrudging tone, ”F’get it.” It almost sounded like an apology, without actually being anything remotely apologetic. Or rather, an admission of willingness to at least suspend whatever problem she had with him. To drop it. Another, slightly shorter moment of silence. ”Ain’t got no prob w’synths.” She said then, returning to the snippy, abrasive manner that seemed to be her default. (In other words, progress!) ”Won’t be able’a ‘elp ‘ye too much though. Oy’ didn’t think you @#$%s even really x’isted right 'till nowlike.”
She didn’t know why she was actually talking to him. Ike was annoying, and she didn’t like him. His bio-mechanical nature didn’t appeal to her – if anything it made her a tad uncomfortable since she had been raised in an environment where machines and people were clearly separated. The robots she had known her whole life were very obviously robots, and the people very obviously people. Something in between didn’t seem natural. She didn’t hate him because of it, but it didn’t appeal to her.
She didn’t want company. She wanted to be left alone. To go meet the Last Light’s current engineering and maintenance staff. She was, at least, under the impression that the ship actually had a current engineering team… She resented him for the bull@#$% story about wanting to be ‘friends’ and her seeming ‘interesting’. It was a cruel, deceitful sort of thing to say to someone. Mean and derogatory as Riley tended to be, she wouldn’t pull that kind of dirty trick. Her complete failure to make an impression on him with her self-given resume had made her feel like an idiot, and she resented him for that, too.
But still, it seemed that she was back to being, if not ‘open’, at least ‘neutral’ to Ike’s presence. And he’d even managed to get a few non-immediately-hostile words out of her! One step forward, two steps back, and now one step forward again. Could be worse.
This was crazy. She was crazy. Just because she had run into trouble before didn’t mean she was going to run into it again. That was gambler’s logic, virtually a mortal sin as taught by the tactics instructor back home.
She really needed to stop thinking of it as ‘home’…
What, was she going to go through life jumping at every shadow, distrusting everyone who looked in her direction, acting like some mad paranoid conspiracy theorist convinced that everyone was out to get her? That was no way to live. She was tougher than that, surely. Tough enough to not be jumpy and suspicious of everyone she met. Snapping at people, pushing them away, and generally making people dislike her? That was one thing. That was simple survival tactics. But accusing everyone with the audacity to speak to her of being out to get her? That was weakling @#$% and she needed to cut it out. And besides – if someone was actually out to get her, acting suspicious of them would only make her situation worse.
With sheer, brute force, Riley calmed herself. Singed her fraying nerves. She was no guru of inner control – but she knew how to do that much. If she was going to be a part of this crew, she was going to have to at least tolerate the presence of the others – this wanker included. He wasn’t some government spy sent to ‘collect’ her. Why would anyone higher up than the captain of the Last Light have any interest in her, anyhow? She shouldn’t have let her ego get the better of her. And Ike hadn’t even sounded remotely impressed with her little resume either, so who was she kidding? She wasn’t a strategist or tactician – they had been the most valuable of the ‘resources’, and consequently they were the fewest in number. She wasn’t a marine. She wasn’t a pilot. She wasn’t even a logistics specialist. She was a bloody mechanic. She fixed @#$%. That was it. Sure, she was good at it - good enough to be sought out for a position on an ancient boat that nobody really cared about anymore – but certainly not good enough to be worth anything more than that.
All of a sudden she felt fantastically stupid. That didn’t stop her from snapping fiercely ”I ain’t ‘nervous’!” the instant it was suggested, but following that she did seem to deflate somewhat. Her pace slowed to something more casual. She let silence hang over them for a moment. Just when it was starting to seem like she would ignore him indefinitely though, she spoke up in a grumbling, begrudging tone, ”F’get it.” It almost sounded like an apology, without actually being anything remotely apologetic. Or rather, an admission of willingness to at least suspend whatever problem she had with him. To drop it. Another, slightly shorter moment of silence. ”Ain’t got no prob w’synths.” She said then, returning to the snippy, abrasive manner that seemed to be her default. (In other words, progress!) ”Won’t be able’a ‘elp ‘ye too much though. Oy’ didn’t think you @#$%s even really x’isted right 'till nowlike.”
She didn’t know why she was actually talking to him. Ike was annoying, and she didn’t like him. His bio-mechanical nature didn’t appeal to her – if anything it made her a tad uncomfortable since she had been raised in an environment where machines and people were clearly separated. The robots she had known her whole life were very obviously robots, and the people very obviously people. Something in between didn’t seem natural. She didn’t hate him because of it, but it didn’t appeal to her.
She didn’t want company. She wanted to be left alone. To go meet the Last Light’s current engineering and maintenance staff. She was, at least, under the impression that the ship actually had a current engineering team… She resented him for the bull@#$% story about wanting to be ‘friends’ and her seeming ‘interesting’. It was a cruel, deceitful sort of thing to say to someone. Mean and derogatory as Riley tended to be, she wouldn’t pull that kind of dirty trick. Her complete failure to make an impression on him with her self-given resume had made her feel like an idiot, and she resented him for that, too.
But still, it seemed that she was back to being, if not ‘open’, at least ‘neutral’ to Ike’s presence. And he’d even managed to get a few non-immediately-hostile words out of her! One step forward, two steps back, and now one step forward again. Could be worse.
She walked down the halls towards her fathers office, her fingers trailed along the walls, at some points they would dip, because of a dent or two. She dropped her hand by her side, she turned a corner and saw his office door. She walked to it opening it, he wasn’t in there... ‘of course he wasn’t...’ she thought as she closed his door walking down the hall now just roaming aimlessly looking for her father. She grabbed a hair tie and put her fiery red hair into a ponytail, she condone the corridor with as she let out a small sigh.
The two glasses that Kato took from the shelf were heavily worn, finger grooves running their way down the aged glass surfaces. He'd been drinking from the same cup so many times that his mechanical hands had imprinted themselves into the cups in the exact way he held them. It was funny really he felt, the need for drinking had faded a long time ago after his body became more machine than human, yet now ... now he drank because it felt right, helped him to relax.
It was almost mechanical the way he poured the way he poured the liquid out, he'd done it so many times that there was no need for him to ask Robert how he liked it or how much he wanted. It all was just another part of the routine his life had been slipping into for the last few thousand years.
For a few moments, he paused, memories flooding in, it was funny really, he'd spent so much of the first hundred years of his life blasting from one place to the next, following orders ........
Now life was so simple it almost defied reality, yet here he was, still living, the last of the original crew to be doing so.
"You think the runt will stay? I hope so, this old girl sorely needs more care. Let's just hope I didn't judge her wrong. I don't think there's ever too many drinks left aboard this ship, too little if you ask me."
Ike didn't really know what to think of this short mechanic anymore, she was certainly abrasive and bad-tempered, that bit he was sure on. Why she was like this he didn't understand, what possible reason could someone have for being like this? She wasn't even a born fed and here she was aboard the last warship in the galaxy, surrounded by all the tech she could ever want to tinker with. It just didn't stand to any reasoning he could create that someone could be this frustrated in their position.
So it was that the fustrated Synth became very temped to simply stop following her, give up on this attempt to communicate and leave. So tempted that he had begun to turn around and wander away before hearing her voice. The sound of her angry retort initially convinced him to leave even more. Yes, he was curious about her, but that curiosity didn't extend to getting into an argument. Besides he had other places he wanted to be, the armory for that matter was very tempting, the idea of getting his hands on and even being able to fight within one of the last combat exosuits made excited him beyond compare.
Then he properly listened to the tone of her next reply and realised that at the very least he wasn't being rejected anymore. Finally, it seemed that she was paying him at least a portion of the respect owed to him, it wasn't nearly as much as he was used to and any careful studying of Ike's face would reveal that in the little mewlish scowl he gave Riley.
Even then he still debated simply turning around and giving the whole, getting to know someone idea a try another time, write this conversation off as a lost opportunity and try again with someone else who hopefully would be more receptive to his position as a Synth built by federal authorities. Perhaps next time he should have picked another true federal citizen to interact with first, not this redheaded engineer from some no doubt backwater part of the Ringworld. Then again if she was this abrasive and he'd gotten past the first hurdle of talking to her, then maybe he should give it a second try?
Curiosity taking over he fell back into following after her, his voice perking up again at the mention her of if not dislike at least apathy towards the ideas of Synths. "Well that's good! I'm a new model, dunno why the old ones weren't enough, they were very lifelike!" He paused before blindly going on. "Ever visited the capital? There are lots of Synths there! No one can tell who is who either, although we're not as popular as bio or cyber modding." He grinned sheepishly. "We cost a bit too much for most."
He paused, allowing another silence to fall back over the group, only breaking it as another question popped up into his head, one he hoped would spark more conversation. "So.... where about did you come from? You're clearly not from any Federal controlled space."
As Ace would round the corridor she would come face to face with a small machine, which if she wasn't careful and able to avoid it would send her bowling over. All in all it wasn't a rather remarkable machine, its body was short and solid, best described as a dented metal box covered in rounded, armored edges. A small display panel on the front of the machine stood in for a face, on it was placed a set of eyes which now blinked in annoyance before casting their gaze upon the cadet.
"And who do you think you are? Walking around as if you own the place?" It had no arms but the way it talked and clattered along on its four legs made it feel as if it was pointing accusatorily towards her. "Almost knocked me over! The nerve of it!"
It was almost mechanical the way he poured the way he poured the liquid out, he'd done it so many times that there was no need for him to ask Robert how he liked it or how much he wanted. It all was just another part of the routine his life had been slipping into for the last few thousand years.
For a few moments, he paused, memories flooding in, it was funny really, he'd spent so much of the first hundred years of his life blasting from one place to the next, following orders ........
Now life was so simple it almost defied reality, yet here he was, still living, the last of the original crew to be doing so.
"You think the runt will stay? I hope so, this old girl sorely needs more care. Let's just hope I didn't judge her wrong. I don't think there's ever too many drinks left aboard this ship, too little if you ask me."
Ike didn't really know what to think of this short mechanic anymore, she was certainly abrasive and bad-tempered, that bit he was sure on. Why she was like this he didn't understand, what possible reason could someone have for being like this? She wasn't even a born fed and here she was aboard the last warship in the galaxy, surrounded by all the tech she could ever want to tinker with. It just didn't stand to any reasoning he could create that someone could be this frustrated in their position.
So it was that the fustrated Synth became very temped to simply stop following her, give up on this attempt to communicate and leave. So tempted that he had begun to turn around and wander away before hearing her voice. The sound of her angry retort initially convinced him to leave even more. Yes, he was curious about her, but that curiosity didn't extend to getting into an argument. Besides he had other places he wanted to be, the armory for that matter was very tempting, the idea of getting his hands on and even being able to fight within one of the last combat exosuits made excited him beyond compare.
Then he properly listened to the tone of her next reply and realised that at the very least he wasn't being rejected anymore. Finally, it seemed that she was paying him at least a portion of the respect owed to him, it wasn't nearly as much as he was used to and any careful studying of Ike's face would reveal that in the little mewlish scowl he gave Riley.
Even then he still debated simply turning around and giving the whole, getting to know someone idea a try another time, write this conversation off as a lost opportunity and try again with someone else who hopefully would be more receptive to his position as a Synth built by federal authorities. Perhaps next time he should have picked another true federal citizen to interact with first, not this redheaded engineer from some no doubt backwater part of the Ringworld. Then again if she was this abrasive and he'd gotten past the first hurdle of talking to her, then maybe he should give it a second try?
Curiosity taking over he fell back into following after her, his voice perking up again at the mention her of if not dislike at least apathy towards the ideas of Synths. "Well that's good! I'm a new model, dunno why the old ones weren't enough, they were very lifelike!" He paused before blindly going on. "Ever visited the capital? There are lots of Synths there! No one can tell who is who either, although we're not as popular as bio or cyber modding." He grinned sheepishly. "We cost a bit too much for most."
He paused, allowing another silence to fall back over the group, only breaking it as another question popped up into his head, one he hoped would spark more conversation. "So.... where about did you come from? You're clearly not from any Federal controlled space."
As Ace would round the corridor she would come face to face with a small machine, which if she wasn't careful and able to avoid it would send her bowling over. All in all it wasn't a rather remarkable machine, its body was short and solid, best described as a dented metal box covered in rounded, armored edges. A small display panel on the front of the machine stood in for a face, on it was placed a set of eyes which now blinked in annoyance before casting their gaze upon the cadet.
"And who do you think you are? Walking around as if you own the place?" It had no arms but the way it talked and clattered along on its four legs made it feel as if it was pointing accusatorily towards her. "Almost knocked me over! The nerve of it!"
“I think She’ll stick around until either she gives up, or actually do it, although her giving up is far more likely.” Said Robert, he wasn’t that satisfied with it, the last Light was very important to Kato, and he wanted to see this return to glory as much as he did, although not knowing what that truly looked like. Robert then added, “Yeah it’s really hard to find a drink around here, I’m kinda surprised even you got a bottle.”
The more this annoying synth yammered on, the more Riley was tempted whirl on him and demand to know what he was up to. What he wanted. She had managed to convince herself that he wasn’t out to get her, but she still couldn’t believe his story about wanting to be ‘friends’, or just wanting someone to talk to. The girl was self-aware enough to know that almost anyone else on the Last Light would be orders of magnitude easier to do those things with. She liked it that way. Maybe he just wanted to annoy her? One of the inconveniences with being angry and hateful all the time was that every once in a while some smartass would decide to see just how far the redhead could be pushed before she snapped. They would act all overly friendly and cheerful and tell her to ‘lighten up’, specifically knowing that it would get on her nerves.
She had made it clear that she was not a bioengineer, so she wouldn’t be able to do much for him in the way of – what, upkeep? That ruled out the ’pretend to be friendly because they wanted her to fix something for free’ theory.
”Do I look like I ever benn’a capitol city?” Riley asked just a little condescendingly, glancing downward to indicate the grease-and-oil-and-dirt-and-what-even-is-that stained fatigues. The thought made her realize that Ike was, like herself, dressed differently than the vast majority of other cadets – just on the opposite end of the spectrum. And he was talking about being from the capitol city – the clean, shiny hub of culture and commerce for the whole of Ringworld. A glorious metropolis bordering on the utopian. Packed full of wealthy merchants and politicians, and their wealthy offspring. She wondered suddenly why Ike was here at all – maybe some rich kid’s excursion to the dregs? Go on a thinly veiled vacation to see how the less fortunate and harder working lived before returning to his pedestal with the moral superiority of having been in the general vicinity of getting his hands dirty? That would explain his interest with her. The polar opposite nature of the two of them.
Trying her best to keep herself from thinking of him that way – if she was going to tolerate him, she’d need to not @#$%ing hate his guts, and therefore not pin hateful assumptions on him…Tempting as it may be. She settled on grinding her teeth, just a little – probably not enough to be noticed.
Then he asked where she was from – and unless synths were exceptionally good actors, Riles thought he seemed genuine. She had to remind herself that while her whole world had been M’Draan and the events surrounding it, most people had experienced it only as a passing story in the news, if that. And even then, it had been almost two years since the Squabbling Nations had been disbanded – almost two years since anyone at all had reason to be aware. And since she was pretty sure he was being genuine, it dashed any remaining thoughts of mad Federal conspiracies.
In fact, his ignorance of what her harsh accent meant was refreshing. Most of the time since the deportation Riley had spent around others who had been at least partially privy to the whole thing. They had slopped up the M&M folks and sloshed them all over Ringworld – and wherever they landed little puddles and tide pools formed. She knew that most people were unaware, but this Ike was her first real, absolute contact with one such as they. One who couldn’t possibly hold any weird prejudice, or worse yet, patronizing sympathy. Riley hated that one.
Turning briefly to look back at him, the abrasive runt shot him a look as if mildly(or severely) concerned for his sanity. The awful fact that she became painfully over-expressive the moment she started to let her guard down had weird side effects.
”Mars.” She replied to his question, saying it as if it were so glaringly obvious that his not knowing was reason to doubt his fundamental intelligence and sanity. As if he were the only one in the whole, vast, dead universe that didn’t know. As if she almost felt bad for him that he could be so shockingly ignorant. As if claiming to be from an ancient, long-dead world which had practically transcended to myth was not an utterly insane thing to do. As if she really and truly believed it herself, and could not comprehend how anyone could doubt such a fundamental truth.
Arriving at the lift, Riley turned her focus to the keypad in order to punch for Engineering. If Ike didn’t notice the subtle, almost mischievous, searching glance she peeked back at him then, he would likely not realize that, against all odds, it had been an honest-to-God joke.
She had made it clear that she was not a bioengineer, so she wouldn’t be able to do much for him in the way of – what, upkeep? That ruled out the ’pretend to be friendly because they wanted her to fix something for free’ theory.
”Do I look like I ever benn’a capitol city?” Riley asked just a little condescendingly, glancing downward to indicate the grease-and-oil-and-dirt-and-what-even-is-that stained fatigues. The thought made her realize that Ike was, like herself, dressed differently than the vast majority of other cadets – just on the opposite end of the spectrum. And he was talking about being from the capitol city – the clean, shiny hub of culture and commerce for the whole of Ringworld. A glorious metropolis bordering on the utopian. Packed full of wealthy merchants and politicians, and their wealthy offspring. She wondered suddenly why Ike was here at all – maybe some rich kid’s excursion to the dregs? Go on a thinly veiled vacation to see how the less fortunate and harder working lived before returning to his pedestal with the moral superiority of having been in the general vicinity of getting his hands dirty? That would explain his interest with her. The polar opposite nature of the two of them.
Trying her best to keep herself from thinking of him that way – if she was going to tolerate him, she’d need to not @#$%ing hate his guts, and therefore not pin hateful assumptions on him…Tempting as it may be. She settled on grinding her teeth, just a little – probably not enough to be noticed.
Then he asked where she was from – and unless synths were exceptionally good actors, Riles thought he seemed genuine. She had to remind herself that while her whole world had been M’Draan and the events surrounding it, most people had experienced it only as a passing story in the news, if that. And even then, it had been almost two years since the Squabbling Nations had been disbanded – almost two years since anyone at all had reason to be aware. And since she was pretty sure he was being genuine, it dashed any remaining thoughts of mad Federal conspiracies.
In fact, his ignorance of what her harsh accent meant was refreshing. Most of the time since the deportation Riley had spent around others who had been at least partially privy to the whole thing. They had slopped up the M&M folks and sloshed them all over Ringworld – and wherever they landed little puddles and tide pools formed. She knew that most people were unaware, but this Ike was her first real, absolute contact with one such as they. One who couldn’t possibly hold any weird prejudice, or worse yet, patronizing sympathy. Riley hated that one.
Turning briefly to look back at him, the abrasive runt shot him a look as if mildly(or severely) concerned for his sanity. The awful fact that she became painfully over-expressive the moment she started to let her guard down had weird side effects.”Mars.” She replied to his question, saying it as if it were so glaringly obvious that his not knowing was reason to doubt his fundamental intelligence and sanity. As if he were the only one in the whole, vast, dead universe that didn’t know. As if she almost felt bad for him that he could be so shockingly ignorant. As if claiming to be from an ancient, long-dead world which had practically transcended to myth was not an utterly insane thing to do. As if she really and truly believed it herself, and could not comprehend how anyone could doubt such a fundamental truth.
Arriving at the lift, Riley turned her focus to the keypad in order to punch for Engineering. If Ike didn’t notice the subtle, almost mischievous, searching glance she peeked back at him then, he would likely not realize that, against all odds, it had been an honest-to-God joke.
She starred at the robot as she got up, “the name is Ace...Alicia Smith actually...” she raised a eyebrow at the hunk of junk. “I’m pretty sure you don’t own the place either...” she crossed her arms, ‘why was she getting a lecture from a tin can?’ She thought to herself. “I don’t have time to talk I’m looking for my father...” she tied to get around the toaster, but it was no use.
Kato flashed a small grin over towards his companion, "aye, only time will tell if she can get this thing looking as good as it once did..." He trailed off faintly, his next words dying on his tongue, before they could ever get the chance to be said.
Back in his command.... That's when the Valiant had looked the best, one of a line of five experimental stealth warships... He quickly buried the thought.
Picking up the two glasses and strolling over to Robert. "Here you go, take your time with it." He spoke with an arm outstretched before sliding down into his own old and worn, yet still surprisingly comfortable chair. "To the Valiant! Best ship in the fleet."
If there was one thing Ike was above all else it was persistent, once he'd decided to push through with something, he was determined to keep trying until it was either not rewarding enough to continue or get his way. After having had to push past the initial wave of mistrust, he felt he was at least entitled to have some form of conversation with Riley.
He'd used the same determination to get himself aboard the Last Last light several months prior on an educational visit and sight of the ancient military technology stored in the cargo holds combined with the tales of bravery he loved to stay up reading made a life abord the ship the most alluring thing imaginable. So when his Creator had suggested being a part of the crew as a marine and representative of the Federal capital he'd almost jumped at the chance. Now here he was chatting to the most interesting on proper observation of his fellow cadets and she was snubbing him, it just didn't seem fair.
Even so, he kept blindly pushing on with his questions, deciding that he'd go as far as the engineering deck before truly writing this runt off as a permanently lost cause. At least if that happened he'd only need to be mingling with civilised society. Then she gave the answer he should have been expecting, what with her whole image, yet still one that surprised him.
"You've never been to the Capital? But like... Surely everyone's been there... At least once... That's how it goes... Right?" For the Synth the idea of never having lived in the place he'd spent practically all his life in, while being told it was the best place the galaxy had ever seen was inconceivable. Surely everyone had to have been there at least once? Right? He distinctly remembered seeing shuttle trains filled with tourists, wasn't that what everyone did?
Already in a state of confusion the Synth was struck by another blow, the name of her supposed home. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his name on it...she'd spoken with such confidence, looked him straight in the eye as she'd said it. Yet for the life of him, no where in his memory circuits could he remember the name of it among the multitude of places among the ring world.
Any idea that this could have been told in jest or to mock him he dismissed at first, it wasn't bitter like more of her remarks so he didn't consider it that, so the only logical conclusion he arrived at was that she was being serious, but there was no Mars he could remember. His initial lack of success did little to deter him however, he was not going to be beaten by someone who according to then had never even visited the capitol. He'd been created at the latest line of government funded Synths, looking bad in front of someone like this engineer would be so humiliating, he co...
Then it came to him in a flash, he'd heard the name before in History, an ancient planet, one of the few which saw the birth of humanity as a galactic species, she'd been having him on. There was no way she'd been born and raised there, let alone have travelled from there to here across the infinite emptiness of space. He could feel his cheeks flush with the faintest of crimson as embarrassment for taking that long to grasp she was pulling his leg hit him. A flush which would be easily visible for the engineer when she glanced round. "H.. Hey! Mars is long since dead! Which of course I knew!"
The four legged machine scuttled up till it was right in her face, its little digital eyes glaring up at the girl. "I own it more than you do! The name's Sec... Head of security. Not very imaginative, but then I wasn't built with much imagination was I?"
When it was clear she was trying to get around it, the machine began to scuttle backwards and forwards to get in her way "looking for your father eh? Well who is he? You can try to be a helpful nuisance at least!"
Back in his command.... That's when the Valiant had looked the best, one of a line of five experimental stealth warships... He quickly buried the thought.
Picking up the two glasses and strolling over to Robert. "Here you go, take your time with it." He spoke with an arm outstretched before sliding down into his own old and worn, yet still surprisingly comfortable chair. "To the Valiant! Best ship in the fleet."
If there was one thing Ike was above all else it was persistent, once he'd decided to push through with something, he was determined to keep trying until it was either not rewarding enough to continue or get his way. After having had to push past the initial wave of mistrust, he felt he was at least entitled to have some form of conversation with Riley.
He'd used the same determination to get himself aboard the Last Last light several months prior on an educational visit and sight of the ancient military technology stored in the cargo holds combined with the tales of bravery he loved to stay up reading made a life abord the ship the most alluring thing imaginable. So when his Creator had suggested being a part of the crew as a marine and representative of the Federal capital he'd almost jumped at the chance. Now here he was chatting to the most interesting on proper observation of his fellow cadets and she was snubbing him, it just didn't seem fair.
Even so, he kept blindly pushing on with his questions, deciding that he'd go as far as the engineering deck before truly writing this runt off as a permanently lost cause. At least if that happened he'd only need to be mingling with civilised society. Then she gave the answer he should have been expecting, what with her whole image, yet still one that surprised him.
"You've never been to the Capital? But like... Surely everyone's been there... At least once... That's how it goes... Right?" For the Synth the idea of never having lived in the place he'd spent practically all his life in, while being told it was the best place the galaxy had ever seen was inconceivable. Surely everyone had to have been there at least once? Right? He distinctly remembered seeing shuttle trains filled with tourists, wasn't that what everyone did?
Already in a state of confusion the Synth was struck by another blow, the name of her supposed home. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his name on it...she'd spoken with such confidence, looked him straight in the eye as she'd said it. Yet for the life of him, no where in his memory circuits could he remember the name of it among the multitude of places among the ring world.
Any idea that this could have been told in jest or to mock him he dismissed at first, it wasn't bitter like more of her remarks so he didn't consider it that, so the only logical conclusion he arrived at was that she was being serious, but there was no Mars he could remember. His initial lack of success did little to deter him however, he was not going to be beaten by someone who according to then had never even visited the capitol. He'd been created at the latest line of government funded Synths, looking bad in front of someone like this engineer would be so humiliating, he co...
Then it came to him in a flash, he'd heard the name before in History, an ancient planet, one of the few which saw the birth of humanity as a galactic species, she'd been having him on. There was no way she'd been born and raised there, let alone have travelled from there to here across the infinite emptiness of space. He could feel his cheeks flush with the faintest of crimson as embarrassment for taking that long to grasp she was pulling his leg hit him. A flush which would be easily visible for the engineer when she glanced round. "H.. Hey! Mars is long since dead! Which of course I knew!"
The four legged machine scuttled up till it was right in her face, its little digital eyes glaring up at the girl. "I own it more than you do! The name's Sec... Head of security. Not very imaginative, but then I wasn't built with much imagination was I?"
When it was clear she was trying to get around it, the machine began to scuttle backwards and forwards to get in her way "looking for your father eh? Well who is he? You can try to be a helpful nuisance at least!"
She glared at the little thing, “his name is John Smith...he is the pilot right under captain Kato for a matter of fact...” she crossed her arms, “this stupid hunk of junk...” she mumbled to herself. She once again tried to get around the toaster, having no luck. She began to get angry, “can you move out of the way?!”she snapped at it with a attitude.
Robert then toasted with Kato, and replied “And the best ship there’ll ever be!” And then took a drink, the whiskey tasted somehow generalized, he didn’t doubt it was from the capital, most of their drinks tasted about the same, yet you knew it was that certain drink you were told it was. “Maybe I’ll see what it would have looked like in its glory days, before the last star was extinguished, but as you said, we’ll have to wait and see.” Robert said, looking up at the ceiling, with somehow as many dents as the walls and floors, he never really was a questioning person, but he sometimes would wondered about something’s story, not the thing itself. He simply sighed, realizing the possibilities of the last light returning from this, near next to impossible.
Subtly turning to peek mischievously through her hair at him, Riley got exactly the reaction she’d been going for. Eyes lit up briefly, like a flash of chromium steel, and she pressed her lips together in a desperate attempt at stifling a laugh. Unfortunately, the girl had a way of smug and mocking rather than simply closed-off in this regard. His flush had been rich in itself, but his last couple words had ben downright perfect.
”Don’t be stupid.” She crooned condesendingly, in a way that was so belittling that it wasn’t even hostile. It bordered on the sympathetic. With one inefinebly sassy index finger, Riley pointed at her fiery hair, poking one fluffy tuft of fringe which bounced ever so slightly from the touch. ”Everyone knows us red’eds all come from the’ol’ Red Rock.” Just as ~surely everyone~ had visited the Capital, ~surely everyone~ knew about...whatever absolute nonsense she was currently peddling... In a convincing enough manner as to make a master historian doubt their field of expertise. Or maybe their sanity.
In M’Draan, the ancient “mother-world” known as Mars was the closest thing to a deity, next to Mccarthyism. While most people had no reason at all to know anything at all about some rock that had ceased to even exist in what now amounted to pre-prehistory. For most people it was as utterly irrelevant as the political spectrums of China in Earth-Year 1582 - which is to say entirely. But somewhere along the line, some M’Daani had stumbled upon some reference to ‘Mars’ and ‘war’ and blown it all out of proportion, until the folk of M’Draan ultimately became the leading experts on the ancient rock.
And naturally, as with anything that the adults too very seriously, the kids found it all to be a right solid joke, they did - and one of their humorous little tropes was that since Mars was reputed to be composed mostly of oxide-red, it stood to reason that people with oxide-red hair must naturally be descendents of the War God.
Riley looked back to the lift door for a moment, long enough she figured for Ike to doubt reality - or at least wonder whether it actually was something that everyone knew, and he had somehow - against all odds - been left out of the loop, or if the little mechanic was just bad@#$% mad. Or maybe just uneducated and superstitious.
When, several seconds later, she peeked back at him again, she found herself struggling even harder to keep from laughing, regardless of what his reaction had actually been. If nothing else though, this time it was obvious that, for one reason or another, she had found something (presumably him) to be quite humorous. She even coughed out one throaty little snigger through tightly pressed lips, cheeks slightly dimpled with the strain of it.
This reaction being universally recognized as essentially identical to laughing outright could mean only one thing: That against all odds, Ike had actually managed to make the angry little brat laugh.
But whether this could actually be taken as a point of pride was likely dubious, given that she was, in fact, clearly laughing at his expense...Whether or not he even got the joke.
”Don’t be stupid.” She crooned condesendingly, in a way that was so belittling that it wasn’t even hostile. It bordered on the sympathetic. With one inefinebly sassy index finger, Riley pointed at her fiery hair, poking one fluffy tuft of fringe which bounced ever so slightly from the touch. ”Everyone knows us red’eds all come from the’ol’ Red Rock.” Just as ~surely everyone~ had visited the Capital, ~surely everyone~ knew about...whatever absolute nonsense she was currently peddling... In a convincing enough manner as to make a master historian doubt their field of expertise. Or maybe their sanity.In M’Draan, the ancient “mother-world” known as Mars was the closest thing to a deity, next to Mccarthyism. While most people had no reason at all to know anything at all about some rock that had ceased to even exist in what now amounted to pre-prehistory. For most people it was as utterly irrelevant as the political spectrums of China in Earth-Year 1582 - which is to say entirely. But somewhere along the line, some M’Daani had stumbled upon some reference to ‘Mars’ and ‘war’ and blown it all out of proportion, until the folk of M’Draan ultimately became the leading experts on the ancient rock.
And naturally, as with anything that the adults too very seriously, the kids found it all to be a right solid joke, they did - and one of their humorous little tropes was that since Mars was reputed to be composed mostly of oxide-red, it stood to reason that people with oxide-red hair must naturally be descendents of the War God.
Riley looked back to the lift door for a moment, long enough she figured for Ike to doubt reality - or at least wonder whether it actually was something that everyone knew, and he had somehow - against all odds - been left out of the loop, or if the little mechanic was just bad@#$% mad. Or maybe just uneducated and superstitious.
When, several seconds later, she peeked back at him again, she found herself struggling even harder to keep from laughing, regardless of what his reaction had actually been. If nothing else though, this time it was obvious that, for one reason or another, she had found something (presumably him) to be quite humorous. She even coughed out one throaty little snigger through tightly pressed lips, cheeks slightly dimpled with the strain of it.
This reaction being universally recognized as essentially identical to laughing outright could mean only one thing: That against all odds, Ike had actually managed to make the angry little brat laugh.
But whether this could actually be taken as a point of pride was likely dubious, given that she was, in fact, clearly laughing at his expense...Whether or not he even got the joke.
Kato raised his glass cheerfully, "Aye, there's no finer ship among all ... well space.." He grinned at his own phrasing, it had almost slipped out again. Once more he'd been on the verge of saying among all the stars, even though not a single light from outside their home system shone anymore. The few mining ships popping into existence within visible distance using the old warp highways at the edge of what had commonly become viewed as their "system" failed to produce any semblance of light at all.
Even after sipping the drink he couldn't really care about the blandness of taste, it was still whiskey and that was the most important thing to him. A few more seconds and he'd downed the remaining liquid, never having been one to ever take his time with a drink, regardless of strength or size. A bad habit he knew, but one he'd found impossible to stop after ..., he couldn't think of that. Using the mental barriers so carefully cultivated over time he pushed the thought down and out into the ether.
Turning to his second in command Kato suddenly seemed to sober up, a fact that wasn't too hard since the alcohol barely affected any systems anymore. "Hey Rob, thanks for everything, thanks for sticking with this old girl till the end.... whenever that comes."
For another pause, the synth once more felt the creeping hand of self-doubt slip into his mind, reaching around and poking at his memories. Whispering that insidious question, the one which asked if you were really sure you'd got your facts right. This pause, however, was far shorter than the first, confusion not even being able to set in properly before Riley dispelled it all with her next sentence, almost certainly accidentally yet she'd gone too deep into her charade for the machine to believe it anymore.
The line in question was the one referencing the ol' Red Rock, while he still wallowed in confusion if they were referencing the same red rock, he knew enough from training to know that there existed no other home of humanity other than the one they now scaped their existence out on, to varying degrees of comfort. The idea of coming from another planet was ridiculous.
"Now I know you're having me on," He grinned, sharing much of the same sense of smug satisfaction that had entered into the girl's voice. Knowing that he'd at least gotten through her ruse and was now out and on the same level as her, gave a relaxing sense of everything fitting into place, of the natural order, which for a moment had been so rudely interrupted being returned back to its natural order. "Everyone knows" And here he pointed out in the direction of the vast emptiness beyond, as a way of helping illustrate his point. "That nothing out there besides the Ring down there houses human life."
Still sporting the same flushed set of cheeks, something Ike found extremely hard to get to go away once they'd emerged. It was a point he'd been meaning to try and bring up with his creator before leaving to the Last Light and never managed to, the Synth took a step forward towards the small mechanic. Determined to extract his own brand of fun out of the situation too. "Unless of course, you're no human, but an ancient Synth ... or even." He paused for dramatic effect, feeling it was the only thing befitting the situation. "An alien!" He spoke conspiratorially, lowering his voice down to a whisper. "There are tales of alien life in the federal archives, hidden away behind layers of restricted access, how do I know I'm not talking to the first living example of such left?"
Of course, he was lying, it was a simple rumor that occasionally sped around the more conspiratorially minded within the central Federal capitol. One that every scientist or historian he'd talked to had assured him was complete rubbish, that such an occasion would have been so monumental that it could never have been overlooked by history. They were alone.
So proud of his own returning web of lies and friendly decited that even when she laughed at what was quite clearly his own expense Ike merely took it as a mark of managing something that even captain Kato had failed to do, completely forgetting that the aging soldier hadn't even tried to accomplish something of the sort.
Sec bounced almost comically up and down in front of her in its own self-righteous indignation, the little display of eyes narrowing even further before a slightly more neutral expression ran over the security droid's digital face. "John .... oh yes ... I know the one.... You sure you're his daughter?" The question seemed almost hopeful as it was just another way the machine could trick her into saying something else it could bounce angrily in her face about. "And I am not a hunk a junk! I'll have you know missy I'm a sophisticated security droid!"
With a sudden metallic and entirely frustrated sigh the machine spun around till it was facing the complete opposite direction, "Well then, I guess I can just lead you to him ... He can make sure you're who you say you are!"
With a flash it scuttled off forwards, much faster than should have been reasonable for a machine of its bulk and size. "Well, what are you waiting for cadet? I don't have all day you know!" Its voice was almost unreasonable in the way it seemed totally oblivious to the fact that she'd never demanded Sec do this. Even so, it still demanded her to follow it.
Even after sipping the drink he couldn't really care about the blandness of taste, it was still whiskey and that was the most important thing to him. A few more seconds and he'd downed the remaining liquid, never having been one to ever take his time with a drink, regardless of strength or size. A bad habit he knew, but one he'd found impossible to stop after ..., he couldn't think of that. Using the mental barriers so carefully cultivated over time he pushed the thought down and out into the ether.
Turning to his second in command Kato suddenly seemed to sober up, a fact that wasn't too hard since the alcohol barely affected any systems anymore. "Hey Rob, thanks for everything, thanks for sticking with this old girl till the end.... whenever that comes."
For another pause, the synth once more felt the creeping hand of self-doubt slip into his mind, reaching around and poking at his memories. Whispering that insidious question, the one which asked if you were really sure you'd got your facts right. This pause, however, was far shorter than the first, confusion not even being able to set in properly before Riley dispelled it all with her next sentence, almost certainly accidentally yet she'd gone too deep into her charade for the machine to believe it anymore.
The line in question was the one referencing the ol' Red Rock, while he still wallowed in confusion if they were referencing the same red rock, he knew enough from training to know that there existed no other home of humanity other than the one they now scaped their existence out on, to varying degrees of comfort. The idea of coming from another planet was ridiculous.
"Now I know you're having me on," He grinned, sharing much of the same sense of smug satisfaction that had entered into the girl's voice. Knowing that he'd at least gotten through her ruse and was now out and on the same level as her, gave a relaxing sense of everything fitting into place, of the natural order, which for a moment had been so rudely interrupted being returned back to its natural order. "Everyone knows" And here he pointed out in the direction of the vast emptiness beyond, as a way of helping illustrate his point. "That nothing out there besides the Ring down there houses human life."
Still sporting the same flushed set of cheeks, something Ike found extremely hard to get to go away once they'd emerged. It was a point he'd been meaning to try and bring up with his creator before leaving to the Last Light and never managed to, the Synth took a step forward towards the small mechanic. Determined to extract his own brand of fun out of the situation too. "Unless of course, you're no human, but an ancient Synth ... or even." He paused for dramatic effect, feeling it was the only thing befitting the situation. "An alien!" He spoke conspiratorially, lowering his voice down to a whisper. "There are tales of alien life in the federal archives, hidden away behind layers of restricted access, how do I know I'm not talking to the first living example of such left?"
Of course, he was lying, it was a simple rumor that occasionally sped around the more conspiratorially minded within the central Federal capitol. One that every scientist or historian he'd talked to had assured him was complete rubbish, that such an occasion would have been so monumental that it could never have been overlooked by history. They were alone.
So proud of his own returning web of lies and friendly decited that even when she laughed at what was quite clearly his own expense Ike merely took it as a mark of managing something that even captain Kato had failed to do, completely forgetting that the aging soldier hadn't even tried to accomplish something of the sort.
Sec bounced almost comically up and down in front of her in its own self-righteous indignation, the little display of eyes narrowing even further before a slightly more neutral expression ran over the security droid's digital face. "John .... oh yes ... I know the one.... You sure you're his daughter?" The question seemed almost hopeful as it was just another way the machine could trick her into saying something else it could bounce angrily in her face about. "And I am not a hunk a junk! I'll have you know missy I'm a sophisticated security droid!"
With a sudden metallic and entirely frustrated sigh the machine spun around till it was facing the complete opposite direction, "Well then, I guess I can just lead you to him ... He can make sure you're who you say you are!"
With a flash it scuttled off forwards, much faster than should have been reasonable for a machine of its bulk and size. "Well, what are you waiting for cadet? I don't have all day you know!" Its voice was almost unreasonable in the way it seemed totally oblivious to the fact that she'd never demanded Sec do this. Even so, it still demanded her to follow it.
She eyed the robot as she stayed on its heels, “you don’t seem sophisticated to me...” her arms swayed by her side as she walked, “and yes I’m sure I am his daughter...” she rolled her eyes at it, as they kept walking. This thing was just dying to push her ‘buttons’. She didn’t know the thing was doing this she didn’t ask it to.
The smugness in Ike’s voice struck a discordant note on Riley’s nerves. He wore pride poorly - and she found that the instant he thought they were on even ground she suddenly liked him a great deal less. If that was her problem more than his, she didn’t know it and the thought never crossed her mind.
She had sniggered more at the brief, but precious moment of doubt and the redness in his face more than anything - but she found something distasteful about his ‘comeback’.If she couldn’t get a laugh at his expense than there was really no point.
He took a step toward her and instinctively, without even being aware of it, Riley stepped back at almost the same time. While the gesture was unconscious, it did have the effect of triggering the realization that her guard had been slipping, and that would not do.
Who did this guy think he was, anyway?
As he began his own little fallacy in response to hers, Riley’s forcibly restrained grin faded away into a look of sheer confusion, mixed with a healthy dose of concern-for-sanity - now with extra empathic embarrassment and just a hint of disapproval. She tilted her head away from him, leaning back on her heels, looking at him with the very distinct sense that she was aware he was joking, but found his attempt at humor to be both trite and entirely unfunny, and he should probably stop before he embarrassed himself further. It was the exact look one might give to someone who was telling racist jokes while claiming to be evolutionarily superior and completely failing to notice that they’d spilled something down their shirt. The kind of look that said ’you are weird, and you make me uncomfortable, and your jokes are not funny.’
RIley was not good with social conventions - but she was aware of them enough to know that the proper response to an earnest attempt at humor was to at least try and appreciate it. But this seemed like a pretty good way to put that little bit of distance back between them, thus keeping her safe from unwanted interpersonal relationships.Trying to make him feel like an idiot overextending himself was a bit of a dirty trick, but she did still find him pretty annoying...
The girl just nodded slowly, looking at him like he was hopelessly insane and finishing it off with a long, drawn out ”Riiiight.” which positively dripped with placative sarcasm. At that moment, there was a fizzly ”ffttong" sort of sound from behind, indicating the arrival of the lift a second before the doors slid open. Clearly it had once been a more elegant sound, but the little speaker had, like everything else, gone some untold period of time without maintenance.
Glad for the opportunity to get away - and even more relieved at not feeling like she was pinned up against the wall - Riley stepped backwards into the lift. ”Well uh, I got work t’do. She said, once again sounding snippy and hostile.
And without another word, she tapped the button to close the doors in his face - unless he did something to stop them.
One step forward, two steps back...
She had sniggered more at the brief, but precious moment of doubt and the redness in his face more than anything - but she found something distasteful about his ‘comeback’.If she couldn’t get a laugh at his expense than there was really no point.
He took a step toward her and instinctively, without even being aware of it, Riley stepped back at almost the same time. While the gesture was unconscious, it did have the effect of triggering the realization that her guard had been slipping, and that would not do.
Who did this guy think he was, anyway?
As he began his own little fallacy in response to hers, Riley’s forcibly restrained grin faded away into a look of sheer confusion, mixed with a healthy dose of concern-for-sanity - now with extra empathic embarrassment and just a hint of disapproval. She tilted her head away from him, leaning back on her heels, looking at him with the very distinct sense that she was aware he was joking, but found his attempt at humor to be both trite and entirely unfunny, and he should probably stop before he embarrassed himself further. It was the exact look one might give to someone who was telling racist jokes while claiming to be evolutionarily superior and completely failing to notice that they’d spilled something down their shirt. The kind of look that said ’you are weird, and you make me uncomfortable, and your jokes are not funny.’
RIley was not good with social conventions - but she was aware of them enough to know that the proper response to an earnest attempt at humor was to at least try and appreciate it. But this seemed like a pretty good way to put that little bit of distance back between them, thus keeping her safe from unwanted interpersonal relationships.Trying to make him feel like an idiot overextending himself was a bit of a dirty trick, but she did still find him pretty annoying...
The girl just nodded slowly, looking at him like he was hopelessly insane and finishing it off with a long, drawn out ”Riiiight.” which positively dripped with placative sarcasm. At that moment, there was a fizzly ”ffttong" sort of sound from behind, indicating the arrival of the lift a second before the doors slid open. Clearly it had once been a more elegant sound, but the little speaker had, like everything else, gone some untold period of time without maintenance.
Glad for the opportunity to get away - and even more relieved at not feeling like she was pinned up against the wall - Riley stepped backwards into the lift. ”Well uh, I got work t’do. She said, once again sounding snippy and hostile.
And without another word, she tapped the button to close the doors in his face - unless he did something to stop them.
One step forward, two steps back...
Robert was somewhat concerned, but he tried to keep it off his face, then he shrugged it off, saying “It’s my job to be here ‘till the end, and then some.” He then drank the last of the whiskey, since the blandness meant there was no reason to savour.
With a gentle stretch of limbs, Kato sat back in his chair, "Well the end won't be coming anytime soon, there's nothing that can challenge us. We're the best warship in the skies." He laughed, a rare noise for the contemplative captain. "We've seen off everything else together haven't we?"
He looked up before back at his companion and best friend. "Want another glass? Then go see how the cadets are settling in?"
Her change back to the earlier way she'd talked to him, the fading of the barely concealed smile, all of it as she realized he'd seen through her lie and was now telling his own, all of it annoyed Ike to no end. She seemed so happy to give out her own attempts to confuse him, yet she didn't seem that willing to receive his, that realisation annoyed him far more than any of the snickering or looks she subsequently gave him.
In fact for a second he felt like spinning on his heel and calmly walking off, the armory which he so longed to visit was never going to be one to push away his jokes or take jibes at his memory. The idea was so tempting, that in the end, he decided to do it.
Back when he'd lived in the capitol everyone there had treated him with the respect deserved of being such a high tech piece of gear, yet here this runt, who called herself an engineer was doing her best to make him feel as stupid and ignorant as possible. It was hard for him to shake the idea watching events unfold that she'd didn't have some sort of bias against Synths, perhaps she was more a purist machine person and was doing her best to discredit their more humanoid bretherin.
Slowly and deliberately he took one step backward, drawing himself up to his full height, way above that of the runt and allowed a long pause in which his eyes surveyed her. In doing so Ike did his best to make sure they were as disapproving as possible, she'd decided seemingly that he wasn't worthy of her respect, he, the top range Synth from the best Federal technicians. If she felt she was above him such to the point where only the captain of the final warship remaining was the one to be on an even remotely level playing ground to herself then the Synth felt she deserved as little of his own respect in return.
It felt so frustrating to just give up, his stubborn side screaming at him to just ignore it and keep trying, to force through the emotional barriers. Yet, the whole ordeal was so frustrating to Ike, he just couldn't see any way this little ball of anger and hate was ever going to change the way she was or open up to him.
Without even waiting to listen to her sarcastic replies he turned around and was in the process of taking his first step when the Synth halted, one foot raised in the air. Had he just seen that? Why would anyone be carrying one of them? Maybe they were a .... He locked all attention on scrutinising someone approaching down the corridor, completely ignoring the small runt behind him, not paying her words or actions the slightest bit of attention.
Ike's eyes saw it again, that small glint of metal hidden within the approaching cadet's hands. Then it struck him what it was: a small L-20 Salezar (A handheld light laser pistol) and he relaxed again. They must have just obtained it from a small arms locker located nearby, then again, why would a cadet be just carrying one around?
His questions were answered in the single second it took for the cadet to raise her arm and take aim.
Acting almost on instinct he turned and dived towards Riley, making an attempt to push her backward, down and most importantly further into the lift. No words escaped his open lips aside from a small gurgling noise, eyes wide in sudden pain and shock.
The last thing Riley would see was the Synth toppling over forward, the clothes on his back lightly smoldering from the ever so familiar impact of a laser blast. Then the lift doors would close and block off all view of the crumpled body.
"very well, if you're sure." He'll be down on the flight deck ..." The machine skittered along before turning to face her. "Not sophisticated? Me? Let me show you sophistication missy!" From the side of the machine two panels flashed open and out popped two heavy laser cannons. "How's that for sophisticated? I'm a certified killing machine!"
Sec seemed incredibly proud of itself for this before skittering off again in the direction of the flight deck, up a flight of stairs and towards the small hangar at the side of the ship. Sec didn't really like going there much, the few combat drones which lay dormant in there, each with their own dents and scaring didn't have their own personalities that he could discern, something which made them so boring to it. Sec much preferred the other security droids about the ship rather than these space-faring things.
He looked up before back at his companion and best friend. "Want another glass? Then go see how the cadets are settling in?"
Her change back to the earlier way she'd talked to him, the fading of the barely concealed smile, all of it as she realized he'd seen through her lie and was now telling his own, all of it annoyed Ike to no end. She seemed so happy to give out her own attempts to confuse him, yet she didn't seem that willing to receive his, that realisation annoyed him far more than any of the snickering or looks she subsequently gave him.
In fact for a second he felt like spinning on his heel and calmly walking off, the armory which he so longed to visit was never going to be one to push away his jokes or take jibes at his memory. The idea was so tempting, that in the end, he decided to do it.
Back when he'd lived in the capitol everyone there had treated him with the respect deserved of being such a high tech piece of gear, yet here this runt, who called herself an engineer was doing her best to make him feel as stupid and ignorant as possible. It was hard for him to shake the idea watching events unfold that she'd didn't have some sort of bias against Synths, perhaps she was more a purist machine person and was doing her best to discredit their more humanoid bretherin.
Slowly and deliberately he took one step backward, drawing himself up to his full height, way above that of the runt and allowed a long pause in which his eyes surveyed her. In doing so Ike did his best to make sure they were as disapproving as possible, she'd decided seemingly that he wasn't worthy of her respect, he, the top range Synth from the best Federal technicians. If she felt she was above him such to the point where only the captain of the final warship remaining was the one to be on an even remotely level playing ground to herself then the Synth felt she deserved as little of his own respect in return.
It felt so frustrating to just give up, his stubborn side screaming at him to just ignore it and keep trying, to force through the emotional barriers. Yet, the whole ordeal was so frustrating to Ike, he just couldn't see any way this little ball of anger and hate was ever going to change the way she was or open up to him.
Without even waiting to listen to her sarcastic replies he turned around and was in the process of taking his first step when the Synth halted, one foot raised in the air. Had he just seen that? Why would anyone be carrying one of them? Maybe they were a .... He locked all attention on scrutinising someone approaching down the corridor, completely ignoring the small runt behind him, not paying her words or actions the slightest bit of attention.
Ike's eyes saw it again, that small glint of metal hidden within the approaching cadet's hands. Then it struck him what it was: a small L-20 Salezar (A handheld light laser pistol) and he relaxed again. They must have just obtained it from a small arms locker located nearby, then again, why would a cadet be just carrying one around?
His questions were answered in the single second it took for the cadet to raise her arm and take aim.
Acting almost on instinct he turned and dived towards Riley, making an attempt to push her backward, down and most importantly further into the lift. No words escaped his open lips aside from a small gurgling noise, eyes wide in sudden pain and shock.
The last thing Riley would see was the Synth toppling over forward, the clothes on his back lightly smoldering from the ever so familiar impact of a laser blast. Then the lift doors would close and block off all view of the crumpled body.
"very well, if you're sure." He'll be down on the flight deck ..." The machine skittered along before turning to face her. "Not sophisticated? Me? Let me show you sophistication missy!" From the side of the machine two panels flashed open and out popped two heavy laser cannons. "How's that for sophisticated? I'm a certified killing machine!"
Sec seemed incredibly proud of itself for this before skittering off again in the direction of the flight deck, up a flight of stairs and towards the small hangar at the side of the ship. Sec didn't really like going there much, the few combat drones which lay dormant in there, each with their own dents and scaring didn't have their own personalities that he could discern, something which made them so boring to it. Sec much preferred the other security droids about the ship rather than these space-faring things.
He remembers the day he came on the Last Light, not much, but he was certain it wasn’t as dented and rusty. Robert nodded and replied, “Sure, but not another, something tells me if I appear drunk in front of the cadets, I’ll never hear the end of it. Oh and thanks kato, for the whiskey and all that.” Robert smiled, which usually didn’t happen in front of cadets or privates, he made sure that he looked as serious as possible near them, sometimes he would slip up, but only so often. And when Kato gave him his self proclaimed last drink, he drank it nearly the second Kato put it down.
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