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Post by Dota on Feb 26, 2013 20:42:09 GMT -5
"ARTHUR!"
Regal leaned his upper half out of the bunk entrance, looking down the hall in the direction where Kell's raised voice was coming from.
Well, at least I know where to find him.
He cautiously poked his head into the bridge, uncertain as to what violence Kell was capable of.
"Er...Everything alright? I mean, I was just kidding about the whole Al'Xen thing."
Not that Regal thought that to be what had Kell riled up. In his mind, he didn't think his comment could be taken seriously in the slightest.
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Post by Sakabatou on Feb 26, 2013 21:06:54 GMT -5
Since Kell was back on board, it seemed prudent to the young woman to clean up after herself. She resecured the access panel to the underside of the console, leaving the rest of the hanging wires disconnected. He probably wouldn't ever open the thing, and other than the processing jitters, Arthur seemed to be working well enough. Having confirmed from Arthur that the "captain" was on the bridge, she headed to the door--it was a good time to find a hiding place.
THUD
The impact of her forehead on the immobile door put her another step closer to concussive trauma, while also reminding her that the room had been sealed. She adjusted her hairband, inadvertently smearing conductive gel in her hair.
"Arthur, if I asked really nicely, would you open the door for me, just this once? I need to hide before Kell finds out that I'm on his ship."
"The captain is already aware of your presence, sir."
She blanched. "What did you just say?"
"The captain is already aware of your presence, sir."
Arthur repeated himself perfectly, identical down to the tone and inflection.
"Well... that will be a problem." Before she could think farther on it, something caught her attention. "Wait, you didn't answer my question. About the door."
Another brief pause.
"I suppose I did not. No. ...sir."
The ship's stowaway hacker didn't even register the response. Apparently her slap-job recoding had been a little less effective (and maybe a little more damaging) than she originally thought. She was already back under the console, going over her "work," having forgotten completely about Kell.
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Post by Trunks on Feb 27, 2013 8:50:05 GMT -5
Kell knew that Regal had said something, but he was busy at the moment.
"Where is the other 'captain'?"
"She has asked that I not inform you."
There was long pause
"She is not on deck one or deck three."
Kell was pissed. He had specifically sealed the ship when he left.
"Pull the air from deck two."
"Sir, that would kill her."
At this point Kell was pacing back and forth.
"Yeah?"
"That is against my morality programming that you insisted that I have."
"Even I make mistakes."
Kell walked back over to the console. With a couple of presses and swipes the ship stopped moving. The thrusters were in full reverse and the light engines were barely on leaving the ship stationary. The sound was loud even on this deck as the engines fought against each other. It wouldn't take long now, but the engines would heat up. For most it would be unbearable inside the engineering deck.
Kell stormed out of the bridge and to his bunk where he grabbed a pistol. It was when he was leaving that he saw Regal.
"We have trouble on board..."
Kell thought before he spoke.
"If you have a gun I would like it if you brought it with you."
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Post by Dota on Feb 27, 2013 19:59:42 GMT -5
Regal, completely ignored, could only stand in the doorway and watch as Kell paced furiously. He was arguing with the computer about killing someone...and was losing. Regal stumbled aside to make way as the man marched past.
"We have trouble on board...If you have a gun I would like it if you brought it with you."
And with that, Kell was on his way. Regal instantly went for his bunk. He'd need to assemble his pistol, though it was an easy task. All the while, his thoughts churned.
How does he know I won't just shoot him in the back? Oh well. This takes care of the gun issue, I guess.
The engines continued to roar.
Does he expect me to kill someone? Or watch him kill someone?
Finishing the final adjustments on the fly, Regal darted out of his room and back toward the walkway he'd used to get up to the top deck. He caught a glimpse of Kell and followed after.
I guess an intruder would have it coming...
Regal tried to mentally prepare himself for whatever was about to transpire. He wasn't quite sure just how far he'd go to complete this mission.
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Post by Sakabatou on Feb 27, 2013 22:28:12 GMT -5
After a couple minutes of uninterrupted work, the ship's intruder realized that sweat was beginning to soak through her gloves. She stood for a spell, pulling off her jacket and tossing it over the console. She didn't feel much more comfortable in the sleeveless undershirt. She noticed for the first time that the engines were humming much louder than before, but that was normal when at FTL speeds, right?
"Arthur, isn't it a bit hot in here?"
"Indeed. Currently thirty-seven degrees centigrade, and rising at a rate of one point two five degrees per minute."
"Well, that's not really my comfort zone. Would you mind returning the ambient temperature to twenty-three?"
"The environmental controls are operating within normal parameters. The increased temperature is due to the captain running the FTL drive at the exact inverse magnitude of the impulse engines."
Oh, right... the captain. She had forgotten about him. Why in the Bringers' favor would he run the engines like that? Was he trying to tear his own ship in half? Well, he already knew she was here--no need to be subtle.
"Arthur, shut down both drives, please."
"That will not be possible. My security parameters have reasserted your identity as an intruder, and I will no longer be accepting your orders. Please understand that this does not reflect on my personal opinion of you as an individual."
"You don't have opinions, Arthur."
"Nonetheless, I am programmed to exhibit proper civility."
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Post by Trunks on Mar 1, 2013 19:54:38 GMT -5
The walk down to the second deck was quick, but enough for Kell to think this through.
"Arthur, is the other 'captain' armed at all?"
The response was quick.
"No sir. I've detected no weapons of any sort."
Kell tucked his pistol in his waist band as he arrived. He looked at Regal. "We may not need that after all."
When he arrived at the entrance to the engineering deck he grabbed the tablet from the door. He pressed some buttons and the door slid open.
Kell yelled into the room over the engines.
"Get out here now!"
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Post by Dota on Mar 1, 2013 21:52:46 GMT -5
Thanks to Kell, Regal was now running on a surge of adrenaline. He had just managed to mentally prepared himself for the possibility of gunning down the intruder when Kell turned to him (Regal had not been listening to Arthur).
"We may not need that after all."
Regal nearly stumbled flat onto his face. After all of that running and shouting, this was like hitting a brick wall. He stared as Kell turned away and wondered how many other previous clients had wanted to throw large objects at his head.
"Get out here now!"
Though not taking aim at the doorway, he held his weapon ready. All the while, he couldn't help but notice that the roar of the engines seemed a bit excessive.
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Post by Sakabatou on Mar 2, 2013 11:11:24 GMT -5
"Get out here now!"
This shout was delivered less than a meter from the young woman's face, as she was waiting at the door to do just that. She was dripping sweat and smears of conductive gel dotted her mussed hair. Her hands were raised (with her jacket hanging from one) in the universal stance for "please don't shoot me."
As she stepped out into the corridor, relishing the immediate temperature drop, she started stammering before Kell could even begin. "P-P-PLEASE don't hurt me! I can explain why I'm here... but I really don't want to."
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Post by Trunks on Mar 2, 2013 19:58:21 GMT -5
Kell relaxed as soon as he saw her. Even though Arthur had mentioned that the intruder was a she he was expecting 6'5" and built stronger than he was.
"P-P-PLEASE don't hurt me! I can explain why I'm here... but I really don't want to."
The engines died down as he slid his fingers across the tablet.
"Well you don't really have a choice on this matter."
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Dota
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Post by Dota on Mar 3, 2013 0:37:54 GMT -5
Regal, not falling for the bumbling innocent act, remained ready. It was probably for the best that he hadn't yet caught on to Kell's engine-destroying tactic.
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