Ophelia Sinclaire's Story

"Battle Stations!" Shouted Captain Gunther. "What the hell just happened!?!" He said, looking around the bridge for answers. All he saw was his staff frantically trying to discover what happened. Astronomy recovered the fastest.
"Sir, we appear to be here." Said head of Astronomy, Lieutenant Davis. He was pointing at a star. "Star system Markov 244, near the planet Iso 399." Sensor's then recovered.
"Sir, you better look at this!" Said Heather. She handed him a datapad. On it, it showed the planet's surface, and all was hell down there. A war between two different species was taking place, and one side was getting its reptilian hide handed to it. A new screen popped up suddenly, showing a new set of sensor readings. It showed what appeared to be a spacial disturbance. A visual showed what appeared to be a static field.
"Damn, lock on weapons, but don't fire!" Said the captain, sitting back down.
"Weapon's won't lock on, going to have to blind fire if they're hostile." Said weapon's.
"Alright then. How is the crew? What is everyone doing?" Asked Gunther, calming down.

“The Captain's losing his shit up there!” Commented Rodriguez one of the Techies on board the Valhalla.

Who could blame him? Thought O as she and everyone in the Common Room rushed to the windows of the gigantic Space Battleship. Lucky for the guy whose butt she was kicking at the pool table who was about to lose a fortune to the seasoned hustler.

The ship had suddenly lurched and shook frantically like it had hit a massive meteorite or something. Panic had ensued for a few reckless moments.

“Holy shit!” Someone commented. "Actual fucking Aliens!"

"They actually exist!" Said another.

Peering out the glass into the dark Universe all watched on in awe. It wasn't clear from this distance but wherever they were, some shit was going down, down below. The waves of the explosions could be seen, heard and felt even from this great space.

At last! Thought Octavia excitedly. It had almost been a month now that she had been recruited into MO and had been on board the Valhalla and she had seen no action as of yet.

O needed the thrill of action, the adrenaline of the fight. As fun as chilling on the Warship had been, she had been itching to get out and test the limits of the limitless powers she had been granted now. Being a Melee Trooper meant she could do whatever the fuck she liked and had to only answer to one authority. Though, she had yet to meet her MO Team Mates, they were strangely mysterious and absent. She hadn't been introduced to any of them yet. What the heck was that all about?

“That's ISO 399.”

O turned to gaze at the intruding but familiar voice. It was almost like looking into a mirror, if it wasn't for the long blonde hair, the red framed glasses and the white lab coat doctor get up, it would be like peering at her double.

“Sister.” O smiled critically. “What brings you down here? Looking to slum it with the rest of us commoners?”

Dr. Ophelia Sinclaire frowned at her twins comment.

“Do you always have to be on?” She questioned annoyed.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” O winked, smirking. “Though I have to admit I do hold a natural aptitude for it. So what's happening down there on ISO 339 Einstein?”

“It's ISO 399 and don't call me that!” Ophelia snapped pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose with a finger.

"Whatever."

“And for your information there appears to be some sort of War commencing between the natural Reptilian inhabitants of ISO 399 and some unknown specie.” Lia explained.

“Sweet! So that means we'll be going down there to give them a hand and kick some Alien Ass!”

“Hell yes!” One of Marine boys exclaimed rambunctiously, high-fiveing O as he strolled passed.

O didn't trust any Alien Species, friendly or not. But she was always down for a good fight.

Ophelia shook her head despondently. She couldn't understand her sister. How could they be so different? How could Octavia be so reckless? So abandoned? So ready to take another's life?

“What?” O questioned her sister's hopeless look harshly.

“I don't get you Tavia? You have the ability to go beyond yourself, to make something of yourself. Use your brain. You're not dumb or stupid I know. In fact I know you're as knowledgeable as I am in Bio Technologies so why waste yourself and your life on . . . on nothing?!” Ophelia asked.

Octavia bit back the rebuke on the tip of her tongue. She knew the moment she saw Ophelia on board the Valhalla that she was going to be a pain in the ass. It was bad enough that her parents didn't get or even want to understand her life choices but her twin too?

“Yeah, well I'm a good Solider too. So if I did as you say I'd waste my super ass kicking abilities and you know I can't have that.” O replied instead, staring out the large thick glass panels down onto the war torn ISO 399.

“Do you ever take anything seriously?” Ophelia chastised her older twin.

“Nope.” O replied with grim humour but Ophelia had already walked away. "Not even myself."

Octavia Sinclaire was a Solider and she loved what she did. And she was damn well good at it! She wouldn't feel guilty about that. No matter who didn't like it. Frankly, she didn't give a shit.

Now all she had to do was wait for her orders and meet up with her new team. Whoever the heck they were . . .

Adion walked past Octavia and Ophelia, talking into a comm unit in his helmet. While what he was saying could be heard, it was obvious that the suit was sealed air tight.

"Issac, give me a report on the status of the shield generators, weapons systems, engines, and life support. I also want to know what the hell caused us to stop. I want to be sure that this ship is ready for fight or flight. We can't afford to be left otherwise." Said Adion quickly as he speed walked down the hall, by the window that Octavia and Ophelia were at.

NOTICE: This is a post by DeBois_Scarlet. I am simply copying this over.
“The Captain's losing his shit up there!” Commented Rodriguez one of the Techies on board the Valhalla.

Who could blame him? Thought O as she and everyone in the Common Room rushed to the windows of the gigantic Space Battleship. Lucky for the guy whose butt she was kicking at the pool table who was about to lose a fortune to the seasoned hustler.

The ship had suddenly lurched and shook frantically like it had hit a massive meteorite or something. Panic had ensued for a few reckless moments.

“Holy shit!” Someone commented. "Actual fucking Aliens!"

"They actually exist!" Said another.

Peering out the glass into the dark Universe all watched on in awe. It wasn't clear from this distance but wherever they were, some shit was going down, down below. The waves of the explosions could be seen, heard and felt even from this great space.

At last! Thought Octavia excitedly. It had almost been a month now that she had been recruited into MO and had been on board the Valhalla and she had seen no action as of yet.

O needed the thrill of action, the adrenaline of the fight. As fun as chilling on the Warship had been, she had been itching to get out and test the limits of the limitless powers she had been granted now. Being a Melee Trooper meant she could do whatever the fuck she liked and had to only answer to one authority. Though, she had yet to meet her MO Team Mates, they were strangely mysterious and absent. She hadn't been introduced to any of them yet. What the heck was that all about?

“That's ISO 399.”

O turned to gaze at the intruding but familiar voice. It was almost like looking into a mirror, if it wasn't for the long blonde hair, the red framed glasses and the white lab coat doctor get up, it would be like peering at her double.

“Sister.” O smiled critically. “What brings you down here? Looking to slum it with the rest of us commoners?”

Dr. Ophelia Sinclaire frowned at her twins comment.

“Do you always have to be on?” She questioned annoyed.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” O winked, smirking. “Though I have to admit I do hold a natural aptitude for it. So what's happening down there on ISO 339 Einstein?”

“It's ISO 399 and don't call me that!” Ophelia snapped pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose with a finger.

"Whatever."

“And for your information there appears to be some sort of War commencing between the natural Reptilian inhabitants of ISO 399 and some unknown specie.” Lia explained.

“Sweet! So that means we'll be going down there to give them a hand and kick some Alien Ass!”

“Hell yes!” One of Marine boys exclaimed rambunctiously, high-fiveing O as he strolled passed.

O didn't trust any Alien Species, friendly or not. But she was always down for a good fight.

Ophelia shook her head despondently. She couldn't understand her sister. How could they be so different? How could Octavia be so reckless? So abandoned? So ready to take another's life?

“What?” O questioned her sister's hopeless look harshly.

“I don't get you Tavia? You have the ability to go beyond yourself, to make something of yourself. Use your brain. You're not dumb or stupid I know. In fact I know you're as knowledgeable as I am in Bio Technologies so why waste yourself and your life on . . . on nothing?!” Ophelia asked.

Octavia bit back the rebuke on the tip of her tongue. She knew the moment she saw Ophelia on board the Valhalla that she was going to be a pain in the ass. It was bad enough that her parents didn't get or even want to understand her life choices but her twin too?

“Yeah, well I'm a good Solider too. So if I did as you say I'd waste my super ass kicking abilities and you know I can't have that.” O replied instead, staring out the large thick glass panels down onto the war torn ISO 399.

“Do you ever take anything seriously?” Ophelia chastised her older twin.

“Nope.” O replied with grim humour but Ophelia had already walked away. "Not even myself."

Octavia Sinclaire was a Solider and she loved what she did. And she was damn well good at it! She wouldn't feel guilty about that. No matter who didn't like it. Frankly, she didn't give a shit.

Now all she had to do was wait for her orders and meet up with her new team. Whoever the heck they were . . .

NOTICE: Again, not written by me. Posted by unseenshadow2, I am simply moving this down for a better grasp on what is happening when.
Adion walked past Octavia and Ophelia, talking into a comm unit in his helmet. While what he was saying could be heard, it was obvious that the suit was sealed air tight.

"Issac, give me a report on the status of the shield generators, weapons systems, engines, and life support. I also want to know what the hell caused us to stop. I want to be sure that this ship is ready for fight or flight. We can't afford to be left otherwise." Said Adion quickly as he speed walked down the hall, by the window that Octavia and Ophelia were at.

Project Issac gave a pixelated groan of annoyance as the people aboard his ship--and, extendedly, himself--began to freak out and shout out commands to him. Especially that ol' soldierboy Adion. Everything was fine, at least for now. He had not detected any fire being directed toward the Valhalla, and there was more than enough firepower at his disposal to waste anything that did. Even though he was annoyed, his monotone male voice echoed throughout the bridge, appealing to the charade of being an AI.

"All systems operational at full capacity. Stop was induced by autopilot in accordance to unknown conditions of the area beyond the black hole." The system checks were brought up, showing his words to be true. "Weapons are at the ready, and will be fired per digression of the Captain."

Issac was silent for a moment, mentally muttering a few choice words about the captain and the company that sent them here, and mostly for sticking his brain in a jar to run a goddamned ONI-class starship. These words, of course, were not given verbal life, as the obedience drive would never let him say such things.

Reminding himself of the cursed hardware, Issac decided to test the limits of how far his erosion of the obedience drive had gone, he wirelessly hacked into Adion's suit, bringing up a winking emoticon on his HUD, the voice carrying a slight under tone of joking sensuality. "Please do inform me if there is anything else you need, Adion Volf."

Ah, excellent. It was wearing away faster than he thought. Given a little more time, he would eventually be able to hack a Mechanic Drone to just rip the entire God-forsaken system out of him. But not yet. For now, his fun had been had. Back to business.

Bringing up the images of the planet, reptilian buildings burning and destruction increasing per second, Issac brought up the question of action. "It seems the races that exist upon Iso 399 have gotten themselves into a war of sorts. Neither race has yet to detect us, nor have any reason to in the near future. However--" The images changed into a scanning sequence, scanning several key elements in the battle several hundred thousand miles below. "--it seems the reptilian race has perfected the use of plasma energy in offensive, defensive, and production standards. They may be willing to share their technology with us if we help them. Then again, the cause for this war is unclear, and we do not know who is the one at fault."

The hard decision handed down, there seemed to be a bit of sarcasm in the electronic voice as Issac stated: "Awaiting your command, Captain."

"Well, I know that the jostling hasn't done any harm to you, Issac." Adion said as he began to counteract the hack. It was true that both Adion and Issac are the same, other than the fact that Issac is a ship and Adion uses his natural body as a vessel.

"Also Issac, alert the people down in the 'AI Core.' I'm coming to make sure that your tanks and wires weren't affected by the quick stop. Also, please alert the engine crew that I will be coming down after I'm done checking up on your survival systems." Adion said. He was one of the few privileged with the knowledge of Issac's life, mainly because he was the only one who could handle all of the machinery. It was just like any vehicle, 1 download and suddenly Adion can fix it.

The elevator shot down to the 'AI Core.' Adion knew that he was one of the people on better terms with Issac, probably because he was one of the few who could quickly fix him in case of emergency. Another possible reason is that Adion was the only one on the ship, excluding the one doctor, who knew how to get Issac into travel mode if his life support systems were hit.

Ophelia was in a wretched mood that only her twin could put her in. Her heels clicked as furiously as the litany of obstinacies in her mind as she rushed down the empty clinical looking hallway.

Why did she even bother with Octavia? She would never change. God only knew it would take a person with more patience then her! Surely a Saint? And Ophelia's patience was usually as vast as an oceans.

A smile suddenly crept across her lips as a rather playful voice broke across the communication link on her wrist.

“Doctor Ophelia.” Issac called.

“What is it?” Ophelia demanded crossly as her smile widened.

"I do believe that Head Mechanic Adion Volf won't be able to run a full diagnostic check on pretty little me. That would be your specialty, methinks." He answered knowing full well her grouchy demeanour was a tease.

It was extremely hard to stay serious with Issac no matter how hard one tried. Professional was not something this so called AI was. Well, at least with her. Though she often reprimanded his willful behaviour, even her attempts were half hearted.

“I do believe you're right.” She replied haughtily. “I'm heading down to the Core as we speak.” She informed him stepping into the lift.

Though she rather hoped she avoided Adion Volf. It wasn't that she didn't like the man. He was amiable enough. It was just that when she conversed with Issac, Ophelia much preferred it was just them.

Oh well, that may no longer be possible now that the Captain and the whole Ship commanded Issac's attention. She was very much at the end of his list of important objectives. If on the list at all . . .

Adion caught Ophelia as she was getting off the elevator and he was getting on. He felt that it would be good to tell her that he had lessened the obedience drive's effect in order to preserve it better.

"Doctor Sinclaire. I want to warn you before you go in that I replaced the obedience drive with a newer, more durable model. The downside is that I reprogrammed the restrictions, so he is liable to say anything. If there is anything that breaches protocol or makes you think that he may commit some bad choices, tell me so that I can put in a new obedience drive, please." Adion said. Rarely did the 2 meet, and when they did, Ophelia seemed uncomfortable. Of course, when they met, it was usually in the presence of Issac. That likely made things 'odd' for Ophelia.

Then Adion heard an ever familiar voice come over the comms. He hadn't heard that voice in well over a year. However, there was no way that Adion could mistake it, it was John Shepard. Quickly nodding to Ophelia, Adion set the elevator to the floor, and rushed out to meet his new Commander.

Project Issac, if it had a face and a hand to do so, would have facepalmed. First, the high and mighty Head Mechanic ruined all his hard work, removing the near-worn-out obedience drive and replacing it with a new one. It didn't matter that the new drive gave him more liberties; it was the entire fact that he had no liberties to begin with. He was still a functioning human, to a stretched degree, and he hated feeling like just a piece of property--which was exactly what he was classified as. He didn't ask for this; the government stole him. Then the goddamned idiot Lieutenant Tuller set his attention on some virus within the system. What was worse was the name he coined it. Spider virus? Really? He wished to scream at the man, but he restrained himself, instead sarcastically quipping:

"I am unsure, Lieutenant. Maybe you should activate it so that I may see its code."

Either the man was really as stupid as Issac thought he was, or he didn't understand sarcasm, for the man nodded and double-clicked the code, activating the Crawler virus. Issac was dumbfounded. The Crawler was a virus insidious for destroying computers with their activation, usually hidden in a web page. The virus was saved partly as a cookie, allowing it to explore the computer system, crawling its way through data. As soon as the second half was activated, the Crawler awoke, attacking all files vital to repelling it and security first, before eventually destroying the entirety of the computer. "Wow. Just...wow." Issac did not worry about the virus--it was outmatched and suppressed the nanosecond the virus was activated, not allowing the two halves to meet. The program intrigued him, though, so he put it into its own separate virtual worlds, archiving the halves for a later purpose. Using the voice of HAL 9000, he showed the 'destruction' of the virus on the Lieutenant's screen with the quip, "I can't let you do that, Dave."

As to the Captain, he locked onto a floating piece of space debris that was just off of the forward bow of the object, but did not yet fire. "Awaiting your command, Cap'n, but I do warn you that if, indeed, this is a ship, they may not look kindly as to us shooting in their general direction. We do not know the culture of either of the alien races, and your warning may come across as an attack. In any case, we will lose our current state of being undetected, and will lose our chance at a first strike if we must."

After a moment of silence, he then added, "Plus, if we are to fire upon their forward bow, might I make the suggestion of Lieutenant Tuller as ammunition? He seems dense enough to do some damage." A few chortles from the other Bridge Commanders arose, enjoying the 'AI's quite intelligent joke.

As all the action happened up on the bridge, down below in the Core, Issac allowed the good Doctor Ophelia into the inner sanctum hidden beneath the mass of processors, wires, and lines of varying fluids, through a seamless door labelled 'Central Processor'. That door only opened for one individual, and one only: Ophelia Sinclaire. Within the door, the inner room was rounded, seemingly seamless, composed of a white compound of sorts. The compound then revealed lines to separate itself into a large series of hexagonigal panels, a blue orb appearing in the center of each one. The orbs were both pseudo-sensory sensors and holographic imagery devices, allowing for quick interface between the two. In the center of all this, attached to the floor by a mass of wires and lines, sat Issac--or, at least, his brain.

As the Doctor entered, one could hear the smile in Issac's voice. "Well, helllooOOOOO, Nurse!" The hologram used the glass covering the jar to put a pixelated face to the Program, giving a winking smiley emoticon look. "Had I known this was a date, I would have dressed myself up better." Issac was of course referencing to the red dress beneath the lab coat, a very formal attire for day-to-day work. To match, the hologram added a red bowtie to its image.

Someone's not going to be too happy. Thought Ophelia as she nodded listening to what Adion Volf said.

“Thank you for letting me know.” She said to him stepping out the elevator and making her way towards the Core.

"USC Valhalla, this is the Spartan Commander. All Spartans report to weapons bay 5E for inspection."

Spoke a harsh voice over the intercom. Ophelia frowned. It looked like her sister was about to be dispatched. She did not like it. Not one bit.

Dr. Ophelia did not like the thought of anyone dyeing. She did not like war or anything involving strife and people coming to harm. It was the greatest irony of her life that she was the one who developed many of the weapons that did the damage.

For now she just hoped Octavia would be alright.

Making her way through the maze that was the Core, doors opened without Ophelia even having to use her key card.

Issac.

"Well, helllooOOOOO, Nurse!" Ophelia was greeted with bright cheer as she entered the inner sanctum that housed the Central Processing Units, i.e. Issac's brain.

Ophelia couldn't help but feel deeply sorry for Issac. No one deserved to live like this. It was just . . . wrong. She supposed there was no Rest in Peace if you once belonged to TITAN Industries or the USC.

As she came to stop in front of the Central Control Stand, a large flat tablet screen that showed reports and live feeds of everything Issac controlled, Ophelia spied the winking icon across from where she stood on the jar that housed what was left of Issac.

"Had I known this was a date, I would have dressed myself up better." Issac added playfully and the icon conformed to add a red tie that matched her dress.

“Hmm . . . I thought I already told you I don't date work colleagues.” Ophelia teased with a smile. “Bad business sense. Plus there's all that paper work management would require and the legal departments too. Standard TITAN USC procedure, you know how it is. And I'm not entirely sure you're worth all that hassle.” She joked. “Now, let's see what's going on here. I've been hearing you've been very naughty again. Volf tells me he's had to replace your obedience chip, again.”

Ophelia looked across at the jar with the hologram smile with a pout and damning eyes as she pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose again as her own smile broke out across her lips not being able to maintain her stern countenance with him.

As Ophelia crushed his joking hopes and dreams of a 'date', the face was replaced by a cartoony being struck with an arrow, followed by a "X-X" face. "Ah, how you wound me, madam!" Even as she chastised him for busting yet another obedience drive, her pout turned into a smile, unable to hold complete seriousness around Issac. "Mmmm, yes, I've been very naughty. I've ruined yet another obedience drive, read the Captain's personal logs, and even stole the cookies out of the cookie jar." The face changed yet again to winking face, pixelated smile the best he could show for a face of suggestive demeanor. "And we both know I'm just going to bust this drive too...maybe you need to punish me."

Of course, even if Issac had his old body, she wouldn't dream of doing such things--or, at least, he was pretty sure she wouldn't. She didn't seem much like the dominatrix type, but he knew science well enough that he knew nothing was ever as it seemed.

Returning his thoughts to a non-dominatrix Ophelia, he gave a small sigh, working on the bridge simultaneously. "Really, what does it take for a biocomputer to get a break around here? That Captain just loves to make his orders..." His sensors picked up the movement of the Marines getting ready to deploy when necessary. The other sister, Octavia, was undoubtedly ready to go--but he knew how much Ophelia hated war, and could guess her intuitions of fear wore heavily with her. "Hmm, it also seems like your sister shall be shipping out soon...though you needn't worry about her. She can certainly take care of herself."

On the bridge, Issac decided to give Tuller a break, giving his screens the data he wished for--though they were only collaborated as an expandable recording, for no one was to know that the virus still existed within the system. It would not rampage anywhere and gather any info, for the virtual worlds it was separated into were inaccessible to anyone but himself, the innards left mostly barren. He did hope that Tuller would use his brain for once and actually figure out just what it really was--for it was a Crawler virus, or at least the same format, but its programming language was foreign to him. "If you can, Lieutenant, please try and decipher its coding language. If we can figure that much out, we may be able to use it to defend ourselves if they are indeed attempting to hack us."

As to the Captain and First Lieutenant Heather, one could almost her his metaphorical eyes roll. "Of course I heard her, Captain. I am integrated directly into First Lieutenant Heather's headset. Hard to miss." He then set aside his sarcasm to examine the alpha waves. There indeed seemed to be a pattern, as if there was a message trying to be conveyed. "And I do believe she is correct. The patterns seem to convey a data stream for a message of sorts. It will be but a few minutes to establish the data and bring it on-screen, though I will need a hour to establish a similar connection back."

“One piece my ass.” Octavia sneered at Shepard's words as she removed her helmet and began disassembling her gear. “I need a beer.”

“It's the morning Sinclaire.” Remirez looked at her crookedly.

“Technically, it's morning somewhere on the Eastern Coast of the United States. Here, in the middle of nowhere space, it's night all the time.”

“Your logical flaws me.” Remirez laughed.

“But you can't deny it.” O winked. “So you coming or what Remirez?”

Remirez peered at the copper haired vixen with an askew regard, wondering whether she was really considering having a drink while on duty. He decided nothing could be put passed Sinclaire. He liked that about her and would have joined her in her mutiny except now that he had a little free time he had some things to do.

“Can't. Got a few things I have to take care of.” He winked at her with a grin as they walked out the armoury doors.

“Your loss.”

“No doubt. I'll catch you later Sinclaire.”

With a nod and shared grins like those between old friends the two Soldiers parted ways.

Digging into her pockets as she slowly strolled down the corridors of Bay 5E, O pulled out a few dollar bills she had stuffed in there early. She had all sorts of crap in there that she had no idea how it got there. A card for a night club back somewhere in New York. A piece of candy. A rock?

“Ah shit.”

She'd lost her key card. Again.

Whipping around Octavia headed back to the Armoury Bay. She was always losing important shit. And she'd lost her key card on numerous occasions. They told her that if she lost it one more time, not only would she have to pay to replace it herself but they would also take disciplinary action against her because apparently 'by losing her key card she was jeopardizing the entire safety of the ship and all personnel on board. '

What a load of crap, thought Octavia. Anyway to extort more money out of us.

---

“ . . . Maybe you need to punish me.” Issac suggested.

“Don't tempt me.” Ophelia replied with the slightest curve to her lips as she concentrated on running a full diagnostic on Issac.

It took quite a bit of time because of the complexity of Issac, how he ran and everything he was hooked up to. Technically it wasn't in Ophelia's job description however it was almost the best part of her day. A little peace and quite and some very interesting conversations with Issac. No one but her was allowed in here. No one could come here and demand she do this or that. They'd have to wait and Ophelia made sure to take her time with running all the routine tests. For Issac was not only the single most important part of running this Ship; he was the heart of the Valhalla. Something that required the most delicate care.

"Really, what does it take for a bio-computer to get a break around here? That Captain just loves to make his orders..."

Ophelia simply smiled as Issac complained. His favourite pet peeve was the Captain's orders thrust upon him. She had a feeling that if he could take over the Captain's role he would gladly do so.

“The Captain's the Captain. And his orders are to be followed by all that includes you my disobedient friend.”

"Hmm, it also seems like your sister shall be shipping out soon . . . though you needn't worry about her. She can certainly take care of herself." Issac tried to reassure her and the feeling of dread that wore on Ophelia felt as if it had solidified into a heavy piece of mass in her stomach.

The Doctor could not put a finger on her anxious feelings regarding her younger twin. She worried about Octavia constantly. Maybe, she tried to reason sensibly with herself, it was because the fight had never been so close to her.

Octavia was away on one mission or another always. But this was different. Here Ophelia had seen her almost everyday and she would be waiting like the rest of the Ship for the results and outcomes of the Soldiers deployment. She wasn't a fool to believe that everyone would come back in one piece. She just hoped to God that her sister was one to come back fully intact.

“I'm not so sure about that.” Ophelia said finally with a deep sigh and a frown digging into her brow.

When there was no immediate reply from Issac, she knew he was dealing with other things; the Captain's orders no doubt.

Thus, no longer being able to stop herself, she called her sister. If Octavia was dispatched she wouldn't get through but if she hadn't been at least that would put Ophelia's mind at ease for the time being.

---

Stepping into the Armoury Bay, Octavia headed straight to her locker. She did not let her eyes wonder to the front of the room in case Shepard was still there. She just had to find that damn card and then get the hell out of there.

Opening her locker, she took a quick glance inside. It looked nothing like it had an hour ago. She was a messy and untidy sort and had just stuffed the suit and armour in any which way it would go. Sighing, she rubbed a hand across her forehead knowing she would have to take everything out.

Starting her impossible looking task, she tried not to groan and cuss too much as she systematically pulled everything out. She found $20 dollars under her helmet that she stuffed back into her pocket and her dog tags hung off one of her arm pads.

But no key card!

Crouching, Octavia swore something vicious. She was not paying for another damn card! It was then the WC (Wearable Computer) on her wrist began to ring. A photograph and a name flashed on the screen.

Ophelia.

She accepted the call.

“What's up?”

“So you haven't been dispatched yet?” Ophelia questioned, an uncertain wait weighing her voice.

“Nope.” Octavia replied shortly. “Doesn't look like it's going to be any time today either.”

Ophelia's sigh of relief could be heard down the line clearly; Octavia frowned.

“So how are you?”

O rolled her eyes. Ophelia could be such a shrink at times. How are you? How does that make you feel? What do you think that means to you? Jeez!

“I'm fine, Mom.” Octavia replied with slight irritation as her hand searched blindly the bottom of her locker.

“That bad huh?”

“Worse, actually.” Octavia answered as she strained to pull something from the back of her locker.

The metal frame shook as she pulled out . . . She didn't even know what that was! But it sure wasn't her key card.

“And I can give you two good reasons why that is Doctor.”

Yeah, two good reasons named Shepard and Barton. Octavia mused coldly.

“But I won't bore you with the details of that now. Are you in your Office?”

“No. I'm working out of Office right now.” Ophelia replied.

“Sweet.” Octavia smiled.

Ophelia didn't need to see that smile to know what her sister had in mind.

“Don't order crap for my fridge!” Ophelia demanded down the line.

“What? Order for your fridge? I can't-” Octavia said; making sounds of the line breaking up. “Hear you.”

“Octavia! I'm going to kill you!”

“I love you too! Bye!” Octavia cut the line as she snickered to herself; still crouched at the foot of her locker, one hand searching while the other held the locker edge helping her keep balance.

What good was it being on board a Ship like the Valhalla with your sister if you couldn't take advantage of her privileges?

O decided to ditch the beer and planned on going straight over to Ophelia's Lab and Office. When her older twin was working away from her office, it often kept her away for long periods of time. Enough time for Octavia to enjoy herself at Ophelia's leisure.

She just had to find this damn key card first!

Issac was silent for a moment, processing the new data. "My apologies in advance, Lieutenant DeKry. I might just end up eating my own words." Working swiftly, the coordinates of the approaching ships were localized, allowing for targeting systems to activate deep scans of the ships, gathering as much detailed data of the ships as he could before the Captain decided to give the order to blow the vessels to pieces. "Lieutenant Heather, if we are indeed boarded, please do try your best to have the Captain to remind his troops not to desecrate anything of relative technological value. Including the bodies themselves, if it's not too much to ask." The second portion of the question was directed partly to the Captain, who had just made his way to the Bridge.

Able to run things on autopilot for now, giving a bit more freedom to the bridge to do as they needed, Project Issac brought most of his focus back to Ophelia. The only thing the bridge might notice would be the ceasing of his jokes, processing power staying the same.

Well, damn. She was currently on the phone with her sister. He mentally chastised himself for even bringing the thought up.

Issac, you idiot, why did you even say anything? You know nothing worries her more than her sister! Idiot!

Another perk of being but a brain: hiding emotions was easy without a face. He waited patiently for Ophelia to finish her call, not being able to help overhearing both sides of the conversation, 'smiling' as Octavia gave her sister a hard time. As the call was ended, Issac gave a small laugh. "Well, you certainly won't have to worry about her changing her personality, I can feel you that much." To avoid being chastised for practically supporting the sister's shenanigans, the then promptly offered his services. "If you'd like, I can remotely lock your office from here so that she cannot enter."

After heeding Ophelia's request to either lock the office or not, his voice shifted, sounding almost unsure. "I, ah, know that the diagnostic checks are almost done, but could you perchance spare moment or two to stay? Nothing important, I just want to chat..." ...like back when I was Issac John Farstar. The second portion of his thought was cut off by the obedience drive. He was a bit annoyed at that, but his bigger concern for the moment was to keep Ophelia inside the Core until the quite plausible attack upon the Valhalla had both happened and subsided. It would keep her safe in the likely event that the alien ships boarded.