Bond Mason's Story

Minn

Eddie drew a gun. Put it to Bond's neck. Minn knew she should stop him, but watched in fear. She was paralyzed. Her limbs fell cold and her lips tightened, no breath coming in or going out.

And he pulled the trigger. He pulled...

Thankfully Bond was okay. True, since Bond was the culprit behind her kitchen being destroyed, she did want him punished, but killed? Why had Eddie reacted so rashly? Eyeing him as he returned near her, she saw the switch in his expression like a light being clicked on, a complete change. He handed her a cookie, apologizing for his behavior with the gun, but Minn's thoughts surrounded her memories. Her boss had been the same, crazy the 'sisters' said. Able to jump from anger to joy in half a second. All Eddie needed was a breathy laugh swirling out from perfectly white teeth.

But he offered the cookie, smiling warmly. His eyes were genuinely warm, trying to help her. The aggression wasn't directed toward her. She had to wonder though, one day would it be? Did she have to be careful around him? Just like with her previous employer?

Reminding herself that she had to be optimistic and that this crew was not like the men she had encountered before, she smiled a bit and took the cookie gingerly. "It's okay," she assured the pilot. "And thank you."

With that she nibbled on the edge with her smile widening a little bit more.

Saein wasn’t sure what to think of what Eddie did to Bond. Putting an empty gun to someones neck was a death threat. On the other hand, she had meant to threaten to cause grave bodily harm, and by accident almost did cause it. Eddie was more in control - if he was absolutely sure the gun was empty of course.

She watched Minn start cleaning, it was a shame this was the way the cook got rid of tension, as she would rather watch Bond clean everything now. Three times. At least. Wasn’t there any more pleasant way for Minn to relax?

Eddie offered Minn a cookie that had somehow stayed clean. That was sweet of him, Saein smiled as she looked back and forth between them. These two she liked, Bond would have to work hard to get back on her good side. She told them “I’m going to wash this dirt off, and after that I’ll be at my station if anyone needs me”, placing her hand on Minn’s back for a moment when she said the last four words. “I can see a shitstorm coming and I’m all out of TP” she quoted a song that had been popular when she was a teenager.

As soon as she had closed the door to their room behind her, Saein dropped her top layer of clothes right there to avoid getting dirt on anything. One could easily trip over them in that spot, but she didn’t think Minn would come have her second shower of the day before she finished. The warm water helped her thoughts and feelings back to completely calm and normal. “I can’t believe he acted like a kid like that” she said to herself. “At least nobody got hurt.” She hummed the song, trying to remember the rest of the lyrics.

Alexander

Alex didn't know what to do. The moment the small tablets were thrown, the doctor felt himself freeze. It was his naturally reaction. He was the only doctor on the ship, if he got injured, then the rest of the crew was screwed. He felt his tension relax when colored smoke was the only thing released.

His tension returned when he heard someone firing. He immediately slid behind a wall, breathing deeply. He couldn't see anything, and he didn't want to. If something bad happened, he would deal with it after the smoke cleared.

Although, he could hear people talking, so everything seemed to be alright. Alex decided to stay behind the wall. He didn't want to deal with the wrath of Reggie. He could just make her out a short distance away. She didn't seem to happy.

Regina

Reggie could feel the smoke settling on her shoulders. She could feel the tension in the room, anyone could feel this tension. She needed to move, but she couldn't. She could already feel it in her leg, the joints reacting oddly to the dust.

She usually wrapped the mechanical part of her leg, to keep unknown debris and particles from entering, but she had forgotten to after popping her knee back into place. The unknown smoke was sifting it's way through her leg and sticking to random joints and sprigs.

"Everyone, put away your weapons!" She called. "If anyone else threatens to harm anyone or readies their weapon at all, I swear I am kicking you off this damn ship!"

She moved carefully, not wanting her leg to collapse beneath her. She waved some dust out of her face and moved towards the wall to have something brace her. "And don't take that as an empty threat! I don't care how long it will take to get back onto this mission if it meant that you crazy lunatics were off my ship!"

Reggie could already feel the fatigue from the movement. It took more time and energy to move carefully around her mechanical leg as opposed to just walking. It hurt, but at least she didn't feel like shit when walking a short distance.

Relaxing against the wall, Reggie took a second to breathe. "MAK! Activate the sprinkler system for the kitchen only!" She called. "Dlew, make sure you're not exposed to too much water." She said quietly to the android. Shortly after, water started to sprinkle down from the ceiling. It was cold, but it felt great and Reggie relished in the feeling.

The dust slowly disappeared and the colors began to drip off of people. Once everyone was clean, Reggie called to MAK to deactivate the sprinklers. "Now." Reggie said calmly. "Everyone, get back to work. I don't want to see anyone laying around. We will be taking off in 5 minutes."

She pushed off the wall and walked calmly to the exit of the kitchen. "If everyone is not in their designated station by then, I will kick you out the hangar doors and let you float through hyperspace!"

She turned abruptly and glared at her crew. "Colin, just get the recruits to their stations. They can be given a tour at a different time." She looked over the recruits and Colin to find Bond and Arc standing next to each other.

"You two will meet me up at my quarters after take off." With that she turned again and left the kitchen.

(OOC: Oh man, I missed the prank?! Sorry, I'm on a vacation, and this is like, the first time I got access to the computer. I just sort of quickly scanned through.)

"Shaah!" Rokunam cried as soon as the explosions went off. His instincts had went off, and his hands and wrists started cracking with crackling green energy as he ducked down low. His eyes stung in the smoke, giving him the need to blink. Though, as soon as the dust started to settle, it was then quickly and mutually realized that it was just a bad, prank? Not to mention it came with, consequences.

Rokunam's power faded, and he said in an annoyed coarse tone, "It was certainly unnecessary for the Mason to cause such a..." he took a moment to look for the word, "Ruckus! I do not think anybody benefited from such a, a," he was lost for words. Then, one of the crew members, the pilot, the Eddie Ackers, had held him at gunpoint. He even dared fire, but, it was empty. "Well, something like this was bound to happen, but the effects, at a perspective, haven't been too bad." He let his gaze wander to the Eddie Ackers and the Shariva, the Minerva Darv, "But at others, not so much," he added. A, troubled, history that he hadn't entirely understood. That wasn't the right way of putting it. He understood the whole concept completely, but, he always had a hard time understanding, how, social aspects were added in. That was a problem Rokunam had, when reading a person's past. He never really understood how the social aspects worked. He knew they somehow directly effected a person, even though it seemed indirect. Rokunam wasn't the much of a social person himself, in fact, his species was very anti-social. Friendly, yes, but not social, or, at least not in the same way most humanoids were social. Rokunam had always wondered if he should have started learning how to speak Slang or Ubby-Dubby, or Pig Latin. Perhaps he'd learn more.

Though, finally, the captain spoke up, ordering everybody to their stations. The Colin was again, instructed to be responsible for the recruits, and to take them to their stations. Rokunam turned his gaze toward him, but then decided it was best he got out of the kitchen, before he got soaked. Sure he wasn't going to short himself out, and he obviously wasn't in combat, but, it still wasn't a good idea to, well, "ignite" while wet.

Dlew found out quickly that the prankster had been the engineer. The man’s name was Bond, and Dlew did not like him at all. This man, the way he acted, it vaguely reminded the android of the raiders, how he had been captured by people aphetic towards whether or not someone got hurt, or if for instance they had robotic parts that were really sensitive, or perhaps they seemed emotionless but you beat them for fun anyway because they thought you didn’t have any feelings or emotions! Dlew was getting angry with the thoughts and looking down, he realized he’d been death-gripping the counter. Immediately pulling his hand away, he looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Calming down, Dlew sighed, trying to push out these unhappy thoughts.

It was about now that Dlew realized his mechanics had begun to seize up with the dust that had gotten into them, his joints now becoming irritated. Looking up, he heard Regina order for MAK to turn on the sprinklers, and then her attention was on him. "Dlew, make sure you're not exposed to too much water," she said.

Dlew nodded as he ducked under a table, though finding much to his dismay that already his joints were becoming extremely restricted, his movements slowing considerably. He simply hoped now that the table was enough to protect him from further damage.

Watching with his emotionless eyes, he witness everyone In the room get a thorough washing, the table doing little for him, but still keeping away most of the water. The Captain spoke again once it was all through, ordering everyone to get back to work and that they’d be taking off in five. Standing as fast as he could, he’d hoped that he could’ve spoken to the Captain before she left though in the time it took him to come out from beneath his shelter, she was already gone. Five minutes? Dlew knew he wouldn’t be able to get to the bridge in time and it would take him forever to get the dust out of his gears. Hopefully the circuitry in his head would remain untouched by the tiny particles, but he doubted it. He’d have to check after they launched to make sure no serious damage occurred. Deciding that he wouldn’t have enough time, Dlew now spoke to the AI. “MAK,” he said, “Couold you tell the Captain I might not make it to the bridge in time? My joints are acting up.” He waited for the AI’s response, and then began his slow struggle to his position, hoping that in the process his joints wouldn’t pop out or stop working completely.

Finally, after all of his work on the bridge had been accomplished, Dlew finally stood from his chair. Now was as good a time as many to go down to the hangar, and he needed it… Badly.

As the android made his way from the bridge, he estimated he was nearly halfway to his destination when suddenly a loud groan escaped his legs, the sounds of metal against metal shrieking before totally seizing up. Collapsing to the ground, Dlew’s arms flailed out as he tried to catch himself, though failed due to his arms being slow to respond. He hit the ground with a loud thud and slowly moved to try to unjam his leg, though to no avail as his arms ceased working next. “Ma –“ CRACK!

Dlew’s eyes widened as he felt a sharp pain in his throat, the dust now settling into his voice box. “No…” he thought as he desperately tried to get his body to move. More ear shattering noises escaped his gears as they cranked and cracked before finally a loud snap emanated from his arm, coupled with an intense pain that finally allowed him to move it.

Producing his Tablet, the android slowly and shakily set it on the ground in front of him so he could see what he was doing. Opening a program that allowed him to send messages to everyone onboard the ship, the android managed ‘help,’ then sent it to all contacts. It was then that his arm locked again, not that it was moving to its full extent anyway; so Dlew simply laid there, sprawled out on the floor in a sort of complete paralysis, hoping that someone would happen to open their message inbox. Fear was what swept over him now, he could only hope someone would find him before permanent damage was done.

Bond

"Well not that close..." he said, until Arc added the part about throwing him under the bus. He laughed at this, ruffling back his hair. "Fine, fine. Wouldn't be the first time. Won't be the last, I'm sure."

Letting out a sigh, he ventured to the opposite hall and waved Arc to follow. Take-off would be soon. They needed to be at their stations. "I'm going to the engine room. If you want to join. Up to you," he said, smiling and flipping his screwdriver in the air. "Might find more BBs...or you know...good company." With that, he gave a wink and started away, not concerned whether she followed or not just yet.


Minn

"No, nothing...important." She hurriedly pulled the door shut, not even thinking about the fact that she was supposed to be changing clothes. Her thoughts remained worried for Eddie, even though his comments were a bit off-putting. This happened before. Something traumatic as his past would bother anyone, but the switch was so...sudden, like he said. She wished she could help but didn't know how to. So she accompanied him to the kitchen, putting on a smile.

Remnants of the BB dust still lingered here and there in the kitchen and Minn set to work finding rags and watering them before cleaning the space thoroughly. If Regina found the space in such a state, she probably wouldn't feel that Minn was very responsible with her duties. So, fixated on cleaning, she mapped out her plan to finish the job in enough time to cook food for the crew too.

His green eyes lifted to Eddie once she noticed the silence. Pressing her lips together, she scrambled for words.

"Your take-off was...good," she ended lamely.

"What? With your charming personality?" Arc replied sarcastically to Bond, grinning even further before he walked off, motioning for her to follow. Shrugging, more to herself than to him, seeming as he had already turned around, she skipped off after him. She had already seen and investigated the armory, and done everything she could without knowing specifics about what they would be up against and having no particular task to complete. She made a mental note to remember to talk to The Captain about that, but most likely she'd forget anyway.

When Arc caught up to bond she slowed up her pace. "I think for now the good company." She said looking ahead at where they were going, she had yet to find the location of the engine room. Whatever exactly the engine roomed contained, other than the engine of course. "Though of course, I wouldn't count out the BB's just yet, you know, in case the company turns out to be not so good." She continued, smirking slightly "Or boring. I could never handle boring people..." She added on the end, though more as if she was thinking out loud to herself then to Bond. Her smirk dropped of her face and was replaced with a puzzled look as well, as if she was just thinking of this fact about herself for the first time.

Bond

"Boring?" he countered, hardly thinking he was boring. She had fallen silent though, lost in her thoughts about whatever puzzled her. Bond shrugged and kept moving. He wasn't there to connect thoroughly with the other crew members. Whatever was troubling her didn't matter much to him.

So they ventured through, reaching the engine and closing the door just in time for Eddie's take-off. Bond let out a cry of satisfaction as the gears and pistons whirred into life with electric cables swaying where they weren't securely attached and steam rising to the ceiling. "So beautiful, yeah?" he called to Arc over the loud and happy engine. He checked "vital signs" and smiled the entire time, finding no issues at all. In fact, he had a few ideas of how to improve the slight jutter and sputter Eddie's style produced. Previously, Bond had worked with a pilot with a rather rough style and he knew how to work with him to improve everyone's experience on board. He'd have to find Eddie and talk about it. A project right now would be excellent.

He let out a sigh as the ship stabilized and tweaked screws here and there, though his screwdriver was barely needed. Regina did a fine job, or whoever she had hired before had done a fine job, of keeping the piece of machinery tip top.

"So, good company coming right up," he announced and leaned against the door frame beside Arc with a wide smile and half-lidded eyes. "So what's your deal Arc?"


Minn

Eddie took another strawberry and Minn smiled, clouds swirling in her mind. A small part of her, a voice like a buzzing insect, told her to stop. From the looks of the pilot, he wasn't in complete control of the situation either. If things escalated, both involved would have no way of stopping themselves. But Minn had no intention of stopping. She was trained to make others happy. This was how you made others happy. You took off your clothes, wore the signature smile, plucked strawberries up and put them to your mouth, allowing just the slightest amount of red juice to slip out the corner of your lips...

It was a routine she could perform without thinking, her concentration on his reaction. Every movement was fluid. He was definitely distracted from his previous mood, the strawberries alone providing that, but she wanted him to feel happy. That's what her job was, making others happy. What she wanted didn't matter as long as the client was satisfied and she wouldn't receive punishment that night. All she needed was to perform and everything would be all right.

A strange ribbon of confusion rippled through her, her exterior taking one step toward Eddie, her interior watching with wide eyes of panic. Was this real? Had she never escaped? Distantly, she thought she had been hired on a ship, a glorious escape of a ship, but that was far-fetched. She belonged here, just like her father said, a worthless piece of meat to be used and abused. A Shariva had no purpose in life. That's what they all said. She was worthless. A serving cow. A pink-skinned freak. A toy.

The slightest of tears formed along the bottom lids of her eyes, but she smiled to Eddie and lifted a finger to his jaw, her tongue slowly licking at the sticky, red juice along her lips. The room was hot. Nothing stood in their way at this moment and she was determined to please her client.

(Minn is kinda...well...lol losing it? Is that the phrase? xD)

Bond

He and Arc had their little chat, which proved more enjoyable than he expected. But then a change in course had the engines acting up. Bond set to work on...well, his work and checked parts, tightened anything that didn't really need tightening, but he needed something to do. He kept glancing to Arc, wondering if she would stay with him. It didn't make much sense. He was sure the captain would want everyone at their posts. Eventually it seemed Arc agreed. He was nearly done where he was and promised to catch up with her in a bit with a smile.

When he deemed the engine normalized, he decided to head to the front to speak with Eddie about a few things. He figured that's where the pilot was, being he was the pilot. He wandered the halls, lost for a bit, then found his way to the kitchen to find Minn fast asleep in a chair. Her curled up, pink figure brought a smile to his and he shook his head. Strange little thing, he thought.

He tapped her arm and she jolted awake, green eyes darting back and forth before settling on Bond. "Hey," he greeted. "Sorry about earlier. K?"

She rifled through those words and finally nodded, sitting up straighter as she wiped at her eyes. "Yeah...it's...okay..." It wasn't forgiveness, but Bond would take it.

"You should head to your room if you're tired," he suggested. "I'm sure the beds a bit more comfortable than wooden chairs."

Smiling a little, she nodded. "I know, I just wanted to stay here if anyone was hungry and..."

At this, Bond sniffed and found the source of the delicious scents. Food was laid out on the island in the center of the kitchen with splendid attention to detail. Platters and silverware lined the edges for everyone to take as they wished with dishes decorating the center of the circular formation with steam rising off in enticingly twisting lines. Nodding his approval, Bond stepped forward and snatched a plate before anyone else could. "Looks great," he told her sincerely and her smile became more genuine as she joined him at the counter.

"Thanks," she muttered and sighed happily, green eyes scanning the bowls and pans. "Did MAK give an announcement about the food?"

Bond shrugged. "I didn't hear anything."

Minn sighed, eyes tired, and glanced up. "MAK, can you let everyone know there's food please?" she insisted. "It'll get cold."

"Of course," the AI answered. "Apologies." The voice changed to an echoing announcement that all could hear. "Dinner is served in the kitchen for all available to eat."

Minn nodded, satisfied, and glanced to the door. She really didn't want to leave the kitchen. Bond wondered if she planned to live in here, which wouldn't be terrible. An on-call cook sounded fantastic. "Go sleep," he told her though. "I'll hang out here and watch stuff."

She agreed and started slowly out, hesitant to leave the food unattended. Bond rolled his eyes. "Promise," he stated firmly.

Minn nodded and vanished into the halls.

Bond knew he should go talk to Eddie and he did promise to meet up with Arc, but with ham in his mouth he made the decision to take a seat, prop up his feet and enjoy the tastes coating his tongue.

Minn

She hardly slept. The corner of the bed was as far as she made it, collapsing and then curling up in a ball as she found quick sleep. When the ship docked, she woke however. She was always a light sleeper.

Stretching, she wondered if even an hour had passed. Not feeling rested, she figured not much time would have gone by, but she started out of the room after pulling on one of Saein's turquoise shirts. She still felt weird about wearing Saein's clothes, but realistically knew she needed to get over that soon. Perhaps she could find clothes here, wherever here was.

Before she did anything however, she went to the kitchen to check on things. No one had touched the food beside Bond which disappointed her greatly. It was cold now, the steam no longer accenting the beautiful arrangement. Bond sat on a chair, feet propped up and head drooping slightly. He wasn't much of a help. A small sigh escaped her lips as she started slicing and fitting the food into small square containers to fit into the refrigerator. If anyone was hungry, at least proper food was prepared.

She set the last container inside on the shelf, her eyes darting to the strawberry container. Her gut tingled and she slammed the door shut.

This woke Bond.

Jolting a bit, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "Are we there?" he asked with a yawn. His muscular arms stretched above his head, elbows popping.

"I think so," Minn responded, lowering her eyes and wiping off the counters. "Did you like the food?"

He grinned. "Of course."

After she finished cleaning up, she didn't know if she should head out on her own. Bond was here and well, maybe she shouldn't go find Eddie...but she desperately wanted to. And Saein for that matter. Heading out on an adventure with both of them seemed very appealing, much more so than spending the time with Bond. He did basically destroy her kitchen. Well, made it dirty.

"Wanna head out? See the sights?" he suggested, slipping his hands in his pockets and smiling down to her from his height. He was very tall.

Minn sighed. "Sure...let's get Eddie though. And Saein," she added, smiling at the thought. She felt like she hadn't seen the pink-haired girl in a long time.

Bond nodded. "Fine by me," he laughed and started leading the way to Eddie.


Bond

They found him still in his chair, unmoved and bored? Bond wasn't sure, but he clapped the pilot on the shoulder and put on a wide grin. "Minn and I are going to see what's what. Wanna join?" His arm instinctively went around Minn's shoulders, an friendly act he did with friends and crew mates all the time. Her shoulders tensed though, green eyes alarmed. He backed off at once, straightening. "Might be our only chance to stretch our legs for awhile."

Eddie was just finishing the last of mandatory procedures before leaving which included shutting the engines off, making sure they were off, doing so again and then finally, locking the controls. The ship was just impossible to fly by accident when Eddie felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face a big grin coming from Bond, and Minn, who was accompanying him for whatever reason. Eddie thought to ask, but instead listened as his unspoken question was both answered, and he was presented with a question to answer of his own. While they were grounded, Eddie had no reason to stay aboard the ship, so why the hell not?

"Sure" came Edward's response as he stood up. He outstretched his arms towards the ceiling of the ship and yawned. He looked around for a minute and then spoke again. "We picking anyone else up?" he asked simply.

Minn

Pulling away from Bond and standing next to Eddie instead, she smiled and asked, "Do you know where Saein is?"

From above, MAK answered instead. "Saein is no longer on the Nightwing."

A frown pulled her lips down and Minn stared at the ceiling sadly. She was a bit put off by the AI listening in to their conversation, but gladly accepted the information. "Where were they heading?"

MAK responded, "They were taking Dlew to a specialist."

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes," was all the AI gave.

Minn's alarmed eyes switched from Bond to Eddie. "Why didn't anyone tell us? Where could they be?" She'd never been here before and she was sure to get lost. Part of her wanted to seize Eddie's hand and not let go as he led the way. But that could be seen as something more than she intended so she twisted her fingers together, allowing her eyes to fall to the floor. "What if he's hurt?"

"If he's hurt, then then Saien's taking him to get fixed." Eddie assured. "Saein doesn't seem like the type to slack off on a job."

Briefly, there was a horrible thought - that the android did simply break down and remained unfixable. It made Eddie feel happy, like he was floating on a cloud. But, once he realized how sick of a thought it was, the feeling dropped. He can't wish that on an AI that hadn't done anything to him. Eddie dispised racists, and right now, he was being one. But after what 'they' did... no, he was grouping them up into one category instead of simply acknowledging the fact that not everyone, nor machine was the same. Yet he couldn't just let it go.....

"Dlew will be fine, Minn. I'm sure of it." he spoke up. "Don't you agree, Bond?"

Bond

He shrugged, but put a smile. "I don't think we should worry cuz it's not our problem. Now," he started walking away. "What does concern us is having a proper adventure. C'mon."

Leading the other two, he managed to find his way off the ship, past the initial docking area and into the interior of the space station. It resembled every other one he had been to, with restaurants and tiny shops scattered here and there amongst the more important ship supply shops, barters and kiosks. Immediately Bond darted for the engine parts, specifically the wires. Though the system Regina had setup on the Nightwing was sufficient, it could be better, superb even if he could just find...ah yes! Stacked amongst other boxes, he spotted the color he desired. A dull orange.

Tugging the poorly wrapped up piece of wire out, he turned and displayed it in front of him. "This my friends is..." When his eyes lifted, he saw Minn and Eddie weren't there. In fact they were enamored by a little shop of cooking supplies about 200 feet away. Bond sighed but smiled. At least they were enjoying themselves. He did care about that, even if it didn't seem like it based on his actions. If the pilot was happy, they would have a smoother flight. If the cook was happy, then they wouldn't have poisoned food. It logically worked out.

So Bond turned and began bartering with the seller, shocked by the high price he demanded.


Minn

Her heart fluttered. Pots and pans, utensils, tongs, wooden cutting boards with steel edging and intricate designs of historical landmarks. Without thinking, she shuffled through the store with a wooden spoon tight in her fingers since she forgot her own. This handle was thicker and felt better in her hands, a darker wood and a wider head. Her green eyes darted around only to land on another doorway leading further into a dimmer room lined with shelves upon shelves of herbs, spices and decorative bottles to store them in. The Nightwing's kitchen was good enough for her but...oh, this set was in the shape of tiny mouse-like animals.

"Isn't it cute?" she asked Eddie, holding out a tiny bottle that would hold rare dried onions at the right temperature for years. The shape was a circle with a curvy heart symbol in the center. She had never seen anything like it and stared at the glass and metal piece adoringly. "It's so nice."

She couldn't stop there. In fact, she ran around the shop until every single item had been inspected and judged by her. It was only then that she realized that Eddie had stuck around during her moment of selfish excitement. Quickly she replaced the wooden spoon, finally, in its display and hesitantly asked, "Do you want to...go...to a...different store? This can't be very interesting," she laughed lightly. "Maybe we could go find Saein."

Eddie casually glanced at one of the pots that Minn had previously looked at in her inspection-frenzy. If he pegged it right, it was supposed to be a duck. The base of the pot was yellow with lines that maybe were supposed to be feathers, and the handle happened to be its beak. It wasn't too appealing to Eddie himself, he just needed something to look at. Edward wasn't as enthusiastic about the stuff that made food, rather the food itself, so he didn't get too excited. He nodded and gave Minn a 'yes' when she asked him if the bottle looked cute. She seemed lost in her own world, and interrupting her didn't seem like a nice move on his part.

He would glance at some of the items she had finished with and just look at it, never grabbing something he hadn't personally seen her inspect for worry she might attack him or something. She was pretty into it. But then again, he couldn't see Minn hurting a fly, let alone her pilot. He only stopped when she apparently snapped out of that world ande re-entered theirs.

"Do you want to...go...to a...different store? This can't be very interesting," she laughed lightly. "Maybe we could go find Saein."

Eddie thought for a minute, then answered. "No, I'm perfectly fine." he smiled. "I don't mind staying here and looking at all these... neat cooking supplies. They all look cool, rather than being bland and distasteful. 'Colorful' is the right word, I think." he smiled wider. "We can do whatever, but I think we should wait just a little bit longer before we find Saein. She might still be busy." he explained.

The woman on the chair facing Tom spoke. "I'm Regina Oris. Captain to you."
Tom now wished he'd been slightly more serious before. "Of course - uh - Ma'am. I'm sorry."
Seeing three figures wandering out of the hangar, he lost concentration and began to amble towards them, then, remembering his manners, he excused himself from the Captain and went to follow the girl and two men from the hangar. They went past the docks into a market area, and they split at this point, two of them venturing into a cooking shop. Tom never had much interest in shopping. Electronics, however, were an exception. He decided to follow the other man, who was now bartering for a coil of orange wire.
"Hi!"
The man turned around with eyebrows raised.
"I... um. I'm joining your crew! Hi! Uhm... oh! I'm Tom, nice to meet you."

(sorry for the short post, no-one's interacting with me much so I haven't got much to go on...)

Everything seemed to handle itself. The Captain and several others had arrived on scene just after himself, so Dedrik didn't need to do much. The apparent distress call was nothing more than the android collapsing due to broken gears, and thus he was swiftly whisked away in a stretcher, transported supposedly to the medical bay. It was finally after everyone had vacated the area, and the situation was neutralized, when the Vasparti returned to his post. He knew he could very well be standing in that single spot forever, but he had no quarrels against it, because if that was what he was charged with doing, he would. Sleep would be unnecessary for at most four days before he would need to be relieved, however until such times, and though because this mission was little more than expeditionary and posed little chance of attack, he'd remain at the bridge to ensure the safety of it, and those on board.

The sudden change in course of the ship caught the man off guard, and no matter how sure-footed he knew he was, he still couldn't help but topple to one side, having to use his power staff as a support to keep himself from flattening against the floor or wall. The AI's explanation made sense, and though Dedrik personally felt no need to have humanized robotics, he didn't complain. At the most, they spared lives on the battlefield when a mission was too dangerous for someone who truly lived and breathed, yet he wasn't totally heartless, and knew that they were still people, in a sort of odd, metallic way.

Nevertheless, once the ship had readjusted itself and Dedrik had gotten himself reoriented, he continued on. At this point he knew getting to the bridge was priority, though with the low-risk factor, he knew he could allow himself just a few moments of what could compare to a leisurely walk, at least to the bare minimum. The man was truly simply memorizing paths and locations, ensuring that if something did happen, he could respond with adequately, and with the proper amount of alacrity.

By the time the man had returned to the bridge, he had most of the ship memorized, and had just felt the mighty vessel pull into the docks. Several of the other crew members had exited just moments prior to his arrival, he'd seen them disappearing around a corner as they left, and thus he had the bridge to himself.

Silently, Dedrik stalked to his corner by the entrance of the doors and assumed his guard stance, falling to a rough attention and crossing his bladed-staff across his chest, held diagonally up towards his left. Once more he became a statue as he shut down any frivolous functions within his head, such as those that required him to attend to an itch, move a sore or tired muscle, and for the most part, anything that didn't involve simply breathing, listening and watching. He was content with remaining here until something or someone else required his attention, so the man simply heaved a heavy sigh and relaxed as he stared out at the innards of the bridge, and then onward out the glass window.

Minn

She nodded a bit to Eddie's words and continued pacing the store a bit, walking next door to a different one selling little knick knacks and different clothes from abroad planets. Smiling she held up a turquoise dress up against her body and swayed a little. "What do you think? Bring out my eyes?"

Having no money, she knew she would never be able to own of the strange little trinkets or clothes, but very much enjoyed examining the different artifacts. From school, she loved her history classes and recognized some of the older runes carved into tiny animal figurines. One reading "I solemnly swear I am up to no good" was from some sort of literature many centuries ago. The figurine depicted two boys standing beside one another, both laughing and nearly exact reflections of each other. The book the line came from was supposedly famous, but no one knew what planet it came from or who wrote it. Only a few manuscripts had survived through the years in capsules and were reprinted a couple decades ago.

"Wouldn't it be cool to collect all this stuff?" she asked Eddie, holding up the figurine to him. "It wouldn't really serve a purpose...I guess...but it's so interesting!"

Then she located a set of pieces painted black and white. Something called chess. It was a game apparently, one she didn't quite understand when the salesman tried to show her how to play.

Lapping the shop once more, she decided she had to leave before she was tempted to steal something. Giggling a little, she led Eddie out and wondered where to head to next...

"Ow!"

Holding her head, Minn doubled over as sudden nausea took over her body. Her limbs went weak and she collapsed to her knees as daggers of pain sliced through her thoughts and memories. Whispers crept around like a twisting ribbon in the back of her mind, a linking memory that she had forgotten or...had she? She remembered their names, they were on the tip of her tongue...Ro, Re, Reagan...wasn't that his name? No, Ray. No...R...R something...

Tears welled in her eyes. She couldn't remember. But she had to, she had to fight against it. They had used her too long.

As suddenly as the pain started, it subsided however and she found herself shaking and covered in cold sweat. Raising her head, teeth chattering, she found Eddie's eyes and took comfort in recognizing him. She knew HIS name. She recognized HIS face.

Wait. What was HER name?

Covering her face again, she shook her head muttering, "What is happening?"

Minerva.

That was her name.

"Minerva!" she shouted and looked to Eddie with hysterical relief. "I'm Minerva!" Hugging him close, she breathed heavily and tried to stop her shaking. "I'm Minerva..." she said, softer and nodded. "I'm Minerva."


(It seems random yes. Just go with it. I promise all will make sense...maybe xD)



Bond

"Tom," he repeated. He looked the robot looking thing up and down. "Whatcha up to Tom?"

He wasn't about to shake hands with someone, especially a non-human, who allegedly had joined the crew. Gripping his wires and standing a bit straighter, he eyed this Tom character closely. He seemed equipped. And he had singled him out. Was this a trap? Bond wasn't certain what he should do, but he didn't trust the eager sounding humanoid.

Seeing the man tense, Tom stepped back, realising that he had probably surprised him a little.
"Um... I was just hoping to introduce myself, I saw you and the other two leaving the ship, and ... well, I like electronics better than cooking, let's say."
He looked down, and shuffled his feet awkwardly. "So, might I know your name, now you know mine?"
Looking around, Tom couldn't help but stare at all the useful bits and bobs hung on racks around the stall. He liked to figure out how things work, it was his way of learning. Picking up a little gizmo from one of the racks, he started to twiddle with it, pressing buttons and turning it over in his hands, while he waited for the man to answer.