EARTH II

[Crystal Tears]

[ . . . ]
[ . . . ]
[ . . . REBOOT ]
[// START PROGRAM ]
[ RESTART ENABLED ]
[ 1% ]
[ 15% ]
[ 56% ]
[ 100% ]
[// SCAN ]
[ WARNING: UNKNOWN VARIABLE ]
[ // CRITICAL ERROR !! ]
[ . . . ]
[[. . .VALKYRIE ONLINE. . .]]
[ACCESS: CREW ROSTER]
[// ACCESSING CREW ROSTER]
[LOADING. . .]
[[ 1. Selene Riley Shepard ]]
[[ 2. Leonardo Angelo de Sario ]]
[[ 3. Joseph Bonnlander ]]
[[ 4. Sgt. David "Maverick" Summers ]]
[[ 5. Michelle Ackart ]]
[[ 6. Dr. Caleb Olson ]]
[[ 7. Leonard Maxwell ]]
[[ 8. Sierra Hawkins ]]
[[ 9. Lynne Wright ]]
[[ 10. Matthew Sterling ]]
[[ 11. Evan Smith (Tracer) ]]
[[ 12. Wayne Spenser O'Neil ]]
[[ 13. Meiya Cervenka ]]
[[ 14. Michael Rampart ]]
[ // FIND: “MAJOR TOM” PROTOCOL ]
[// RUN: “MAJOR TOM” ]

The deep silence of the ship was broken by the somewhat catchy beat of ‘Major Tom’. Slowly the lights of the many hallways of the EARTH II flickered on, the darkness shattered just as the quiet. If one were standing in the stagnant corridors and passageways of the massive station, they would notice how they could almost see the music bounce off the walls;reflecting and moving into every nook and cranny of the sheer emptiness.

There was a soft ticking noise on the edge of hearing, and then the air began to move. Hundreds of fans and filtration systems came to life. Everything seemed to be running perfectly, seamless interaction of different programs and protocols, the EARTH II had awaken from its deep slumber, and even now it was scanning its surroundings, making sure everything was as it should be.

In the sort of ‘town square’ in the center of the quarters, the fountain came to life. Water quickly filled and the calming water display began.

As everything came online, the crew was just beginning to awaken…

[ // RUN: “GOOD MORNING” ]
[ LOADING. . . ]
[[ COMPLETE ]]
[ CRITICAL ERROR !!: “GOOD MORNING” PROGRAM CORRUPTED ]
[[ VALKYRIE OVERRIDE ]]
[ // OVERRIDE: “GOOD MORNING” PROGRAM ]
[[ :) OVERRIDDEN ]]

The ice crystals on the glass of the cryostatis pods began to fade, trickles of water ran down the skin of those inside, and as each person began to slowly awaken from their deep slumber, the song that had been echoing in the halls faded away, giving over to the silence once more. There was a blast of warm air into the containment chambers, instantly drying off the people who were beginning to return to the world of the conscious.

Their dreams became less vivid; the faint hissing noise of the pod doors lifting open broke into their fantasies and nightmares.

Reality, it seemed, had caught up with them.

EARTH II

“Spooner get the hell out of there!”

The explosion had caught the two of them off guard, and Selene found herself diving for the red dirt of Mars as Private Spooner was blown to hell in a matter of milliseconds. She hated rebels, she hated this stretch of desert and she hated Mars. How the woman longed to be back on Earth, where peace had been reigning for some time now. Everything had fallen into place on the notable blue planet, but no, on Mars, or the distinctive redplanet, rebellions had been breaking out and revolutionists had been damning SUN.

She recovered, taking aim with her rifle to fire a burst into an oncoming melee fighter. They charged blindly, and the only thing threatening about these barbarians was their sheer numbers. Her visor kept track of the other three approaching, helping her take note of those who were dead and the few that were still standing.

“Riley we got a Spider closing in on our position-“ The radio seemed to fizzle and fade out at the perfect moment. The woman rolled her eyes and groaned within her armor, scanning her surroundings.

Behind her was the military outpost, something they couldn’t afford to lose, and in all other directions was red desert.

“Repeat that,” she growled, “spider approaching from which direction?”

“- o’clock-“

‘Helpful…’ She thought with a scowl, standing up as her gut told her to run.

“Repeat again, WHERE IS IT?”

“3 o’clock! Move Riley!”

She looked right and jumped back just as a massive metal leg slammed down where she had been. The thing was forcing itself up from underneath the ground, its low hanging head breaking through the surface and striking blue eyes focusing on the soldier. The machine in general was in disrepair, she was surprised the thing could even find the strength to move, let alone burrow towards the enemy.

“Jesus Christ!” she yelped, rolling out of the way of another swipe.

This all seemed so familiar.

‘Haven’t I done this before?’ The woman thought, her body turning to face it without her mind’s consent. She fired rounds, switching to full automatic in a desperate attempt to make it retreat. ‘Something isn’t right. I don’t want to fight, I want to run!’

But her body wasn’t listening, it avoided the next swipe but was caught by one from the left. She didn’t hear herself howl in agony, but she knew she had. There was basically a spear through her thigh, locking her to the ground.

“Riley-“

This all happened because she had gone to save Spooner. She had chosen to do the right thing, not the smart thing. Selene Riley Shepard, Sergeant in the SUN Ground Ops Military and First Class Airman in the SUN Ace organization, maybe the distant girl would’ve been able to move up higher in the ranks if she had listened to orders better, or if she had indeed picked which she preferred. Right now, she recalled wanting to fly.

It hit her then, as she remembered what she had thought at that moment, that this wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening.

It already had, three years ago.

* * *

The woman gasped, eyes shooting open before the inevitable happened. Her heart was pounding, and mouth felt oddly dry. Her leg throbbed where the mechanical monster had stabbed her, and her mind was quickly blurring the rest of the horrible memory. It was something she was meant to forget, she assumed, as her mind suddenly clicked that she wasn’t’ in her home on Earth. No, in front of her was a very bleak grey wall, a metal panel, actually, the floor was a tight steel mesh. Selene coughed, looking down to find herself wearing a white bodysuit.It was soft and warm, completely opposite of the floor she was stepping down onto.

This place was cold.

Cold and quiet besides the murmuring from the others awakening. She watched a few of them step down out of the cylindrical pods attached to the wall. None of them seemed panicked, and thankfully, due to her training, neither did she. Truth was, Selene couldn’t remember very much.Her dream was notably the most vivid memory she had. The rest were blurred and in pieces surrounding what happened afterwards.

‘Where am I?’ She thought distantly, following a few others out of the room into a large, stark white circle room with a strange sort of moving black ball on a robotic arm in the middle. It moved roughly, scanning those that entered quickly, making various beeps before going back to random movements. Large antennas were hanging from the high ceiling, all of the receivers different shapes and sizes. She had seen vaguely similar things in the Military Academy on Earth, though that version had been seamless and much more impressive.

After about forty people filtered into the room, the ball retracted as a much larger orb descended. Its black surface was blank for a moment before yellow-orange words appeared.

[[ Good Morning Passengers. My name is Valkyrie. ]]

A few people nodded, though the majority did nothing notable.

[[Due to the long sleep and as part of the refresher course programmed, I have to remind you that the same laws and regulations found on both Earth (Lune included) and Mars apply to your stay on EARTH II. ]]

‘Earth II?’ Selene raised an eyebrow. She only remembered faint whispers about the Earth II project, but nothing concrete. At least she knew she was on a space station.

“Isn’t there supposed to be more people?” Someone asked from behind.The majority of people began to mutter about the seemingly hundreds only being maybe fifty or so people.

[[ Currently EARTH II is running the “GOOD MORNING” program, you were all randomly selected as part of a test to ensure there are no glitches in the civilian section. If a critical mistake is found, regulation ensures that you will all be returned to your cryostatis pods and we will return to Earth for repairs and maintenance. ]]

“We’re guinea pigs?”

A couple of people glanced around; that term seemed to make them nervous.

[[ No, if you all recall reading the fine print of the EARTH II agreement act, you signed that you would willingly participate in the “GOOD MORNING” program. ]]

Valkyrie went on to explain that a few people were not as ‘randomly’ selected as others. Sergeant David Summers, Doctor Caleb Olson and Lynne Wright stood out. They had been selected from their ‘category’ (Security, Medical and Engineering ) to ensure that the sectors 1 to 4 (roughly equaling out to be a small town sized area) ran smoothly. Selene knew one of them, David Summers. Of course, most of the time she had been calling him ‘Sir’ or ‘Maverick’ (but mostly Sir) so the hear his real name was sort of odd.

She didn’t dare look in his direction though; it was weird seeing her old commander again.

[[On a final note, due to a slight malfunction in the randomizer program, Leonardo Angelo de Sario will be under the guardianship of Selene Shepard. ]]

There was a moment as the entire crowd (particularly the child) looked around, waiting for her to step forward. She held back a groan and stepped into the ‘limelight’. Eyes fell upon her and the kid gazed up at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Kay.” He smirked, and she noted how it seemed particularly devious.

“Surely someone else is better equipped to be the guardian…” she stated to the computer as she eyed the pregnant woman.

[[A final record of why you were chosen to be Leonardo’s guardian has been transmitted to your home computer. ]]

That was is then; she was stuck on some weird ship, with a cruel A.I and someone else’s kid to boot. Selene felt herself frown, it was ever so slight but the emotion managed to break her usually expressionless appearance. Directions were given as to where the quarters were, and she didn’t know whether she liked or hated the idea of being so close to the neighbours.

The only highlight she saw was the prospect of Leonardo toddling off to bother somebody else.

* * *

:3 Yay~ It's started, you can go really anywhere from here. Have fun guys, and let your imaginations take over. Just remember that currently were restricted to Sectors 1 to 4, meaning the big 'guns' (like Maverick's SCAR, Michelle's Sword) are currently unavailable. If you need a general idea of the layout or look of the sectors, they resemble Zion from the Matrix; levels on top of each other with bridges and platforms. They're also that sort of 'thrown together' metal mass idea. But the quarters themselves are quite nice and 'Earthy' XD

[Kyuuketsuki]

A weird sound, followed by a weird smell.

Joseph's senses were not completely back, he was in a dreamless sleep for all he can remember, being awakened by this weird way sure didn't help him.

The confused teenager looked around, apparently he was the last one to wake up as everyone else were looking way better than him, his vision was dizzy but he could make out some of the things in the place he was in, he saw a few people in the distance looking around, looking more confused than himself, there were people of all races and ages, but by his count, they were about thirty, but then again, he couldn't see very clearly.

He shock his head, hoping to get the headache out, but that only helped in making it worse. He squinted his eyes, and a weird buzz started playing in his head. He could hear a faint conversation, apparently one-sided, but he could make out a few words from the murmurs of the people: "Earth II".

The words seemed familiar, but his memory wasn't very clear, he stayed in whatever it is he was in, eyes closed, waiting for the people to leave so he can sort this out.

He opened his eyes slightly, he saw a woman moving her lips, she was talking to someone, or something, but he couldn't make out the words, he closed his eyes again, almost drifting back to sleep.

"I just woke up..." Joseph said to himself. "I guess I AM that lazy..." He almost laughed to himself, but he couldn't bring himself up to it, his mind was automatically analyzing what's happening. "Apparently, I'm on a spaceship called Earth II, I remember agreeing to come here, I remember there was going to be more people, I remember... I guess that's all I can remember... This woman must be our leader, she seems to be giving out orders, what did she look like... What did she look like...? Can't remember... 8-79-5... A number... What's that number for...? Can't remember either..."

Joseph kept on drifting away with his thoughts, until he decided to actually listen to what's everyone is saying, but all he could hear was footsteps and whispers, his head wasn't hurting anymore, he opened his eyes and he could see some confused people walking, but he didn't know where to.

"Are you okay?" Someone asked Joseph, he didn't care enough to reply of to look at the man, he walked towards the people and looked around, there was more than thirty, but he didn't bother to count, he started swinging his right arm around, it was very numb, he had trouble walking too, which he just realized.

He snapped out of the condition of his body, and realized he was in a tunnel now, people were going in different directions, he looked to his right, and he saw a window, looking out into darkness filled with stars.

"So I AM in space..." Joseph whispered to himself. "It's not as amazing as I thought it would be..."

Joseph then walked through the metal tunnel, there was a door marked "8-79-5". He suddenly realized that it was the same number which he remembered earlier, he also noticed the same number on a tag on his white clothing, and the same was also on the thing he was sleeping in.

He opened the metal door; it was a normal room, with a bed, a bookcase, some drawers, a table, a couple of chair, and some bags, his bags. One again, Joseph noticed a window, and he looked out again, hoping to see something different, but it was the same, on the right wall there was another door, he opened it.

A bathroom, a small one in fact. He left the door open and walked towards the bags, he opened them all, and found his clothes in one of them, he grabbed them and set them on the bed, he then went to take a shower.

*****

Joseph was now back in normal clothing, his jeans and his yellow shirt, which had a dragon on it, he wore his sports shoes, even though he was on his bed, reading a random book out of the bookcase, a manual, it also had a small map of the spaceship, although it was obvious it wasn't the entire ship in the map.

"They're hiding something," Joseph's mind immediately jumped to conclusions. "We must have aliens on board, there's a possibility people on earth don't want us anymore, ejecting us into space to get rid of us, that pregnant woman was probably rejected by her parents, that other one who was talking to whatever it is she was talking to must be the one pulling the strings, she'll probably try to kill us all like in those movies where a psychopath kidnaps people and kills them one by one."

He then smiled, and almost laughed, he dropped the book on the floor, the first step into making the room messy. He looked out the window, why is only stars? Is the other side of the ship the one that has other spaceships and the planets and the aliens?

Joseph returned to his bed after fifteen minutes of thinking, he started drifting off to sleep.

*****

Is this too short?

[Master Rudy]

Name-Sgt. David "Maverick" Summers (sometimes called Mav by his close friends)

Sex-Male

Age-32

Physical Appearance-6'2" and 220 pounds of pure muscle describes his basic appearence pretty well. Has brown eyes and blond hair that's starting to prematurely grey due to a horrible year of hardship and stress. The left side of his chest as well as his arm and leg are scarred from burns and shrapnel wounds due to injuries suffered.

Clothing-David's body armor is dark blue in color and looks a bit more like Master Chief's armor than the ODST armor. Off duty he'll wear a navy colored long sleeve shirt, gray colored BDU pants and black combat boots.

Personality-In his younger days David was pretty easy going and a bit of a smartass. Now however he's a little more gruff and quick to anger if he feels a situation is getting out of hand. In combat situations he's actually crazy almost to the point of being suicidal. For a quick mental image think of Riggs in the original Lethal Weapon. Despite his personal problems however he's got no problem with doing the right thing and will be quick to disobey his orders if he feels it's going to put innocent people at risk.

Occupation-Military: trained in combat, inflitration and undercover operations. David's job upon the ship itself is head of security.

Weapon-Owns an old Walther P99 that's been in the family for a good 140 years. Using modern technology and parts he's modified it to fire the more modern 5.7mm round instead of the .40 caliber or 9mm rounds the original weapon was known for. The smaller round has a greater muzzle velocity and allows for much greater stopping power against an unarmored target as well as a noticible decrease in weapon recoil. It also allows him to use a 20 round clip with the gun instead of the standard 12/16 round clips for the original. David does have the parts to reverse the modification on the weapon. However it requires breaking it down and replacing the barrel, slide and internal striker. As a result in a combat situation this is impossible to do. In the event of a situation calling for an all out assault David has a SCAR-H Battle Rifle stored away in the security forces equipment room. The weapon has a 20 round mag and can be equipped with either a flashlight or laser sight as the situation warrants. David has also opted to go with a semi-automatic model as opposed to one with full auto, due to the small clip size as well as the size of the weapon when compared to other, heavier rifles.

History-Prior to the formation of the new Earth government he served in the US Army for eight years. Shortly after he turned 26 he left to join the FBI to head a task force known as the Special Investigations Unit. SIU's goal was to look into small scale domestic threats and usually managed to do this by inserting one of it's members into the group in question. It's agents were extremely well trained and were usually able to destroy groups from within without exposing who they really were. This was usually achieved by turning the members against each other, planting false evedence to make it look like people were working for rival outfits, ect. Rarely did operations ever get to the point where agents had to blow their cover and call in for backup. Five years in the group had an unheard of 97% success rate, no agents killed in the line of duty and only four cases of blown cover. However perfect records never last. During a joint operation with the CIA the mission went sour very quickly. Thanks to David it wasn't a total loss and a plan to kill thousands failed. However the damage was done: over 300 hundred civilians killed and the loss of about 20 agents including a CTU SWAT team and David's whole unit. David himself spent four months in an ICU recovering. Upon getting out David started to train a new team but came to a horrible discovery. Whoever was behind the attack that killed his team seemed to be out for revenge. After two failed attempts on his life which resulted in another two agents killed David had enough. Not wanting to put his team as risk any longer he resigned and signed up for the Earth II program. SUN commissioned him as a Sergeant on the ship and the head of the ship security. At this point David is hoping to leave his previous failure as a leader behind and to give those that are after him the slip.......unfortunately for him he never considered the fact that whoever wants him dead may just be crazy enough to try to follow him into space.

Pod Number-Instead of a number David's pod has his name, rank and info:
Name: Summers, D.
Rank/Job: Sergeant, HoS
DOB: 8/22/2108

Relationships-Riley Shepard was an 18 year old Private in his unit prior to leaving the Army. David currently doesn't know that she's on the ship. As for other former and current military members I'm open to a few more. I also need a crazy killer looking to finish the job if anyone is willing to do that (just keep it secret from me.....more fun that way ^_~)

Other-David is a bit of a chain smoker and brought more than enough of his favorite brand to last him a good long time. He's got them stored away in the cargo hold currently.

Character Theme-Old Snake (MGS4 Theme by Harry Gregson Williams)



Sgt. David Summers
------
"....me on Sarg....n't....his....me!"

The first thing I was aware of was the voice. I knew it was right next to me but somehow it seemed distant. The next thing that I was aware of was the fact that I was desperately trying to catch my breath. Little by little I was becoming aware of various things....

I was lying on the ground....
Private Smith was standing over me....
Alarms were going off in the room....
Red warning lights were flashing....

Whatever was going on wasn't good. However I couldn't will my body to move any faster at this point. After taking a few more deep breaths I was finally able to sit up. My head was still feeling like I just spend a weekend in Cancun but that was slowly starting to subside. Finally I was able two get two words out. "Smith.....sit-rep!" The young Private was attempting to help me back to my feet as he explained. "Thank god your ok sir! It's some kind of computer malfunction. Communications are down and we're locked in the room. To make matters worse life support within the pods was starting to fail. Mine opened somehow but everyone else....." Smith didn't need to say another word. I knew that tone of voice. The look in his eyes also said it was the first time he's lost squadmates. Taking my first real look around the room I saw what he was talking about. Several pods had opened but the occupants who were once within them were on the floor dead. A few more were still closed. The computer read outs on the front of those were flatlining. Doing a quick head count I noted that out of the eight people who had been assigned to this paticular room that it was only me and him.

Son of a bitch......I hate being right.

Still feeling slightly lightheaded from the lack of oxygen I took a few steps towards the lockers where our uniforms and sidearms were being kept. Smith seemed scared shitless and was staying close by me. When I finally got to one of the lockers I said "First things first kid. Let's gear up and get the fuck out of here. I just pray that this malfunction was in this room only." I also wanted to add something else about the matter but didn't. There was something in the back of my mind but it was crazy to even think it.

Don't be foolish......there is no way in hell the people who want you dead followed you into fucking space.

While the odds were extremely against that it still managed to stick in my head. I'd have to stop thinking about it right now if I was going to get us out of this. Focusing on the situation at hand I grabbed two uniforms. I handed Smith a red shirt and took a dark blue one for myself. Afterwards I grabbed two pistols and a few clips for each of us. I had my custom P99 and Smith had a standard issue 5.7mm handgun. Once we were all set I quickly scanned the room for a way out. If the security door wasn't working we'd need to find some other way. Thankfully near the floor was an air duct. After examining the screws holding the screen in place I motioned Smith to get behind me, took aim and quickly blasted two of the screws off. Holstering my weapon I reached out and attempted to bend it back enough to get inside. With only two screws left holding it on it wasn't very hard to do. Looking at Private Smith I told him "Take point and be ready. Tragic as this is I'm praying it's only a malfunction. However it'd be stupid to not consider something very bad happening on the other side of the door." Smith simply nodded, got on his hands and knees and went inside the vent. I was close behind him but gave one last look at the room before going in fully.

Hell of a way to start this assignment......
------

Muahahaha......these sorts of things never start off well for the grunts do they? Also let me be the first to say:
REDSHIRT ALERT!!!!

[Mystic_clown]

Name: Matthew Sterling

Sex: Male

Age: 28

Physical Appearance: Standing at roughly six foot, with a well toned build and broad shoulders. He has short black hair, worn in a series of simple cornrows, along with two thick sideburns. His eyes are a mix of grey and blue fitting in well with his strong face.

Clothing: He’ll normally be send wearing a dark blue, long sleeve shirt, a pair of slightly baggy jeans held up by a black belt and black shoes. Sometimes though he can be seen wearing a white muscle shirt instead.

Personality: He’s normally a quiet individual, but he’s willing to engage in a conversation if he’s spoken to. Once you get to know him, he’s quite a nice guy. Intelligent, calm and collected, he’s the kind of guy you could go to for advice. Normally level-headed, he’s good at handling stressful situations.

Occupation: Police Sargent while on earth, was brought on to act as security on the ship.

Weapon: none.

History: Starting out in the police force when he was eighteen, he had been serving for eight years, having a pretty standard career. However, that all changed during a his eighth year. It was during a drug lab raid. The perpetrators opened fire. The resulting gunfight ended with the drug lab exploding and the death of his partner. After such a lost, Mathew quit the force and turned to Buddhism in order to ease the pain.

Two years later, his record was dug up by SUN, who felt his skills in the police force could prove useful. He was given the offer to act as security aboard the E2. Thinking this as a chance to help others again, he accepted.

Pod Number: 6792-94-01

Relationships: None at the moment.

Other: Is a Buddhist, and can be found meditating in his spare time.

Matthew Sterling
-------------------------

Many people would have awakened after being put in suspended animation feeling dissoriented, possibly weak from the fact that their body is thawing out. For Sterling however, it was almost like waking up after a long sleep. Years of meditation had taught the former police officer the easiest and most refreshing ways to sleep. So as the pods warmed, and the man quietly awoke from his dreamless slumber, his mind and spirit actually felt refreshed from it all. His body felt a bit droopy, true, this was unavoidable, but at least he could stand and move about without any problems. That would all pass in time.

He stepped out of the pod, taking in his surroundings. He watched as some of the others that had awoken began to quietly move into another, white room. Sterling managed to remain calm as the black orb, the A.I. known as Valkyrie, descended and began to speak with them.

[[ Good Morning Passengers. My name is Valkyrie. ]]

[[Due to the long sleep and as part of the refresher course programmed, I have to remind you that the same laws and regulations found on both Earth (Lune included) and Mars apply to your stay on EARTH II. ]]

“Isn’t there supposed to be more people?” Sterling spoke up, looking around. When he had agreed to this project, he had believed that this was basically the settling of a new colony of sorts. Surely there would be more people than this? How many were there? Forty?

Fortunately, Valkyrie answered those questions. Sterlling was one of the few people less disturbed by the idea of this being a test group of sorts. After all, it was better a small group to begin with, than hundreds of people. At least, that's what he thought.

As Valkyrie began to list of some of the more non-randomly chosen people, a small chuckle came from Sterling as the name "Lynne Wright" was mentioned. Ah yes, he remembered her. The woman was petrified of going into the stasis pods, despite being told she wouldn't survive otherwise. It was Matthew who had to force the woman into the tube. What were the chances that she remembered that?

Maybe he should go see. As the crowd was slightly distracted with a woman being made the guardian of a child, he began to move about the people, smiling slightly when he saw the woman in particular. He approached her with a friendly demeaner. "Hello Miss Wright," he said as he approached, "Sleep well?" He tried not to chuckle at his little joke. She might not appreciate that.

TAG Asi ^_^

[Samchu]

Cale
~~~~

For curiosity’s sake, I had always wanted to investigate the sensation of cryostasis. I found it to be a bone-shivering experience of sub-zero proportions that left every vein and artery in my body tingling beneath a sheet of hydrogenated oxygen. Simply put: cold and wet. Turrets of air exploded from beneath me, tearing the droplets from my body before I was ejected onto the cold floor. I sighed and took off my glasses. There must be a way to partake in a speed-dry without creating steam. I wiped them off on the rim of my shirt and replaced them. At least I will have something of interest to do on this vessel.

Others were awakening around me. There was a single door leading to light, to warmth, so I headed for it. I found myself faced with the brain child of SUN. Valkyrie. It was more beautiful than the blueprints had described. So this is what I dedicated all those hours to? This glorious specimen of artificial life. I was no computer expert and I knew little about engineering but even I could appreciate what I saw before me. I waited for the others to arrive, eager to hear the first words of this being, to hear the speech that I had helped to develop the logic for.

[[Good Morning Passengers. My name is Valkyrie. ]]

Amazing! The speech was flawless. It could almost have been human.


[[Due to the long sleep and as part of the refresher course programmed, I have to remind you that the same laws and regulations found on both Earth (Lune included) and Mars apply to your stay on EARTH II.]]

Someone voiced their concerns about the number count but Valkyrie was quick to explain the situation. It was a sensible decision, one that I was not surprised SUN had programmed it to make. I was, however, irritated by the thought that I would be the only medical staff on board this vessel. Fifty passengers might seem small compared to the hundreds still sleeping but for one man it was a potential nightmare. Some would panic; they would want vaccinations, medications, general attention. And how was I meant to take care of their wishes, let alone satisfy my own nature?

The passengers were evaporating, searching for their rooms. I sought out mine using the information Valkyrie had provided. It was comfortable. Spacious enough for one to live in without complaint; a bed to sleep, a desk for working, a small social space for comfortable lounging. There was even an en-suite facility included. An added bonus. My few belonging were already awaiting me but I left them as they were. They were unimportant now. On the desk was a computer and small PDA-like device. I had been told when I signed up that SUN would provide me with such a thing so that I might update passenger information whilst away from my desk or the surgery. It would also act as a pager. Should anyone wish to get in touch with me they could do so with a few strokes of their keyboards. Nice and simple. And the data streams required were already set up. Excellent. I pocketed the device and searched for the surgery.

I was impressed by SUN’s provisions. They had given me everything I could possibly require and more. It was perfect. And no requests from passengers yet? My, my, what luck! I can see what I have to deal with.

I logged into the surgery’s computing and began to browse the files of my patients. Valkyrie had already sorted the frozen from the unfrozen and an organised file was awaiting my attention. I flicked through. As far as I could see the data was well documented. Certain background information had been missed – or at least simplified – for some people but I assumed that would be the military personnel. This was common practice for such people. If anything strange happened with them, I would know what questions to ask.

Then I discovered just how organised Valkyrie could be with my files. Attached to one of my patient’s files was a note:

Name: Cervenka, Meiya
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Condition: Pregnant (4 months)
System Suggestion: Check-up required.

Useful. Albeit a little pretentious. I opened up the file to find her room, grabbed a bag of supplies, and headed out.

Miss Cervenka’s room turned out to be only a few doors down from my own; a convenience considering that she was the only pregnant woman to be released from her sleep. The door was open and she appeared to be focusing deeply on the screen before her. Her head obscured my view of it. I knocked on the door. Her screen disappeared.

She turned to me, her eyebrows a little closer to each other than they used to be. It made her look cute. “Hello? How can I help you?”

“I’m Doctor Olson. I’m here to examine you, to make sure everything’s ok with the baby. And with you of course.”

"Oh, okay! Thank you. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about having a check-up..."

Definitely cute. Engaged…but no sigh of the fiancé. They much have left him in stasis. “There haven’t been any problems in the past so this is just a precautionary check-up. I can also use it to gauge how well your child is developing, which will make it easier when you have later check-ups with me. May I come in?”

She nodded and I stepped inside. Unlike me, she had chosen to prepare her room. A cream theme stood out against the off-white one that I had in mine. There were comfortable covers on the bed and books everywhere. An intelligent woman. I’m impressed.

“I’m going to need you to lie down on the bed for me.” I always thought that it sounded strange saying that. It had always felt so personal, so intimate, and so sexual. But I would have never asked a partner to lie down; it would just simply have been done.

As she carried out my request, I turned to my bag and pulled out a scanner and the jelly. I hooked the scanner up to the PDA. “I’m going to have to ask you to lift your t-shirt.” Another backwards request. Why did they forbid us from doing the act ourselves? You can learn so much from a woman by the way she reacts to such subtleties. I squirted the jelly onto the exposed belly and proceeded with the scanner.

“Vitals are normal. There doesn’t appear to be any noticeable deformities within the development process. Slightly elevated heart rate…” I checked hers. “Perfectly fine. All in all you appear to have one healthy child.”

“That’s good,” there was relief in her voice.

I packed away my equipment and began working on the PDA. “I’m setting you an appointment for two weeks from now. Don’t panic, it’s just a follow-up check to make sure you and the baby are adjusting to the conditions here. Your computer will tell you when the appointment is coming up. If you’d rather I come to you instead of you coming to the surgery then just message me and I’ll be sure to be here.” It felt wrong to leave so soon. Setting aside the fact she was cute, I hated to leave a first meeting knowing little more about a patient than I had done beforehand; and I had barely scratched the surface with this one. “If you need anything you can message me, or I’m just four doors down that way.” I gave her the nicest smile I could, wanting to leave the conversation with a good example of myself set. “Do you have any questions before I go?”

[ChobiChibi]

.:Meiya Cervenka:.

Waking up was never a very pleasant experience at the best of times, but waking up from cryostasis was so much worse.

She was aware that she had been dreaming, but she had no idea what about. There was a sudden rush of cold air and a small smile appeared on the young lady’s face, her eyes still closed.

“Awww, can’t we stay in bed a few minutes longer?” She whispered, reaching across to tug the quilt back over herself.

There was a little clunk noise as her hand came in contact with metal. This wasn’t her bed... As she faded back into consciousness, she felt the floor beneath her feet, coming to realise that she was actually stood upright. Opening her eyes, she retracted her hand from the cold metal, rubbing her eyes and glancing around.

Oh... Of course... We left for Earth II...

“Finn?” She questioned, loud enough for a few heads to turn. None of them were who she was looking for. They gave her odd looks and carried on towards a doorway. She was too excited to care. She was free now, she could start a new life on this station without her fiancé holding her back.

She took a small step forward, having to grab hold of the sides of the pod as she lost her balance, nearly falling over. Something didn’t feel right. Her whole body seemed out of sync with itself...

Without thinking, her hand rested on her stomach. This explained a lot. Her body adjusted, remembering that it was also carrying a child. Was it like this for everyone coming out of stasis? Their bodies waking up and remembering who they were?

By the time she felt steady enough to leave, she was the only one left in the room. Quickly, she headed towards the door, instantly feeling warmer as she moved into the bright white room. It closed behind her, causing a few heads to turn. She wasn’t the last one there, however, as a few more people arrived.

Finally, an orb in the middle of the room spoke. It explained their situation and how they were affectively a testing group. To be honest, Meiya wasn’t really paying attention. She was constantly scanning the room, trying to spot Finn.

[[On a final note, due to a slight malfunction in the randomizer program, Leonardo Angelo de Sario will be under the guardianship of Selene Shepard. ]]

For some unknown reason, her ears perked up at this. Everyone looked around, until the woman in question stepped forward.

“Kay.” Leonardo smirked. It seemed to be rather amusing to him.

“Surely someone else is better equipped to be the guardian…” Selene suggested, looking straight at her.

Me?! Meiya questioned herself, trying not to let it show on the outside. Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’d be a good guardian...

[[A final record of why you were chosen to be Leonardo’s guardian has been transmitted to your home computer. ]]

After that, they were given instructions on how to find their quarters. She lingered for a small amount of time as the others dispersed, but finding that she was still unable to find who she was looking for, she headed to her own.

Her room was like something she could only dream of having back on earth. It was neutrally decorated, with a few accents of red, notably the pattern on her duvet. There were many bookshelves full to the brim with her books and a few more she’d never seen before, as well as her collection of children’s books that she would read to her class on Earth.

The first point of call was to get changed. It was hard enough getting flattering clothes when your stomach looks like a melon, but this jumpsuit thing wasn’t doing her any favours. Just a simple pair of jeans and a long t-shirt would suffice.

Noticing the computer on the small desk in the corner, she wandered over to see what it could tell her about this place. Apparently, she was to be the ship’s primary school teacher, but at the moment, Leonardo was her only student.

“Looks like I’ll end up doing just as much guardian work as you, Selene.” She chuckled.

With the mentioning of the woman’s name, a profile appeared on the screen. It was only basic, stating a few general details, a profile picture and the number of her room.

“Valkyrie... Can you show me anyone on the station?” She questioned, realising that it is voice activated.

[[ Affirmative. ]]

“Please show me Finn.”

The image on the screen was not one she expected. He was still in his stasis pod, fast asleep.

“We requested to be re-awoken at the same time...” Meiya told it, frowning a little.

[[Due to a malfunction, this has not been possible. Your condition gives you priority. ]]

Before she could reply, there was a knock on the door. She tapped a button on the keyboard, the screen turning itself off as she turned to face her visitor.

“Hello? How can I help you?” Meiya asked the man, frowning a little bit.

“I’m Doctor Olson. I’m here to examine you, to make sure everything’s ok with the baby.” He smiled at her. Seems polite... “And with you of course.”

"Oh, okay! Thank you. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about having a check-up..."

She noticed him glance at the ring on her finger before he spoke again. “There haven’t been any problems in the past so this is just a precautionary check-up. I can also use it to gauge how well your child is developing, which will make it easier when you have later check-ups with me. May I come in?”

The rest seemed pretty routine to her, despite the fact it was in the privacy of her bedroom rather than the clean and sterile hospital. He explained to her that everything was fine and that he would check up on her in 2 weeks time.

“If you need anything you can message me, or I’m just four doors down that way.” He finished, giving her a warm smile. “Do you have any questions before I go?”

Meiya considered what to say carefully. In all honesty, she was terrified that Finn may not be awake by the time the baby arrived, since she had no idea how long this testing phase would be. She really didn’t want to be alone through this...

“Um... It may seem a little forward, but...” She blushed a little; something that she always did in these situations, and it annoyed her. She sat up on her bed, wiping her stomach clean and pulling her t-shirt back down. “Would you want to go for dinner later? Or breakfast? Or whatever meal it is time for?”

“Of course!” Dr. Olson seemed rather enthusiastic about this. “Why not now? After all, we haven’t eaten for several months.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Carefully, she hopped off the bed and followed him out of the room in an attempt to find food.

Appoligies for lazy formatting, bedtiiime <3

[Crazy Elf Boy]

~*~*~*~* Michelle Ackart *~*~*~*~

A loud hiss rang through the air as the air tight seal on the door of the stasis pod was cracked open after a long period remaining closed. A few droplets of cold water dripped down Michelle’s body as the computers reviving process begin to kick in. Slowly yet surely her body temperature began to rise to normal levels before the machine kicked her out onto the ground below.

“Ouch” Michelle exclaimed as she hit the cold metal floor beneath her “No matter how many times I go into stasis that final wake up always gets me”

Finally gaining her balance, Michelle rubbed her eyes with her hands as she looked around to see a lot of people around her in the same situation. The people were all clothed the same way, your general run of the mill stasis suits. Michelle’s attire was no different but it did feel a bit more constricting to what she is normally used to. As her disorientation began to clear up a fairly large black orb descended from the ceiling but before long a stream of words appeared along its surface accompanied by a strange voice as if from nowhere at all.

[[Good Morning Passengers. My name is Valkyrie.]]

“Oh Great” exclaimed Michelle as her hand softly slapped her fore head “I really don’t like AI”

[[Currently EARTH II is running the “GOOD MORNING” program, you were all randomly selected as part of a test to ensure there are no glitches in the civilian section. If a critical mistake is found, regulation ensures that you will all be returned to your cryostatis pods and we will return to Earth for repairs and maintenance.]]

As the voice continued to talk Michelle took this time to start getting ready for her job as part of the ships security detail. As people continued to look confused while walking aimlessly around the immediate area looking for answers, Michelle was crouched on the ground performing stretches to get her body back into shape.

[[On a final note, due to a slight malfunction in the randomizer program, Leonardo Angelo de Sario will be under the guardianship of Selene Shepard.]]

On hearing this news Michelle couldn’t help but smirk at this poor lady’s misfortune as she continued to warm her body up. Scouting the crowd she watched the awkward meeting between the tiny kid and the tall women.

“Ah well time to get started” Michelle sighed as she headed over towards the general living quarters. Looking through the general information provided by the AI system Michelle was able to her living quarters. Upon opening the door to her room the smell of brand new furniture hit her nose like a tidal wave, savouring the moment she took in a deep breath and walked in.

“Well at least this place is clean” she murmured as she inspected them closer. Walking over to a large oval shape in the wall Michelle waved her hand over a small panel next to it and as if by magic the oval seemed to slide into the wall next to it revealing a small neatly tiled room. “And it has its own private bathroom as well, this is definitely better then the crummy barracks I am normally used to” she added as she walked back towards the bed. Rummaging through the drawers in the room Michelle managed to find a pair of overalls and a plain shirt as well as her armour hung up in a nearby storage compartment, but there was still something missing…..her sword. Michelle began searching furiously going through her room looking in all the drawers as well as under the bed even rummaging through every compartment in the bathroom. “Damnit” she yelled at the top of her lungs “Where did they put my damn sword, ah no use getting my self worked up over it now. Maybe I will calm down after a nice long shower”

As she stepped inside the shower the water began to spray from the shower head above sensing her presence. “Ohh that’s nice” Michelle exclaimed “I really hate how those stasis pods always make you feel weird” Reaching down for the shampoo an eerie voice echoed in the back of her head.

“Why hello there Michelle, long time no see” said the voice. It was gravely male voice, one she hadn’t heard in a long time.

“What do you want?” came the response from Michelle.

“Awww, I thought I would get a warmer welcome then that. It has been ages since we last talked” replied the voice again.

“I thought the medication had finally gotten rid of you” Michelle smirked as she got out of the shower and moved over to the basin. Looking in the mirror she didn’t see her own reflection but one of a man. He looked to be in his mid twenties with a 5 o’clock shadow and a crew cut, his eyes were a dark brown and he had an evil smirk across his face. “What do you think your doing out again? Anthony”

“Oh nothing” Anthony retorted “Just hanging around, don’t worry yourself. But I will tell you one thing, stop hitting yourself” As soon as the words came out of the reflections mouth Michelle’s left hand rose up and gave her a firm slap in the face.

“Damnit Anthony what did you do that for?” screamed Michelle as she rubbed the slap mark.

“Because I wanted to, it’s been a long time since I had my own body. So I thought I would try yours out again” Anthony said in a very menacing tone before laughing manically.

“I will show you” cried Michelle as she desperately went through all the bathroom cabinets before pulling out a small bottle and screwing off the top. “Take this” shouted Michelle with that she took a punch of pills from the bottom and shoved them in her mouth swallowing hard. Breathing heavily Michelle looked back into the mirror and only saw her reflection this time, sighing a breath of relief she walked back into her bedroom and slumped down on the bed. “Well I guess I better get to work” Michelle said as she reached for her shirt and pants before putting them on and moving towards her hung up armour. “Been a while since I put this back on” with that remark Michelle took out each individual piece of her armour and put it on, before too long she was fully suited up with the exception of her helmet. Putting a small pistol that was next to her suit into a holster on the belt Michelle stood back up. “Now” Michelle exclaimed “Time to find my sword”

Leaving her quarters Michelle walked through the town like structure till she came across a massive door marked with the number 5. Seeing a console on the wall next to it she went a put her key card she picked up from her quarters into the slot.

[[Access Denied]]

“What?” shouted Michelle “Why won’t you let me through? I need to get to the armoury”

[[Access to Armoury Denied, please remain within the quarters for now.]]

“Look, Valkyrie or what ever you are called. I need to get to the armoury”

[[Access to Armoury Denied, please remain within the quarters for now.]]

“Don’t give me that bull crap, I am Specialist Michelle Ackart and I need to go to the armoury NOW”

[[Access to Armoury Denied, please remain within the quarters for now.]]

Michelle let out a loud scream in frustration. “Fine, have it your way” she cried and began banging on the door with all her might.

[[Please desist or I will be forced to take action.]]

“Oh yeh what are you going to do you giant piece of scrap metal” once Michelle had voiced her insult a small metallic arm appeared from the wall and flicked Michelle in the head knocking her back. Getting back on her feet Michelle walked away from the door rubbing her left arm in defeat. “I’ll get you back you stupid computer”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hope thats fine

[Asilynne]

Name: Lynne Wright, though some call her "Cherrybomb" because shes a big explosion inside a small package ^-~

Sex: Female

Age: 25

Physical Appearance: Reddish brown hair, bright green eyes. She stands at about 5'1", although short, she is well proportioned and has a muscular but slim frame. Sometimes its easy to forget shes short, especially when she is in your face for something, because she has a big prescence. Most of the time has a thoughtful look on her face, though she often also has a moderately stern/spunky expression. Her smiles are extremely rare, but incredibly bright, and usually come from when something shes rigged up goes off without a hitch, or someone praises something she loves/has worked hard on.

Clothing: Generally likes wearing tanktops and jeans, with black leather steel toe boots. Often has a small toolbelt on, and her pants have many pockets. Wears a hairtie around her wrist.

Personality: Shes what you would call a "firecracker". Very high spirited and high strung, she has a lot of focused energy, which can explode into cursing if things dont go right. Very smart, but "undisciplined" and because of this she found engineering school boring and ended up teaching herself. As a result, her ideas tend to be unorthodox but creative, and gets the job done, if not in a "by the book" manner. Very driven individual, giving up isnt in her nature, and she will focus on a problem until its solved, even if it puts her in danger to do so. Takes pride in her work, and treats the ships engines like her baby, getting annoyed if someone else tries to stick their nose in her "territory". Shes blunt in her dealings with people, but not unkind, she just is a no nonsense sort of person. Its a bit hard to befriend her considering she is into her work and doesnt actively seek out others, but if you manage to, youve got a friend for life. Will defend whats right no matter what, including herself if she believes she is in the right about something. If you know your shit well, youll have her respect, but her respect must be earned.

Occupation: Ship Engineer, specializing in ships propulsion. Though she often jury rigs things rather than take the book-learned route other engineers might. Can cobble together solutions out of seemingly nothing. Is very resourceful.

Weapon: Tools I suppose lol

History: TBR

Pod Number: 227-84-88

Relationships: Open, she needs at least one lol try and say how they became friends if you can because of her personality xD

Other: I have nothing for you, other.

~Lynne "Cherrybomb" Wright~
Born in the wrong century

"---ya fucking hands offa me!!!!"

As I slowly roused from the cold sleep which I now realised I had been in, I heard a voice that sounded like me, but seemed to sound disconnected from me, in my ears, mumbling out the latter half of a sentence. For a dumbfounded moment, my eyes still closed, I tried to remember why I was saying that. I didnt usually use such strong language (some harsh language, yes, but rarely that) and I couldnt figure out why I would have used it now, especially having just woken up.

As my eyes opened slowly, revealing a well lit, blurry world, I realised I wasnt in my bed. Also, it was very cold. Climate Control must have ruptured again.... I thought absently, but no, that wasnt right. I wasnt on board the Martian freighter Agrona Anann, and I was also pretty sure I didnt get caught in a coolant leak, which left me confined to a bed in sickbay for a week. That all happened 3 years ago, although I could have sworn it felt like just yesterday....

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision as I heard a voice that was distinctly NOT mine begin to talk. As the voice went on, more and more of my memory began to resurface. No, I wasnt back on my old freighter, no I did not just recently get caught in a coolant leak and I was most certainly not in sickbay. I began to remember the E2 project, and that I was supposed to be here to be the ship's engineer, because of my highly developed skill of course.
That small moment of pride, however, was replaced with the feeling of horror I got from realising what I had been laying in. It was....a stasis pod.

For a long moment, I just stared at it, as if discovering a snake in the toilet. I...was IN that...frozen like...like....the coolant leak....

Thats why I had dreamed of it...I almost died that day. Being frozen in the pod subliminally mustve called up the memory of that day, made it fresh in my mind. I shivered, although the air had long since grown warm. I felt chilled to my soul, but something didnt make sense. I wouldnt willingly enter a pod....

And it was that moment, that I saw HIM.

And suddenly, I felt the chill completely disappear, being replaced with the heated blush of anger on my face. I quickly scanned what the computer had said about the non-randomly chosen people in my memory, and Mr. Sterling here wasnt one of them. I have a feeling me and this computer arent going to get along at all....

"Hello Miss Wright," he spoke in a soft, polite voice, as if he had no idea what he had done, simultaneously ignoring my clenched fists and the other obvious sighs of fury written all over me. Giving a small innocent looking smile he went on, putting the last nail in his coffin. "Sleep well?"

My eyebrow twitched as it all came back in a rush.

"The ship is about to make the jump, all hands move to the pod bay to begin stasis."
'Stasis my ass', I think to myself as I tweak some finishing touches on the propulsion, going over for the third time the coordinates and the power readings of the reactor. 'I would rather take my chances on the outside, than rely on some machine keeping me alive while it freezes me like a Cherrybomb sundae...' The things I was afraid of was a very short list, but I feel no shame in letting anyone know my fear and loathing of being frozen, whether it was the snow on Earth, a coolant leak, or one of those bloody stasis pods. I angrily begin to torque something that probably didnt need it, as I mutter to myself. "Not putting me in one of those damn things, no sir, not me."
"Miss Wright, the ship is about to jump, please come with me to the stasis pods." I hear that calm clear voice that somehow manages to irritate me in a strange way behind me. Standing up, I turn around, placing one hand on my hip and the other gesturing with my tool at the man in front of me. "Look, Mr.---"
"Sterling is my name, Matthew Sterling to be exact." Theres that calm polite tone again. Gritting my teeth I went on.
"Whatever, look Sterling, I", I point at myself with the tool as I speak to him. "Am not, and I repeat, NOT getting in one of those frozen deathtraps, get me? Not you, not even an army of-----HEY!!!" I cut myself off as he grabs me (still calmly!! as if I weigh nothing!!!) and begins to carry me over to where the pods waited. "There is no time to ask again, Miss Wright. You must enter one or you will die and that would be an unacceptable loss."
Flailing and trying to wriggle out of his grasp the entire time, I continue to rant, the fear bubbling up inside of me as my normally alto voice became shriller. "No!! Let me go!!!! Get-----"

And it had been that moment, when the stasis pod put me in a deep freeze, the last thing I saw being THIS MAN giving that same infuriating smile that he was doing RIGHT NOW!

"You mother f....." I started to yell at him when I trailed off, having realised the computer was done making our lives hell and had released us to go locate our quarters. I was still angry but I thought it better to go change and make sure my tools were alright. Seemed more useful at the moment than getting thrown in the brig for assulting a security officer. Giving him one last look, I pointed the tool at him which I had still clutched in my hand from before. "I wont forget this buddy." Stalking past him and down the hall, I heard him chuckle softly as I muttered to myself. "Freezin me in one of those icebox coffins...."

And if the computer thought it was a funny joke to put our quarters near each other, it was DEFINATELY going to hear it from me. Yes sir.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok first post~~~ Hope its ok lol I really really like my char XD

[Mew Master]

Tracer
Location: Pod Stasis Chamber
Status: Sleeping
“Desperation is the mother of invention. Tracer is the father of jury-rigging.” ~ Unknown
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

When one slept, time had no meaning. An entire hour could pass before any inclination of the passage of time to the sleeper. Such was the same for space travel. In the conditions it would take to travel from one part of the universe to another, a human life would burst into existence and slowly wither to dust. In preparing for this, as well as the stresses during 'jumps' the Cryo-Pod Suspended Animation system had been designed.

By slowing down the metabolism of the occupants and protecting them from the energy burst that followed with a jump, organisms could travel from one end of the galaxy to another. One jump later and they would be de-thawed like a package of steak, warmed up, and ready to start their lives.

Experiencing it, however, was another matter entirely.

The young man officially on the Earth II's roster was Evan Smith. A young man from a well off family who wanted to explore outter space.

Just like the Cryo-Pods, there was more to Evan than that.

Tracer felt the sensation of sleep ware off. Water droplets collected along his body as a brush of cold dry air washed over him. His pod had undergone decompression with a loud hiss and an intake of the outside air. It was not the best feeling. Being put to sleep like some large reptile, only to be unpleasantly awakened some time later. It could have been five minutes since after he had gone in the pod to awaking him now. Or fifty years, he really didn't know.

His head ached and his entire body felt sore from non-use. Like a long cat-nap he tried to stretch himself back to, well, being fairly mobile and able to walk without stumbling. Of course he wasn't the most physically adept person around, so he had to lean on the edge of his pod before his legs could carry him.

Not trying to gain any attention, he went along with the group walking through the hallway into a larger room. They knew why they were here, and so did he.

Filling the room with the sphere and robotic arms, they all heard the feminine voice of the computer address them, and explain who and what they were.

The Earth II project. Tracer knew it far too well. There was something going on with the ship, something that hadn't been made aware to the general public. Something he wanted to find out about.

Through the web back home he had found bits of information that didn't seem to add up. For a top priority star ship like this, the materials seemed, well, lackluster. Not to mention other materials that didn't make sense for an exploratory and colonization mission. Weapons would be useful, but why the heavy military involvement? Were they expecting a war? A war with who? And with what?

There was some resentment about being used as 'lab rats' for the betterment of hundreds of lives, to which the computer, Valkyrie, responded:

[[ No, if you all recall reading the fine print of the EARTH II agreement act, you signed that you would willingly participate in the “GOOD MORNING” program. ]]

Of course, Tracer thought, smirking. We volunteered to be lab rats. Big difference.

The rest of the introduction was to assign duties for watching a small child to the one known as Riley. After that the newly awoken people could go to their quarters and get familiarized with their new home.

Tracer took that opportunity to check and see if his belongings had survived the jump.

The young man's room was spacious, and would be comfortable. A table, seats, and a bed in the room. It was also clean and spotless, with a computer monitor in one of the walls. He looked through the drawers and found his equipment. Tracer's goggles fit over his head, although they were a bit cold from being sealed. The next to check was his computer.

Cold was never a good thing for electronics. After a certain temperature the circuitry would turn brittle and break with any slight movement. Carefully he turned the computer on without putting it on his arms, letting it warm up.

He dug through the rest of the drawers and found some clothes to wear. Actually they were his clothes from when he boarded the ship back on earth. They made him look like a drifter, but he really didn't care. He wore them for comfort, wear-and-tear, and pocket space.

The computer booted up and he wrapped it around his left arm, checking the systems. From how it all looked, the computer was running fine. He tried a few systems, double checking connections. Part of his interface looked stalled, probably part of the circuit was damaged during the jump. A simple fix if he could get parts.

Tracer took a cord and connected it to the computer in his room, starting his usual actions. He wanted to get a better idea of the ship, what was there, what was going on, and if anything, get an idea of what was really going on.

A simple schematic of the ship highlighted the screen. The four areas that Valkyrie had designated as accessible were the only things outlined in detail. He rotated the image on the screen. The only sections were 1 through 4. Nothing else was highlighted or made available. And it was a small section of the ship.

He started requesting information from the system:

[[ I'm sorry. You do not have clearance for this information.]]

He tried again, asking through a different question.

[[ I'm sorry. You do not have clearance for this information. ]]

The system was being a pain. Time to break out the big guns.

Tracer's fingers danced along the computer on his arm, as his eyes switched back between monitors. He was sure he could get the info, he just had to know where to look. However, the young hacker was noticing a pattern. Every time he would identify a password or system lock, the program would readjust itself, locking him out. He tried going faster, seeing if it was a program with a specific time limit on calibration. The program matched his speed and he went faster.

His fingers were a blur as he became focused to this task. He had never come across a program like this back home. Was it what all the silence was about? All the secrecy. Thoughts flashed as his fingers danced on the computer, his mind being taxed and pushed to the limits of his ability. Even Tracer couldn't go on like that forever, he had to slip up.

And he did.

His fingers slipped along the computer, clicking the wrong command coding and effectively set him right back where he started. The schematic of the ship taunting him on the larger screen.

[[ Be advised. Your attempts to access secured information have been stopped. Any other infractions shall be weighed against you. This is your only warning. ]]

“Oh come on!” Tracer said, breathing heavily. The hacking had taken a decent bit out of him. “This entire thing's a farce. You can't expect us to just sit here like cattle to the slaughter, or whatever it is this ship is doing.”

[[ The EARTH II is currently running the “GOOD MORNING” program. Your consideration and restraint will be greatly appreciated to ensure your new life on the EARTH II. ]]

He glared at the monitor as the computer itself seemed to mock him.

[[ Furthermore. An analysis of your portable computer shows that you are not Evan Smith. ]]

Shit, Tracer thought. He didn't think that the computer would have been able to stop him from hacking it and hack him!

[[ However, due to our current situation, you will not be placed under arrest or returned to Earth. ]]

Tracer had a sigh of releif.

[[ Your skills are....admirable. So you will be assigned to assist with Engineering, Repairs, and Program Debugging should it be available. ]]

“Hey, waitaminute,” he protested. “Don't I get a say in this?!”

[[ … No. Report to your station in two hours. And have a nice day. : ) ]]

The computer in the room shut off.

“Damnit,” Tracer muttered to himself. He had at least expected himself to get some more leeway before actually being assigned an occupation on the ship. Not only that, but the Valkyrie A.I. Was advanced. Very advanced.

It looked like there was some secrets aboard this ship. And Tracer planned on finding them out.

[Crystal Tears]

. : + ♣ Riley ♠ + : .

The quarters were nice, much better than most homes on Earth or Mars, and that was an impressive feat. They were, notably, small however. Comfortably small, if there was ever a definition. Selene moved inwards, arms crossed and face strategically neutral as she scanned the living/dining room with an open kitchen attached, separated only by an island in-between. There were two rooms, one bathroom, and an extra room on the side for whatever purpose they desired. A large display screen mounted on the wall in the living room must’ve been the television. They were rare to see nowadays, seeing as most were outdated and unused.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!”

Leo rushed by Selene, roughly shoving her out of the way as he sped towards the larger of the two rooms. He pivoted on his heel, smiling at her as she looked over at him.

“This room’s mine!”

“No.”

He frowned; he had received no other reaction then a neutral negative one. Selene knew his type, even at this age. A typical attention-seeker male doomed to grow up to be blight on this Earth.

Odd how, even with this being a ship, that saying applied.

“You can’t stop me!” He stuck out his tongue before crossing his arms, grinning. “Shut and lock door!”

The door obeyed the panel on the wall blinking as the door hissed, closed, and locked itself. Selene rolled her eyes, approaching before clicking on the panel.

[[ LOCKED ]]

“Ha!” Came the muffled, triumphant laughter of the brat.

“Unlock the door.”

“No! Ha ha ha! I can’t believe it’s so easy to outsmart you, you’re so-“

“Computer.” There was a beep as the panel turned green. “Open the door.”

Before Leo could finish his sentence, the door hissed and slid open.

He looked up at Selene, surprised. “Uh-oh.”

She grabbed him, roughly tugging him by the collar. The boy yelped as he was almost thrown into the living room, barely managing to land on his feet.

“Engage Parental Control.”

[[ PARENTAL CONTROL ENGAGED ]]

“Aww, come on that’s not fair!”

Selene rolled her eyes. “This room is mine. You get that one.” She gestured to the smaller one next to it.

“But-“

“Kid, I am not your mother. There are no ifs, ands, or buts with me. Now shut up and amuse yourself somehow.”

Selene disappeared into her room, the door closing behind her.

It was about an hour later, and Selene was sitting on the couch watching some sort of old television program called ‘StarGate SG-1’ when there was a sort of soft tuned beep. Selene assumed it was the E2’s mockery of a doorbell sounding. With little to no curiosity she got up and answered the door, watching it slide open to reveal a rather built man standing in the doorway.

He looked as if he was about to go to the gym to train, and to be honest Selene had no idea if the E2 even had something close to a gym.

“Hello.” He smiled.

“Hi…” Selene’s eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. “Can I help you?”

“My name is Michael Rampart; you can call me Mike though.”

“I’m Riley…” She replied a little awkwardly. ‘What do you want?’

As if picking up on her thoughts, Mike moved on to the point of why he was standing at her door. “I used to live next to Leonardo on the Moon, I just wanted to see how he was-“

As if on cue, there was a loud smash from the shut bedroom door and a little bit of laughter. Selene gritted her teeth, and slowly turned to give a sideways glare at the door.

“Leo.”

The muffled replies came again.

“Yes?”

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

She hated children, she hated childish mind games, and she hated Valkyrie for pitting her with this brat. She looked back at Mike who was still standing outside her quarters, looking a little out of place.

“You can come in.” She noted and headed for the kid’s door.

“His parents did mention he was a handful.” Mike noted as he stepped inside, Selene just looked at him and gave an entirely fake smile.

“Thanks tips.” She pressed the button on the panel, and the locked door opened to reveal Leo standing over a broken television.

“It broke.” He looked at her, trying to be innocent. But the good hole in it, combined with the metal yo-yo in his hand didn’t impress her. “I.. Didn’t do it.”

“Oh really?”

“Really.”

“Then who did smartass?”

“Uh…” He grinned. “Valkyrie!”

“Clean it up.” Selene turned from him.

“But I can just tell the computer-“

Selene looked over his shoulder again. “Wrong kiddo. I told the computer parental control. It won’t do a damn thing until I tell it to.”

“But it’s heavy!”

“I don’t care. Clean it-“

“Hey Mike!” Leo attempted to bolt past her to the guest, but she grabbed him by the shirt again, holding him firmly in place. “Hey lemme go!” The boy squirmed, “I wanna talk to- AHH!”

Leonardo was tossed roughly back into his room, and Selene stood firmly in the way if he tried to escape again.

“Either you clean it up, or I’ll lock the door and you’ll be stuck in here until dinner.”

“You can’t do that-“

“Computer, lock the door and don’t open it until he’s cleaned up the mess.”

[[ LOCKED ]]

The woman smirked as the door slid shut and his outrage was reduced to muffled grumbles.

“What if he never cleans it up?”

“It’ll open up automatically after six hours.” Selene shrugged. “But he doesn’t know that.”

“Ah…” Mike looked at the door curiously before back to the woman. “So he’s under the impression he’s in there for life.”

“Yep.” Selene sat down on the couch and slumped a bit. “… Did you suffer any memory loss?”

“Hmm?” Mike neared, but stood near the arm of the opposite end of the leather seat. “When we awakened?”

“Yeah..”

“It was a bit foggy at first, but no… I remember everything, why? You don’t?”

Selene shrugged, she didn’t really want to go into it, and was sorry she brought it up. “It’ll come back to me.”

“Maybe you should see the doctor?”

She snorted in amusement. “He has a pregnant girl to look after; I can’t bother him about my most likely temporary amnesia.”

“Ah…” He was much more perceptual then others she had encountered in her life, he seemed to drop the subject as fast as she wanted. She blinked, and suddenly realized how rude she was being.

“Oh sorry…” She stood up abruptly. “Have a seat, do you want a drink?”
Mike smiled. “It’s alright, I was just dropping by, but I guess I could stay a little while.” Despite this he sat.

“Do you mind if I have one?” ‘Not that it would stop me, but I might as well ask…’

“No, go ahead.”

To be truthful, Selene had been craving a drink of the alcoholic nature since she woke up, but had held off for the sake of the kid. It was bad to drink in front of children, or so she thought, but seeing as he’d no doubt being one of those terrors that persisted… It was better she have something that would cool her nerves before she rightly killed the brat for being annoying.

She opened the cupboard and found vodka, and per request she had orange juice.

Yes, today was going to get much better.

Today… Tonight? What time was it anyway?

“Um…” Selene looked over at her guest. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Quarter past one, they awakened us at the same time we fell asleep.”

‘So everyone fell asleep at 12:15?’ That didn’t really jog anything in her memory, though she did have this weird sense as if she should remember something, but it was just out of sight of her mind’s eye. Selene wasn’t one for idle chitchat, but to be honest Mike was the first (and only) person she had talked to today that hadn’t irritated her.

“So...” She moved back over, drink in hand. “Why did you sign up to come aboard the Earth II?”

* * *

Tag VirtualPlay and Kurosakura.

[Weasel Overlord]

Name: Leonard Maxwell
Sex: Male
Age: Undetermined. But he looks about late-30s.
Physical Appearance: Leonard is imposingly tall (6'5”) and heftily built – he has the look of someone who won't take any shit. Blond hair, may or may not be bleached, but think that for the colour. He wears it brushed back off his forehead to keep it out of the way. He has cheekbones you could slice cheese on, and a face that ladies might call “rugged.” He is in the habit of frowning or looking annoyed, so there's a downtilt to his mouth almost constantly, as well as a crease in the centre of his forehead.
Clothing: Leonard wears sunglasses at all times – no, he will never take them off. No matter whether he's indoors (which he is) or outdoors, those sunglasses stay on. They're black, and completely opaque – not a glimpse of his eyes can be seen from behind them. The main thing that you'd notice about Leonard is his leather coat – it's long (mid-calf length), black and pretty much all leather, with some patterning for strength around the elbows, shoulders, etc. Underneath the trench he wears a navy, long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and with two buttons left undone. Over the top of his shirt there's a series of black straps around his shoulders and criss-crossing his chest that look like gun holsters, but since he never takes off his coat, you'll not find out what's in them. Over the top of the straps he wears a utility waistcoat type thing, in black, with oodles of pockets.
His pants are plain, serviceable and comfortable black, belted, with the bottoms tucked into sturdy, clompy black boots. He has a gun holster strapped to his right thigh (unf). Oh yeah, he also wears sturdy leather gloves, fingerless, that go partway up his arms.
Personality: Leonard is, in a word, cranky. His voice is gravely and deep, and he sounds serious at all times. He's not one for humour or light-heartedness, and he won't participate in jokes. He's singularly driven by his objectives, although you won't be finding out what those are for a very long time. When he's set his mind on something, it will get done, no matter how unsavoury the task may be. He can be extremely aggro, and he doesn't particularly like women, though he admits their usefulness in some situations. Saying that though, he's much more of a loner, and won't voluntarily join a group of other people unless it's necessary. He's neat, and has a habit of ordering people around – a throwback from his days as Captain. Also, expect him to disappear at random intervals and then reappear when you least expect him. He's exceptional at finding his way around places, and almost never gets lost.
Occupation: All he will say is that he used to be a Captain, but his capability with most tasks possibly speaks otherwise.
Weapon: Approved – Single handgun in his thigh holster. Black, magnum model. On the back of his belt, he stores his spare bullets.
History: No history. Lol, joking. Possibly to be revealed. Either way, he won't say anything if you ask him about his past, except occasionally, he might reveal some sort of mystic clue.
Pod Number: 02-53-198
Relationships: He may have a few acquaintances among the crew, but he knows no-one from before. If anyone can handle him, feel free to ask me. ^_^
Other: *glares at other* Ohohohohoho yes. Oho. Ohoho. Etc.

Leonard Maxwell
|| blackened angel ||

It begins. Leonard's eyes snapped open as the door to his stasis chamber slammed open. He enjoyed the feeling of his limbs slowly thawing out, regaining movement and, finally, the ability to sit upright.

He swung his legs over the side of the chamber, watching as stasis vapour steamed from his clothes. It resembled wet clothes drying in front of a fire, and the image was pleasing. A memory of scent was conjured – wet cloth, bonfire smoke curling upwards, hot potatoes, the sulphur crack of fireworks – and then it was gone, fleeting, like the smoke he remembered. Like the vapour, which had now completely vanished into the stale atmosphere of the ship.

The ship. Yes. The words of the A.I. Valkyrie crashed over him. Selected for early waking – test subjects – smallprint – SUN. Yes. He suspected that there would be complaints from some of the lab rats, as there always was. And there they were, right on cue. The A.I. explained as patiently as only a computer could, and then there was much less discord.

Leonard adjusted his sunglasses, noting that the familiar greyness of his vision meant that the landscape of the ship was mostly unchanged. Standing up, he took stock. Hands went to his torso – good, all items intact – next to his thigh – good, gun intact – spare bullets in their rightful place in the small of his back – everything as it should be.

He turned to the command console of his stasis, typed in his passcode and then took mental note of his living quarters. He did not know whether he would have neighbours, but it was of no consequence if he did.

“Valkyrie,” he said, out loud. “Unlock the living quarters of Maxwell, Leonard, and provide directions. I will require a safe, is this readied?”

[[Voice-activation – Affirmative, Maxwell, Leonard. Your quarters are prepared. Take the second corridor on the left, three hundred paces then turn right. You are quartered in #327, Section 3, this is on your left. A safe is readied for your arrival.]]

“I will also be requiring a cold-room. Locate the nearest one.”

[[Closest cold-room is located in Section 2. Take the turbolift down one floor. Cold-room is the first door on your left after exiting the turbolift. Have a nice day. : )]]

Leonard nodded his approval. Cold-room not too far away for his purposes, excellent. Certain that his body had fully readjusted to balancing and being out of stasis, he started towards his quarters - #327, Section 3. He assumed that his stasis chamber had been in Section 3 already, from the instructions Valkyrie gave him, and he was gratified to find this was true upon his arrival at his quarters.

The door was unlocked, as the A.I. had said, and upon entering, he noted that they were also pleasingly warmed. The decoration was sparse, but not unfriendly – warm colours vied with neutral to provide an overall feeling of being back on Earth. Upon opening the large wardrobe, he realised that additional clothes had been provided – as well washed and pressed, by their clean, crisp scent – in all the styles he favoured. Opening a drawer provided him with clean underwear, a second with spare belts, and a third with gun-cleaning equipment. A small cupboard gave the outward appearance of normality, but when he opened the door he was gratified to find the safe he had requested on his sign-up for Earth II. Circular voiceprint scanning lock, it was secure enough for his needs aboard this ship.

All in all, he was well pleased with the quarters. Orientating himself with the layout of the ship was the next logical step, but Leonard found himself curious about the other lab rats. He smiled thinly. Getting to know lab rats was never a wise choice, but if he was to be aboard this ship for an undetermined amount of time, some human contact would be necessary. Cover must be retained at all costs.

Settling his long coat into a more comfortable position, he gave the voice command to lock his safe, did the same for his door and exited into the corridor. He supposed that introducing yourself to neighbours was the protocol in this situation, and it was with this thought bubbling in the forefront of his mind that he knocked sharply, thrice, upon the door opposite his own.

TAG urrr someone. ^_^

[Kyuuketsuki]

"Why are there no games in this computer…" Joseph thought as he scanned the computer in his room, he is used to talking out loud to himself, but the computer's responses annoyed him after some time. "How am I supposed to spend my time?"

Joseph left the monitor screen and grabbed a book from the library.

"Uh, computer," Joseph started. "Are there any novels or are they all the same manual?"

[[ My name is Valkyrie. These are virtual books; you can enter the information of the book you want to read into the program. ]]

A program popped-up on the monitor, Joseph walked toward it and chose the genre: "Horror"

He looked over at the library; the books are shifting, changing their covers.

[[ Loading Complete. ]]

"Sweet," Joseph whispered to himself, he was amazed by this advance technology. "How old are you?"

[[ I'm sorry. You do not have clearance for this information. ]]

"Oh well," Joseph said as he grabbed some books, read the tittles and threw the ones he had already read onto the floor. "Are these all outdated?"

[[ Please return the books to the library, and press OK to load the next patch. ]]

Joseph did so, and the books began loading again.

[[ Loading Complete. ]]

"Let's see," Joseph grabbed a book. "This is new, great job, computer."

[[ My name is Valkyrie. We are glad that our services can please you. ]]

"It's a like a hotel," Joseph whispered to himself. "Let's see what we have here."

Joseph opened the book; he started reading the first line, that's when he heard a knock on the door.

"What is this," Joseph said as he walked towards the door. "Room service?"

Joseph opened the door, a man was standing there, a tall one, he seemed like an army man.

"Can I help you?" Joseph asked.

"I'm Leonard Maxwell," The man said. "I live in the room just opposite of you."

"Uh," Joseph said as he tried to look over the man's body, his mind was analyzing a lot as well, but luckily he could speak while thinking. "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Joseph Bonnlander, you can come in."

The man stepped in.

"Do you need anything to eat?" Joseph said, he had never opened the refrigerator, and had just noticed that he was hungry.

"No, thanks," Leonard said. "I just came to introduce myself to you, knowing your neighbors is a good thing."

"Yeah," Joseph said. "But you look two decades older than me, I'm not sure we'll get along very well," He said, unaware of the rudeness of his speech. "So, are you in an army or something like that?"

[VirtualPlay]

Mike Rampart
Waking up from stasis
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
My eyes shot open. The sudden warmth returning to my body felt comforting, as did the rush of air that dried my body off. I was wearing the white jumpsuit that they had given us for the cryostasis, and I liked it for its similarity to my gi, although I wasn't too fond of the one-piece style.

I stepped out of my now-open chamber; my bare feet felt the cold steel floor and it felt refreshing. Almost out of instinct, I did a couple warm-up stretches for my arms, but stopped as people began filing towards a warmer light. I followed, noticing a black ball on a mechanical arm from the ceiling. It scanned everyone as we entered before moving around seemingly randomly. Sensing that this was where we were supposed to go, I went back to my stretches.

After a couple minutes and a few dozen people entered, the smaller ball withdrew so that a larger black ball could descend. This ball suddenly lit up with bright yellow words.

<< Good Morning, Passengers. My name is Valkyrie. >>

'Huh, a personality AI,' I thought to myself, 'not too many of those on Lune.' I finished up some of my more complex stretches as the computer continued.

<< Due to the long sleep and as part of the refresher course programmed, I have to remind you that the same laws and regulations found on both Earth (Lune included) and Mars apply to your stay on EARTH II. >>

I had expected that; there were supposedly a multitude of people from all three bodies on this ship, though I didn't know of anyone else that was on board. I finished my stretches and started some balancing exercises, keeping an eye on the board as it responded to the complaints. Honestly there wasn't much to complain about; everything Valkyrie said was true. I guessed people hadn't really thought about what this whole E2 thing was.

It didn't bother me, really. I wasn't really leaving anyone behind. My parents had moved off to the Earth not long after I moved out, and both the students and other teachers at my school were distant from me because of my skill. The only person I really had any kind of level connection with was my sensei on Lune, and he was the one that suggested I go out on this E2 project to be a trainer.

Just when I thought Valkyrie had nothing to surprise me, she pulled one up:

<< On a final note, due to a slight malfunction in the randomizer program, Leonardo Angelo de Sario will be under the guardianship of Selene Shepard. >>

The name caught me off-guard and I almost lost my balance. What was Leo doing on this ship? I hadn't heard anything from his parents that they were going on this E2 trip. Were they on this trip as well, and if so, what glitch caused him to be awoken without them?

I quickly made note of the name of his "guardian" for later. From my position in the crowd it was hard to see them, and I didn't feel like drawing attention to myself by searching them out. As everyone started dispersing, I figured the best thing to do would just leave for my room. I'd check up on Leo later.

As I opened the door, I had a feeling that Valkyrie knew a lot more than she was letting on. The room was surprisingly perfect for my needs, despite being overall very simple. The bedroom was small, but I was fine with that. There was a den as well, a little larger than the bedroom, for if I wanted people over, though I suspected I wouldn't have that many guests. The bathroom was, well, a bathroom.

The room that surprised me most, though, was the final room. It wasn't much larger than the den, but it had no furniture in it. To most people it probably would seem as if I had been placed in a room that was supposed to be meant for a child and guardian, but considering my bedroom had been placed in the smaller room, it seemed more like it was meant for me to give me a training space.

First I felt the need to change. As I was getting out of the jumpsuit and into a normal set of workout clothes, I noticed the time on a clock. It was 12:30, and it seemed like we had been out for about 15 minutes. That meant that we had been woken up at the same time we went to sleep before the ship took off. It intrigued me, but I figured Valkyrie was just being courteous and not giving us jet-lag. Or rather, space-lag.

I spent the next half hour doing some more intense workouts in the room I had dubbed to be my training room. I then took a quick shower and changed into a clean set of clothes before sitting down at my computer. Figuring I had given people enough time to settle in, I looked up "Selene Shepard" in the locator program. Fortunately she was only a few doors down, so I got up, walked to her door, and rang the doorbell.

After half a minute she opened the door. I smiled and said, "Hello."

"Hi…" she said hesitantly, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Can I help you?"

Figuring introductions would be best, I said, "My name is Michael Rampart; you can call me Mike, though."

"I'm Riley…" she said, trailing off a bit. It intrigued me a bit that she didn't go by her first name, but I didn't think much of it.

"I used to live next door to Leonardo on the Moon," I started, "I just wanted to see how he was—"

A loud smash from inside interrupted me. Riley winced and called out to Leo, wondering what the noise was. Then, probably realizing it would be a while, she invited me in.

She went over to the door as we talked a bit, then had a nice "talk" with Leo about the TV he had decided to smash with his yo-yo. After she locked him in his room to clean it up, we got to talking. It seemed she had some memory loss, but I could tell she didn't want to talk about it.

As she asked if I wanted a drink, I started to decline to leave, but something stopped me. Maybe it was because she was someone who seemed my age who didn't treat me distantly, or maybe because I was just looking for someone to have a friend in. Either way, I decided to stick around and at least have a chat with her. She poured herself a drink, then sat down as well.

"So…" she said as she sat, "Why did you sign up to come aboard the Earth II?"

"Well," I started, leaning back, "I suppose the main reason was because my martial arts sen… teacher suggested I go so I could help to train more people."

Riley looked over her glass and raised an eyebrow, "The 'main reason,' hm?"

I sighed, but at the same time felt a little better; nobody else that I knew would have noticed my particular wording, and the fact that she caught it made me realize she was definitely someone I could talk to. "Okay, I'll be honest." I said, slouching forward and looking at the floor. "I never really fit in well with the people I was around; I was 'too good' for them. On top of that, my parents left for Earth not long after I moved out a few years ago and lost contact. So I guess my teacher asking me to go was more of an excuse for me."

As I finished, I felt a little embarrassed, but also relieved that I was able to tell someone. "So…yeah," I said, looking up. "That's my story, how about—"

Another crash interrupted me again, and Riley simply yelled, "Leo!"

"I told you it was heavy!" came the muffled reply.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Samchu]

Cale
~~~~

When it comes to women there's a scale; easy to difficult, and along this scale you find all types of the female spectrum: the ones looking for a quick f*ck, the ones looking for the long-term relationship, the shunned lovers, the bored housewifes... Meiya struck me as the 'looking for a friend' category, which put her on the easy end of the spectrum. All women have needs that they want fulfilled and the closer their immediate need is to their sex drive, the easier they are to get in the sack. And friendship is ridiculously close on that scale. First you establish your peramters with the information you get right away; looks, personal interests, background, etc. Then you broaden those peramters with similar interests. Next comes the secrets confessions, the late night phonecalls....the sleepovers. Generally, I would have pegged that type of woman in the 1 day - 3 months category. Considering the situation I'd give Meiya four months before she gave into me. Though I bet myself that I could do it in three.

There were two main eating areas close to our accomodation. The first was a kitchen for personal use, the second was a small cafeteria staffed by some of the other residents (or so I assumed). I decided to take Meiya to the kitchen to show off my skills with food. It's lunchtime. Need to prepare something light but filling. Salad? Too easy. Must be something. Good thing I looked at that map earlier. I looked across at Meiya, taking in the details of the bland-ish corridor in which we were walking. It wouldn't hurt me here to ask. She would welcome the consideration I expect.

She looked surprised when we walked into the kitchen area. I was quick to explain my intent to cook for her, given that I wasn't sure if there were staff in the cafeteria and didn't want to risk that they might not be - we had just woken from stasis about an hour ago, people needed to adjust.

"Is there anything in particular you like? Or anything you're allergic to maybe?" I realised that I couldn't remember the information from my file.

"No red meat. No spice." She pattered her stomach. "And anything else you'd recommend avoiding."

I pulled open a nearby fridge-freezer. "Right we got some chicken and..." Maybe a slightly bigger meal isn't such a bad idea. We haven't eaten in months. She'll need the nutrition as well... I rooted through the cupboards as well. I could boil some potatoes. Give her a bit of starch. And some vegetables...boil the greens and roast the rest. That could work... I grinned back at her. "Leave it to me."


"This is good," she said, muching on a forkfull of chicken.

"Good. I try."

"Do you cook often?"

Depends on the girl. "When work allows."

"It must be hard work being a doctor."

"It can be. But it has its rewards." She's a teacher. Play on it! "I don't recommend juggling it with teaching."

I could see the level of interest rising in her face. "You teach?"

"On and off. Someone has to make sure the next generation of med students do a good job."

"What's it like teaching college students? I've only worked with the younger years."

"They work hard but they're imaginations are just as spirited when it comes to creating excuses for not doing homework."

She smiled. "I think it's cute." She finished off her meal. "I hear the student I have to teach is spirited too. I hope he's not too much of a handful."

"I think he'll behave. Did you see the guardian he's got? Definitely the demon headmistress type."

"I wonder if she'll try and pass him on to me..."

"Would that be so terrible?"

"What makes me anymore qualified as a guardian? Being pregnant doesn't make me any more worthy or responsible...if anything it makes me less responsible."

I put my hand on top of hers. "Don't worry about it. It's not like you'd have to do any of it alone."

She hid her face a little. Silent thanks. Makes her cuter.

"So, speaking of this student of yours. Do you actually have to teach him any time soon? Because if not, maybe we could figure out exactly what they've got here." I laughed. "Maybe even find some other people. Seems like they're hiding from us."

[Weasel Overlord]

Leonard Maxwell
|| nothing satisfies me but your soul ||

The boy – Joseph Bonnlander, he said his name was – invited Leonard into his quarters. He made an attempt at small-talk, excusable, considering he looked younger than twenty years, and then enquired as to the nature of Leonard's dress.

“So, are you in the army or something like that?”

Cover must be kept. At all costs. “No, I am not in the army.”

There was an uncomfortable silence, which Leonard did not mind, and then the boy Joseph filled it in with a few hedging noises. “Uh, okay then. Your clothes sure look like army clothes.”

“They aren't.”

“Oh?”

“No.” Leonard pondered the merits of further conversation, and then allowed that giving the boy a touch more could not harm his situation aboard the ship. “I was a Captain, in the past.”

“You were? In the army?”

“No. We were a small elite group, you would not have heard of us.”

“That sounds pretty cool. Were you CIA or something?”

“No.” He let the silence grow again, aware that it would make most people uncomfortable.

His assumptions were correct, and he noted that Joseph was shifting from one foot to the other and looking generally ill at ease. “I have errands to run,” Leonard remarked. “It was good to meet you, Joseph Bonnlander.”

“Uh yeah, good to meet you too Leonard.” He closed the door behind Leonard with noticeable relief.

He stored the knowledge away for future use. Any information on his fellow passengers could potentially be useful, and Leonard didn't want to be found wanting if the correct situation arose. But for now, the cold room was a more pressing engagement – certainly more so than pointless human interactions.

Leonard felt at the precious cargo underneath his vest – it was safe and well and ready for use – the cold room was, of course, the next logical step in the... incubation period. Not only that, but correct temperatures must be kept at all times, and it had been precisely thirty seven minutes since he had left cold-stasis. He had thirteen minutes before the window closed – no more interactions, no more distractions.

He snapped out an “Open,” at the turbolift and waited patiently as it spanned the distance between section three and section two, which was thankfully short. Valkyrie's instructions were short, but to the point, and he did indeed find the cold room where the A.I. had said it would be.

The door opened smoothly, and Leonard stepped over the threshold. He took note, with pleasure, of the varied equipment around the room, and with even more pleasure at the chill evident in the very air. His breath came out as small puffs of cloud, and he knelt in front of the large silvered freezer, with its glass door. Shelves were evident inside, complete with circular holes that appeared to be the perfect size for their use.

Leonard nodded to himself. This would suffice – but he would have to set up some stringent security. Not a problem.

[Master Rudy]

Sgt. David Summers
------
I didn't like the way this was starting out. It was suppose to be a simple job. Wake up, proceed to command the security teams, keep law and order and make sure no one decided to start any serious trouble. Instead of simple however I had six people on my team down while me and Smith were crawling around in the vents without a clear sense of direction. To make matters worse I was craving a smoke.

After about 10 minutes of a slow crawl in a cramped space Smith shouted back at me. "There's a vent up ahead sir! I think I can hear voices too. It could be the commons area." Feeling sure that the situation would be under control very shortly I told him "Good son. No need to scare the people by blasting the thing open. Get someone's attention and see if they have tools to open it up." Smith however was quick to prove that he wasn't very convincing as far as important matters go. "Excuse me sir" he said to someone I couldn't see. "We....uh.....seem to be having a problem. Can you let us out?" I inwardly groaned at the fact that Smith was being so calm about the matter. Granted it may have been because he didn't want to panic people by letting them know to full extent of the situation. However it didn't take longer for some joker to start giving him a hard time. "What's wrong buddy? Ship decide to put your cryo chamber in the vent?" Not wanting to waste another minute being the butt of a joke I shouted towards the vent from behind Smith. "Well it's clear your going to win the smartass award this year! This is the head of security! We had a malfunction in our room that locked us in and disabled the comm system. Now either help us out of this fucking tin can or step aside so I can shoot it open!" Smith did the best he could to look back towards me and said "Forgive me if I'm speaking out of line but I think that goes against not scaring the people sir." Instead of answering I merely did the best I could to shrug considering how cramped the inside of the vents were.

Finally after about another five minutes someone on the other side had the vent open and me and Smith were out. Several people who had been in the commons area seemed confused as to what what happening and one of them even approached me on the matter and asked me about it. The last thing I wanted to do however was start a panic on the ship before I knew the full extent of what was happening. While everything seemed fine in this sector for all I knew the computer problem that struck the room I was in could have happened in other areas of the ship as well. As a result all I said in regards to the situation was "Everything is under control. The door was simply locked and we had to get out of there somehow. It's just a bit embarassing in the end." The man seemed to want to keep asking questions on the matter however. "Granted it makes sense that you guys would need to get out. But shouldn't there be more than just two of you?" Looking back at the man I said "The personal have been spread around the ship. Some of my people were assigned to the civilian areas and some were in the security area. We just happened to be the unlucky bastards that got locked in a room. Now are you done asking me questions or are you looking to write a god damn novel about it?" The man didn't push the matter after that but as he was walking away I did hear him call me an asshole under his breath.

Better to be thought of as an asshole at this moment than to mention crew deaths and start a panic.

Once that was over with I walked over to one of the computer terminals in the commons area. Once I had my access codes typed in I proceeded to broadcast a shipwide message since I was going to need as many people accounted for as possible. At the same time however I did the best I could to make my message seem as normal as possible to keep everyone calm. "Attention all crew and passengers! This is David Summers, head of ship security. I trust you've all had a good rest and are slowly becoming accustomed to life on the ship. In any case I need all security, military and engineering personal to report to me in the commons area in 10 minutes. We need to go over your assignments and shifts as well as run a full scan on the computer systems to make sure everything is running properly. Summers out." If only it were really that simple I thought to myself as I stepped away from the computer. I had the grim task of reporting what was really going on to them and trying to keep the incident contained as much as possible until the investigation was done. The best I could do right now was maintain my cool and hope that the worst was over with.......
------

In short David and his pet redshit are out of their tin can prison. He's seeking all avalible personal so that he can begin to look into what may have gone wrong in his room. At the same time he's attempting to keep the info limited to only security and engineering so that he can avoid a panic in regards to people thinking the ship systems may fail at any moment. Granted that won't happen but once people hear about crew deaths it's bound to be one of the first things that will come to mind.

[classy_cat18]

I sighed in relief as I dipped my toes into the crystal-blue water. The smell of the ocean drifted past my nose as it was carried by the gentle breeze. My stay at this paradise had been perfect so far. If I didn’t have to worry about writing or work for the rest of my life, I would stay here forever.

Forever…

Forever…

“Letsa goooooo!”

A sudden blast of cold water hit my back and almost blew me into the ocean. I glared at the attacker, the mood dampened by my…damp state. “Mario…” I groaned.

The Italian plumber winced and ran off again, back to chasing the blue bird around the plaza. Why did I have to decide to come to Isle Delfino at the same time as Mario and his friends? If it wasn’t him spraying me, it was that cute dinosaur licking me, or that Mario clone coating me with paint. At least Mario would help me out afterwards by spraying me.

“B-b-but still,” I chattered to myself. “I would like to be dry.”

Hot air hit me from behind at that moment and surrounded me. The Charizard smirked at his good job and gave me a happy hiss.

…Wait a second. Since when did Charizard hiss?

The scene quickly changed to a white room. My mind slowly phased back to reality. I wasn’t really on Isle Delfino, but on some space station. After months of my agent telling me that I needed to “loosen up” and “find yourself”, I decided to take his advice. Far, far away from him. Thanks to the pod I was in, I drifted through the craziest non-lucid dreams that I had ever had.

I stretched and stumbled into the nearby white room, my legs not used to supporting my weight yet. It wasn’t as nice as Isle Delfino, but it was definitely better than the depths of Brinstar.

[[ Good Morning Passengers. My name is Valkyrie. ]]

“Yo,” I answered with a smirk. Like answering a computer wasn’t nuts.

[[Due to the long sleep and as part of the refresher course programmed, I have to remind you that the same laws and regulations found on both Earth (Lune included) and Mars apply to your stay on EARTH II. ]]

“So none of my casual Fridays? Because sometimes wearing clothes is bothersome.” The guy beside me gawked as I idly scratched the shoulder of my bodysuit. It was just a joke…sort of.

[[ Currently EARTH II is running the “GOOD MORNING” program, you were all randomly selected as part of a test to ensure there are no glitches in the civilian section. If a critical mistake is found, regulation ensures that you will all be returned to your cryostatis pods and we will return to Earth for repairs and maintenance. ]]

“We’re guinea pigs?” someone asked it.

I rolled my eyes. Great. This never went right in any sci-fi movie. So what was going to go wrong? My money was on the computer.

[[ No, if you all recall reading the fine print of the EARTH II agreement act, you signed that you would willingly participate in the “GOOD MORNING” program. ]]

I never was good at reading fine print.

After the briefing with the computer, I found my quarters. It was a lot neater than the disaster I had on Earth, but that was because it was my first time setting foot in it. All my stuff was already there, and it was furnished with the essentials. I searched around for a DVD player but couldn’t find one. Outdated or not, I needed something to watch my collection on. Oh well. I can still hook my laptop to it and watch my DVDs that way.

I quickly shed my bodysuit and found the first T-shirt and pair of jeans I found in my bag, not caring that they were wrinkled. Then I searched the cabinets in my small kitchen for something to eat, finding bowls of ramen. Three minutes later, I was walking around the rest of my quarters, hot and spicy ramen hanging from my lips. “It’s kind of quaint,” I said for the recorder hanging from my hip. “I don’t need a lot. Just hope there’s stuff to do.”

After studying my little bedroom and bathroom, I stepped out into the hallway to get a better look at my neighbors as they walked by. A new bowl of ramen was in my hand, ready to be eaten. It wasn’t long until a man walked by, definitely someone in the military. “Yo,” I greeted.

“Hello,” he returned stiffly, not sounding like he was in the least bit interested in me. He looked up and down me, probably bewildered by my lack of shoes or socks. “My name is Leonard Maxwell. I live just down the hall from you.”

My head tilted to the side in thought. “Okay. I’m Sierra Hawkins.”

“That name is vaguely familiar.”

“I’d prefer that it wasn’t.” He looked confused for a brief second. “I’m a writer.”

“I’m a Captain. Was a Captain, I mean.”

“Of what? Never mind, don’t answer. I don’t want to know.” He groaned (or growled) at my response. I chuckled and ate a little before talking more. “It’s not that I’m trying to be rude. I don’t have much interest in law enforcement or anything like that. So Captain…what did you dream about?”

“Um…excuse me?”

“In the pod. What did you dream about?”

“What kind of question is that?” Barely suppressed frustration laced his question.

“I dream of whatever I watched, read, played or listened to all at once. I dreamed I was on Isle Delfino. You know, from Super Mario Sunshine. I’m a fan of classic gaming, you know.” He started to walk away and I laughed. “You’re not one for small talk, are you?”

“No,” he answered through gritted teeth.

“Too bad. Say hello to Samus if you run into her, and keep your eyes peeled for Meta Ridley.” I went back in my quarters without a word.

[Mystic_clown]

Matthew Sterling
------------------------------

Sterling stretched his arms as he walked down the halls. The A.I. had set each of them with a dormitory, all in the same block. Well, he figured it was a smart decision, since they were all the test group, it would be wise to keep them all together.

He looked along the wall as he finally approached the room assigned to him. He double checked the number, making sure he wasn’t going to accidentally walk in on someone. Pulling out his keycard, he slipped it in, punching in the small code that came with it.

[[ACCESS GRANTED]]

He smiled as the door slid open. He stepped inside, looking around at his new room. It was scarcely furnished, with only the basic furniture. Bed, desk, chair, and a small television. Just the way Matthew Sterling liked it. Maybe a plant or so would be nice, but he preferred it this way. He didn’t like things being cluttered up and such.

He looked around the room, making sure there was everything he needed. Surely enough, there was. Good. At that point he quietly sat on a space on the floor, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. Sure, he had put himself in a meditative state when he went into the pod, but at this was to attune himself to his new environment. He closed his eyes, letting his mind be cleared of all thoughts. He could feel himself relax. This was a big change for him. He knew that the instant he agreed to this assignment. It was for the good of humanity, and he accepted it. He was sure he would adjust to it all. After all, this was meant to be the new home for humanity.

At that point though, he heard a small knock and the door slid open. He had forgotten to lock it after himself. He then heard a familiar voice speak up.

“Hi neighbo-oh…it’s you…”

A small smile spread across is face. His eyes still closed.


TAG Brandy

[Asilynne]

~Lynne "Cherrybomb" Wright~
Simple needs are sometimes the hardest to fulfill...

I fumed silently as I strode down the corridors of the ship, clutching my tool in a white knuckle grip. It was bad enough being manhandled into that damn frozen deathtrap, but now that I was awake I was also the only engineer, expected to keep this place in good working order all by my lonesome. Despite having "slept" (although could you really count having all your cells slowed down by intense cold and then thawed out like a steak sleeping??) I felt exhausted and irritable. That...that....infuriatingly calm man didnt help matters either. All I wanted at the moment was a nice hot shower.

Palming the lock to my quarters I walked inside, pausing just inside the door to look around. Tools were strewn about, I could see a calibrator laying on one of the kitchen counters, an open toolbox with its contents spilled rested on the dining room table. The couch was occupied by various old fashioned engineering mags, along with some more modern books on padd. All in all it looked like the place had been ransacked. I sighed.

"Good to be home...." I breathed, smiling with relief that all my things seemed to be accounted for (though, since I wasnt very organised, it was a bit hard to tell). Resolving I could always get to work a bit later, I headed straight for the shower. Most people had sonic showers, that cleaned you without even having to get undressed with sonic waves, but I had a water shower specially requested for me. Mars was still a bit less established than Earth and even the Moon, so all we had growing up were water showers, and I came to prefer the feel of hot water and steam over the awkward nothingness (in my opinion) of the sonic showers. I started to undress, taking off my white jumpsuit and jacket underneath before realising I was missing something very important.

My shampoo.

"Mother f...." my curse trailed off into a tired and annoyed sigh. It was always SOMETHING! Shrugging, my sourness quickly fading, I decided to head next door in my tanktop and jeans on the off chance my neighbor might have some, or at the very least know where I could get some. I was still not on speaking terms with that computer, else I would have asked it.
Knocking on the door to my immediate left, it slid open before I expected. Taking a peek inside I called out a greeting, which froze in my throat as I saw who was sitting peacefully crosslegged on the floor of a quarters which looked as if no one had even moved in yet.

"You...." Shock and fury warred for dominance on my face as I stared at the occupant. "Sterling....That.....computer.....HATES ME!!!!!!" I yelled the last bit as I clenched my fists, resisting the urge to drive one into the wall or door. Taking a deep breath I tried my best to school my features as I reguarded the man (who still was sitting peacefully, his eyes closed of all things!) with a cool gaze. "Well..." I began, my voice icy even as the fire tried to break through. "One of us is going to have to move." He still said nothing, just smiled that annoying smile but otherwise acting like I wasnt there. I put my fists on my hips and glared daggars at him (I was sure he could at least FEEL the glare). "IM not going anywhere so that leaves you."

After a long quiet moment, he uncrossed his legs, standing in a fluid motion before finally opening his eyes. "I suppose the computer thought it best I live beside you to make sure your temper didnt get you in any more trouble. I doubt if either of us are permitted to move."

I could feel my frustration boiling over again and I opened my mouth, about to give him a piece of the temper he liked so much when an announcement rang through the corridor. [[Lynne Wright please report to the quarters of Selene Riley Shepard for an emergency repair. Thank you.]]

Closing my eyes and letting out a small growl I avoided looking at Sterling, simply telling him we would discuss this later as I stormed out. Stopping by my quarters briefly to grab a toolbox, I stalked down the corridors towards the "emergency".

Which wasnt an emergency at all. Turns out some little brat broke a TV and, despite being locked inside the room and told to clean it up, still managed to contact the computer to drag my ass down here to fix it under the guise of something that was actually worth the trip. Sighing as I put my tools away, I turned to the clearly frustrated Selene. "Ill fix it, but can it wait until after Ive had----" Before I could finish my sentence however, another voice rang over the intercom. "Attention all crew and passengers! This is David Summers, head of ship security. I trust you've all had a good rest and are slowly becoming accustomed to life on the ship. In any case I need all security, military and engineering personal to report to me in the commons area in 10 minutes. We need to go over your assignments and shifts as well as run a full scan on the computer systems to make sure everything is running properly. Summers out."

My shoulders slumped as I gazed up at the ceiling, silently wishing this was all a bad dream. Work was never over for the only ship's engineer that was thawed it seemed.

And I still hadnt had my shower....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Im not sure whats up with Rudys post but I included it anyway just to F with my char lol Hope my post is ok, Im a bit sleepy XD

[Mew Master]

Tracer
Location: Engineering
Status: Annoyed
“You can either 1) Shut up and let me work. 2) Do it yourself and likely blow up the ship. Or 3) Lay down and die. Which is it?” ~ Tracer
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

Tracer frowned as he fought with the system panel he was running a diagnostic on. A few minutes after reporting into his new supervisor, a 'charming' woman by the name of Lynne Wright, and he was already being put to work, running system diagnostics on all of the computer terminals. While it may have been a mandatory check, Tracer was the only one doing it. Very few engineers or those that could be considered competent in systems management or tool usage were awoken by Valkyrie's Good Morning Program.

The work was menial and dull, only a few things needed to be done while the computer systems were checked. Which was good for Tracer. The young hacker was still trying to wrap his head around the computer system AI Valkyrie. The speed and skill at which it had countered his intrusions into its diagnostics as well as have a field day with his own computer humbled him. It also made him a bit irate.

Sure, there had been some non-public boarding going on with the Earth II, however what records there were of such transactions had escaped various methods of uncovering them. Did it have to do with the computer system, something so advanced that its existence on Earth could cause some civil unrest? No. It wasn't that simple. Whatever the reason, it was escaping Tracer, as his hands ritualistically completed the task of the diagnostic.

"We....uh.....seem to be having a problem. Can you let us out?"

The voice came from around him, and Tracer had to stop his thinking to register the fact someone had talked to him. He looked up, before glancing around for whoever had spoken. It wasn't his supervisor, that was certain, not as confident or as annoyed.

“Down here,” it said again and Tracer looked down.

The voice sound like it came from the ventilation shaft. Upon looking a little harder, Tracer thought he saw someone in the shaft! He blinked for a second, before getting a small light from the tool kit given to him for the job and shined it inside. Sure enough there was someone in the ventilation shaft.

Slightly amused, Tracer decided to have a little fun at the man's expense. “What's wrong buddy? Ship decide to put your cryo chamber in the vent?"

"Well it's clear your going to win the smartass award this year! This is the head of security! We had a malfunction in our room that locked us in and disabled the comm system. Now either help us out of this fucking tin can or step aside so I can shoot it open!" The voice was muffled a bit and a slight echo showed that it was coming from someone farther in the vent behind the man who had gotten Tracer's attention.

Typical, the young man thought. Military protocol. Do what I say or I shoot.

"Forgive me if I'm speaking out of line but I think that goes against not scaring the people sir."

Scaring, what's he mean? A room malfunction isn't that bad... but still.. Why didn't they just bang on their door?

“I'll get you guys out,” he said as he went for his tool kit and started to take the vent screen off. Of course as he was doing this, his supervisor came storming by, demanding an explanation.

“Don't ask me boss,” he replied as he finally managed to remove the screen. “Ask these two lunk-heads.”

Lynne was turning red, but stopped her rant as the two security men pull themselves out.

“What the hell are you two doing in there? What happened?!” she bellowed. Obviously being slow to temper wasn't one of her strong suits.

"Everything is under control. The door was simply locked and we had to get out of there somehow. It's just a bit embarrassing in the end."

"Granted it makes sense that you guys would need to get out. But shouldn't there be more than just two of you?"

"The personal have been spread around the ship. Some of my people were assigned to the civilian areas and some were in the security area. We just happened to be the unlucky bastards that got locked in a room. Now are you done asking me questions or are you looking to write a god damn novel about it?"

There was something in this man's voice that seemed off. Tracer didn't know what, but now was the time to be observant, and pay attention. Lynne, more than pissed off, grumbled under her breath as she walked away. Leaving Tracer with the security duo before they too left, for the commons area.

Tracer thought for a bit. There was something in the way the man was carrying himself that seemed off. He had no idea what it was. Just seemed like his entire attitude was overly aggressive. Or maybe that's what the military did to you. Of course Tracer had no way of knowing if they were indeed military or not. Most of the crew lists for the security detail had included a high number of military and ex-military personnel, so it was a safe bet.

Before he could go back to work and start putting the screen back on, the intercom blasted to life.

"Attention all crew and passengers! This is David Summers, head of ship security. I trust you've all had a good rest and are slowly becoming accustomed to life on the ship. In any case I need all security, military and engineering personal to report to me in the commons area in 10 minutes. We need to go over your assignments and shifts as well as run a full scan on the computer systems to make sure everything is running properly. Summers out."

It was the loudmouthed angry guy from the vent! The name didn't seem familiar, but then again, Tracer hadn't had a chance to check the entire crew roster to see who was who. Even if he could, he doubt the computer would give him a chance. He'd have to try none the less.

Not to mention they were already running systems diagnostics and various checks for the last few hours.

He had some time, so he replaced the ventilation screen before collecting his tools and finishing the current diagnostic. It wasn't much, but it had to get done. With that task finished he collected the tools and placed them back at the station before making his way to the commons area. He started to think about why they would require another systems check while the few engineering and computer specialists were already preforming such a task and wouldn't be finished for a few days.

Tracer saw Lynne exit from a room, obviously fuming mad and frustrated. Best not to talk to her. The easily agitated were useless and trying to talk to them while they were enraged was futile. Emotions perverted and twisted thinking, not to say that emotions were bad, but having such limited control of them wasn't good either.

He walked up to the two men before addressing them. “Excuse me.”

The one who was first out looked at Tracer. “Yeah?”

“Why do you want to run another system diagnostic when we begun the process a few hours ago?”

“What are you talking about?” The other one, David Summers, Tracer supposed, responded.

“Well there are few engineering and computer staff awake, the few that are here were busy running a diagnostic on all ship systems and functions before we found you in the vent.”

“Look kid,”

Oh no he didn't...

“Unless you are part of the upper officers within engineering, then go on home. This is adult buisness. Play video games or something.”

Tracer glared at David before he spun and walked off. The young man had been used to being treated like a child most of his life, despite the fact he was smarter in several areas than most professors were. His age was still a hindrance. No one took him seriously. He should feel jealousy, or rage, or anger, but it really lead to nothing. Just a bruised ego and hopes of being seen as exceptional as he really was.

He passed Lynne as she was stomping towards the center commons.

“Hey! Evan! Where do you think you're going? You heard the announcement right?” She was still annoyed at something.

“Yeah I did, but Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum told me to hoof it.”

“What?!” she growled under her breath. “Come on!”

An angered Lynne Wright walked right up to the two security officers.

“Just what do you think you're doing telling Evan to get lost?”

“He's a kid, this doesn't concern him.”

“Need I remind you who found you in the ventilation shaft after you escaped your room. Evan is one of the few, and I mean that, technicians that are thawed out. He's also very skilled. We need him here just as much as you need me.”

“And who are you?”

“I'm Lynne Wright! I'm the head Engineer at the moment since we're the only one's that thawed. So I'd suggest you keep your mouth shut before you dismiss one of my staff like that.”

Though she may have a temper, at least Lynne recognized Tracer's unique skill set. And that was comforting while they waited for everyone else to arrive.