Broken Sun- A Sci-fi Adventure (Closed, Started!)

[IFS]

"Or, we can take it on the way, yeah?"

Emerson pushed himself along after Dr. Chervenkov "You can have a look at the results if you like, but the answer's as plain as day," he said "You can't neglect your training even a little, falling behind on exercise in space is hard to make up, even with it your muscles will suffer some degree of atrophy. I would rather this mission not be aborted just because you couldn't manage to put in enough time on the C.O.L.B.E.R.T."

He sighed and stopped talking though, he could hear the voices of the other crew members up ahead, probably from out of the rec-room, and as Chervenkov had pointed out this could be considered a rather private matter. As they grew closer though he heard a very unfamiliar and strange voice, and it appeared to be... laughing? Finally he drifted into view of the others, and the source of the strange voice became immediately apparent, an android of some sort. An android on the docking team? Odd, I didn't even know they were working on that tech out here, interesting though.

"Hello all," he greeted the others, raising one hand briefly to wave hello as they came into view, "I suppose we should all get aboard the station now?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"You can have a look at the results if you like, but the answer's as plain as day. You can't neglect your training even a little, falling behind on exercise in space is hard to make up, even with it your muscles will suffer some degree of atrophy. I would rather this mission not be aborted just because you couldn't manage to put in enough time on the C.O.L.B.E.R.T."

"Hey," Nikolai replied, getting annoyed by the fact that the doctor was not only clearly trying to explain something that he had expressed already knowing, but also because he was accusing him of being a possible liability, and possibly of neglecting his responsibilities in the mission.

"It's good that you're trying to be responsible and make sure we're healthy, Elliot, but you're clearly underestimating the positive effects of the food we're provided, as well as the N-shots. I know, I know, I have to train, and I'll probably get around to it soon. However, right now you're trying to treat me like a child, which I'm not okay with! Not at all!"

He raised his voice, before noticing the two people within earshot. Not wanting to create a scene, nor really having anything else to say than that, he calmed himself down.

"Don't bully me because I'm younger than you, Elliot. It'll take more than that to make me fall apart." he jokingly -though still somewhat annoyed- continued with, touching his own hair, subtly indicating that he was mocking the doctor's imminent baldness. He was speaking loud enough for the others to hear, but certainly not doing it for that purpose.

Then, he heard some strange, botched up laugh, and turned towards the voice, finding the origin to be what was probably the creepiest thing he had ever seen staring at the group.

"Oh god," he said, instantly having started speaking in his native language without realizing it himself. "What is that, and why does it look like an unfinished sex doll?"

Nikolai had to admit that he wasn't exactly well-read when it came to robots and androids and such. Heck, seeing that one woman with all the robot-parts had surprised him enough, and she looked sorta cool, not at all as unnerving as this one. Not to mention, was there some parts of human in there? Or was it completely sentient AI, ready to snap as soon as it malfunctioned?

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Haros station. Sorry for the delay, HQ sent us this very fancy tunnel. We're just getting used to it but rest assured, it is completely safe. Trust me, I'm Texan, I've done just about everything to this thing. But enough about me, come on in!"

"Yes please," Nikolai said, and glanced at the others, purposely avoiding looking at the robot-android-thing. He smirked, before he entered the station ahead of them, ending up pulling himself straight to a window to take a look at the view from within the station. It was all sorts of amazing that he had come with the ship he could see through it, and that space everywhere around him. In a difference sense than on earth, obviously. Even though he had been in space for a while now, the new perspective of it was stunningly awesome.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Once Natasha had guided the Juliet into her docking bay, smooth as silk, she pushed the release on the harness that secured her in the cockpit. As she began to drift up, she arched her back and began to glide into a slow, graceful tumble. When Natasha reached the point of being upside down, she reached down with her arms and caught the headrest of the pilot's seat, using it to right herself and pull herself back down. Using the back of the chair for purchase, Natasha brought her knees up to her chest, and pushed off, gliding head-first out of the cockpit and down the fuselage of the ship.

As she flew down the corridor, Natasha heard the loud, grating sound of inhuman laughter. Closer inspection revealed the source to be some kind of vaguely humanoid robot that would appear to have come aboard from Haros station.Natasha raised an eyebrow. While having never seen a full android this advanced before, she supposed there was hardly anything revolutionary about its appearance, especially with the advances in cybernetics made over the last decade. She made a mental note to ask about what exactly it was and what it did later. Right now though, it wouldn't be on board if it didn't have a job to do. Best not to get in its way.

It had better not tinker with any of the settings on the flight controls though. Natasha had everything set up just the way she liked it.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Haros station. Sorry for the delay, HQ sent us this very fancy tunnel. We're just getting used to it but rest assured, it is completely safe. Trust me, I'm Texan, I've done just about everything to this thing. But enough about me, come on in!"

"Thank you." Natasha said, grabbing hold of one of the hand holds by the airlock, bringing her drift to a halt. As the crew of the Juliet made the crossing to Haros Station, Natasha allowed herself one good look, rolling over in mid-air, and taking in the sensation of the inky black of the voice being in every direction in which she looked.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

According to sensory data gathered by the array of information gathering sensors that ARK had at its disposal, the initial response from the crew towards the Synthetic Humanoid Prototype varied but was consistently towards the negative end of the spectrum. At one point the audio pickups had recorded one of the crew members, vocal analysis had identified as Dr. Nikolai Chervenkov, mistaking ARK for an unfinished human replica used for copulation.

This initial response from the crew, if maintained at current levels, would have made the machine's mission goals difficult to achieve, an estimated 25 percent chance at achieving the desired mission completion parameters.

And so, as the crew from the S.S. Juliet disembarked from their craft, the Synth gave the matter some thought, or rather ran a few simulations on how to improve relations with the crew.

"BINGO!" ARK's vocal output module stated, the Computer Maintenance and Integration SK subroutine taking over as ARK moved towards its Data and Charging module.

Despite the fact that wireless data speeds was in the Terabits per Second range, ARK was still required to plug itself into the Data and Charging module using a wired connection. Not only was the data stream faster with a wired connection, the connection itself was more stable.

==============================
Commencing Unloading of SK Module(s) from Active Memory ...
--- Fragile or Dangerous Cargo Handling ... Unloaded
Unloading of SK Modules from Active Memory Completed
Commencing Loading of SK Module(s) into Active Memory ...
--- Low Gravity Cooking ... Loaded
Loading of SK Module(s) into Active Memory Completed.
==============================

ARK was not the only thing that Stellar Aeronautics had shipped to Haros Station. A container of cryogenically frozen foods had been shipped as well. Satisfied that course of action, ARK started towards the S.S. Juliet's kitchen and began to cook a meal for the crew.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Yukino ignored what David had said but did pay attention to the android now aboard their ship. Once David had left, she followed the android, trailing the robot. Then she saw the robot began messing with their much needed rations for the long trip. Yukino would have none of that.

"Android! Halt! Stop tampering with our rations!" Yukino said, raising her voice and making her displeasure clear. She knew it was rough sometimes working with artificial intelligence but she always found making her intentions clear was the better solution.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you try smashing it with a baseball bat? If not, then you haven't done everything. David West, one half of the Security Detail. Nice to meet ya."

"Pleasure to meet you. The name's Walt and yes I have tried everything. Baseball bats, fire axes, a drill, even those fancy Russian mining lasers when they were here to explore Europa. This tunnel is some fancy stuff. Now follow me, we got actual food cooking."

Walt lead David inside Haros station. The station certainly looked more spacious than it did on the outside. The only way to travel about the levels were to ascend or descend the individual modules and stations but that was just a small inconvenience. Upon entering Brazilian music could be heard further down on Haros station followed by the smell of something delicious on a sizzling skillet. Haros station had a friendly vibe akin to a resort bar rather than a space station ran by Earth's brightest.

"Once y'all get a taste of our delicious electric cooked steaks, our commander would like to have a word with you. She's outside at the moment, overseeing the maintenance, I think." Walt said, scratching his bald head. "Anyway the refueling is gonna take a while and we gotta give you some cargo although I'm sure you already saw it walking around. We wanted to ask questions but it was well beyond our pay grade and that's saying something. But enough gossip, have some steak!"

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Halos Station: David West, Walt

"Anyway the refueling is gonna take a while and we gotta give you some cargo although I'm sure you already saw it walking around. We wanted to ask questions but it was well beyond our pay grade and that's saying something. But enough gossip, have some steak!"

"What? I can multi-task!" David joked as he did just that, getting a metal knife and fork and plate before picking himself both a steak and a few slices of white bread.
Not bothering with butter, such was his lust for normal food, he cut the steak down to size and wrapped the bread around it in a very crude sandwich before shoving it in his gob.
His eyes rolled back in his head from the taste, Nothing like eating crap for a week to make you hungry for proper food.
"{...Oh....Hm...Fucking orgy in my mouth.}" He spoke with his mouth full before taking another huge bite as he savored this moment.
"{....So...} *GLUP* How long you've been stationed here? This is a pretty nice gig, Great View, Decent food, Bet the pay is good as well!" He then said after swallowing, only to wolf down another large chunk of bread and meat.

 

[The Hund]

It seems that Northfleet had been so enthralled in his book that he didn't even noticed they had docked until two minutes after the fact. As soon as he did he put his book back under his bed and rushed to the door of the Juliet.

As he headed towards the door he passed by some android. He was fairly sure it wasn't Yifie. He tried to get closer without seeming invasive.. No, definitely wasn't Yifie.

"Hey, what's your...name or serial number or...what do you go by?" Asked Northfleet as he extended his hand to be shaken.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Yifie heard the synthetic voice and quickly got up, making sure to hang off the workbench and the floor. She quickly pulled herself along a surface to the door and tried to switch the lights back on, but they were gone! After some searching in the dark, she found the on the opposite side of the door. She flicked them on and was through the door in an instance. Yifie was actually pulling her body along what was basically persevered as the ceiling, not that it really mattered. The other crew preferred to float but Yifie disliked the feeling and lack of control. Plus her limbs meant she didn't have any ergonomic or tiring issues with it.

The limbless but not so limbless woman climbed toward Northfleet and what appeared to be an android, swinging herself around and basically landing on top of Northfleet from behind.

"Hey, what's your...name or serial number or...what do you go by?"
"Android! Halt! Stop tampering with our rations!"

Yifie's voice was a little synthetic sounding due to not having a jaw and instead having an augmented throat/mouth, but it was more advanced than the android's. Not that it was much to boast about considering they perfected pitch perfect synthetic voices ages ago, after all, the huge secret that all of the popular pop stars are using it instead of talent was enough of a reason for the industry to get bribed into silence though.

Yifie blinked her eyes and got back onto her train of thought, not realizing she was pretty much floating and resting on Northfleet's back. However she turned to Yukino, clapping her hands together around Northfleet in excitement.

"It's performing independent actions without orders and attempting to apply social behavior that I doubt were pre-stored in it. So I think it's some kind of A.I." she then leaned over Northfleet to get a little look. Shame it's body was a little lack luster, after all that is what she was more interested in. The PLA tended to ignore A.I and instead augment existing troops, so she didn't have much experience or interest in it. Plus the people who work on A.I usually end up getting to attached to their work or getting twisted from the paranoia it might start learning too much, which ironically is kind of the point of A.I in the first place.

 

[The Hund]

"Sweet Jesus!" Yelled Northfleet in shock as Yifie effectively jumped on his back. He quickly turned around in panic, and was relieved to see that is was Yifie. Well, mostly; she was still scary looking, but he certainly wouldn't say that to her face. He felt kinda bad for thinking that, after all she probably didn't have to many friends and the augmentations assisted in the mission. All things considered he should be glad she looks like that.

"Android! Halt! Stop tampering with our rations!" Yunkino yelled. He thought yelling at the thing was a little unnecessary, what if she had emotions, or emotions programmed into her at least. Then again it may be wise to stop a random android from tampering with our food. We should probably check it's programming some time as well, since it could be programmed to cook us poison for all we know; it would be unlikely that they would send a dangerous android on a mission so important, but it could be faulty.

Northman's thought's returned to the matter at hand.

"So what do you think this thing is?" He asked Yifie as she clapped in excitement still floating on his back. He was a ship engineer and understood next to nothing about robots and such. He could probably fix one in a pinch, but this was more Yifie's domain.

"It's performing independent actions without orders and attempting to apply social behavior that I doubt were pre-stored in it. So I think it's some kind of A.I."

"Well, that makes sense to me." He said not knowing the difference between a computer console and an android. He would have to ask Yifie to loan him a book about it or something.

"Oh, and Ms.Yifie if you could please refrain from jumping on my back and using me as a piece of debris for the duration of our time together, at least without my consent, that would be appreciated." He said as he looked back at her smiling, trying to eliminate any hostility that may have come from the comment.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

As more of Juliet's crew came into the station so did the maintenance crew of Haros station with one of them being the commander. This much was evident because as soon as the astronauts entered, the music was turned down and the astronauts withing snapped to attention of a blue astronaut suit entering the station who gave the crew a simple wave and the music resumed.

The figure in the blue suit drifted closer to the crew and removed their helmet revealing a friendly-faced woman underneath the bulky suit. It seemed almost outrageous that a person with such a disarming look could call the attention of the astronauts as if she was some grizzled captain. But instead of stoic salutes, the astronauts on board gave her a respected silence.

"Commander Farver!" Walt said, snapping to the commander as she drifted towards the new arrivals. "We left a steak for you. Anyway, these are the crew from Juliet. Some of them at least."

"That's quite fine, Walt." Farver said with a slight hint of a European accent. Then she turned to the crew of which some had already started eating. "When you're done, meet me in my office."

She pointed up the tight corridor, to the end. It was visible by its distinct windows which showed a full 360 degree view of space and the planet Jupiter. Even from far away, it was difficult to not see the Commander's lab which resembled more of a glass observatory than a science office. The room was circular with outstretched tables for experiments but also for communications. Still, most details were hard to make out from the crowded corridor filled both with man and machinery.

Commander Farver gave Walt one last nod before floating above to her quarters rather gracefully. Walt looked back to the crew with a calmed look. As if the commander gave the large man an order by just looking at him.

"I know she might not seem all that much but Commander Farver is one of the best commanders that we got. Its a wonder why she's here and not on some mission to colonize Alpha Centauri or something. I don't want to rush y'all but if the Commander's got something to say then you'd best be ready for it." Walt said nervously.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"if the Commander's got something to say then you'd best be ready for it."

Natasha had been tearing into mouthfuls of steak almost as greedily as David. At this, she swallowed her last bite, nodded, and rose from the table. Then, feeling that she was probably being too terse around these people who had welcomed them so readily, smiled and shook Walt's hand, before drifting down towards the Commander's lab, wiping the grease away from her mouth as she did so.

When she reached the doorway, Natasha did the best imitation of 'standing at attention' that was possibly in zero gravity, and saluted.

"Commander." she said plainly. There was no point in saying anything else. If Farver had any important information for them, they were probably about to hear it anyway so what was the use of a question. Besides, she'd probably want to wait until the whole crew, or at least their Commander, to be present.

 

[DarkRawen]

Nikolai had followed the others when steak had been mentioned, and had started eating eagerly. He wasn't sure how much he was allowed to eat, but he figured that if the others wolfed down on the food, so could he. It was delicious, not to mention, very different from the food they had gotten this far on the travel. When he was just about done -having eaten as quickly as he could without risking getting food stuck in his throat- the commander of the station appeared, asking them to meet her in her office.

"Sure," Nikolai replied, not considering rank at all. Did they have rank, actually? He realized that, apart from his own commander, he had no idea whether or not the other members of the crew would be allowed to tell him what to do. Perhaps he had yelled at the doctor for no reason?

Nah, I have two PhDs, certainly no doctor, nor surgeon can tell me what to do unless it's in the job description.

So he figured, anyways. He was willing to admit that that was half-way because he simply didn't like people telling him what to do. The astronaut who had brought them there, Walt, then spoke about Farver.


"I know she might not seem all that much but Commander Farver is one of the best commanders that we got. Its a wonder why she's here and not on some mission to colonize Alpha Centauri or something. I don't want to rush y'all but if the Commander's got something to say then you'd best be ready for it."

Nikolai was already done, but he glanced around. Apart half of their crew were missing. He wanted it done with already, sure there might be an important message, but truth was, it probably wasn't for him. However, he had heard about the labs on the station, this was where most of the samples from Jupiter where brought and examined. And Nikolai wanted to take a look at the research before they had to leave again. He sighed, impatiently, his plate being completely empty now.

However, as he was busy waiting, he noticed that their pilot, Miss or Mrs. Kaminov, went to the commander's quarters, then did a military salute.

"Commander."

She said. Nikolai decided to do the same, although he didn't try to do the salute, nor did he actually speak, just glanced into the office.

Isn't this more like a lab? With an amazing view, as well.

He would have entered, but it would be more polite not to, and the pilot clearly knew more about how these things were supposed to be done than he did.

 

[IFS]

Emerson joined the others and ate, it was certainly good to have real food considering what they would be eating for most of their journey. Although Emerson knew that the steak was likely lab grown rather than from an actual cow, which showed somewhat in its flavor. As he ate he looked out the window at Jupiter, no matter how much time he spent in space he never tired of it, of the majestic and awe inspiring things that it held within it. Turning his gaze from the gas giant he looked around at his compatriots, noticing in particular how Nikolai was scarfing down his food.

He raised an eyebrow in amusement at an untold joke and moved over to Nikolai, poking him to get his attention "Nikolai," he said, using a more informal name for the man to emphasize that his next remark was a joke "its recommended you eat slower, and in your case not as much."

His expression lightened for a moment, and he shook his head, "Wouldn't want you to rival a heavenly body in size," he joked, looking up at Jupiter again "Then again if you exercised more you could eat all you like."

There were traces of a smirk on his face now, mostly in his eyes, and his voice carried some clear tones of jest. Finished eating he pushed off to go see the Commander and hear what she had to say.

"Commander."

He heard another greet the officer, Emerson only nodded in recognition. Command of a station like this demanded respect after all.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Halos Station: Canteen: David West, Walt

"I know she might not seem all that much but Commander Farver is one of the best commanders that we got. Its a wonder why she's here and not on some mission to colonize Alpha Centauri or something. I don't want to rush y'all but if the Commander's got something to say then you'd best be ready for it."

"I'll say, I've heard about her once or twice back on earth. Didn't think I'd met her though..." David said before scoffing the last of his sandwich before joining the others, wiping his hands with a napkin as he did so.
He nodded to the rest of the crew as he made his way to the commander's office as Natasha addressed the Commander with:

"Commander."

In a similar gesture, He merely did a Salute and did the best he could to stand at attention with the reduced gravity.
"Sir, it's an Honor to put a face to the name."

There should be more here, but there isn't.

 

[Asclepion]

While the crew had been eating, Abdul remained elsewhere: compiling a mission update log, sending it through the proper channels back to Earth, and overseeing the final stages of the docking. His tasks accomplished, Abdul left the terminal. It took a moment to gain his bearings in the artificial gravity environment. 'We are so far away, that even the conditions our bodies came into being for seem alien.', he thought. Funny then, we still have yet to leave our own primary.

Abdul passed a humanoid robot on the way, performing some kind of systems maintenance. As he walked away from it, a message that the station commander had arrived beeped onto his communication device. Electing to eat later, he made his way into her office.

"Present"

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Commander Farver looked at the those who arrived rather than look for the ones that weren't. At least the Commander was among them as to remind the others in case she wasn't able to. She looked at them were her warm, green eyes almost as if reading what she had to say on their faces.

"First off, glad to have you all aboard." She said concisely. "Second, I'm sure you've seen your newest crew member. That android is now attached to your crew. An order from Headquarters to record data of A.I's aboard actual human members or so they say. Lastly..." Farver drifted to her communications table which was a simple glass desk with various holograms of recordings and data. She motioned the crew to pile in. "Pile in, there is plenty of space." Farver said as she went through various holograms with fast finger strokes.

"Shortly after your Juliet took off one of our communication relays on Io received a message but not from us." Farver found the file and brought it up. A message played and was static at first. In fact, most of the message was static until the end. The same undecipherable but incredibly recognizable voice heard through First Contact was being played before them. Despite hearing the message hundreds of times, Farver looked visibly uneasy when she played the message for them. She gave the crew a moment and then played the tail end of the message one last time. It was ephemeral but all the more unforgettable.

"The message came from beyond the Kuiper Cliff, where you are going. I told HQ but they still insist on your mission and in fact, they are pressing you to go as soon as you can. They even specifically told me to show the message before you left Haros station. I bet that is why they attached that metal companion of yours to Juliet. HQ is going crazy, especially after what happened to Elijah." Farver looked to Earth, which was small compared to the giant Jupiter. "Maybe it's hope, maybe it's fear or something entirely different. Too difficult to tell at the moment."

"In the mean time my station is your station, for now." Farver drifted away from her desk and towards their studies. "You can stay here for the view or just to chat with me, I don't mind. By the way, it will take at least three hours to fill your ship up. What you do with your time is up to you."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

As eager as Natasha was to complete this mission, she had to admit to herself that she didn't like what she was hearing.

"What you do with your time is up to you."

"Commander Farver, if I may..." Natasha blurted out "This was already a mission with a lot of unknowns, and now, in light of recent intelligence, the potential danger is higher than ever. I'm all for going as quickly as possible, but is HQ wise to keep sending us into Who Knows What one ship at a time? Would not a larger scale mission be wiser? At least then, there's a bigger chance of at least one ship making it back with some solid intel."

It was a blunt way of putting it, Natasha knew, but she was the one who was going to be flying the rest of this crew into the breach, and this might be the last opportunity for answers that she would get.

 

[DarkRawen]

"It's recommended you eat slower, and in your case not as much. Wouldn't want you to rival a heavenly body in size."

Nikolai looked towards the doctor, surprised, and not to mention, more than a bit offended. He felt at his stomach, he wasn't fat, right? Certainly not enough to take an insult like this.

Why would Elliot even say that? It wasn't funny at least.

It was stupid to worry, but when someone compared you to goddamn Jupiter, it wasn't easy to ignore it. Besides, Nikolai wasn't completely uninterested in how people viewed him, some more than others.

"Then again if you exercised more you could eat all you like."

Seriously?

"You're really not a people's person, are you? You're just mean," he muttered, his voice filled with a mix of offence, annoyance, and sounding somewhat hurt. He then turned his attention to the commander of the station.

"First off, glad to have you all aboard. Second, I'm sure you've seen your newest crew member. That android is now attached to your crew. An order from Headquarters to record data of A.I's aboard actual human members or so they say. Lastly... Pile in, there is plenty of space."

Nikolai sighed, he really didn't like the fact that the thing was going to stay. He wasn't really paranoid or anything like that, but certainly didn't like the android either. However, an order was an order.

But if I wake up to that thing looking at me in my sleep, I will shut myself in the lab until it's kicked out of the ship.

As he walked into the office, walking around examining what he could examine, and looking at the view, the female commander spoke about some sort of message that wasn't from one of their ships. When she played it, Nikolai couldn't help but shiver, both because it was exciting, but also incredibly ominous and creepy. He wouldn't be able to get the sound of the voice out of his head, but part of him found it... well. Intriguing. Unique. Frightening.

That sounds like what my grandmother told me about. Kind of.

The second time it was played, Nikolai couldn't help but grin. Part of him felt as if he suddenly understood why he was there. "What is that?" he asked, although he knew no one knew the answer. He glanced over at some of the others, they looked uneasy, and Nikolai could understand that feeling. However, he also felt strangely light-headed and eager, more so than usually. If he could, he would have asked commander Farver to play it again, but he knew no one else would appreciate that.

"The message came from beyond the Kuiper Cliff, where you are going. I told HQ but they still insist on your mission and in fact, they are pressing you to go as soon as you can. They even specifically told me to show the message before you left Haros station. I bet that is why they attached that metal companion of yours to Juliet. HQ is going crazy, especially after what happened to Elijah." Farver looked to Earth, which was small compared to the giant Jupiter. "Maybe it's hope, maybe it's fear or something entirely different. Too difficult to tell at the moment."

Yet again, Nikolai found himself feeling both dread and relief. What was going on? What had HQ figured out? Or were they just as clueless as everyone else?

"In the mean time my station is your station, for now. You can stay here for the view or just to chat with me, I don't mind. By the way, it will take at least three hours to fill your ship up. What you do with your time is up to you."

Three hours. I can do a lot in three hours.

Well, he wasn't done examining this place, so first things first. He turned towards the window, beholding Jupiter again. "Say, what have you found here lately?" he asked. "And what is that android thing? Does it understand any languages other than English?"

Please say no, else I may have to apologize to a robot.

Well, either that or take his chances with a machine that might or might not be offended by him comparing it to a sex... ehm. Synthetic companion.

 

[IFS]

"You're really not a people's person, are you? You're just mean,"

Emerson shrugged at this, he hadn't really expected Dr. Chervenkov to take kindly to the remark, it hadn't been terribly nice even as a joke. He did make a mental note not to joke about his weight again though, there were better ways to make sure he understood the importance of staying in shape up here.

He turned his attention to the commander and listened with growing interest through her speech, the android was interesting certainly though it seemed an odd addition to their mission. The news of the message though was what really excited Emerson, and glancing at the others it certainly seemed to interest them as well, Dr. Chervenkov certainly was grinning broadly.

"You can stay here for the view or just to chat with me, I don't mind. By the way, it will take at least three hours to fill your ship up. What you do with your time is up to you."

Emerson stood silently looking out the window as he contemplated the implications of the message. He had always hoped to meet the aliens, or at least to see what had sent the message humanity referred to as first contact, and now it looked like he was closer than ever. He heard Dr. Chervenkov ask a question about the android, which brought Emerson's thoughts back to it as well.

"What functions does it serve?" he asked "Or is it purely their for experimental and observational purposes?"

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

"Oh, and Ms.Yifie if you could please refrain from jumping on my back and using me as a piece of debris for the duration of our time together, at least without my consent, that would be appreciated."

Cui's limbs retreated quickly as she did a little spin, sticking her legs out and gripping onto the floor. She then gave a little bow to Northfleet. "I'll make sure to inform you before I utilize your body in the future." Cui awkwardly slipped past the android her crew mate.

Cui made her way toward familiar voices, ignoring the food and conversation except for the last bit. She did however catch the odd message.
"Or is it purely their for experimental and observational purposes?"
Cui did a little bow as she entered the room, then her slightly synthetic voice chimed in when there was a break in the conversation. "If our mission goes smoothly, it's another pair of hands and a neutral observation party..." she then tilted her ever so slightly "however if it doesn't, well I can see how a contingency plan is always nice." Cui tried to be a little vague, maybe she was just being a little paranoid. She had been witness to androids being used in purges before. Even a little man shaped one kitted out for civilian duties with no hidden combat assets could fairly easily slaughter everyone on the ship if it got the jump on them one to two at a time.

Cui did a basic introductory nod and quickly spun around, double checking the room with the food. To her glee she had an opportunity to get something. Making sure nobody was paying attention she quickly and quietly began flicking latches on her headcase. With one last look around, she placed it gently down and held it in-between her legs, she then scanned around for something she could actually eat.

Spoiler: Cui with her headgear off.

Cui leaned against the table on her skeletal alloyed elbows, eying off a plate that had been prepared but untouched with a steak and some other various stuff on it. Considering the logistical nightmare of getting illogical foodstuffs somewhere like here and keeping them in supply, it was an opportunity she'd rather not pass up. She knew it'd basically just be good for nostalgia and protein considering the taste programming for her synthetic digestive parts were fairly no nonsense, however the stupid nearly orgasmic sounds of the other crew munching away on their meals and filled her with a kind of vigor to do it as well.

Forgetting she hadn't actually removed her helmet in front of any crew before, Cui's odd voice rang out politely. "Can someone help me find a blender or something please?"