Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[furrygamer793]

"My...planet? Um..." Hawk sighed and scratched his neck a bit, "I gotta be honest with you: I don't remember what planet I come from. My memory has been a bit of a mess ever since I woke up on Nebula Prime, so I figured I also was born there, but I don't really know. I been to Earth and it is a nice planet, but my home planet is a mystery, even to us. Truth be told, I don't really remember much of anything from the past. Sure, I've intentionally forgotten some things as I prefer to let the past die out and not affect my tomorrow, but the stuff I want to remember? I just can't. Only thing I can remember from then is arriving on the NSC Nostradamus and that's it."

"Oh, well… that must be rather unfortunate. I don't know what that's like, not knowing wherye you came from. Let's try to lighten the mood." Brad says, then, he raises his voice and calls to Ken "Ken, wanna come over here and show Hawk some cool tricks you can do?" Ken walks up to them and transforms into a microwave. "Come on, you couldn't think of something a but more technologically advanced than that? You could've turned into a pocket computer or a cellular device, but you chose a microwave, not to mention that it is a bit small." Brad remarks at microwave Ken.

[SeanWolf]

"Oh, well… that must be rather unfortunate. I don't know what that's like, not knowing wherye you came from. Let's try to lighten the mood." Brad says, then, he raises his voice and calls to Ken "Ken, wanna come over here and show Hawk some cool tricks you can do?" Ken walks up to them and transforms into a microwave. "Come on, you couldn't think of something a but more technologically advanced than that? You could've turned into a pocket computer or a cellular device, but you chose a microwave, not to mention that it is a bit small." Brad remarks at microwave Ken.

Hawk chuckles a bit at Ken's antics, "That's actually pretty cool! All we can do is regenerate our body, though it comes at the cost of triple the pain, meaning a knife wound will feel like I got shot with a .50cal rifle and so on," he then takes a seat, "So, changing topics, what did you do before you joined the Champions?"

[Legotron123]

Quint went silent for a moment, before speaking up again in a much softer tone. Yeah. It really is. He said, seeming a lot less jovial than he was before.
Kolt meanwhile, was giving Jenny a big ole smile, before realizing something. “Shoot, I need to go find my watch. Ko Sah threw it off after he took control. Give me a minute.” He said, before heading off towards his room.
—
“So we just need to talk for a few moments while you collect the data? Sounds simple enough.” Alpina said calmly. There was a pause for a moment, as someone else could be faintly heard talking on the other end before the Admiral spoke again. ”Actually Captain Walker, there is something I’d like to ask about your, ah, previous relationship, if you don’t mind talking about it in front of the others.”
It took Liz a split second to realize what Tsukuyomi was talking about, letting out a resigned sigh as she did. “Go ahead.” She replied, trying to not clench her teeth as she spoke.
“Excellent. Now, our records say that Fortis grew up on Kaon colony 7. Did he ever mention anything about that while you were together?” Alpina asked, immediately dropping any pretenses about who she was talking about.
Liz thought for a moment, trying to remember something she hadn’t thought about in years. “Kaon was always a bit of a sore spot for him. He said the Republic all but officially abandoned it after black ice took out the communication satellites, leaving it’s citizens to fend for themselves. He said it was proof that the Republic would only take care of its people as long as it was convenient to do so. That was one of the only fights we had while we were.... together.”
Now it was the Admiral’s turn to sigh. “That certainly fits with our hypothesis.” She said, very pointedly not explaining what she was talking about, nor why she asked about Fortis in the first place.

[CyberDragon]

"I get that," Messalca remarked, "but they shouldn't face the day alone. And, if they cause all that, where better than here, where we don't have too many things dependant on electronics? Block outages here and they fall back on old methods and pre-computer practices. Do that in a city these days?" She grimaced.

"You have a good point," Hivemind said. "I just wanted to be sure you were aware of what might happen."

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

"It's not exactly taught at junior schools," Hannabelle confirmed as Corvis agreed to try the drink. "Just Celican and standard. Do I wanna know..?"

Gear looked over at the menu, thinking about how Corvis might be able to read it despite not knowing the language. He decided to do a little experiment. Under the table, he started fiddling with his wrist computer. He tapped into the restaurant's local network and managed to hack into the electronic menu the Celican child was holding. The menu flickered for a split second, then refreshed with Varanian Glyphs instead of English. It was the first language Gear thought of that he absolutely KNEW Corvis wouldn't naturally know. "Hey, Corvis? I gave my menu up already. Could ya remind me what the Number 1 was?" he asked, glancing sideways at Hannabelle.

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

"Uh, yes, sir," Jaken said, thinking he must have done something wrong.

"Jaken..." Hivemind started. "I think... There's a chance your father could still be alive."

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

"Fang'kew," Keeva said, with the card in her mouth as she carried the two plants back over to where Predator was waiting. She put them down so she could take the card from her mouth. "Your first purchases," she said, grinning up at him. "You're now confirmed as a civilised being!"

"Thank you for your assistance, Keeva." The predator said. "Would you like to get something for yourself?" he asked. "I'll buy. I got quite a lot of payment from yesterday's work."

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

“So we just need to talk for a few moments while you collect the data? Sounds simple enough.” Alpina said calmly. There was a pause for a moment, as someone else could be faintly heard talking on the other end before the Admiral spoke again. ”Actually Captain Walker, there is something I’d like to ask about your, ah, previous relationship, if you don’t mind talking about it in front of the others.”
It took Liz a split second to realize what Tsukuyomi was talking about, letting out a resigned sigh as she did. “Go ahead.” She replied, trying to not clench her teeth as she spoke.
“Excellent. Now, our records say that Fortis grew up on Kaon colony 7. Did he ever mention anything about that while you were together?” Alpina asked, immediately dropping any pretenses about who she was talking about.
Liz thought for a moment, trying to remember something she hadn’t thought about in years. “Kaon was always a bit of a sore spot for him. He said the Republic all but officially abandoned it after black ice took out the communication satellites, leaving it’s citizens to fend for themselves. He said it was proof that the Republic would only take care of its people as long as it was convenient to do so. That was one of the only fights we had while we were.... together.”
Now it was the Admiral’s turn to sigh. “That certainly fits with our hypothesis.” She said, very pointedly not explaining what she was talking about, nor why she asked about Fortis in the first place.

"From our last call, it sounded like this Fortis managed to recruit powerful people from our own universe." Hivemind said. "It would be best if he did not know the Steelhaven survived the warp collapse. If he knew, he might launch an attack to get Captain Liz back. I'm confident in the Beacon's ability to resist such an attack, however our communication should be considered confidential for the time being."

Hivemind checked some of the Steelhaven's equipment, talking with the ship's computer. "I'm still gathering data." He said to the others. He spoke back into the comm system. "Admiral, I suggest extreme caution when dealing with any new species Fortis may have recruited. Some of them have species-wide superpowers. They don't have to adhere to ordinary laws of physics."

[furrygamer793]

Hawk chuckles a bit at Ken's antics, "That's actually pretty cool! All we can do is regenerate our body, though it comes at the cost of triple the pain, meaning a knife wound will feel like I got shot with a .50cal rifle and so on," he then takes a seat, "So, changing topics, what did you do before you joined the Champions?"

"I was kind of the main superhero of the capital province of one of Zevian's many countries, I cannot recall the name though, I grew tired of Zevian and left to work as a simple engineer on another planet, but found this beauty of a spaceship. So I decided to live here instead. That was until I realized that there was more work to be done in the universe, and I cannot rest until I do my part, at least, that's what I tell myself. It might not even make a difference, we're just an invisible speck in this vast plane, no more than a collection of matter, no great purpose, or we could be the key to a great new future, of peace and prosperity. We can only hope." Brad said, trying to convey meaning at the latter part, and then paused before continuing, "Ah, no, that sounds way too philosophical. Let's do simpler things, what's your favorite food?"

[SeanWolf]

"I was kind of the main superhero of the capital province of one of Zevian's many countries, I cannot recall the name though, I grew tired of Zevian and left to work as a simple engineer on another planet, but found this beauty of a spaceship. So I decided to live here instead. That was until I realized that there was more work to be done in the universe, and I cannot rest until I do my part, at least, that's what I tell myself. It might not even make a difference, we're just an invisible speck in this vast plane, no more than a collection of matter, no great purpose, or we could be the key to a great new future, of peace and prosperity. We can only hope." Brad said, trying to convey meaning at the latter part, and then paused before continuing, "Ah, no, that sounds way too philosophical. Let's do simpler things, what's your favorite food?"

"My story's less impressive: As far as I remember, I've been one of the galaxies deadliest bounty hunters and one of the best. We caught everything from low-life scum to intergalactic demons...but after a while, we started to rethink our position and felt we needed to do something different, hence why we came here in our ship," Hawk replied while leaning back on the chair, "As for food..truth be told, we don't ever get hungry or thirsty, so we don't really have a favorite. Our metabolism allows us to eat as much as we want without growing full or gaining weight, as it is instantly digested the second it hits our stomach. Heck, we can even drink as much alcohol as we want and we won't ever get drunk. But if we had to choose, it'd be a simple bacon butty and a cup of tea. Nothing too fancy."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Jenny started getting into her armour after Kolt nipped next door. So, what about you, Quint, she thought, anything you want to do whilst you're here, pal? I mean, whilst I can ask directly, what sort of thing do you dream of being able to do? If you want to tell.
--------------
Messalca stepped back over to the young 'Celican'. "Looks like you got some more time, Zach" she told him, "'cause you're stopping with me. Now," she added, "hugs are allowed in lieu of payment and you can get back to them, yeah?"
-------------
Jaken fell off his chair. "Really," he asked desperately, picking himself back up. "How..? What..? We're going to rescue him, right?"
-------------
Corp did his best to keep his feelings to himself about Fortis and his hands stayed behind his back. To say he had somewhat... negative emotions on the subject of that person was an understatement and he could feel those emotional blade things trying to cut into life and hoped the others weren't seeing them.
------------
Corvis stared at the menu and blinked. "Err..." he said, "this was in English a moment ago...
Jenevive frowned at her youngest. "Since when can you read English?"
"Last night," the Cub said proudly. "I read a standard/English dictionary."
"He did," Golten admitted grumpily, wondering how his brother had stolen all the attention that was supposed to be on him. "saw him reading the screens. Not a clue why. It all looked stupid to me."
" I wanted to find out about making burgers out of Kings..."
-----------
"Maybe later, Pred. So, what do you think of sentience so far?" Although she hadn't intended it, Keeva wondered if Predator would not the sort of joke there.

[Deske]

Chris raised his eyebrows, a little surprised that MT would invite him on something that he thought was rather personal. "I'd be honored," he says before stepping into the Ibis' cabin.
------
"Well actually they'd each get their own medical files, but this wou-" he cut himself off as soon as he realized what he was saying. His tail started wagging faster behind him when what she said actually clicked, "Sorry sorry, yeah. Yeah!" He hurriedly booted up an auxiliary computer and pressed his thumb to the reader, logging into his account. He quickly brought up Seena's medical file and forwarded it over to the station she was working at. "J-just fill in the, uh, the highlighted boxes." He sat in his chair, hands planted firmly on his knees; his excitement almost completely blocking out the interest he had in Liz's previous love life with an interplanetary bandit.
------
"Thanks?" Denver said, lifting an eyebrow at the comment; a train of thought that was immediately interrupted by the kiss on his cheek. His tail audibly thumped the couch as he leaned over and returned the smooch with one of his own.

[Hlaoroo]

"Y'flew it well 'nough t' get yere," Sarah reminded Cailean. "Ye'd prob'bly be reet bonny if'n y' learnt," she added, using the slightly Scottish phrase for his benefit.

"Aye, well, ye'd be surprised what ye can dae when yer life depends on it." Cailean points out.
"Honestly it's a miracle we made it. If th' Steelhaven hadnae been there we'd hae been deid."

[Legotron123]

Quint was silent for a moment as he thought about Jenny’s question. I believe I told you about this yesterday, but I would like to figure out what it means to be a person, and whether I fit those qualifications. I would also like to figure out what kinda of life expectancy I have, as that’s not something my creators had any desire to discover themselves. He replied, clearly having been thinking about these subjects for a while. Though if you’re looking for a less serious answer, I would like to try some spicy foods from other planets.
—
“That would explain some of strange abilities our soldiers reporting encountering during the attack on New London. We were under the impression that they had some sort of advanced technology implanted in their bodies, but it seems more likely they had one of those “glitches” you mentioned.” Alpina said, sounding like a few things had clicked into place for her.
”Excuse me Admiral, can you tell us more about the attack on New London? All Lockwood mentioned was that it happened eight months ago and that you were still rebuilding.” Liz asked.
A faint sigh came out over the communicator. “It started when their fleet suddenly popped out of nowhere inside Earth’s atmosphere, completely bypassing our orbital defense network. Fortis sent us a message about how he had one last thing to do before he “completely turned his back on his old way of life,” then his troops started teleporting into various important facilities, power plants, water treatment centers, stuff like that. That’s when things got strange. They acted completely differently from the way they’ve acted in previous asset denial operations, stunning anyone in those facilities and evacuating them before they even started destroying anything. It was only when our soldiers came in using lethal force that they started responding in kind. This went on for a few hours, before they suddenly withdrew all their ground forces and disappeared again. It was only then that we discovered what we believed their true target was.” Tsukuyomi let out another sigh before continuing. “A few hours after the invasion ended, one hundred and thirty six former or current senators were found dead in their homes across the planet. Every single one of them voted against giving Kaon any significant amount of emergency aid after the black ice incident.”

[CyberDragon]

Messalca stepped back over to the young 'Celican'. "Looks like you got some more time, Zach" she told him, "'cause you're stopping with me. Now," she added, "hugs are allowed in lieu of payment and you can get back to them, yeah?"

The teenager nodded gleefully and stepped up to give the Sheriff a hug. He felt cold as steel, lacking any warmth or life, even seeming to draw warmth away from his surroundings without even being aware. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. To all of us."

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

Jaken fell off his chair. "Really," he asked desperately, picking himself back up. "How..? What..? We're going to rescue him, right?"

Hivemind had somewhat expected this kind of reaction, but didn't expect Jaken to fall off of the chair. The droid stood up and moved to help Jaken to his feet and back into the chair. "I was investigating the area, and talking with the local law enforcement. Someone was trying really hard to make it look like your father had passed, but then tried equally hard to make sure nobody could double check and make sure he really was. The investigation is ongoing, but I have an idea of where to search next. We'll be making our way there soon."

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

Corvis stared at the menu and blinked. "Err..." he said, "this was in English a moment ago...
Jenevive frowned at her youngest. "Since when can you read English?"
"Last night," the Cub said proudly. "I read a standard/English dictionary."
"He did," Golten admitted grumpily, wondering how his brother had stolen all the attention that was supposed to be on him. "saw him reading the screens. Not a clue why. It all looked stupid to me."
" I wanted to find out about making burgers out of Kings..."

"Rules out Auto-Translation..." Gear said sideways to Hannabelle.

"You learned a whole written language in a night from reading a translation dictionary?" The Lycan asked. He looked at Jenevive. "I'm guessing this is a skill you haven't seen before?"

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

"Maybe later, Pred. So, what do you think of sentience so far?" Although she hadn't intended it, Keeva wondered if Predator would not the sort of joke there.

The Predator apparently didn't get the joke, as he answered normally without a hint of joking. "It's... Difficult to explain. Somehow, things are simpler, yet more complicated. Before, my mind was basic cause and effect. A complex algorithm that determined my actions, yet had no capacity for true knowledge or understanding. Yet, I understand now. I feel I know things beyond simple action and reaction. Do you understand what I mean?"

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

“That would explain some of strange abilities our soldiers reporting encountering during the attack on New London. We were under the impression that they had some sort of advanced technology implanted in their bodies, but it seems more likely they had one of those “glitches” you mentioned.” Alpina said, sounding like a few things had clicked into place for her.
”Excuse me Admiral, can you tell us more about the attack on New London? All Lockwood mentioned was that it happened eight months ago and that you were still rebuilding.” Liz asked.
A faint sigh came out over the communicator. “It started when their fleet suddenly popped out of nowhere inside Earth’s atmosphere, completely bypassing our orbital defense network. Fortis sent us a message about how he had one last thing to do before he “completely turned his back on his old way of life,” then his troops started teleporting into various important facilities, power plants, water treatment centers, stuff like that. That’s when things got strange. They acted completely differently from the way they’ve acted in previous asset denial operations, stunning anyone in those facilities and evacuating them before they even started destroying anything. It was only when our soldiers came in using lethal force that they started responding in kind. This went on for a few hours, before they suddenly withdrew all their ground forces and disappeared again. It was only then that we discovered what we believed their true target was.” Tsukuyomi let out another sigh before continuing. “A few hours after the invasion ended, one hundred and thirty six former or current senators were found dead in their homes across the planet. Every single one of them voted against giving Kaon any significant amount of emergency aid after the black ice incident.”

Hivemind was considering this new information when the Steelhaven's computer pinged him. He checked the monitor quickly. "I've got it!" Hivemind cheered. "The signal has been traced. Admiral, I don't wish to place any more unnessissary strain on Seena, so can you quickly describe some of the abilities you saw? While I develop a full communication system, I can research those powers and hopefully will be able to send a message on how to defend against them."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Well, you certainly fit some characteristics, Jenny told her guest, you're good company and intelligent and I'm pretty sure you've got a sense of humour(!) She audibly chuckled as she finished donning the rest of her armour, leaving the helmet off. Just don't practice jokes when I'm trying to be serious, yeah?
---------------
"Just as long as there's no axe murderers in there, yeah," Messalca said lightly, rubbing Zach's metal back with affection.
--------------
Jaken decided to play it stunned but cool but his wagging tail would have given his feelings away. "I, er, need to be involved in the rescue," he said. "Wouldn't that surprise him?"
-------------
"It's not exactly something taught on Celican colonies," Jenevive admitted. "Just Celican and Standard."
"All of a sudden," Hannabelle muttered, "I remember him writing a letter to the blue Killranger...
I figured he'd used a translation program but..."
"Lappinean too," Jenevive asked in exasperation.
"I'm just, um, good with learning languages," Corvis said, looking perplexed as to why people didn't think this was normal.
"Just languages," Golten grumped.
-----------------
"You're learning," Keeva told her mighty friend. "The whole worldship is your school."
----------------
"We do, of course, need to keep the information about our exact location as secret as possible, Admiral," Corp advised. "It's very likely that, if Fortis knows where we are, he'll make plans and that's not to our advantage right now."
---------------
Cherry Seena was doing her best not to show too much of the stress she was beginning to feel as she kept the channel open and ticked the boxes on the digital forms.
--------------
"Y'didn't thou'," Sarah told Cailean, rubbing a crooked finger under his chin. "An', as the thin's more yuirs than anyone's, ah'm sure naewun would mind y' learnin'?"
-------------
"Aw, heck with it," Sana admitted, hitting pause on the program before shifting around and kneeling on the sofa to give Denver a proper kiss. "Don't mind, do ya," she asked after backing off a little.

[Legotron123]

Do not worry Jenny, I do not have any intention of doing anything like that. Quint said, as Kolt’s footsteps could be heard down the hall. Though I was not joking about the spicy foods. I find the heat quite enjoyable.
“I got it!” Kolt cried out joyful as he walked into the room, his watch back on his wrist. “Thankfully the battle didn’t move it too far from the trash bin he tossed it in.”
—
“Considering that almost half of his soldiers displayed some sort of strange ability, trying to list them all in the time we have left isn’t very practical.” Alpina said, as someone else could be faintly heard talking in the background. “There were, however, two sets of operatives I believe warrant mentioning. One focused more on combating our forces, and had a man with pointy ears who looked and moved like he was made of liquid metal, and some sort of fruit bat women who caused hallucinations. The other focused more on asset denial, and consisted of a maned wolf who could hack our most secure systems with a touch and produce weaponry from his body, and a human wearing the most advanced set of power armor we’ve ever seen. Both groups had authority over the other soldiers, though exactly what kind is hard to tell given rarely they wielded it.”

[CyberDragon]

Jaken decided to play it stunned but cool but his wagging tail would have given his feelings away. "I, er, need to be involved in the rescue," he said. "Wouldn't that surprise him?"

Hivemind shook his head. "I can't promise anything until I know more myself. I don't know what we'll face when we get to that point."

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

"It's not exactly something taught on Celican colonies," Jenevive admitted. "Just Celican and Standard."
"All of a sudden," Hannabelle muttered, "I remember him writing a letter to the blue Killranger...
I figured he'd used a translation program but..."
"Lappinean too," Jenevive asked in exasperation.
"I'm just, um, good with learning languages," Corvis said, looking perplexed as to why people didn't think this was normal.
"Just languages," Golten grumped.

"How long did it take you to learn Lappinean?" The Lycan asked.

Meanwhile, Eira decided to help entertain Golten while the others dealt with his brother. Two globs of water had melted from her ice hand and hovered in place. They shifted into the form of two samurai, which then started sword-fighting each other on the table in front of Golten.

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

"You're learning," Keeva told her mighty friend. "The whole worldship is your school."

"I believe it's more than that." The Predator stated. "There was an old thought experiment. I wonder if you've heard of it. Imagine being locked in a room with an instruction book. Someone keeps passing notes into the room with you, written in a language you don't understand. The instruction book tells you what symbols to respond with, but not what the symbols mean. The person receiving your notes and sending you notes understands what those notes mean, and so they believe they are having a conversation. And from their perspective, they are. However, the person reading the instructions has no knowledge a true conversation is taking place, nor do they have an understanding of what is being said." The predator waited for a moment, looking down at Keeva, wondering if she understood where he was going with this.

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

"We do, of course, need to keep the information about our exact location as secret as possible, Admiral," Corp advised. "It's very likely that, if Fortis knows where we are, he'll make plans and that's not to our advantage right now."
---------------
Cherry Seena was doing her best not to show too much of the stress she was beginning to feel as she kept the channel open and ticked the boxes on the digital forms.

“Considering that almost half of his soldiers displayed some sort of strange ability, trying to list them all in the time we have left isn’t very practical.” Alpina said, as someone else could be faintly heard talking in the background. “There were, however, two sets of operatives I believe warrant mentioning. One focused more on combating our forces, and had a man with pointy ears who looked and moved like he was made of liquid metal, and some sort of fruit bat women who caused hallucinations. The other focused more on asset denial, and consisted of a maned wolf who could hack our most secure systems with a touch and produce weaponry from his body, and a human wearing the most advanced set of power armor we’ve ever seen. Both groups had authority over the other soldiers, though exactly what kind is hard to tell given rarely they wielded it.”

"I'll see if I can find anything on what you've mentioned." Hivemind said. "However, I believe this sustained conversation is putting strain on Miss Seena. I will contact you again once I've developed the interuniversal communicator."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Keeva thought on what Predator had said for a few moments. It ALMOST made sense but not quite and... "The world's full of tests, Pred," she sighed, "and most of the big ones don't really make any sense at all the first few times, especially when you on't know if the test is for you, the other guy, both or everyone. Is it a test for you to work out the language or a test for him to work out if the replies are 'computer generated' but with worse handwriting?" She patted his foot. "Put it another way," she said, "life's also like a 50,000 piece Jigsaw puzzle which you've lost the box to. The picture can be worked out and becomes easier as you fill in the pieces. But, at the beginning, you're gonna end up with a lot of Ducks in Chimneys."
--------------------
"Excellent," Jenny replied, offering Kolt her armoured arm, "Shall we get out of here? Quint wants to try something with Nduja paste for breakfast!" Then I have to check on a few people and visit a necromancer. she added, thinking to Quint.
-------------------
"I... had a... book," Corvis said, wondering if he'd done something wrong. He looked hopefully at his mother. "Have I... done something wrong," he asked, fiddling with his tie.
"Probably best I let the Lycan answer that," Jenevive replied, hoping she didn't have to say the actual words as her other cub watched the distraction and began 'fighting' with his finger claws.
"'Least we know he's intelligent," Hannabelle muttered to Gear. "And I think we need a word with their dad about things his parents could do?"
----------------
"Just no 'leaving me out for my own good', yeah," Jaken asked. "Got me pride, y'know?" He took another spoon of the Ice cream mush.
----------------
"It IS something of a strain," Seena admitted, finishing off the forms and signing them digitally. "Oh, Hive? We'll need to pop down the Medical centre after. There's some biological files down there that I think your Doctors will find useful." She looked down at herself. "Especialy in a few months."

[Hlaoroo]

"Y'didn't thou'," Sarah told Cailean, rubbing a crooked finger under his chin. "An', as the thin's more yuirs than anyone's, ah'm sure naewun would mind y' learnin'?"

"Well... Ah mean... It wuid be kinda fun... Ah did enjoy th' simulator back hame." Cailean shyly admits, tail wagging in time with Sarah's scritches.

Beside them, Conall is starting to look a little lost, unable to keep up with everything that's happening.

[Legotron123]

”Then get out of here we shall.” Kolt said, before gently picking Jenny up and flying out of the still partially ruined building. Landing next to the shuttle, he gave a sheepish grin at the nearest Hivemind drone. “Sorry for the delay, we were making sure we didn’t leave anything behind.” He said as he stepped onto the shuttle.
—
”Understood. Admiral Tsukuyomi, signing off.” She said, as things went silent for a moment. However, it seemed that only Seena could actually end the call, as they soon heard a long sigh come out from the communicator, followed by Alpina’s voice again. “And now I have to figure out how to explain to the others that not only are superpowers a thing now, but they’re something we specifically need to watch out for if the Barbarox ever return. Wonderful.”

[Deske]

"Bluh, I- uh- no, of course not." Denver sat still for a few awkward seconds before taking a deep breath, "Do you think we could do it again?"
------
As soon as Seena signed the forms and submitted them, they were almost instantaneously marked as received and filed by a certain northern mixed breed dog sitting a couple meters away who was doing an absolutely terrible job of hiding his excitement.

[CyberDragon]

Keeva thought on what Predator had said for a few moments. It ALMOST made sense but not quite and... "The world's full of tests, Pred," she sighed, "and most of the big ones don't really make any sense at all the first few times, especially when you on't know if the test is for you, the other guy, both or everyone. Is it a test for you to work out the language or a test for him to work out if the replies are 'computer generated' but with worse handwriting?" She patted his foot. "Put it another way," she said, "life's also like a 50,000 piece Jigsaw puzzle which you've lost the box to. The picture can be worked out and becomes easier as you fill in the pieces. But, at the beginning, you're gonna end up with a lot of Ducks in Chimneys."

Not quite understanding what Keeva was saying, and figured Keeva didn't really understand. "The thought experiment is one designed to speculate on the consciousness of artificial intelligence, and the nature of sentience. A non-sentient AI is like the person who follows instructions to create a response. There is no true understanding. It's simply a step-by-step process of coming to some meaningless output that only has meaning to the recipient. That was how I understood everything before. Everything was just... words. Sometimes mapped to pictures or 3D models, or some list of the object's properties, but that was just the instruction book. I had no awareness beyond the numbers. Now, I feel I know the language, and don't need the instruction book."

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

"Excellent," Jenny replied, offering Kolt her armoured arm, "Shall we get out of here? Quint wants to try something with Nduja paste for breakfast!" Then I have to check on a few people and visit a necromancer. she added, thinking to Quint.

”Then get out of here we shall.” Kolt said, before gently picking Jenny up and flying out of the still partially ruined building. Landing next to the shuttle, he gave a sheepish grin at the nearest Hivemind drone. “Sorry for the delay, we were making sure we didn’t leave anything behind.” He said as he stepped onto the shuttle.

Once everyone was on board, the Ibis's side doors closed, then sealed shut with a airy sound as the cabin pressurized. The engines started up, and the drop ship lifted straight up into the air. Gravity shifted as the Ibis turned, pointing it's nose straight up. The rear engines kicked in, and the Ibis launched upwards through the clouds.

Meanwhile in the cabin, a hive droid walked down the center of the cabin with paper and specialized pens, staying attached to the floor using magnets on the bottoms of his feet. He handed out the papers and pens to everyone. "Right... I want all of you to fill out these forms. Provide an account of what happened, what went wrong, and how the situation unfolded and was resolved."

"Ulrich, once we get to the Beacon, you can see me about your new shield generator. I'll help you with the designs."

"Tatiana, I'm still searching for your spare armor. I will find it before we leave, and I'll bring it to the Beacon. Don't worry about it."

"Kolt, when we get to the Beacon, I'll need to speak with you privately. Jenny, I will also speak with you privately, and separately."

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

"I... had a... book," Corvis said, wondering if he'd done something wrong. He looked hopefully at his mother. "Have I... done something wrong," he asked, fiddling with his tie.
"Probably best I let the Lycan answer that," Jenevive replied, hoping she didn't have to say the actual words as her other cub watched the distraction and began 'fighting' with his finger claws.
"'Least we know he's intelligent," Hannabelle muttered to Gear. "And I think we need a word with their dad about things his parents could do?"

"You're not in trouble at all." The Lycan smiled while one of the icy swordfighters did a back handspring to get out of Golten's fingers while the other started sword fighting against his claw. "The speed at which you learn languages could potentially be a sign of a power. It seems you and your brother both have some mental or psychic abilities."

"Agreed." Gear nodded. "Two brothers, both with powers... the odds of that happinin' without a genetic factor are astronomically low."

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

"Just no 'leaving me out for my own good', yeah," Jaken asked. "Got me pride, y'know?" He took another spoon of the Ice cream mush.

"I'll try to avoid cliche's, but your pride isn't as important as your life or your sanity." Hivemind said. "If I deem the situation presents too high of a risk, I will likely send only a single team of veterans to set up a Hive Beacon, then take care of things from there myself."

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

"It IS something of a strain," Seena admitted, finishing off the forms and signing them digitally. "Oh, Hive? We'll need to pop down the Medical centre after. There's some biological files down there that I think your Doctors will find useful." She looked down at herself. "Especialy in a few months."

"You can just hand them to me." Hivemind said. "Don't worry. I'm bound by hard constraints not to share medical information with people outside of the medical profession. Even then, they must have an approved reason to request the information. Also, the medical database is connected to the Hive Network, so I can insert the information into storage immediately."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Kolt loves to do the Superman/Lois Lane flying bit, doesn't he, Jenny asked Quint with humour before settling into the seat next to Kolt and taking a form and pen from the Hivebot. "Right-ho," she told him before filling in the form, detailing how they'd been taken by surprise and how she's needed to find cover for a few seconds and wouldn't have chosen where she had if she'd known of the enemies power and how she'd accepted Quint into herself.... she rewrote that bit three times until she stopped thinking of it as double entendres (which didn't help in other ways either) to help defeat the foe whilst trying not to kill Kolt because that wasn't how she did things.
--------------
Messalca watched the ship head up and away as Saffy contemplated saying 'Hello' to Zach.
-------------
"Jenevive," Hannabelle said, "we're gonna have to have a chat with Kelvin... Sheesh, I hate that name... These things generally skip a generation and, trust me, there's no history on our side of the family."
Golten found himself on the defensive in the 'battle' as he wasn't really up on fighting techniques. Corvis' reaction, of course, was more to gape and wonder if this meant he could get a role in diplomacy or espionage. "Well, it's not fighting," he eventually said, feigning indifference, "but I'll take it."
-----------
"Goes the same way for all of us, Pred," Keeva remarked. "We always start by needing to learn there IS an instruction book and going from there." She flexed her artificial arm. "You could say I've done it more than once. Could hardly get this thing to move the first few months, y'know? Now I don't need a book, either."
-----------
"Safe is boring," Jaken grumbled, "but probably understandable."
-----------
"Oops," Seena muttered, closing the link and rubbing her head. "Probably better we take you down there. Some of the files on my species, er, development is only on sealed medical systems." She began heading away.
Corp, still fighting down his feelings, inclined his head towards the Captain's ready room.
------------
"Aye," Sarah remarked, "Ah'd prob'ly be able t' learn ya." She touched Conall's arm and explained, via sign, that they'd been getting the frequency for the home reality and would be sending the messages through shortly. She also apologised then thought for a moment. If Ensign Seena sends messages to anyone, even if they don't have comms, does that mean she talks into their heads? Want we should ask her to try with you? Oh, she's gone.
-----------
"Well, it's not like I have experience in it," Sana admitted, "so I probably need practice. Just don't listen to those 'outer inner' voices, eh?" She waited for his 'reply'.

[Hlaoroo]

"Aye," Sarah remarked, "Ah'd prob'ly be able t' learn ya." She touched Conall's arm and explained, via sign, that they'd been getting the frequency for the home reality and would be sending the messages through shortly. She also apologised then thought for a moment. If Ensign Seena sends messages to anyone, even if they don't have comms, does that mean she talks into their heads? Want we should ask her to try with you? Oh, she's gone.

"Yer a pilot?" Cailean asks, surprised.
"Ah guess we'll hae tae catch her another time. Tha' cuid be quite interestin' though." Conall opines, unaware that Cailean had spoken aloud.

[Legotron123]

“And here I thought I might do less paperwork as a Champion.” Kolt said dryly as he took a pen and started writing. He wrote about how Ko Sah ambushed him in the bathroom (Shoot, I never took a shower!), how the Yah Rin had mentioned being disgraced by his peers for his previous failures and seemed to be acting alone in his attack, and how Diligitus intervened to end the fight before Jenny was killed. Once the paper had been filled out, he handed it to the nearest Hivemind droid and waited for the shuttle to arrive on the Beacon, gently nuzzling Jenny’s ear as he did so.
—
if you are referring to his method of carrying you, that is generally how he carries people when he is not in a combat situation. Quint replied as Jenny filled out the form. Also, do you think we should ask Hivemind if he is okay with me being in your head while he talks to you?
—
Once the call had concluded, Liz and Lewis excused them and went with Corp into the ready room. Once inside, she leaned against her old desk and gave her right hand man a concerned look. “So, what is it you want to talk about that has you acting weird?”

[Welsh Halfwit]

Corp thought for a moment about what he wanted to say and was thankful they were a little further away from the others. He twiddled his thumbs for a moment before removing his helmet so Liz could see his eyes as he talked. "It's, um, it's these powers," he said uncertainly. "I've..." He swallowed, then decided to plough on. "I've had...
affection for, um, you for a long while and... I've been able to press them down but, with these new, um, powers I have and the strength of feelings between the others we were just with, I'm afraid that control has slipped, er, somewhat. I'm, um, trying to get a grip on it..." He tried to think of new words.
------------
If he reads the reports, Jenny told Quint, he'll know. She leaned into the nuzzling and did a little of her own

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana nodded in thanks towards Hive. While she wasn't really attached to the second shell, it was a nice, and pretty thing to have. With that one worry out of mind she set to writing out the report. It was a little strange to her, but she figured the sudden and unplanned aspects of the situation might have sparked the need for a written report. She jotted down the simple facts, how she went towards the commotion and attempted escalating tactics to restrain the body snatcher and then non fatally wear him down when restraint proved futile. She ended her report after going over her degraded condition, flickering sight and eventually over taxing her power which brought her down with a migraine before the Aspect's saving the day.

She finished her report and let off a tired shrug. She felt drained from the whole ordeal, really, especially, as she remembered a tad annoyed, that that was supposed to be something of a rest.

[CyberDragon]

Kolt loves to do the Superman/Lois Lane flying bit, doesn't he, Jenny asked Quint with humour before settling into the seat next to Kolt and taking a form and pen from the Hivebot. "Right-ho," she told him before filling in the form, detailing how they'd been taken by surprise and how she's needed to find cover for a few seconds and wouldn't have chosen where she had if she'd known of the enemies power and how she'd accepted Quint into herself.... she rewrote that bit three times until she stopped thinking of it as double entendres (which didn't help in other ways either) to help defeat the foe whilst trying not to kill Kolt because that wasn't how she did things.

“And here I thought I might do less paperwork as a Champion.” Kolt said dryly as he took a pen and started writing. He wrote about how Ko Sah ambushed him in the bathroom (Shoot, I never took a shower!), how the Yah Rin had mentioned being disgraced by his peers for his previous failures and seemed to be acting alone in his attack, and how Diligitus intervened to end the fight before Jenny was killed. Once the paper had been filled out, he handed it to the nearest Hivemind droid and waited for the shuttle to arrive on the Beacon, gently nuzzling Jenny’s ear as he did so.
—
if you are referring to his method of carrying you, that is generally how he carries people when he is not in a combat situation. Quint replied as Jenny filled out the form. Also, do you think we should ask Hivemind if he is okay with me being in your head while he talks to you?

If he reads the reports, Jenny told Quint, he'll know. She leaned into the nuzzling and did a little of her own

Tatiana nodded in thanks towards Hive. While she wasn't really attached to the second shell, it was a nice, and pretty thing to have. With that one worry out of mind she set to writing out the report. It was a little strange to her, but she figured the sudden and unplanned aspects of the situation might have sparked the need for a written report. She jotted down the simple facts, how she went towards the commotion and attempted escalating tactics to restrain the body snatcher and then non fatally wear him down when restraint proved futile. She ended her report after going over her degraded condition, flickering sight and eventually over taxing her power which brought her down with a migraine before the Aspect's saving the day.

She finished her report and let off a tired shrug. She felt drained from the whole ordeal, really, especially, as she remembered a tad annoyed, that that was supposed to be something of a rest.

Hivemind went around the cabin of the Ibis dropship and collected the forms from his team. "Alright... I realize that this didn't go as planned. This was supposed to be a break for you. You should be able to rest on the Beacon. I'm pulling you all off of On Call duty." With the forms complete, all the team needed to do was wait.

The Ibis continued on it's path, exiting the planet's atmosphere. It was only a few minutes of the ship accelerating through empty space before it started to slow down again. A minute or two after that, and the Ibis was docked in one of the Beacon's hangers.

"Welcome home, everyone." Hivemind said.

Once the doors opened and the ship docked, Team Angel were among the first to step out into the hanger. MT disconnected from the cargo latch and waited for Chris.

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

"Jenevive," Hannabelle said, "we're gonna have to have a chat with Kelvin... Sheesh, I hate that name... These things generally skip a generation and, trust me, there's no history on our side of the family."
Golten found himself on the defensive in the 'battle' as he wasn't really up on fighting techniques. Corvis' reaction, of course, was more to gape and wonder if this meant he could get a role in diplomacy or espionage. "Well, it's not fighting," he eventually said, feigning indifference, "but I'll take it."

"It might be a good idea to get Corvis and Golten officially tested. In fact, it might be good to get your whole family tested." Randy suggested. "Sometimes it skips a generation, sometimes it skips two, and sometimes it doesn't skip any. In many cases, people could go their entire lives having a power and not knowing about it. Corvis, for example, would likely not have realized his skill with learning language was a power. And, in fact, we still can't be entirely sure."

As Randy explained, the Waiter returned, carrying a large amount of food. He started handing out the orders, with the largest plate by far going to Eira. It was nearly twice the size of the next largest meal ordered.

With the food having arrived, the icy fighters took a formal bow to their fierce Celican opponent before marching back to Eira's hand. They touched the ice of her arm, and immediately melted into it.

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

"Goes the same way for all of us, Pred," Keeva remarked. "We always start by needing to learn there IS an instruction book and going from there." She flexed her artificial arm. "You could say I've done it more than once. Could hardly get this thing to move the first few months, y'know? Now I don't need a book, either."

The Predator drone did what could only be described as a robot shrug. "I suppose. I still don't feel that is the same, but maybe it is more similar than I think." it said. "So, anyway... Moving on, have you considered my offer to take you to see the outside of the ship?"

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

"Safe is boring," Jaken grumbled, "but probably understandable."

"If we do find your father, he won't be happy with me if I let you go into danger." Hivemind commented.

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

"Oops," Seena muttered, closing the link and rubbing her head. "Probably better we take you down there. Some of the files on my species, er, development is only on sealed medical systems." She began heading away.

"Lead the way." Hivemind nodded, following Seena.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Some day soon," Jenny told Kolt, "I just might believe him on that 'home' thing." She exited the craft and hung around for a Hivebot.
--------------
"I'd've won," Golten claimed as his noble opponents dissolved back into Eira's arm. "Probably."
His brother, meanwhile, had been going to ask about how invasive Golten's tests would be but, on sight of his breakfast, he'd forgotten. Inexpertly, he tried using the knife and fork. And bit it several times.
"Pretty sure the only power I got is shooting people," Hannabelle commented.
"Perhaps it's from dad," Jenevive grumbled, starting on her food.
"The one power he had," Hannabelle remarked, "was making me want to shoot him. Didn't, though."
-----------
"Be happy to, Pred," Keeva admitted. "Dan's sorting out work but I'm happily free."
----------
"Doubt you'd feel threatened," Jaken admitted with a wry grin.
---------
"It's like this, y'see," Cherry told the Hivebot as they headed down to the medical bay, "a few hundred years ago, my people weren't this size." She put her hands together to roughly the size of an early 21st C. Rat. "Now, some scientists, doing... unorthodox research, accidentally found a way to break the size lock and bring us up to normal size. Those that wanted it took the treatments and ended up on our own island which, generally speaking, we don't leave. Few of us want to. And the government likes it that way because it means fewer know about the other thing the scientists broke along the way." She stopped and turned to face him. "They broke the genetic lock too. I understand from Sana that cross-species procreation usually requires specialists and therapy and a whole host of other things? My people don't need any of that. We're compatible with any species that... nevermind. Figure you know where I'm headed. Generally, like I say, we don't leave the company of other Rats. I chose to so my bio files, and those of the genetic researchers,were stored on the main medical computer here. Under lock so only the Chief Medical Officer can access them." She started for the medical bay again. "Figure it's fair exchange and your people could make use of the information? And your Doctor's should know," she finished, taking Colorado's handpaw, "as I'm carrying Colorado's pup."
-------
"Aye," Sarah said and signed, thankful the answer was the same for both. Anything you want to pick up whilst we're back here, she asked them both in sign.

[Hlaoroo]

"Aye," Sarah said and signed, thankful the answer was the same for both. Anything you want to pick up whilst we're back here, she asked them both in sign.

The brothers glance at each other and shake their heads.
"Ah suppose we cuid pick up th' rest o' oor clothes but we dinnae hae much other than tha'. Everythin' else is at th' hoos already." Conall answers.
"Aye," Cailean concurs, "What aboot ye, Sarah? Dae ye need or want anythin'?"

[Deske]

"Pup," Colorado quietly repeated as he returned her grip with his own hand. "I, uh, yeah, confidentiality and all that," he said, suddenly snapping back to reality. Standing up, he offered Cherry his arm for the short walk to the medical bay.
------
Ulrich nodded, taking the form and filling it out with a more eloquent version of the story he'd told to Hive before. As soon as they arrived back on the Beacon, he handed his paper to the Hivedroid and waited for further instructions. Getting the go ahead, he gave the droid a nod, "Alright then, I will see you in Fabrications."
------
"Actually they're all busy playing Halo..." He paused for a second before getting a small grin on his face, "Romeo does say hello though."
------
Chris stepped off the dropship and handed the Hivebot his paper with little more than a somewhat bored look on his face. Done with that, he headed over to MT, someone more eager to meet this god than he thought he should be. "So, uh, you ready?"

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Well," Sana remarked, "pass this on to Romeo, yeah?" So saying, she kissed Denver again, thinking it might end up 'distracting' Romeo or something. The thought tickled her fancy.
-------------
"Could grab a few things, like," Sarah remarked, "but ah bet all me Newccie broon's* broke..."

*Newcastle Brown ale.

[Hlaoroo]

"Eh, as long as th' Scotch is okay we'll be fine. Tha's far better than th' broon anywye." Conall quips, knowing it's highly likely the Scotch will also have been smashed.
"Let's gae get Sarah's stuff then, an' then Ah suppose we shuid see aboot gettin' us jobs." Cailean suggests.

[Legotron123]

”Yeah, I get you. Still not quite used to my apartment either.” Kolt replied, giving Jenny a gentle squeeze hug as he entered the hanger. “See you for breakfast after I’ve had a chance to talk to Hivemind and shower.” He said, before heading off to find another Hivemind droid to talk to.
—
Liz was silent for a moment, her and her emotions a whirlpool of conflicting feelings to Corps senses. It was quite clear neither of them knew exactly what to say. Eventually, she decided on something. “I’m... not ready to get into a relationship again.” She said, her words coming off much more guarded than they did before. ”I’m still not over my.. last one.”

[CyberDragon]

"Some day soon," Jenny told Kolt, "I just might believe him on that 'home' thing." She exited the craft and hung around for a Hivebot.

Once everyone had exited the craft, a number of Hive droids marched up to the team. Gadgeteer stepped up next to Jenny just as the red Hive droid confronted her. "Jenny, I will need to speak with you, Quint, and Gadgeteer regarding what happened with the food truck. I suspect you were expecting this." the droid said, gesturing for Jenny to follow him.

- - - - -

Ulrich nodded, taking the form and filling it out with a more eloquent version of the story he'd told to Hive before. As soon as they arrived back on the Beacon, he handed his paper to the Hivedroid and waited for further instructions. Getting the go ahead, he gave the droid a nod, "Alright then, I will see you in Fabrications."

Ulrich would find that one of the droids was actually waiting to take him down to the Forge and Fabrications when he exited the Ibis. "We'll get your shield generator figured out. Walk with me, please." the droid said. Hivemind walked towards one of the hanger's portal doors and entered it, exiting the other side in the Champion Tower sublevels. "So you were planning on integrating the shield generator into your person. Is there a reason why we can't distribute it across your Champion Armor instead? We could solve the overheating problem if we up the power to the armor's cooling system and run the coolant veins across the CPU."

- - - - -

Chris stepped off the dropship and handed the Hivebot his paper with little more than a somewhat bored look on his face. Done with that, he headed over to MT, someone more eager to meet this god than he thought he should be. "So, uh, you ready?"

"I am unsure if there is a way to be ready for something like this." The mech said, apprehension and what could only be nervousness apparent in his speaking cadence. "I am ready to try it, but I feel we should be in my garage when we do. This is... personal. I would rather not contact the entity in a public area." He opened his cockpit and waited for Chris to enter. "Climb in, and I will take us there."

- - - - -

”Yeah, I get you. Still not quite used to my apartment either.” Kolt replied, giving Jenny a gentle squeeze hug as he entered the hanger. “See you for breakfast after I’ve had a chance to talk to Hivemind and shower.” He said, before heading off to find another Hivemind droid to talk to.

He wouldn't have to go far, as one of the Hive droids approached him. "Kolt, there's a lot I need to speak to you about. First, though, I should ask if you want to be there for the interrogation."

- - - - -

With pretty much everyone else occupied, Recon zipped up over to Tatiana in the blink of an eye. "Hey. You did pretty great down there." She claimed, cheerfully. "So you actually played a game of catch with Diligitis?"

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

"I'd've won," Golten claimed as his noble opponents dissolved back into Eira's arm. "Probably."
His brother, meanwhile, had been going to ask about how invasive Golten's tests would be but, on sight of his breakfast, he'd forgotten. Inexpertly, he tried using the knife and fork. And bit it several times.
"Pretty sure the only power I got is shooting people," Hannabelle commented.
"Perhaps it's from dad," Jenevive grumbled, starting on her food.
"The one power he had," Hannabelle remarked, "was making me want to shoot him. Didn't, though."

The Lycan and Eira started digging into their food. Eira had nearly half of it inhaled by the time the waiter came out with a canister filled with some kind of viscous green liquid.

Gear looked side to side, trying to be as discrete as possible before opening his chest plates only slightly. Very little was visible, though there was a canister much like the one the waiter brought where most humans would have their stomach. It was tucked in slightly behind the inflatable sack where his left lung should be, and under the beating, half-artificial remnant of his heart and metal-infused ribcage. Gear quickly reached in to retrieve the spent canister, jiggling it slightly until it came loose. He placed it on the floor, took the other canister, and inserted it carefully, closing the chest cavity once it was done.

He looked around the table for reactions. "Apologies. I did say me eating could get a little graphic."

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

"Be happy to, Pred," Keeva admitted. "Dan's sorting out work but I'm happily free."

Predator nodded. "Very well. I will download you now, and we can fly out while the hanger doors are open." He pointed over the crowd to the opening where the ships were flying in. Some sort of environmental energy barrier kept the artificial atmosphere and gravity from being disrupted by the vacuum of space.

The Predator opened it's jaws and a beam of light shot out, striking Keeva. She lit up, then started shrinking into nothing as she was pulled inside the machine and placed into the virtual cockpit.

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

"Doubt you'd feel threatened," Jaken admitted with a wry grin.

"I wouldn't feel threatened. I would feel guilty." Hivemind said. "Guilty because sending you into danger is wrong and irresponsible, and he would be completely right to call me out for it if I did that."

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

"It's like this, y'see," Cherry told the Hivebot as they headed down to the medical bay, "a few hundred years ago, my people weren't this size." She put her hands together to roughly the size of an early 21st C. Rat. "Now, some scientists, doing... unorthodox research, accidentally found a way to break the size lock and bring us up to normal size. Those that wanted it took the treatments and ended up on our own island which, generally speaking, we don't leave. Few of us want to. And the government likes it that way because it means fewer know about the other thing the scientists broke along the way." She stopped and turned to face him. "They broke the genetic lock too. I understand from Sana that cross-species procreation usually requires specialists and therapy and a whole host of other things? My people don't need any of that. We're compatible with any species that... nevermind. Figure you know where I'm headed. Generally, like I say, we don't leave the company of other Rats. I chose to so my bio files, and those of the genetic researchers,were stored on the main medical computer here. Under lock so only the Chief Medical Officer can access them." She started for the medical bay again. "Figure it's fair exchange and your people could make use of the information? And your Doctor's should know," she finished, taking Colorado's handpaw, "as I'm carrying Colorado's pup."

"Pup," Colorado quietly repeated as he returned her grip with his own hand. "I, uh, yeah, confidentiality and all that," he said, suddenly snapping back to reality. Standing up, he offered Cherry his arm for the short walk to the medical bay.

The hive droid nodded, continuing to follow. "I understand. Yes, this will be important information, though... I should disclose to you that I already knew about the child. I was not aware that the biological compatibility came from genetic modification, and, depending on the modifications used, this could have an impact on the best methods of treating you. I will know more when I have the files."

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana was a little surprised to be approached by Recon, but didn't mind the conversation. "Hmm, I do suppose things could have gone worse against a sudden and unknown foe." While she wouldn't think her performance was good, she saw no need to argue about it. "And yes, Hivemind suggested I speak to him, though I don't know if Diligitis does so because he's just like that or because my Shell is apparently an artifact now. He gave me some advice and even suggested the game itself and played using my second shell that went flying without my aid earlier." She said, her tone and the like making it seem like any other event to the ex-mercenary.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Would have been confused if it hadn't, boss," Jenny said directly, before following. "C'mon, Gadgeteer, let's get this sorted."
-----------------
"I know that," Corp admitted, "which is why I have never brought it up. For... for fear of risking the friendship we have. But I have never enjoyed the idea of lying to you so, when it became obvious due to... influences, I believed it best to tell you." He looked to his helmet, as though he were really needing to put it back on.
-----------------
Corvis pretended he'd not seen any of it but his brother had to look two or three times at his breakfast before deciding to eat it anyhow.
"Thing to know about us lot," Jenevive said, trying to show Corvis how to use cutlery, "is we have strong stomachs."
"She wouldn't say that," Hannabelle remarked quietly, "if she remembered her first few hunts."
----------------
Jaken thought for a few seconds, still whirling over the possibilities. "Pretty sure you'll do what you think best," he said wryly.
---------------
"Still trippy," Keeva admitted, appearing in the room. "Whilst I'm in here, do you have a way to access what I'm 'feeling' on an emotional level," she asked. "I'm pretty sure I'm about to experience wonder, confusion and a lot of other things and, that way, I can help you work out which feelings they are. Coz you're going to get them sooner or later, big guy."
---------------
Sarah led the boys back to the room and began picking up things.
---------------
"Shoulda figured," Cherry said, stopping at the shut door to the medical bay. "Plus," she added, waiting for Colorado to key in his code, "if the files help your genetics people, it'll be kind of like paying for your generosity, y'know?"

[Deske]

"Ah, an escort, how kind," he said as he followed the Hivedroid. "I am more just worried that it is such a large target. But integrating it further into the armor could deal with that. It's mostly that if it gets destroyed then there's not really much I can do besides not get in the way and maybe act as a traffic cop for civilians with the similar amount of ability to actually protect them." He sighed, "But, if we're being honest, I'd much rather deal with them being a target than anything invasive, now that I think of it."
------
Chris climbed up into the cockpit. "Ah yeah no I didn't mean in the middle of here," he said, slipping the helmet on.
------
As soon as they'd finished, Denver pulled his head back and took a slightly exaggerated breath. "W-well I got some very classy golf clapping," he said with a hint of confusion.
------
"I kind of figured you would have," Colorado began, "and, as for the pregnancy, it should be relatively normal barring our child having some sort of early onset power gain."

[Legotron123]

”You mean Ko Sah’s, right?” Kolt asked, uncertain of who else Hivemind could be talking about. He thought about it for a moment, scratching an itch behind his ear, before coming to a decision. “If so, then sure, I’d be glad to be there. Though I will admit that I’m not sure what else we could get out of him that he didn’t already reveal during his mad ravings earlier.” He said, sounding rather nonplussed about everything. It seemed he wasn’t just mocking Ko Sah when he told him he go on with his day like nothing happened once the fight was over.
—
Oh right, I had forgotten about those guys. Quint said to Jenny, clearly not caring a lot about the near deaths of a group he had no emotional investment in. Regardless, I suspect Hivemind might wish to talk to me directly about the matter. Do you mind if I take over your body to do so when the time comes?
—
Liz didn’t react to Corps words beyond tapping her fingers on her desk, her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. It was incredibly clear even without empathy powers that she had no idea how to respond any of what Corp was saying. She started to say something multiple times, only to decide against whatever she planned on saying and stopping herself. Eventually, she managed to force some words out of her mouth. “I don’t want our friendship to change.”

[Hlaoroo]

The boys also gather the meagre possessions they have left on the ship - a set of work overalls, another set of street clothes, and a set of pyjamas each - and then wait for Sarah.
"Sae, is th' Scotch all right?" Cailean asks with a grin.

[CyberDragon]

Tatiana was a little surprised to be approached by Recon, but didn't mind the conversation. "Hmm, I do suppose things could have gone worse against a sudden and unknown foe." While she wouldn't think her performance was good, she saw no need to argue about it. "And yes, Hivemind suggested I speak to him, though I don't know if Diligitis does so because he's just like that or because my Shell is apparently an artifact now. He gave me some advice and even suggested the game itself and played using my second shell that went flying without my aid earlier." She said, her tone and the like making it seem like any other event to the ex-mercenary.

"I dunno! It might be a bit of both." Recon exclaimed. "If you're referring to him talking to you specifically, I think that's just how he is. I'm no expert, but just from what people say who have spoken with him, it seems like he's just sociable." She reached up and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Which... you know, makes sense. Love's a pretty pro-social thing, and if he's love personified, it'd make sense that he'd like to just hang out like that." Recon shrugged and focused on Tatiana again. "Honestly, though, I'm not an expert, like I said. If you're wondering why he did something, you might be able to find a priest of his. Or just ask him directly."

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

"Would have been confused if it hadn't, boss," Jenny said directly, before following. "C'mon, Gadgeteer, let's get this sorted."

Hivemind led Jenny and Gadgeteer out of the hanger. The group continued walking in a heavy silence through portal doors and hallways until they reached the inside of the Champion Tower. Hivemind opened a door to one of the empty meeting rooms and ushered his Champions through it. Gadgeteer, without being told, took a seat at the center table, and Hivemind took a seat on the far side of it.

"Please. Sit." Hivemind said, gesturing to the seat opposite to him and next to Gadgeteer. "Gadgeteer has informed me of what happened, but he only saw the aftermath. As I understand it, you were trying to avoid an attack, and took cover behind the food truck. Is this correct?" he asked.

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

Corvis pretended he'd not seen any of it but his brother had to look two or three times at his breakfast before deciding to eat it anyhow.
"Thing to know about us lot," Jenevive said, trying to show Corvis how to use cutlery, "is we have strong stomachs."
"She wouldn't say that," Hannabelle remarked quietly, "if she remembered her first few hunts."

"Speaking of strong stomachs..." Randy commented, looking sideways at Eira. She had already inhaled her small mountain of food, and was licking the syrup from her chops.

"Ahh, that was good." she said, resting a hand on her slightly bloated stomach before standing up. "Sorry, guys. I have to get to the gym if I'm going to train before the tournament today. See you guys there, right?"

"Did you even chew?" Randy asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Chewing's for people who have time, and I'm late."

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

Jaken thought for a few seconds, still whirling over the possibilities. "Pretty sure you'll do what you think best," he said wryly.

"I try to." Hivemind nodded. "I just need you to trust me. I'll let you help within reason, but I will need your cooperation. That means if I tell you to stay here, I need you to trust that I have a reason for that. Ok?"

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

"Still trippy," Keeva admitted, appearing in the room. "Whilst I'm in here, do you have a way to access what I'm 'feeling' on an emotional level," she asked. "I'm pretty sure I'm about to experience wonder, confusion and a lot of other things and, that way, I can help you work out which feelings they are. Coz you're going to get them sooner or later, big guy."

The Predator was silent for a moment before he responded. "It's unorthodox, and normally I would not be permitted. But I think I can manage it. Establishing an emotional IO link now..."

There was no visual indication of when the link finally finished being established. Rather, Keeva would start feeling emotions that were not her own. It wasn't a feeling that was easy to describe. the feelings were faint, incomplete, and artificial. Something about it did not feel natural.

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

"Shoulda figured," Cherry said, stopping at the shut door to the medical bay. "Plus," she added, waiting for Colorado to key in his code, "if the files help your genetics people, it'll be kind of like paying for your generosity, y'know?"

Hivemind shook his head and sighed. "You don't have to repay me for anything. What was I supposed to do? Leave you adrift for the pirates? Save you, only to leave you homeless on the streets? Let you suffer after you already lost so much? I'm just treating you like I would treat any of the people here, living on this ship. As far as I'm concerned, you are Beacon citizens, and I'm going to take care of you as such because that's my job as the leader of this ship, and because that's the right thing to do."

"I kind of figured you would have," Colorado began, "and, as for the pregnancy, it should be relatively normal barring our child having some sort of early onset power gain."

"The power scanner picked up two people when it scanned Miss Seena." Hivemind said. "There's only one reason it would do that. As for powers, it's difficult to say. The scanner, if I recall, was inconclusive."

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

"Ah, an escort, how kind," he said as he followed the Hivedroid. "I am more just worried that it is such a large target. But integrating it further into the armor could deal with that. It's mostly that if it gets destroyed then there's not really much I can do besides not get in the way and maybe act as a traffic cop for civilians with the similar amount of ability to actually protect them." He sighed, "But, if we're being honest, I'd much rather deal with them being a target than anything invasive, now that I think of it."

Hivemind led the way forward to the forge, typing in the code to open the door. "Not to mention, if we integrate the shield generator into your armor, we can install backup power and circuitry in case part of it gets hit. Can't do that with implants unless you're going to go full cyborg."

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

Chris climbed up into the cockpit. "Ah yeah no I didn't mean in the middle of here," he said, slipping the helmet on.

MT closed the door and headed for the vehicle access portal. Stepping through, he found himself in the Capitol District. The moment he had enough room to do so, he unfurled his wings and took off into the air. He flew through the city, high above most of the buildings and weaving through the skyscrapers until he could see Steelhaven Street in the distance. "...how do you feel about contacting this entity?" MT asked Chris as he flew.

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

”You mean Ko Sah’s, right?” Kolt asked, uncertain of who else Hivemind could be talking about. He thought about it for a moment, scratching an itch behind his ear, before coming to a decision. “If so, then sure, I’d be glad to be there. Though I will admit that I’m not sure what else we could get out of him that he didn’t already reveal during his mad ravings earlier.” He said, sounding rather nonplussed about everything. It seemed he wasn’t just mocking Ko Sah when he told him he go on with his day like nothing happened once the fight was over.

Hivemind led the way out of the hanger. They followed Ulrich and his hive bot to the sublevels of Champion Tower, but split from them as soon as they exited the portal. Hivemind led Kolt to the elevators and pressed the button. "So. Have you contacted your home world recently?" Hivemind asked.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Well," Jenny said, looking to keep her annoyance in check again, "to put it simply I got dressed for breakfast, went to make sure my... team-mate was up. That team mate, being possessed, proceeded to knock me flat on my backside somewhere in the middle of the parking lot and started firing clouds at everyone. I needed a few seconds to strategise and, quite frankly, I had no clue the clouds could become needle sharp daggers capable of ripping apart vehicles. It was also the only cover I could get to where he couldn't see me for a moment and I might make plans." Finally, having said her piece, she sat. I'm fine with you taking over when asked, Quint, she admitted, and no fibbing on my behalf. Truth is all important.
--------------------
"Nor do I," Corp admitted. "It's, um, why I'd hoped never to mention it.". He half smiled, his nerves showing through trying a joke.
---------------------
"Don't forget that it's harder to fight with indigestion and heartburn," Jenevive advised, as she'd done dozens of times before. Golten rolled his eyes. He'd heard it several times.
"We'll be there," Corvis remarked.
----------------
"Good job I'd never say 'no', eh," Jaken said, putting on a grin.
----------------
"That feeling," Keeva remarked, feeling the unease in her stomach, "you can feel from me is unease. It'll pass, big guy. Shall we go?"
----------------
"I know, I know," Cherry said, entering the medical bay as Colorado put in his code. "Still feels good to give back, y'know?" She stepped over to the computer. "Want me to find the files, Col," she asked.
----------------
Sana chuckled, her arms still around the back of Denver's head. "Did he miss his shot?"
---------------
Sarah sighed. "Found a few thin's, like," she said, having pocketed the few personal items she'd wanted to keep. Her brother's friendship ring and a pen given her by her mother, for example. "Bu' the beer's all gone an' this flamin' thing s'vived!" She held up a pack of three plastic miniature whiskeys.

[Legotron123]

The moment Hivemind asked that question, Kolt’s expression noticeably darkened. “No. Not since the day before yesterday.” He said, his voice thick with concern. “Why, did something happen?”
—
Do not worry Jenny, I have no reason to believe that would be necessary. Quint said, very pointedly not saying he wouldn’t lie for her if he thought it necessary. All of my previous interactions with Hivemind lead me to believe he will be quite reasonable about this.
—
“I..” Liz started, before stopping as she realized she had no idea how to end that sentence. As she stood up and started pacing back and forth, one emotion bubbled to the top of her mind: frustration. Not at Corp, not at herself, but at this whole situation in general. Eventually, she stopped moving, and turned to face Corp with a restrained expression. “Corp, can you give me a Lewis a bit of privacy to discuss things?”