Fandom Alien

[Doctor Jax]

Darcy swallowed hard as the woman frantically answered, "No, no need for that. It's too late--"


And then, just like that, comms died. Probably a fault of the station. At the least, he knew there were people still in Ritania station, and from what he could tell, Rei and Helen could still link up with Ritania and get a hold of the Mother intelligence running the station. There were systems online, obviously, but the fact that there'd been that panic in the woman's voice...


He didn't want to leave people on that ship, but he didn't want to risk his people either.


Darcy walked out into the common room where most of the people were sitting. He took a deep breath and said, "So, I got in touch with Ritania. We're inbound and probably going to get there in about twenty minutes. Unfortunately, it seems there's a problem. When I got a hold of them, the woman on the other end sounded... frantic. She was babbling, telling me there was nothing but death on the station and not to call help. As I understand it, we were supposed to stop here to pick up a few more WY executives and a package for the storage hold, but from the looks of it, the station is in bad shape or getting that way. I wanted to know whether or not you would rather abort the mission and head straight on home, probably send out a long-wave distress beacon so someone with chops can come and take a look, or continue."


"Oh, sug. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but you ain't got a whole lotta choice in the matter."


A blonde woman stepped into the room, hair tousled and glasses cleaned. Ingrid sat at the table primly and took a small plate of cheese. Darcy stared at her, eyes narrowed.


"What do you mean, Ms. Adrian?"


"I'm afraid that, regardless of the level of danger involved, you are not allowed to terminate a contract en route unless clear and present danger are evident. The babbling of some woman over the intercom on a dying communication's wavelength doesn't much suffice, honey. The whole station's still up and running, and it's obvious they just have some communications issues. It sounds like you're just a bit gunshy," Ingrid said as she popped an apple slice in her mouth. "If you forfeit this contract, you'd be liable for a breach and all that legally entails. The WY crew onboard also forfeits all profits made while en route." Including myself, she thought at the back of her mind. All WY employees were given a small percentage while in hypersleep, and they'd been out for nearly half a year or so. That'd be a lot of money, down the drain over something as trivial as a spooky prank call.


"But, it is all a' y'all's decision, nonetheless," Ingrid stated with a smile.

 

[Knightling]

Stanley sipped his coffee and rubbed his chin, silently pondering the situation. To him, the woman on the other end sounded like a fanatic, a crazy person who got ahold of comms, but where was everybody else? "I say we go in" He spoke quickly "But maintain security protocol 3, to be safe" Atleast, he thought that was the right answer, he'd never experienced this scenario enough times to be completely confident. He sipped from his cold cup of coffee and set it down bitterly, then got up to pour it out and refill.

 

[Sampson2873]

Claud thought to himself. He might have to be on this ship for a few more weeks to get back to earth. "Stanley, maybe we don't all go in. Maybe we can send half of us into Ritania and come back to inform us what's there. If we all go, we might never see earth again. The girl may not be faking." Claud looked out the window, looking in space. HE didn't want to go on the ship. He has family back home.

 

[Avocados'N'Bravado]

Rey was at the dishwasher, placing her empty plate in, and the other used utensils from the table inside the dishwasher. She turned her head to look at Darcy as he emerged with his news. Quickly she finished up and closed the door to turn and face the others. She listened closely to Ms. Adrian's words, just as much as she had listened to Darcy's, and studied her motives with her eyes. She processed her information and brought up her own decision, but, there was also protocal. She was here to complete a mission, and more-so assist the humans in any way they needed while still acting upon her own interests at the station they were to arrive at soon. But if the humans decided that there would be no continued mission, she would have no choice but to agree and proceed with their plans. Well, most probably anyway. It was definitely not often that Rey defied, or went out on a human like whim. Her thinking had brought her gaze to the ground, and she raised her head upon Claud having finished his speaking. She cleared her throat a little before she spoke. "Please, if I may, my protocal mandates that I follow you, Captain." She looked to the side towards Captain Darcy with the lightest smile. "And though this is quite a risk to take I would vote on visiting the station nonetheless." Her gaze went back to Ingrid and Claud. "There is no telling the truth, and so the case becomes curiouser and curiouser. And, Claud has made a good point," she smiled lightly. "Two parties reduce risk."

​

 

[TerrorKitty]

Helen stood and addressed the situation. "If there is a danger aboard WY I should go. I have been fitted with inustrial class alloys, motors and hydraulics. If there is danger aboard I am more than capable of handling any situation that would cause harm." At the note Helen walked to another console and updated their mission plan.

 

[Ironrot]

Caitlyn pushed her plate away a little. All this talk of danger had put her off her meal. Ingrid was definitly correct. Caitlyn had previous given testimony in cases where crews had abondoned missions due to faulty synthetic crew members. WY rarely paid them anything unless the synthetic had directly injured someone.


Taking a deep breath, Caitlyn tried to disapate some of the stress building in her chest. She watched Rey intensly as she spoke. Invoking protocol the wau she did was a possible red flag. It often indicated that a synthetic did not want to follow orders, however, there were numerous exceptions. Psychology (atleast at this level) was rarely an exact science.


Her heart sank a little when Helen offered to join the 'away party'. However, it would be an excellant oppertunity to observe Helen in an stressful situation. Besides, the crew seemed intent on taking the risk to keep their payment and there would be no payment to keep if Caitlyn did not do her job.


"Captain Garland" Caitlyn's voice was a little hoarse. She spoke to the Captain, but looked at Helen to gauge her reaction, if any "Given my being here to observe Helen, I would request to accompany the crew on the Ritania". She hoped that this wasn't a mistake.

 

[Sampson2873]

Claud never knew that anyone would listen to his plan. He should come to, because he did pretty much put half the crew in danger. "I'll come too. I mean, this is my plan. I wouldn't want to risk half the crews lives while I'm relaxing in this ship." Claud still wanted to get off, but would his wish come true, and what would the price be.

 

[Doctor Jax]

Darcy Garland listened to his crew give their two cents, and his gut sank. Adrian had gotten to them, obviously. Helen offered to go as well as Rei, who was ore reluctant. Caitlyn was here to oversee the synthetics and make sure their psychology was on the up and up, and she was more interested in the bots than the crew. Stanley vouched for going in, and Claude suggested a two party system, one on board and the other away. He didn't like that, but it wasn't look like they had a choice. Darcy himself knew he couldn't lost out on a WY contract this big -- he'd never be able to pay for the fuel and cost of life support the Meduse needed. They were all in a bind.


"It's starting to sound like we've got some sort of plan. I agree with the two-party system. I say we send only three people. Sorry, Rei, Helen, but only one of you should go offship -- if something goes wrong with the Ritania's AI, I'll need someone who can interface and fix it manually onboard the Meduse. I'd prefer you wear environment suits into the station, at least until we're sure that there's nothing like a pandemic onboard. Heaven knows how messy that would be," Darcy said, muttering the last sentence to himself.


He'd seen the effects of deadly viruses getting out of hand on stations. A lot of his marine work had been aboard those sorts of stations, where the place had devolved into madness.

 

[Knightling]

Mr. Steele put his plate away and sat down, listening. Just as he was about to add something to the conversation, he stopped himself. For the first time on this mission, he began to get a worried feeling in his gut. He wasn't sure why, but something was troubling about this situation. 'Get over it' He thought to himself, convincing himself that he was growing paranoid. "Eh..You make the final decision, Captain" Mr. Steele stated quickly, trying to shrug it all off. With that, he pulled out his phone devise and began to research the specific location they were at, hoping to put his fears to rest.

 

[TerrorKitty]

Helen stood and shook her head at the Captain. "I insist that Rei and I go together." She paused..."Who goes and stays is up to you Captain but the window of opportunity at the orbit we are in is compromised. Further diagnostics of WY show that the ship is heavily damaged due to its orbit decay. The Gas Giants gravity has too much pull on the station and is causing catastrophic failure. The Station will fall into re-entry within a span of 4-8 days. Time is of the essence."

 

[Doctor Jax]

Darcy rubbed his face. That was harrowing news. No way was there a Marine ship that close. They were going to just have to see what they could do themselves. Personally, he had to stay aboard the ship -- he was both navigator and captain, and without him, the ship was going to go nowhere. He sighed through his nose. Helen wouldn't tell him that for no reason, but he saw no purpose to losing two synthetics aboard the Ritania. Never the less....


"We'll have to go aboard. If there's a legitimate threat to the people onboard Ritania, we're lawfully obligated to help," Ingrid stated, looking to Darcy with a sympathetic smile. Darcy wasn't fooled. He knew she was milking this for what it was worth.


"Alright. You and Rei can go, but I'll need one of your help to dock the ship. We'll split up into two teams, one aboard and the other away into the station. Miss Adrian, you'll go aboard with Rei and Helen. Claud, Caitlynn, you'll go with them. Steele, Richardson -- you'll stay with me. I'll need engineers if the Ritania's decaying orbit ruins the docking. Those going away, get suited up while I dock. Helen, help me out with the docking -- I'm old and this thing doesn't move like it used to."


Ingrid's expression fell as he ordered her on the away team, but she knew better than to argue. She would know what to do with the situation, and she was responsible for whatever happened on the WY side of things. Figures.


The old captain sat down in the navigation chair in the cockpit and began his navigation towards the Ritania. It was a hulking space port, dwarfing the Meduse by leagues. After ten minutes of wrangling with the Meduse and the unstable space port's docking bay, he managed to get them docked in.


"All of you are set for an EVA. Even though you'll be using the walkway and it's aerated, I still want you in those environment suits. There's no telling what kind of problem is on Ritania, and it wouldn't do for one of you to catch something," Darcy said into the intercom.


@DarlingWaylonPark @TerrinX @Knightling @Ironrot @BeamMeUpScotty @Sampson2873

 

[Doctor Jax]

Ingrid walked into the airlock and suit room feeling less than peachy. She knew the captain didn't like her -- she did her job after all -- but sending her on the away team seemed excessive. There was really nothing she could do physically while on board the Ritania, other than provide what little legal knowledge she could. Of course, she still had to get that package. Her superiors had stressed it was incredibly important for the Defense Research Department's work, and it was worth quite a lot of money. As she surveyed the suits, she realized she had no idea how to use one.


"Um, excuse me, but could one a' y'all help me a bit? I'm not sure how this works."


She stumbled as they encountered a bump, and she nearly cursed through her teeth. The things she did for success...


@BeamMeUpScotty @Sampson2873 @Ironrot @TerrinX

 

[Knightling]

Mr. Steele nodded "I'll go change into my security gear" He left the area, finding his room and putting on his suit. Even then, he couldn't shake off the nervous feeling. Making sure he had all the equipment on his belt, he returned and watched the operation, then sat down on a chair. How people navigated such stuff was beyond him, it looked like it took extreme coordination. Feeling a little awkward, Mr Steele sat down in a chair and waiting, simply being ready in case a security concern came up, which he somehow kept fearing.

 

[Doctor Jax]

Darcy glanced at Steele and couldn't help but notice the tightness in his shoulders or the anxiety on his face. He seemed ready to bolt the minute something happened. He was decked in full gear, ready for any eventuality -- which the poor guy seemed to be thinking was right around the corner.


"You okay, sport?" Darcy asked the younger man. "You look a touch nervous. You got a bad feeling about this too?"


@Knightling

 

[Sampson2873]

Claud looked blankly into space. If the threat on board was actually dangerous, he would be a goner. "Well, we should leave now, get this over with quickly." Claud said, opening the case with the space suit in it. "We should bring weapons. There might be hostile people on board." He said, picking up a pistol, watch and 3 bags full of pistol ammo, small bags.

 

[Avocados'N'Bravado]

Rey, after listening to the Captain's de-breifing had but no choice to follow his orders just as the others and Helen had. Although it seemed a foolish act to send both synthetics on the away team, she couldn't argue so much as she already had given input. She had retired to her small quarters quickly, and changed into her environment suit. Though still prim and clean her environment suit was nothing like the white professional clothing she was previously wearing. Rey walked from her quarters and uwickly through the ship to the docking bay where the other's all were lined up for the soon departure onto the Ritania. She proceeded to find Ingrid asking for assistance and obliged to help. Stepping in she gave Ingrid a light smile. "You said you were in need of assistance Ms. Ingrid, would you mind?" She didn't want to go ahead forcing her way into the personal quarries of other's now did she? Asking if she may help her was the logical decision in her mind, wether or not she questioned Ingrid's dealings once she went aboar the Ritania.


Mention:


@Anyone

@Doctor Jax
​

 

[Doctor Jax]

Ingrid looked up as Rey entered and offered to help. She smiled genuinely at the synthetic. She always liked dealing with the robots. They never complained, never asked for a raise, never talked about how they were going to sue the company for every last penny on that worker's comp deal. No, synthetics were nearly perfect workers, and they made the least amount of trouble, making them good in Ingrid's book.


"Mighty obliged," Ingrid said as she allowed Rey to help her into her suit. She looked over to Claud as he grabbed pistols and ammo, her brow furrowing.


"You really think we'll need those, sug?" Ingrid asked drily. It seemed a bit presumptuous if she was honest. More than likely, Ritania was just experiencing some mechanical difficulties and they'd be back on track within a few hours -- package in hand.


@BeamMeUpScotty @Sampson2873

 

[Ironrot]

As she pulled the EVA suit on over her business clothes, Caitlyn tried and failed to swallow the lump in her throat. A part of her had been hoping that the captain would not allow her in the boarding party. The bulky suit was uncomfortable and refused to close correctly. She considered using it as a fluid reason to introduce herself to Helen, however, there was a niggling fear in the back of her mind. What if Helen was that 1-in-72,469 android that developed violent tenancies and would sabotage her suit to avoid review.


Sheepishly, Caitlyn knocked on the open door frame and lent in a little.


"Hey, Ingrid. Its been a while." She opened before turning to Rey, "Would you mind giving me a little help aswell? I can't figure out this damn helmet seal."

 

[TerrorKitty]

Helen looked at Caitlyn with sadness in her facial expression. She knew that as she was being evaluated her past and she will have to come to terms with her Hyperdyne systems as much as she doesn't want to go through that again...The only person who knew about her original programming was the Captian and her personal technician. Helen very much appreciated the Captains vow to never abuse her programming and he has been true to his word all these years.


Sitting down next to Darcy as the consol, Helen connected to the ship wirelessly. "Ready Captain."

 

[Doctor Jax]

Darcy looked over as Helen sat and readied herself for the docking sequence. He smiled at her warmly, though he did notice she looked a little put out. Perhaps she'd talked with Caitlyn, the synth shrink, who knew. Darcy didn't know exactly why she was onboard -- probably because more than one synthetic was aboard-- but he could vouch for Helen's stability. Despite her prior programming (or perhaps because, who knew?) she'd fit in extraordinarily well with the human crew.


"Alrightie, Helen. I've already got us linked up to the docking port and wrangled her into position, but because you're the one with the link to the AI on Ritania, you'll have to control the airlock sequences. I can't do that manually from here," Darcy said. There was a bit of a squeal from somewhere to the side of the ship as the unstable station scratched up against the hull, and Darcy winced.


"We'll have to try to be quick... I'd hate to leave them to do an EVA in this by themselves," Darcy muttered as he fiddled the console with swift motions. He took the intercom mike and said, "EVA in ten minutes."


@TerrinX

 

[TerrorKitty]

Helen started uploading herself into Seegson Systems, it would difficult and had a lot of data to bypass and even then her access was low and she couldn't do much more than what she needed. "Darcy...15.7766 minutes ago, I had Rey connect with my systems...Since then I have been feeling a growing attraction to her and this worries me, I had to pull down some of my firewalls and they data may have leaked out..Does this mean I am defective? She has lower emotional capacity than I, so I doubt she could replicate the same feelings twords me and for some reason....That makes me sad.."

 

[Sampson2873]

"Ingrid, there might be a threat onboard. We should keep some weapons." Claud said, getting ready to go in Ritania, into the place were he may never come out. He already doesn't want to go, but he has to. "Ritania will give me the willies." Claud said, getting the chills. "We ready to go?"

 

[Doctor Jax]

Ingrid checked her suit's seals. It wouldn't do to leak air and guts into space. When she was sure that she had all of her bolts in the right place, she gave them a thumbs up. She clicked on her comm unit and said, "Yep, all set. I'm going to go ahead and get into the airlock."


"EVA in ten minutes," a voice said from the speaker on the wall. Ingrid almost made a face.


"Somebody's anxious," she joked as she walked through to the airlock. When everyone was ready to get in, she'd close the door so they could get going. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her mind. With her helmet visor darkened, she allowed her face to take on a moment of concern. She'd never done an EVA before, but from what she'd heard, it was a piece of cake.


@Sampson2873 @Ironrot @BeamMeUpScotty

 

[Doctor Jax]

Darcy looked up as Helen spoke, and his eyebrows raised a bit as she explained her dilemma. Oh.... That was a question better posited to Caitlyn, if he was honest. She was the one who knew all about synth psychology and that good stuff. Still, it was obviously bothering Helen, and it was a little sad to see her so put-down. Looking over his shoulder at Steele, the security officer, he leaned closer to Helen so as to create the illusion of privacy. He figured this wasn't a matter she wanted to be well-known across the ship.


"Well ... sometimes things like that happens to humans, too. Some of us aren't very capable at love, either," Darcy said with a wry smile. He himself was divorced... Months away at "sea" could put a strain on a relationship, and despite Darcy's patience, the two were just... well. It had ended with both parties injured but alive.


"You never know, she might. But you don't have to act on your programming, either. You're your own person, and you can decide whether or not to try, or even if you want to try. I know that a lot of that stuff is automatic for you, because of your model type. Heck -- a lot of our attraction is automatic, too. Ultimately, we make that decision, though. You're far from defective, Helen," Darcy said, trying to relate their own experience to hers. He didn't want her to feel like she was so different from humans. Her model felt things more strongly than Rey's model, but that didn't mean Rey didn't experience emotions either. They just received a bit less priority.


@TerrinX

 

[Sampson2873]

"We ready?" Claud said. Those ten minutes felt like a whole decade to him. He wants to get back to his family, the quicker in Ritania, the quicker out, He thought. His body got tense, and he got chills down his spine. He didn't want to die young, but he did go out to space, with a higher chance of dying, than being on earth.