Aboard The Argo

Entertainment & Mess Room

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This large room is used for recreation and meals. What appears to be a large empty room with a mezzanine floor containing tables and chairs, various equipment can be retrieved from under floor panels and behind hidden wall storage. Tables can be pulled out, with attached benches, in the event that numerous crew members want to eat or use tables at once. Projections of various sports courts can be illuminated on the floor and the walls. Dispensary compartments are located at points on the two long walls, and from here food can be retrieved.

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Nytera stalked into the room and glanced around once to make sure no one of importance was in the room, upon confirming that fact her entire demeanor changed as she made her way to a food slot. She just wanted to go home... She thought wistfully as she looked for her usual table... Basically the one that sat the furthest from everyone else. She slumped into her seat, the very image of a very dejected young girl as she picked at her food. Of course she was waiting, quite impatiently, for the captain's announcement. She hoped they'd arrived, being in this ship was depressing. She missed the outdoors and open spaces.

Arriving from Quarters B, Kyarion came in with some of the other crew and said good morning to few groups. He retrieved his usual breakfast of coffee and a dose of simple mostly liquid solution that contained the nutrients the human body needed. He didn't bother with fancier food, at least not on breakfast. He waited for Zhora for the moment.

Entering into the mess hall from her bunk in Quarters B, Zhora shuffled in behind Kyarion. Much like he did, she greeted those that she was familiar with, particularly the other technicians and other crew members. As she went to grab her food, she reflected on just how far technology had come to where they could essentially grow their own complex food. Grabbing a biscuit and a glass of enhanced orange juice, she made her way over to Kyarion, "So I wonder what Alec has for us today."

Toya hissed at people that greeted her as she passed them until she reached the food slot and received her fried eggs and tomato juice.

Marcus wasn't far behind Toya, and he contemplatively looked around at the gathering members of the crew - there were some of the more memorable faces as usual, but he couldn't remember the last time nearly the whole ship had gathered at mess at once. He retrieved a bowl of fruit salad from a dispenser at sat at a table not far from Nytera.

"Morning everyone." Pace told people he passed--including Kyarion and Zhora--as he got some pancakes and approached where Toya sat.

"There you go with that 'morning' stuff again." Toya grouched as she swallowed a bite of egg.

"Well it is." Pace replied.

"Not here. We don't have a sun or maintained orbit, and therefore no solar cycle to derive day or night from." Toya said. "We're just awake. Me, because of you." She half-glared at her cousin.

Alec came through the doorway from the quarters and looked about at the gathered people - most, if not all of the people on board seemed to have arrived. He headed straight for the stairs that led up to the mezzanine floor and walked to the railing so that he was looking down at the gathered crew. Pressing at a tag on his collar, his voice was linked to the ship's intercom. "Thank you for all coming here at such short notice. If I could have your undivided attention for a few minutes, I will then be able to leave you all to get back to your breakfasts." He paused to give people the opportunity to stop eating.

Both Pace and Toya stopped to turn to Alec with mild curiosity in their respective gazes.

"It's been seven years since we left Mars," Alec continued. "7 years with little to no problems with the ship. This morning, I discovered that we are off course." He let this news sink in.

As Zhora was taking the first few bites of her biscuit, she turned her face to look towards Alec on his position overlooking the entirety of the ship's occupants. He seemed a lot more serious than usual, which already gave her the heeby-jeebies. It was so unlike him. However, per his request, she remained silent beside of Kyarion as their captain spoke. At his revelation of what exactly what was going on, Zhora nearly dropped her breakfast onto the ground but remembered just in time what exactly a 'grip' was. For a second there, her brain seemed to shut down and lose human functionality. After a few moments of silence from those present, Zhora cleared her throat and spoke up so her voice could be heard up to Alec, "How could this have happened? We've kept such a close eye on everything since we've left."

"Exactly how far off course are we?" Toya asked plainly as Pace simply gaped at Alec's announcement.

Alec listened to the questions called out to him. "I'm sure everyone would like to know the answers to those. Firstly, we're not far off course; The Argo has moved off trajectory and is only a few thousand miles from the projected path. Secondly, and more importantly, the ship located a signal from another vessel at around 1 am. Automatic programming was set to send the ship to investigate any such signals en route to our destination." He paused before ending with, "We're heading to the only other ship outside of the solar system."

As Pace let out a breath--relieved that they were not too far off course--Toya narrowed her eyes and said: "What 'other ship'?"

Nytera slowly let out a breath. A thrill of excitement was rushing through her. She had to force her expression to remain as stony and irritated as it had before but she was having a difficult time of it. Maybe it was aliens? She couldn't resist the whimsical thought although she knew it wouldn't happen. Her arm seemed to sense her excitement and suddenly shifted until her fork fell with a clatter due to her talons now being too long and jagged to carry it right.

Kyarion nodded to Pace. "Probably surprise practice something..." he started replying to Zhora, but as Alec arrived and explained that they were off course, he got much more serious. He put his drinks on a table and put on his visor to check the status of the pulsar drive – he was worried that the problem might be there, naturally. However, as Alec explained the reason, he calmed down and took the visor off again. He still seemed serious, though. "What kind of signal? Was there message?"

"All I have determined so far was that The Argo picked up a signal and is following set perameters to follow it to an as yet unknown vessel," Alec said to the gathered people. "I want to stress that this is no cause for alarm. I want everyone to go about their usual lives on board. The navigation team and I will investigate this as much as possible." He could feel his cybernetic heart taking control from his body's instincts; despite his calm exterior, the news had been a complete shock. "I'd like to thank you all again for gathering here. Enjoy your meal." As he ended his speech, he pressed the tab on his collar again and the amplification of his voice ended.

For a moment, Kyarion was dumbfounded and just stared at Alec. Then he snapped out of it, turned at Zhora and smiled a little. "That seems exciting, no?" He picked up his nutrient drink and took a sip. "What you think it is? What do you think it is?" he corrected himself.

As Alec continued to further explain and clarify the situation as questions were thrown his way, Zhora settled into her prior calm state. Alec was one of the people she could honestly say she trusted with her life, so if he was so nonchalant about the situation as it stood, she found no reason to be worked up either. Noticing Kyarion had turned back towards her, she offered the male a shrug and paused a second before answering. "Who knows. Possibly another species? It really should be interestin' to find out." Zhora paused once again to take a sip of her orange juice and let her thoughts mull about in her head. "Though I must say I'm slightly miffed that neither you nor I had any knowledge of this."

Alec made his way down the stairs from the mezzanine and headed over to where Zhora and Kyarion were. "Sorry to break it to you folks this way," he said to them sincerely. "It was as much a surprise for me as it was for you." He looked about at the other crew members, recognising Pace and Toya as well as a girl he'd seen a few times. "The ship logged it as normal - it changed its course, but it didn't see it as an error. I'll see if I can put in some programming that will log any course changes as an issue."

Marcus went over to Nytera's table and placed the fork she'd dropped in front of her. "You need to control that arm of yours better," he said gruffly, before sitting in front of her. "Tell me what you are thinking, child."

"Oh I was just imagining the joys of running into someone else in this miserable area." Nytera replied sarcastically. She had to concentrate on her arm to make it return to normal and realized, not for the first time, it was easier to keep in its more violent form. She stubbornly stabbed her fork into a chunk of sausage and took a large bite. As a student for biological engineering, one close to graduating no less, she had a driven desire to study anything biological. To run into something non human out here... Well it might even shock her out the sulk that had lasted so long.
"Maybe they're on their way back and can take me with them." She added.

"Who do you suppose is on the ship?" Pace asked as he bit into his pancakes.

"Anyone. You know how quickly technology can change sometimes, especially when scientists keep their ideas close to their belt." Toya shrugged. "And since it takes two years to contact us, we'd have no idea."

"You mean someone sent a faster ship?" Pace tapped his fork on his plate thoughtfully.

"In seven years, I suppose it's possible for someone to design a faster ship..." Toya added.

When Alec made his way down to them, Zhora looked up to the male as he spoke and gave him an apologetic smile. She hadn't known that he didn't know either, and she felt a little demeaning to have thought he'd kept something from them. "So it was already programmed into the ship? I wonder what its purpose is, then. There's no way that everything we might meet out here is friendly... What if we'd come across this other vessel while everyone was asleep?" She frowned at her own idea as she let that run through her mind as well. If there was life on this new ship and they were hostile, who was to say something tragic couldn't have happened.

Kyarion gave a short laugh. "Heh, I'm betting it's some old probe of ours that stopped working but we're now close enough that something activated or something. I'm bad with history, did Voyager 1 go this way?" He looked at Alec when he returned. "Agreeing with you. Course changes are important immediately."

Alec shrugged and went to one of the food dispensers, selecting the option for fried meats. He returned with them to where Zhora and Kyarion had been and sat down. "Once I've finished up here I'll head down to technical and get putting in some code. Don't want any more surprises like this morning's." He took a bite from some unidentified piece of meat, discovering it to be turkey bacon.

Marcus frowned at Nytera's comment on going back to Earth. "You're not going anywhere without your uncle." He took a piece of melon and chewed on it. After a moment he proffered the bowl of fruit to his niece. "Have some fruit. You're so slim, you look like you'll waste away before lunch."

Kyarion finished his coffee after the nutrient mixture and couldn't help pondering whether the unknown vessel really would be an alien and what would happen if it was. He had thought of such things before, but the situation right now made it feel that much more dire. "Hey Alec, can you guess how long until we are reaching it?"

"Not more than 24 hours," Alec responded. "As far as I could tell, the other vessel is stationary - it might be something completely abandoned, it might be disabled." He chewed on some more food before continuing. "Either way, we'll be finding out soon enough." He scrubbed at his short blond hair. "I'll be staying up through the night for this one."

Nytera chose to ignore Marcus's first comment but she couldn't help it she felt annoyance flare up deep in her belly, "Some people find that attractive." She said, although she did pick out a grape from the salad and pop it into her mouth. "Do you think that ship could be some other type of being... like aliens?" She asked as she leaned forward. She couldn't stand the curiosity anymore; maybe her Uncle knew more although she doubted it.

Marcus shrugged nonchalantly, though he was glad that his niece was interacting with him. "Who knows? We are heading for potential alien life, so..." He left the sentence hanging in the air.

Nytera leaned back and crossed her arm as she studied him. She'd gotten carried away and forgotten to maintain her cranky attitude. "I hope they're aliens. Maybe they'll kidnap me." She sniffed. She didn't really want to be kidnapped, although she wouldn't mind meeting real aliens, it was more out of pure principle to show she still wasn't happy about being there.

As Alec and Kyarion spoke between themselves for a bit, Zhora finished eating the last of her biscuit and washed it down with the last little bit of orange juice resting in the bottom of her glass. 24 hours wasn't a long way from this unidentified ship at all, so she would just have to hope for the best. When Alec said he'd be staying up for the night to watch for the ship, Zhora nodded her head before turning her cat-like green eyes towards his direction. With all the light in the room, they appeared even more eerie than usual, the pupils barely more than a small slit. "Mind a little bit of company? I wouldn't mind getting a first-hand look at this mysterious ship myself as soon as we get a visual."

Alec nodded as he finished his last morself of breakfast. "By all means. More than welcome. It'd be good to have some company, as well," he added, more for his own benefit. He stood and stretched. "I should probably get to work. Anyone want any changes made to the system while I'm there?"

Marcus laughed at Nytera's comment about being kidnapped. "They'd have to get through me first!" He made a jokey show of showing off the pitiful muscles he had in his arms before chuckling to himself again.

"Right..." Nytera said slowly, "I think I may have better luck on my own." She added on as she let her arm warp and shift and lowered a finger to the table and carved a single line out of the middle. It felt like digging her nail into a block of cheese and she smirked at her uncle, foolishly proud of her mod. Her arm was truly fearsome and she had yet to discover all it could do. It hadn't occurred to her, but a more knowledgeable person might wonder what the Moders had planned for her since it seemed the mods they had been getting her were offensive types.

Marcus frowned at Nytera's use of her claws on the table surface. "Maybe they'll take a look at that arm and just blast you," he said gruffly before standing. "I need to get to work. You going to do anything useful today or sulk around the ship as usual?"

"I haven't been sulking!" Nytera protested sourly and crossed her arms. "Besides, it's not like I can do anything else on this god forsaken ship." She added with a disgruntled look. "I wish there was a way to get new mods... Or go home or basically do anything that isn't so boring I can feel my brain cells dying!" She said complained dramatically.

"You could always go have a look up in the computer hub," Marcus suggested as he pulled on a pair of gloves from a pocket. "You could further your studies with some more learning up there."

"I will get up early to seeing it," stated Kyarion. He put away the dishes and stretched a little. "I'll go to engine room now. See you," he said to Zhora and Alec with a smile and waved to other people around. He then headed to the elevators and went to Argo: Horticultural.

"Because that is just sooo exciting." Nytera scowled as she crossed her arms and glared at her uncle. She was already in the habit of visiting the computer hub, although now she didn't want to just to be adverse. She suddenly felt an almost overwhelming wave of homesickness wash over her, "Just forget it." She grumbled as she seemed to retreat inwardly, maybe she'd just spend the day in bed..

Marcus frowned but nodded; saying any more might just make things worse. "Very well," he said quietly. "I will be in with the plants if you need anything." He looked at Nytera a while longer before heading to a ladder set in the corner and climbing down to Argo: Horticultural.

As Alec noted that he was off to work, Zhora hummed slightly to herself. "I can't think of anything else that may need to be calibrated. Let me know if you need any help, though." As Kyarion got up to leave himself, she returned the male's smile and gave him a wave before turning back to Alec, "I probably won't be far behind on checking up on things myself. I'll stick around for just a few minutes longer."

Alec gave Kyarion a casual salute as he headed off. When Zhora mentioned coming along to help, he smiled. "A bit of your company's always welcome," he said to her. With that, he headed to the elevators and took one down to Argo: Horticultural.

Nytera stared after her uncle for a few moments before she stood up and made her way to the Argo: Meat Lab

After waving goodbye to Alec as well as he went back to his work, Zhora got up to return her glass to the designated area. Just as she'd finished and was preparing to figure out her schedule, a familiar sort of crackle sounded within her hearing and then she heard Kyarion speak. Considering no one else was moving, she knew that only she and Alec would have heard it. Frowning slightly in concern, she followed the two male's paths to Argo: Horticultural.

Pace glanced around and chuckled. "Well, it seems this news has gotten everybody in a hurry."

Toya only scoffed in reply as she finished drinking her juice.

"Well, I suppose the most we can do is go about doing what we always do." Pace told his cousin as he stretched his arms above his head.

"In other words, nothing." Toya groaned.

Pace smirked. "If you say so..." He got rid of his tray and headed to Argo: Horticultural.

Toya blinked at the door Pace just exited through, then got up and went to the Argo: Computer Hub.

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Accessible locations from here:

Argo: Quarters B (accessed via corridors next to elevator)

Argo: Quarters A (accessed via stairs next to elevator)

Argo: Computer Hub (accessed via elevator)

Argo: Meat Lab (accessed via elevator)

Argo: Horticultural (accessed via elevator or ladder)

Argo: Docking Bay (accessed via elevator)

Argo: Garage (accessed via elevator)

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* Aboard The Argo * Argo: Start * Argo Characters * Argo Rules*