Futuristic Uknown Crisis: Intermission

[TrashRabbit]

This thread exists for in character interactions between missions for the rp Unknown Crisis. The scene may take place in an explicit intermission or a nebulous one. This does not have to be a cohesive thread and there may be several scenes going on at once that may not be occurring at the same time. Please tag one another and communicate in the chat. Ic Chat rps and drables can be posted here as well!

IC
Character thread
OOC

 

[Graystone713]

Golden eyes. Changing focus. Changing color. Zoom in. Zoom out. Scans. Details. Not enough evidence. Still off. Pentachromatic to detect, minimum. Septachromatic. Slightly off-color. Unexplained. Meaning?... Unknown. Mako Needs Donny. Fishy scent?
These were all thoughts behind Tina's golden eyes as she gazed at Mako from around a corner.. Eventually, she got bold enough to start an approach, but slowed when the smell hit her nose. Then she took cover again, this time inside of a doorway. That was one of the troublemaker's rooms, and she stayed away without Billy, who was busy with the robots. She considered calling her up... But she didn't need help, per se. She'd just lie in wait. Then ask questions and shuffle her off to Donny.

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

Eppie comes into the common room juggling a large box, and she plunks it meaningfully in the middle of it all, eyeing everyone in the room, "Guys... I know we all come from different planets or space rocks with varying time zones and calendars, but by intergalactic standards, it is December. Which means it's basically Christmas. We need to decorate this ship. We need to deck the fuckin' halls, y'all."

( Graystone713 , TrashRabbit , wickedlittlecritta , theunderwolf , Daimao )

 

[theunderwolf]

Mako looks at Eppie, then at the box, then back at Eppie. Christmas... Decoration? This was ... new. Pansy had always ignored Christmas with a passion. She personally just went as far out into the wilderness as she could and did her solstice vigil around Christmas time. No family meant all the Christmas vacation days she'd normally need could go to just getting really remote and away from others. But... was that... something sweet and a bit spicy was tickling her nose. Acting a little less eager then she was, she rolled off the couch and onto her feet, peering into the box. Something smelled absolutely wonderful and ah.... She pulled out a "Ginger bread construction kit and peered at it. "Eppie," She said, hoping to keep it casual, "What the heck is this?"

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin was also going into the common room with a data pad... no, let’s just admit that it’s a tablet. A spacefuture ipad. That’s all datapads really are, anyway.
Let’s get back on track.
Kevin stopped behind Eppie, and seeing that both she and Mako were present, spoke up.
“Uh. Hey! So... We don’t have a Christmas tree. But when Pier left, he left behind most of his fabrication equipment and materials. So I thought we could just... 3D print a fake tree. A good one. I wanted it to be relatively short. Three f-... About a meter, sorry. Billy said we should make it as big and tall as possible, and Tina somehow has a Bonsai on board that she’s decorating on her own, so she doesn’t care much, and... Oh god I need to stop rambling, how big of a tree do you guys want?”
He said, offering the tablet and the poll on it to Eppie and Mako. Yeah, they’d need a minute to put everything down, but... Well, they’d vote, right?

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Cathal followed with two other boxes and a santa hat. "Merry Christmas, bitches!" He dumped his boxes on the floor and started scattering tinsel and christmas lights and huge stockings. "I also have a menorah in here. Somewhere." He looked up at Kevin and asked, "But how big a tree can you make, is the real question here."

 

[TrashRabbit]

Donovan gave them all a look, "Comander Hekekiah will murder you. No Christmas until after hanukkah." He sipped his giant mug of coffee not moving from his position on the couch.

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross​

Eppie smiles at Mako, stepping around the box to come to the other woman's side, and slings an arm over her shoulders, which involves Eppie halfway rolling onto her toes, given she has the height of a 12 year old, "This, sweet thing, is one of my favourite Christmas activities. You use icing, and pieces of gingerbread, and you build a little house with it. You also decorate the house with candies and other, edible stuff. Lots of fun."

As Donny pipes up, Eppie crosses her arms with a pout, "Donny, Hanukkah doesn't end until the 23rd this year. I understand the reasoning, but to everybody that does celebrate Christmas, that's not fair."

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

"I don't see why we can't celebrate both of them all month long," Cathal argued. "Latkes AND gingerbread! Think of the possibilities, Donny!" He waved his hand, sending fairy lights clattering around him.

 

[TrashRabbit]

"I will say kind words at your funeral~" He said going back to his word game on his tablet.

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin stopped. The tablet dropped to the floor. Kevin left. It wasn't because of Donny's 'no christmas yet' decision. Kevin could decorate REALLY fast if he had to. It wasn't because the only person who acknowledged him was Cathal, though that may have been a contributing factor. No. What got Kevin? PREMADE GINGERBREAD CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS. the gingerbread itself was basically hardtack with holiday spices, the frosting never seemed to set right, and it was always the SAME. EXACT. SHAPE. No variety, just the same basic 'Oh here's a one-room house' layout. Kevin was professionally offended. HE WAS MAKING HIS OWN.

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

"Listen, I've got this. You play strip driedel with the commander and she's happy," Cathal said. "I bought awful holiday underwear specifically for the occasion. And I already promised Finn I'd make him cupcakes and pretend that nothing but his birthday is happening on the twenty-fifth, and thus I have cheated death again."

 

[TrashRabbit]

"Of course you did," Donny said not sounding unimpressed with his forethought.

Goody had nearly been run over by KevKev's flight which would have ended more bad for kevin considering their size imbalance. He peeked in the room held up one finger and also disappeared down the hall. He returned a few moments later with a box of his own which contained the making of a nativity set- sorta. the manager was a box spray painted glitter pink- there was a glass unicorn and small wind up penis the kind they sold at gift shops on station nine The angel was a perfect 2inch 3d print of Dr. Finch. There were several dinosaurs. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" read the streamer behind the set up. He stood back and looked very pleased, with his hands on his hips.

 

[theunderwolf]

Mako stared at the pack of premade gingerbread with a critical eye, "So what you're saying is..." She said slowly, " I could... construct a gingerbread building of some kind. And then, destroy it and eat it when Christmas is over?" She finishes with her eyes gleaming, destructive Christmas was gaining appeal. "So exactly, she said with a manic gleam in her eyes, " How much of this stuff can I get? KEVEV! CAN YOU BAKE GINGERBREAD CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS?!" She yells suddenly at the seemingly angry spaceman. "Also I don't celebrate either so it really doesn't matter to me which we do. Unless Chanakah offers more things to eat? Also I really dont get why you people have multiple winter holidays. Summer I could understand but why winter?"

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin hadn't made it far when he heard Mako shout back for him. Oh thank goodness. He turned back, leaned his head in, and said "I was already gonna do that for myself, but okay. Just do me a favor and get rid of the kit. The prepackaged stuff in there is... It's not good stuff. It's not even really edible... Just... How much do you need? Oh, and it's a differing religions thing, different areas have different traditions, it's just how it goes for humans."

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

"It's because back on Earth, winter was long and dark and boring, and people needed something to celebrate and be happy about," Cathal told Eppie. "And different people had different religions, so each one made up their own holiday. So you've got your solstice, and your Yule, and your Christmas, and you Chanukkah, and a bunch of other ones." He bounced over to inspect Goody's nativity. "God, this is so good. Have I ever told you how much I love Glitter Christ? Heck," Cathal told Goody appreciatively.

 

[ValtheStarGal]

Miranda Menendez​

Some kind of warm fluid like saliva pelts Miranda on her forehead, waking her up from her nap. Wiping it from her brow, Miranda looks up at the ceiling of the shuttle, where an insectoid creature hangs directly above her, clicking as it stares down at her. Two black opals for eyes are intently focused on her, set in an arrow-shaped head with mouthparts that move softly in anticipation; the rest of the creature’s dark-purple body is still, its hind legs tucked up against the ceiling and four long, mantis-like claws splayed out to hold them up in the ceiling.

“Zephyr, don’t-” Miranda starts to call, just as the creature named Zephyr drops from the ceiling on top of her, knocking the wind out of her as they nuzzle and warble at her, their four mantid grasping claws sprawled out to stabilize them on the relatively narrow bench where Miranda reclines. Miranda giggles and yelps as Zephyr tries to start wresting with her; she uses all four arms to pry Zephyr off of her, the creature warble-gurgling with delight at the challenge.

“<Hey you two, we’re almost there>,” Altis calls, using a series of hisses, clicks, and warbles issuing from alien vocal chords to communicate in the trio’s private language. The words are warped as Altis giggles at the spectacle, but Zephyr hears her, looking over at Altis and easing off Miranda. Altis smiles back at the creature, and Miranda feels Zephyr’s limbs relax as they climb off of her. Zephyr lopes over to Altis and climbs up onto the bench, tucking their head on her lap; Altis begins stroking the dark-purple chitin of Zephyr’s head as Miranda brushes the sleep from her eyes.

“How far out are we?” Miranda asks, taking stock of herself as her cortical inserts boot up and her entoptic displays initialize. She adjusts her quad-sleeved bomber jacket with its Lili'uokalani decal and mission patches, setting it right after a bit of tossing and turning, before adjusting the smartfabric of her jumpsuit to better fit her frame. Miranda proceeds to stretch each of her four arms in sequence, the chitinous second pair as stiff but otherwise as natural as the original. Miranda similarly flexes and relaxes her tail before sitting down and removing her boots to allow her prehensile feet a chance to stretch.

“Couple minutes,” Altis answers over Zephyr’s purring. Having presumably been awake and reading on her entoptics, Altis is relaxed and still as though posing for a portrait, her ginger hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and jumpsuit sitting a little loose on her trim frame for her comfort. Miranda’s relatively ordinary-looking sister smiles as she watches Miranda take stock, and Miranda can see the gears turning behind Altis’ eyes, dreaming up the next recombination experiment to try out once she gets situated aboard the NASA ship. For now, Altis is content to stroke the opaline chitin of Zephyr’s head; Zephyr is content to be stroked, lid-like membranes over their eyes and purring steadily.

Miranda puts her boots back on before rising from the shuttle’s bench, walking over to a windowscreen with its ultra-high definition view out into space. Only a few dozen kilometers away drifts the NASA hub station where their ship docked hours ago after warping in, waiting on UC-9’s ship to arrive from an undisclosed location. The torus is impressive given the remote location, the station’s dark side twinkling with artificial lights. The occasional glint of light off the hulls of passing ships is visible for seconds at a time before they are lost against the backdrop of space. The three of them have been in transit for an hour, shuttled along aboard the Double-Take to NASA’s UC-9 or - as it is more colorfully registered - the suddenthunderbabywagon666. Miranda’s cortical inserts actively scan for any compatible signals to open a connection with, finding only Altis’ inserts and the dormant tech in the cargo hold: they are all a very long way from the Commonwealth.

“Ready to meet the new crew?” Altis asks, shaking Miranda’s attention from her entoptics.

“Sure am,” Miranda answers, tucking her lower arms into her jacket pockets as her upper arms redo her loosened braid. “If they’re as colorful as their dossiers and after-action reports make them out to be, then this should be an exciting assignment! How about you?”

“Yeah,” Altis says.

“Yeah?” Miranda asks, concerned by the flat tone of the answer.

“Yeah,” Altis repeats, nodding and with enough conviction to be convincing this time. “It’s just been a long run, getting out here.”

“Tired of all the looks since we left Alliance space?” Miranda asks.

“Got it in one,” Altis replies in a bitter tone.

“<Don’t need them>” Zephyr says through their own purring, pressing their head into Altis’ lap and nuzzling softly.

“No we don’t,” Altis says, looking down at her beloved creation, her voice softening and a renewed smile on her face.

Just then, the three of them hear a chime warning them that the shuttle’s breaking burn is about to intensify. Too small for either a graviton field generator or any kind of structure for rotational gravity, the three of them have been under the Double-Take’s thrust-gravity for most of the trip, and now they can feel themselves grow heavier as the shuttle begins to slow on its approach toward UC-9. Miranda resumes her seat, buckling up as Altis does and as Zephyr climbs back up to the ceiling and braces themself for the changes in gravity.

—

Under the pull of the suddenthunderbabywagon666’s g-field generator, Miranda, Altis and Zephyr stand before a large circular door and wait for the airlock cycle to complete. Their cargo is being transferred separately: all of Altis’ lab equipment, the trio’s personal nanofabricator, and the few belongings they decided to carry here from the Kollontai system are all being moved several decks below them into the ship’s hold, to be installed once they are aboard. Seconds remain until the newest chapter in the trio’s interstellar adventure begins.

[Still nervous?] Miranda asks Altis by way of insert-link, the words appearing in a window on Miranda's entoptic display as she texts her sister at the speed of thought.

[Nah] Altis replies. [Excited to meet the team! Also you should change your skin, you’re still kaleidoscopic from when you were asleep.]

[Oh shit thanks] Miranda transmits, willing her skin back to its original brown color and feeling the slight tingle of kinesthetic feedback as her skin changes color.

[Better], Altis texts, winking at Miranda.

“<Open!>” Zephyr rasps at the door, their four claws tapping the metallic floor in impatience: as if in compliance, both doors at the near and far end of the airlock open. Miranda steps through first, Altis and Zephyr following close behind. The airlock is illuminated by bright lights, allowing all three of them a good view of their contact from UC-9.

Standing at the far end of the chamber is a petite woman with hair a good deal more pink than Miranda remembered seeing, but who is otherwise unmistakable. Nonetheless, a window opens in Miranda’s entoptic display, and the dossier for Dr. Euphemia Cross appears, displaying a matching photograph and biometric data. Miranda smiles in delighted surprise, hastening to greet the girl who spoke to bees.

“Eppie Cross! This is already worth it - hello there!” Miranda greets, her voice booming as she takes long strides toward Eppie, Altis and Zephyr keeping pace. “I am Miranda Menendez, your new science agent; with me is my sister Altis Menendez - geneticist extraordinaire - and our xenomorphic companion is named Zephyr.”

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross​

Eppie is unsurprised that Donny has charged her to greet their new teammates. It’s no big deal, and makes sense for her to do so; it is, after all, her job to speak, make contact, and establish a good first impression with newcomers, thus building a foundation that allows for growth. She’s trained for it, and in the case that any translating software is unavailable, can accomplish that task in a almost a dozen languages. Besides, at five foot nothing, with pink hair amd no armour or weaponry to be seen, she is one of the most approachable of the crew.

Honestly, at first, it sounds like the beginning of a joke. A heavily genetically modified human and her regular human sister walk into a bar, Eppie muses, checking out the pictures to be able to get the correct name to the correct face, and heads to the airlock. She knows she should try to be a little more professional with her appearance, but they’ll soon be sharing a living space with her, so she doesn’t really see the point of sprucing herself up. But regardless, Donny asked her to do him a favour, and it’s not a problem at all for her to greet the new members.

It becomes an issue when the airlock opens and Eppie meets them, face to face.

Miranda’s height is listened on the dossier, but Eppie barely stands tall enough to come to the woman’s shoulder. The New Eden in her is briefly taken aback by the genetic alterations, the scientist in her becomes immediately fixated, but common decency tells her not to stare. So she tries to focus on the woman’s eyes, craning her neck, but that is distracting in a whole different way, eyes the colour of glittering gold meeting hers. There is excitement and enthusiasm in those eyes, and Miranda’s voice booms Eppie’s name across the airlock. Eppie forces herself to breathe, forces herself to not think about how gay she is, and faces the newcomers.

She does, however, consider the fact that, between Mako and Miranda, her gay ass is never going to be able to focus again.

“You must be Miranda,” Eppie says with a smile, reaching out and shaking Miranda’s hand, “I’d introduce myself, but it looks like we’re good to go there. In any case, welcome to Team Nine. I’m sure- oh.”

Her eyes slide to the insectoid standing just behind Miranda, beside Altis, and feels her lungs hitch. She had skimmed the files, but how she missed out on the part of alien pet is beyond her. She rattles through the lists she has memorized of large sizes insectoids, then predators, but holy shit she can’t even think of the name of the creature. Is it a new species she found on her travels? Given that it stands so close to Miranda and Altis, it seems... Well, not docile, but at the very least domesticated? Calm and not hostile. Rare for predators, rarer for insectoids, but rarer still for insectoid predators, and...

“I’m... Look, I’m really sorry, but y’know, xenoanthropologist and that... I’ve never seen anything like Zephyr,” She turns to Zephyr, holding a hand out to the alien - but carefully, in case she needs to yank it away - and practically crooning, “Why, hello there.”

 

[ValtheStarGal]

Miranda Menendez​

The faintest turn of the head and upturn of the eyebrow accompany Miranda’s wide smile as she shakes Eppie’s hand, picking up on the conscious effort Eppie has to put into keeping her breathing steady. Eppie’s initial startled recognition of Miranda's modifications simply makes her the latest in a very long line of such reactions, of which Miranda long ago lost count for or concern over; noteworthy is the effort that Eppie puts into maintaining eye contact with Miranda, doing her best to level with Miranda despite her relatively short stature. It’s the xenoanthropologist’s training, no doubt, but there’s also something else there with it: Miranda has had enough partners to recognize attraction when she sees it. To her gentle surprise, Miranda feels the softest blush rising in her cheeks, charmed by Eppie’s efforts.

[Oh, she’s cute], Miranda texts to her sister, the message visible only on Altis’ and her own entoptics.

Eppie’s attention is quite reasonably drawn from her to Zephyr as she catches sight of the xenomorph: Miranda watches the by-now quite familiar array of reactions from alarm to bewilderment to - happily - curiosity. Miranda watches the gears turn in Eppie’s head, pleased to see something other than animal fear at work there - not that animal fear wouldn’t be understandable, and there is a wariness to the way Eppie regards Zephyr, as would only make sense. But besides wariness, there is curiosity, an effort to understand what Zephyr is and a desire to learn more. Aware of her attention, Zephyr slowly steps toward Eppie, well aware of the off-putting effect they can have on the unprepared and doing their best not to startle her. Zephyr stops a few feet short of Eppie, their head rising to eye level with her and their mantid claws kept tucked against their carapace.

“<Hi!>” Zephyr says to Eppie, in a rapid warble punctuated by a sharp click. Zephyr’s head turns to one side as they regard Eppie, taking her scent and eyeing her up and down, warbling softly. Miranda and Altis watch with Eppie as Zephyr studies her: making up their mind, Zephyr resumes their approach slowly, so as to not startle their new crewmate. Zephyr sniffs at Eppie’s hand, then takes one last step forward and touches their head to her palm, beginning to purr softly as her hand warms their chitin.

“I would think you haven’t: Zephyr is a designer organism,” Altis explains. “We encountered Zephyr’s progenitor species about eight years ago during our first voyage aboard the Lili'uokalani. It’s something of a long story, but the species was unique in how alien its biology was considering how convergent with old-Earth fauna it was behaviorally, and Miranda was fortunately able to bring enough genetic data to be able to reconstruct the genome for analysis and study.”

“Yeah, that was a hard day on the job,” Miranda comments, suddenly aware of phantom pains throughout her body. “We decided to try our hand at bioengineering together to create a…‘service animal,’ I think was how NASA’s bureaucrats tagged Zephyr? Two years of highly technical gengineering work, and - given that my sister is the best geneticist in the galaxy - Zephyr was born to us six years ago. They’ve been part of the family ever since, joining me on the ground wherever they can and getting me out of more than one bad situation.”

Zephyr does not move, but their purring rises in volume, pleased that Eppie isn’t running. Their eyes are lidded over as well - a good sign, as Miranda has come to trust Zephyr’s judgement.

“Zephyr is a fully intelligent organism capable of understanding language, reading social cues, advanced problem-solving, sophisticated lateral thinking, cross-species empathy, and love,” Altis says, pride ringing in her voice. “Zephyr is certainly a formidable combatant and capable hunter, but this counterbalanced by a natural inclination towards forming bonds that we co-opted to allow Zephyr to bond with organisms beyond their progenitor species. They are every inch as sapient as you and I, and they are my crowning achievement.”

Miranda clears her throat, looking askance at her sister and winking as soon as Altis’ eyes meet her own; Altis laughs softly despite herself.

[Love you sis], Altis texts.

“Well Eppie, we’re happy to give you and Zephyr some time together, but when you’re ready we’d be happy to see more of your ship and meet our teammates,” Miranda says, smiling warmly at her.

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross​

As she watches the alien regard her and apparently cautiously gauge her reaction to them, Eppie has the slow dawning realization that Zephyr is intelligent. Not just in the same way an animal might display superior cognitivity in comparison to others of it’s species, but actual sentience. Warbling and clicking in what she assumes must be a greeting, it approaches her and stops short by a couple of feet, and, guessing by the body language and behaviour, they are consciously aware that they might be a frightening thing to some people, and appears to be ensuring Eppie is not afraid. When it decides that Eppie is more curious than afraid, it slowly closes the distance between them, and presses her head into Eppie’s palm.

Altis’ explanation confirms what Eppie had already guessed, but still, hearing the confirmation and background of Zephyr makes it no less incredible, and Eppie goes down to her knees, her hand joining the other on Zephyr’s head as she looks into their eyes. While genetic experimentation makes her a little nervous, as the only experiments she’s heard of growing up were exceptionally cruel ones conducted away from the eyes of the law, she knows that Kollontai are experts of the field, and Altis’s file was nothing if not impressive. Especially since Zephyr shows no signs of inherent aggression, she supposes that, in terms of pain, it was the closest thing to a natural birth that could come from a designer organism.

She pets along the chitin, a grin crawling onto her face despite herself because she is petting an alien, and that it apparently very much enjoys it. She looks up to Miranda, then to Altis, almost breathless in excitement, “That is incredible. The bees are Mars were an impressive achievement but this is... Wow. Just a whole other level,” She knows it might be a little unprofessional, but Zephyr appears to be affectionate and snuggly, so she lays her cheek on top of their sweet head, closing her eyes at the pleasant coolness if it’s chitin, “Cathal is going to have a damn fit when he sees you, Zephyr.”

Reluctantly standing up, Eppie turns to Miranda, almost glowing with joy, “I’m sure Zephyr and I will have plenty of time together, given they’re now part of the team, so we can do the grand tour of the ship and the crew now,” She waves for them to follow her to the doors sealing the airlock, and activates the holographic keypad, “I’m sure NASA has already programmed you guys into the systems on the ship and given you access to all the databases you’ll need to work, but if you ever need access to any others, just send a request to Donny or Commander Hekkiah and they can get you clearance.”

The scanner beeps positively as it recognizes Eppie, and the doors slide open, allowing them into the ship. As she walks, she continues to talk, “I saw on your file you’ve been on exploration vessels before, so I’m sure this will be similar, but NASA pretty much gives us free reign over the ship and all the rooms in it. Just give people privacy when it comes to their quarters and you can basically go wherever you want. Oh, and just a note, while we do have an zero gravity room, there are some spots with no artificial gravity, so if you randomly start floating while walking around the ship, don’t panic.”

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr
oh god what is that???​

Kevin was having a pretty nice morning. He slept well, woke up on time, and made some awesome chicken and waffles. He did know about the new team members, but he wasn’t too worried. Heavy genemods and a service animal? Nothing to worry about. Oh, there was Eppie! Kevin was about to give her a cheery wave when he saw the girl. She was... intimidating. But he could get used to it, he would eventually work up the courage to-OH GOD A GIANT BUG. Kevin was frozen. Was its vision based on movement? No, that was stupid. And it noticed him. It was looking at him. Being the type of boy who listened to his instincts, he did as they told him, and he ran as fast as his body allowed. Which was shockingly fast, given that he always wore that spacesuit. He cornered like a champ, ran like hell, and before he even knew it, he’d entered his room, sealed the door, and locked it down. He was safe. Okay rationally he probably wasn’t going to die to that bug, but it was still a giant bug monster that looked to be of a predatory nature. No. He was going to hide in here for as long as he could.

The sisters Delaisser​

Billy and Tina had just come out of the common room when Kevin bolted past like a goddamn F-zero machine. Billy, with her coffee, wasn’t quite awake enough to really fully register that, and it was only as she turned towards Eppie and the newbies that she really woke up.
“Woah. What?... Is she the new girl?... And is that a bug?... Damn. Daaaaaayum.”
Billy, clearly, was impressed. Tina... was shocked briefly, then seemed... intense. Her mechanical eyes changed color back and forth, flipping through various settings as she analyzed the girl, her bug, and her sister. Then wheels popped out of Tina’s robotic feet and she slowly wheeled around them, making a few comments.
“Experimental Genmod... Auxiliary limbs inhuman... Eyesight unknown... Musculature human-standard. Unimpressed.”
She said, being more than a little extra about all this. She sipped her tea, turned to her sister, and said
“Work. Come along.”
And Billy, smiling, said
“Sis. You could use a little pepper. I can taste that salt from here. C’mon, you know they’re impressive.”
Tina just dipped her tea and slowly wheeled away, somehow not looking jealous at all while still clearly being jealous.

 

[ValtheStarGal]

Miranda Menendez​

"I hope you and I can work in some time together soon, too," Miranda says to Eppie, winking at her as Eppie looks back up to Miranda.

"<I like her!>," Zephyr declares with a trilling warble, briefly glancing back at Altis and Miranda as Eppie turns to lead them into the ship before trotting up to keep pace with her. Miranda and Altis both watch with smiles as Zephyr leans into Eppie, purring some more as she tries to orient them all and keeping herself remarkably composed in the effort. Miranda can practically see the pride radiating off of Altis as she looks on at her creation, before regarding Miranda with a what? expression on her face.

[Nice change in pace from all those looks, huh?] Miranda texts her, a quick thought before returning her attention to Eppie's orientation.

[Sure is], Altis replies as they step through the door and into one of UC-9's hallways behind Eppie and Zephyr. [I hope everyone's as warm as Eppie is!]

They do not get far before a door down the hall opens and a spacesuit walks out of the door. Surprised, it takes Miranda a second to search through the dossiers before 'spacesuit' returns the dossier on Kevin Starr, who lacks any kind of facial photo and instead has his spacesuits attached to the file. While it loads out the biometrics on Kevin, Miranda watches as the spacesuit - presumably with Kevin sequestered within - raise its hand as if to wave before something - presumably her - stops him short. It's hard to read a visor, but Miranda can tell by the way that Kevin's stance widens, his hand falls back to his side, and as his helmet turns to regard Zephyr that he has spotted the xenomorph as well.

Miranda glances at Zephyr, who has definitely spotted Kevin in turn, stopping in their tracks and raising their head to try to regard Kevin at eye level. Their purring has ceased, unsure of what to make of the spacesuit standing in the hallway, claws unfurling ever-so-slightly as they brace for anything.

Just then, Kevin turns on his heel and takes off running down the hallway with a speed and vigor that is impressive given the spacesuit's bulk. Zephyr inhales sharply, tapping their claws against their carapace, their stance widening but otherwise making no move to chase after Kevin. The four of them only watch as he tears down the hallway as though for an escape pod, cornering like a champ and vanishing from sight, his heavy bootfalls reverberating throughout the hall before hearing a door close and lock. After a few seconds, Zephyr relaxes, as do Miranda and Altis.

"Zephyr doesn't need to be told not to chase after somebody, but...maybe someone should tell Kevin that the last thing you want to do when confronted by a predatory animal is run," Miranda suggests to Eppie.

Before Eppie can speak on her comrade's behalf, two new strangers step out into the hallway opposite the four of them. Miranda can hear one of them - Billy Delassier, to go off the dossier that replaces Kevin's in her entoptics - remark on her and Zephyr, between them making an audible impression on her. Turning her attention to the other sister - Tina - Miranda senses an intensity to the way Tina regards her, with the distinct impression that she is being appraised. Aware that Tina is a cyborg from the dossier, she watches with mild surprise as wheels deploy from Tina's feet and as she wheels toward the four of them, her expression cold.

Tina wheels right past Eppie and Zephyr, graceful on her wheels with her tea in hand as she continues appraising Miranda, her cybernetic eyes cycling through various settings to do presumably what Miranda might do if she wanted to see the same thing through different spectra. Tina makes various comments, sipping her tea as she orbits Miranda, working very hard to give the impression that she is unimpressed: there is a deliberate and precise quality to her expressions, gestures, and words that betrays it for an act. Miranda sets her lower pair of arms on her broad hips as she crosses her upper pair, cocking an eyebrow as Tina declares she is unimpressed and wheeling off - right past Zephyr! - and directing her sister to accompany her back to work.

Miranda glances at Altis, who quickly returns the glance with a soft shrug.

[So much for that hope], Altis texts.

"Well, anyways, where were we?" Miranda asks Eppie.

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

In hindsight, Eppie really should have considered how non-alien enthusiasists were likely going to be completely horrified by Zephyr. And she also should have considered that Kevin is made anxious by regular human interaction, and that, perhaps, he would be completely and totally terrified by a insectoid twice his size.

It doesn’t even occur to her as she spots Kevin. She smiles at the man, gesturing to the newcomers, “Kevkev! This is Miranda, Altis, and-“ It hits her probably two seconds too late as she notices Kevin go still as a statue, helmet vaguely directed in the direction of Zephyr. Eppie blinks, then her eyes flick from Kevin to Zephyr and back again, and she realizes that this is Kevin’s worst nightmare made real - an obvious predator stuck on a starship with himself and his friends - and her eyes blow wide, “Wait, fuck, Kevin-“

Kevin takes off like a damn shot in the opposite direction and Eppie knows in her heart that she will never be able to catch up with him. Still, she calls out, “Kevin! It’s okay, Zephyr is just a pet! Kevin!”

He makes no sign he heard her at all, disappearing down the hall at almost Olympic level speeds. Putting her hands on her hips, Eppie blows a raspberry with her lips, then looks over her shoulder at the trio, “Well, shit, that was Kevin. He’s a little highstrung and nervous around newcomers. He’ll come around eventually, and I’ve gotta send him a message about Zephyr. The two girls were Tina and Billy, and they’re his support team. I... I swear that everyone is super nice, they’re all just... I won’t bullshit you, they’re all a little weird. I love them all, though.”

She sighs, shaking her head to herself, her eyes flicking to Miranda as she offers an out to the somewhat awkward situation. Smiling a bit weakly, Eppie shrugs, “I think I was just babbling a little about some things to know about the ship. Donny will probably want to meet you - I think he has your room assignments. We can head up to the medbay? I promise Donny won’t lose his shit when he sees Zephyr. He might just sigh with an exasperated expression.”

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

"Listen," Cathal told Finn insistently, "He likes you. If you asked him out he'd say yes."
"Why are you still talking about this?" Finn asked, pointedly not looking at Cathal while he made pancakes.
"I've seen him look at your butt!"
"You can't tell where Goody's looking!"
"I could feel it in my heart! Anyway, if anyone isn't looking at your butt they don't like boys, and Goody definitely likes boys."
"Thanks," Finn drawled.
"Just get him a nice bug. He's a man of science. Science people love bugs."
"Oh my god," Finn said. "You didn't."
"Didn't what?"
"Did you send Dr Finch a bug?"
"It was an atlas moth. It was this big," Cathal said, spreading his hands to demonstrate.
Finn facepalmed while still holding the spatula.
They heard noise from the other room, and then Kevin ran past.
"Kevkev?" Cathal called, but he was off like a rocket, so he went to investigate, Finn trailing after him.
Cathal and Finn saw Miranda and Zephyr at the same time. Finn's hand went automatically to the gun he wasn't wearing, while Cathal squealed.
"LOOK AT THAT DOG!" he shouted, and bounced over to introduce himself to Zephyr.
"Lord," Finn said, dropping his hand. He looked at the sisters and said, "You must be Miranda and Altis. I'm Finn. Unfortunately, that's my boss," he finished, gesturing at Cathal.

 

[ValtheStarGal]

Miranda Menendez​

[Care to go meet your counterpart?] Miranda texts Altis.

[Sure, yeah], comes the reply, within the second.

"Exasperated sighs are something Zephyr and I are both used to, let's go visit Donny," Miranda says to Eppie, smiling at the day she is having aboard the suddenthunderbabywagon666. Eppie offers her best conciliatory smile and nods them along, and they begin down the hallway-

-just as a scarecrow and a linebacker exit from another side door. Miranda, Atlis, and Zephyr all stop; Miranda wonders if she and her comrades have been assigned to a farce.

"LOOK AT THAT DOG!" The scarecrow - who Miranda's inserts quickly identify as one Cathal McKay - exclaims at Zephyr, bug-eyed with glee. Miranda glances over at Zephyr, and what she sees wipes the smile off of her face: Zephyr is locked on to the linebacker - Finn Dolan, according to the inserts - as though identifying the huge man as a threat, hissing and with claws brandished. Cathal seems to recognize the universal signs of don't fuck with me right now and stops himself as Finn apologizes for his boss.

"Zephyr? <What's the matter?>" Miranda asks, switching seamlessly from human speech to the alien warbling and clicking configured for Zephyr's vocalizations.

"<The big one went for a gun,>" Zephyr answers: Miranda glances back to Finn and sees what would be his pistol hand fall back to his side, trying to conceal the spatula and salvage some measure of dignity from the situation.

"Oh," Miranda says. "<I think the scarecrow wants to pet you. We'll handle this.>"

Zephyr looks back to Miranda, head slightly askew: having known them since helping them out of the exowomb, Miranda can read the concern on Zephyr's arrowhead-shaped face. Zephyr looks back up to Cathal, claws back at their side, warbling softly in curiosity. Cathal acts in what some might consider haste in accepting the invitation, dropping to his knees and - with surprising care and grace given his previous enthusiasm - begins gently stroking Zephyr's carapace, finding the soft tissue spots between the chitin and scratching them gently. Zephyr's hissing is nearly inaudible, but Miranda hears it transition into purring within a few seconds, and Zephyr relaxes, leaning into Cathal - who does not miss a beat in catching them, stroking chitin and soft tissue alike.

"A pleasure," Miranda says, doing her best to try to ease the tension. "For all our sakes, I'd recommend you tag Zephyr here as a friend when doing your IFF calculations in the future. Zephyr has a similar job to you, and is quite observant."

"They likes their treats dense in proteins and high in sugars," Altis adds.

[Take a breath, sis], appears another message in Miranda's entoptics: she takes Altis' cue and relaxes, letting her lower arms fall to her sides.

"Anyways, yes, I'm Miranda, and this is My sister Altis. Our companion is Zephyr, a sentient designer organism who will likely be accompanying me on our ground excursions. Zephyr will look out for you too, once we get over the initial impressions and get better at being a team."

"We were just on our way to meet Aleksi Donovan and get situated," Altis adds, laughing softly beneath the words, "only you all seem quite intent on stepping out of side-doors and surprising us one way or another."