Chapter 1: Meetings

[2012/11/05 15:56]  Ingkeu quietly sat in the crew cafeteria allowing her ships AI to sew up a bit of her wounds. Her goggles rest perched atop the crown of her crimson haired head, her companion, or rather the ship's AI, a white robotic fox looking creature was spitting out green light particles which came to rest against her damaged cheek. The woman looked directly into the little creature's eyes as it patched her up, letting out a rather lengthy sigh. "That'll do, Pixel." she murmured softly before the android curled up into a ball next to her.

[16:04]  Abhishek Veda walked into the cafeteria, intent on seeing if it could accommodate his desire for a stiff drink, for his own reserve was dimishing rapidly at this rate. His head turned to the girl on the floor as he walked near, admiring her openly with one eye while the device fitting atop his other eye cycled between imaging modes. It was quite clear the little white creature was mechanical in nature, and he noted the girl's weapon. Magnetic resonance imaging showed traces of wounds, but was too inaccurate on his device to discern type or origin. Abhi approached the bar, and leaned over it, reaching to find any sort of bottle with liquid in it. "Bloody place," he muttered aloud, purposefully loud enough so the other would hear. Bottle in hand, he turned and leaned against the bar and unstoppered it--whatever it was it certainly had the familiar scent of strong alcohol.

[16:10]  Ingkeu's ear flicked a little in the direction of the man whom had entered and seated himself at the bar. Both her and her AI, Pixel, exchanged a glance before gently she climbed to her feet, pulling her goggles back over her eyes. "I wouldn't drink that if I were you." She chided him quietly, letting her mismatch gaze asses him through the goggles as her eyes roamed the man rather shamelessly. "Do you have any idea where that's been? Any idea if something's laid parasites in it? Drugged it?" she asked tilting her head to one side. The red head took a few steps towards him arcing a brow over the rim of her goggles. She then gently pulled a cantine of water from her belt and held it out for him to drink. "Alcohol will just dehydrate you at any rate."

[16:18]  Abhishek Veda had raised the bottle nearly to his lips before the girl stood and spoke to him. He paused, quirking an eyebrow, and lowered the bottle. His pride demanded he sample the bottle to prove the girl wrong, but sense squelched the notion almost immediately. He closed the bottle and loudly placed it on the counter top behind him. He eyed her canteen briefly before taking it, shrugging his shoulders. It looked to be her personal canteen, and it would be unwise to drug one's one effects. He took a gulp from the canteen, keenly paying attention to the taste in case there was indeed anything odd about it before offering it back to the redhead. "You seem to have had a bit of a tumble when I arrived," he said, eyeing her up and down, attempting nonchalance regarding his own inexperience with the ship. Sure, he had been on salvage jobs tons of times before, but he had never ended up stuck in a place like this before.

[16:25]  Ingkeu's eyes flashed with mischievousness as he took the canteen from her. Yet she didn't grin nor smirk as she watched him take a rather large gulp. Then, gently she took it from her, slipping it to her belt, next to the other she drank from herself. The only thing, however, that threw off her coy demeanor was the next set of words he spoke. Instantly her brow quirked  "Your arrival?" she asked, suddenly casting a shifty glance towards Pixel and desperately shaking her head. Of course he wouldn't have tasted it. Nanites were exceedingly hard to detect with any of the human or animal senses one may procure  The trigger for the nanite released drug sat currently perched on its hind legs, moving closer to examine the man as it heeded it's owner's command not to release the sedative the nanites had been laced with. Her original intentions had been to drug the man, take what was useful to her, and see about getting out of this place, but currently his words were sating her curiosity far more. Quietly she let out a little laugh. "No." the lynx half-breed chortled shaking her head. "What happened to you then?" the words came curiously with a tilt of her impish head.

[16:36]  Abhishek Veda did not miss the shifty way the girl glanced at her android companion, and he eyed it carefully as it approached him. He was unable to judge whether or not the android possessed any offensive capabilities, and did not react as it neared him. "Very recent," he replied to her first question. "There were some technical difficulties," he said without emotion. His ship was damaged, and his crew dead--if crew they could be called at any rate considering those two had no part in piloting or maintaining his craft. He let one hand stray to a pistol, relaxed, and casual as though it was merely habit to do so. The girl's goggles looked valuable, and more than simply safety goggles, but the weapon at her side, and the android factoring an unknown in combat, he opted to stay his hand. Not like he needed goggles anyway, he told himself. "I'll be out of here as soon as things are patched up," he added confidently.

[16:43]  Ingkeu watched him with those keen mismatched hues, almost as if she were appraising both him and his belongings. "I see." her words came quietly, thoughtfully. Gently she reached up, rubbing her slender fingers against her softly angled chin. For a moment it would seem the half-breed were lost in thought as she considered a few things. "So you have a ship, then?" Ingkeu inquired curiously, those keen eyes flicking up to linger against his own as she lifted her chin and tilted her head to one side. Behind her that blunt tail tip flicked idlely, perhaps as if she were still thinking, or perhaps even plotting. The AI retreated back to her side where it weaved between her legs before laying down against the floor. Ingkeu used her tongue to wet her lower lip before she nipped into it. "And you seem rather convinced you'll be leaving. How interesting." she murmured, alluding to the fact that she may know more than she was letting on. "Well, its been lovely hydrating you..." the she-lynx murmured with a smirk before she turned her back on him, perhaps as if she were about to leave.

[16:53]  Abhishek Veda hummed softly to himself after the awkward pause in conversation as the redhead turned to leave, unable to keep himself from appreciating the girl's curves as she moved. It was a rare thing for him to come across another person apart from his former companions, and though she looked to be some sort of hybrid or other species, she--he shook himself from his thoughts and forced himself to step after the girl. "Wait a moment," he said quickly. Something about the tone of her voice made him think she knew more than she was letting on, and at this point information was quite valuable. "I do have a ship. If I can get it in working order then I should be able to leave--shouldn't I?" the question was a little forceful, but he was not one for games at the moment. "Life support is shot, but it's not in terrible condition," he said, under-exaggerating  He supposed a hole in the hull was a pretty good case of life support failing. "What is going on here? The place is nearly in shambles, the bar might be drugged--I'm not daft."

[16:59]  Ingkeu smirked as she heard him try to stop her, her eyes glistening with impishness before she turned. Looking back to him, her face was void of expression save for perhaps a small touch of benign interest. "Yes?" she asked curiously, the sparkle in her eyes gone now that she was facing him. For a moment one long lobe flicked gingerly to the side as she listened to his words. It was hard for her not to chuckle, but luckily for her she was well practiced at her poker face. Life support was fixable. Hell with Pixel's face she could do it on the fly after commandeering his ship. Slowly her ear perked again. "Leave?" she asked, as if lost at first before she put on her most charming smile. "Oh but of course." the half breed murmured, though her tone sounded as if she may have been mocking him. "A Derelict Ship in the middle of no where that magically replaces walls, plays tricks on your mind, and generally haunts the living shit out of you, and you think you can just fly away after a bit of repairs?" The woman smiled candidly now. "But of course you can." She responded sarcastically.

[17:06]  Abhishek Veda paused for a long moment, face impassive as he regarded her and thought about her words. Very strange things had occurred since he came aboard the large ship, but he had tried dismissing them as stress-induced hallucinations or paranoia. "Perhaps I should be grateful my sisters perished when my ship crashed if that is indeed the case," he said, fibbing a tiny bit, allowing a pained look to cross his face briefly. "I admit that is difficult to swallow, but I have seen some odd sights in my time," he mused aloud. "I suppose I should be grateful I have less mouths to feed. That'll keep the rations going for a longer amount of time," he sighed, inwardly wondering if the slips of information would cause the girl to decide to help him out further.

[17:13]  Ingkeu stared at the man for a long moment watching his face, his expressions, body language before she nodded once, seemingly a bit stone faced. "Welcome aboard." she murmured softly, unable to think of much to say regarding his loss. "Water over booze, eat only enough to keep you going. Scavenge for what you can." Ingkeu muttered out softly, looking to her companion as she cursed herself inwardly for helping him. She should have been sedating him, taking his supplies, and making off to help her own life chances, not giving him points on how to keep surviving. Unknowingly she let out a grumbled sigh.

[17:21]  Abhishek Veda nodded, making a mental note to attempt to retrieve a few items from the ship. He glanced around the room, noting bloodstains he had somehow missed at first--or subconsciously ignored. "I see," he said, similarly at a loss. He was out of his depth socially. In normal situations he had no problem putting on his smoulder face and working towards whatever he wanted, but he was finding it difficult to do so here. "How did you wind up here?" he asked, taking a half-step closer, staying just barely out of arm's reach. He had other questions, but had the feeling that if he pressed too hard then he would not receive any answers. Looking from the girl to her companion and back, he tried to judge how long they had been living roughly by looking for scratches on clothes, the companion's metallic body--if it was metal--and whatever other signs he could find.

[17:28]  Ingkeu smirked a small bit, nipping into her lower lip. "The same way you did." Her words came quietly as she looked over him as he stepped a bit closer. Her gaze followed his own as she looked down herself and then to pixel. It was only then that she scooped the little companion up and held him in her arms. "I'm sure you have lots of questions," the she-lynx began before she hesitated and tilted her head to one side. "But I'll relieve only a few. This is Pixel." she murmured holding him up for the man to see, "He's artificial intelligence  and currently my only friend." She fixed the man with a firm look and a half smile, "And I intend on keeping it that way so don't get any ideas." Gently she set the AI unit down to floor and looked back up at the man. "We've been here for just over 48 hours. That's all that you need to know." She stated rather matter-of-factly.

[17:40]  Abhishek Veda nodded, and made a quiet noise of surprise as she lifted the android pet with ease. He would have guessed it was heavier than she made it appear--or perhaps she was stronger than he initially assumed. "Odds of survival are better with someone watching your back," he said. "I'm hardly looking for a pen pal," he added, lips and one eyelid twitching ever so slightly as he suppressed some sort of emotional giveaway, either a smile, or something else--it would be difficult to tell. "And I would so hate to part on less than amicable terms lest we cross paths again at a future date," he let amusement slip into his voice. "And what sort of defense does that--Pixel--offer," he said, shifting forward again, now barely within his own striking distance unless she moved away. "I don't want your life's story," he continued, without waiting an answer. "But what have you come across in the last couple of days here?"

[17:47]  Ingkeu's face fell as she squinted an eye at the man and ground a fang against her lower jaw. "Tsk." she tutted softly, pursing her full lips, "Give a man a cookie, he'll want the fridge too. Perhaps the oven and the woman chained to it as well." she added, sounding even a bit bitter. Looking down at Pixel she frowned and shook her head, debating whether or not she'd release that sedative any way. "Pixel is none of your business, and neither am I." Ingkeu murmured out with annoyance before she turned away, the android heeling her. "As for what I've seen here? Well, I'm sure you'll see for yourself. Wouldn't be fun if I exposed all of the ship's surprises now would it." Ingkeu, smiling like the Cheshire Cat headed towards the door before she paused in it's frame looking back at him with a small smirk as she awaited his reply.

[17:55]  Abhishek Veda grinned at the girl's response, particularly at the image of a girl chained to an oven, reminded yet again of his ship. "Sometimes he works hard to get the entire kitchen," he said, voice low as the girl began to leave, pausing at the door. His eyebrow quirked as another stopped at the doorway, apparently intent on exiting the mess hall as well. "I suppose I should wish you good luck," he said, notably not actually making any such sentiment. "And watch your back," he added, tone serious. He stepped backwards to lean against the bar, half-tempted to follow her, but guessed that would only lead to trouble at this point. Sighing, he folded his arms across his chest. He was not any further along to fixing his ship than he was when he first walked into the mess hall, and it was beginning to seem unlikely he would ever achieve his goal--if what the girl said held true at least.

[18:02]  Ingkeu hesitated at the door way, looking at him before she noticed the woman waiting for her to go on down the stairs. "Go ahead." she said politely as she turned back to the man and thought a moment. "Listen." she murmured out quietly. "If you're scavenging for parts, I hear the Core is the best place to find parts for a ship." the girl was lying through her teeth now. Perhaps even trying to get the man killed. If he died, it would certainly make taking his craft a bit easier. After all, it wasn't like she was going to escape in the escape pod she'd crash landed into the ship in. Smirking a small bit she let her tongue brush against her lower well bred lip again. "As for luck?" The lynx asked, smirking devilishly. "I make my own." Which in this case, was quite indeed true. She then slipped off down the corridor, the AI droid trailing after her as she slipped off in to the darkness of the ship.

[18:10]  Abhishek Veda wiped his mouth with the back of his gloved hand and waited several long breaths before leaving the mess hall. He guessed at which way the girl went, listening very carefully for footfalls, especially those of the android. The Core, was it? He thought to himself as he walked. The girl had been here only 48 hours by her own words, yet claimed to know where the best place to scavenge was--that seemed more than a little fishy to him. He attempted to follow as quietly as he could, determined to find out if she was up to anything. He was no stranger to moving swiftly and silently, and had years of experience doing so, attempting to keep his steps as quiet as possible as he moved through darkened metallic corridors.