Chapter 2: Banter

[18:14]  Ingkeu made her way down throughout the ship weaving her way through passages, even taking an elevator or two. Heck, she even took a round about way in case he was following, hoping that he would get lost and confused as to how to go back to the crew deck if he were. Instead, now she entered the command deck, looking around. She waited a few minutes, paused in the dark hall way as she waited for something, anything, to show up following her before she let out a soft breath and jumped up to grab a hold of one of the dead electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. Pixel hopped onto her, hanging from her back almost like a back pack as she pulled herself up and climbed her way into the rafters, convinced she wasn't being followed.

[18:24]  Abhishek Veda found the dark, lifeless hallways easy the navigate, and the girl easy enough to follow. He swapped his ocular display back and forth between thermal and electromagnetic. The android was a dead giveaway even at a decent distance. Whenever the girl paused, or he assumed she did when Pixel did, he would stop as well, waiting to keep a fairly steady distance between them. He saw the odd, pulsing wired shape of the android hope into the air and latch onto something, then slowly make its way upwards, dangling as though tied or attached to something. He guessed either she tied a rope to it, or possibly let it climb onto her since it seemed to be fairly lightweight. He waited a good long moment after guessing the android and its owner had reached the top before approaching the area. Now that he was close it made sense--she had climbed a wire. Without hesitation, he leaped as quietly as possible, grabbing the wire and climbing. He wondered if this was entirely a wise idea. Though he was curious to look up, he kept his face down as he climbed, getting a shiver along his spine as he did. Hopefully the relative darkness, his dark outfit, and dark hair would make him difficult to spot should she return to peer down. At least he had yet to hear her weapon being pulled from its holster--if he would hear that at all.

[18:30]  Ingkeu had waited another good amount of time as suddenly she watched the electrical wire she'd used to climb up, suddenly grow taught. A small smirk found her lips as she nodded and tilted her head to one side, letting pixel suddenly strut his stuff. Comedically, Pixel's head suddenly stuck out over the edge, peering down at the man from behind those dull blue slitted electronic eyes. Impishly the android chittered at him, suddenly leaning forward so that it's muzzle neared the wiring. It was only then that the blow torch it was equipped with, erupted from it's jaws, nearing the wiring as he was climbing... "You're a clever one." Ingkeu shouted down from the air shafts. "A little too clever for my tastes." her voice echoed down to him. "What's your name? I'll think about calling Pixel off and not breaking your tail bone with a fall."

[18:38]  Abhishek Veda chuckled as the girl called down to him. Somehow he knew she would find him out. A flicker of concern crossed his features as he looked up to see the android ready to cut through the very cable he was climbing. "Oh," he said, pausing to pull himself up further. "Veda. Abhishek Veda," he continued climbing. "Have you ever wondered," he continued casually, almost jovially, "how far a man can throw an EMP grenade?" If he stopped climbing he would be at an impasse, or need to move down again, but he imagined her little pet was of considerable value to her. "And you are?" his voice was as steady as possible, but there was an edge to it. Falling might not kill him at this height, but it'd certainly cause injury. Then again, it might just kill him.

[18:42]  Ingkeu smirked, now he was talking her language. "Let him up." she murmured softly to the android before she reached down to offer him a hand up into the air shaft. "Ink, well Ingkeu rather. Ingkeu Soonkyu." she murmured, gesturing to him to take her hand. "And I haven't wondered, I've experienced it once or twice... I think." the last bit was added with a small touch of confusion as she peered down at him. "Well c'mon then!" she muttered, "Hurry it up, I haven't got all cycle."

[18:48]  Abhishek Veda grinned widely as she responded with her name, and a hand. He took the offered hand to pull himself the rest of the way up, thick wire between both of his legs, ready to try to catch himself if she tried anything. Taking her hand was a gesture of trust, but in his experience there was only one person he could ever trust--no, scratch that. He could not even trust himself with all the times he's gotten himself in trouble without thinking things through entirely. Busy as he was with finishing the climb, he missed her momentary look of confusion, but the added assertion to the end of her statement made him curious. "Better than experiencing a frag, or worse," he chuckled.

[18:52]  Ingkeu pulled him the rest of the way up, before she looked to him thoughtfully  "Not sure I could say I've experienced those." her words came softly as she looked him over, trying to take inventory of what he hand. "Okay, so you know one of my secrets," the girl murmured, motioning to her robotic companion who could quite literally breathe fire. "Its your turn." Pixle then jumped down the opposite way they had come, followed soon after by and Ingkeu who lept down to the floor with a soft thwack of her boots. "You sound as if you may have been Military, or perhaps, further more, a Mercenary?" She called up to him curiously.

[18:58]  Abhishek Veda dropped down to the floor, landing in a crouch, boots absorbing most of the impact quietly. "A secret for a secret? Fair enough," he replied as he stood straight. "Right on both counts. First the former, then the latter for a time. Neither suited me though the training certainly did not hurt in the long run." There was more to it than that, and he hesitated, wondering how much he should divulge on the topic. "There are certain things the military frowns upon, and the life of a freelance merc was too uncertain for me."

[19:03]  Ingkeu leaned back against one of the command consoles and nipped lightly at her lower lip. Okay, so if a fight broke out between them, she was likely outmatched. For a long moment the neko was quiet before she peeked up, her full lips parted. "Curious." She stated simply before she righted herself and paced over to one of the computer modules. "So how'd you end up here?" the feline asked, hoping she might be able to steal a freebie off of him without exposing too much more of herself. Of course, she still had to figure out a way to get him out of here. It wasn't as if she were going to show him where she slept at night, as close as it may have been.

[19:10]  Abhishek Veda shrugged. "As I said earlier," he replied. "I crashed. I was hoping to get some salvage from this place, and ran into some debris I did not see," he admitted with a grunt, still very frustrated at what happened. None of the sensors had registered the large object the ship collided into. "Truth for truth, secret for secret," he added, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve as he stepped forward. "Now you either tell me how you got here, or owe me one."

[19:16]  Ingkeu eyed him a small bit suspiciously  "There's nothing to tell." she spoke in response to his request. "I have nothing to tell you, as I know nothing about myself. If you would like me to make something up, I would be more than happy to delight you with delusional fantasies, but I have no recollection of who I am, where I'm from or what I'm doing here." Ingkeu responded with complete honesty, not that she expected him to believe her, but she figured she'd give it a try. "Ingkeu Soonkyu may not even be my real name." Quietly she turned away, lifting her goggles so that she could better read one of the near by readouts. "You're a fool to abandon ship by the way. If I were you I would have stayed on board it. Do you have any idea how many of the people here are survivors looking for a way out? You may not even have a ship to go back to." Ingkeu then gestured to the screen in front of her, moving a side so that he could take a look at the long list of living beings above the ship, many of which no doubt were still looking for a way out.

[19:25]  Abhishek Veda cleared his throat as he stepped forward to peer over her shoulder, glimpsing at what she might be interested to see on the various readouts and displays. "Nothing," he repeated. "I suppose you can owe me then," he added wryly. "The stealth field is still operational," he said. "As are the automated security systems, so it ought to be able to withstand a few curious people should they happen across it," he paused and chuckled again. "That's two and three. I must be pretty confident in your ability to match secret for secret--or a great fool." The list of living beings was considerably higher than he had initially guessed for such a dilapidated-looking ship--maybe she was right in that there would be no way to leave even if he would be able to find someone to help with repairs. The fact he left the ship was also something he wished he did not have to do. That ship was his home, but personal life support on a space suit could only last so long.

[19:30]  Ingkeu glanced up, exchanging eye contact with him in brief surprised as it was determined that she would owe him. Gingerly she nipped into her lower lip. Turning away from him to fold her arms over her chest and pace a few steps away. For a moment her eyes roamed the room as she felt lost in thought, listening to him expose more information to her before she looked back to him and offered him a brief yet sympathetic smile. "Its all right. My plan was to simply commandeer your ship at any rate, though, now that I think about it, I'm not sure that's even possible." Ingkeu murmured before tapping two fingers to her temple, "I mean is it even still really there? Or is that just a figment of your imagination too? How do you know I'm real? Further more, how do I know your real? Is the information in these computers really acurate? If you'd listen to some of the crew recollections, you'd hope you were dreaming." Ingkeu spoke softly before her warm sultry frame gave an unpleasant shudder. "If you don't want to have nightmares clouding your judgement too, then I wouldn't listen to them." It was only then that Ingkeu had realized just how much information she had exposed. A sheepish smile tainted her features, "Eh... Perhaps we're even now..."

[19:41]  Abhishek Veda wondered at that, noting the shudder that shook her amply-curved frame. "I imagine you must be some sort of pilot to consider attempting such a thing," he said. "It has to be there. I haven't been gone from it for that long," he attempted to sound confident, yet wondered if there was something that could warp or twist his memories to the extreme she suggested. With a quick movement he reached out and poked her shoulder with a fingertip. "You seem real enough to me," he said, smiling down at her. "I'm not quite sure we're even. That was more questions than truth, but I suppose there's no harm in calling it square." He decided he would be extremely cautious when it came to any sort of recording the derelict ship's computer had to offer--even though could be fabricated, and perhaps that was one way it could gain influence over someone's mind. He stroked his chin, a habit whenever he was either in deep thought or considering something important. It certainly did not look as though he was leaving the area any time soon.

[19:57]  Ingkeu sighed softly, her gaze slowly falling to the floor as she let a fang tease at her lower lip idlely. "I am." she stated simply, quietly to his response as her ears perked to listen to him.

 Gingerly she gave a small jump as his finger tip reached out to poke her, both ear lobes flicking back as she fixed him with an uneasy gaze before letting her finger tips run over the area which he had poked. "A woman left a log here." she spoke uneasily as she uncrossed her arms and moved over to one of the screens.

 A few moments later her finger tips had danced across the controls bringing up a message of a once present crew member who was now, light years later, long gone. Ingkeu exchanged an uneasy glance with Abhishek as the recording fired up.

 "Every day that passes I grown more and more weary of my own sanity." the recording began, Ingkeu fixing the man with a somewhat knowing gaze as the recording went on. "I've been here just over a month and I feel as if my life is being taken from me with every breath of this fowl ship's air I breathe. My original mission was with the RPAF. That's Ral Planetary Assault Force, for those of you who don't know. We were hired by Nastrand corp. and sent here periodically to replenish the ship with fresh rations and water. Didn't you ever notice how this ship seems to eternally gain supplies even though its been frozen in space for years upon years?" the recording asked. "My self and my Partner were running a supply exchange when the RPAF closed our way out. My partner, Shade, and I have been stuck here ever since. This ship is not safe. You cannot trust it. It's alive. I don't know what happened when they made the jump, but this isn't the same ship it was pre-jump. Its like it's haunted. Like it's alive. It will make you see things. Things you don't want to see. Things--" suddenly everything went quiet save for the whispering of a new voice...

"What's that?"

 "shhhh..." came the first...

 "What IS that?!" the new voice hissed with a little more panic.

 "Stow it, Sammy!"

 Then a wailing unearthly screeching mechanic scream before suddenly the recording went dead, fizzled out by just the hiss of static left in it's wake.

Ingkeu righted herself and let out a soft sigh, gently shaking her head. "I haven't experienced it first hand, but the people here babble like that too. I don't trust this place, nor anyone in it." she muttered, fixing him with an almost knowing stare.

[20:14]  Abhishek Veda pressed his lips tightly together as he paid close attention to the recording. A tight knot grew in his stomach as he listened. He cleared his throat after the recording finished, suddenly uneasy with silence--which was something he usually enjoyed. He nodded as Ingkeu spoke and returned her gaze. "I'm not one to roll over and accept that I'm stuck somewhere. If this is the way things are here then that is plenty of reason for me to get my ship fixed all the faster." The unearthly scream from the recording seemed to echo in his head, and he was unable to imagine what sort of creature or thing could make such a noise. The RPAF was a well-trained military force--if they couldn't handle it then it was likely beyond him as well. "All the more reason to watch each other's backs, wouldn't you say," he said, cocking his head to one side and giving his best grin.
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[20:23]  Ingkeu eyed him skeptically, though a slow smirk rose the corner of her full lips. "You're cute." she murmured, though it sounded almost as if she were chiding him. "I meant it earlier when I said I don't make friends."

 The woman then took a few paces closer and glanced around the small cabin thoughtfully. She needed to get him out of here. Slowly her eyes rounded back to his darkly clad figure. "And, on that topic. I think it's time you should be going now. After all, you've got parts to scavenge don't you?" the she-lynx asked him cryptically before cracking her neck.

 It was only then that she continued to look over the computer data, sighing softly. "Only going to ask you once more, politely." she added before looking back up to him. "Please leave. I have work to do."

[20:36]  Abhishek Veda shook his head and stood with his arms in front of him, hands clasped loosely below his waist. "I get that a lot," he said with a smile, though his voice was devoid of warmth. "I think I have a better idea. I stick around, and take you with me to find parts since you know so well where they are, and this ship is rather large. I'd rather not get lost," he said. "I would hate for us to argue about it."

 His curiosity was piqued at the mention of work. "What sort of work do you have here after only being here two cycles?" he asked, stepping close to look while keeping a close eye on the girl, speaking as though the matter was entirely settled. He knew she would try to get rid of him, but there were a number of reasons why he would not budge.

[20:41]  Ingkeu let out a frustrated huff as she turned to face him. Yet... she was a bit startled, noticing how close he had gotten without her realizing it. Ingkeu fixed him with a scowl, folding her own arms over her chest as she took a few carefully placed foot steps back.

 Of course, she had forgotten that in this little coridoor, she had essentially cornered herself. Slowly her ears pinned backwards before she let out yet another annoyed huff. "Just because I've been told where the best salvage can be found doesn't mean I know my way around this place!" she grumbled moodily, as he made the note about arguing.

 "Its not like you could just force me down there any way. I'm not going. My work is also none of your business!" she hissed as Pixel made to shut off the station she'd been working at. "You need to leave. Now. Go back to your ship." she tried to order him, but even she was aware that she wasn't likely to get her way.

[20:54]  Abhishek Veda frowned as Ingkeu stepped away and took very deliberate steps towards her, shaking his head, knowing the subtle light from the displays would reflect nicely off of his ridged, ebony horns, his tail swishing rapidly side to side as he approached.

 "Then I'm certain we can find our way there together," he said. "We're both resourceful, I'm sure," he said. Perhaps if he had known about the nanites she had laced the canteen of water with he would not have pushed so hard. "I'm not going anywhere, so you either attempt to fry me with Pixel, or agree to what is going to happen. If not the Core then we'll find parts elsewhere. Hell, we can even tear pieces off of this ship for me to take back if that'll help."

 He edged very near her now, close enough he could strike out at her quickly. What he lacked in strength he made up for in speed, and he imagined even if she set the firebreathing android on him he'd have at least one strike on her before he would have to drop an EMP grenade. It'd damage the nearby computers as well, and his own scanner, but he could always find something to replace it.

[21:00]  Ingkeu slowly back-stepped until she was pinned in the back of the corridor  the man closing in on her. Quickly her eyes widened with fear, those two mismatched hues glistening before she nodded her head avidly. "All right!" she cried out, lying through her teeth once more though a small hint of fear was evident in her voice. "All right! have it your way." she murmured softly, almost submissively, before her gaze shifted to Pixel and she nodded once.

 To cover up the gesture she beckoned him closer and let him slip to her shoulders, as if acting like the little droid would be nothing to fear. It was not aggressive towards the man after all. They were just going on a journey. Or so she hoped he thought. Meanwhile, Ingkeu waited for the effects of the nanites to begin to take.

 If he were susceptible to it, he would be knocked out in a matter of minutes, minutes in which Ingkeu figured she would humor his demand. "We'll do it your way." she whispered softly. "What do you have planned? Anything?" she asked, though she was still huddled up against the command console she had backed into.

[21:22]  Abhishek Veda notices the nod she gives Pixel, but takes it for merely a command to approach and sit on her shoulder. It began to feel quite stuffy in the room, and he was eager to get moving. "Planned," he repeated the word. "Yes, the plan is for you to take me to the Core or wherever you think I would find what I need. Maybe look it up in the ship's database. You seem to know how to use that at least."

 He narrowed his eyes and searched her face, giving her a very hard look, retrieving something from his belt at the same time. With a quick movement he tossed a pin at Ingkeu, amused to aim it at one of her lovely breasts, before holding up his other hand to show what he held. It was one of his grenades, ready to blow should it fall free of his hand. "You might want to pick up that pin for later," he commented.

[21:30]  Ingkeu watched him for a long moment as Pixel nuzzled in under her long crimson tresses. She could feel the cool durable metal of its plating against the back of her nape, aiding the small shiver that ran down the space of her spine as she studdied him.

 "I told you. I don't know my way around yet." the she-lynx spoke with a roll of her mismatched hues before she started to pace her way over to the computer again at the idea of looking up the database of the ship. Briefly she wondered when the sedative would start taking effect before she draw in a deep breath.

 "You know you can't just go around---" but her words were cut short as she looked down to see the pin that had ricocheted off of her light weight suit. She then fixed him with a rather serious stare as he held up the grenade. Okay. Shit finally just got real. In wardly she tried to stay calm, but suddenly found herself panicking about what would happen if the Sedative actually did take effect.

 "You're a mad man." her words finally came softly. "You're really crazy enough to blow yourself away just to take me with you?" Ingkeu asked unsteadily. "When you said you wanted to get out of here I didn't think -that- would be your plan." Her last set of words was a small bit mocking before she explained herself.

 "Either way you're going to want to find a way to disable that thing should you fall down. Earlier, when you drank from my cantine you swallowed a bunch of nanites that would eventually sedate you when I gave Pixel the command. My original plan had been to loot your unconscious body for my own personal gain but I decided against it when I left, you're welcome. Now, that you've tracked me up here I cannot risk you staying, so that little nod I gave to the bugger, was the trigger to your sedative." Ingkeu confided almost nervously.

[21:46]  Abhishek Veda grinned at Ingkeu as she realized what he was doing, and savored her surprised reaction. It was obvious she was having a difficult time staying calm. His amusement was quickly replaced by anger as she revealed to him what happened earlier. Grenade in hand lifted and suddenly struck out in an attempt to backhand her cheek as anger flared up within him. Nanites and a sedative.

 He took a deep breath to calm himself.

 "You are," he said in a quiet voice, "extremely lucky to be alive. Things are bound to be interesting if you do not have a way to disable the nanites," he added, and it was no lie. Common human sedatives did not always work as intended on him much to the chagrin of the medics when he was in the military. The fact he felt stifled and the room stuffy was a fairly decent signal that he would not be going to sleep any time soon.

 "Some would call me crazy. When I was discharged they said 'unstable and unfit for longterm service' but I was certainly good enough to kill when they had need of me," he sighed. "This was going to be easy--you show me the goods and I go on my merry way, but now everything has gotten--complicated.

[21:54]  Ingkeu was in the process of shaking her head, those eyes gently veiled when his hand stretched out and connected with her cheek. Bewildered she stumbled a few paces, clutching her cheek as she stared at him with now widened eyes.

 Further more, when his hand had connected with her cheek she had sworn she had actually remembered something... but whatever it was, she could not recall it now. With great concern the girl's brows furrowed as she stood there, gently rubbing her cheek, fixing him with a near venomous glare.

 "Somehow I know your type." the feline muttered out with some annoyance as memories tugged at the back of her mind. "So what if I don't?" Came the real question as she shrunk into a corner away from him. "What if there's no way to stop it?" It was only then that her brow creased further.

 "You don't even look tired." her words came suspiciously as she fixed him with a steady gaze. For a moment she looked to Pixel as he jumped from her shoulders. "What are you going to do?" her words came with a trace of uneasiness, feeling as if perhaps this wasn't the first time she had been in over her head in her life.

[22:04]  Abhishek Veda shook his head. The urge to lash out at the girl again was strong, but he managed to suppress it. It was so very easy to slip into anger whenever under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and it seemed as though the nanites were no exception. The first time he realized how low his inhibitions became when drinking was both a night he remembered fondly and loathed almost as though the human side of him constantly warred with the demonic side.

 "I'm not tired," he said, cocking his head to the side and chewing on his lower lip. He did seem to get them both into a small predicament with the primed grenade. "Find the pin," he growled. "And don't think I'm not keeping an eye on your little flamethrower, Miss Soonkyu," he added, nodding his head in the direction of the android.

 Abhishek made sure to stay close to the girl, probably uncomfortably so for her. For him, though he was particularly annoyed at the moment, being close to a girl such as she was far from dis-pleasurable even considering the circumstances. The closer he was, the less likely he thought it would be for her to give some sort of secret signal to the android to try to roast him without risking her own flesh at the same time.

[22:10]  Azazel can be heard skidding down the vent "fu-huuu-" is all he could manage to say as he slipped and fell, but was completely interrupted by the immense pain he felt in his back. The stranger winces, his blue eyes flicker in the dim light before he looks at the two, like a deer in headlights, and crawls through the nearest door.

[22:12]  Ingkeu | Pixel had now found himself perched a top the computers where Ingkeu looked to him and put her hands up murmuring softly. "Stay... there... right there." Her eyes quietly shifted between the AI and the man she had come to know as Abhishek before she made the gesture and then pointed at the droid awkwardly, "Just... don't move."

 Ingkeu then went to her hands and knees, her upper half disappearing under the computer console as she went looking for the pin Abhishek had flicked in her direction and bounced off a boob. Grumbling softly to herself she could feel her suit stretching as her curvy rump wiggled around with the movements of her crawling.

 Ironically she bumped her head against one of the computers as she heard a rather loud thud from the door outside. "Buggering mother of a..." but her words then turned into soft muttering before finally she popped out from beneath the computer on her knees, pin in hand lifted up towards Abhishek.

 "There, all better now! So we're gonna split ways and make our own ammends, right?" She asked with a hopeful smile, even if she knew what the answer would most likely be. It was only at this point, completely unexpectedly, that a man fell out of the airshaft. Blinking a few times awkwardly, and still holding up the pin no less, she stared at the stranger as if bewildered by his apperance before watching him slink through the nearest door. "I--- okay..." she murmured falling utterly silent.

[22:22]  Abhishek Veda grinned as the girl bent down to look for the grenade pin, watching appreciatively as her suit was pulled tight across her curves. He was absolutely unable to resist the opportunity and reached out to squeeze one of her cheeks as she searched. Maybe it was the nanites, but he had a history of having difficulty controlling certain urges.

 After the girl rose and spoke, a noise came from behind him. He was surprised to see someone land flat on his ass, straighten, and find the nearest exit post haste. He looked back to Ingkeu with a somewhat puzzled expression. Maybe it was the ship messing with them like she had mentioned earlier. He held the grenade aloft again and gestured to Ingkeu to come closer, ignoring any sort of reaction she might have had from his grope.

 "Put the pin behind your ear or something," he rumbled. It was not his greatest idea, he admitted to himself. At least it drove the severity of the situation across and his willingness to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. "The plan hasn't exactly changed."

[22:26]  Ingkeu gritted her fangs together at his grope, her cheeks flushed hot, eyes shooting the man daggers before she approached him, pin in hand. Her eyes did not leave him once, narrowed into fine slits as she stood only inches apart from him now.

 Yet as he mentioned that she should tuck the pin behind her ear she looked at him with a skeptical gaze. What in the fuck was he thinking, a magic trick? What the hell was the point of all of this? Her brows furrowed.

 Reluctantly, she took his word for it, reaching up with those soft fingers to tuck the pin behind one long tuffed lobe. "I'm waiting." She stated evenly, though she was now far from amused.