[Fiction] Deep of the Ancients

[Vixen]

As events continue around them, Vixen and Mitch peck away at the medical terminals, entering their medical data with practiced precision.

Mitch wraps up first, while Roxanne hunts-and-pecks on the keyboard. "You know, they probably have voice software."

"Teaching myself to type."

"And if you lost eight out of ten digits the method you're using would actually mean something."

"Oh, har har har. Excuse me for never learning touch typing."

"I'm just teasing." Mitch places a hand on Roxanne's shoulder, feeling a brief contact rush from built-up static. "Want me to type?"

"I can... I..." Vixen's eyes suddenly widened, and started to glow.

"What?" Mitch craned his head around. "Ut-oh, glow-eyes... what is it?"

"It's... that's so weird..."

Her hands instinctively found home-row and began to type - quickly and effortlessly, without her looking. She laughed abruptly. "Oh wow. I didn't know I could do that...!"

"Do what? Touch-type?"

Vixen examined the results of her input. "No, I can't touch-type, I never learnt how... but you did."

Mitch's eyes widened. "You... learnt how to, from me?"

"I had to - look, there's that typo you always make. I must have somehow... copied your skill."

"I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I..." Vixen tried typing some more, and then slowly started to look confused. "It's gone now."

"That's really something."

"Yeah..." Vixen stared at her fingers. "Let's, uh... let's keep this to ourselves right now, okay?"

"Why?"

"Just, I dunno. People might get a little freaked if they find out I just spontaneously discovered a power I never had before."

"Well, *I'm* not freaked..." Mitch ruffled her hair. "But your choice, hon."

[Ghostwriter]

*Something wrong, Sphere? You're projecting concern clear enough for me to read. Relax, this is a tight-focus telepathic signal - it'd take someone like Psyche to sense it.*

Regan continues to read serenely as cursive black script flickers around her head and hands, each page moving faster than the one before.

[Sakurako Hino]

Endeavor walks back into the MedCenter, the object Prodigy gave her slung underarm. She sits on one of the beds, just watching the others get things squared away. She finds that sometimes it's best to step back and let things work themselves out. She sets the probe next to her, and props her hands behind her.

"So, guys, how you like the suit? Made it myself."

She giggles. She's just trying to break the ice, and she knows it.

[Matryoshka]

letting out a laugh,she just rolled her eyes,walking past Neil.

"Did I ever say I wanted to impress you."

Walking past him to James,she pinched him on the rear.

"Oh,sweet cheeks,your leaving so soon?I wanted to talk to you in private.But, you should do your own thing."

[Sphere]

*What tha...? Bloody hell, is this what telepathy feels like? Creepy.*

Sphere maintained a poker face and watched the interplay of the others, making it seem as though he were listening. He focused his thoughts on Codex's presence in his mind.

*I'd be grateful if you didn't go too deep, ta. My head's not really a suitable place for an unaccompanied lady (humour/warning). I've got something for you to have a look at. Info about what's going on behind the scenes at the Project (genuine/truthful). You and yours need to know about this stuff. Gotta be careful though (warning/concern) this is the kind of stuff that got Slider capped. You want it?*

Sphere's node tingled as he picked up another Nova outside the sub with Endeavor.

*Wonder who that is?*

[Ghostwriter]

*I'm not looking. I'm autistic, not stupid. (wryness). Look, mate, I've seen some pretty weird bullshit in my time with Utopia - just because I've been hibernating at Talaud Island doesn't mean I haven't noticed stuff.*

Her mind-voice grows more serious. *There's this one guy who's taken an interest in me. You might have seen him on the OpNet a time or two. I get the feeling he isn't officially attached to T2M, but has some nebulous rank in Utopia.*

She turns a few pages. *I think you're smart enough to figure out who he is. If not, that red-haired leader of yours is. I've never met the bloke in person, but he managed to arrange for my friend Julie to be assigned with Ragnarockette on a mission recently so I could have some time to myself, and that means he's up high, or got connections, or both. He also forwarded that bullshit about Agnelli Celeste, and that means he's got access to more information than I, most especially secret conversations. He also knows about my full range of abilities.*

She turns a few more pages. *I know you're not a saint, Sphere, but I know you're willing to trust me and be concerned about my health. That's more than my own family gives me, and plenty of my team mates too. Give me the disk and I'll see what I can correlate it to.*

[Neil Preston]

Neil heads up to command to get some space between himself and Signy. After a few minutes, he will head back down to medical to make the last minutes checks before departure. Then he will head off to find the Captain.

[Sakurako Hino]

As Neil starts for the Bridge, Sakurako saunters up behind him.

"Miss me? I was in Sickbay after I got done talking with our visitor. He seemed in a rush."

She smoothes out a wrinkle on the left torso of her suit with her index finger.

"I didn't wish to hold them back from important matters."

[Vixen]

"Visitor? We have a new target for tickle torture?"

Vixen waves from the doorway, now back in nova form and adorned in Sakurako's robed gift. "Mitch is downstairs," she comments. "He's familiarizing himself with the ship's medical log and seeing if there's any holes in what it knows or what he knows."

She inhales... and then coughs. "Oh, man, oh man... *cough* ... sorry, I'm okay." She sways a bit but waves off help. "That's a pretty... uh... sharp scent I picked up, is all. Is that our mystery guest?"

[Sakurako Hino]

"Unfortunately, he left before you could meet him. Buuuut...."

Sakurako holds up the silvery-white probe...

"He gave me a nice little oceanographic survey probe to release when we get wet."

Sakurako smiles.

"Now, let's get to the bridge. That is anyone who's interested in the view. It's a 1 day trip to the dive spot. It's that long because of the maneuvering we have to do because of the terrain and clearances for the dive. So we can take our time."

Sakurako keeps the probe under arm and heads to the main mag-lev elevator to the bridge.

"I gotta head to the bridge anyways to pick up my helmet I left at my control chair...

One more thing, DO NOT use any quantum abilities near this probe. It's a safety measure. They may disrupt the VERY sensitive sensor arrays."

Sakurako stores the probe in an insulated cabinet in the wall nearby before reaching the maglev.

"See you guys on the bridge. Unless some of you are coming with me."

[Neil Preston]

"Miss me? I was in Sickbay after I got done talking with our visitor. He seemed in a rush."

"Yes, oh Captain, I missed you."

Neil pauses and frowns.

"Sorry, but that Signy lady is wigging me out. Some people let their power go straight to their head, no filter. Something about that bothers me."

After Vixen comes up,

"Nice look, Dr. Richardson. Doesn't Captain Hino have great taste."

Turning back to Endeavor and says in a mock-serious tone,

"So, who was this mystery guest, anyway? And did you pass him through customs before taking that *cough* probe on board?"

Neil will decline coming to the bridge at this time, chosing to go back to Medical and bring Mitch up to speed on the facility.

[Sakurako Hino]

"Doctor, I've taken it upon trust, because he is a colleague in science. I trust him."

Sakurako adjusts herself a bit realising she's beeing too serious... again.

"Oh, the suit? I thought why not make something that's an important peice of gear comfortable as well?"

Sakrako smiles.

"Ah, Vixen, you seem to fit those robes I gave you. Now you are a Kitsune."

She walks into the lift.

"Preston...Neil, Be sure to keep Mitch from breaking anything."

Sakurako winks.

"Are you coming, Vixen?"

[Neil Preston]

"Preston...Neil, Be sure to keep Mitch from breaking anything."

Neil looks concerned.

"Is Mitch ... I mean, Dr. Lang, dangerous?"

Sakurako winks.

Neil returns the wink, then heads back toward Medical.

[Vixen]

"Mitch? He's actually better with computers than I am. I imagine on this vessel he's already working out how to reverse-engineer your GUI and networking systems. He's not what I'd call harmless but he's not gonna blow up the ship if that's what you're asking."

"And yes, coming." Vixen boards the elevator, whistling softly. "So how much green did this set you back by?"

[Sakurako Hino]

"Well, I had been putting funds into this, but most of the major green put into this ship was paid by my mother. You know about that missing money I could not track down? This is it. I did the calculations myself."

Sakurako then pauses.

"Uh, Mitch is toying with my GUI? If I find one bug, no matter how innocuous, his admin privelidges, which I bet he hacked fair and square, are revoked."

She stomps her foot.

"I leave you children alone for 5 seconds, and you are hacking my systems, causing a false abandon ship alarm, and generally mucking up the place..."

Sakurako smiles.

"I like it."

[Vixen]

"Oh, no, not toying. If I know him he's got his PDA out now and is taking notes. He's a bit of an information sponge. It all gets sucked in up there and spun around and deconstructed and reconstructed."

Vixen steps out as they reach the bridge. "Keptin on zee bridge! Get zee wessel in fool fooking gear!"

[Sakurako Hino]

"Cute... I should remember to copyright my code from here on out..."

Sakurako grins...

"Meh."

After Vixen's rather bad Checkov impression, Sakurako takes her seat in what would be the "captain's" chair in the center of the bridge.

"Well then, Vixen, let's shall..."

With a couple of thoughts, Sakurako warms up the engines, and unlatches the docking moorings.

"We'll be getting underway in a couple moments. Do not be alarmed if there are any sudden movemements..." Sakurako says over the com system.

[Neil Preston]

Meanwhile, Neil and Mitch are down in MedLab, were Neil watches in facination as Mitch turns all technical on him.

When the Word comes down from the bridge, Neil looks to Mitch and says,

"Don't worry about it. She rarely hits anything."

[Sakurako Hino]

Endeavor hears this over a microphone feed.

"Hey, if I hit something you'd know. And my insurance would go up."

She giggles.

"It's just going to be slow going for a few hours. The lanes of traffic I'm going to be using are sort of busy."

She sighs.

"I swear, everyone brings out their fishing trawlers whenever I feel like enjoying some quality time with my ship... I really need to come up with some anti-grav units for my ship, then I can fly over all this clutter instead of diving under it... when the underwater clearance allows of course."

[Neil Preston]

With a conspiritorial wink to Mitch, Neil whispers,

"Unless she leaves not witnesses behind, eh?"

Brightening up, he adds,

"Maybe that's why she needs a new crew?"

[Sakurako Hino]

"Neil, New Crew? I've never had one. Although... I am warming up to the idea of having one on call..."

Sakurako pauses for a moment to think.

"Although, I'm more apt to trust my own upkeep of this ship."

She sighs.

"Although, I'd be less lonely."

[Ghostwriter]

"Damn, you learn something new every day," Regan drawls over the microphone. "Even the great Endeavour has problems with traffic jams." Her voice is dry, but not mocking.

[Sakurako Hino]

"heheh. I'm not as perfect as some of my fans would lead you to believe."

Sakurako sinks back into her seat, and pays attention to "the road"...

After about a day of travel, and a long conversation with the captain of a US submarine (which actually went well, for E-chan's luck, a miracle he left in a good mood...) the crew of the HMII arrive at the divepoint.

(OOC: Fastforewarding to the dive. *hint hint*)

[Ghostwriter]

Codex suits up, giving Endeavour a wry look. "All that time in Sushi Paradise and I never learnt to dive too well," the blonde nova chuckles as she adjusts the knee-brace to fit over the divesuit. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart. My body adapts to adverse conditions as a side-effect to my ability to go without sleep or sustenance. I'll be fine."

She makes her way to the special dive-sled and gets inside, preparing for launch.

[Vixen]

Vixen shows up on the platform in the special dive-suit that Endeavor slapped together for her, her helmet tucked under her arm and her tails carefully folded and tucked out of the way.

She grimaces at something. "Endeavor, I have to say that this is the first time I've ever seen on a sub and it's pretty humbling. I can hear weird stresses throughout the hull from the pressure. The thought of the ocean coming in here..."

She shivers, but starts putting on her helmet. "Mitch, by the way, is back in our bunk if you need him for something." Her voice sounds muffled and echos as she speaks through the helmet. "Okay, let's dive. Gimmie a second to attune this suit..."

[Sakurako Hino]

Endeavor quirks an eyebrow.

"Stresses?"

Endeavor then realizes that Vixen must have more sensitive hearing than her.

"Not to worry. This vessel is quite depth worthy. Although, I wouldn't be sending it into the Marianas Trench anytime soon, I could visit the Titanic. If it's still there. After all, the rusting should have claimed it by now."

She adjusts the vest with the scuba tank she's using attached to the back.

"You know... the things I do to get over my phobia of deep water."

Sakurako pulls up the hood of the drysuit she's wearing, making sure it's a tight fit. She then grabs her helmet and starts attaching the various cords and hoses.

"We'll be operating around 90 feet, so adjust your dive profiles accordingly, based on the time you need for decompression if you have to surface. As soon as we get a couple more people down, we'll start pairing up in two person teams."

Sakurako connects the helmet she has to a neck-ring on the suit, completely closing herself. She then opens a couple vents in the helmet.

"So guys, whatcha think?"

She shows off the angles of her pink and white suit, definitely designed for form and function.

[Neil Preston]

Neil will check the rest of the suits before finishing his own. He will also make sure all the medical readouts are slaved to the HUD in his suit, as requested.

*Man, this tech is neat.*

He smiles over to Endeavor,

"Captain, you really have this pink on-the-brain thing going on."

"Roxanne, is Mitch okay? Do you want me to look in on him before we dive?"

He gives her a playful wink.

Neil's suit is black and grey-blue, with Don't Eat Me. I FIX THINGS. stencilled on the front and back.

[Sakurako Hino]

"It's for purposes of visual identification, Neil."

She logs mentally into the HUD system Neil's using for the life support monitors attached to everyone else's suits.

"Smart idea networking the vitals monitors of the rest of the party through your HUD system. Hope you don't mind if I keep the occasional eye on it."

Sakurako thinks for a moment.

"Or perhaps you could be my dive partner? I did promise your dad that I would keep a bit of an eye on you during this expedition."

[Neil Preston]

"Hey, its your boat, skipper, but I'm Bones. Besides, Mitch and I thought this up when we first saw the suits. We share a real synchronicity."

"As for being your partner, sure thing. I bet it won't be boring."

Turning to Reagan,

"Codex, have you ever been in full emersion before?"

"If not, we may need to partner you up with someone who can fly and handle a bit of nitrogen narcosis. There is no telling how a mind will handle the first time under."

{{If Signy is around}}

Niel looks toward Signy,

"Unless someone wants to open up the third eye?"

[Sakurako Hino]

Endeavor looks at the HUD reading of her O2 supply, making sure the Oxygen tanks she's using are properly filled.

"Yes, Nitrogen Narcosis is a problem, but It's more prevalent on Deep-Sea dives. At our depth, the problems will mostly center around pressurization problems. Such as Eardrum problems, The Bends, things like that."

She looks at a mirror, checking some of the connections.

"If you guys think you're having trouble, either head for the ship, or start your ascent and you'll be picked up."

She straightens a couple wrinkles.

"Always keep communication contact, and no one leaves line of sight."

Sakurako steps over to the airlock controls, and leans with one hand over near the control panel.

"The airlock will flood at a safe rate for a dive to the depth we'll be at. Then, we can disembark. But, I'm still waiting for the other crew. So I won't start flooding the cargo bay until we're absolutely ready."

Then a realization crosses her mind.

"Does anyone have flotation issues due to abnormal density?"

[Vixen]

"Mitch? He's okay. A little, er, tired, but okay." One green eye winks. "You can wake him up but I take no responsibility for what'll happen if you do."

A few last snaps are locked into place on her suit. "Abnormal density? I can become virtually weightless if that's what you're asking but I think that's more a manipulation of personal gravitational fields in my case. I should be fine. From what Mitch & I read up on, the nova physiology is less prone to getting nitrogen narcosis than a normal person."

"So! Let's go over our dive plan again, shall we? Just to make sure we're all on the same page."

[Sakurako Hino]

"Actually, Vixen, what I'm concerned about is the Bends. If you can't alter your physiology in a way where you can deal with excess nitrogen building up and practically trying to escape violently through your body."

Sakurako stops her rant.

"Sorry, I tend to go off like that. What I mean is Gravi-Manipulation won't help when you suddenly change your depth. It causes the Nitrogen in your blood to expand. Unless you surface slowly, you'll catch a case of the bends. Now while I do have a Hyperbaric chamber onboard, please note taht the bends can be fatal. Unless you can adapt yourself enough to deal with it..."

She clears her throat.

"But as you mentioned I doubt that'd alter your bouyancy any. Or most people here. I keep on thinking of Ghetto Funk Baby on the forums. She's like, made of stone."

Sakurako giggles.

"Anyways, here's the deal. I've already placed a marker beacon at the Archaeological site we'll be investigating. It'll show a waypoint on your HUDs."

She adjusts her drysuit.

"Just be ready for the shock of the cold water, gang. The water temperature is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily the suits I gave you guys are built to handle even Arctic waters."

"I won't bother Mitch. If he want's to sleep in, that's fine. We all can operate as one team if needed. I'm just waiting for Sphere and Hammerhead... By the way, wasn't Walker supposed to be here by now?"

[Neil Preston]

"Poor Mitch," says Neil.

"Dr. Richardson, do you need me look in on your man?", he adds with total innocence.

"I could dispel his fatigue and get to the source of his ailment."

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako begins to wonder if Mitch is actually ill...

"Hmmm... that is bothersome the thought going through my mind. I don't want anyone having some sort of medical emergency while we're out..."

[Vixen]

"Tell you what, Neil - go check on him if you want. He's asleep right now and he's tuned into that dream he has where his socks are quoting Plato. I don't think he's sick - at least I didn't smell any significant viral density onboard this ship My compliments, by the way, Sakurako - you keep it pretty clean."

[Neil Preston]

"Nah. I'll let the poor guy sleep. He's earned it."

"Okay, everyone's suit's read 100%, Captain. We are ready."

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako sighs, then thinks to herself: Damn... I was actually hoping he'd delay a little longer...

(If anyone's looking, Sakurako's vitals are pretty much telling the story that she's... got butterflies in her stomach.)

"Erm, alrightie then."

She walks over ot the controls, and flips a couple switches. Sliding doors behind them close with tight, and loud, seals. Then the new alcove made by the doors starts flooding. Sakurako flicks shut her vents on her helmet, and activates the O2 supply.

"Alright, we should be at depth pressure in a couple minutes. That's when the doors will open."

As the water starts reaching everyone's necks, Sakurako states...

"I'll have everyone know, if you got second thoughts, you'd better get them now. Once this room floods completely, you will have to wait a while to properly decompress."

[Vixen]

Vixen looks a little uncomfortable as she is gradually submerged in water.

This... is a lot bigger than the bathtub. Don't freak, Roxanne, you can dog-paddle if you have to. Har har har. Made a funny. Jesus. I don't believe this. I can pick one man out of a city of ten million, read minds, fly and control fire and lightning and I'm scared of a little water? You remember how to swim, right? Of course you do. It's just water. Just water.

She wipes a little fog off her visor.

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako turns towards Vixen, almost neck-deep and rising.

"Vixen, look at my readout on your HUD. I'm not doing any better."

Sakurako manages a grin.

"What I do to get over my fear of drowning..."

[Vixen]

"Heh... thanks, 'Deav."

The water rises over her head, and she switches to comm. "Now, if we meet aliens and ancient ships and a stirring soundtrack down there, what's our SOP?"