[Fiction] Deep of the Ancients

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako giggles at Sphere's... Enthusiasm.

"Sphere, we might need that skill if we run into any Giant Squid. You know I'm a sucker for raw squid."

She then scratches her head wondering why she said such a thing.

"But... I don't think we'll be getting into any life-or-death battles this trip."

[Matryoshka]

"Neil, I show you a few things that will help you in a fight.I mostly likely out skill anyone here in hand to hand combat.I do not think Icould beat some people here in such combat,but that is neither here nor there."

Smiling a bit.

"I mean,honestly if you want to learn about the nova body,you could do worse than learning about your own."

[Hammerhead]

Endeavor says: "There is something that my government has asked me to help them with. There was an incident no more than a week or two ago involving a medium-sized boat being operated by the marine biology department of Tokyo University."

Jacques looks grim at hearing this.

Endeavor said: "The thing that is personal for me, is that a friend was onboard."

*Oh, that's different.*

"I'm in!"

Sphere said: "S'not like the Aberrants hired me for my good looks."

"I, on the other hand have been hired for my looks a few times." Jacques smiles his easy smile.

"I have also been hired to salvage stuff, to fight other novas above and under the sea, as well as for bodyguard duty. I have a good chance of being able to handle any problems we might run into."

"Signy said: I mostly likely out skill anyone here in hand to hand combat."

Jacques just smiles.

[Neil Preston]

"S'not like the Aberrants hired me for my good looks."

Neil looks shocked.

"You mean you're not Geisha's twin brother?!?!?"

"Besides, I don't think anything you kill would be considered sushi. More like Kalamari Flambe'."

"Neil, I show you a few things that will help you in a fight.I mostly likely out skill anyone here in hand to hand combat.I do not think Icould beat some people here in such combat,but that is neither here nor there."

"Good enough. I hate to pass up on any chance to learn. Tell me this, though. Do you have practical experience?"

"I mean,honestly if you want to learn about the nova body,you could do worse than learning about your own."

"Don't you go blind doing that?"

Neil gives his best naive smile.

"I have also been hired to salvage stuff, to fight other novas above and under the sea, as well as for bodyguard duty. I have a good chance of being able to handle any problems we might run into."

"Good to hear, Hammerhead. It's looking less and less likely that I will have to scream like a little school girl. No offense, Endeavor."

Quickly changing the subject.

"So Sphere, who are the Aberrants? All I have heard has been from Utopian Press Releases."

[Ghostwriter]

Regan's eyes narrow as she watches Sphere create his plasma ball. "I'm a half-decent telepath amongst other things," she says quietly, "And my other psionic abilities are moderate level, even if I'm no Vixen. What may give me an edge in this is my cyberkinetic, visual and stamina abilities."

The little woman crackes a thin smile. "Just best have someone to prevent me from becoming fish-food."

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako gets up from her chair, seemingly with purpose...

"So, it seems that a majority here is in. So, after we get introductions aside, I'll show you guys the Hikari Maru II. Our home away from home on the trip."

She walks over to the doorway leading to main hallway to the docks, and leans against the doorjam after the automatic sliding door opens.

"If you guys don't mind, I'll go on ahead of everyone and make sure the systems are online. Just follow the guide arrows on the walls as you make your way."

Sakurako walks out of the room, and heads to the Hikari Maru II.

[Matryoshka]

Quote:

"Good enough. I hate to pass up on any chance to learn. Tell me this, though. Do you have practical experience?"

"Young boy,I have enough experience.I also have many of tricks.But,let's see what you can do,and not worry about what others can do"

[Sphere]

Sphere watches Endeavor walk out. She seemed a little odd for a second there. Almost like she was flipping between two personalities. One calmly assessing things with computer-like precision, the other a giggly child.

Never met a hypermind before though, Sphere thinks maybe that's just how they are.

He chuckles softly.

Or maybe it's all a sodding conspiracy by the Gnomes of f**king Zurich. Stop being so bloody cautious boy, you've been hanging with the Ab's too long.

He looks over at Preston.

"Well, they haven't let me in on too much of the big stuff yet. Understandably they're a little paranoid about newcomers. But they ain't the terrorists Utopia paints them to be either. From what I gather they found out about some black projects being run within the Project. They've been trying to find out exactly what they are."

Sphere then glances at Codex and Signy.

"Don't worry girls. I ain't going to start chucking out recruitment leaflets or anything. But they seem genuine, and I have seen some dodgy X-Files conspiracy sh*t while I've been running with 'em."

/Sphere will walk with the group out to the sub, when the arrows light up/

[Matryoshka]

Signy places a hand on Spheres shoulder,fallowing him.With the softest of voice,she whispered into his ear.

"If you knew what I knew,you wouldn't be here.Utopia isn't my friend,and she is not my foe.So, relax,everything will be fine"

For that brief moment,she let's go of her bounds,and lets her presence fully be known.Then, hidden once more.

{{OOC:Signy has a mega charisma of 4.}}

[Sphere]

Sphere looked down with irritation at the touch on his shoulder, then Signy's voice caught him up in it's flow. For a second he felt his normal vaneer of barely restrained violence vanish and there was only the sound of her speaking.

Then it was gone, as if was never there. He shook his head, unsure of what had just happened. Then he smiled at the young ex-Teen Tomorrowite.

"Don't worry Treacle, I'll keep you safe."

[Neil Preston]

Young boy,I have enough experience.I also have many of tricks.But,let's see what you can do,and not worry about what others can do"

"Just checking the resume of the teach," Neil says with a smile.

"They've been trying to find out exactly what they are."

Neil arches an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything.

For that brief moment,she let's go of her bounds,and lets her presence fully be known.Then, hidden once more.

{{OOC:Signy has a mega charisma of 4.}}

Neil steps back as if slapped, but furrows his brow, staring for a long second at Signy.

{Dropped a willpower}

As the effect fades, he looks away.

"Let's head for the boat, guys and dolls."

Signy's mental bullying seems to have deflated Neil's normal enthusiasm a bit.

Neil will start heading to the boat/sub.

[Hammerhead]

Sphere said: "Don't worry girls. I ain't going to start chucking out recruitment leaflets or anything. But they seem genuine, and I have seen some dodgy X-Files conspiracy sh*t while I've been running with 'em."

"The truth is down here somewhere. I think I caught a glimpse of it, behind that dumpster!"

For that brief moment,she let's go of her bounds,and lets her presence fully be known.Then, hidden once more.

Jacques shows no reaction whatsoever to Signy's display. (OOC: Unfazeable)

Neil said"Let's head for the boat, guys and dolls."

"Yes, let's." Immeditely sensing Neil's lowered spirits, Jacques tries to bring them back up.

"Neil, do you think E has officially christened her little sub yet? Hidden among my whiskey is a bottle of champagne that we could use to give it a name of our choice." Jacques waves in the direction of his floating Box of Booze™. Jacques sets off along Neil.

[Sphere]

(OOC. Oops, got Signy mixed up with Agnelli. Sorry.)

Sphere joins the two heading for the dock, sneakily lifting a bottle of whiskey out of the crate Mega-Dex .

"I think she called it the Kobyashi Maru or something." he says "Hope that don't mean we can't get out of it." he chuckles and pops the top off the whiskey and takes a long pull on it.

"I'm just hoping Endeavor don't want us to dress up in sailor costumes. That's where I draw the line."

[Sphere]

(OOC. For those people walking behind Sphere. You might catch a glimpse of a black tattoo on the base of his neck, just below the collar line of his leather jacket. Not all of it is visible. A pyramid? Some sort of symbol? Looks familier though).

[Hammerhead]

(Since the box is floating behind Jacques, Sphere is behind Jacques too.)

Without turning his head, Jacques says: "That stuff is for after the dive. No drinking and diving. Same rules for everyone, no matter how much you can put away, nova or baseline."

He turns to Sphere.

"Now, spit it out and put it back. If you enjoy drinking, I'll buy you a night at the Amp Room later."

[Sakurako Hino]

As Sakurako makes her way to the ship, she stops for a moment, and thinks to herself.

"Damn. These people aren't programs or things to be analysed. These people agreed to be here."

She sighs.

"I'm so damn... tense right now and I don't know why. I should be comfortable in social situations yet I'm bouncing between Ms. Data and a giggly cheerleader..."

Sakurako starts walking again.

"Heh... why am I worried. That's why I'm tense."

[Sphere]

Sphere frowns at that. But shrugs and drops the bottle back into the crate with a clink.

"No biggie, mate. Unless that stuff's some kind of super-whiskey it'll have about as much impact on my system as orange juice. Even those bloody Amp Wells don't cut the mustard. But fair enough, it's your booze." Two dots of Mega-Stamina and Adaptability.

As they walk out onto the dock, he flicks his cigarette butt into the water and automatically pulls a new one out of his jacket. Reconsiders, remembering that not everyone has got his souped-up system, and puts it back.

"Bloody hell!" He says as he catches his first view of Endeavor's submarine "2000 Leagues Under the sodding Sea eat your heart out!"

(OOC> Can I get a description of the sub?)

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako sits next to a pile of crates set up near the main gangplank heading into the hull of the Hikari Maru II. The HMII's white with pink trim hull looks more like a starship than a sea-going vessel. It's clean lines leading to two massive rearward engine nacelles built into the catamarand/hydrofoil hybrid hull. The bridge of the ship sitting above it all overlooking the docks and the ocean outside. The first rays of morning glinting off of the sea.

"So, Sphere, money well spent then?"

She chimes up, her legs swinging a bit as she sits.

"Trust me, the Nautilus fears the Hikari Maru II."

She hops off the crate she was sitting on.

"Where is everyone else? I hope they're not stuck in some sort of debate..."

Sakurako looks raring and ready to go.

[Neil Preston]

"I think she called it the Kobyashi Maru or something." he says "Hope that don't mean we can't get out of it."

"Hmmph... Sphere, we have a top-notch precog, a flaming fists of death East Ender, a knock-off of a Sub-Mariner villian, " a wink toward Hammerhead," or was that Aquaman?"

"Add to that a Legend out of a 16th century Japanese morality tale, a connoisseur of the finest 20th century film and literature, the Living Embodiment of the Library of Alexandria, and lastly, an overhyped college student with his Backpack of Many-Things."

"What could StarFleet throw at us that we couldn't deal with?"

Turning to Endeavor,

"So, do we pipe you aboard?"

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako quirks an eyebrow towards Neil.

"You forget, it's not starfleet we'd have to worry about in the water."

She flashes a smile.

"And no need to whistle me aboard. If you did, I'd have to change in to an outfit more suitible for my rank, and you guys would be wearing the sailor suits... And I know Sphere isn't down for that."

Her smile turns into a grin.

[Hammerhead]

Sphere said: "Unless that stuff's some kind of super-whiskey it'll have about as much impact on my system as orange juice."

"It's just regular stuff. The point is that you don't drink and dive, ever."

Neil said: "...a knock-off of a Sub-Mariner villian, " a wink toward Hammerhead," or was that Aquaman?"

"You tell me. I never read any of those comics. I'm more into ABC Warriors myself."

His Box of Booze innocently drifts closer as Jacques asks Endeavour:

"Say E, is that thing officially christened yet?" He winks at Neil as he says it.

"Anyway, it's very impressive. I'm not sure I will board it if those sailor suits are mentioned again though." He looks deadly serious for a few seconds, then he smiles at Endeavour.

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako's grin is still quite evident.

"Well... It was Neil that started it... And yes, She was christened. Although my ship's Bhuddist... Go fig."

Sakurako is straining to keep from laughing.

"Never thought I'd be the entertainment..."

[Vixen]

"These are lovely, Endeavor. Hang on a sec, I'm just gonna go get changed."

Roxanne walks off to the washroom. Mitch looks nervous for a moment...

Wow. I've never been in a room full of people who could kill me. This is interesting... Neil seems to be a good guy. Endeavor... what did Roxy tell me about her? Been through everything imaginable... she's so young. Codex reminds me of Roxy in a way. I wonder if Roxanne noticed. That's weird. I keep looking away whenever Sphere comes by. Why is that? Look straight at him. Jeez, what's throwing me off? Something about Hammerhead too. I don't feel this way around Roxy... maybe I just managed to get used to her over time. Maybe it's something else with Roxy. I have nothing in common with these people, why am I here? I-

Roxanne - now Vixen - returns, having gone fully nova and decked out in the white, red and gold robes that Sakurako gave her. She catches Mitch's expression and giggles.

~Neil caught your Buckaroo Banzai reference and

Sphere is making Star Trek jokes. You have common ground, Mitch. We all do. Relax.~

And Mitch does indeed relax. Roxanne regards the group.

"Okee dokey. So we're going down to recover a black box... sounds easy enough. If Codex can get close enough I think she could pipe the contents of the box into her head, so we might not need to enter the sub at all. What else do we need to recover? I can phase through the water and I can take along an oxygen tank so I might not need a suit, but I've never tried solidifying in water before... so I could help scout it out if you wanted me to."

[Ghostwriter]

Codex shakes her head with a sigh. "I'd literally have to get within a few centimetres to hear it, and that's being lucky," she replies. "Part of the - " she pauses, glancing at Vixen, " - cost of my abilities is near-deafness."

She purses her lips. "However, if someone could get some kind of dictation program loaded onto something that's waterproof, it could be translated into text and be remembered."

[Sakurako Hino]

"Vixen, I would request that you don't take any risks you aren't prepared for. Besides, the drysuit I specifically designed for your Kitsune form would be put to waste if you didn't use it."

Sakurako then turns to Codex.

"I was aware of your hearing condition, so I installed a HUD in the helmets we'll be using. It will display a text message of what people are saying. At least on your helmet."

She then straightens her clothing a bit as she makes her way into the ship.

"I chose helmets with attatachable regulators for better communication purposes, and it's easier to warm an enclosed body. Last time I checked, the waters in that area are around 40 degrees."

Then an idea pops into her head...

"Tell you what, I'll get changed quiclky before we leave dock, just to show you guys what I mean..."

Sakurako dashes into the ship with all her quantum enhanced dexterity could muster. Some could swear she left a Sakurako shaped puff of dust behind her...

[Neil Preston]

"Hey, guys," Neil addresses the gathering team.

"Better to hurry up and stake out your staterooms. I've already got mine."

Neil will still sprint onto the ship with all of his superb baseline speed.

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako chirps in her usually friendly tone over loudspeakers over her estate and dock area...

"Okay, guys, I'll meet you all at the bridge!"

She then switches off the intercom system as she sits in the main seat of the bridge deck. The foreward facing windows overlook the bow of the ship. The HMII's systems coming online one by one.

She leans back in her control seat, and crosses her legs. A faint squeak is heard from the new pink and white drysuit she's wearing. A matching helmet sits on the floor next to her seat.

This should be an adventure to remember...

[Sphere]

What could starfleet throw at us that we couldn't deal with?

"Heh, well if you think you could take Kirk in a straight out fist fight, you've gotta be more powerful than Mal! Even then it'd be 50/50."

The point is that you don't drink and dive, ever.

"Makes sense, I guess we'd look pretty stupid in full scuba gear wearing those baseball caps with the beer cans and straws."

"Hey, if we're doing ABC Warriors, I bagsy Mek-Quake."

Sphere starts making pushing motions with his hands and rumbling in a robot voice "Big jobs! Big jobs!"

Sphere realises that he's really looking forward to this. His walk across the bottom of the English Channel had been pretty hard going. Slogging through knee deep silt, in near pitch dark. With only the light of his GPS unit to guide him. Knowing that if that failed, he'd have been lost down there for a long time.

He walks into Endeavor's sub, gobsmacked that the interior is so spacious. He was expecting soemthing out of "Das Boot". But this craft. He marvels at the fact that their host owns something like this, and that the pink-clad schoolgirl currently occupying the command chair built the damn thing in the first place!

He shook his head. Having spent most of the Nova Age in prison, the last months have been a real eye opener. Superhuman nightclubs, vast conspiracies, and now plunging into the depths of the ocean to look at sunken ruins and to hunt for a black box.

Welcome back to the world, Al, he thought, standing there with his mouth open Welcome back.

As Preston came sprinting in shouting about state rooms, he smiled and turned to Signy.

(OOC. Still vaguely feeling the effects of Signy's mega-socials)

"Well, if space is a problem, Signy and I can share." he smiles to show he's kidding (kinda).

[Ghostwriter]

Regan moved as quickly as she can onto the 'submarine', lugging a backpack over her shoulder. She wondered why she hadn't bought a suit of eufiber before, the stuff was so useful, and why she hadn't sought help from the nova community about her knee.

"For a change, I think it's wonderful I'm a nova," she murmured under her breath as she went looking for a room.

[Matryoshka]

"Sphere,you are such a kind boy.A good one,as well,just remember to think,before you act"

Looking towards Endeavor,she smiled.

"Endeavor,you know you are going to do many great things.Many great things indeed."

"Mister Jacques,I would bet good money,on your fighting skills,in a fair fight.The problem is,there is rarely,if ever a fair fight."

[Neil Preston]

"Heh, well if you think you could take Kirk in a straight out fist fight, you've gotta be more powerful than Mal! Even then it'd be 50/50."

"No way! I was thinking you would take Kirk, and I would make sure he didn't seduce any of our women! Now, who do you think has the harder job?"

After Sphere sort of hits on Signy, Neil winks and says to him,

"Dude, you are a braver man than I."

Neil will then turn and offer to help Regan with her luggage.

"After all, now that you have rendered me to hopeless younger man, we can still be friends, right?"

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako closes her eyes as she listens to the conversations going on between the various team members. She listens through the microphones installed in the hallways. She didn't intend them to be used for eavesdropping, They were more for listeneing to what her drones are doing than anything else. She sort of feels guilty even listening in...

Wait... She forgot to even deploy her ship drones...

With a thought, she opens various compartments within the hallways of the Hikari Maru II. Little spherical robots with wheels and folded pallette lifters scurry about, getting to their "duty stations" around the ship. Beeping and chirping as they move about. Since right now Sakurako doesn't have a crew, this is the next best thing.

"Watch your step, ladies and gentlemen, there's 'bots on duty." Sakurako says over the ship's intercom. "They will help you with anything that needs lifting or moving. They're my... current crew for lack of a better term."

[Neil Preston]

Watching a small spherical robot whip about underfoot,

"Hey, how did we get aboard Moya?"

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako giggles at the remark...

"Now I know where I got the Idea..."

[Ghostwriter]

"Thanks for the offer, Neil, but I can carry a backpack," Regan says with a smile, stepping over one of the little robots. She looks to Sakurako.

"Honey, I hope you don't mind it's going to take me a few hours to get to the submarine once we arrive. I'm not that great a swimmer, even when my leg was working."

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako scratches her chin...

"Miss McLachlan, I may have something that can help. I do have motorized "sleds" that can pull you along in the water. That is, if you feel you need such assistance. I wouldn't want to force it."

Sakurako looks at the various screens on the bridge's consoles as each of the systems turn green. She could embark at any time, but she's patient.

[Sphere]

Sphere, you are such a kind boy. A good one as well, just remember to think before you act.

Sphere winks at Signy "I'm more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of bloke, but we'll see."

No way! I was thinking you could take Kirk...

"I wish! He'd kick my arse! Half those episodes seemed to be based around him beating down superhumans."

Suddenly, the floor around Sphere comes alive with activity. Small robots appear out of nowhere and swarm past him on unknown missions.

"Wah! What the fu...!?"

He steps out of the way of the drones and watches them moving about.

"Hey Endeavor, I hope these things are supposed to be here. Else you might want to get some well-armed exterminators in here."

Sphere focuses his mind for a moment, and a ball of blue light appears around him. It suddenly flares intensely and vanishes, only to reappear next to a seat on the bridge. The light fades and Sphere takes a seat.

He nods to Endeavor and takes a look out across the sea.

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako nods at Sphere, and waits for the rest of the team to show up.

(OOC: I'm gonna take a break for a couple of days so I can get better from this damned flu.)

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako scratches her chin after waiting a few minutes.

"You know something, Sphere, I am going to check up on the rest of the team..."

She gets up, and walks to the back door of the bridge. Walks through the opened doors, and heads down to the docking level via a "mag-lev" elevator.

[Sakurako Hino]

Sakurako wanders the halls, looking for the stragglers.