16-The Medical Bay

[Busterbugs]

A large room for medical treatment and emergency’s.

[Gardsorm]

It didn't matter how many days Archer had to explore the ship inside and out... It only got marginally easier to remember where all of the rooms on the BlackStar were that weren't his own room. He felt like a drop of water in a very big bucket, but everyone else around him seemed to understand where they needed to be, almost like it was practiced. The red-headed male couldn't bring himself to complain about it, however; He had spent most of his life planetside, this was the first time he'd ever gone to the sea of stars in a space ship.

Such things were the stuff made of dreams to the young redhead. If alien entities from beyond their world could come to make trouble, then surely the stars above must have had worlds out there where actually good aliens would be... So to think that Archer could be among one of those voyages into outer space, it was very much a dream come true.

However, that dream was certainly overwhelming him as much of his time was spent navigating the ship, learning where he could go and where he couldn't, and meeting the unique faces that would be serving on the BlackStar. Compared to most of them, Archer didn't feel as important in the grand scheme of things, but perhaps that would change once the BlackStar managed to land. From the sound of things, they were coming up on a planet that seemed hospitable according to sensors, which meant he would get a chance to gear up, disembark and survey the environment alongside others. He was going to be expected to pull his weight, and learning that one of the most infamous heroes of the Human-Xeno war, Commander Joseph Briggs, was serving on the ship... That meant he'd need to learn quick, fast, and in a hurry so as to not draw the grizzled veteran's ire.

To that end, one of his first decisions was to make a visit to the medbay. A journey through the stars meant an introduction to lifeforms and bacterium that was hardly native to Earth, and even the BlackStar housed a few. It was in his best interest to be vaccinated for future excursions off the ship, as well as make sure he didn't bring any onboard going forward. However as he stepped into the medbay, the overall sterile feeling overwhelmed him.

"... It never gets easier, huh? Feels like I'm in a laboratory more than a medical room." he mused to himself quietly, pocketing his hands in his uniform pants as he took a look around rather than take a seat like he should have at first.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Gardsorm

[Warning]

The med bay would be a medium sized place or so, just good enough for about 3 or 4 patients at most. Not that lot of sick or wounded really was expected. Everyone was trained more or less in the hope to avoid risks as much as possible. Thankfully for now, no healthcare really was required by anyone so the work and activity was pretty lax right now. Except for a few strange things present in the room and adjacent areas. For one, a small creature resembling a white haired black cat(?) was floating into a medical pod in front of him or so, from the entrance. A system nearby seemed to keep a constant update of its status but otherwise, there was no sound nor movement coming from it or the pod. It was not left without complete surveillance either.

To his left, toward where the resting and surgery area would be, some movement and sounds could easily be detectable by a lifeform similar to the cat in the pod. A taller, adult sized, anthro of wolf nature in yellow suit would be there seeming to be working on something. On the medical bed there inside would be another anthro of some sort, one colored in red and black, unconscious or dead? At the very least, the panels gave no real signs of life. Some pieces of her were also removed but the parts were not gory or anything nasty. These parts in questions looked removable and the wolf girl seemed to work on a way to fix or restore her. From her outfit, she definitely was an engineer and not a nurse so the one she worked on couldn't be a patient.

[Gardsorm]

The low activity never ceased to catch Archer off-guard, especially here. Sure, the BlackStar was designed to operate with a small enough crew, but he still expected more activity in places other than the hangars and whatnot. Still, if there was a small amount of activity in the medbay, it meant that there was no need for its services just yet. As the redhead walked around, he could see it was being used to treat more than just what he came to expect... At first, his eyes fell upon the small, anthropomorphic black cat, his arms folding as he looked it over. "It probably won't be long before this ship lands, and you can finally escape those confines... I wonder, you gonna be the cute sort, the friendly sort, the mischievous sort, or the problematic sort?" He spoke to the creature with a smile, irregardless if it could hear him or not. In a way, it brought him a small comfort to talk to things and try to form an idea of how they would be.

That way, his expectations could be surprised when reality came knocking.

Stepping past the pod, he continued to carefully survey the room more out of curiosity than out of necessity. If the medical staff showed up to accost him, he hoped a simple apology would be enough, since he had no other ulterior motives to be here. Over the course of these thoughts, he hadn't thought to use his senses enough to learn that someone else was in the room until his eyes fell upon them from behind, causing him to flinch for a quick second. However, that second was all he needed to see the worker in question was from another division, simply handling the kind of business she was expected to. That lupine form was familiar...

"Florence? Huh, didn't think I'd find you here... Although..." He paused now to get a better look at what Florence was working on, and realized she was working on... Well, what he believed would be another cute anthropomorphic girl, just noticeably taller than the one in the pod. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at all. Have you been working on her all this time? About how soon do you think she'll be up and around?" He found himself asking, stepping more to the side of the medical bed to get a better look at the project.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Gardsorm

[Warning]

The wolf girl was a little too busy to hear Archer while he was speaking around the small catgirl and she was not even noticing him wandering about either. The catgirl herself was completely still and without a single sign of movement or reaction to his words. Her eyes were closed but the odd pattern on what was not covered on her body was still observable, showing a blue symbol on her hip and a gold lining that separated her main colors on her body. Meanwhile, Florence's eyes were focused to look at some monitoring systems while she took notes of what she was dealing with. A box of tools was left nearby as she had figured that she could need them at any times but even as an engineer, she looked puzzled about what kind of work she needed to do.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone mentioning her name from behind her, making Florence turn around to see who was talking to her. "Oh? Mr. Reid... You're right, this is not where I'm usually found but I have extra work, now.", she said, referring to the anthro or what looked like an anthro that she was working on. Despite what it looked like, the pieces of that red cat-like being looked pretty advanced yet semi realistic with fur details and everything. The inside of the removed part of her leg however, looked mechanical unlike usually known mechanisms. It even included fiber of some sort. As Archer commented on her, Florence eyed the anthroid and sighed. "She is incredibly advanced. I have yet to understand everything about her, yet.", she replied.

Moving closer to the other side of where Archer was, the wolf girl took a good look at the sleeping catgirl. "I would hope to wake her up soon. She may be able to tell me more about herself. Or about the other one in the tube..." Florence grabbed the detached leg piece and connected it back to where it belonged, which did well to make it look like it never was disconnected to begin with. "That leg was loose at first and yet, here it is looking like nothing was wrong with it. She must have been expensive to create... She is completely synthetic.", she explained, pointing at one of the screens where not a single bone structure was shown. Rather, they could see what looked like a complicated set of synthetic materials and even armor plates. The tail was segmented.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

"Hahah, so I see. Well, if the ship is fine, only fair they'd stick you with understanding other mysteries that fall within your workload." Archer noted, although he had been expecting her to work more on the ship's official Biobots or so. From what little he knew, this project of hers and the one in the tank weren't officially on the register for the ship... Maybe they had been found or reclaimed at some point. Whatever the answer was, it was above his pay grade to know. "Incredibly advanced feels like an understatement. I can't really understand any of this at a glance, but I can see that the kind of design choices they made for her were designed to imitate human physiology, it feels like. All the way down to muscles... Could be they figured they could gain more power and reduced wear with a muscle package like that. It almost feels like something you'd see out of a cartoon." He couldn't help but admit.

Still, these were more observations, Florence was the one in charge here. "So her and the shortstack in the tank came in as a pair? I guess I can sort of see that... Though I admit if you didn't tell me that now, I would never have guessed that small one was like this one here." He blinked in surprise, looking from the anthroid on the table to the one in the vat not too far from them. He couldn't help but give a slight wince when Florence simply took the leg of the anthroid and casually reattached it like nothing was wrong. "The leg was loose? How did she even manage to walk around, I wonder... I get she's synthetic, but that had to have been an efficiency loss at least..."

Taking a look at the screen, he could confirm the engineer's words as the entire readout on the anthroid women was given. Not a single bone, nothing like blood or anything of the sort... A completely synthetic existence that mimicked life visually. "It's like some race out there decided to make an incredibly hot and fluffy Terminator. I've got to admit, even I wouldn't know what was happening until it was too late." He casually admitted, brushing his chin as his eyes moved all over the screen to read every collected description on the anthroid's make. It would be a huge boon if Florence could get her and the small one active... And hopefully not against them. They had their own Biobots on the ship, but he didn't feel like invoking any chaotic synthetic versus synthetic conflicts. 

"If you don't mind me asking, where exactly did you find these two?"

[Warning]

Florence blinked as she looked at Archer then looked down at the anthroid again. "They made them a replica of our kind...", she remarked, pointing at the details of the body and fur, similar to her own. And yet, some details were still noticeably different from the exterior. The glowy details of the ears or the paw pads being slightly luminescent, imitating an animal pad with a gelatinous like material. "I believe she is stronger than I am, thanks to her design. These paws would easily support her weight without damage. In fact, she is not that heavy for what she is...", Florence let her thoughts flow, wondering what was the process or the reason behind her creation. Her not being a doctor but an engineer made some questions easy but some other ones less simple for her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Archer asked about the little black one as well. "Ah yes, they both seem to have been together but left without power... I was not sure either but she had the same details as this one yet smaller. A very strange mark on her hip is what lead it to me along with this one. The blue one... It does not look like a tribal sign but something else.", she said in thoughts again, at least taking a moment to discuss something she seemed rather passionate about over working her brain trying to figure the one anthroid out. Looking at the leg of the red cat then back to Archer, Florence nodded. "Loose yes, but it's difficult to say if she has been using it. When they were found, they were both unconscious... I mean, out of power.", she tried to explain.

Florence seemed to be lost but if anyone would be able to understand something, it was probably her, thanks to her remarkable intellect as an engineer. Despite the fact that these may have been a little more advanced than her knowledge, it made the wolf girl excited to learn more about what she didn't know. The mention of fluffy terminator almost made her stare at the cat then at Archer for a moment then her eyes got suddenly brighter. "It is funny that you mention it but neither of them had weapons. Their analysis do not seem to show any concealed weaponry either. They only have their claws but they do not look like they were used for combat. I think they both had a different purpose. This one has symbols on her clothes but I cannot figure what they mean..."

The wolf girl looked disappointed by the fact. Among the two, only the bigger red one had lettering of some sort on her clothes but no one capable of reading them. Still, the last question struck Florence, making her quiet for a moment. "I was not the one who found them. They were brought to me. I think they figured that I would be the best at finding who or what they are and if they can be used. They are too valuable to throw them away. My job remains to take care of the ship first so I have to return to my duties as soon as I must. Perhaps if I found a way to power them up...", she thought loudly, wondering if a jolt of electricity would reboot them or fry them and the thought that the latter could happen would be terrible and probably get her in troubles.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

With a moment to blink and rub his face, the redhead sighed and looked down to press his palm into it. "I should have said humanoid, but... Well, no excuse for that." It felt like s good thing people like Florence were more attentive of details than he was; He was sure if he was allowed to speak on behalf of others to new people, he was going to miscommunicate something he couldn't easily take back. 'This is why you're just paid to patrol and not run your mouth, Reid.' He kept his thoughts internalized until he could feel the embarrassment psss and continue the conversation like normal. Surveying the latest details pointed out by the engineer, he raised his brow. "You mean to tell me after being made of all of this space-age metal, circuitry, and gelatin, she's lighter than one might expect?" Now that was a stunning thought to process. Was it a tactical choice? Or was there a more innocent reason for such a decrease in weight? 

There were so many questions that one could only answer by picking their creators brains, but were forced to use theory and guessing to answer. "So I guess in a way... Well, maybe not like that, but still it gives me the impression they're almost like sisters then. They were probably just made in the same production facilities and that mark is just like an elaborate copyright, if I had to guess. Or maybe something more personal from their creator." When Florence got engaged in the right way, it was almost cute how she couldn't resist reacting in a more excited manner. Even her tail betrayed a bit of her glee, a visual image he always kept secret as telling her about it was probably embarrassing in her own way. Focusing back on the anthroid, he nodded. "It's fine to say they were unconscious. At this point, I can't help but assume they have more sentience to them than usual. Like some of our Biobots and Combat Droids who seem more human than machine... I can't think of someone like that as just a thing or a construct... I'd like to believe these two were designed to engage races like yours, all the way down to their programming. Time will tell if they're as friendly as I'd like to hope."

Almost as if to try and lend some credence to his thoughts and hopes, Florence was all too delighted to share that neither of them were armed! The redhead seemed both a bit surprised, and yet not as surprised to hear. "Well know... I'm starting to wonder then, if their builder really did design them for dialogue and integration with races like yours... Apparently didn't feel a need to arm them either. I'm sure they could use our weapons if it came to it, but I'd like to believe these two are just going to be cute fishes out of water trying to understand us and our culture... I'd like to say we should try to teach them the best parts of our societies and not the worst, but... Ah, I'm not sure I'd make a great teacher for anything." Never mind some of his other habits of flirting with women. The fact they were sy thetic lifeforms certainly wouldn't stop him, but it was that fact that told him he was probably not a good fit for interacting with them. "Symbols... If it's not a design choice brought on by what inspie these two... Maybe it's meant to tell others what their purpose is... In a language neither of us know. Don't suppose there were any database matches for these symbols, I guess."

So... She didn't find them herself. Yet whoever did find them had the presence of mind to not immediately dispose of them, and brought them to the engineer as the most likely to get them to work. Assuming they saw these two anthroids as being akin to Biobots, he could understand why someone would want to make them functional and on their side. "There's no shortage of power to be used for getting them active, at least... There's also that Biobot Mother somewhere on the ship who could probably get them working again... But yeah, I get the reticence to avoid doing anything that might damage them. It's not as simple as plugging them into an outlet to charge... Something." He folded his arms, before snorting. "Imagine if it was something like out of one of those kiddy fairy tales. 'Kiss the princess and break the curse'... Don't ask me why that just popped into my head, it sounded as stupid as when I just said it... I think all we can really do is hope time will let these two move and act on their own. Unless you're keen on doing anything and everything scientifically imaginable to make them active... You know, for science."

[Warning]

Florence was in deep thoughts as he talked but the thing about her the red one's weight made her look at Archer. "She is lighter than what we'd think a robot weight. I can't be that strong.", she remarked. She was strong as a wolf but a real mechanical robot would still normally weight a ton and yet, testing to be sure that she was not insane, she was able to lift the anthroid just fine in the grasp, to show archer. And despite the movement, she didn't move herself, perfectly asleep. Florence soon put her down again, perfectly laid down to not disturb the analysis. The second thing that made her curious was a guess that she could be the other one's sister. "That... is not too crazy. She does not have such a mark on herself like the other one does but I think they may have been made by the same person or corporation." With everything, her tail was indeed wagging slowly but she didn't really notice or perhaps she refused to acknowledge for now it as she was supposed to be a professional.

The thought about them having sentience made a lot of sense. "Right.", she replied. "I doubt that they would be designed like this to be simple robots to serve humans. This one alone has many components that I do not understand.", she explained while looking back to the anthroid. "I do not know why they were made but I think we will know when they wake up. I could not get a look at anything in their head and the scans do not show much. Their brains have to be some advanced memory technology but only heavens know what is inside.", she said, referring to if they would be friendly or not. Their code, whatever was programmed into them, would be what decides if they would be friendly or if they existed for extermination but the latter would be pretty odd considering their design and their choice of gadgets. A weaponless weapon was either ingerous or outright scary to imagine. No... There was no way that she was a kind of fluffy terminator. The little one even less so.

Florence blinked a moment later as the topic of teaching them came up. "To be fair, I do not know what we're dealing with and I feel like they may have more to teach us than us to teach them. Although... Them and us live in different kinds of worlds. Our biobots are nothing like them. I would say that we should wait before we make educative plans about them.", she remarked, not without an amused smile. As the topic drifted back to symbols, the wolf girl looked toward the black little one again then to Archer. "No can do. The both of them could come from anywhere in the universe. We would have to check that database soon but I will need permission to do so but I don't think that it matters right now. It would not tell us how to wake them.", she told him, growing more and more curious about them. With the idea to plug them, she wondered what was even powering them. An inner battery perhaps. "Perhaps there is a way to recharge them. And no, I will not give her a kiss..."

Edited November 11, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

"Yeah, generally when we all assume robot, we imagine them being as heavy as a normal one... Although I guess our Biobots kind of broke that norm a little bit when they tried making them closer to humans. I suppose by that logic, robots made using an unknown metal from space would likely be lighter than metals and metal-composites we're familiar with." Archer remarked, trying to process how easily Florence managed to lift the unconscious anthroid, passing his hand over and under. "No low-gravity tricks or anything either... Well, now I've definitely seen everything." Any other disbelief and incredulity Archer bore in the moment had gone out the window when Florence proved everything she claimed handily. Good thing he didn't make any bets, or he'd be reaping a bitter harvest right now. "Well, whoever made them definitely had eyes for good designs. Hard to fault them for choosing such cute subjects."

Pocketing his hands, he gave a quick nod. "I feel like humans weren't even considered in the equation when it comes to their make...  I'd honestly just like to believe someone among the stars wanted to try their own hand at creating their own artificial lifeforms, and that was these two. I can think of any number of ideas for how and why they exist, but nothing will beat hearing it straight from the horse's mouth... Or anthroids, in this case." The redhead mused. The anthroid girls were going to be the greatest mystery on this ship until they awoke. "If even you couldn't take a glance at what their databanks are hiding... Well, it's slightly concerning. The unknown presents too many variables... But it is kind of exciting though. If they turn out friendly, they'll likely be a treasure trove of potential information." 

He didn't want to admit it, but Florence likely had the right of it; More than likely they'd have more to learn from the anthroids than the anthroids themselves would learn from them. "Educative plans, she says. This is me we're talking about, I don't think I'd have anything worthwhile to teach them... Not even from a civilian standpoint. I'll probably just leave all of the teaching to you... Besides, you're effectively their caretakers, it'd only be fair if you did handle them. Otherwise, you've got a point; Given the different worlds we come from, there's a chance she and the little one probably knows all there is to know about us." There was always going to be hope that they were friendly. If their Biobots could gain sentience and adopt personalities like they did, then these two were bound to be their own unique characters. He also had to hope that whatever languages they knew, Earth Standard was probably one of them.

"No matches even from the database? Damn, they must have come from pretty deep into the sea of stars then. Well, the BlackStar is due to land on that new planet soon... Doubt these two will be up before then, but s guy can dream... Speaking of dreaming, you don't need to shoot mine down so hard, Flo! I just wanted to see a little muzzle to muzzle action, can't blame s guy for that, right?" He winked, before clearing his throat. "But I'll behave. There'll be plenty of time in the future for frolicking, cavorting, and everything in between anyway... I'd like to hope they wake up soon, it's feeling impersonal to call them anthroids when they feel like they should have proper names."

[Warning]

Florence blushed slightly, looking at the Anthroid more closely. At least in her tastes, it was true that she and the other one were kinda cute. She soon shook her head to focus back on what her task was. Even if the red one was especially attracting in a way, there was work to do to actually get her up and walking. Even getting her to react or open her eyes would be an awesome start. "Do you think that they even know humans?", she asked, wondering if perhaps whoever created them were only anthros and that humans perhaps were an unknown thing to them. "But yes, you're right... And this is why I must get them to wake up. We have to find out more details about them. I will do my best to make it happen.", she said, feeling determined to make it work. She had to.

Still, she wondered about that more. Perhaps they knew more about them or perhaps they didn't. At any rates, there was a big chance that it would be interesting to hear it from them and learn from them, while at the same time, they could learn from her and the BlackStar. "Still... They have quite an interesting design. A small one in black and gray lined with gold and a tall one in red and black. Nothing of this is natural, even for a machine.", speaking her thought, looking down at the anthroid. "But... I guess you're right again. I will take care of them. My job as an engineer should not disturb that and I do not think that they will wake up while I am gone.". Florence felt that these anthroids would probably need something manual to wake them up or at least one of them.

With what Archer was telling her, the wolf girl couldn't stop but blush again. "Alright but if she doesn't wake up from it, all of this will be for naught. That you behave or not, it could be done for science... You think an anthroid will mind?", she asked, looked at the red one. Was she really going to try it, though? Moving closer, she looked at her and her face carefully but shaking her head, she pulled away. "I-It's probably not a good idea. She might as well be considered dead in her state... It would not be right. Even if she is not really alive.", she concluded, feeling a little disappointed by the fact but this could change if at least one of them opened their eyes. "Oh... I did not find any names on them. At least not any readable names. It must be inside their memory...", she figured.

For now, Florence had to find a way to wake them up and waiting was not going to do it. Not if they were asleep for a long time anyway. Something a little more manual and forced would have to do instead. She went back to think about the mean to recharge them if their power source would deplete. There HAD to be a way or it would be a terrible design otherwise. Unfortunately, there was no port for a plug or anything. Or at least not a visible one at first sight. Except for... A detail that she had noticed about her tail on the scans. The segmented part was not exactly the issue but the tip was oddly designed. On the surface, it was a fluffy black tip of a tail but on scan, there was a large end looking like a port of some sort. "Do we have a way to give her a shock?", she asked.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

"If I had to guess? I don't think so... Unless the government hid encounters with these lifeforms from the common folk. But as far as I know, our troubles with alien lifeforms rarely included synthetic ones like these two. Maybe unless they were captives forced to fight for them... I can see the appeal of making an autonomous lifeform fight for you to mitigate more serious losses... But you also said these girls weren't armed, so I'd guess they weren't used for combat." Archer was quick to think of potential reasons they never saw entities like this during the war times, or on the news, or... Much of anywhere. "Time's on our side here. We're not being harrowed by anyone, so we can take our time figuring out how to get them back up."

Calling their design interesting felt like a understatement to him. If she had asked for his opinion, he would have said they were drop-dead gorgeous, the one on the table having a great shape. It was almost close to Florence in design, but he was sure the natural wolfgirl was more shapely. Then there was the small one... Small but built healthily, she didn't seem as childlike so much as she seemed like a small adult... Smaller than natural at least. However, Archer had to cast his gaze away from them or else Florence would probably see how intently he was looking at him... Although maybe she already knew. "You're already working pretty hard to help keep the BlackStar running. I may not be engineer material, but if you need a little bit of heavy lifting when working with them, don't be afraid to let me know. We're all in this together!" He assured the engineer.

"Wait, I was just joking, don't actually-" Holy crap, Florence was daring! Archer held his words back as he saw her lean in. At the last moment, however, she leaned back and he breathed a quiet breath. "Yeah, you've got a point. Let's just pretend I didn't say anything about that... Anyway, if they have names or designations, then we're only going to hear it from them. Looks like we're going to have to do this the creative way." the redheaded soldier remarked. It seemed whatever he mentioned about recharging them sparked a thought in the wolven engineer as she raised her question. "A shock? Well... This is probably one of the most advanced ships made from Earth's ingenuity and access to tech in-house and out. I'd be disappointed if there wasn't a way to siphon a little electricity for smaller purposes." 

Looking around their immediate area was bound to be fruitful. Navigating the walls, especially near the tank that housed the small anthroid revealed a good few ports that were meant to be used to provide extra sources to plug in medical instruments. "Well, I don't think we're hurting for ports, at least. I don't suppose we could connect her to one of these, could we? If not, there's got something we can use in Engineering..."

[Warning]

Florence gave it a moment to think but nodded. "Right. They certainly are not combat unit and it's not possible to know their functioning until we put them up.", she said before going back in silence for a bit. It's true that they had time. And Archer was right. She already did a lot but otherwise, she was alright. Thankfully the red one was not so heavy, at least for someone like her and the little one was even lighter. "I should be alright... But I think I may have to bring her back to the engineering labs to test my theory. I am not sure how the small one works yet but this one may know. I just need one up to help the other one.". If she was right, everything was going to be smooth. All she needed was a single chance to activate the tall one and everything was going to be fine.

Trying to ignore her own near attempt to kiss the anthroid awake, the wolf engineer looked at Archer. "Creative it will be. I think that if I am right, I would simply need to send a good jolt through her tail. I don't actually suggest on a real live body like mine.", she said with a slight shiver. "Her tail is tough and I believe it might conduct power, though. If I succeed to make her absorb enough power to get her awake, I may be able to get her to tell me how to recharge her as well.", she explained but paused to look around as well. "The medbay will not have what I need. I need a good spark. I will bring her back with me and try this idea. Oh and no worry, as long as I do it at the tip of her tail, I should not fry anything. If that doesn't work... I don't know, perhaps something else."

With this in mind, she gently grabbed the anthroid in her grasp and turned around the room to head to the south door though she stopped before and looked back at Archer then at the little anthroid and back to Archer again. "Say... Would you mind taking a look at this one while I do this? I do not want to leave her alone in case someone comes up. She is not exactly supposed to be here. Since she was small, I thought putting her in there for temporary check up would do well. As far as it is, I think she will just be floating in there for as long as this one is unconscious. But still...". She looked to be in thought for a moment but then just went through the doors leading to the engines with the other anthroid. The small back one indeed seemed to just be floating there. For now.

[Gardsorm]

Few things were more concerning than a non-functioning automaton... More militant hardliners would have certainly been very apprehensive about getting such entities up and running, at least not without being supervised by others who were armed. Still, those risks did not seem to stop Florence from trying to do what she felt was right, and his gut feeling told him that there was little to fear from these two... Now, he just needed to hope said gut feeling was right. "Well, they're both in your very capable hands then. If this works... Well, it would be nice to see a good Domino Effect: Activate her, and she'll know how to activate the other one." Florence seemed so sure of the plan that even Archer couldn't help but feel like he could put faith in her intents.

Was it a long shot? Certainly, but it was the best shot they had.

"Hrm... Yeah, I don't think anyone wants to voluntarily take a jolt through their body... Although, I DO believe shockplay is a kink... N-not that I would know or anything, but... Ah, sorry, I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little." The redhead winced when it felt like he was just rambling. Florence truly did seem to have a very good idea though, using the design of the anthroid woman to her advantage to lead a charge that would hopefully power up her systems... Even if it was only a temporary measure. "Right now, it's all we've got. Let's put our faith in this crazy idea. Engineering should have plenty of ways to pass excess power to get our girl up and running. Worst case scenario, you might make some people wary at the unusual energy spike from Engineering." Which, to Archer, probably wouldn't amount to much. Spikes in energy readings from different sectors were probably a little commonplace as people were getting last-minute checks and preparations for their mission.

"... Huh? You want me to watch her? Well... I'm not exactly doing anything else... Sure, I'll keep an eye on Sleeping Beauty here. I'd like to believe other medical staff will be fine with it, at least... Anyway, good luck and Godspeed, Florence." Archer gave a two-fingered salute to the wolf as she carried the taller anthroid out with her... The silence that followed was unnerving for a few moments as he sighed and turned to approach the small one's tank.

"Heh .. Sleeping Beauty is right. I suppose it works for both of you, doesn't it? Although you're not quite tall enough to be close to the original inspiration... You've got the looks though." Archer couldn't help but admit, moving to step beside the pod and lean against the wall next to it. "I'm just hired security on this ship, it feels like... I can't even fathom how I got caught up in this. I guess just being a coworker to your absolute cutie of a caretaker was enough. Man, I wish you could see her now. Shapely wolf girl, luxurious fur, determined personality... I'm starting to realize whoever made you two knew just how to capture the best parts of an anthro race." Archer continued, smiling as he realized in trying to talk to the sleeping small one, he was effectively just talking to himself... Oh god, was this how Space Madness started?

"She's doing everything she can to see both you and your tall sister wake up. In a way, maybe the two of you can come to see her like a sister too... Me? I'm just 'that guy that hangs around her'. Or 'That pervert who looks at you funny because you're more gorgeous than you probably should be'. Honestly, I'm not even sure why im talking to you, vain hopes you'll wake up and catch it? Who knows... But looking at the two of you, I feel like you're going to be friendly types... So maybe when you wake up, you'll realize I'm friendly too and maybe we can talk as friends." He continued, folding his arms and looking up at the ceiling. He didn't know how long Florence would take, but he had enough time to probably share a few words with the unconscious small one.

"I don't know if you caught our names during the conversation, but besides hers... My name's Archer. I hope you have your own cute name, small one. A name is what a person with a soul has, and even our Biobot companions seem to have found one. I'd like to believe you have them too. A name, and a soul." He paused for a few moments, before grinning. "Hey, did you know I almost got Florence to kiss your sister? I didn't think she'd do it... And she really had me going there. But she thought better of it... I know I tend to be brazen and fearless in social activities but I'm not sure I could have the audacity to get anywhere close to what she did... Although..." He paused for a moment, remembering he was alone in the room with the smaller anthroid right now. Well... He inhaled for a deep breath and let it go slowly.

Then he leaned toward her tank and pressed his lips to it for a few seconds to plant a kiss meant for the small anthroid... Before he rubbed his face. "... Okay, that was every bit as embarrassing as I imagined it would be. Actually, maybe I should disinfect that too..." He trailed off, taking the moment to look around for some antibacterial wipes and spray to clean the surface."God, I'd never hear the end of it if Florence saw that..."

[Warning]

The black little thing in the pod looked almost or perfect still. Her body seemed to move but that was mostly due to the water allowing her to float around very slightly. Her eyes were closed and she looked asleep. With Florence gone and doing whatever she had to do with what the engineering tools and device, the medbay was a little quiet. Florence knew that she had to be perfect with what she was doing and thankfully, she was smart enough to know the scientific possibilities of doing engineer stuff to the tall one. Still, that didn't protect her from mistakes yet there was only one way to go in her mind. She risked getting herself electrocuted but it was not something she was not used to. She was a good engineer, of course. But experimental stuff could go south easily.

Meanwhile, the little one didn't seem to react too much to being talked to. Did she even listen? Her ears didn't move nor twitch but that didn't mean she was not hearing unless she was unconscious enough to pass as an empty shell. What did she even feel like being submerged in this liquid which was not completely water. The pod was usually used for saving someone hurt or close to die and hopefully restore them so death didn't occur. There was other scientific purposes to it but what did it do to an anthroid was unknown. Right now, she looked fine. Almost like she enjoyed it but that was hard to say as even her face didn't show any expression. The water she floated in was pretty clear at least, if not of the bubbles that floated around but those did not come from her, at least...

Not that she would even breathe... Anthroids didn't exactly have means to breathe. Could she drown? Or would she just find herself in water? Well, this water was not supposed to damage anything. The pod was specifically made to keep one alive inside, normally with breathing means. For the sake of appropriateness, Florence seemed to have added the breathing things to her but it only gave a minimum amount of oxygen, for the sake of air transfer. The fact could do something to her or not. But otherwise, even as Archer talked to her, she was almost perfectly still. Her body actually looked like it was impermeable. Not made for water but sharing the characteristics of a real anthro and not letting water in. Not even her ears anyway shared a sign of life. Not a light or anything.

At the end, when he kissed the pod but left to find a mean to clean his mess, was when some kind of beep finally happened. The pod itself emitted a sound. A sound that normally would only be emitted if a pulse or at least a live movement would be detected. It was a good thing. in general, because it signaled that the person inside was, well, alive. If Archer looked then, he would see a blueish color at her ears but more apparent even would be golden eyes seeming to look around before they stared at the man from inside the pod. And then a voice befitting her size could be heard, thankfully because of the mask stuck to her face that was connected to a mic. "WARNING! This unit is locked inside an unknown compartment!", she seemed to speak loud, moving slightly in panic or so.

Putting her small hands against the glass, Archer could see the gold design of her pawed hands and fingers but her golden eyes was staring straight at him, looking unhappy about her status. "Let this unit out this instant!", she ordered but cutely, not really looking threatening where she was. If Florence was correct, she had no weapons of any sorts anyway and definitely not the strength to break through either. She could just be there, connected to the mask and floating. But alive... Which could be sort of creepy considering that he was alone with her and her intentions with him were unknown if she managed to leave that pod that kept one safe from the other, whoever was more dangerous. Still, all she could seem to do was frown. At least she didn't try to rip the mask away.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

Calmly and quietly Archer procured the items he needed from a closet within the Medbay, moving to return to wipe down the surface he pressed his lips to. What followed next nearly scared the skeleton right out of his body, so fixated on cleaning the pod surface that he didn't think to look at the changed status of its occupant inside until her voice called out loudly. The bottle was dropped to the floor as Archer stumbled back, thumping against the non-empty bed where Florence had laid the other to rest before she took her out of the room. "HOLY FU- Y-you talked! You talked?! Y... You talked..." So caught off guard in the moment, Archer was still processing that the anthroid in the tank was now active and shouting at him. He didn't want to think about how and why she was awake right now.

Did that mean Foorence was successful? Or... No, no, there was no way that his kissing the pod did anything. This was a fluke of nature, and that was what he was going to continue telling himself to deny what he did had any effect.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you out of there yet! But I know someone who can actually get you out so just give me a moment, I promise! You won't be in there any longer than you need to be!" Archer spoke quickly, resting his hands on the pod as he leaned in to get a better look at the small anthroid. For someone who spoke like a machine, she sure acted like a humanoid being panicking immediately after waking up. As much as he wanted to let her out now, protocol mandated he gets someone else on-site to do it because if he made a choice that jeopardized the whole ship, being thrown in the brig would be the least of his concerns. "Just be calm for a few moments, please."

With that said, he shook his head in disbelief at what was happening and hurried off to Engineering to find Florence. Hopefully the other one was awake and that was why this one suddenly woke up. Otherwise he was going to have to figure out how to explain this to the wolf-girl ...

[Warning]

The little one seemed as surprised by his reaction as Archer was to her but her eyes followed his movement flawlessly. Her voice was rather soft for a machine, whatever device created voice for her. She took a moment while he was busy recovering to look at her surrounding. She was inside a tube but her movement were altered. A liquid??? So it seemed to be but a mask in her face stopped the liquid from infiltrating where it should not be. The air itself was useless to her but at least she was safe from the liquid. Looking more carefully at the room, she saw some device and beds. It was easy to guess where she was. But why was she there? That was not a ship that she knew, that was for sure. Closing her eyes for a bit, she tried something but there was no available data.

Soon enough, Archer told her that he could not let her one but he knew someone who could. Was it someone she knew? But at least he was telling her that she could get out soon. Nothing of him seemed to say that he was lying. She proceeded to gain a more neutral expression soon enough when told to stay calm. "Very well... I will be waiting. This room is not pleasant to be inside, though.", she told him, wondering if she was the only one present. Before she could say anything however, Archer was already gone. The way the doors opened, it seemed to be another ship. If she was a captive or transferred elsewhere, she sure was not updated on that information. Her data was either missing or corrupted but her head seemed fine otherwise. For now, she would wait.

Inside the engineering, the red one was sitting somewhere while Florence was readying some means to jolt the anthroid. Clearly, she had not begun yet while the little one was awake. Putting some safety goggles. she had connected some wires to the tip of her tail. If her calculations were right, throwing on the power would send power inside her tail that would resist the shock but charge her some. As she was getting ready to do so, she saw movement coming toward her that stopped her from going further with it. Surprisingly, it was Archer who had made his way inside where she was and this alone made her blink a bit, especially since she had asked him to watch over the little one. "Mr. Reid? I thought you were watching over her while I try to wake this one up.", she asked, confused. "Is there anything the matter...?", she asked curiously, assuming that there was a good reason he had to come where she was. The tall one would have to wait for now, it appeared.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

Archer quickly hurried into the engineering room, head almost on a swivel as he tried to search for Florence. It wouldn't take long to find the wolf girl, but his stomach grew a knot when he came up on her just about to start working on the tall anthroid... Even when Florence asked him if something was the matter, he was still trying to process what he saw in the medbay. "... No way... There's no way that worked." He mumbled quietly, clearly lost in the moment, before he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Sorry! I need you to go back to the medbay. She... The little one, she woke up!" It was all he hopefully had to say to get her moving, preferring to avoid the specifics for now.

Looking to the other sleeping anthroid, he approached and helped scoop her up in his arms. "O-oh, wow, she really is lighter than I thought. . Anyway, I'll bring her carefully, just... Go talk to the other one, see if she's ready to be let out. She woke up and she didn't seem to like being in there, but I'm not authorized to let her out." The redhead felt like his thoughts were all over the place as he cradled the anthroid's head against his shoulder and moved to briskly navigate his way behind Florence to avoid walking into anything.

"I thought for a second what you did was successful, so I hurried to confirm it, but... Well, this one is still asleep. This better not be some higher power's idea of a joke... It's totally not funny." He grumbled quietly, forgetting Florence didn't have a full understanding of what transpired in the Medbay following her departure. Wait, what if the small one WAS active and recorded everything that happened? Oh man, he was going to feel like he was deep in a ditch... No! His embarrassment could wait until later, right now one of them was awake; That was the big breakthrough to focus on right now. Once he made his way back to the Medbay, he gingerly set the tall anthroid down before nodding to the tank.

"Florence, meet Sleeping Beauty... No longer asleep."

[Warning]

Florence blinked a bit, as she didn't even have the time to begin on the tall girl. "She woke up, just like that...? I see...", she said, lost in her thoughts. She should be excited though, it was a good news. Removing the wires from the anthroid's tail, she thought it would be better to let the small one find a more peaceful way, finally. As long as she was peaceful. "Alright... I'm going back. Time to meet with her.", she finally decided. Starting to head back, she looked at Archer who took the red cat into his grasp. "Very well. You handle her carefully. We're close to see this one wake up if the other one is ready." Florence then went back to the medbay while looking back to him. "I would not worry too much. For now, we have to find who they are and what they are meant to be or do..."

The black one looked at them come back but showed no signs of knowing Florence but her eyes seemed to brighten up at the sight or the red cat. "So you have found her as well!", she said, speaking of the other anthroid. Florence seemed surprise to hear what seemed to be a rather soft yet not completely biologic voice. It definitely was synthetic but still sounding good. As Archer introduced her as the sleeping beauty, the black one frowned angrily. "RELUCTANCE. This unit will not be named as such lowly name. You shall name it SRK!", she said but Florence picked up quickly before Archer could respond. "SRK? So that is your name? And her, who is she...?", she asked, needing to know more as soon as possible. The little anthroid looked at the both of them for a bit. "She's ARA."

The wolf girl was quite impressed but soon realized one other important detail. The cat was speaking their language. Looking at Archer a little, she looked back to the small one and started deactivating the pod, which did a loud noise before the water started draining. "WARNING. This machine is doing something!", the voice making Florence smile as she replied. "Yes, I'm getting you out of there and in exchange, you have to wake her up. We have to know who you both are. I am the one who was charged of taking care of you. My name is Florence.". The SRK watched as the water almost drained completely and looked at ARA then at the two others. "ARA's power is empty. She requires recharging, which she would be able to do manually but her power status is critical.", she said.

Florence nodded a bit but she had other questions while the pod finally opened up once empty. She carefully removed the mask off the girl who jumped off then looked at them. "How did you wake up, by the way? Or is it too strange to ask? Were you asleep?", she asked quite many questions but the SRK seemed unfazed. "This unit has managed to find some power with your machine but I am critically low as well. I require nutrition!", she stated, to which Florence looked at Archer. Could it be...? SRK continued. "ARA is capable of waiting but when she is awake, she will require nutrition as well. This is how our frames maintain our power level when we do not recharge ourselves." Florence had so many questions with how this unit expressed herself. Her AI seemed quite advanced.

[Gardsorm]

"Wow, the little one's got some spunk to her. I was expecting her to be more autonomous, but I like her attitude." Archer laughed quietly, before nodding. "Sorry about the mix up then, SRK. It's good to finally pin a name to the form. My name is Archer, pleased to meet you." He wondered if SRK stood for anything in particular, but there were more important things to worry about. When she confirmed the other to be named ARA, it felt like all of the mysteries were beginning to unravel nicely. "SRK and ARA... Honestly both names are kind of cute, but if she's as feisty as SRK, then I might wind up teasing ARA a little too much." the redheaded male folded his arms.

Any apprehension Archer felt in wondering what dialogue with these anthroids would be like was slowly bleeding away. They had their own synthetic style to them, but the acted like proper living forms too... Honestly it was everything Archer had hoped for and more. "So like we figured, there were issues with her power... But youre telling you two don't recharge like normal? You two can... Eat?" Archer was thrown for a loop as he looked from SRK to Florence. He'd never heard of artificial lifeforms that could eat food like natural lifeforms to sustain themselves. "So... What exactly DO you eat, SRK? I mean, I don't suppose you're big on hamburgers, hotdogs, steaks, salad, fruits, or anything of the sort..." Although if she was, taking her to the mess hall would be easy.

"Well, however you two Intake nutrition and what exactly that includes, I'll be happy to get you fed. The sooner we figure out what you like,bthe sooner we can get something sorted out for ARA as well. If we're going to be working onboard the same ship, it would be a good idea to build rapport with one another." He stepped forward and approached SRK, extending his hand. "If you know what a handshake is, you wanna shake on it?"

[Warning]

SRK frowned when she was addressed by a few different terms but she remained quiet. At least she was free now even if she had no means to find where she was. Florence just seemed to observe as well, wondering how ARA would be like but she doubted that she would be the kind that SRK was. It was mostly just a feeling but as the question of power was raised, SRK expressed herself with an expression of pride. "CORRECT. This unit can consume what you alive beings consider being food. This nutrition is used to procure energy to the core.", she explained, feeling like a little genius. "We eat anything that you can eat, as long as it contains enough energy for us to function. We do not exactly taste things the same way however.". Florence was amazed but it was best to not ask.

Still, the wolf girl thought a bit. "Well, you will both still need to recharge but until I find how, getting some energy for you and her would not be so bad to begin with.". Looking at Archer to process with that information, she had a theory. "I do not think their bodies process food or... whatever they eat the same way we do. She spoke of a core so it probably disintegrates everything into fuel.". Or at least it was what made more sense to Florence. "We should bring this one to where she can ingest something and I could use the break as well. A meal would be rather nice. Perhaps we can ask more out of her too when we're set with something in our stomach.", she said but then paused. "Wait... Why did you yourself come to medbay already? Did you not have business to do here?" She asked.

In the end, SRK looked at Archer with some kind of confusion at first but nodded and went along with it. Seeing his hand and finally knowing his intentions, she carefully took his hand and shook it the way a human would do it, having learned that behavior at the very least. If they left, ARA would at the very least stay safe there. Waking her up could be done later, whenever they'd be back.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

A synthetic being who could consume food like humanoid entities could... Even if she didn't taste things like they did, it was an incredible breakthrough. Whoever made her- them, knew how to apply principals meant for biological entities to synthetic lifeforms. Perhaps they wanted a way to give creations the capacity to act as organically as possible... Or perhaps it was just a far more efficient way to stay powered up consistently and perpetually rather than needing to risk much downtime in between. The possibilities were numerous, how the things a person like him might take for granted could be applied to synthetic life...

"That's... Beyond incredible and unbelievable at the same time. I never thought I'd live to see a day where I could share a meal with synthetic life and not have it considered a waste of time." This opened up so many things now... But Archer was getting ahead of himself. No one could be more excited than Florence, who probably had much to ask SRK, and hopefully soon ARA as well. "That... Almost reminds me of something out of a video game, if you ask me... It's so unbelievable to think of the possibility that someone created a real Annihilation Engine." Although the name certainly sounded dangerous enough, it was simply an engine that could effectively annihilate all forms of matter to provide near-limitless energy... But the redhead had only ever heard of such a thing powering a robot in a video game... A giant one at that.

As soon as Florence reminded him why he came to the Medbay at first, he paused following shaking SRK's paw, before he nodded. "Ah, right, I came here to get vaccinated early before this ship touched down on the new planet we're supposed to be going to. Since there's no telling what sort of diseases and bacterium might be found in a new planet, I thought it'd be good to get my vaccinations updated before disembarking... And, uh, incase there's other reasons to interact with potential locals." Archer added after a moment, scratching his chin. Almost assuredly Florence would know what he meant, but hopefully SRK couldn't know what he meant... "Still, medical staff didn't seem to be working at the time, so I'll just come back later. We can go get some grub right now if you want?"

[Warning]

Florence smiled to the fact but looked at him. "You know, synthetic or not, they don't look all that different. At least they should not produce waste if they transform all they eat into energy. Besides, she is cute enough that I could hug her.", she said aloud, kinda wishing to also do it but SRK put a hand in front of her as defense. "WARNING! This unit shall not be hugged in any sort of way. Besides, I do not agree that I am cute, despite that my appearance may or not cause attraction." Florence blinked but shook her head. "Don't speak nonsense, you're very cute. Just a little hug?", she asked but SRK kept her stance. "WARNING, you will not attempt any sort of hug on this unit.". The wolf girl finally gave up, being a little disappointed by being denied a hug. Looking at Archer instead, she pondered. "I am not sure how her enegine works but I presume that an AI must uses lot of energy. They may have found a way, especially since they have more than one."

Florence came to think about something else. "Well, she also repeats warning quite often for an AI this advanced. I wonder if she was made for alerts. Though the only alerts she gives is about her own being so far. I wonder if she would keep repeating it more if I actually tried to get her.", the wolf girl said in references to hugs. SRK seemed worried about what she tried to imply. "W-warning! Absolutely do not attempt to hug this unit...". Florence looked surprised at first. "Did she... stutter? You're adorable! Ahem, I am sorry. Perhaps I should not delay us further...". SRK meanwhile was not sure how to react to the compliments, a blue-ish taint seemed to color her face even, which Florence unbelievably recognized as blushing, even though she seemed to deny it quietly. Looking at Archer, Florence smiled. "It seems there is a lot that we don't know about them. I mean, a lot more than I thought. We will have to get back to it later... And wake up this ARA...!"

At the end, after the explanations given, there was only one thing to do then. "Right, let's go get some nutrition. The last thing that I would want is that she shut down on us and we really lose her before we even wake ARA up. Or before we know more.", Florence said and left, inviting SRK to join. The next step to all this was to get food and get a break.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Goddess Aurora

[Gardsorm]

"They honestly don't, and given enough time I just might forget they're not biological like we are... Well, except for when SRK makes those cute little warnings." Archer remarked when SRK warned against being hugged. She even seemed to know exactly how cute her appearance was, given the little disclaimer she had to add. It was impossible to see her picking this up on reflex or whim... So he could only assume this was connected to how she was treated before her deactivation. Florence seemed dejected at being told off from hugging her, to which Archer gently raised a hand and waved Florence off... Not to tell her that she was wrong to want to hug SRK, but that she was going about it the wrong way.

Although it was debatable if Archer had a better way... Very debatable.

"So an early warning anthroid? I can see it, but... Why the close likeness to the biological? I'm stumped on the reasons..." Archer noted, while Florence seemed to be trying to get another hug out of SRK. The stuttering tic was, however, a pleasant surprise. He couldn't imagine a synthetic could think to replicate such a tic unless it heard it somewhere else... But either way it showed how markedly advanced SRK was compared to what Archer was used to working with. "Given how full of surprises SRK is here, I can't imagine what's in store for us when we wake up ARA. Lead the way, Florence~" Archer remarked... But when it came time to move, he decided to take the more direct approach at the risk of reprisal.

Without warning, he scooped SRK up and cradled her in his arms as he grinned. "Since you just woke up, I'll help you save a little energy by carrying you. Seems logical, right?" He asked, although the playful glint in his eyes was telling to Florence that he was absolutely teasing the proud little anthroid.

======

[Out of Character: Shall we continue in The Kitchen thread? : ) ]

[Warning]

[Characters are being transferred to the kitchen area: https://ecchidreams.com/community/topic/5871-13-the-kitchen/?do=findComment&comment=133416]