"Ow! Drago!" Dee whined, not managing to make the jump from sexy time to serious time as seemlessly as DragonierMan had. Despite whatever protests she might have, it was easy enough for DragonierMan to drag her along as he urgently pursued Survey. "Fine, but what are you going to do?" she questioned. He didn't have time to answer and only heard the question as he bolted through the door.
Survey snapped back through her drone, although DragonierMan could hear her voice reverberating from inside the next hall as well. "You're not listening! If I don't dump them or get her to dump them right now, this thing is shutting off, and none of us even know what or where the power source is! If we don't do as I say, then forget repairs, we won't be able to turn the thing on to figure out if it worked! I'm not sacrificing this whole ship and whatever it is that it can do just for SpaceAge's diary!" she complained, sounding more than a little frazzled.
As he hurried through the hallways, which were dimly lit with red lighting, cramped, and oppressively hot, he would remember vaguely the directions Survey had been given earlier to reach the problem area and follow the corridor until he reached her. In the mean time, SpaceAge would send back a response.
Quote ("SpaceAge")
"Yes, disconnecting now. I can keep my memories and will remain in operation. We can continue our information exchange. However, I will be unable to reconnect to the ship. There is a process by which to connect a new navi to the ship, but it would be pointless without power to the ship. We can worry about it later, once we restore power to the ship. Doing so will require another power core, which... I'm sure we will think of a way to come by."
In a matter of no time at all, DragonierMan reached Survey, who narrowed her eyes laser-projecting eyes and clenched her teeth in an expression that seemed far for welcoming. It looked as though she'd found a large machine with rounded corners protruding from the wall, again with a console as its only means of interface. The machine had been nearly bisected by some kind of blade or laser, such that the top portion of it was missing; a red, thrumming light came out from inside the cut, along with an occasional unhealthy spew of sparks. Two drones, recognizable as Survey's own, were floating on either side of her, and began to approach DragonierMan as he entered the room.
Survey was still clad in her same bikini, and rose now so that her shoulders hid the screen of the console behind her, either intentionally or unintentionally. "SpaceAge's memories aren't what's important here, her
ship is. We should dump the memories and save power to the ship until I manage to restore functionality," she insisted again, taking another step back towards the console and stopping with one hand pressed against it just below the keyboard. "Whatever she knows we can figure out with our own testing and observations. The ship, however, can't run if it keep using all of its power on wasteful tasks. The ship's logic is not functional, nor is it's auto-repair... You must leave this to me for just a moment longer!" she pleaded. "Aren't you Neo-Shogun officers supposed to trust each other? Trust me, then!"
DragonierMan had gone toe-to-toe with tough customers, but with her frail body and her only noteworthy weapons seeming to be her drones, Survey didn't look like she'd be one of them. If he was interested in preventing her from finishing her task, it would be easy enough to subdue her until SpaceAge finished the disconnection procedure to sever her tie to the ship.
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If ReservoirMan was encouraged by the ineffectiveness of Aya's tackle, it didn't register on his face, nor did said encouragement last long; she was tough enough to get back up to her feet quickly. He lowered his rocky eyebrows and kept his focus on Suzume. "Okay... Let's make a deal, then," he agreed. "If you knew that this ship existed, you must have used my notes. I don't know what this thing is, but I know it's valuable. The outside armor is so impenetrable that my efforts to break in were entirely useless... I tried all manner of battlechips. If he's inside, I suppose it's because someone wanted him in? Which begs the question of why
I was never allowed in."
He raised one finger, then pointed it at Suzume. "I'll give you this tip, then. Your 'master' has walked into somebody's trap, I'd say... And understanding what that trap is requires understanding what has changed since I attempted to access the ship many weeks ago and now, when you've tried to. The only other ones to come in contact would have been your own people, right?" he asked, his rocky lip seeming to draw up in its best approximation of a sneer. "Something to think about. At any rate, if I'm right, you owe me," he continued brazenly, tapping his giant fingers against the net's surface while leaning down into the crook of one arm, rubbing his chin with his other hand. "I want partial ownership of that ship. It was my find, after all. It's only fair."
Kama scoffed in the background. "What nonsense. If there is any valuable technology to be had, you'll get none of it. Knowing about the ship entitles you to nothing, and even if it did, the fact of the matter is, the ship probably let us in because it prefers our company to yours. We may have had a deal in the past, but I've seen you for what you are now: a schemer who's only looking out for his own bottom dollar," she accused him, quietly.
"Ha! A debtor, more like it. And debtors must be schemers in order to escape their debts," ReservoirMan chuckled bitterly. "Now, let's be civil and negotiate. I know that's what your Empire does these days. For finding that ship for you and delivering that warning, I desire partial ownership and a cut of whatever is inside. That's agreeable, isn't it?" he asked, raising one hand outward for a shake while keeping the elbow upon the ground to balance himself.
Aya and Suzume would have to consider whether ReservoirMan ought to be given anything, but also, the matter of his warning. Kama had near constant surveillance of SpaceAge's ship all this time and had only reported the presence of a few navis in the area this whole time... herself, ReservoirMan, Power and her pirates, the mysterious Neo-Shogun soldier sightings, then the group from Lee's outing, and finally, the group from their return. Had the ship chosen to open by SpaceAge's whim or some judgment she'd made of the Neo-Shogun Empire? Or had someone tampered with something to trick her into letting them in? Worse, could it be that it was all part of a trap, as ReservoirMan suspected?
