A Ripple in the Drift (IC) [M]

[GodlyD&D]

Megamark now alerted to it said, "Hey! Do you see this?"

The figure slumped over that other table remained unalert. Megamark could not understand what he now noticed, and he had to admit that to himself. It could mean anything, though he did not know what. He said, still out loud, "Someone should know about this."

Megamark went from there to the passenger bay with the rest pods. Then when he was there where he would be seen by the others he said, "There is something really odd I am seeing in the mess hall that I don't know the explanation for. Someone should know about this."

No one responded. Each of them must have gone to sleep, already. Megamark went out from there, and went then to the intercom. He made the call through that.

"Captain, this is Megamark Mowgli. I witnessed a phenomenon I don't know the explanation for, which I think is continuing in the mess hall. I am sure it should be checked, there needs to be explanation for it found!"

[Highland Sniper]

Emriko herself couldn't help but give an amused look to the young man as he retreated to his bunk, her tail giving it's own amused flick.

"Thanks," She said and got closer to the girl, "What's up with him? Interested? Or just embarrassed? Or do you think it's just me?" She asked about what she thought was the girl's brother as she took off her only remaining article of clothing, her jacket, and tossed it onto her bunk.


The girl chuckles a bit as the boy reddens slightly as he fits his earpieces into place, pulls the covers over himself, and rotates toward the wall. Her eyes trail upward following the jacket's trajectory before looking back to Emriko.

"A bit of both I think. He's just at that age where being around pretty girls makes him nervous... Anyway I'm Darlaine, that's my brother Marcen, and above him is our uncle, Kurtis."

She sits and looks back at Emriko with her dark grey-blue colored eyes, examining her furred form with some interest, but not staring so long as to be rude.

"Could be worse. I kinda like the dorky type." She said, grabbing some of her hygiene products from her bag before tossing it back onto the bunk.

She smiles and shakes her head side-to-side, popping her earpiece back in and going back to her device "Maybe in a few years he can look you up."

She reclines back into her previous relaxed position against the cabin wall on her bunk, content to wait for Emriko to take care of her nightly hygiene routine.

Emreko smirked and swished her tail to the bathroom and closing the door before preceding to brush herself head to toe in a swift and effective manor. She resisted the urge to grumble in irritation, rather singing a small shanty they often sang in the trade fleet.

After she had brushed herself out, she doffed her fur, keeping only the ears and tail as per usual. And she hopped into the shower, making sure to thoroughly scrub her hair, ears, and tail before blow drying her hair and fur, and coming back out with a tank top with a different poplar animated female character (A Vlakan called Vessa) and sweat pants.

[Nitestrike776]

Aboard the Deimos transport ship, The Drift, Present Day, late evening

Deimos Passenger Cabin 46

The cabin light was dimmed to a soft glow, one step above darkness, brightened slightly from the open doorway of the washroom. In stark contrast, Darlaine’s comm unit lit her face as she watched something on the screen. As she saw the door open, she glanced up, and quickly paused whatever she was watching, stowed her device, and stood up to collect her things. She gave a sideways glance and small smile to Emriko as they passed each other, before she closed the door behind herself, leaving the cabin in a dim light.

Emriko was able to make her way onto her bunk, which was surprisingly comfortable. She was able to fall asleep quickly to the gentle hum of a ship in transit, something very familiar from her time with her family’s fleet.

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Deimos Crew Cabin 12, bunk F

Once out of the medical bay, Zolena had little recourse but to head back to her bunk for what would likely be a fitful sleep. Thoughts of the vision still lingered, alongside the anxious feeling from before. It had focused into a sensation somewhat like a small crackle of static in her thoughts, coming and going at intervals as she made her way back to her bed. Upon arriving, even changing out of her gear seemed futile, as in only a few hours she’d be back on duty. As she lay there, attempting to quiet her mind to rest, the strange sensation persisted, almost rhythmic in her mind.
As she drifted off, some distant fleeting thought noted that it almost felt as if the ship had the slightest of tremors that matched up with the tempo of the buzzing sensation within…

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As the Deimos traversed the swirling plane of the Drift, A pulsing energy cascaded over the ship, the strongest yet in the series of pulses that had been gently buffeting the ship during the day’s progress. While most of the passengers had been sleeping through this soundly, those who noticed it were being assured by the current shift of crew that it was just turbulence that can come from the strange realm they were passing through. Quietly though, word was circulating among the crew of concern from the bridge crew, who were attempting to hold course and keep the ship steady with increasing difficulty as the pulses grew incrementally in strength and frequency.

This latest pulse however was enough to shake all but the heaviest of sleepers awake. Any who still managed to doze were soon awakened by the klaxon that followed, rousing everyone to alertness. The feeling of confusion and panic was intensified as the pulse came again, thrumming through the entire frame of the ship. From speakers all around, a calm voice projected ”Attention all Deimos passengers: We’ve been experiencing some unexpected turbulence during our flight. It has been of limited concern until these latest instances, and it seems to be repetitive and growing in strength. In light of that, we will be having everyone move to the ready stations for evacuation in case the integrity of the vessel becomes compromised. I ask that you all please remain calm as our crewmembers begin to direct you to ready stations. We have plenty of escape pods available for use for all of our passengers and crew. Note that this is only a precaution, as we are unsure if it will subside, but we advise you take your belongings that can be carried with you. Crew members, please proceed with appropriate emergency procedures.”

[Highland Sniper]

Emriko was already awake by the turbulence. She was fine earlier, but the ever increasing unnatural tremor in the ship put her on edge enough to rouse her. She knew what a good flight should feel like, even in the drift. This was not a good flight. Causes started to run through her head. Distortions, magical or cosmic interference, malfunctioning dampeners, unstable engines, compromised structural integrity. So many causes.

She pulled out her comm unit and looked along the wall for an access or maintenance panel she could get into so should could get into the sensor data before the klaxon sounded.

"Oh frick," She muttered, and was already getting her things together. it wasn't that hard, since most of her things were already stowed in her bag. Never leave too much out on a ship. Everything would be sucked out into the vacuum of space if a breach came through, and it would be better it were all in a container of sorts rather than spread out across space. Much better to get out of the room, or to retrieve if you weren't able to.

She was already on the floor by the time they were talking about moving for better evacuation.
"Come on, let's move." She said, "get your stuff and go! Come on!"
She wasn't about to just leave these people behind.

Waiting for them, she allowed them to leave the room first, and followed behind, making sure their door sealed shut behind them. She removed the panel that would hold the manual over ride, and pulled the emergency lock. One less thing that would depressurize easily.

[Nitestrike776]

Passenger bay, aboard the Argo exploratory vessel, The Drift, Present Day , Late evening

A tired voice issued from the intercom. "The captain is asleep... Mowgli was it? Look it's just my shift at the helm, what sort of phenomenon are you going on about? Is it not something that can wait until lat-" The voice cut off as the ship noticeably vibrated again slightly, the pulsing having grown powerful enough to be clearly noticeable now. "What the hell... is that what you were talking about?"

Upon confirmation from Megamark with an explanation of the liquid in the glass, silence seemed to hang in the air as another gentle tremor rolled through the ship. From behind him, sounds of individuals stirring in their pods could faintly be heard. Either the extended conversing or the strange buzzing in the ship had awoken them. After a moment, which felt longer than it likely was, the voice returned, all trace of the tiredness gone, though notes of annoyance were still present.

"Mowgli, return to your pod, I'm going to rouse our science specialist to see what she can determine about this. It's likely just turbulence, which is not unheard of, so I wouldn't worry too much. Spread the word for everyone to hang tight in their pods until we get a better understanding of what this is though, just to be safe." The comm panel clicked off again.

[Enigma]

Iris scowled, taking in the singed core of the holographic table.


"Someone shorted it," she sighed, getting a whiff of burned electronics, the heady mixture of ozone mixed with charred outgassing plastic and a hint of hot metal. It would be easier to break it down than fix it, certainly.


She pulled out her phone and connected to the maintenance inventory, dimly aware of someone coming into the observation lounge as she ordered a new core to be delivered to her.


Qerrik was suddenly aware that he had been staring, quite literally, into space. He shook his head, taking a sharp sniff to shock his brain back into full lucidity. His nose wrinkled as he detected the scent of burning plastic. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed a human girl tinkering with the mechanical innards of a holographic table.

“Do you require any assistance?”

"Huh?" Iris frowned, leaning back to stare up at half-man, half-bird in white robes and a shiny sash whose head looked liked it was carved from volcanic glass. Clearly, a passenger - one that thankfully didn't believe they could walk around naked among the other races. She hoped this wasn't his favorite table.

"Oh! Thank you for asking, I'm just waiting on a few parts," she said, putting on a professional smile - lips, no teeth, very non-threatening so as to offend as few cultural norms as possible. "This shouldn't take too long."

Unless, of course, whoever had tampered with the table burned out more than just the emitter.

He cocked his head to the side, curious.

“What is wrong with it?”

"Running diagnostics now," Iris sighed. "But if I had to guess, someone tried to directly interface with the table to play a game using an incompatible console rather than using the standard interface."

She shrugged. "Gamers hate the interface as it's slower to react."

“And how would you repair such an issue?”

"Well, I..." Iris paused, tilting her head at Qerrik. "That's an odd question. Most just want to know when it'll be working again."

She shrugged.

"We replace the emitter, as it's the part that usually fails. If it doesn't work, I put in a ticket for the service bots to bring a replacement table out of stores and take this back to the shop to run full diagnostics, which will tell us how much to charge the account of whoever broke it."

“I see. Do you mind if I watch you? I find technology very interesting.”

She could feel her right eyebrow arching and tried to still her face. Was this a line, or was he being serious? He sounded like a little kid.

Iris plastered a professional smile on her face. "Ah. You can watch, but like I said, if replacing the emitter doesn't work, then I'm just going to pull the table and take it back for repairs."

He gave a slight bow of courtesy, inclining his head and shoulders and flaring the tops of his folded wings. He stepped off the platform, as light as down, and walked over to peer into the innards of the holotable. It seemed complicated but manageable, like feather maintenance but with more wires.

"Uh, okay, so we're doing this..." Iris said, leaning back as Qerrik began peering inside. All that was in there was a jumble of circuits and components, not even the lights were blinking.

"You uh, do this a lot when you travel?" she asked, turning slightly to face him.

His eyes flicked up to meet hers, moon-silver irises contrasted by the oily black pupils.

“I do not travel… much.”

Iris could feel her cheeks burning. Different cultures, different people, many of them unused to space travel, most of them just bored out of their mind despite the entertainments provided. Especially when those entertainments are completely foreign to them, and welcoming any otherwise ordinary distraction.

"Well," Iris managed, "Ordinarily this cover is locked, but it's a non-critical system, so they usually have cheap locks and if someone knows what they're doing, they're easy enough to bypass. More important areas and systems have more security, I assure you, the Halcyon Comet and the whole line takes a lot of precautions."

"Anyway, it appears the emitter for the table may have gotten jostled by someone, say a gamer trying to hook up their console, and may have tried to repair it themselves and possibly burned out the emitter or other components. Sad to say, some of the suppliers try to take advantage of the line by giving us some sub-par components," she shrugs. "Since these are non-critical, they don't get the same sort of scrutiny as something that goes into control, life support, or engineering systems."

"Fortunately, as I mentioned, we can bring up another table from stores to replace this while I take this down to the repair shop for a more thorough examination."

Qerrik was silent as he processed the information.

“And, where is the repair shop?”

"Below decks, in a staff-only area," Iris said primly. "Without authorization, I can't take you down there, I'd get fired if it's not an emergency. And I really like this job."

It was a pain sometimes, but she really did like it. It made her feel useful.

She glanced at Qerrik, and shrugs. "It's just a room with a lot of tools, a couple of autofacs, some work benches and spare parts in bins. Not much to see, really."

[GodlyD&D]

Megamark swiftly returned to the passenger bay where the rest pods were. They were open with those in them speaking to one another with concern about the jolts being voiced.

He spoke up, "I was speaking with the responsible party at the helm. This is likely turbulence which is common enough in the Drift. I was instructed to let everyone here know they should remain in their pods until the science specialist being consulted has further conclusion of what is happening, where we would be safer anyway."

The android spoke then, "That this would be safer only makes sense if the integrity of this vessel would be critically compromised and our pods with us in them are already shut, with the life support running in them in that case."

Megamark said, "I see that. Then this is what we should all do, in this case, until further word we receive about the safety of this vessel."

Bryard who had a pod close to his own said then, "That would not be all. Pray then to your god or power who you serve, for needed providence. Same for all the rest here. Whoever gives providence would be known."

Megamark nodded as he entered his pod. He looked at the others, a few in their pods had closed them. Megamark then closed the one he was in. He turned his thoughts to Hylax, for what petitions he might make.

[Nitestrike776]

Aboard the Halcyon Comet transport liner, The Drift, Present Day, evening

Entertainment Deck, Common area D3

A soft chime sounded from Iris’s communicator as she and Qerrik spoke, indicating the response from the automated maintenance inventory system with the status of her request for parts. The display had a cartoonized image of a one of the service drones carrying a gear in its bin. The image was animated as if to be in motion, though stationary on the screen. It sat above a progress bar that showed the estimated time of arrival for the parts. The display was normal aside from the time, which gave the normal estimate required for a typical parts transfer (usually anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on the area of the ship, other requests in progress, etc.), but would periodically show an amount of minutes approximately equal to four months, though only for the briefest moment before returning to the normal estimate. The smaller estimate began to dwindle down as usual, denoting that the requested parts were indeed moving closer through the small maintenance shafts connecting the different areas of the ship, though the odd larger estimate remained fixed.

[Nitestrike776]

Aboard the Argo exploratory vessel, The Drift, Present Day, late evening

Passenger Bay, Passenger pod 16

As the door closed on Megamark's pod, the sound of the anxious voices in the passenger bay was cut to a dull murmur. Shortly after that, another tremor rolled through the hull of the ship, more prominent than those previously. The murmurs cut off as everyone eventually decided that the suggestion of securing themselves in their pods was the safest course of action. After a few more of the pulses, the speakers within the pods played a small tone before a voice came out of them, the same as Megamark had heard previously.

”This is Officer Baynes of the Argo crew. As I’m sure you’re all aware as you are secured in your pods, we have been experiencing some anomalous turbulence during our travels. At this time we are going to attempt an early exit from driftspace in order to assess the ship for any damage, and to get a better understanding of what is going on. You’ll feel the same small vibration as when we entered the drift during the exit. Hopefully this won’t result in more than a few hour delay in our travels.“

The transmission ended, and as they were told, a slight hum resonated through the shift as their drift engine prepared to take them out of driftspace. After a short while however, it became clear that something was amiss. The hum continued beyond the normal sensation for entering and exiting the drift. It grew deeper and louder, and was noticeably intense even in the shock resistant safety of the pods. What was worse was the tremors were still coming, though they had seemingly jumped up in magnitude far more quickly than they were increasing before. Each one now shook the small ship as it attempted to wrest itself from the confines of the drift. The humming from the effort of the drift engines continued to escalate, and from around them, the sounds of straining metal became audible as the ship was put under unexpected pressure in this normally seamless transition out of the drift. The speakers within the pods chimed again, Officer Baynes voice came out of them once again, but this time it was tight with what was clearly restrained panic, and in mid-sentence, as if they started speaking before the notification tone played.

- are critical. We are locked into our exit from the drift, and cannot abort, though it seems that we are almost through. We aren’t sure if the ship is going to hold together. Our distress beacon has been activated. If the ship is rendered inoperable, help will come as we are a registered voyage so they’ll know to be looking for us. The pods will likely begin their launch sequence soon, please brace yourselves as the restraints come out to secure you for-

The voice cut off as the blaring of an alarm overrode the speaker. The small pod screens displayed red with white text “Launch Imminent” An automated voice echoed the written message after the alarm tone played. Strong straps deployed quickly across Megamark, flexing across his form to hold him safely in his pod as the sounds of the pods around him deploying came, barely audible over the veritable roar of the ship as it began to break through the barrier between driftspace and normal space.

Megamark’s own pod shook as it prepared to deploy, before finally launching him out into the light of the drift. A swirling myriad of colors greeted him, visible through the now exposed viewing ports on the sides of the pod. Around him other pods moved, following the Argo, drawn in around it as it pushed through the membrane of the drift, seeking to exit. A distortion of space around the ship encapsulated all of the pods surrounding it, Megamark’s included. It looked as though the ship was pushing through a near invisible sheet that stretched before them, straining and bunching around the ship and pods around it that were caught up in the motion.

The distortion was only visible as a bright white light, and was much more obvious near the vessel, but faded into the empty colored nothingness of the drift. The distortion rippled suddenly as the entire area shook with another pulse, seemingly shaking the ship and pods, sending several of the latter spinning out from the ship, only to be pulled back in toward it as the ship forcing its way through the folds of the drift, as flotsam drawn in toward a current. Megamark’s pod also spun and pushed out in the same way, but while the others were being pulled back toward the ship, his was enveloped by one of the folds in driftspace formed by the ship’s forced passage between the two planes. His view of the ship and other pods became obstructed by blinding light. As a sensation that was more felt than heard, the ship tore its way through, with all but one pod in tow. Megamark’s pod, enfolded in the betweenness of the two places hung, almost suspended at the moment of transition. The tension caused by the powerful expulsion of the ship snapped back, and his pod was shunted out of driftspace in a dizzying spin and blaze of light, bright like a star. The viewing panels became covered by safety plating that slid into place, blocking out all light, and leaving the pod in complete darkness as it hurtled toward its new destination…

[GodlyD&D]

Megamark was left with nothing within his senses to yet have hope. Now, he perceived, he was cut off, adrift in space, shielded still from anything to see. He could appeal to Hylax.

"O Hylax! What is happening?! I did everything I should have! Why is it I who have been cut off from all the others with that ship? I had things to do still. Help, Hylax! Help me, with all you can do!"

Megamark went on like that, on and on, many many minutes. And somewhere, he switched without awareness, "O help me Donmichael! Help me, with all you can do! Show me what to do! I will do anything when delivered!"