It's closer to midnight than 11:30 but it's still, technically, Sunday the 17th.
It totally counts, I swear.
Anyway, this chapter is me trying something a little different. I'm relatively happy with how it came out, myself, but... *shrug*
Might not be for everyone.
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49 - Interlude: Unit
"Understood. You wish to leave the station, now?"
The Human, designated Abigail Drake, Captain, rapidly dipped her head and returned it to an upright position.
The Human gesture for 'affirmative'.
"Very well. Best of luck in your endeavours." Unit's atmospheric vibration unit emitted.
Unit watched them as they made their way out of the room, stepping carefully and maneuvering through gaps in the crowd as they formed, every motion framed by the movement of the people around them.
Observation - avoiding contact where possible. Extrapolation - prefers to avoid social contact in all circumstances? Counterpoint - chose to land at Merridew and engage in social connections. Alternate Extrapolation - no longer wants to be present at this venue. Is preparing to leave.
Further investigation required.
Unit lost sight of the Human as they exited through a doorway on the far side of the room, and after a couple of cycles, reached a consensus on its next operation.
Unit relocated to the access port of a nearby atmospheric circulation system and began deconstructing, its constituent nanobots separating, entering the vent, and reforming in a more practical shape - a long, flexible cylinder with a number of small limbs along its length.
Once it had completely transferred itself into the atmospheric circulation system, it advanced on its objective - the atmospheric containment lock, designated Airlock F14, where the vessel designated Starsong, Air Cruiser, was docked.
Due to the efficient form, and lack of traffic on the chosen route, Unit arrived at its destination in exactly 31.2493483 seconds - approximately 19 seconds prior to the estimated time of arrival of Abigail Drake, Captain.
Unit engaged its deconstruction protocols again, component nanobots filtering through the wall and gathering in a cluster under the metal deck directly adjacent to the atmospheric containment lock.
When the Human arrived, and the door opened, Unit waited for them to move inside following, sequentially transferring its nanobots from the deep space facility to the vessel.
Upon entering, the Human wasted no time in moving at high speed to the bow of the air cruiser, not even to discard their insulation garb.
Hypothesis - control room located near ship's bow. Observation - similar to accepted conventions of other known races. Humans, Engi, Lanius, and Mantis.
Unit tracked and pursued the Human, maintaining its scattered physical form. The narrow but functional atmospheric circulation system in the vessel's ceiling proved an optimal travel route, equal to its counterpart on Merridew Station, despite its significantly smaller cross section.
As the Engi passed the atmospheric circulation system's access ports, one hundred nanobots disengaged from the core platform, taking position and scanning the rooms below. The first three rooms Unit passed on each side were unoccupied, as was the fourth room on the right. The fourth room on the left contained one (1) Human, hibernating on the biological recharge platform.
Unit recovered that nanite cluster. It was against protocol to observe hibernating units without just cause. In a significant majority of cases, organics expressed negative emotional reactions when they observed the phenomena.
Further exploration of Starsong, Air Cruiser, was discontinued as a wash of energy waves, radiation, and atmospheric vibrations, characteristic of an activating FTL Phase Drive, filled Unit's sensors.
When the emissions faded to background levels seven point three seconds later, Unit began a few fairly basic calculations.
Duration of travel, 7.319468 seconds. Average speed of FTL travel, 12.9 light years per second. Estimated distance from Merridew Station, 94.4211372 lightyears. Approximate range bracket, 2.3479262 lightyears.
Within the range bracket of 92.073211 to 96.7690634 lightyears There are no star systems or FTL Beacons within range of Merridew Station.
Variables - FTL Speed, Duration of Travel
FTL Speed unknown - Merridew Upgrades suggest level of technical experience surpassing our own. Starsong, Air Cruiser may possess engines beyond previously accepted limits.
Duration of Travel certain to within a 0.007% margin of error.
Alternate hypothesis - Starsong, Air Cruiser, does not navigate using FTL Beacons. Unsafe practice. High chance of navigational drift without signals to triangulate position. Crew unaware of danger? Unconcerned with danger?
Further investigation required.
Unit continued crawling through the atmospheric circulation system, taking care to avoid imparting too much force on his environment in case the excess vibrations alerted the ship's crew, and arrived after approximately seven seconds of crawling at a filtration grate overlooking a room that had a 98.3% probability of being the ship's command centre.
Abigail Drake, Captain, stood behind the starboard command console, grasper limbs crossed over the headrest of the personnel containment shelf in front of them.
Observation - misuse of safety equipment. Unaware of proper operation, or continued disregard for own safety. Abigail Drake, Captain, is ranking officer of both vessel and vessel group. Implications… worrying.
A second Human was attached and locked into their personnel containment shelf, located adjacent to the vessel's navigational controls. Their grasper limbs were idle, resting on the specially designed platforms adorning the side of the shelf.
Observation - unknown Human, Pilot, is following safety regulations. Abigail Drake, Captain, likely not unaware of regulations, simply uncaring. Loosely regulated procedures. Vessel group leader is unprofessional. Likely extends further through command line, in both directions.
Further investigation required.
Unit turned its attention away from the two organics, redirecting its focus to the other visible elements of the vessel's control room.
Layout is similar to standardised Human designs. Unknown interface layout, uniquely designed control surfaces - nonstandard ship design. Faith Foundation have sufficient resources and funds to design and produce air cruisers and small corvettes, and accompanying operation software.
Faith Foundation, previously unknown group. Not in any accessed records. Possess development capacity of small solar system. Implications concerning.
Through the primary optic viewport, the Starsong's five Pilgrim, Corvette charges became visible. They approximated an approach vector with the nearest asteroid, decelerating moments before point of force transferal.
Millions of nanomachines were released from the underside of each corvette, converging on the drifting mass of rock and ore and stripping away layers of mass, creating a large flat area.
Then began a construction process - foundations were laid out and built upon, a growing network of interlinked buildings spreading across the asteroid.
Observation - mass projected onto asteroid far surpasses total mass of vessel group. Mass projected onto asteroid surpasses mass removed from asteroid by mining operations. Faith Foundation vessels utilizing more mass than they should possess.
Hypothesis - long range transportation of matter. Counterpoint - no teleportation infrastructure, no background emissions consistent with continuous use of Phase Teleportation technology.
Alternate hypothesis - matter created on site from no or negligible resources, in direct violation of {the law of conservation of mass}. Counterpoint - is direct violation of {the law of conservation of mass}.
No further alternates.
Processing...
Error.
Does not compute.
---
After performing a total-network reboot to confirm it was operating at 100%, Unit reassessed the situation.
Observation - Calculations consistent. Results unchanged. Derivative observation - Faith Foundation vessels either engaging in large-scale matter transportation, or violating {the law of conservation of mass}.
Further investigation required.
Unit recalled the seven sensory nodes left behind in the atmospheric circulation system and engaging in deconstruction, individual nanites filtering through the filtration grate and dropping to the metal deck before rebuilding themselves into a humanoid form.
Unit engaged its atmospheric vibration unit as it dipped into its databanks, accessing the relevant information on Human customs and conversation structure.
"Captain Drake. Would you like to explain?"
The Human slowly turned away from the viewport to observe Unit and emptied their respiratory organs.
"I'd love to say something along the lines of 'Ah, I've been expecting you,' but that would be incorrect… how the hell did you get on my ship?"
"I entered through the starboard airlock."
"I had Dante watching the door the whole time we were docked. No one boarded the ship except for me."
Observation - Engi methods of stealth continue to be effective.
"I entered through the starboard airlock. Your denial does not change the facts. Would you like to explain?"
The Human rotated their optics and made a gesture representing confusion before responding. "Yes, I'd like a damn explanation. How'd you actually get on my ship?"
"I entered through the starboard airlock. Please explain how you are engaging in construction of that facility."
The captain glanced over their shoulder, where the now far more advanced facility was still undergoing construction, before turning back to Unit.
"Alright, how about this. If I explain how I'm building that facility, will you explain how you got on my ship?"
Exchange of information. Acceptable terms.
"Very well. How are you building that facility?"
The Human smirked. "Nanomachines, son."
Observation - non-answer. Abigail Drake, Captain, being purposefully vague. Unwilling to answer question.
Further observation - Abigail Drake, Captain, lacks understanding of both Human and Engi families and/or reproductive cycles. In addition to previous examples of lack or disregard of knowledge of safety protocols, new hypothesis. Abigail Drake, Captain, is an idiot.
