[] Just...just get on the ship...
You've had enough haggling and back and forth already today. You could grill her on future knowledge, try and trick some of her true motives out, or whatever...but you just can't bring yourself to care.
"Just...just get on the ship..." you mutter, holstering your gun. The girl continues to stare at you, so you make a shooing motion towards the hatch.
"That was easier than I anticipated," the girl admits in her monotonous voice, as she reaches down and grabs a suitcase. Had that just been sitting next to her the whole time?
You follow her back to your ship, and as you separate from the passenger ship, find yourself wondering how so far nothing today had gone as you had planned it. No amazing news story, a mechanic who wont just shut up and be kidnapped, some strange, cute time traveler out of no where wanting to come aboard for vague reasons.
Honestly, it was enough to make anyone irritated.
"What the heck is this?" a pained voice from the bridge echos down the corridor, and you quickly walk ahead to see what's happening now. You see Kirikou ripping off post-it notes as he goes from console to console. "How did this ship even get this damaged? And what happened to the front of the ship? The nose cone is basically flat!" He says, pointing an accusing finger at you.
"I did have to ram a few things today," you point out, "Police drones, a few hovercars, a building or two." Normal occurrences really, in a ship's day to day life. "Why would I need a mechanic if nothing was broken?"
He removes his glasses, and massages the bridge of his nose. "You don't need a mechanic, you need a shipyard! I shoulda asked for a bigger cut..."
"You chose him as your mechanic? He's not the choice I would have gone with," she says as she gives him an appraising look, well, that's your best guess, anyway. She's just staring at him, but you figure that's just par for the course with her.
Kirikou's nostrils flare slightly, but when he speaks it's in an even tone, "Ah, so who would this be...?" he asks, a dozen questions in his eyes.
"She said she was a time traveler, so I let her come on board," you say glibly, walking over to the captain's chair, your chair.
"What," is seemingly the beginning and the end of Kirikou's thought process on the matter.
"I need to voyage on this vessel to prevent the destruction of humanity, and all I hold dear," the girl replies, with all the expression of someone being forced to read lines off a page.
You trace your finger along the arm cushion. It's definitely a functional chair, and it's comfier than it looks...but it looks just like the rest of the chairs on the bridge. It needs to be more impressive looking.
"What." Kirikou repeats more forcefully as you gracefully plop down in your seat. "That's bullshit! Time travel is flat out impossible," he says bluntly, crossing his arms, "Who are you. Really?"
The girl raises her finger to her cheek, adopting a classic thinking pose as she continues to stare expressionlessly at Kirikou. "You can call me Sarah Wells. Yes, that name will do," she says, nodding firmly, pumping her fist as if she had achieved a great success.
"You clearly just made that up!" Kirikou shouts, pointing an accusing finger at Sarah. Time to intervene.
"Now, now, Mr. Chilikov. A nom de guerre has a long tradition among pirates, just because she made her name up doesn't mean it isn't her name," you say, wagging your finger at him. You're trying to sound stern, but your grin belies that impression. Being back on ship has greatly improved your mood. Here you were, settling disputes among your crew like a proper captain, and it was only your first day! "It's important to respect your fellow crew members," you decree.
"I...okay," he concedes, "But what exactly is her job then?"
"That's a good point! What do you want to do around here, Ms. Wells?"
"Being from the future, I have advanced methods of computer hacking. The cutting edge of today is textbook in my time," she says, talking right over Kirikou's scoff of disbelief. "I can also do other computery stuff," she says, wiggling her fingers. The action creates a strange contrast with her monotone delivery.
"Great," you say with a sly smile, "Working together, you should be able to fix everything wrong with the ship!" Your grin only grows when Kirikou lets out a defeated sounding groan, and you thought you spotted a glint of distaste in Sarah's eyes.
"I don't need a code monkey's help..." Kirikou grumbles, halfheartedly. Despite his aggressive salary negotiation, it seems he's accepted that he has to listen to you, even when he doesn't want to.
"I doubt you could make use of it, gear-head," Sarah replies. You're not as sure of her. You're not even sure if she really dislikes Kirikou or if she just enjoys needling him. Honestly, she's still pretty mysterious, and as expressive as a robot. Still, she hasn't contradicted you.
Dominance established.
"Captain...uh..." Kirikou starts to ask before trailing off, "Wait, just what is your name?" he finishes, looking a bit sheepish.
"She's Captain Aurora, so named for the auroras the ship leaves behind in her wake," Sarah cuts in before you can respond. While still mostly expressionless, a hint of excitement creeps into the edges of her voice, "or the Red Death to her enemies," she says with a nod.
Kirikou looks at her skeptically, before raising a questioning eyebrow in your direction.
[] "Sure, let's go with that." It's not like you really cared what people called you, as long as they knew you were the greatest pirate who ever lived!
[] "I have many names." You will turn into a legend, and then a myth. No doubt you will be called many things. You'd like to encourage this.
[] "Captain will do." You threw away your old name, and you don't need a new one. Your identity to your crew is The Captain.
[] Admit your real name What? You threw that thing away already.
[] Name yourself anew. (Write in)
"Regardless, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this conversation short," you say, gesturing to a display. Several red dots, helpfully identified as "Police" or "Human Self Defense Force" were fast approaching from the direction of the jump limit. "Please, take your seats and prepare to jump," you say in your best flight attendant voice.
Sarah simply sits down on the floor, while Kirikou pales, eyes darting between the flashing warning lights, and the approaching vessels. His decision is complicated by several smaller red dots appearing, moving much faster towards your position, labeled "missiles."
"Huh, they didn't even demand our surrender. Rude," you observe, leaning back into your chair, as you plot out a destination. After that, Kirikou's indecision vanishes, as he rushes to sit down, almost tripping on the way to your slight amusement. It's a little cute how flustered he gets when faced with death.
"And off we go!" You say, pressing the emergency jump button.
The world moves sideways, and you fight to keep your grin from turning into a grimace. Even though it is less unsettling that the first time you jumped, it's still quite disconcerting. As the captain, you must set an example for your crew. So you force your eyes open. After just a second or two.
Kirikou's fingers are dancing over the console in front of him, as Sarah blandly continues watching. Fortunately, it was clearly impossible for them to have noticed your moment of weakness. Yup, impossible!
"Crap!" Kirikou says as he suddenly stands up and begins racing out of the room, "Another jump capacitor failed!" Ah, already embracing his proper role-wait. Another jump capacitor? That doesn't sound good...
What is the crew doing while Kirikou conducts repairs?
Kirikou:
[X] Conducting emergency repairs. [Locked]
[] Anything else
Sarah:
[] Have her help with the repairs.
[] Have her look into targets with spare parts.
[] Have her familiarize herself with the computer systems and optimize them if she can.
[] Let her do her own thing.
[] Write-in.
Yourself:
[] Help with the repairs.
[] Read the documentation for the ship.
[] Physically familiarize yourself with the ship.
[] Sleep
[] Fill out Kirikou's internship paperwork.
[] Write-in
