Fixing A Ship, Lady, Or Both.

"Of course Aternity, these labs will be made available to you and to Cytus both, anything containing sensitive information may be inaccessible, however the Xenobiology, Xenoarchaeology, Xenolinguistics and Xenogeology labs at least will be made unrestricted, these labs contain Biological information on alien life forms, both simple and complex, Archaeological relics from alien worlds and debris found by this vessel, the study of transmissions, both garbled and clear from alien worlds, and finally analysis of elements and minerals of non Dominion origin."

The vessel was a little on the wordy side, Aternity could likely have guessed the meaning behind the labels anyway but it wanted to help at least reassure Aternity and Cytus both that with their help came perks, the ship was glad for them to be aboard, but it was lonely as well, it wanted to keep them aboard, perhaps it was bribery, but the vessel was all by itself in all the universe, it was the only survivor... Assuming of course that the sensor readings where a ghost in the system and not a real result.

"This vessel would welcome habitation again, it will be difficult for this vessel to leave Earth, for now at least, perhaps it could serve as temporary accommodations when you need a little break from the Routine of Earth?

Error, Life signs belonging to Aternity and Cytus have been lost, Error... Aternity... Cytus, are you still present?"

It wouldn't matter even if the pair replied, the vessel had lost them and was quickly growing frantic, as far as it could tell, with no reason, with no warning the pair had simply blipped out of existence! If they backtracked, even just a little the Ry'leh would respond once again, it would greet them with a great sense of relief.

But if they pressed on the ship would remain silent, it had lost them, they had vanished from its sensors, but the tablet in Aternitys hand was still responding, it was still displaying the map that the vessel had given him. However the communications relay was not functioning, even if he were to access it and try to speak with the vessel it would not respond, a simple error message would display on the tablet.

'Location unrecognized, please move to a location on Earth or aboard the Ry'leh'

There was an odd sound echoing through the halls a clacking in a rhythmic staccato, like chitin against metal. But nothing yet replied to the query Aternity had posed, if there was something that still lived in these winding corridors that the Ry'leh apparently could not see, and was not aware that it could not see then how would they find it? They would need to pursue it, they would need to chase after it! But if this truly was a member of the crew, then this was a person in its own home turf.

The doors would respond to Cytus and Aternity, with Aternity's tablet and Cytus' code then they would still have free reign here, the living quarters were mostly uniform in design, but each one was personalized by the crews artifacts. Pictures, tools, clothing and jewelry, all the signs of life that one would expect in an abandoned town or city.

In many of the rooms things were left just as they were before the crew had degenerated. But if they kept checking either Cytus or Aternity would discover one particular room, one room where the center was filled with a strange, gelatinous material, it was a thick gel that was easily ankle deep, if either Aternity or Cytus could analyze it they would find that it was comprised of organic material, it was disassociated and loose, carrying traces of some exotic form of radiation, if either Aternity or Cytus had ever examined subspace they might have seen it before, but this radiation was twisted in some way, it was altered, but by what?

One more grisly surprise remained in store for the pair of explorers deep in the depths of the Ry'leh, one more room, but this one did not contain goo, no, this one contained the last remnants of the vessels original crew. Disembodied limbs, the torsos, the bodies of the crew, the moment they unsealed this door the stench of rotted flesh would wash over them both, this was the fate that had befallen the crew of the Ry'leh, this was the end they had met.

This was more than concerning to the vessel than to Aternity or Cytus, it had never had a sensory blind spot before, and more importantly it was not aware of this sensory blindness, if there was one section that it was cut off from then what if there were others! It did what it always did when it encountered trouble, when it encountered something it did not know and triggered its internal sensors, all sensors in the region where Cytus and Aternity were exploring reported an online and functional status, all showed nothing wrong, but they also did not report Cytus or Aternity or any other forms of life.

The skittering noise in the corridor seemed to draw closer for a moment before retreating once more, whatever was in here with them, while it was doubtless intimidating, hearing the clacking of the creatures feet on the floor it seemed that whatever it was wasn't in the greatest of rushes to force an encounter.

But the pair were cut off from any help the ship could give them, perhaps with the residue that Aternity had gathered he would be able to cobble together a sensor to detect anything with a similar biological structure, but that would take time, that would take expertise, it wasn't like he was in a highly advanced alien spacecraft with an alien woman who doubtless had a good grasp of what things could potentially be used for.

For the time being though it seemed they were safe, even with something unknown scuttling back and forth. A small hum filled the air as the Ry'leh intensified its scans, the deck plates beneath their feet vibrating slightly as the ship upped its power output, localizing this particular region of the vessel to try and determine the location of Aternity and Cytus, and of course whatever they were chasing.

The moment the pair unsealed the door containing the bodies however a siren sounded, just briefly before it was resealed and the Ry'leh detected the outgassing from the sealed chamber, the decomposition of its old crew, it could easily detect the breakdown of Makosian genetic material and the breakdown of alien biological materials.

Aternity's pad hummed briefly, buzzing as though it were equipped with a vibrate function and if he looked at the screen, for just a moment a small icon would flash and if he touched it a blip would appear on the map, a blip pulsating in a trinary pattern, three short pulses, a pause, then three short pulses and repeat. The signal would fade shortly though, but even though the Ry'leh couldn't detect the life form aboard it it seemed that for a moment at least Aternity's tablet could!

The signal faded quickly though and the sound of scuttling footsteps continued to retreat, the next room that Aternity and Cytus entered though would be a chance to reconnect to the Ry'lehs systems. There a terminal built into the wall would flash, a terminal, not with a single keyboard before it but a pair, separated into two smaller keyboards spread on either side of the screen.

A sequence of symbols would flash onto the screen and if either Aternity or Cytus entered those symbols then the Ry'lehs voice would come from the terminal once again.

"That's more like it, life signs are still not being detected in your region aboard this ship, however this vessel has detected Makosian genetic material and decomposition of Makosian genetic material as well, this vessel does suspect that one of its original crew is still alive in your section. Please be careful"

At least Aternity and Cytus had a chance, even though the ship was kilometers long it was nonetheless confined to the regions where the Ry'lehs sensors were inoperative, after all if the ship could sense it it could box it in, perhaps it could even terminate it without relying on Cytus or Aternity.

"The crew responded with two separate effects, after initial exposure to the Subspace Radiation deleterious effects began to manifest themselves in the crew, at first through aberrant behavior, odd, out of character requests to the terminal, the captain began making strange requests, then through a descent into madness, the crew began to kill one another, in order to protect the remaining crew this vessel initiated a lockdown and sealed the crew into their quarters, the radiation continued to effect the crew however even in isolation and no one was sane enough to work on a remedy, the effect became much worse in isolation and the crew dissolved into gelatinous organic material.

This vessel has since developed a navigational subroutine that will limit exposure to Subspace radiation by limiting the duration of a Hyperspace jump"

At the information about the sensory ghost however the vessels deck plating began to hum again and a quick, shrill shriek sounded from the vessels speakers in the room with Cytus and Aternity.

"Apologies for the noise, this vessel should have provided prior warning, however this vessel has detected an echo from the following location"

It uploaded another flashing indicator to Aternities tablet and the sound of scuttling feet sounded again out in the corridor, this time it was approaching and approaching fast.

The skittering sound of chitin against metal echoed closer and if Aternity and or Cytus were to look out of the room they would get their first look at a whole, at a living dominion citizen, they would get their first glimpse of a Makosian!

He was, most definitely not human, the figure that rounded the corridor towards Aternity and Cytus he stood about the same height as a human, at roughly six feet in height, but he stood not on two legs, but three, each one long and spindly, forming a stable tripod as he moved, although the gait was more than a little unusual for bipedal species like theirs, his legs ended in a 'trunk' of sorts, a 'torso' with two arms set on either side, but his hands didn't seem to be able to cross in front of his body like humans could.

It was no wonder the Makosians console design was divided into a pair of spread apart interfaces instead of a single, 'unified' keyboard. Near the upper section of that tapering 'trunk' four eyes were set in slanted angles, a pair of inset 'nostril' like orifices below those eyes and a mouth, about half the width of the beings entire 'torso' below that!

Its skin was a light gray in color and a shell was affixed to its back, a shell that seemed more decorative than protective, it hugged the 'torso' of the Makosian and shimmered with a soft iridescence that was really rather beautiful. But the most concerning thing of course was the wild look in all four eyes, the smattering of drool leaking from the creatures lips and the rather sharp, if primitive bladed weapon it was holding in its right hand.

"Meat! Metal Meat!"

Its voice was low and grating, it licked its lips hungrily as it approached Aternity and Cytus, sounding like the worst possible creature from a zombie movie. Perhaps what was most distressing though was the size of that mouth, it would have been bad enough being of human dimensions with the hunger this creature seemed to possess, but at the moment with a mouth as wide as half its torso it stood a good chance of eating either of them whole!

The weapon discharge struck its mark, the smell of burning flesh filling the nostrils of both Cytus and Aternity, the Makosian crew person stumbled for a moment, looking at the pair of them with greedy, hungry eyes as though it had not yet figured out that it had been wounded, it flailed its arms, but after the initial stumbling steps the Makosian collapsed on the floor, looking up with an expression of puzzlement, why couldn't it move? Why was it so cold?

And then it grew still, its shell detaching from its back as the connective tissue began to be eaten away by the lingering heat from the discharge, it would likely be remarkable to both Aternity and Cytus, the shell had been impacted by the projectile from the engineer but it remained completely undamaged, there was a slight smudge of carbon against it but not a single scratch, if this Makosian had been in its right mind it could perhaps have defended itself using that remarkable shell, but the pair owed their easy victory to luck and the Makosians own insanity more than anything else.

<div align=right><Error self-correcting in command subroutines>
<Unlocking sensory grid in Auxiliary crew quarters>
<Restoring sensor contact in Auxiliary crew quarters>
<All command pathways unlocked>

<Query: Origin of lockout>

<Command deck, Captains privilege invoked before life sign termination></div>

"Cytus, Aternity are you both alright? Life signs have been reacquired, Crewman Ath tiran ti located. This vessel glad you're both well"

The ship breathed a sigh of relief, figuratively of course, for the time being it seemed that Aternity and Cytus were unharmed and the pair were close to a system that was in need of repair as well, if it was going to have to dispose of a body then this system would come in useful, it would also be a boon for repair materials.

"You are both near to O-311 if you would like to proceed following the indicators this vessel is transmitting to Aternity's pad you will find a system in need of restoration, repairs needed should be minimal to get it operational again and this vessel will be able to dispose of any organic waste materials left in its hallways."

It might have what seemed like emotions much of the time, but was this emotional? The Ry'leh had just lost one of its crew for the second time, but instead of being caught up in sorrow it was directing its new crew to a damaged sector that would be useful in disposing of said deceased crewperson! Would it be so unfeeling if Cytus or Aternity were to perish aboard it?

The vessel was already directing a transport unit to their location, a medical bed designed for emergencies, the ship couldn't ask Aternity or Cytus to drag Tiran with them, so it was going to deal with it itself, the medical bed was thankfully equipped with security ties designed to be manipulated by the Ry'leh to avoid putting any crew in danger in case of madness or serious illness, it could use those ties to secure Tiran to the bed and follow after the pair if they agreed to follow the vessels directions.

The damage to the connective tissue of the Makosians shell was too severe however, the metallic bed having rounded the corner and closed in on the fallen Makosian it extended its security ties, long, thin metallic filaments that plucked Tiran from the floor and secured him against it, but that remarkable, iridescent shell was left behind. A trophy perhaps for Aternity? At the very least its resilience would likely be a source of interest.

"Crewman Tiran of Ti was a maintenance worker in this sector, he was an intelligent young man and this vessel spoke with him often regarding maintenance issues, but little more, Aternity, Cytus, should this vessel grow attached to its crew? Should it learn their goals, their ambitions, their lives, or should it remain just a means of conveyance, perhaps a co-worker, but never a friend?"

What was this now? Philosophy?

The vessel considered Aternitys words, his opinion and the way his company was structured would help its new software configuration now that it was dealing with humans, that said though it was having a few difficulties reconciling that with its original configuration, after all what if it became closer with a few people? Would it try to save them in the event of a disaster at the expense of other crew? It was something to think on, but for the time being it had more important things to worry about.

The mobile medical platform was not only carrying the body, it was analyzing it as well, how had he managed to survive for so long? How had he managed to avoid the death that had befallen the rest of the crew, surely he should have degenerated into goo like those that survived the murderous rampages.

<div align=right><Analyzing cellular makeup>
<Degeneration advanced to stage two>
<Residual Subspace radiation detected>
<Saturation level: Advanced>
<Signs of Cellular suspension detected>
<Scan complete></div>

The crewman had been suspended, he must have been in stasis since the emergence of the stage two degeneration had been detected, the information must have been deleted from the vessels database during a fit of the captains madness. That was one issue solved, but not one that the Ry'leh would immediately relay to Cytus or Aternity, if they asked, if they pondered it aloud then the vessel would reveal the information it had uncovered, but till then it didn't even think to volunteer that information.

"This vessel is grateful for all of your assistance, both the work you are willing to do for it and the advice you are giving that will help this vessel acclimatize to human society and human crew members.

With regeneration and repairs this vessel is sure it will be completely functional once again in time, this is something this vessel did not think would be possible after its emergency landing, it considers itself extremely fortunate to have encountered two talented and advanced individuals so soon"

Perhaps it was buttkissing a little but it was true as well, the vessel had expected to be stuck on this mudball of a world for quite some time before even being able to leave, but with their help... It was going to be much easier for it to regain its ability to fly and its ability to travel through space!

But once Cytus and Aternity reached the damaged section they would be easily able to tell that this section of the ship had been damaged, and damaged badly! Scorch marks marked the corridor, the smell of smoke thick on the air even though the fire was long since out, one of the doors before the pair irised open, halting for a moment, grinding and screeching before finally opening all the way.

Within the room that was revealed the pair would finally come face to face with the fact the ship was at least a little organic! The room beyond the damaged door was fairly large, it extended out in a hexagonal shape, the interior was extremely bare and the dark chitinous material that made up the room seemed to glisten wetly. The center of the room was recessed and filled with a thick liquid, even if the pair looked into it though they would not be able to see the bottom, on the right hand side of the room another 'door' marred the wall, however unlike they one they would have to enter this one was comprised of the same chitin as the walls, although muscular tissue surrounded the organic door, this wasn't structure, this was anatomy!

"Warnings, please do not touch the pool in the center of O-311, exposure to the liquid will cause severe injury, do not worry about the liquid on the walls though, it is harmless. Just past the doors you will find a control panel on the left hand wall, within the control panel you will find a series of three hexagonal crystal plates in the order, ruby, sapphire ruby, change the order of the plates to Sapphire, Ruby, Ruby, then locate the central organic node and squeeze gently until you feel liquid pulsing beneath your fingers."

The vessel didn't quite realize that humans might not be quite as versed with, or comfortable with organic technology, this was an odd way to describe a repair after all, reordering plates and squeezing something that looked like a bunch of organic cords meeting at what looked like a strange, spherical organ! How often had poor Aternity had to deal with that?