video; 01/04

[keelahselai]

[It's basically the middle of the night cycle when you might notice - or be woken up by - the sound of the engines starting to fade down to almost nothing. Machinery usually powerful enough to reverberate - albeit very softly - throughout the ship goes still. It's just about completely silent when the MID broadcast goes out.

Tali's isn't a face - or mask, right now - that's seen on the network much, but here she is anyway. There's a slight air to her of having prepared this in her head.]

If you just noticed the engines shutting down, don't be alarmed. They're just in standby so I can do some maintenance. [Her eyes are only just visible as glowing points behind the opaque visor, but her whole head moves to pay attention to something below the MID - and there's the sound of her keying in commands one-handed.] I'd like to tell you it's routine maintenance, but tiny bots eating into the manifolds isn't routine in most places I've been.

It'll be done in a couple of hours. [...Pause.] I don't think I need to tell you that life support's still running... Do I?

[Well, she just did. She's about to sign off when--] Oh! Almost forgot.

I asked the captains a while back if I could start doing some research into the Ingress. How it works, what's wrong with it... Anything we can use, anything that might help us repair it, or...or something. [This is clearly not rehearsed.]

It'll be slower work on my own, so I'd really appreciate some help looking into it - and anybody who works with the Ingress probably knows it better than I do right now, too.

Let me know.

Comments

Video

[petrifiedshadow]

Urgh. Did you let Manasseh know?

[ Starflight sounded expectedly groggy from having been woken up from a deep sleep. He yawned, showing off a mouthful of sharp white teeth and long black tongue. ]

It's not much but I have some notes on the Ingress. I've been trying to do some research but I'm not very far along. Maybe we could talk about it in the morning.

[keelahselai]

[Her head tilts a little, and she sounds apologetic.] I asked permission first. I didn't want anybody thinking the engines were actually broken, or that I screwed something up.

[Genuinely nervous about that last point, for a few reasons.]

Actually, I thought if I did it at night, most people would sleep through it... I guess it didn't work like that.

[petrifiedshadow]

[ Starflight sat up quickly, realizing he mispoke. ]

Oh, no no, no. I didn't mean to imply you were doing something wrong! I was just wondering cause that seems like something someone in Navigation should know about. Since it has to do with the ship's moving. Sorry.

[keelahselai]

[Oh look, it's Tali's turn to be flustered.] No, sorry, I didn't think you were accusing me of anything! I let the captains know, and I think they let Navigation know. [Question mark? No, they must have.] No one in Navigation's called me in a panic yet, so I think we're fine.

Oh! [Since she's been gone a month and totally because of sleeping.] Do you still want to keep going with the lessons? I was just in stasis for a month, so I'm sorry we didn't get to do anything...

video

[noitatnacni]

I don't work with the Ingress or anything, but make sure you get someone who can talk to you about the mystic elements of it. I mean, it's pretty clear that you're a scientist, but there's magic at work in it too.

[Just saying.]

[keelahselai]

[...You got her there, madam. Tali's head tilts slightly and there's a pause.]

Huh... You think so? I didn't even think about magic being involved. Surely it's just alien tech...

[noitatnacni]

No, there's magic. [Said with both utter confidence, and far too much ease.] Maybe alien magic, but I sensed the mystical energy coming off of it when I got here. My guess would be technosorcery, where someone's combined science and magic together to make something more powerful than the two--but that's really not easy to accomplish, especially not on this scale.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

[Nihlus is still wide awake when the MID pings him. Mostly because he was clearing the scraplets out of some other corner of the ship.]

I'll come help with the cleanup. We can chat theories while I'm there?

[keelahselai]

Sure, I could use the help. [Beat.] And the company, to be honest, this is already far too quiet.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

I'll be right on over.

[About five minutes later, the turian shows up, the click of his talons echoing out in the silent gloom of the engine room. ]

Tali?

text; in the morning

[petridish]

Welcome back.

[keepin' up them appearances]

[keelahselai]

I'd say it's good to be back, but... I'd like to have slept through this maintenance work.

How have you been?

sorry for no formatting, phone tagging

[petridish]

I'd rather have [a human] someone highly qualified for the job on it.

Not too bad. Had to shoo those things away from my amp.

video;

[hyperkinesia]

Hey, Tali. Nice to see you around again.

[ Bruce himself looks a little different, hair cut short and some beard that wasn't there before. It's been longer for him than it has for Tali, actually, but he doesn't bring that up yet. As much as he would like for the people he likes to not be stuck here, it is nice to see familiar and friendly faces still around (figuratively in this particular case), and it shows in his expression, his smile. Apparently he's none too bothered by the fact that the engines just got shut down. ]

Sign me up for the work with the Ingress. I had been thinking about it anyway, before I was— before I got stuck in cryo. [ He pauses. ] And since I'm awake already, let me know if you want help with the engines.

No formatting, I'm afraid! Phone tagsss

[keelahselai]

[She visibly perks up, and definitely sounds pleased to see him. He looks somewhat different - mostly his hair - but it doesn't occur to her to think it's much more than a haircut and a month passing by.] Hey! I'd say it's good to be back, but I woke up to a robot eating my stasis pod.

[Well, it's good to have not been eaten by said robot, at least.]

I could use some help with the engines if you don't mind... Are you sure, though? I didn't realise you were just in cryo.

No problem! :>b

[hyperkinesia]

Ah, the... right, I vaguely remember those.

[ He didn't get too involved in that, if he remembers well. He'd been catching up on some very needed rest and spent most of those days either sleeping or reorganizing the science department, and he was lucky enough that neither were too affected by the infestation. ]

Yes, that's no problem. I climbed out of there earlier today. It's been a little complicated, as I was gone for over a year. I went back home— even though technically I was only in cryo for three days. But I'm alright now, just slowly settling back in.

video;

[takeitslow]

You haven't been seen around in a while. Should you be doing something that sounds so stressful? Your boyfriend was telling me you weren't doing too hot.

Phone tags so no formatting!

[keelahselai]

Niko told you that? [She sounds somewhere between fondly amused and...a little embarrassed, really.]

I'm fine, though, really! I need something to...to... [She's gesturing with the other hand between tapping at the console under the MID.] Make me feel like I'm helping out, I guess. I slept through a lot.

okay!

[takeitslow]

Sort of? Was he not supposed to?

[He looks sheepish. He hopes he's not getting the man in trouble.]

Being sick is a pretty good reason to sleep. There's other people around, they can handle doing stuff. I mean, you know? I'm not telling you what to do, not my place, but you could just take it easy.

[video]

[soldiergenes]

[ The sound of the engines whirring down into silence is more than enough to wake up Snake. He's a light sleeper by nature, and that consistent sound suddenly dying out sets off an alarm bell or two.

He checks his phone under the covers to see if there's anything from the captains about it, but the explanation actually comes from another member of the crew.

Engineer wearing a special suit of some kind? He's pretty sure that he knows who this is.

Snake rubs the sleep dust out of his eyes and then slips out of bed, stealing out into the hallway so that he can reply to her message without waking up his roommates.

He cuts right to the chase. ] Are you Tali?

Phone tags so no formatting!

[keelahselai]

[She doesn't recognise the human to look at him, and she doesn't expect anybody to recognise her from...what, hearsay? So she clearly sounds a little surprised.]

That's me, yeah. Sorry, I don't think we've met...

[Her tone angles upwards, like a question.]

[soldiergenes]

[ Snake shakes his head, because they definitely haven't met. Tali seems a little surprised that anyone would have mentioned her, which means she's the unassuming type. Seeing how this is the first time Snake's seen her put out a broadcast since he got here, he'd already figured on that. ]

Niko mentioned you. I work with him in the cargo bay.

Video;

[peridork]

Just a thought? Next time you might want to warn everyone about the scheduled maintenance before you turn the engines off.

[Honestly. Organics have no common sense.]

But I digress. Do you require any assistance with your repairs?

[She’s trying not to sound condescending, but it’s hard when she’s kind of skeptical that this other alien actually knows what she’s doing down there. ]

Phone tags so no formatting!

[keelahselai]

[Maybe it's a point she'd have taken on board if she wasn't getting a distinct hint of the condescending here. Either way, as always with her, her sarcasm is something that sounds completely sincere.]

Sure! You arrange with the metal-eating robots to give me some warning before they get into the engines and I'll put the maintenance window on the calendar.

And you can help with the repairs if you want. [She can't resist the next sentence, also so very sincerely (Tali's totally mature):] Just try not to get in the way, OK?

[peridork]

[Peridot is far less subtle: She bristles, glowering at the camera.]

Don't you patronize me, I know what I'm doing. I was literally made for this kind of work. In fact, if I didn't have my hands full with so many other things around the ship they probably would have put me in charge of the engines!