[hr][center][h1][color=009496]Tahlia Spade[/color] / [color=yellow]Yazmin Cormick[/color] / [color=ffaa00]Echo Montegawitz[/color][/h1][/center][hr]

Upon entering the kitchen, Tahlia saw everyone sitting around the table.  Being her usual self, she decided to take a step back and lean against one of the counters, listening to the conversation unfold.  A moment later, Yaz walked in, carrying her arm and some tools with her.  The first thing she did upon taking her seat was begin putting it on.  As much as Tahlia didn’t want to seem intrusive, she couldn’t help but be curious as Yaz went about connecting the arm and attaching everything together, as it seemed.  So much so that she even began to tune out the conversation at hand.
	
Once it seemed everything was done properly, Yaz turned a knob, causing her to recoil in pain.  Tahlia wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she just connected the nerves with the arm.  Must’ve hurt. [color=009496] "You okay?"[/color] Tahlia asked.

Yazmin unclenched her teeth, releasing a deep sigh, then began tapping the ends of her mechanical fingers, each flinching in response. She nodded as Tahlia spoke. [color=Yellow]"Yeah, I’m good. It’s just that the artificial and biological nerves connect through electromagnetic pulses, and the first one kick-starts it all… not exactly a pleasant feeling."[/color]

[color=009496]"I can imagine,"[/color] Tahlia replied.  She crossed her arms and shifted her focus back to Benji, right as the windows began to open and she saw the outside.  She had barely registered what she was looking at when Benji broke the news.  She heard Yazmin say something, but was too busy trying to process this newfound knowledge to understand it.  Her eyes switched between Benji and the window a couple of times before she pushed herself away from the counter and went towards the window.  Sure enough, there was no ground, no mountains, no Earth; nothing anywhere around them aside from an expanse of stars.

They were actually in space.  Tahlia wasn’t sure what to think in that moment.  Really, she wasn’t doing much thinking at all.  She was more lost, just sort of staring out into the abyss as it were.  She was both enamored by how pretty it all was, but also still processing the fact that they were no longer anywhere near Earth.

And then there came the thought of why they were somewhere Cryonautics didn’t tell them they would be.  What was the purpose of that?  Why lie when they were going to be the last six people alive anyways?  She turned around and looked at Benji, who was at that point talking about where they were going.  Yaicarro.  What a weird name.  She was about to ask how far away they were from this mystery planet, when Benji had a sort of breakdown.  She wasn’t sure if she wanted to prompt a reaction from him afterwards, so she decided to just let him carry on and take his leave.

[Color=ffaa00]"I see very little difference in way the Cryonautics has handled the situation as opposed to the information we were given."[/color] the voice drew Tahlia from her thinking, [Color=ffaa00]"A ship functions as a bunker only mobile, and the difference between an isolated colony and repopulation is a very fine line. We signed up to start a new world. The fact that the old one may still be in existence is moot. Our old world is gone now, by hundreds of years... and the current one will age and turn to dust should we decide to head back, simply distancing ourselves even more. We would be completely alien should we return."[/color]

Even in the moment of reflection and opinion, Echo worked. She cycled through a few screens and then began punching buttons in the environmental system. Immediately it woke up, no longer being in its long suspension and energy reserve mode and becoming a sensation. A little ozone here, some ionization, a pinch of variable humidity there, some geosmin, and a hint of dust... this added distinct petrichor to the air causing the claustrophobic confines seem more like a cabin in the woods than being trapped in a bubble of life in a sea of death. This was atmospheric cosmetics at their finest. Too bad she couldn’t actually maintain or repair the system, merely use it.

Tahlia cocked an eyebrow and turned her head in the direction of her voice.  She recognized the voice as being Echo's, but what she was saying almost alarmed Tahlia.  Sure, she wasn’t as chipper as, say, Benji, but Tahlia didn’t recall her being so pensive, and in such a negative way.  Tahlia followed the corridor that Echo’s voice emanated from and found her working on some of the environmental control systems… still in her underwear.  It wasn’t unlike Echo to try to stay busy, but this seemed unhealthy.  The fact that she went straight to work right out of the cryo tube, without even sparing a second thought about her situation as it were, was definitely enough to concern Tahlia.

[color=009496]"Hey, you gonna get some clothes on?  It’s kinda chilly in here."[/color]  Of course, as usual, she approached the situation with little tact, even given her observations.

It was almost like a different person spun out from behind her. Echo transformed from an emotionless robot and into the person everybody had known. Maybe it was just the cryo suspension wearing off. She smiled and seemed to get her bearings a little better. [Color=ffaa00]"A habit which would be in my best interest to break. I am afraid that I got used to it with all of those last minute medical exams."[/color]

With a sudden wave of self-consciousness, she made a route directly for the blankets and tossed one around her only to return to the environmental controls and continue her task one handed.  The sudden change in attitude, of course, did not go unnoticed by Tahlia, nor did Echo’s only marginal attempt to peel herself away from her task.  It almost seemed like she was obsessed with doing work, but perhaps that was just Tahlia being overcritical, as usual.  Regardless, something was up with Echo, without a doubt.  [color=009496]"Are you okay?"[/color] she asked.

Echo, stopped once the question had escaped Tahlia’s lips, and then began again this time slower not out of annoyance but perhaps because she was actually forced to face her attitude. [Color=ffaa00]"There was always an undeniable impeccable sense of focus throughout the selection process. There was a clear goal and if we didn’t keep a tight reign on our minds, then we were going to fail. Now that achievement is well in hand, and we have been activated for our duties, I find that I don’t have anything to focus on..."[/color]

She abruptly stopped tweaking the environmental controls and slammed the panel shut again with more emotion than effort. [Color=ffaa00] "With the exception of busy work, apparently."[/color]

She turned away from the window and sat down at the table for but a moment, and then stormed the food storage for the cake speaking as she collected a snack to tame her frustration. Even then there was reserve as the section she sliced was considerably smaller than those she plated and was neatly cut.[Color=ffaa00]"No matter how prepared I was, and no matter how much a figment it may seem. My heart created expectations should I wake from Cryo, that the world would have been frozen with me. My family would be present to greet me, the other candidates who didn’t make the cut would be in conversation at a welcome party, the Earth would be proceeding just as it ever had. A whimsical concept, I know, but ingrained nevertheless. Yet, here we are in an expectedly bleak reality, and it merely seems as though my success is the cause of their silence rather than a product of it.

How do you compensate for this blow? Everyone is dead, or at the very least everybody we knew. I find it a press to the soul to have the hopes of billions of people tethered to us... their final gamble. Renaissance has been initiated. It is a burden, a weight so immense that no joy can stand from being dragged into the abyss. But look at me blowing a storm cloud over the ship. It’s good to see that the team made it through cryo just fine."[/color]

Choosing to ignore Echo’s abrupt shifts in attitude for a moment, Tahlia thought about the question.  She didn’t really have any strong connections with anyone back on Earth.  Not to say she was a loner, but she didn’t have a lot of close friends before they left.  Even she and her mom had grown distant.  It was fairly easy for her to just leave it behind, especially with the knowledge that it may save humanity.  Of course, Cryonautics lied about one thing; who's to say that the Earth really was completely toast?  No doubt things were turning south, but maybe society bounced back.

Tahlia was going on a tangent.  She thought back to the original question.  [color=009496]"The way I see it, what’s done is done.  Not much we can do now except for press on.  People were bound to die from the moment everything started going to hell.  I prepared myself for the worst from the word go."[/color]  She paused for a moment, trying to gauge Echo’s expression.  [color=009496]"I’m sure that’s not a big comfort, and it’s too late to do much about it now.  We’re alive though.  That’s good."[/color]

It occurred to Tahlia that she could probably find some information on the planet they were headed towards in the cockpit.  [color=009496]"You should get some clothes on.  I’m going to the cockpit to see what there is to see.  Let me know if you need something,"[/color] she said before turning and heading off.

Echo agreed, and wandered off to find a living space and lockers while carrying a saucer and fork to accompany her treat.