[hr]
[h1][center][color=ffaa00]Echo Montigawitz[/color][/center][/h1]
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Promptly there was produced a seam ripper, and thread by thread was popped. Hems were unrolled carefully. One two three... fifty. Each thread was carefully captured and placed into the reclamant for recycling in the grain sorter. Her uniform collar was gently unfolded, searching intently. There it was. Echo could hardly believe her eyes. All of this cloak and dagger was one thing to hear it discussed, but to actually witness it unfolding was something else entirely. She wondered just how many of the rest of the crew were in on this entire hush-hush information. Maybe all of them were in on it, and they were all being paranoid and stone silent on information that they all already knew.

Carefully, Echo drew out a small filament of graphene silica... nearly transparent, nearly indestructible, and nearly undetectable. This was to be the message in the bottle that the leadership of Project Renaissance was talking about. Information so volatile that they dared not digitize it for security purposes. Final instructions perhaps? An explanation of their situation? Maybe it was simply a farewell.

Echo jumped into her belongings and got to work. All of the components should have been provided. She simply needed to assemble, listen, and then dismantle the custom auditory device. She was about to assemble it when Benji’s request for a team meeting echoed through the ship. Her quarters were prepared for the quiet of the chamber and automatically lowered the volume so that it was not startling.

[color=00ff00]"Attention, attention, all crew mates please report to the living area... Ha! I feel official, oh wait forgot to turn the mic off."[/color][color=2b2b2b]Really? We’re all going to jump at the beck and call of the crazy doctor? Just go along with it.[/color]
The components were stashed quickly and without any visible form of disruption to the tidiness of her chambers... as they were perfectly designed. The message was stored properly now that it had been collected. In a moment, nothing was out of place, and someone would be hard pressed to even know that clandestine operations had taken place.

She closed her closet only to notice the laser marks again.

[color=ffaa00]“I’m going to need to replace those..."[/color] At first she took a moment to examine it, then in a flash she had removed the 6 screws and held the hatch under an arm. [color=ffaa00]"...or not.”[/color]

She snatched up her explosive with her spare hand and [u]proceeded to the common area[/u] with a smile on her lips and a spring in her step. Entering the room was [u]only Benji, Tahlia, and Ailbeart Rend.[/u] She didn’t seem to notice as she plopped her spoils on the table. She had to do a double-take as she saw the final member of the crew. Her first reaction was shock, then confusion.[color=2b2b2b]Oh great! Of course they would allow politics and greed dictate their decisions. After all, what is mankind but the Devil's palankeen barror?[/color]
She finally seemed to settle on delight at his presence. She was far too sophisticated to rush him with an outstretched hand. However, her enthusiasm was difficult to conceal since she could not help but take a number of steps to approach him, and her hands seemed a little animated at the vision before her. Finally they settled on clasping in front of her to tether them and hold them steady (as she had been raised to do) and she almost curtsied before him. [color=ffaa00]“Ailbeart Rend? Forgive me, but I must be out of sorts for having missed your presence on board. I must say that it is an honor to have you join us. My father has been thoroughly captivated by your guile and cunning, not to mention your irrefutable successes. I suspected that they would undoubtedly include some sort of leadership for our mission, but I am indeed surprised that they were able to gain the cooperation of a man of your caliber.”[/color][color=2b2b2b]You sick minded, $@&s0[/color]