"Alright everybody," Lt. Rorq shouted through her comm-line, "Everyone knows what they need to get done, and how long they have to do it, so I leave it in your capable hands." With the delegation of the duties done the Lieutenant disembarked from the Nyx to speak to the admiral directly. Her only direct superior officer had assured her that she was infinitely more valuable to the mission than he, for her dual interest in exploration. Sure he could manage the Nyx, but there may be some mineralogical value to the planet that she was uniquely qualified to assess. 

These and more arguments raced through her head as she waited impatiently on the tram to the bridge. When she arrived, she would speak her concerns directly to the deciding party, and request a more active role in the planetary exploration. Little did she realize, she was still holding her soil PH sample kit, that she had been fiddling with for the last half-hour.

[hr]
[center][h3]Two Sides of the Same Coin | Intermission[/h3]
[sub][@Rawk] [@Peaceless][/sub][/center]

"And, when the results are in, send them to this address," Xaith said as he handed the coolant maintenance supervisor a string of numbers.

The coolant maintenance supervisor was confused by the orders. Not by the string of numbers jotted down by the Chief of Engineering on paper of all things, but as to why he was being assigned the task. "This is... a TCP-IP address, sir." To which Xaith only let out a grunt of acknowledgement. "Sir, with respect, there aren't any computers on the ship that use TCP-IP. We haven't used the protocol in 50 years when quantum tunneling became standard." 

This drew the ire of the Chief, who accepts neither willful ignorance, nor blatant lies from his subordinates. "Clearly, there is at least one." 

To which the coolant maintenance supervisor winced. "I mean, it'd be faster for me to just copy the data to a PADD and send it to your quarters by courier pigeon than to try to use this protocol."

"Yes," SFC Calhound acknowledged, "But you won't. Because I am punishing you."

With that the Chief of Engineering left his formal home department and made his way to Security. He was met in the elevator by his adjutant. A robot of impeccable design, and the first hand-crafted on the Vitae as it was completed before the robotics facility went into full operation. Her black sclera, and the radial array of blue bars that would constitute her irises more than qualified her as 'distinctly non-human' for legal satisfaction. "Security," he directed the computer as he stepped into the lift, before turning to the robot specifically, "Sasha, this will be the first test of parallel processing your SI and RR protocols."

[color=cyan]"Yes sir,"[/color] she said in a sweet voice that had an artificial hollow tinge added to the vocal intonation by her speech processors. It was a mechanical unnecessarity and served to further distinguish man from machine. Everything about her form fit that qualification of "almost" but not quite blurring the line between the two. Her sleek form was humanoid in nature, but a lithe frame belied a lack of organic substructure, while hard-lines printed in cold white carbon superstructure distinctly separated her exterior from skin. 

They arrived in the brig in time to catch the tail end of the conversation. In a force of habit, as historical pop-culture was the only systems that she had access to until this morning, Sasha helpfully added [color=cyan]"The [/color][url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910812/]Tin Man[/url] [color=cyan]was also a post-apocalyptic sheriff of the same fictional universe."[/color] 

As Xaith and S.A.S.H.A. stepped out of the elevator, he spoke up with an extreme authoritative bent: "I'm going to ask you all, only once, to very nicely leave. I'll be serving as the defendant's council and my client and I have a legal right to privacy." And, on queue, S.A.S.H.A. appended the statement with an informational [color=cyan]"The requisite doccumentation has been provided to the front desk upon our arrival."[/color]

 While 'she' emphasized the visor's pass that had been afixed to her frame, Xaith shifted his weight in a way that drew emphasis to a manila envelope he held in reserve under his arm. It was marked "Classified: Top Secret", and his possession of it implied the results of the required scans revealed it contained only paper documents. Though, aside from Xaith, no one else in the room had the clearance required to inspect their contents.

"Now!" the Sargent First Class shouted.