EliteCommander

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen tilted his head towards his friend. “Light, we’re going to all be stuck in here together for days while we’re en route. I think we’re going to have to get used to each other. At least a little.”

Senjen had been about ready to move on himself before Major introduced two more additions. He had not noticed them either, as he had honestly not been expected how large Major’s team was. How many was this up to now? Seven, including Major. Things in the ship were going to be a bit crowded on the way to their destination.

Halo of Pearlescent Eddies was an interesting one. She was a QV, enhanced. Her physiology made it easy to see the extent of her improvements, perhaps the most impressive of which was the power supply. It was rather large and attached by an array of cables to her back. Honestly, he felt that it looked like overkill for the implants he could see, which begged the question of what, exactly, it was meant to power.

The QV woman was a mystery, which would give Senjen something to be curious about, but the sudden outburst of the last droid was more off-putting. It was like he panicked for a moment, and though they were able to calm him quickly, it was still hard not to feel nervous about it. He was the most heavily-armed member of their team, and apparently the one who was prone to fits of panic. Senjen was not even sure what it was around them that could have even triggered him, if Major was being honest about what happened. That, he supposed, was not a guarantee.

“Ah, well, right now we’re just waiting on Ruknar to get here. I think she’ll have that AI, and we’ll be able to get going. Make yourselves comfortable. This is a Tindrel ship, fortunately, so I don’t think any of you will have difficulty navigating it. The halls are plenty wide for everyone.” Senjen said.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

These others might have been even stranger than the first two droids. Rex used a frame that lacked many similarities with the bodies of any of the known intelligent species. That, in itself, was not something unusual to Senjen. Back on Orostro, Utaysi usually took direct control of specialized machinery and vehicles when needed. The thing about their usual bodies, and those of other intelligent species, was that they were versatile. The reason organic evolution tended to converge on certain features with intelligent species was that it allowed them to perform decently in nearly any situation. Rex here was much more specialized, with a wider gap between its strengths and weaknesses. They were a team, so they probably had practice using each other’s strengths and covering each other’s weaknesses. If Senjen needed to work with them, he just hoped he would be able to mesh well with them.

The last one, Tantō, was...quiet, though that did not stop her from showing off. He was not sure if that was enough to go off of to take a guess on the kind of person she was, but it probably meant she wasn’t completely stoic. If all else failed, she did seem like the type that would be easy to get along with by leaving her alone.

Senjen tried not to allow himself to get too distracted with his thoughts and guesswork. He took a look down at Rex. “Ah, right. You’ll have to forgive us; we have quite a few more occupants in the ship now than we usually do, and on short notice. We do have space, but we might have to do some improvising on quarters. We cleared out enough of our stuff in the quarters to make room for four, but we should probably make sure the organics have their spots there. You know how they need their ‘personal space’. If you go through the hall on the right there, straight to the end, that is the storage room. Plenty of space there to pick out a corner for your things.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen had not known beforehand how many of this group were going to be artificial. In truth, he felt a bit wary about that fact. He never knew what to expect out of non-Utaysi artificial intelligence. None of them were made in the same way Utaysi were, and despite what some people might think, their minds were completely different. He really did not know if they could truly feel emotion, or were programmed to mimic it. That answer might be different depending on the AI, he supposed. Maybe some of them could really be considered sapient? He just knew that he had met AI before that looked familiar on the outside, but there was no life behind their eyes. It was unnerving, and hopefully this group would be different.

For first impressions, this group was certainly “different”, in some sense. The translation software he used could handle most known languages, and these two were supposedly speaking one of those languages, but the translator still struggled. While he was trying to parse through what they were saying, Senjen nodded along and gave a slight chuckle when it seemed like one of them was trying to be funny. By the time he had to speak up himself, he was at least mostly sure he knew what they were saying.

“Eh, can I answer both? I am Utaysi, but no matter what I was, I don’t think I could pass up a fine tail like this.” Senjen said, whipping his tail against the floor just loud enough to give it a slight echo in the room.

Senjen gave a long, scrutinizing look at Major. Much like Light, he also was not completely certain on what exactly he was. “I can tell with the others, but just for future reference, are you someone who does or doesn’t have to worry about a virus?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“The inhibitor probably isn’t even necessary, but I guess any extra protection against outside meddling makes for some peace of mind. No, it’s more the act of trying to take something from Myrmidon that’s bothering me. I just...really need to avoid getting caught, you know? Or failing that, getting identified. If I am caught, I need to make sure they can’t get any sort of read on the serial number to know it was me, specifically.” Senjen answered, with a slight shrug. “Or like I said: don’t get caught at all.”

Light did not have to wait too much longer for their guests. An ominous group of hooded figures on a stormy evening would have been terrifying on any other day, and it was still at least a little intimidating here, but the fact that they were expecting visitors made Senjen a little less on-edge than Light seemed to be. In any case, they confirmed their identity, and the Human gave them what passed for an introduction. “Major” was a bit of a bizarre name, and probably not actually a name at all.

“Hmph, yeah, the Myrmidon.” Senjen said in a matter-of-fact tone, returning the handshake. “Make yourself at home. You’re going to have to get as comfortable as you can ‘till we get there.” He waited until they closed up the ship. “What do you know about the job?"

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Yes, they have the address. We’re on the same landing pad we always are; Ruk knows where we live.” Senjen reassured Light.

Senjen had been busy these last two days, yet he was still left feeling like he wished he could do more. He had an inhibitor in place now that could help block external sources from issuing commands on his internal systems. In all likelihood, it was not necessary. Jess had really pulled out all the stops for her examination, and she had found no sort of backdoor that Myrmidon could use into his systems. Besides that, it was resilient against outside tampering, especially with control permissions being restricted to his personality matrix. Nevertheless, it was a precaution he wanted to take.

“We’ve got supplies and equipment, but I know what I want is a bit of information. Has anyone told you anything? What do we know about my first part of this job? If I’m going to have to sneak into a Myrmidon facility, then I’d like a few specifics on where I need to go and what I need to do.” Senjen remarked.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Okay. Let me know if you need any help with the suit. It’s important, and I want to make sure you’re protected. If you really end up in need of a weapon, I’ll let you borrow one of mine, but like I said, I don’t think it’s a good idea to arm you without training. I’ll stay close as best as I can and keep you safe.” Senjen said, trying to sound confident, though he had also not been hiding his concern.

For a moment, Senjen stood awkwardly, hesitating on what he did or did not want to bring up. She was justifiably worried, and he was guilty that she was in that situation to begin with. “I hope- I mean, I just want you to know that I didn’t want this to happen. I never thought you would have been dragged into danger because of me. As far as Korit goes, I thought this would be a good organization to work for. I...don’t regret the things I’ve been doing to get the hospital what it needs. That is a cause worth taking some risk for, but I do regret it’s come to this.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Wait, really?” Right away, Senjen sounded surprised. He had gathered that the FGC were hiring them to keep themselves from being too directly associated with this job, but not even giving them adequate equipment seemed like a step too far. “They don’t need to give you FGC branded armor, there’s plenty of sellers on Korit who ask no questions. The black market is here is practically just the ‘market’.” Senjen made the motion of sighing.

“But yeah, you need a suit.” Senjen nodded. “I’d like you to be as armored and protected as possible, but at the very least, you need an environment suit. The virus might be the biggest threat down there for you, so you need protection from it. I’m not going to gamble your life on that AI being successful with finding a cure, I’m just...not. For weapons...if I had time to give you training and practice with using them, then sure, but if you’ve never fired one before, then it’s better that you just stay nearby and out of sight if there’s danger.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“There may be a lot here you are right about, but on one thing, you’re categorically wrong. You are special, Ruk. I’ve met a lot of people since coming to Korit, and you stand out over the rest. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to keep you safe.” Senjen replied. The atmosphere around them may have been becoming more relaxed and upbeat, but he was paying little mind to anything but Ruk.

Senjen still was not completely dismissing the idea of getting Ruk off of the job. Maybe they would be able to talk to Vitality at some point, and maybe there would be some way to convince her to keep Ruk in safety, but it was not wise to put everything on that hope. They needed to prepare however they could. “Okay, we have two days. What do you need? What would make you feel safer about what we’re expecting to go up against, or just less nervous? Even if it is just by a little bit, it’s worth doing with the time that we have. I do have to take some time to let Jess look me over, but aside from that, you have my help. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, day or night. I don’t sleep. If I helped get you into this, then it’s the least I can do.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“I wouldn’t necessarily need to frame it as a renegotiation. More like a...discussion of strategy. We’ve already been given the green light to take a few days to prepare and plan for the job, and picking the team is an important part of the job. If we can make a compelling argument for why we would have a better chance of success with someone else filling your spot, then it might just happen.” Senjen reasoned.

Senjen moved in a bit closer alongside Ruk’s chair, having no problem with sitting on the floor beside her. He could tell she was still anxious about this job, with how she was fidgeting with whatever what around her, looking for distraction. Yet, he also did not feel that she was too certain in the answers she was giving him. “But that’s only if there isn’t another good reason for you to be on the job. If it’s not because of what you can do, or completely because of your relationship with us, then maybe it’s because of who you are? Your personality? Your values? Maybe there aren’t many others with the right skills that Vitality would be willing to trust, or she thinks you’ll be willing to take the risk, while others won’t?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“The job we’re doing...looking for a cure to a virus that is devastating a whole world. That sounds like a worthy cause. It sounds like something worth doing, something worth taking the risk for. If there isn’t anything else to it, no taking the virus and making it a bio-weapon, or something else that wouldn’t surprise me out of corporations on Korit, then I can be proud to help. If that, out of all of this, is at least true, then we have something here we can work with.” Senjen said.

Senjen did not trust the chairs nearby to hold his weight, so he knelt down at eye level in front of Ruknar. While risky, a lot of the plan he had heard so far seemed sensible, but there was something Ruknar seemed to believe that did not quite add up in Senjen’s head. “Them using you to recruit us for the job makes sense, and if they want leverage over us, then having you around also makes sense. But...are you sure that’s the only reason they’re sending you with us? Could that not be because of your skills? If it was just for leverage, then I would think it would make more sense for them to keep you here under their thumb, under their control, instead of out there where we could all slip away together. I feel like there might be more to them assigning you to this, and if there isn’t, then maybe we can convince them to leave you here, out of danger?”