Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Pre-Sim: A Delivery Arrives
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Posted by Civilian Tock (Bartender) in Pre-Sim: A Delivery Arrives

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Pre-Sim: A Delivery Arrives

Cockily yet somehow also cautiously a tall woman with dark hair in a ponytail strolled out of the shadows. At first, her shape appeared to be that of the the shadows themselves sliding forwards thanks to her boiler suit matching the darkness of a hair. Her hands were raised, one of them pinching a PADD between fingers. Another figure appeared behind her but remained shrouded in shadow.

“Here”, she boomed in a hushed tone, “you can calm down.” She slowly approached the ensigns and held out the PADD in offering. Inspection would reveal valid Starfleet security clearance, including unadvertised but obvious to anyone looking codes relating to the ARU itself. The actual content of the file being displayed were inaccessible without the security codes of the XO or CO however.

“Shall we begin unloading already?” a gruff voice called out from behind. All the activity easily drowned out the ticking quietly eminating from somewhere in the space but it continued without missing a beat, or a tock, the whole time.

-Crew of the Kelpie-

Remaining on his belly, Gary reached up to obtain the PADD, then laid it on the ground before him as he glanced from its surface to Blair and then back.
=^=Ah…the codes check out, Sir=^- he called up to McReady. =^=Delivery of equipment from ARU Headquarters. Command authorisation only.=^=

In the control booth, McReady cancelled his alert, his regret at the dissipation of such potential excitement palpable. Then with a sigh he tapped at his own badge. =^=Captain. McReady here. We got a delivery from ARU command. You need to sign off on it.=^=

Several minutes passed while McReady made himself comfortable in the control booth, his eyes never leaving the Kelpie’s chief. While on the deck, the other men once more found their feet with varying degrees of embarrassment, weapons still drawn but de-escalated to stun. Then finally, the doors opened once again and in strode a man who, were it not for the pips on the collar, could easily be mistaken for maintenance crew. Or perhaps a resident vagrant. The uniform passed for regulation at first glance, no single hole or tear large enough to immediately draw the eye. So too the hair, gathered in an approximation of a ponytail, the long beard similarly styled. But it was in those cerulean blue eyes that one truly began to question the man’s standing. For while they might still whisper vaguely of importance and respectability, they sung far louder of one who had just woken from a very long, and very drunken, nap.

“Well now, what’s all this?” he roared, advancing quickly on the small craft, outstretched hand already demanding the manifest. “I didn’t realise it was my birthday, eh!”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Hardly”, the other captain barked. Not for a second would she stand for Cobb outperforming her own gruffness. A fresh pad flew into her hand from the shadows and without delay she flung it on to Cobb. Entering the man’s security codes would reveal a single file of a type indicating it was attached to a new specimen being transferred to his ship.

Cobb’s eyebrows raised to his hairline and he wondered, briefly, if he should summon McHarrie. But then why should the research corps get all the fun?

“Although, there is plenty of new kit for you in there. Electromagnetic and gravimetric containment fields among other things. R&D has ironed out some of their imperfections so you’ll have some toys to play with alongside your new job.”

He nodded, the engineer within him almost brimming with excitement at the thought of such technical delights. But in an attempt to remain at least remotely professional, Cobb simply cleared his throat and commented, “Ah, good. Lt Hampton will be pleased.”

The woman looked over her shoulder and beckoned her crew to come forward. Half a dozen or so crew, all dressed in the same style of indistinct boiler suit, walked nonchalantly down the ramp one at a time, each accompanying a cubical white container floating above the ramp, held aloft by an array of finely focussed tractor beams eminating from somewhere within the Kelpie’s cargo bay. All but one of the boxes was set down in a section of the bay designated for depositing cargo and the crew set to work unloading the remaining containers. One, however, was placed alongside the duo of captains. The crew member attending to it handed his captain yet another PADD before making himself scarce. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

As the cargo was brought out, Cobb waved a hand and almost immediately, the gathered Leviathan crew began claiming various items to shepherd to their intended destinations. Only one box was left untouched. One box, it seemed, none of the men or women would go near…

The PADD was then offered to the other captain. “And this, this is an order from Starfleet Command to accept the boarding of a civilian.” Her hand was placed on top of the container as she scoffed. “Well, the word ‘civilian’ is really just a technicality. There’s no option in that field of the form that would properly describe… this.”

-Crew of the Kelpie-

“Civilian?” Zachariah coughed. “So it’s a…lifeform, then?”
Almost instantly McReady was at his side, weapon drawn, his core team establishing a close perimeter. At the shift leader’s signal, Gary approached and prepared to open the crate and peer inside…

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Perhaps”, the nameless captain hummed, “although it shouldn’t be. She turned and approached Cobb closely, practically whispering into his ear. “It’s an android. A synth! Obviously that can’t legally so exist so officially…” She retreated and her voice loudened. “It’s a robot. A robot with a mechanism of… clockwork. It was constructed by an unbearable egotist and unfortunately he had friends in high places… The unit’s memory banks contain a copy of Commander Easterlin’s, that’s the egotist’s, memories.”

Her fingers danced on the heavy lid of the container. “It’s here to integrate among the crew and continue to share the… ‘wisdom’ Easterlin accrued over his life.” The captain shook her head dramatically. “Obnoxious.”

-Crew of the Kelpie-

“A synth?” Cobb’s eyes nearly fell out of his skull. It had been a decade since the uprising but still, the fear and distrust of all synthetic lifeforms was sufficient to declare their existence illegal. And for very good reason, if you asked Zachariah.

But he hadn’t been asked, it seemed. Simply lumbered with one at the command of the ARU and no further instructions on what to do with it. Still, it was now classed as an anomaly and anomalies were their business.

“Right,” he shrugged to the Kelpie’s Captain, while simultaneously nodding for McReady to replace the lid and, for the moment, seal the clockwork creation inside. “Well, it’s a good thing you brought this to us then,” he cleared his throat and attempted to adopt a more officious demeanour. “We can take it from here now.”

With a wave of his hand to signify that the Kelpie could take their leave, the Captain pounded at his commbadge and hissed =^=Captain Manhattan, Lt Hampton, I need you both in cargo bay 1. Now.=^=

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Rushing with the heavy equipment, Erve ran inside the Cargo Bay with pulse rifle in hand and the containment kit on his back “Captain?” He had a heavy, tired breathing “What is happening… I came as soon as I could like a woman having birth mid ambulance ride, you know 20th century stuff. Oh good lord.” He then dropped his jaw seeing the synth “is it… what I think it is?”

M. Capt. Erve Manhattan - RCO