driftfleet | First Breath Mingle

[Hello, sir, that is Yuan's communications station, and he's not too pleased with someone else messing with his equipment.]

You'd better not be turning up the volume on that without asking. [His ears are very sensitive okay ;;]

[Kaidan looks up from the console with considerably more aplomb than he feels after getting caught snooping, but in this case his sense of guilt is minimal.]

It wasn't the first thing on my list....[Quick, try for humor] Fifth or sixth, tops.

[Yuan is clearly trying to remain dour and stoic in the face of this commentary, but the corners of his mouth are visibly betraying him, quirking upward until he can't help but smirk wryly.]

No harm done, I guess. My name is Yuan, I'm the ship's communications officer. Which of course means that's my equipment there. So you're aware in the future, I have particularly sensitive hearing - if you had turned it up, I'd get a pretty unpleasant surprise the next time I tried to use the audio. [Hence the grouching.]

[RIP headphone users]

Noted. I promise, I'm not prone to random button pressing, I was just curious if the ship had more functionality than the communicators they handed us. [Which is the short way of putting it]

Beg your pardon...[Now that he realized there was also an introduction in there as well. He steps forward a little and offered a hand] My name's Kaidan. Security...I guess.

Good to meet you. [He shakes the offered hand.] Guess I'm not the newest member of the crew anymore.

As far as functionality, the ship's comms can do a few things the personal comms can't. But since our personal augments are what tell us how to work the equipment, the most efficient way for you to use it is probably going to be to ask the communications officer. [His smirk has turned sharp, eyes glinting with amusement. Smug bastard.]

[You have him there.

He drops his gaze a little, rubbing the back of his neck with a soft laugh.]

Lesson number two, don't play with other people's toys.

That does explain why I wasn't getting very far.

[And now that he's asserted his authority and claimed his space, Yuan is feeling magnanimous. He settles into the chair and raises an eyebrow at Kaidan.]

So, now that that's cleared up...what were you looking to do?

[Obligingly, Kaidan steps back slightly to give Yuan room]

Well...a couple of things, honestly, but mostly I was looking to see if there was a way to scan for other broadcast channels. I've heard contact with other planets is scarce, but if there's any chance we might even brush up against another network...enough to reach out for help. Or...if there was a way to set up a signal people from home might recognize. [He sighs] I'm just feeling around in the dark here.

Scanning for channels is something I'm doing pretty regularly anyway. [To pick up on as much gossip as he can, he doesn't say.] If there was something else broadcasting nearby besides the distress signal from the planet, I'm sure I'd have caught it by now.

[He frowns pensively.] Certainly I can broadcast a signal from here - I don't see why I couldn't set something up to call out regularly. But...it'd be audible to anyone from the fleet too, including our hosts, and we don't have the power to really make it detectable from another system if I broadcast in all directions. If you want it to be meaningful, it'd be best to point the signal at a target...

I was thinking more like something encoded? A signature unique to the Alliance or...[the Spectres]...me. I'm not looking to paint a target on our backs here. I've heard the fleet was attacked once, so I'd rather not do anything that would compromise our position. Only if it can be done safely.

[A smirk, and his tone suggests the question that follows is mostly rhetorical:] What's 'the Alliance'?

But encryption I can do. Other ships in the Fleet might be able to decode it, and I'm not going to bet against the Atroma either, but it's not our fellow captives we're guarding against anyway, and it's probably just best to assume the Atroma know everything we do until proven otherwise. [A slight grimace.] No one mentioned any attacks to me. ...Then again, I suppose I didn't think to ask. Space travel isn't exactly...common enough for that, where I'm from.

[Kaidan answers with a vaguely rueful smile] That's the reason anyone brought it up at all. The fact that the fleet has people like you, who haven't developed spaceflight yet or barely even understand what it is. As well as civilians and people who wouldn't know how to defend themselves. It's not just my job here, it's been my job for a long time...

[And that seems like a natural segue point, so his pause is brief] The Alliance...is who I work for. Earth still has it's own terrestrial militaries, but the Alliance protects the Earth's galactic interests and borders. So if there's any chance I can reach them...

[He looks a little injured at that.] Hey now, give me some credit - I've spent half my life living in orbit. It's interplanetary travel that's new. [Sort of. Traveling between alternate dimensions doesn't really count.]

[But then it's back to business.] A space-traveling military faction certainly sounds like something useful to have on our side. I'm assuming you know what kind of encoding they'd be looking for - I should be able to set up a signal if you can give me parameters for it.

Sorry. I got used to the 'space is new to me' answer a little too quick. Was it a space-station? [Seems like a reasonable explanation.]

It'll take me a little longer to remember the proper coding without my omni-tool, but I think I can replicate it.

A city on a tethered comet. ...It's a long story.

Excellent. I'll get to work on the parts that I can do without that to start with, then.

Sure. Though...I don't think I'm going anywhere for awhile if you felt like telling that story.

[He has questions, ok, but he's also not a scientist]

First Breath Mingle

Bridge

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject