forum A False Perception | One on One | Closed

Started October 01, 2023 by @Mojack group

tune

Earth, 2168

It would be incorrect to say that the people of Earth had not struggled. For they had, but at least now, things were somewhat smooth. There were certain things past the tipping point, and all they could do now was try and ease the damage left by their mistakes.

Space travel had entered a revolution in this century, accelerating far faster than it had in centuries past. A colony had been established on Mars, though it was a work in progress. Aside from that, there were permanent bases established on Earth’s Moon — Luna, and several other moons such as the Jupiter and Saturn moons held small stations. Asteroid mining had been figured out, and part of that included overall research into these bodies in space and how they worked — and how we could defend against them.
Overall, humans are improving.

But there’s still one unanswered question. Are we alone?

Humanity has not ventured out from our solar system, at least not directly. The Voyager probes, though long deactivated due to running out of power, are out there, somewhere, an example of our curiosity towards the unknown.

That question may be answered in coming days however, depending on how you go about things next.

You work on a space station. You may have been born on Earth, on a larger station, or even the Mars colony. But whatever your origins are, you’ve ended up on Ceres Station — named after the very same dwarf planet that it is within proximity to. It’s just one of many space stations operating within Sol.
You could have a multitude of jobs to choose from just by working on the station. Maintenance. Security. Communications. Different sects to choose from, whatever your speciality is.

Even then, whatever that speciality is, you may have just found yourself in a place…wrong time?
Maybe right time. Depending how you perceive it.

You’ve gotten a bit of time to go on break, whatever that means to you. A momentary pause in your shift. Time to get a drink or just whatever you need; perhaps a call to someone off station (assuming the communication buoys are working properly).
Except your attention is drawn by something — or rather, someone, acting off. It looks like a member of the security team on the station, except he’s on his own. Usually they travel in pairs at the least — makes things safer and easier. And this guy looks a bit confused as he’s glancing around, discreetly of course — like he doesn’t want people to see his confusion. He’s not noticed you yet, as he gazes out the windows out into the great depths of space.
Something about him sees off, and you can’t shake off the strange feeling you’re getting ever since you noticed him. A feeling of uncertainty. Unsettling.

——-

Brand new sci-fi RP. I’ve written plenty of alien characters with far different cultures and politics/practices to our own, but I haven’t really roleplayed any. Time to change that, maybe?
In this RP, you play the role of a human. The only thing I’ve decided for you is your current place of employment, Ceres Station.

First and foremost, some notes.

• In this new world, stations are more akin to a sci-fi movie nowadays rather than our current space station, ISS. They are large yes, though these modern stations may be bigger for they accommodate the workers within who sometimes stay weeks at a time before being shifted around. Gravity within stations is artificially altered to be able to match ‘Earth gravity.’
• Additionally, Mars is not terraformed. Life on the Martian colonies is still a work in progress, it hasn’t been a full century since they were established back in 2125. However, residents are free to walk around without a suit in certain areas; in ‘bubbles’ so to speak; divided by residential areas and working/research buildings, as well as transport stations.
• Spacesuits in this era are far more efficient to use and move around in. They still require some degree of training usually, and spacewalks must be trained for. They’re also still a bit heavy - hence the need for training.
• Ceres station accommodates a crew of around 225 permanent (shifted around regularly) workers, with daily visitors through the station or just nearby; usually to fuel up or report in for other needs.
• Ceres station, among other similar stations also hosts a variety of checkpoints that include scanners. This is for the safety of the inhabitants; as well as the health of such. Scanners monitor factors such as blood pressure, heart rate, brain activity, etc; and can flag if something seems irregular. They’re also capable of detecting unregistered weapons, though unregistered weapons is usually not a means for immediate hostility and is typically cleared up right then and there. Station workers also carry small scanners sometimes, for personal use (useful for those with health issues — personal scanners are usually specialized and have injection modules for tasks such as an epi-pen. put simply they are a many in one sort of thing)
• Alien intelligence— other sapient species is still a question being looked towards. It is not known whether or not life truly exists outside of Sol, and if so, how advanced is it? Much to the annoyance/anxiety of some, while a first contact protocol has been off and on in terms of talks, there’s been no official one established by the UN.
• My character both hosts an ‘artificial’ human body, and a true alien form. There’s no shapeshifting involved. This can be explained later.
• Translation devices exist…for human languages. There are none for alien ones…at least, not any made by humans.

RULES

1. Ask before joining — if I do not know your writing style, I will ask for a writing sample with dialogue. Please have one at ready! Do not be offended if I deny you; I am most selective with my limited RPs compared to group RPs or character chats (least selective; open for everyone usually).
2. Activity is not a must. I am not active myself as I am now a college student (times fly by, huh?) If it appears I have forgotten to respond, I may have thought I did, when in reality I didn’t. It could also be possible that it has been a long time that I feel awkward about replying in case the other person doesn’t have the motivation to continue. Please note this before joining!
3. Cussing and violence are expected. Note that as is everything, there is a time and place for it.
4. Good grammar and punctuation appreciated, but I know that everyone makes mistakes, as I certainly do.
5. Mature RPers preferred as a preference. Any sexual content will be a fade to black sort of deal.
6. All notebook.ai rules apply.
7. One paragraph minimum, or at least four sentences. No one liners. At the very least, give me something to work with and I’ll try to do the same for you.
8. Any questions? Ask!

TEMPLATE

Name:
Age: (above twenty. alien years are often not the same as human ones; my character will be considered a young-full adult in his species)
Gender:
Pronouns:
Orientation:

Appearance:
Clothing:
Personality:
Background: (elaborate how you wish; can be brief, can be long, can be point form, etc. keep your secrets or share them; there shall be no meta gaming in this RP)

Other: (anything else — fun facts, notable relations, conditions, likes, dislikes, whatever extras you can think of goes here)

Name: By his kind, he is known as Vaer’tynek, pronounced V-air (otherwise somewhat pronounced as bear with a v instead of b) tie-neck, known as Vaer for short. His full name also comes out as Vaer’tynek of Clan Tybuk (tie-book). All members of this clan have a ‘ty in their names.
His artificially made human form uses the name Egon Stelz.

Age: For a species who can live up to a thousand years, and even longer for the females, Vaer is doing pretty good for a 103 year old (that is, human solar years. For all we know his species may know years as something else). He designed his human form to be around 23 or so years old.

Gender: His human form was designed to be male presenting, and in his society, Vaer is seen as male. By human standards, he’s a cisgendered male, though there’s a bit of fluidity sometimes; by human standards.
Pronouns: He/him, mostly. Doesn’t care too much. Both forms share pronouns.
Orientation: Asexual panromantic. Both forms share orientation, bring the same person after all.

Appearance: Vaer’s people, the Draken (D-rah-ken) are a reptilian species for the most part, their bodies covered in scales. Scales particularly grow thick in the areas such as the head/neck, forearms, and lower legs. In terms of colour, they are mostly dark (under better lighting a slightly blue sheen becomes visible; otherwise appear dark grey or black). The Draken possess the capability for bioluminescence in some regions of their body, something they use in their language. Their bioluminescence is bright blue, and controllable by them; Vaer is no different. Size wise, he stands in at around 7ft tall. Compared to a human, Vaer stands tall, but the females of his species grow much bigger.
A long tail allows for balance and aid in combat. It can be described as somewhat crocodilian in nature. The scales that rise up towards the edge of the tail are slightly moveable.
Compared to the more primitive Draken who were around long ago, the face of a Draken is much flatter, though when compared to a human it still sticks out slightly. Perhaps the most notable feature of one is the frills/horns on their head (not true horns, but still tough). What is also a notable feature are the eyes of a Draken. The whites of the eye are rarely ever white; instead, they tend to vary depending on when and where one was born. An iris may or may not be visible, but a pupil is. The pupil is always a lighter colour than the ‘whites’. The ‘whites’ can range through a variety of colours, often cooler ones; purple, blue, but also come in green, orange, yellow. Down to the individual, the eye colours can be of various shades.
In the case of Vaer, he possesses very dark purple eyes (under most lighting, they appear black), whilst his pupils are white.
In comparison to humans, the Draken as a basis have a body which is finely tuned to hunt without assistance of other tools. They are usually lean/athletic, and Vaer is no different in that regard. Though capable of locomotion on all fours, Draken primarily stand somewhat upright, slightly leaning forwards which diminishes their true height a little bit.

His artificial human form was designed to resemble Earth’s (and by proxy, Sol’s) dominant life form as much as possible. He named it Egon based off of what little data the Draken possess on humans. His human form is around 5’8” in height, with fair toned skin. Hazel eyes, and auburn hair soft in texture, not short but not incredibly long either (long enough to be tied up in a very short ponytail). Faint freckles dot the cheeks of his face. A small but faint scar is present on the lower back of his neck; the scar is fine in shape implying that it might have been a medical related thing (from human perspective).
His human form possesses a lean build; not very muscular but enough to be considered ‘fit’.
Due to being an artificially made human, Egon has black blood instead of red, and his heart beats much slower compared to a normal humans at lower than 60 beats per minute. By human standards, this is called Bradycardia. The heart rate is normal for his artificial form, but humans would not know this, and likely not understand either.

Clothing: Traditionally, no clothing was worn by Vaer’s people (this changed of course with the invention of more advanced weaponry that required better protection than one’s scales, as well as the interaction with other species who often did not take kindly to interacting with someone who was nude). The armour which Vaer possesses is not heavy; note that Vaer is also typically not one to do frontline fighting. Matching up with his general colour palette, the armour is dark blue in colour with some lighter blue highlights to it. It’s designed for movement and interface with electronic devices used by the Draken; a ‘pilot’s’ armour so to speak in their society.
Casually, Vaer wears some sort of necklace, designed so that various shades of blue and green intertwine with each other to make an overall larger design. The ‘necklace’ rests on top of the rest of his clothing. Casual clothing is not as protective as the armour. Still, it is made with firm materials to ensure that on the occasion interspecies minor conflict happens (Draken sometimes are prone to playing rough, or ‘fighting’) that the clothing isn’t immediately ruined. Shirts are rarely worn; the necklace is large enough and flat that it somewhat accounts for upper wear. Additionally, as bioluminescence remains a part of their species communication, Draken prefer not to cover too much of themselves up. They wear what can be perceived as pants (similar in style to perhaps human cargo pants), attuned to the digitigrade legs that Draken possess. One might wear shoes as well, depending on who they interact with, so Vaer keeps a pair with him when travelling, but when with other Draken or species not bothered by the lack of shoes, he opts out.

Human wise, Egon (or Vaer) wears the standard gear for human space station security. It was a pain printing all of that out, but he managed it — though careful eyes might note the missing Ceres Station insignia — all workers of a station have their station insignia printed on the back of the armour. For average security, the armour one wears is light-medium, not heavy. Egon is suited with a protective vest, jacket. The vest is charcoal grey, whilst the jacket is black with some white camo like markings; pants are actually human cargo pants, dark green in colour. Boots are thick and protective against any harmful materials one might step on; some boots have a gravity field that is engaged to protect the user if gravity goes out in the location. Unfortunately, Egon does not have these boots.
Helmets are optional for casual patrolling. They are usually dark grey, and on the inside of each helmet lies the individual’s identification number (given to all enlisted soldiers; it’s a six digit code). Egon does have a helmet, but does not have this number. It’s on the inside of his helmet, though, and who’s going to look there?
Not constant wear, also within the gear is an oxygen mask. Important to note it’s not an environment/space suit; but it is usually work with the helmet to aid in low oxygen environments; not walking around on planets like Mars however.

Personality: By the standards of his people, Vaer is quite freewilled; often keen to act on his own before he receives any orders. He’s not constrained by rules or procedures, but don’t go thinking that he’s the outlaw type, either. His loyalty lies with his clan, and each action he takes is for them, even if they may not exactly approve of his way of doing things. While one to act on his own, he’s not one to act before thinking; thinking things through is Vaer’s style, perhaps even a bit too much (one might call him an over thinker).
By human standards, Vaer is quite expressive in body language and whatnot, a similarity he shares with the rest of his species. On the occasion he interacts with smaller (or more ‘fragile’) species, it becomes quite easy to forget his strength.
Vaer is something of an idealist, much to the surprise of some. He dreams quite a bit, and he’s ambitious in that regard, seldom ever giving up.

Background: Vaer’s homeworld is the planet of Lucherus; a planet with a varied environment, from vast deserts to humid jungles where the trees stand far larger than they do on Earth. The nights are long, and the days are short. Vaer was hatched when the Tetus moon was high, within the large and old jungle clan of Tybuk.
From childhood to young-adulthood, Vaer led a mostly average life. He was born during a time of major peace for the various clans of Lucherus, a rarity, though there was still conflict on other planets that the Draken fought in. His creativity was noted, even as a child, and some of his more rule-following clan mates regret not trying to stop this behaviour when he was younger as he only become more independent as time went on; a leading type. Even if some of the traditional types were not fond of him, they could not deny he knew how to lead other Draken with minimal loss.
At a relatively young age, he also began to learn how to use Draken made technology. He could fight directly if needed, but usually preferred ambush or flanking tactics. Most common in his younger years he piloted drones, and eventually, took interest of the idea of ships. He worked on a ship once he was able to, learning the ropes, and finding that he found life in the air exhilarating.
Eventually, Vaer came to obtain a ship of his own. It was much smaller than the frigate he once worked on, but it was good for him. It also had a built in stealth system; Vaer often used it to infiltrate the battlefield on the enemy side and cause chaos, working as a fairly good distraction.
Something would end up going wrong sooner or later, however. A battle gone wrong has Vaer using his emergency jump drive, which planted him in the system of Sol. Many species knew Sol, knew it was probably only a limited amount of time before humans would begin incursions beyond their system, but it was generally agreed upon to not interfere in their current development for many reasons.
But with his ship slightly damaged and still being tracked by his enemies, Vaer decided that his only option would be to try and obtain materials for the repair of his ship within Sol. In and out, fast as possible. Easier said than done.

Other:Draken use several components to their communication, such as the bioluminescence, but also body language, words, and sounds. Not all are used at once, but usually at least two are used at the same time. Draken who are often diplomatic ambassadors to other species go through several courses in communication with other species; part of this involves lessening the body language and sound aspect of their communication (as to some, it’s deemed intimidating). Vaer, not a diplomat, still possesses extensive use of all four fundamentals.

Rough headshot of Vaer’tynek because I needed to visualize some of his form

Name: Arturo Mariga (ar-too-ro mah-ree-ga). Often goes by Art.

Age: 22. He's a bit young for his current position, but he's qualified.
Gender: Male.
Pronouns: He/him.
Orientation: Straight, as far as he knows. Hasn't really thought about it much.

Appearance: Arturo is Hispanic, and inherited the black hair and dusky skin that go with his heritage. His hair is cut in long, sproingy ringlets. Big brown eyes and a wide smile complete his face. He stands about 5'10", stocky and broad-shouldered, and often looks like he's trying to squish himself down to size in the narrow halls of the space stations he's on.

Clothing: Arturo is a miner and engineer, involved in much of the mining and research that takes place on Ceres and nearby smaller asteroids. His duel role has caused his clothing to reflect the two groups: his under-suit is a blend of the miners' stone grey and the engineers' blue-print blue. The blue accents look quite nice over the slate grey of his under-suit, both of them supplanted by the Ceres Station insignia across his back.
The miners spend a lot of time in their large power-armor, or 'mechs' as they're colloquially known. When not plugged into the mech, a miner is typically found in one of several identical under-suits. These suits are loose-fitting and appropriate for wear around the station. They are made of a comfortable material interwoven with electroactive polymers that activate once in the mech to make the under-suit more like a second skin. Footwear is the power-armor compatible mag-boot, allowing the wearer to be magnetically sealed to their mech, or any other appropriate surface.
The engineers don't all have one uniform, though they all incorporate blueprint blue into their outfits somewhere. The one thing they do have in common is the AI earpiece. Others on board the space stations have access to the varios AI, but the engineers have a particularly close relationship with the near-sapient computer minds. Arturo's earpiece is smaller and more discrete, in order to fit inside his mech helmet with ease. It keeps him in contact with Artemis-11, the AI with whom he has trained and worked for years. Together, they tend to be known as Art&Arty.
If on a full leave period, Arturo enjoys soft materials to relax. He can usually be found in sweatpants and a poncho or baja. He rarely, if ever, takes the AI earpiece out.

Personality: Arturo is fairly quiet, thought he exhibits a sharp wit if you can get him to speak. As a genius, his mind is often moving much too fast for others to keep up with, so he tends to keep his thoughts to himself and just smile along with a conversation. He exudes a soft strength and confidence that often rallies his coworkers around him, despite his tendency to stay on the fringes of groups he's a part of.
He is introverted, preferring his alone time to think and talk to Artemis, working over various engineering projects and research work. At this point in his life, he wears the power-armor almost more comfortably than he wears his own skin, and AI, particularly Artemis, are as real to him as people he can reach out and touch. This has made him somewhat of an anomaly to people, which has left him feeling isolated, at times.

Background: Arturo was born on Earth, and immediately showed aptitude for problem solving and study at a young age. He was sent off to a prep school by poor parents, on a program that essentially promised him to the government, in exchange for paying his education and housing. Though he often wonders what his life would have been like if he'd stayed with them, the decision turned out to be one of the best for him.
Under a program that pushed him, Arturo was found to have high ability in several areas. He graduated highschool with honors at 13, having used the program to his advantage to get ahead in life. He was in college and studying mining immediately after, before noting the overlap between mining resources and the engineering studies of the uses of those resources. He picked up a second major in several different types of engineering- mechanical, material, aerospace- and added a few years to his schooling, including two years of hands-on study on Mars.
By the time he was 18 and ready to enter his government contract, Arturo had churned out several definitive works on the properties of a couple of newer space metals, as well as worked towards refining the same design of mining power armor, which had been in use for years. He was stationed on Mars for 2 more years, before being sent to Ceres Station.
He's been here 2 years, and is enjoying his work.

Other: Arturo is slowly working towards advanced cybernetics that would allow him to replace some of his own body parts and become a cyborg. This is a side hobby, at this point, but definitely something he loves to think about.

Draken fleets had been beaten before.
But never this badly.

There was not a strong enough word that Vaer’tynek could use to describe the feeling of desperation and anger when another ship was lost. A voice and life cut off, just like that. But there was hardly enough time to mourn, for he was in danger himself. Unmanned drones pursued him. Though they were significantly smaller than his ship, Vaer was no fool — they could bypass his shields and detonate themselves once latched to his ship. That’s how they were able to take most of the fleet out so easily.
By surprise.
It was ironic in a way. Vaer was so used to taking others by surprise, but now he was, and they were giving him a run for his life. There’s no asteroid fields out here — no cover he could maneuver under or through, get the drones to accidentally detonate themselves on asteroids — none of that was possible here.
Something hit his ship and Vaer flinched as he felt the ship shake. It wasn’t a lethal hit, but…

”Damage registered to the rear cannon, Pilot Tynek.” The ship’s AI informed him, and Vaer clenched his teeth. Another turn, another swift maneuver— that drone that just flew past him, that would’ve been a lethal hit. There’s hardly any advantages out here for him to seize, and he hated that.
These drones would eventually outmaneuver him, he realized. Or more of them would come out of the Estilian cruiser and he’d have little space to turn for they’d surround him. There was one thing, though, Vaer remembered.
The jump drive. His was smaller and not as refined as other ships; it could not be used repeatedly or as often as larger ships, nor could it go over the large distances. But it could get him away from his current predicament. Give him time to check his damage. And time to connect with the Matriarch— figure out the situation from there.

”Engage emergency drive,” Vaer stated with little hesitation once the idea had fully come to in his mind. The emergency drive would take more power, but it would start up faster. Anywhere but here was better, and Vaer wanted to get out as soon as possible.

”Charging the emergency drive, Pilot Tynek.”

The ship he flew was relatively quiet, for it was designed more as a scout-stealth ship if anything. But as the drive hummed to live, it quickly grew in volume before the ship AI informed him — ”Ready.”
That was the problem with emergency drives. They’d keep you from falling into a star or a black hole, but in the end, you couldn’t exactly predict where it would land you. Vaer remembered this as his hands sat within the controls of the ship — which interfaced with his mind at the same time, allowing for much faster decision making. But as something else knocked into his ship, Vaer realized — it’s now or never.
”Make the jump.”

——

For first timers of a jump drive, the feeling of exiting it was..almost dizzying, like you weren’t supposed to do that. But it was one that Vaer had adapted too quickly enough. The only thing that surprised him this time around was the fact that the power of his ship had briefly been offline for a few seconds after exiting the jump. But it quickly flickered back on, and the voice of the ship AI came to life once more.
”Jump successful.”
Yes, I knew that much.

Vaer glanced up and looked out of the ship’s windows. They were one way; meaning one could not see what was within the ship when viewing from outside. He could note that he was in some sort of asteroid field…he needed a better look at this. Slowly, Vaer had the ship turn to the side slightly, getting a 360 view of what was around him. He only paused when he saw…something that was most definitely not an asteroid.

Whatever it is, it’s of a decent size. Vaer had seen space structures before, but this design seemed foreign to him. Or maybe it only looked that way because of his distance to it. Still, he found himself asking the ship’s AI, ”Where did the emergency drive land us?”
The ship’s AI does not give an immediate respond, which strikes him as unusual, but not incredibly so. Delays were not unheard of. But the answer that does hit him makes his primary heart skip a beat.

”We are currently in the Sol system. Dominant lifeform: Human. Reminder: Contact with this species is not permitted unless given Coalition Authorization.”

By the Ancients, that was far. Way further than an emergency drive should’ve taken him. He was out from a bad situation, but thrusted into a confusing one. As he considered the situation, he pulled his hands from the interfacing gel. ”What’s the damage to the ship?”
Humans. The Coalition was aware of their development in recent centuries, but had made it clear that connection was not to be initiated with them on purpose. It was more out of concern of ‘doing it too early’; the Coalition deemed it better to wait for the humans to make their incursions outside of Sol, once their own technology was able to. They weren’t far from that, some politicians noted, but still a number of years away.
But I’m here now.

”Rear cannon is currently disabled. Jump drive is currently out of energy and requires time to recharge. One engine disabled. We will not be able to use the drive unless this engine is repaired.”

Great.

”Are there any resources within this solar system that we might be able to convert to usable material?” It was a bit of a stretch, but Vaer had always taught himself to be resourceful. Now would not change.

”Calculating…Yes. I have confirmed that we may be able to find resources within this solar system. The nearby asteroids contain materials that can be used to repair our cannon. Shall I send out our drones?”

”..Yes. And our engine?”

”Calculating. The structure nearby appears to be human in origin, but it contains materials we might be able to repurpose for the engine. However, the materials are within the ship. I have detected lifeforms aboard this structure.”
By the Ancients. That messed up his ideas a bit. Never a stickler for rules, there was one thing that gave him pause — breaking the rules of the Coalition would be something else. Something he’d rather not do…and something he had to do, it seemed. They could not sneak one of their drones aboard — that would be too hard. Too noticeable. But…

”Does the ship have enough power to utilize the artificial printer?”
”Calculating. Yes, it does. Shall I prepare it for use?”

Vaer flexed his legs and set his feet down flat on the ship’s warm but hard floor. He nodded as he next spoke, ”Yes. I have an idea of how I will get aboard this structure.”
It would take him a few hours to prepare, but Vaer had an idea. The artificial printer could collect data and genetic information of known lifeforms, and create an artificial body. Using an implant within the neck of the body, Vaer could then remotely pilot it. It wasn’t something he did often; the feeling was disorientating if he recalled correctly, especially since in the few times he’d done it, the body was often quite different to his own. Humans are more fragile. No tail. One heart and two lungs. Smaller. But he had the training and authorization to do this. You were also waking in in a consciousness not your own. Well, it was sort of yours, but information was implanted within that you never recalled learning. Hence, odd. Weird. Disorientating.
So long as he read up on a bit of the known human society data, perhaps he could make this work… ”Bring up the known information on human society while the printer is working.” Vaer had said as he made his way to the lab room in the ship, his steps slow but wide strides were taken.
The printer itself was a tube, a large one, filled with a liquid that Vaer couldn’t exactly recall what it was — but the purpose kept the body safe and allowed it to integrate with being…well, existing, for the first time ever. Vaer sat down near a computer and peered into it. The data was present on human cultures, language, and history. Out of the corner of his eye, the tube lights flickered on, and a light humming became audible as it got to work.

——

His ship had stealth systems far too advanced for human detection technology. It could be detected if the stealth systems were offline…but thankfully, that wasn’t the case. As he’d been reading up on some knowledge; some he knew and some he didn’t know (of course, he acknowledged that unfortunately not everything would be here) he also considered how he was going to get that artificial body on the station.
A small stealth pod might work, in a discreet entrance. He’d previously asked the ship AI if such things existed on the station, and after a few minutes of scanning, the AI told him there were entrances that did not see as much use.

His eyes flickered to the body. Even though he knew it was artificial, it was still so odd. They’re so much smaller than us. How did they hunt? It had finished printing, and all he was waiting on was the integration process. Which was…
Vaer stood up, drawing away from the database and towards a different part of the room. More integration gel, like the one up near the piloting seat — but this would connect him to the body. His human form. Egon, he thinks, the name he had decided to give this temporary form.
Taking a breath in and out, Vaer slowly puts his claws into the gel. It’s a strange cool feeling, a difference from the more warm interior of his ship. Slowly, Vaer closes his eyes…
And when he next opens them, he’s in a completely different setting.

It takes his mind a few moments to figure things out, that yes; things are working. He’s seeing through the eyes of Egon, in control..or at least he thinks he is. He remembers it’ll take a few minutes for him to register muscle control and what not. He wiggles his fingers slightly. Short nails. Not sharp. Could still do damage, but not like mine.
When the tube registers that it’s time to open up, it does. Every time, he finds himself on the floor, on his knees and hands. Breathe in and out. He’s never ready for that. Eyes look around, mobility seems fine.
He stands, shakily. “Ship…” Voice sounds different. Need to practice the human tongue, remember. “AI, what was the entrance you suggested I use…?”

The AI takes a moment, adjusting to his change in language. But it responds in the normal Draken tongue, knowing that Egon — or Vaer, will know it. ”There’s a discreet entrance near the underside of the structure. I believe the station’s plans identify this as being secondary storage.”
Pushing himself off of the wall, Egon’s eyes run over Vaer’s — my real body — form, and he blinks, quickly looking away. That’s a weird sight. “Prepare the pod. Let’s get ready to board,” he says, slowly making his way out of the lab.
”Understood, Pilot Tynek.”

———

The pod was stealthy in itself, but one thing could not be hidden — that the human structure would surely detect that someone or something had docked at one of the entrances. So in order to mask that…he had the AI put in a minor error in a small region of the station. Not strong enough to cause alarm, and the error wouldn’t be in his specific area, but it would be in that region. According to the AI, it would also mask the departure of the pod once he had what he needed. Cameras in the area would not register anything, so long as that pod remained docked.
It would be like I was never there.
Egon entered the large cargo bay, discreetly. Thankfully, it was empty of people, though he could see crates stacked upon each other, and on shelves. Of different sizes and likely their contents varied. That wasn’t what he was looking for.

The AI had identified to him that the area he’d most likely find the materials was the landing bay. Larger ships docked outside of the station, so that was a no-go— but smaller ships stayed within a large bay. He could surely find resources there. Egon straightens out his uniform and looks around some more, before walking forwards. His walking style shifts a few times, trying to find something ‘suitable’ for his persona that he’d created. Security member. Not high ranking, I think. Maybe a new transfer. He sticks to the outer regions of the station while he tried to find his way to the ship bay.

That as, of course, easier said than done.
He didn’t have a map, and as he feels the onset of confusion coming for him, Egon slows down to a stop, glancing around. His eyes flicker to the viewport. It’s a large, wide window, space as far as the eye can see. Parts of him are starting to doubt — is this really the plan? Perhaps he should go back, try something else. Look for engine parts further away from here.
He can somewhat see his reflection in the window, and Egon puts a hand against it, looking outside. He has to think. He can’t give up now, can he?
While heavy in internal thought, all he’s doing right now from an outside perspective is just standing around, staring into space. He’s pretty much oblivious of things going on around him.

Arturo was tired. The kind of tired you can feel way down in your bones. The kind of tired that makes your mind feel sluggish, even though you’re fully awake and hopped up on caffeine and stim sticks.
He was tired, because he’d been in his mech for nearly 2 days solid.
Artemis had found a deposit of carruthium. A big one. And naturally, Arturo was one of the only miners one the station at the moment with the experience and finesse needed to mine the highly volatile material from the asteroid it was encased in. The AI miners just… didn’t have ‘the touch’ needed for something like that.
So Arturo had got into his mech, which he lovingly referred to as Pequeñita, and he and Artemis had headed out from the station in a big loader. A couple other miners had started with him, but they’d worn down after about 8 hours. They’d sent replacements, who’d worn down after the next 8 hours, and so on.
Arturo kept hitting the stims, and Artemis told him it was a bad idea, but gave them to him anyway. The 24 hours mark passed, and he’d sent back 12 loads of carruthium. At 36 hours, he’d sent back 6 more loads. The asteroid was beginning to break up by this point, and he had to be careful. Artemis helped him fine-tune his movements, and everything was fine. 6 hours later, at the 42 hour mark, he finally retrieved the last bit of the reactive metal, and sent the loader back with Max. Artemis oriented them in the right direction, and let off the gas jets to accomplish the short flight home.

Arturo was tired.
He realized he was out cold when Artemis had to yell at him to wake him up so they could land. The flight was only 30 seconds, but he’d fallen asleep as soon as he could stop moving so much. “Art! Wake up, you big lunk, we’re going to smack your face into the side of the station. You can sleep in a few minutes.”
“Sorry.” He squinted, trying to keep his eyes open as they passed the external security check on the mining dock.
He walked into the hangar, and over to his maintenance bay. Pequeñita fit into her cradle easily, as usual, and Arturo mumbled “Disengage.” The gauntlets which controlled the power armor’s arms unlocked from around his arms, where they’d been clamped on his forearms up to the elbow, allowing him to control the armor by simply moving as if the arms were his. The magnetic locks on his boots released, and moving his feet no longer moved the huge stabilizers of the power armor. The Helmet, containing his HUD, neural uplink, and a few other things he’d programmed himself, lifted up off his head, and as the lock bars lifted from around his chest and stomach, he was free.
The light electrical current running through his under-suit amped down, and the material went from a shell that fit close to his skin, to a comfortable garment that was much softer to the touch. In Arturo’s case, it was covered in sweat. He needed a long shower, and then a long nap, and maybe some food.
“Your sugar is low. You need to snack first.” Arturo smirked just a little as Artemis read his thoughts. She was getting quite good at that.
“I’ve got some stuff in my room. Just lemme get there…”
A few minutes later, Arturo was back in his quarters. Most of the miners onboard Ceres Station shared rooms with each other, as did most of the other workers. The less space was necessary for living space, the more room there was for study and processing the asteroid materials.
However, several of the upper engineers, including Arturo, had their own rooms, which doubled as workspaces. In the case of his room, Arturo’s drive was evident as soon as you walked in. In the corner, there was a desk on a lift. The desk could stow up by the ceiling, allowing the floor to open to reveal a recessed bed. Arturo kept the bed covered during the day, making the most use of his space.
One wall of his room was a long standing workbench, stocked with tools underneath. Tools of all kinds, made of various materials, made for a bench equipped to work with everything from ultra-dense blocks of architium, to the finest filament of nerve-grade cybernetics. Arturo had access to all of that; he’d invented some of it.
The opposite wall was storage, floor to ceiling. Nothing but shelves and tanks and chests, containing everything from his under-suits to a small cache of food to first-aid and many other things. A few knick-knacks sat out on a shelf, displaying little bits of personality beyond the genius tinkerer. A stack of books, mostly old fantasy and sci-fi, like Tolkien and Hambone. A couple of force-field edged karambits, from years of combat sports. A picture of a family, smiling and happy, but noticeably missing Arturo’s face, with “Can’t wait to see you in a couple years!” written on it in sharpie. Things that hinted at the kid beyond the miner with a mind as big as space.
The third wall had a door, leading to a cramped but sufficient bathroom. The rest of that wall was nothing but screens. Most of them were about 18” diagonally, but they could be used together to form several large screens, or one huge one.
The fourth wall, which was the one with the entrance, of course, was his hologram and virtual reality projector. It was capable of allowing him to run experiments and check proportions right there in his room. Many of the other engineers envied it, but he was still working out the bugs and didn’t want to have to act like tech support for other curious workers.
It was into this room that Arturo walked after a long day. Artemis didn’t say much to him as he walked in. She highlighted the drawer with his snacks in it, and Arturo made sure to grab something. Once the AI was satisfied his sugar was going to be ok, he stripped, showered, and crawled into his bed, without even filing reports and whatnot. Artemis could handle a lot of that, and what she couldn’t do, he could do when he woke up.
He slept like a log.
…..
12 hours later, almost exactly, Arturo woke up to his earpiece beeping softly. Someone was trying to get ahold of him, but not one of the officers or anything. Only his friends had access to his earpiece codes, and would choose to use that over using his room’s speaker system. Artemis had let it through, too, which meant it was time for him to be up.
“Art here.” His voice had the deep, rumbly quality to it that comes from long, deep sleep.
“Hey Art, it’s Timo. We got something a little weird going on here.” Timo was one of his buddies on the security team. “The rest of the engineers are asleep, and you’re the only one I could count on to respond."
Arturo looked at the clock, which was showing 3:27. AM and PM were rather irrelevant without the particular movement of Earth to define them, so most of the station ran on ‘military’ time. Still, most folks would be asleep still. There were those who preferred the ‘night’ hours, and Arturo was often asked to solve engineering problems late at ‘night’ or in the early hours of the day.
“What’s going on?” Arturo pulled himself out of bed and started to pull on and under-suit, before deciding to go with sweatpants and a large blue baja with Ceres Station insignia across the back, as usual. Artemis was flashing Eat Something! on the screens in big block letters, so he grabbed several protein bars before heading out the door.
“Well, we’ve got some funny activity down in storage bay E12. The pressure differential in there changed a couple of minutes ago, and our cameras seem to be acting a bit weird. Maintenance couldn’t find anything physically wrong with it, though. Was wondering if you had any answers, maybe.”

Arturo nodded to himself as soon as Timo said bay E12. “Yeah, that’s where we put that big load of carruthium. It might be messing with some of the electronics in there, the loaders were carrying a lot of raw material. I’ll take a look at it.”
“Thanks, Art. Sorry to wake you.” Timo signed off with a click, confident Arturo would get back to him if he needed to.
“You also need to finish a couple or reports with physical inventorying.” Artemis said quietly. Arturo chuckled. She never let him get away with much.
“I’ve been out cold for 12 hours, leave me alone.” He grinned as Artemis began chiding him on the value of timely reports and other paperwork issues.
Earth’s AI had taken huge leaps forward as Space Metals allowed humanity to make big leaps in tech. The jump to near-sapient digital intelligences had come quickly, confusing many scientists and engineers and other people watching Earth’s tech rocket forward. Many had been pretty sure that they’d be travelling at light speed, or crack the case around long term sustainable cryo-sleep, before they got to the point of developing computers who were basically people, shy of a body.
But the AI had come first. They were more technically known as DS’s, Digital Sapients, but AI was a more colloquial term for everything from Siri v.37.2 all the way to Nous, one of the most intelligent and human-like Digital Sapients ever born.
One of the keys in developing an AI was interaction. They were quick learners, and the longer the amount of time they spent with humans, the more human-like they became. They could learn more nuanced definitions of emotions and feelings, and begin forming close bonds like anyone else. In fact, laws about human/AI relationships had been enacted as a result of some of these behaviors, and even now, were being debated on both Earth and Mars. The ban on cloned bodies, or specially built bodies for AI to use was a pre-emptive law on the books; the tech to make those worries a reality was still in development.
Most of the engineers had Vulcan-9 in their earpieces. Vulcan was a brilliant engineering AI, but his interaction was mostly on projects and work-related things, which meant he could still be stiff, at times.
A few of the engineers had partnerships with other AI, more specialized to their fields of work. Some had been assigned when they reached Ceres Station, and others had worked together for quite a while in other places.
Arturo and Artemis-11 were the only human/AI duo to have been together since his days at university, and it showed. He viewed her as every bit the person he was, and Artemis had spent so much time around him, she was extremely human by other people’s standards. It wasn’t uncommon for people to be in conversation with the two of them over a comms system, and not realize which was the AI.
So the constant banter and scolding and bickering and little nudges towards getting things down were business as usual for the two of them. Arturo let Artemis drone on about paperwork until they got to the storage bay in question. She kept talking, mostly to pick on him, until they were looking over the containers of carruthium.
Everything looked ok, and he was able to finish the paperwork within a couple of minutes. The dock of the bay looked ok, though there were a few things he’d need a repair crew to take a look at from the outside. Nothing he could do about it just now, and really, neither Art nor Arty was sure something was wrong, until they could get an EVA suit and look at it, or send someone.
As for the cameras… since everything looked ok, tech support could take a look at them once they woke up. He wasn’t too worried. It wasn’t as if someone was going to cross the broad expanse of space, to try to break onto a space station.
As he exited the room, Arturo’s stomach grumbled, and he decided to head towards the cafeteria. He needed to eat a real meal, and he had some time off, after 2 days in the mech.
It was as he was walking towards the dining commons that something caught his eye. Someone, in fact.
“Arty, have we seen that guy before?” He kept his head down, intentionally not glancing at the man again, but Artemis knew who he meant. Up ahead of them was a fella, walking kinda slowly, wearing a security outfit with no insignia that just seemed… off. Just a little bit. The halls weren’t extremely busy, but there were several people walking back and forth, so Arturo wasn’t worried the guy was going to look over his shoulder and find them alone or anything.
“Yeah, we saw him a bit ago, as we were heading towards E12. He was leaving that direction, walking kinda funny. It’s different from how he’s walking now. I didn’t think anything of it, but… he does seem a little odd.”
Arturo slowed his walk, staying behind the guy. He was still heading towards the dining commons, so he wasn’t technically following the security officer if anyone asked. “Have we got new personnel recently?”
Artemis did a quick double-check on the public access records of the station’s occupancy. There was a short pause, before she answered him quietly.
“No. Nobody new… he’s not supposed to be here.”
Arturo nodded slowly. That was a bad sign.
The guy stopped and stared out of one of the long windows that ran down many of the corridors of the station. Arturo thought quickly, and decided this was the moment. “Be ready to ping Timo if something goes down.” he mumbled.
“On it. But be friendly first.” Artemis responded.
Walking quickly now, the miner sized up the intruder. Or the person his mind had quickly labeled an intruder. His intuitions weren’t often wrong, but he should at least give the guy the benefit of the doubt. In any case, the new guy was shorter and leaner than Arturo. If he was acting as security, he might be armed, but… Arturo was fairly sure he could handle this should things come to some sort of confrontation. He wondered if he was just overblowing this. Maybe it was absolutely nothing, and he was just being paranoid. Maybe he needed more sleep and some food, his tired body and mind playing tricks on him. And maybe, this was a problem. So he decided to face it head on, the better to figure it out.
The guy was so intent on staring into the stars, deep in thought, he didn’t seem Arturo walking quickly up to him. He didn’t see the stocky engineer slow down, or step up next to him, also looking out the window. It wasn’t until Arturo’s deep voice cleared his throat that the new guy seemed aware he was there.
“Beautiful view, isn’t it?”

Perhaps if he had been in his original form, Egon might’ve detected the other man moving up behind him and stepping next to him. He appeared to jump ever so slightly, turning his head swiftly to glimpse the individual who had just spoken.
Human. Real human.
His eyes were slightly widened and his lips parted, an indicator of surprise. He had, of course, been looking rather intently out that viewport. But he shut his mouth and blinked once or twice.
“Um. Yes,” Egon responded, still not used to how his human voice sounded. It wavered slightly, and he knew he had to quickly project an aura of confidence. Like he should be here.
Human confidence. Not Draken confidence.
But when he next spoke, his nervous demeanour hadn’t completely vanished. “It’s very…there are many stars,” he said, his tone indicating that he seemed like he was searching for words to say — forcing himself to respond. He wasn’t very good at this. Then again, he wasn’t great with social interaction to begin with. “Makes you think.”

Egon had glanced back to the window, gazing back into the endless view. Out there somewhere, was his ship, hidden within the asteroid field, still engaged in stealth system. He had hoped his ship AI would continue to maintain that while he was gone. He hoped his ship AI could be here now — he could really use that.
But alas, he was alone.
“Um. What’s your…” What’s the right word, what’s the right word? “..name?” Act friendly. Engage in human casual conversation.
Of course, Vaer was never excellent at hiding his emotions, and that seemed to apply to his human form. Egon avoided eye contact by looking out the window instead. Nervous. It could be an advantage at times, but right now, all it was was a disadvantage. He was mildly nervous, that much was visible.
The only thing that would add to this was if his heart was beating fast, which it wasn’t — rather slowly, as usual. That was a part he was thankful for. Perhaps he can get out of this situation and be able to continue on his way.

The guy looked up quickly, clearly startled out of deep thought. He collected himself, and Arturo noted the subtle indicators that he was thinking very quickly, trying to navigate the situation.
It shouldn't have been hard, he was just saying hello… unless there was something else up.

His voice wavered, and the nerves were clear in both his tone and his posture.
"It certainly does make you think. I forget sometimes how many are out there, what with being around them all the time like this." Carry on the conversation, see what the guy was up to, figure out if he was hiding something specific.
The potential intruder fumbled over asking Arturo his name, so he was either unused to speaking to people or nervous. Struggling to find the right word was a bad excuse with the station-required translation implants. You just spoke in whatever language you wanted, and the person you were speaking to would hear it in whatever language they liked.
Unless this guy didn't have an implant…

"My name is Art. You?" Arturo watched as he went back to staring out the window, looking intently off into space, avoiding eye contact.
Definitely up to something.

“Egon Stelz,” If there was something he was going to mess up, it wouldn’t be his own name. Well, this body’s name. Egon answered, for perhaps the first time in this entire encounter, confidently. His eyes briefly flickered over to Arturo then back to the window again. “Yes, makes you think about…what could be out there, orbiting those stars.” He mumbled.

Egon drifted off after that, uncertain how to carry the conversation. The human, Arturo, seemed to have approached him out of nowhere and Egon was uncertain if he had an ulterior motive. Does he suspect me? No. That’s impossible. That can’t happen, anyways. Well, it could— but if the Coalition were to find out…
Best not to think about that right now.
Engine repair. Engine repair. What did the AI say before he left?

“I’m…” he pauses. “I’m looking for the station’s power station. There’s a…” No, not a situation. Something better. “..a person wants to meet me there. But I seem to have lost my way. You know where that is?” Egon asks.

The name was different, but not unnatural. The thing that caught Arturo's attention was how suddenly confident Egon was. As if he'd rehearsed giving his name, or prepped for it to be asked. Interesting.
The guy looked back out the window, and Arturo wondered briefly if he ought to be worried about that. He decided not to bother. Whatever the guy was doing on the station was enough to worry about at the moment.

Egon's motives further darkened in Arturo's head as he asked about the power station. The reactor/fusion core was the heart of the station, pumping power to everything else. An intruder looking to access that was likely up to no good.
"A person wants to meet you there?" Arturo asked carefully. "Who's wanting to meet you there? Is something wrong with the station?"
He did know where the reactor was, but there was no way he was leading this guy down there. If there really was someone waiting for him, they could contact actual security. He said 'actual' to himself, because Egon was clearly a fake. Security workers were required to memorize the station's layout as a function of their training, and also had internal maps that were uploaded into the translation implant. There should have been no way for the guy to get lost.

“No..no, nothing wrong,” Egon responds. “I’m..new transfer,” he explains. Remember all you have said so far. Meeting someone. New transfer. Looking for power station. Then I should be able to access the ship bay after that.
“Just my commanding officer who wants to meet up with me there and show me around,” he says. “Evidently for a good reason, judging my current…situation.”

He glances off to the side, evidentially still nervous, but that’s just about the only signs he’s giving off. He’s not sweating or anything — this body physically can’t, and he’s somewhat thankful for that since it would be yet another foreign feeling to get used to. His heart rate sits at a comfortable 45 beats for minute, which is while normal for this artificial body, it’s not exactly normal for..normal humans. Sleeping ones maybe. Not awake ones, and certainly not nervous ones.
“You…know where it is, yes?”

Arturo gave Egon a slight smile. "Well, I'm glad things are ok. You had me worried for a second there."
The intruder was layering lies. Artemis had already checked, and no new transfers had been added to the personnel logs. Unless this guy had literally just walked off his transport, he should have been in the logs if he was a new transfer.
"Your commanding officer? Which security officer is that, remind me…" Arturo knew full well that Lieutenant Carmichael was the ranking Guardian in charge of security onboard Ceres Station. He also knew there was no reason the Lieutenant would start a tour down by the reactor. That didn't really happen. Ever.
"And what situation do you mean, exactly?"

Watching Egon was interesting. The man showed signs of being nervous, but none of the physiological markers Arturo would expect if he was lying. Either he was very very unlucky, as well as bad at telling the truth, or he was a pathological liar feigning nerves for some reason. He didn't seem to be breathing heavy, he wasn't sweaty or shuffling side to side… but he kept looking away and fumbling his words.
"Say you'll take him." Artemis prompted, and Arturo nodded at Egon's last question.
"I do know where it is. I can take you that way, if you'll lemme get to know you." He smiled at the newcomer.

“Oh, I…” he thinks again. Don’t even try to make up a name here. That’s just foolish. “I don’t recall..had quite a time a few hours before my transfer, a bit of a send off party. Still…trying to clear my mind from all that. As for…the situation? I’m rather lost, aren’t I? I mean, you find me out here looking out the big window, and one of my earliest questions to you is to ask for directions.” Humans smile sometimes as a way to calm things down, don’t they? At the end of his ramble, Egon smiles ever so slightly, but it quickly drops as he looks back to the side again.
“Sure. Uh, yeah. That sounds fine,” he replies. “What would you like to know about me?”