Jasmine nodded. "Belonged to one Christopher Dangen..." She glanced at the armored figure again, then seemed to remember something, quickly fumbling with an object from her belt. A metal orb, maybe two inches across, which she rolled around in her hand. "I'm not the only one, either. I know of someone else who has seen the particular ship...but she has not seen much of it, oui." shaking her head, she smiled. "Magnificent technology...So advanced for something sirian...And yet, so secreted. It took me quite a while to figure out most of the details."
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Tall, almost bold, tired-looking man walks in. He's wearing heavy military boots, blue navy trousers, red combat pilot t-shirt and black leather jacket with transport pilot badge on shoulder. He walks straight to the bar, orders a beer, drinks it in no more than ten seconds. He orders another beer, turns around and starts looking around in search of familiar faces.
The armored clump spoke in a deep voice the suit making it sound older and less like who it is."Its a shame that Dangen died isn't it."He shakes his head gravely and sadly for a moment before sitting back more in his seat. "The fool didn't believe alpacas were carnivorous... sure learned his lesson." The armored figure says unsympathetically sounding every last bit serious.
Sarah shrugged apathetically. "I'd heard he died trying to buzz a Liberty Dreadnought. Silly the things some people do, isn't it? Good riddance if you ask me."
She grinned mischievously, leaning forward ever so slightly in her chair. Her eyes seemed to glint in response to some untold joke. Somehow, she was enjoying this just a bit too much
He tilts his head then ponders, jolting as if he remembered something. "You know I acutally think it was a bunch of carnivorous Alpacas that flew on a Liberty dreaded naught and I thought he was trying to hot wire the Dreadie?"He asks in question shrugging it off."Never trust an Alpaca." He leans forward slightly. "Navy's elite i hear their new super soldiers."
"Alpacas...?"
Jasmine's eyes darted from one to the other- a subtle, but piercing glare. After a few seconds she just rolled her eyes. "Confusing people..." she sighs resting her head on one arm, rolling the small metal ball on the table, her eyes hidden for a moment behind her hair. "If Dangen is dead, so be it. I haven't seem him in an age, anyway."
A slight blip came from the metal ball, and she stopped it instantly. "Uh...one moment, merci..."
She rested the ball upright, and three small legs unclasped silently from the edges, steadying it. The top half split and slid away, revealing a small but intricate projector, which soon projected a miniature figure of a human being, around 7 inches high. The hologram shifted and focused, in full color, on the figure, who seemed to look around disorientedly before she nodded to Jasmine.
Her hair glowed a dark blue-black, and her body was covered with a deep blue armor, smooth and bearing the same color as most Lane Hacker ships. Her eyes seemed to glow a strange blue as well, but her features seemed too perfect, as if her body wasn't even real.
"Bonjour, Lavinia, my dear...did you find anything?" The figure nodded. "They've been getting bolder. Scouting into the houses, e-even Liberty..." She looked around, a small wide-angle lens providing her vision in all directions.
"Liberty...that is quite a distance. You're right, they are getting bolder. Don't forget to have Hex help you with the work, you cannot manage it all on your own..what about the shipping?" "Regular transports in and out...the same cargo every time...uhm...and weapons, too..."
"Not anything serious, I hope?" "N-no...only ship-class."
"Good...I have to go, Lavinia. I'm somewhat busy."
The hologram smiled and nodded, her features flickering to...something else, not human but almost for just a moment. Jasmine touched the edge of the ball, and the hologram flickered out, the metal ball folding back together.
"Excusez moi for that, I prefer more subtle methods of communication, but my friend uh...lets just say, cannot grasp them. It is a long story...now, what were you saying?"
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Sarah laughed, the sound escaping her cupped hands, despite her best efforts. "Yep, I heard he also suffered from..." The girl's sentence trailed off as the hologram manifested itself. The quality of the projection was remarkable. If she tried to push her device to that level of detail, it'd be just as likely to melt a hole in something, roast a half kilo of popcorn and explode. Not necessarily in that order, either. She was so enthralled by the figure, that the engineer didn't register what was actually being said for a few moments. Sarah's eyes probed the ball, searching for exhaust ports, cooling systems... something. She resisted the urge to take it apart though, that would hardly be polite at the table.
"Wow. Where did you get that? I've never seen anything like it..." She watched the ball enviously, like a child in a toy store, the Osiris and Plan B temporarily forgotten.
Jasmine smiled slightly. "Oh, this? I made it myself...I make all my own toys, heh." She nodded towards the hovering drone, and towards her belt, bearing four different orbs, some the same as the projector, and some slightly larger. "With Hex's help, of course. I'm only human, and some of the stuff I make is...small. Too small for human work." With a slight, prideful smile, she pushed the small projector towards Sarah. "Take a look, in essence its rather simple..."
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
"Thanks!" Sarah rolled the sphere from one hand to the other, admiring its smoothness. The sophistication was simply beyond anything her modified computer could accomplish. Sarah's own device, sitting forgotten on the side of the table, had once been a wrist computer, though it was hardly recognisable. Not quite top of the line, but about as close as it was possible to get with the continual tide of updates. Between the various engineering tools, signal boosters and additional batteries she'd added to it over the years, the thing barely resembled a computer. It was also substantially heavier, something Sarah hadn't exactly planned for.
The thing in her hands couldn't have been more different. It was lighter, more accurate and by the look of things, all-round cooler. Sarah hesitantly tapped the device, as Jasmine had done. The ball's legs deployed, leaving the projector simply sitting there. Now. How to send a signal'¦ She leant over the table, retrieving her bulkier machine where it sat. The girl tapped the screen a few times and glanced at the projector expectantly.
Nothing happened. After a few minutes of intense staring Sarah sighed, and lowered her computer. "Alright, I give up. How do you send to this damn thing"
Jasmine smiled. "The projector is independant of most signals. Thats what makes my things most reliable...they are all routed through the one source." She nodded to the drone. "Hex? Help her out, please..."
The drone hovered to the computer, and its single eye stared intently at Sarah. "Hex-cinq is more than just this drone. He is the computer network of all the machines I work with, he helps me to do...pretty much everything. Even flies the ship while I work. Best thing I ever made..."
She shook her head, throwing herself out of the daze. "Alright. Hex-Cinq will pick up any signal you send. He'll then route it through to the projector. All you need to do is ask, he's hardly difficult."
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
![[Image: Ptb1Ogm.png]](http://i.imgur.com/Ptb1Ogm.png)
