Chapter 7: The Game

[Morty]

The hatch gave way with a sudden lurch. Setiri clattered to the floor, water streaming from the small holes in her waist. She pushed herself upright, head swimming, her vision blurred by the sheen of water clinging to her eyes. There was someone there-- a gray shape, bipedal-- humanoid? Could this be a species she'd never met before? Then her eyes took in the electric blue markings of the other's shell- this was an android, based on a female human, most likely. Setiri could not even summon the presence of mind to form a greeting, much less deduce why she had awoken in this unfamiliar place with an artificial alien standing over her. Her hand moved to her throat. Something was missing, something she needed for speaking...
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another dark shape lope forward. Definitely not a human. What in the name of the Grand Matriarch had she gotten into?

[Nohiki]

Looking down on the being that emerged from the pod, Ariaka's mind was immediately flooded by information about the species. Only one was relevant though, and that was that they would hardly understand each other without aid. She carefully put her hand on what would pass for the alien's shoulder, and was surprised that she instantly felt the other one's confusion. Just what could this shell do? "You're safe." she tried to send through the link, unsure if it worked that way.

[Morty]

Setiri's eyes snapped to the hand on her shoulder, antennae flattening. Was this being familiar with her, or was that just the way of her species? Something in the android's manner conveyed tranquility, however, so the kithwari allowed herself to relax a little. (Privately, she noted that the other was clearly not attuned to cross-species diplomacy. Definitely a human construct.)
The Ikikoyan struggled to her feet. With all the ambassadorial poise she could muster, she clicked her mouthparts courteously and mimed "[ What is this place? ]" to the android. Hopefully she understood Kithwari sign-speech.

[Midnightmoon]

Lee's data pad and headset allowed for him to understand the verbal comunication of the other crew members, but to his chargin he could't understand what the insectoid was trying to convey to Ariaka. Tilting his head and flicking his ears Lee tried to make sense of him-her-it's motioning to no avail. With his gut telling him that the being was a she, Lee looked around for any storage compartments. Maybe the being had equipment like he had that would help them communicate. He moved off to wall across from the pod.

[Nohiki]

Ariaka had to let go. Her system was being flooded by information as Setiri begun to think more. She already knew enough. After taking a few seconds to process everything, she responded to the buglike person in it's sign speech: "A ship. We're survivors of another one, but we're far away now, safe. Don't you remember?" she signed away, confused. She could have sworn to have met this one.

[Midnightmoon]

On the second guess Lee got the right compartment which rewarded him with a light weight fanny pack. Pulling it closer he opened it up and rummaged around the contents. "Look at all these components." he thought in admiration. Maybe later she could show him how some of this stuff works. Picking up the bag out of the wall cabnet Lee turned as he took out a torque like object to get it out of the way of the other stuff within. Looking at it all Lee got somewhat sidetracked at what his original intention had been.

[Kauria]

"Oh, whoa," was all Rucha could think to say when she arrived. It was a struggle not to state the obvious, so she settled for a question instead. "Someone else survived?"

[Midnightmoon]

"Hm?" Lee flicked his attention back up to Rucha, then the others. "Oh, oh yes. Seams her pod malfunction, similar to my own, cause the drive hiccup. Or something like that." He turned back to Ariaka and the other one, "Any of these yours." He asked as he motioned the bag and torque foreward.

[Morty]

Setiri's eyes darted between the android and the dark, lanky alien, incomprehension written in her posture. "[ I do not. ]" the Kithwari signed. She had no recollection of the ship, or how she had arrived there. Piece by piece she was remembering who she was, however. A student of the Imperial academy-- an explorer, a diplomat, and a scientist first and foremost.
A new alien had made its presence known, and Setiri's memory helpfully informed her that it was a Ceretai, the reckless, hard-skulled denizens of Inemitas. Lee's voice--and he was a Lalungil, wasn't he?-- caught her attention suddenly, and her eyes locked on to the hefty metal ring in his hand. Her communicator! She chirped and reached a hand out tentatively for the object. She was sure he was offering it to her, but caution and courtesy took precedence, especially when dealing with an unfamiliar species.

[Midnightmoon]

Shuffling the bag fully into one hand Lee handed over the toque and prepared to give over the bag when the other had finished getting the ring working. "Cautious, analytical..." Lee found himself noting, "...potentionally dangerous? Not likely, buut..." Tapping his head forcefully with the edge of his claws Lee made himself stop and banish the train of thought. He looked back over to Rucha, "You'd think that they'd have everything in an escape vessal in prime condition, especially the cryo pods. But, I'm really not surprised. While i was in the codes i couldn't see anything else faulty with the system. Of course i only saw a couple of drops within the ships steam of data. Did anything else catch your attention at the controls? "

[Morty]

Setiri took the torque and tapped her antennae together gratefully at Lee, then snapped the metal band around her neck. She fixed the cluster of wires at the back of the device to the base of her skull, and with a click she turned it on. To her embarrassment, the device was on full volume as it began to calibrate, blasting an incoherent, metallic cacophony from its speakers. The kithwari hastily turned down the dial as the machine proceeded to sync with her nervous system, her antennae flattening self-consciously. She was reminded of when she'd first starting using the communicators. It had taken some time to get used to; initially, she'd only been able to make loud chirping noises with it. With time, however, she could make it imitate almost any sound, allowing her to speak in languages that previously she could only understand.
The device finished calibrating with a muffled beep. On the quietest setting, she tested her speaking ability. Let's try saying hello...

"Krssht. Szzzlt."

A little rusty, then.

"Hjelarch... Herkat... Hyelo... Hello! Esturng... Testerng, testing. Minamis-- My name is..." Setiri went through a few standard phrases until she was satisfied with her level of speech. She was not entirely sure what the Lalungil was referencing, but it seemed to be a conversation directed at his crewmates, so she would wait until she was addressed again before she properly introduced herself.

[Kauria]

Rucha shook her head. "Nothing. It's weird. That's honestly all I can offer as my appraisal of the situation. Weird."
She looked over at their newest conscious passenger. Goodness knew what it was doing. Rucha was too far to hear more than a quiet occasional burst of static, but there was a certain familiarity about the whole thing. A memory from this lifetime, for once.
"She's kinda like Kiruza, isn't she? With that device," Rucha managed to say quickly, before the pain of loss could lance through her core like an iron shaft. How and when exactly she'd decided that the newcomer was a "she" was a bit of a mystery, especially considering how complicated pronouns could get in the context of other species.

[Midnightmoon]

"Ya.... Ya, and i think they both have a thing with cautious politeness." Lee agreed. "Sooo, my names Lee'Hila." He continued saying to the insectoid, "Lee works though. Um, curiously you remember anything about yourself, your name for instance?" Best to figure out what she knows so blanks could be filled as soon as possible. "Maybe she can remember some of her field and help us get a more solid plan of action." His ears flicked up and foreword in increased interest at that thought. "Anything?"

[Morty]

Setiri raised a horn questioningly at the two alien's exchange. Kiruza? Must be another crew-mate, whom she'd meet in due time. She twisted the dial on her communicator to affect a normal speaking volume then turned to the Lalungil, pleased to have been greeted. Remembering diplomacy, she tried to remember what a traditional Lalungil introduction might be. (Her eyes flicked to the Ceretai-- that one might appreciate a jovial headbutt, but Setiri's antennae certainly wouldn't.) Drawing a blank, she settled for standard politeness.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lee'Hila. My name is Setiri." she said, miming her name synchronously with the machine's tinny lilt. To a non-speaker it looked probably like an affected jig, but in her language it carried connotations of grace and learning.
"I do not remember much, regrettably. Merely that I was assigned to study the life-forms discovered on asteroids in the Vox Diragi system... It was to be my first extra-galactic mission." the Kithwari said wistfully. Pieces of her past were coming back to her, but most of it was extraneous to the situation at hand. Born and raised in an Imperial nursery-- that went without question. Enrolled in the Queen's Academy upon maturation, given the finest education the sector could offer. Graduation with honors at thirty-five*. And now, in the fortieth** year of her life, stranded in deep space with a motley crew of aliens. She could scarce imagine what twist of events could have led to this predicament, but something in her abdomen whispered foul play. She did not suspect these creatures of being sinister kidnappers, no-- what she did know was that certain factions paid well for exotic life-forms, especially of the sentient variety, and a relatively unarmed research vessel was all too tempting a target for bio-traffickers. Noting Lee's ear movements, which to her seemed to speak of impatience, she added, "My memory grows clearer by the minute, however. Soon, perhaps, I will be able to provide a justification for my presence."
She looked around the room. Now that she had her head on straight, it struck her that she might have to be more cautious about what she revealed. A good first measure was to gather more information, subtly gauge the sincerity of these unfamiliar beings. Innocently, she asked, "Perhaps someone could tell me more about this vessel?"

((*An Ikikoyan solar year is the equivalent of 144 Earth days, or 0.4 of a regular year, making Setiri, in fact, 16 years old.))

[Midnightmoon]

"This little ship is our lifeboat from the large Croatoan. I think i remember someone saying that is was a bio-medical research ship." Lee started, looking over to Rucha in uncertainty of the last comment, continueing, "We've got everything we'd need to survive on our own for a while, but because of, er... increasing problems on the Croatoan, which resulted in it's... explossive malfunction, we've taken some damage of our own. We were heading to a relatively near planet to see if we can get help when your pods malfuntion dumped us out of the stream." It then occured to Lee to ask, "You're alright, right? Everything's functioning?" "Unimportant..." Lee's ears twitched as he pushed back mentally, "Stop it!" He hoped no one noticed, it wouldn't do to have his crewmates think him crazy, "Hope I'm not crazy." The other chuckled.