Hide & Seek
Invictus - Crew Commons IC Time: Aug 05, 2521 - 16:45:26 =>Invictus<=
This is the ship's common room, a place for the crew to relax, eat, and talk. In the middle of the room is a big table with comfortable chairs placed around it. To the port side near the Med Bay's entrance is a simple kitchen beside a basic storage rack for food and drinks. Starboard, the entry to the Crew Quarters can be found, as well as a number of large lockers for the crew's kit storage. To the room's aft are placed some couches opposite to a Cortex terminal and a large screen where currently some sort of gaming console appears to be hooked up. Between the couches, a small table holds some books and other things to read. Finally, to the front near the entrance to the Captain's Quarters, a corkscrew stairway up to the Bridge can be seen.
Yawning and stretching, Wren wanders out of the corridor and into the Commons. Glancing around the room briefly, she heads for the kitchen, opening the fridge and plucking out a bottle of juice.
Zahara stands near the dart board, fiddling with it, and then stepping back. She looks up at Wren and smiles in her direction. "Zhu fu ni, mei mei. How're you today?" she asks cheerfully. "Care to play some darts?"
Pouring the juice into a glass, Wren turns and looks over at Zahara as she speaks. This has the unfortunate effect of diverting some of the juice out of the glass and onto the floor, which she doesn't seem to notice. "Darts are sharp, points into skin," she notes, frowning down at one hand holding the glass. "Blood runs out," she observes, watching the stream of ruby red liquid in fascination.
The Arabic woman, devoid today of anything denoting her as a doctor, smiles. "Only a little prick. And I'll help you be safe." She has the look of a maternal reassurance on her face. "I promise you'll be safe with me." But then she sets the dart down. "Or maybe you would like to talk to me? Get to know me a little better?" She smiles hopefully.
"Safe is a mist," Wren murmurs, the juice splashing on the floor and forming a small red puddle as the bottle runs dry. Lifting her eyes again she glances back to Zahara, noting the dart as it's put down. "I know you," she says slowly, considering the woman. "I should know better?"
Zahara chuckles a little, the bangles on her arm tinkling musically. "Yes. You should. You only know me in one way. I'd like to get to know you as a friend and have you get to know me like one." She raises an eyebrow. "Would you like that?"
Wren frowns a little, stepping back from the puddle of liquid and putting the empty bottle on the counter. "Like a friend... Like isn't is?" she says, voice questioning as she looks to Zahara.
"I am your friend. You are mine. Don't friends like to talk to each other?" says Zahara pleasantly. She gestures to the couch. "Come. Let us sit and talk. Do you smoke?"
Wren blinks rapidly at Zahara for a moment, and then moves cautiously over to the couch and sits on the edge of it. "Gabby tried to teach me... She says I'm not the smokin' type," she recounts thoughtfully.
The woman smiles a little and then only pulls out one cigarette from a silver case. She lights it and puts the case away. "I see," she says. "Well, that's alright. It's better for you anyway. You like to grow things, right?"
"Plants," Wren confirms, watching the doctor with open curiosity over the rim of her glass as she takes a sip. "Isabella likes flowers," she volunteers, shifting on the couch restively.
"So do I," Zahara says lightly as she takes a drag. "What else do you like?" She seems content to listen harmlessly to Wren. "Do you like to play any games or paint or anything like that? Dance, maybe?"
"Games... Hide and seek, and memory... Are you hiding or seeking?" Wren wonders, her gaze returning to Zahara briefly. "I never learned to dance," she adds, her eyes sliding away again to contemplate the floor.
Zahara hmms with a smile. "No, I'm not playing either one right now. And I can dance a little. I'm not the best, but I can hold my own. Maybe I can teach you some Arabic dances one day? If you'd like?" She pauses in thought. "Maybe we could play hide and seek another time. I'd like to if you'd let me."
Wren shakes her head at Zahara, blonde locks falling in front of her eyes as she does. "Never liked playing that," she answers, taking refuge behind her glass as she takes another sip. "I could teach you about plants," she offers in exchange, expression uncertain.
Zahara nods. "That sounds good. I would like to learn more about plants." She smiles over at Wren. "Thank you for the offer. I shall teach you some dances, you shall teach me of plants. This is a good exchange, don't you think?"
"A good exchange," Wren echoes, nodding a little. "Rosemary grows slowly," she tells Zahara, her gaze wandering across the commons as she considers. "Thyme goes quickly, except when it delays," she adds, frowning a little at something. "Gabby's playing hide and seek," she determines in the flow of the conversation, standing up to go investigate something behind one of the chairs.
Zahara nods a little, listening as she uses her first cigarette to light her second. And then she watches as Wren looks around and then moves. "Gabby's playing hide and seek? How do you know that?"
Wren nods a little, one hand darting behind the chair and coming out with a familiar bag normally only seen in Gabby's possession. "Hide and seek," she explains, poking her head inside the bag and looking at its contents.
The black leather satchel is opened with little trouble, and the contents within are bared to the soul... Or at least to the eyes. A slim silver laptop, three pdas, several round, small silver cases, a couple of lighters, a couple packs of cigarettes at various stages of use, two orange pill bottles, and a long leather wallet seem to make up the entirety of the contents.
The orange pill bottles are only given a cursory examination before Wren moves on to more interesting-- to her-- things. Each of the round silver cases is taken out and inspected carefully.
Zahara glances over a couple times, being interrupted periodically by her iComm beeping. She finally turns it to silent and glances over in earnest.
Each of the cases are about one inch around, and about half an inch in height, and tiny grooves halfway down indicate that they are most likely pulled apart. Engravings of tiny roses are visible on the top surfaces of one, tiny twinings of ivy on the other.
Zahara's eyes narrow a little, and looking slightly guilty, she moves to the backpack and begins to reach inside, fiddling with an odd lump in the back panel. She works at it, seeking to pull whatever it is out.
After some working, and feeling about, Zahara manages to find a catch in the fabric that she can pull open, and... out comes a small vid card... that requires a thumbprint scan to activate.
Wren ignores Zahara's intrusion on her find, her attention focused on pulling open the little silver cases, starting with the one that has the roses on top.
Zahara hunhs, hurriedly puts it back, closes the flap again, and steps away. "I need to go check on the captain, Wren. I'll see you soon." And she's gone.
One of the cases is opened to reveal a small curled clipping of pale blonde hair tied together with a small white ribbon. The other holds a longer lock of light brown hair, tied together with a thin blue ribbon.
Peering inside each one, Wren pokes a finger inside, shifting the hairs a little in investigation. Those properly categorized, she replaces their covers and puts them to the side. Out come the lighters, briefly inspected and then put to the side. Next the PDA's, which are all turned on, if possible.
All three pda's can indeed be turned on, though two of three ask for a password. The third one, when powered on, shows three active programs. One, is a voice to word file recorder, which appears to be in the process of dictating "Medieval Torture Methods, as Reviewed by the New Catholic Church Order". The second program is a database that has recordings of all tips sent in to the Invictus about the missing girl. The third is a media player program that has a wide variety of old earth-that-was recordings in its databanks, both audio and video.
Leaving the two which require passwords, Wren focuses on the one that does not. The medieval torture methods is given a scowl, and a prompt deletion. All of the tips are reviewed, quickly. And then she investigates the earth-that-was recordings, perusing the offerings curiously.
A large selection of music is available for perusing, quite a few soundtracks, ranging from Annie to the Matrix, as well as a smattering of at least one or two songs from just about any band that one could find mention of in the 21st century of Earth-That-Was history. (Which would rule out some of the more eclectic, and less popular bands and artists) And as for video selections, the pda held movies called Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Queen of the Damned, Resident Evil: Apocalpyse, and Annie; also several episodes of a show called House, M.D.
The files are rifled through, little sound clips playing for a second or two each before the next title is moved onto. Eventually Wren grows tired of that, and fiddles with the device, tapping a few things into it without much success. Shrugging, she consigns it to the same section as the other PDA's and moves on. Next up are the cigarettes, the packs opened and investigated. They don't seem to meet with her approval, however. She quickly reorganizes them, consolidating as many as she can, the empties tossed aside.
The remaining items left in the satchel are the laptop, the wallet, and apparently the vid which had been tucked back into it's hidey hole.
That accomplished, Wren turns to the wallet, opening it to examine the contents therein. It's quite a tidy little collection she has on the one side, each item lined up neatly. The empty cigarette packs have been discarded without regard for order on the opposite side.
The wallet is about six inches long, and three inches wide, made of a soft black leather. Once opened, the following can be seen. On the left side: A holo-ident that shows her to be one Gabriella Mortania, age 21, ident #<whatever I told Zee when all drugged up, don't remember>, born on and registered through Ariel City, Ariel. A couple of credit chits, of unmarked amount, and a few wallet sized holo pics that show her with an older woman and man, with slight familiar resemblance, and one with her and a slightly older man, the two of them seeming to be laughing, his arms wrapped around her while they stand. On the other side, the flap holds several hundred dollars in cashy money.
Canting her head to one side, Wren pulls out the bills and sets them aside, peering at the thing that was caught between them.
Several folded over prescriptions have been tucked between the money.
The prescriptions are unfolded and smoothed out, the papers laid flat in front of Wren where she kneels on the floor. The money is reorganized, but not by amount. By color and feel, and possibly design.
The prescriptions are for: Oxycotin, Valium, Benzedrine, and Flexeril, all prescribed by the same doctor on Persephone, a cortex prescription database reference number given, refills listed as 6. Issue date about three months ago.
Wren tucks the bills back inside the wallet, but moves the prescriptions to a different location. They get tucked inside the least full pack of cigarettes. Then it's back to the bag, her hand exploring until she finds the hidden section and opens it.
The nearly flat small vid screen is retrieved. It is powered off and apparently requires a thumb scan to activate.
The screen is given a scowl as Wren finds it impossible to activate. Grumbling, she puts her hand back inside the hidden section, searching to be sure she hasn't missed anything. Then the laptop is removed and opened. Save the best for last.
Wren finds nothing else in that hidey hole, but as she's leaning forward, her knees press against the padded shoulder strap of the satchel, she can feel a bump about five inches long, two inches wide in the strap. Upon investigation, however, she will find no visible way of retrieving the item without cutting the strap open.
The bump is thoroughly explored, her fingers trying to divine its nature and a means of access. Failing that, her gaze turns in the direction of the kitchen and where a set of knives are stored. Nibbling on her lower lip she considers that for a few moments, but apparently decides against it with a sigh. Attention is returned to the laptop.
The laptop can be removed, opened, and powered on with no problems. No password is required to access the main screen, (which for my sanity will be described windows style). The following menu options are available from the main screen: My Pictures, Programs, Recycle Bin, My Computer, Cortex, My Documents
Wren peers at the screen, and after a moments selects Waves, opening up the program to her curious gaze.
The following messages are listed under the waves directory. "Cortex Report on Wellington" (4x) From: Shadow "Checking In" From: Chase "Rx Confirmation" From: RxCO
Wren winces a little at something she reads on the screen one hand shifting to cover her abdomen protectively, but her fingers hit the return button decisively on the "Checking In" message to open it.
The person seen in the holophoto in the wallet that had his arms wrapped around Gabriella appear on the screen, a smile on his face. "Hey, dollface. Just checking in to see how you're doing out in the middle of nowhere. Not sure how you can stand it out on the rim... " He shrugs, and laughs. "Send me a wave when you get this. Miss you!" He leans forward and the screen goes black.
"Dollface," Wren mouths the word back at the screen, head tilting to consider the man a moment. Her eyes search the screen until she finds the 'reply' button, which she clicks on. Looking into the screen as it switches modes from reading to creating, she taps the screen a few times as if to check that it's on, watching herself as she does so in the reflected image. "Hi dollface," she chirps into the recording. "Standing is the same as anywhere, normal gravity applies," she reports cheerfully to whomever receives the wav. "Bye!" she adds, waving to the screen before reaching out to hit the end/send button.
Take me back to Wren's RP Logs
