But what about Bob? [Shepard and Sarah; possibly open to threadjacking later idk]

[hows_the_knee]

who: Shepard & Sarah
what: Exploring the station. And possible definite grilling about each others' respective AIs.
where: Lost in a holographic nightmare.
when: Right about the time that blacktwo and nobletwo fuck up the holograms try and turn the lights back on.
warning(s): Angry, angry Sarah.

Comments

[cmdr_renegade]

The siren was something new, that was for goddamn certain. Shepard winced slightly as it went off.

The skinning had vanished when the power came back on, had given everyone the mild reprieve of an arbitrary daytime period, and Shepard had resumed her search at the first possible opportunity. Now, as the siren went off and the lights went out, she found herself trapped, again, in the belly of the holographic beast. The room phased in around her and Shepard let out a ragged, irritated sigh.

"Fuck!"

That had come from the far wall.

While strange voices murmuring through walls wasn't exactly new, they tended to be more verbose and less clear or concise. Shepard waited, but there wasn't a follow up, yet another unusual note. After a pause, Shepard moved to the newly skinned wall and knocked on the surface.

[hows_the_knee]

And now there was knocking, in addition to the voices.

Wait.

Sarah was silent, not daring to make a sound. The knocking came again, not threatening or insistent, just...there. More real than any of the music or voices had been.

She picked up her gun and crept stealthily over to the wall, ready to shoot if the thing on the other side proved able and of a mind to barge through.

"Who's there?"

[cmdr_renegade]

Shepard quirked a brow.

"Boo," she answered arbitrarily and stopped knocking on the wall. The voice didn't sound particularly familiar, but it wasn't unknown. Shepard was silent as she tried to place it.

[hows_the_knee]

Sarah paused.

Of all the possible responses she'd been anticipating, that wasn't one of them.

But as crazy as her life often was, Sarah also had a very normal ten year old son. And the traditional response was out of her mouth before she had a chance to think twice about it.

"Boo who?"

[cmdr_renegade]

"If you quit your crying for a minute, maybe I can find the door in this wall and we can get the hell out of here," Shepard answered bemusedly. To be honest, she was surprised that had worked.

"Damn, I hope you're human," Shepard added as she moved along the wall. The lighting was bad when the skinning holograms went on, but it didn't take long for her to find a door. "It's a less satisfying trick when the person on the other side isn't from Earth."

[hows_the_knee]

Sarah just stared at the wall for a moment. Had that really just happened?

"Believe me, I'm human," she said, trying to follow the voice along the wall. "That seems to be a rare thing around here."

[cmdr_renegade]

"It's a rare thing everywhere," Shepard corrected as she palmed the door open. "Always a good idea to check."

The woman on the other side of the door was armed and decidedly unfamiliar. Shepard might have been more inclined to draw her own weapon, if not for the fact that the tactical gear this woman had on was a couple centuries out of date. Didn't make her bullets less effective, mind you, but she also wasn't waving that thing around like a teenager gone freelance merc.

"You're a new face, just stumble out of the radiation yard or have you been hunkering down back here?"

[hows_the_knee]

Sarah rapidly assessed the woman as she came through the door. She was clearly a soldier, with weapons Sarah didn't even recognize, but she hadn't drawn her gun or done anything else to indicate that she was looking for a fight.

"I've been here," she said, slowly holstering her gun. "I try to stay off the network if I can."

The woman looked familiar, but Sarah couldn't quite place her. Definitely no one she'd seen in person before.

[cmdr_renegade]

"Good call, generally," Shepard congratulated her with the sort of dryness that only a Marine could muster. "Eye in the sky seems to be blinking out, lately, but there's no telling if it's still recording somewhere."

As this new woman didn't seem likely to attack, and had done her the courtesy of holstering that sidearm, Shepard glanced back over her shoulder and out the door. She'd been in this hallway before, generally knew the way out, but it was a long trek. She looked back at the mystery woman.

"You got a name?"

[hows_the_knee]

Sarah grimaced in agreement, reflexively glancing up - though of course, there was no reason the AI couldn't watch them from everywhere, not just the ceilings.

She hesitated at the question, but only briefly. She was still getting used to the idea that the name Connor didn't mean anything here, that it wasn't dangerous to advertise it. But it was pretty clear that whatever the AI was, it had nothing to do with Skynet.

"Sarah Connor." She nodded hello. "And you?"

[cmdr_renegade]

Shepard arched a brow.

Everyone she'd met so far, with precious few exceptions, had been Agent Something or Codename whatever, it was a bit jarring to meet someone with a normal name. Sarah was staring right back at her, awkward nod of greeting and all.

"Shepard," she answered and paused. Introductions with civilians weren't really her thing. She briefly considered appending that with Commander, but the armor really said it all for her. "Uh...Jane Shepard."

[hows_the_knee]

"Shepard?" Sarah repeated, with suddenly heightened interest. She didn't quite step forward, but she did straighten up slightly. "Commander Shepard?"

But she didn't wait for confirmation; by now she remembered where she'd seen the woman before. "How'd your kegger go?"

[cmdr_renegade]

"I don't recall," Shepard admitted and shrugged, insofar as anyone could shrug in full armor. Apparently her title had gotten around, though that was hardly surprising. "Guess that means well."

Shepard folded her arms across her chest.

"Don't remember you being there. I don't suppose I have apologizing to do, do I?"

[hows_the_knee]

"Not really my scene," Sarah answered, shaking her head. "But I was hoping to talk to you. About one of your crew."

[cmdr_renegade]

"Which one is it now?" Shepard prompted vaguely and ticked off the members of the crew and their recent whereabouts. Most of them, barring herself and, to an extent, Garrus, were masters of stealth. If she had something to talk about, that meant she had an encounter.

Since she was clearly alive, that meant it was either an accidental encounter or a fully intentional one. In either case, Shepard hadn't heard about it.

[hows_the_knee]

She had to ask? That was...unsettling. Sarah didn't comment, though; questioning Shepard's handle on her crew's activities probably wasn't the best way to make a first impression.

"Legion," she answered. "The AI." She crossed her own arms, looking narrowly at Shepard. "I want to know everything about it."