revivalproject | We All Float On

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We All Float On

WHO: Cal Kestis, BD-1 and you!
WHERE: Agrii Ship
WHAT: Keeping busy on the way back to Agra 10
WHEN: During the trip back
WARNINGS: N/A

It's definitely a different atmosphere aboard the ship, now that they don't have imminent threats hanging over their heads. Having a full ship also helps for the mood. True, there have been disappointments and frustration in the aftermath of rescuing all the Agrii, but Cal hardly thinks the Agrii themselves are to blame. It seems clear enough that someone else is at work in all this, and while that in itself is disheartening, there's little that can be done that they haven't already tried in order to get any further clues in that. The current state of those of their own that they've rescued along with the Agrii and Graq is worrying, and not knowing what else to do, he can only hope that Cloud and Bucky come out of their sleep soon.

The padawan takes the time to get to know the Agrii. It's a nice change to be able to speak face to face to them instead of wait for mysterious messages. It's nice to know they're real. But sometimes they can be overbearing, and so he finds retreat as he can.

Naturally it's work that Cal throws himself into, finding the need to do something. Being busy comes easier than meditation at the moment, and there's plenty enough to be done anyway.

A
With no rush to get things finished, he's happy to work on the ships, putting in some perhaps much-needed upgrades. Can't hurt to, right? Given how woefully under-equipped they've proven in what might be considered necessary functions, the padawan's priorities would be to retrofit ships with whatever parts are yet available to provide protection and increase travel speed. He won't mind an extra hand, of course. Or maybe you want your ship to be upgraded next?

B
In a quiet, empty dead-end hall or perhaps even the Green Room, when he's not picking at tech, Cal and BD-1 can be found going over some of the latter's interesting findings. BD-1's been pretty busy with the Soldier, it seems, and now that they've got the time, Cal's trying to catch up with what's happened on the other end.

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"They keep us exactly where they want us. I hate it," Tommy sighs, shaking his head. This was a game to someone out there.

He'd been more okay with this when it was hero work. Why did it have to get ruined? He takes the 'high five' with a smile and pats BD-1's head. Good kid.

"Damn, you're the bravest little guy. The Brave Little Toaster could learn some shit from you."

"Yeah..." Cal hasn't been happy about that. "We've all been baited out here, and it seems even the Agrii were pulled of whatever this whole thing is about."

Glancing at BD-1, the padawan shakes his head, still smiling a little even as the droid borbles under Tommy's head-pat.

"Bit of a little more than he could chew there, but his heart was definitely into it." Well, figuratively speaking, but Cal could easily be convinced that the little guy possessed as much a heart as anyone of flesh and blood. "Thankfully they didn't get into any trouble when they parted ways with us. But they found some interesting things in that other room. Have you heard much about that other fleet that Wanda and some of the others had been part of?"

AS much heart as a flesh and blood person? Nope. More. A lot more.

"Wanda's mentioned it in passing. Saw some memories from some people, but that was about it."

And it would be about as much as he knew. "Something about aliens kidnapping them for entertainment value. Why?"

"...because it seems like we haven't heard the last of the the ones who were responsible for all that." Cal frowns. "From what BeeDee told me, the Agrii seem to have been given access to old recordings of that fleet."

He's got no reason to question what the little droid's told him, although he wonders if they'd still be able to see that room now that the Agrii are back. "But it also seems like the Agrii may have been pulled into things themselves as well. BeeDee downloaded one of the recordings- and its contents seem to be of the very day the Agrii were forced away from their home due to the storms. Which coincides with a visit from one of the Fleet ships."

"So basically they can binge watch their favorite space drama craziness," Tommy points out. He doesn't really like the idea of that.

Wait.

"It matches up with that? Fuck. Does that mean that 'Drift Fleet' thing isn't actually over?"

It's not exactly something pleasant to consider, and Cal doesn't like that even with things pointing in that direction, there are still questions aplenty to fill in.

"I'm not sure. But so far as it looks from that recording, the Agrii were conducting usual business as an outpost for offworlders to resupply, and then a storm occurred, and they had absolutely no idea what was happening. Those from the Fleet helped them evacuate, and they were eventually provided this very ship."

"Maybe it was people that hated the people in charge of the Drift Fleet show? We're the revenge?"

Or maybe it's complicated. Karmic fixing of whatever the Atroma did? Who knew. This was a mystery and Tommy didn't solve those.

Cal has no better suggestions, shrugging at Tommy's. His are as good as anyone else's at this point. "I sure hope it's not like that. But either way, there's still something bigger at play."

"I suppose it is," Tommy says, frowning. "So, uh... Can I help you? I'm trying to learn more things."

"There's a lot to learn." Cal smiles ruefully. "You're more than welcome to join us. I'm not so sure that this is a mystery we're going to unravel so easily, but for the moment, BeeDee and I were thinking of checking out that hero control room again, if the Agrii will let us in."

He turns, gesturing with his head down the hall. "Coming?"

"I wanna see it," Tommy agrees, moving to slip after Cal. Slowly. He's got to try and keep at snail pace.

He doesn't judge Cal, though. The guy is good at what he does.

The effort's appreciated. Cal knows Tommy's doing a lot to adjust to the typical speed everyone else goes by.

At least there's plenty to see on the way. Once they pass the familiar halls before it splits off between the engineering room they'd gone to before, they end up in some sort of residential area for the Agrii, at least what can be told for the couple of doors that are left open. Perhaps the Agrii who dwell in the have stepped out briefly. Out of one pokes the fluffy, furry head of some pale multicolored creature.

BD-1 ensures they're going the right away, recalling the creatures from the first time he'd passed through here with the Soldier and Sansa. The furry mass steps out to investigate the trio, coming up to perhaps just above their knees. At least it appears to be friendly! Cal grins and gives it a pat. "Hey there." It circles the padawan and then wanders over to greet Tommy.

Snails live their lives at their own pace and he hates it, thanks.

"What the hell is that?" Tommy asks, very leery of the creature. Clearly he's uncomfortable with the unknown.

"Not sure, but it doesn't mean any harm," Cal reassures, stooping down to call it over again. He can sense that much, and it's a welcome change from the creatures he's otherwise come across during his travels. The large dog-like puff of pastel gives Tommy a light butt with its head before trotting back over for more pets. "Seems like it lives with the Agrii."

He gives the creature a good ruffling before standing again. BD-1 beeps and the padawan nods. "Room's further this way."

You say that, Cal, but can you be sure? Tommy still looks... nervous. Perhaps it's because of the dog-like behavior.

He's not saying he's scared of dogs. But there is definitely more fear for the Force to pick up on.

"Cool, they have pets. Alright then. Walking now?"

Cal's quite certain. He has a better affinity with animals than some Force users. It's why they have a stowaway bogling aboard the Mantis. Tommy's anxiety is something he definitely picks up, however, and without bringing attention to it, he nods and continues along. And tries not to grin a bit when he senses that the fuzzball's started to tag along. Aw, it just wants to make friends.

The lab-like space that is "Hero Control" hasn't been terribly cleaned up from the last time BD-1 had ventured here. Notes and books and things revealing the Agrii's collaborative and extensive efforts to learn how to communicate with their 'he-rows' still lie about most surfaces. The welcome banner still hangs where it's been. There are beds, definitely unsuited for Agrii given how tall they are.

And there are screens and monitors everywhere. The only thing is that they're all offline. BD-1 gives a low hoot in disappointment.

Interesting, the smaller beds. Tommy immediately flops down on one and hums in contentment.

"So, we can't access it. Of COURSE we can't access it. Think the storm-like shit blew it out? Beady, does that line up?"

Because this is fucking frustrating. Maybe Tony can help.

The pastel fluff of a doglike creature comes up around the other side of the bed, putting its front paws on the edge, bushy tail wagging happily.

"It's possible," Cal murmurs, stepping over to one of the consoles to try accessing things. "BeeDee said all the screens turned red even before the storm effects began. I'm sure that hadn't helped either, though." He frowns, shaking his head after a bit of useless button-tapping. "Everything's offline."

BD-1 hops off of Cal's shoulder to wander across a pile of books, beeping a confirmation to Tommy and Cal. "At least he managed to download some things before everything went out, but it would've been nice to be able to have a look ourselves..."

Nope. NOPE. Tommy moves a bit further back from the edge of the bed. The more dog-like it acts, the less comfortable Tommy is.

"You're, like, engineering, right? Can't you fix it?"

Except the engineering datapoint didn't bring back that which was ruined, right?

"Downloads aren't bad. I can help him read them."

The sense of unease from Tommy has Cal glance back over at him, smiling crookedly before he stoops down, patting his knee to call the creature over. "I could try taking a look at it," he says, scratching the fuzzy thing on its head, mindful of its horn.

He somehow doubts that it would be able to be repaired so easily. The timing of everything just seemed too convenient. Or rather inconvenient.

BD-1 borbles in response to Tommy as he toes at some of the books he stands beside. Cal gives the creature at his feet one last pat before pointing back towards the residential hall. "Better go back for now, okay?" He glances over at BD, and then to Tommy, nodding. "They're apparently written out the same way they've been doing everything else, so...that should be interesting."

Once the thing is gone, obeying Cal, Tommy rolls off of the bed. He moves right to Beady and picks up a book. Then he sits by Beady and opens it up, holding it for the droid.

"If you let me figure out your read speed we can go through this quick so you can read these at your pace. Get it all processed super fast."

Meanwhile he looks at Cal.

"Hey can... are you a good teacher?"

The droid sidles over closer to Tommy, head cocking at the open pages. Language isn't particularly his forte but it's still worth a try, especially when there didn't seem to be a translation system even when the computers were running. He beeps and gets himself settled, one of his lenses starting to flash in preparation of scanning over the lines to commit to his databanks.

Cal in the meantime starts looking around for an access panel to one of the computer consoles, settling down on the floor to work at the screws. "Hm? Oh, I don't know. I haven't really taught a whole lot. I guess if it's something I'm really familiar with, I can possibly manage... What's on your mind?"

There was always a chance that the stuff in here would be understandable to people with the communication datapoint. So if Beady scanned it to them, they could have answers. That was the hope anyway. Tommy nods to Beady and opens to the first page.

"Just tell me if I need to go back a page or I'm to slow or you need faster," he tells the droid. Because hell, he can mostly understand it these days.

"I just... I'm starting to think maybe I'm not what people told me through my life? And wanna learn shit. But every time I try and go to Tony to ask him to teach me, we get distracted or fight or some shit. I say the wrong things."

He just wants to not be stupid.

The light runs along the open pages, and BD-1 prompts Tommy with a beep to turn it once he's done. It's not instantaneous; unfortunately as quick as he's able to process things, his physical parts can only manage certain speeds, but it's still faster than if one person had to read through the whole thing, and scanning pages only takes a few seconds at most.

Cal carefully eases the panel open once he's got it loosened, setting it down beside him. He peers inside, frowning thoughtfully at both the contents and Tommy's words.

"...what have people told you?" he asks. "And what kinds of things do you want to learn? Life in general is all about learning, you're doing it whether you're aware of it or not. I had to relearn a lot of things after trying to not be what I was taught to be for years. Even then it wasn't easy. And there's still more."

Once the beep comes, Tommy turns the page. That's good. Very good. They're about to be annoying to Cal with how fast they are beeping and flipping, aren't they? Hilarious.

"I'm stupid," Tommy tells Cal quite readily. "And I just... I think maybe they're wrong?"

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