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Hydroponics is the Chief's favorite part of the ship. This isn't because of any special function it serves, but because it's usually quiet and mostly empty. He can get away from the rest of the crew in here, for a little while. It's space to think.

He has a lot of thinking to do.

He has no particular set goal in mind, just pacing some of the usual paths. However, something seems to be following him. A whiteish bug of some kind roughly the size of a german shepherd. It scuttles along behind the Spartan as he goes, and he seems to be ignoring it.

Has he even noticed it? It's impossible to tell.

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Arika is taking a walk in Hydroponics. She has a coat from the bus around her, and is moving at a liesurely pace. She hasn't noticed that she's not alone, person wise, so it's safe to bet that she is aware of the creatures moving about grass and the bushes and the trees.

The Chief nods to Arika when she comes into view. He doesn't really recognize her from anywhere, not having met her.

"Miss," he says, nodding once politely to acknowledge her presence. The bug, probably some kind of isopod but much larger than one has any right to be, wavers its antennae in the air behind him.

Arika turns her head towards the Chief and returns his polite nod with a solemn nod of her own. She then notices the bug, and stares for a minute. But then turns her attention back to the Chief. "And how are you today, sir?"

Sherry didn't have any business being in hydroponics, except for the fact that she wanted to go somewhere where the air didn't smell so... Stacy-like. That, and touching real flora seemed kind of therapeutic, instead of conjuring it up in the sensoriums.

Besides, she was almost 100% sure that her parents would approve of it. She lifted her head at the movement nearby and noticed Chief coming through the pathway. Remembering that the last time she'd seen him, she'd helped Komali fly ~~with disastrous results~~, Sherry put on her brave face and greeted him. "Good afternoon, Mister Chi---AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The Chief looks over at Sherry when addressed, and then behind him when she yells.

Oh, hello bug.

"Relax," he says. "It's been following me all day. Harmless."

The bug flickers its antennae contentedly and makes a little chittering noise. When the Chief stops, it does too and seems to be waiting for him to start moving again.

Chief's bug friend is bigger than Boon. And, oh no, it chittered. However harmless Chief thought the bug was, Sherry still sensibly pushed herself up against a blue-barked tree. Just in case.

If there was something she hated as badly as tube feet it was giant bugs. Sherry tried to think of what her parents would do.

Shoot it, probably. "Y-You're sure?"

"I'm sure," he replies, nodding. It antennae-waves some more, not moving from where it stands.

"I think it likes my armor, or something," the Chief continues, looking back down at it. The bug doesn't offer any answer.

"Did you need me?" he asks, looking back to Sherry. She might have just been in here on her own, but she could also possibly have come looking for him.

Sherry shook her head, and her very short braids quivered. "No, I... was only saying hello." She looked up at Chief, and was thankful that looking up meant she would not have to look down at the ~~terrifying~~ bug.

"Have you seen Vega anywhere? I have to give him some notes." Ah, Vega. Never before had you been such a wonderfully valid excuse.

"Most likely? The hangar," the Chief replies.

"Are you going to push him off any buildings?"

It's a joke. Really, it is. It's just extremely hard to tell from his relaxed tone, as if commenting on a day to day occurrence.

"Only if Vega sprouts feathers," Sherry replied calmly. Chief is in good hands, one need only look as far as her father for linefacing through voice. She peered at him through his helmet, looking for his eyes and seeing only her reflection. Creepy.

Chief has only met a few people besides other Spartans who can pick out his eyes through the visor. It's an uncommon skill.

"Unlikely," he remarks. "And if he did, it's not your place to make those decisions for him."

Or for timid bird nephew type people, but that goes unsaid.

"I know," Sherry replied, having thoroughly learned her lesson the last time she tried forcing others to fly. "Luckily, Vega doesn't have wings, so he doesn't need to worry." Ah, child logic. Infallible.

Sherry's eyes fell towards the bug again and she shuddered before looking back at Chief. Dr. Sera was probably going to tease her if these things ever came up in biology class. She just knew it.

"Luckily."

Satisfied that Sherry has been chastised enough, he lets it drop.

"I don't think it could eat you if it wanted to," he offers. "It's some kind of giant pillbug."

It's actually nibbling at some grass stalks right now docilely. It's still a giant, freakish bug though.

"...I just... I really hate bugs." Where was her dad when she needed him.

Oh, right. Being captain. Sherry rubbed her arms briskly to banish the goosebumps that had formed there. "At home? There were big, terrible roaches in the vents I hid in, and..." Well, does she really need to say more?

"About this long?"

He makes a pretty precisely roach-sized gap with his fingers.

Sherry shook her head vehemently, "No, no." She made a rather disturbing wide gap with her hands, about a foot and a half long. "Huge." If there was one thing a person could say about the Redfield-Kennedy child, she was not prone to exaggeration.

"You're not the only one who's had to vent crawl," he says, though not without a hint of amusement.

"You stay out of trouble, hmm?" He'll let her go. It'll be better for the kid's nerves if he leads the bug away, he figures. It doesn't really bother him, it's mostly just odd.

Sherry nodded and glanced at the bug again. "I will." Well, she'll try, how about that?

It seems a little odd for Samus to have downtime. She doesn't actually have any downtime, which is precisely why she makes time to be in here. It's only for short durations, never at the same time of day. Never everyday. She doesn't want many to know she makes a habit of trying to escape all her duties for just a little while. It's as if she pretends that she's not human, that she doesn't need a break.

She sits against a tree, all of her armor but her helmet still on. Her knees are half drown up to her chest. She looks... tired. It's hardly a look she advertises to the rest of the ship.

A twig snaps. Someone is coming. Her head snaps out of its daze and searches for the source of the noise.

It is so, so hard not to call Samus "ma'am". It goes against everything the Chief has been taught since he was very small. It's unnatural.

"Samus," he says, nodding once. The bug scuttles around his feet as he stops and makes little chittering noises.

"Chief," she nods back. She's just going to pretend that no one caught her. She's about to stand up when she spots the bug. She lifts an eyebrow.

"What's that?" Point.

"This," he says, indicating the bug, "is a bug."

Thankyou, Chief. Very helpful. It seems to have noticed Samus and comes scuttling over to her, waving antennae everywhere. It seems to be investigating her armor, still chittering excitedly.

"Where'd you find it?" Samus doesn't seem to be bothered by the bug at all. In fact, it seems a little like she forgot that she needed to get up and be professional and is instead suddenly very interested in the bug. She holds out her non-cannon arm for the bug to investigate more easily.

"It's been following me around in here for a few days," he says.

The bug "tastes" Samus' arm with its antennae and investigates her hand with its mouth parts for a second, apparently curious.

"Does it think you're its mother?"

Samus is... oddly serious about this question. She keeps most of her attention on their new "friend," offering some scritches under its "chin." What, does she have experience with these?

Edited 2010-09-12 04:37 (UTC)

"I don't know what it thinks, but it's apparently harmless," he says.

The bug warbles and chitters some more happily and settles beside Samus. She's passed whatever that test was.

"Seems to like you, too."

Well these things just sort of have a habit of liking Samus. She does not mention this, though. She simply "Hmns," in agreement and continues offering the scratches.

"Followed you out at all?" She turns the conversation back on him.

"I don't think it can, Stacy keeps these things chipped or something."

He's never seen an animal leave hydroponics, anyway. Probably for the best, he's noticed a few good sized carnivores.

"Right," she nods. In her head she resolves that it's only a matter of time. Bug friends have a habit of making it into places they shouldn't be.

Absentmindedly, she still strokes its back. She doesn't have much of a problem treating it like a pet, "I wonder if it just likes the armor."

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