I wonder what THIS button does; open

[azulescarabajo]

The recent discussion on the comms had reignited Jaime's boundless curiosity and a desire to learn more about the ship that he and so many others found themselves riding across the multiverse. And what better way to find out more about the ship than to look at the hallowed command deck? There had to be something useful here, right?

Jaime seated himself at one of the various stations and peered intently at the panel. The chirruping buzz of Khaji's voice vibrated against the back of his mind.

Suggestio|\|: Frie|\|d Jaime: press butto|\|s.

"Yeah. Right. Good idea. Let's just push buttons on the bridge of the super powerful meatship." Despite his sarcastic rejoinder, the young man reached out and slowly pressed a switch.

Nothing happened.

"Not that one, then." He pressed another. Toggled a switch. This might go on for a while.

Comments

[encourage]

Sakura was in search of Howard, if she hadn't managed to run across him yet. She was surprised given his tendency to haunt MedBay as much as she did, but absolutely determined that this time she'd finally put on a better showing and win at a game of Simon Says, or whatever it was called in this rhythmic pattern game of lights and beep-booping sounds.

She hadn't spent time near command center before, disliking the feeling of being surrounded by so much evidence of incomprehensible press-button technology. Like the world's largest game of Simon, without the benefit of displaying patterns you need to replicate beforehand.

Though she didn't think the guy she saw here was trying to, based on how he moved. None of the assuredness of someone preforming what they'd done before, none of the bored familiarity of someone doing a repetitive task.

She cleared her throat politely. "So," she said, tone kept fairly conversational, "Anything exciting happening by random button press yet?"

[azulescarabajo]

Jaime glanced over at Sakura and shrugged helplessly.

"I'm afraid not. So far it's been a bust. I did manage to open and close the view port a couple times if you have a burning desire to look at the stars, though." He smiled at the pink-haired girl and raised a hand in greeting.

"I'm Jaime. Just though I'd poke around the ship, see what I could find out. Starting here, because hey."

[encourage]

"Mmm, stars. I always love Bleed-gazing," she said mildly, looking over his shoulder at the panel he was 'working' on. "I'll pass for now."

She took a step to the side, sticking the Simon Says game up under her arm. "I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you," she finished, a near automatic verbal gesture followed by a fairly genuine smile. Sakura did like meeting people by name, even if she'd seen them around in glimpses and flashes before.

You need to be better connected. And so she would be.

"That the only panel you've been pushing buttons on?" Sakura looked to another near-by. "This is probably a ridiculously stupid idea," she added. Just because she needed to point out the obvious.

[azulescarabajo]

"No worries." Jaime fiddled with a dial and tapped a finger against a readout that merely gave off numbers he didn't really understand. He sighed and leaned against the console he was working with, giving a smile that indicated a mild exhaustion.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura. I was at your memory-thing in the Sensoriums." He glanced down at his panel.

"I've looked at a couple others, and yeah, it's pretty dumb. But I have to start somewhere. And this place is the most obvious. . ." He looked around the mostly empty command center.

"Though it might be too obvious."

[encourage]

"Ah, yes. What Barbara and I ran into in the other section of the ship."

She looked around the room, considering what she was seeing. "Think the interface is really hidden elsewhere?" If that had her wondering where, exactly, they were standing.

"Where was it the crew had to break into in order to wrest control from the pirates?"

[azulescarabajo]

"That's this place. The pirates were supposedly controlling the ship from here. So supposedly we should be able to as well. Why haven't we? I'm not sure." He flicks another switch.

"So maybe it's not hidden, but the Daligig rerouted it."

[encourage]

"Or Sta'c did it herself. On her own initiative... or Daligig orders," Sakura continued, if inwardly begrudging. "Have you tried pulling any of the paneling up? I'm not sure how you can tell if wiring's live, but is there a way to test and see if it's feeding back into anything?"

[azulescarabajo]

"I'm open to any possibility right now. . .there's any number of reasons this stuff could go down." Jaime shrugged, then looked sheepish.

"I haven't yet. She's letting me push buttons, but there might be a freakout if I start pulling things open. Thought about it, though."

[encourage]

"What's the worst she can do?" Sakura said it calmly, examining the area with a critical eye of her own. "Lock us in an unending cycle of our own inescapable torture? Please."

She moved toward one of the panels, setting Simon down in order to feel along the edge of the paneling. "If that's the fear we're living under from Mother, Dearest, then she's already being resource stupid by making any of the tortures public or literally physical. Or maybe smart, if that's the grand punishment we're most afraid of."

Not that Sakura wasn't. She'd forced herself to watch Punishment more than once, to stomach the torture Stacy had tossed around under her Warden persona. (It was all personas to Sakura.) She wanted nothing to do with it, but...

But...