Oh, Howard. This could pay back for everything - depending what's in the box.
"Probably a few minutes - if it's too low on power to respond, I'll put it somewhere to charge and work on it later." Her fingers have stopped spiraling and are now moving to trace lines across the top of the box, feeling for controls that are only the faintest roughness-on-roughness of the box's surface.
A faint, tinny voice said, "-ore me to the Empire or face the wrath of-" and then went silent.
"Well, that's good. At least I can verbally interrogate it, since I don't have any appropriate equipment to probe it with." She'd thought it too much of a long shot, building a diagnostics rig for something she might never find.
She shook the box between her hands, and felt no motion, heard nothing. As she suspected: the innards of the box were probably frozen in a stasis field. "Personal property, maybe: clothes, tools. I'd like it to be full of information-stores and weapons. Or-" she held the box out, studied it. A box this size shouldn't have any transspacial qualities, but you might be able to fit a baby in there. A toothy, dangerous Living People baby.
"Just in case," she stepped back and sat on the back of the couch, "I think I will take this outside and open it. Come along if you like. Bring a hammer."
no subject
"Probably a few minutes - if it's too low on power to respond, I'll put it somewhere to charge and work on it later." Her fingers have stopped spiraling and are now moving to trace lines across the top of the box, feeling for controls that are only the faintest roughness-on-roughness of the box's surface.
A faint, tinny voice said, "-ore me to the Empire or face the wrath of-" and then went silent.
"Well, that's good. At least I can verbally interrogate it, since I don't have any appropriate equipment to probe it with." She'd thought it too much of a long shot, building a diagnostics rig for something she might never find.
She shook the box between her hands, and felt no motion, heard nothing. As she suspected: the innards of the box were probably frozen in a stasis field. "Personal property, maybe: clothes, tools. I'd like it to be full of information-stores and weapons. Or-" she held the box out, studied it. A box this size shouldn't have any transspacial qualities, but you might be able to fit a baby in there. A toothy, dangerous Living People baby.
"Just in case," she stepped back and sat on the back of the couch, "I think I will take this outside and open it. Come along if you like. Bring a hammer."