"Chit, it's activated?!"
Julie sat at a computer terminal, and just this once she looked utterly afraid.
From across the room, Fabian looked up from his camera. "Did you just say that-"
"Fabian." The reporter sighed. "The galaxy as we know it could be coming to an end. The HoloNet keeps karking up. And my goddamn caf machine is broken."
"..."
"This is *not the time* to make me repeat myself."
They both managed to smile, just for a moment, and then Julie gestured to the screen as she abandoned her tangent. "A transmission from some droid guy with the Metal Lords. The Machine has activated and a taskforce is trying to stop it before it ends up killing everyone horribly."
"Well.." Fabian hesitated, and she looked up at him, waiting patiently. "Are we sure we can trust what he's saying?"
"Do you want the long answer or the short one?"
"Short."

"No."
He blinked. "What was the long answer?"
A grin tugged at Julie's features and she looked deliberately back. "No, but with more insults."
Fabian pretended to roll his eyes - but then he was focused, worrying about the transmission. On what it meant, on what news they could provide. "Any other updates?"
"A lot of people are fighting each other. And something about a fleet."
"That'll look wonderful on a news report."
Jokingly, she shrugged. She looked tired (definitely like she missed a working caf machine) but managed cheerfulness anyway. "Hey, it could be the last time the galaxy ever sees this face. Better make it a good one."
"Well," Fabian struggled, "look on the bright side."
"Shoot."
"...if we don't die, your celebration caf is on me."
There she had to grin. "Yeah? You and whose paycheck?"
"Listen, if I'm alive long enough to ask for a raise-"
"Sure, sure." Laughing, she clicked on a window to bring up the computer's recording software. "Let's see if we can't spread the word first. He wants a message relayed to a [member=Kida], too. Then you can go complain to Gary about how you're not getting paid enough."