Roll for Dignity
Gidgit clicked home with a tidy chik. A shower of glyphs chased across the screen, and the Relay begrudgingly yielded. He continued to rattle off words...
"Access: Aux Grid / Cameras / Door Control (limited)
Charge Cells: 18% (decay curve accelerating)
Magnetization: Intermittent (deck zones A3, Active)
Cameras: Most offline. Two feeds live: OVR-1 Stairwell, C-Span Catwalk."
From the alcove, the maintenance droid came a bit closer. Its single eye contracted, the red pin of it sliding from Leos' chest to Kyric's hip, then up.
[M.U.-07]
═ ✦ ═══ ✦ ═
Droid: "Bwee-orp… chirrrp—whup… kreeek-bwoooop…"
[Binary Translation]
"Station degraded. Fuel present—pumped dry to freighter Hearth-Cart seventeen cycles prior.
Logs show evacuation order—then blackout. Security Logic… is… hungry.
Station droid roster: inactive. Unit count: thirteen.
Status: eight offline. Four missing. One still moving. Unknown designation.
Warning: Unit unknown. No registry. No friend-code.
Signal returns… like shadow.
Designation logged: ECHO IN RED.
It wears friend faces."
Hungry?
A low thunnnng rolled underfoot as
Kyric
advanced... Somewhere ahead, a breaker threw, lights bloomed, then died. On the wall, the OVR-1 stairwell screen sputtered to life long enough to show a still frame in the light before fading dark: the steel spine of stairs, litter and cable drifts falling from above, a glossy red bead hanging like a firefly at the first landing.It blinked.
The feed cut to static.
M.U-07 lifted one jittering claw and pointed at a narrow hatch stamped MAINT. SPINE.
[M.U.-07]
═ ✦ ═══ ✦ ═
"Short… cut. Avoids… mag-locked floorings. But… tight."
Gidgit's wings fluttered, and his vocoder brightened.
"Proposal: Recommendation: protégé acquires filtration masks from Hab Ring cache. "
Somewhere in the dark, the faint sound almost imperceptibly quiet of needle-clicking stopped. A moment of silence stretched long enough to choose. Then the Relay exhaled a tired gust through the vents as life support kicked back on and stale air hissed through.
From the corner of the corridor, a recessed panel shuddered. Dust fell as ancient servos groaned awake. A single turret swung free, its barrel whirring as it locked on to Kyric.
The motion was slow, like a predator stretching after long slumber. A red targeting diode winked against his chest in the dim corridor.
But nothing followed.
No bolts, nor muzzle flare... Only the steady whine of the weapon's capacitor, charging but never releasing, the barrel tracking him with the patience of a hunter that had not yet been told to strike.
The corridor ahead looked ordinary, scarred durasteel patched with rust and grime. As Kyric's foot pressed down, the metal groaned once, then gave way.
A sharp SKRANGK split the silence. A section of flooring collapsed beneath his feet as the plate went crumpling inwards. Beneath yawned a maintenance shaft filled with coils of dead cabling, insulation cracked and blackened with age.
From the corner of the corridor, a recessed panel shuddered. Dust fell as ancient servos groaned awake. A single turret swung free, its barrel whirring as it locked on to Kyric.
The motion was slow, like a predator stretching after long slumber. A red targeting diode winked against his chest in the dim corridor.
But nothing followed.
No bolts, nor muzzle flare... Only the steady whine of the weapon's capacitor, charging but never releasing, the barrel tracking him with the patience of a hunter that had not yet been told to strike.
The corridor ahead looked ordinary, scarred durasteel patched with rust and grime. As Kyric's foot pressed down, the metal groaned once, then gave way.
A sharp SKRANGK split the silence. A section of flooring collapsed beneath his feet as the plate went crumpling inwards. Beneath yawned a maintenance shaft filled with coils of dead cabling, insulation cracked and blackened with age.
