𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 .

in terms of sides, enzo took… neither of them. unless it were an issue of life and death. maybe it was innate to the programming he had been equipped with in the last upgrades. that, plus him being unsure of his own opinion regarding this switcheroo, and that he was just getting acquainted with all of the crew, made it hard not to remain partial. but he’s heard from vorna that tergi is a capable engineer, so this ethos rhetoric seems to want to sway him.

    “the deliberate change of  the course?” enzo’s brow is furrowed lightly. “very likely… but i personally can’t assess that. though, cabbie must have had his reasons, right?”

         he continues to busy himself with the equipment in need of repairs,      ignoring the shift in lighting. he’s been around these ships for nearly half a lifetime, he knows how to keep himself on his feet. the dimness of the light does not dissuade him much either, perfectly capable of working in darker conditions. a light sigh escapes him as he examines the damage.  ‘  i would hope so, but whatever reasons, it seems like ——  ’

        tergi is cut off mid sentence by a noise, and his eyes flick from left to right and back again to try and figure out the source. it’s not a sound that makes him happy. then the lights die completely.  ‘  damnit,  ’  he mutters.  ‘  ninety seconds my ass. what have they done this time  ?  ’  he looks back at enzo, a frown in his features,  ‘  you alright  ?  ’

“I have been reliably informed that Cabbie will give me ninety seconds warning before he does anything else off-protocol,” Breville chirps, “but until then, it looks like we’re all on this wild roller-coaster together, like a bird in the hand! Or a boulder gathering moss. One of those. Hah!”

Given that their former ‘occupation’ was in ship repair, they can see just fine that Tergi is right; the engine’s all good and running fine. They have no doubt that Tergi is far better at fixing than they are, though. Free will! It’s a beautiful thing! “But I still detect a negative emotion on your biological countenance, and I’m very good at listening and taking your wishes into account!” Their antenna swivel up, down, up, as if to emphasize. “Lay your concerns on me, crew member!”

          '  huh ,  ’      tergi is stunned to a point of not having much else to say.  ‘  ninety seconds.  ’  that seems more patronizing than actually helpful, but sure, yeah, we’ll go with that. he might have pointed this out once he’s gathered his thoughts, but the string of expressions that follows confuse him enough that he decides he just won’t touch that for now.

          ‘  i’m concerned,  ’  he states, with all the energy of a father explaining how he is not in fact mad, just disappointed.  ‘  i think we’ve likely passed the point of return and we’re going to do what we have to do, but cabbie has really put us all in a tough spot and people seem to be just going with it. if we’re going to do this... i’m worried we’re all just a little too eager and it’s going to end up causing more trouble.  ’

vorna recoils at his response as if he is the one saying something absurd. “because those fat cat politicians sit in their fancy chairs telling people what to do and exerting their power over others. power that they have done nothing to earn.” she did not finish the sentence with the truth: ‘and that’s what i want to be doing’.  additionally, she had no proof to back up her claim but she’d argue it to her death. 

         ‘  and punching them is going to fix that  ?  ’      the bureaucracy had not exactly been kind to tergi either. hell, he should have been retired by now, but they just kept sending him back out, but he doubted a punch to the face would fix even his smaller scale problems, and hers seemed to be more all encompassing. can you punch the galactic political system in the face? he wasn’t sure if you could, or how much more effective that would be either. goddamn kids making him think about this kind of shit.

“yes, obviously. are you saying you don’t want to punch our bosses in the face?”

        '  no.  ’       he technician replies, rather emphatically.  ‘  that would be a terrible idea.  ’  and then a question; one that, as soon as he says it, he regrets posing.  ‘  ――  why do you want to punch them  ?  ’

cabbie does not notice the grimace. he is still unaccustomed to having to talk to someone so short. and often finds himself looking over the top of tergi. “the loading bay equipment is no longer necessary and will not be until our return to hq. i weighed the costs and benefits and deemed being careful too much of a risk in that instance. in the future i will operate knowing repairs are to be done by you and you alone.” 

         '  even then,       keeping the ship in a better condition is likely to at least help us a bit when we have to return, and not just for docking.  ’  that’s at least how he was thinking. they had to show that they had made the right choice, rather than just damaging corps property for no reason.  ‘  i appreciate it...  ’  he says, though he isn’t really sure he does.  ‘  done by me and with limited resources. if we’re not talking to hq we can’t get new parts, new ... anything.  ’