Dynamic Patrol: Gel Squad! Episode II

Chapter 68: Engineering

Instead of squeezing through panels like Kai and Cam, Cal showed off his strength and pried the doors to engineering open just wide enough for his companions to squeeze through; the hydraulics moaned, threatening to force the door closed again. That was the sign that they needed to hurry up. Kipp was into the room first, already removing a panel from the wall to get at a power transfer conduit. Maxion funneled through after, and Cal lagged behind them. Maxion and Cal, having left the engineering up to Kipp, turned their attention to observing the room; it was a vast space that was covered in cobwebs, un-lit(with the exception of flashlights brought aboard by the crew,) and in a state of disrepair; it encompassed several dozen decks, to think that this place was once functional and lively.

Given that it was a mining ship that would house thousands of crew, the power system had to be robust, and the ten individual warp reactors haunting the space indicated that the shipyard understood that demand. To access these massive tubes of light, there were catwalks positioned all around; staircases lined the outermost permitters, and maintenance conduits allowed for access through the entire ship; these various methods of transport led to towers of large servers, individual machinery rooms, labs, offices, workstations, vehicle bays, all items that would assist in engineering efforts. Every piece of equipment matched the aesthetic of the corridors and the outside of the ship; it all had a rugged miner's swing to it.

Maxion leaned over one of the catwalks, staring into the abyss and whistling casually. He would never jump himself, but he was curious to know if this fall was high enough to do the trick. "This is it. Our new home." Cal said, trying to sound optimistic about it, trailing behind Maxion and looking over the side with him. "Sure. For about 10 to 15 thousand of us, I guess the other 45 to 50 thousand can sit there until the planet radiates itself. How do you propose we choose?" Maxion locked eyes with Cal, but Cal hesitated to answer.

"Well..?" He tripped over his words, and Maxion didn't let him finish the thought, "Maybe we should draw lots? Or have people take an aptitude test? Maybe the youngest should go, and the oldest can just wither away; what's the point? They're going to die anyway." Maxion displayed angrily. Cal wanted to reach out to take Maxion by the shoulder, but the Raccoon pulled away immediately. "Don't touch me!" Cal stopped and did as he was told. Ordinarily, he would've been offended by Maxion's surliness, but... Cal could understand why he was feeling this way. "Okay... I won't then. Speaking of touching... Kipp says that merging will be... good for our relationship." Cal forced, his shoulders squared as he made the uncomfortable request. "No. I do not want to merge with you. I don't want you in my head." Maxion hissed. Usually, it pained him to turn down a merge... but strong emotions made it so that he didn't care.

"I..." Cal started, he paused, sighing, "I know. It's just that— Kipp is important to me. I resent you for stealing that drone... but it happened a long time ago, and I think you've been punished enough... I think that we should try to make it work." Cal undid his armband storage and held it in one hand, and with the same hand, he peeled his arm sock all the way off without hesitation. Revealing his arm's patchy true colors of pink, orange, yellow, and purple. Maxion was surprised by the gesture. He wasn't expecting Cal to do it. Maxion's tail wriggled with excitement, "Cal..." Maxion chuckled a little, shaking his head. "Y'know... it's funny, Kipp suggested I talk to you. But it seemed—"

"Weird." Cal finished for him, continuing to offer Maxion a hand in merging. "Look. You don't have to. I'm saying I'm only doing it because I care about Kipp. And if he says that it'll help, then I don't want to disappoint him." Cal said. Maxion could tell that he was telling the truth via truthsight. It was genuinely touching to think that Cal was trying to make it work for Kipp, but Maxion could tell he was very much against this. "Err... Cal, Max," Kipp's voice echoed through the cavern; the cat faced his friends, "While I support your efforts to build on your relationship... I need you to focus. Cal, come help me move this." Kipp pointed back into the abyss with his thumb. "S--sure." Cal retorted, slipping his garment back on his arm. He broke off to see what Kipp wanted after telling Maxion that they would talk later on. "What did you want me to move?" Cal asked. Kipp pointed to a huge server tower and, just below it, a dislodged solid cube of computer chips, funny. It was in the exact shape of the hole that seemed to be missing a component. Cal hummed. He understood why Kipp was asking for help... that thing looked way too heavy to move by himself.

Cal grunted as he lifted it with some difficulty. He was guided by Kipp to insert it into its predetermined slot. As he did, the device clicked into place, and the millisecond it did, lighting flooded the compartment, flickering at first before coming in at full strength; the UI for the control panels glowed in neon green, "Yes, emergency power!" Kipp blurted out, clapping his hands before bouncing over to a ladder and sliding down its railings for a faster descent to thruster control. "I'm going to see what I can do down here. Why don't you call Kai and Cam and see where they're at with the bridge?" Kipp called out from below. "Alright," Cal responded; he took his communicator out of his arm sock pocket and switched it to the channel being occupied by the other team.

"This is team two calling team one. We've got the emergency power on. Have you established helm control? We'll be getting underway soon."

A squishing sound greeted Cal first... he cringed in disgust as he listened to the noise... like someone walking through thick mud... Kai's voice cracked over the comm after he exhaled muffled words that Cal could not make out; there was tumbling and shuffling. "Yeah... uh! We're on our way. We got a little sidetracked. Give us ten minutes!" Kai sounded awkward and embarrassed... as if Cal had interrupted something..? Odd.

"Wait... are you still climbing through the maintenance shafts?" Cal asked. He raised an eyebrow, concerned. "Yeah... we ran into... radiation... we'll be there soon. Promise. Kai out."

"Wait, but—?" The channel went static, and Cal groaned. He did not enjoy being ignored.