Chapter Nine

When the Cyborg entered her room, it took her a few seconds to recognized where exactly she was. Her bed had moved, pressed now against the far wall. The other bed which had been always covered with a white dust sheet was now covered with a navy bed spread. There were clothes that did not belong to her in the closet, and the bathroom now had two sets of towels, the Cyborg's white and a pair of navy. The Cyborg frowned at her room, feeling a bit puzzled, she hadn't heard or read that someone had been assigned as her roommate.

She blinked, heading over to the closet to pull out her uniform, the only uniform she had now, apart from her formal wear. The Cyborg slipped off the borrowed shirt, folding it carefully, before quickly buttoning her shirt. One she was completely uniformed, she did another sweep of the room. She'd lost a weeks worth of time, there were more to her duties for her to fulfill other than the ones she could do within the systems. Her stomach rumbled, causing the Cyborg to stare down at her torso in relative shock.

She laced her shoes, smoothed hair down, and left the room. If she had been wondering what she should be doing first, her body had made up her mind for her. She went down the halls, walking with her usual 22 ½ inch step. The Cyborg entered the mess hall, only to feel like she was out of place yet again. There wasn't noticeable differences, no tables had been moved, the food was generic, but the people had moved. Where there would be typically a cluster of women sitting and chatting loudly over the lowest calorie item of the day, there was a mix of men and women all lounging about and eating slowly. It didn't alarm the Cyborg because she understood that change did occur, but she was a bit out of place, seeing that she could not find where she was supposed to sit.

It ended up that by the time the Cyborg had gotten her food, someone had found her. "My God Kathrine! Where the hell have you been?" The Cyborg jumped as someone crushed her in a bone shattering hug. "A week? A week without any sort of communication. For all we knew you could have been left behind during the rescue!"

The Cyborg made a less than dignified noise, more of a squeak than anything else. She was replaced to her feet delicately. She turned, a blush creeping to her cheeks as she noticed that there were a few people giving the two of them funny looks. "I was in the infirmary." She said softly.

"Honey, you couldn't have given us a shout?"

"I was not conscious until this morning."

"Oh Kathrine, for being one of the smartest people I know, you can be so silly. Just because you are in the system doesn't mean you can't drop us a note saying that you are in the shop. What had be patched?"

"I was infected." The private hissed, clicking his tongue at her.

"What were you looking at that you shouldn't have been? Was it good? Government secrets? Or was it hot?" Telefson said with a glint in his eye. She gave him a confused look. He laughed at it, grinning endearingly, "You are so innocent, Kathrine! It's too cute."

"Thank you." She said after a pause. The rest of the trip to the new table passed in silence. It was near the end of the allotted dining time, so the table only had a few of what should have been a crowded. Telefson swung onto one of the benches, letting the Cyborg sit down properly. She quickly scanned the table, noticing that there was someone she didn't recognize.

"Ah, you noticed the cute one!" Telefson in a conspiratorial whisper. He shook his hair out of his eyes. "Hey, come over here, meet Kathrine!"

The woman looked up, she had green eyes and an upturned mouth that seemed to be laughing at some joke that only she got, yet the good humor didn't reach her eyes. She brushed red hair back behind her shoulder and stood up, she moved over to where the two of them were sitting.

"Kathrine, this is Sarah. Sarah, meet Kathrine." The woman held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you." the woman said.

"We've already met." the Cyborg returned the favor. "You are the ghost who was assigned as technical support."

The Ghost smirked, "You're the know it all computer. Nice to know. Look, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later." Before the Cyborg could say anything, the Ghost stalked off.

"She's one of those people who you have to ease into." Telefson said, sipping his drink. " But I'm sure with enough prying she'll open up." The Cyborg didn't say anything, merely started eating. When she was finished, she bid Telefson farewell heading to her office to make sure that the Magistrate didn't need her to work today before she went into maintenance.

The halls were emptier than normal, there were no small groups of people chatting as they walked from place to place, no one was lounging about playing cards in what should have been the traditional half hour off after lunch. The only movement that did occur was single messengers quickly going to their destinations, and even they were scarce. The Cyborg noted all of this, deciding that she would ask about it to see when this trend had occurred.

She stopped just before she entered her office, a realization hitting her like a blow. She hadn't noticed the change when she had been in the Systems of the Ship. The Ship, she realized, didn't care about most of the people on board, only her it seemed. The door to her office slid open, just as it had for as long as she could remember.

As it slid shut behind her, a shiver ran up her spine. She let out a low breath. The Cyborg perched on her chair, unrolling her wires. The wires were stiff from the lack of use she noticed as she uncoiled them, cold and thin. The whole room was stiff and cold, a large desk filled one corner, covered with neatly organized office supplies, computers, parts, wire, and papers. On the opposite wall was a faded portrait that the Cyborg had never really examined, nor did she care to. An old wall panel, ill disguised with metal that was brushed a different direction, sat under the picture, mostly hidden. There was only one thing in the room that had any life to it, an old, beat up chair that could swivel and roll about. It sat as it always had in front of her desk.

It didn't both her, when she was within the Systems, the Cyborg had no time for creature comforts, and she was never in the office and out of the Systems at the same time for very long. That wasn't her purpose nor her job. The Cyborg let out a low breath before attaching her final wire. The Ship breathed in, the Cyborg breathed in, together they breathed out.

There was work she had to do, she realized as she wandered through the Systems, the most immanent one being, "Your tenure as Colonial Magistrate is suspended, pending an official investigation of your affiliation with the Sons of Korhal." The Cyborg spoke into her com, not bothering with alerting the Former Magistrate of her presence. Her hands flew across the keyboard as she continued to speak, it was only a matter of time until the Confederacy would attempt to shut the Ship and its Cyborg down.