* * PROJECT OMNI - AUTOMATED SYSTEMS CONTROL ROOM* *

            Running down the hallway away from the messy lab, Miral ducked into the next room she came across in an effort to escape the men whom she was sure were after her. The new environment she found herself in was vastly different from the last room. This room was neat as a pin, with no junk on the floor, no rickety wooden tables, no ancient stereo equipment and no things that sparked.

            But all that Miral noticed (aside from the bit about no junk) was that it also contained no mommy. Determined to find her mother, she started to turn back to the door when it opened and two women walked in. Seeing the strangers, Miral jumped behind a console that stood near the wall and decided to hide.

            A stocky Bolian woman strolled over to a console on the opposite side of the room and looked at its data. "Looks like Crawler 37 is down."

            "Darn," the second woman (an Andorian) replied. "What did it get stuck on this time, Rona?"

            The first woman, Lt. (j.g.) Rona, peered out the large window over the console and then checked another console. "Looks like it's some scaffolding this time around." She looked up at the second woman, "You wanna take it out this time, Arah?"

            Lt. (j.g.) Arah Taval let out a chuckle, "Sure, I'll take it this time." She giggled as she walked over to a replicator on the wall, "I'll even bring it home in one piece for you."

            Rona looked at her friend and then said with light deadpanned sarcasm, "Yeah, I suppose that would be all right… What is that?" Rona's attention was diverted by her companion's glass of a nauseating looking black bubbly liquid.

            "The juice of the gods! A traditional Terran drink, it's called 'Kokakola' or something like that. Dave loves the stuff." The wiry blue woman walked over to a large desk-mounted console surrounded by displays. "He says it's loaded with caffeine."

            Rona gave a snort closely followed by a grin and a slow shake of her head. "Programmers and caffeine…"

            Arah sat down at the controls on the console and now cautiously maneuvered the controls. She bounced back in her seat when she was done, turning to Rona with a wry smile. "There! Crawler 37 is now unstuck,"

            "Good! We can't lose another robotic painter in the scaffolding again like that."

            "Awww… I wanted to go out in the EVA suit and pull it out off the hull of the ship this time. You get to have all the fun. Humph!" Arah turned her head in mock pouting.

            Rona smiled, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll need you to go out there sometime soon."

            "Oh, goody!" Arah exclaimed with mock giddiness.

Rona walked over to a counter and pulled a damaged robotic painting unit off of a shelf and placed it on a nearby workbench. It was what was known as a POHPU, or Primary Outer Hull Painting Unit and served to follow behind the robotic bulkhead sealers via a series of optic sensors.

Rona examined the box that lay on the workbench, "Well, I'm going to work on POHPU 15. It's not quite ready to go out again." She opened a panel on the square unit's back and started prodding it with a hyperspanner. The box sparked and started to roll off the table on its own accord before Rona stopped it. "That's not good," she said.

            "What's not good?"

            "The sensors are going off for no reason." Rona dove into the box with her arm, "We must have crossed a wire here somewhere… Arah, can you get me a toolkit?"

            Arah took a toolkit from a parts shelf and approached the workbench with Rona. As the two women sat down to work on the malfunctioning robotic painter, little Miral crawled out from behind her hiding spot and looked to see if the coast was clear.

            "There! That should just about do it…" Rona groaned.

            "Good as new!" Arah said and the two shared glances of triumph in their never ending battle of man against machine.

            As Miral stealthily went towards the exit, the robotic painter's sensors detected her movement and initiated a series of electrical impulses through it's circuitry that resulted in the wheels taking off.

            "Whoa! Where's it going?" Arah exclaimed as Rona gave the empty space on the workbench a puzzled look.

            Leaving a trail of white paint behind it, the robot fell to the floor and took off after the little girl and followed her as she ran out the door.

            "Maybe it's not quite as good as new after all," Arah commented.

            Noticing the little girl the robot was chasing, all that Rona could do was turn to Arah and say, "Was that a little girl?"

            "…I think you're right. How'd she get in here…?" The two friends and coworkers looked at each other before jumping up off the table and running after the little girl and the malfunctioning robotic painter.

            Meanwhile, as Miral ran down the hall, she spotted an opening in the wall. She climbed into the open hatch to escape the mechanical monster and unknowingly entered the station's complex Jefferies Tube system. Meanwhile, the robotic painter continued swerving down the hallway, knocking into a crewman who promptly fell over and sprained his ankle.