Chapter Six
By the time Terra informed Kevin that Ralik had returned to the ship, he had already woken up, dressed himself and checked some data on his storage device. He considered putting on a hardsuit, but he decided he'd rather stay comfortable in a regular outfit this time since there was really no need. He grabbed his pistol as usual and clipped it onto his belt before leaving. He spared no time in making his way out to the briefing room where he expected to meet Ralik. If Ralik had returned, it meant that the preparations were ready to be finished up. He stepped up to one of the two doors that separated the hallway from the briefing room and paused only for a second while he waited for the automatic door to slide its halves into the ceiling and floor. Inside, he found Ralik leaning against the briefing table.
"Enjoy your slothful shut-eye, Kevin?" Snappy as always.
"Probably about as much as you enjoyed the ridiculous catch-up session you and Tarsil no doubt had," Kevin remarked. Before Ralik could counter his rebuttal, however, Kevin went right to business. "I take it Tarsil's efforts were successful?"
Ralik nodded and ceased his casual lean against the table.
"Indeed. The lockdown should be cancelled, and from what I can tell, a large order of. . . Well, a lot of things is sitting outside the docking ramp, waiting for us to lower it so the mechs can get it on the ship."
Kevin nodded, visibly pleased with how efficient Tarsil worked. He stepped over to one of the terminals lining the port side of the neck of the ship, slipped on a haptic interface glove and tapped a few things on the holo-screen.
"There. Ramp's lowering. We're sure all that stuff is actually what we need, right? No bombs or tracking devices or the like, right?" Kevin asked, not even looking at Ralik. He was too busy watching the video feed of the cargo bay with several mechs loading large crates onto the ship.
"This is Tarsil we're talking about," Ralik responded with a confident tone. "You know him almost as well as I do. There won't be any problems."
"Yeah,I suppose you're right. I wouldn't do it to him, so. . ."
The mechs continued to load the abundance of cargo onto the ship in a very organized fashion, laying each crate out in groups separated by type along the walls of the cargo bay. It took them about twenty minutes just to finish bringing all the crates aboard. When the task was finished, the mechs all filed out of the ship and returned to whatever they were doing before they were required to load cargo. That taken care of, Kevin tapped a few more times on the haptic screen and the loading ramp closed with a low hum and a brief crack. Now it was time to get the trip under way.
Kevin and Ralik both turned to head to the bridge. They arrived to see a bright red icon hovering over the Kellius' main controls, indicating that the lockdown was in effect. Kevin was not pleased about this sudden change in Tarsil's efficiency.
"Ralik, what gives? I thought you said it would have been taken care of already."
"I-" The salarian was suddenly cut off by a convenient message delivered in classic Terra fashion.
"Kevin, there is an incoming transmission from an unknown sender."
"Patch it through to the co– the bridge, Terra," Kevin ordered, pretty much guessing it was his salarian buddy.
"I see the mechs have completed their job." It was Tarsil, just as expected.
"Hey Tarsil," Kevin started, "why are we still locked down here?"
"All in good time, my friend. Wouldn't want C-Sec discovering an unauthorized lockdown cancellation coming from their terminal while you were napping."
Ralik cracked a chuckle at Kevin's temporary thick-headedness, which resulted in a light slap across the back of his horned head.
"Right," the human acknowledged.
"It should be unlocking now. Hurry hurry, it won't take them long to see that you somehow evaded a lockdown order."
"That's my boy," Kevin said with a smile. "Terra, get these engines going and prepare the ship to disembark."
"Acknowledged. Engines coming online. Mass effect core coming online. Disengaging airlock and docking clamps."
A small, but noticeable jolt was felt as the Kellius came free of the docking clamps and began to float backwards toward the open dock and open space. The red icon on the controls had disappeared the moment Terra fired up the engines and within a minute the whole ship was ready to go.
"Awaiting destination data or pilot input," Terra formally concluded, indicating her immediate task had since finished.
"See you when we return, brother," Ralik excitedly said, bidding farewell to his kin.
"Stay out of trouble until we get back, alright? And thanks for all the junk now in my trunk."
"I worry more about when you do actually return," Tarsil prodded. "Should be exciting, yes? Anywho, don't thank me for the supplies, Kevin. You're also doing me a huge favor. Good luck out in the An'Ramini Expanse, and watch out for geth patrols. Tarsil out." With that, the communication channel was severed.
Kevin seized the moment to pat his new shipmate on the back and walk away from the bridge towards the briefing room.
"You're driving."
Surprised, Ralik quickly turned to look back and forth between Kevin and the helm which he had just abandoned in the middle of a disembarkment procedure. What was he thinking? They could smash into the side of the hangar!
"Uh, shouldn't you. . . The ship. . . We need. . . Kevin!" Frustrated at being forced into piloting a frigate, Ralik grumbled unmentionable things about Kevin before cautiously taking the forward pilot seat and manning the controls of the Kellius. Just what Kevin was going for.
Meanwhile, Kevin took one of the many seats surrounding the holographic-enabled briefing table and kicked his boots up. He noted they had not hit anything yet. It seemed Ralik was better at piloting frigate sized ships than he let on. He figured as much ever since hearing that his shipmate had spent quite some time with the Special Tasks Group.
By now they were well outside the hangar and on their way to the first of several mass relays that would bring them to the Far Rim star system.
"See Ralik? You're a natural. Looks like you just inherited a share of the pilot duty."
Ralik wasn't as peeved as Kevin was hoping for, though.
"I figured it might come to light that I could pilot a frigate sooner or later. I was simply hoping for later. Note, though. While I can indeed fly a frigate, I am no match for a seasoned or fully trained pilot in terms of skill."
"Yeah, I get it. I know how it is, trust me," Kevin mentioned, brushing it off as an excuse.
"Alright, we're out of the Citadel's immediate area."
"Terra," Kevin shouted, calling for his surprisingly useful VI, "plot a course for the Far Rim system."
"Alert. I do not have sufficient existing data to plot a course to the Far Rim star system. There are no trade routes to that star system due to geth presence in that system."
"Well doesn't that figure," Kevin grumbled. "I was starting to think you were actually useful."
Kevin brought up the galaxy map on one of the two terminals on the port side of the neck of the ship. With a haptic adaptive interface glove still on his hand, he pointed out Far Rim system and determined which mass relays they would have to hit along the way. With that set, he called on Terra once again.
"Terra, plot a course following the waypoints I configured on the map."
"Acknowledged. Course plotted. We are approaching the first mass relay."
Kevin and Ralik could feel the ship change configuration slightly through a small vibration in the floor. Kevin knew what was going on. It was typical of any ship with thrusters extending off the main fuselage to tuck in when it was about to come into contact with a mass relay. It helped to reduce large amounts of drift, even though the overall mass never changed. The ship Kellius approached the relay, flying along side the huge rails that pointed in the direction opposite of their flight path. As they neared the massive luminescent center, the rings that spun around the source of the light spun faster and faster. The ship's mass effect core automatically activated, and a bright white and blue arc of energy bridged the ship and the relay's center for a fraction of a second. At that point, the Kellius shot off in the direction of the second set of rails on the relay, and everything through the viewports blueshifted.
Not more than a couple seconds later, they had arrived at the next mass relay. This process happened a few more times, only requiring small amounts of adjustment due to drift, which was common among all ships. In less than a minute, the system of Far Rim was in view. They stopped at the Dholen system, which was the closest mapped solar system to the direction they needed to head. Kevin headed up to the bridge and brought up his omni-tool in the process. He used it to upload the map data that he had gathered from Tarsil's findings and research to help give them some direction and the locations of the gas giants where they could discharge the static build-up from the drive core. After uploading the data, he moved to stand behind Ralik's chair.
"Maps are uploaded," Kevin noted. "Should be able to access them now."
Ralik nodded and navigated the ship's systems to bring up the new maps. "Here we are. Hmm. We might not have to stop at each gas giant. Our newer ship should be able to handle twice the distance before discharging compared to those older research vessels. This would mean. . ."
Kevin finish the sentence. "Only fifteen stops instead of thirty. Even still, that's a long trip."
"Eight, actually. That fancy drive core does wonderful things for long term trips. My calculations put that at about ten to eleven days worth of FTL travel, including all discharge stops. We're likely to be set at a high FTL speed, so that means a few more stops to discharge. Guessing about thirty-two hours before discharge."
"Tarsil wasn't kidding. Thank God for all those recent advancements in thruster and drive core technology and efficiency. I don't think the Kellius was originally meant to be a deep-space exploration vessel. Alright, set our course as you see fit and we'll go have a bite to eat."
"Done and done. Meet you there in a couple minutes. Just need to make a few slight adjustments to this plotted course. Might shave a few hours off of the trip."
Kevin turned and headed back down the neck of the ship. Upon entering the mess hall, which looked more like an executive's lounge, he paused a moment to stare at the small kitchen in the back. He then decided he would cook this dinner, rather than just pull out a double supply of rations for himself. Investigation of the supplies and tools came first, however. What he found was a small, yet fully equipped kitchen comparable to what one might find back on earth if a high class restaurant kitchen only had to serve ten people at a time. Inside the refrigeration compartments, he found all manner of fresh ingredients. Vegetables, fruits, and meats from across the galaxy, and even some he didn't recognize. There was even a separate compartment for dextro-amino based foods, likely for the the turian companions Linus had.
It would only be a few minutes before Ralik arrived, so he set to work right away. By the time Ralik had finished his adjustments and arrived at the lounge, the aroma of seasoned meats and carefully prepared vegetables filled the room.
"Sorry Ralik," Kevin called out from behind some kitchen gear, "I haven't got the slightest idea what salarian cuisine is, so I just started cooking something I like. It's not five star grade, but it's better than rations."
Ralik sniffed the air and raised a brow. "I have no idea what you're cooking, but I must admit it smells. . . edible."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Have a seat, this is going to take a bit more time. There are some drinks on the far side behind the bar table."
Ralik gathered drinks for them both and took a seat. About twenty minutes later, the food was ready and placed on the large oval table in the center of the room where they were to eat. Kevin's portion was easily more than twice that of Ralik's. The salarian looked between the two plates and gave Kevin an odd stare. Kevin had to defend himself against such an unspoken accusation.
"What? It's because I'm biotic."
"Yes, yes, of course."
"Come on. You know I have higher dietary requirements."
"Yes, yes, of course."
"I'm going to hurt you."
Over the course of the meal, they talked about life as a biotic, and what small things in life made huge differences. Ralik never talked to any biotic about the lifestyle differences before, so it was the perfect opportunity to understand more about human biology and biotics in general. When Kevin mentioned that biotics had to discharge just like ships did, Ralik wondered why he never saw Kevin do it. Kevin simply avoided the question by finishing his meal and bringing his dishes to the automatic cleaner and moving onto something else about biotic life.
At the end of the meal, Ralik expressed interest in taking a nap. He had gone quite some time without one, and his mind needed some downtime. Kevin bid him 'sweet dreams' and Ralik blamed being too tired to come up with a suitable rebuttal. After the sluggish salarian moved down a deck, Kevin thought about what to do. He realized that he hadn't yet taken a look at that room labeled as 'entertainment' yet, so now was as good a time as any to do so. Fortunately, that room just happened to be the very next room down the hall towards the master quarters.
Kevin waved his hand at the access panel and the door split into 4 parts before disappearing into the walls and ceiling like usual. Inside, it was pitch black. Not a single light was dimmed, or even on for that matter.
"Lights on."
When the room subsequently lit up, the first thing that Kevin noticed was that the square room was nearly empty. There were some luxurious couches sparsely placed along the walls, each with a small round table in front of it and a corner was taken up by a section raised from the floor about six feet. Then he realized why the room was so empty. The smooth, flat surface that occupied the majority of the floorspace Kevin guessed was a dance floor. The ceiling was dotted with a huge variety of lighting and special effect devices normally found in clubs and the like. The next thing he noticed was the fact that the ambient lighting filling the room was not coming from any particular light source. Upon closer inspection, he found that the light was actually coming from the walls themselves. All four walls in the room were essentially massive screens.
He next investigated the raised section. He found a set of small stairs around the side, leading up to a six foot by six foot area surrounded by waist high walls of audio equipment, controls for the lighting, and several other pieces of gear specific to this room. All of it was top of the line. Kevin cracked a wide smile and immediately reached into his pocket for his storage device. He plugged it into the audio equipment and used the controls to locate his massive library of music. Kevin, being a fan of music styles often played in modern clubs, had more than enough music that would fit this setting. He picked out one of his favorite bass loaded pieces and played it over the sound emitters in the room which he dubbed 'Club Kellius'.
At first when the music played it was quiet, as if the volume was last set to play in the background. Kevin fixed that real fast. Using the plethora of controls before him, he increased the volume to a point where each kick in the song could potentially cause his heart to skip a beat. He couldn't help but start bouncing his head to the beat as he moved onto the lighting controls. He used these tools to change the ambient color to a much darker variant of blue so that it wasn't so bright in the room. He turned some of the lighting effects on and much to his pleasant surprise, every change to direction, color or intensity of each effect was consistent with the music being played. Even the screens on the walls, which mostly showed abstract shapes and shifting colors, moved with the tunes.
"I could get used to this. Party's at my place? You bet."
Kevin spent at least a couple hours playing with all the settings and other controls before he finally gave it a rest. After shutting all the expensive equipment down, he retired to his room where opted to look over a few more data files in his storage device. With Ralik napping, he had another chance to review those mysterious logs he continually lost memory about. This time he decided to check something outside the normal corrupted video logs. These ones, set aside in a different directory labeled 'Preliminary reports', were originally audio only and apparently were recorded by the same scientist that did the other logs.
"Okay. I'm pretty sure I don't check these as often. Am I right or wrong?" As Kevin spoke to himself, he simultaneously navigated to a simple text file labeled "Increment". He opened the file and it read: Number of times Preliminaries have been reviewed: 6. After a quick integer adjustment, looked over the staggering number of files present in that directory. Each had a number for the file name running from one to one hundred and five. It was clear that the file names were not the originals, as some of the numbers had question marks after them. It was as if whoever numbered the files wasn't entirely sure if that number was the right one to place on that particular file. Given the enigmatic timeline documented in the other log files, this wasn't surprising. Unfortunately, Kevin could never remember events that corresponded with the numbers. The files were without description. He might have to remedy that at some point. For now, he figured starting at the beginning was the logical choice, and he opened the first numbered audio file. The result once again instantly played over the room's sound emitters.
"Preliminary report, time reference – day Alpha. All of the recruits of the project have finally been assembled. We all met for the first time earlier today in a quick meeting with the project lead who expressed his gratitude for us wanting to undertake this long, long assignment and our enthusiasm for the project. He outlined the overall goals and set down a few ground rules that we must observe over the next many years.
"I personally had been tasked with keeping a set of logs for the various phases of the project, starting right here with the preliminary reports. I aim to have logs kept every week until the first phase begins, where I will record logs multiple times a week.-"
Kevin ended the recording early. He could see where that log was going. It was a first log, likely full of bad opinions, mundane notes and banter relating to the start of the unnamed project. Kevin typed in a simple description. The beginning. Project name is conspicuously absent. Full of babble. It was then that Kevin realized just how daunting a task giving each log a description would be. Nevertheless, he was determined to go over each one and get some sort of description in so that he might have a better idea of what was going on next time he had to review. At the very least, it would help pass the time during the long trip.
Slowly but surely, Kevin began to listen to each and every preliminary log followed by him attaching a quick synopsis of each report in the description of the audio files. Most of the preliminaries were boring and lacking in useful intel. Such was the case when a project slated to be actively in progress for several years was about to kick off. However, there was occasionally a log that had some interesting information. The first case of such was preliminary number twenty-eight. Kevin hit play and the all too familiar Irish accented man spoke through the emitters once more.
"Preliminary report – time reference. . . Something something day alpha. Augh, I don't know. Unimportant. The project lead mentioned outside help, but this was not what we expected. An asari scientist arrived on the station today. Her credentials point her out as one of the top asari xenobiology researchers, almost infamous among the scientific community for having no moral inhibitions and edgy ethical practices. She came to help us decode the nervous system and show us some major differences between the comparatively benign human system versus that of an asari.
"We studied the differences as a team, and designed plans for the potential of a much, much stronger human nervous system and in addition, neural modifications that would give a human the capacity to contain these changes. The designs are in holo-print now. These changes are groundbreaking. I cannae wait to see the fruits of this labor. McRoilie out."
Kevin set the description to: Asari scientist gets involved. First notable excitement of documenter. Interestingly enough, the very next preliminary had just as much interesting information in it.
"Preliminary report – time reference, second report collaborated with asari scientist. The blue-skin was supposed to leave the station the other day, but did not. We ran numerous simulations of genetic structuring based on known natural biological fetus creation processes. Every single one of them were catastrophic failures. Bloody ridge-head. The asari volunteered to remain and assist us determine what went wrong. Apparently it was a simple question of genetic quota. The asari had included too much of her own people's genetics into the design, and as such, human mothers' bodies would automatically reject the fetus after three weeks of growth when the immune system could determine that the fetus was not quite human.
Essentially we were back at the drawing board. The asari apologized for admittedly being too anxious to see a genetically diverse human asari hybrid come to life. We quickly reminded her what the purpose of the project was and started from scratch. Much to our fortune, she decided to stay another week and help design a more modified version of the human central nervous and neural system rather than build one up from two sets of genetic data. So far the results are less dramatic, and a bit more realistic. McRoilie out."
Kevin sat back a moment after writing in his description of: Epic failure. Proof of asari's lack of ethics/moral inhibitions made known. Square one. Although he knew these files had to do with his past, he questioned that now. The thought of an ethically gray and eager asari having a hand in his very genetic makeup made him shudder. At least that might explain some of the differences between him and other biotics that he often wondered about. It was obvious by this point that the goal of the project was to create humans that could make full use of biotic abilities without the need for an amplifier. Given the nature of such an experiment, it was understandable why an asari scientist got involved. For science, of course.
After Kevin had closed the fifty-third log, he noticed that several hours had passed by since he started this little project of his own, and he wanted to stretch his legs. He figured Ralik was either up by now or about to be. Salarians never did sleep long, what with their insane metabolism and short life cycle. Kevin envied that short sleep sometimes. He hated wasting hours every day doing it himself. Despite all the advances of medical theory and technology, no one had yet found a way to make it so that a human did not have to sleep to live. It was a biological requirement so rudimentary that even modern science could not shrug it off, and that aggrivated Kevin just on principle. The one thing, other than his headaches, that he'd want to be rid of and it couldn't be done. Annoying as it was, he could never dwell on it for too long. If he did, he'd drive himself batty.
Kevin pushed these thoughts away from his mind and brought himself back to the task at hand. He wanted to see what Ralik was up to, if he was up to anything at all. In order to entertain this initial thought, he called upon Terra.
"Terra, what is Ralik's current location?" he asked as he closed his files and pushed the chair back.
"Ralik Dolannus is currently in engineering," the VI eloquently replied.
It seemed Kevin's initial hunch was right. With that in mind, Kevin wondered how long his shipmate had been down there, and even moreso than before, what he was doing. Kevin stood up, shut the terminal off and turned to head down into engineering. He decided to get a good, full on look at the second deck this time, as he was unable to recall any point where he actually had gone through the second deck. After stepping outside the outer door from his quarters, he took an immediate right to head down the stairwell to deck two. He knew that engineering would be inside a door right at the base of the stairs, but he wanted to get a look at the entire deck anyways.
Now on the second deck and in the middle of the aft end of the the hallway, he realized that the corridor on this deck was much more cramped. Head space was significantly reduced and it was only wide enough for one, maybe one and a half people. In addition, it more or less stayed along the center of the ship rather than jump center to side then back to center like deck one's did. The only place it made any significant change in direction was towards the bow end of the ship, where it jutted port to the stairwell to decks one and three. Behind him at the aft end was the large, very reinforced door with a luminescent label centered over top simply reading in bright deep blue letters: 'Engineering'. As he walked down the hall, the first two rooms he came across were port and starboard observation decks. Opting for the starboard side, he waved his hand over the access panel to activate the doors.
He stepped inside to the dimly lit room and called for lights to turn on. The first and most obvious feature in this room was the room-tall and half-room sized window. Centered along the far wall, it provided a sweeping, but currently blue-washed view of the galaxy outside. The rest of the room was made out to be like a lounge. Some reclining soft-textured chairs dotted the comfortable, albeit limited, floorspace. A massive screen sat unused on the aft wall, and a number of sound emitters surrounded the couch that faced it. The Kellius was certainly fitted with all manner of luxuries. Personal vid theaters included.
Kevin took a closer look at the rounded-corner square viewport. He could see the inside of the outer hull, and the space between the outer and inner hull where ablative armor typically rested on more combat equipped vessels. He saw what looked to be a set of massive one-piece shutters what would cover and lock over the inner and outer weak transparent material in times of need. This was a good thing, as everyone knew viewports were structural weaknesses. Satisfied with his self-hosted tour, Kevin moved back out to the hallway.
Figuring the port observation deck would be similar, he ignored it for now and headed towards the bow. Up ahead on his left room where the VI core and Life support system was housed. He only needed to take a peek, so he could see what style of VI housing he might have to deal with in the future. Inside, the room was already faintly lit with the screens and lights around the VI core system and the life support equipment. To Kevin's relief, the VI core was a standard circular array with a hollowed out center that lowered to the manual systems for ease of maintenance. As far as Kevin knew, these were the easiest to handle in emergency situations. Towards the bow was the huge life support system. On the aft side of the room, he could see a second large array that looked far more complicated and had one obvious hardline to the VI core. It had several inactive screens on it and a beveled, not illuminated, label that spanned the top of the hardware. "T.E.R.A."
Kevin backed out of the room, deciding that he saw all he needed to see. VI programming and maintenance weren't his forte, and he made no false attempts to anyone to make it seem like it was. Ever. Physical location was all he needed. Once again he trekked the halls like some sort of curious new hallway monitor. Further ahead on his right was the crew quarters. He activated the panel and stepped inside for a look-see.
It was quaint. Looking aft, five sets of bunk beds lined the port and starboard walls, with the fifth one against the aft wall. Each bed had its own light and fold out nightstand. At the bow side of the room was a durable looking table surrounded by five unanchored chairs. On the bow wall was a huge sliding door. Kevin opened it to find a relatively empty closet. There was some turian and human formal attire hanging far to one side, but that was it. No gear, no weapons. They must have taken it all when they went to Omega. He closed the closet door and made his way out. As he exited, he noticed that all the beds were made up nice except for the bottom one closest to the door, which had some ruffled blankets. That must have been where Ralik just woke up from. At least he did actually sleep.
At last Kevin was on his way back to engineering. Now maybe he could both see what Ralik was up to and see that miniature Tantalus drive core.
When the door – which had two layers to it – opened, the bright blue glow of the spinning three-armed tip of the Tantalus drive core coated Kevin. He had never been on a ship where any piece of the core was exposed enough to emit any light, so he wasn't quite expecting that. After taking a quick moment to let his eyes adjust, he found that the deck he was on and the lower deck of engineering was part of one open room. The floor was metal and spotted with small holes similar a grate. There was only so much walking space, as the drive core took up most of it, especially on this deck. Terminals lined the walls on either side, and two multi-terminal podiums sat along the railed edge facing the spinning core. There were simple deck exchange elevators on the far port and starboard sides of the room. Kevin didn't see Ralik up here, so he guessed that Ralik had taken one down a deck.
When Kevin stepped on the port side elevator, it automatically lowered to the deck below. It was here that he found the salarian he was looking for. He was amidst an area which looked to Kevin like it was a makeshift laboratory. A couple of the smaller crates that were loaded onto the ship were present and open. Ralik was busy on a terminal that clearly was not part of the original ship design and did not notice the human approaching from behind.
This level of engineering was less clean and trim, as it were. Large pipes and thick wires symmetrically flowed from wall to floor and eventually into the drive core's management system at the base. Bulkheads were easily visible in various areas. The available walking space down here was a bit more, since the space taken up by the drive core's spinning arms were higher up. Down here, like the floor directly above them, the railing depicting the 'edge' of the walkable space didn't form a flat line from wall to wall. It followed a gradual curve around the drive core and had terminals monitoring various systems. Unfortunately, the walking space was reduced by Ralik's lab, which had expanded slightly away from the bow side wall. Time to find out what was going on.
"Ralik," Kevin called out above the ambient noise of the working drive core, "what are you doing, exactly?"
Ralik turned around in surprise, arms poised to strike. "Whoa, hey-! Kevin? What did I tell you about doing that?" The salarian let out a loose sigh to calm his nerves. "Take a look. It seems Tarsil sent us a bit more than extra fuel and food."
"I can see that, but what are you doing?"
"It is laboratory equipment, but as you likely have already noticed, we lack anything resembling a lab."
Kevin tilted his head and crossed his arms. "So. . . you build a makeshift lab right in the middle of engineering?"
"Of course. We'll need at least some of this equipment to gather information on anything we find beyond the Melkanis relay."
"But. . . Engineering?" Emphasis on the engineering part.
"More available power sources."
Kevin let his face fall into an open palm.
"Besides," Ralik continued, "There are no critical systems in this spot, and I needed an open area. This is one of very few open areas."
"Alright, alright, I see your point," Kevin acquiesced.
"Unless, of course, you want the lab in your oversized room. Next to the bed, maybe. Yes, that would do nicely. Toss that tiny terminal and set up a lab in it's place. Maybe place the workbench where the shower used to be. . ."
Kevin was about to simply walk away until he heard one specific word.
"Workbench? Where? When did we get one of those?"
Ralik simply cracked a smile before he returned to setting up a piece of equipment. "It's over on the starboard side there, past the locked cargo bay access door. It was in one of the first crates I opened once I found out there were other items among our food and fuel."
Kevin was thrilled to hear that a workbench was available to him, even though he might have ultimately converted a med bay counter himself later on. This was the easiest way for him to modify his weapon and hardsuit, since the workbench had power and the tools to do it. Combined with his omni-tool, he could make all sorts of changes. When he realized he left all his pistol mods up in his room, he decided to make it a later project to help pass the the time.
"Try not to convert the entire place, alright? We still need an engineering." Kevin turned to leave by hitting the elevator first. On his way out, he could hear Ralik singing something to himself.
"I am the very model of a scientist salarian~."
"Yeah right," Kevin said under his breath as he rose up a deck.
For now he thought would go back to his room and resume categorization of the logs, take a shower and likely fall asleep to some music. With a multi-day FTL trip in the works, napping might be the easiest way to pass time. Kevin once again called upon the VI for something as he stepped off the stairs and onto deck one.
"Terra, please alert Ralik when we get close to our first stop. Should be a gas giant so we can discharge the core." This way he wouldn't have to be bothered each time. Sneaky.
"Acknowledged."