2011-03-24 - You Could Call It Trouble

Things have been /busy/ around the Raven's Nest over the past few weeks. Since the arrival of the SuiKyosha, the part of the garage not dedicated to Crest's pet project has been set to training with the battleship's hangar crew. While extra hands, especially free ones, would normally be a good thing - getting a people barely up to date with modern technology to be able to maintain the latest in mechanical units has not been easy.

The garage is a bit more empty than normal, most of the SuiKyosha's crew having gone back to their ship and most of the standard Raven mechanics enjoying some evening rest and relaxation. As for Sinya, her entire schedule has been thrown haywire, not only by her duties to the 'nest, but also by her duties to the newest part of the Trailer fleet. She's sprawled out underneath what looks to be a chest piece for a Janice, her feet and tail visible. There are sparks now and again, and a sound of clanging metal.

From the other end of the garage comes the sound of quick footsteps, a boy - no more than seventeen, and obviously part of the SuiKyosha's crew if his oriental heritage is any giveaway. Huffing, he comes to a stop near the catgirl, setting down a big box that has the distinctive smell of pizza. "You have /no/ idea how busy it was." The boy huffs, but seems in high spirits as he reaches down, offering Sinya a hand up as she slides out from underneath the Janice. "I fixed the worst of the damage you did. Try doing it /right/ this time, Ling." She nudges him on the shoulder, offering a supportive smile. He nods once, and then takes her place as she wanders over to the pizza box.

Opening it up, she scowls as a few slices are missing. "Hey!" She kicks at one of his feet. "I got hungry!" Ling's muffled voice replies. Rolling her eyes, Sinya grabs up a huge slice of the pizza, folding it in half, and then flopping herself unceremoniously into a nearby swivel chair as she rolls backwards, scarfing down the food at an alarming rate.

Things have been pretty busy lately. Thankfully Crest was about to be less in the Nest and more back at their nice little home in the United States. However this meant that some final touches had to be made; Liking or not.

Not far from Sinya's location who is enjoying her pizza, walks by R, who was wearing his Raven's nest pilot jacket, but under that was the odd flight suit he wear. He also had on his aviator shades.

Walking alongside him was a female with dark brown hair, a pair of glasses going over some paperwork, and had a bit of that 'scientist' look. On the other side was one of the Crest techs who was talking, "Remember - only you have access to the room, R. No one else will and no one else can."

The dirty blond hrmed softly, "Cause let me guess, if anything goes wrong or someone waltz in there, they are as good as dead huh?" The raven founder then came to a halt before he pointed at the tech. "But let me also get this clear to you. I may be held by a chain to Crest, but if /anything/ happens to my people cause of this--" He then lowers his hand down, "-- I will bring Crest down so hard, even if it may be at the stake of my life." Those last words directed to the female that time who just glances up from the papers.

The brunette then lets out a soft sigh, "R, don't worry. I am sure Crest's techs have done everything in their power to make sure nothing bad happens and there is no malfunctions."

"They better hope not." R said calmly, before his attention then shifted over to some of the crews sitting having lunch, including Sinya. "..now if you two excuse me.." Before he starts to walk over to Sinya.

"Remember R, you only have fifteen minutes left." The brunette woman said. "We need to do the final check." She then shook her head softly and went toward that part of the area.

Having grown used to the presence of the Crest techs and scientists as of late, Sinya doesn't even notice them until she hears the voice nearby mentioning that familiar name. Her ears perk, swiveling in the direction of the conversation even though she pointedly pretends not to be listening in. One of the banes of having quite sensitive ears - it means that you tend to be an unintentional snoop at times. The words she hears are not particularly comforting. Sinya's tail twitches at her side, one of the few tells of her feeling ill at ease.

Her head turns only once the scientist and tech have made their way towards the 'Crest' part of the garage. "Ling, aren't you forgetting something?" The comment seems to come at random, and the boy's hand fishes out, grabbing a pair of earplugs as he begins working on beneath the gundam. Her reminder has a dual purpose, of course, safety first - but also to keep him from listening in to what she's about to say.

Leaning back in the chair, Sinya dangles her head so that it's nearly looking at R in an upside down sort of way. "You'll have to excuse my ears... but I can't exactly help it." Her ears twitch, and while the statement could be taken as funny, her face is serious - at least as serious as it can be in such a strange position. "I didn't follow most of it, other than that it sounds like trouble."

The dirty blond smirks faintly at Sinya at her strange position, but he knew serious when serious was there and crossed his arms over his chest. The founder then glanced over in the distance of the Garage. His eyes trailing over to now what was a massive black wall, with a small metal door. The only thing that made that wall stand out was the four row of intake systems seeming to probably be pulling air into the sealed tight room behind the wall.

"Trouble." He said softly, "You could call it Trouble." He then sighed softly before he looked over to Sinya once more. "Pretty much Crest is about done here, so I get the fun of parking the NEXT," he jabs his thumb to that area, "In there. Though I still have to report back to Crest every two weeks. Funny--" He then closes his eyes behind those shades, "-- Mechs can get out of the dog pin, but not the pilot."

The huge black wall had become something of an irritation to a great many of the Raven technicians, not exactly appreciating the corporation invading their space. Though few were bold enough to do more than mutter about it in passing. Sinya's eyes pass the big wall as she leans back forward, the chair locking into place in an upright position. As much as she might be troubled by Crest's presence, it doesn't seem to be enough to subdue her appetite. Perhaps that is the sign of a real trouble - when the cat refuses to eat, something is very wrong. She grabs another slice of pizza, then motions to R.

"I'm not sure if you have to eat, but you're welcome to it." Cyborgs are not exactly her area of expertise. Unlike many mechanics and techs, she doesn't have that insatiable need to know about human machines, or to take them apart and see how the bits work - or don't work. After taking a bite, she seems to consider the wall, and then R, watching him with those inhuman green eyes of hers. "Can't say I've gotten to see a NEXT up close, although I did see yours when that Crusader attacked Calcutta." Then again, she'd been quite a bit busy keeping herself alive at the time to really give it a thorough examination.

Mostly, it's his last comment that has her head tilting. She'd heard something about it before - but doesn't seem to remember exactly where - perhaps one of the passing conversations with Yu Zhi Wu? Hrm. "You really are in deep, aren't you?" She asks, the end of her tail puffing slightly. It hits a bit too close to home for someone who had been a slave once before.

R removed his shades, before placing them in his jacket pocket. Those glowing, in-human aqua green eyes glanced over to Sinya gently, "If you insist." He muses before he does reach over and snag a slice of pizza. Mmm.. Pizza..

He takes a small bite from the pizza before his eyes stare at that black wall as well, thinking and taking in what the female feline has to say. "Maybe next time I'm out and don't have the Primal Armor up, I'll let you have a look at her. Strayed is something else, I mean-- she is, I guess, a normal NEXT just has some advantages I think other NEXTs don't. I don't know." He shrugs softly, "NEXTs were never my thing.. never believed I be pilot of one either.." He says the last bit with almost a hint of disgust as he takes another bite of the pizza.

He closes his eyes then before he inhales gently, "As in deep-- yeah, you can say that. Bound by a contract where you can say they can do what they want and I gotta follow."

There is a huge *CLUNK* from underneath the Janice, followed by a scrambling as it seems the Chinese boy is trying to hide some mistake that he made. Sinya simply gives a quick glance in his direction, but says nothing. If he didn't learn to fix his own mistakes, he'd never make a good hangar manager for the SuiKyosha. The gaze doesn't last long, as there is pizza in the same view and that reminds her that she hasn't eaten since breakfast - which was far, far too long ago. Taking another huge bite of the pizza, she nods, glancing back at R.

"I'd appreciate the look. Other mechanics look at pin-ups, I look at mechs. I have weird tastes." She smirks, "Not as weird as some, though." Oh, she certainly didn't have a metal fetish like a certain XO on a certain battleship, but like most techs, Sinya could easily be distracted by shiny things.

As she chews, the catgirl considers him again, looking at the flight suit more closely. It is almost as if she were trying to find which parts were robotic through the material - which might be a bit of an intense look from the catgirl. "It wasn't exactly something you had a choice in either, at least... that's the jist of the story I've gotten from what you've said, and radio chatter." Often times, she listens, but doesn't comment on what she hears - which has luckily kept her out of a few fights that others have started. "But I don't know that I'd call that a contract. I'd call it slavery." She tilts her head, watching him more closely, especially those inhuman eyes. "And I'd have trouble believing you if you said you were okay with it." Because it wasn't something she was okay with when it was her in chains - metaphorical or physical.

The pilot suit was pretty skin-tight, it didn't leave too much to the imagination, however by sheer looks, he /looked/ human from the outside, outside of those dead give away in those eyes which screamed 'not normal'. Cyborgs came in so many flavors after all. Depending on how good her hearing was at this close of range and if she was now indeed looking for, or hearing for something, she may indeed pick up some of the more mechanical internal workings.

R stared at her for a moment, before he looked away slightly. "..Crest has a good deal of people under their belt." He explains calmly. "They are good at selling, they are good at surviving, and they know how to play the black ball game."

The male pilot than leans against the table, as he takes another bite from the pizza slice, seeming to be more contemplating. "I know Sly and some others talked about trying to find the means to 'free' me." He then chuckles; Though it is a sad chuckle, "I half wish them best luck with that, but I find it doubtful. If Crest doesn't want something known, you're not going to find it."

He then looks over to her, "So yes, if I'm being honest-- I hate it. I hate every damn bit of what they done and what they did to me." He then finishes the pizza, before he speaks again. "But, if I keep thinking about it, that wont do me to much good either."

In her time serving on various hangar crews, Sinya had seen everything from skimpy outfits to skin-tights suits. She'd even caught a glimpse of a man walking across the hangar in his birthday suit - obviously a trace-suit pilot. So, there isn't mush in the way of shyness in her when it comes to the strange outfits worn by mech pilots. It's her ears that pick up on more than she would normally expect. With humans, you might hear a pulse or heartbeat if they were standing close enough and were excited. This was different. Her ears swivel, as if trying to source in on the sound, but it's more difficult than it seems.

"That's business for you. The kind of dangerous business that gets people in over their heads." Which, in part, is why Sinya hadn't gone to work permanently for any corporation, although she'd been given plenty of offers over the years. Even the 'nest job was set up to be temporary with an option for renewal and a few nice escape clauses. The cat, if nothing else, values her freedom. "Sly, huh?" She muses the name over in her head, storing it away. She'd have to stick her nose in where it doesn't belong and see just what was planned. Afterall, she does owe R quite a bit for her first steady job in a while.

"Well, I'm no great expert on the matter but... I'd say that you can only cage something that doesn't fight to be free." The last bit of her slice of pizza is popped into her mouth, nodding her head. "Still, at least you're still you. At least, it seems that way from what I can tell. Can't say we talked much before all this." Sure, she'd been around, but hadn't actually reached out to the Trailers at large until after her human father's death.

"Yeah--- that is kinda what I've been told by a few. The fighting to be free part." R explains before he just crosses his arms over his chest, since he was done with his slice of pizza, and wasn't well--

He didn't exactly have much of an appetite really. Which in silence, has been bugging him.

"The problem is, none of the techs here can work on me. If something goes wrong with my cybernetics, only Crest has the knowledge, tools, and the know how to get it fixed." He then tsks softly, "And-- if it wasn't for that, I tell them to shove their contract where the sun don't shine. Though," He then places out a hand to the side. "I never been one to break a contract, however cause this is really walking on me the wrong way.. I might."

The Raven pilot then shakes his head, "..cause they turned it right upside down. Every single word. The contract was for medical science use. I was suppose to be /dead/ and they --"

Sadly R gets cut off as one of the Crest guys walks over. "R, I was sent over here to get you. The techs like to get this done today and then we can be out of your hair for a bit."

R then narrows his eyes slightly, "You guys are f*cking impatient you know that?" The dirty blond the rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah-- Yeah. I'll be over there in a few, just.." He then lowers his hand down, ".. go back over there or something. Gesh. I don't need a baby-sitter."

"I don't think you've given up fighting just yet." Sinya replies, although her voice is kept a bit lower. Perhaps it's because she can hear the approach of one of the interlopers, or perhaps she's simply not quite sure if it's the right thing to say. In many ways, the catgirl works better with machines than with people and as much as R may be partly machine, he is also very much still human.

"I see the problem, though." Her ears twitch backwards, her lower lip taken between pointed canines in a thoughtful manner. "I wonder if it would be possible to get a scan done..." The thought lingers, and then passes as she shakes her head, "I'm sure they've thought of that. I'd bet my salary that there's some sort sort of scan-blocker."

She doesn't have time to ruminate more on possibilities as the footfalls of the Crest worker catch her ears and she cuts herself off mid-thought. Her tail begins that irritated lashing motion that comes from a very, very bothered feline. There is even a low rumble in her chest. Even her claws extend a little, although she only goes so far as to dig them further into the seat of the chair - poor chair.

Only when they are alone(ish) again does she seem to relax a bit, although her eyes follow the the Crest operative back towards the black wall. "Well, if nothing else, I'm glad you're not dead." Her eyes move back to regard him, claws sheathing once more. "It may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing." She shrugs her fur-covered shoulders, and then mutters, "They are starting to piss me off, though."

The dirty blond narrows his eyes slightly as they flicker a brighter glow then normal. "You and I both." He then glances over to her, "..on both accounts." He then sighs softly, before rubbing his forehead and resting one hand on his hip. "As for the scan, yes-- they do have a blocker. They first thing i did when I came here is trying to have one of the med-techs scan.. they could only get very minor surface scans, nothing deep enough to /even/ try to do repairs if need be." He then flings his hand out to the side slightly in frustrating before closing his hand tightly into a fist.

"..I don't even get the big deal to /why/ they need me." He grumbles softly, "All those asses need is to give me the door code, key-card, and finger print check. Not like /they/ don't already have that stuff on their records or the way to just /ship/ it to me. I swear they just like to flaunt off they have one of the head founders under their thumbs. If I had right the mind, I send some info to Klein and like the Federation gnaw on them for awhile."

R then shakes his head gently, "Sorry Sinya, shouldn't go off like that, however--" He then smiles faintly, "--that is good pizza and thanks for the slice. If you do need anything or anyone to speak too-- I'm sure I can get us somewhere more private for that. Like the bar." He says with a chuckle, attempting to lighten up the mood.

While Sinya may give a nod of her head, it isn't one of resignation. If she didn't have ideas, certainly others would. So, as long as R himself isn't going to give up, she isn't going to give up either. Now, if she could only figure out what Sly was up to and figure out a way to lend a paw. Hrm.

While his reaction does seem to slick her ears back, for the most part the catgirl shows no other signs of distress from it. "Control." That's the only answer she has really for it, green eyes looking towards the black wall which seemed to her more like a statement - this is our space now - right in the heart of the Raven's Nest. "I think that might be a big part of it, but who knows. You might have some prototype hardware they don't want slipping into competetor's hands. Who knows." Without knowledge of the inner workings of Crest, she may never know, but that's probably for the best.

Still, the apology has a faint smile showing on the catgirl's face as her ears lift again. "Don't be sorry. It's well deserved. If I could, I'd take Arius and shove his staff so far up Crest's rear end that they'd come out walking funny, but... somehow I don't think that'd be a good idea." She covers her mouth, laughing to herself before pushing up onto her feet. "And you're welcome, consider it a downpayment on repaying your kindness. You should get the rest of it sooner or later."

R then grins faintly before he chuckles a bit. "See, the problem is-- I think they get so often in that area, they probably just enjoy it." He says with a roll of his eyes. "Bunch of cock-suckers they are." He then stands up straight again before he stretches slightly before attempting to give his shoulders a pop. "Nrgh. Still hate the fact whenever they do /any/ work, I feel like a stiff board the next day. I guess I now know how the old girl use to feel when I use to install new gears in her." He says with a playful gist in his voice.

He then glances over to Sinya, "..and please, don't repay me. I do the things I do, not because of work, or because I expect payment back, but because it is the /right/ thing to do." He then smiles at last. "..and I rather my people be happy then down in the gutters. Anyhow, I'll catch you later. I better go make the wanna-be-gods happy so they can get out of everyone elses hair."

At first, Sinya almost suggests finding one of those oriental massage therapists who specialize in deep muscle stimulation - but immediately her brain tells her that it would so be taken the wrong way. The last thing she needs is to be mistaken for trying to tell him he should be asking Yu for a massage. Or worse, saying he should see about getting a 'lube job'. Ugh the bad toughts are endless.

"Pssh." She barely contains a laugh, closing her eyes tightly for a moment. "Mmm. True enough." With a cough, she closes the pizza box, saving the rest for later, perhaps. Either that or the conversation had left her not feeling particularly hungry. "Still..." The thought trails off again.

Then, tilting her head, she offers him a smile, "Hey, some of us appreciate what others do for us, and you're a friend. So don't be surprised at that. We take care of our own down here, ya know?" As if he wouldn't know the whole 'Trailers are family' thing. "Anyways, go. Otherwise they'll send another nanny over and make you sit in time out or something. Besides, I've got my hands full here." She motions towards Ling, and then rolls her eyes before treking back over towards the Janice, peeking down to see just what her protige is actually up to.