Solomon spat into the aisle. This was as far as he was going to respond to Blythe for now, he was in enough trouble as it was and decided not to push it.

"Don't...provoke him any more, Ensign Rivers," Sion said to Blythe. "Humans are like children," Sion thought to himself. Still, he had to report this. As far as Sion was concerned, Solomon had committed an act of violence and needed to be reprimanded.

"OK," Israfil said, then gulped, calming down. "...thanks...a-aren't you afraid? Of the paranormal abilities of Ascendeds?" Israfil asked.

Tera helped Claire in helping Blythe to her feet. "H-hello," Tera introduced herself awkwardly to Blythe, "I'm Tera, I was talking to your sister." Tera went back to her seat.

An voice over the shuttle's PA announced the initiation of docking procedures, followed by an announcement that docking procedures had finished.

"Alright people, follow me, and keep your hands, feet...and minds...to yourselves," Sion stated as he made his way out the shuttle.

"I'm not trying to provoke anyone, I'm simply telling the truth." Blythe answered to Sion, looking at him. In all honesty, she didn't care that much if she was being rude or not to her superior. He may have helped her out, but he was probably going to dislike her soon, anyway.

Mike looked back at Israfil and shook his head. "I'm ascended myself, so it's pretty normal to me. If it helps, I can show you what I can do sometime. I won't hurt you, I promise." He suggested. If the guy got to see that not all ascended used their abilities for bad things, than maybe that would help him to be less scared of them, too. Mike got up and waited for Israfil, giving him a reassuring smile.

Claire looked at her sister and sighed. Though she shouldn't have expected anything different, it seemed like she had learned nothing at all. "Just be more careful around ascended, okay? It wouldn't be the first you got hurt because of one." With that, Claire walked over to Tera again.

Sion looked back at Blythe and did something that most humans found incredibly unsettling but couldn't put their finger on. He didn't blink. Quantums were programmed by humans to blink periodically in order to offset this uncanny effect, but Sion chose to temporarily ignore it. He didn't say anything; he knew Blythe was right, but he knew she was going to be trouble if she couldn't learn to control the impulse to retaliate, even if only in word. He knew that in the end, there was very little they could do in an empire that was run by Ascendeds, many of whom still shared Solomon's sentiments. Sion exited the shuttle.

Solomon followed wordlessly, throwing a look of disgust behind him. He was glad to be off that shuttle, glad he no longer had to share such close proximity with trash.

Israfil turned and looked at Mike with a hint of terror in his eyes, but it subsided quickly. He realized that Mike may have taken what he said the wrong way, that Ascendeds were creepy, horrifying, and monstrous. Well, it is what he meant, but the thought that he may have senselessly said something to offend Mike only made him feel the distance between them grow, as the hope that they could be friends seemed suddenly harder if not impossible. He wondered if Mike hated him for what he had said. He wondered if he should apologize to Mike. Yet Mike seemed to want to continue to be friends, his words and smile suggested as much. Israfil gulped, "S-sure...m-maybe you can..show me sometime. And...I-I'm sorry for what i said...about Ascendeds..." he went over and joined mike who was waiting for him.

Tera could tell that there was some sort of personality incompatibility between Claire and Blythe, and the strain it put on their relationship as siblings. There was a fear among the Ascendeds that Quantums would endlessly manufacture more of themselves, putting a population strain on the already tight resources of the small empire, and create a rebel robot army that would destroy all human life. For this reason, limits were put into place for how many "children" Quantums were allowed to have. That being the case, Tera didn't have 'siblings', so seeing the strain between the twins made Tera feel a bit sad. "We should follow the Liuetenant," Tera suggested calmly, "I think...he's trying his hardest."

---

The shuttle had docked in the hangar bay, which was a massive empty space where all seven cogs were docked, all standing upright except for Sion's Fury, which was non-humanoid. Catwalks extended all around the cogs, where the rest of the engineering team were performing some routine maintenance. From the hangar, the cogs could be launched via mag-rail catapult into the thick of battle. Though none of the ensigns had seen their cogs before, since the designs were optimized based on scans of their brains and personalities, it was fairly easy for them to pick out which one was theirs.

"W-which one's mine?" Israfil asked out loud without thinking.

"Whichever one feels most right to you."

Sion turned to the source of the voice and saluted.

"At ease," the owner of the voice replied. She was a tall, tan young woman. "Lieutenant Maya Encarnacion," she introduced herself to the ensigns, "and behind me is Captain Hargreaves. She's given me the privilege of doing introductions." She motioned behind her to show the captain flanked by a few soldiers. Captain Catherine Hargreaves looked over the new pilots with a placid smile.

"So, which one feels right to you?" Maya asked in a friendly tone, continuing the conversation, and sort of putting Israfil on the spot.

"I-I...I don't know...maybe that one," he replied pointing to a massive, white and lilac colored cog, "B-but it feels...almost too powerful for someone like me...but..."

"But...?" Maya asked, prompting him to continue.

"But...I think...I would feel...very safe inside it..."

Maya just smiled, "That's right, your cogs were made for you. I might even say that it knows more about you than you know of yourself. Anyone else want to know which one's theirs? Or does anyone have any other questions before we continue? Mine's that handsome hunk over there by the way." Maya motioned towards a black and green cog that looked for all intents and purposes like a mechanical brawler. She gave Sion an expectant look.

A bit of annoyance showed in Sion's eyes. He felt Maya was being unprofessional, even a bit immature, and definitely too friendly, but he acquiesced, "Mine's Fury, the only non-humanoid cog. As Lieutenant Encarnacion said, feel free to ask any questions before we continue."

Without saying anything else, Blythe headed out of the shuttle and towards the hangar. She was somewhat surprised that Sion didn't give her another warning or whatever, but supposed that she was just a little lucky this time, if she could call it that, after having been forced to kneel and having her face pushed into the ground. Whatever it was, it shouldn't matter, though, and she just quietly looked at the cogs that were up there for everyone to see.

Mike simply shrugged upon hearing Israfil's apology. "Don't worry about it, I understand. Ascendeds can be real assholes sometimes." He answered, not seeing a reason to stay angry because of such a little mistake. Sure enough, a lot of ascended would've found it insulting, but they had gotten a major part of their bad reputation thanks to themselves.

Claire looked at Tera and nodded, doing as she had suggested. "I'm sorry about my sister's behaviour. She isn't friendly to a lot of people." Claire said. If she kept acting like this, Blythe would never make any friends. Deciding to push the thoughts aside, Claire looked at and admired the cogs.

Since no questions were forthcoming, Sion quickly walked up to Maya and whispered something in her ear; a pall of slight worry descending on her otherwise unstoppable smile. "Well," she began, a hint of disappointment in her voice, "you are free for 12 hours to get acclimated to the carrier. A map has already been uploaded to everyone's drive profile. Dismissed. Don't get in trouble now."

Solomon had, this entire time, stood respectfully at attention as he was now in the presence of other Ascendeds, Ascendeds who also happened to be his superior officers. "Ensign Solomon Lear, reporting for duty. Permission to speak casually," Solomon asked, approaching Maya.

Maya blinked hesitantly, all the while still keeping up her friendly smile. She glanced over quickly at Sion, who stood silently next to her, then back at Solomon. "Of course."

"I just wanted to say what an honor it is to be serving under the command of a noble. Lieutenant Reese mentioned your name on the shuttle, but I only just now remembered why I had heard it before," Solomon gushed. To the others who had seen his behavior earlier on the shuttle, it was pretty disgusting.

"Actually, Ensign Lear...we need to talk," Maya said, trying not to spoil Solomon's good mood. By this time, Sion had walked over to Captain Hargreaves and was whispering to her as well. Catherine pulled out her drive and sent a quick text. Within a few moments, the chief hangar engineer, a gruff looking older man came over from the cog bay.

"Seaman Rogers?" asked the engineer, looking around at the new arrivals.

Claire looked at Tera and nodded, doing as she had suggested. "I'm sorry about my sister's behaviour. She isn't friendly to a lot of people." Claire said. If she kept acting like this, Blythe would never make any friends. Deciding to push the thoughts aside, Claire looked at and admired the cogs.

In response to Claire, Tera said, "But it's not entirely her fault, is it?" Tera saw Blythe's behavior as a defense mechanism. It was her upbringing in and around hospitals caring for humans that prompted her to notice things like this and try to help.

Making no efforts at all to talk with anyone anymore, Blythe decided to just simply look at the different cogs for a moment. She liked how they were all but one humanoid, yet still were different in so many other ways. She admitted that they all looked nice and had something beautiful, but there was one of them she liked far more than the others.

"Yes, I suppose that's true, but she should know better by now. She has been in enough trouble already." Claire answered to Tera. Sure, Blythe could be a real sweetheart if one looked past that mean and distant exterior, but that was just the problem.

"That would be me." Mike said, looking at the man and walking over to him, still smiling friendly. "My apologies for being late, sir." He said, not entirely sure of what would be awaiting him now.

"Ah, there you are," the Chief Engineer said as he approached, "Come along with me, you've got a lot of catching up to do." Though he didn't sound overly friendly, his words implied a leniency and forgiveness that was atypical for the military. "Petty Officer First Class Charles Link, you can call me PO Link." As Charles led Mike away, Israfil smiled weakly and waved goodbye, hoping they'd get to see more of each other later.

Sion led Solomon away, walking with Maya and Captain Hargreaves.

"Well, I hope they let Ensign Lear know that what he did was not ok, and that future incidents don't happen; for all of our sakes, and especially for your sister, 'Tera said. Still, she thought about the tactical and strategic implications of mind control, and the possibility that Solomon was selected specifically for this reason. If so, the leadership may not mind if he flexed his mental muscle every once in a while, even if it was against his squadmates. She considered herself fortunate that, as a Quantum, she was immune to Ascended telepathy. Changing topics, Tera said, "I guess we should use these 12 hours wisely and explore the ship. Would like some time to yourself, or would you like t oexplore together?"

Mike nodded, giving Israfil one more smile before he followed after Officer Link. It was to be expected that after missing an entire day there was a lot for him to catch up on, so it would be the best to get started on all of this as soon as plausibel. Once he was done he could go find Israfil again, but that might be a while.

After a while, Blythe decided to go explore the place a bit on her own. Might as well help her to not get lost later.

Claire looked at Tera and nodded, smiling at her. "I would like to explore together, of you don't mind me coming along." She answered. The Quantum seemed to be a nice enough person, after all, so why not spend some more time with her.

Charles led Mike around the hangar, showing him the locations of important tools, instrument and diagnostics panels, vehicles for transporting cogs and parts, and the massive doors and the very back of the hanger that led to the Cadmus reactor. The Cadmus reactor was where the cogs were built, and where they would go when they needed upgrades. He showed Mike where the elevators were that led to the catwalks, how some catwalks were reserved specifically for letting the pilots get to their cogs as fast as possible, and which catwalks were for the mechanics so that they wouldn't get in the way of the pilots if a scramble was ordered. He reminded Mike of the importance of logging his name, s well as his start and finish times whenever running maintenance on a cog, especially if he needed to enter the cockpit to work on the stuff in there. The necessity of logging was so that if anything went wrong, it was clear who would be responsible, especially if it was a case of enemy sabotage. Charles didn't really seem to mind that Mike was late, he went through everything as if it were 'business as usual'. He did say, however, that yesterday, everyone got to familiarize themselves with the ship, but today, they were doing some last minute maintenance and polish on the cogs, who would be seeing action for the first time as soon as the coming operation began, and that Mike would have to help them complete the maintenance before he could let Mike explore the ship. He also told Mike that he had 'homework' in his drive: information on all the cogs that he would have to read up on so that he knew the intricacies and nuances of repairing and maintaining each unique machine.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but if they sent you to this ship, then you're either already really good, or you've got tremendous potential," Charles said.

---

"Of course I don't mind," Tera replied, glad that Claire was so amicable, "Where would you like to go first? If you don't have a preference, I'd like to check out our living quarters."

After Mike left, Israfil indecisively stood around a bit, wondering what he should do with himself.

Mike listened quietly to what the man had to tell. It indeed was a lot to take in, but he was the only one to blame for having this much work. After all, it was his own fault for being late. And besides, he doubted that it was going to be anything he couldn't handle. He was used to having to catch up on things, so that was nothing new. When Charles was done talking, Mike got started on helping out the others right away.

"Yeah sure, the living quarters sounds good, but do you have a little moment?" Claire asked Tera, before she walked up to Israfil. "Hey, I'm Claire and the girl over there is Tera. We were about to go exploring the place and I wondered if you want to join us?" She asked him.

Israfil looked behind him wondering who Claire was talking to. When he realized she was talking to him, he stuttered, "M-me?" He looked between Claire and Tera, then realized he should introduce himself. "Ensign I-Israfil Eihon," he said, saluting awkwardly. He wondered at his good fortune, having two nice people approach him in one day. "Sure, I'm honored to join you if you'll have me."

Claire wasn't so sure of what to think when Israfil saluted, but decided to not worry too much about it. "You don't have to salute, we have the same rank." Was all she said about it, before walking back to Tera, introduced the two to each other and started to walk. To her, this was nice, getting a chance to get to know the people she was going to be around with. And she didn't mind Israfil joining, not at all, the more the merrier.

Israfil tried to loosen up a bit and be more casual as he followed them.

Tera approved of Claire's invitation to Israfil. She could tell the boy was troubled, but she was still shy around humans and was afraid it might have been awkward if she called out to him. When she introduced herself, Israfil asked, "Oh, you're a Quantum, then?" He hadn't met many Quantum in his life, and was amazed at how human-like she was.

"Yes," Tera replied. When Quantums say their last names, they usually say all three letters separately, and then follow it with a simple short way of pronouncing it, in this case, Q-A-Z becomes 'Kaz'.

Tera remembered her conversation earlier with Claire and decided to pick up where she left off, "You said that it was your sister's idea to join the military. Do you know what her motivation was for doing so?"

They conversed as they headed for the barracks. it was an organized grid of hallways, sectioned off for the different departments, the pilots had their own section in a corner of the grid, close to the hangar. The barracks were located in the heart of the carrier; there was no point putting the living space near the outside where it could get hit easily by enemy fire. Most carriers had more pilots, but cogs took up considerably more space than small starfighters, so only the handful of cogs took up the entire hangar. With only seven pilots, the pilot section of the Barracks consisted of two rooms and one office. The office was for Maya and Sion to work in, while the rooms were split into male and female rooms. The female room was for Maya, Claire, Blythe and Tera; while the male room was for Sion, Solomon and Israfil. Their names were clearly designated on a nameplate hanging next to the sliding doors.

"Looks like we'll be staying together," Tera smiled gently at Claire, "I hope I will get a chance to get to know your sister a little. Lieutenant Encarnacion seems nice too."

The arrangement made Israfil cringe in fear; he didn't want to stay in the same room as Solomon or Lieutenant RHS. Solomon he clearly was afraid of, while he worried that Sion would be strict and not much fun to be around. He checked the directory and saw that the engineer's quarters weren't too far away.

Tera tried to comfort Israfil by saying, "At least Lieutenant RHS will be there."

"How is that a good thing?" Israfil blurted out without thinking.

"I've met many Quantum like him before. He values order above all else and even though he may seem harsh, he means well," Tera replied.

Claire looked at the names that were on the female's living quarter and smiled. Apperently she was going to share a room with Tera and Blythe, which she considered a good thing. That way, there would be plenty of time to get to know Tera better, and to actually be around her sister, too, as she didn't think it was unlikely for her to be somewhere alone during the rest of the day, if they weren't on a mission.

When Tera said that she hoped to get to know Blythe a little, Claire's smile faded a bit. "Don't get your hopes up. Blythe is kind of a loner, always been that way. "

After she had walked around a bit, Blythe had climbed up onto some nice, high spot she was most likely not meant to be. It was probably no place to sit at all, but it was just fine to her like this. It was calm and mostly quiet up there, just what she had been looking for. She had no idea what Claire was doing at the moment, but wasn't too worried about her. She seemed to be doing alright just a moment ago, and usually spoken, it was Blythe who got in trouble, not Claire.

Tera gave Claire a comforting look, "Don't worry, I'll be patient. So where do you want to go next? Since I wanted to come here, you pick next."

Israfil looked at Claire and asked, "So...this...Blythe...is your sister? I-is she the one that...on the shuttle..." He looked away for two reasons: the first being that he was scared just thinking about Solomon's terrible power, the second being that his question was maybe a bit rude and he felt ashamed for asking.

Claire looked at Israfil and nodded. "We're twins, actually. And yes, she's the one that Solomon used his mind control powers on. She gets in situations like that a lot." Claire answered. Afterwards she looked at the various halls leading to different directions. She was curious about everything on the ship, so she decided to just pick a hallway and headed to the one at her left.

"Ah, I see," Israfil replied. Deciding to change the subject, "S-so, do you know which cogs are yours?"

"I'm pretty sure mine is the small, peacock-colored one," Tera replied.

As they conversed, the group made their way further towards the rear of the ship, ending up in the Tachyon Harp Chamber. The room was about two stories high and incredibly wide. Even though it was called the Tachyon Harp Chamber, it housed more than just the hyperdrive, the Chamber was basically Engineering HQ since the main power core was also housed here, as well as access to the main thrusters. The group could only go as far as a viewing partition separated from the chamber with a large bay window and access-card-locked doors. Unless you were an engineer, technician, or scientist, you couldn't go past this point except in cases of emergency. A few of the people inside who walked past the window gave a friendly wave to the group; the Chamber was a common spot to visit for people who came onto the ship for the first time.

Tera looked at her watch, then asked the group, "Are you guys hungry?" As a Quantum, Tera had multiple options when it came to replenishing energy, she could hook up to a designated Quantum recharge station, but she was also designed to be so lifelike that she could also extract energy from the breakdown of organic compounds. Her reserves were still well within operational parameters; she asked out of consideration for her biological companions.

---

Blythe found herself in the Cadmus Reactor Bay. It was located just behind the hangar. There was a small human-sized door for people to get in and out of the room, but there were also massive doors with rails running through them to accommodate the transport frames that moved cogs in and out of the chamber. As she entered, the light slowly dimmed on so as not to cause pain to the eyes, and even at full capacity, it had a soft, warm glow. Some people said that Dr. Stern was a madman, while some said that he had stumbled upon some alien source of technology. The Stern Algorithm and the Cadmus Reactor together formed Dr. Stern's Magnum Opus, a system that could take the mind of a pilot to create an ever-evolving weapon. There was something strangely comforting and simultaneously eerie about the Cadmus Reactor Bay.

Claire looked at Tera and nodded. "Yeah, I think something to eat would be nice. Do you know where we can find something?" She asked, realising later that that was probably a stupid question. Tera and Israfil were just as new to the ship, so how were they supposed to know something like that?

Meanwhile, Blythe made herself a little more comfortable in the chamber and was thinking quietly. She had in all honesty not expected to actually pass that test and get over here, but somehow she had passed it, probably against all expectations. She could only consider it a good thing, though. Being here meant being away from everyone who frowned upon her and the reminders of bad memories she had. Now she got a new start, a chance to actually prove that she was worth something. And maybe she didn't make a good start with taunting that Ascended, but still.

Tera took out her drive and flipped through the holographic map that had been downloaded into it. "I think the Mess Hall is one floor above us."

When the group arrived, they could see that the Mess Hall was somewhat smaller than standard mess halls for carriers of this size, the main reason being that most carriers of this size could store dozens of strike craft, each with their own pilot. Engineering crews were also bigger for typical carriers; though cogs were larger and required more maintenance, 7 cogs still required fewer engineers than about 20 fighters. Communications personnel were also increased in typical carriers since more people were needed to coordinate more pilots. All in all, the Incubator had significantly fewer crewmembers than carriers of the same class size. Because the Cadmus Project was so valuable, the quality of food on the Incubator was also a step up from standard issue rations.

In one corner of the Mess Hall, Sion sat by himself, drinking a special Quantum cocktail that consisted almost entirely of glucose dissolved in water. Glucose was the most basic organic compound from which Quantums could organically derive energy, so his was a very straight-forward method, since his body did not need proteins or dietary fibers. However, despite his claim to efficiency, Sion drank instead of simply plugging into a charging station because he liked the taste of sugar and the act of drinking 'calmed his nerves', though he would never admit this to anyone.

When Tera saw him sitting there, she said, "I'd like to go and sit with Lieutenant RHS. Since he's our commanding officer, if that makes either of you uncomfortable, we could meet up later, but you're welcome to join me if it doesn't bother you."

Israfil shrunk back a bit, but waited for Claire's response before making a decision.

---

"Well Seaman Rogers, it looks like we'll be done ahead of schedule. There are still a few things that need finishing up, but I'd hate to deprive you of an opportunity to have a go-around of the ship," Chief Link said. "At this point, you're free to do as you wish: you can stay and help finish up, or you can dismiss yourself."

Claire looked from Sion to Israfil for a moment, unsure of what to do. Sion seemed to be all alone and she liked hanging out with Tera and she'd like to come along, but she didn't want to leave Israfil behind, neither, and from what she heard, he wasn't too fond of Sion...

Not being able to make a decision, she looked at Israfil, deciding to just ask him. "What do you say? Want me to stay with you?" She asked him.

"I would like to look around the ship for a bit.. When should I get here again?" Mike asked, looking at the Chief. He was glad they were done early; that meant that he had more time to study, explore the ship and see if maybe he could find Israfil again. After all, the boy seemed nice enough, so Mike would like a chance to get to know him better.