Andy- 'Cleaner's strike'

Who: Andy, Skutters
Where: Andy's 'room', Axillary cargo bay 15-B
When: 2 minutes before Jed's announcement
Within the guts of the Jupiter Mining Corporation ship Blue Dwarf was
the Cargo deck. Within the guts of Cargo deck were stuffed the
remarkably smaller axillary decks. Within the left pinkie toe of the
axillary decks, was Skutter storage 10.
It was here a 15 x 15 metre metal room that Andy Roos lived, slept,
bathed and ate. Along with normally a 10th of the Blue Dwarf's
population of Skutters that had been awarded down-time.
Racks upon racks of Skutter 'cells' lay across like shopping aisles.
Within each cell was a mini computer that hooked up to the Skutter's
CPU. Effectively giving them a limitless environment of which they are
free to play and generally unwind. A system implemented since the
Citadel Station incident. Let us never speak of this again.
Nestled in the middle of these racks room slept Blue Dwarf's sole
cleaner. Lying upon a bed that had been cannibalized from couches,
sheets, bedding and from those fluffily little feathers in
broad-brimmed hats.
Although ugly it was certain to the Cleaner that he never slept in a
more comfortable divan. With everything he needed from a toilet to a
fridge within walking distance it was clear to him that the Skutters
looked after their own.
Speaking of which;
With a blast of electronic burbles and screeches Andy was brought back
into the world of the conscious with a start.
Awaking from a dream of kitties and chainsaws, it slowly came to his
clouded mind that his eight hour rest was over and his daily 14 hour
shift had just begun.
Before him squat 001 with a hefty sandwich in its maw. Reaching down,
the cleaner seised the bread from its jaws and surrendered his
breakfast to his own. A few plastic clicks later he turned and
beckoned Andy to follow.
Andy heaved himself out of his bed. Within the confines of the
abandoned shelves he pulled out the equipment necessary for his daily
work.
A hydro-plunger, bio-spray and an extendi-mop appeared in his hands
and disappeared down his jumpsuit's pants.
He paused for a moment before decided that his Jump suit was probably
good for another week.
Then the two froze as the announcement system screeched to life.
"Evenin' ladies and gents, this is ya Cap'n speaking." Within seconds,
Jed's raspy Texan drawl filled the silent room. "We've spotted a lone
cargo ship slipping it's lead about 2 lightyears from here. Anyone who
wants to earn a bonus on top of thar wage come meet me in Flight Deck
1 for a salvage mission."
The Skutter and the cleaner took a moment to stop and stare at each
other. "…He said…'anyone'…didn't he?" Andy asked 001. Who nodded
slowly, its CPU grinding nosily as the thought suddenly began to dawn
upon it. "…With that bonus… perhaps we could get some help… if not and
we're gone for a day…"
The Skutter snapped its head up to Cleaner and gave him an expression
that could be approximated to a smile.
"…What's the fastest way to Flight Deck 1…?"
~~@~~
Who: Andy, 001
Where: Flight Deck 1
When: 15 minutes after Jed's announcement
Andy jogged along toward the deck with an evil smile that threatened
to split his head in two. Perhaps he was being a bit devious with
this. It was his responsibly after all to clean the ship, or at least
keep it in a working condition… or at least make sure that the toilets
worked.
Bah, he'd been overworked. Anyone that even noticed him could tell
that. That little girl he met in his sub-conscious was right. It was
time to live for himself for once. He was tired of living in squalor.
He wanted live and to stop wasting his hard-earned cash on actually
keeping the ship clean and bribing NSD to help keep 001 and 099 in
workable condition. He wanted a nice room, he wanted some damn
wheatbix for breakfast instead of bloody sandwiches all the time but
most of all… he wanted something other to wear than #*%&ing brown
jumpsuits!
Andy stepped through the entrance of the Flight deck. Honestly, he
expected have half of the crew to show up. Perhaps they felt that it
just a joke or some such.
As he looked at the small group before the star bug, he beckoned 001
to follow in his wake.
Well, at least he didn't have to clean anything today.
<Tag anyone!>