Rosette & Rufus - "Malicious Machinations of Mutiny"

Who: Rosette & Rufus
Where: Starting in Rufus' lab
When: a short while after Rosette got the keycard.

"l wouldn't be surprised if that alarm goes off any minute now..."
Rosette said as she crawled through the vents, making very slow
progress considering her broken collarbone. Every time she stretched
out to pull herself forward a bit more, she almost yelped in pain.

Back in the cell, the security guard lay face down with rapidly
cooling coffee all over him, the mug shattered into hundreds of pieces
around him. The door opened to allow the shift change in, who
instantly hit the alarm button, signifying the escape of a prisoner.
Alarm sirens in the driveroom stretched their vocal chords once more.
If there were any Argonauts nearby, they would surely have been
tempted to their doom.

Luckily, none of the Blue Dwarf crew could be counted as Argonauts.

And, to be fair, even if these sirens could tempt anyone, the closest
to doom they could manage was to force them to walk into a wall.

Rosette pushed onwards in the vent tunnels, hearing the alarms
reverberating through the metal shaft behind her, letting her know
that it would be best for her not to exit the vents until she was
safe. Only one place on the ship currently held any semblance of
safety for her now, and that place held slightly less awkwardness for
her now that Amber had admitted that Rufus liked her.

"I didn't think I'd ever wish to be part Hymenoptera again..." she
said, remembering how easily the spider form her doppelganger had got
through the vents, using them like high-speed transport conduits.
After a long period of shuffling, groaning in pain, and cursing at her
lack of spider-speed, she got to the science decks.

"Now, which one is his?" she asked herself, trying to figure out which
one belonged to the young genius that she figured would be able to
help her in the Revolution.

"ow." She yelped again as her collarbone twitched. Landing on the
metal surface of the vents, they wobbled, sending a wave of sound not
unlike fake Rolf Harris thunder through the science decks.

--- On the Command Deck ---

Who: Castillo, Command Deck staff
When: After Davey's Ultimatum, before Amber is jailed.
Where: Command Deck

---- Snip ----

<Insert snip of Davies ultimatum here.>

---- End Snip ----

Castillo grinned as she turned away from the monitors, the call
disconnected she casually sauntered over to the weapons operator.

"Destroy the ram scoop. That way they can't move." She said, the weak
point of the JMC vessel easy to see.

"Yes Ma'am." He saluted and trained the gun platforms automatically
onto the forward spindly little sticks on the front of the giant blue
doppelganger. They all fired in a wave, like looking at a moving
centipede of deadly laser death. The impact was of course, silent in
space. Castillo hailed Davey. The doppelganger ship was in darkness.

"Your ship is crippled and useless. You have no power and your
hydrogen ram scoop is none existent. Surrender or I will destroy you."
She said, her eyes cold and dark.

<Tag Davey/ Justin, feel free to escape the Sim/doppelganger BD and
come back as I'm moving the action on from this planet now.>

--- Science Deck Vents ---

The laser beams that zigzagged across the vent system as they
approached Rufus' lab should have been the first indication that she'd
got to her destination, but unfortunately, the laser beams in the vent
system stopped her from getting through. At least they were doing
their job, unlike everyone else on the ship. She crawled up to the
start of the beams, and looked around for some way to get them to
stop, muttering under her breath about paranoid scientists. As she
did this, the lasers disappeared, and allowed her to pass through.

The vent grille fell away and clattered to the floor of the science
lab, followed by a pair of legs. "Watch out below." She said before
swinging into the lab. Rufus blinked a little in surprise as the lithe
form of Rosette slid into the room, wincing slightly in pain.

"I... I didn't think it'd b.. Be long before you t... Tried something
like that with Castillo on the rampage." Rufus smiled. "W... What do
you think of my voice de-activation subroutine? It was j.. J... Just
f...F... For you." He blushed and busied himself with what looked like
micro-surgery on a blank circuit board.

"You made it so if I complained about the lasers, you'd let me
through?" she asked, a little taken aback. "a nice touch, I have to
admit." She said, replacing the ventilation grille on the wall as best
she could with only one usable arm.

"Uhh n.. no" Rufus said, still staring down at the circuit board. "It
r-recognises y... your voice." He added, still trying to hide his
blushing.

"I need your help." Rosette said, as she stepped towards him. "We
need to take down Castillo, and I can't do it by myself." She said,
mentally kicking herself. "I didn't want to get you involved, but I
have no other way."

"What do you want me to do?... Ah!... I m... Mean, what do you n..
Need me to do?" He fumbled, blushing harder.

"I need a way into the security system. I've been locked out, so I
can't tell where Castillo is." She said, taking the final step to be
next to him. She peered over his shoulder to see what he was working
on, but couldn't even see what there was, beyond the circuit board.

"And..." she said, pausing for effect, causing him to instinctively
look up. "I need a place to stay..." she said, trying to catch his
eye.

"That's easy." Rufus said, walking over to the side of the room and
opening a draw full of plastic ID cards. "Amber wouldn't let me get
rid of it. His codes still work, all in the ID tag like yours, just...
better." He said, handing over the laminated plastic ID tag of Jay
Chrysler. "Y... You can stay in my quarters, I don't think anyone
else shares them." He said, scribbling down a location and code. He
smiled at Rosette.