Character Perspective: Sullivan

“For a simulated space, this really does look like what I’d imagine the bridge would look like,” I said as I hauled a large case out of the lift and into the mostly silent and shut down area. The lights of the bridge came on as we swung around the corner and toward the hallway.

“Yeah, I guess when you have a multi-multi-billion dollar training ground, you don’t skimp on the details,” Julio replied as he held up the other end of the case and followed me out. “What are we even doing down here and why didn’t you get Spacefly to help yah? Ain’t she always attached to your hip lately when you’re doing all your extra out of class experimenting?” he probed curiously, and I let out an obviously exaggerated scoff.

“She’s got her own stuff to get prepared, remember the Captain did give us all our own jobs,” I said and started to lead him in the same direction as the lab area. “All of us except you, which is why you got roped in to helping me. You get to be the jack of all trades,” I added.

It had been three days since the Captain had passed along what our next trial would be, deciding that he wanted to use the advanced notice to the best possible use because he was sure the DRAKE and MEGALODON would be doing quite the same. I hadn’t wanted to go overboard, I still needed time to do some refining after my last mistake and I wasn’t quite fond of making the same error twice in such a rapid fashion.

“So what’s the plan anyway, we heading down to your lab?” Julio asked as we passed by a set of stairs that were meant to go up a level.

“Nah, drone control,” I said as I turned left instead of right at the ENGINES sign.

“We got a drone control on this ship!?”

“Have you gone over the ship map or specifications at all man?” I asked with a sigh, arriving at a door labeled DRONES. “Drones is a pretty common system to be added onto most ships and that’s not even considering that Novarod, Sera and I all also requested it to be one of the primary systems included in our simulated environment,” I said, stepping onto a pad in front of the door as it slid open for us.

“Orale, I got the short end of the stick,” Julio grunted as we walked through, and I heaved my side of the case up onto a small workspace at the center of the room. “I didn’t get any of those choices…”

“To be fair, you’re medical, the only spaces you need are the Labs and Med Bay,” I said, wiping a small layer of sweat from my forehead as I looked over to him.

“I know Kill, just feel a bit left out, maybe I really should get to specializing in something else just so I’m not so damn bored,” He replied as he stretched and started to look around the room. “How bout I start racking up some time in drone control and become an ace pilot like Nova?”

“That dude has thousands of hours, you aren’t gonna get anywhere near his skill level behind the flight controls, but it doesn’t hurt to practice,” I offered as I flicked a few switches off to the side of the work table and various systems began to spin to life.

“Oof, yeah that sounds like a lotta work when you put it that way,” he shot back with a crooked smile. “You think Nova’s got any sort of life at all? I don’t think I ever see him in the common room or out on the quad after dinner mess. Hell I don’t even see him schmoozing with the upper class men in his specialization like the rest of us seem to be during lunch,” he added as he slowly moved around the somewhat cramped space.

“Dude likes his alone time, nothing wrong with that,” I replied with a shrug.

“So do you but you’ve been going on a lot of walks with Spacefly,” Julio responded with a look that left me wanting to deck him. I must have looked annoyed cause he just laughed it off with a wave, “Oh please, your forget I know you Kill, and I also know you two will end up torturing yourselves the entire first semester cause of the Captain’s rule, ain’t yah.”

“Probably,” I said with a sigh and turned back to the case, clicking it open and pulling out a small cylindrical like device I had spent the past two nights printing and putting together. “There should be a comm port on the wall near the door that acts as the simulated drone ship’s relay, can you grab a flathead and get the panel off so I can get this installed? I need to get the initial code running,” I explained as I set it down next to one of the ship consoles that was built into every rooms main terminal.

“Gotcha hermano,” he said and looked into the box I had left open, snatching a screwdriver out and walking toward the panel I had directed him to.

“Make sure you out that back, I sure as shit do not want to have to requisition new supplies just because you lost my screwdriver… again,” I called over my shoulder as I pulled two cables from the console out and plugged them into color coded slots on the rear of my device.

“That was one time, and I honestly didn’t think they’d actually make you do the requisition shit in ground class!” Julio groaned. “Like, there was a hardware shop literally across the street!”

“Protocols are protocols,” I shot back, the annoying saying that our primary instructor loved to use tasting sour as I said it. “They definitely don’t have a hardware store across the street up here,” I added.

“Hermano, you 3D printed basically everything you needed for that little device you got there in like, what a half hour? You’re telling me you couldn’t print a screwdriver?”

“They’re printers, not magic dude… a good screwdriver is made out of metal, sure as hell ain’t gonna get the same results out of a printer, even if the printer has its perfectly good uses,” I said with a laugh.

“Sheesh really? Then how do the shipyards get all the paneling and shit they need up here? Doesn’t it defeats the purpose if they are hauling it all up here?” Julio asked as he yanked a panel free from the wall and dropped it on the work table.

“Synthetic Forges,” I said. “They still have to have the organic materials brought up here, the ore and all that, but it’s infinitely cheaper than trying to custom build everything on the ground and then send it up. Now, when they finally make personal sized Synthetic Forges, then maybe I can replace a screwdriver that you’d lose, but until then,” I said as I turned and pulled the screwdriver from his hand, “Make sure it’s in the toolbox if you’re not using it.”

“Ay Dios Mio! You’d think I’d lost the Hope Diamond of screwdrivers with the accusations coming off of you,” he said with an overtly fake swoon of disbelief.

“It was a part of the set my mom gave me when I got accepted you know-“ I started and let out a sigh, “Damnit Julio, you’d think at this point I’d know when you’re messing with me.”

“And I apologized to her too, so drop it hermano,” Julio laughed and looked past me to the small device that was no flashing along an LED strip near its top.

“Okay, got the drone’s frequency replicated, now we should be able to start collecting sample data through through my receiver here. Think you can pull up the preprogrammed flight paths on the console over there?” I said with a sigh, disconnecting the cables from the small cylinder and stepping around him. “We need to queue up a dozen or so scenarios so that we have the widest array of data as possible, think you can do that?”

“Have a little faith, ese,” he said as he navigated to the panel o had pointed him to and started pulling up the drone controls. “Or… uh… is there an unlock code?” He asked over his shoulder and I just let out a sigh as I pulled one similarly cylindrical device from the wall and clicking my fake replication into its place.

“I’m making you read the ship manual tonight, cover to cover.”