Dead Star Dockyards

Prince Merndil's impressions of the Pegasus up to this point could be summed up as 'normal', not that he thought this ship was in any way the norm. Instead, he thought everything he had seen up to this point wouldn't be out of place on a galley. The storage space might have been massive, and there might be many more rooms than he could reasonably see on any other vessel, but those were ultimately facilities he would see on other vessels. He supposed the weapons were abnormal, though he reckoned that every ship had some way of fending off pirates or other such hostile encounters. They were just a more effective method of doing so.

So, all in all, this ship had proven to be fairly 'normal' - something he knew would not persist as he descended the stairs.

"And here we are, floor three. As you can see back there, short rooms occupy the flanks of the cargo bay."

"Is there a particular reason for this?" The Montaug was the one to ask a question this time. "I understand you were wanting for additional cargo space. Could you not have dedicated that space to storage instead?"

"I believe I mentioned there were design requirements, correct?"

"You did."

"Before cargo space were requirements on defensive systems, offensive capabilities, carrying capacity, amenities and the capability to attach the foundry to the outside of the ship, with additional limitations like available resources, dimensional limits, and structural redundancies. Ignoring the need to attach a foundry as an external constraint and the amenities and combat systems as mostly non-negotiable space, the required passenger capacity was set at one thousand people."

"I suppose you reached that requirement?" Merndil could not imagine Donovan had failed given his tone. "A thousand people is quite a bit more than any galley that I know of."

"A little? The biggest in our fleet will carry a hundred! And it can't do nearly as much." Rashtvice almost knocked Merndil's breath out of his lungs with one of his slaps to the back. His little brother had been much more excited about this tour, too excited in Merndil's opinion.

"We have enough beds for 1060 people, of which about 700 can be accommodated comfortably. In a pinch, we should be able to fit around 1500 people on board, not including space that could made in the cargo bay." Donovan paused, tapping a finger on his chin. "Come to think of it, we should probably do a preliminary trial of the seating system to ensure there aren't any major issues. Arc, could you get started on that?"

"I will propose a modification once you have finished the tour." Merndil did not understand the jabbered noise that originated from the ceiling in response to Donovan's question, but recognized that it wasn't without purpose. Whatever the pattern or source behind it, Donovan could understand and communicate with it. 

"Let's start with the bar."

"Bar? As in a place to drink beer?" Merndil rolled his eyes. Rashtvice could often be found in such establishments, and he was never up to any good.

"Yes, but not one for brawling and parties." Donovan seemed to recognize the source Rashtvice's enthusiasm, stifling it before he made a scene.

"I think it would be better to call it a lounge, but because we already have one I decided it was better to call it a bar." Diana clapped her hands, after which the lights inside of the otherwise incredibly dark room turned on. "Either way, liquor isn't supposed to leave this room. Well, maybe it can come from the kitchen if its served with dinner."

Despite being another horrendously empty space, Merndil could see the vision. The floor here was darker, the light sources in the ceiling also being slightly dimmer than everywhere else. He could only imagine the furniture would be of a darker wood and more subdued or richer fabric when they got around to acquiring some. It reminded him of the more reserved rooms in the various palaces and manors where parties were held, those places intended for more a more laid back and casual type of interaction, away from the excitement and intrigue.

"Either way, this room is going to be off limits until we can be certain that the beverages we synthesize aren't poisonous or provoke an allergic reaction in non-terrans." Donovan shooed everyone out of the room after they had a good enough look at it, eager (or perhaps desperate) to get the rest of the tour over and done with. "Alcohol is one thing, as are sugars and particularly common organic compounds, but synthetic copies of organic and fermented chemicals from Terran flora might be hostile to your biology."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hlapven, situated closer to the back of the crowd, came off as a little bit indignant towards that statement. Evidently, he did not like the implied superiority of the Terran body in the presence of his liege.

"It means that what we drink alongside our breakfast might kill you in large enough quantities." Donovan answered the question in his usual neutral tone. "This may sound strange to you, but we cultivated plants with specific poisonous compounds for their culinary and medical benefits. For example, capsaicin and menthol are natural insecticides and drove away other animals, usually because they provoked a disgust or poison response in them, however we cultivated such plants because they could trick our taste buds into thinking a food or beverage was hotter or colder than it really was."

"They also taste good."

"They also taste good, to some people." Donovan nodded alongside Diana. "I am fairly certain that people here are capable of resisting capsaicin owing to an experience I had with a vegetable called 'Fire Stalks', however I have reason to believe you generally lack the ability to resist an incredibly common chemical we call caffeine. Until I have time to properly test a selection of people on the more common chemicals and get an idea of their effects on you, I cannot allow you to be near that which my end up killing or injuring you."

"I wonder if Arc can make me a coffee . . ." Diana seemed to be off in her own little world while Donovan continued with his explanation, strolling toward the beverage machine by the side, placing one of the ceramic mugs that had been stacked to the side under the nozzle. A few moments later, a dark brown liquid poured into it.

"So you drink poison? Is that right?" Merndil himself could hardly believe Donovan's claim, though the confidence with which he spoke convinced Merndil it was the truth. 

"Well, poison is a relative term really. What's poison to some species may not be to another. For example, there are some compounds that Mercedes here can handle just fine but would probably make a Terran sick for a few weeks, whereas something we eat as a dessert could kill her if she ate a little bit too much. I'm sure there are some things that you eat that we can't handle, I just don't know what that could be."

"Blegh~" The sound of Diana gagging could be heard from behind Donovan. "Speaking of poison, this doesn't taste like coffee at all!"

"I do apologize for that, Diana, but there is only so much I can replicate with this synthesizer."

". . . it's fine." She poured the 'coffee' into the liquid waste disposal. "I suppose it was my fault for wanting the real deal."

"And that right there is why we have the next room." Donovan passed through the crowd and swung open the large door on the other side of the hallway. "The green room."

"Oh! I'll take this one! This and the theater."

"Would you like to do the rest of the tour yourself at this point?" These were the only two remaining 'attractions' of note in the tour, aside from the pilot room. They wouldn't understand the significance of the synthetics lab, nor would they be quite as interested in the food storage, kitchen, dining room and gym. The armory was definitely off limits as well, not that there was anything of note beyond empty storage lockers.

". . ." Diana scowled, being reminded of who asked who to do this tour in the first place.

"Thank you. The green room is where we will grow smaller plants, be it for food, medicine, aesthetics, or just . . . research, or something like that."

"Research?" The Montaug seemed suspicious of Donovan's lack of confidence. "What kind of research?"

"I'm not sure. I think it will mostly concern the climate, nutrient, and light preferences of various flora we pick up, but plants aren't exactly my field of expertise." Donovan shrugged, leaving everybody at a loss. "Anyways, these climate inside of these chambers can be adjusted to fit a specific plant's needs. Water, light, and temperature are controlled from the top to simulate weather, all independently monitored and adjusted. The plants themselves need to be tended to by hand, soil and pruning and whatever else falls along those lines, but we won't need to worry about stuff like weeds or pests due to the closed system."

"Do you know what crops you'll be testing first?"

"A collection of grains, I believe. Diana wants to grow some flowers, however that's beyond the scope of our experimentation for the time being. One of our top priorities at the moment is the identification and proliferation of a high yield crop with a shorter time to harvest and minimal maintenance that has diverse applications with regards to food for both people and livestock. Historically grains have fulfilled that role, though we recognize that there may be a root plant of some variety that can fulfill a similar role."

"Why a grain? Surely it would be more profitable and enjoyable to focus on fruits, textiles, and other luxury crops, right?" Merndil did not know much about agriculture himself. He imagined that nobody else here would either.

"Our goal isn't money or the most delicious food. It's to find a selection of crops that can provide as much food as possible as quickly as possible. We don't have a stockpile of food at our disposal, and every meal we grow ourselves is one we won't have to ship in, and can instead acquire more material for construction projects." Donovan's brows furrowed. "The, uh, there isn't enough space to grow a tree either."

"Right. Of course." Merndil felt a little bit silly for implying that he might be able to start an orchard in here. 

"We've also got a little pond here for fish." Diana chimed in with her biggest contribution to this room, her attempt at making this metal box feel like it had an outdoor space. Of course no fish would be able to survive zero gravity if an emergency called for it, but she was banking on that not happening.

"Next room?" Merndil had a feeling that Donovan didn't want to spend too much time in this room, probably because most of the party wasn't displaying much of an interest at this point. Had there been plants growing it might have been a different story, but these empty fixtures didn't seem that impressive. "Let's move on to the Synthetic's Lab."

Donovan moved on through the room and opened the door on the other side, revealing a hallway that seemed almost identical to the one on the other side. 

"Before we enter this room, I must stress that you are not to touch anything. It is currently the only room besides the pilot room that is fully equipped and furnished, but the safety cowlings and flash guards for some of the equipment in there hasn't been installed yet."

"Yes sir!" The little boy, Cayzi if Merndil remembered correctly, saluted to Donovan. "I promise I won't hurt myself or touch anything!"

"Hm? The safety cowlings aren't for you. They are to make sure you don't screw up the calibration of the machines or introduce impurities into their systems. I mean sure, getting nicked by one of the moving parts might hurt a little, but nothing here has enough the size or energy to do any real harm."

"O-okay."

"With the disclaimer out of the way, welcome to the Synthetics Lab. This room does a lot, so much that I struggled to come up with an adequate name for it, though I think that the one I decided on was good enough." 

Merndil could immediately see why Donovan gave them a warning. In stark contrast to every other place inside the Pegasus, the Synthetics Lab (whatever that meant) was crowded. Admittedly, the small entourage shuffling about so as to avoid bumping into anything wasn't helping matters, but there wasn't much open space here. Even the short rooms, which Merndil felt would be a little claustrophobic at full capacity, had a little bit more space for people to move around each other.

"Most of the machines in here are related to handling medicine and injuries." Donovan and Diana seemed unbothered by the restrictive environment though, each twisting and turning about to avoid various protruding elements (some of which definitely weren't supposed to) as they made space for the rest of the party. "However I decided against calling it the Medical Lab as many of these machines can be used for other things as well. These biochemical synthesizers are a good example. Most of the time they are going to be used to create substances that can help deal with problems of physiology, such as malfunctioning organs, eating disorders, and hormonal imbalances, not to mention the synthesis of anti-venoms and chemicals necessary for handling a allergic response, however it can also create chemicals useful in other fields, like cooking and cleaning."

"We have more specialized machines for those though, over in that back corner." Diana pushed a button on one of the machines nearby, which started to hum. "That one is best for more complex biochemicals needed in smaller dosages and can't create anything in particularly large quantities, however it may be capable of synthesizing new biochemicals that weren't found on Terra."

"Diana, I thought we agreed that we would hold off on making volatile chemicals until all of the cowlings were in place." Donovan hadn't even turned to look at which machine Diana had gone up to.

"It's just a bit of perfume to demonstrate a point. I won't open the capsule until we are out of the room."

"Fine." Donovan continued down the aisle, all the way towards the area free of the machines. "We also have biotic extruders and prosthetics printers, both of which may be used to create solids and semisolids for purposes outside of recovery. These, on the other hand, are what we use to figure out what's wrong with someone when the damage isn't external."

Merndil looked at the arm like appendage attached to the ceiling. An odd fixture for certain, but not anything too out of the ordinary. The circular holes in the wall were a bit unusual though. Up to this point there hadn't been any 'perforations' in the bulge walls. 

"Cayzi, would you want to be scanned?" Donovan pushed down a lever next to one of the circular holes in the wall, a long platform sliding out from the center. "It doesn't hurt, but I do need to make sure that you don't have anything metal on you."

"Why wouldn't I be able to have metal?"

"It uses magnetism. You wouldn't want to end up getting bruised by your buttons would you?" Merndil did not know what magnets were, though he could vaguely remember some trinkets being brought before the court that had similar properties - small metal balls that would roll towards each other on a flat surface if close enough.

"Oh, okay." Cayzi wasted no time taking off his little overcoat and removing a series of pins from his undershirt, some of which Merndil believed to define his rank and status. After this though, he paused. "Um. My pants?"

"Diana? Could you take care of that?"

"Sure." The machine Diana had been waiting in front of had not finished what it was doing, but she abandoned it anyways. "You can change behind this curtain. There should be a gown in that little cubby on the wall. Just leave your clothes on the floor, you can put them back on later."

- - - - -

"So how does this work, exactly?" Cayzi laid down on the platform as instructed, trying his best to quell the excitement he felt.

"Do you remember our conversation earlier about radar, how it uses a form of light and all that?"

"Of course I do!"

"This machine will use magnets to adjust the properties of your body's insides, then blast it with similar form of light to that of a radar. I forget the specifics, but the parts of your body that better absorb that light rather than reflect it or let it pass through will release different signal intensities which are then picked up by the machine. The result is a series of gradient images that display the inside of your body." Donovan put his hand on the lever. "Ready?"

"Yes sir!" Cayzi saluted. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. Just don't make any sudden movements while in there and remain calm. You might feel a little bit hot at points and maybe a little bit dizzy, but it won't hurt you. Can you promise me that?"

"Yes!" Donovan pushed up on the lever, Cayzi and the platform slowly retreating into the wall.

"Now just close your eyes and take slow breaths. This should only take a few minutes."

- - - - -

"Hm, weird."

"What's weird?" Trebar had gotten right up behind Donovan, displaying an unusual level of intrigue for a man generally perceived as reserved. 

"A bunch of things, really, though I suppose that's only in comparison to Terran biology. For example, his heart is in a different spot and it doesn't look like he has a second kidney. I think the stomach and large intestine might be smaller than usual as well, however that might be because he hasn't fully developed yet." Donovan pulled the lever down, and Cayzi started to slide out. "How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy."

"No pain?"

"No pain!"

"Perfect. I'd love to show you what it looks like here, but the screen is kinda small and there seem to be quite a few people who are interested, so we'll take a look at it in the Theater. That should give Arc enough time to compile a report of major anatomical differences."

"Pardon?" Bishop Kayes had not prevented Cayzi from volunteering, but he still had some duties to uphold as his guardian. "You won't show anything . . ."

"I'm no doctor, but I will ensure his privacy with regards to inappropriate areas. We can blur what shouldn't be seen, though I feel obligated to bring attention to anything dangerous."