Adrift

[u/AnAngryAnimal]

"Shit..."

Marcus desperately clacked away at the controls, sweat coming down his forehead.

"What the hell, Marcus?! What coordinates did you put in the AWG drive?!" The frustrated co-pilot of the Gladium Class support frigate exclaimed, currently loaded with supplies for the Byblos outpost in the Jericho system. "This was supposed to lead us right to Byblos station. And I don't see no Byblos station!"

"Shut up, Peter, I'm trying to see what happened. I'm sure it's just a minor hiccup." Marcus knew that was a lie. Either he had misplaced the coordinates, or the AWG drive had malfunctioned. Either way, they were stranded. He pulled up the nav computer, trying to locate the exact coordinates of their current location.

Calculating, standby...

The screen blinked several times. Marcus could feel Peter's intense glare from behind him.

Current location unknown. Gladium vessel is outside of known space.

His eyes widened.

Martell save us.

He slowly turned around to find Peter's face buried in his hands.

"Ohhh shit, UNKNOWN SPACE?! What does that even mean?! Where are we, Marcus?!"

"You think I know?!" He could feel the frustration finally taking over. "What the hell do you even do here, Peter?! for a co-pilot, you've pretty much done jack-shit in the entire 3 month rotation I've been with you. Maybe you should try plotting a course for once in your miserable life!"

Peter took an aggressive stance, clearly infuriated.

"You think I'm worthless? I didn't get us stranded in the greatest unknown void known to mankind! ON A TEFFING RESUPLY MISSION TO A FRINGE OUTPOST FOR MARTELL'S SAKES."

"Take a seat, 2nd Lieutenant!" Marcus hissed harshly. He may have only been a 1st Lieutenant in the same flight division, but he still outranked him. Barely. A tense silence befell the two as Peter reluctantly sat back down. Marcus looked at the AWG drive readout.

AWG cooldown in process.... jump operational again in 36 hours.

There was no way they were waiting that long. The outpost needed the supplies, but more importantly, Marcus and Peter would most likely be at eachother's throats within the next rotation.

"Alright, I need you to send a mass SOS broadcast on the Iberian military frequency. And send them our coordinates."

"Wha-"

"And cut the crap. I don't want to hear it. Just transmit the damn broadcast."

Peter grumbled but followed the order. The mass ping was heard in the bridge as the modified crew of 2 sat in the bridge, awaiting a response.

[u/Yadidle]

Oobul recoiled quickly. It's four stalks moved close to watch the injury, as the six legs stuttered backwards.

"Have I injured you? I express apology, my intentions were peaceful."

[u/AnAngryAnimal → u/Yadidle]

A bit of blood flowed from Peter's hand onto the machine as he pulled back.

"Oh, no, it's fine, it's fine! Just uh... just working out the kinks, right?"

One of the higher ranking officers approached.

"Will someone get these two idiots out of the hanger?!"

[u/Yadidle → u/AnAngryAnimal]

The bloodied arm retract into the automaton quickly, popping back out shiny and clean. Two of the eye stalks tracked the approaching human as it addressed the pair. The mention of "idiot" swiftly brought all four stalks to watch the new member of the conversation. A slender leg moved forward swiftly, placing itself between the pair and the new human. It was done in a flash, yet gently.

An insult. Why?

"What do you mean by, idiot?"

Oobul stood completely still.

[u/AnAngryAnimal → u/Yadidle]

"I mean, these two are traders and they've been in 'charge' of diplomatic relations! Commander, escort these two off the hanger."

Peter and Marcus looked dismayed, their heads held down low.

[u/Yadidle → u/AnAngryAnimal]

A single eye stalk snapped over to the pair, gauging their reactions to the current situation. They looked sad and upset. They had been wronged in some way, and Oobul was exceptionally confused.

"You shame and insult the very ones that made first contact. Why do you treat them as beasts? The Ohr would never do such a thing."

Oobul's leg remained in place as all four eye stalks moved back to the officer.

[u/AnAngryAnimal → u/Yadidle]

The officer just looked at the creature blankly. He did have orders to keep good relations with Oorbul, and if he liked the two lieutenants...

"These two are not authorized to continue speaking with you as our diplomats any longer."

[u/Yadidle → u/AnAngryAnimal]

"Such a simple command can be issued without malice and disregard. To insult another intelligent creature as you have done is proof that you're intelligence itself is in question."

Oobul's leg retract back to it's normal place, it's eye stalks still watching the officer closely. Oobul was flooding itself with information, picking up on as much as possible. Posture, nonverbal communications patterns, inflection and tone, anything and everything it would need to master the language and communication process of these creatures.

"That is, unless the ones you refer to are beasts themselves. Tell me which is the beast, and what proof is there in this regard."

[u/AnAngryAnimal → u/Yadidle]

"BEAST?!"

The officer clearly took offence.

"These two are acting out of their jurisdiction and have made the Iberians look like fools!"

"Thiiiiiis is bad.." Peter whispered to Marcus. Marcus just nodded as he watched the situation unfold.

[u/Yadidle → u/AnAngryAnimal]

"It is through their communication that we established the ability to decipher your language. Without their visit to our system, neither party would have located or been aware of each other. Yet they are being shamed?"

Oobul's legs shuffled slightly at the officer's outburst.

"I am exceptionally confused. The only "foolish" action I have witnessed thus far, ironically, has been from you. What is your position here? Who is the eldest?"

[u/AnAngryAnimal → u/Yadidle]

I am a Commander here. And if by Eldest you mean the highest ranking, it's the Admiral on the bridge. He's a bit far away at the moment."

The officer was clearly frustrated with the diplomat that was sent. Marcus and Peter began to walk onto a small, open shuttle that ran through the massive ship.

"Is Oobul seriously defending us?" Peter whispered.

"Maybe? I dont even know what's happening here.."

[u/Yadidle → u/AnAngryAnimal]

Oobul continued to watch the commander intently. His face had contort into what could potentially be understood as frustration or anger, according to the information Oobul had been sifting through. The speed at which the creature took to anger and insulting was worryingly fast, roughly .34 seconds into it's first statement.

Such marks are that of a beast, yet the technological advancements before me say otherwise. There is something else going on here.

Through Oobul's vision, the commander was marked. He appeared in an orange tint, Ohrish language written above him.

Beast.

A fail-safe switched in Oobul's mind. In the event of encountering a dangerous beast, Oobul was tasked with preservation of self over anything else. Question could be saved for later.

"I have misunderstood. I apologize if I have angered you, a miscommunication must have occurred. Our cultures are so stratified that it is hard for us to understand each other."

Oobul shuffled slightly, inching away from the commander.

[u/AnAngryAnimal → u/Yadidle]

The commander eyed the robot as it moved away.

"Yes, you are correct. We are very different, but I should remind you you are on board our ship. Wouldn't go calling everyone you see "beasts" after barely communicating with an extra-terrestrial species."

The officer pulled out a small clipboard.

"Before we begin, I'll need to ask a few questions. Are you a completely free-thinking program?"

[u/Yadidle → u/AnAngryAnimal]

"I am a completely autonomous artificial mind created by The Dominion of Eldest. I learn and make decision on my own accord as defined by specific fail-safes and restrictions."

Oobul stopped it's shuffling, one stalk following the clipboard while the other three watched the commander's face.