Chapter 588: 588 Making Friends
The technicians from the Envoy's ship were having a grand time on their first visit to Terminus. Such a good time, in fact, that they were still in the research and development lab, admiring all of the things that Nico and her team had been working on when the Envoys called them in the morning to give a detailed update on the status of the warp drives.
To say that the Envoys were a bit surprised to see that the message connected directly with the internal communication servers of Terminus and not back to their own ship was an understatement. They had expected the work would take a week or more, so the technicians should be busy at work, not hanging out on an alien cruise ship.
[I can confirm, Envoy. All ship systems check out. The repairs have passed the internal scans, system diagnostics, and internal tuning checks. All that is left is to power it up and take a test flight at various warp speeds to confirm the computer's analysis.] The technician confirmed when the Innu Envoy checked in with them.
[Where are you now? I will come to your room and check the data myself.] The envoy responded and got back a few moments of silence before the Technicians had anything to say.
[We are in a secure area of Terminus, but we can get an escort to you, and I will show you the data in person.] The Technician offered.
[Why are you in an area that I cannot access?] The Innu questioned, eager to know what they had been up to.
Тhе lаtеѕt аnd mоѕt рорulаr nоvеlѕ аt lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm
[You see, we got to talking shop, and one thing led to another, so most of the night shift is here in the research labs with the Human design team and some of the Tech Nomads, going over the latest revision to their augmentic environmental suits.
These things are brilliant. They're more intuitive than a drone or augmentic arm and fully environment stable for outside work. You should have seen the ones that they made for the Canis crewmen, who have large pointed ears atop their heads. The helmets are so cute.]
[Find a way to get me access. I must see what you are talking about. I have seen humans in all sorts of clothing around the ship, but never an augmentic armour.] The envoy demanded, jealous at being out of the loop about a cool new technology.
The response was exactly what everyone had been expecting. They had already informed an escort team to be on standby to bring the envoy to the labs when they asked, so the Alliance Technicians responded immediately.
[They have a team on the way to your position now. It's a bit of a walk, but they might have a cart for you. You will get a laugh out of those too. They're so basic. I mean, they don't even have an onboard computer, just a bio-battery and a motor with manual controls. It's insane.]
Max was listening in on the two as they conversed and laughed a bit at the description of their repurposed golf carts. They were simple but easily rechargeable and rarely had a service failure. Plus, they were so light now that they had switched to the biomatter energy storage units that most of the crew could lift an end to put them on stands should they get a flat tire or suffer a breakdown.
lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm fоr thе bеѕt nоvеl rеаdіng ехреrіеnсе
Even then, most of the failures were likely to be an electrical connection since there were only a few moving parts, and almost everyone aboard had learned enough in their basic training to be able to diagnose that, at least. The technicians still did weekly service on them, though, checking everything and adding a bit of grease to the wheel bearings if necessary.
Terminus was a big ship, so some of the more popular routes saw a lot of kilometres put on the carts since the crew used them as public transit.
The cart in question arrived at the Envoy's location only a few minutes later with two uniformed Terminus guards on board as his escort.
It was one of the six-passenger models, with three rows of seating, suitable for the Envoy to bring both of his own guards along on the journey through the ship.
"I do hope you can forgive us for keeping so much of the ship off limits, but in a way, Terminus is still a military ship, and letting anyone who isn't a staff member into areas where live weapons are present would constitute a severe security breach." The guard informed the Innu envoy before holding out a hand to assist her into the cart.
Her two large male security officers loaded themselves into the back seat, marvelling that they could fit. Most vehicles were designed for a certain standard, and the majority of the crew aboard Terminus were not large men.
Тhе lаtеѕt аnd mоѕt рорulаr nоvеlѕ аt lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm
"The carts were originally designed for a sporting event, so stability and extra space to carry equipment was a major consideration. The hallways of Terminus were made for much larger bodies as well, so keeping the wide and stable form of the carts made sense, and it doesn't interfere with two-way traffic." The driver explained as he made the slow drive back to the entrance of the secure areas of the ship.
"And after all this time, you never thought they might need an upgrade? Not even an autopilot or an efficiency tracker to ensure that the crew wasn't misusing them?" The envoy asked.
"The entire fleet of carts is such a minor power draw that it hasn't been a consideration. They're not high-speed vehicles, so they don't need high-output motors, and many of them have been converted to flat decks with scissor lifts to deliver parts and hold items while Technicians work.
Being on a solid surface is vastly preferable to hovering with gravity control, at least to most of the technicians it is, so they like them for all sorts of maintenance issues."
They passed one such modified cart on their way to the development bay, with six technicians sitting on the deck, letting their legs hang off the sides, making the Envoy's eye twitch with the need to reprimand them for violating safety procedures. Dangling feet near wheels was definitely a violation.
"Are they not concerned about injury?" The Innu asked as the cart full of technicians passed.
lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm fоr а bеttеr uѕеr ехреrіеnсе
"Honestly? Most of them can run faster than the cart is moving. It just saves them the energy of making their way to the next task. They can likely catch up and hop back on even if they fall." The driver replied with a shrug.
That was a revelation to the Envoy. He had forgotten that these humans' abilities did not necessarily match their appearance, even if they weren't cyborgs.