World Tree MUSH

    Thanks to the strange encounter with the mold after running through the city controlled by Nazi androids, this next visit to the Warden does not have to go through the fascist state. Instead, the deck opens to the Forest level, which is... clogged with mutant plants, but fortunately very little time is spent there before the hidden maintenance hatch the intelligent telepathic mold informed Circe and the others about is found, and the group can crawl up a relatively short distance to the entrance to the Command Deck, locked away behind a secure door that is, fortunately, not fully functional.

    That being said, it still isn't supposed to let anyone in. This just means that Circe can probably hack it to open it up, given a few minutes.

    And who should get that hatch open but one Samus Aran, the galaxy's greatest maintenance worker. Also bounty hunter.
    The Hunter is here, of course; having invested herself in the investigation of The Warden, and with the help of the strange but apparently reliable psychic mold is able to climb through into the maintenance tunnels.
    This time, without Valerian around, Samus takes point up to the non-functional door.
    "Aida. Would you kindly knock for us?"

    Circe is, for those who have not been tagging along, not identifying herself as such. Instead, 'Aida' is prodding at the door. In her brain, to be exact, which is controlling a whole bunch of nanobots at the moment that are trying to break into the door.

    This bears a very strong resemblence to her just staring at the door with a vacant expression, because she's not completely in her own head at the moment to reply or anything. She won't reply to Samus verbally, but at least she's actually being helpful today! That's never a guarantee, though she's been largely better here than elsewhere.

    It sounds like Yahiko missed... a lot. Not that the teenage swordsman knows what Nazis are. Still, it looks like they're trying to get to the command center, and he understands that... vaguely. Mostly he's trying to keep up, and waiting for the door to open. "Any idea what's in here? And what our objective is?" Being from an older time, the whole idea of a giant ship run by computers is... tough, for him.

    But Yahiko has seen robots and more when here, so he's adapted, and isn't even asking too many questions about what Circe is doing, or of the power armor his companions have.

 
 This operation had been getting a lot of talk going in broadband so it was inevitable that Commander Shadowsun would get involved eventually, particularly when she heard that the mysterious Captain Samus Aran was taking part in the mission as well. 
 
 Arriving earlier to join up with the party, Shadowsun was clad in her usual XV-22 Battle Suit, her helmet pulled back to showcase her blue skinned face and wild red hair tied into a long braid. She took a moment to start dowloading everyone's stats into her HUD, always ready to take command if necessary, even with the likes of Samus here. 

Daisy arrives not long after Shadowsun, also drawn by the broadband chatter. She's clad in her violently pink and yellow armou, her huge cannon slung and folded on her back and her helmet on her hip for the moment. She beams brightly to the others, offering her hand if anyone looks at her quizzically "Hi! I'm Daisy!" She declares in almost the exact Mario Princess tone.

Once introductions are made, the possum settles her helmet in place and unslings what she affectionately calls 'the Mauser', the barrel swinging into position and locking. She settles into place to guard Circe

    It's pretty dark in here, but some emergency lighting does function, and of course the glowing mold is there. A constant friend. Just helpful as can be. Actually pretty quiet, because it's apparently hard for the mold to communicate with mammalian minds. If questioned it may respond, but it isn't going to volunteer a chat.

    Then with a hiss the door opens, belching out... musty air. It smells bad. Not vile, just... stale almost? Seems safe to breathe but definitely something up here. The hatch opens up into a long corridor with flickering lights, some of which are dangling from their recepticles. A faint hum whrrs to life, and a distorted computerized voice announces, "WelCOME to the C-c-c-c-c-c-command deck. D-d-d-decontamination complete. This deck is safe. Safe. Safe. Safe. Safe to enter."

    Yahiko looks at the others. Lots of heavy armaments. And then... he swaps weapons. The wooden training sword he normally uses is tucked over his back, and instead he moves the steel blade normally carried across his back, to his side, where he can draw it readily. "I don't know about the rest of you, but that just makes me more worried. What does it mean by decontamination anyway?"

    He drops out of the hatch and warily scans about, using eyes, ears, and his natural instinct for danger. No fancy methods, but this really doesn't seem like it's as safe as the voice says. "Where to?"

    'Safe to enter'.
    How ominous.
    But once Circe has the doors open, Samus strides into the corridor, visor running a scan for anything that could be a threat before motioning for the others to follow her in.
    "That's welcoming." She comments mildly.
    "Decontamination is usually a process to clean a person or place of dangerous substances." She explains before peering at Yahiko; noting his choice to swap to the actual sword for once.
    "If we're lucky, the decon protocols cleared out any radiation that might be here. ... Assuming they're working properly."

 
 "Greetings and well met, I am Commander Shadowsun." The Tau greeted her new allies whom they would no doubt be stronger now fighting together for The Greater Good! Shadowsun being her usual sociable self did not mean that she was going to hang back and chatter. She was far too goal oriented to keep herself to socializing even if this particular group of people looked very promising, well, except for Circe who she already knew had trouble following commands. Shadowsun always made a point to remember who was a team player and who wasn't. 
 
 With the door opening, Shadowsun brought her helmet down to protect her head and brought out her two giant, tonfa like, fusion cannons, slowly stepping forward to follow behind Samus. 
 
 "Hm, malfunctioning AI, always fun." Noted Shadowsun as the buggy voice welcomed them deeper still. "You are right to be worried. Keep your weapons at the ready and eyes peeled." She told Yahiko as she followed her own advice. 
 
 "Decontamination is usually a process used to try to keep foreign objects from an area in order to keep it sanitized. But.. considering the disrepair of this place it may or it may not have happened." She certainly didn't feel anything, and checked her HUD just in case. 

    Aida will come back into herself as the door opens, rubbing at her eyes, the slight glow that shows through when she uses her implants for hacking fading away for now by the time her hands move back away. "Hmm, hopefully it means that there won't be any radiation, or plague, or salmonella."

    ..Is she worried someone might lick a surface in here? Circe can't rule it out.

    "I do hope that we won't be dealing with an insane AI or something like that. I don't like that stutter in the announcement."

Daisy nods in agreement with Yahiko "I hear you." She agrees, swinging her aim towards the hatch and then moving towards it just behind Samus and Shadowsun. "Glitchy computer voice telling me it's safe? Nah fam I've played enough games to know that's always a sign shit's going down." 

She glances at the fusion cannons, nodding her approval; very tasty indeed. She tracks around with the big Mauser, looking for signs of trouble - either past, present, or impending.

    A quick scan by those who have the ability will confirm slightly elevated levels of radiation... slightly. No more than one would get from a plane ride above the clouds, really. So at least in the immediate area, it looks like decontamination did work.

    It's also... not silent. Faintly, in the distance, there's not just the whirring and humming of the normal ship's engines and devices, but irregular clatter. Not close, but there's SOMETHING here. Robots? Androids?

    Fortunately this deck seems to have a layout readily available, with instructions on walls and floors. Apparently there are residential areas here for the command crew, as well as a security station, and of course... the bridge.

    "Yahiko Myojin," Yahiko says to those who didn't hear him before. Just an idle introduction, while looking around at the instructions. "I'm guessing we're here for the bridge, huh? I don't know much about boats and ships but that sounds like where we need to go."

    He walks slowly forward, though will change direction if someone indicates his guess is wrong. "I'm worried about the noises we're hearing. And this is my first time here... where's the crew, anyway?"

 
 "I'm detecting very low levels of radiation." Shadowsun informed the party. She glanced about, noticing that at least one of them didn't have power armor on, which was troubling, but she was certain that he would be fine. A total rookie wouldn't have gotten involved in this mess.. right? RIGHT!? Yes, this human looked like a fighter, maybe he had some of that 'magic' she kept hearing about that would protect him. 
 
 "Nothing to worry about for the moment, I'll let you all know if it begins increasing." She nodded at Yahiko and his greetings. 
 
 Looking up hearing the noise in the distance, Shadowsun leveled her fusion cannon and shot a flare further ahead to illuminate the darkness and see if they could spot whatever it was that was in the distance. 
 
 "Flare!" She announced to clarify, just in case someone thought she was actually attacking the darkness. 

Daisy nods "Glad I'm not the only one who's hearing it." She agrees. She doesn't look directly at the flare but her aim does follow a little bit behind it, close enough to see anything illuminted by the glow without being blinded, even if her helmet's flare shielding didn't compensate. 
"I really don't wanna know what a TV dinner feels like." the Possum comments. "So that'd be lovely, thank you Shadowsun."
She peers at the map a moment to fix it in her head, her tail swishing behind her softly.

    "We should probably check in at the security station before anything else. I might be able to increase access for some of us, at least for a little bit." Circe is also not in any sort of notable armor, but she's not really the sort of person to get up close and personal with an android if she can avoid it anyways.

    "Either way, if any androids try to murder me, I'd appreciate it if one of you could stand in between me and them and take the bullet. You've got that, right, Samus?"

    "Samus Aran." That's her introduction to Daisy. The others she's met before, so it's mostly for the possum's sake as the Hunter frowns behind her visor.
    "I'm getting the same on that radcount. And... We might not be alone here." She says on hearing the clatter.
    Shadowsun lights the way and Samus' visor dims reflexively so that she's not blinded by the flare.
    To Circe... Samus says a number.
    Circe will know what this means.

    Well, the security station isn't in the opposite direction of the bridge anyway, so it's not a big detour. Besides, that's not what people should be paying attention to. Shadowsun's flare tumbles down the corridor to light up the dimly-lit space... and revealing what's making the noise.

    A robot. About four feet high, with treads. Or... a tread? As it turns around there's a clattering noise as it moves its leg, haphazardly attached to a base that's supposed to have two treads to move. A tentacle waves from one side, while the other drags a clawed arm along the wall, leaving a scratch as the strange kitbashed robot half-rolls, half-staggers toward the group of 'intruders' it sees now.

    Another robot appears just behind it, entering the light with a wobble where it hovers above, a strange hound-like front half ill-supported by the hovering disk, front legs making ineffective scrabbling motions at the air. Unlike the other, this has some kind of weapon on top, a turret that whrrs and turns, though as yet hasn't targeted anyone. More shadowy figures are jumbled behind these two, with the faint gleam of metal suggesting they're also robotic.

 
 Oh, that's definitely not good. The robot by itself would have been something to inspect closely, but as soon as Shadowsun saw that tentacle she knew that it was 'no bueno' as some Humans said. She'd dealt enough with creatures of the Warp to know what that meant. 
 
 "Fire! Fire! OPEN FIRE!!" She yelled to the others and trained her double fusion cannons at the robots, her HUD locking on to her targets as she unleash a barrage of plasma at the robots. This time she wasn't going to wait for them to attack first. 

    Circe will blanch at the number Samus names, a much more visible emotional reaction than most of those here would have seen. "Are you serious? I'd need to go steal a whole bank in order to pay for that! You're wearing power armor!" She's, in fact, objecting hard enough to the idea of paying that much not to get shot that she's kind of slow to respond to the actual threat, and it's not until Shadowsun screams out that she even notices that somehting's going on.

    Aida, of course, will immediately respond to the order to open fire at someone by diving for the ground and trying to find somewhere to hide.

Daisy lets her aim drift across the approaching robots as she casually moves to put her bring pink and yellow self between Circe and the robot zombies, holding off until she hears Shadowsun's words. She brings her aim to bear on the leader but hesitates, at least until the fusion guns fire... welp. If they weren't hostile before they probably are now. She shrugs quietly to herself and opens up too. The cannon booms loudly, while Daisy to take a half-step back every three or four shots because Sir Isaac Newton doesn't like it when 70-kilo possums fire >200 kilo revolver cannons. While she's clearly capable of weilding it without much problem, the recoil gradually pushes her centre of balance backwards until she's got to readjust her footing.
Gods help her, though. It never gets old.

    Samus sees the mechanical silhouettes in the light of Shadowsun's flare.
    She says another number to Circe.
    It is double the last number, in spite of Circe's complaints Or maybe because of Circe's complaints.
    Shadowsun opens fire.
    Daisy opens fire.
    Samus lifts her armcannon and unloads; streaks of molten hot plasma beams lancing from her weapon arm into the crowd of mechanical monstrosities.

    And... Yahiko is suddenly dealing with autocannon in close quarters. That's loud. He winces, but since he has no ranged weapon, he just draws his sword. The one with the blunt edge on the front. But at least it's metal, right? Either way he's not going to jump in front of all that cannon fire, and instead is going to back away and look for an alternative.

    "Okay, what's the best way to go that ISN'T covered in metal zombies?"

    Well, really the bridge and security station are still within reach, provided this pocket of 'zombies' is dealt with. Fortunately, the sheer amount of panicked gunfire at this group pretty much reduces them to scrap. The massive load of ammo sort of blasts the entire corridor clean, in that direction.

    "Warning. Bulkhead sealing. D-d-d-d-d-depressurization imminent. Sealing compromised zone." A thick door slams down, cutting off that portion. Yes, the Warden is HUGE, miles long, but it's still a spaceship and that much firepower is probably not wanted. Even if there's no way that area is anywhere near the hull, so the depressurization bit may not be correct?

    In the other direction, the security station nearby has only one robot there. It's wheeled, with a large base, and seems to be largely intact. Like, the original body. The eyes light up and it blurts out, "Spare parts identified." And that's when one arm ending in a torch flares to life.

    That said, the security station itself, while ransacked, obviously still has things inside. Computer terminals, and some weapons if anyone needs energy cells or a laser rifle.

    "I don't HAVE that much. I don't even have your normal price anymore! It's outrageous what you charge, it is." Circe says, from where she's laying on the ground. She's got a gun, but it's really not made for taking out androids. "Also please don't remove all of the air from this ship. I need it to breath, and it's really inconvenient if I need to be revived or something out this far."

    She'll make her way back to her feet, heading straight for one of the computer terminals, beginning to try to break into it and see if she can get any better access than she already has.

    Also if she can get the androids to prioritize targeting Samus when they're hostile.

 
 Fusion Cannons go BRRRRRRR until everything stops moving is Shadowsun's preferred Modus Operandi, despite all her preaching about the Greater Good and all that. 
 
 "Hold your fire!" She calls out to the others, which is really just out of practice since such accomplished warriors can probably tell the robots have been dealt with and not wait for the Tau Commander's orders. "Threats neutralized." She announced, glaring a little at the huge wall bearing down on the area. It is strange that they are nowhere near the hull of the ship, perhaps the AI is overreacting? 
 
 "Well, that way just opened up." She motioned towards the swordsman as he was wondering which way to go but the arrival of a singular bot with a torch caught her attention. This one didn't look entirely threatening. 
 
 "Anyone knows what this bot is talking about?" She asked to no one in particular, fusion cannons aimed at it just in case it also needed to be blown to pieces. 

    Well, if the others are handling the horde, Yahiko can handle the one with the torch. "I've got it," he replies. His blade is out, and he approaches, waiting for any hostile move. "Do your thing I guess. I think whatever is running this ship is broken."

    Even without knowing about AIs and stuff, Yahiko can tell that much.

    "These things aren't nearly as advanced as Blues," he notes thoughtfully.

    "My prices are modest and fair." Samus says, tone cool and mild.
    Before she says another number.
    It's double the last one as she moves on when the blast door seals.
    "We're too deep in the ships interior. I don't think depressurization is an actual risk here." She does muse while the party moves in the direction of the security station.
    "Ransacked." She says, sounding unsurprised. But when the machine says 'spare parts detected' noticing the party...
    "I think it means 'us'." Replied to Shadowsun. She won't interfere unless Yahiko has some real issue with the torch-bot-zombie.

Daisy eases off the gunfire once the majority are down, not wanting to hurt Yahiko in the crossfire. He's too close now, so she stays out of it. 

She nods at Samus' words. "I think you're right." She says. "Can you guys watch his back? I don't wanna open up too close to him, these are big bullets and I don't wanna hit the guy."

 
 "Ah." That made more sense to Shadowsun once Samus explained what the bot meant. 
 
 She didn't seem to be too worried about the human handling the robot zombie, it was just one of them! How tough could he be. "Kick his ass, Yahiko." She said some encouraging words she'd heard from Imperial Guardsmen before. 

    The robot there with the torch is a threat, though a mild one. It announces, "Beginning extraction." Then the torch lowers to stab toward Yahiko, but given the swordsman's ability to parry and the like, it should be simple for him to disable a single robot. It does explain what happened to the others, though.

    Circe taking a look in the room can find some terminals, but a quick look through reveals that most of this is all controlled by an AI splinter for the deck. The systems are corrupted, and it looks like all the systems are fighting one another. There IS a log though, indicating that the main AI handed over responsibility for this many years ago, in an attempt to delegate to what it likely didn't know was a dangerous system.

    "You can keep naming numbers that are higher than what I have but I'm just going to not have it even harder." Circe will sulk, but her brain is also brushing up against the AI at the moment, and that's really not good for her keeping her focus on her grudge against Samus. Maybe later.

    Once she's figured it out, she'll break off from the security system with a sigh. "This is going to be a problem. We can try to go to the bridge. I don't suppose any of you who aren't me are equipped to go into a battle within the soul of a machine to crush it and bend it to your will? I'll do it for triple what Samus is asking to prevent me from being shot, because I'm going to need to not be shot while I'm doing it."

Daisy shrugs a little "I'm not equipped but this place is a whole shit-show. I'll keep you from getting shot coz... same team, right? Then maybe you can bring me up to snuff on what the shit is going on 'ere." she grins. "Can't really pay, my sponsorship only really covers my livin costs."

 
 Shadowsun kept her eyes on the battle between the zombie bot and Yahiko. According to her calculations, Yahiko should have no problem besting this foe, but she didn't become a Commander simply by trusting the data and giving her back to the battle. She wanted to -see- why she was certain Yahiko would emerge victorious. 
 
 In the meantime, she overheard Circe's comments and while it irritated her that the woman who absolutely refused to work as a team now desperately needed help, she wasn't in a position to argue, nor was she petty enough to let Circe suffer out of spite. 
 
 "Same." She agreed with Daisy in regards to Circe. "I'll keep you safe, Circe. For the Greater Good." It just so happened that the Greater Good was free of charge. How nice. 

    Circe will do it for triple what Samus is charging.
    "Consider this on the house."
    She just dropped her price to '0'.

    While the others handle... negotiations? ... Yahiko handles the torch. Blocking it by ramming the hilt of his sword on the underside of the arm, he flicks the blade around. Blunt or not, a quick slash into the joints can really ruin a robot's day, so that's what he does. Evidently he's fought mechanical things before, because he knows what to go for, at least.

    Glancing back. "Okay, so we do need to head for the bridge. I guess hand me one of those guns... I don't really use them but just in case, it'd be nice to have something."

    Fouling up the arm is easy, and the robot doesn't seem to know how to deal with that. The torch sputters a bit but it is now helpless, the malfunctioning bot just repeating, "Error. Error." Not very smart, are they?

    But yes, it does look like that's the problem. The AI here, even the robots, seem to be heavily corrupted and need a reboot or reset of some kind, but the security station can't do that. At best, Circe can seal off a few doors to try to get an easy pathway to the bridge.

 
 "Incidentally, I was just about to suggest for you to equip one of these plasma rifles!" Said Shadowsun sounding uncharacteristically enthusiastic about Yahiko using a rifle. Of course, leave it to a Tau to be excited about someone discarding melee for the superiority of ranged combat. Yahiko was well on his way to embrace the GREATER GOOD as far as she was concerned. 
 
 She took the liberty of picking out a discarded rifle for Yahiko, making sure it was loaded and still serviceable. She waited until the human finished off her opponent- resisting the urge to do it herself but she knew that stealing a finisher was rude- before handing the rifle to Yahiko. 
 
 "Here, it looks like it operates just like Lasgun." Of course, Shadowsun is still under the impression that all humans are familiar with Lasguns. 

    Circe will actually hold off on doing anything further now; she's planning to see if she can make the full wipe or reset from the bridge. "I'll just.. wait to get to the bridge and try some work from there. We should be good to go, I think."

    She's actually still unwilling to do anything to directly harm one of the androids because she's undecided on if they count as people or not; some of the earlier ones definitely did, and she hasn't forgotten her promise to look into why they've been built to have a limited lifespan and if she can override it. The bridge might have some answers there, too.

Daisy stays on guard, chuckling at Samus dropping the price to free. "People are mercenary these days." she says with a shake of her head. Shestays on guard, following the others when they move. "Sounds good. I'll just make sure nothing gets too close."

    "Bounty hunter actually." Samus says to Daisy.
    She does not add in that she enjoys messing with Circe.
    That should be a given by now.
    "The bridge sounds like our best bet at this point." She does agree with Yahiko, though.

    Yahiko sheaths his sword, and looks over the gun. "I don't really know how to use these things, but I've seen it." Which is why he actually has pretty good gun safety, apparently! Though it takes him a few minutes to actually figure out where the safety is, and don't ask him to reload this thing! But point and shoot he should be able to handle... just don't expect him to be able to hit anything with preceision.

    "Shouldn't this ship have a crew? Did they die?"

    A few singular shambling 'zombots' do get caught on the way to the bridge, but nothing that can't be handled trivially. Upon entering the large room with the raised deck, monitors spring to life, and a voice, different from the stammering one outside, begins to speak.

    "Alien life forms detected. Human life forms detected." A pause as it seems to assess this. "Security bands found, but unregistered in any crew manifests."

    After a few seconds of thought, the invisible voice speaks again. "Welcome to the CS Warden, colony ship bound for Alpha Centauri. I regret to inform you that we are not operational, and all services are handled by deck-level AIs. Crew is currently in cryosleep pending the resolution of current crisis. The ship is unable to resume its journey due to damage and blockage of the asteroid wedged against the hull."

    One more brief pause, and it further clarifies, "If you are a rescue mission, we would like to request aid in resuming the ship's journey. Please detach the asteroid from the hull. Warning: asteroid regularly emits strange radiation which spreads unnaturally through the ship. The asteroid appears to be a colony ship for an unknown hostile alien species attempting to capture this ship. Danger level: unknown. Android emergency crew has been activated but have been unable to resolve the problem. Communications to 85% of the ship has been lost and must be manually reinstated."

 
 "If you have any questions on how to use firearms I'd be happy to teach you." Said Shadowsun, ever happy to indoctrinate more into the GREATER GOOD, particularly by way of teaching them how to use ranged weaponry. Because nothing says freedom like GUNS. 
 
 As they advanced through the ship, the Tau looked up and around to the new voice as it explained the current situation. "There's your answer about the crew." She mused towards Yahiko before the AI explained the way to rescue the ship, and the reason why there were unnatural levels of radiation in the ship. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us." 

    Circe will frown at the speech that is given, but everything there seems to make a lot of sense to her, at least.

    "...Wonder if they're talking about the mold, or if there's a second alien species that's trying to take this place over. Or if the mold is just something natural, and.. Never mind." Circe will change her thoughts midway through, trailing off and not elaborating. "We should try to restore this as best we can, though. This ship could be a tremendous resource to m.. to us."

Daisy follows the others and listens, nodding. "Hostile aliens?" She says, blinking. "That explains a lot. We do." She agrees, checking the ammunition on her cannon. The cannon whirrs as it retracts the ammunition still in the bet, and thene she pulls the huge drum off the back one-handed, slotting the partially-empty casing back into her magazine and pulling out a fresh one. Once it's in place the cannon whirrs again as it feeds the fresh ammunition through the armoured belt. Guns might say 'freedom' but nothing says 'stop your shenanegans' like really big guns. 

She looks up. "Computer person, identify the hostile alien if possible?"

    Yahiko listens, but doesn't understand everything. Shadowsun is given a funny look. "Maybe," he says guardedly. "I'm a swordsman and I don't like killing, so I've avoided firearms. They're kind of new in my native world." He doesn't seem to begrudge the offer though, and diddn't say no. It might be useful if he keeps wandering.

    He does understand some though. "So is the crew still alive and just not awake? Are any of the aliens here the hostile aliens?"

Daisy chips in to Yahiko "I know a guy who can set you up with a beanbag gun if you prefer less-lethal." She suggest. "Might break a rib or two, and you don't wanna aim for the head but they're good for taking the fight out of people."

    The AI can hear Circe musing, and answers, "The hostile aliens are not classified as a mold. They appear to be sluglike in composition." It then answers Yahiko, "The crew is still largely intact. Some casualties from the damage have been incurred. Other sleep pods have been damaged, but cybernetic replacement is currently underway until proper limb regrowth can be given."

    The AI pauses. "Only two of you qualify as human, although a third appears to be a human mutation. Neither of the alien species present is known." Apparently Daisy is classed as an alien? At least this AI seems to have a conversational ability built in. "I would recommend a full reboot from the captain's chair of the subordinate AIs, which will allow them to re-establish communications."

Daisy looks up, indignantly with a possum 'weegh' sound of annoyance. "I'm not an alien!" she protets. "I'm a genetically engineered lifeform, or at least my grandparents were. Earthling born and bred! There's probably human DNA in me somewhere for the whole biped thing." 
She scans around with her cannon, watching everyone's backs still, making little possum grumble noises at being called an alien.

    "I doubt it knows that..." Yahiko points out. "And if it doesn't see you as an enemy when waving that thing aroud, it's probably fine."

    Circe will frown and nod at that, not totally certain whether she counts as human or not but actually assuming she's the mutant. She'll move over to the captain's chair, however, to see if she can figure out how to perform the reset from here. Unplugging it and plugging it back in is her first guess, as she takes the seat.

    "..This does make me the captain, I'm pretty sure. I never thought I'd end up in charge of you all like this."

    The AI states, "As you currently are not in the crew registry and hold no rank within the United States military, you are not the captain. However, a human's direct action is needed to reset the AI." There is, in fact, a screen with that button flashing on it. Circe is familiar enough with the systems of the ship she can try to do more if she wishes, but actually doing the reboot is simple enough.

    Circe will, in the throne of the entire ship, smile. "Oh, I don't know. You can probably add me to the crew registry as the captain, can't you?" And as she sits there, she goes vacant again, her mind going back to the implants interfacing with the AI and the chair, attempting to break in and give herself every ounce of access she possibly can in addition to performing the reboot. A reboot is a perfect time to implement systems changes like access levels, after all!

>> GAME >> Circe spends an Edge for: Hacking the mainframes

    As Circe goes vacant, the others get to see some results. The lights flicker, and the original stuttering voice announces, without stuttering, "Security systems restarted, removing rogue elements."

    As for Circe? Well, the system is better made than she expected, so no, she isn't the Captain now. However, granting access to all the decks of the ship, and several other perks, that's quite possible. She should be able to access very informative screens from almost any terminal, though the segmented nature of the network will make that a variable return on investment. This grants her quite a large amount of control over the ship, but for any specific deck she'll need to find its hub and access it directly.