P:AE Group 1, Team R89

Everyone hears the following announcement about now.

There's a chime and a message plays over the general intercom.  

"Attention, crew and passengers!  A short announcement.  We are making good progress in surveying Planet, and will begin sending landing parties within the day.  If all continues to go well, we should be sending down the first colonies in a day or two.  That is all."  

The chime repeats, signalling the end of the transmission.  

Deck R Gymnasium

Clover's plan works well: she turns her attention away from the changeling slightly quicker than Link, and quickly maneuvers closer. Link moves to block her, which probably would have had a better chance of success if she hadn't gotten close so quickly: or if she were trying to strike him and not pin him down. Link dodges... but not well enough, merely giving Clover an opening to knock him off balance.

Barely anyone seems to have noticed: it was over so quickly. Though the griffon seems to have watched it.

You're both pretty sure that the coughing didn't sound very good, though neither of you are changelings yourselves. Clover's pretty sure that whatever it is isn't contagious though (at least to non-changelings!), and is probably a reaction to something. Perhaps she shouldn't overexert herself at the moment?

Appearance: Dull and Drained

Astral Arc's eyes narrowed a bit at the monitor on her tablet screen. "That's weird... why can't I get this to display properly? This interface doesn't match with the design in the archives. Maybe this is one of the 'holes...' Let's see if I can figure out how to restore it. Maybe if I go deep into the system files..."

Perception:

Technology:

She looks up, distracted as Dusty walks in.

"O-Oh yeah, I'm fine!" It comes off a bit forceful, possibly sarcastic.

Immediately the monitors containing data on Chaos Magic disappear, although you didn't see Astral Arc touch anything, although the small electrical sparks that were running off of them and Astral Arc also disappear.

Astral Arc realized fairly quickly that there was no way to lie about being alright. She so upset that her crystal facets were no longer visible. She supposed the best she could do was try to lie about it. "I-I'm just...erm... homesick?"

Streetsmarts:

Persuasion:

Looking at the data, Astral is able to start noticing patterns in the lost crew and colonist files.  This looks deliberate: It seems as though this was no random loss of information over time.  You even begin tracing the source of the data loss.  Unfortunately, it seems that there is no single source of the data corruption.  For example, one such file in fact seems to have been erased from this very terminal...

You think you could restore that file, for a start, maybe work your way from there.

Perception to detect horse hockey:

"I don't think you're as good at lyin' as you think you are, Astral." Dusty chuckled a bit before his expression changed, taking a more worried bent to it. "Look, if it's somethin' ya don't feel like talkin' about, that's one thing, but we're in this together. If it's somethin' important, you need to let us know, alright? And this seems that way, considering you're so worked up about it you're not even shining anymore." He looked at her for a moment, giving her a moment if she wanted it. He'd rather not play this 'what's wrong with whom' game this early on, especially since they were going to be pretty much living together from here on in.

Clover leaps overtop of the hippogriff, laying down with her back on his chest and pulling one of his legs over to her, forcing the hippogriff into something of a C shape. "Didja hear that?! We might be set up down there tomorrow!" She just holds the hippogriff like that for a moment, before realizing that she hasn't started counting. "Oh yeah! 1!"

Meta:

Astral Arc narrowed her eyes a bit. "Tell you anything important? Why? So you can pretend to be my friend and colleague for years and years and then suddenly steal all my research and never give me any credit? What's your game?"


Astral blinked a few times. Okay. That had sounded way less crazy in her head than it had out loud.

"Ehh... sorry...nevermind... I'm not mad at you. I just can't be sure that anypony can be trusted with my research... this time."

Astral lay back down on her bunk and curled up, snuggling more into her blanket and looking back a her tablet, using it to try to restore the file that was hidden. She glanced back at Dusty subconsciously a few times, as she did so, but didn't say anything. Maybe he wasn't a crazy intellectual property thief? But she'd thought that about Starswirl too...

Besides, they were on a team, but he hadn't done anything to prove that he even wanted to be her friend. Sure, ponies in this era seemed to care less about being Earth Ponies or Crystal Ponies or Pegasi or even dogs or Hippogriffs or anything like that, but still... was any of that real? Or was it just cooperation out of necessity? She hadn't seen any real proof that things were any different now than they were before.

Technology to Restore the Missing File:

(ah, a shame that wasn't a nat 20, then some real crazy stuff could've happened.)

Astral manages to restore the corrupted file, bringing up an image of a grey unicorn mare: one of the damaged crew files.  Text lines up next to the portrait.  

Name:  Stella Sprout
Assignment: Team R89
....

The text continues, listing Stella's qualifications and a short bio.  Before there's time to read it all, the screen zooms out.  

The computer chirps.  "File Restored!"

The computer displays in large letters TEAM R89, along with each team member's colonist bio:

Link, Clover Paw, Stella Sprout, Dusty Trails...

...with a noticeable lack of a file for Astral Arc.

Well, Astral Arc wasn't exactly surprised that she wasn't in the files, but that probably wasn't good for her if anyone else found out. She probably needed to make a file for herself, it wouldn't do if anyone noticed she wasn't supposed to be here. That would just lead to a lot of very unwanted (not to mention unanswerable) questions.

"Weird, my file isn't here. Maybe they just assigned me to the wrong room. I'll go looking for my file, and once I know where it is I'll just transfer it over here, and send the administration a message about the mistake."

Astral Arc looked over at her tablet and began to construct a file about herself. Hmm... I'll make myself a respected but little known researcher of chaos magic and energies, here to do consulting work about the ship's core, in addition to being a general technological expert. That should make it easier for me to get access to the materials I need for my research without raising suspicions, and maybe get me access to the ship's core.

Technology to Create the Personnel File:

Persuasion to Make Up a Fake Bio:

Arc pieces together her fake bio: the tablet's screen displaying "File Created!"- luckily not declaring it vocally like the computer had with the restored file.

The computer does chirp "File Transferred!" as your fabricated file pops up on the computer screen alongside the real ones.

"Odd...But you're right. Probably just a mistake, Things get lost all the time. Plus, looks like the computer's having some problems. Could explain the difference between the seeds I saw and the ship's count." Dusty blinked, looking at her for a moment. "Look, I think we may've got off on the wrong hoof. T' be honest, I figure long as you know what you're doing, you'll tell us if we need to know about somethin'. I meant far as anything else eatin' at you. Sounds like you got burned before." Dusty shifted his stance, trying to seem more open with her. Seemed like that might be why she was off, she was paranoid about them stealing her work.

Persuasion check to convince her Dusty's being sincere:

Clover continues pressing her weight into Link's chest, and manages to lock her arms together as the hippogriff struggles against her and extending his wings, unfortunately for him to little avail with his body bent into almost an O. She draws out the count, enjoying the moment of control with a taunt. "2! C'mon, you can do better than this!"
She waits a moment for the response which doesn't come, before exclaiming "3! Pinned!" and releasing her companion. She quickly stands and bounces a bit, saying, "Well that wasn't much! I thought you could've at least...," her sentence trailing off as she notices that he still hasn't moved. Thinking, she mutters, "...could've.....shale!" before dropping to the ground and putting an ear to his chest to make sure he's still breathing.

Meta:

She breathes a sigh of relief before standing back up and hefting the limp creature onto her back. She calls over to the others in the gym, saying, " 'Ey! Someone know where the infirmary is?" Assuming that they'll ask about Link, she quickly adds, "He's probably fine; just pushed a bit too hard a bit too soon. But I'd rather be safe then sorry."

Gymnasium
You're pretty sure Link will be alright.  Wouldn't hurt to check in with a doctor or nurse anyways.

Most of the other occupants shake their heads- there hadn't been enough time to figure out where everything was yet.

"I know where it is."  The changeling said- looking like she had finally decided to go to the infirmary herself.  Whereas before she had seemed content to mostly ignore her sickness or weakness or whatever it had been, she actually looked a little afraid now- though she didn't seem to be exhibiting any signs of illness anymore- or at least not the same ones she had before.  "I can take you there, if you want."  She walked to the door to the gym, and slid her ID card to sign out.

"mnn...Thanks..." Clover follows the changeling out, shifting the hippogriff on her back to a somewhat better carrying position and attempting with a struggle to swipe her card at the same time.

Appearance: Dull and Drained

Astral looked at Dusty for a moment. He seemed to be trying to be sincere: nervous, but not deceptive? At the very least, Astral Arc realized that he would be unable to steal any of her research and convince anyone that he had done it himself, which put her at ease.

"Thanks... sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I'm sure you know how Crystals get when we are upset, it's sort of hard for us not to get swept up in our emotions. Just so you know, I might sort of be a bit of a downer until I get over this."

Astral blinked a few times. Had Dusty said that he had encountered something wrong with the computer files he'd been looking at? Could that be related to the missing information she herself was currently looking for? "So... you said something was wrong with the files you were looking at earlier? Do you remember exactly what it was?

This pony didn't exactly look like he was the most skilled with technology, but maybe he would be able to give her some useful information still.

"It's alright, really. I reckon we're all a bit edgy just from being so close to landing anyhow. Take your time, though, we're here for you." He nodded, hoping that they could just write it off as water under the bridge. Still, at the question, his expression shifted to confusion as he thought. "It's the darndest thing, really. Computer's saying that we've got a full load, nothin' missing, but I checked...We're missing over two containers' wortha seeds, though the hydroponics seemed to be workin' just fine, so I figure we'll still have food when we land...Still, seems odd that the system would just forget that much...Hmm..." Hopefully she could figure out what was wrong with the system. Or if someone had done something, figure out what they were trying to pull.

Gymnasium to Sickbay : Clover/Link

The changeling leads you to your level's sickbay.  It's empty, aside from a grey earth pony with a clipboard cutie mark- presumably a doctor.  He seems to recognize the changeling, greeting her by name (or nickname?).  Odd that he should know her already.

"Hey, Cara.  Still having problems wi..."  He stops as he sees you, and Cara shoots him a glare: clearly not wishing to discuss her own medical issues in front of strangers.

"I'm fine."  She excuses herself.  "I'll let you see to these two first."  Respecting your own privacy in addition to protecting her own, she elects to wait outside.

The doctor looks Link over very quickly, and Clover as well for good measure.

"He'll be fine.  Just a classic case of post-stasis overexertion- not surprising, since the stasis capsules were designed firstmost for ponies, and hasn't always agreed with the other races.  You seem fine to me though, I'd suggest you run along so I can see to miss Carapace.  Your hippogriff friend probably will be up in a jiffy- no need for you to wait up for him. "

Room : Astral/Dusty
There is a knock on the door.  A powerful mare's voice calls out.

"Is anyone home?  Security team R here, we just want to ask you a few questions."

"The hay...?" Dusty blinked, glancing at Astral for a moment, clearly confused before trotting over to the door and opening it. "Uh, right. Can we ask what this is about?" A valid question, though really if they hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong with the systems, he might have considered asking them to look into it. Still, if they had questions...

Clover smiles in relief and nods, saying "Thanks doc." She gives the unconscious Link a pat on the chest (or upper-back if he's face-down for some reason), and heads back toward her group's quarters. She gives a light nod to the changeling as they pass, but keeps a pretty good pace outta there.

Appearance: Dull and Drained

Astral Arc froze. This probably wasn't good. She's just hacked the file system a few moments ago and already some pony was here to investigate? Was that even possible? How did they know so quickly? She'd done a pretty good hacking job too, they shouldn't have been able to figure it out. Now what was she going to do? She'd sort of been hoping that no one besides her team would even notice she was on the ship, and then once they'd left, she'd have a lot more options. But now...

Astral realized that she probably needed to talk to Dusty alone for a moment. She knew it probably wasn't the best idea, but she could probably just close the door again and brief him on the situation. But then what? There didn't seem to be another way out of the room or anywhere to hide. She'd think of something. For now she needed to override the door and stop it from opening for as long as she could. Maybe get it to give some sort of error message, if possible.


Now she just had to tell Dusty what was going on. "So, look, Dusty. I... might have glossed over a few things that could possibly be important. Things about me. Now, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I just need you to believe me right now and not ask too many questions about it, because things might get really unpleasant for all of us if that security officer finds out who... well, I guess what, I am."

"I'm a time traveler. It wasn't on purpose, trust me. I came from the time of Star Swirl the Bearded, if you know who that is. It was before all the ponies united, and Celestia, who I just found out about this morning, took over. And yes, I know it doesn't make a ton of sense that I can hack a computer better than people who grew up with them, since I just showed up in this time period, but I don't completely understand it myself, I think it has something to do with always being good at electricity."

"I put in a fake file about myself into the computer, but if they've traced then we're going to have a serious problem. There is something really weird going on here. Much weirder than me, even. So, if you want to help me, for now we can't tell anyone else about me, and we need to find a way to get me out of here or hide me before I'm found."

Technology:

Persuasion:

"We've been sent to investigate some odd occurences on this deck..."  The pegasus starts answering Dusty's question.  You can see three other ponies- a unicorn, another pegasus, and an earth pony.  

And the door closes.  

"Door Opening!" the computer chirps.  You can't remember it saying that even when the doors open.

Everypony except the first pegasus jumps back in surprise as the doors close.  The earth pony starts trying to access the door via a panel to it's side.  

As she heads back, Clover sees the security team parked outside her team's room, with a very uncooperative door.

"I swear this ship is haunted." mutters the 2nd pegasi.

"Door Opening!"

"Shut up." The earth pony grumbles- whether at the pegasus or the door is uncertain, before managing to shut off the elecctronic voice.  It's only a matter of time before she opens the door, but apparently not as short a time as she would like.

"Wha-...Just a minute, I'll try and get it open from this end!" Dusty called through the door, but he turned to Astral, his expression a careful mask as he considered things. This was...Crazy. Beyond crazy. Time travel? That seemed like the kind of thing you'd hear about in a kid's story. After a moment, he looked around, trying to find a good hiding place. "Alright, miss Arc, that whole story's screwy as can be, but let's say fer a minute I believe this. We had another person we were s'posed to be with, here. Ya gotta tell me, honestly, do you know what happened to 'em? Seems between everything else, something's wrong big time with this ship..." He whispered tensely, thinking a bit. Truth be told, even if she was making up a wild tale, she was really the only one who might know what happened to their former last team member...

I guess...Stealth check to find a hidey-hole for Astral?:

Astral blinked a few times. She'd really only told him because she'd had no other option. Was it possible that he actually believed her and wasn't going to turn her over to the soldiers on the ship? Even though he could get in trouble just for hiding her? It occurred to Astral that this pony was showing her more friendship than the person she'd thought was her best friend for years ever had. It didn't mean he could be completely trusted, but it was certainly a start.

"...Thanks. I promise I can prove I'm telling the truth. ...Well, probably. It's sort of hard because there's no historical record of me, since someone erased my impact on history." Her eyes narrowed for a moment before she blinked and focused again on the situation at hand. Now was not the time to let her emotions get the best of her.

"Sorry, but I have no idea what happened to your last team member. But if I had enough time with the computers, I might be able to figure it out. I... have very good reason to believe that some of the files have been purposefully deleted, probably including that of your former team member. Did you know that pony at all before you were all put into stasis? Could you tell me anything about her or him? If something did happen to that pony, then there is probably a reason, and maybe it has to do with her or his abilities?"

Astral looked around and thought for a moment. "...Maybe I could hide in the walls! I'm sure they're full of conduits and wires carrying dangerous amounts of electricity, but I'm immune to being hurt by naturally occurring electricity, so I'd be fine. See if you can find some sort of maintenance panel or something that we could get open. I'll see if the blueprints indicate there's a panel in this room, while you look around for one!"

Technology Check to Find a Maintenance Panel:

Dusty can't see any great hiding spots- the quarters are fairly simple, possibly even a little cramped. Astral could hide behind one of the beds, but that would only keep her out of sight from the door, not really from the room itself.

Astral's idea sounds promising at first- though upon seeing the blueprints there's clearly not very much room in the walls. Everything is placed in a compact and efficient manner: no space is wasted, or certainly not enough to fit a hiding pony. Other areas of the ship do seem to have more accessible maintenance tunnels: but no such luck here.

Clover stops short as she sees the security team working on the door. What'd they be doing here? Maintenance probably wouldn't have a security detail...not any bugs in the group...so they're probably following up on Astral right? Making sure she transferred alright. Simple solution would be to ask, so let's do that.

She addresses them as she moves to join them in their contemplation of the door. "Yo. Is something going on with the barracks?"