Adventures in Time & Space IC

[davyjones]

Donald spends the moments during and after they were almost discovered by mechanical monsters in contemplative silence--or maybe simple, complete silence, tensing himself up for a fight. "Apologies for the sudden question, but what are we looking for again?" he asks simply, shadowing Miles as he pokes into a side room.

"Something that tells us what the Cybermen are up to, beyond starting their own religion," Calico responds as he surveys the compartment. "And why they traveled back in time from the 26th Century.

"And if we happen to find a giant 'off' button, all the better," he jokes. Oh, if it were ever that easy.

[Dodgeson]

With the Cyberman's attention elsewhere the coast was clear for Miles to climb back up out of the vents and begin to explore the side room, the damaged door juddering open with a struggle and a groan of protesting metal. Inside wasn't in any better of a state, lining either side of the room were a series of man-sized metal tubes with glass view ports, some damaged and some still whole though thankfully none of them seemed to actually contain anything right now.

At the far end of the room was another computer terminal like the one they had seen at the entrance to the Ark but unlike that one, this one seemed to still be functioning, its flickering screen bathing the whole room in blue light.

[Ridai]

Making sure to step around glass shards and other debris, Miles is thankful to not run into... whatever it was that was in those tubes at some point, maybe. Instead, he checks out the screen. Who knows, maybe he'll actually understand some of it?

[davyjones]

The professor surveys the room as he works his way toward the functioning terminal, then peers over Miles' shoulder at the display. The first item of business is to suss out the language being used; that'll go a long way to telling him about the origin of the ark and its designers. The second is to determine its functionality, maybe even a little programming to take the humans' signatures out of the cyber scanning parameters - that'll allow the trio to move freely through the maintenance shafts without interference. Well, at least for a while.

Third, if they're really, really lucky, the Cybermen have their plan recorded somewhere. "Wouldn't that be nice," he muses in response to his thoughts.

"Right, I don't suppose you're a computer specialist, Mr. Marwood? Or you, Mr. Jordan?" One he's certain isn't - the other one? Not so much, though Calico suspects Donald wouldn't admit to it if he were. So, in the end, it's likely a rhetorical question, and he draws his trusty sonic out, ready to move forward with his plan.

[Ridai]

"Computers don't like me anymore, sadly," Miles responds, before making way for the Professor. Honestly, he's quite happy to do so. There's no telling in what other interesting and terrifying ways the Tech Gremlins can muck with future tech and make them go haywire.

[Zelphas]

"Decidedly not," Donald says, a bit uncomfortably; he's been told more than once that he acts like someone three times his apparent age when dealing with computers. Chalk it up to another instinct that he seems to be missing while everyone around him possesses it.

[Dodgeson]

It was a fact that (at least in this era) humans were genetically close enough to their Mondasian cousins that for the most part their technology was compatible. The most obvious facet of this was that the denizens of Earth were prime targets for cyber-conversion but there were ups as well as downs and as Miles touched the screen the flickering stopped for the moment, displaying line after line of blocky text.

Surprisingly all of it was in perfectly understable English, giving a readout on the condition of the pods that lined the room, confirming that whilst four out of the ten of them were currently offline, all of them were currently unoccupied.

After a few moments the screen briefly flickered again as another rumble came from the depths of the CyberArk, shaking the room and loosening one of the empty pods from its moorings, sending it clattering to the ground.

[Ridai]

Miles did not expect English to appear on this screen.

He also did not expect a pod to rumble off the wall, making him jump.

"...This is not what I meant about computers not liking me, and it worries me." The Tech Gremlins are getting vicious. "Should we... should we go further into the ship, or keep looking in the outer rooms?" Might as well draw upon the wisdom of the Time Lord.