Butterflies of the Dark Star

3 (REVISED)

Machinery whirred in the numerous workshops, save for the silent ones which held student prototypes. Nova followed her number and entered her presentation area. Her prototype awaited her on a lifted clamp, where its back entrance lowered to the ground to allow people inside. It was her ultimate plan, to make her project unique than the rest. Her first blueprint got her into consideration — then to show it in motion. If her stomach stopped stirring acid.

Nova waited in the corner, examining the high-end tools of the workshop of a large galactic business. Nova brushed her thumb down a transforming driver, but switched her attention to the door when it slid open once more.

"Ms. Spacyn," Overseer Mikean said. "I don't wish to rush you, but I have a lot of other students to get through." He waved his heavily calloused hand. "We'll have a five minute discussion about your project after you're done." He flipped open his datascroll. "Are you ready?"

No. Nova nodded.

Overseer Mikean motioned for her to take the stage of the conversation, but her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. Flash cards abandoned, she said, "After I saw the requirements of the B.H Supernova and their mission statement, I came up with a droid that could carry a small team of researchers and guards down to a planetary surface. From what I understand — Movium 1XH, a highly active anomalous planet, rests on the outer edge of the Ushavex nebula, which is where the space station will anchor itself." Nova tapped her knuckle against the carapace of her droid, her inner rhythm beating hard and fast while Overseer Mikean wrote stuff down on his datascroll. "For this prototype, I tried a blend of Xel'nod solsteel for the outer shell. Due to the hollowness within, I had to give up some integrity on the inner scanner's reach." Doubt plagued her mind. "If paired with a droid capable of deep scans, I feel like this droid could be helpful and versatile in any environment." Her words faltered on her tongue, the loss of her train of thought slipping out of her fingers.

Overseer Mikean headed inside, and Nova followed while he examined every nook and cranny. Every little measurement where she refused to cut until she was sure of its strength. He knelt for the core, tucked underneath several layers of metal protection. "Is this where you placed the core?"

"Yes."

"Did you program it yourself?"

"No." Nova swallowed at the line of questions. "Neo Teimea gave me some example modules used frequently among research teams... which I used to base off my core plans to hand into the programming faculty." When he stepped back, she rushed forward to lift the core's carrier out of the protective panel. Augments slipped out of drives when she ran her finger down the side. It spread light across the small cockpit. "I've given it strength to allow communications between itself and other droids, and of course, the space station," she added the last part quickly when her tongue tangled. "So... the core itself carries two experiments that I'm hoping the B.H Supernova will find useful."

If I get picked.

Overseer Mikean tipped his head with a quick to his lips, and he wrote something down on his datascroll before pressing the axis of the core, and it dropped back into the protective casing, out of the way. "It's more than likely the B.H Supernova would put a licensed A.I programmer on your team if you get chosen."

Nova curled her hands against her chest. "I'm sorry if I'm not selling my case all that well."

Overseer Mikean put his datascroll away after one last note. "I'm grading you on your building skills, Ms. Spacyn, not your speech ones," he echoed Neo's sentiment. "Besides, there's a lot more to this than building a droid." He tapped his E-Pen against the supply holders along the roof. "You built yours with other people in mind — and with the Internship, you'll be working in a team." He turned to the dash of her droid. "Anyway, I think I've seen enough. Let's head out and talk."