Saturday Gazette - Octopus in Space

Episode 3 - Space! pirates! - Act II

'Huh,' we say, upon realising we've been locked in this small, sparse cabin.

Mighty thumps on the door, denting it a little. 'Hey!' we call. 'What's going on?'

'Just make yourself comfortable,' Hawu's voice comes, piped through an interface beside the door. 'You won't be in there long.'

The faint sounds of receding footsteps comes through the door.

'Hey, Buddy,' we says to the Mixcycli data buddy in Sneaky's grip. 'Want to have some fun?'

'Insufficient context to question,' it says.

We let out a sigh, like Starfleet officers sometimes do when they're exasperated. 'Why does everything capable of intelligent conversation want to kill us or lock us up?'

'Speculation: this is likely due to selection bias in...'

'That wasn't a real question,' we interrupt it. 'Can you open this door for us?

'Information: Door mechanism is not remotely accessible.'

'It doesn't look very complicated. Why can't you do your local-system thing to crack it?'

'Information: Door mechanism is sub-smart tech. Additional information: There are no subsystems with which to remotely interface.'

'Huh.'

We look about and immediately spot our way out, high on the wall. It's clear the crew of the Stony Tide know nothing about octopuses.

'We'll just squeeze out through this convenient air vent then.'

A minute later we're in the corridor outside, having pushed and pulled all our arms through inner and outer grates, Mighty snapping the blades off the internal fan as we went. We slide down the wall, then go back to the door. Pokey re-engages the power supply using the control panel. Then we go back inside and retrieve Buddy, who is much larger than our only solid part, our beak, and thus was unable to squeeze through the grating with us.

'Where are the crew?' we ask Buddy.

'Information: Unable to confirm.'

'The ship's brain is sub-smart too?'

'Negative. Information: Like the Dhrahugon, the Stony Tide is not directly crackable. Additional information: There are no networked local systems identifiable aboard this vessel. All controls are manual, require direct interface, or need Data Officer permissions. Speculation: This has been implemented by crew of the Stony Tide to prevent remote interrogation of vessel by law-enforcement and customs representatives, and to avoid remote deactivation of ship's systems by aforementioned agencies while performing sub-legal activities.'

'That's just how pirates rotate, huh? Okay. Let's find somewhere to plug you in.'

We shuffle down the short corridor and turn left. There are another couple of closed doors there, but we don't look inside. The door at the end of the passage is open, and we see a small area with facilities for hygiene and ablutions. There is also a small terminal on the wall, and Feely holds Buddy up next to one of its ports.

Buddy starts making a tiny nano-filament bridge like it did the first time it interfaced with the Dhrahugon, and after a second Feely can release it and Buddy stays in place there.

'Local systems identified,' it tells us.

'Can you access environmental controls? Can we put the crew to sleep by changing the air?'