LF Friends, Will Travel

Innovation is Impartial - Chapter 5

There are many things in the universe which are constant. The speed of light, the gravitational force of particles, and the correctness of a cup of tea and a cream cake on a sunny summer's day. Out of all of the species that inhabited an infinite universe, there was one constant amongst nearly all of them: Everyone liked being a little bit nosey.

Whether it was the impossible to resist allure of listening a bit closer when voices could be heard shouting outside, or slowing down your own travels just slightly when spotting the police giving someone a good talking to, getting 'all up inside' someone else's business is a near universal joy experienced by all sentient beings.

This was what Lena and Dr Johnathan Fletcher were doing right now, embarking on the ever rewarding habit of being a bit nosey.

Officially, they were walking around the storage rooms looking for their first major delivery of their new project. Blocking the Uhae's XK wave manipulating powers had shown some promise, the initial calculations and simulations ran over the last two months stated that the science Johnathan and Lena had been researching might just work. Now was the time to build an initial test of concept, along with the exciting experience of getting to play with some new toys, the anticipation of which had caused the duo to travel down to the storage center instead of waiting for the items to get delivered.

It had also given them the chance to look at other groups and scientists doing the same, and engage in a little bit of people watching.

"Confident guess: Three doors down, a giant plasma weapon of some kind."

The Scythen pointed towards a group in the back, three Ritilians going through a box of equipment. The storage room was vast, hundreds of rooms and corridors connecting the logistical masterpiece of the entirety of Research Location 9. The halls were mostly quiet and empty, apart from the few groups silently picking up items, or the near soundless smooth running of flying drones carrying things deeper into the facility. The dim lighting gave plenty of places to hide and watch the others with little chance of being spotted.

"Oh that one was easy, no way a capacitor that big would be used for anything else." Jonathan responded, giving a small chuckle before continuing. "The Terrans in the back. I'd bet a lunch that they're working on some form of orbital entry system."

Dr Fletcher pointed out the group of five rummaging through their own equipment, the light sensors that covered Lena's strange alien body easily picked them out. The pair had a good vantage point from where they stood, the control tower not only provided a birds eye view of the entire storage area, it was also very rarely visited: only created as a technical requirement: in case the AI who ran this location were somehow put out of commission, and someone had to manually press the big red stop button in an emergency.

"Disagreement: Fabric wrong density. I bet they are designing a light armor system."

"Then we'll go ask them later, and the loser buys lunch." Johnathan responded with a smile.

"Agreement: Loser buys lunch. The group of Terrans at the back there, I have no clue what they are working on."

This caused the Terran to give his own grin, giving a shake of his head as he responded.

"The Scythen not knowing something! Well my dear Wattson, it's very clearly an attempt to cure Ethan's syndrome!"

Johnathan was indeed right about this, although he had the unfair advantage of having bumped into the research group , having a chat about their work when Lena wasn't around. Not that he was going let the Scythen know this. Lena on the other hand was still confused, the phrase not providing them with any enlightenment.