Symbiotic ship

Current objective: Core Escape

"That was close." Sarah said. She stood up and stretched, loosening the muscles that had tightened during the hallucination. She looked over at the Mara onions, silently keeping vigil even as they cooked in the heat of the first deck. "Loyal little guys aren't they?"

Not very bright really, but they serve their purposes. By the way, the entire security force is on the way to get you. It has been about 23 hours. I recommend we find another way out.

Sarah thought for a moment, then turned to Tyrosine. "Boy, go hide. They won't be looking for a little dog. Still, stay out of sight." Tyrosine barked and ran off. "How soon do you think you could get me Tyrosine's heat resistance?"

Woah, I said I could get it for you, but that would take a while. We'd need some catalysts from Emma.

"Worth a shot. How close are they?"

Hold on, I'll ask Tyrone... ok, they are already converging on the nearest three lifts.

"I don't think I could race them in this armor. I guess there's only one option." Sarah jumped down and started walking quickly. A few minutes later she reached an airlock. Next to it was a series of storage lockers "You ready."

What is that?

"An airlock." Sarah checked over her suit quickly. She approached one of the storage lockers and opened it. "I'm still remembering things from before the ship." She said, taking a roll of a silvery tape from the closet, as well as a canister marked as insulating foam. She began spraying the foam along her suit. The foam stiffened, and she quickly wrapped it with tape. "Back when I was in school I wrote a report on this tape. It's neat stuff, it catches heat and turns it into light, cooling itself to the point we can use it for minor patch jobs even next to the core." She quickly sprayed and wrapped her legs, before moving on to her chest. "I got a B on it. It was a great paper, but I theorized that you could wrap yourself with enough of it and stand next to a reactor without dying. The teacher said that was ridiculous and took a big chunk out of my grade." She took a can from the locker and liberally smeared its contents across her mask with her glove. "Let's find out."

Woah! Before we test that theory,

"I don't have the authority to take a core shell walker, I'll have to make do." She smiled. "Wish us luck." With that, she opened the airlock.

The first thing Sarah noticed was the light. The core was bright, as expected of an artificial star. Red light blasted the inner hull, casting no shadows in the eternal noon sun save for the walkways that crisscrossed the inner hull, one of which Sarah stood upon. The second was the light of the tape, shining brilliant white light before her.

The final thing, was the heat. Through the tape, through the protective gear, through the exoskeleton armor, Sarah could still feel the heat. She took a step, then another, and kept going. She avoided looking directly at the core, knowing even a single look could temporarily blind her. She movedquickly, but after about ten minutes the heat was taking its toll.

"I'm starting to think this wasn't a good idea." Sarah said, her voice carrying a breathless quality. "I'm burning up."

No, you're doing fine, you don't even have first degree burns. Just a little further.

"Adam, I can tell you're bluffing." She started moving a bit faster. "How bad is it?"

We can make it. I'm worried that they'll follow you.

"Hazard pay, walking this close to the core is triple time. Only James could order someone out here." She smiled. "Besides, there isn't a suit missing, there's no way someone could cob together a suit for core walking. You'd have to be insane to try that."