Welcome to LUX-interview, second shift

Due to noteable number of new people popping up and actually wanting to join the interview, Zalakar is forced to work in two shifts at a time. This is for the second shifts, basicly meaning that we get to play through with two people at the same time.

Second shift will be closed down in case where new people's numbers drop down so that one topic is enough.

This game takes place in small reception room in the medical care. It has a desk and two sets of small sofas. It's also Zalakar's own work room for his studies.

An interview is taking place throughout the whole crew and passengers of LUX. This interview is not mandatory, so no one is forced to take it, but everyone are advised to take part in it. While it may seem like to be something made when ship is still preparing to launch, due to personnel shortage and vast number of people aboard this interview will take ages, and thus will be ongoing for a long, long, time.

The game shall be constantly continuing: when one person's session is finished, next one may join in freely further in the timeline (games don't take place after another immediately, but within some time space). Only one character + Zalakar at a time (unless otherwise mentioned). Any possible player challenges or such are not recommended for this game.
If you feel you are in need to reserve yourself a spot, feel free to do it here.

A tad nervously, Lago knocked at the door. Sure, this was an interview, no big deal. And from the appearance of the area, nothing planned by the higher ups.

"Hello Sir ! Lago Isatis here ! You requested an interview with me !"

Waiting a few seconds, Lago decided to breath deeply. Come on, boy ! Nothing to be afraid of ! Just smile and be the happy fox ! No big deal what he'll think of that ! Just be the brightest sunshine he ever saw, and make people happy ! He knocked back a second time at the door.

"Sir ! May I enter ?"

No answer. Weird. The fox opened the door. He was wearing his usual suit, and tried to be as clean as possible, making his fur extremely bristled. The room was empty, and Lago closed carefully the door. Since nobody was there, he made a quick check-up of the room. No camera. No sneaked devices. No weapon either. It seemed like it'd be a fair encounter. Lago sighed in relief, then with a happy smile, went towards one of sofa and started to check how soft and comfy it was with his hands.

Hmm, few more moments till interview starts. No worries then. But walking there's sooo slow...
Zala had been just strolling around the ship for his break, and was sitting on a bench in one of the hallways right now. Feeling bit lazy, though, he didn't want to walk back, and there were no hoverunits nearby.
Quicky glance around that there were no one to see him, Zala Jumped.
To his vision and other senses, it was sudden swirl of chaos that lasted for only a fraction of a heartbeat. To anyone else, Zala just was there out of the sudden, without any indication of appearing. No sound, no gust of wind, nothing.

Scanning around, Zala first felt that everything was okay, until turning around on his toes and seeing he was just inches away from a person. Luckily the person was back toward him, but Zala's mind still went overdrive for any possible explanations he could come up with. Or at least it should have gone. Instead, he just wondered what the f*** this guy was doing to his couch.

"Yo, what in the acid rains are ya doing, humping my couch like that? Not soft enough to sit down for ya, is it?"

Zala spoke just behind the guy with mildly annoyed but still calm voice, and at the same time tapped his shoulder with his gigantic right arm.

As he felt something metallic touching his shoulder, Lago's own mind went into instinct overdrive. His bright smile turned into a cold, icy expression. Instantly he executed a reverse flip-flop, and launched just behind the sofa in a fighting pose. Analysis : small fox, metal arm and face, white labcoat... labcoat ? ID card : Zalakar Torranei.

As soon as his mind processed that, Lago went back to his normal state, and realized what he happened : the scientist popped out of nowhere, and he went into some kind of old frenzy. Now to do what ? Eeeeeeeer... PLAY DUMB !

Lago then started to look all panicked and flailed arms all around him in a desperate gesture.

"Oh man, Sir ! You nearly gave me a heart attack !! Never do that again, please, I thought I was gonna die on the spot ! Really really really for sure ! You're a fox, right, you know we have weak hearts... or maybe not. But I do have one ! And I wans't humping your sofa, just just just... checking if the softness was great enough, and I can assure it is, Sir ! Not as soft nor as fluffy than my or your fur, but definitely soft enough, see ?"

The vulpine jumped on the sofa and then stretched out on it.

"See ? Comfy comfy comfy, SUPER comfy ! I love it. I could spend my whole day laying on it !"

Lago prayed deep down in his heart for the other fox to believe more in this cheap act than what he saw earlier. He would quickly know about it.

The first reaction to Lago's sudden jump-turn was for Zala to bring his white-furred implant-arm up in front of him for possible defence. Though, didn't seem like he'd need it.

When the lad started spouting out nonsense that could be seen through better than a just-cleaned window, Zala slowly lifted his right arm and gave himself a facepalm. With enough force to cause himself stagger and fall backwards into a sitting posture on the other couch. The gaze his natural eye gave from between his fingers was mildly angered and steel-like, while his voice had the hint of authority in it. It was the kind of guy you didn't want to mess up with.

"Oi, buddy.
Drop the act.
I've met enough killers to know when I see one face-to-face. If ya had a weak heart, ya'd be dead by now in yar life.
Lago Isatis, Margas employee of Demo corp. Friggin' shit-crazy nutcase company, I know. The files on board don't really give them any credit. So lemme guess, they made ya into their hitman or something. Don't answer, don't want to cause any trouble for ya on that part. Just sit down normally, be yarself, and answer truthfully if ya wish to. Just don't start spoutin' any of that shitty nonsense on me. I see through it way too easily. We clear here?"

Lago sighed and just sat normally on the sofa. As he looked back at the other vulpine, he just took a melancholic smile. Well, not that the other guy seemed to have had a better life, all those implants were suggesting him some kind of very bad experience with either military forces or governmental facilities. Those places he hated so much in the old days, because they were reeking of the weirdest dangers and the most stupid possible deaths.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I just didn't detect your presence, and surprise does trigger a few things left of my old life. I just wish I wasn't reminded so often about it those last days..."

Lago took another deep breath. Excuses after excuses... even in his normal state. He guessed he must have been looking kind of pitiful right now in the eye of the doctor. He wasn't strong enough, that was all. Nothing else to say or think.

"So, yeah... you're quite right. I am what you just said, I won't deny it. The act you saw is what I try to be for everybody on this ship on a daily basis. Sorry if you don't seem to enjoy it like my comrades who don't know about my past. I promise I won't act like that anymore in your presence."

Lago's tail was down, and his ears were completely flat on the side. The guy in front of him seemed to be a bit angry, and no matter what he could say, he wouldn't be able to erase the first impression he left in his mind.

"Now that we are clear and all, well, I guess we could start this interview. I'll answer truthfully to all of your questions."

"Nah, it's not that I don't enjoy it. It's just that I don'like when people get the idea that actin' something's good. Just be ya goddamn self!
Ah, sorry. Shouldn't get angry at ya like that. Anyway, we should go on with this...
So, how'd ya find out about this flyin piece of technology an' metal?"

Zala took out his holographic notebad and wrote down some simple things like the guys attitude of acting weirdly. That, and thing of humping his couch.

It took some time for Lago to rememberthat period of his life. Being on the run and adrenalin had the bad habit of making his memories quite hazy.

"Well... as far as I can remember, I had been hiding from my old company for a year or so. I was getting quite tired and stressed out by the whole situation."

The fox started to bite his lower lip as he was starting to remember a bit.

"I found a flyer on one of the guys I had to... take down for my own survival. Saying any work would be fine. My luck was also high, because there had been huge scandals all over the country, so my former employer had his hands full already."

He was looking at his feet, balancing them at the rythm of his own breathing. His eyes were looking kind of empty as he kept talking with a low voice.

"I just came at the entrance and told people I was applying for any job they had. At first, they refused to even look at my file. Then, I just changed my whole suit, my background and my behavior, and there I was hired as technician on Lux."

"Okay, let's see... 'Took off cause got into arguments with his last boss and felt needing to get some fresh air.' Yeah, that sounds good to say. We don' wanna start tellin' everyone ya're runnin' from some annoying douches, now do we?"

As Lago had settled down and started speaking without over-energetic attitude, Zala's own mood had rose up steadily in contrast to his little downfall of emotion. But, even now, Zala understood that talking about this would be bad for Lago's own mind. So he coughed slightly and tilted his head a bit.

"Ya know, they said that this ship 'ere is a glimp of new beginnin', get what I'm saying? I mean, I dropped everything I had to get here, threw my life off and built a new one. This person ya see in front of ya ain't the Torranei that was born on Wera. This one's Zala, 'metalface', the guy who got dumped up into wastes of Vulqu due to one friggin' small accident that nearly killed him many times over.
All I'm sayin' is that here ya can just take all that happened before, roll it into one small little piece of shit with glitter on it, and throw it out of the airlock. After that ya can start buildin' somethin' new for yaself."

Zala's face was smiling. Warm, understandable and hopeful smile. Maybe it had a hint of sarcasm in it, but it was clearly a face that showed trust in Laqo. Zala sincerely believed that he could do what he himself had done in sense: learn from the past, throw it away and start with an empty paper of one's own design. Without anyone telling you what you should or should not draw.

Lago smiled a bit at what sounded like some kind of joke. Even if not in the most humorous state, he tried answering that.

"Well, "annoying douches" might be underestimating a bit the potential destructive power of these guys, but yeah, fresh air sounds lik a good reason enough. Wouldn't be lying as well, I really needed some kind of space to breath a little."

The fox rose his eyes. The other vulpine was looking at him. He didn't seem angry or annoyed anymore. Well, it was already good news, but Lago didn't feel any energy coming back from that. He listened carefully to what the doctor said. His melancholic smile came back on his face. Everybody had his past. He wasn't the only one dealing with that, and he should always remember that. It wasn't making things easier for him, but it felt... more balanced.

"I get what you're saying. I indeed came here for a new start. A new beginning. Maybe faking to always be the happy fellow guy is an error. But that's where I decided to start."

The vulpine took a pause. A new beginning, hey... why did it sound so freaking fake coming from his mouth ?... He had been wondering since he came on Lux.


"I turned the page already about my past. I'm already trying to build something for myself. Call it justice, redemption, whatever. It doesn't need a name, it makes me feel good, that's all there is to it. But how am I supposed to build that thing when the higher ups, the military freaks, or anybody who could smell my blood scent just come back to me, and ask for my former skills ?"

Lago bit strongly his lower lip. He had been talking too much, he knew it.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I talked too much. This doesn't concern our interview, and I'm sure you have better things to do than listen to my rants. I'll try to stick to what you ask me."

"Fair enough. Not forcin' you in anything here, mind ya. If I ask somethin' ya don't like, just don't answer. Same with me speakin' out loud like this. Just say if ya want me to stop it.
Anyway, let's go on with this little thin'. We covered that... And got that one too... No point in that question..."

Zala was scrolling through his notes about questions and possible talking situations planned for these interviews. Sadly Lago had either answered or made questions too awkward for the start of the list, so he had to go forward.

"...Aah, here we go. Got anythin' to complain on the ship? Not that I'd be able to fix ya problems that easily, but if ya think we should tell maintanance guys that ya'r water pipes leak 'cause maintanance guys never show up, just tell me."

Lago raised an eyebrow, then just giggled. Wow, he really wasn't expected that one. Still, he didn't want to seem rude, so he stopped laughing, but couldn't stop smiling a little bit.

"Er, I didn't mean to be rude with you, Sir. But I'm a maintenance guy, so if my water pipe leaks, I can repair it on my own by borrowing tools in my department. Or is that a hidden way to tell me you'd like me to check your system ?"

The fox kept smiling a bit,but it wasn't his fake lovable smile, it was completely genuine. He wouldn't dare to say it, but the whole situation had become comfortable for him. A lot more comfortable.

"I guess being myself can't hurt once in a while, but you sure are a strange fellow. Are you really some doctor or have I been tricked ?"

"...What, I disappear from the spotlight for what, two years? And suddenly ya all forgot I existed at all?
Let me tell ya, ya're talking to a guy here who got his doctorship amon' youngest of Illis people, walked barefoot under Vulqu's open sky due studyin' and is the only livin' thing on this bucket of magnets that doesn't have to answer to the big commander in his throne room. THAT'S how respected doctor I am."

Yeah, Zala's rant didn't make much sense in the end, and his face was hard to read. Seemed it swifted between sarcastic joking and mildly annoyed expressions. It might have been due to fact that everyone around here was just questioning his profession. Granted, it was due to his own personality.

"And besides, ya seen any non-doctors with arms like this?"

With that statement, Zala's suddenly smiling face leaned forward and his arm reached up, just barely missing Lago in reach after stretching completely out.

Lago giggled a little more. More to hide the real sadness behind the words to come. How could he understand ? Him, a very high scientist, a doctor, who would always work with data and books. That even if both of them shared the same species, they were not sharing anything at all... How could he udnerstand that books and knowledge were prohibited... and that, now being free, he had no interest in these.

"Sir, I'm sorry to say that, but... I've only been to Margas and Lux in my whole life. I've barely heard about Illis and Vulquwe... Vulqube..., ah, whatever. Some kind of big planets or something. Don't take it wrong, but I never had time in my former job, and it's already a hard one adapting to this new environment."

The vulpine stopped giggling, feeling it was upsetting the doctor. He just went back to his melancholic smile.

"As for books, except for technical stuff... I might have read 2 at best. Yeah, I know, culture isn't my strong point. So had you disappeared for 10 years or be the hero of the scientific world at the moment, you'd still be a total stranger for me. And I don't value a person by the respect he gets from other, especially the leaders. I already respect you for who you are, Sir. No more, no less."

Lago got caught in looking at the arm presented to him. Quite interesting. Not the best designed implant he ever saw, but still, was so expensive that only a few could have one at Demo Corps. Smelling it, he detected no blood at all. Aaargh... fucking habits, he just couldn't stop himself to do this.

"No offense meant, Sir, but yeah... got a few guys who had a head with more metal on it than you, and 2 or 3 had really huge arms and hands like yours. I don't know how you long you've been using that one, but be careful, they break easily during fights and when doing a strong efforts. The lack of balance with the rest of the body is at fault there..."

He felt shivers in his spine. Bad fox ! Right now, the doctor must have been quite mad at him ! Blah, being so straight forward always sucked so much. His ears went completely flat, and he tried to look as apologetic as he could be.

"Well, but yeah, I'm sure your arm was designed by the best engineers, so it must be so top notch you never need nanites to repair it !"

To change the topic, to change the topic... Suddenly, Lago got a bright idea. He looked at Zalakar in the eyes and calmed down a bit.

"On another topic, well, I'd love to read one of your books. I'm sure I'd have a lot to learn from you. I know I'm starting from scratch, but, like everyone, I need to start somewhere. Plus, I'd love to have more discussions with you. Unformal ones, I mean. I'm sure it'd broaden horizons."

Zala chuckled happily out of nowhere. His rash act of angry person had actually worked this time. Having gotten the results he really liked, Zala leaned back onto sitting posture and just looked at his arm from few different angles.

"Yah, they told me so on Vulqu. Luckily, though, whole thing's bolted up to my shoulder and shoulder blade. Bit crudely though, whole thing's still not fully adapted. Gotta maintain it myself all the friggin' time."

Zalakar scratched right side of his face few times with the giant claw of his implant. It was force of habit, really, as in early times he had got ghost itching under the plate and metal.

"And for the matter of just sittin' down and talkin', yust gimme a call if ya need to talk. Can't promise to be able to talk every moment, but I'd sure be happy to grasp some more freetime around here. This whole interview is drivin' my scechule all the time.
Wait, didn't we forget somethin'?
Ah, the interview! I'd gotta take out the next question now! Letsee letsee... Ah! How's ya're social life on LUX? Let's forget the shitheads that just pop up to give ya some hitman jobs, have ya gotten into nice contacts with other passengers?"

The other fox seemed like he was now happy with the situation. Lago sighed in his mind. Well, at least, it was going a good way. And the other one completely forgot to give him a book, which was really great : he wasn't in the mood to read something he wouldn't be able to understand.

"My social life on Lux ? Well, I'm in cabin 5 at the moment, and no other people showed up at the moment, so I'm quite on my own. Else, I'm having a lot of fun with the Engine team. They didn't seem like they noticed my whole act, and they enjoy my company. We are all going out to drink. On a sentimental side, well, I'm alone. I've got a hard time interacting with women, so I try to... stay away as much as possible. And well, I often meet my customers. Last one was... damn, I forgot the name... Milka... Mushka... eeeeeeer..."

"Oh, in that case ya better watch out, there's this one or two little ladies around huntin' men, and I'm quite sure one as you'd surely fit their target rings perfectly.
Though, no point in me worryin' you all around about that. Let's talk about what you'd think this interview 'ere will actually acomplish. Ya think this'll helpful to ship, really?"

Zala streched out a bit to the side, scraching his ear with few finger moves half-lazily. His voice wasn't sarcastic or anything, but it clearly had just a hint of challenging tone in it.

Lago blushed. Women were one of his many weak points, and definitely not the way people imagined it.

"I don't... know. I think ladies are searching a strong, tall, reassuring guy. I'm quite sure I don't really fit the description, being all that short and fluffy..."

The fox regained his composure. Here came a tricky question. Answering too nicely would make the other fox think he was just licking his boots. Answering badly would just make him go on his bad side. He was pondering, his left hand playing with his tail.

"Well... I can't really decide if this is gonna be a good or a bad thing for the ship. Truly, it'll all depend on what you decide to do with those data. I think you're a good guy, so I'm kinda believing this will definitely be helpful for the ship. You seem really helpful, so I think you're gonna help the people you listened to one way or the other. And helping people will improve both people's productivity and their well-being.
After being what I was, I do consider talking is now the best option. And that's what you're doing. Both listening and talking out our problems. But I can be wrong."

Zala opened up his notebook with new interest, and he quickly started writing up the last notes. Few clicks and blips, and Zala was done. He closed up the notebook as smoothly as he had opened it, and gave Lago a smile and a nod.

"Okay, I'd say that was all we need really. Plus, don't wanna be the one gettin' all the shoutin' on me for holdin' ya out of yar job too long, so I'd say better we stop here. Remember, if there's anythin' ya feel like talkin' about, just pop up here and ask for me. They'll tell me ya called."

With those words, Zala rose up, walked up to the door and opened it, waving his hand out as a sign to Lago that he should walk out now.

Lago just stood up and took a breath. He walked towards the door, and without asking himself if it was proper or not, he shook Zalakar's hand.

"I thank you for the time you gave me, Sir, I'll be remembering I owe you one. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll revert to the kind, fluffy fox everybody knows and that you don't seem to appreciate."

The fox took another breath, then, in an instant, he went back to his huge smile and his clown attitude as he passed the door.

"See you, Doc ! Was aaaaaaaaaaaaaall my pleasure talking with you ! And don't forget to send me a copy of one of your books ! An easy one to read, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease ! And don't forget, I like hotdogs, so the food district is as good as your office to talk less formally !"

In 2 jumps, Lago was already far away, without even looking back at Zalakar. Time to be back to himself ! Time to work and make others to laugh !

((And thus ends Lago's session for now. Next up, Kaiden / project Epsilon.))

Kaiden walks confidently, taking his stride to walk along the corridor of the Medical Care section of the ship. His boots would click against the floor, as he walked over to the door of where his interview was supposed to be held. He looked at his VeX and nodded gladly to himself, having made it on time. He noticed a strange fox skipping away from the room where his meeting was supposed to be, as it made him stop in his tracks, dumbstruck for a second.

"What the heck..?" He said quietly to himself, as he watched the Fox almost run away. He shook his head briefly and walked right to the room, knocking politely on the open door. He peered in and nodded politely to the man, as he asked.

"Hello, may I come in? I'm here for the interview." He asked, as he took a small step inside of the room, but not enough to be considered inside. He was standing in his official, proud stance, with his hands locked behind his back as he gave him a polite smile. As usually, he was wearing his Hexaqua Kevlar vest, that was given to him as a leaving present from the Police force in Henta, giving him a very "on-the-job" look.

"Yah, sure, pop in. I gotta go grab somethin' to drink though. Won't be long, just ya sit down to wait. I'll be back in a two."

With that, Zala walked past Kaiden quite rudely, nearly pushing him out of the way completely in the process. Few steps around the man to get into his dead corner of vision, and Zala Jumped away. He had this nice empty storage corner always ready, and it was next to the break room.
Few steps, and he was happily pouring himself some hot chocolate from dispenser, whistling happily while doing so. This time's Jump had some more drastic effect on him, it seemed.

Kaiden raised his eyebrows as he is pushed away by the man with a rather big cybernetic arm. This seemed to completely confuse him, as he stood there scratching his head for a moment looking at the man disappear into the break-room. He shrugged, finding the man a little strange to just try and push him out of the way, as he took steps inside of the office. He would have a look around, having a look at any possible certificates that may be hung on the wall as well as a place to sit. He took a seat on one of the sofas and tried to relax a little, checking his VeX in an idle manner, he waited patiently for the interviewer to return.

With grabbing his drink and deciding to grab another one for his interviewee, Zala took a sharp turn, made sure no one was around, and Jumped.
He landed back into space-time reality right behind the sofa Kaiden was sitting on. Without any warning really, he reached out with the warm cup in his hand and placed it on top of Kaiden's head. He didn't let go of it, though, and the cup had a top on it to avoid any spills, so no danger on that part, but still...

"It's good to see you've made yourself comfortable. Now, are we ready for these few interesting questions here? Or do you want me to leave you for few more moments to calm your mind? We're not in a rush of any kind."

Zala's voice was completely different from a moment ago. Instead of the bit rudish darker tone, it sounded more like a ring of a silver church bell. Clear, soft but still strong voice filled with calm and compassion.