Ghost Signals, Episode 5: Part 3.2
Dez glances down a step later at a closed grate underneath her feet.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI I don't see a way in. Luckily, I've a tool on me that can...
Before she can finish the rest of her thought, a lock from within clicks open and the metal grate opens up.
STEGGY Or you could just wait for me to pop the grate open like any other normal peep, without creating a big explodey mess.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (bending down) It's a standard issue chopca. It
wouldn't have been that explodey. (opening the door, getting inside) Something I've meant to tell you for awhile, Steggy- although you're not flesh and blood, you would make one hells of an effective Roman agent.
STEGGY Cheers Dezzer. But I've seen how those Romanos operate. I'd rather chance non-existence in the name of science than the Prime flarkin' Chancellor.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI Fair enough...
A few moments later, the soldier dips out of view inside the engine room; a feat of magic given the fact that the wing remains just as flat as it had been before.
CUT TO:
INT. ENGINE ROOM- Minutes Later
Dez a short time later in mid-stride through a corridor of the engine room, holding the vial as before in her left hand. You can see a light from her chest showing the way in the mostly dark area; the screen to her helmet has opened with the circulation of air in the room.
STEGGY (remarking) Engines are in a PD encasement... not quite how I'd choose to use it in this type of baseline tech. But ya know- potato, po-tah-toe.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (confused) Never heard of that expression.
STEGGY It's something I heard in one of the Signals a while back. Not sure what the hells it means, but... thought it was apt for the moment.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI Right. (slight pause) Where's the Tennaline station again?
STEGGY 20 fiet dead center. Then, ya hang a left and tap on another 10.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (looks all around her as she speaks) Hmm....
STEGGY The area's clean and green. No need to go wide and itchy for a fight.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI With respect to your skill set, Mz. Steggy- my instinct is telling me the antithesis. The air feels too still, like something's about to--
STEGGY (interjecting) Yeah, that's--called a fortuitous break dudo. A whole hells of a lotta peeps get 'em all the time. I know they might not come a lot for soljas. But it's not cause to go...
Her train of thought is disrupted by the sound of many skittering legs on metal off-screen. Dez-Lei, meanwhile, places the vial on the ground. She then quickly moves to her side and takes off a thin gray bar that emerges from a rectangular base.
STEGGY (Cont.) Right. Where was I again?
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (as the bar turns into a massive gun) You were going the long way to calling me a dimblohk, and how I'm a few segundos away from proving you the dimblohk.
STEGGY It's probably just a gust of air from the backup generator shooting out some dust and junk.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (in full-on attack mode) Yeah, I'm not taking that chance.
The soldier sets off in a quick gallop toward the skittering sound; her sizable weapon pointed skyward to the ceiling.
CUT TO:
A tracking shot of the ceiling with Dez-Lei following the sound as it moves from left to right. It stays this way for a handful of moments, tippified by the sound of a gun blast toward one section of pipe.
CUT TO:
The same shot of the AC Second Class a few moments later, ducking as a rush of air comes shooting back at her from the same place she fired. However, we don't hear anything hard landing on the ground as a result.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (catches her breath, getting back up) Thought I...saw a shadow for a moment.
STEGGY Maybe it was just a trick of the gaze. Or your sight degrading on ya. I know it's something you meatbags suffer from after a certain age.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (walking to the vial again) I'm quite in my prime, you witless codeblock! Just keep your gaze fixed on the area around us. I'd rather not bid adieu to this plane of existence while in a dank--
Just as she finishes her thought, a high-pitched meowing sound is heard behind her. Dez-Lei turns around and looks down to find a six-legged creature with the fur of a cat and the body shape of a spider.
AC SECOND CLASS DEZ-LEI (reverting the gun to its rectangular form) What the hells...?
STEGGY Okay that one, I'll admit...I've got nothing.