[oom] A visit to the Milliways Garage with Adrian Shephard

[dejah_thoris]

 She finishes her coffee and turns to Shephard.

"Would you mind if Woola joins us?  He enjoys exploring almost as much as I do."

Comments

[dejah_thoris]

She smiles and keeps the descent just as gentle as the ascent.

"A dragon? That sounds like it would make even my stomach churn. As strange as the skimmer seems, at least it won't turn around and eat you."

[hecu_marine]

"Aw, Kreyu's all right once you git to know her," Shephard says with a crooked grin. "She's the smart-as-hell kind of dragon, not the eat-everything-that-moves kind. And I ain't just sayin' that 'cause she helped me git my new hand, neither. She's been like that ever since I met her."

[dejah_thoris]

"You keep the most interesting company, Mister Shephard. I suppose you met her here? How does a dragon fit into the bar, anyway?"

[hecu_marine]

"Shapeshifting," says Shephard. "Most of the time she's in the Bar, she's the size'n shape of a human woman. Fuck me if I know where the rest of her goes, but she gits it back when she changes again."

He'll tell her about the trolls later. Kreyu's plenty interesting all on her own.

[dejah_thoris]

"Shapeshifting. Of course."

Forgive her if she sounds a bit skeptical. They're almost back to the ground level, and the scaffolding is rattling as Woola keeps up with and passes them. He's waiting for them happily when they reach the floor of the garage.

"This place plays havoc with my rationally inclined thought processes. Magic -- the thought that it's real -- I just --"

She shrugs and laughs again, turning the skimmer back towards the main body of the garage.

"Which way?"

[hecu_marine]

"I wish I could tell you somethin' that made a mite more sense, I truly do, but that's what I got in the way of an answer and I can't really git you more'n that," Shephard admits. "Hang a left up ahead. I'mma show you the black lion before we go back."

[dejah_thoris]

"I appreciate the sentiment, truly," she says, moving the skimmer in the direction he indicated.

"What is this lion you speak of?"

[hecu_marine]

"The only flying machine I actually like," Shephard says. "Even if I did git shot down in the first version of it I flew."

It's near more large robot type shapes, including a three-story pink and purple Sentinel. The nearby blue, yellow, and green lion robots- or lioness robots, really, none of them have manes- probably stand out more, though.

"Over there."

[dejah_thoris]

She draws even with the massive creature, and again begins to ascend slowly.

"It's... a terrestrial predator shape, of some sort." By her tone of voice, she's utterly baffled again. "And this one flies."

Honestly, people. What the hell.

[hecu_marine]

"Yep," says Shephard. "Got some pretty sweet onboard beam weaponry, too. This is the second one I seen down here. First one got shot out from under me'n I got pinned down in the wreck."

[dejah_thoris]

All that technology, and an inadequate escape mechanism. Dejah frowns.

"Were you in battle here? Or in some other universe?"

[hecu_marine]

"Mine," says Shephard. "This happened back home, in my universe."

[dejah_thoris]

She turns her head enough to glance at him.

"Really. Did this technology originate in your universe?"

[hecu_marine]

"Nope. Friend of mine who took me down her to show me some shit from her world told me about it," Shephard says. "Half the onboard systems're automated, so there weren't all that much to learn. I reckoned a huge fuckin' robot lion with combat laser armaments beat whatever piece-of-shit murderbird we might drum up in the helicopter section any day."

[dejah_thoris]

She chuckled, and shook her head in amusement.

"'Murder bird.' An apt description, I suppose. I still don't understand the necessity for this," she gestures towards the lion, "particular configuration, but I suppose, if it's effective, then..." Again, she shakes her head and grins. "Who am I to judge?"

She pans down the length of the lion, and then gently descends back to the ground level. Woola has disappeared again somewhere.

[hecu_marine]

"Oh, it gits better," Shephard says. "You see those other lion robots over there? You git one more, think it's supposed to be red, and the damn things'll all fold up parts'n come together to form one giant goddamn sword-wielding humanoid robot called Voltron. They just ain't got lion number five."

[dejah_thoris]

Dejah blinks rapidly, the skimmer drifting down to just a few inches off the ground. She half-turns in her seat.

"They -- reconfigure? Into another, bigger machine?"

Who the hell thinks of these things?

[hecu_marine]

"So they tell me," says Shephard. "I'll be the first to admit, it ain't what I'd call sensible, but somebody did it and fuck me if I ain't gonna take advantage of it when I need it."

[dejah_thoris]

Again, she shakes her head. "Any well in the desert, I suppose. Still, it sounds like a small child was the head of their design team."

[hecu_marine]

"Kinda does, don't it?" Shephard agrees. "Least they got it to work... anyways, those're the ones I know best 'round here. I got a motorcycle parked down here somewheres but it's back with the cars."

[dejah_thoris]

She perks up immediately. "A motorcycle. That's a two-wheeled craft? Is it functional?"

She's already turning the skimmer back in that direction.

[hecu_marine]

"Sure is," says Shephard. "I've spent a lot of time bringin' that thing up to speed. Handles pretty damn well, too, for a machine that age."

[dejah_thoris]

"Does it handle two like this one does?"

[hecu_marine]

"Long as the one who ain't drivin' holds on real careful, yeah," says Shephard. "Want to give it a try?"

[dejah_thoris]

She picks up a little speed as they turn down the aisle back towards the four-wheeled vehicles.

"Hell, yes." Shephard's language may be wearing off on her.