65-82

m o r o n (Noun.)

a stupid person

Elain must have slept a whole day away, because when she woke up at twelve in the morning. Her schedule must have been destroyed right about now. Their stalker had disappeared, probably because he didn't want to waste time watching them sleep. Milo was sleeping in the bunk above her with loud snores that she found easy to ignore. She exited her uncomfortable bed and went to the computer to see if her essay had been sent. At the middle of the screen, she read the error. HQ is not currently taking mail. Please try again when we are back online. That was odd. Head Quarters almost never went offline. They like to be able to get things back one hundred percent of the time. She glanced down in hopes of it being their connection that made the error pop up. Her brows lifted high when she noticed that there was no connection.

She exited the laboratory with a flashlight in hand. Trying to check the dish plugged into the back of their temporary home. Something must have tripped over the cord, so it was an easy fix. She just had to connect the wires once more. She switched off the light and made her way back around to the front. She was in the process of rubbing her droopy eyes and accidentally bumped into one of their many random walls. Oh. Correction. One of their random Arcanes. She excused herself and moved around the life form that hopped down from their metal roof. Selcouth, who was sleeping by the door, looked on in jealousy as Arcane followed her into the dark lab.

She sat back in front of the computer, clicking to try again to send the electronic mail. The curious creature behind her looked on in confusion, while she just stretched back in her chair. Mankind has explored technology so much and, yet, we are still forced to wait for emails to upload and go through. Maybe if she chose to study the workings of technology rather than biology, it wouldn't be a problem. Technicians were just so ready to explore the bigger things, like space, they tend to forget the small things. Both her and Arcane stared at the increasing loading bar.

It took barely five minutes, but it was worth it. The email had the documentation attached that let everyone at Head Quarters know about her new discovery. It had to be worth it. It would have been worth it.

'HQ is not currently taking mail. Please try again when we are back online.' The error sound played loud in the crowded room, so she hoped she hadn't accidentally woken up Milo.

"You've got to be kidding me," she groaned. Sinking in her seat and rubbing her face into her hands. "How hard is it for you to take one email? You don't even need to open it!" She frowned, trying to get the electronic mail to go through with only an intense stare. She could hear Arcane asking questions behind her, but she couldn't understand the words, so she didn't even try to listen. Her eyes slid over to the journal that was returned to her, trying to dismiss the sickly feeling in her stomach. She didn't usually get these feelings unless something was off.

With a sudden sense of hopelessness, she clicked on another site's conversation and began her message. 'Please excuse my sudden email. I am contacting you, site 65-82, because I can no longer get ahold of HQ. Please respond if you find yourself able to send a message.' Site 65-82 was across the planet, so it should be late into the day for them. She chewed at her bottom lip, slowly pressing down on the enter button. Just as the message sent, Arcane picked up the fragile screen and began to inspect it closely. Nearly pulling out every cord connected to it.

"No, no, no, no!" She quickly tried to put the screen back on to her desk, but he only hissed at her and pushed her away with his second pair of arms. When did he get a second pair of arms? Were they something that she simply missed? No that wasn't possible. "You're going to break it!" He looked down at her worried expression and huffed. Placing it back in its place. She didn't hold back the sigh of relief and thanked him, then named it out loud for him. So, he could hear her name for it, whether he could pronounce it or not. He may never care for their names of things; but as a curious creature, she only thought it fit that she would put a name to things he had yet to see. Maybe he'd even return the favor with his names for things. Maybe not.

"Elpoep fo puorg ddo na era uoy," he growled. Arcane crossed both sets of his arms and stood behind her. Both turned to the computer again as it let out a new ping.

She opened up the new message from site 65-82 and frowned in confusion. Arcane leaned against the back of her flimsy chair, trying to understand the symbols that were only foreign to him. Her chair creaked loudly at the new weight. 'Have you yet to hear, 27-43?' It was an odd response. Most scientists on the planet got to the point quickly. Were they really trying to beat around the bush now?

'We haven't heard anything from the first checkup. After the first month. What have we missed?' She typed; confusion spread across her face. Usually, Head Quarters would give their warnings through emails about what was going on, but when she looked again there was still nothing in their inbox. The only thing on that tab was the error message. She grimaced at the screen, aware that the creature behind her watched all of her panic. Milo's snores had quieted, and she felt bad for being too loud, but that guilt didn't last long. Last they spoke, he was being a dick. Showing his true colors perhaps? Elain watched the three bubbles dance at the bottom of the messenger box. What were they waiting for? Her impatience, something that she tried to drown out long ago, was finding its way to the surface once more.

'HQ has been sabotaged.'

Silence. Silence in the laboratory and silence in her head. She waited a whole minute for four words? Words that could mean that she was stuck on this planet? Don't get her wrong, she loved Meia with all her heart and wouldn't have changed a thing about them being there. It stung her eyes with the amount of sleeping people that could have been harmed by any type of collision. The only other problem was that they were stuck on a planet with dwindling resources and an assistant that she wanted to send back home. He wasn't ready for this mission, no matter what the test results actually said.

Bing. 'They collided with an asteroid that went unnoticed by the radars.' An eyebrow rose. 'We were in the middle of a conference call when the consoles were being hijacked. We got a small bit of information before they were down again, which we lost all connection by that time.' Odd.

"What's that?"

So maybe she slammed her fist into Milo's nose; it was an accident. An accident that kind of satisfied her and made Arcane huff. "Oh, my goodness, Milo! What were you thinking? Next time, don't you go sneaking up behind me. I have the fight response, you moron!" Milo wasn't listening; he groaned out loudly and clutched his nose lightly. She sighed, "I'm sorry. Head Quarters has gone completely off the grid. I was told it was because someone decided to hack into the main data base, but I don't understand how that's possible. People go through extensive background checks before hand." She didn't finish her thought process, handing Milo over a cold pack that was in the freezer and a cloth to cover it.

"If not someone at Head Quarter, who could it possibly be?" She moved the sleepy Milo to sit in her chair, where she still forgot to write back to site 65-82. She didn't answer. Leaning against the bed frame, she watched him look over the message sent to them both. "Odd. The way that they wrote to you, I mean." She nodded. 65-82 said all too much before they actually got to the point. We were told to make sure everyone knows the full story before they ever need to ask for more details about the situation. Her eyes moved towards Arcane, who gripped Milo's chin to inspect the damage she had done. Probably in just a curious manner rather than a helpful one. She hadn't seen the chaotic grin on the creature's face, but Milo definitely did. He tried to scramble away from Arcane's grip and was thankfully successful.

She ignored them and zoned out with eyes on the ceiling. "If Head Quarters truly is down. . . I mean, if there were more than a few satellites down. Then there is no way we will be able to send for help. They were our only connection to Earth. We can't request any rides home." She would be stuck with him. "We may be on our own for a very long time. Do you want to continue working or do you want to go to a closer site to strategize?"

He watched her from his hunched, sitting form. "You're asking me for my opinion?" Her eyes slid to meet his own, staring at him silently. She hated the surprised tone in his voice. "I, I think we should strategize with other sites."

Her lips curled upwards. "I'm glad you think so, Milo. I hope you have a good trip. You can take the vehicle if you can get it out of the back." She stood and flipped the bright lights of the laboratory back on again. Happily watching his jaw drop in surprise.