Chapter 2 - 04: Looking Back

"I asked you to stop." The voice was Pandora's. She had somehow gotten a hold of him. Kanya suddenly blanked out for a short while.

"You're not supposed to be on this ship. Moreover, you were heading for places even most crew of the Aegis aren't supposed to go near."

Kanya was speechless.

"Don't you have any excuse for entering when you were unauthorised?"

He had no words to say. He was still in shock of being discovered.

"Your abilities are recovering far quicker than I expected. It looks like I need to bring forward the schedule a little bit. Either way, I can't have you remembering anything within this region of time."

She takes out a syringe and suddenly jabs him with it.

"You don't remember who I am to you yet. You will remember in time. Hopefully, the next time we meet, you will remember who I really am, what I am doing, for what reason I'm doing it. And for your sake, don't go using your abilities unchecked by reason. If you ran into someone other than me, chances are you would have been terminated on the spot. After all, no one on this ship knows you. Not yet at least."

She removes the syringe, and stabs him with what appears to be a needle.

"Unfortunately, I cannot have you recover too quickly. That would ruin my plan and put you in unnecessary danger. You have much to learn before I can allow you to roam freely without supervision."

She removes the needle. Not long after, Kanya falls to the ground. She takes out her PDD.

"I need a medical team at the position I'm calling from. A crew member from the MV2904 somehow wandered in and collapsed here."

"What is this person doing on the Aegis?"

"Who knows? I think he somehow got cleared through the doors. Must have been a glitch or something."

"Why would he come here?"

"Probably got lost. Just hurry up and send a team here. I have things to attend to."

Chapter 2 - 03: Return by Shuttle

Kanya had already returned to his room on the MV2904. His day of shopping was over. At 1. He didn't have the stamina to do it all day. He decided a little change would be good for him, so he went to the orbital station's cafeteria instead. He would try the food on Nakamura tomorrow. They were going to be there for a week anyway. As he was leaving the cafeteria, he saw Cassandra return from the surface. She immediately left in the opposite direction, not noticing Kanya. He followed her to another door. She cleared the security and entered. Kanya was curious. He immediately tried to follow her, but to no avail.

The door rejected his clearance. He thought he should go back. If it was something above his clearance, he probably shouldn't know. He swung his hand past the scanner for the heck of it. It suddenly cleared him. He didn't know what happened, but he continued onward. At each locked door, a mere swing of his hand at the reader was adequate for opening the doors.

An unexplainable phenomena, but Kanya believed someone was leading him to something. He had lost sight of Cassandra. He realised where he was: the Aegis. He continues walking one of the corridors. He could not explain it, but he knew where he had to go. The layout of the ship wasn't foreign to him.

A voice from behind him beckoned. "It's about time you stop." The voice was familiar. He began to run, he knew he shouldn't get caught. He sped forward as fast as he could.

Long Hiatus

I don't feel like writing anything. It's not that I can't come up with anything. I've already got the whole chapter 2 of the story written in my head. I'm obviously going to be quit following latest Magic stuff as it is. I've become rather uninterested in Coldsnap, and I do not believe that I will be playing again for a long time. I do not know how long I will not post, but keep your RSS feed readers on, and you will know when I make a comeback to posting tons upon tons of stuff. :D

rei's Laws of Computing/Computers

1. The keyboard is mightier than the mouse. - There is a reason why the keyboard came before the mouse. This is among them. There are plenty of shortcuts involving the keyboard. The main reason they are called shortcuts is because it saves you the trouble of moving the mouse to access them. There are things at which the mouse is better, but in many cases, mastery of the keyboard will lead to a most comfortable computing experience.

2. Have the emergency key shortcuts at your disposal.

- All operating systems usually have a shortcut to save the operating system from crashing completely in the case of some awful program or some terrrible execution somewhere. In Windows, this is usually the ever popular Control+Alt+Delete. In Mac OS X, it's usually Command(Apple)+Option+Esc. In Linux, I think most desktops use Control+Escape.

3. Computers can fail, and probably eventually will.

- Computers have a lifespan of about 5 years before becoming impossibly obsolete to some people. I myself have survived with a computer for a number far surpassing that, and I have no intention to ever let it happen again. That computer didn't fail during my active usage, but it soon did after about a year or two after I finally got an up-to-date computer.

4. Since computers will fail, backup often.

- The part with the longest warranty after RAM is probably either your processor or your hard drive. Chances are however that your hard drive will fail eventually after the warranty period. I have not seen a hard drive last more than 10 years in my home, and many have failed within the warranty period itself. I carry out a pretty thorough backup regime, although it has become patchy with the advent of more reliable hard drives. There is now about three copies of each of my university work and notes which are stored electronically, all up-to-date. It will not be long before I make a fourth into a piece of significantly more reliable storage media.

5. The essentials of computing: monitor, keyboard, mouse, Internet.

- Every basic computer should have a monitor, keyboard and a mouse. Internet access isn't vital yet, but without it, your computer's potential is wasted. Heck, even my PSP can get Internet access. It is not vital, but if you have it, the whole world is there. :D

Chapter 2 - 02: On Nakamura

Meanwhile, on the surface, Harrison and Kanya are walking through the shopping district. Advancements in transport technology and efficiency meant that most modern colonised planets only had one main city. Politics are minimal since corporations fund operations and although they do not exercise their influence upon the planet, any major expenditure has to be filed with the corporation. "Where did Cassandra go anyway?" Kanya asked.

"Where else could she go? Deep into the darkest depths of the Nakamura shopping district, to never return until ordered to," Harrison joked.

"Hmph."

"Oh yeah, you haven't gotten a paycheck yet. I'll lend you some money if you need it. I'll just take it out of your paycheck later. I do still have jurisdiction over your money. Heh."

"I'll just borrow some and go off."

"Go ahead. Just remember to keep track of time and come back when your PDD tells you to. We have an important visitor coming onboard the ship later."

With that, Kanya dashes off into one of the stores. He doesn't have much of a wardrobe besides his several sets of uniform. He has plenty of things to buy.

Meanwhile, Cassandra is sitting in a small cafe. Her PDD shows a shopping list, with half of it ticked and coloured green. She then notices that she has a new message.

2:00pm

The message was short, but she had been told of the meaning before this. She had about an hour and a half before it came. It meant that she would have to leave after her short meal at the cafe.