A Robot's Work Is Never Done

((This takes place after 'You break it, you buy it.' Samara is in-transit for elsewhere. I'm looking for any baddies or anything mischievous especially. ))

Samara yawned a little, well, as much as a robot could really yawn. One thing she hated about travel was feeling bored. That, thankfully, was remedied by a good book or two when kept on your person. Though at the moment, her books were not exactly for leisure. Sam set down a small bag filled with gears, cogs and so and so from Tradeworld that she had found in the scrapyards.

The fembot adjusted her lab coat as she got ready for her return to Star Command, and back to work on some system maintenance. Proper clothing returned from her little expedition, the bot sat back into her seat and got comfortable, pulling out one of her books on mechanical maintenance. " Same stuff, different day.." she thought to herself, peering over the pages.

(this will be the first RP where i move to after- UHC events so if anyones curious the summary is on Renee's page)

Renee slipped through the shadows of the cargo bay. She had been doing this a lot for the last few weeks and almost had it nailed. She licked her silvery fangs sparingly. The zephyrite-turned-energy vampire was going to drain the ship dry. She only fed here at the ports anyway, because she didn't like killing bots. Here on tradeworld they had enough trouble, especially from her adoptive 'dad' since Alan died.

She made it to the ships base and forced open a hatch, peering into the operating box and at a fusion battery that lay in the back. Reaching in, she unplugged it and tucked the item into her arms. Carefully she bit into it, drained it, and ran away.

The events occurring from the engine room have gone unnoticed by the few passengers that were on the transit ship, but not from the pilot and his partner in the cockpit. It was more noticeable when the engines finally gave out, letting the ship rock in an uneasy way. Samara seemed to pay it no mind for she was immersed in her book, at least until it nearly tossed her from her seat.

" Great..just great. I TOLD you to double check the fuel cells!" the pilot scolded to the co-pilot, " Oh excuuuuuuse me for havin' already dun that.." the other grumbled. Between the two males bickering, one picked up their intercom and spoke:

//Alright um..ladies and gentlemen, we've seemed to be experiencing some minor mechanical problems, so-// it started before being interrupted, //Oh for quasar's sake ASK!//, //Okay! Okay! Keep yer pants on! ...-sigh-..is there anyone down there who has any mechanical or system repair experience..or at least knows how to change a fusion coil?// the pilot stated amongst the shouted co-pilot.

Samara lifted her head, peering over at her fellow passengers, who muttered and conversed with one another to see who could do what. With a slight optic roll, the fembot stood up, took her labcoat off, then cracked her fingers. With the metallic popping noise, she muttered something as she headed for the back end of the ship.

Renee stayed close, pressed against a wall. of course, someone would find the battery. also of course, no one would suspect her. everyone thought she was dead. Curious, the girl watched as a familiar figure came down from the ship. It was Samara fifer.

Samara headed towards the engine room, peering around for a light of somesort...or at least one of those hover-light orbs. When she found a switch, she tried pressing it to turn on. Stuck. Dammit, why is it that they can't update this crap? You'd think that'd be manditory.

Grumbling a little under her breath, Sam approached the engine. As she opened a panel, she went looking for a place to hook a cable up to.

" Could be worse.." she muttered.

She folded her ears back sadly. Sometimes she wished that she could have gone back to Star Command. Waiting, she watched the robot dig through the panel, looking for some way to turn it back on.

Samara took at least a couple of minutes before she got at least a small spark of life from the crystallic fusion engine.

" Finally...you silly piece of junk." she said in an almost jokingly-playful tone, patting the side of the engine, " I'll make it better."

Sam's tone was more calm this time. She relaxed a lot more since now she was at her work-element. It was going to take a little while, but she was determined to help recharge that engine.

Renee was half-tempted to talk to her old friend. Maybe she would trust her, not turn her in? She could only hope. "Hello? Sam, over here." She poked her head carefully out from behind a pillar, towards the bot.

Between tangling with wires and attempting to recharge the engine, Sam heard what seemed to be a voice. It didn't register at first until she stopped moving and looked around for the source of the noise. It didn't take too long to figure out whose voice it was, due to familiarity in pitch, tone:

" Renee? Sweetie what are you doing here? " Samara asked, an expression of confusion.

She frowned a little sadly. Everyone back on star command thought she was dead, as far as she knew. "I've been staying here for a while." Her ears folded back. "But it is great to see you again." the girl nodded. Pointing towards the ship, she said, "You're going to need a new battery."

Samara noticed the sad look that plastered over Renee's features. She nodded her head in response;

" I know hun..the engine told me." she said, going over and kneeling by Renee. Her cyan eyes glowed, even in the dim light.

" What made you come here, sweetie?"

She looked up, red eyes glowing. She had changed so much in appearence since the last time they met. "They, uh, found out i really was under the energy vampire's mind control." she sniffled but refused to cry. She was nearly nineteen- no need for tears. "And then i ran away, and there he found me, and then zurg found me, and..." She trailed off, biting her lip with her fangs. "You heard about my dad's death right?"

What?...

All this had happened to this young girl so quickly?..
Samara's expression changed to that of serious concern, honestly, she had not known of the energy vampire she spoke of..let alone the death of Renee's father. She had barely met them a short time ago. Zurg was someone constantly heard of, to the point his competence could nearly be questionable.

" Renee...I had no idea.."

"I'll be fine, though." She tried to smile despite herself. "It's just that, you can't tell ANYONE that I'm here. Not even that-" She paused. "Nos is here. It'll just end badly for us all." She leaned back against the wall with a sigh. Her silver ears folded back. "Please."

Samara thought for a moment, her optics never leaving Renee's face once. Though this was difficult, she didn't want the young alien to get hurt.

" Alright...I won't tell anyone." she said, her tone in a whispering notion.

"Thanks." She tried to smile. It worked pretty well this time. "It's just really great to see someone from Star Command again." she looked bac down the hall. Her eye lit up, molten red. "I've got to get home."

Samara gave a smile in return to Renee. " I may not be a ranger, but you are free to contact me whenever you need someone to speak with.." she said, tilting Renee's chin upward so the alien girl was looking eye-to-eye with her.

Her attentions seemed slightly elsewhere for the meantime. Renee's motion to get home gave some slight confusion to the fembot.

" Where -is- your home?"

"Just a little old scrap building. Can't be to obvious, you know." She was regaining confidence in speaking to the bot. She a feeling that Samara was telling the truth. Nodding a bit, she looked back at her friend. "He's getting mad. Hope to see you soon." She smiled before starting away. "But whatever you do, don't visit."

" Oh?" Samara said, tilting her head a little. Renee seemed comforted by the fembot's presence. Renee then stated that she needed to leave, but before the alien girl disappeared, she gave a warning to Samara.

" Wait what?" Samara said, trying to make light of the 'don't visit' message. However her question went unanswered when Renee had vanished.

A ways away, Renee sighed tiredly. She wished she had been able to stay with Sam. Heading home, she pulled her coat a little tighter.

"Attention passengers, we will be departing soon" The announcer said. the ship's battery had been replaced while they were talking.

Samara went back to work, but raised an eyebrow in confusion as the battery had strangely enough had been either replaced or recharged while she spoke with Renee. "...well..that makes my job a little easier.." she said with a slightly relieved look.

Once she got the tangled wires set up, she closed the little spot on the engine where she was working, then headed back for her seat.

Renee walked home, trying to ignore the searing pain brought by his commands. The younger energy vampire finally made it home and opened the door, slipping inside an appearingly abandoned building.

On the duration of the rest of the trip, Samara's mind ran over Renee's words and sudden departure. The fembot was concerned for the young alien's well being...but there wasn't much she could do at this point in time.

All Sam could do for now was watch and wait. When they finally made the stop at a station, she picked up her things and headed for the docking bay. Sam had to wait for a ranger to come by and pick her up at this point...well at least that gave her more time to read.

Eventually XR, joined by XL (who had by some miracle convinced Nebula to let him come) came to pick Sam up."How was Tradeworld?" The ranger asked almost needlessly.

Samara did a double take at XR and XL, but she smiled upon seeing the two robot rangers. " Hello you two." she said, " Oh you know, full of grit, grime and the scum of the galaxy looking to make a quick buck."

Yes that was her attempt at some humor, hopefully it was a funny one, because it was true! Sam walked alongside those two as they headed for the ship, " So what did I miss on Star Command?"