Quoted By:
Perhaps not nearly as dramatic, but you might have a similar reaction to your own HOPI. God knows how far the ‘personalized customizations can get out of hand, and how they adapt with consecutive deployments. You’d never quite forgiven Reggie for making his HOPI a breathy, mature woman after a favorite priestess of Ishtar.
But where you found flow and comfort in a snarky, peppy gal who could match you tit-for-tat in sardonic banter, Gully seems to have been drawn to a doting, gentlemanly, (aggressively) British valet.
And what did that say about her? Nothing you won’t bother speculating about or aloud.
“…y’know, I don’t recall my HOPI having a Jeeves or an Alfred preset,” you confess, rubbing the back of your head sheepishly, “Must’ve been something installed in the later generations.”
You aren’t laughing. No siree. Because if you even as much as squeak, the fire in Gully’s eyes promises a slow and painful end. Not that she says anything, but the way she smacks the wrench against the empty palm of her hand speaks plenty.
<span class="mu-i">“Laugh, and I will turn you into soup and chum you into the Atlantic.”</span>
…is what you manage to get from her eyes.
But honestly? The look on her face is enough to bring you to laughter, rather than the PUEXO voice itself.
>You spent the day helping Gully repair her PUEXO, all the while under the sword of Damocles to not laugh.
>You have gained Gully points.
>>On the fourth day…you returned to Babylonia.
Outside, the skies are overcast, but not in the way that heralds a storm. A cold front from the East has blown in, taking with it enough clouds to cast a lengthy shadow across much of the Belt. Some rain here and there, but hardly anything as bad as the storm that’d passed a week ago.
In the captain’s stateroom, the officers and heads of each department have gathered. No differently from both the pre-mission briefing and the debriefing that had followed.
Aalto’s radio goes off: “Armed salvage trawler Calypso, this is the Dockside Port Authority. You are to proceed to the following berth in Braken Plaza. I repeat, Braken Plaza. Standby to receive instructions…”
The <span class="mu-i">Calypso’s</span> return to Babylonia is heralded with the escort of not one, not two, but <span class="mu-i">three</span> of the navy’s <span class="mu-i">Euphrates</span>-class heavy cruisers. Not quite the <span class="mu-i">Hamurabi</span> line of battleships, but still impressive warships in their own right. Their combined broadside in total outstrips the autocannons and machine gun nests by a fair amount of weight.
“They’re hardly making it a secret,” muses Geary. Looking out the window, a significant portion of traffic in the Bay’s ground to a complete halt. From both warnings to stay out of the convoy’s way, as well as awe at the size of the ships, and the Khanate (consolation) prizes you obtained.
(cont.)
