>>5657214SHODAN and Cylia simply stare at eachother in silence for a moment after she climbs up and dusts herself off.
Uh-oh. You can feel it. It's one of <span class="mu-i">those</span> moments.
You're not sure what to call it, but women have this habit of pecking at eachother on occasion.
Surprisingly, SHODAN is more guilty of this than anyone. She almost seems to enjoy bullying Cylia on occasion, although it's always lighthearted.
You're also aware that basically any action you take right now would be considered taking sides.
Since SHODAN is just picking at Cylia, and Cylia is the type who seeks approval and admiration, you figure your best course of action is as follows.
You slap Cylia on the ass, causing her to jump and squeal.
"Nice squat, babe."
After complimenting her, you turn back to the task at hand and act like you didn't notice anything.
SHODAN isn't the type to get jealous at all, and she probably knows what you're thinking, so she won't care.
You can't see Cylia's face through her helmet, but she isn't focused on SHODAN anymore as she's just rubbing her ass and watching you look around.
That's a good outcome, and that's all you can ask for when it comes to women.
When it comes to this elevator shaft, you don't get the outcome you were looking for.
Unfortunately there is no service ladder whatsoever. It's like they don't expect the elevator to go out, ever.
Not only that, but there's no goddamned rope either.
Even if it was greased up, you still could have climbed a steel cable without too much trouble, you think.
It looks like this elevator uses a rail system, with motorized wheels embedded in a track that runs up the length of the shaft.
There's a power cable connected to a third rail in the middle of the shaft, but since power is out to most of the station it doesn't do you much good.
"Shit. Looks like climbing up isn't going to be that easy." You mutter.
"What about these rails?" Cylia suggests. "The grooves are big enough to fit our fingers. It might be a little awkward, but maybe one of us could shimmy our way up and drop some paracord?"
"That might be fine for one or two floors, but what happens when you lose your grip 10 stories up? The gravity might be low, Cyl, but it ain't zero."
"Captain, i have a suggestion." SHODAN offers.
"Let's hear it."
"If i were to wire myself into the elevator's power supply, i could use my capacitor banks to lift the carriage two or three floors at a time."
"Isn't it just going to drop down again once your caps run out?"
"We can engage the emergency brake while i recharge."
That... could also work. But it'd be dangerous, too. If the brake failed you'd just be dead.
But there's another issue besides that.
"How much energy is this gonna take? This building looks to be about 20 stories."
"Considering the mass of the carriage and it's occupants, i expect that this will drain approximately 85% of my remaining energy."
So she'll be exhausted, basically. Unless you can find somewhere to recharge.
