Widget is multitasking. I know he’s still going through security footage, but he also keeps zipping into the security station with open containers of leftover food from the nearly-explosive banquet. I thinking he’s giving it to security officers as some sort of convoluted payment for access to footage we are helping them with. Even so, I will warn my shipmates to step with care when they walk through our quarters– assuming we ever rest.
Speaking of our crew, I think Sresaka and Ash figured out the nanites are of ancient Azlanti design. Emphasis on Ancient–L746 technology is a closer match than what we’ve seen used by current Azlanti. Not that we see much of that.
Oh, Widget has informed us that four hours prior to the banquet mishap, a small creature was lurking in the robot recharging bays, which had been half full at the time. The creature, who had on the uniform of an AbadarCorp Ysoki submersible operator called Ratchet Strap, had definitely interacted with M54. Widget found the footage after noticing a burst of static on the feed. He also searched (and found) Ratchet Strap six hours prior at his quarters, but the Ysoki had already left for another trip on the submersible, which was still out. We needed to see how he was in two places.
Lexx and I met security officers at the Ysoki’s quarters, and upon opening the door, I had to yell at everyone to take cover. There was, of course, an explosion two seconds later. Fuel cells. So, at least the Ysoki on the submersible is the real Ratchet Strap, and the footage we’d looked at was of a doppelganger.
And we need a signal jammer at every floor drain. This newest doppelganger had already oozed through one. Maybe we should just try to kill the particular nanites that allow the doppelgangers to function.
Word from Vakpod Station (upper), is that I-9 had burned his own power core. Security up there had carefully gone through and found a virus that had instructed him to steal a shuttle and take it to the Jasper Cluster. It sounds to me like I-9’s backup memory is still intact. I didn’t tell them about that, as the head of security on the Station could infect himself looking for it, so best that I fix I-9. Or Ash– no one else knows how much free will we actually gave our little robot.