LT Toxin Arlill: Mystery Crate - Suspicious of Tox
Toxin Arlill
((T-1 Independent Bay, Operations Centre Lower Floor, Deck 7, USS Octavia E Butler))
It appeared that Toxin had unwittingly walked into a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear. His only clue was the topic chosen for the diversion.
Richards: Oh! And Rubix cube! Heh. That’s another type of cube.
Nilsen: What you on about? What’s a Rubix cube got to do with this?
Toxin: Might have something to do with me? ::looking at Richards::
Although his return was anticipated, Toxin's reappearance was a surprise to Nilsen, who hadn't noticed him.
Richards: So what's the word?
Toxin: Oh not much, you know how it goes, once you’re in this seat you have to keep the powers to be informed.
Nilsen: I was just telling Richards here how we run the tightest ops department in the fleet
Richards: I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this smugglers cube, I mean ring.
Nilsen: Cube?
Nilsen: That’s it! We’ve been trying to brute force this thing but what if…
Toxin watched as Lhandon sat on the floor next to the crate and placed his hand on one side. He then put his ear right up to it and smiled.
Nilsen: It’s a cubic lock. I had one years ago in the academy, when I got kicked out of Echo Squad, I needed some place to store my stuff while I moved out of the campus. They were so easy to break into and I couldn’t afford the credits, All you need to do is line up the layers. Both of you be quiet now, I need to listen.
Toxin could have commented on the order from his subordinate to remain quiet, but he felt it was best to comply rather than critique it.
Richards: Responses
oO Henri: Doesn’t he listen, Lhandon did say to be quiet. But also, are you going to put up with Lhandon ordering you around? Oo
Toxin didn't speak, but his gaze swept the room in search of Henri before returning to Lhandon and the box. He found Henri perched atop the box, watching over Lhandon. Toxin had to remind himself that, much like a leprechaun, only he could see Henri. Despite Henri becoming a nuisance, Toxin was grateful for this.
Nilsen: Got ya.
Nilsen remained somewhat quiet as he manipulated the lock. Suddenly, he spoke and slammed his hand on the box. There was an audible mechanical click, which Toxin could only presume was the lock finally releasing its captured contents.
Nilsen: Am I good or what?
Toxin remained silent, though he wished he could speak. His recent animosity stopped him from acknowledging his one-time close companion's significant achievement, now perceived as a distant second. Was the blame on Henri, or was there something else he had yet to discover?
Richards: Responses
Toxin: There’s enough time for celebrating later, we still have a case to solve, get on with it please.
Lhandon had removed the lid and set it aside. He passed his PADD to Richards and began to remove layers. True to his nature, Lhandon typically acted first and thought later. This trait didn't seem to benefit the advancement of his career.
Nilsen: Richards, what does that manifest say this should be?
Richards: Response
Nilsen: Well that’s wrong because our star prize is Replicator units. Entire Replicator units.
Toxin: That’s definitely unexpected.
Toxin was without any further words, they hadn’t expected replicators but here they were in all their glory.
Toxin: What should we have been expected?
Nilsen/Richards: Responses
Toxin: That’s obviously not what we got.
oO Henri: Way to state the obvious. Oo ::Toxin gave Henri a glare::
Toxin needed to be careful about his behavior towards Henri. If he was caught staring into the abyss too often, he risked being sent to the sickbay or, even worse, to the counselors! He chuckled internally at Nilsen's recent "unplanned" visits from the counselors.
Toxin: So, what's next? I can escalate this through the chain of command. However, there's a risk that our "entrepreneurs" might get wind of it and go silent.
Nilsen/Richards: Responses
Toxin: We need to act quickly. Even though the T1 is a secured room, anyone interested in this crate will undoubtedly find its sudden disappearance unsettling. Why don't I stay here to continue the analysis while you two collate the information you've collected to find any correlations? I can monitor things here.
Nilsen/Richards: Responses
Toxin: No it’s fine, I don’t mind at all. (beat) I don’t think I need to make this an order (beat) right?
Nilsen/Richards: Responses
TBC / Tags!
Lieutenant Toxin Arlill
Chief of Operations
USS Octavia E Buttler NCC-82850
Writer ID.: O239910TA4