Mission 1.3: Black Party Clean Up

As Nikolai enters the canteen, he offers a warning glare to the hall at large and then instinctively pulls on his collar, making the synthetic fur on it bristle. This sudden attention caused by the quickly spreading rumours about the expedition is deeply unwelcome by Wolf, and he already had to deal with the decontamination crew and way too many of his own colleagues eager to hear about their venture. He knew the station life was uneventful, so of course people would jump on the opportunity - but he'd much rather go back to his peaceful, non-socially-demanding job of an electrician.

He probably didn't help the situation by sticking with Matsuki, but she seemed like a pleasant - and not too talkative, - person, and he was interested in perhaps working with her further. Unfortunately this also meant giving up his preferred dining routine of enjoying his meals alone, since they agreed to catch up here later; but hopefully his demeanor will at least discourage anyone from pestering them.

"Is there a soda machine anywhere?" Nikolai looks around the dining hall with mild interest, having avoided visiting it most of the time. Doesn't seem like it changed much, but who knows, maybe they finally have something to his taste...

I think they have a fountain with this Brawndo-stuff over there. Matsuki says in a bored tone and points at a bright green soda dispenser. In fact she's not bored but rather extremely tired. The expedition strained her both physically and mentally.
She takes a portion of today's menu, some strange yellow dessert creme and sits down at the least crowded table. Only one man is sitting there. He seems to be very... relaxed you guess and smells of.... herbs?

Oddball finds amusing how people react to celebrities, actually, he finds amusing the fact that celebrities exist! For him, we are all people, some of the good and gentle, others hard working, and a few others not very good people... But well, these new ones sitting seem nice.
"Hi y'all, you look like you haven't slept in a week, haha, do you want some apples? They are good for that you know?"
He takes a couple of the four apples he has on his tray and give one to each.
"Yeah, these are niiiice. Better to sleep, but they'll do the trick until you get needed rest."
Then, he notices he hasn't introduce himself yet..
"Oh, by the way... I'm professor Oddball" says with a grin.

Thank you Matsuki manages to smile a bit even though she feels like falling asleep right on the spot. I am Matsuki Magumi. And indeed I am tired. Had a troubling few encounters these days.
In fact Matsuki just wants to silently eat her meal but she has the feeling that the professor will just keep talking whether she says something or not. So she decides to keep up with the small talk, if for no other reason than to steer the flow of conversation
So you're a professor? What's your field of expertise? And what brings you here?

Acceptable. I'll rejoin you in a moment," Nikolai replies to Matsuki and then proceeds to head towards the soda dispenser she pointed out, intending to soothe his being with some fizzling, refreshing drinks. Sue him for having an odd preference, but there are few things better than having a nice glass of soda after a hard day - and he is not above using intimidation to skip the queue. Not that soda is usually the thing to spawn queues, even if it is a good brand, much less Brawndo.

He returns from the dispenser with a haul of three bottles and drops onto a seat opposite Oddball. "Understatement," he comments at the man's remark on their visible lack of sleep and picks up the offered apple with a nod of thanks, biting into it while simultaneously opening his soda. After he succeeds in this, he adds an introduction, as an afterthought: "Wolf."

"Konnichiwa Magumi-san. Ogenkideska?" he replies after hearing her name, almost mindlessly, as if an old custom took over for a moment. But nonetheless, he continued paying attention to her reply. And nodded to Wolf when heard his one-word very-meaningful comment.
"Oh, I'm an engineer, I build and fix staff, you know? Like, all kinds of machines! " He smiles openly as he clearly enjoys talking about it "Like I once designed a space station for a different star system. Another time, I built an escape pod from scratch, that was crazy man! They had old rubble and sheets of metal and old computers, and needed to leave in a month.. hahaha... The ride was NOT fun, I can tell you that, but they landed alive!"
"What bring me here... You mean WHO, right? Haha, the bosses brought me here. They seem to have plenty of things to fix here. That's cooool for me, plenty of fun project to work in... But just arrived today, so haven't started yet. How about you? Who brought you here? And what encounters were you on? I thought this was a peaceful place"

There is a visible rise of interest in Wolf's expression when Oddball says that he is an engineer, and the man even briefly puts down the bottle of soda he's been quietly destroying to offer another succinct comment: "A colleague of mine, huh. I am an electrician." Nikolai snorts, flexing his fingers and making the claws on his gauntlets briefly pop up. "...Most of the time. Seems like this station has less need of electricians and engineers than of alien vanquishers. Have you heard of The Face?"

Oddball nods as he acknowledge a colleague, he does enjoy electricity a lot. "Alright! you work with sparks, that's cool man!" Says with a smile.
Then he sees the gauntlet pulling on and off its claws... "That's so cool man!Wait, are you using the movement of the fingers, or servoes to control the claws? How do you power them?"

But his curiosity about the gauntlets was cut short with the mention of The Face.
"A face? Sure man, we all got one. I mean humans, right? I don't know about, like, beings from other worlds... maybe they got more? Or less? Or, well, I haven't met any non-human so I wouldn't know. So many possibilities man!

But did you say about aliens and vanquishers"

Not a human face. Rather a monument in the shape of a face. It seems to be an alien structure and we were there. And faces were coming out of... well... I don't know whether I'm allowed to tell you any details. Matsuki says slowly and calmy while eating here menu. After a small pause without any talking Matsuki continues
What I can or rather should tell you is that you have to be very careful around here. It seems that some people here are... let's say loosing their mind. Like in a cult if you understand

Nikolai seems pleased at Oddball's interest in his gauntlets, a tiny smile briefly appearing on his usually impassive face as he flexes his fingers again. "It is fully mechanical. It didn't feel safe to use high tech when you run the chance of being electrocuted daily."

He then leans back on his chair, listening to Matsuki and their new acquaintance discussing the Face and their eventful expedition. He nods in support when the former mentions being careful, and supplies his own advice once she grows silent: "Avoid skulls as well, if by chance you encounter one." Nikolai pauses, then clarifies as an afterthought: "Exposed skulls, that is."

"EleKtroCUted, Cults, Skulls... lots of dangerous words with the same sounds... Definitely not cool."
He thinks for a moment, trying to read behind lines... Before answering.
"Too many advises to be careful, right? But something tells me you will go back to danger soon... and see more skulls... and you may need help, right?"
Then to Wolf...
"Oh, and I love you going old-school, full mechanical for an electrician, I'd love to check them closer if it is ok with you, and we have time".
And so he finishes his meal, and draw a bit of chewing magic.

Matsuki takes a bite of her apple, chews it slowly and looks at the talkactive professor. She's inclined to send Oddball off because he talks too much but on the other hands only Zakk, Wolf and herself are left.
If Professor Oddball just recently arrived she can at least be sure that he isn't compromised by the cult or the aliens.
Okay. I think we could use someone who is able to repair stuff. Or circumvent... barriers. I don't know what our next mission will be but I'll encourage our boss that you can come with us