ten_fwd | (no subject)

Current Location: in the walls

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(no subject)

The thing about emergencies -
Well, actually there are a lot of things about emergencies. If they weren't they'd be solved early enough that no one noticed. The thing about emergencies that Marika is working on right now is that you need to know what to do as much as possible before the problem happens.

Which is why she's inside the Jeffries Tubes with a PADD in one hand and a small flashlight stuck in her mouth.

Please don't mention it to Security if you happen to bump into her? It would be awkward.

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There are a lot of aspects to living on a ship with River, and one of them is that Simon has had to learn to predict where she is, and to find her when she's hiding. Not that he's particularly good at that, but he's learned that strange noises from within the walls of the spaceship generally merit some sort of investigation in case River is trying to hide.

Of course, River's not here, but because he's used to the possibility that River may be hiding in the walls, the sound from the walls of the Enterprise draws his attention and has him looking for the source.

He finds the entrance before too long and heads into the space behind the walls. It's cramped, and he has to crouch, a little uncomfortably in his waistcoat and jacket, but when he finds the source of the sound, it's a girl, River's age, or not far from it, with a flashlight trained on something.

"Uh."

"Er," says Marika. Intelligently.

"Ust ean-"

Right. Flashlight. Out that comes.

"Just learning my way around?" she offers.

Look, she waited until she cleared medical before trying this. She's not careless.

Simon has no authority here outside of the infirmary. He knows the limits of a doctor's authority, though there was that time when he doped Jayne because he was uncomfortable about the idea of the mercenary unilaterally assuming command of the ship.

If this had been River, on Serenity, he'd have sat down quietly beside her, perhaps craning his head to allow him to see what she's been working on. Here, he's not sure who this girl is or what she could be trying to do in these tunnels. Most of the hidden spaces in Serenity are nooks for smuggling, but these appear to be some sort of access tunnels for maintenance.

He's not familiar with ships this large, only with Serenity.

It's not River, but he's also not security or a member of this ship's crew, so his words are polite enough, if a little dry.

"What are you hoping to learn?"

"Accesses and interfaces before emergencies would mean I'd have to know them. How to get between different parts of the ship in a disaster. That, um, that needs a bit more work."

The Enterprise is kind of huge, honestly.

"So you're ... studying the ship?"

It makes sense, and Simon can appreciate it. It's something River might do, though she'd generally express it somewhat less lucidly. Simon doesn't notice the tiny, nostalgic smile on his face, but after glancing back behind him to check that there's nobody coming, and steps a little closer.

"Can I do anything to help?"

Not that he's particularly interested in breaking any of the rules on this ship, but were this a different situation and were this girl his sister, he'd want her to be able to know what she needs to know to get out of the way of danger.

Marika turns the PADD she's carrying towards Simon. It's got a display of the public areas of the ship displayed. The passageways Marika has been using are somewhere in the gaps between what is shown.

"Do you happen to know where we are?" she asks.

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