FILE: A/V CAFETERIA SECURITY RECORD
SUBJECTS: ARA CATHLYN, ENGRID REVELLER, YASH TIR-REL
STAFF CAFETERIA, O.S.R.C, PARABUS
E: You keep your damn hands off my work!
A: Keep your paws off my equipment then!
E: You openly violated the code of conduct, going against section A seven-
A: Code my ass, I need that data for the drone design.
E: You need data on off-world mining potential? Awfully convenient, Ara, that you should need that when we have specific directives to construct the drones for focus only on orbital analysis features, no planetside interactions. What do you think- stop eating that damned brownie!
A: Oh, come on, I just need it for some scanning refinements.
Y: What’s going on here?
A: Nothing, Yash, just chit-chat.
E: Ara has breached security conduct, attempting to access my past work without consultation.
A: Such a snitch.
Y: I won’t warn you again, Ara. Your job is to get the drone’s mechanics ready for interstellar travel. Any analysis capabilities are left to the design of the rest of the team.
A: ‘Team’, nice. Yeah, real nice, Yash. Really feels that we’re part of a ‘team’ here. Look, forget it. You can have the rest of my brownie, not hungry anymore.
[ARA EXITS CAFETERIA]
Y: Tell me if this happens again, Engrid.
E: Of course. But, Yash, did you happen to have the code transcripts for the AI I requested?
Y: Not yet, I’ve been busy.
E: Understood. It’s just… we’re twenty-eight days out from launch.
Y: Eighteen days.
E: They brought the date forward again?
Y: They’re tightening the deadline around us, they want results sooner, or at least a demonstration of potential.
E: But, that’s barely enough time to finalise the flight paths.
Y: I trust you’ll complete it in time.
E: And the code?
Y: I’ll have it to you before launch day.
The Ended Saga is a collection of excerpts following the mysterious conflict in a universe beyond our own. No truth is clear, but it is out there. Continue the search…
Photo by Aubrey Rose Odom on Unsplash
Thomas Roland 
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