Doctor Who: Panic Moon Ch. 03

'You do that. I'll take Amy-hime back to her cell, yeah?' Ren yawned, tapping her foot lightly on the hard metal below. 'Jericho, if you're done with your freak out, could you Refabricate the last pattern?'

'Executing...'

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The system administrator's office was situated underground, close to the A.I core. It was a bare room, the kind a person came to work in, and nothing more. The opposite wall to the door played host to a single, immense rack of hardware; a complex network of cables, power outlets and screens running impossibly intricate strings of code.

A high-backed, swiveling office chair faced towards this wall, a pair of legs swung over one armrest. From the depths of the chair came the sounds of a keyboard in use.

'Kana?' Sander rapped his knuckles on the doorframe.

'Yes, Sander?' Kanaria's distracted tones flitted out from over the back of the chair. One foot began a rhythmic bobbing motion over the armrest.

'We had another error code. The same one. Any progress?'

There was a heavy sigh, the legs swung to one side and pushed off from the wall hard enough to swivel the chair completely around. Kanaria perched herself on the edge of the cool black leather; today she was wearing one of her seemingly endless supply of sundresses, a rather fetching yellow number, and her thin silver reading glasses were balanced high on the bridge of her nose. She tossed her long black hair to one side with another sigh of irritation.

'Sander, I'm doing the best I can, okay? But it's hard. Aside from the fact that Jericho doesn't even recognize this Marduk code as a thing, the equipment you've given me is a joke,' Kanaria frowned. 'This is an A.I, dude, not a freaking iMac. I need some new linkup cables. High-yield, diamond tipped, gold filament cables.'

'You know, you change when you're in front of a computer, Kanaria,' Sander cocked his head to one side. He was under the impression that it was physically impossible for Kanaria to frown, unless she had a keyboard in her lap. It wasn't that the work even pissed her off that much, she just went into business mode, or something.

'Nanofiber cables, Sander. Are you just noticing this? A set of new core-boards and an image-feedback system would also make things so much easier,' Kanaria stood, arched an eyebrow and took a step towards Sander. 'And when do I get to visit Amy? Ren should be done with her by now, right?'

Sander laughed, put a hand on Kanaria's head to tousle her hair. For the first time, the usual sweet, friendly young woman came to the fore, and she blushed and refused to meet his gaze.

'Kana! I didn't even know you wanted to! You're always so... so... um,' Sander didn't actually know how that sentence should end. "Virginal," seemed the most accurate word, but he didn't want to actually say it.

'Yes. I am very um. But I'm also... interested, y'know? I should get a shot if everyone else does...' She trailed off, her blush only deepening. Sander was astounded; she had only taken three steps from her computer, and look at the difference!

'Of course you should,' Sander said reassuringly. 'Say no more. Not today, she's probably a bit tired. Tomorrow okay with you?'

Kanaria leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, and it was Sander's turn to blush. Did she actually plan how she acted, or was she really just that cute? She gave him a bright smile, 'Thanks, Sander. You're the best. I'll see what I can do about this Marduk thing in the meantime. Did you want anything else?'

Sander tried hard to push down on the implications of "anything else," and stuttered just a little when he spoke, 'No no, that's all. Just... I don't know, keep track of the time tonight? I don't mind if you work through the night, but I'm sure Mara would like to see her little sister once in a while.'

'Yes, Sander,' Kanaria lilted dutifully, returning to her chair. She pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, 'And remember: new cables!'

'Yes, Kanaria,' Sander echoed with a laugh as he left the room. 'You Syfte women, I swear...'

His voice faded out the further away he got. For a moment, the administrator's office was silent but for Kanaria's rapid typing. Then, she giggled to herself, took off her spectacles and rubbed her eyes, 'Oh, he's funny...'

To be continued...