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With a sigh, Ember looked at the form she was supposed to be filling out.
...Surface trips really are the only thing I have to look forward to...
Shaking her head, the woman finished filling out the form and got up from her cubicle. Humming quietly to herself, she pushed a few small buttons on her left ear. The buttons were part of a larger bit of metal that encased her entire ear. Ember's humming stopped abruptly as she heard the crackling of a voice in that same ear.

... What do you want E? This is the second time this week you have buzzed me. No, no. Let me guess. You want your board again, don't you?

With a laugh, Ember replied to the voice out loud. Normally this would be strange, but there were people all over the office doing just that. So no one paid her any mind.
"Aww you know me so well Derek. So, you have fixed it haven't you?"
Derek snorted once before speaking. Of course I have E. But I'm not just a mechanic you know. I could-
Cutting him off, Ember sighed slightly. "Derek we have been over this a million times. You can't come with me. Just because you can operate a board doesn't mean you can handle the surface."
With a slight smile, Ember finished speaking to Derek as she placed the form in a box at the end of the room.
"Thank you for the offer Derek, but you make a much better mechanic that you would a scout. Just have the board ready ok? I'll be there in a minute."
Pushing one of the buttons on her ear again, Ember cut off the feed and walked towards the rear exit of the room.

Leaving the room with the cubicles, Ember walked along a long hallway towards a large unguarded door. A large design of a blue feather was the only mark the door had; however, that design had been present all over the other room and that same feather was on the shoulder of the jacket Ember wore. This marked her as part of the elite unit called the Doves. The Doves were one of the younger government agencies, and Ember had only been with them for a few years.

Humming to herself once more, Ember quickly swiped a security card through the reader at the door. Opening with a quiet hiss, the young woman stepped in to a small round room that looked to be an elevator. Pushing the number 7 on the control panel, she waited as the door closed once more and hummed quietly. Within seconds, the door had opened once more and Ember stepped out in to what looked like a cluttered lab.

Large long tables of some kind of metal were placed at regular intervals around the room, and parts of machinery in various states of repair were all over the place. Bright lights hung over the tables, completely illuminating the room.

Staying near the elevator, Ember looked around the room as she called out. "Derek? Where are you?"

"I'm coming! Hold your horses!"
The shout came from behind one of the tables, and soon after Derek stepped in to view. Abut 5'9, Derek had a slightly ordinary face that showed his emotions for the world to see. At the moment, his light gray eyes revealed both is annoyance and happiness to see Ember. A pair of blue goggles sat on his head, continuing to mess up his already disheveled mop of dark brown hair. He wore the same uniform as Ember: a black jacket with the Dove's symbol on it, dark gray pants, and boots.

Grinning, Ember moved from the elevator and waved to her friend.
"So, where's my board?"
Pouting dramatically, Derek headed over to one of the less cluttered tables.
"Oh I see how it is. You just want your board, and you don't care about me. You never come down here to just visit, do you?!?!"
With a laugh, Ember gently punched her friend in the shoulder.
"Of course I never come to just see you? Who would? I mean look at this place!"
Rolling his eyes, the younger man stopped at the table.
"Oh shut up. It's not that bad. But any way, here is your board. I fixed the jets and the sail too. Try not to damage it this time ok? Those patch jobs a difficult even for me."

Ember smiled and nodded, but it was obvious that her attention was on the piece of machinery on the table in front of her. The base was a thin slab of metal bout 2.5 feet long. At the tail end were what looked like a pair of small jets, and the top stood a long t shaped pole. Attached to the pole was a gleaming sail made from tiny pieces of metal. The sail was as thin as cloth, but durable as the metals it was made from.

Carefully, Ember closed the sail and pushed the central bar down along the board.
"Thank you Derek. She looks even better than the last time you fixed her."
With a snort the mechanic shook his head.
"Oh, so now your being nice? Whatever. Look, I upgraded it a little for you too. Your jets have a lot more power now, so don't over do it. It might take a little getting use to, so go a bit slower that you are use to at fist. The sail has been reinforced too, so it shouldn't rip as easily. Here. Upgraded your com like you asked too."
Taking the device from Derek, Ember attached what looked like half a pair of glasses. There was a soft click as the device locked on the mechanics of her left ear, and the screen in the glass fuzzed for a moment but then cleared.

With a final smile, Ember picked up her board and patted Derek on the shoulder. "Thank you. Remind me to take you to dinner when I get back ok?"
Calling out as she headed back to the elevator, Derek began to return to the table where he had been working.
"Fine, fine, whatever. But I get to pick the restaurant this time!

With a laugh and a wave, Ember returned to the elevator with her newly repaired board in tow. As she rode the elevator to the top floor, Ember closed her jacket and pulled her long red hair up in a ponytail. Now slightly more presentable, the red head left the blank government building. Once outside, Ember got in what looked like a small taxi. Quickly telling the automated contraption where she needed to go, the young woman sat back and waited.

The car didn't make a sound other than a quiet humming until it reached the destination. In a pleasant voice, it announced that they had arrived and Ember got out. Grabbing her board, Ember headed towards the large door that occupied the current landscape.

...Dock 1 is usually the easiest to get out of, especially at this time of day...hmm I think that same moron from last time should be on duty now. I hope so. I relay don't feel like dealing with anyone right now...
As she got closer to the door, Ember's pace slowed and the smile faded from her lips.
Oh crap... I have never seen her before... And she looks really angry... oooohhhhh crap.
Mentally cursing her bad luck, Ember continued to walk towards the dock and it's guardian. However, she kept her pace slow and easy so the new guard had plenty of time to see her approaching.

((hmm... nah. I don't think we do in this one. ^.^ ))

... Hmm... I may as well try to play this one by the book for as long as I can... Perhaps she will just let me go? Only one way to find out I guess...
Switching her board to her left hand, Ember saluted the other woman with her right.
"I'm E22 of the Doves unit, Ma'am. I have been assigned to surface mission, to both test the current conditions of the outside, along with the improvements to our equipment."
Holding out her board and her Dove id for the other woman's inspection, Ember silently prayed that the guard wouldn't ask anymore questions. All of Ember's claims were actually correct, however she was missing one important thing. The Doves never traveled alone. Without a partner, it would be well within the other woman's right to detain her until someone suitable was found, or demand that she accompany Ember. Both of those prospects were equally unattractive to red head.

((That's fine. Classes always come first. And good luck with finals stuff ^.^))

...s**t.... Of course I have to get the one that pays attention...
With a sigh, Ember shook her head slightly. Despite her mental profanity, she really was just tired of explaining why she didn't have a partner. The fact that the other woman looked like she had no room for sympathy tonight wasn't helping things either.

Letting the bottom of her board touch the ground, Ember leaning it against her leg while she crossed her arms and looked at the other woman.
"Run my card if you want, but you won't see anything different from what I am going to tell you. I don't have a parter, and in the last year or two the agency hasn't found anyone that can stand being my partner for very long. However, I do and have always had surface clearance. These boards have to be tested, and I am the only one that can."

With a sigh, Ember uncrossed her arms and tried to sound reasonable and polite. "Look, if you call this in, all it will mean is that you will have to go up with me. Dove won't send anyone to go with me, and I don't think your captain will want to look for anybody else. So he will make you go. You look like you want to be out of here as much as I do, so why not just let me go? Mark me down like you would anyone else so if anything happens, it will just be me taking the blame ok?"

((I read your post in Suppa Sweet, and that is ok Azu. Hopefully rping will get fun again. If you want to start something new, or let this one go, or whatever, just let me know. ^.^))

Shaking her head, Ember picked up her board and moved to stand next to the other woman. Raising an eyebrow, Ember decided to try to get the other woman to see reason one more time.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to go with me you know. Besides, two people can't ride on one of these things, so all you will be doing is standing around..."
The red head sensed that the other woman wasn't going to let her go alone, but she had to try just one more time. Truth to tell, Ember liked not having a partner and she was slightly perturbed at this woman's audacity. Commander Harnath had been searching for a new partner for her for months, with no success. If he found out that there was someone willing to work with her for even a moment, he would use all of the power at his disposal to get that person reassigned.