The Ether..

[Carthrat]

The ship was smaller than it looked on the inside.

There were three rooms. First was the main room that looked like a living area. There was a small bed, a cooking area, a cupboard, and a tiny television. To one side, there was a desk with pen and paper.

There was another small cupboard, labelled 'Maintenance'.

The other two rooms were simple; there was a cockpit, and a washroom. The only actual doors within the ship were in the washroom, seperating the toilet and the shower from the main area..

[Bean Bandit]

With a sudden fit of paranoia, Bean realized she'd be easy pickings for anyone who spotted the ship. She quickly closed the hatch, depositing her bundle of items she'd taken from...the body on the floor, and she went to the TV to turn it on. If Pierrot was any clue, she was in a Cowboy Bebop universe, and hopefully any local stations would give her a clue what planet she was on...

[Carthrat]

The TV flickered for a moment, then familiar music blared out of it. Sounded like a banjo or a guitar, accompanied by various sound effects, most notably a cash register...

The words 'Big Shot!' appeared on the screen, promptly followed by a pair of cowboys. Well, a black cowboy and a cowgirl who was wearing a jacket that looked like it might fall open any moment, leaving nothing to the imagination.

"Amigo!" said the black man in a really corny way.

[Bean Bandit]

"That SO doesn't help." Bean muttered, looking for a way to change channels. "Unless I'm a bounty hunter. Either way, what planet is this?"

[Carthrat]

The next channel is appparently a local channel.

"..meteor showers have mysteriously stopped on Earth, Professor Hinkle," says a newsreader-looking person. It appears to be an interview show. "What's your take on this?"

"Well, Greg, some scientists believe that the debris and rocks created by the Gate incident have finally settled into a controlled orbit," says a terribly geeky looking fellow, looking almost exactly like a classic Einstien. "But I believe something more sinister is at work, here. Something capable of stopping the meteor showers must be quite strong indeed. Much more than simple gravitic force."

"Oh? And what do you believe this might be?" replies the newsreader.

"I'm glad you asked, Greg. We humans don't have the sort of technology to be able to do this and yet remain undetected. The only logical explanation is that aliens have come to the Sol System."

"Aliens? But why would they be here, poking around Earth?"

"Who knows? Perhaps they're interested in the artifacts of our lost civilisations," replies the professor. "No matter what they may be here for, we should be on our toes."

[Bean Bandit]

Bean blinked. "I'm on earth?" She thought for a moment. "Well, Maybe. But then, maybe not...he wasn't all that clear." Turning the TV up loud enough that she could hear as she walked, she edged up to the cockpit...

[Carthrat]

"But, Professor Hinkle, don't you think aliens are a bit, well, far-fetched?" replies the newsreader.

"Not at all. You know that despite the rapid expansion of the human race across the solar system, we havn't actually explored any of deep space yet. There's no reason not to expect aliens, I believe.."

The cockpit was fairly small. The buttons, thankfully, were labelled all over. It was divided into two sections; 'Atmospheric Flight' and 'Space Flight'. A flight computer was also included, along with various dials, gauges, and LCD lights. The cockpit appeared to be turned off, but there was a power button on the flight computer.

"After all, what's to say they havn't been watching us for a long, long time, and only now have they decided to make their move?"

"But there's no proof there were aliens. After all, you just saw Professor Jeeves state his theory on orbital settle-"

"Professor Jeeves is a fool! He has seeked to snub me since our days in grade school, but he knows my words are the truth! Don't you, Jeeves? I know you're watching this!"

"Please, calm down, Professor Hin-"

"Oh, yes. Aliens are the cause! You know this to be true, Jeeves! I won't let you discredit me further!"

"Thank you for your time, Professor Hinklestien. The Earth Science Breakfast show will be back after the break. Next up: A talk with Professor J. Carmichael on mutations within the gene pool of the wolf."

[Bean Bandit]

"I'm on earth." Bean mumbled to herself. "And I need to get to mars."

She put her hands on her hips, carefully surveying the cockpit, looking for a manual, or an obvious autopilot, before dealing with the computer. "Well, FUCK."

[Carthrat]

There's a switch with 'Auto-pilot' labelled above it. It's currently flipped off.

[Bean Bandit]

"I must have to lay in a course, then..." She observed, looking around, hopefully for a book titled 'Spacecraft for Dummies'.

[Carthrat]

No such book was present, unfortunately.

There was a rumbling in Kaoru's stomach..

[Bean Bandit]

"Geez...I just ate!" Bean grumbled. "Bad enough I have to be a girl...don't wanna be a fat girl...Well, it was last night, and I did dig that pit..." she sighed, and went back to the cooking area, glancing idly at the TV before Rummaging through the cupboard and surrounding items of similar import, looking for something small to eat...

[Carthrat]

Kaoru found a few apples and banans, and a great deal of leftover pizza and chinese food within the cooking area. There was a stove, oven, and microwave for easy cooking.

"The wolf is quite a remarkable animal," said a more ordinary looking professor-type. "We know that, before the gate accident, wolves hunted in packs, usually lead by a single alpha male with several females below him. But after the incident, wolves took on a.. well, not quite solitary."

"What do you mean by that, Professor Carmichael?"

"Well, it's quite an ironic bit of evolution. Nowadays, most wolves travel in pairs, a male and female. Even when the females give birth, there are always the same amount of puppies; 3 males, 3 females. Usually, the wolves of the same litter split up into three more pairs of their own.

The wolf is also a much deadlier animal than it once was, as well as living much longer. They're also amphibious, and capable of falling incredible distances with no chance of death."

"What are the theories behind these evolutionary points?"

"Evolution has always been a case of survival of the fittest. As you know, the effects of the gate incident caused many strange and unforseeable mutations to occur within some humans, as well as many animals. I believe that the radiation supercharged the evolutionary matrixes of some animals, thus causing their offspring to be quite different. Many areas of Earth are now quite extreme in their conditions, I am sure that the wolves- along with other species, would have had to adapt to survive. As the wolf shows, they were capable of doing quite impressive things."

[Bean Bandit]

Bean began munching on an apple, and her eyes widened as the first juices from the fruit hit her tongue. She hadn't noticed it before, because Japanese food tended to be somewhat bland, save for wasabi, anyhow, but her tastebuds had been seemingly amplified, somehow, and the sweet sour tang of the apple tasted suprisingly intense to the recently turned girl...

After appeasing her stomach, she noticed her eyes were beginning to droop, and she realised with some chagrin that she hadn't slept in two days. Stumbling away, she switched the TV off, looking for the sleeping quarters...

[Carthrat]

There were no sleeping quarters seperate from the main living area, which did have a bed.