An Epic Tale of Agari and Xander Working Together

[Agari]

"And that should just about do it," Agari said as he put the final ingredient into his latest concoction. He was using the Madras' equipment to synthesize a compound that would aid him in his hydroponics duties. He poured the contents of his Erlenmeyer flask into several jars and sealed the lids on tight. He labeled them each with a printout of their chemical formulas, cleaned up his workspace, then took off his full face mask. He took off his lab coat and gloves, then tossed them into the incinerator. Safety first when dealing with these chemicals.

Then, carefully, Agari loaded his jars into the powered cart he would use to transport them to the UV fridge where they would need to settle overnight. Once they were all secured and he was sure no accidents would happen, Agari flipped the cart on and gave it a push.

It didn't budge. He pushed harder and it moved, but in the way that a washing machine moved when you pushed on it. "What in the... Oh no. Stupid, stupid Agari. How could you forget that this thing was broken after only one day?" He had tried to use this thing yesterday to move some soil samples, but the brakes were permanently locked. The repair guys must not have had a chance to fix it yet.

Agari paced back and forth, unsure what he should do. He didn't really want to carry the jars due to safety concerns, but on the other hand, he didn't want to let his mixtures sit in this room until the cart got fixed. His concoction would go bad within the hour if he didn't get the jars into the UV fridge, and not to mention the hassle it would be to properly dispose of the stuff if it did get ruined.

"Ok, so I'll just have to be really careful and carry it to the UV fridge." Agari took the jars off the cart and set them on the counter. There were too many to carry by himself, and he didn't want to leave them unattended. He would need someone to assist him.

Agari went to the doorway that connected to the hallway and poked his head out. He spotted someone. "Hey, you," he said to the guy. "Can you do me a huge favor and help me with something?"

[Xander]

Xander flipped a card idly as he walked through the halls of the Madras. He was still getting used to the ship. It was nicer than the ship he arrived on Psi with, but he didn’t feel to much more comfortable. Not to disrespect the Madras, but as long as the ship didn’t smell like cabbage or death and could fly, he was fine with it. It also mattered that the ship was safe for travel, even if I didn’t stink. The only thing he didn’t like was how crowded the halls could get. Overall it was just a minor inconvenience that only happened on occasion.

He stopped spinning the card when someone called out. Pocketing the card he glanced around for the source. “Uh,” he started as he walked toward the man, “Sure, I suppose. Not like I’m doing much else. What is you need?”

[Agari]

"Great, thanks," Agari said as he slipped back into the room. "Come in here."

Once he was back by the counter with the jars, he gestured toward them and said, "What we need to do is bring these to the UV fridge. Which, as it happens, is almost on the entire opposite end of the ship. My cart is broken so we will need to carry them by hand. I would make two trips by myself, but it isn't a good idea to leave chemicals like this unattended if it can be helped."

Agari started dividing the jars into two groups. One group for Agari and one group for... "I'm sorry, I just realized I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Agari Coid. I'm a scientist here on the ship, if you haven't guessed as much already. May I ask who you might be?"

[Xander]

Xander shook his head lightly before following the man into the room. It wasn’t one he was at all familiar with, and stopped to look at some of the equipment. The room seemed to look like something out of the pictures. He briefly wondered what the guy was doing, or why he was doing what he did on the ship. Instead of going to ask, he figured he would wait and see if the man told him instead.

“Oh,” he said after straightening up, “the name is Xander, pleasure to meet you.”

He looked at the jars Agari was sorting. The task seemed simple enough, if not a bit long. He stepped closer to where the jars were being sorted, trying to figure out what they were. Unlike his other questions, he wasn’t quite as willing to wait for an answer when it came to what he was carrying. “So, what is it exactly I’m carrying for you?”

[Agari]

"This stuff? Oh, nothing much. Just a base solution for an enzyme-protein substrate. I would elaborate, but it's mostly just boring science jargon."

Agari put a hand on one of the groups of jars he just finished sorting. "You can carry this group and I will carry the rest." Agari's group was a little bit bigger than Xander's, but he trusted himself not to drop his jars more than he trusted this stranger. Agari began picking his up, but then set them back down again.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." He went to a cabinet across the room and pulled out two full-face masks. "Hang this around your neck or something. If a jar breaks, or even cracks, put it on right away." Agari tossed the mask gently across the room to Xander, although his aim was a little off.