“Well, he turned out a lot different than we first thought,” Lana remarked.

“I know,” Nori said. “But don’t get too careless. Despite everything, he still killed a bunch of people.”

“I see your point.”

Nathan nodded firmly.

“I’m back,” the large man announced. He got out of the ship, carrying a weird looking metal bar. “Now how the hell am I supposed to get up there?”

They eventually moved the Hummer, parking it just beneath the damaged part, and Bulco stood on its roof. He put the bar between the twisted metal parts and his fingers clicked a small light console. Metallic screeching sounds erupted as the bar extended, pushing the metal back into place. Several more bars then split from the main one, straightening other parts back into shape. Bulco had to repeat the process a few more times until the entire exit was whole again.

“Couldn’t do much about the paint job,” he said after jumping down. “But this should work now.”

Nori rubbed her hands. “Let’s go check out the shuttle.”

They went back into the ship and entered the shuttle. Bulco looked around with a puzzled expression. “Weird design for a shuttle. It’s just a round, empty chamber.”

“Strap in,” Nori said, walking toward the wall and pressing her back to it.

Bulco’s eyes bulged as a metal cage descended around the tall woman, wrapping her in a protective layer.

Lana and Nathan followed suit, strapping themselves in as well.

The large Engineer shook his head and moved to stand next to them. “This is one wacky design. Why bind people to the walls, when there’s plenty of room for chairs?”

A light console appeared in front of Lana and her fingers flew rapidly over it. “Hmmm, this shuttle type is actually common in freighters, it seems. It can be used as a smaller cargo vessel, transporting goods to and from places where the main ship can’t go. And being strapped to the walls is safer than being seated, in case of a crash.”

“How the hell do you know all that? All my console is showing me is the shuttle’s technical specs.”

Lana smirked. “I’m the Expert.”

“Alright, we’re ready to launch,” Nori announced, having finished operating her light console. She looked around at everyone’s faces. “Everyone ready for a test drive?”

“This is crazy.” Lana shook her head. “We’re about to try and fly an alien shuttle. Am I the only one that thinks we’re crazy?”

“Hey, in a world where death can come in the form of a hungry cyborg monster, dying in a plane crash looks peaceful in comparison.” Bulco chuckled. “But to answer your question - yes, I think we’re crazy too. Everyone in the world lost their marbles after the Calamity.”