"Prep Angel Unit-01 for launch."
Loudspeakers echoed the command throughout the Angle's resting chamber. The room itself was brightly illuminated and featured a single dominating structure: a massive black coffin in the shape of a cross. Machinery attached to the ship's superstructure began to move, signaling hundreds of other moving parts within the casket. The sound of machinery could be heard even from the platform Ray was currently standing upon; several hundred meters from the room's center. Large mechanical arms stirred to life and began carrying out their instructions. Motion on the ground caught her eye as more automations took to the sky; filling their air around the coffin like insects attracted to a long lamp just after sunset. Ray briefly wondered why her mind had dragged up a seemingly unrelated memory, but her moment of introspection was shattered as the platform entered a tunnel and her view of the chamber was shut off.
***
Ray looked down at the controls, concluding immediately that she simply had no knowledge of how to operate them.
"It's easy" Shepard said. He leaned over and placed his hand on a control stick of some sort. "Keep your hands here and here and don't worry about the rest." He turned his head and locked eyes with Ray, "I'm sorry we can't do anything more to help you, and all of this might feel a bit rushed. As long as you stay calm you'll be safe. We won't let anything happen to you." He tried to give a polite smile, but Ray seemed indifferent. She could see that Shepard was worried, and that his words served mostly to reassure himself. In truth, nothing Shepard said would have made much of an impact. She had already committed to this path.
***
