What's this doing here?

[Echo]

It was a lively morning for our brave space explorers on the western ocean. The thunder rattled even the hardiest of objects as lightning raced through the overcast skies in brilliant displays of unyielding savagery. The rain dropped in sheets and was blown about by the gale force winds as to seem to come from every direction at once. The ocean seethed with fury made white by the racing wind provoking misty swells approaching dizzying heights that would dwarf some high rise buildings. Within the safe confines of the sea going base the extraterrestrial crew were preparing their ship for departure. "sure picked a fine day to do this didn't we?" Amiroo said monitoring the airlock as the cabin pressurized. "........annnnd we have a seal" Amiroo said as he closed the keypad and moved to his seat. "preflight procedures check, go for flight?" Sarah asked as Amiroo struggled to buckle himself in "this human body makes a lot of stuff easier on this planet but definitely a pain trying to accomplish anything with our stuff". "Preflight satisfactory, control concures, go for flight." responded Tybe's voice through their equivalent of a radio. The alien craft sat suspended on an invisible energy field in a large gray hanger. Beams of light, representing every color of the spectrum, raced through transparent tubes that adorned the ceiling as energy and materials were beamed about the base and also doubled as lighting. Holograms of every sort,in alien text, provided visual indicators above the asphalt deck for the pilot and support crew to follow for smooth operations orchestrated by a control room situated on the roof of the hanger. Tybe worked vigorously on holographic displays "Goose, have a nice flight and come back in one piece." he said. "We copy base" Sarah responded as the visual indicators gave her a path to the cargo elevator.
"here we go sweetheart" Sarah said working the controls. "*sigh* lets get this over with" Amiroo said with crossed arms obviously in a pout. "what's wrong now Am?" Sarah asked not taking her eyes off her task of maneuvering the large craft onto the elevator. " I was tinkering with that 'automobile' again. They're really fascinating, they use these 'pistons' and some algae derived fuel to provide it with power. I've almost got it back to running condition." Amiroo said. "inefficient you mean. I really don't know why these people keep that sort of transportation infrastructure functioning. It's a total waste, a decentralized network of telerings is a much better way. I mean, they have them why don't they use them?" Sarah finished as they stopped over the elevator. Above them was a tall steel shaft lined with gear teeth on either side for the elevator to ascend. The shaft featured an opening at the top which was exposed to the elements separated only by a thin, usually transparent, energy field that kept the storm at bay. "well, they just haven't though of it yet. We were that way once upon a time back before the Singularity" Amiroo said. "true, but still it's not hard people seriously" Sarah said. The elevator began raising the craft up the shaft. The two sat in silence and watched the various graffiti art drift by as they as approached the mouth of the shaft. Sarah turned and stared daggers at Amiroo. "what is that?" she demanded. Amiroo shrugged "It's depressing how the hanger is all gray". "That's not for you to decide Amiroo, this isn't an art gallery it's a highly sophisticated research facility." Sarah exclaimed her sharp teeth bared in frustration. "It's pretty how your feathers flare up when you're angry" Am said cooly. Sarah recoiled as if he'd struck her "hehehe, well thank you" Sarah said thrown off and not sure what to say. Amiroo stared at her with those golden eyes, those eyes she couldn't mistake even if he was another species at the moment. She stared back with a loving smile. Just then the two were shook from their stupor as rain suddenly began ruthlessly pounding against the windows of the cockpit. "ahhh!" they yelled in unison startled by the sudden stimuli. "ugh, lets go!" Sarah said shaking off her rush and pushing forward on the controls. The craft sped off into the storm their departure marked only by a distant sonic boom.