skelehand

Not to be confused with SteadiHand.

A skelehand is a rigid, articulated hand fixture built into the suit/upper‑stage assemblies used in low orbit around Arbre. It provides a strong, precise grip for tools and for seizing netted cargo, enabling fine manipulation during assembly and rendezvous work carried out by Cell 317 while remaining concealed from the Geometers.

First appearance and context

During a covert ascent and consolidation behind a screening balloon and chaff, team members used skelehands to: - hold and operate a box cutter to slice through foam and tape after staging, - grab the mesh “fuzz” surrounding drifting payloads when a grapnel was impractical, - steady themselves on brackets and panels during burns or delicate maneuvers, - free a stuck element on an inflatable decoy’s surface during inspection.

Use and capabilities

• Grip and control: The skelehand’s skeletal frame and finger‑like digits give enough purchase to cut bindings, pull at netting, and hold tools securely even when the wearer’s body is restrained by airbags and straps.
• Orbital handling: It is frequently used as a manual alternative to tethered grapnels to secure net‑wrapped payloads and to assist with tugging or aligning assemblies during close‑quarters work near the screening balloon.
• Fine work under thrust: Avout are observed switching a free skelehand to brace on structural brackets during electrodynamic‑tether operations and other adjustments.

Associations

• Equipment context: Seen in use with open‑frame upper stages (“monyafeeks”) and with netted payloads color‑coded by role during the cell’s consolidation phase.
• Mission context: Part of the toolset used while the group assembled a reflective screen and prepared a silent spiral toward the Daban Urnud, timing movements to avoid direct line of sight from the Geometers.

Status

Actively in use by Cell 317 during their low‑orbit operations and subsequent slow climb under an electrodynamic tether toward higher altitude.