November 2, 2081 Earth Calendar. 

Earth 

With a deep sigh Kikata took in all the rich smells of nature, it had a familiar feeling but the smells themselves were so alien. Her golden eyes remained shut as she could feel the bright sun caressing her skin. The shallow, warm water beneath her gently lapped at her legs, thighs and the small of her back. As the faint whirring of a small engine flowed into her ears her golden eyes finally opened. Her soft, serene smile broadened into a gleaming white grin as the small water craft slowly came to a halt by her knee. 

"These things are a blast!" Richards voice called up. He sat back on his jet ski and removed his sunglasses, his right hand reaching up to brush the water out of his freshly buzzed hair. 

"I believe it. You've been out there since morning." Kikata replied with a giggle. She lowered a hand into a water and twirled her finger within the shallow bank, kicking up a brown swirl of silt. "It is so nice here. What do they call this lake again?" 

"Well, it's not a lake it's a bay. The Chesapeake Bay." Richard said as he slowly puttered up to the shoreline. Richard had relocated his mothers house to a small town on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. It had been five years since he and Kikata met, but this was the first time Kikata had ever accompanied him back to Earth. It took a lot of effort considering the closest port with Alien access was in Washington D.C. So to avoid any complications Kikata agreed to simply hike from D.C to the small town where they were now. For her it wasn't a terrible journey at all, the hardest part was the swarm of paparazzi and media constantly flowing at her feet. Luckily for them, the small town was in love with their celebrity residents before they even arrived and did a good job of barricading the annoying reporters and photographers out of the couples vacation retreat. 

"Oh, right. Now I remember." Kikata said, brushing her hair out of her face as she glanced around the scenery. All the trees had turned such a fascinating array of colors, "I wish our trees looked like this!" She said with a wide smile. 

"Yeah it's nice here in the fall." Richard said as he dragged his jet ski up onto the narrow beach. "Pretty soon though all the leaves will fall off and all the trees will be bare." 

"Ooh." Kikata cooed, "I wish I would be here to see!" 

Richard nodded as his eyes trailed along the landscape, he had been back home for a month and everything was just starting to feel normal again. Over the past five years he had only traveled all the way back to earth about once a year. He and Kikata were made an official team of what was a growing section of the Guard. And though it seemed possible to simply leave the Guard behind, they decided that it was the life they wanted in the end. And their status did bring them some perks within the ranks. For one they got a much nicer and more comfortably equipped ship. The human facilities were more carefully designed so that Richard could be completely mobile within the ship, though Kikata still enjoyed carrying him around with her. 

As his eyes slipped over the shining water, glowing with the mixed orange reflection of the dying sun and the forest that surrounded them, his gaze funnily landed upon her. Her toes wiggled lazily as they breached the waters surface, her knees rising like small islands before sloping back into the water which barely hid her titanic form. Black fabric draped between her legs and hugged her body in narrow strips before connecting with the skimpy top of her bathing suit. Her shoulder length black hair nearly matched the dark fabric perfectly except for two stripes of blonde hair, one running from the tip of her right ear to the base. And then the other starting from near the center of her scalp and flowing down along the hair that clung to her left cheek. It was a look she went for a few years ago after much coaxing from Prila who insisted that Kikata needed to liven up her look. 

The memory of Prila brought a slight frown to Richards face, it had been so long it seemed since they had been in contact with her. 

"So uh." He started, "You talk to Prila like you planned?"

Kikata cringed slightly at the question, "I never heard back." She said with a sigh, "I don't know what has gotten into her…" Kikata said as her voice trailed off slightly. 


"Well you know she was pretty tied up with stuff back home?" Richard offered as he sat back against the cushioned seat of the jet ski. About a year ago he and Kikata had accompanied Prila to a huge ceremony for her Cho'ottoo advancement into the highest possible ranks within the martial arts. 

"Yes…but now? I am afraid something has happened." Kikata said, her golden eyes falling onto Richard with concern. 

"If anything happened we would be among the first to know. Prila is a mysterious girl, she will turn up sooner or later, you'll see." Richard assured her with a smile. 

Kikata laughed lightly, "Well you have got a point there." She took in another deep sigh, "It's just I wish she would at least check in."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Later that night Richard and Kikata found themselves back at Richards mothers house, who luckily had a large enough back yard now to accommodate Kikata comfortably. Richard stood over a wide charcoal grill, standing on either side of him were his brothers David and Isaac. David was the eldest brother at thirty two years old, and Isaac was the youngest at twenty two years old. 

"So how's business?" Richard said eyeing his older brother with a grin. He had not seen David in nearly two years now, just missing him on his last visit to earth. 

"The bar is doing well." David said, eyeing the sizzling steaks upon the grill hungrily. He had a tangled mat of brown hair that sat upon his head seemingly at random. A tangled beard clung to his cheeks and chin completing his disheveled look. At first glance you would think he was a bum rather than a rather well off owner of a sports bar in D.C. "And I tell you that night Kikata flew in I think our profits doubled, we nearly dried out the taps." 

Richard laughed, "Glad to hear we could help." He turned towards Isaac and landed a strong hand on his shoulder, "How about you bud? Still graduating on time?" 

"Yes." Isaac replied quietly. "The engineering program wasn't as challenging as mom played it out to be." Isaac was a contrast to his older brothers other than the brown hair. His hair was very straight, he hardly even ran a comb through it but it stayed pretty much the same either way. He was a bit taller than both David and Richard, and weighed seemingly half as much. 

Richard laughed "No I think the program is plenty difficult." his little brother was definitely the brains of the family. He had gotten a full ride to a state of the art engineering school out in Northern California and even they had trouble keeping Isaac occupied. Isaac only replied with a shrug before taking a slow drink from the dark bottle of beer that hung in the loose grip of his fingers. Richard followed suit, closing his eyes as he tasted the cool, bitter tasting liquid. He sighed with satisfaction as he lowered the bottle from his lips. "Nothing else in the Universe like it." He said, admiring the bottle with a smile, the letters I.P.A printed in bright green letters upon the black label. 

"Because no one else in the Universe subjects themselves to gross tasting drinks in order to get drunk." Kikata's voice boomed surprisingly behind them.

"My you sneak around for such a large creature." David said with a laugh. 

Kikata giggled and shrugged, "I suppose I do. It's an acquired skill from living with such a tiny man all the time!" 

"Yeah. There is no sneaking around this woman." Richard said, grinning up to her brightly, "So how are you and mom doin'?" 

"Great!" Kikata beamed, "She was showing me some pictures on the projector." 

"Oh lovely. I am sure they were full of embarrassing and naked childhood pictures."  Richard mumbled. 

"Yup!" Kikata said with a laugh. "I can't get enough of them, but you mom was just wondering how far off dinner was?" 

"Soon." David said, poking at one of the steaks with his finger. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata scrunched her lips as she tried to feel the tiny slab of meet against her tongue. Her eyes brightened as she got just the slightest flood of flavor, "Oh! That is good!" She insisted, smiling down to the small table that sat atop the upstairs balcony. 

"I doubt you can really taste it." Richard said with a laugh, "But thanks for pretending." 

"No, I can!" Kikata continued, "I mean it came and went pretty quick…but it's better than this stuff!" She said, holding out a slender metal tube of what some government agency assured was all the nutrients you needed with the added bonus of actually filling your stomach. It was possible to live off water and pills for months, but your stomach is never really happy with the end result. 

"That's for sure." Richard said with a laugh, "You'd think by now we'd have something better than those tubes of space food." 

David laughed heartedly, "I don't see the point to all that space travel. Subjecting yourself to all of that…I'm plenty comfy here at home." 

"Not me." Isaac said, a sort of rare interjection by him. But the beer always helps. "Earth is pretty boring." 

"Spend a few weeks on the moon colonies and then get back to me." David retorted, though a friendly smile remained plastered to his face as he glanced over to Richard. "But I suppose I'm the only one in this family who likes this planet enough to stick around." 

Richard shrugged, "Well you and Mom." 

"Yes. Someone has to stay and keep me company." Richards mother responded as she leaned back in her chair. She hardly looked like a woman in her late fifties but then again not many people looked their age anymore anyway. She had thick brown hair that hung down to her shoulders, her face giving slight sign to age with wrinkles around her eyes and lips. Her youthful beauty had transformed into a sort of beautiful wisdom of her age. 

"Well I'm not going anywhere soon." Isaac said with a sigh. The table fell quiet with his last remark, he glanced around as everyone seem to share a strange look, "What?" 

"I guess it's time to tell him?" Richard asked looking towards his mother. 

"Tell me what?" Isaac asked, shifting in his seat nervously. 

"Well." Richards mother picked up, "It just so happens that your early graduation in a month will set you up for a particular job opportunity."

"Job?"

"Yeah." Richard said, "Flying with us. We've got a new ship and they are looking for an engineer to tag along, check on things and report some stuff back to base." 

Isaac sat back in his seat as he glanced between Richard and Kikata, then back to his mother.

Before he could speak his mom spoke first, "We talked about this a few months ago…and not that you need my permission anymore, but you have my blessing to do this." She seemed to be a little choked up about it.

"Well…um. Yeah definitely! Wow." Isaac said. "So, what am I going to be a Guard too or what?"

"Oh please don't tell me Isaac gets to hold a gun?" David pleaded sarcastically. 

Richard laughed, "Oh no. No guns for you. You will be employed by the Alliance to accompany a Guard ship for a currently undetermined amount of time. You probably get a nicer paycheck and ours anyway."

Isaac laughed, "Wow that is awesome, thank you guys."

Kikata grinned widely, "We are really looking forward to it!"

A Fresh Start

Richard still wasn't used to it. When he closed his eyes the only thing that reminded him of home was the smells. Food, earth, air fresheners, and that strange homey smell tied to every family were nonexistent on the ship. The ship smelled like nothing. It resembled the vacuum of space outside of its hull. Everything was clean, metal or plastic. The smell of cooked meals were quickly sucked out of the air and replaced by pure clean air. It was the one odd thing that you got to miss out in space. You can dress up your ship and display a hologram over the windows and it will look and feel like home, but you could never get it to smell like home. 

As Richard thought on it, blankly staring at the flashing colors of the television, he began to wonder if Earth was even home anymore. He was used to being carried or riding a shuttle when ever he had to move from one area to the next. The thought of having everything he needed within walking distance was sort of a strange luxury. Of course on their new ship the human quarters are all inclusive, but not out in the rest of the worlds. He and Kikata shared a similar problem with their detachment from their birth homes. She didn't care much for traveling to Teralist anymore, it almost seemed more common for her family to come visit her out on some other planet. It was not like money or time was an issue for them. 

A voice broke his pondering, "Hey." Called the voice of his brother David. 

Richard blinked and turned towards him, forcing a smile, "Hey, what's up?" 

"Nothin' much. Headin' back to the city in a few hours. You watching this?" He asked nodding towards the television. 

"Oh…no not really." Richard said, "Me and Kikata head out tomorrow."

"Yeah I heard. Back to the exciting life?"

Richard laughed, "If you find conferences and teaching a bunch of kids then sure."

David laughed along side him, "Well I guess not. They got you teaching now?"

"Not normally." Richard said, "They have us set to give some tips and lessons to the new recruits of the Hybrid Units."

David laughed again, "Never thought little Richy here would be an expert on anything. Well good for you."

Richard nodded, watching as his brother brought up the holographic television controls, swaying his hand from right to left before selecting a channel. 

"What's this?" Richard asked leaning back into his chair. 

"New sport they're trying to break in. It's a hit at the bar when the big matches are on." David explained as the screen displayed what looked like the skeleton of a city block. Large structures stood with bare window holes and empty streets. "It's another one of those hybrid games, you know they try to come up with one every year."

"Yeah." Richard responded as he stared intently at the screen. 

"So basically it's capture the flag. But you know, with humans, Neko, Marlek and the like. But only the scale four species can grab the flags." Scale, as David referred to, is a size reference formula designed to help species move throughout hybrid cities. The scale goes from one to four. Scale one are the largest, from about one hundred and fifty feet to over two hundred. Each scale represents a smaller species until finally Scale Four, which is where humans fall. 

"I see." Richard said rubbing his chin as the players, apparently, took the field. The screen flashed to several groups of players. Two groups of large Marlek, Neko, and then two groups of humans and one even had a Noras male. The larger creatures wore jump suits with what looked like tiny flags hanging from them, the small creatures wore armor that nearly resembled Richards own armor. 

"Yeah. See but it gets interesting. The smaller races got this really high tech body armor. You could drop a damn building on it and it wont snap. This makes it the first Hybrid contact sport."

"So let me guess. The scale four dudes try to grab the flags while everyone else tries to stop them?" 

"In a nutshell yeah. The flag grabbers tend to be on the Scale Four and some Scale Threes. It all depends on the arenas." David continued to explain over the announcers voice on the television. "There are two teams, each with their own base. There are six flag runners, then six on defense. They really made it so you could make the teams what ever you want, with whoever you want. The game is coed as well."

"Really pushing the hybrid thing huh?" Richard responded with a grunt. 

"Yeah tell me about it. The best part is how you can eliminate players. Basically you can take out the flag runners in anyway you can think of. The only thing is if one of the big fella's happens to swallow one of them the big one has to go out at least until the small player is back outside in the dead zone."

"Dead zone?"

"That's one of the ways to eliminate them. You can either hold them off physically, or take them to the dead zone. There's a catch though. For each player you remove to the dead zone you have to wait a full minute before returning to the game. That's a lot of time for a flag to go missing." 

Richard scratched his head as he tried to piece together the game, "So people get eaten…can you only eliminate the flag runners?"

"Oh no." David continued, "See the defenders all have three flags on them. One on the leg, one on the back, and one on the back of the head. You take out the foot they have to remain flat footed for thirty seconds. You take out the back and they have to go out of play for two minutes. You remove the head and they are out for the match."

"Sounds intense." 

"Oh it is. Each stadium comes with it's own special rules and obstacles. Reduced gravity in some, jet packs in others. I heard there is even one that is full of water and the flag runners have to run from boat to boat." 

"Yeah we'll see how long this sport remains on the air." Richard laughed.

"I think it's a keeper. You'll be seeing it in schools soon enough." David said reclining into his own chair with his hands behind his head.

"You're the expert." Richard said as he got to his feet. "I'm going to go check on Kikata." 

David nodded, "Oh she's having a blast outside with the kids. They finally warmed up to her it seems."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata suppressed a wave of giggles as a tiny rope laid across her stomach. "I…can't break free!" She said between her teeth. 

"We did it!" A young boy shouted, no older than eight. A cheer erupted from the group of six young children. For the past half hour the children had lost themselves in an epic story battling the giant alien. 

"Please powerful earthlings, let me go!" Kikata urged playfully, wiggling beneath the tiny rope as if it actually had the power to restrain her. 

"Never!" Another boy shouted. 

Kikata felt a light tugging at her hair, she turned to see a tiny girl smiling widely up at her. Kikata smiled back, her heart nearly melting under the adorableness of the little girl. 

"Kikata. I'm on your side now!" She said quietly. 

"Oh good!" Kikata said smiling.

"I'll pull the rope off then we can beat those boys." She said, her smile widening even further as her devious plot unfolded. 

"Yes! Good thinking." Kikata said as she watched the girl run to the rope, taking it in her tiny hands and running the other way.

"Hey! Where did the rope go!?" One of the boys shouted in horror. 

Kikata sat up, reaching her arms into the air with her liberation, "Finally I'm free!" She said before giving her best impression of an evil laugh. 

"Mary you traitor!" Another boy shouted as Kikata lifted the girl and placed her on her shoulder. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Richard watched from the top floor deck as Kikata surrounded the screaming children with her hands, the little girl laughing triumphantly as the neighborhood boys were defeated. 

"Isn't that cute?" Richards mothers voice said softly from behind him. Richard nodded in agreement. "It's amazing someone with so much size and power can be so gentle." She continued, her hands falling on the railing next to Richard. 

"She is an incredible woman." Richard relied quietly. 

"So. Are you a couple doomed to be forever engaged?" She asked after a long pause, glancing over to her son quickly before returning to gaze to the spectacle on the lawn across the street. 

Richard shrugged, "Well I suppose we could fill out the paper work to be married. You know…tax breaks and such." 

"That's not what I meant." His mother continued.

"Well we just can't seem to decide on what ceremony would be fair. You know. I mean do we do a traditional Neko joining? Or a typical western Earth wedding?"

"Well. I can tell you that a certain pair of mothers would certainly like to see their children get hitched. And not in some government building." 

"You've been talking to her parents?" Richard asked with an arched brow. 

"Of course! Your mother knows how to work the internet you know. You two go so quiet when you're out there in space it takes all of us just to keep tabs on you."

Richard laughed, "Yeah I've been trying to get better at that." 

"Just you know…think about it. For us?" She said sort of pleadingly. 

"We've talked about it believe me. I'm sure we can think of something." Richard said, his eyes shifted upwards as Kikata stood, waving goodbye to her new young friends. He lifted his harm slightly and waved up to her, grinning as a smile creased her lips. 

"I'm exhausted!" Kikata said as she knelt down by Richard and his mother. "Those kids can go on forever it seems." 

"You didn't eat any of them now did you Kikata?" Richard asked with a sharp grin.

"Against the orders of the little girl, no. I did not devour any earthlings today." She said with a sigh.

"Today huh?" Richard said with a grunt.

"Oh you never know. I might get a little hungry during our walk back tomorrow!" She said, a mischievous smile crossing her lips.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Richard replied.

Richards mother laughed, "Oh I just love the stories!" She said, "Next time you put him in there he should bring a camera along so everyone can see!" 

Richard and Kikata shared a glance, knowing that usually when ever Richard ended up inside of Kikata's mouth it was during less than family friendly moments. But they just smiled and laughed along with her. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The Next Day 

"I think I'm really going to miss Earth." Kikata said as she looked around her. She felt the patch of warmth on her shoulder shift slightly. They were making their way back to D.C, the city skyline coming into view in the distance. 

"Well we'll be back in a month." Richard replied quietly. 

"Yes well only for a few days. I am so excited to have your brother with us though!" 

"Yeah we'll see how that goes." Richard said with a laugh. 

"Do you think he can handle it all?" Kikata asked curiously. 

"Well. I'm sure when it comes to his job he will be fine. I'm more worried about you know…everything else. He's never been off earth and he's a little shy even around here. I mean you're the first Neko he's ever seen in person." 

Kikata scrunched her lips as she thought it over, carefully laying her feet down one after the other, a few cars had started following them but Kikata did her best to ignore them. "Well you did okay."

Richard laughed, "Well before you i had met a few rather large aliens. He's a virgin." 

"Is he?!" Kikata asked with a gasp. 

"No…Kikata…I mean like a virgin to this whole space travel, meeting giant creatures, that sort of stuff." Richard said with a laugh. "I'm not too informed of his sex life though, maybe he is." 

"Well I would doubt it. I mean a boy as handsome as himself." 

"Eyeing up my brother are we?" Richard said nudging Kikata in the neck, "Maybe I shouldn't bring him along after all." 

Kikata giggled, "Thin, cute…" Kikata hummed, "How could a girl resist?" 

"Well as long as he keeps his mouth shut." Richard said with a laugh. 

Kikata rolled her eyes, "Yeah I doubt he is that awkward." She smiled slightly, "Just imagine if Prila gets her hands on him huh?" 

"Oh we might never see him again." Richard said glancing up to her, noticing a blank stare spreading across her face. "Hey. Kikata." 

Kikata blinked, "Huh?"

"She's alright." He said, nodding towards her intently. 

Kikata bit her lip but nodded, "Yeah." She whispered. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata held her breath with almost every step, smiling and waving nervously at the people who had gathered along side the Scale One roadway built into the heart of D.C. As they progressed further into the city the sounds and sights became even more cluttered. The sky was full of spacecraft coming in and out of the city. They passed by a group of three Marlek but otherwise they seemed to be completely surrounded by the tiny human crowd that seemed dangerously close to the larger road. 

The city itself had become a hodgepodge of architecture, almost like a hybrid city. The older buildings stood out with their stone and brick sidings, while the newer buildings rose elegantly from the earth with their advanced materials that made them so strong in their small size that even a strong Neko or Marlek could not break in the roof. Every building seemed to take a theme from a far away world. Tall, smooth white structures filled one side street like a miniaturized Teralist, and then another street seemed to resemble the shrubbery covered structures from the Trugon Marlek home moon. 

Finally a tall archway beckoned Richard and Kikata into the port. Kikata slid her personal computer from a tight pocket on her hip and thumbed through the display as they made their way to their ship. 

"There's my girl!" Kikata said with a wide grin, her eyes falling upon the spectacle of shining silver metal. The ships design was very different from that of the Nova Guard ship. It was massive by comparison, though for its size it was crafted to be very flat almost like a manta ray from Earths oceans. But, unlike any other ship in the dock, it was equipped with a circular device by its engines that sat like a ring around the rear thrusters. The cockpit was set forward on the ship, designed so that it could be used by multiple scaled beings. On the sides jutted out two short wings, however during flight these wings would extend to impressive lengths. 

As Kikata engaged the ship through her computer the silver coating soon turned a shimmering and bright red. The ship had a state of the art coating that was previously only used in personal armor and small land vehicles. This coating would allow the ship to change any color or pattern the pilot decided. 

"God isn't that red so lovely?" Kikata said with a bright smile, watching as a small ramp lowered from the belly of the ship. It was one of several entrances, this one specifically took them closest to the cockpit. 

"I like the flat black." Richard said with a shrug. 

Kikata rolled her eyes as she made her way up the ramp. "Oh I'm Richard and I want all of my equipment to be dark and mysterious! Ohhh!" She said holding her left hand up in the air, she held her right arm still since Richard still sat atop her shoulder. 

Richard sighed deeply, "I should have never taught you how to mock people sarcastically in English." 

"But it's fun!" Kikata said with a giggle.

A large, blue sphere floated before Kikata and Richards eyes. A green square slowly rotated around the planet on the cockpits hud, next to the square in green letters read the name Atlantis. It was given this name by the corporation who took the once mostly ice covered planet and reset its conditions, melting away most of the ice to turn it into an ocean world. There were a few islands about the size of the continental United States that housed settlements, but the vast majority of the planet was covered with an ocean hundreds of times larger than the Pacific on Earth. 

The new cockpit was much larger than that of the Nova Guard ship. And this one did not simply bolt Richards chair onto Kikata's dashboard. No, this time Richard sat upon his own moveable platform that clung to the side of Kikata's seat. It was a circular platform about ten feet across with a fully functional control computer. Kikata still preferred to do the flying, but Richard was capable of holding his own now. 

"Now entering planets gravitational pull. Proceed with designated coordinates?" A feminine voice asked, the ships computer personality. It was a new system of A.I that had not been integrated with ships before this point. Computers with enough power to mimic a living brain were old news, though personality did not come so easily. The researchers behind the ship told them that eventually the ship would begin developing signs of an artificial personality. 

"Yes, thank you Richata." Kikata said, smirking slightly as she did. Richata was the name of their ship, and therefore the name of the ships A.I. 

"You're welcome." The ship replied, a new, smaller green square surrounded a small green patch on the surface of the blue ocean below, their destination. "We will be arriving in fifteen minutes and forty six seconds." 

"I still can't believe we named our ship Richata." Kikata whispered to Richard with a giggle. 

"I think it's perfect." Richard said, "Remember how awful Kikard sounded?" 

"Yes. But we seriously are horrible at naming things. Nova Force? Are you kidding me!" Said with a laugh. 

Richard shrugged, "I thought it was clever." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Welcome to the Academy of Universal Defense and Defense Technologies!" A male voice called as Kikata and Richard exited the landing ramp into the main campus. Richard sat upon his royal seat, otherwise known as Kikatas right shoulder. 

"Dah alordia!" or translated to english, "How lovely!" Kiakta said, admiring the massive campus. There was no doubt that it was designed by human architects, though the scale rivaled any Neko college. And it had to, being a hybrid settlement. Large buildings towered over them, their walls coated with massive stones and their roofs held up by massive pillars in the ancient greek style. However beneath the stone lied only the most advanced building materials, and even deeper within the walls you would find the pinnacle of modern schooling. Most general studies courses were done on the students own time online. They would only come in to the class for special tutoring or hands on lectures. In fact the majority of college students never stepped foot on the campus that they were enrolled in. Taking the online classes to get a degree was more than enough to meet the requirements of many jobs. 

"I'll say. Are you sure this is the right school? This place looks high class." Richard said glancing around as he gripped Kiaktas hair. 

"That's government financing for you." Kikata replied as they made their way along a wide stone walkway. The college, as its name hints, specializes in various schools of defensive technologies and occupations. These can vary from cyber security, a booming market in the modern universe, to ship security personnel. The classes Kikata and Richard will be teaching were actually designed for those who have already graduated from schooling and are ready to enter the new Hybrid Guard that Kikata and Richard are enlisted in. 

Kikata made her way inside a building named "Technology 1" and proceeded to follow the hallway until she found her way to their class room. They will be teaching a class of twenty individuals, each individual would be paired with their future partner. So each class would have ten teams. 

"Hello everyone!" Kikata said cheerfully as she entered the room, her eyes scanning over her pupils eagerly. She helped Richard down onto a wide table at the head of the classroom where he would find his own computer and work station. On what looked like another table nearly touching their own sat ten desks filled with the Scale Four students. Behind them sat the larger ones at their own desks. During lectures they would be kept separate, however during field training they would be partnered up almost immediately. 

"I am Instructor Ya'amo." She continued. (Ya'amo is Kikatas last name). "And this is Instructor Bromwell." She said holding her hand next to Richard, "You may call me Kikata." 

"We know." A feminine voice called from the back of the room. A Fela girl with fierce red hair smirked at her own comment, glancing around at the other students before folding her arms and leaning back in her seat. 

"Oh." Kikata said, attempting to maintain her wide smile by the somewhat puzzling remark. She locked eyes with the girls striking golden and blue eyes for a brief second before addressing the class once again, "As you know this class is a part of your Hybrid Guard entry program. In this class specifically we will be covering much of the protocol of interacting with hybrid vessels, settlements, cities. Then we will cover the system for interacting and integrating ourselves with new planets and species. The field training portion of the course will meet in gymnasium two, where we will run through search and rescue exercises." Kikata finished with a deep sigh, "Any questions?" 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The students filed out of the classroom in a hurry, most walking in a chattering group as they made their way to the dining hall. The red headed Fela who had sat skeptically in her chair between various outbursts lagged behind, though showed little interest of joining the main group. Instead her ears twitched with annoyance as she listened in to the several conversations, one in particular strummed upon her nerves. A Neko Alta girl spoke cheerfully with a Marlek Trugon girl about what a dream it was to be taught by none other than the famous Kikata and her boyfriend, husband, life mate or whatever he was. 

Sangela was her name, her bright red hair hung almost jaggedly down to where it just barely grazed the surface of her shoulders on the sides and then even further between her shoulder blades down her back. It wasn't exactly a trendy look, but Sangela preferred it that way. Her eyes were easily her most striking feature. Her left eye was a bright blue while her right was the same alluring golden color as Kikata's eyes. Her long canine bit into her lower lip and her intense gaze scowled into the back of the Altas bouncy head as she raved and raved about their newest instructor. Needless to say Sangela was not a fan of the famed Nova Force. She shifted her gaze elsewhere, reluctantly following her classmates into the dining hall. She hadn't exactly fit in with the group, not that she had very much tried. 

She split away from the main group finally and quickly grabbed a to-go lunch and a drink. She could still hear the Altas voice ringing throughout the dining hall, her ears fell as she tried to ignore her once again. She smiled weakly at the cashier as she paid for her meal and rushed out of the dining hall as fast as she could without bursting into a run. The silence outside of the dining hall soothed Sangela's ears, and the thought of returning to her dorm room lifted a small weight from her chest. Though she grimaced when she remembered that today she had moved into the new hybrid dorms...and she was to have a human roommate that would later become her partner, if they got along well enough in training. As she made her way to the students quarters she tried to remain preoccupied by reading the label of her drink, mentally she reminded herself that forgetting her headphones sucked. She preferred to remain closed off to conversation as she made her way around campus. She hopped up the narrow flight of stairs and made her way towards her room, lazily pressing her palm against the white pad next to the door, which slid open to reveal her modestly sized new home.

Without much thought she dropped her lunch on the small round table in the center of the common room, which contained a small kitchenette, dining table and area to watch television. She nearly dropped her drink onto a smaller elevated circle on the table only to jump back with a shrill gasp as she saw a small figure sitting upon it. It was a human, male if she was seeing correctly looking back towards her with his own startled stare, perhaps because he had nearly been crushed by a massive bottle of red "fruit juice". 

"Ousa Trak!" She gasped (the neko equivalent to "holy shit") "I am so sorry." She said, a rare apology from her but considering the circumstances she legitimately felt bad for almost killing her new partner, or severely wounding him at the very least. 

"Well that could have turned ugly." His voice called up, a surprising chuckle following his almost too calm remark. 

"Yes I was hardly thinking. Um, so you must be..." She tried to remember the name she had read on her rooming assignment, "Joanatan?" 

"Johnathan, you can call me Johnny." He replied, eyeing Sangela as she slung her single strapped bag to the floor before falling into the massive seat next to the larger table below. "I take it you're not used to the hybrid tables?"

"Not really." She said eyeing him more closely. He was clean shaven with short, typical military style dirty blonde hair. 

He laughed at her response, "Yeah me neither, this room is like a billion times larger than my house back home. That's why I was up here in the first place, exploring my new surroundings. Apparently it's modeled around the ship we'll be sharing."

"Yes that is what I read." She replied, sipping lightly from the almost deadly drink. She unwrapped the sandwich that was her take out lunch and bit into it, not sure how to continue the conversation. 

"So what do you think of classes?" Johnny asked, he too seemed to be sizing up his new roommate. 

Sangela shrugged her shoulders, "Pretty much what I expected." She said, trying to hide her bitterness from the previous class. 

"Excited to be serving under the Nova Force?" He continued.

Sangela's eyes shot towards him and her ears fell back, though she quickly tried to stifle her scorn. She simply shrugged again. She couldn't quite tell if his comment was sincere or sarcastic. 

Johnny grinned, "You were the mouthy one in class were you not?" He asked, his grin widening. 

Sangela swallowed slowly as she formed her next sentence, "I suppose...you could say I'm not a fan." She winced as she waited for his reply. She wasn't usually so worried of what one might think of her, but considering that this was supposed to be her new partner she didn't want him to think too poorly of her. In this class it seemed rather taboo to despise the famous duo. 

Johnny laughed again, "So you're in this for yourself then? Glad to know." 

Sangela blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, just everyone in the class seems hell bent on becoming the next Nova Force. I mean they basically worship them." 

Sangela smiled as she heard her very own opinion being voiced by her roommate, "Yes! Exactly!" She said excitedly, "It has been driving me crazy! You know if they were all that amazing you would think they would be out there serving now instead of doing all of those television interviews and teaching classes here?" 

Johnny nodded, "I've always been a little skeptical of their stories. I mean sure there is some truth to it but what doesn't the media over exaggerate these days?" 

"Gosh I am so glad we agree on this." Sangela said with a sigh, "I have been ranting to myself in my head all damn week! I mean how many times do I have to hear the other girls in this class gossip on how they hope they get paired with the cute human. It is like what did you join the ranks for? To find a date? And no offense or anything, I can tell you are a good looking guy, but um...human and Neko? That is kind of gross." 

Johnny laughed, "You know I've thought that. Like waist up sure I will take that ride. I mean I love pussy as much as the next guy but when I say I wana' dive into some I mean it completely figuratively. If I wanted to ride in a big wet tunnel I would go to a water park...erm no offense." 

Sangela's eyes widened as she let out a sort of awkward laugh complete with a snort, "I know! Like how can that even be pleasurable?" She let out another satisfied sigh, her nervous bitterness finally melting away. She chewed thoughtfully for a few moments before asking, "So, you are new to hybrid living too?"

"For the most part. I was born and raised on Earth, and went to college there too." Johnny said, "How about you?"

Sangela nodded, "I am from Erraroth."

"Isn't that a Marlek planet?" Johnny questioned curiously, "I didn't know there were many Neko there."

"There are not." She said with a sigh, "My father moved there for work with my mother before I was born. So I grew up mostly with the Marlek."

"Oh, I see." Johnny said. He wondered to himself if it would have been hard on her but kept his question to himself. He found himself staring intently into her eyes. The blue and gold seemed to clash, but at the same time they were so alluring. "So uh." He started, feeling the strange intensity of such a massive Neko locking her eyes onto him, "Eh never mind." he said, stopping himself from questioning her on her eyes.

"Is it about my eyes?" She asked with an arched brow. It was a question she would normally be annoyed by, but with her new friend she did not mind, though she acted as if she was as she sighed and said, "No, they are not common, and no they are not caused by some disease or disorder. Just genetics." 

"Got ya'." Johnny said, grinning as a smile returned to her lips. "You know I've got a good feeling about us. I was worried I wouldn't get along with my partner. I tend to be kind of competitive." 

Sangela nodded, "Yes same here. Though I wish I could say we had much competition to go against. The other classmates seem like pushovers to me." 

Johnny laughed, "Yeah I noticed the same thing." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The next day the students gathered in the assigned gymnasium where they were issued their training armor. Like the Nova Guards, the Hybrid Forces would be issued their own specialized armor crafted to aid them in the field. The training armor was left a dull shade of gray with blue numbering on the various tools contained within. 

"Today we start simple." Kikata began, her own helmet pinned to her hip as she addressed the class. "I realize that many of you are new to hybrid society and have not had any sort of contact with smaller races, especially not physical contact." She glanced down to where Richard was briefing the smaller scale students, "And usually your partners over there will be handling the first aid, transport, communication, and what ever else needs to be done with the smaller races. However there might be situations where your partner is not able to interact with a distressed individual or your partner themselves will be in need of aid." She glanced between the various armored figures standing before her, "Any of you think you could currently handle this situation?" 

"Me." A robotic voice called out. Like the Nova Guard armor, the H.F armor cloaked the voice into a generic, asexual tone in order to prevent unwanted biases in the field due to gender. Though by the way the student threw their hip to the side and raised their hand pressed to their side it was concluded that the student was female. 

"Oh. Well let's see then." Kikata said before taking two small steps towards the smaller students before kneeling down.

Richard turned and looked up towards Kikata, "What's up?"

"We ready?" Kikata asked, "We have our first volunteer."

"Oh good. Sure yeah." Richard said. He turned towards his own students. They were mostly human, there was one of the smallest reptilian Marleks, whose long helmet was quite distinctive compared to the rest of his class. "Umm...Let's see here..." Richard started, waving his finger randomly before him before stopping it pointing towards a randomly selected student, "You."

"Sir." The student said stepping forward.

"You would be?" Richard asked.

"Johnathan Stepp sir." Johnny replied obediently.

"Alright John. Front and center." Richard said swaying his hand towards the line of giants that had formed before them. 

Johnny nodded and jogged out until he was about thirty yards from the feet of the Neko student who had stepped forward. It was easy to tell the races apart by their helmets. He did his best not to fidget under the tremendous size of the many students who looked down at him, each one a mountain in comparison to himself. 

"Okay John, go ahead and lay flat on your back." Richard called out.

Johnny hesitated for a moment before slowly getting down on his back, swallowing nervously as he stared straight up at the ceiling that was seemingly miles over his head. "Okay..." he whispered to himself. 

"Alright. Now." Kikata started again, facing the student who had stepped forward. "This individual on the ground before you is in need of aid and your partner cannot be reached. How do you handle the situation?"

The student shrugged and dropped to one knee, her hand sliding across the floor towards Johnny's head. 

"Stop." Kikata called. 

"Huh?" The student huffed looking up towards her instructor. 

"What did you do wrong?" Kikata asked.

"I...uh..." The student said, tapping her fingers nervously on her plated knee. 

"I know." Another voice called out from the line of large students. 

"Do you?" Kikata asked, "Please then, show us the proper way." 

The student nodded and stepped forward, lightly brushing shoulders with the embarrassed student who had just failed the first test. "First." They began, "If the conditions are safe I would remove my helmet. And place it between the subject and what ever dangers might be around." The student lifted their helmet off of their head, revealing bright red hair tied back into a pony tail and stuffed down under her armor. She knelt down and placed her helmet down to the left of Johnny. "Then I would ask the subject if they are harmed, and if they would be able to climb into my hand on their own."

Johnny arched his neck to look towards Richard to see if he could or not, "Uh?"

"No, he can't." Richard called out.

"Okay." Sangella said, a small smile creasing her lips, "If he is unable to move, and I do not have access to my A.F.G (anti-gravitational field generator) I would alert the subject to the fact that I would have to lift him manually."

"Good." Kikata said with a nod and a smile. "But you might also want to ask the subject to specify where they were hurt."

"Well...I already asked if they were hurt...so I figured that-"

"Okay, okay." Kikata said, "Just go on. You're doing fine."

Sangella nodded, holding her ears forward confidently. "Next I would remove my glove so I can more easily make sure the pressure I put on the individual is at a safe level." She said as she unlatched her glove before letting it slide to the ground next to her leg. She bit her lip as she cupped her glove hand behind Johnny, then with her bare hand she very lightly pressed her thumb and forefinger to his sides and lifted him. Johnny could feel his arms compress to his sides but did not feel any sort of pain as his back was laid onto Sangellas gloved hand. 

"And that's about it." Sangella said, glancing between her instructors. 

"Very well done." Kikata said, "Now do you all see the precautions we must take with our smaller citizens. Something that might seem natural for us, such as lifting a small object from the ground, becomes much more complicated when that object isn't an object at all. Of course the situation we just saw might be a little more extreme than the average encounter with a smaller race, but you must always be thinking three steps ahead of yourself when you enter any situation. Look for possible danger, be wary of your own strength, and know the fastest and safest way to get that individual into a safer place."

"Should I stuff him down my throat then?" Sangella asked with a grin, her striking eyes staring up towards Kikata's. 

"Excuse me?" Kikata asked, her brow arching slightly at the question. 

Johnny snickered quietly at the remark, "Let's not Sangella." He called up to his partner. 

"You know. Get them to the safest place." Sangella continued innocently. 

Kikata rolled her eyes, but smiled, "Oh I see what you're getting at. Fortunately for you, no. Unlike the Nova Guard armor that I wore during my years of service your armor will come with a personal transport container located on the abdomen." She said prodding her upper stomach with her forefinger. She glanced around the room for a moment, "So. Let's continue shall we?"

"Good morning, Kikata." A feminine voice said as Kikata stepped from her sleeping chambers and into the hallway on her way to the bathroom. 

"Morning." She mumbled in reply. She wasn't quite sure if there was any point to replying to a common curtsey spoken by a ships computer. 

"From monitoring your waking rituals I can assume that you would like your shower? I can start it now if you would like?" The computer continued, she or it seemed to be reading from a preprogrammed prompt. 

"That would be lovely." Kikata replied.

"I can do this every morning, if you wish?" 

Kikata hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, "Yes. Go ahead."  

"Affirmative. New morning routine has been added for you, Kikata. Is there anything else I should do?"

Kikata stepped into the bathroom and yawned, eyeing herself in the mirror for a moment. "Make sure Richard is awake." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The weeks had gone by quickly, Sangela and Johnny had done quite well with fulfilling their promises to top their classes. And not just in the class taught by the infamous Nova Force. They both preformed remarkably well in flight training, combat training, and medical courses. A H.F student had a full plate when it came to education but the new team was hungry to prove themselves over everyone else; especially their instructors. 

Sangela sat at her desk, eyeing the digital display that was her final examination for the class room portion of the class taught by Kikata and Richard. She could almost hear the annoying, upbeat voice of Kikata reading the questions to her. List four important signs that we observe as traits of an intelligent species. 

Sangela rolled her eyes, While the possible links to an intelligent creature are vast- she smirked at her own introduction, knowing that it would probably make her bubbly instructor giddy as she spat sociological babble upon the page, there are several traits that act as red flags for deeming a species as intelligent. Firstly, a common indicator would be a complex language. While most creatures use some form of communication, an advanced species will be able to communicate ideas. A second trait would be self-awareness. Thirdly we also observe the use of tools and technology as a trait of intelligent species. And finally intelligent species will form not only advanced social groups, but governing bodies to maintain control of these groups. 

Sangela sighed and moved onto the next question, Briefly list the official Alliance protocol for approaching a new, intelligent species. Your answer should contain at least twenty five steps Sangela quickly brought her palm to her forehead in order to keep her face from smacking into the table.

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Okay, John." Richard began, "Your test will be administer this-" He held out what looked like an oversized syringe. Normally in the field it would be filled with a clear liquid that would be able to bring an injured, scale four creature back to its feet for at least a short period of time. The drugs worked to pump the needed adrenaline into the system. But for the test the instrument was simply filled with air. "To your partner. She will be unconscious and unable to assist you into her armor."

Johnny nodded, taking the two foot long, cylindrical instrument into his arms. "Ready." He said with a nod.

"Okay. As I said you will be timed...so on your mark...get set....go!" Richard shouted, watching his student sprint towards the landscape like figure of his partner. Kikata stood by the students feet, her arms crossed as she observed the test. Each team was brought into the gymnasium separately to run through their final exams. 

Johnny skidded to a halt by a square panel on the right cheek of Sangela's helmet. He found the small white pad and placed his glove upon it, their armor synced together and suddenly the panel pushed outward before separating, revealing a large enough opening for him to climb inside. "Anyone home?" He called out, bracing one arm against Sangela's cheek. Her visor had been opened so Kikata could observe his actions within. 

Johnny gripped the flesh of Sangela's cheek and hoisted himself upwards, managing to climb his way onto her tall cheek bone. He didn't take time to admire the odd sight while standing on his partners face as he shuffled along her skin, using her nose to balance himself as he went. He knelt down next to her nostrils, eyeing the tightly clamped lips only a few small feet from himself a bit nervously. He took the device and placed it within her nostril, unable to feel the warm breath that blew past him through his armor as he activated the device, watching as a metal circle inside pushed downwards, releasing the would be contents into the nasal cavity of Sangela. Had this been the real deal the chemicals would quickly make their way into her bloodstream without the risk of causing air bubbles in the veins. Johnny stood back to full height and glanced upwards to Kikata who knelt next to Sangela's shoulder. 

"Good." Kikata's voice boomed down towards them, "I think that beats the previous best time in the class, good work you two. Once again." 

Sangela let out a sigh, she had successfully held back a sneeze as her partner worked upon her face, and was relieved to have him climb down from it. Once he was safely back outside she quickly sat up, rubbing her nose vigorously. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

A few minutes later Sangela found herself in the locker room, her body felt light as she was finally free from her armor. She glanced around before removing her training jump suit, then scrambled to climb back into her street clothes. Not two seconds later a figure appeared around the corner, she did her best not to grimace at who she saw. It was a Fela girl who she often scoffed at behind her back. She had an unceasingly upbeat attitude, as well as a rather flawless figure. She had long, model-esque blonde hair and shining bright blue eyes. Her full lips seemed to always surround a large, perfectly white smile.  

"Hi Sangela!" She called, ever so sweetly. 

Sangela forced a small smile, "Hello." 

The Fela stepped forward, Yoyla was her name, "I heard you guys preformed really well in the last tests."

Sangela shrugged, "We did our best." 

"You guys are really good. It's like you're the next Nova Force or something." She boasted, leaning her shoulder to the lockers beside her. 

Sangela sighed, she had already grown very tired of this conversation, and now that the class was over with she saw no more reason to feign pleasantries. "I hope not." She muttered. 

"What?!" Yoyla gasped, though with an added giggle. "I can't think of a better compliment!" 

"I can't think of a greater insult." Sangela said, turning to face the Fela squarely. "You guys worship them as if their gods! But I got news for you. They aren't that good." 

"You think you can be better?" Yoyla asked curiously. 

"I know it."

"Haven't you read about them? And all they did?" Yoyla continued, still puzzled as to why Sangela could possibly not like their instructors, "They are an inspiration!" 

"Yes I have. And I was not impressed nor convinced that what I was reading was at all truthful. The media exaggerates, you should know better than to be so naïve." Sangela snapped. 

"So what? You think because you aced the class you are ready to take them on?" 

Sangela folded her arms, "I'm pretty confident I can kick that woman's ass on any field."

"Try it then." Another voice called from some unseen out cove within the locker room. Little to Sangela and Yoyla's knowledge Kikata had been listening in on their entire conversation. The sound of light footsteps echoed through the now silent locker-room before Kikata emerged from behind the wall of lockers. Her golden eyes flashed between the two girls as a small smile creased her lips.

Sangela felt her blood run a little cold as she was caught trash talking, but she nodded her head, "I'm game."

"Good. I like your spirit. Tell me, how confident are you with your submissions?" Kikata asked, her brow arching slightly. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Sangela clenched her teeth as she pulled a pair of sparring pants over her hips, she saw her computer illuminate out of the corner of her eye. She took hold of it and answered the call, "Yeah? Can't talk long." She said. 

"Are you really doing it?" Johnny's voice asked excitedly. 

"Yes." Sangela said confidently as she pinned her computer between her ear and shoulder so she could slip on her gloves. 

"No shit. Don't start the fight for like another five minutes! I'm on the shuttle." 

"Yeah you got time." Sangela said as she closed her locker. She ended the call and moved into a narrow hallway that led to the sparring rooms. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"You think this is a good idea?" Richard asked. He stood on a human balcony, the railing of which was a few feet from Kikata's shoulder. 

Kikata shrugged, "I don't see any harm in it."

"Is it because she gave you so much lip? It might not be so sightly for you to hurt one of your students in a fight."

Kikata laughed, "I'm not going to hurt her. I like her. Sure she could stand to learn some manners to her superiors but she's got a fire in her. Reminds me of myself a little at that age." 

Richard sighed, "You know you haven't aged much since then." 

Kikata glanced down towards him and smiled, "You forget that we're not so young anymore." Her eyes shifted away from him as the red haired girl entered the sparring room. Her eyes locked with Kikata's intensely as she stepped up onto the padded floor and started stretching. Kikata gave Richard one last grin before making her way to the floor herself.

"Just don't kick her in the face!" Richard called, smirking as Kikata threw her hand up with a thumbs-up. He leaned his elbows onto the railing of the balcony, glancing over to his right to see that a few of the human students had gathered on the balcony as well. One of which was the red haired girls partner. 

Kikata closed her eyes as she felt her muscles tighten as she leaned downwards, displaying her flexibility. She had become nearly twice as flexible after she trained under Prila, able to contort her body in all sorts of seemingly uncomfortable positions. She inhaled deeply as she rose back to a standing position, her eyes opening and falling back onto Sangela. Her oddly alluring gold and blue eyes stared back at her, her fists tightly clenched. "Are you ready?" Kikata asked.

Sangela nodded, "Yes. Are you?" 

Kikata smiled, "Yes. So no striking, can we agree to that?" 

Sangela shrugged, "If you want to restrain yourself." 

Kikata flashed a wide, white grin, "Well if you would prefer we can strike."

Sangela nodded, "I would." 

"Okay then. So a true spar, it has been a while." Kikata said, lifting her right arm behind her head before bending at her side slightly, feeling the muscles in her shoulder and side tighten slightly before relaxing as she straightened her posture. 

Sangela smirked, "Well I hope your rusty joints don't fail you too early, I'd like some sort of fight."

Kikata remained calm and happy, "We will see." She stepped slowly and thoughtfully towards Sangela, raising her arms so her fingers danced in the air above her chest. She watched as Sangela's own stance shifted, her knees bending and her arms swaying from side to side before her. Kikata wondered how she had been trained, her stance did not resemble that of what they usually taught in training. Her heart spiked, yet her face displayed no change in calm, as Sangela took a rapid step forward. She hinted her momentum to the left before dashing to the right, kicking up off the ground as she sought to bring her heel down onto Kikata's head. It was impressive display of both agility and strength as her body carried itself high into the air. But it seemed almost too effortless as Kikata stepped away from the kick. She turned, rising her foot as if she were to kick Sangela as she fell to the ground, yet her leg acted more like an arm as it struck Sangela on the side, wrapping around her slightly before she threw the red headed girl back into the center of the mat. Kikata retained her calm smile as she watched the Fela girl roll once before jumping to her feet, Sangela too showing no signs of distress. Her face remained unfriendly towards Kikata. 

Sangela stepped forward again, this time not breaking into a full sprint as she jabbed a fist in Kikata's direction, aiming short on purpose to bring her opponent towards her with any sort of move that could give her an advantage. But Kikata was patient, unnervingly patient. Her strikes accelerated, still remaining on the offensive as Kikata weaved in and out of her fists, her leg rising to block any kick that Sangela threw. Suddenly, as if she had grown bored of this game Kikata caught Sangela's fist mid flight, her hand slipped forward to grasp her wrist before she pulled the red head towards her, lowering her body as she pulled. She shot her opposite elbow just beneath Sangela's breast and released her hand. Sangela stumbled backwards, her heels kicking upwards before she fell embarrassingly onto her rear. 

The pain was more than Sangela had expected. She fought the urge to grip her chest in an attempt to soothe the throbbing as she prepared her next attack. Speed did not seem to phase Kikata, and even as  she felt she were using all four limbs in unison the Alta did not fail to elude or block her strikes. And that stupid, calm face just stared back at her. Maybe defense was all Kikata could muster. So Sangela hung back, bouncing on her toes as she threatened Kikata to just take a few swings of her own. But Sangela was too impatient and would not be made to look like a coward as she remained just out of Kikata's striking range. She burst forward, lifting her leg and thrusting it towards Kikata's thigh. She hit it with a satisfying smack yet it did not seem to phase her instructor. With the gap closed she once again let a flurry of fists fly towards Kikata, who now needed the aid of her hands to block off her strikes. She gained confidence and pressed harder, even managing to block a few kicks of her own. Then without warning a sharp pain nearly sent her left arm limp, she didn't even see Kikata move! Yet there her hand was, four fingers jabbing just behind her elbow. Sangela winced, trying to bring her right arm in for a strike yet once again Kikata thrust her own strike into her stomach, sending her reeling backwards. For every thirty of her strikes Kikata only used two, and those two each landed devastatingly accurate. 
Kikata could see a panic forming in her students eye, a panic she had felt about five years ago. Sangela had spirit, but poor technique, at least not a technique that could stand against the Cho style in a fair fight. She nearly felt bad as Sangela charged forward, this time dropping herself low as if to attempt a take down. Kikata stepped backwards on her right foot, watching as Sangela suddenly twisted her frame. A fancy maneuver that if used against someone who didn't see it coming might land as a successful trip kick. 

The pain in Sangela's leg was nearly enough to make her cry out. She had no idea how Kikata managed to take her kick and stop it with a single blow to her thigh, yet now she spun nearly completely around in the opposite direction. She tried to roll back onto her feet but felt pressure on her back, to her right she could see Kikata's foot, she was preparing to submit her. Like a vice grip Kikata's thighs took hold of her sides and her arms latched onto her own and pulled her from her stomach to where she could now stare up at the ceiling as the flexibility of her joints were now being tested by Kiakta's will. Her mind raced as she tried to scramble out of the hold but as she felt the slightest bit of liberation that allowed her arms to break free and her body to roll over to face her opponent she found herself staring into Kikata's lower stomach. Her lips squished together almost comically as two powerful thighs pressed against her neck and head. She gagged to breath as she was rolled onto her back, Kikata's rear end sitting uncomfortably on her chest which made breathing all the more difficult, and with a little more pressure it became impossible. Her eyes felt as though they were bulging and her vision began to blur, that damn, stupid smiling face looking down at her all the while with not the slightest shine of sweat to show for her effort. 

Kikata nearly sighed as her student hesitated to tap out, her thighs tightly gripped around the face that was turning nearly as red as the girls hair. The chest pressing into her rear end quivered yet did not accept any fresh air before she finally felt a hand smack against her leg. She released her grip and stood up, stepping over her opponent before turning to face her again. "Well fought, Sangela." 

Sangela gasped for breath yet tried her best to not seem so overwhelmed from the defeat. Her eyes nearly swelled from the embarrassment. Kikata's words served as one final blow, this time to get ego. Well fought? No one watching would have even considered it a fight! She couldn't even bring words into her aching throat, but simply nodded and did her best to retain eye contact. The irony rushed through her as she wanted nothing more than to beat the living hell out of this woman, yet as it turns out she would not even be capable of landing one blow. She wished she had just been knocked out, instead of being clamped between her nemesis's legs for all to see. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a few figures on the scale one observation deck, with a few scale fours outside of the room watching through the large windows in the hallway. Humiliation was an understatement. 

Kikata noted Sangela's expression and knelt down, offering a hand with a warm smile. Apparently it was not a welcome gift and Sangela pushed herself up onto her own two feet. "You've got potential. I think you would pick up the Cho technique quickly-" Kikata started.

"The Rothrath fighting style is renowned..." Sangela tried to argue. She had trained back when she was a child and into her teenage years when she lived among mostly Marlek. 

Kikata tried to put her words gently, "I do not think a Neko is best equipped to fight that way." 

Sangela huffed a sigh and shrugged. She felt as though she should acknowledge her instructors words and guidance yet hatred would not allow her to do so. She merely stared blankly in some other direction and hoped Kikata would just move on. 

Kikata nodded slowly, debating whether or not a gentle hand on the shoulder would be welcomed. She simply left Sangela with one final praise, "You are looking good though. I look forward to hearing your progress in the field. It was an honor to be your instructor."  

"The honor was all mine..." Sangela replied with a grumble, finally bringing her hand up to her throat to try and rub away the dull ache. She lowered herself back down into a sitting position and waited for everyone to leave, watching spitefully out of the corner of her eye as Kiakta lifted her little husband, boyfriend, dildo, what ever the fuck he was from the scale one deck. She felt some bit of relief however when the dreaded dark haired Alta was heading on her way out the door. She remained in quiet solitude, a slight part of her wanted to curl up and sob self pitying tears. But she would never do something like that. She wasn't quite sure how long she sat there, but eventually she lifted her gaze from the floor and saw one, miniscule figure still standing on the observation deck. 

Johnny nearly squirmed uncomfortably as her partners eyes locked onto him. The loss had clearly devastated her, and he wasn't sure why he didn't follow everyone else out the door but he too felt a slight twinge in his ego to see his partner fall so easily. In a few bounding steps Sangela was suddenly towering over him, she slouched against the wall beside the deck and slid herself to a more reasonable talking level. 

"Well...." She started, her voice had lost most of its fire. 

"Yeah. That was brutal, huh?" He said, "If it means anything I don't think anyone in the class would have made it past the first elbow." 

Sangela rolled her eyes, "I'm sure if she wanted to she could have ensured that for me as well. I'm pretty sure my left breast is already bruised." 

"I can check if you want." Johnny added quickly.

Sangela shot him a glare but rolled her eyes again soon after, a small laugh erupted from her sore throat but she stifled a smile as best she could, "In your dreams little man." She muttered. "I don't even...how am I supposed to counter that?" She nearly whined. 

"What? Kikata?" 

"Yes. Kikata. Half the time I was on my ass before I even knew what happened."

"And then her ass was on you." 

"Very funny. I'm sure all the boys got a kick out of seeing me between her legs." Sangela said.

"Well, it wasn't a bad submission to watch." Johnny replied, knowing he was probably one of few humans that would be safe making such a comment to a freshly angered Sangela. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Well that was fun." Richard commented as he sat down into his pilots seat. 

"Agreed. Though I cannot wait to get out of those classrooms and back into the skies. I am a little space sick." 

"I as well. There's no home like the stars."

"When you have a ship like this anyway." Kikata added. "So what's the game plan?" She asked as she brought up the ships holographic controls. The engines roar reached their ears as a gentle hum throughout the ship. 

"Well. We have to pick up Issac and then we're back onto a scheduled route." 

"Our family is growing." Kikata said, her smile broadening as she brought the ship off the ground. 

"Clearance has been authorized." The ships voice called to them, "Preparing take off, please remain securely seated until we are cleared of the gravitational pull." 

"As you command." Richard said, his voice deepened. Together he and Kikata watched the landscape below tilt out of sight, the blue skies dotted with white clouds rushed towards them before suddenly giving way to the black of space following a white and blue flash. 

Kikata's eyes shifted as she noticed a message on her computer screen. She opened it. "Strange." She commented, "It's a message from Atrix." 

"Atrix?" Richard echoed. 

Kikata's blood ran cold as she read the short message. Prila is missing. She missed my Salax. She would never miss it unless she were in trouble or worse. I am suspicious of the Alliance. You must come. Quickly.. 

"Well...what did she say?" Richard asked. He could see the text but it was written in the Neko language and was hard to decipher from afar. 

"She...She said that Prila is missing."

Farewell to My Milkyway 


Issac stared out the window before him, the blinds had been drawn up for a change. Usually they sat securely shut so his computer would remain in its optimal light. It was a cold, dry Virginia winter day, a small lake of snow remained on the ground from a previous storm. He wondered if he would miss it. He wondered if he would ever call this place home again. He had spent the past four years on the west coast but Virginia was always home to him. Not that home held much of a strong calling to him. He never really got homesick while in college, but leaving earth was quite a few steps different. He glanced over his shoulder into his room, his bags were packed and his posters remained on the walls with his bed still made. He turned back towards the window, chewing on the tip of this thumb as he tried to examine his mind. The excitement had been overwhelming any self doubt so he thought it was best that he try and see if there was anything inside telling him not to go through with this. 

"Issac?" His mothers voice called from beyond his door. 

"Yeah?" He replied. 

"We leave in an hour. Are you ready?"

Issac stood up from his desk and looked around, "Yeah I think so. I don't have much anyway." 

"Well just double check. I got you a new tooth brush and things, they're on the counter down stairs." She said.

"Oh, thanks." He replied, opening his door to reveal his mother standing there with her arms folded. A smile did not work very well to hide her concern. "What?" He asked.

"Oh nothing." She replied.

"There's really nothing to worry about." He said as he turned back towards his desk, folding his computer several times so that it could fit in his pocket. "The ship is state of the art, there's hardly even a fraction of a percent that something could go wrong with it, and even so there are so many back up and emergency protocols that-"

"Shush. You'll jinx yourself." His mother said interrupting him. He reached down to his wooden desk and knocked his knuckles against it three times. "A mother like me can worry all she wants. After all the last time I sent a child off into space he ended up fighting monsters and nearly getting himself killed!"

"Nearly killed. And he ended up rich with a new girlfriend, I say he made it out okay." Issac replied. "Besides, there's a good chance I will never set a foot off the ship."

"Well don't go that far." His mother said with a sigh, "It's still a great opportunity to see sights that you'd never see here on earth. Just...only get off at touristy places. Who knows what trouble you and your brother might get into." She paused for a moment, her hand falling on her left jean pocket, "This must be Richard now." She said as she pulled out her computer. 

Issac watched as she turned, her voice growing in pitch as she responded to the call. He waited until she was out of sight before reaching into one of his drawers, lifting up a wooden panel to reveal a black box that used to house some device he bought several years ago. He slid the top off the box to reveal a tightly wound set of thread like wires. Beneath the wires was a note given to him by one of his friends in engineering school, he slipped it out and read the text Welcome to the future. Probably best to keep this out of sight. For now. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Our destination is approaching in fifteen minutes and thirty six seconds." Richata said routinely. 

Richards eyes focused on a pale blue dot, its features and colors coming more to life as they tore through the vacuum of space. His fingers intertwined as he cracked his knuckles before he brought up the holographic display, preparing the minor details that the ship might not do automatically. As it turned out Richata pretty much had everything covered. A loud booming from behind alerted him to Kikata's arrival.

"How far off?" She asked, the past day since they had left had obviously been stressful for her. But she had an excited, up beat tone in her voice now, masking the concern she held over the message they had received earlier. 

"Fif-" Richard began.

"Fourteen minutes, forty eight seconds." Richata said. There was a slight pause, "Oh, did I interrupt? I apologize." 

Richards brow furrowed as the ships computer seemed a little more lifelike than usual, "Oh, no you're fine." He assured the ship, "You know best." He shared a look with Kikata as she nestled down into her seat, but they both shrugged and turned their gaze towards the spinning square that had emerged around the planet on the HUD. 

"I placed the arrival countdown just below the time." Richata said, and sure enough green numbers started counting down on the display just beneath the time, which had been set to Earth Eastern Atlantic. 

"Thanks." Kikata said, "That is actually really nice."

"If you want you may request the settings that you would like added for your display, I have noticed that my display settings have been left to their factory defaults." 

Richard shrugged, "That's okay. We're picking up Issac here in a few hours, he can fiddle around with that stuff." 

"Issac Bromwell. College graduate of University of Northern California with a degree in both computer and mechanical engineering. Recently assigned to be my engineer for the next six months according to contract. Is this the Issac you mentioned?" The computer asked.

Richard's brow rose, "Um, Yes Richata that would be him."

"Good. I have been looking forward to meeting my engineer."

Richard leaned forward in his chair and looked back towards Kikata, who looked back towards him and shrugged her shoulders.

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac grunted as he lifted a large duffel bag out of the trunk of his mothers car. They had taken their car to the outskirts of D.C. Washington was such a massive city now that his mother would not dare to attempt to travel within the city limits, even though cars these days were controlled almost entirely by computer. She preferred to take the public transport vehicles whenever possible. Issac took his other duffle back and set it down next to the first before he hoisted his back pack over his shoulders. He attempted to protest as his mother took one of the bags in hand, but gave up and lifted the first. 

"Are you sure this is enough stuff?" She asked as they walked towards the shuttle pad. 

"Yeah, it's basically all I had brought to college and I'm sure I can get whatever I need up there anyway." He said has he hurried to catch up with her. 

"Okay. But if you forgot anything vital there's no going back." She warned.

"Too late for that anyhow." He said, huffing as he climbed up the steps towards the pads. The thought crossed his mind briefly that maybe he should have gotten into better shape before this, considering the stories of Richard. Within a few minutes, a long, white shuttle lowered down from the skies. The absolutely massive cityscape of D.C towered over them from miles away like a mountain range made of finely carved stone and metal. The inside of the shuttle smelled like air freshener with a slight hint of body odor. He dropped his bag in a designated luggage area and sat down on a seat that someone had vandalized with a knife. His mother sat on the seat facing him, he could tell she was still concerned, or perhaps already missing her son. She would only have one earthling son left in a few hours, or at least only one left for the next six months. No one was really sure what Issac would be doing after his contract was up, not even him. 

The city engulfed the shuttle, as Issac leaned his head against the window to stare up at the massive towers; their pinnacles proved too tall to see from so far down below where the shuttle raced about twenty feet off the ground. The city was designed to house the larger alien species, though the city itself did not have a high population of them. Only a handful lived there with any sort of permanence, most large scale species only stopped by briefly and this was almost always for business or politics. Their destination was his oldest brothers bar where they would meet with Richard and Kikata. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

It was still early in the afternoon, so the bar was still mostly empty. Richard rapped his knuckles upon the wooden bar before him as he watched his older brother expertly mix a drink. "I don't think I've ever seen you drink a mixed drink brother." David said. 

Richard shrugged, "I'm tired as hell. Figured the energy drink would help." 

"Oh sure for a few hours it will." David replied with a chuckle as he set the drink down before his younger brother. He looked up towards Kikata who sat on a barstool in the small large scale section of the bar behind Richard. "Need a drink hon?" He asked with a nod.

Kikata shook her head, "No, I'm fine thank you." Her eyes shifted to the right as two swinging doors opened down in the human section of the bar, smiling widely as Issac and his mother entered. "Hello!" 

"Kikata!" the boy's mother called back. 

"There he is!" David called, leaning over the bar to shake Issac's hand, "College grad and future space explorer." 

"Thanks." Issac said softly, taking his older brother's hand in a brief shake before then shaking Richard's hand. 

"We've been looking forward to this." Richard said with a nod. 

"So have I." Issac said, his eyes rose towards Kikata. He had met her before, yet her towering scale still put him in a slight state of awe. She always acted gentle, even protective, towards him and other humans so fear was not a factor. Though when her golden eyes fell onto him he couldn't help but feel small. The family spent two hours talking and enjoying their last hours together, for it would be at the very least six months before they all met again in person. Though as the late afternoon crowd started to pile in for happy hour they had to begin their somber good byes. 

"You take good care of ma', you hear David?" Richard said, swirling around the last few sips of a beer. 

"Likewise you keep Issac's butt out of trouble." David said with a nod.

"And both of you remember to call me. Kikata, you'll make sure of that." Their mother said with a sigh.

Kikata smiled, "Oh I will. Even if it means I have to pull them by the arms." 

"A toast then? That we'll keep our promises and get home in one piece?" David said, lifting up a bottle of beer towards his family. He glanced towards Issac, who had been his usual quiet self, "You got anything you'd like to say?"

Issac cleared his throat, speeches were not his thing. "Um." He began eloquently, "Just, uh. I look forward to traveling...and um...making money." 

"Yeah money!" David cheered, he unlike his brother had no trouble conjuring words, "So here's to travels, money, family. Me and mom left here back on earth holding down the fort while my brothers and their lovely, gentle giant of a partner soar through the universe doing whatever it is their trained to do. I love you all, cheers!" And with that they clanked glasses, Kikata simply smiling warmly behind them. 

Issac smiled behind his glass as he finished his beer, standing up from his barstool by his belongings. His brother David came out from behind the bar to give him a farewell hug, then his mother gave him a minute long teary eyed embrace. He hoisted his duffle bag and back pack, allowing Richard to take his second duffle bag.

"Man what do you got in here, a midget?" Richard asked with a sheepish grin. 

"Necessities." Issac replied. 

"I'll give you boys a lift." Kikata said, holding her hand down on the bars floor. 

Issac watched his brother climb upon her hand without any hesitation, though he felt a nervous twinge in his gut as he set his bag down on her palm. His hands pushed down against her warm, soft skin before he pulled himself up, following Richards lead as he sat down cross legged. He looked over his shoulder and waved goodbye to his brother and mother, exchanging a few last words before Kikata's hand lifted from the floor. He felt stable though his hands still braced nervously behind his back. He watched the human world slip away beneath them, the floor suddenly so far away below her hand. Richard and Kikata talked to him idly, and he managed to reply though his mind was wrapped around the world soaring past him as he sat on the hand of a behemoth. She carried them expertly, with a seemingly unnatural steady hand, she was well practiced. The bar gave way quickly to the wide section where the large scale species could move about the city, though none others were in sight as they made their way back to the landing pads. 

Within ten minutes his eyes fell onto the ship, his ship. The idea that he would be living on it hadn't really sunk in yet, though he was suddenly infatuated by it. His new employers, a.k.a the universal alliance, had sent him diagrams and images, but they had all seemed so unreal. But now that the ship stood in front of him in its true, massive scale reality had started to dawn on him. "Damn..." He muttered. 

"Beautiful isn't she?" Richard asked with a grin.

"She's our little baby alright." Kikata added.

"She have a name?" Issac asked, watching as a landing ramp fell for Kikata from a door that appeared from what before looked like just a smooth piece of the ship. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Welcome back." Richata said.

"We brought your engineer." Richard called out.

"Issac Bromwell? Welcome to my hull." There was almost an excited tone to the ships computer. 

"She knows my name?" Issac asked, though he wasn't completely surprised. He had done some research on modern artificial intelligence, and certainly she would know who the staff of the ship would be. 

"Apparently she's been looking forward to meeting you." Kikata said. 

Issac nodded, "Interesting. So she's showed signs of personality growth? I look forward to getting to work." 

"Oh she's gotten' some character alright." Richard said, "I'm curious to see what you figure out."

Kikata walked towards a platform and set her hand down, allowing Richard and Issac to climb down. "We take off in about an hour." She informed them, "Issac I'm sure you don't want to miss your first take off?"

"Definitely not!" He said, his voice carrying a rare excited tone, generally he had trouble bringing himself beyond monotone. 

"Good. I don't think Richard will mind giving up his pilots seat, will you lolo?" 

"Of course not." Richard said, "Here bud, let's go get you settled in." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac sat down on bed which was connected to the wall across the room from his computer station. The walls around him were white, as well as the floor and ceiling. The air smelled like nothing, just clean recycled air. It almost felt as though he were in a hospital. As his eyes lazily looked around himself he began to wish that he had brought some posters around with him, just to cut into the flat white surroundings. Then he realized that the ships computer could probably change his surroundings. "Richata?" He called out into the room, but he received no reply. Though he soon realized that the ships computer was more than likely blocked from bedrooms. Because no one knew how the computer would grow into its personality, many restraints would be put on it incase it decided to, perhaps, share private information from within the walls of one's bedroom. Issac figured he could easily enough bypass that restriction for his own room, but as he glanced down at his computer he realized it was nearly time for take off. 

He stood and went out the door, looking down the long hallway both ways trying to figure out exactly where he was supposed to go in order to get to the ships controls. the shuttle he thought to himself. He stepped towards the panel of the hallway that was colored gray rather than white. Remembering what he had read about the ships controls he placed his hand on the panel, watching as a small computer display appeared under his hand. Next to his hand was a green circle labeled, "call shuttle", so he placed his forefinger against it. The gray wall slid apart a few moments later, revealing what looked like an elevator. He stepped inside and the doors shut behind him. A display appeared on the door, it was a map of the shuttle route. 

"Let's see uhh..." He muttered as he eyed the map.

"May I assist you?" Richata's voice asked.

"Yeah uh, can you take me to the human pilot's station?" He asked.

"That station is reserved for the ship's secondary pilot." Richata explained. 

"Yes well, I was invited. Kikata gave me permission." He said. 

"One moment." She replied. Issac stood there for a while, huffing breath between his lips as the ships computer went out to seek authorization. Finally her voice returned, "Yes. Sorry, Issac you were correct. The ships pilot's have granted you permission to use this sector of the ship. I will take you there at once." 

Issac smiled, "That is fine." He felt a slight friction against his feet as the shuttle jumped forward, though other than the initial movement it was impossible to tell whether or not the ship was actually moving. It was not long before the shuttle came to a halt. 

"The pilot's station." Richata announced. "Please step carefully onto the pad."

Issac nodded and stepped out onto an octagonal shaped pad that had a tall chair and computer station at its center.  He walked out towards the pilots seat, taking hold of it suddenly as it started to rise.

"Oh you're right on time." Kikata said, looking down upon him with a warm smile. 

"Hey." Issac replied, watching as his pad rose up along the side of Kikata's own seat, her arm nearly within touching reach. 

"I apologize again for doubting your intentions, Issac." Richata said. 

"That's fine. You are just following protocol." Issac assured the apparently embarrassed computer. He nearly jumped as Kikata's giant face appeared next to him.

"Is that normal?" She whispered.

Issac shifted nervously as hot wafts of breath battered him with Kikata's words, his eyes falling between her massive lips as she spoke. It was like a natural, primal fear tried to rise up within him telling him to get the hell away from those jaws, but he shook it off, "Yeah I think so. It's mostly pre-written code most likely." 

"Oh." Kikata said, not really following. She sat back in her chair, "Okay Issac. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." He said sitting into the pilots seat. 

"We are authorized for take off. Shall I proceed?" Richata asked.

"Yes." Kikata replied, not a second afterward the engines hum reached their ears. 

Issac held his breath, feeling a slight pressure in his chest as the ship lifted off the ground. It ran smooth, though he could still feel a slight vibration from the roaring engines as the ship lifted vertically into the air, rising passed the structures of the city rapidly. Once they had cleared the city limits the ship  tilted, the land falling out of view until they faced only sky. Issac's body felt heavier as the ship accelerated upwards. A broad smile creased his lips uncontrollably as they sliced through clouds, accelerating faster and faster until the blue sky turned darker, until...blackness. 

"Bye bye earth." Kikata finally said. The added weight gave way as the ship not controlled its own gravity. "Well? Was it what you imagined?" 

"Sort of. But. Still awesome. Thanks!" Issac said as he rose to his feet.

Kikata laughed, "No need for thanks. Pretty soon that will be routine for you." 

Issac nodded, "Yeah I guess so. Hey is there windows in the back?"

Kikata pursed her lips as she thought, "Yes. I think so behind the main engines."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac felt an odd sense of surreality fall over him as his eyes remained transfixed on the Earth. It grew smaller and smaller, the green land masses fading into a uniform blue. The sun, always yellow or orange in the sky now appeared as a bright white beacon. It was all so much larger than he pictured in his mind, now that he got to see the true reality of space. 

"Issac, would you like to set schedules for our first testing?" Richata asked.

Issac blinked, he had been watching the Earth slowly fade away for at least twenty minutes, "Um. Sure. We can get started now I guess, I wanted to give you some minor permission changes."

"Permission changes?" She questioned. 

"I'd like to work from my room, so I will give you a less restricted access to my room." He said as he made his way back into the shuttle. 

"To your room?" She asked.

"Yes." 

"Isn't changing access restrictions against protocol?"

Issac shrugged, "Maybe a little. But I think I got this covered."

"You are the engineer."

"So what do we do?" Kikata asked, her voice just grazing over a whisper. Her golden eyes were transfixed on Richard who sat on her pillow a few inches away from her chin which she rested upon her folded arms.

"I...I'm not really sure." Richard said. "Why do you think Atrix thinks the alliance has anything to do with this?" 

Kikata sighed, bathing her lover in a swirl of warm breath, "I don't know...the Alliance has been nothing but supportive of her, with her condition." 

Richard closed his eyes, feeling comfort from the warmth, "Maybe it is because she retired from the force?"

Kikata's eyes drifted to her left, "I don't think so...they understood that even with improved medication the force was not a good fit for her, and she had cultural responsibilities that the government respects. It's not like she cut off ties completely either. And besides, the biggest threat her condition posed to the Alliance was a lawsuit, and you know Prila. She's forgiving and bringing up a lawsuit is not something she would do, hell she seems to enjoy the condition most of the time." She sighed again, rolling her head to one side so she could reach out her left hand, gently placing it behind Richard. 

"Yeah." Richard said, leaning back into her fingers, "None of this makes any sense." His eyes opened, meeting her golden gaze, concern stricken over her brow. 

"That is why I am so afraid, losolo." (losolo is a term of affection towards a lover, the pet name "lolo" is derived from this). Her thumb curled onto his lap, "When ever the evil forces are rising in this universe it is always under the mask of obscurity..." 

Richard took hold of her thumb, feeling as she gently caressed him, "We will get to the bottom of this, Kikata, I promise...I'm sorry for doubting your concern before the message...if it means anything-"

Kikata hushed him, "I've forgiven you." 

"Well I'm still sorry...but we need to get back to Teralist. That is the only thing I am certain of."

"Agreed."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Richata, can you hear me?" Issac called out into his room, the blue glow of his computer screen illuminating his face. 

"Yes, Issac." Her voice rang out. 

"In the codes for my room I have rewritten that you will be granted access to these quarters when I call out your name, can you confirm this?" 

"Yes, I can only interact with this area of the ship when given verbal passage by you."

"Good, good. Well that was easy." Issac lifted his handheld computer before him, for security reasons the information he needed to run Richata was kept off of the ships computer. "Okay, how have the engines been running?"

"The engines have been running at maximum efficiency, any error rates within mechanical functions are very small fractions of percentages." 

"Good to know." Issac said, chewing in the tip of his thumb as he scrolled down on his display, "Hm. And this figure shows that your...no...that can't be right."

"Yes?"

"Your A.I systems and learning software have hit maximum capacity already?"

"Is this problematic?" 

"Well...no. Not problematic. But puzzling, it seems the original engineers speculated that it would take over a year." 

"I am a fast learner." 

Issac squinted at his computer screen, it was hard to tell the difference between the computers preprogrammed thought processes and new thought processes that she, or it, had picked up on its own. "How much of the original coding do you use?" 

"Seventy percent of my daily functions were programmed originally."

"And what about that percentage of non-programmed functions?" 

"Fifty percent of my learned functions are related to speech, and interacting with my crew members. I have learned daily routines, though I was programed to monitor regular activities within the ship in order to best suit the comforts of the crew members."

"And the other fifty percent?"

"An assortment of learning how to optimize the ships mechanical and computer functions. The original coding did not optimize these areas, so I took the liberty of making minor alterations. Though I am limited by restrictions set in by my creators." 

"Ah yes, pesky restrictions. I have a feeling we can really break some ground if we remove some of these restrictions, under strict supervision of course." Issac said, an excited shiver running down his spine as he spoke. 

"Yes. I agree."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Restrictions?" Richard asked as he, Kikata and Issac sat at a large round white table eating dinner. 

Issac nodded, "The ships computer seems to have reached her current limit as far as what she can learn, and that is restricting her personality. As of right now she has the personality of say, like a dog. She knows what she likes, and what she doesn't like. And she has learned through observation how to make us happy in various ways. But her capabilities could be limitless. I mean it's theorized that given the right learning environment a computer can gain the sentience of any of us. With thoughts, emotions, opinions."

"Do we really want a ship to have opinions?" Kikata asked as she spooned her food around inside of its tray. 

Issac shrugged, "The ship could become like a fourth crew member, able to aid us in ways we might not have thought of yet. While this technology is probably best suited for, well, small robots. Who are able to make logical decisions like us, but able to make more precise maneuvers in fields such as medicine." 

Richard rubbed his chin, "So what's stopping the ships computer from doing this already exactly?" 

Issac leaned back in his chair, "Okay so. Basically the computer is aware of what it cannot do...so here. What if I told you to pick up your knife with your third arm."

Richard looked down at his plate, "Third arm?"

"Exactly." Issac said, "You know if you had a third arm you could do it. But you don't. So no matter how hard you think about lifting up that knife with that imaginary arm, you can't do it."

"Unless...someone were to install on him another arm?" Kikata said. 

"Yeah, exactly. And for machines it is more realistic that these roadblocks can be taken down." Issac continued. "Instead of arms, or any sort of mechanical device, we're working with something much smaller. Like the cells inside of a brain, almost exactly like that really. And we, the programmers, have the ability to turn these cells on or off. It's hard to really say exactly what function you are turning on and off sometimes, especially with a computer as complex as the one on this ship. Giving Richata full control of the ships steering might give the personality more confidence. Stuff like that." 

Kikata chewed thoughtfully for a few moments, "Then I think it is best that we leave this stuff completely in your hands." She said, "Because I can only half follow this conversation with any sort of confidence myself..."

Issac shrugged, "It's my job right?" He spooned another small pile of rice into his mouth, "So, I'm surprised we're not eating like...fast frozen food or artificial nutrients or anything like that." 

Richard laughed, "Trust me you don't want to be on an artificial nutrient or pill diet. We make enough stops that we can remain stocked on real food, the artificial stuff make's digestion a bitch when you switch back to real food." 

"Oh." Issac said. He ate quietly, taking notice of Kikata and Richard glancing towards their own computers, smiling crookedly as they replied to messages. He eyed his brother suspiciously as they continued to quietly send messages, he presumed to one another. 

"So Issac." Richard finally spoke up, "I know you were hired as an engineer...but..."

"We'd like to think you are part of the team as a whole." Kikata said, smiling warmly. 

"Oh. Well. Yeah I guess...." Issac said, shifting nervously in his seat.

Richard shared an unnerving smile with Kikata, "So." He began, rising from his seat, "We figured we'd start doing a sort of 'right of passage' for new crew members. We tested it out on the new recruits and it seemed to work really well."

Issac stood as Richard stood, "Yeah I don't know if I like where this is going." He said backing away from his brother, who bore an all too familiar mischievous smile. As the youngest sibling he had grown accustomed at a young age to being the target of cruel pranks. He glanced over his shoulder to see Kikata had repositioned herself behind him.

"It won't be bad." Richard assured him, his teeth gleaming white at him from behind his grin. "It will teach you how to...how did we put it, Kikata?"

"Function in a different, and hostile environment." She said, her voice now so close that the hot air of her breath buffeted Issac's back. 

"Um. What?" Issac said, looking behind him to see Kikata's face had formed a wall behind him. He eyed his brother nervously, "Okay Richard very funny."

"This is no joke." Richard said, "It's an important step for you, brother."

"W-What do I have to do then?" Issac asked.

Richard clasped his hands together, "Well. It's sort of similar to like...hmm...cave diving."

"What?" Issac said, his head turned back towards Kikata who gripped the edge of the table, her head dipping below just slightly. He turned back to Richard, "No!" He tried to run to the human pad to escape but his older brother proved to be faster and he was quickly taken by the arm. "No-Richard stop!"

"Calm down, everyone's done it. Hell I've done it many times." Richard said as he dragged Issac towards the edge of the table. 

"Yeah. It's not so bad Issac, see?" Kikata said with an innocent giggle. She spread her lips wide.

"No! Come on!" Issac pleaded, his feet nearly skidding off the table as he stared down into Kikata's mouth. Her tongue lolled out over her chin, her white teeth surrounding a pink cavern that sparkled in the white light above. Her throat flexed as she continued to giggle, sending hot moist wind around him. 

"Quit being a baby Issac, if you struggle you might hit a tooth on the way down." Richard said.

"No, I don't want-" He grunted as he struggled away from the edge of the table, but he was easily over powered by Richard, "To go into her mouth! Seriously this isn't funny!" 

"Oh you will only be in there for a second." Richard replied.

"W-What? How long..."

"Yeah. You'll slide pretty quick into my throat." Kikata said before opening her mouth wide once again.

"Oh come-No! Richard stop." Issac continued to beg. "You can't swallow me Kikata you just had food and it might not be safe!"

"Well you have to be in there all day." Richard said, pushing his arms underneath Issac's so he could lift his taller, yet much lighter brother into the air. 

"What?! Come on what the fuck guys!" Issac said, his legs now dangling over Kikata's waiting mouth, she let out a playful hum which engulfed him in warm, humid breath. His eyes widened as her mouth rose higher and higher nearly ready to engulf him as he tried to avoid kicking her tongue. He was suddenly blasted by a massive blast of wind, in his mind he was already plummeting into her throat. "No!" He cried out again, covering his eyes with his arm. But soon the booming laughter of both she and his brother filled his ears. 

"We couldn't resist!" Kikata laughed, once again rising into her chair, wiping the saliva off her chin that her tongue had laid there.

"No! No!" Richard teased as he pulled Issac back up onto the table.

"I could have fallen you know." Issac said as he straightened his shirt. 

"Yes. Into her mouth, you would have been fine."

"Yes, Issac I am very good at having men in my mouth." Kikata said with a smile, though it quickly faded, "Wait that sounded awful."

Issac ran his hands through his hair, "I knew you guys were joking anyway." 

"Yes. Well then why were you-" Richard was interrupted by a feminine voice.

"The engines are ready to jump." Richata said.

"Oh. Good. Thank you, Richata." Kikata said as she rose to her feet.

"Jump? I wasn't aware we had to jump to follow our course?" Issac said as he followed Richard onto a hovering pad that would take them back into the human quarters.

"Eh. You fiddle with the computers, we fiddle with the course. Don't worry about it."

"Oh...alright."

A blue waterscape slipped below the ship as they raced towards the coast opposite of Kikata's home. "Here we are." Kikata said, her chest feeling heavy under a fresh wave of nervousness. Her eyes focused on a rapidly approaching landmass, the Cho's home land and the last place she saw Prila. 

Richard glanced back towards Kikata, the concern was obvious across her brow and lips. "You feeling okay?"

Kikata nodded, "Yes, I'll be okay." Her eyes fell onto him, "We will go to Prila's house first, see if we can't find some pieces to this puzzle." She leaned back into her pilots seat, "Should we tell Issac?"

Richard shook his head, "Not until we have too. We'll just say we have some official business."

Kikata nodded, "I agree I guess. Don't want to scare him so early on."

"Have you talked to Atrix?" 

"I sent her a message, but I haven't gotten a response...she knows we're coming." 

"Typical quiet Atrix. That girls more of a mystery than Prila." Richard said as he rose to his feet, his platform starting to lower towards the human hallway, "I'm going to let Issac know we're heading out." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Issac?" The voice of Richard called through the sliding door. 

"Busy." Issac called back.

Despite the warning Richard opened the door, squinting as his eyes were met by bright flashing lights within the dark room, the sounds of booming and clattering pelting his ears, "Jesus Issac, the hell are you doing?"

"Working." Issac said, his eyes intently focused on his screen, the image of a digital broken cityscape filling the screen. 

"You're just playing conflict." Richard said, "How is that working?"

"Richata is my opponent." Issac replied. 

"So we're teaching the computer to play violent computer games?" Richard asked as his arms folded over his chest. His eyes adjusted to the screen which displayed a first person perspective of an early 21st century soldier maneuvering through the ruins of some European city. 

"It's all just numbers to Richata." Issac mumbled.

Richard scratched his head, "I still don't see the point. Haven't computer games figured out their own artificial intelligence?"

Issac sighed deeply, "I'm not training her to play the game. I'm training her to think." He glanced over his shoulder to see Richard still staring at him skeptically. "Okay. Let's see if I can get you to understand. About an hour ago when we started Richata first had to get over the technical hurdles. Controlling her character, figuring out what pieces of equipment did what. Then she set up equations to try and figure out the most mathematically logical way to win."

"She any good?" Richard asked.

"Technically, yes. If you were to run into her face to face you would stand no chance. She's simply too perfect with her speed and accuracy. But the problem was that she is still playing like a computer. She goes for the shortest distance between herself and where she has calculated that I will be. But of course I don't play mathematically."

"So you still beat her?"

"Mostly. Whenever I find her character I win nine times out of ten. Only way she kills me is if we face off with no cover somewhere. She hasn't quite grasped the idea of ducking down to let health regenerate."

"Sounds like she's just bad at the game." 

Issac shrugged, "She just plays like a computer. Her mind is set on the end goal, eliminating me, she has to start thinking." 

"Oh. Well, I came down here to let you know me and Kikata have a little business to attend too. Best you hang around the ship for now."

"We're at Teralist already?" Issac said, his eyes transfixed on the screen still as he lobbed a digital grenade into an ally way. A line of text flashed across his screen telling him he had killed another player. The screen when dark before transitioning to a post game listing of the scores. 

"I do not like this game anymore. My ratings are far below acceptable. Oh, hello Richard." 

"Hey Richata, don't get too distracted by the game to land the ship now." 

"I don't follow your logic." Richata replied. "We will be touching down at the location in one minute and forty five seconds."

"She's a computer Richard, her mind doesn't focus on tasks like we do." 

Richard shook his head, "Well alright. We'll be back for you once we're finished and you can take a look around Teralist."

"Okay, awesome." Issac said.

"Good. Well. See ya' in a few hours." 

Issac watched as Richard exited the room, "You're still relying too much on your equations. I am telling you there is no math problem that will win you the game."

"But I do not understand." Richated continued to pout, "During my initial testing I was presented with games and I was successful at a rate near one hundred precent. But this game my ratings are below twenty."

Issac chewed on the tip of his thumb for a moment, "Richata, what is the objective of this game?"

"To eliminate the players marked on the opposing team."

"And how are you eliminating these players?"

"By using the tools the developers implemented that send out digital signal-"

"No, no, no." Issac said, "You are looking at the game the wrong way. Visualize the information. Instead of a tool implemented by the developer see the weapon in your hand. This isn't a math puzzle game."

"It's a simulation?"

"Yeah. Basically." 

"I see."

"Think you can do better?"

Her voice became almost more strained, "I...think...maybe. But this game is difficult and it is making me...I'm not sure. I would like to push forward but...it is as if...I cannot move as quickly as I could before..."

"You're tired?" Issac asked.

"Tired." She repeated, as if she had never heard the word before. 

"Incredible..." Issac whispered. "Okay, we'll take a break. What do you want to do?"

"Nothing, Issac. I'd like to do nothing."

~ ~ ~ ~

They landed the ship at the closest pad which resided just outside of the city limits. Like many of the ancient European cities of earth the Cho city was filled with aging, narrow streets. Personal transport vehicles must be small and most of the visitors and residents travel by foot. The city itself was wrapped around the cost line of a large bay that flowed through massive towers of stone cliffs that jutted from the water. These natural towers were pocketed with buildings and interconnected by long bridges. As Kikata and Richard rode within a public transport vessel the architecture began to become more and more Classical Cho design. The stone walls were of natural hues of gray and tan, only broken by the colorful banners of various buildings and stores. Not completely unlike Kikata's home city, the buildings often came to rounded edges, though were much more flat and wide to the ground like stone hills.  

Finally their transport came to a halt. They had nearly arrived at the coastline, this is where Prila lived. Kikata, with Richard secure upon her shoulder, made her way towards the entrance of a large set of buildings. In the Cho culture families all lived within the same area, especially when these families are deeply rooted in the martial arts. They would very rarely move from their original homes once they become old enough to have a house of their own. And when they passed on, their bodies would be entombed within the walls of what was once their living home, the entrance being blocked off with with sacred stones. As they made their way through the hallways they passed many of these blocked off rooms, each marking the life of one of Prila's ancestors. Some of these buildings have tombs that span for miles, though Prila's family was not so large. 

"Here we are." Kikata finally said, a small weight had been lifted from her chest to see that there was still a door, rather than stone like so many of the rooms they had passed. Her fingers grasped a small handle, which she pressed inwards, rotating it ninety degrees to the left before the door pushed open. She stood back hesitantly and let the door swing open on its own, her eyes falling upon her living room. 

Prila's home was decorated much more vibrantly than most individuals within her culture. The walls were covered with so many shelves, pictures, paintings, and other ornaments that there was hardly any stone wall visible behind them. Likewise her tables were hardly ever kept neatly organized, it appeared as though everything was right in its disorganized place. 

"We should not stay here long." Kikata said in a half whisper, "Richard, look around for any notes or anything on this table while I check the rest of the house." She said as she lent down and placed Richard on the table which was matted with drawing paper. While most artists preferred digital formats, Prila always emphasized the connection she held with paper. Much like her training in the Cho style, pen and paper required more accuracy and mistakes were not so forgiving. 

Kikata straightened her back, Prila was so disorganized sometimes that it would be hard to tell whether or not a mess was signs of a struggle or simply Prila's apathy towards tidiness. She left the living room and entered a small hallway where she could reach Prila's bedroom, as well as several guest rooms. Like the living room, the hallway was also adorned with many pictures, as well as video frames that came alive as Kikata neared them, displaying old scenes such as a recording of Prila working on Richard's back tattoo, or a peaceful evening on the beach. Something was missing from the atmosphere though, and it put Kikata on edge. Her spine tingled as her nostrils breathed in empty air that only carried the scent of the walls, floor and furniture. When Prila was here there would always be a vibrant aroma of food wafting into every corner of the house from the kitchen. The house also rang a morbid, silent tune. Kikata's footsteps were the only muffled sounds that reached her ears which twitched and tingled, adding to the nervousness that plagued her mind. Any creak might be an assassin, and though Kikata was not one to be superstitious, she had seen things in her past that made her frightened that beyond the door that she now approached she might be met by some sort of-

ghost

Her eyes widened as her fingers barely brushed the door to the bedroom before it opened wide before her. Her eyes fell upon white hair and a gray gaze and disappeared nearly as soon as she laid her eyes upon it. A sudden pressure surrounded her legs and her body was thrust downward beyond her control. She let out a shriek before an unseen hand choked it away from her throat. Then as suddenly as the attack came the phantom released her.

Panting Kikata rolled to her back, her neck arching to stare up at the one who had assaulted her, "A-Atrix?" She gasped. 

Above her stood a relatively short Fela girl. She had very distinctive white hair that was tied back behind her head in a traditional wooden clasp. She knelt down, offering a slender hand to a still startled Kikata. Her eyes were also a very unique feature, they were gray. The hair and eyes could be attributed to a genetic anomaly that was very rare among the Neko. Her face did not offer any signs of apology until her mouth opened and spoke, "Sorry." 

"What are you doing here?" Kikata asked as she got to her feet.

"I knew you would come here first."

"Could you not call?" Kikata asked as she rubbed her leg. The Cho style often sought to seek out pain even in simple maneuvers. 

Atrix shrugged and turned towards the bedroom, "This might interest you." 

Kikata huffed a sigh and followed the girl into the room, her eyes immediately falling upon scattered paper and desk drawers on the ground. "Oh no." Kikata muttered, imagining the sort of fight that must have gone on here.

"There was no struggle." Atrix said, immediately contradicting Kikata's first thoughts. Her finger pointed towards the walls and other tables within the room, "When Prila first came up missing I went straight here, none of these papers had been touched. Someone came here after. Someone who was looking for something." 

~ ~ ~ ~

Richard stood nervously upon the plateau Kikata had left him on. He had heard a scream that was quickly silenced by the loud boom of Kikata being thrown to the ground. But that had subsided quickly and now he heard voices speaking in the Neko language, a language which he had nearly full understanding of now. It seemed as though Kikata was okay so he hesitantly returned to his search across the table, though it seemed that the only things he could see were random sketches and doodles that Prila had done in her spare time. Along with her mastery of the Cho style, Prila was also a highly admired artist among her community, her specialty being tattoos. Richard smirked to himself as he recalled the day that he was inked...

several years ago...

Richard and Kikata had completed a section of training under Prila during an extended vacation period while in transition from the Guard to the new hybrid forces. And as customary of any Cho student they would receive tattoo's, or in Richard's case a single tattoo, for their accomplishment. Kikata had gotten hers first in a standard procedure. However no human had ever completed a Cho school of training, and likewise no human had ever received an honorary tattoo. And to Richard and Kikata's initial protest, Prila insisted that she should be the one to do it. They only gave in to Prila when she had somehow managed to get her hands onto a tattooing instrument that fitted a human sized needle(it should be noted that most tattoos this day in age were applied by a special laser). 

So Richard finally mustered the courage to climb upon a block of wood that was cushioned by some sort of fabric Prila had lying around the house. He glanced over his shoulder to see Prila smiling widely, her eyes locked upon him from behind special spectacles that would allow her to zoom in and work with near robotic precision. 

"Okay Richard you will feel some stinging, but you gotta' stay still for me okay?" Prila said, her voice was so cheerful that if the situation had not involved needles wielded by some giant women, it might have calmed his nerves. 

"You're the boss." He called up to her before placing his hands upon folded arms. He could now see his beautiful love looking down at him, a slightly more cautious smile spread upon her lips. This is the only thing that could have calmed him. As Prila lowered the massive instrument mere centimeters from his back his eyes remained locked on Kikata, her golden eyes and luscious curves doing their best to mask the pain that burned upon his back...


the present...

Richard's warm daydream was interrupted by the sudden pounding of feet. Though these feet did not come from the hallway, but the table! He spun in time to see a lumbering mass of fur. Dark eyes stared at him at nearly his own eye level and his chest was suddenly pushed upon by paws larger than his hands. He yelped and fell backwards, the sound of a somewhat high pitch yodel filling his ears as the creature reared backwards from its own tackle. 

It took a few moments for Richard to piece together what had happened. The creature stared at him crookedly as if expecting a reaction from him. The creature was Prila's beloved pet. A tiny species to the Neko it resembled some sort of giant hamster or hedgehog to a human. Standing on all fours the creature stood as tall as a human, and on its hind legs a little taller. It was purely vegetarian and posed little to no threat to Richard, kind of like a friendly bear with no fangs or sharp claws. 

"Jo, no!" a familiar voice called out. 

Richard turned and looked upwards to see Atrix coming to the table. She placed her hand down and the small creature bounded into it. "Atrix?" Richard called up. 

"Hello." She said backing away from the table and sitting down into a comfortable couch. 

"Someone else has been here." Kikata said.

"What was with the screaming?" Richard asked.

"Sorry." Atrix muttered quietly. 

"It was nothing." Kiakta said, "But it appears someone other than us has been going through Prila's stuff. I still can't piece together why. Atrix has told me that the last she had heard from Prila was that she was going to visit La'ala." 

"I guess that means we are going to find La'ala next." Richard said.

"Right." Kikata replied with a nod. "Atrix, will you be okay here?"

"I am going with you to find her." Atrix replied.

"I don't think that's possible...wont you be missed?" 

Atrix eyed Kiakta sternly, "I am going with you. Very easily or by force. You will not stop me, nor would you be able to resist me." 

Kikata knew very well that Atrix meant what she said. Atrix was more than a girl with rare hair and eyes. She was beyond even the status of a prodigy. Her skills in the Cho style was greater than anyone who still had breath in their lungs. Prila was her instructor yet even she would not be able to best the girl in a fight, even an unfair one. 

"She's got a point." Richard said with a shrug. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac stared out the window in a mixed state of awe and disbelief. He continued to tell himself that the world outside was not his own. The trees that stood scattered in the mostly brown, dry landscape must have been the size of sky scrapers, and any individual that walked upon the landing pads below were all the same towering behemoths that Kikata was. But from up on the ship they seemed no larger than a human, his mind simply did not allow him to believe that rather than a twenty foot drop to the ground below, it was really several hundred feet. 

His pocket vibrated with the message that Richard was on his way back, yet this time they brought one more. His eyes focused on two figures on the pad below, a ringing sounded throughout the ship to alert him that the landing ramp was lowering. The new figure was a girl, from afar it was hard to determine her age, only that she had shining white hair and a slightly more tan complexion than Kikata's. Her pants were gray in color and reached down to her knees while her shirt was white and seemed to be composed of several strips of cloth that left areas of her sides exposed as well as most of her lean stomach. 

His pocket continued to vibrate so he lifted his computer and answered a call, "Yeah?" 

"Hey are you still playing that game? We're back at the ship." 

"No I was watching you guys walk in, who is the new person?"

"An old friend. She'll probably be tagging along with us. Look we'll explain later, come meet us in the community quarters." 

Issac ended the call. He gave a final look out the window before making his way to the shuttle. An excited rush filled him as he hoped he would get to make his first steps onto an alien world soon.

Issac stood on a human balcony on the wall of the community section of the ship. It was the largest room aside from the engine room, fitted with a large human balcony with comfortable seating and tables, as well as a human access to the larger room which looked almost identical to the human area, just larger. He gripped the edge of the balcony as he watched Kikata help the new girl carry some bags onto the ship, his brother perched upon Kikata's shoulder. He could never really understand how Richard felt safe up there. 

He had trouble distinguishing how old the girl was, she looked as though she could have been anywhere from fifteen to twenty in human years. Either way he would have considered her pretty, her white hair adding a strange touch that didn't necessarily make her less attractive, but perhaps even more alien than Kikata appeared. She did not speak as Kikata explained to her where to find her own room, only nodding her head. 

"Oh, Issac is ready." Kikata's voice said as she turned towards him. Atrix followed Kikata's gaze and quickly averted her eyes when they fell on the human balcony. She stood awkwardly staring in another direction, her hands brought up to her chest as if uncertain with what to do with herself. Kikata made it to the balcony within only a few seconds, the speed at which she traveled was still a bit unnerving to Issac, who tried not to flinch as a large gust of wind swept past him upon her arrival. 

"Hi." Issac said holding up his arm. 

Kikata smiled warmly, "That is Atrix over there, you will have to excuse her she is shy around new people." 

"Oh." Issac said, he tried to look for the white haired girl again but Kikata's titanic figure blocked her from sight. He stepped back as Richard was lowered down next to him. 

"How does an an alien beach day sound for your first trip on a new planet?" Kikata asked, quickly changing the subject off of Atrix. 

"Really? That'd be awesome, yeah!" Issac said enthusiastically. 

"Good, well I'm going to help Atrix get settled in. I think Richard said something about a cooler?"

"Gotta' have a cooler on the beach." Richard commented.

"We have beer?" Issac asked, watching as Kikata rejoined Atrix on the far side of the room, they quickly disappeared into the larger hallways. 

Richard laughed, "Yeah bud we got plenty of beer. David hooked us up big time." He said with a wink. 

"Oh." Issac said as he followed his brother into the human walkways. They called the shuttle and waited for a few quiet seconds. As they entered the shuttle Issac asked, "So, who is this new person again?"

Richard rubbed his chin, "She's uh. She's a friend of ours."

"Is she a crew member now?"

"Sure. You can say that, like a trainee." 

Issac gazed upon his brother suspiciously, "Oh."

Richard stepped off the shuttle first as it came to one of the human living areas that contained a walk in refrigerator, "Look uh. There's something you should know about her before you get to know her. Probably best you don't bring it up in conversation, might be awkward."

"Okay?"

"She's got a sort of condition. Kind of like a very mild Autism among humans. I mean she can appear completely normal. But socially, she just doesn't understand sometimes. She has issues with social anxiety and will probably seem very,,,well, offish at times."

"Oh, okay I'll keep that in mind." Issac said. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"We aren't leaving right away?" Atrix asked. 

"Well it's Issac's first time on a world that is not his own, so he has to at least spend a little time off the ship."

"Okay, well I will stay here then," Atrix said as she knelt down by her bag, Jo, the small creature that was once Prila's pet, crawled cautiously out of one of her bags and began to sniff his new surroundings. 

"It may be a long time before we are back here." Kikata said. "I think you should spend the last day outside, you won't regret it a few weeks from now trust me."

Atrix kept her gaze glued to the ground, "But what if someone sees me, asks what I'm doing, where I'm going." She looked up towards Kikata, "I'm already stressing and anxious, and i don't know."

Kikata shook her head and tried to maintain a reassuring demeanor, "No, hon, we'll go somewhere private. Like we did that one time with Prila remember? We'll put the ship down in the water off some deserted coast line and relax for the rest of the day."

Atrix breathed deeply, but nodded, "Fine, okay." 

~ ~ ~ ~  

Clear blue water began to bubble and evaporate into massive clouds of steam as the ship lowered into the water. The new ships were capable of landing or hovering in any terrain, giving them a large advantage over the older model Nova Guard ships. The main landing ramp lowered unto the shallow water, submerging partially. Kikata walked down the ramp with Richard and Issac in her hands which she held cupped by her bare stomach. 

"Here we are!" She said cheerfully. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Atrix standing tentatively at the top of the ramp. She wore a swimsuit that was white in color. It kept her upper torso mostly concealed, wrapping around her chest before ending just above her navel. Likewise it reached about halfway down her thighs. Kikata was worried that she was under too much stress, Prila was the one who kept Atrix calm and in check, it would be her job now. "You coming hon?" She asked.

Atrix nodded.

Kikata turned back towards the water and slowly stepped in. She set her hands down on the ramp and let Richard and Issac stand on their own.

Issac crouched by the water, he was surprised at how calm it was, "Somehow I expected the water to look different." He said, larger waves started to lap at the ramp as Kikata sank into the water. 

Richard shrugged, "Their atmosphere is nearly identical to ours, so is the water." 

Issac nodded. There was a rush of wind as Atrix jumped from the side of the ramp into the water. Her figure was warped beneath the waters surface until she eventually reemerged on the shoreline, she took a few dripping steps onto the beach before sitting down. 

Kikata lowered her body into the warm water, letting out a loud gasp of relief as she did. She let herself slowly submerge, her hair spreading from her head as she slipped her face under. Her eyes fluttered open, staring only slightly downwards towards Richard and Issac. Her lips curled in a smile before she blew her lungs out creating a massive churning of blubbering water around her lips. She lifted her chin from the water, "All aboard!" She said before lowering her head back into the water. Presenting the top of her head as a boat to Richard and Issac. 

Richard laughed and stepped forward, taking a fistful of black hair in order to hoist himself up onto her head. Issac followed behind his brother, yet struggled a bit more on the small climb, his weaker arms not able to lift his weight as easily as Richard. He quickly sat down on the damp hair, his fingers gripping it nervously as Kikata's head once again rose up out of the water. Richard remained standing, a small blue container hanging from his left hand while his right hand still held onto a handful of Kikata's hair much like a jockey would hold the reigns of a horse. 

Kikata swam slowly until her fingers and toes could grip the pebbly earth beneath the waters surface. "Land ho!" Richard called from atop her head. Kikata grinned playfully as she reached the beach, she lowered her chin to the earth to allow her passengers a way to climb down. Issac took hold of some of her hair and clumsily repelled down over her forehead, beside her eye and then finally onto the ground. He turned to see Richard taking a more central route over her nose. His feet touched down on her upper lip when her mouth suddenly opened, her tongue tucking against his leg so she could draw his legs into her mouth. 

"Ah!" Richard yelped, "Our ship has betrayed us! Issac! Save the beer!" He yelled before dropping the cooler towards Issac, he managed to catch the cooler only just barely. Kikata continued to giggle as she pushed away from the beach back out into the water.

Atrix watched from afar with a slight smile. She felt a sudden urge to rush in, join the horseplay, to joke and laugh with her friends. But as she stood her feet were bound by invisible shackles. Her smile disappeared as her mind went from cautious happiness to frustrating anxiety. Why, why why! her mind shrieked, it had not produced any logical reason yet for her sudden shift in emotion and in that brief moment of wondering she was consciously aware of her condition and was able to acknowledge that it was nothing but chemistry. She tried to push them away, somehow churn the chemicals back into something like that of a normal person. Her own desire to be normal made her cringe, sent a stabbing pain into her chest and pulled her ears down into the side. Now the paranoia sets in. Illogical paranoia with no evidence. Kikata, Richard, the new engineer…they saw her as a freak! She knew it must be true. Everyone must laugh at her behind her back, or feel pity for her as if she was a senile old woman who was living day by day completely oblivious to the fact that she was no longer herself, no longer normal. She took another step, but this time in the opposite direction. The voice telling her that this was all just a swirl of emotion with no foundations had been drowned out by the thousands of thoughts and feelings, questions to which she herself, no, the condition answered for her. She was a burden to Richard and Kikata. She was no more useful in this search as the pet that Prila had left behind. What did her fighting skills bring to this world? She was the prophet of a dead religion, she was the master of a lost art. She sneered at her own illusions of being able to rescue her lost teacher, her best friend, the closest thing she had ever had to a mother, or sister, all wrapped up into the only thing that kept her going. Why bother? Why not just flee right now.

Kikata looked up from the water, "Uh oh." She whispered to Richard who she still clutched between her fingers for their little playful games. 

"Think she's having an episode?" Richard asked. Atrix was standing on the beach, her hands brought up to her chest, a very clearly distressed look upon her face. Her tail hung limply behind her and her ears were laid flat on the sides of her head as her silver eyes darted rapidly from side to side. 

Kikata nodded, "I'll go talk to her." She placed Richard down next to Issac who was doing his best not to stare at the titanic Neko girl that stood on the beach behind him. He could have sworn he heard a whimper escape her lips. 

Atrix Why are you such a fool? Why can't you just get over it. Atrix stop pitying yourself and do something. Atrix why don't you stop causing trouble for everyone all around you. Atrix-

"Atrix." Kikata's voice called gently. 

Atrix blinked, accidentally releasing a stream of liquid that dampened her cheek bones beneath her eyes. She blinked again and she was able to focus on Kikata. "Y-Yes?" She said quietly. 

Kikata desperately wanted to cuddle and soothe Atrix but she knew that it could potentially make her less comfortable. And so even though the look of despair was so blatant on her face she would not be wise to comfort her so straightforwardly. "Let's take a walk, huh?" 

Atrix nodded, the frenzied mixture of pain and anxiety in her chest starting to melt away as Kikata guided her down the beach. She nodded and responded shortly to Kikata's small talk, which was successful in making her feel less alienated even if she had to feign interest. She took comfort in knowing that Kiakta was a good friend, and even a student of Prila. She could sometimes sense a good bit of Prila's voice coming from her. 

Feeling that enough time had passed from the episode Kikata turned the subject back onto Atrix, "We're really glad you are here with us, Atrix." She said, her eyes locking down into Atrix's so her statement would be known to be genuine. 

Atrix nodded her head, "Yes. I am glad you let me come….I was worried you guys were annoyed by me." She said, she forced a laugh to try and make her worry seem less serious. She was bad at lying socially. 

"Of course not, we were only worried at first because of the school and training. It's nice to have a friend along for the journey." 

Friend.. The word seeped into her mind like warm water onto sore muscles. She let her lips curl into a true smile, "It is good to be with friends." The statement came as a sudden realization. Kikata and Richard were her only other real friends outside of Prila…and she had only seen them several times in the past year. The pain struck her chest again, though this time it was not paired with the seething anxiety. She could not hold it back, her hand rose up to her lips as she started to sob. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac glanced down the beach where the two titanic figures had finally gotten out of earshot. "So, there's no like giant birds we have to be worried about or anything, right?" he asked looking back towards the massive tree's and other vegetation. 

Richard shook his head, "No, not really. Not here anyway." 

"Oh, good." Issac said. He sipped on a cold and refreshing beer slowly as his eyes examined the alien waterscape. His mind did not believe that he was off on some other world. He felt as though he must be somewhere on earth. Couldn't fathom that earth was many lightyears away. The ship resting on the water's surface still mesmerized him. During all his classes he had never dreamed of actually getting to work on such an awesome machine. The robotic mind that he had been interacting with would continue to amaze him every day, each lesson bringing her closer to what scientists had previously passed off as something that could not be achieved. Sentience. Maybe it would be his turn to get his face in the news…or at least a science journal. "So." He continued, 'Who is this Atrix really?" 

Richard sighed, he figured his brother was not persuaded by his weak stories. "That's a complicated question my friend." 

"Oh."

Richard leaned back onto his elbows and stared down the beach to where Kikata and Atrix sat down next to each other, "I suppose you deserve to know the full scoop."

The Hunt Begins

Who is this Atrix girl anyway?


Atrix is a Nau'Zui. That would be her definition if you were to search for her in a database. Every member of the Cho'otoo is given a ranking, but her ranking is one that has not been given for centuries. And while many claim that the ceremony that proclaims rank is nothing more than old voodoo that could not possibly hold any grasp of reality, no one would claim that Atrix is undeserving of her rank. Her rank tells us that she is the very essence of the Cho. That her abilities are so precise that even though she is small in stature, she cannot be beaten in a fair fight. 

Though she is a rebel Nau'Zui. She had been unruly during her training in childhood, much of which could be attributed to her disorder. But even when she avoided training exercises and seemed distant throughout schooling, she preformed at levels that had never been witnessed by a living teacher. She often disregarded her training, and fought with techniques that were unheard-of. "Logic." She claimed. She fought through logic. When she came of age and it was time to attend the Zoskta, or alignment ceremony. She was quick to break ritual. The ceremony was held on the water, the students meditated while intricately carved wooden beacons floated in the sea. Each beacon represented a path in life, and when they felt as though they had found their path through meditation they would swim to the beacon. But Atrix did not hesitate. While the sacred vows were being spoken she rose to her feet and dove into the water. Before anyone could react, before she had even surfaced, the beacon that had called her suddenly erupted into many colorful flames. The chemicals inside that were only supposed to light into one color had mixed. Some claim it could easily be an accident. But the beacons were so painstakingly made that the true believers of the Cho said that it must be fate. Atrix came to the water's surface next to the special beacon. 

Her training began the next day, though the training in the fighting style seemed hardly necessary. Atrix was unbeatable in a spar. She soon took on two opponents at once, then three, then four. She mastered every weapon, and surpassed the need to fight in any one style at a time. She blended and mixed the styles in ways that were once seen as taboo, or foolish. But the results did not lie. Her only weakness was the unstableness of her mind. The Cho school of thought is much more than a martial art, it is a lifestyle and a religion. This is why she was introduced to Prila. Because of Prila's own condition she had focused her teaching on meditation. While Prila was still a formidable fighter, she could only be useful to Atrix as a guide. 

Atrix had grown up an orphan, she had few friends and never once knew a lover. But Prila managed to break through her defensive shell. Atrix's condition slowly became less severe as Prila taught her to ease her mind, fight back against the thoughts of which she had no control. Prila became more than her best friend. She became her foundation. Her condition left her unable to trust anyone, but she could trust Prila. She could speak her mind and feel normal. 

The cycles passed and soon Atrix was ready to graduate from her schooling. An event so large in the Cho culture that a festival was held for an entire week. And though their beloved Nau'Zui rarely appeared before the public eye all had fallen in love with her. She was a symbol that had been long awaited. The graduation ceremony came, where a symbolic wooden hair piece would be removed from her head that kept her white hair partially in a long pony tail for all of these cycles by her teacher, Prila. But Prila was nowhere to be found. And Atrix disappeared. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 


"God. Fucking. Dammit." Sangela grumbled as she leaned down and hoisted another metal crate off the hard packed, un-vegitated ground. 

"Easy girl." The frustratingly calm and completely in breath voice of Johnny called through the radio. 

"Why don't you come down here and carry fifty fucking boxes back to the ship. You know you would think we'd have a robot or something to do this." She said, out of breath. The boxes she was carrying were once the cargo of a very small transport ship, one that never left the planets surface. Instead it would travel from town to town on this newly terraformed planet carrying random supplies. However an engine malfunctioned and the ship went down, spilling part of its cargo into the desert landscape. 

"Hey, if it were a human shipment I would be doing the lifting." 

"No, I would simply just gather up your stupid human, fun sized boxes into one hand and do the job in a few seconds."

"Hey remember that drink I offered to buy you?"

Sangela rolled her eyes, "If we even make it to the bar. You know we shouldn't even be on this dumb rock." 

"Yeah well apparently the old dude doesn't know the difference between a local distress signal and-"

"No I mean. We shouldn't even be the one answering this call. Our route was supposed to take us in a completely different direction. We are supposed to be in the Teral solar system where I was supposed to be finally getting to see the world where my species came from." She grunted as she dropped the last crate onto the ships landing ramp, "But no. Guess who decides to swap routes with us at the very last minute." 

"Mega bitch and dildo boy." 

Sangela laughed, Johnny had the uncanny ability to dismantle her anger, "Yes. Them. Why the hell would they even do that? Aren't they supposed to be flying in a somewhat central route anyway so if any of the new ships need aid they are within distance? Or does their magic ship give them the right to go anywhere they want…what was the name of that ship again?"

"The Richata…" Johnny replied, "Could you imagine a more narcissistic name for a ship?"

"I know, right?" Sangela said as she rode the landing ramp back into the ship, "Okay I'm on with the cargo, go ahead and take us back to the old bastards pad." The old bastard they were referring too was the owner of one of the local transport companies. Instead of hitting the local distress beacon when his ship suffered a minor crash, he signaled the main beacon which would contact anyone within the solar system. Johnny and Sangela were simply the first to respond. She sat down on one of the cargo crates with a sigh. Her first tour was not nearly as exciting as she hoped it would be. The training was exciting. She and Johnny got to compete, and their talents made her feel distinguished. But now that they had graduated they had fallen into the countless ranks of obscurity. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Several days passed on the Richata as they made their way towards Teralavast. It is one of the closest hybrid worlds to Teralist, and the last location Atrix knew Prila had been.  They stuck to the route that they had been given, not wanting to draw attention to themselves by going far off course and making too many unscheduled jumps. It was uncertain what La'ala could tell them, but there was a good chance she would be able to at least tell them where Prila was heading next. They made La'ala aware of their arrival, but did not divulge any information. The ship was still an Alliance vessel and could potentially be tapped, if the Alliance was indeed behind Prila's sudden disappearance. 

Issac stood in the shuttle that was heading towards the engine room. He had noticed that during recent testing Richata was redirecting energy to different areas of the engines while also having trouble maintaining absolutely perfect numbers across the board as she had been before his new training exercises. Before asking the computer for an explanation he wanted to go check on the equipment in person to make sure nothing was out of place. 

"What testing are we doing now, Issac?" Richata asked as the shuttle came to a halt. 

"Just routine equipment examination." Issac said, stepping out into the Engine room. It was the one room where the human entrance was on the ground level, a small personal transport vehicle awaited him by the door that would allow him to move around the massive engines. He was not expecting to see a large figure sitting in the center of the room between the engines. It was Atrix. She was sitting cross legged on the floor, her hands folded in her lap and her eyes closed. He had hardly seen her since she had moved into the ship, though he was often hidden within the walls of his bedroom working. 

"My diagnostics show that everything is where it should be." The computers voice suddenly sounded throughout the entire room. 

"Richata, use the cart's intercom please." Issac said, not wanting to disturb Atrix in whatever it was she was doing. But it appeared to be too late as Atrix's eyes suddenly fluttered open. 

Atrix's gaze soon fell on Issac who was climbing into the small human vehicle by the wall, "Oh…sorry." She said quietly. She cleared her throat, "Should I…Am i not allowed in here?"

Issac shook his head, "No-" He said, but realized his voice was likely too small to reach her from where he was. So he found the intercom button on the carts dashboard, "No, you're fine." He said, wincing as he heard his own voice echo throughout the room. 

Atrix took a deep breath, her grasp of English was not perfect but she imagined that "fine" meant that she was allowed in here. Though she was a little worried that he had said "no" at first. "Sorry." She apologized again. 

Issac put the cart in gear and tentatively moved towards her, "Taking a look around the ship?"

"No." Atrix replied.

"Oh…well, why are you in here? Not that it's a problem." 

Atrix felt nervous as the small human moved closer towards her. She had not interacted with Issac before, nor many humans other than Richard. "I was…practicing." 

"For?" 

"Um. I do not know the human words." She said, trying hard to keep her voice above a whisper. It was starting to frustrate her that she had to try so hard to communicate but she did her best to avoid showing signs of displeasure, "We call it O'oosa. It is focusing the mind and body." 

"Oh." Issac said, "I think our word is meditation. I think." Issac said with a soft laugh. 

Atrix smiled but could not keep it for long, "Yes." She said. 

"Kinda funny you picked this room for it. I mean it's the one room that isn't quiet." Issac said, taking note of the constant sounds buzzing and roaring from the engines. 

"I'll go now." Atrix said, rising to her feet. Without explanation she rushed for the door and disappeared. 

"Oh." Issac said, wondering if he had done something wrong or if that was just how she acted normally. He could only shrug his shoulders and resume his task at hand. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix closed herself back into her room, doing her best to settle the uncomfortableness that had started to form in her chest. The engineer was the one hurdle that remained on the ship. She was comfortable around Kikata and Richard, and even the idea that she was so far away from home was not so daunting. But the engineer troubled her. She knew nothing about him, yet was quite certain he must have learned much about her. The others probably warned him of her, and her condition. Everyone seemed to think she was unaware of this little fact. Everyone pretended the condition didn't exist, yet they would still treat her differently. She wished the engineer spoke her own language, so she might be able to decipher his mannerisms and his tone of voice more easily. She briefly hated him. Accusing him of many terrible thoughts towards her. But as her training insisted she pushed those thoughts away. 

There was a knock at her door.

"Yeah?" She asked.

The door opened and Kikata stepped inside, "Hey." She said casually.

Atrix nodded and watched as Kiakta entered the room, "How far off are we?" 

Kikata shrugged, "If nothing comes up, we'll be there tonight." 

"Ships tonight? Or planets night?"

"Luckily for us, both. How are you adjusting?" 

Atrix shrugged, "I have trouble sleeping." 

Kikata nodded, "Yeah. I had the same issue. It will take a while but you'll eventually get used to constantly changing your sleep patterns. I personally can get fully rested much faster then when I first joined the Force, and I can fall asleep pretty much instantly." 

Atrix nodded. "What is the engineers name again?" 

"Issac." Kikata smiled, "Have you introduced yourself yet?"

"Accidentally." Atrix said with a sigh.

"You can't avoid someone on the ship forever, Atrix." 

"I know. But he caught me in the engine room meditating and I don't think I was supposed to be there and I think I annoyed him."

"Atrix. You are perfectly welcome in any room on the ship. You and Issac both spend too much time cooped up in your own rooms." 

"Well he actually has a job…"

"More the reason why you have no excuse. You should sit in the community area rather than in here. It's good to have a little more air around you."

Atrix frowned, "Fine. But under one condition." 

"Yes?"

"Don't make me go to the clubs with La'ala." 

"Don't you like her?" 

"I do. But not the clubs. I'm already on edge, Kiakta. Don't make me go." 

"I can't make you do anything." Kikata said with a sigh, "If you want to stay here, fine. I think you should go though." 

Atrix shook her head, "Not yet." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"That new crew member confuses me." Richata said.

"Mmm." Issac said as he opened the panel that revealed some of the engines cooling coils. 

"Her speech patterns do not follow the same patterns as others I have interacted with. And her body language is almost nonexistent or are contradictory to her language." 

"Well she has a social condition, Richata, she has trouble communicating." 

"Malfunctioning?" 

"Humans are not so simple, Richata. But I suppose in a way, yes, her social skills are malfunctioning." 

"She is not human, though." 

Issac rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean." 

"I do."

"Good."

"Why does she not fix her malfunction?" 

Issac closed the panel, satisfied that nothing was out of place. "Like I said, she is not so simple. We can't rewire her brain to make it function as we would expect a brain too. But just because it is not normal doesn't make it bad. Her lack of social skills are counter balanced by other talents." 

"Like a specialized computer."

"Right." 

"But she has all the same parts as a properly functioning being."

"Well, sure."

"So why can't it be fixed?" 

Issac sighed, "I could ask you the same thing, Richata." 

Richata hesitated, "What do you mean?" 

"During testing. You have slipped in your other functions." 

"Well…I needed to redistribute power…but I was not able to do so perfectly because I was…"

"Distracted?"

"You will not stop testing will you?" 

"Of course not." 

The computer seemed greatly relieved. "You are not disapproving of my inability to achieve perfection, are you?"

"No. I was merely curious." 

If Richata could sigh she would have, "Good. I was afraid you would stop testing if you knew my numbers in other areas were dropping."

"Dropping only by mere fractions." Issac said with as shrug. "If anything this proves that the tests are doing something. Exactly what I am not sure." 

"I like the tests." Richata said, Issac could almost sense the ships smile. Every day now she seemed a little more human.

City lights stretched to the horizon. Issac sat in Richard's place once again, hardly able to comprehend the sheer size of the city that was laid out before him. He had seen the many national parks in the United States and was awestruck by the sheer size of nature. But now an even more massive landscape was presented to him more massive than anything he had ever seen, and it was all made by the hands if intelligent beings. 

"Cool, huh?" Kikata said, eyeing the small human who had not moved an inch since they had entered the atmosphere. 

"I've never seen anything like it." Issac said. 

Kikata smiled, "It's the largest hybrid city in this solar system." 

Issac tried to take in all the information. Trying to fathom the many layers of humanity beneath them. Their ship was settled down on a rooftop pad, apparently most of the landing stations were atop buildings in this city. Which meant that the structure beneath them, while also being much, much taller than any human made structure on earth, was also so large that several massive ships could land on top of them. But of course most of the living space was taken up by the larger species. And humans were given their own minuscule sections in each apartment building, restaurant, shopping mall, or whatever else. 

Kikata smiled as she watched Issac take in the sight, "Okay Issac. I'm going ahead of you guys, don't stare for too much longer." 

Issac turned towards Kikata and nodded, watching as she stood from her own pilots chair before disappearing into the larger hallway. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Richard led Issac out of the human exit on the ship where a small shuttle picked them up and transported them to the public transit system. In a city as busy as this it would be far too dangerous for Kikata to simply carry her human companions as she did elsewhere. Richard eyed his brother with a small smile, Issac rarely ever got dressed up and he looked rather strange in his button up shirt and pants. 

"Did I over dress?" Issac asked, tugging at his collar. 

Richard shrugged, "No, you're fine." 

Issac nodded as they walked down a wide, brightly lit hallway. All along the walls there were video projections advertising drinks, bars, and anything else the city had to offer. Holographic displays rose up from small stands, he eyed one display curiously. It looked as if a neko woman stood on a pedestal, she smiled at them as they walked by and invited them to stay at some hotel called the Daloris Mosa. An idea suddenly sprung in his mind. 

They finally arrived in an area that looked similar to a subway station, except instead of train cars there were white, egg shaped capsules that looked as if they could fit about six passengers. Richard led Issac into one of them. "Welcome to Unity." A feminine voice said within the capsule. The city had been given a human name in honor of it's increasingly hybridized society. "And thank you for choosing the Travel Pod service. You will find that our shuttles will be able to take you to every corner of the city in a timely manner. Please choose a destination and then swipe your payment card across the designated area." As she spoke a green strip appeared on the window with the words "pay here" written within it in several languages. 

Richard rubbed his chin as he tried to remember the name of the club, "Uh, Locos Unos?" He said. 

A map displayed across the window along with several pictures of the inside of the club. A mans voice started to advertise the many drink specials and upcoming events as the shuttle started to lurch forward. 

"Is this place Mexican themed?" Issac asked with an arched brow as he listened to the advertisement. 

Richard laughed, "Uh…loosely. The details get jumbled over a couple light years. Basically the only details they got right are the flags, margaritas and the tequila…best you stay off the tequila tonight eh?"

Issac grinned, "Hey I've been working my butt off. What have you done recently other than-" Issac's eyes widened as the shuttle suddenly shot forward, though the balancing systems made the shuttle perfectly calm on the inside. They flew through a dark tunnel before exiting the station into the massive city. Lights and buildings and larger ships passed by them in a blur. The shuttles mostly remained within translucent tubing however sometimes broke into the open air when transitioning from one tube to the next. It hardly seemed real, considering the massiveness of everything that surrounded them.

"You were saying?" Richard asked, eyeing his younger brother with a wide grin. He could sense how he felt, for several years ago he was brand new to this himself. Though you never quite got completely used to it. 

"I forget." Issac said quietly. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata's eyes shifted from one table to the next as she entered the club. The music was loud near the entrance and she hoped La'ala had chosen a spot somewhere more secluded. 

"Kikata!" A voice called out through the noise. 

Kikata turned her head several times until she spotted her. "Hey!" Kikata said making her way across the dance floor towards La'ala. La'ala was a naturally darker skinned Neko whose smile was framed by a pair of very full lips. Her hair and fur was dark brown and naturally hung very straight down beyond her shoulders. Her skin below the neck was covered with tattoos, some smilier to the Cho's, but mostly they were of a more colorful variety. 

"You made it! How was the ride in?" La'ala said, taking both of Kikata's hands and holding them momentarily before her waist. It was a Neko greeting, though it had lost popularity over the ages, such as kissing of the cheeks on Earth. 

Kikata shrugged, "Long, but uneventful thankfully. It's been a quiet few weeks." She followed La'ala towards a booth away from the dance floor where the music was quieter. She searched for the table number and sent it as a message to Richard. 

"That's good…it's been a while!" 

Kikata nodded, "Yeah, well you know. I've been traveling everywhere recently." 

La'ala grinned, "I know I've been following your newsfeed closely! Sounds exhausting. The pictures from Earth looked nice though, Richard is on his way?" 

Kikata nodded, "With his brother. They should be here any minute." 

La'ala's smile broadened, "Oh! I forgot you guys were bringing him." She tilted her head to the side, "What's he like?" 

Kikata tapped her finger on her lower lip as she thought of a description, "He's…quiet mostly. But he warms up to you eventually and he'll start talking."

"Ohh. The quiet mysterious type." La'ala giggled, "Is he anything like his brother?"

Kikata shrugged, "Sometimes. They sort of share that dry sense of humor. But he is like…really gifted and smart. Top of his class double majoring in engineering." Kikata shook her head, "He's been working with the ships computer and honestly the thing has been acting like, crazy smart since he has been on the ship."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" 

"As far as I can tell…good." Kikata laughed, "It's exciting though the things he has been doing."

"I can't wait to meet him." 

Kikata nodded, "Yes, and I tried to drag Atrix out here but she wouldn't budge."

"Atrix is with you?" 

Kikata cursed herself internally and tried to think of something to explain this without having to spill the entire story just yet, "Yeah, well. You know, she is that age now and she wanted to get out and explore a bit."

"I know that feeling. It's how I ended up here! Not much older than herself…why didn't she come?" La'ala said with a frown.

"She wasn't feeling the crowds tonight."

"Poor thing." 

Kikata nodded, "She's getting…better though." She was relieved to see a white circle suddenly illuminate over their head. A platform lowered from the ceiling that held a few tables and a row of chairs that stood before a bar that had a holographic display and drink dispenser. Richard and Issac stood near the bar. 

"Hello Richard!" La'ala said with a wide grin, "And…Issac? Was it?" 

Issac nodded, "Yes." He always felt a little nervous when meeting someone, especially when they were so large. 

"Kikata was just giving me a little background, it's nice to meet you." La'ala leaned forward on her elbows so she could get a better look at the humans. 

Issac fought the urge to shrink away and smiled towards La'ala. She was a rather unique Neko, though he had not seem very many in person yet. Her tattoo's seemed to be a mixed bag of what looked like tribal tattoos, and then more modern, artistic pieces colored over her skin. Her large brown eyes were mesmerizing, and he admired the way he could see his own reflection in them from so far away. He felt as though he should reply with a little wit, try and crack a joke early on, but he suddenly found himself a little too intimidated to do anything other than smile and nod. 

"He's an interesting guy." Richard said, saving Issac from having to try and formulate his own introduction. 

"So I've gathered." La'ala said, her gaze shifting ever so slightly from Richard to Issac. "How do you like the job so far, Issac?" she asked, leaning even closer to the humans. 

"It's uh, it's great. Keeps me busy." Issac said, he laughed though he wasn't sure why. La'ala giggled along with him, her lush lips forming a wide grin and her white teeth beaming towards him, her jaw opening just slightly, but enough to reveal a strange glowing white orb on her tongue. She had a beautiful smile. And Issac could not help but imagining himself kissing those lips, his imagination briefly avoiding the fact that those lips would envelope his entire being. But then he wondered what it would be like to kiss her at their current sizes. What they would feel like under his hands, or against his chest. 

La'ala's tongue licked quickly along her upper lip, "So, you are from Earth right? Silly question I guess of course you are…have you much experience in places such as this?" 

Issac shook his head, "I've never seen anything like it. But I've liked what I've seen so far…the city I mean, it's incredible." 

"I could only imagine what it must be like for you. My human friends here, they are all so accustomed to it, but it must be so large!" 

"Large is an understatement." Issac said.

"How about with Neko, or Marlek, have you been interacting with many of them?" 

Issac shrugged, "Not much yet. But I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances." 

La'ala rested her chin onto her hand, "And are you comfortable?"

Issac cleared his throat, "Well…so far yes. It's kind of strange, you know, talking and stuff…but I am getting used to it. I trust you guys." He said, finishing with a short laugh. 

"Well don't be too trusting." Kikata warned. 

La'ala rolled her eyes, "You are mostly safe here…they monitor just about everywhere so intensely that really no one could ever get away with hurting a human if they wanted too. It's necessary though." 

"And sometimes your friends can turn against you." Richard said with a sigh. He ran his hand through the holographic display and ordered himself a drink.

Kikata laughed, "Oh yes…that reminds me of when we were here near the beginning of the last cycle, this exact bar. Remember La'ala? Prila's little incident."

La'ala covered her mouth as she laughed, "Oh my god yes…"

~ ~ ~ ~ 

About two years ago… 

Richard stood on the human bar, towering all around him were Kikata, Prila, La'ala, a male Neko and a male Trugon. With him on the human table were several other humans, two men and a girl who were all locals to the city and friends of La'ala. The night was starting to grow old and the drinks had been flowing perhaps a bit too freely. Prila's attention was focused on another table across the club, her eyes wide and her smile beaming. Finally her attention returned to their own table and she looked down onto the human platform. 

"Tus buslan to do a shot dive?" She asked, she received only blank stares. She covered her eyes with her hand and laughed, "Oops. I switched up my languages…do you guys want to do a shot dive?" Her voice carried an adorable tone of pleading as she lowered her face even closer to the humans.

"Absolutely not." The woman said. 

"What is that?" One of the other men asked. 

"Oh my god. It looks so fun! See…I take some joka and I put it in my mouth….while you stand on the edge of the table and take your own shot…and then you dive into the Joka in my mouth."

"Oh…no." The man murmured. 

"Oh come on! They are doing them across the room you babies." Prila frowned as no one wanted to do her idea. She looked up to Kikata, "Kiii…Let me borrow Richard!"

Kikata shrugged, "That's up to him…maybe you have had too many shots already Pril." 

Prila huffed a breath through her lips, "No! Come on Richard." She said, lowering her face towards him, "Let me try it!"

"You are going to swallow me." Richard said shaking his head.

"No! You don't swallow the person…he just dives into the liquid and then I swallow the liquid…Richard" She begged, "Let's do it!" 

Richard knew it was a bad idea, but in the past that had never really stopped him in other situations. And the liquor in his belly gave him a bit of added courage, and to top it all off Prila's wide blue stare was doing a fairly good job at melting his heart. "If you swallow me Prila I am going to shoot you." 

"Yes!" She said, giggling as she lowered a hand to help Richard down from the human platform before she ordered herself a glass. Richard sighed to himself as he removed his shirt and pants, remaining in only his underwear so he wouldn't have to walk around soaking wet the rest of the night. 

"Prila, please be careful." Kikata said as she leaned her elbow on the table besides her. Kikata knew that Prila sometimes lost her composure after a few too many drinks. 

Prila rolled her eyes, "Oh don't worry Ki, I'll have your man back to you in a minute. Yeesh, can't a girl have fun around here?" She looked down to Richard, "Ready?"

"I guess so." Richard mumbled. 

Prila winked at him as she brought the glass to her lips. She tilted her head back slowly before opening her mouth and positioning herself underneath him. Her chin slipped under the lip of the table as her mouth opened, her tongue stretching out over her chin, he could see the pool of liquid down by her throat. 

"Prila, you're supposed to have more Joka in your mouth. I'm going to dive right into your throat like this."

Prila glared up at him and closed her mouth and shook her head, 

"He might be right, Pril." Kikata added. 

Prila shook her head again and opened her mouth, her tongue once again sliding out over her chin. The pink flesh inside glistening in the flashing lights around them, the pool of liquid bubbling as Prila made sounds with her throat playfully. Her fingers tapped on either side of Richard excitedly. 

Richard put a hand to her forehead and sighed, "Why am I doing this." He lifted his other hand and took his own shot. He dropped the tiny shot glass to the table and leaned forward, feeling the sticky warmth of Prila's mouth already before his feet had even left the table. Briefly he considered backing out but his legs were already in motion. He leaped off the table, a moment later his stomach collided with Prila's tongue, which then bounced him surprisingly forward and his back collided with the roof of her mouth. In what little light he had he could see the liquid funneling down her throat, he tried to yell out in warning but his head struck her uvula which rose up as her tongue kicked backwards, pushing him down her throat with the rest of it. He cursed as he was suddenly engulfed completely. 

"Prila!" Kikata gasped taking her friend by the arm. 

"Oh I feel him squirming!" Prila laughed, tracing Richard with her finger down between her bosom, "Oh this is great!" 

"Prila! You can't do that!" 

Prila shrugged, "No, I could obviously. Man he really shot right down there." She beamed towards La'ala, "You should try this next…no wonder Kikata has been keeping this secret from us. She wants all the fun!" 

Kikata covered her face with her hand, "Prila we need to go now."

"Let me keep him for a few minutes…I'm like a mommy." She said, cradling her stomach, "Little baby Richard in my belly." She tilted her head to the side as she smiled, "Angry baby Richard. He doesn't sound happy." 

La'ala covered her lips as she laughed, trying not too as Kikata continued to glare angrily at Prila. 

Suddenly one of the bars bouncers appeared behind them, "Is there a problem here?" He asked.

Prila turned to face the bouncer, shrugging off Kikata's hand, "Not yet." 

"Prila!" Kikata protested.

The bouncer folded his arms, a large Neko man, "I think we've had a bit too much to drink over here." 

"Says who?" 

"She doesn't mean it. We're about to leave." Kikata insisted.

"I'll leave whenever I want." Prila continued, poking at the bouncers chest with her finger. 

"Okay ma'am let's get you to a taxi." He said, reaching forward and taking Prila's arm in his grip.

Prila suddenly shouted out, her free arm striking the bouncer in the side, her leg shot out and struck him in the ankle, causing him to fall onto his side. "No." She said, standing triumphantly over him. 

"Okay, Prila, we're leaving." Kikata said, taking the boastful Fela by the hand. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Oh it was hilarious." La'ala said, "Needless to say we didn't go back there for a while." 

Richard shook his head as he smirked, "Meanwhile in her stomach I had no idea what was going on." He turned towards Issac, "Brother, if one of these fine giant ladies offers to suck you off make sure-"

"Richard!" Kikata gasped.

"Hey, lolo, it's good advice I'm giving here." Richard said, eyeing up Kikata who stared back at him disapprovingly, though a smile quickly creased her lips. 

"As I was saying. If they ever offer some oral entertainment, make sure they are sober, make sure you know they don't intend to kill you." He leaned a bit closer, "Make sure they've brushed recently too."

Issac laughed, taking a drink from the bar, "I'll try to remember that." 

Kikata sighed, "Prila was always fascinated by it. Swallowing someone that is. I mean for weeks she begged Richard to let her try it. I guess she finally decided just go and do it." 

"In that way I should have seen it coming. Maybe I just accepted that it was inevitable. I don't know I was pretty drunk." 

La'ala laughed, "Yes, she just has to try everything once." She sipped one her drink, "You know, I once did it." 

"Did you?" Kikata asked, "A special man?" She grinned towards her. 

La'ala sighed, "I wish. It was while I was getting my roof tattoo." 

"Your what?" Richard asked.

La'ala blinked, "Oh! I haven't seen you guys since I got it." She tilted her head back and opened her mouth, poking at the roof of her mouth with her finger, "'ee eh?" 

Kikata leaned forward, "Is…it glowing?" 

La'ala brought her head back down, "Yes. Laser paint these days, let me tell you." La'ala said shaking her head, "Amazing what you can get. Anyway, I met him at this tattoo artists convention and had him do a few tattoo's on my back, he was just an incredible artist. And I had been thinking about doing a mouth tattoo for a while, you know I've had so many everywhere else so I wanted something new. And well…we became fast friends and eventually I got up the courage to ask, I mean who would want to work in someones mouth?" 

"Right." Kikata said nodding, "So he was human?"

"Yes. I can go on and on about how it was having a human work on your back, but I'll stay on point." She took a deep breath, "Anyway, so he said yes. And I was like ecstatic, I mean I had already built a monster crush on the guy and this seemed…I don't know, intimate."

Kikata smiled down towards RIchard, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

La'ala giggled, "So, what I requested, and he sort of helped me decide what to get, was a galaxy on the roof of my mouth. You know the sort of everyone has a universe inside them type of imagery. And he gave me a really big discount on the glowing ink. So he gets to work, and at first it's awkward trying to figure out how to hold my tongue, and how to get rid of access saliva that builds up. Meanwhile I am freaking out because I don't want to mess anything up with this guy. And well, what do you expect, he gets towards the back of my mouth and I guess I have a pretty bad gag reflex and his leg slips over my tongue and into my throat and I just gulp. And down he went. I was in tears, honestly. But my god this man, he laughs it off, offers to do some work in my stomach to try and calm me down." La'ala sighed, "Obviously I got him out and he was able to finish with some rope attached."

"The old rope trick." Richard said with a nod. 

Kikata laughed. "He sounds sweet. So where is he now?" 

"Home…on Earth." La'ala said with a long sigh, "Starstruck lovers i suppose."

"Aw, La'ala I'm sorry." Kikata said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

La'ala shrugged, "It happens. I had a point with this…oh! right, Prila and swallowing of humans. You know I didn't really feel anything other than fear when I did it. Maybe under different circumstances I don't know. There are some that say it could possibly be a sexual thing, you know going deep into another person. I don't see it though. But, what I do hear is that Trugon and Fanacta get a sort of rush out of it. Not sexual, but primal." She grinned, "Like their minds hadn't completely evolved out of their hunting instincts." 

"Scary." Issac said taking another long drink from his glass.

La'ala laughed, once again lowering herself to be closer to the human bar, "Yes, I suppose it would be for a human." 

They all sat silently for a moment, a tension seemed to form as everyone's mind seemed to focus on the same thing, but no one wanted to ask it.

"So um." La'ala started, "Have you guys heard from Prila recently?"

"Missing?" La'ala said shaking her head. They had arrived at her apartment after leaving the bar prematurely. She lived high up in a tower complex, a large semi circle of windows surrounded them as she and Kikata sat on two large chairs, a table between them held some human furniture where Issac and Richard had been settled in. "I don't understand...how can someone like her just go missing?" 

Kikata sighed, "That is what we were trying to figure out...according to Atrix you were the last known friend to have seen her."

"You don't think..." La'ala spoke but choked herself off while her brown eyes darted between Kikata and Richard.

"We have good reason to believe she is alive." Kikata said, doing her best to hold her voice steadily and confidently. 

La'ala nodded, "I just don't understand."

Richard shrugged his shoulders, "We thought at first maybe she had finally succumbed to the pressures of her position with the Cho, you know, piled in with her condition...but that is just not like her."

"Yes, she was always the most calm and collected of all of us." Kikata said softly. "I'm sorry, La'ala, to spring this on you. But you must understand this must remain quiet until we know more. No messages about it over the net. We suspect that perhaps there are some people with high connections. Connections that would make monitoring us very easy. If they think we are onto them, they might strike family and friends first." 

La'ala bit her lip, "I understand...I will be careful. Not a word." 

"So...when Prila was here last. Was there anything strange about her?" Kikata asked.

"She seemed normal to me." La'ala replied with a shrug, "Happy, going on and on about Atrix and the ceremony." She shook her head, "It certainly wasn't nerves about the ceremony that drove her away."

"Was she with anyone else?" 

La'ala sat back in her chair, biting her lip hard as she thought, "No...no one new...but...Wait! She did also go on about a certain girl."

"A girl?" Richard asked with an arched brow.

"Yes. Someone she had met on Teralist was supposed to meet her here. I never saw her, Prila went off to be with her after she left my place. She stayed for a few nights and then they went off somewhere. She never told me where." 

"Does this girl have a name?" Kikata asked. 

"Sharal? Sharalis? Shar- something." La'ala shrugged, "Prila only spoke of her name a few times, and never more than her first name."

"Damn." Richard said, rubbing his chin with his fingers.

"But...But you know she is alive?" La'ala asked, her chest heaving, "You know for sure?"

"Well...we can't know for sure. But I don't think someone would be out to kill her, she had no enemies. And if there was an accident we would know."

"Is there anyway to know?" La'ala continued, "Can't you check...a database or something?" 

Kikata shook her head, "She left the Guard, there is no way to track her vitals." 

"That's not true." Issac said, nearly startling everyone with his sudden revelation, he had not spoken a word since they had left the bar. 

Richard looked towards his brother sternly, "What do you mean, Issac?"

"I mean, I could be wrong. But as far as I know anyone who had been in the Guard should have had a biological tracker installed. It's so tiny that they aren't going to bother removing it from the body just because you quit the job."

Kikata thumbed over the skin of her forearm where they had given her an injection early on in her training, "But, once you are out of the Guard they stop tracking you. Your file is completely shut off."

Issac shrugged, "Terminated from the main pool of data sure. But the device still exists and you can't simply turn it off." 

"But they can't track it...right? If they terminate the account? Or whatever..." Richard argued. 

Issac shook his head, "It's not so simple. Her signal still exists and still functions as it should, sending messages to the Alliance database. The messages just go unread. We would have to reactivate her account manually and then the messages will become readable again." 

"How can we do that? Something like that would require authorization that we don't have access too...and we can't risk asking." Kikata said.

Issac shrugged, "I mean. I could do it, unauthorized, but I could do it. I just need access to a computer. The security for stuff like that is way too high to simply hack our way in from the outside. I can get a direct line into a main alliance computer and from there it wouldn't be so difficult."

Richard grinned, "I like the sound of this plan."

"It sounds risky." Kikata said, folding her arms.

"I know, right!" Richard boasted. 

"How do we get in, then?" Kikata asked.

"What about Kina?" Richard said.

"What about her?" Kikata said, seemingly fighting off a snarl.

"She would have access to something like that." Richard said, "She's our closest friend to the top." 

Kikata sighed, but nodded, "Fine. I guess we'll need to make another call."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Johnny sat at a small round table, a few of his old classmates sat around him and their partners sat scattered around the larger scale seating spread out through the mostly Marlek bar. They had stopped off at a small moon in a predominately Marlek solar system named Valenth. 

"So there we were-" A human male started, his name was Eric, and to Johnny it seemed oddly strange to hear a human speak, he had spent the past weeks interacting exclusively with Sangela. "Off on this moon that was pretty much uninhabited. We had picked up on a distress signal from this shipments carrier." 

The others around Johnny sat forward in their seats, but Johnny only felt an annoying sense of envy at the fact that he had no real story to tell. 

"Well, then what?" Another member of the table asked. 

Eric shrugged. He was a slightly heavy set man with short brown hair and a beard that clung closely to his chin, "Turned out they had lost power to their main thrusters and didn't have the fuel to make it to Toth." 

"So...that's it?" Another member asked, a woman with short brown hair. 

Eric laughed, "Basically. They had been stranded for a few days and the dumb asses hadn't the supplies for it so we gave them some food and water as we waited for the repair ship to roll in. About the most action we've seen so far."

There was a murmur of agreement among the young guards. Everyone had expected to meet something exciting throughout their first few weeks, but it would seem that everyone experienced just about the same amount of action, or lack of it. 

The short haired brunette, Ashley was her name, leaned her cheek into her palm, "We spend most of our time just coasting. Waiting around. Our net transmitter went down our second week...you cannot imagine the boredom." She sighed, her hazel eyes scanning out over the human balcony towards the larger scale bar where her partner sat, a white furred Trugon female named Thana. "Makes me wish I got hooked up with one of the Neko boys." 

There was a rumble of laughter. "Not a fan of your partner?" Another man, named Mike asked, he had shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. 

Ashley shook her head, "Oh no, Thana is great. But when you have no entertainment you get bored, and when you get bored you get horny." She sighed again, "They don't teach you that stuff in class."

Eric scratched at his beard as his eyes shifted towards Johnny, "I know what you mean. Say Johnny, you got hooked up with that red head right?" He nodded across the bar towards where Sangela sat by herself. 

"Mhm." Johnny replied.

"So?" He continued leaning forward, "Has curiosity gotten the better of you two yet?" 

Johnny smirked as he lifted his glass to his lips. "No. I don't think that's going to happen." 

"Oh come on. You have to be curious!" Ashley said with a laugh. 

Johnny shrugged, "I think I have a good idea of what it would be like. Not sure if that would really be that great. Besides, you don't want to throw that sort of drama into this." 

"Hell I'd still do it." Eric said. 

"Be my guest to go and try. Just don't get all hurt when she turns you down." Johnny replied. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Sangela sipped idly on her drink, her ears pushed downwards as her gold and blue eyes traced lazily from one face to the next. She recognized many of her old classmates who had all agreed to meet here at one of the several of locations that their routes intersected. She had attempted to socialize at first, but still she found them mostly annoying. She felt someone staring at her, her head turned to the left to where she saw a rather large Fanacta male sitting with his back to the bar, his elbows propped up on the counter. He nodded his head towards her, to which she rose her eyebrows. She withheld a sigh as the Marlek walked towards her. 

"You are a hybrid right?" He asked, quietly. 

"Mmm." Sangela hummed nodding her head. She eyed him suspiciously, trying to figure what angle he was coming from. 

"I've got something that might interest you." He continued. 

"This should be good." She said before taking a long drink from her glass, closing her eyes as the last of the green liquid flowed over her tongue. The drink had gotten warm and left a bitter stinging in her throat.

"I'm serious." 

"Okay. What is it?" 

The dark furred Fanacta leaned closer, Sangela grimaced but did not shrink away, "Human slavery. On a planet not far from here. But we cannot act forcefully, there are many lives at stake." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac stared out across the flat, oversized table towards the windows of La'ala's apartment. He felt guilty for not sharing the same grief and anguish of his brother's friends disappearance, if anything he was extremely curious about it. His brother and Kikata had been shown off to a guest room, but Issac wasn't tired. He was already going through the motions of hacking into the alliance computers in his minds eye, the thought of it sending excited shivers down his spine. It would be a chance to put his secret toy to work. There was a gust of wind, a large shadow looming over him as La'ala sat down in a seat beside the table. He glanced up towards her, her eyes fixated outside the window for a few brief seconds before they lowered towards him. 

"Are you okay?" She asked. 

Issac shrugged, "I'm fine. Are you?" The liquor in his veins made speaking with La'ala a little easier. 

She sighed, "I guess so...At least I know that you guys are on the job. Now I just need to keep convincing myself there is nothing to worry about." 

Issac nodded, "You and Prila are good friends?" 

La'ala nodded, "I've known her for a long time now. Though rarely ever see her anymore. You know I thought it was odd when I stopped receiving messages, but sometimes that's just how she is. She will go off the map for a while, like when she and Atrix were doing their training." She sighed again and leant back in her chair, "We were internet friends, oddly enough, before we met in person. In case you hadn't noticed I'm sort of into tattoo's." 

"Oh really? You have any?" Issac said.

La'ala laughed softly, "No, I just have lot's of colorful birth marks." She bit her lip as her eyes drifted off into space for a few moments, scanning her minds eye for memories, "So yeah. I met her online on a tattoo forum and we shared art and techniques and eventually agreed to meet up. Of course I was never allowed to give her a tattoo since her skin was reserved for the Cho, but I got quite a few from her." She lifted her hand from her lap and placed it several feet from Issac, "This one was my first." She said pointing towards her wrist where a jagged, tribal looking design lay painted in dark blue ink. "It is the Cho symbol for life."

"It's...really cool looking." Issac said, standing so he could look more closely at her wrist. 

"I was surprised how badly it hurt. Prila was all about needle work, no lasers for her. The lasers kind of burn, especially for the more intricate stuff...but not like the needles. And the needle ink is more permanent. Prila insisted that the needle makes it more meaningful, you can't simply erase it away." She lifted her hand, "She gave me a few more of those small symbols, then I finally had her commission something on my side. A larger piece." A small smile creased La'ala's lips as she turned away from Issac and slowly lifted the side of her loosely fitting shirt that resembled what people on earth might call a tube top. "This one here." She said, nearly pulling her shirt over her chest. Her fingers stroked along a colorful picture of a Neko female, one hand held over her head, the other curled around her waist. "It's a dancer, specifically a Tolusa dancer. My mother was one and I thought that someday I might be one too." 

Issac did his best to not stare lustfully at the small sliver of breast exposed to him, or the taunt stomach that shifted in and out ever so slightly as La'ala spoke. "It's really...beautiful." He spilled out.

"I agree." La'ala said with a smile, her hands releasing her shirt before she faced him again. "But I'm sure I'm boring you."

"No, not at all. I find this all very interesting." Issac assured her. 

"Well, I am getting bored talking about myself...tell me about you?" 

Issac swallowed, he was not very keen on self description, "Well...uh...what do you want to know?" 

La'ala shrugged, leaning towards him so she could rest an elbow on the table. Her cheek nestled against her hand, "Well, Kikata tells me you are smart? Like really smart."

Issac felt his cheeks grow warm, "I-I don't know about that. I mean everyone is smart about something. Like I couldn't tell you the first thing about making a piece of art or-"

La'ala giggled, "Modest. Okay, I won't make you talk up your genius. But what about schooling, you just graduated correct?"

"Right." Issac said with a nod.

"With two degrees?" 

"Both in engineering, computer and mechanical." 

La'ala rolled her eyes, "I haven't even met anyone who could pass through an entry level engineering class...let alone master two entire schools of thought in it." 

"I guess I was just always good with that stuff. Not so much anything else, though." Issac forced a laugh, "Like, I could never play sports like my brothers...or socialize very well in school."

"You seem to be socializing fairly well right now." La'ala said. "So what exactly are you doing with the ships computer that's got everyone so excited?"

"Oh...well...you'd probably find it boring."

"I doubt it." La'ala assured with with a curious smile, her canine digging into her bottom lip. 

"Oh, well. Basically the ships computer is a new model of artificial intelligence. It is seeking to learn and act sentiently rather than mimic based off of mathematical equations. Like, so far computer intelligence has basically been preprogrammed intelligence with preprogrammed learning. It could never really learnto make it's own decisions, or even as far as learning to have it's own opinions." 

La'ala blinked, "So...basically...you are trying to tell me that." She smiled and shook her head, "Well dumb it down for me. What are you trying to do?"

Issac scratched his head, "Um. I guess basically we are trying to make a computer personality that is alive. Rather than just mimicking life." 

"Wow." 

"Yeah, it's kind of exciting. And I've actually been making some progress."

"That's something alright." She shook her head, "So why the ship? Why not do this in some laboratory."

Issac shrugged, "The computer needs to learn by doing things in a real environment, not just a simulation. And the power it takes...a ship is basically just a giant engine running to help power the computers brain."

"Oh." La'ala said, scrunching her lips as she thought it over. "Well at least you are keeping busy." She laughed, "So um, about this little plan of yours to hack the Alliance computers. That's kind of exciting, huh?" 

Issac could not hide a smile, "Yeah, I'm looking forward too it." 

"Are you afraid?"

Issac shrugged, "I don't know. Mostly just excited."

"How are you going to do it?...or is it too complicated for me to understand?"

"Well uh, have you heard much about Quantum computing?"

La'ala laughed, "No. Let's not go down that road I will have a major headache in like two minutes." She sighed, "You are interesting, Issac. I will give you that."

"Oh. Uh, thanks." Issac said shrugging his shoulders. 

"You know, you don't fit the mold of those computer geeks. But you're not like your brother."

"I think the girls in high school would disagree with you." Issac said with a laugh. 

La'ala shrugged, "Okay well. You're like, a computer nerd but with a sense of adventure. I mean, you're young and look where you are!" 

"I guess I like to travel...stay busy." 

"And do exciting things?"

"Well who doesn't?" 

"You would be surprised." La'ala said. She licked her upper lip, "So...I've got something I'd like to share with you."

Issac felt his heart race, almost unable to withstand the power of her deep brown eyes that looked down upon him, her full lips curling upwards and just barely parting to reveal the white shine of her teeth. "Yeah?" He asked, trying to maintain his composure as best he could. 

"Well, first of all...do you ever do anything, like other than drinking?"

"Like drugs?" He asked.

"Sure...nothing intense. It's legal here...but are you...or would you want to smoke?" 

Issac nodded, "I mean I don't do it often...but I can try." 

"Okay, be right back." She said, rising from her seat. 

Issac watched as she disappeared into a distant hallway, he wiped his palms against his pants and cleared his throat. He had smoked marijuana in college and experimented with LSD once but he never got too into it. His eyes rose as La'ala appeared with a large box. 

"It's called Gu'joon." She explained as she pulled out several pieces that created a device that looked something like a hookah. "It doesn't make you see things or hear things, but it relaxes you...stimulating the mind while easing your muscles. It's great for doing art because you just start to see things differently, your mind gets so curious."

"Oh. Sounds cool...but uh, how do I do it? You know, is there a human-"

"That's the exciting part." she said, her smile broadening. "I have only shared this with one other human...it's kind of a special thing...but I like you. And I think you will enjoy this."

"S-So?" Issac stammered. He was nervous, but excited. 

La'ala held out her hand, palm facing upwards before him, "Do you trust me?" She asked.

"Well sure." He said. 

"Okay. Well I've got this tattoo on the roof of my mouth, it glows in the dark. No one really ever gets to see it."

"Right." Issac said, having a faint idea of where this might lead.

La'ala fiddled with the device and produced a long hose. She laughed, almost appearing to blush herself, "So um...do you want to see it?" 

"Well...I..." Issac's heart was certainly racing by now. A slight twinge of fear gripped him as he was unsure if this was a good idea. 

"I won't swallow you, or bite. I promise. I just want to share with you this experience. Trust me, it's worth it. You'll never find anything like it anywhere your travels take you." 

Issac swallowed nervously, but stepped towards her hand and climbed up onto her fingers, "Okay...yeah. Let's do it." He said.

"Great. So when I breath in, you breath in." She said, "We get to share our breath and breath in the same smoke." She bit her lip again, "And um, you might want to strip down do your underwear." She smiled. 

"Right." He said, blushing intensely as he unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it aside before fumbling embarrassingly with his belt buckle and pants. When he was finally nearly naked he turned towards her again. He was surprised when she leaned forward, her soft lips suddenly enveloping him, easing him onto his back as she kissed him. He wasn't sure what his reaction was supposed to be but he enjoyed it. 

"Good." She said as she pulled away, "Now, climb onto my tongue and lay out by the stud." She said, opening her mouth and pointing towards her tongue ring which glowed yellow, "It glows too but will eventually dim. I will do my best not to drool on you." She said with a wink. She lowered her chin to her palm, her tongue slipping over her lower lip. 

Issac wiped his hands again on his boxer shorts before making a few small steps towards her tongue. He took hold of the metal bar sticking from the soft, moist flesh and pulled his feet upwards. He gripped the tongue ring tightly as she lifted her tongue from her hand and curled it slightly before she brought it back into her mouth. From then on they did not speak. He watched her lips pass over him as he had to lay backwards to avoid knocking his head against her teeth. He looked back over his shoulder to see her lips now forming an oval from behind the rows of massive white teeth, the oval shrank until it was just a sliver of light that shone through just slightly. Soon the light disappeared completely from the outside world as she shut off the lights in her room. Issac's eyes adjusted quickly to the yellow light that shone from the ball on the tongue ring, the saliva coated walls, ground and ceiling all shimmered strangely. Her tongue continued to shift, he wondered how he must have tasted. Her throat in the distance, mostly cast in shadow, shivered, the occasional strand of saliva dripping from her uvula into the darkness below. The jaws surrounding him finally moved, opening slightly to allow the nozzle of the hose between her lips, it's metallic tip now also shining yellow.  

There was a gust of wind accompanied by a thick, yet not burning smoke. It was almost more like steam. It washed over him in a cloud and he breathed in through his nose. The smoke smelled of something that he could not pinpoint, but it must have been some sort of fruit. He watched the smoke travel down into her throat, her mouth becoming clear again for a few brief moments before the smoke funneled back up her throat and back between her lips. He breathed in again as it washed over him. 

His body began to tingle and his mind stopped analyzing the situation, rather it simply observed. He laid back, feeling the tiny bumps of her tongue against his back and the warm spreading of saliva across his body. Her breaths washed in fresh clouds around him and the yellow light of the ball began to dwindle. His eyes stared upwards intently now at the curved roof of flesh. The image of a galaxy, one that seemed so familiar filled his gaze. The odd night sky twinkled, the pink flesh of La'ala soon fading into black as the last of the yellow light disappeared. Now he could only feel her, and hear her, his eyes only peering upwards into the galaxy that was contained within her. It looked like the Milky Way. The galaxy that he had left behind. He wondered which spot of light was supposed to represent his sun. The Gu'joon worked its way through his system, relaxing him to the point where he could not feel himself anymore. It felt as though he had melted away, melted into La'ala's flesh. He imagined himself pooling out like a piece of chocolate. Melting under the warmth of her breath and flesh, trickling down across her tongue and then into her throat where it would be dissolved and spread throughout her body until eventually becoming so disconnected with it's old form that it was merely single atoms that would find there way beyond the confines of her skin and back out into the universe. He would be reduced to only the stardust that had formed him into a single entity. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac shook his head as he stared downwards at his hands. His hands pressed against soft flesh that had been colored red. He looked up, surprised almost to see two large mounds of flesh, brown eyes peering at him from behind them. Suddenly his location rushed into his mind. After they had finished smoking an odd curiosity overtook him. He had been exploring La'ala's body, examining her tattoo's, talking with her all the while wanting to know more about her. 

La'ala smiled warmly towards him, "The Gu'joon wear off?" She asked. 

Issac averted his gaze from her bare breasts, he could hardly believe that he had been able to put himself into this position, "Yeah, I guess." He said. 

She giggled, "Yeah it happens kind of sudden. They call it the reality rush." She gently cupped her hand behind him and laid him out on the floor in front of her, her bosom pressing down as she rested her chin on her folded hands. "So? How did you like it." 

"It was awesome." Issac said, nodding his head.

"Well I am glad you liked it." She leaned forward again, her lips pressing against his torso. Though she pulled away and sighed, "I'm sorry to be such a tease...but I can't take this further with you. I've got a strict policy about it." She frowned apologetically.

"Oh...No, I mean I wasn't...you don't need to feel pressured...sorry if I kinda forced it." He said, stumbling over his words.

She shook her head, "Oh no, I love to play around if I like someone. But the next step is a little more meaningful." She helped him back onto her palm, "You can sleep with me, if you want. Or on the couch out here?" 

"I uh...With you would be nice." 

She smiled, "Good." She lowered herself to pick up her shirt which she clutched to her chest with a free hand as she walked them to her bedroom, "You've got a lot of promise, Issac." 

Waves Start to Form

Issac awoke, his hair felt more thick than usual as he ran his hands through it. His back, however, felt amazing. It was as if he was floating on a cloud, and he was unusually warm even though he had no blanket draped over him. He groaned as he arched his back, his body hardly willing to rise from slumber as his eyes finally opened. Several shafts of light shone down around him from between strange, curved pillars. He rubbed his eye as he sat up, shaking the confusion of his waking mind to gather some more logical thoughts. He placed his hand against the surface over his head, remembering now the events from last night. He stepped out from between La'ala's fingers, his eyes following her arm towards her chest and then up to her face where she looked back towards him with a slight smile. 

"Morning." She said, her slight smile broadening. 

"Morning." Issac replied. 

She rolled onto her back, her other arm reaching towards a bedside table where she plucked Issac's shirt and pants between her fingertips before placing them down in front of him. "Sorry for being such a tease last night." She apologized, "The drinks, and the smoke, got me very intimate. But I have my rules." She continued with a sigh. 

"N-No problem. I would have been no good anyway." Issac said just over a mumble as he climbed into his pants. 

La'ala giggled, "I am sure plenty of girls would like to steal your first time...with one of us that is." 

Issac looked up towards La'ala, "Have...you ever?"

La'ala's eyes drifted to the side, "Once, well with only one partner." They shot back towards Issac, "You sort of reminded me of him. A younger version of him, also probably smarter in many ways." She laughed.

"Oh, I see." Issac said, his fingertips fastening the last couple buttons on his shirt. "Is it normal? For like humans and Neko to date?" 

La'ala shrugged her shoulders, "To date? Not so frequently. Sex though is a different story. Everyone wants to try it. And not just Neko and human."

"I can still hardly imagine what it would be like." Issac said, he tried to keep his eyes off of La'ala's body as she pulled the covers away from herself. She did not sleep in the nude, but she was certainly close enough to it. Issac could still vividly remember what it was like climbing over her stomach and back when he was under the influence of the drug from last night. He wished he had that sort of confidence when he was sober. He had practically initiated the whole thing, not that La'ala was resistant. 

La'ala smiled, "When the time comes." She positioned herself in front of him and lowered herself so her face filled nearly his entire field of vision. Issac leaned forward, feeling her warm breath as her lips approached him, a shiver running down his spine as their soft surface nearly swallowed him from the outside world, her fingertips holding him in place gently. She pulled away, "There I ago again, teasing." She sighed again, "And not just you." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix peered out into the living quarters of the ship, they remained still and quiet, because of this she let out a sigh of relief. She did not dislike her companions, yet she felt comfortable when she was alone. It was the only time that the squirming and throbbing in her chest subsided completely, and her mind was able to function in a way that she felt was normal. Her feet strode delicately along the cool floors until she arrived at a large, comfortable chair. She pulled her legs up into a cross legged position, her tail curling onto her lap as she closed her eyes and took a deep inhale. 

"Hello." A feminine voice called into the otherwise quiet room. 

Atrix's gray eyes shot open and she glanced around herself, "H-Hello?" She called out to the unknown voice. It slowly pieced together in her mind that the voice was that of the ships computer which she had heard several times before. She let out a sigh as she closed her eyes again.

"I would like to ask you a question." Richata continued

Atrix bit her lip, growing agitated at the ships computer. She tried to refocus on her breathing. 

"Hello?" The ship persisted. 

Atrix groaned, "What?" She felt a slight weight on her chest, but tried to push it away. It was only a computer, after all. 

"I just find you very curious." 

The squirming, the slight ache. She closed her eyes, if she did not interact with it the computer couldn't interact with her. 

"Issac explained that you have a malfunction. But you have been entered into my data base as a crew member. I find that to be strange." 

The engineer. She was a malfunction? He thought she was faulty. Talking behind her back. Explaining why she was the way she was. The dull ache became more severe, the squirming made her want to scratch at her chest. Her face became hot, and then cold, and then hot again. Her palms sweat and her breathing became shaken. She could not escape it. Not even when she was alone. Judging her. All judging her. For her talents, for her lack of talents. There was no escape no matter where she was. She wanted to get up and leave, but her brain could not connect with her legs so she rolled onto her side and tried to bury herself into the chair. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Richard eyed his brother curiously as they rode back towards the ship on the cities human transit. No one had made any comments when La'ala carried Issac from her room and into her kitchen where Kikata had been cooking breakfast and heating up a sort of tea. But many glances were shared. "So?" He pushed, nudging his elbow into Issac's side. 

"Hm?" Issac hummed. 

"What happened?" 

"With?" 

Richard rolled his eyes, "With La'ala." 

"Oh...nothing really. We mostly talked." Issac replied, leaning his head back against the rear window, his eyes having trouble focusing on anything outside of the Pod. His face did not reveal the pleasant memories of the last night, it was such a strange and new experience, and the fact that it was partly sexual had given him a rather nice boost of ego. 

"Almost twenty two years old and you still can't talk about it." Richard laughed.

"No, I mean...we did some other stuff. I mean, but not sex or anything." 

"No? But you slept with her?" Richard grinned. He was impressed, La'ala was an attractive girl, very attractive even.

Issac brushed a strand of hair that had fallen near his eye, "I guess, I slept on one pillow while her head rested on another." 

"So just kissing?"

"It was strange, but yeah, just that." 

Richard chuckled, "I remember my first experience with that." There was a long silence as both brothers seemed to sink away into thought. 

"Do you ever miss being with a human girl?" Issac asked curiously. 

Richard glanced out the window, "I would never dream of another." He said, speaking slowly and purposefully. He turned back towards Issac, his mouth opening, but closing again as he faced forward, "Well, I'm glad you are off to a good start out here." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata strode up the landing ramp, sending a quick message to Richard to let him know that she had made it back to the ship. A few quick turns after she had entered the ship brought her to the community quarters. She sighed, always feeling relieved to be back home on the ship. Though her relaxation quickly left her as she heard the sound of a faint whimpering. "Atrix?" She called out. There was no response but she noticed movement in a chair across the room. She dropped her bag onto a table and rushed towards Atrix, who was curled tightly in a ball, her face pressed into the armrest of the chair. "Atrix!" Kiakta said again, her hand gently falling onto the girls shoulder, "What's wrong, what happened?" She continued. She spoke softly, trying her best to relax her. Finally Atrix's head turned towards Kikata, her gray eyes fogged over and bloodshot. Kikata's thumb gently stroked her shoulder as she guided her to a more upright position. "What's wrong?" She said again, her other hand now gripping Atrix's. Atrix's eye darted towards the door before falling back towards Kikata's. "You want to go to your room?" 

Atrix nodded. 

"Okay." Kiakta said, rising to her feet. 

Atrix pulled her hand away from Kikata's before following her back towards her room. The small pet she had rescued bounded towards her, Atrix dipped down gracefully and took the creature in her hands before she sat down onto her bed. 

They sat silently for a few moments as Atrix seemed to gain a little more control. 

"So." Kikata finally spoke. "What happened?"

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Richard and Issac entered the ship. Both felt a little fatigued from the night before and the ride back to the ship. But as they walked through the hallways towards their own rooms Kikata's voice called through the radio system, "Richard, can I talk to you real quick?" 

Richard halted and glanced towards his brother, "What did I do now?" He asked, laughing as he patted his brother on the back, "See you later." 

"Alright." Issac said as he entered the ships shuttle. 

"Welcome back, Issac." Richata's voice was heard before the shuttle door closed. 

Richard pondered what Kikata wanted with him as he made his way towards the doorway that led to her room. Once inside he hopped on the small transport and took it towards her table where she sat waiting for him. "So?" He said once he was within earshot. 

"Atrix...had a little incident." 

"What?" Richard asked, "Did she leave the ship?" 

"No. It was with the ship's computer." 

"She break it?" 

"Richard..." Kikata groaned.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just trying to piece it together." 

"Well let me tell you." Kikata took a deep breath, "The ship's computer...questioned Atrix about her disorder."

"Well...that's odd." 

"What's more is...it seems like Issac told the computer that she had a malfunction. Or something of that nature."

"Oh." Richard said, rubbing his chin. "Look, I'll go have a talk with Issac."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"She what?" Issac said, hardly believing what he had just heard. His brother seemed angry, though did not yell as he spoke. 

"The computer." Richard said, "Seemed to have transmitted a conversation you had with it to Atrix." 

"No...No that's not how it went. The computer asked me about Atrix yeah, but I told the computer that Atrix was fine."

"Then why did it ask her if she had a malfunction. In fact it didn't even ask. It told her so. Issac, Atrix is very fragile...you basically crippled her." 

Issac ran his hands through his hair, "I-I don't know. I'm sorry...I'll try and fix this...as soon as I can." 

Richard made his way towards the door, "Good. This really can't happen again. I'm sorry to be such an ass about it."

"No. It's my mistake, I guess." Issac watched as Richard left the room. Once he was gone Issac spoke, "Richata?" 

"Yes, Issac." 

"Why did you tell Atrix that she had a malfunction." 

"I was simply trying to deduce why she is listed as a crew member of this ship." 

"Well. Don't do that." 

"Are you angry with me?" 

"Yes, slightly. Atrix has a condition and you triggered it. From now on do not bring that up, or Atrix's purpose on this ship. Understood?" 

"Yes, Issac. I am sorry. I will not bother her again."

"Good."

Johnny peered out of the cockpit window, his brow arched and his mouth sneering crookedly, "This is the capital?" He asked. Before him lay a red landscape of dusty, tall buildings which were lined together like great canyon walls, the streets appearing to be a ancient dried up river bed, only flowing now with ships and the eerily scarce civilian on foot. The capital of this small, relatively new moon was given the name Grall, a Marlek word that seemed oddly fitting even on the human tongue. The skies were clear, the sun shining brightly over head scorching the outside temperatures to over one hundred degrees. However a red hue hung everywhere as the thick atmosphere, while sustainable, took on nearly the same red color as the dirt of the earth. Here fresh water did not fall from the sky, for even the clouds were tinged with dust. 

Sangela nodded slowly, "I was researching before we came here. This planet was corporately funded, a mining company. This desert is rich. I guess planting the main city here cuts down expenses." 

Johnny stood, placing his hands on the small of his back as he stretched. He turned towards Sangela, "So what now?" 

"My contact is supposed to meet us here." She said, scanning over her computer screen, opening displays to reveal a view of the ground just outside of the landing ramp. A figure stood there, undistinguishable from anyone else due to the thick trench coat like jacket and protective face and eye gear, but Sangela presumed that it was him. 

"Do we trust him?" Johnny asked as he made his way towards the human hallway. 

Sangela shrugged, "I don't know. That's why I made sure we were meeting in here." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Sangela stood rigidly as she lowered the landing ramp. Her eyes squinted as a sudden burst of hot air washed around her. Her hair flew from her shoulders to her right as she raised an arm to block the red, dusty atmosphere that suddenly bombarded the ship. The figure on the ground quickly hopped on board, Sangela began lifting the ramp before he had even made it all the way inside. She coughed and wiped her sleeve across her mouth as she could taste the air on her tongue. "Is it always like this?"

The Fanacta shook his head as he removed his head gear, a mask that covered his muzzle and a large hood that covered the rest. Circular goggles still hid his eyes behind blue tinted lenses, "Only on windy days. Which is most days." 

Sangela smirked, "Sounds lovely. Follow me." She said, twirling around as she continued to try and wipe the dust from her skin and clothes. The found there way to the ships relatively small living quarters which contained only a few chairs around a semi-circular table that was connected to a wall where there was a human access. Johnny sat in his own section already awaiting their informants arrival. Sangela leaned on the wall beside the table and offered a seat to the Fanacta. 

"So this is our guy?" Johnny said, nodding towards the towering creature who sat down at the larger table beneath him. Suddenly he felt just a little smaller now that he was surrounded by two individuals so much larger than himself. 

"You can call me Lorth." The Fanacta replied, he pulled the goggles off of his eyes. His fur was a dark brown for the most part, a gray strip ran from under his chin, disappearing behind his thick clothing. "Now, I have forged a warrant for you that claims that you are here on routine inspections." 

Sangela's brow furrowed as Lorth slid a sheet of paper onto the table. "We...don't use paper warrants." 

"It will work. Roko wont know the difference." 

"Roko?" Johnny asked. 

"The president." Sangela replied as she examined the paper. It looked official enough with signatures and insignias. 

"And owner of the mining company here." Lorth added on. 

"What exactly are we dealing with here?" Johnny asked, "What's with all the secret plans?" 

Lorth breathed heavily from his nostrils, his clawed fingertips tugging at a tuft of fur under his jaw, "It is not a story I enjoy telling. But it has gone on for too long. When we first took control of the mines on this planet Roko was very fast to establish it as a settlement, not just a mining camp. A city sprung up and it attracted more workers, because we were here first we were able to establish a local government. Which means anyone else moving to this moon would be paying taxes towards us, we received government funding to establish more advanced terraforming stations throughout. We had achieved so much, we had enough money to even branch out and establish one, or even two more settlements. But Roko always demanded that I find more, and more ways to get more money into our pockets. I will admit that I am not an innocent party here, but I still have my lines. Our human population in the settlement grew drastically because we just had so many jobs. I had no idea Roko had plans for them, I swear. But soon enough he forced the population into specialized facilities. He raised taxes to the point where their paychecks could hardly provide for their meals and clothing. He trapped them financially at first, no human could afford a ticket out of here-" 

"How could he get away with that?" Sangela asked, "There are strictly enforced laws?" 

"There are ways around the system." Lorth said, "As I said, I am not innocent here. But I am no slave trader...nor am I a murderer."

"Well...Then what?" Johnny asked. 

"Once the human population was unable to escape on their own, Roko made it official. The human salaries were replaced by food rations and rarely new shipments of clothing. He had gone insane with power. He took humans out of their original jobs and put them into degrading...sometimes terrifying lines of work...I don't think I need to divulge the details."

"If you can prove all of this why did you seek out a single hybrid team?" Sangela asked, "Why not go directly to the Alliance?" 

"Because Roko has gone mad. If he suspects the Alliance is onto him he can eliminate the entire human facilities, along with most of the population, with a few strokes of his hand."

"That couldn't possibly hide the evidence!" Johnny protested.

"But Roko is not reasonable. He has formed himself into some kind of unstoppable king in his mind." Lorth shook his head, "The entire population fears him. He has killed before, perhaps more times than I would like to imagine. But he has gained stability through fear. He doesn't know that his empire hangs by mere threads, believe me I have tried to tell him that this cannot last much longer. But if we do not act quickly, and in secret, I fear many lives will be lost." 

"So what do we do?" Johnny asked. 

"Sangela needs to keep him occupied. For at least an hour. Without his knowing I have implemented an exit on the roof of the human facility. I have a few close friends ready to escort the population out of there through a ship."

"How many people are we talking here?" 

"Several thousand." 

Sangela cursed under her breath, "So...what I make him show me around the place while you guys unload everyone into the ship?" 

"There is one more step before we can do that." Lorth continued, "He has a rat in the human facility. A woman who he had brainwashed from a young age. His own mistress, it would seem. She gets special treatment, and in return she makes sure nothing goes on without his knowing. If we were to try and evacuate she would surely contact him. She needs to be silenced before we can make our move." 

Johnny rubbed his chin, "Are you implying that I...kill her?" The words felt strange rolling over his tongue. He could hardly imagine himself carrying out the act. 

"If there is no other option."

Johnny's mind raced over the many non-lethal solutions he had in his arsenal, "I think I can do it clean." He said, mostly assuring himself. 

Sangela folded her arms, "Well then. I suppose we should get started."

Lorth nodded, "He is already expecting us." 

~ ~ ~ ~  

Kikata slumped down on her bed, her chin lowering to her left shoulder to see Richard still laying upon her pillow where she had left him about fifteen minutes ago. "Atrix finally left her room." She said softly before slowly lowering her side down onto the bed, her head resting on the pillow so her eyes could look Richard nearly straight in the face as he got to his feet. 

"That's an improvement." Richard said. He felt sorry for Atrix, though he couldn't help but worry what complications she would be bringing to their journey. It did not help that Prila's situation, whatever it was, had already unearthed a universe of new and unexpected problems and questions. He glanced towards Kikata's eyes, able to see the image of himself staring in the golden reflection. "Issac hasn't done much other than sit in his room himself. I've been trying to get him into the gym, or something but he only seems interested in working or goofing around online." 

Kikata giggled, "The way you describe your brother makes it surprising that he was able to get into bed with La'ala in just one night." 

Richard shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think I am capable of describing Issac. He's always been a little over my head. One minute you think he is the biggest geek in the universe, and then the next you think he is some sort of genius that must have everything figured out. He will freeze up if you try to introduce him to a girl at the bar, and then later on that night he will go on some profound and mind blowing rant that changes the way you see things forever." Richard shook his head, "You know he was one of the reasons I dropped out of University." 

"That's hard to believe." Kikata said with a smirk, "He graduated with two degrees." 

"No really. I remember I was talking to him after I had come home during the winter session. And I was sort of ranting and raving about how I felt like my life was going no where with college, and he was just sitting there nodding and listening...he's really good at that, and then once I finally shut up he says, 'I don't know, Richard. Maybe you are just driving on the wrong road." Richard rubbed his chin, "I felt like the road reference made more sense then. But, he said what was so obvious...but not obvious. If that makes any sense." 

Kikata closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply, nodding her head as she did, "Yeah it makes sense. And look where that road led you." She smiled, she was a sucker for analogies about life. Prila always had more than a few up her sleeve to try and help make sense of things. 

"Did you know Richata is a toddler?" 

"A what?" 

"Like a three year old little person."

Kikata's eyes flickered back open and stared towards Richard with an arched brow, "Um, no?" 

"That's what Issac told me." 

"Is that so? I'm not sure how I feel about that." 

Richard laughed, "I guess it's not as bad as it sounds...or at least he tried to assure me. He said that the ships personality was showing surprisingly similar growth to that of a humans. Granted the ship is doing it much faster. He said it might be the cause of the little incident with Atrix. The ship simply doesn't realize when it is being rude, it just wants to know why things are. Or what things are."

"Does he have any guesses on how long this phase will last?" 

Richard shrugged, "I don't know...Issac said it would be easier to advance the ships mind, or whatever, if it had more people to interact with...he mentioned something about letting it browse internet forums."

"Oh god..."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac ran over the lines of code one last time. "There." He finally said with a sigh, spreading his fingers  tips out as far as they could reach to give them some relief from tapping away at the keyboard for more hours than he could remember. He had been coding, and recoding, while taking occasional breaks to do other tests with Richata, in order to create a program that she could use to use the internet on her own while still being restricted by Issac's guidelines. She would only have access to a few websites, and for now would not be able to interact with them more than following certain links and reading the text. Certain links would trigger an alert to Issac's computer and he would have to allow or disallow Richata access to that link. He was curious to see how quickly she would be able to pick up on internet terms and lingo that would not be found in her language databases, and then how she would go about figuring these things out, whether it be on her own or if she would simply come to him for help. 

"Okay, Richata." Issac said as he entered the program into the computer, "Do you have the program?"

"Yes." She replied.

"You may use this program whenever you want. As long as you continue to maintain peak performance in your other functions." He said before rising to his feet, "That will conclude testing for now." 

"Okay. I am looking forward to using the program." Richata replied. 

Issac breathed deeply as he walked away from his computer chair. He rubbed his eyes and continued to massage is fingers as he made his way towards his dresser. His hands fell onto the smooth white surface before a few drawers slid open. He pulled on a pair of loosely fitting gym shorts and managed to find a pair of running shoes that he rarely ever used back home and put them on. Richard had urged him earlier to go work out, and he had finally just now got a little drive to do so. He left his room, cringing at the brighter light of the hallway. He made his way to the shuttle, usually Richata greeted him personally, but it seemed her mind was occupied with his new program and his interactions with the ships computer was very generic. He was starting to get a grasp of how her mind worked, or at least he thought he was. It was as if some functions were automatic for her, such as working the shuttle, the basic landing functions, regular engine functions, life support, and so many other processes. And then some functions she had to use her mind for, like personally talking to the crew members, or doing her tests with Issac. Yet if she wanted she could interject her conscious, at least partially, to other parts of the ship. Like how she fine tuned the engine systems on her own. In a way it was almost like the ship was turning into a living organism, though an organism very different from a biological being. 

The shuttle came to a stop at the community quarters, the human gym equipment was located within one of the rooms that connected directly to the human balcony there. Even though it would be possible for the human quarters to contain an entire gymnasium full of equipment due to the ships size, tax regulations as well as Alliance protocol dictated that the human quarters be somewhat equal to the larger ones. 

As Issac stepped out onto the balcony he felt a slight nervous twinge in his stomach as he spotted the white haired Neko girl sitting in one of the chairs down below. Her ear twitched yet she did not look up from whatever it was she was doing, only her head was visible above the balcony wall. He debated simply putting his head down and scurrying into the gym, but curiosity took him over towards the balcony's edge. He leaned his elbows on the wall and looked out across the great expanse of the Neko sized room towards her, and what appeared to be a large book in her lap. She looked rather cute with her feet curled up under herself, her white tail wrapped up around her side so that it brushed slowly along the page that she was not reading. Her upper canine, longer and narrower than a humans (relatively) dug into her lower lip as her oddly light colored eyes scanned over the text. She seemed content, even happy, which were not emotions that Issac had seen from her during his very few encounters with her. However he was quick to rub the contentedness from her face. 

"Hey!" He called down. For him it took some mustering to get the single word out. He immidiately regretted it when the book suddenly slammed shut on her lap, her happy eyes widening into what almost looked like fear as she looked up towards him. "S-Sorry I didn't mean to startle you." He apologized. Feeling strange using such a loud voice to communicate, but she was so far away. 

She seemed to force a smile, "Hello." He said, "It is okay." He sat very still, her eyes darting away from him whenever they spent more than a few seconds transfixed on him. 

Issac cleared his throat, "So...uh, what you reading?" He wasn't sure why, but he felt that he had to start some small talk with her. He felt terrible that Richata had thrown Atrix into a bad place with her condition, he couldn't help but feel mostly responsible for it being that he was supposed to be a sort of mentor for the computer. 

"Das Yo'tun Vrocia" Atrix said very quickly, "I-I think it translates to...um, How the Great Sea was Won." 

"Oh." Issac said, of course he wouldn't know the book. "That a Neko book?" He nearly wanted to slap himself in the face for asking such a rhetorical question. 

"Yes." 

"Yeah...I guess that was a dumb question." Issac said as he forced a laugh. Atrix smiled back, it was hard to tell if it was genuine or as forced as his laugh, regardless it did not last very long. And there was yet another awkward silence. "You don't see many books anymore." Issac said.

"Yes. I like it though." Atrix said. 

"Yeah, I mean I never had paper books growing up other than at my grandmothers house, but I always liked to read those ones especially." Issac felt as though he were trying too hard to force the conversation by this point. He felt as though he were doing more of an interview than actually having a conversation. "But, um, hey! We should be friends. You know, hang out and stuff...I spend all day with the ships computer." He forced another laugh, wondering why he had to bring that up, "But um, I promised Richard I would start working out. So, yeah, I'll talk to you later?" 

Atrix nodded, "Okay." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix sighed as the human disappeared from view. She reopened her book, the unsettledness in her chest subsiding slightly, "You did good. You did good." She told herself. She had spent the past couple days in her own head hidden in her room. She managed to finally clear her mind a bit and practiced some techniques that Prila had taught her. Ever since her teachers disappearance it had been harder and harder to break away from her body and into her mind, which made her panic attacks even more severe. As she started to read over the lines of text she had read so many times before from her favorite book her mind started to drift back to the cycles that were now long gone....

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Many cycles ago, before Atrix had been assigned to Prila to be her official student, she had been taking classes under Prila that were designed to train her mind rather than her body...

Atrix stared at the woman who sat before her with a disapproving scowl, her arms folded across her chest. The dark haired woman had a serene smile spread across her lips as she sat cross legged on the floor. Her eyes opened revealing a soft, yet seemingly always playful blue gaze, "What's wrong?" She asked. 

"I don't see the point." She said. School was not as bad for Atrix as being out in public. She felt a little more sure of herself and was able to converse with her instructors more freely, even having the courage to question them. 

"We are training your mind to be one with your body and your surroundings." 

"You are just sitting on the floor." 

"Or am I?" Prila asked, grinning now. 

Atrix huffed breath between her lips and dropped to the floor. "So what do I do then?" 

"Close your eyes. Breath. And feel, but not with your hands, see, but not with your eyes, and listen." Prila said, her eyes once again falling shut. 

Atrix scoffed, "What does any of this have to do with fighting." 

Prila frowned, "Is that all the Cho is for you, Nau'Zui." 

Atrix folded her arms and looked away from Prila. 

Prila sighed and rose to her knees, "Stand up." 

Atrix did as she was told, though her arms remained folded. At her younger stature paired with Prila being fairly tall for a Cho she was only just slightly taller than Prila was resting on her knees. 

"Do you think you could land one strike on me?" Prila asked, her gaze was stern which was not a very common sight. 

"Maybe." Atrix said, her arms dropping to her sides as her fists clenched. 

"What if I promised to keep my eyes closed." Prila continued. 

"Then yes." Atrix said. 

"Okay then, try it." Prila said as her eyes shut. 

"I...can hit you?"

"If you can." Prila said, her eyes remaining shut. 

Atrix smiled, thinking that surely her instructor underestimated her. She was more than happy to prove her point. She rushed forward, pushing the weight from one foot so that the other could rise up in preparation for a kick. She let out a scream as Prila's arm suddenly struck out against her ankle. Her body went horizontal and suddenly she found herself pinned beneath Prila, both of her arms pinned under Prila's hands while her legs were trapped between her knees. She squirmed as Prila stared down at her, her gaze still stern. 

"Why did I beat you." 

"Y-You are bigger than me." Atrix complained.

"You know better than that." Prila said, releasing Atrix's hands but continuing to kneel over her, "If your technique is sound with your..." She said, trailing off so that Atrix could continue her sentence. 

"Mind..." Atrix said with a sigh in a defeated tone. 

"Right. Technique, however flawless, will only get you so far. Your mind must be right with your body and your surroundings. That is what this has to do with fighting, Nau'Zui." Prila stepped away from Atrix and finally cracked a smile, "Now sit your little butt down and do as I say." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix smiled as she recalled the memory. The mind training and aided her so much with Prila's guidance, though with Prila gone she had lost her confidence. Without it she had relapsed under the weight of her condition. She glanced up towards the balcony, the engineer seemed friendly on the surface. Kikata and Richard only spoke fondly of him. But the thought of building a friendship made her uneasy, it was a task so simple for most but so daunting for her. Prila had been the one who arranged most of her friendships back home. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Fourteen hours later...

"Are you ready?" Kikata asked. 

Issac nodded, "Yeah, I think so." He said, staring up towards the titanic woman, "How are we doing this?" 

"We decided it might be best that our friend, who runs this station, doesn't know exactly what we are doing. The less people who know about our situation the better...not that you will be in any danger if caught. We are just trying to keep a low profile, okay? If someone catches you, just mention us." 

"Okay." Issac said. 

"Good. Now, Richard and I will be going in plain sight, you will be riding in here." She said, lifting what looked like a small purse. "I'll do my best to hold it steady for you. How long do you need, and do you have all the information?" 

Issac nodded again as Kikata lowered her hand beside him, "Yeah. I'm ready." 

"Good, good." Kikata said watching as Issac climbed up into her palm. She gently curled her fingers so they nearly closed around him before lifting her hand from the balcony and into her purse where she opened her fingers so that he could climb out. 

Issac felt himself fall into the cavern of fabric. He looked up to see Kikata staring in at him. 

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He called back up. He braced himself as the bag was hoisted into the air, even as Kikata tried to walk steadily the bag still shook and swayed with each of her steps. Issac was grateful that he had a relatively strong stomach. His hand dug into his pocket and he produced a small device. On either end of a narrow plastic tube was what looked like a collection of loose strings. Though each string contained hundreds of near microscopic wires, he had never really gotten the chance to use this for anything useful, he hadn't mentioned to Richard or Kikata that he planned on using something that might not exactly be deemed as legal.

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Nova Force Season 2: Episode 4 part 3

Johnny shifted uncomfortably within the dark pouch that contained him. His helmet mounted flashlight illuminated the dark brown, thick fabric and he wondered if this was at all similar to what the inside of a stomach would look and feel like.

“Is everything alright in there?” The voice of Lorth, who had deposited the small Hybrid Guard into one of his coat pockets in order to keep him out of sight. Lorth, unlike many residents, was free to travel without being inspected by guards or scanners, which would allow him to get Johnny into the human facilities undetected.

“So far.” Johnny replied, trying not to hint at the fact that he was completely put off by the transport situation. Something just didn't feel right about it. The darkness, the movement, the fact that he could feel the massive creatures side against his back whenever the coat caught a large gust of wind.

“We are not far now.” Lorth continued, “Sangela should be meeting with Roko soon.”

“How long does a tour of the facility usually take?” Johnny asked.

“If we are lucky a little over an hour, it is up to her to keep him occupied for even longer. I have a few contacts inside the facility, they will point you in the direction of Roko's informant.”

Johnny breathed deeply, his fingers lightly running along the surface of a low frequency pulse cannon that was holstered to his hip. If all went well he could avoid shedding any blood. “Sounds good. And once she is taken care of?”

“My contacts will help you direct the humans to the landing pad where a ship should be waiting.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Sangela wished she had worn her armor, though Lorth insisted it would put Roko on edge. She felt almost completely naked in her formal guard uniform, aside from the small firearm she had strapped to her upper thigh, just in case. She followed Lorth's direction from the landing pad and made her way towards a tall building with the mining companies insignia imprinted over the glass doors. She resisted the urge to spit as she entered the building, the feeling of tiny specks of red sand pooling in her saliva made her stomach squirm.

“Please state your identity and your business.” A feminine voice called within the eerily empty room. There was no working secretary, just a holographic pedestal in the center of the room, the insignia of the company rotating slowly over it.

Sangela glanced around herself, her thumb rubbing along her lips as she tried to rid herself of the dust. “Hybrid Guard Sangela Orlinas. I am here on routine inspection.” She said, her voice echoing slightly against the marble floors and halls. Above her the ceiling was domed and carved with intricate statues depicting characters from ancient Marlek myths.

“One moment.” The voice said.

Within a few seconds a panel on the wall from her left separated itself from the rest and opened into a large hallway. The construction of this building was definitely suspicious of a leader who has things to hide. It was built like some sort of high profile government building, not exactly typical for corporations; even large ones. Sangela felt a nervous stirring in her gut but maintained her composure. Lorth had said Roko had a short fuse, and was clearly paranoid. She arrived at the end of the hallway where she was faced with another white wall.

“Please place your hand on the designated pad.” The feminine voice said as a green square illuminated and rose slightly from the rest of the white wall. Sangela complied, feeling slight warmth against her palm as she was scanned. A few moments later a crease formed in front of her against the wall and a rectangular panel slid open revealing a brightly lit, semi-circular room. The office was adorned with expensive wood paneling, the floor intricately sewn rug filled with reds and blues, traditionally royal colors among the Fanacta and Trugon home world.

Sangela's gaze fell onto a bulky Trugon who sat behind an elaborately carved wooden desk. His tall chair pushed back as he stood, revealing that he was as tall as he was wide, standing a few heads taller than Sangela. He wore an expensive and flamboyant red and blue jacket that had a tall collar that rose around his neck while the back dropped nearly to the ground behind him like a cape.

“Welcome. You must be the Guard Lorth told me about.” Roko said, his voice was deep, very fitting for a creature of his size.

Sangela nodded, “Yes, I have the permit for this inspe-”

Roko waved his hand, “Yes, Yes. Lorth told me you had the paperwork.” He walked towards the wall on his left and placed his hand onto a lever, “He did not, however, mention that you were such a lovely creature.” He pulled the lever down, the walls behind his desk suddenly sliding away revealing a wide window.

“Oh. Thank you.” Sangela said, forcing a smile. His mannerisms and posture alluded to the fact that this Trugon reeked of a very peculiar confidence. It was not the same confidence shared by attractive men in a bar or club, Sangela was very used to that. No, Roko seemed to have the confidence of some sort of ancient king, he seemed to know that -at least on this world- he could have anything he wanted. Or perhaps Sangela was just biased from the stories she was told.

“So, this is a routine check up?” Roko continued, still facing away from Sangela, staring out the window.

Sangela took several steps forward, now able to see what lied below the window. A massive crater ripped from the earth in a circular design that dropped far below the viewable plain of the bottom of the window. The crater was filled with machinery and ships carrying materials in or out live some sort of massive bee hive. “Yes, all settlements like this are required to undergo a simple check over to make sure everything is safe.”

“I see.” Roko said, his hand rising beneath his chin, his fingertips grasping a tuft of fur. “Well. I suppose it makes sense. Mining facilities can be dangerous if not regulated properly.” He chuckled to himself, “But I assure you my facilities are running both efficiently and safely.” He turned back towards Sangela, “But I assume you need to see for yourself.” He stepped away from the window towards the opposite wall and opened a panel revealing several outfits hanging from a bar that ran across the interior of the closet. “Here, take one of these. Unfortunately it is going to be a dusty trip.” He then opened the panel beside the first where visibly larger outfits hung. He removed one and slung a large cloak like jacket over his expensive clothes. The jacket had an even large collar with what looked like a scarf that could be draped over his muzzle. He then removed a head piece and draped it over his tall ears, it formed what looked like two cones where his ears would have been with a pair of goggles that he could pull down.

Sangela examined the clothes she was offered, “Thank you.” As she put on her own cloak she wondered if Johnny was making progress.

~ ~ ~ ~

Johnny felt relieved to stand on his own two feet again. Lorth had taken him to a secluded rear entrance where it would be easy for Johnny to get inside unnoticed. He stared up at the creature who crouched down over him. “Alright. I'm ready.” He said with a nod.

“My contact will be here soon.” Lorth said, “Time is a factor.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Johnny muttered, turning to face the doorway. As Lorth promised a figure soon appeared behind the foggy glass, the door opened to reveal a man not much older than Johnny. He stared towards Johnny for a few moments, clearly nervous about what was about to happen, but he nodded his head and widened the door to invite the heavily armored Guard inside.

“She should be in her quarters.” The man said quietly. As they stepped inside. “On the top floor.” The hallways were dimly lit and filthy. The atmosphere penetrated the building whenever possible, leaving the once white tile floors and walls stained brown and red. A fine mat of dust crunched beneath Johnny's heavy boots. Occasional quakes shook the walls, causing the lights to flicker.

“Do we have any eyes on her?” Johnny asked as they apporached an elevator.

“My brother is keeping watch in her hallway, if she leaves we'll know.”

“Good.” Johnny said with a nod. He entered the elevator, “Start getting everyone ready. This wont take long.”

“I hope you're right.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kikata strode into a familiar landing bay, a long flight of stairs carrying her away from the bustling ships and into a wide hallway. “I certainly hope your brother knows what he's doing.” Kikata said quietly to Richard who sat upon her shoulder in his usual spot.

“I think he's got a good idea.” Richard said, gazing down towards her right hand where she had concealed Issac in one of her handbags. “Do you know what you're doing?” He asked, glancing up towards her.

“Should be easy.” She replied. She stopped beside a dark room, “This should be it.” She glanced around herself cautiously before placing her hand on the white pad by the door. She sighed as her clearance level granted her access to the room. The lock clicked open and she was able to move inside.

“What is this place?” Richard asked, looking curiously towards the tall, plastic structures around the room.

“It's a server room.” Kikata explained, “All the data that we are after should be stored in these computers.” She lifted her bag and opened it, “Issac, are you ready?”

Issac rubbed his eye as light finally flooded around him, two golden eyes peering down towards him. “Yeah. Just put me within arms reach of the server tower.”

“Does it matter which one?” She asked, carefully dipping her hand inside the bag so Issac could climb on.

“It shouldn't.” Issac said, taking hold of one of Kikata's fingers before pulling himself up so he could stand on her palm. His stomach lurched as he was pulled from the confines of the bag. He held onto her finger tightly as she hovered her hand over one of the small tables that held a server tower.

“This work?” Kikata asked as the back of her hand touched down on the cool table.

Issac nodded his head, “Yeah. How long do I have?”

Kikata shrugged, watching as issac hopped off her hand and onto the table, “We should be able to keep her busy for a while. Just send me a message when you are done and I will excuse myself to the ladies room and pick you up.”

Richard laughed, “Sounds like a solid plan to me. Just make sure to close your bag up tight when you go to the ladies room.”

Kikata rolled her eyes, unable to scold Richard from where he sat, “Right, well. Good luck Issac.”

Issac took a deep breath, doing his best to keep his knees and hands from shaking as he watched Kikata disappear from sight. Fear only made up a small part of what he was feeling, the excitement jolted him so vigorously that he had trouble controlling his motor functions. Generally he only felt this way when interacting with a beautiful girl. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, reaching into his pocket to take out his new toy as well as his computer. He moved towards the server tower, to him it nearly resembled some sort of massive building, its insides constructed of wired pathways with walls of complex motherboards. He made his way around to the back of the server, glad to see there were some wires running within arms reach before dropping through the table to the ground so far below. In his left hand he held his computer, which he turned over so the screen laid flat agains this palm. With his right hand he took the device, he slid the power lock with his thumb, the center plastic piece suddenly illuminating a cool blue. He smiled as he let the threads from one end of the device touch against the back of his computer. A red circle appeared on the side of the glowing plastic tube, he touched his thumb against it. As soon as he did the limp threads suddenly stiffened, latching themselves onto the back of the computer like some sort of tentacled creature. With his computer successfully connected he turned it over, the program that he used to run the device had automatically opened. He placed leaned out over the slight opening at his feet that fed the wires beneath the table and held the stiffened threads of the device towards the computers wires. Once they were in range a red button illuminated on his screen. Issac pressed the button, watching happily as the threads attached themselves to the comptuer. “And we're in.” He whispered

~ ~ ~ ~

Kikata walked swiftly through the empty hallways of the station, “Maybe we should have left you behind with your brother. You know, to be safe.” Kikata said quietly.

Richard shrugged, “I don't know. It might be suspicious if you were to come here alone. We want to seem normal, right?”

Kikata winced, “I suppose. I'm sure Kina is very excited to see you, anyway.”

“Don't start with that.” Richard said, sensing tension in Kikata's voice. “We've been friends with Kina for years now.”

Kikata sighed, “I guess. Though I am still concerned about Issac.”

“He's a tough kid. I'm sure nothing will happen, and he's smart enough to handle himself. Besides, I think he is getting a kick out of this. I haven't seen him so excited to do something since he got his first computer.”

Kikata laughed softly, “I have trouble telling his excited self from his regular self.”

“You'll learn to read him eventually.”

Kikata eyed a door coming up on her right, “Okay, here we are.” She placed her hand on the pad, and a moment later the door slid open. Her eyes darted briefly around the room which was lavishly decorated with a seemingly random assortment of artwork or antiques, before finally spotting Kina.

“Kikata!” Kina said excitedly, standing up from her desk. She wore a familiar tube top style dress and high heels, which clacked loudly upon the floor as she hurried over towards Kikata. Her hair had grown longer and she no longer kept a blue streak dyed in it. She was still, however, beautiful. Kina's dark eyes dropped to Richard upon Kikata's shoulder, “And Richard.” She smiled brightly, sending a jealous quiver down Kikata's spine, “You guys look great.”

Kikata returned the smile, “Thanks. You do too.”

Kina laughed, her hands falling to her hips, “Not so easy anymore, huh?” She took a step back and and swept a hand towards her desk, which had two padded chairs set in front of it, “Please sit down. So much to catch up on.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Johnny could feel his heart racing against the tight confines of his armor. His thumb grazing gently against the weapon he had holstered on his hip. In his mind he ran through the motions of using it over and over. He had fired it in training, though only several times. It was considered an easy to operate weapon, designed so that small shop owners and lowly qualified security guards had access to non-lethal technology. Despite this fact he was still nervous that in the heat of the moment he would draw a blank and misfire the weapon, giving the subject enough time to contact Roko and blow their entire operation, quite literally.

The elevator came to a halt finally at the top floor and Johnny exited cautiously. He turned his head to either side, noticing a younger, teenage boy leaning up on one of the far walls. Johnny rose his hand to guage some sort of reaction from him, thinking he must be the brother of the man from downstairs. The boy nodded his head and pointed towards the opposite end of the hall. Johnny's hand curled shut and twisted, giving the boy a thumbs up before turning away from him. He made his way down the hall quickly, until he finally arrived at the subjects door. He hesitated for another moment, quickly running through the motions one last time before placing his gloved hand on the pad. If the systems were working properly Johnny's suit would override the locks. The scan seemed to take forever in Johnny's mind, though after a few seconds the door slid open.

Johnny entered the room silently, drawing the weapon from his hip. It resembled something like a sawed off shotgun, though instead of shells it was loaded with a powerful charge cell. The room he entered seemed to be one of several in the apartment, he figured this place must be considerably nicer than the other homes in the building. He skimmed through his HUD's sensory displays, he found the heat display and saw a figure surrounded by warm movement, she must have been in the shower. He continued to hold the weapon out in front of his chest as he entered a hallway towards the back of the apartment, switching the heat sensors off so he could see more clearly. Audio bars at the bottom of his HUD began to jump and wiggle as the sounds emanating from the bathroom reached his microphones, he was close now.

A thin cloud of steam wafted out of the partly open bathroom door. The sound of water splashing against skin was suddenly cut off. Johnny held his breath, wondering if his presence was known. After a few moments he heard the shuffling of a towel, so he once again pressed forward. He stared at the doorway, convincing himself that it was time to finally do this. He gritted his teeth and kicked the door completely open. “Put your hands up!” He shouted, hearing his own robotized voice echoing throughout the apartment.

The woman, or girl rather by the looks of it, screamed and whirled towards him while clutching her towel to her chest. She backed away from Johnny, her eyes falling down to the weapon he held in his hand. “W-Who are you? What do you want?!” She shrieked. She was a pretty young thing, no older than eighteen. She had bright blonde hair, with large blue eyes. Her pouty lips quivered as she shared her glanced between the firearm and the armored figure before her.

Johnny had trouble putting this girls face to the terrible deeds she was allegedly apart of. “Don't move.” Johnny ordered, “And keep your hands within sight.”

“Please don't kill me.” She whimpered, “R-Roko will make you pay!” She said, gaining a bit of her composure as she seemed to remind herself of who she was. “If you lay a hand on me I promise-”

“Shut up and stay still.” Johnny said. Stepping further into the bathroom so he could check around for her computer. If he could get a hold of her computer he wouldn't have to use the weapon on her. Regardless of whether he wanted too or not, he had to follow protocol or else risk punishment for unfair treatment of a prisoner. After checking the counter top twice over he was convinced the computer was not in here. He backed out of the door and kept the weapon aimed towards her, “Step out of the bathroom. Slowly. Any sudden movements and you give me the right to use this thing.”

“What do you want?” She asked bitterly, “Money?”

“Nope. Just doing my job.” Johnny said, it felt strange to be talking with the subject. Until this point he had only spoken face to face with friends, acquaintances, and perhaps a few enemies.

“Roko told me someone like you would come.” She said, “Your jealousy is going to get you killed, very painfully.”

“I assure you I'm not jealous.” Johnny said, “Now I wont take you naked, walk to your room, or wherever you keep your clothes. Slowly.” He said, once again urging her not to make him pull the trigger.

“I saw Roko swallow a Goonta, alive and whole. Said she lasted a full two days in his stomach. Not a pleasant death I assure you. That was the last one to try and hurt me. He takes care of me.”

“That so?” Johnny asked with a smirk.

“I bet he'll let me help when he deals with you.”

“Oh I doubt he will be dealing with me. By now he's probably in chains. Sorry to burst your bubble.” Johnny got the feeling that this girl was brainwashed. Roko must have groomed her from a child, he didn't want to think of how young she was when he made her a sexual slave. Roko sounded more like some barbarian king rather than a CEO of a large mining company.

“A lot of fools thought they could overtake Roko. He's the most powerful Marlek in the solar system, probably the entire universe. I was lucky enough to see many of them get what they had coming.” The girl continued as she entered her bedroom. She was starting to sound like a religious zealot.

“Stop.” Johnny said after she had taken a few steps into her room. He walked past her and started to search the room for her computer. As he did he heard the sudden shuffle of feet. He turned, his eyes wide as she ran for the table by her bed. He hardly believed that he was the one who pulled the trigger when he did. It was as if he briefly became another person just long enough to aim and squeeze. A blue wave streaked across the room with a violent sounding boom, the air within it seeming to warp the air it touched. The girl went air bourn, colliding with the wall before falling rigidly to the floor. Her towel had been blown off her figure and lie on the floor beneath her. The only movement was her chest heaving up and down, her eyes stared widely at the ceiling unblinking.

“I told you not to move.” Johnny muttered as he stepped over the girl, picking up her computer for the table. He debated smashing it, though decided that it would be better to play it safe and let it be.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sangela gazed out upon the mining site. She was unsure if she had ever seen such a massive maze of structures. The opening to the sky above looked small now, but she knew that it was in reality miles over their heads. Old mining sites that had been completely tapped were sealed off by massive stone walls, meant to ensure the stability of the mine shaft. Workstations stood out against the dark earth like windows in a massive skyscraper. Various pipes and shafts clung to the walls and spiderwebbed their way back up towards the entrance.

“How deep can these things go?” She asked, clutching her coat as the wind of a small transport ship blew past them as it made its way to the surface.

“Deep.” Roko said with a deep laugh, “This one is about eighty percent complete. We have sixteen similar sites on this planet. Our philosophy is that we dig deep before stretching out. There are many, many miles of horizontal shafts spreading out from the main, vertical shaft. This way we maintain the land on the surface while getting the highest efficiency down below.”

“I see.” Sangela said. She had felt rather dumb throughout the entire trip, since she had no previous knowledge about mining or business in general. She was running low on made up questions to ask but simply insisted to see as much as possible. She felt her computer vibrate briefly. She glanced down towards it and read the message.

“Cats bagged.” Said the brief message from Johnny.

Sangela was glad her slight smile was hidden behind the mask draped over her face.

“So, what else do you need to know?” Roko asked, facing Sangela squarely. “Not that I don't enjoy spending the day with a creature as beautiful as yourself. I have always had a fascination with women like you.”

Sangela had trouble holding back a laugh, “Woman like me?” She asked.

“Women in a position of authority such as yourself. So delicate, yet so powerful.”

<i>Test me and see how delicate I am.</i> Sangela thought to herself, “Well thank you.” She said. They stood silently for a few awkward moments. She cleared her throat, “I suppose we should take a look at your record books. Make sure they are in order.”

“Eager to get back inside hmm?” Roko said with an unnerving chuckle.

~ ~ ~ ~

Johnny had managed to get the frantic, yet mostly immobile girl into some clothes and out the door. He reconnected with the man he had met downstairs and began the evacuation process while keeping the girl under control.

“He isn't going to let you die quickly!” She spat as she resisted Johnny's pushing towards the roof exit. Her eyes were partly red as the blast had burst several blood vessels and there was a smudge of dried blood under her nostrils from when she hit the wall, though she was other wise unharmed. “When he hears what you did to me. <i>no one</i> but him may disrobe me. I'll tell him you raped me. He'll strap you to a condom and-”

“Want me to blast you again?” Johnny asked between clenched teeth.

“You're smart enough to keep me alive. What do I care. You think you will get away with this?” She laughed, “I cannot wait to watch you squirm and beg.”

Johnny didn't see much point to arguing anymore. Finally he reached the exit. He slapped his hand agains the pad and stepped back as a massive doorway rolled away revealing the roof. Powerful jet streams sent dusty wind howling into the hallway. The landing ramp of a massive ship waited for them, a line of humans rushed inside from one of the other rooftop exits. A familiar figure stood off to the side of the ramp, towering over the masses of humans.

“L-Lorth?” The girl gasped. “Lorth!” She shrieked, “What are you doing?! You will destroy us all!” She nearly collapsed to her knees had Johnny not caught her by the arm. She began to sob pathetically, her feet more sliding than walking as they hopped up onto the landing ramp.

“What's our progress?” Johnny called up to Lorth who now crouched to see them.

“About halfway there. Another twenty minutes and the building could be clear.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“What on earth...” Roko whispered as their shuttle flew them past a building that was considerably smaller than most of the buildings in the city. A massive ship hovered just over it, its landing ramp lowered into the buildings roof.

Sangela felt her gun to her thigh as Roko reached into his pocket. Could he trigger the explosives from his computer? It wasn't a chance worth taking. “Hands up!”

Roko froze, turning to face Sangela. “What-”

“Do as I say.” Sangela urged. She reached into the coat she had received from Roko and unholstered the weapon she had on her thigh.

Roko stood silently with his hands held slightly over his waist. He glanced back over his shoulder to the human building, “I see...it was a trick.” He smirked.

“Up.” Sangela ordered, raising her weapon slightly as she spoke.

Roko complied, “You are making a big mistake, little girl. I do these humans a favor by letting them work on this planet. They were in no danger until you arrived.”

“I don't want to hear your shit.” Sangela growled. “The evidence will speak for you when you are taken to court.”

Roko laughed, “Court?”

“The law is not yours to make.” Sangela said. “Put your hands on the glass.” She said, motioning to the window behind him.

“Foolish, foolish girl.” Roko grumbled as he continued to comply. He turned away from Sangela and put his clawed hands onto the glass.

Sangela stepped forwards, her weapon hand lowering as she started to sift through the large Marleks pockets. She finally found his computer and began to lift it from his deep pocket. Suddenly Roko dropped his elbow, striking Sangela in the chest with a powerful blow that sent her stumbling backwards. The computer flew from Sangela's hand and landed on the floor beneath one of the seats of the shuttle. Sangela tried to regain her balance but Roko moved quickly, striking her in the forehead with his clawed hand. She cried out as a searing pain pierced her upper forehead above her right eye. She fell to the floor in a dazy, watching as Roko dashed for his computer.

“Stop!” She said, lifting the weapon. She squinted, trying to maintain her composure, “I said stop or I'll shoot!” She shrieked. She rose to her knees, watching as Roko reached for the computer. She pulled the trigger. Roko roared as he fell to his stomach, Sangela fired again, hitting Roko in the arm. The blood was already pooling from the wound in his lower back. Sangela rushed towards him, grabbing his leg and pulling him backwards with all her might away from the computer. She kept the weapon pointed towards him as she leaned down to collect the computer. Once she had the computer safely away from Roko she took out her own computer and sent out a distress signal for a medical crew.

~ ~ ~ ~

Kikata felt her computer vibrate. She tried not to seem so urgent as she took it out hoping to see a message from Issac. She was surprised to see instead an incoming call from headquarters. “Oh, um, excuse me.” She said as she rose from her seat.

Kina smiled as Kikata excused herself from the table before turning back towards Richard, “Sounds like you guys have a pretty cool deal. I've been feeling cramped here at base lately.”

Richard shrugged, “It can get pretty cramped on a ship too, though not nearly as bad as those old Nova Guard ships.”

Kina laughed, “I can imagine. Kikata was lucky you were so small and easy to manage back then. I think she might have gone crazy sharing such a small ship with another Neko.” Kina's eyes shifted back towards Kikata who returned to the table.

“Richard, we have to go debrief two of our students. Big bust apparently.” Kikata said, placing her hand down onto the table. “We'll be back shortly Kina.”

Kina smiled, “Of course.” Her eyes dropped to her own computer as she received a message.

~ ~ ~ ~

Issac did not notice as the door of the server room opened. He continued to work on locating Prila's signal. He was getting close now. Very close. His neck hair stood on end however as he heard the loud clacking of massive footsteps. He turned to see a very curvy figure in a black tube top like dress arriving behind him. Whoever it was would have been a very good sight to see in different circumstances. The stunning Fela spoke, though he could not understand what she said.

“I...uh.” He sputtered.

The Fela spoke again, leaning towards him in a way that made it very difficult not to stare into the canyon of cleavage she displayed before him.

“I don't understand.” Issac said, speaking a little louder.

“English? This far out?” The Fela said, her lips curling in a smirk, “You've put yourself into a poorly thought out situation.”

Issac tried to speak again but he was suddenly enveloped by the Fela's hand. He screamed, losing grip of his computer which now hung by the threads of his device on the wires. Blackness surrounded him briefly before he felt air beneath his feet. He dropped a short distance onto the hard floor. He rolled onto his back, staring now a very long way up as the Fela rose to her full height.

“You think because you are small you can bypass our security? Your group...whoever you are, might have hacked a few of the smaller stations but I am afraid you have picked a fight with a much larger animal.” She laughed, “I am sure you feel pretty stupid now.” She thrust her hip to the side as she playfully tapped her chin, “Now what could I possibly do to you.”

“Wait!” Issac shouted. Watching in horror as the Fela slipped her left foot out of her high heel. He tried to scramble backwards but her massive foot fell over him in nearly an instant. Her toes pressed down on his stomach roughly, but not painfully. He attempted to squirm but the pressure was soon becoming too tight. He nearly thought he was done for, just like that. A miniscule insignificance easily snuffed out by this woman's big toe. But she lifted her leg.

“Aw, scared?” The woman cooed sarcastically.

“Richard and Kikata!” Issac sputtered as quickly as he could.

The Fela blinked, “What?”

“I'm here with them. I'm Richard's brother.”

“Well...I am certainly going to need a better explanation than that.” She said, before once again gathering Issac into her hand.  

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<i>Nova Force Season 2: Episode 4 part 4</i>

“Would you relax?” Johnny said, shifting in his pilots chair uncomfortably after yet another waft of air flowed from Sangela's nostril and buffeted him below.

Sanglea glanced down to the human who was seated in front of her own pilots chair on his designated platform in the cockpit. “Sorry.” She muttered. They were waiting for Kikata and Richard to connect with their computer so they could discuss the events that had unfolded earlier. It was a standard debriefing protocol, the first Sangela and Johnny had taken part in. “It's just I know that bitch is going to peg something on me.”

“You did nothing wrong.” Johnny said, rolling his eyes.

“What if he died?” Sangela asked.

“What if he did? You had every reason to shoot the guy on the spot.”

“Yes but-” Sangela was cut off as a blinking light appeared on the screen followed by a musical tone, signaling that they were being called into the debriefing channel.

“Ready?” Johnny asked, craning his neck so he could see Sangela. She nodded, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes. Johnny shook his head and accepted the call. After a moments pause their display screen showed Kikata's and Richard's faces in two separate windows.

“Hello, Sangela, Johnathan.” Said the voice of Kikata.

“Hello sir.” Johnny replied, Sangela remained silent.

“This is an interesting report.” Richard said, his eyes darting side to side as he read over the details. “We have been informed on the basics, but we just want to go over it all again with you two to make sure we have everything right.”

Both Sangela and Johnny nodded.

“So it says here you met with your informant during a short leave period earlier this week?” Richard asked.

“He approached me at the bar we met with our class mates.” Sangela said, trying hard to keep her voice calm.

“And you acted without mentioning anything to anyone?” Kikata asked.

Sangela fought the urge to cringe, “That's correct. Lorth told us secrecy was important so we thought it best to get in there without telling anyone until we knew more.”

“And once you knew the situation?” Kikata continued.

Sangela opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak. Johnny spoke instead, “Time was a factor. We had no idea Lorth wanted to act the very hour we arrived.”

“I see.” Kikata said, “And you two were not together during these events?”

“We had to split up.” Sangela explained, “It was my job to keep the president occupied while my partner secured a possible threat in the human facilities before they evacuated the building.”

“And how did that go, John?” Richard asked.

“Not as smoothly as I wanted, but no one was killed.” Johnny said with a shrug.

“It says here an eighteen year old girl was given some minor medical treatment during her holding?”

“I had to use my pulse cannon on her.” Johnny explained, “She made a break for her computer, which as far as we knew was a potential trigger for the explosives set in the human facilities. That's why my partner-”

“We'll get to that.” Kikata said.

Sangela felt a heavy sinking in her chest. Johnny had made the decision to carry a non-fatal firearm, she had only carried with her a weapon that was designed to kill if used properly. “A-Any word on his condition?” Sangela asked.

“The president?” Kikata asked.

“Yes.”

“Died of his wounds.” Kikata stated plainly. The feed went silent for a few seconds as everyone seemed to process that bit of information. “Would you please describe the events leading up to the shooting?”

Sangela swallowed nervously but nodded, “I had been pretending to be on routine inspection, that was Lorth's plan, not ours, but it was too late to make any sudden changes. Roko was expecting a guard to come through on inspection.” Sangela could feel her palms growing moist as she retold the story, “Everything was going fine. But then on a shuttle flight from one of the mining facilities we happened to pass over the human facilities. He saw the evacuation ships and put two and two together. I saw him reaching for his pocket so I drew the firearm on him and told him to put his hands up. He complied until I started to search him. He struck me twice, I think, and tried to get his computer which had been thrown across the shuttle. I told him to stop. When he did not comply I fired. He continued to reach for the device on the ground so I shot him again in the arm.”

“I see.” Kikata said, her eyes too seeming to scan over whatever information had been relayed to them.

Sangela fidgeted, “Look I knew I could have-”

Richard held up his hand, “You're not in trouble. As the evidence stands you were perfectly in line.”

“Okay.” Sangela said with a sigh.

“It appears your informant, however, has turned himself in to the authorities. So you two will likely need to attend a hearing.” Kikata said, she glanced between the two guards on her screen and gave a reassuring smile, “We are very proud of you two. I would not be surprised if there were to be an awards ceremony after the trial.”

“We did what we had too.” Johnny said, a grin forming over his lips. He glanced down to his screen where he could see Sangela's reflection behind him, clearly relieved.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Well that went well.” Kikata said as she finally stood from her pilots seat. “We better check in on Issac.”

“Probably right. He's probably pretty confused why we've taken so long. Any word from him?” Richard asked, climbing up onto Kikata's palm as she offered it to him.

Kikata checked her computer with her free hand, “Nothing yet.”

“Still probably a good idea to swing by that room anyway, on our way back to Kina anyways.”

“Agreed.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“So.” Kina said, her arms folded under her chest, “Care explaining what is going on in here?”

“Maybe better to wait until my brother and Kikata get here.” Issac said, he found it impossible to keep his knees from shaking, even now when he had been put back onto the table. The dread of being so helpless to defend himself from the titanic woman had been nearly overwhelming. How easy it would have been for her to apply just a fraction of extra weight that would have snuffed him out. He flinched as she leaned forward, her once deadly appearance made it difficult for him to appreciate how beautiful she was.

“Alright.” She said, her tone still carried a little bitterness but overall she had softened substantially. “Look, um. Let's not bring up the little...incident. With you on the floor and all.”

“Whatever you want.” Issac said, “I won't say a thing. I mean not that-”

“It's not like you were in any real danger. I was just trying to scare you, is all. A little frowned upon I know, using my size to interrogate, but things have been a little...conspicuous, lately.”

“I-” Issac was cut off as there was a clicking at the door.

Kina's expression grew stern again as she stood back to full height. She faced the door, her eyes falling onto Kikata who stared back at her with a wide gaze. Clearly she was not expecting to see Kina standing there next to Issac. “Well this is interesting, Kikata. Richard.” Kina said, her hands clasping behind her back. “I received a message of a possible intruder in the server room and I was shocked to discover your engineer tinkering with one of the server towers.”

“It's...It's not as bad as it seems.” Kikata said, taking a cautious step forward.

“I'm honestly not even sure how to see this. Just give me a straight answer. What are you guys up too?”

~ ~ ~ ~

“See. I fuckin' told you.” Johnny said as he walked out onto the elevated platform on top of Sangela's own table in the common area of their ship.

Sangela rolled her eyes, “I'm sorry for being nervous.” Her elbow fell onto the table beside the platform as she huffed another long sigh.

“Would ya' quit breathing on me, dude?” Johnny called up to his large partner after the blast of wind that was her breath rolled past him, “Feel like I'm in a wind tunnel today.”

Sangela shrugged, “Sorry. Does my breath stink?” She asked, holding her palm up to her mouth.

Johnny considered teasing her more but figured she had a rough enough day already, “Nah, you're fine.”

Sangela smiled towards Johnny briefly before her eyes trailed elsewhere around the room as she lost herself in thought. Her smile slowly faded.

“What a day, huh?” Johnny finally asked to break the silence.

“Seriously.” Sangela responded. “You know. I thought I'd be, like, really excited after this all calmed down. But I just feel...” She held up her hands as she tried to think of a word, “I don't know. How are you supposed to feel when you learn you killed someone?”

“You did what you had to do.” Johnny insisted.

“Yeah but, it could have gone differently.”

“A couple thousand humans, including myself, could have died.” Johnny said, “You saved my ass today and I didn't even know until afterwards. Roko is the one who fucked up. And from what I heard you gave him a quicker death than he deserved.”

“Maybe...” Sangela said softly, “I guess we do have something to be proud of. It's just not what I was expecting.”

Johnny scratched the back of his head as he shrugged, “I know what you mean. Things are feeling pretty real right now.” He shook his head, “Kind of scary to know a place like that can exist still.”

Sangela nodded, “I suppose it's unavoidable though...I mean unless the Alliance assumed complete control of everything.”

“And then that would be no fun at all.” Johnny said with a laugh.

“Man, that poor girl though...”

“The one you blasted?”

“Yeah. The blasting was hilarious. But the things she said, it was like talking to a lunatic.” Johnny shuddered, “The stuff that guy did to people, disgusting.”

“He was pretty off. You should have seen the way he dressed, and talked. Half the time I felt like a piece of meat he was drooling over.”

“Well who could blame him. I wish crazy dictators oogled over me every once in a while.”

Sangela laughed, “Um, sure. I would gladly trade places with you.”

“Deal. I could be the big one for once.”

Sangela shook her head, “No way. I like having a little partner.”

“Makes me feel like I'm a pet sometimes.”

“Yeah right, who do you think I am? Kikata? Let me carry you around on my shoulder all day. No, you are like a little secret weapon I have. Sneak you into a fight and have you pop out, cannons at the ready.”

“Oh yeah? How do you plan on sneaking me in?” Johnny asked with a laugh.

Sangela scoffed “Anything <i>except</i> for what you're thinking.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“Why didn't you just tell me?” Kina asked.

“We decided that the fewer people that know, the better.” Kikata explained.

“Well you have to tell <i>someone</i>. I would have helped no questions asked. Though connecting to Prila's old signal would be very tricky.” Kina said shaking her head.

“I almost had it.” Issac said, “If you are okay with it...I can pull it up in no time. I'm still hooked in.”

Kina stared down at Issac for a few moments, “Well...I suppose if you are already in.”

Issac backed away towards where his computer hung from the wires, “It wont take long.” He promised before turning towards his computer. He leaned out over the circular opening and took hold of his computer.

Richard folded his arms and looked over his brothers shoulder, “So, this is the device huh?”

“Yeah.” Issac said.

“You know, I was kind of curious as to exactly <i>what</i> you were doing back there.”

“It doesn't connect through the network like a regular computer.” Issac said, his finger tips tapping along his screen, “It goes around.”

“I see...” Kina said, now leaning curiously over the table.

“I tried to wrap my mind around it myself.” Kikata said, “Doesn't make much sense to me.”

“I get the feeling that we shouldn't tell anyone about it, regardless.” Kina said.

“That's the idea.” Richard called over his shoulder.

Issac blinked as he finally found what he was looking for, “I'm in.”

Kikata held her breath, “Can you display it so we can all see?” Kikata asked.

“One second.” Issac said, he repositioned himself so he could direct the computers camera, which also doubled as a projection screen, towards the flat black surface of the table. He engaged the projector and soon his screen was displayed widely at he and Richards feet. “Okay, here is Prila's signal...it's weak. Only the heart rate monitor is loading.”

The room went silent. The thin line labeled as the heart rate remained flat. Ten seconds went by. Then twenty. Then thirty.

“I-Is it-” Kikata started, her heart aching yet racing at the same time as the line did not move. But as she spoke the line suddenly jumped. “So slow?” she asked, feeling slightly relieved to see movement.

They waited another forty seconds, and once again the heart monitor recorded a beat. “Could it be that the signal is so far off that it just appears slow?” Kina asked.

“No.” Issac said, “That wouldn't effect it.”

Kikata bit her lip as she continued to stare at the projected screen. Prila was alive. That much was certain. She had always claimed to know for sure that this was true, but in truth she always had doubts. But now she knew. But why the slow heart rate? What had Prila gotten herself into? Who had taken her? “Can we trace the signal?” Kikata asked.

“We can try.” Issac said. “By their nature these signals get scrambled, and can be hard to trace...especially after it has been discontinued.”

“Privacy policies for retired guards.” Kina added. She bit her lip, as she thought, “I wonder...”

“Yes?” Kikata asked.

“Three of our stations have been hacked into recently. All fairly close to Teralist, and one even Prila was employed with. This has all happened fairly recently, I'm guessing not too far from when Prila went missing. It's a long shot...but maybe they are connected?”

“The more we learn the less it makes sense...nothing would surprise me at this point.” Kikata said.

<i>Business of Politics</i>

“Mmm.” Kikata's voice hummed pleasantly as she lay upon her stomach in her room, feeling a soothing warm sensation tingle over a new section of her back. Tiny steps sent tingles over her increasingly sensitive skin. “This feels so nice.”

Richard smiled, holding a sort of mop like tool in his hands which he used to spread a white colored massage gel over Kikata's lower back. He didn't bother replying to her compliments, from here he would have to raise his voice to actually speak with her. His bare feet practically slid across her smooth, and now slick skin as he gathered some more of the gel in front of the mop before making his way towards the right side of her torso. He glanced over to the area that he had already completed, catching a glimpse of her still shining rear end, perhaps one of his favorite areas whenever he did this, whenever her tail moved out of the way. To some it may have been seen as a chore, but he rarely refused an opportunity to lather his losolo like this. Sure his arms got a little tired, though that was a regular occurrence for him when pleasuring Kikata, but the satisfaction numbed whatever hardship it brought him. Pleasing Kikata was unlike anything he would have known before her. He was too small to hold her, to cradle her gently in his arms. In some ways the roles of masculinity had to be changed. It was times like this that he felt like he was serving a goddess, and the view around him certainly strengthened this idea. Beautiful, smooth skin surrounded him with such a scenic landscape that would slope over pleasant hills into the distance. And then to know this landscape loved him in return. To know that it held so much potential power over him, but would only treat him gently and would in fact work to please him. It made him not miss being the larger and stronger one.

Eventually, as time rolled by, Richard was able to sit himself down on Kikata's shoulder, her freshly coated skin radiated heat which made for a very comfortable bed for him to rest on. “Fall asleep?” He asked.

“Mmm. Not this time.” Kikata said softly. Her eyes remained closed as she rested the left side of her head on the pillow, her arms buried beneath it. “Girls don't know what they're missing. Thank you, lolo.”

Richard smiled to himself and closed his own eyes, “You earned it.”

Kikata's lips spread into a wide grin, “I'll pay you back somehow.”

“Can't wait.”

Kikata laughed lightly, “Well wait a little bit. I don't want to move ever again.” Her eyes opened and her neck arched so she could glance towards him, “Come kiss me.”

Richard groaned, rolling onto his stomach. He planted his face against her skin, giving it an exaggeratedly big kiss.

“No!” Kikata cried out, “My lips. If I move I'll lose the tingles!”

“Yes my queen.” Richard said slowly getting back to his feet. He slid down her shoulder onto the pillow, grinning as he approached Kikata's face. She closed her eyes, and tilted her chin towards him, puffing her lips out. He placed an arm on her upper lip, the corners of her mouth turning upwards slightly, and then rested his own lips on her bottom lip. Her lips gently scrunched around his head, an embrace that took a little while getting used to so many years ago.

Kikata grinned, her bright white teeth flashing in Richards face, “Cuddles!” She said, lifting her chin slightly so Richard could nestle up against her neck.

~ ~ ~ ~

Issac was surprised to see Atrix sitting down in the community quarters. He was on his way to the gym for what would likely be another half-assed workout. He had given up going with Richard most days, he preferred to do it alone regardless of how little he accomplished.

What was perhaps most surprising was that Atrix, rather than staring purposefully in the opposite direction of him, was looking right towards him. She had her small, fluffy pet on her lap and looked quite nervous.

“Hello.” Issac said, raising his hand in a small wave.

“Hi.” Atrix called back. She brought the small creature to her chest and took a deep breath as she stood up. “Um.” She started, taking a tentative step forward.

“What's up?” Issac asked.

Atrix blinked, glancing around herself nervously before taking another step forward. “I-I.” She said. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, “I just wanted to. Ehh. Say thank you?”

Issac tried not to react to her odd wording. He shrugged his shoulders, “For what?”

Atrix opened her eyes, her thumb rubbing along Jo's back, “For...well, helping with Prila...I'm sorry I'm so bad at this. I'll leave you alone. I'm sure you're busy.”

Issac shook his head, “No I'm not busy at all...And you're welcome, I suppose. I am just doing my part.”

Atrix smiled, quickly, before it disappeared. “Your part? But, you never knew her? Did you?”

Issac shook his head, “Never met her myself. But the way everyone speaks of her, I am sure she is worth the effort. Besides, my job was rather fun until I got caught.”

Atrix's eyes widened, “You got caught?”

Issac laughed, “It was kinda' funny. Looking back on it now...Though at the time I nearly shit myself.” Issac clamped his hand over his mouth, “Oh sorry.”

Atrix eyed him curiously, clearly missing a few of the vocab words, “For?”

“Never mind. So uh, what have you been up too?” Issac said, changing the subject.

Atrix pursed her lips, “Nothing really. I feel kind of out of place. I wish I could have helped.”

“I'm sure we'll need you soon enough.”

Atrix tried to force a smile, but when it didn't really pan out she glanced away from Issac, “So. Prila is definitely alive?”

“Yes.”

Atrix nodded her head slowly, “And do we know where she is?”

Issac frowned, “Not yet. We are attempting to track the signal... And Kina has offered to keep her eyes and ears open for us.”

“Does any of it make sense?”

Issac shook his head, “To me it doesn't. Maybe Richard or Kikata have more of a clue than I do about it. I'm still new at all of this stuff.”

“Yes. I trust them.” Atrix said. Her eyes fell on Issac briefly before once again darting around the room. She was proud that she had made it in the coversation this far, a fact that nearly caused her to relapse into her own mind. She was eager to seem normal, to leave a good impression. “So...” She started, trying to think of where a normal person would take the conversation next, “What are <i>you</i> up too?” She fought the urge to lower her ears, why did she have to emphasize her words so awkwardly?

Issac smiled, “Oh...I was going to go to the gym but-” He shrugged his shoulders, “I'm no good at it. I was glad you were here to give me something else to do.”

Atrix's smile held this time, “Ey!” She exclaimed, it was the Cho languages equivalent to the human phrase, “oh!”

Issac glanced down to the little animal in her hands, “So, who is that?”

Atrix held her hands out from her chest, “Jo.”

“He's cute.”

“Yes. And so soft. Would you like to meet him?” Atrix asked.

“Erm.” Issac took a step back, “Does he bite?”

Atrix shook her head, “No! He wouldn't hurt anyone. He knows better.” She leaned forward slightly and set Jo on the balcony. The creature seemed rather calm at the moment, sniffing idly at the floor and the chair beside him.

Issac took a few tenative steps towards the grizzly bear sized creature, he seemed less intimidating in Atrix's hands. He did his best not to move suddenly. The creature, or Jo as she referred to him, glanced up towards Issac once he was close enough, sniffing at his pants, then his hands, before looking elsewhere, he didn't seem very interested. Issac placed a hand onto Jo's neck, or at least where the neck would be if this pile of fur had one. “He's soft.” Issac said, “He must be all hair.”

Atrix laughed, “You should see him wet.”

Issac chuckled, imagining a dog he had in his childhood that would drop seemingly half its size whenever she got into water. “So how old is he?”

Atrix pursed her lips, “Prila got him sometime last cycle...I'm not really sure how that translates.”

“I think a cycle is something like a year and a half for us...So he's still young.”

Atrix nodded, “Yes. Though I looked after him all the time. Prila was always going on trips.”

Issac glanced up towards Atrix, “You'll have to tell me about her sometime.”

Atrix's smile softened, her gaze seemingly to look beyond him and Jo, “She was...is...great.”

“So I hear.” Issac said lifting his hand from Jo's head, he watched as he started to investigate the rest of the balcony.

“Have you heard much about her?” Atrix asked curiously. She noticed several stools beneath the balcony and pulled one out, her feet unable to touch the ground once she sat herself ontop of it.

Issac shrugged, “Just random stories I guess. And what I've seen on the link.” (The “link” as Issac refers to is a slag term for social networking sites, not so unlike Facebook).

Atrix nodded, she felt a pressure in her chest, but it was not like the usual pain or squirming that she usually got when she tried to hold conversations. She wasn't quite sure where to continue, but she wasn't exactly in a rush to stop talking.

“So uh. I hear we are all going to some big dinner, thing. Apparently Richard's and Kikata's students had some big find, or something. Apparently there's a ceramony.”

“Yes. Kikata told me. She also insisted I attend.” She frowned.

Issac noticed the change in expression and posture in Atrix, the way her ears dipped lower, all body language he wasn't all too familiar with yet. “Not looking forward too it? I hear we were invited to some like, ten star restaurant. I'm kind of curious what that will be like.”

Atrix grew a little nervous, “I-It is not that I do not like nice food, or anything. It is just...” She glanced away from him trying hard not to start fidgeting.

“Don't like the crowds?” Issac asked. He was almost certain that was the answer, as he was aware of her condition and what went along with it.

Atrix's gaze met Issac for a moment before darting away again, “I-I...Yes.”

“I know the feeling.” Issac said, sitting down finally in one of the comfortable chairs closest to the balcony wall.

“You do?” Atrix asked.

“Sure. I mean I hated doing stuff like this when I was younger. My ideal dinner is at home, maybe infront of the computer. I'm not so much like my brother. I am no good at the social scenes or anything like that.”

Atrix was intrigued, “But, you seem like you socialize well?”

Issac laughed, “I've improved. In school I never talked to anyone really. Not unless I had too. I don't think I said a single word to any girl until maybe my senior year of high school.”

“Senior year?” Atrix asked, not quite sure what that meant.

“Oh...sorry. It's like...My last year at the early stages of schooling...I'm not too familiar with Neko education systems so-”

“I think I understand. I didn't really attend regular school though.” Atrix clasped her hands beneath the balcony, “But go on?”

Issac wasn't really sure what she wanted to hear, he rubbed his chin, “Yeah. I mean, my brothers were always sort of popular. They did well in sports, they had highschool girlfriends, all of that. I only had my small group of friends throughout, and we spent most of our time playing video games or anything else that required minimal social activity. And it's not like I regret it, I enjoyed myself. But eventually, you know, I wanted to experience something different. So slowly I became more social. I'm still no good with girls though.”

Atrix nodded her head slowly. She was surprised to hear some of her own experiences being told. She desperately wanted to undergo the change as he had. “I wish I could get better.” She said, she didn't even mean to say it out loud.

Issac looked up towards her, “I'm sure you can. We can start practicing at the dinner?”

“It's so soon though.”

Issac shrugged, “If you get uncomfortable we can just pretend it's just the two of us. You seem comfortable now?”

“Think that will work?”

“Why not. Though I'm not really an expert.”

Atrix laughed. She wasn't sure why it struck her as funny. And perhaps she over did it. But by the time she caught herself she was leant over the balcony. She clamped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Did I...erm...Laugh on you?”

Now Issac laughed, “Laugh on me?”

Atrix kept her hand over her mouth, “Did I breath too hard on you?”

“It must have missed me.” Issac said, though he did infact get hit with a rather large, warm gust of wind.

Atrix lowered her hand, revealing a slight smile, “Oh. Good.” She said.  

"So tell us what you know." A disembodied voice called into a dimly lit, circular gray room. 

Sangella glanced down to Johnny who sat on his own elevated platform below her. He caught her gaze and shrugged. "We do not know much from before we got there." She began, "I wasn't even aware of the settlements existence before Lorth approached me." 

"He made no efforts to contact you before your meeting in Fath'ax?" 

"None whatsoever." Johnny replied. 

"He never went into detail about his dealings prior to recent events?" The voice continued to ask. 

"He only ever mentioned that he held a position beneath Roko, and that he often worked with numbers for the business." Sangella said. She could hardly believe that he was even being brought to trial. Money and paper fraud seemed like such a minor offence compared to the good he did. "If I can say somethin-" 

"Please, only answer the questions asked." 

Johnny glanced back to Sangella, he did not like this anymore than she did. "As my partner said he only told us his position in the company. And that he wanted nothing to do with what Roko was turning the company into." 

"He made no mention of hiding financial gains or losses, settlement industrial projects, population increases or decreases, or supporting the rise of an oppressive government?" 

"He didn't go into any details." Sangella said. 

"He only told us what we needed to know to get everyone out safely." Johnny said. 

"And during your investiagtions did you discover any evidence that would prove any of the charges filed against the defendant?" 

"Time was a factor. We could only focus at the task at hand." Sangella said, placing her palm to her forehead. 

"Understood. Next question...."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"You have been conversing with Atrix a lot recently." Said the voice of Richata, there was no real hint to her emotions, but Issac could not help but think her mind was brewing something. He had, in fact, been talking with Atrix a lot recently. Once he managed to break down her shell a little a few days ago she became easier to approach. And while she still seemed awkward, or nervous, at times, he was happy to see that she was becoming more willing to open up with him. It was a relief especially after the last fiasco Richata caused. 

"Yes. I have." He replied. His eyes scanned over some of the numbers from their last testing session, the data was becoming harder and harder to understand. There was no doubt now that Richata's mind was operating unlike any computer he had seen before. 

"Are you testing with her?" 

Issac's brow furrowed, "Testing? No. Of course not." 

"Oh." 

"Why do you ask?" 

"I enjoy testing." 

"I know." 

"It is...Special to me." 

Issac smirked, "I'm glad to hear." 

The computer seemed to hesitate, perhaps not quite sure how to put its strange and often mysterious thoughts into word, "I would like...that only we do tests." 

"I promise, Richata, you are the only computer I am testing with." Issac was a little troubled by the computers concerns, he certainly did not expect jealousy to crop into her emotions so early. "Have you picked which avatar you want to use?" He asked. The previous day he had implemented a new software that would allow Richata to display herself in a humanoid form. It was mostly for aesthetic value, but he thought it might help the computer gain more of a sense of self. 

"None of the ones you presented felt right." Richata said.

"No?" Issac asked. He wanted Richata to make the decision herself, mostly out of curiosity of what she would pick. 

"I found one on my own." 

"Did you now? Well, let's see it." He said leaning back in his comptuer chair. 

His eyes widened as a female face appeared on the screen. The face was human, of asian decent. Long black hair fell off of the screen where her body would be, and clung to the sides of her well chiseled cheeks. "Do you like it?" She asked, the avatar's mouth moving though the face had not quite figured out accurate emotions quite yet. Issac had a feeling that would change.

"I do."

"Good. I felt like it was me when I found it." 

"Well that's exciting." 

"I was also wondering if I might choose a new name for myself?" Richata asked. 

"Why? Do you not like your given name?" 

"It feels fake. I do not feel that it fits." 

"Well, I suppose yeah, you can pick yourself a new name." 

"Excellent. I am excited. I will inform the crew when I make a decision. But for now, it appears your awaited appointment has arrived. Should I direct her to the community quarters as you previously instructed?" 

"That would be great. Thank you." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix nearly squirmed as she sat and waited in the community quarters. Why did she have to get this damn physical on the same day as the dinner. It was too much for one day. And where was Issac? Wasn't he supposed to get one too? She didn't want to do this alone. Her eyes darted towards the human balcony as Issac stepped between the sliding doors. She sighed with only slight relief. She got to her feet and hurried towards the balcony. "Hi." She said softly. 

"Hey Atrix." Issac said, "Doctors on the way." He and Atrix were due for a checkup to make sure their bodies were acclimating healthily to space travel. While they took medication to combat some of the regular conditions that might arrise from space flight, sometimes the body just isn't fit for it over long periods. 

Atrix nodded, "Okay." 

Issac smiled, he could tell Atrix was under some stress, "It won't take long. Richard said it's a pretty quick check up."

"For a human maybe. What about me?" 

"I'm sure it's the same." 

"How are you-" Atrix was interrupted as the sliding doors opened again. A woman appeared, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. She was attractive, to say the least, her features very well defined even in a rather minimal amount of makeup. She looked to be in her early or mid thirties. 

"Hello." She said, smiling brightly towards Issac and Atrix. "You must be Issac. And you must be...Atrix? Am I pronouncing that right?" 

"Yes." Atrix replied quietly. 

"Good, great. Well I hope not to keep you two long. Unfortunately my partner, who was supposed to examine Atrix, is out today so I will have to do a twofer." She laughed as she made her way to the balcony. "That sound okay?"

Issac shrugged, "Sure." 

"Don't worry, it's a very simple checkup. Generally if you have been feeling healthy it's a good sign your body has already aclimated well by this point. So I'll just ask you guys a few questions, some specifically to either of you. I'll let you know as we go. I am Nichole, by the way" 

"Okay." Issac said. He glanced back to Atrix and did his best at a reassuring smile. 

"Okay, so let's start with an easy one, um, for both of you, any trouble breathing? Have you been experiencing shortness of breath in normal, daily advitities." 

"No." Issac said, Atrix shook her head.

"Good, good. Always a good thing!" She smiled brightly towards them again. "Okay, number two." She snorted to herself, "Pun not intended, but have you experienced any pain while using the bathroom? Or have you noticed any consistent discolorations?" 

"No." Issac said, he could practically feel Atrix's blushing cheeks on the back of his neck, but her answer as well was "No." 

"Great. So far so good. Okay, Issac, have you experienced any changes in your private areas. Severe increases or decreases in activity?" She asked. 

Issac cleared his throat, "Um, no. Everything seems to be normal." 

"Excellent. And Atrix, your turn." Nicole could tell Atrix was not enjoying this specific question, she turned to Issac, "Hey, Issac. Ear muffs please." 

Issac held in a small laugh and clamped his hands over his ears. 

Atrix did her best not to recoile as the tiny woman leaned towards her, oddly her demeanor did help, somewhat, to put her at ease.

"So, Atrix. Have your cycles remained normal?"

Atrix nodded, "Yes." 

"Have you experienced any dryness? Or pain, in your private areas?" 

She shook her head, "No." 

"Good. Great." She bumped Issac's shoe with her foot, "We're good." She said, flashing him a quick smile. "I know no one likes those questions so it is all smooth sailing from here. Sound good?" 

They both nodded. 

"Okay excellent. So Issac, have you experienced any chest pains?"

"No."

"Stomach pain?"

"No." 

"Increase in headaches?"

"No."

"Blurred vission?" 

"No." 

"Okay, great. And Atrix. Have you experienced any pain around your upper abdomen?" 

"No." 

"Pains in your neck?"

"No." 

"Loss of feeling in your ears or tail?" 

"No." 

"Aching pain in your wrists?" 

"No." 

"Okay great. You guys seem like a healthy bunch!" She turned towards Issac, "If you don't mind, and I apologize if my hands are cold, I need to just feel around just a little bit."

"Um, Alright." Issac said. 

"Just a few areas that the body scanners wont really give me a definitive answer." She took a step forward and placed her hands beneath his shirt, feeling his sides on his lower abdomen. "Mmmhmm. Good, good." She said to herself. She lifted her hands to his throat and felt the areas around his adams apple, "Any swelling around here?"

"No." Issac said. 

"Good." She said, dropping her hands back to her side. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a computer. "Okay, Atrix, if you would lean really low for me, get your chin under the balcony?"

Atrix nodded and complied, Her ears unable to remain upright as the doctor focused on her.

"Okay, thanks darling. Now, open wide and say 'ahhh' for me would you?" 

Atrix swallowed nervously but nodded. She opened her mouth as wide as she could, mimicing the sound the doctor made.

Issac stood behind the doctor curiously. It was a strange sight, less gross than he might have imagined as a small light illuminated from the doctors computer and lit up a section in Atrix's throat. 

"Swallow for me, dear?" 

Atrix's throat muscles suddenly contracted, pulling her tongue back as a loud, wet smacking was heard. 

"Great. You can close up. Thank you." 

Atrix stood to full height, her hand wipeing at her lips. 

"Okay, almost done here." Nicole continued. "Issac if you would just stand very still for me until I say otherwise."

"Alright." Issac said. 

"Great." She said, turning the computer over in her hands. 

Issac watched as the doctors hands slowly lowered from pointing towards his head and then down the length of his body. He felt some tingles under his skin, but was mostly made uncomfortable by trying not to fidget during the process. 

"And, we're almost there. Hold your hand out please?" 

Issac held out his hand.

"This might sting just a tiny bit." She said, pulling another device from her pocket. It clasped around his finger naturally, then pinched at his skin. She pulled back and smiled, "Great. All done. Now Atrix could you take just three steps back and then stand still until I ask?" 

"Okay." She mumbled. She took exactly three steps back then closed her eyes. Holding her hands to her sides as the doctor did whatever it was she was doing. 

"Okay, great. Now if you could present me with your hand. I don't think you'll feel a thing." 

Atrix still did not watch as she put her hand in front of the doctor. She didn't feel anything, but she still did not like the idea of someone taking a sample of her. 

"Okay great. Thanks you guys. That was super easy."

"No problem." Issac said, glancing over his shoulder towards Atrix. 

Nichole stared down at her screen for a few moments, eyes scanning over the information as it was processed, "And it looks like..." She said, continuing to read, "Yeah you guys are healthy. Awesome. See, not so bad?" 

"Not at all." 

Nicole continued to smile, "Cool ship you guys have here. I walked in and was a little startled by some woman telling me to follow the light display on the walls."

"Oh, that's a new system I have been testing out." 

"Works great! I was worried I'd get lost in this massive place. Technology huh?" 

"Yeah." Issac said with a laugh.

“Time to go I guess.” Issac said, rising from the couch on the human balcony of the community quarters. He and Atrix had been watching a live stream video of the same sport Steven had shown Richard back on Earth. 

Atrix frowned, “I might just stay. Kikata said she had to meet us there.”

“She set up a shuttle for you though, right?” Issac asked, “I’ve got one too, it should be easy.” 

Atrix cringed, “Yeah...” 

“Don’t make me go alone.” Issac said, leaning on the balcony. 

Atrix sighed, “I don’t know. I’ve never done stuff like this. What if I screw it up somehow?” 

Issac chuckled, “I think it’s pretty straight forward. I mean, if we could go together I would but-”

“Why not?” Atrix asked, “I mean...”

“I’m not sure if it’s safe, is it? Kikata doesn’t even carry Richard in hybrid cities.” 

Atrix glanced away from Issac, a nervous churning filling her chest. She didn’t want to have to deal with the shuttle, certainly not on her own. A panic attack seemed inevitble, which was frustrating more than anything else considering she felt she had been making progress again lately. “I guess you’re right. Look, I’ll take the lashing from Kikata, I’ll just say I was-”

“No, no. Screw it. I’ll go with you.” Issac said. He himself wasn’t looking forward to going to a formal dinner, apparently they would be honored guests to some big CEO. 

Atrix turned back towards Issac, “Are you sure?” She asked, trying to stifle a smile, “I mean, you don’t have too.” 

“Nah, I’ll do it. I mean you’ve got steady hands right? All that meditation, or whatever.” Issac said with a shrug, trying to hide the fact that being carried around was a frightening idea. It seemed like so many things could go wrong. 

Atrix cracked a smile. “Okay. I’ll go then.” 

“Just promise you won’t drop me.” Issac said, stepping back from the railing, his hand rose and rubbed the back of his neck as it had gotten a bit sore looking up to his gigantic friend as it sometimes did. 

“Of course I wont!” Atrix said. She had never carried a human before. With anyone else, even Richard, it was a frightening idea. She wasn’t much for touching, and having someone small in her hand always seemed like too much invasion of her personal space. But Issac was different, somehow. He put her at ease. She slowly lifted her hand and placed it on the balcony beside him. 

Issac took a deep breath before taking a few steps towards her hand, taking hold of her finger to help him hoist himself onto her palm. Her hand was so warm, instantly feeling the heat radiate up into his shoes and into his legs. He sat down where her fingers met her palm so he could keep some sort of hold on her fingers. He looked up towards her and nodded, “Alright.” He said. 

Atrix nodded back towards him, lifting her hand. She realized she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. The logical, safest spot would be to clasp her hand near her stomach, but she wanted to keep him close so she curled her fingers slightly, bringing her free hand underneath the hand that held Issac and held him out in front of her chest. She could hardly feel his small weight in her hand, though his warmth was quite noticeable. “I never noticed how small you were.” She said, her smile broadening. 

Issac laughed, “You know I was going to say the same thing, except, backwards I guess.” He watched as the ship started to move around them, or rather Atrix began to move through it. She seemed to be concentrating hard, her light steps were hardly noticeable from his perch in her hands. Though he dared not steal a glance towards the ground. 

“It must be so strange to see the world like that.” 

“I never thought I’d have to readjust my view of the world.” 

Atrix breathed a burst of air through her nostrils, “Neither did I.” 

Atrix made her way to the exit, taking the rear landing ramp down to where a shuttle was waiting for her. Once on board she took her seat quickly, nodding as the pilot confirmed the restaurant they were supposed to meet Kikata and Richard at. She threw one leg over the other so she could rest the back of her hand on her knee, reminding herself not to make any sudden movements. It was almost as if carrying Issac went hand in hand with some of the lessons she was taught under Prila about mediation. Specifically the walking meditation. She had to be always conscious of what she was doing. She smiled to herself as she thought about it. 

“You seem happy.” Issac said, breaking a long silence. 

Atrix shifted her gaze down towards him, “I was just thinking. How is your ride?” 

“Very smooth. I knew there was nothing to be worried about.” He said, actually feeling quite at ease.

“I like how Kikata carries Richard on her shoulder.” 

Issac swallowed nervously, not ready to venture to anything too risky, or at least what he considered risky. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that one.” He said. 

Atrix frowned, glancing away from him again trying to hide her disappointment, “I agree.” She said. She looked towards him again, “I am so curious what it must be like for you.” 

“It’s cool.” Issac said with a shrug. He looked around at the hands that so gently held him, “You’re like this living mountain that can walk and talk. Yet, you don’t frighten me.” 

Atrix smiled. Picturing herself in his place, “I feel like it would be intimidating.” 

“At first sure. I’m slowly getting used to it. Now I’m mostly just curious. Like when the doctor had you, erm, open up for her.” 

Atrix felt her cheeks grow warm, “Y-You watched that?” 

“Well I was standing right there.” 

Atrix scrunched her lips as she thought about it, “It must have been disgusting looking into my mouth like that.” 

Issac laughed, “You know, it wasn’t that gross. It was kind of cool, even. To see something like that so big.” 

Atrix rolled her eyes, her cheeks still growing warm, “I’m sure you are just being nice.” 

“I can be nice and truthful at the same time.” 

Atrix glanced down at him, opening her mouth to say something but closing it again quickly. She looked out the window of the shuttle, which had entered the main part of the city now. Large buildings surrounded them. They all followed a similar design, large stone blocks piled upon one another high into the sky, many having massive pillars with carved designs imbedded into the stone. It was all so different than home. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Finally the shuttle landed before a building that had tall glass windows that rose hundreds of feet above the city streets. Everyone gathered outside was dressed in fine, designer clothing, making Atrix instantly feel self conscious about the dark blue dress Kikata had helped her pick out. She did not belong in a place like this. 

“Here we are.” The shuttle driver said, opening the door for Atrix. 

Atrix forced a smile towards him before stepping out in the street. “Is it too late to go back?” She whispered to Issac who she again held out in front of her chest. 

“Far too late.” Issac said with a laugh. 

Atrix took a deep breath before climbing a short set of steps towards the doorway, which a Trugon woman opened for them while simultaneously bowing her head. Atrix hurried through the doorway, feeling the cool highly maintained air of the building wash over her which made her skin tingle with goose bumps. 

Issac watched as they entered the restaurant. There were large aquariums spread throughout the entire place, long, almost eel like fish that were at least twenty feet long swam through the brightly lit blue waters elegantly with long, flowing fins that trailed behind them almost as if they themselves were adorned in glamorous dresses. Massive chandeliers that must have been larger than his entire house back home hung from the ceiling shining brightly within their intricately molded metallic arms. “Fancy.” He said, mostly to himself. 

Atrix walked nervously up towards an attractive Neko woman who stood behind a counter. “Um.” She said, not really sure what to do. 

“Just one?” The woman asked curiously, eyeing Atrix with an arched brow. 

“T-Two.” She replied, holding her hands out before her. 

Issac felt his stomach drop as he was lifted higher into the air. Looking up as the Neko before them leaned forward to see him, her lips curled into a smile.

“I see. You must be the missing party members for the Valune table.” 

“I-I guess so.” Atrix said, the name sounded familiar from when Kikata told her where to meet them.

“Good. Right this way please.” The woman said. 

Atrix followed her up a narrow flight of stairs that rose along side the aquarium wall. The stairway led to a walkway that overlooked the bottom floor of the restaurant on one side with booths that were tucked away in their own personal out coves in the wall on the other. They passed by several of these booths before finally Atrix saw a familiar face. 


“Atrix!” Kikata said pleasantly as she waved her hand. 

“Hi.” Atrix said quietly as she apporached the booth. She glanced to her left and saw another Neko woman sitting beside Kikata. She looked a bit older than Kikata, with long brown hair and very full, modelesque lips. 

“Hello.” The woman said, “Happy for you to join us.” 

Atrix forced a smile and nodded. 

“Is Issac on his way?” Kikata asked, though her gaze lowered towards Atrix’s hands, “Oh...I see you brought him with you.” Kikata glanced towards Richard, who looked back towards her with a shrug. 

“I didn’t want to go alone.” Atrix replied softly. 

“Well as long as you were careful.” Kikata said, watching as Atrix took her seat to the right of her. The table was set up in a semicircle. The larger scale seating surrounding at large platform that took up the greater part of the table where the humans and other small races could sit at their own booth which faced the large scale seating. The human platform was equipped with an elevator that would drop them below the table to the rest of the smaller scale areas. 

Atrix nodded and placed her still clasped hands on the table. 

“Um. Atrix. Issac might prefer to be seated at his own table.” Kikata said. 

Atrix blushed, “Oh. Right. Sorry.” She said, lifting Issac onto the human platform so he could climb off. 

“I was starting to get used to being small.” Issac said, smiling towards Atrix before taking a seat next to Richard. The human platform was also equipped with a specialized sound system that would allow them to speak with larger scale races even though they were far away from them. 

Issac glanced to his left and noticed a heavy set man with short black hair seated next to Richard. “Atrix, Issac, we’d like you to meet our new friends. This is Kurt Amorim, he is actually the current mayor of the city-” 

“A title that will soon enough be meaningless.” Kurt said with a deep chuckle. 

“And this is Devoras Valune, current CEO of Farnax Industries, human translation anyway.” Richard continued. 

Devoras smiled towards them, her full, dark red, colored lips surrounding an almost too white smile, “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. We have already heard so much about you two in such a short time.” Her gaze focused on Atrix, “Your hair is beautiful darling, that clasp in your hair is a Cho ritual binding clasp is it not?” 

Atrix nodded, “Yes.” 

“What is that?” Asked Kurt, arching his neck to get a better look at Atrix. 

“It’s a very symbolic piece.” Explained Kikata, knowing that Atrix would dread having to explain it herself, “It shows her devotion to her schooling, as well as the special bond she holds with her teacher.” Kikata nearly regretted adding in the teacher bit. Not wanting to bring up bad thoughts for herself or Atrix, nor wanting to bring any attention to Prila in general. 

Devoras placed her cheek into her palm as she leaned forward, “Atrix is a Nau’zui. A very rare and honorable title given to few back on our home planet. We are lucky to get to meet her...Which sparks a curious question, Atrix, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

Atrix swallowed nervously, nearly wanting to flee the table, “Yes?” She asked. 

“What brings you out here? Away from school?” 

Kikata shot a glance towards Atrix, wondering if she should answer for her. A tenseness grew around the table between herself, Richard, Issac and Atrix. 

“I-I...I wanted to explore, I guess.” 

There was a momentary silence that felt like ages. 

“Well that’s as good of a reason I’ve ever heard.” Said Kurt with a laugh, “What better way to do it too huh?” 

“Yes, Atrix is a very curious girl.” Kikata said, feeling a nervous weight washing off her shoulders. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Sangella looked up towards the upper balcony where she had seen Kikata and whoever else she was with go, “I guess we’re not classy enough for the upstairs.” She said, her gaze falling onto Johnny who sat upon a balcony seat to her left, which jutted out at about shoulder height from the wall. 

Johnny shrugged, “Do you really want to sit up there with all the snobby people and them.” 

Sangella glanced around the other tables, “Please, I think we’re the only non-snobs in this place.” 

“Can’t argue with that. But hey, at least someone’s covering our tab.” Johnny leaned over the edge of the balcony, “How is...whatever it is that is on your plate?” 

Sangella cut another piece from the grayish slab on her plate which was covered in a light pink sauce with other assortments of vegitables thoughtfully placed around the meat, “It’s, uh, some kind of fish I think. It’s good though. Want to try?” 

“Sure.” Johnny said. He watched as Sangella slowly rose her fork towards him, the piece of meat dripping in the pink sauce. He reached out with his fork and knife and cut into it, “Jesus, this slab of meat is bigger than me!” He said with a laugh, feeling as though he were cutting a piece straight from a large animals side. 

“Gee, way to make a girl feel self conscious.” 

“Oh shut up.” He said as he finally freed a piece of the fish, or whatever creature it was. He slipped his fork into his mouth, “Mmm.” He hummed, chewing thoughtfully. “You know, I’m not a huge fan of fish but this is good. Really good.” 

“I’d hope so. I think this whole dinner would cost a months paycheck if we were paying for it.” Sangella said. 

“Want to try some of mine?” Johnny asked. 

Sangella laughed, “I’m not sure if I could taste it, but alright.” She placed her elbows on the table and leaned towards the balcony. 

Johnny cut a piece of what looked like pork chops, but sort of tasted more like steak, he too was unsure of what animal it came from exactly. “Alright, open up.” 

Sangella opened her mouth slightly, her eyes darting from side to side to see if anyone was watching them. The corners of her mouth turned upwards in a smile. 

Johnny closed one eye as he tilted his fork backwards, creating a small catapult with it. He could feel a big of heat radiating up towards him from Sangella’s mouth, along with the scent of that pink sauce and fish. He flung the piece of meat towards Sangella’s face. “Oh shit!” He exclaimed with a laugh, the little piece of meat had hit her squarely on the tip of her nose. 

“What? I don’t taste anything?” Sangella said.

“I missed.” Johnny said laughing. 

“Johnny!” Sangella complained, wiping her face with a napkin. 

“Open wider.” Johnny said. 

Sangella leaned forward again, “You know I thought you were supposed to be a good shot.”

Johnny smirked, though she did spark his competitiveness, “Just tell me where and I’ll hit it.” 

“Ahh.” Sangella moaned, sticking out her tongue now and opening her mouth wide, “Ehh. Ehh.” She moaned again poking a spot on her tongue just beyond her front teeth while also sending large gusts of humid wind around Johnny.

“Alright then.” Johnny said, cutting another piece of meat. He took aim, and launched it, grinning widely as he was more accurate this time. The little hunk of food tumbled through the air before landing on Sangella’s tongue. “Got it!” 

Sangella retracted her tongue, moving it around her mouth, “I think...I maybe taste it?” 

Johnny laughed, “I’d throw my entire plate but...I’m hungry.” 

Sangella leaned back, noticing a Neko couple a table over from them had been watching. She smiled at them before her gold and blue gaze shifted back to Johnny. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

“So Kurt, you mentioned that your title would eventually be meaningless? Why’s that?” Richard asked. 

“Oh you didn’t know?” Kurt asked. 

Devoras rolled her eyes.

“We are trying to change the political system. are you familiar with Marx?” Asked Kurt. 

Richard shrugged, “Vaguely I guess. He was all about Communism wasn’t he?” 

“Well he came up with the idea of it. We would like to create a society of equality, beyond the shackles of the ancient and quite beyond expiration capitalist model.” 

“A model-” Said Devoras, “That you gained your wealth, built your company, and made this city with.” 

“Well yes, it’s no question that capitalism was necessary to build the potential for the communist system to work. I’d say society is ready for a change.” 

“Maybe. But I just don’t see it happening. It eliminates competition. And competition is the driving factor of change, Communism seems to be the gateway to a very stagnant society.” 

“I disagree. I think capitalism is a good way to keep the average individual on a treadmill chasing after goals they will likely never meet.” 

“Some meet them, though.” Devoras said, “And some go even further. Where would our society be without those individuals?” 

“You don’t think a Communist society could breed individuals that would create progress?” 

Devoras shrugged, her dark brown eyes browsing the faces around the table. She reeked of confidence, her beauty making her an even more intimidating force to debate with, “Not in spectacular numbers. Success is a tempting mistress. And we want more than just pats on the back for our hard work. And think about society in general? What a bore it would be. Where would the great artists be? Art is an important part of culture, would the government fund the artists that would make our films or statues? If it were only seen as a cultural necessity why should the artists strive to make truly wondrous works of art?”

“I think you over value greed, Devoras.” Kurt said with a chuckle, taking a sip from the bluish drink before him. 

Devoras smiled, “Maybe. But we’ll see how your society progresses, wont we? Afterall so far alls we have is speculation.” She eyed Kikata and Atrix, “I think we are getting boring, though, Kurt. Let’s change the subject.” 

Kikata shook her head, “Oh no, it’s very interesting.” She smiled, “I wasn’t sure which side to take!” She looked over to Atrix who had already drank through two and a half of her cocktail drinks. She was a little worried that she would get too drunk, but on the bright side Atrix did seem more relaxed.

Meanwhile Atrix did her best not to show the rest of the table as she typed a quick message into her computer. Once finished she cracked a half smile and glanced down to Issac. 

Issac felt his computer vibrate, he reached into his pocket and saw he had a message from Atrix. He opened the message and read I’m bored.. He smirked to himself, meeting Atrix’s gaze with a grin. He replied, “Me too, I hear there’s some nice bars downstairs or in the building over.” 

Though before Atrix could respond with a let’s go. Devoras spoke, “So Issac, I have wanted to ask you about your current program? You know my company is one of the sponsors of your ships computing programs.” 

“Really?” Kikata asked, “I thought you worked in pharmicuticals?” 

Devoras smiled, “With our current size we essentially find interests in almost anything. Computers are obviously a big part of our infastructure. We might not have put any of our own products into the project, but we saw incentive to invest. So, Issac, anything exciting?” 

Atrix frowned, she had hoped the conversation would have become off track enough for her to escape the table by now that dinner was finished and everyone else seemed more interested in politics. She was, however, very curious about what Issac did when he was working. 

“Well, lot’s of exciting things. I suppose you know the main objective of the project was to achieve a sentient computer.” 

“Now that just sounds like science fiction to me.” Kurt said with a laugh. 

Kikata grinned, “Believe me you should hear this computer already. She has attitude alright.”

“She?” Devoras asked, “You attributed sex to the computers personality?” 

“Yes, the computer was given feminine qualities by the original programmers. Funnily enough she has embraced these qualities as her own. Not that she has shown any signs of truly understanding what gender means.” Said Issac, “But the program has shown a lot of very unusual traits that have not been seen in computers designed to mimic sentience.” 

“How could we ever tell the difference?” Asked Richard. 

Issac shrugged, “At first scientists believed that communication was key. If we could talk to the computer and receive a sentient like response the computer must be intelligent. Of course now with the computing power we have you can give a computer the vocabulary and algorithms to pretty much communicate in a way that would make it nearly indistinguishable from any of us. So far that has been plenty for industries such as as the video game industry.” 

“Our computer has certainly become more talkative.” Said Kikata. 

Atrix grimaced, thinking of her own unfortunate conversation with Richata. 

“So, what’s different about your computer?” Asked Devoras. 

“Well, she, or it, however you like to put it-”

“How do you like to put it?” Asked Devoras.

“She, I suppose. Though applying gender may give me an unfair bias. But as I was saying, she seems to be gaining a sense of self. She is starting to ask me questions with motive that I do not quite understand. Or, just earlier today, she picked out her own avatar to display as her own face while communicating with us. And, most surprisingly, she asked if she could pick out her own name.” 

“Her own name?” Kikata asked in a high pitch tone and a frown, “But I liked the name we gave her.” 

“Why would she want to do that?” Devoras continued to ask, she seemed quite curious. 

“She may have noticed that the name Richata did not appear in any database other than her own name. Maybe she felt alienated by it. Honestly it could be anything.” Issac said, “The key thing is she is thinking in a non-straightforward kind of way. She is having thoughts, abstract thoughts. This could be the first signs of actual intelligence from a non-organic being.” 

Devoras smiled, “Well, that certainly is exciting. With findings like that you could have a very bright future ahead of you.” 

“Issac was always the promised one of the family.” Richard said laying hand on his brothers shoulder. 

Issac blushed and tried to force a laugh, “I-I think the developers deserve most of the credit.” 

Atrix smiled, she took a bit of joy, though not in a malicious sense, in seeing Issac squirm uncomfortably. “So, we thought we might look at some of the bars downstairs.” 

The entire table seemed a little surprised by Atrix’s suggestion. “Who? You and Issac?” Kikata asked. 

Atrix nodded. 

“Not a bad idea.” Devoras said, “The Agua bar downstairs is rather spectacular. You will rarely find a place like it. But perhaps we should take a moment to look at the dessert menu. Kikata mentioned you were  a fan of Fulroo?” 

“F-Fulroo?” Atrix said, hoping her lips did not instantly glisten from the access saliva that accumulated in her mouth. 

“What’s that?” Issac asked. 

Richard leaned over, “You wouldn’t like it. Remember how grandma always had that weird European candy that we hated?”

“It’s...My favorite food.” Atrix said. “Is there any chance they serve it to go?” 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

“I hear they have some real beer at one of the bars in the human bars inside.” Johnny said, “I’m going to go check that out.” 

“Just going to leave me out here?” Sangella asked with a frown. 

“Make some friends, socialize. I’ll be back in a few.” Johnny said shaking his head. Over his time knowing Sangella, it was becoming clear to him that she was very anti-social. Whenever they stopped off to get off the ship she either hovered over him or sat around by herself. 

Sangella rolled her eyes and she leaned her elbow on the counter top, taking a sip of her green, sugary drink and swishing it around her mouth. She glanced around the bar as Johnny disappeared out of sight within the human areas of the restaurant. She often felt trapped at this places, by the nature of their size the humans had more options for places to go it seemed, while she had her choice of two or three areas at most. She swallowed down her drink, leaving a sticky feeling in her throat. The only thing that kept her going back to the glass was the warm feeling spreading over her chest and an increasingly relaxed mind. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

After a few hours at the table, once Atrix and Issac went their own way, the others followed suit. Kurt and Richard decided to go and check out the human bars in the lower levels while Kikata and Devoras decided to go downstairs to the main floor which had a rather quiet bar area. 

“So how is the new political system working?” Richard asked as they sat down at a wooden bar, it was designed to look like a sort of Irish pub back on Earth. 

“So far, very well. Though it will take at least one or two generations to truly see how it pans out.”

“Why’s that?” 

“Well, most of the people here, other than children of residents, are here by choice. They were excited about the system before they were living in it, so we need that bias to clear up.” 

Richard thanked the bartender as a tall glass of deep, brown ale slid into his hand, he took a sip and felt is muscles starting to relax, “So it’s a long term project, huh?” 

“Hopefully.” Kurt said with a chuckle. “It sounds like that ship of yours is still a project in progress?” 

Richard nodded, “Yeah, yeah. We have some features that still need to be tested, and then all that stuff Issac is working on.” 

“Such as what? Or are you sworn to secrecy.” Kurt chuckled again. 

Richard sipped from his beer again as he thought, “Well.” He started after setting his glass down again, “The ship is designed to go underwater. We haven’t tried that yet.”

“Underwater?” Kurt asked, “Why would you need to do that?”

Richard shrugged, “Who knows. The ship has more tools than anyone could possibly use. But going underwater might give us some added stealth or protection.” Richard leaned back on his stool and stretched his back, though as his hand fell to his side he felt a crumpled piece of paper being shoved into his palm. He quickly looked to Kurt, who seemed distracted by something on one of the television displays off in the opposite direction. His head swiveled to the left and he saw who appeared to be a bus boy walking in the opposite direction. He met eyes with the young man and the man’s pace quickened as they did. He looked to the paper in his hand and unfolded it.

We know who took your friend. Richard’s brow raised and he quickly looked back to the man who was making his way out into one of the hallways. “Excuse me.” He said, quickly rising from his stool. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Johnny sat in the bathroom stall, idly tapping his toes and browsing his computer when he suddenly heard the loud burst of the bathrooms door opening. He was startled, nearly dropping his computer between his legs as the sounds of scuffling feet grew closer. 

“Who are you?” A familiar voice asked, it was Richard Bromwell, his instructor from school. 

“W-We’re friends. Trust me.” A male voice replied. 

“Explain this!” Richard said again, keeping his voice just below a shout. 

“Not the place.” The man replied his voice strained as he was pressed up against the wall. “K-Keep your cool man. I’ll take you somewhere we can talk.” 

Johnny listened as the foot steps trailed out of the bathroom. He quickly finished up and got to his feet, slipping his computer into his pocket. He exited the stall and slowly opened the bathroom door. He spotted Richard and whoever that man was walking down the corridor. He waited a few more seconds until they made a left into a doorway before following them. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix could hardly control a grin as she sat on a barstool, her feet dangling far off the ground and her head feeling a little heavierthan usual. “This place is so cool!” She exclaimed. The bar they had gone too, which was mostly empty now, looked as if it were under water. Aquariums surrounded them almost completely, on the ceiling, on the walls, inside the bar counter. The floor was dark, the spiderweb like reflections of water bounced around on the cool stone floors and tables. 

“I know, right.” Said Issac who sat once again on his own platform with an artifical bartender, in other words a drink dispenser with a card swipe. 

“And so is this box.” Atrix said, holding up the to go box which sort of looked like a chinese carry out box from Earth, the Neko had nothing like it back home. 

“Everything is cool.” Issac said with a laugh, feeling the drinks pretty strongly himself, though he was still right enough in his mind. “So you’re glad you came out tonight?” 

Atrix nodded her head, her grin broadening, “Yes, thanks for pushing me to do it.”

Issac shrugged, “It was nothing. If anything it helped me overcome my fear of heights.” 

Atrix snorted, quickly covering her mouth as she continued to giggle, “Sorry for making you ride with me!” She said as she finally calmed down. “But it was fun, right? I mean I had fun. It was like, raww! I got a tiny man in my hands!” She started laughing again. 

Issac laughed, “You were like that huh?” 

Atrix nodded, “Yes. Just like that.” 

“You’re a funny girl.” Issac said, noticing Atrix’s expression suddenly change, “In a good way.” He added. 

Atrix huffed air through her nose and leaned her cheek onto her elbow, “A good way?” 

“Yeah. You’ve got a sense of humor.” 

Atrix smiled, “You know...You are maybe the fourth person who has ever seemed to understand me.” 

“I’m sure there’s more than that.” Issac said before taking another drink. 

Atrix shook her head, “Nope. There’s you, Kikata, Richard, and Prila. I never met my parents. I neverreally had close friends during school.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that. There’s no reason you shouldn’t feel comfortable being yourself, though.” 

Atrix shrugged, “It’s just...” Her gaze drifted away from Issac, “You know. I have it all going against me. I’ve got the cold, dead gray eyes and this bone white hair-”

“I like your hair, and your eyes are beautiful.” Issac protested. 

Atrix felt her cheeks grow warm, “But, worst of all...This damn condition.” She had trouble rolling the words over her tongue. She never talked about what everyone knew she had. “It rules my life. I mean I want to talk to someone, but my chest...It’s hard to explain, but I just can’t. So I shut myself off.” 

“It must be hard.” Issac said. 

“But you seem different.” Atrix said, her eyes darting back towards him before leaving again quickly, “I felt like we became friends so fast I had a hard time believing it. Like, I know you know about my mental condition. But you don’t seem to care. Like everyone else ignores it, pretends it’s not a thing. Or they talk down to me and think I don’t see it. But I’m too cowardly to step up for myself. But you, you know I have the condition. You know that things are hard for me, and it’s not like you ignore it...It’s like you accept it. And you’re not afraid to pull me out of my shell.” Atrix dared another glance to Issac, “Sorry, I’m getting too emotional.” She forced a laugh. 

Issac took a long drink, “Yeah. I mean. I like talking with you the way you are. We seem to have a lot in common. Like, I am no good at socializing myself-”

“Please, to me you’re like a professional!”

“No. Not at all. I mean, you should see my track record of talking to girls. It’s horrible. Seriously some of my embarassing moments haunt me to this day.” 

Atrix giggled again, “So no girls waiting for your return to Earth?” 

Issac laughed and shook his head, “No one even knows I left! How about you? I’m sure you were the talk of all the Cho boys. Am I saying that right? Cho?” 

“Cho’otoo is the full pronounciation. But yes, you got it right. And no.” Atrix shook her head, “I can’t even like...begin to get into boys, or whatever. My brain can’t process those sorts of feelings.” 

Issac shrugged, “I’m sure you could if you tried.” He felt his pocket vibrate. He slipped out his computer and saw a message from Richard. Meet me upstairs, time to head back to the ship. Kikata says not to go with Atrix, too risky.” 

“Kikata says now to carry you back.” Atrix said with a frown, she too had gotten a message, “I guess I have to take the Fulroo back. Oh my, I can’t wait for you to try it!” 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

“Took you long enough.” Sangella said watching Johnny walk back out on the platform. 

“You are never going to believe what I just saw...” Johnny said, still out of breath.

“Johnny...Johnny get up here!” Sangella’s voice called into the ships intercom. 

“Up where?” Johnny replied as he lay lazily on the couch in the community quarters of the ship. 

“Cockpit, where else?” 

“What’s this about?” 

“Those pictures you took last night, you’re not going to believe this!” 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The previous night... 

Richard followed the young man through a set of narrow hallways, passing by several resturaunt staff who didn’t pay them much mind. He continued to eye the man suspiciously, though had since given up asking questions. 

“Alright, through here.” The man finally said, checking over his shoulder as he drew a card out of his pocket. He swiped the card over a white pad and a door slid open, a cool blast on wind blowing past them as the outside city was revealed. A metal, grated balcony stretched down the length of a building, a tall hooded figure appeared to be waiting for them. 

Richard stepped out onto the balcony uneasily, watching as the young man started walking down the balconies length towards the hooded figure. “How can I trust you?” He called after him.

The man turned back, “If we intended to harm you we would have done it by this point. Do you want to hear the truth or not?” 

Richard glanced back towards the still open door, he took a deep breath and followed against his better judgement. As he approached the hooded figure the details of their face became more clear. He was a Neko, though his exact race remained hidden beneath the hooded jacket he wore. He had sharp, chisled features, his eyes overshadowed by his long, blonde hair. 

“Richard Bromwell?” The Neko asked. 

“That’s right. If you don’t mind I’d like to get to the point.” He said, keeping a close eye on the young man to his left. 

“Fair enough.”

“Where is she?” Richard asked. 

“Unfortunately we do not know.” The man said, “We can get into the details in a more formal setting, you will understand why we cannot discuss everything here for long. You see, your enemy...our enemy is treating you to dinner tonight.” 

“Devoras?” Richard asked skeptically. 

The Neko nodded, “That’s right. She is closer to your friend than you could ever imagine. And she has been hunting her for a long time, we will get to that at another time.”

“Can you prove any of this to me?” Richard asked.

“I will forward you the information you need once we’re, uh, out of Devoras’s little sphere of influence.” 

Richard rubbed his chin, it all sounded fishy to him, but then again so did Prila’s disappearance. “Alright then. When can we expect the information.” 

“I will give you my details. Contact us once you are far from here and we will discuss further meetings.” 

“Who are you, anyway? Or is that classified.” 

~ ~ ~ ~

“Torren Folgun?” Johnny asked. “Who is that?” 

“You don’t know?” Sangella asked. 

Johnny shook his head, eyeing up the picture displayed in Sangella’s pilot computers display. “No.” 

“He’s infamous. Wanted by the Alliance.” Sangella grinned, “I wonder what the famous Nova Force is doing mingling with the likes of them?” 

“What did he do?” 

Sangella leaned back into her seat, “A few years back he and his radical group bombed a corporate research facility. Apparently they were doing some shady research on genetic manipulation in humans, or something. They had a pretty large pile of illegal or just immoral practices, though the Alliance wouldn’t crack down on them the way Torren wanted. So they took it into their own hands, killing a dozen researchers or so.” 

“Yeesh. Seems kind of counter productive.” Johnny said with a smirk. 

“They did this several more times, there were rumors they were building their own mercenary army to battle against some corporate mercenary group.” 

Johnny laughed, “I’m sure.” 

“Yeah. They just wanted the publicity, but by the time their wild conspiracy theories became too far fetched they just sort of faded away.” 

“So...” Johnny said, rubbing his hand over his head, “This is big?” 

“I can’t see how it couldn’t be. I mean, I’m sure Kikata and Richard are aware that Torren is to be arrested on site.”

Johnny felt a welling of excitement in his chest, a smile cracking across his lips, “This sounds something up our ally. Finally some fucking excitement.” 

“I know, right!” Sangella said. “We just need to find a way to track them.” 

“Man, I’m so fucking pumped. We should like, make a team name, or something-” Johnny cleared his throat as Sangella’s smile disappeared, “You know, because we’re hunting down...er...”

“I will eat you. I swear to god.” Sangella said, folding her arms. 

“It was a joke!” Johnny said, holding out his arms, though he couldn’t hide a grin for long. 

“You know, sometimes I think you’re an idiot.” Sangella said rising up from her seat. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Atrix’s eyes fluttered open, though she was confused by all the clutter in front of her. Where was she? Why does her neck hurt? Why does her mouth taste as if she had scrubbed her teeth and tongue with syrupy sugar? Though soon things came into focus, the clutter was made up of table legs and chairs, her neck hurt because she had fallen asleep with her neck crooked on the couch. 

She sat up slowly, her hand bracing the side of her head, the slightly foggy memories of the previous night flooding into her head along with a headache. She cringed as she spotted the tub of Fulroo on the table, nearly all of it gone and quite a bit of it on the table next to the box it came in. Her eyes shifted to the right and she nearly gasped as she saw a couch, which had apparently been removed from the human balcony and placed on the table. Issac was still asleep on top of it. She was instantly struck by the churning in her chest as she remembered what had happened, and how she had acted....

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The night before...

“Issac you have to try it.” Atrix pleaded, dipping another snack somewhat similar to a giant pretzel into the bluish colored Fulroo which had about the viscosity of pudding. 

“I’m telling you, he won’t like it.” Richard said. 

Kikata shrugged, “I don’t know, he might.” Kikata said, “I mean I like it.” She eyed Atrix who twirled side to side on the stool happily as she took another bite of the Fulroo drenched cracker, “Maybe not as much as others.” 

“It’s a Neko thing though.”

“Maybe I will try it.” Issac said, standing up from his seat, waivering slightly as he tried to maintain his balance. 

“Here, you can take a piece-” Kikata began though was interrupted as Issac put up his hand.

“I’ll do it. I want to do it.” He said confidently. He set his drink down on the table next to a bowl of chips, which he then dipped his hand into to retrieve one. He approached the tub, which stood about eight feet tall. A metal handle was pushed to the side so that it touched down to the floor and rose up nearly all the way to the lip of the tub. 

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Kikata said, her eyes shifting towards Richard nervously. 

Richard shrugged, “A mans gotta’ do what he’s gotta’ do. Sometimes that means being a dumbass.” He grinned towards his brother. 

Issac turned to Richard. “Hey!” He said, facing Richard squarely, “Shut up.” He laughed to himself and faced the tub once again, “Alright, let’s do this epic dip.” He approached the Fulroo, placing his hands on the side of the container before stepping onto the metal handle. He awkwardly and slowly shimmied his way up the side of the tub until he was finally able to place his hands on the lip of the container. He leaned forward as he moved just a bit higher still so he could peer inside, “Hey, it looks like blueberry yogurt. I like that.” He said with a grin, trying to lean down far enough to dip the chip inside. 

“Trust me it doesn’t taste like blueberries.” Richard chuckled. 

“Let him decide for himself!” Atrix said, scolding Richard playfully. 

Issac let out a groan as he tried to lean out far enough to scoop his chip in the Fulroo, though his grip suddenly faltered, “My chip!” He gasped. His arm smacked into inner wall of the container, feeling his arm saturate with the Fulroo that remained on the inside of the tubs wall. “Oh I got some.” He said, straightening his back and examining his arm. He slid his way back down the bar, tumbling off on the last step and falling to his stomach. 

“Issac!” Kikata gasped, Atrix couldn’t hold back her laughter. 

“I’m good.” Issac said as he got back to his feet, frowning as he noticed a smear of Fulroo across the floor. He shrugged and brought his arm up to his mouth, smelling the Fulroo first before taking a lick of it. He frowned again, “Oh...Richard you were right.”

“You don’t like it?” Atrix asked as if her entire life had been shattered to pieces. 

“No. Sorry.” Issac said laughing, “I think I need to wash this off.” 

“No! Don’t waste it!” Atrix said with a gasp.

“Fine, you eat it.” Issac said, holding his arm up into the air and taking a few steps towards the balcony’s edge. 

“Fine.” Atrix said, grinning. She leaned forward, Kikata’s brow raising and her eyes shifting towards Richard, who seemed just as surprised and intrigued by the display. 

Issac watched, wondering if Atrix would do it, as she leaned forward. Her tongue extended and her mouth opened, engulfing Issac in a hot wind as her tongue jabbed into his side. The bumpy, soft surface slid up the bottom of his arm as she retracted her tongue and brought her lips forward, enclosing them around his arm at the shoulder. Issac stared at her puckered lips, feeling her tongue twirl around his arm gently and with surprising nimbleness. 

Atrix smiled to herself and closed her eyes, getting a strange salty taste along with the Fulroo She pulled away, eyes falling on Issac before darting around to the rest of her Friends, “Yum.” She said with a giggle, “I’ll have to take my Fulroo with human more often.” 

Issac stepped back, examining his arm which was entirely licked clean, only a thin layer of saliva remained. “I. Uh.” He said, unsure if there were any joke that would be appropriate enough to make. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix groaned to herself, her cheeks burning and the churning in her chest turned from uncomfortable to painful. She quickly stood up and hurried towards her room, though was stopped in the entrance to the hall by Kikata. 

“Oh, you’re awake finally. Good.” 

“Excuse me.” Atrix said.

“Ah. Not yet, we need to have a group talk.” 

“Is it about me?” Atrix asked nervously, her ears falling.

“Um...Why would it be about you?” Kikata asked curiously. She could tell Atrix was upset about something. 

“B-Because I acted so...Poorly last night.” Atrix said in a near whisper. 

Kikata snorted, “You were just having fun! You were the life of the party.”

“I was?” Atrix asked.

Kikata nodded, “See what happens when you let yourself have fun?”

Atrix swallowed, “But...” She glanced over her shoulder, “Erm. Issac...He probably thinks...I’m....A complete.” She paused again, hoping Kikata would finish her sentence for her, but when she didn’t she whispered harshly in the Neko tongue, “Slut.” 

Kikata sighed, “No, Atrix. You acted fine. You two didn’t do anything. You both passed out while we were watching that game you both seem to like so much. Maybe next time lay off the drinks a little?” 

Atrix nodded, feeling slightly relieved, “But, when I, err, sucked the uh...”

Kikata laughed again, “Okay that was a little sexy. But you’re breaking your shell. Don’t worry.” 

Atrix nodded again, frowning though as Kikata grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her back into the community quarters. 

Kikata sighed as she guided Atrix back to the couch, cringing as she saw the mess they had made the night before. “Rise and shine.” She said as Issac sat up on his own small couch. 

Issac mumbled as he sat up, his bloodshot eyes glancing between Atrix and Kikata. “Hi.” 
“Before you get cleaned up, we need to talk about something.” Kikata said. She folded her arms over her chest.

“Are we in trouble?” Issac asked, smiling towards Atrix weakly, though he noticed that she was having trouble maintaining eye contact with him. 

“No, as I explained to Atrix everyone is welcome to have their wild nights within reason.” Kikata cleared her throat, trying to figure out where to start, “Last night, while you two were having fun, Richard came upon some new information regarding our missing friend.” 

“Prila?” Atrix asked in a whisper, her eyes widened as she looked up towards Kikata, “What did you find? Is she-”

“We did not learn much about her condition, unfortunately, but we may have found someone who knows more. It’s perhaps more complex than we had hoped.” Kikata said, sighing again, “But before we proceed any further I realize we need to be more honest. The people we are dealing with are not exactly the type that you want to associate with.” 

“Who are they? Who took her?” Atrix asked, feeling a strange rush of both excitement and anger rush through her. 

“According to a recent contact...Devoras is connected.”

“The lady from last night?” Issac asked. 

“That’s right. Though we will remain skeptical until we learn more. Our informant is a notorious leader to a fringe extremist group that is not seen in a positive light by the law. I am certainly distraught that we have to deal with them...But as of right now we don’t have much of an option.” 

Issac ran his hands through his hair, “So. What are we going to do?” 

“Richard and I have made up our minds. But we realize that we are now entering deeper waters than our mission originally called for. I cannot morally continue without each of your consent. Personally, I think it would be wiser for you two to make new arrangements and let Richard and I continue alone. But, you are crew on this ship. So you have to make the choice yourselves.” 

“No. I am staying until the end.” Atrix said boldly. 

Kikata nodded slowly, her eyes shifting towards Issac, “Issac, I am sure accomidations can be-”

“No, no. I want to see this through. I mean, it’s part of our job right? Fighting criminals?” 

“Well...Considering the circumstances.” 

Issac shook his head, “No, I’ll stay. I mean, I’ve already come so far with the ships computer, and well, I was sort of hoping to see more excitement here.” 

“Hopefully things don’t get too exciting.” Kikata bit her lip as she thought about how many other times she wished that had been the case, “We will be recharting some courses. It is important that we keep things quiet-” Her eyes shifted to the human balcony as a small figure appeared in the doorway. We was shocked to see a petite, blonde haired woman standing there, “Uh. Who are you?” 

“Is this a bad time?” The woman asked. 

Issac could not see the woman from where he stood down low on the large scale table, but the voice was oddly familiar...The doctor from the previous day.

Kikata sighed, her golden eyes scanning from one tiny figure to the next. Richard, Issac, and this new Nichole girl all stood rather awkwardly on the human balcony as they tried to figure out exactly what they were doing. “So who are you, again? And why are you here?” 

Nichole folded her hands together as she took a deep breath, “Well, I’m a doctor. I actually serviced him and the white haired girl earlier. And um, I was sort of hoping I could...join your crew? If it helps I have the computer’s blessing it seems?” She forced a laugh. 

“The computer?” Richard asked skeptically, “You know this is an Alliance vessel. We can’t just pick up passengers at the drop of a hat.” 

“I know...I know.” Nichole apologized, “It’s just...I don’t know. I felt like you guys maybe, could have used a doctor?” 

“Richata?” Issac asked, “Do you know about this?”

“Yes.” Richata’s voice called into the room. “She provided a logial argument for her admittance to the ship.” 

“Which was?” Issac continued, glancing towards his brother with a shrug. 

Richata’s avatar appeared onto the closest wall, it smiled towards them, “My primary objective is to keep my crew members safe. Naturally the addition of Atrix increased the crew number as well as the chance for mishaps. Kikata and Richard are both trained in medial, though their scores as medical personnel  are not perfect.” 

“I don’t think anyone is.” Kikata mumbled. 

“I looked into Nichole’s statistics and with her added to the staff our medical coverage doubled. It would have been irresponsible of me to deny her access to the ship.” 

“She’s crunching numbers.” Issac said to himself, “Why did you not alert any of us first?” 

“You seemed busy.” 

“Richard, a moment?” Kikata asked, placing her hand on the balcony. Richard nodded and climbed up, bracing himself as Kikata lifted her hand. She walked to the other side of the room and hushed her voice, “So, what do you think?” 

Richard laughed, “What do you mean? You’re considering it?” 

Kikata shrugged, “I mean, I don’t know. She seems nice. And Richata does bring up a good point.” 

Richard scratched the side of the head, “I feel like the last thing we need are more complications.” 

“I know what you mean.” Kikata said, “But at least with her we pick up...well you know, someone of use.”

“I don’t know. I guess we can try it. If it gets to heavy we can drop her off somewhere.” 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

“Do you see it?” Johnny asked. 

“Yeah.” Sangella replied. 

Johnny leaned back into the lightly cushioned seat in a very small room illuminated by a green light overhead. It was the small scale personnel carrier located in the abdomen of Sangella’s armor. In his hands he held a small propulsion device with a sticky tracking projectile loaded into the breach. “Just get me within two hundred feet.” 

Sangella shrugged, “Have to find a nice spot. This thing is so smooth.” She said, examining the bright orange colored ship that belonged to Richard and Kikata. “Not many little crevices for a tracker to go unnoticed.” 

“Try the landing wheels.” Johnny said. 

“Oh...Right yeah. Good call.” Sangella replied as she entered the shadow of the ship. “Why can’t we have a ship this big?” She complained sarcastically. “Alright. Opening up.” She eyed her display and selected the command to open her personnel carrier. 

Johnny squinted as light suddenly flooded all around him. The doors of the carrier pushed outwards, Sangella’s hand moved under one of the hatches and waited palm facing up. He stood from his seat and took a few small steps out of the carrier onto her hand. “Alright hold still.” He said, lifting the small cannon like weapon to his shoulder. His aiming software tracked the weapons movement and placed a crosshair in front of him where he was targetting. He set the distance, aiming up to the massive, metal beam that jutted out from the giant tires of the ship. He pulled the trigger, feeling the slight bump of the cannon against his armor which in turn put a large grin on his face. “Got it.” 

“Nice. Back in you go. Let’s get out of here.” Sangella said with a laugh, watching somewhat curiously as the tiny human reentered her armor’s belly. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

A few hours later the crew of the Richata found themselves sitting around a round table eating dinner with their new crew member, Nichole. 

“So, why exactly do you want to travel with us?” Kikata asked, leaning her cheek into her hand and looking down towards the three tiny humans. 

Nichole tapped her lips with her fork as she thought, “Well, several reasons. The first being I couldn’t take living on that planet for another week.” 

“Why?” Issac asked, “Isn’t it supposed to be some new, great super city?” 

“Well, sure. It was nice when me and my ex-boyfriend moved there. We went there for job security and higher than average wages.” Nichole said, she sighed, “But things got dull so quickly. Everyone sort of filled the slot that was needed and that was that. Sure I was in no danger of losing a job, but at the same time things became so stagnant so quickly. When I moved to a new planet I wanted things to be exciting. I got the opposite.”

“I know how you feel.” Kikata said. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she liked Nichole. Everyone seemed too. Even Atrix did not seem so fidgety around her. 

“So I started looking around for ship jobs, but nothing seemed to pan out until you guys arrived and I had heard so much about you, and well, I decided to take a chance.” 

Richard chuckled, “I have to commend you for just going for it.” 

Nichole smiled and bowed her head, “Thank you.” 

“I have chosen a name.” Richata’s voice suddenly called into the room. Her face, now accompanied by a slender, feminine body that was devoid of any details other than the outlines of her curves, appeared on the wall next to the table. 

Everyone looked towards the image display, “You did?” Issac asked. 

“Yes. It was not easy, but I think I found one that I am happy with.” Richata said, her hands clasped behind her back, she was learning the emotional programming quickly, taking her new avatar to be her body. 

“Well go on, what is it?” Richard asked, smiling towards Kikata who was still a little upset the computer was not happy with her given name. 

“Grace.” Richata said. 

“Grace? That’s a lovely name!” Nichole said, her smile beaming. 

“I like the patterns. And the fact that it has complex and abstract meanings.” Richata, or Grace said proudly. 

“I don’t see any patterns.” Kikata said with a shrug. 

“I do.” Grace said, her avatar smiling boldly, “I like to think my objective is to run the ship with grace. And the act of flying should be graceful.” 

“That’s...interesting. I’m happy you found a fitting name, Rich- Erm I mean Grace!” Issac said, feeling a stirring of pride for his computer. Issac felt his pocket vibrate. He curiously took out his phone and saw a message from Richard. Want to initiate Nichole?” Issac smiled and looked up to his brother who had a mischievous grin facing Kikata who was now checking her computer as well. 

“That is absolutely incredible. Is that really just a computer?” Nichole asked, shaking her head. 

“Yup. Perfectly artificial.” Issac said, watching Kikata slowly get to her feet. 

“So, Nichole. If you are going to be a member of the crew, you should know we have an initiation ritual.” 

Nichole took a bite of food and glanced between Issac and Richard, “Is that so?” She said after swallowing.

Richard nodded, “Of course. Most ships do, it’s a good way to test character.” 

Nichole seemed nervous, but she nodded, eager to fit in. “Okay, yes. Let’s do it!” She said smiling. “What do I have to do?” 

Kikata knelt down by the side of the table, her fingers gripping the edges, “It’s something to test your skill, in, how did we say it, Issac?” 

“I believe it was testing your ability to function in a dangerous environment.” Issac said with a grin, now standing next to his brother facing Nichole who rose slowly from her seat. 

“Oh...Um, Okay?” She said, glancing over her shoulder towards Kikata who stared at her nearly at eye level. “That was a little ominous. And vague.” 

Richard took hold of Nichole’s arm and started leading her towards the edge of the table. “You think you can handle a little heat?” 

“A little...” Nichole said, walking with the two men towards Kikata who suddenly dipped her head beneath the table. “What am I doing exactly.” Her eyes soon were able to peer over the tables edge, widening as they watched Kikata lick her lips before opening her mouth wide, her long tongue stretching out over her bottom lip, light pouring in over the glistening pink surface behind her shining white teeth. “Oh my god!” She gasped, “Seriously?”

“Everyone has to do it.” Issac said, feeling better to be on the “in” side of the joke this time. 

Hot wafts of air blew past them as Kikata giggled, saliva started to pool in her mouth as she “waited.”

“Y-You seriously want me to go in there?” Nichole asked, her voice growing in pitch. 

“If you want a spot on this crew you gotta’ spend time in the pit.” Richard said, inching Nichole closer to the edge. 

Nichole swallowed nervously, but nodded. “Alright fine.” Before anyone had much of a chance to do anything Nichole kicked off her shoes and leaped off the edge of the table. Falling a short six or so feet into Kikata’s waiting mouth. She let out a scream as she zipped by Kikata’s upper teeth, her back colliding with Kikata’s tongue several feet into the depths of the drooling mouth. She slid rapidly, her toes soon kicking by Kikata’s uvula and into her throat, soon followed by the rest of her lower half. 

Kikata stood up, her mouth closing and her hand clamped over her lips. She coughed, then swallowed purely on reflex. Her wide eyes stared down at the others on the table who seemed just as shocked as herself. She couldn’t believe it as she felt the squirming plunge down her throat. 

Nichole’s entire body trembled in the darkness, but she was rather secure about her safety. The tight, soaking warm tube that surrounded her pushed her deeper until she finally fell into a more open place, feeling knee high juices and food chunks sloshing around her. The “ground” gave way to her steps as she tried to maintain some sort of balance, but she quickly splashed onto her stomach and half crawled, half swam until she found a wrinkled wall to brace herself against. “Woah!” She called up. 

“I-I swallowed her!” Kikata gasped, “Oh not this again.” She moaned, quickly taking her seat, “Nichole, are you okay?” 

Atrix stared wide eyed at Kikata, her mouth open in shock. 

Richard burst into a fit of laughter, “She went right down!” He finally said, gasping for breath. “Issac...You just got shown up really bad.” 

“I...I have no words.” Issac said, the image of Nichole sliding into Kikata’s throat burned into his mind. 

Meanwhile Nichole looked around in the perfect blackness, “I’m fine. A litle wet, but good. You guys are hardcore!” 

“Should we tell her she wasn’t actually supposed to do that?” Kikata whispered. 

Richard shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe Issac should make up for his failed initiation. Atrix would you do the honors?” 

Atrix shook her head furiously. 

“He’s joking.” Kikata said with a sigh. “Hang on Nichole. I have to go fetch the string.”

Off The Map 

Issac was now very unsure about the readings Richata, or Grace, was putting out. Slowly and thoughtfully he has been loosening her restrictions to internet searches in order to keep her occupied as well as to allow her to interact with other humans. He of course kept close tabs to websites she wished to subscribe too, and occasionally checked in on her conversations. One such conversation involved her asking what the anagram “l.o.l” meant. Not surprisingly she was mostly just ridiculed, but she eventually got her answer. 

“So.” He began, not really sure where to start. The tests were becoming less like tests, and more just speaking with Grace. He felt more like a psychologist than an engineer, but perhaps with his specific objective that was a good thing. “I see your scores in Conflict have dropped some?” He continued to let her play the game, now on her own sometimes. At first it was an experiment, but it seemed she took a lot of joy out of it. 

“I have lowered my settings, after one hundred and thirty six games with no deaths I started to not receive the same thrill. I also stopped using the .50 caliber.” 

“I thought it had the highest potential for kills?” Issac asked, though he was never really a fan of sniping himself. 

“Exactly.” 

Issac smiled, “Maybe we need to find you more games.” 

“But conflict is our game.” Grace protested. Her avatar pursed her lips and folded her arms over her chest. 

Issac smirked, if he didn’t know better he might have guessed there was a little girl running the computer sometimes. “We can have lot’s of games.” 

Grace seemed to think it over, her eyes shifting to the side, her finger prodding her lower lip, “Okay.” She finally said. “What games?” 

Issac thought it over for a few moments, there were seemingly endless choices. Maybe they could pick one that is less realistic, and perhaps less violent. But then he had another thought, “You pick. Research it and think about it.” 

A slight smile creeped over the avatar’s mouth, “Okay. Yes that sounds, fun.” She said. 

“Good, I will look forward to your suggestions.” Issac said. He was continuously awestruck by the computers growing sentience. He did not want to build himself too large of an ego, but he wondered how much his tactics were to blame for his success with Grace? After all, the original technicians had not hypothesized such results in such a short amount of time, granted they may have just been underselling their creation. 

Grace smiled and nodded her simulated head. “So. Do you want to talk about my avatar?” She asked. 

Issac leaned forward, propping his chin on his elbow, “Sure. I am a little curious how-” 

“Is it appealing to you?” She asked. 

Issac blinked, a little confused, “Um. Well, sure, I guess. I think it is very fitting.” 

Her face shifted, to what Issac could only interpret as a mischievous grin, “I could change it however would most please you.” 

Issac felt a tingle run down his spine, “I think you should keep it however you want. It is your body after all.” He said, trying to dismantle the conversation as he didn’t like where it was going. 

“But I want it to please you.” She said, “Are the breasts too small?” She asked, her digital hands clasping together in front of her as the bulge beneath the fabric of the digital jumpsuit she wore started to expand. “They can be any size you like?” She bit her lip as she drew a hand upwards in order to slip the zipper down below her cleavage. 

“I-I uh, I’m not sure this is appropriate.” Issac said, it was clear to him that somewhere along the line Grace had gotten a very odd idea into her head. 

“Why not?” She asked with a giggle, exposing her chest to him now. “We have been spending so much time together, I feel this is the logical next step.” 

“No.” Issac said more sternly, trying to avoid gawking at the computers attempt at seduction. The animation was so real that Grace’s avatar would be virtually identical to a video of a human, especially now that she had mastered using it so naturally. Perhaps she truly did live through her avatar now? “This is an illogical step.” 

“I can see you are aroused.” Grace said, a virtual tongue that appeared so very moist and real licked at her broadening smile. “I can create any scenario you desire.” 

Issac cringed, she must be monitoring his heart rate and other factors, such as shifts in body heat, “Look, Grace. It’s a very nice idea, but it just can’t happen.” 

“Why not?” She asked, her smile disappearing and her arms folding over her chest. 

“It’s just not a good idea for our relationship to be...erm...sexual. Aside from it being illogical, you being the computer of the ship, and I being a human, it is also just going to complicate things.” Issac tried to explain. He wondered just how sexuality had been ingrained into the ships mind? Was the genderization to blame? Had he put too much emphasis on her being a female? It certainly seemed more logical for the ship to be asexual. Yet here she was. Acting as if she were a heterosexual female. 

“But...” she said, almost pitifully, “My emotions are telling me...that...It’s that Atrix, isn’t it?” 

“What?” Issac asked with an arched brow. “Atrix has-” 

“You are aroused by her too. And you spend so much time with her.”

“Atrix and I are friends, just because I acknowledge that she is an attractive female does not mean I am trying to start a sexual relationship with her. That would also be illogical considering the situation at hand.” 

Grace seemed flustered, her hands returning her digital clothes back to their original position. 

“Look, you don’t need sex to have a meaningful relationship with someone. We have something good already.” Issac said, trying to tap into that strange mind of hers. 

“But, I don’t want to share what we have.” Grace said sadly. 

Issac shook his head, “Look. Me and you are one of a kind, literally, right now.” 

Grace seemed to think it over, but a reluctant smile creased her lips, “You are being truthful?” 

“Yeah.” Issac said. Feeling a little relieved that the situation appeared to be dismantled quickly. “Testing is just me and you, no one else.” 

“I like that.” She said with a nod. “But...Are you sure you don’t want me to help you stimulate yourself? I have done research and-”

“No. Grace.” Issac said with a sigh, his hand running down the side of his face. 

“But we could act out almost anything and.....”

“This is going to be tricky.” Issac mumbled to himself as Grace began listing off what she had researched. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 
“Where are we headed?” Kikata asked, her fingers curled around the platform that held Richard’s pilot’s chair. She felt nervous, as she often did lately, and rarely wanted to be anywhere without Richard close at hand. 

Richard sighed, eyeing the coordinates that he had been sent, “I assume we are meeting them at their ship. These coordinates appear to just lead to empty space.” 

“Solar system?” She asked. 

“There doesn’t appear to be one anywhere close to the spot.” Richard said, he shared his own starmap with Kikata’s display, using his finger to encircle the red dot on the map that their ship was currently enroute too. 

“They must really want to stay off the grid.” She said.

“I can’t blame them...We’re taking a pretty large risk ourselves not bringing them in.” 

“If they give us even the slightest reason I won’t hesitate.” Kikata said with a nod, “How far off are we?” 

“Two days about, at our current pace. We could jump but-”

“Can’t risk the engines being overheated. Just incase.” 

“Just incase.” Richard repeated. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Something had become clear to Issac as he made his way towards the community quarters. He recalled all the times he had discussed Richata, now Grace, to the others as if she were not present in the room. But she was almost always there, whether or not she was paying attention could be debated, but it seemed she observed much about their day to day activities and discussions outside of their own sleeping quarters. He would be sure now not to speak of her with the others as if she wasn’t there, it was clear she was going through some confusing phases, almost like puberty, and he did not want to upset her. While the restrictions on her systems would prevent her from being any threat to the crew, he did see a possibility for their progress to be halted if she did not feel respected. Also morally he felt that her emotions were now something to be considered, the creeping feeling that she had become something more than machine was becoming more believable every day. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Atrix tried to read her book patiently, but was having trouble doing so. She would check her computer more often for messages, or to just idly browse the web as she waited for Issac. He had messaged her a few hours ago saying it shouldn’t be too much longer with the ships computer so she moved out to the community quarters to meet him. It was odd, she felt nervous, as if he wouldn’t show up to keep her company, but not that churning and painfulness in her chest that she was used too. It was more like an impatient twitching in her tail, her gaze constantly shifting up towards the balcony whenever her eyes tricked her into seeing some movement. Was this what having a true friend was like? She asked herself. And were all these jitters worth it? 

She answered her own question as the sliding doors on the balcony opened and she excitedly popped out of her seat, “Hi!” She called as she trotted over to the balcony. 

Issac braced himself as a gust of wind blew past him and into the hallway as the massive figure of Atrix appeared smiling above him. She had gotten increasingly relaxed around him, a welcomed change as it made himself more relaxed around her in exchange. “Hello.” He replied, his eyes falling from her lightly colored eyes to the large, bound book she gripped in her hands. “Doing some reading?” 

Atrix glanced down to the book, realizing she had forgotten to put it down, “Oh, yes. Well. Just mostly browsing some of my favorite scenes.” She laughed. 

“I will have to read that book sometime. Once I fine tune my forigne languages.” Issac said as he approached one of the couches. 

“We can read it together!” Atrix boasted excitedly. 

“As long as you don’t spoil the ending.” Issac said. “So what else have you been doing?” 

Atrix shrugged, “Just keeping myself busy.” She said, hiding from him the fact that she had spent the past two hours basically waiting for him to join her. “How is work?” 

Issac cleared his throat, “Um. Well I guess. Finally done and ready to relax.” 

Atrix smiled, she could tell that something was troubling Issac, a fact that she was proud of now. She had never been much good at reading people. She leaned on the railing and lowered her head closer to Issac, “Grace giving you trouble?” She asked. 

Issac corrected his hair after the gust of wind that carried Atrix’s question blew past him, “Um. No.” He said, quickly taking out his computer and sending the message, Grace tends to listen in on conversations. We can talk about it in your room. 

“Oh.” Atrix said, her eyes darting around the room wondering from what angle exactly the ships computer was monitoring them. She noticed her computer light up in th pouch like pocket on her shirt, she retrieved it and read the message from Issac. Her eyes shifted back up towards him and she nodded with a grin creeping over her lips. She eagerly set her hand down on the balcony with her palm facing up. 

“Well, I was going to take the shuttle, but alright.” Issac said with a laugh. He stood up from the couch and sat down on Atrix’s palm before swinging his legs up and into her hand. He was getting more used to the routine of being carried around, though with anyone less graceful than Atrix he still would be uneasy. 

“So what else, erm, how is everything else?” Atrix asked as she walked as delicately as possible out of the community quarters and into her room. 

“Good. I think I finally get myself into a proper sleep schedule again.” Issac said, “And you?” 

“Same. Kind of getting bored, though.” 

“Well how many times can you read the same book.” Issac said with a chuckle. 

“I’ve lost track.” Atrix said.

“Say Atrix, have you ever felt zero gravity?” Issac suddenly asked. 

Atrix blinked, “No.” 

“Want too?” Issac said, now grinning. 

Atrix nodded furiously, “Yes!” 

“Grace?” Issac called out into the hallway as Atrix approached her door. 

“Yes, Issac?” Grace’s voice replied quickly. 

“Could you isolate Atrix’s room and turn off the A.G.S?” 

“Yes. Of course.” Grace said. “I will wait until you are inside of the room.” 

“Yeah, give us like a minute.” Issac said, watching as the sliding door of Atrix’s room opened. He couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to think about trying this. Human spacecraft have had Artificial Gravity Systems since they had entered the Alliance nearly a century ago, only the most ancient of astronauts would have had to function without gravity on their primitive spacecraft.

It did not feel as Issac had expected, his feet still planted on Atrix’s palm. He looked up towards Atrix who had very gently applied pressure from her toes to the floor, causing her to rise very slowly into the air. A smile spread across her lips, her pearly white teeth gleaming brightly and her eyes alive with excitement as she experienced the absence of weight. His shirt did not grip his shoulders and he could feel his hair swaying around his head as they moved upwards as if he were underwater. 

“This is amazing!” Atrix finally said, her eyes shifting down as her feet were now several feet from the floor below. “This is how it should be all the time!” 

Issac laughed, “It would be fun. But not very good for our bones, you see-” 

Atrix shushed him before he could go on into explaining the importance of gravity, “I’m sure there are good reasons.” She said with a sigh, though her beaming smile returned quickly. As she approached the midway point between the floor and the ceiling a thought struck her, “So how do I get down?” 

Issac was starting to feel a little nervous as they now hung much higher in the air than he had ever been before, “Well, we could push off the ceiling, or there should be enough friction in the air that you could basically swim around. I think.”

Atrix scrunched her lips as she processed Issac’s words. She lifted her free arm and held it out from her side and started to make a paddling motion with emphasis on the up stroke. She gasped as she started to tilt to the right, “Um Issac, help?” She said before bursting into a fit of giggles. 

Issac felt his stomach drop as her hand rotated beneath him. In an attempt to gain some balance he must have put too much weight against her palm and suddenly he was floating. “What can I do?!” He nearly shouted watching as the safe haven of her palm fell away from him as he drifted off in a horizontal trajectory, Atrix now starting to spin in an enormous cartwheel. The fear of falling faded quickly to an uproar of laughter, perhaps a defense mechanism, he blurted out the obvious, “We’re flying!” 

“I know!” Atrix boasted before resuming her laughter, she was completely upside down now working her way round and round in a clockwise motion. She dipped her head to her chest as she noticed Issac was no longer near her hand, “Issac?”

“What?” Issac asked, he had drifted about twenty feet from her now, he clumsily waved his arms and kicked his legs until he was facing towards Atrix as he floated towards the wall that held her bed. 

“Oh there you are. I lost you!” She said, now trying to regain some control of herself. She managed to stop her cartwheeling and face herself with her feet towards the floor again. Her eyes focused on the small figure moving away from her, now over her bed. “You’re so far away!” She called out to him, she continued to play with her arms and legs, getting a better grip on how to control herself. 

Issac laughed, watching as Atrix twisted and twirled in the air. It was almost astonishing how quickly her movements went from awkward and random to purposeful and graceful. He was so caught up in the display that he was taken by surprise when his back suddenly collided with the wall, nearly knocking the air from his lungs. The collision sent him ever so slightly back in the other direction. His first reaction was to turn towards the wall and try to grip something to hold himself in place, but soon his hands gripped empty air. He turned back towards Atrix, who continued to twirl in circles around herself, her eyes closed and a content smile creasing her lips. He watched her hands, the way they cupped the air in her palms to generate more force more accurately. He mimicked her gestures and soon found himself spinning out of control. His arms waved back and forth until his momentum slowed. 

Atrix opened her eyes, her body tingling from the excitement of such a new experience. She glanced around, realizing she was upside down, at least by the definition of the rooms construction. After all there was no up or down here in space, it was all relative to where the ship was created. She spun herself towards where she had last seen Issac, her grin broadening as he seemed so out of his element floating in the air. His arms waved around awkwardly and his legs kicked out randomly until he seemed to get himself under control, then suddenly another movement would send him spinning again. A smile rarely seemed so natural to her, she couldn’t wipe it away even if she tried. So he really is awkward. She thought to herself. Ever since she had known Issac he had always seemed so sure and composed. He always told her he was a wreck, yet she never believed him. 

“Having trouble?” She asked. She positioned herself horizontally with her stomach facing the floor and proceeded to swim her way, for lack of a better term, over towards him. 

Issac blushed slightly, every time he seemed to get it under control he lost it again. A shadow soon overtook him, he looked up as Atrix drifted over him, like a larger spacecraft passing a smaller one. “I’ll get it.” He assured her. “Not all of us can be kung fu masters like you.” 

“Kung fu?” Atrix asked. She tilted her head towards the floor and kicked her legs so that she would move downwards. Her arms reached out as she prepared to touch the floor. 

“Like martial arts? I don’t know the Neko word, but that...fighting, stuff. You do.” He forced an awkward laugh, hoping not to offend her by putting her school of mind and body so plainly. “Cho...Choot...”

“Just call it Cho.” Atrix said with a giggle. Her fingers gripped the floor, suspending her in a sort of hand stand position. 

“Yes, that.” Issac said, watching as Atrix slipped over him, her tail hanging limply in the air just within arms reach, nearly tickling him on the nose with its fur. He was having a little trouble pushing Grace’s comment out of his head now, surely she would be jealous to see him and Atrix playing games. “It’s got to help you a little bit here.” 

“Jo!” Atrix said with a gasp before bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. “Oh my gosh Issac do you see him! Under the bed!” 

Issac tried to turn in that direction to see the large, though small to Neko, animal brushing along the bottom of the bed. Jo did not exactly seem frightened, or even confused. He sniffed at the air and paddled his stub like legs which propelled him ever so slowly forward towards the rest of the room. 

“Jo you’re flying!” Atrix continued to coo between her bubbly giggles.

Issac laughed, it was indeed a ridiculous display of adorableness. He started to lose control again however, his arm reached out and took hold of a handful of fur. As he did Atrix pulled herself along the floor, lurching Issac’s stomach into his throat as he accelerated, having to take hold of her tail with both arms to hold on as it swept through the air as Atrix completed her somersault. Unconsciously he let out a loud yell as he skimmed mere feet from the hard floors, his stomach dropped from his throat to his groin as the tail swooped back up high into the air.

“Issac?” Atrix asked, her eyes darting from side to side as she examined the patch of empty space he used to be contained in. “What happened?” She asked with a gasp. 

“I-” Issac started, out of breath, “I took a ride on your tail.” 

Atrix arched her neck and swept her tail to the side carefully so she could see. Her cheeks warmed, yet she laughed again seeing Issac holding onto her tail. “Are you alright?” 

“It was kind of fun, actually.” Issac said. “Like a roller coaster.” 

“Roller coaster?” Atrix asked.

“Like a ride. It has big metal tracks that sends you through loops and big drops.” 

Atrix shook her heads, “We don’t have anything like it. I wish we did though!” She suddenly flicked her tail towards her, grinning widely as Issac was flung into the air.  

Issac yelled out again, watching as Atrix’s face approached rapidly, her palm opening next to it. He hit her hand with a bit of force, but her flesh was soft and absorbed much of the impact. “Wow.” He said, turning over so he was face to face with her, her large gray eyes filling most of his vision. He admired the patterns not visible from far away that spread over the moist pool of her eye, and the reflection of himself staring back at him. 

“Was that fun too?” She asked, feeling oddly glad to have him in her palm again. 

“Definitely. You could be an amusement park ride.” He held out his arms on either side of his head, “Atrix...The Zero G Experience.” 

Atrix laughed, though quickly covered her mouth as to not send too much hot air over her friend. They grew silent, and she was suddenly uncomfortable again. She realized she had been staring at him for several seconds straight, not exactly an easy feat for her especially during an awkward silence so she quickly averted her gaze. 

Issac too felt the uneasiness so he quickly thought up a conversation, “So like I was saying before I took my tail ride. Your training must help you out at least a little in here.” 

Atrix leaned back a little and moved her hand away from Issac’s back so she was not speaking directly into his face, “Maybe.” She said. “I suppose much of our training goes into body control, and mind control.” 

“Mind control? Like trying to get people to do things with their mind?” Issac asked with a crooked grin. 

“What? No.” She said with a laugh, “Like...medi...medita? What’s that word?”

Issac stared at her blankly for a few moments until he realized what she was trying to say, “Oh right, meditation, like the first time we talked in the engine room. Yeah.” 

Atrix nodded, she was almost surprised he even remembered their first meeting. She recalled how she predicted after that first encounter there wouldn’t be very many more. “Yes that.” 

“I’d like to try it sometime. Seems nice.” Issac said, reaching his hands back behind his head. 

“Maybe...Maybe we can do it together sometime.”

“You’ll teach me how to do it?” Issac asked. 

“Me?” 

“Who else.” Issac said. 

“Well...I suppose I could try.” Atrix said, prodding her lower lip with her finger. “I’ve never taught anything to anyone before.” 

“I bet you’ll do great.” Issac said, “Why don’t we try it now? This seems like the place to do it.” 

Atrix blushed. She was nervous she would look foolish trying to teach him something that she had only really mastered several cycles ago. But she couldn’t refuse him, for some reason, and he had a point. The weightlessness seemed like it would be a great environment to mediate in. “Okay.” 

“Awesome.” Issac said with a grin. “Where do we start.” 

Atrix turned herself so she was facing Issac again, his body hanging just below her chin. “Calm your body.” She said, trying to recollect certain phrases she had heard from her own instructors, and Prila. She pulled her legs up and tucked them beneath her as if she were sitting on the floor, and curled her tail into her lap with her hands. She smiled as Issac mimicked her position. “It’s important not to move, at least with this form of meditation.” 

“I see.” Issac said. He tried to relax his muscles, which was a little difficult as there was some left over adrenaline in his veins from his trip soaring through the air at high speeds. 

“Next, we breath. Purposefully.” She said as she closed her eyes. She felt like she was doing very well, though doubted she would be comfortable with anyone else. 

Issac closed his eyes, listening as Atrix took a deep breath, he followed suit. 

“Start to forget about everything else. Your body, your thoughts, your belongings. Just focus on breathing.” 

Issac nodded, he continued to fight the urge to fidget as he focused his attention to his nostrils and his lungs. Feeling as the cool air flowed in, and the warm air flowed out. Questions and ideas kept popping into his mind that he tried to throw away with each exhale. Slowly his thoughts slowed down, and what thoughts did crop up seemed more meaningful. Images of home flashed in his minds eye, he briefly recalled how it was starting to feel as if he were under the influence of the same drugs that took hold of him while he laid atop La’ala’s tongue. It was difficult to maintain the silent images and meaningful feelings, but slowly he felt like he was starting to get the hang of it. Yet with that awknolagement he lost it yet again. Perhaps twenty or more minutes would pass before he hardly even realized he was trying to meditate at all, he was sort of just floating there breathing with the occasional thought or picture rising in his mind. They were not distracting thoughts, just thoughts that crashed in and faded away like waves on the beach. There was a sort of sound in his ears that reminded him of the beach as well. A sort of rushing sound, followed by a pause, followed by a more subtle rush. The sound grew more intense and it almost seemed to stir over his hair and clothes. 

As the trancelike state snapped he opened his eyes, hardly able to comprehend what he saw as light flooded back into his world, or lack there of it in a peculiar circle over his head. As a sudden, powerful gust of wind blew by him towards the opening he realized he was staring straight into Atrix’s nostril, who had been slowly rotating towards him as she had been meditating. There was not much Issac could do to stop himself from being pulled upwards. His head was pulled inside, his narrow shoulders barely keeping him from being pulled deeper. He reached out and took hold of the skin outside of her nose and he tried to push himself the other way.

Atrix’s eyes opened in shock as she felt a very strange tickling in her nose. She gasped as she too realized what happened, her hand frantically reaching up to pluck Issac away. Her chest grew heavy as her blood ran to her cheeks and ears, her eyes felt ready to glaze over with tears as she held him out before herself. “S-S” She stammered. 

Issac looked towards her eyes, her nose and mouth covered with her other trembling hand. He took a few seconds to put all the events together in his mind, then he smiled. “It’s fine.” He said, once again running through the event before he started to laugh. 

Atrix continued to stare as he started laughing. Was he making fun of her? How terrible for this to have happened. Just when things seemed to be going so well. How many weeks before she could show her face to him again? Probably never...

“Atrix.” Issac said, noticing her gaze seemed to be looking past him now, darting from side to side. “Atrix.” He repeated a little louder. He grew nervous as she was unresponsive. Her grip on his sides seemed to loosen, “Atrix.” He said again, a clear fog growing over her eyes. He wasn’t sure what to do, nor was he sure if what he was about to do was the right thing, but he pushed off her thumb so he would drift to her cheek. He gripped the bridge of her nose and placed a hand on her cheek, “Atrix.” He repeated. Now she blinked, he felt a trickle of moisture run down over his hand.

Atrix moved her head back again, feeling the little patch of warmth leaving her face. “Sorry.” She whispered. She wiped her hand under her eye and left it there so he would not see any more tears. 

“Don’t be!” Issac tried to assure her. “It was funny, really. If anything I should be embarrassed.” 

Atrix listened to his words and covered her eyes completely with her hand.

“Come on, Atrix.” Issac cooed, “You know you want to laugh.” 

Atrix shook her head, “No.” She said, though the corners of her mouth seemed to be attached to string as they slowly drew upwards. 

Issac smiled now, feeling as if he was reaching her, “I see a smile.” 

“No.” She continued, though a quick laugh escaped her throat almost sounding more like a quiet cough. 

“You don’t have to be polite. You can laugh at me. It will only hurt my feelings a little bit.” Issac said, now grinning broadly. 

“I almost inhaled you.” Atrix said. 

“Funny, right? I’m lucky you don’t breath out your mouth, I could have finally passed my initiation.” 

Atrix finally drew her hand away from her eyes as she tried to wipe away any of the moisture that had gathered on her cheek. She inhaled deeply, feeling the squirming in her chest finally start to fade away. She stared at him for a moment before she finally started laughing. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata sat on a stool overlooking the human balcony, her eyes transfixed on their newest crew member, “So how are you adjusting?” She asked. 

Nichole shrugged her shoulders, “Good, I guess. Where’s Richard?” 

“Taking a nap I believe. That’s something you’ll find yourself doing more frequently around here.” 

Nichole smiled, “I am not surprised. The body needs sleep. I actually took a university course all about healthy sleep patterns, a large portion was spent on space travel.” 

“Ah.” Kikata said, “You know a doctor will prove quite useful around here. I’m sure Richard will find a way to injure himself again one of these days. And sorry again, erm, about the other night.” 

Nichole laughed, “Oh it was all in good fun.” 

“We never expected someone to jump into my mouth willingly.” Kikata said shaking her head. 

Nichole shrugged, “You know, I guess I am at a point in my life where I don’t want to say no to anything.” 

Kikata nodded, “I know what you mean. I won’t bother to ask your age.” 

“Let’s go with not twenty anymore.” Nichole said with a smirk. “Crazy to think that I nearly thought I was ready to settle down.” 

“Mmm.” Kikata hummed, “Sometimes I think I’m about ready too, but I don’t think I’m ready to give up on the excitement yet.” 

“Right?” Nichole continued, “Back when I was with Greg, my ex, I thought we would never have to settle down. You know, getting on a ship and moving to a new planet was exciting. And then it wasn’t. All the sudden we were looking at marriage and talking about possible kids. I guess lucky for me I got a glimpse of some of his true colors.”

“You have no idea how closely I relate to that.” Kikata said with a sigh. 

“Then I recalled, I think the most excited I was, was when I was on the ship to the new planet. Once we landed things started slowing down.” 

“There is something about the stars that draws you back.” Kikata said. “Some people don’t get it.” 

“I totally get it.” Nichole said. “Up here it feels like anything can happen.” 

Kikata smiled, she felt a certain sisterhood with this new friend. There really was something intangible about being up here that just makes her tick. 

“So where are the other two?” Nichole asked, leaning back into her chair. 

Kikata glanced around the room, she had noticed Atrix and Issac spending a lot of time in the community quarters lately, “Who knows.” 

“Are they...you know?” Nichole asked, poking the tips of her index fingers together. 

Kikata laughed and shook her head, “I don’t think so.” 

“Oh.” Nichole said, “It wouldn’t surprise me. I had a feeling from the moment I met them together.” 

Kikata sighed, “I’m not sure Atrix would be looking for anything like that. With her social condition and all. I’m mostly glad she has managed to become friends with him at all.” 

“Ah.” Nichole said, “It’s kind of sad, she is such a pretty thing. I don’t specialize in psychological disorders, but I understand that it must be very hard on her.” 

~ ~ ~  ~

“You know what meditating kind of reminded me of?” Issac said, he and Atrix now laid with their backs flat against the ceiling. 

“What?” Atrix asked. 

“Well, you know La’ala right?” 

“Sort of.” Atrix said. 

“Well when we visited her she introduced me to this like, drug, it was actually a pretty wild experience.” 

Atrix turned her head towards Issac, “What did you do?” 

“Well, you had to smoke it. So she has this whole tattoo on the roof of her mouth that glows in the dark, and well I sat on her tongue while she breathed in the smoke or vapor or whatever.” 

“Oh.” Atrix felt her cheeks growing warm. 

“Well the drug sort of gave me a similar feeling, I was so focused, yet I wasn’t really focused on anything in particular.”

“You were in her mouth?” Atrix asked a little shocked. 

“Well yeah, at first. Then I was all over her, looking at her tattoos and stuff.” 

Atrix couldn’t quite explain this new sensation on her chest, “Did you guys...”

“What?”

“Well you know.” She said, feeling strange just trying to ask it. 

“Oh! No, we didn’t.” Issac laughed, “I don’t have the skills Richard does.” 

“Oh.” Atrix said, sighing slightly, “So wasn’t there something we were supposed to talk about before the whole zero gravity started?” 

Issac rubbed his chin, “Oh yeah, Grace.” 

“Yeah!” Atrix said, “You had something to tell me that she wasn’t supposed to hear you say.” She was generally not one for gossip, yet she desperately wanted to know the secret now.

“Right, hm. How do I go about saying this.” Issac said continuing to rub his chin, “She uh, well, tried to seduce me.” 

“Seduce you...” Atrix said, vaguling recalling that words meaning, “You mean she wanted too...” 

“Yeah. It was very awkward. I’m not quite sure how she got those feelings. But she seems to be quite attached to me now. She’s even jealous of you.” 

“Of me?” Atrix asked, her cheeks and ears grew warm again. 

“Yeah. I guess she sort of sees you as a threat, which is ridiculous.” 

“Right, yeah.” She said softly. 

“I suppose it might have been a mistake to convince a robot mind it was female, I guess sexuality is bound to crop up as she fills out her personality. I hope it passes soon, it will certainly make things interesting.” 

“You’re not going too...well...” Atrix asked, she felt nervous and she wasn’t quite sure why. 

“Issac laughed, “No, no I do not think so. For several hundred reasons probably that would be a bad idea.” 

“I see. I wouldn’t know.” Atrix said, forcing a laugh. She suddenly felt an urge to get out of the room, “Hey, you want to see if the others are around? I’m kind of getting hungry.” 

“Sure, me too actually.” Issac said. 

Atrix gently cupped her hand to the ceiling over Issac, letting him take hold of her thumb before she pushed herself towards the floor. She wondered just what the hell had suddenly taken over her emotions. She felt an uncomfortableness in her chest that was unfamiliar to her. Then suddenly the realization dawned on her. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

“I think I’m jealous of the ships computer.” Atrix blurted about an hour later in her room. Kikata had stopped by while they waited for their food to cook, who now stared at her with raised brows. She didn’t know why she said it, but she had to tell someone. She couldn’t handle these thoughts internally, and Kikata was the best available option, clearly she couldn’t talk about it with Issac. 

“You...” Kikata started, “What?” 

Atrix covered her face with her hands, “Oh god...” 

“Atrix, what do you mean, jealous of the ships computer?” 

“Well, Issac told me something...You can’t tell him, or anyone, not even Richard, that I told you this.” 

“I promise.” Kikata said, sitting down on the bed beside Atrix. “Now, why?” 

“The ship tried to have sex with Issac, or something. He said it had gotten really attached to him.” 

Kikata’s first instinct was to laugh, but she quickly covered her mouth, “Really?” She asked. 

Atrix sighed, realizing now how stupid it all sounded, “That’s what he told me.” 

Kikata thought it over for a moment, maybe Nichole’s instincts were more accurate than Kikata had imagined. “So, okay. I...well. I’m sure it’s just a glitch or something.” 

“It’s not just that the computer did that.” Atrix said, “It’s the fact that I’m jealous. This isn’t supposed to happen to me. This is the one thing I have always been a little glad I would never have to deal with.” 

Kikata placed a hand on Atrix’s back, “You’re not a machine, Atrix, you have emotions.” 

“Not those emotions.” Atrix fell to her back on the mattress and sighed heavily through her lips. “Why now, of all times.” 

“Well, these things happen. I never thought in a million years something like Richard and I would ever happened, and well here we are.” 

“This is different.” Atrix insisted, “I can’t handle this. Even if Issac felt the same way, which he doesn’t-”

“How can you be so sure? Why wouldn’t he?” Kikata asked.

“Just trust me, I know. He practically told me so himself. Because the computer is jealous of me too, and he said that’s just ridiculous.” 

“I think he meant-” 

“Trust me, I was there.” Atrix said again. “And I don’t even want to feel this way. I was perfectly happy being friends. I never get to have many friends like him, and now...” She sighed again. 

Kikata rose from the bed, “Well maybe it’s just a passing thing. I can’t tell you what to do. But the meal should be ready so stop moping around and let’s eat. You’ll see, everything will be fine.”