MonMusu Mekton Quest: Episode 6

9:52 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: You must have slept at least 16 hours after Langio's unnecessarily intense training session. Finally getting your wits about you, you clean yourself up and get ready. Taking a peek out one of the small windows in your cabin, you find the ship is motionless, parked apparently in some sort of docking bay. The area seems to be sealed and air-tight outside the ship, and you can see the ship is moored with large magnetic clamps. You assume you're at Zeta-95, the station Mr. Silk mentioned, though you're not sure how long you've been here... your perception of time's been a bit muddled after staying up 48 hours straight.
9:54 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Now that you're safely in the station, having no work ahead of you and free from the clutches of Langio's web, what are you to do with your time?
9:59 PM - Kari: Kari mulls about in bed for a little longer, still feeling a bit delerious. When she finally pries herself from the oversized bed, she makes to get cleaned up which helps substantially. Withing nothing much to do, and since she's had enough "training" for the moment, she decides to track down Widoia.
10:02 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: It doesn't take long. While walking down the corridor that houses the crew's quarters, you hear some indeterminate noises coming from one particular room. The sliding door has a magnetic sticker that reads "<3 Widoia <3" on its face. You're not quite sure, but you think this probably isn't Dematus' room.
10:05 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: You move your hand to knock, but the door opens on its own accord. In that same moment, a wave of hot steam washes across you, pouring out of the room so thick with the stuff it's very near impossible to see through. What could have happened? Could a pipe have started leaking, is there an intruder, is Widoia alright?
10:08 PM - Kari: Kari drops to a lower stance, hands immediately snapping to both sword and gun. Her reflexes act on their own, probably from the practically 72 hours of drilling she's had. "W-Widoia!?" she calls out, trying to peer into the steam.
10:11 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: A quiet, distant squeak is heard, followed by the clicking of numerous legs. A door somewhere within the room slides open, and you hear some fans kick on, blowing the steam away. There, dripping and with a towel wrapped around her shoulders, is none other than... Widoia. The towel's two halves hang down across her chest as she vacantly dries the back of her head with the part of the towel hanging behind her neck. "Ahh... can't beat a hot shower in the morning. Dematus really has to look at the fans in here though..."
10:12 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "...Kari?"
10:15 PM - Kari: Kari looks up at Widoia in full blush mode. Her eyes peer blankly ahead, and she has yet to really physically react in anyway. After an uncomfortable pause, she blinks a few times, before suddenly rising from her stance and spinning around with a nervous buzz of her wings. One hand covers her eyes, and the other is locked firmly at her side. "I-I'M SORRY! I'LL COME BACK LATER!"
10:16 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "But you came to see me, didn't you? Did you need something? Just let me throw some clothes on."
10:19 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: She casually walks across the room, water droplets trailing off her large, chitinous back as the steam clears in full. Unwrapping the towel from her shoulders, she runs it across her body, thoroughly drying her upper half and most of her midsection, though she strains to reach all the way behind her. "Hnnn..." she signs. "It's a good thing you're here, then! Can you dry my back for me? It's so hard to reach without some silly stick to wrap the towel around and I don't want to drip water across the ship."
10:19 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: sighs*
10:23 PM - Kari: (Wait, is she trying to dry her abdomen? Or her humanoid back?)
10:24 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: abdomen
10:24 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: the spidery bit
10:24 PM - Kari: (ooh, okay. Got'cha)
10:25 PM - Kari: Kari tenses up quite a bit, but takes a deep breath in and exhales it after holding for a couple seconds. "Um... s-sure, Widoia. Just um... g... give me a moment." With a hard swallow, she starts to back up, trying not to look for as long as she can. Unfortunately, she backs right into the door frame. With a giggle, she catches herself and stammers out, "I'M OKAY! Hehe... I'm-.. I'm okay~." Hurrying up behind her, Kari takes the towel from her to do as the spider bids, keeping her eyes low.
10:29 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: You run the towel across her abdomen, soaking the stray drops of water off her surprisingly-smooth chitin. While you work over her spidery bits, she giggles, "Thanks, Kari! You sure showed up at a good time." She bends her upper half down, rooting through her drawers for an outfit to wear, allowing you a brief glimpse at the two firm, fleshy mounds around her waist that connects to her abdomen. She mutters to herself, unaware of her bare bum. "Hmm... not this one, no, noo..."
10:30 PM - Kari: "Eep!" Kari's eyes fixate for a moment before she spins around once more. Keeping her back to the human half, she does her best not to think about the sight she just witnessed. "Wh-wh-whatever m-makes you f-fell um... c-comfortable~..."
10:30 PM - Kari: *feel
10:32 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "There we go! Perfect." Finally finding a satisfactory outfit, she throws on a bra beneath a simple frilled, white shirt that shows off just a hint of cleavage.
10:34 PM - Kari: Kari finishes her task of whiping Widoia down and stands up straight, though still facing away. She holds out the towel with one hand while covering her eyes with the other, and she just can't stop chittering nervously. "Y-You're all d-dressed now...?"
10:35 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Yep~! Thanks for the help. So what are you all worked up about?" She takes the towel, throwing it into a hamper for later cleaning.
10:37 PM - Kari: "Nothing!" She says, spinning back around and looking quite guilty. "J-Just...! Um....! Stuff...?"
10:38 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Hmm?" She cocks her head, clearly not understanding. "Well, if you say so. I was wondering where you went, actually. I haven't seen you for like, two days! We showed up at the station yesterday, were you out exploring?"
10:40 PM - Kari: "Oh... that..." Kari starts to ease up slightly, eyes sliding off to the side. "Well, I might have... sort of... ran into the Chief, as it were. I asked her to train me."
10:40 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "...oh dear."
10:41 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Are you alright? Crippled, broken, lost, maybe a little crazed?"
10:43 PM - Kari: "N-no! Nothing like that. Just.... tired... and a little vexxed. Was up for 48 hours until I crawled into bed... at some point. Just woke up, actually."
10:44 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Well, that'd explain a lot. I'm glad to see you're okay though! Since you're free, want to go check out the station? I only just finished up some stuff Mr. Silk gave me to do last night."
10:45 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "You /are/ free, right? Langio isn't gonna come hunt me down for taking you away...?"
10:47 PM - Kari: "No, no. She um... she's already gotten her fill for now I think." She winces slightly at the mention of that. Perking up a little though, she smiles at Widoia through her diminishing blush. "But yeah! I'd love to! I came here to ask you out myself."
10:48 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Did you? Ohh, great! It's so nice to get a little break like this. So, you all ready? You lead the way, little miss hotshot pilot~"
10:50 PM - Kari: "Okay!" Kari puffs out her chest, hands on her hips. The young mantis looks so proud and happy, like nothing could be better. She actually stays that way for an uncomfortable amount of seconds, still beaming. "Have I mentioned I've never been off my planet before?"
10:53 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Once or twice, maybe. You might want to brace yourself, Z-95 is one of the more populated Galactic Federation stations, so there's bound to be a looooot of people around, from all different worlds. Did I forget to give you some reading material on the most common Federation-acknowledged races?"
10:54 PM - Kari: "Kinda?" She winces a little, expression faltering with a nervous chuckle. "I um... I actually have no idea where I'm going... or what to expect..."
10:55 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Oh. Whoopsies." She giggles in a self-depreciating fashion. "Well, you'll get used to it. We're gonna be traveling the stars a while now, after all, so you'll see a lot of these people."
11:00 PM - Kari: She drops out of her pose with a bit of a smirk, giggling at Widoia's absentmindedness. "That's okay. I'll be with you, so it won't be too bad. If it's okay though, can you give me a tour of the station then? I could lead you, but we'd be doing a lot of idle wandering."
11:02 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "A good point. Alrighty then Kari, let's go!" Widoia cheers, clickity clicking her leggy way out of her room and towards the airlock. "Anywhere in particular you want to see? Maybe we could go to a resteraunt, get you used to seeing all the different people. Or we could go shopping! A bar? The arcade is good, too..."
11:10 PM - Kari: "Hrmmm..." Kari crosses one arms and skews the other's fingers across her jaw. Humming pensively, she considers all her options. "Well... all of those sound really good... Arcades are fun, I haven't shopped for anything but food and necessities in a long time, and some good food sure sounds pretty great right now. I dunno about the bar though. I've never had alcohol before. We could always do a couple of those. Maybe grab some food and you can tell me about the other races?"
11:13 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Heehee!" Widoia claps. "Sounds good to me. First up is some food then. I know just the place, c'mon." Working your way to the airlock, the two of you enter, are cycled through it, and exit out into the docking bay. Skirting the parked ship, you enter an elevator and ascend for quite a ways, the glass windows giving you a clear view of the stars beyond.
11:17 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: As the elevator rises and comes to a stop, a steady hum of chatter and background noise slowly grows in volumen. The two of you exit into a wide-open plaza, among with are a number of races you've never seen before. Little gray people, some tall winged people, more still with rabbit-like features and others being... you can only describe them as 'plain', as though you took the most common features between every other race, and left it at that. These being among the various Dryders you can pick out. Nobody bats an eye, at least not immediately, at your presence. The flow of traffic coming in and going out of the wall of elevators you just departed from makes the place seem almost like a living organism in itself with how much movement is happening at any given time..
11:20 PM - Kari: Kari's left completely silent as she steps out of the elevator. Her walk is slow as her head turns to scan the whole room. Mouth slightly agape, her eyes dart all over the place and analyze every last alien. Her hold body goes cold like getting hit by a wall of water.
11:23 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Apart from the people, even the technology seems different. Everything is smooth and streamlined, various holographic projections shoot out of walls and windows, advertising wares in different languages you can't read. A stand somewhere to the left is selling some strange thing you'd never even /consider/ "food" if you saw it back on your homeworld, and yet there people are, eating it with smiles. Widoia puts a hand on your shoulder. "K-Kari? Are you alright? If it's too much, we can go back to the ship..."
11:26 PM - Kari: "This.... this place... is amazing!" she exclaims, expression morphing into a smile. Her eyes practically twinkle as she looks over all the literally alien technology and people. It's like a whole new world of possibilities has opened up to her, and she's right there to soak it all in.
11:29 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Your companion sighs in relief. "Oh, good. I was afraid you were shellshocked or something. Hehe, yeah, it really is something to see, isn't it?" Your sudden excited shout draws a few eyes, followed by even more as fingers are not-so-secretly pointed your way, but the additional commotion quiets down soon enough and returns to its previous levels. "It still kind of amazes me every time I see it."
11:31 PM - Kari: Kari's excitements wanes slightly as everyone starts to point. She's left looking a little perplexed, even after they go back to their business. "Hey... Widoia?" She turns her head without moving her eyes, but they eventually follow suit to look at the spider's own eyes. "Why did everyone just stare at me? I'm not 'that' weird, am I?"
11:33 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Well, Kunchorens are few and far between out here. It's only natural for people to be curious. It's likely your average Federation dweller has never even heard of a Kunchoren before, let alone see one."
11:34 PM - Kari: "Really? I... I didn't realize we were 'that' rare. Is it cause we only have one planet?"
11:39 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "One planet and no space travel. To be honest, the only reason anyone at all would even know about your species is probably because we Dryder set up shop and started trading." She responds as you get your wits about you again, walking along with her through the throngs of passerby. "Oh! That's not to try and make you feel unimportant or anything, I'm just saying in a galaxy where there's such a saturation of acknowledged races, unknown or smaller races generally get glanced over until they prove more noteworthy. It's usually part of the Federation Standard Law that all species have to follow, not to interfere with any species that is still developing on its own."
11:42 PM - Kari: "Oh... I guess that makes a lot of sense, even if I feel a little small now." Kari shifts and chitters nervously. It's pretty clear she's rather uncomfortable. After a moment or two, she perks up and forces a wry smile though. "But um... m-maybe you can fill me in over food~."
11:45 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Yep yep, we're almost there now. But don't you worry about a thing, being small just makes it easier to carry you up and down in the ship~." She stops, wrapping her arms around and hugging you, giggling. As you proceed through the colorful, open pathways, recieving more than a few second glances by various passerby (and not just because your head was being pressed into her tits, though that's likely part of it), you arrive at a little place called...
11:45 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: ...Burger King.
11:48 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: The sign displaying its name shows the logo of the name itself sandwiched between two buns, being held by one of those 'plain' aliens, who is wearing a crown. The inside isn't packed, but it has a fair number of people in it. Mostly humans, but you spot a Dryder or two as well as one of the little gray people with the large heads.
11:49 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "The humans - that's what those pink boring-looking ones are called - call this 'junk food' for some reason, but it's really really good! And it passes Federation food standards, so it's not like it's made out of garbage."
11:54 PM - Kari: Kari blushes slightly, smiling bashfully as she hugs Widoia back. With a little spring renewed to her step, she follows along eagerly. "Burger King...?" she muses aloud, seeming quite confused. The perplexed look on her face as she listens to Widoia speak only furthers the message. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try it... I think we have places like this on my world too, but they advertise better. I'd much rather buy from cute girls over kings."
11:55 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Well, it works for the Humans I guess. Apparently this chain's been around centuries now, so they must be doing something right to have spread so far."
11:57 PM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Entering the likely high-class resteraunt, you and Widoia approach the quickly shrinking line to the counter. Watching other people make their orders, soon enough it's your own turn. Standing behind the register at the counter, on a stool to boost his height, is one of the little gray people. His expansive cranium glows and pulses slightly, though he doesn't seemed very bothered by the fact. He asks, "May I take your order?"
11:59 PM - Kari: Kari freezes a little at the request, eyes trailing up to the menu and looking over it. "Um... W-Widoia? What's good? I mean, I'm pretty hungry, but I don't know what's... what. Could you order for me?"
Thursday, November 05, 2015
12:00 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Hmm..." she looks over the menu, pondering before something before her face alights. "Oh, that's back on the menu? I had no idea! We'll take two Supernova Whopper Deluxe meals, please. To stay."
12:01 AM - Kari: "Supernova what now?"
12:02 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Trust me on this, it's great. It's got a little of everything and their secret sauce is out of this world! ...'scuse the pun." She giggles.
12:04 AM - Kari: "Oh, um... o-okay. What she said." Kari's wings buzz a little bit, still obviously embarrassed by being so lost.
12:05 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: The little gray man stays as he is, slumped over and wobbling to and fro as his skull pulses. Though he doesn't physically move, the keys on the register depress automatically, tallying your order. Widoia pays with a smile, taking the reciept with your order number and walking aside to wait, off the line.
12:06 AM - Kari: Kari stares in wide-eyed wonderment at the little man's abilities. Her gaze lingers a bit, even as she follows Widoia. "H-Hey, Wids? How did he do that?"
12:08 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "He's from a race called the Pyhua. They're very physically weak, as you can kinda guess from his small form, but they make up for it with super brainpower. Specifically, their entire race is in tune with some sort of fancy energy called 'psionics'. It lets them do things with their minds instead of their bodies."
12:10 AM - Kari: "P-Psionics? I never learned about that in school. Is it common?"
12:11 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Not really. The Pyhua are special, in that it's just part of their natural biology. The Raz'ask - the birdpeople you saw - have similar powers, to a much lesser extent, and those are only developed through careful training. Sometimes in rare cases, anyone can develop these powers though! Nobody's really sure why or how it happens though, not even the Pyhua who are specialists in the field."
12:15 AM - Kari: Kari's head turns downward as she mulls it all over with a "huh". Turning back up to Widoia, she idly rubs her hands over each other and cocks her head to the side. "Does anyone on our ship have psionics? Or... I guess... is it a rare thing for Dryders?"
12:16 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "No more rare than for any other race without natural potential. And nope, none of our crew has it. At least not that I know of."
12:17 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Your order is handed to you a moment later by one of the Human workers. Widoia takes the tray with your food, thanking the worker as she scuttles about to find a suitably sized table to eat at.
12:19 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Taking your seats, Widoia places your food in front of you - a paper-wrapped burger and a gigantic stack of fries that seems utterly daunting on its own, let alone combined with the burger. And she ordered the 'medium' too, there were two sizes larger.
12:21 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Widoia unwraps her burger, licking her lips, her many pointed canines prominently visible, before biting into it without hesitation. Her face becomes one of near-ecstatic glee as she chews, quietly squealing in pleasure.
12:25 AM - Kari: Kari gets lost in thought once more, considering posibilities she'd never even considered before. Sitting down opposite Widoia, she stares down at the table, even after the burger's been placed before her. With vibrant eyes swirling with colour, she mulls and postulates, right up until Widoia digs into her meal. With a rather amused giggle, she smiles bright and decides that she might as well give it a try if Widoia likes it so much. Taking her first tentative nibble, she chews for a moment to let the flavour hit her. Pushing out her lower lip, she nods in approval and begins to dig into her meal, though lacking much of the eager ferocity of her companion. "You're right. This 'is' pretty good~."
12:27 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "See? I told you so." Blinking, she suddenly leans forwards, pushing her face (un?)comfortably close to your own. "That's weird... I never really noticed it before. Your eyes are so pretty. Why do they change like that? I've never seen that on any other Kunchoren before."
12:27 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Or anyone at all, for that matter."
12:32 AM - Kari: Swallowing down her current bite, she's a little taken aback as her eyes open once more to see Widoia so close. Her face flushes, and her mouth opens to say something just before she's intercepted. "M-My eyes...?" Blinking a couple times, she ponders it over without breaking eye contact. "Th-thank you. I um... I don't really know actually. My sisters always said it was just because I was special. I think that was just them trying to make me smile though, cause they never really told me how I was special other than being their little sis." She finds herself unable to hold back a giggle at the happy thoughts before continuing. "People ask me that a lot though. I've never really had an answer. Probably just some really rare trait. I'd ask my parents if I knew where they were. ...Or... who they were."
12:34 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Oh..." at the sudden somber end to your comment, Widoia's face falls. It jumps back just as quickly, though. Smiling, she points at your mouth. "You got a little ketchup on you there."
12:35 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Gently pinching your cheeks with her sharp-nailed fingers, she says, "And you /are/ special. To me, to Mr. Silk, to everyone on the ship. Also you're like, the best Mekton pilot ever."
12:38 AM - Kari: With a little jump, her blush deepens, quickly reaching for a napkin to clean up the stain. Barely cleaning it off, she winces from the sudden pinching. Despite the discomfort, Kari manages some giddy giggles. "Thanks, Widoia~. I can't take all the credit though. I've got you and the others to fight for! That, and it's really reassuring having you on the comms. You're a good handler."
12:41 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Happy to help~. Now... to get back to the other races you'll want to know about. There's the Humans, like I mentioned. Boring, squishy, small, but very persistent. Then there's the Pyhua, who you saw. Psionic mindpowers and tiny bodies. Also, they're leading developers in augmentation technology, like cybernetic limb replacements."
12:43 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "After them we have the Usamimi. They run the New Lunar Repulic, which gets its name from the fact that their homeworld is actually a moon orbiting a gas giant. They're kinda like the... superstars of the galaxy. They're usually cute and pretty, and super easy to get along with. They're the ones with the long floppy ears and the tiny ploof tails."
12:44 AM - Kari: Kari nods absently, following along as best she can.
12:45 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Finally we have the Raz'ask. They can fly with those wings, and they have a little bit of natural psionic potential too. Their main thing is that despite their super brilliant technology and advances, which they always share with everyone else for free or very small cost, they're... pacifists. They refuse to harm anyone, even if their own lives are endangered. I dunno why, it's a cultural thing."
12:47 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "There are a couple other races, like the Flal as you know, but they don't play nice with the Federation much or aren't big enough for the Federation to bother with."
12:47 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "And that about covers it! Think you got all that?"
12:52 AM - Kari: "Um... I think so. This is still a lot to take in. Did you say cybernetic limbs?" Kari cocks her head, chittering a bit. "You mean like- " Despite the translator, Kari rasps out something that doesnt' quite translate well, but it seems like a proper noun. "I love that show! Man, that would be pretty cool!"
12:53 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "I uh, didn't really catch that, but yes! Cybernetic limbs. Robot arms and legs and all kinds of other organs. Sure, with meat-cloning technology you could just have your own arm regrown good as new, but cybernetics are popular for both design and functionality. Humans especially make use of cybernetics, now that I think about it."
12:56 AM - Kari: "Aw, man! That would be so cool! Except for all the horrible trauma and limb-loss... but still!" Kari seems to be on the edge of her seat. Whatever show she's talking about, it's probably one of her favourites.
12:56 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "You seem very excited about this! We'll stop by one of the limbwork shops so you can see the stuff for real."
12:58 AM - Kari: "Awesome! Thanks, Wids~!" Giggling with delight, she resumes devouring her meal. A permanent smile sits on her face as she contemplates the possibilities, however unrealistic.
1:01 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Widoia attacks her own meal with equal enthusiasm. The two of you clean up your garbage, depositing it into a bin on your way out before heading to the various markets.
1:03 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Passing by any number of dealers and vendors, you take in the varied wares available for sale past the incredible (and still unreadable) advertisements. One window in particular catches your eye, and you stop to peek at its contents. Displayed for all to see are... a series of small stands, each carefully cradling a small, blue computer chip. Exactly like the one you handled on your delievery.
1:03 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Beneath the chips are descriptions of solar systems, planets, and their potential resources, though no locations are provided.
1:06 AM - Kari: Kari marvels at the wares, still awestruck by the station so far removed from her home. At the sight of the chips, she stops in place. She leans in, close to the glass, shifting and looking them over as she calls out, "Widoia?"
1:07 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Having failed to notice your stop, she was several feet ahead when you called her. She turns back to you upon hearing her name, scuttling back to your position. "What's up, Kari?"
1:10 AM - Kari: "Widoia... what are these chips here, in the window?"
1:13 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: She turns to see what you're referring to. "Oh, these? They contain map data of unexplored star systems. See, most traffic through civilized space is performed through FTL  - that's 'Faster Than Light' - jumps, which are guided through large relays placed in the systems. Without the relay, anyone using FTL travel will probably find themselves smashed against a planet before they even realize it was there. So this limits exploration to, for the most part, nearby star systems."
1:14 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "In order to get to systems farther away from the relays, there are people called pathfinders who, for a living, map out distant, unexplored star systems and their planets, then sell the map data to any potential explorers who want to make the trip for themselves."
1:15 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "That's what these chips are. They're specifically designed to fit into any standard navigation system and holomap setup, giving you all the details and information on the system, from its stars to its planets and moons, or any other notable features, like asteroids."
1:16 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "If the system turns out worthwhile, then a relay might be built there, but purchasing the map data doesn't mean that you have exclusive rights to that system. It's just a matter of 'finders keepers' in terms of resources, like precious metals for example. There's a whoooole process to staking claims legally, but that's a lot of jargon I don't really know."
1:19 AM - Kari: Kari stares into Widoia's many eyes as she recounts all the information. It's a lot to take in, but one thing sticks in her mind. "Widoia...?" she starts, beckoing the spider girl closer. Once she leans in, Kari whispers into her ear. "A chip like this got me my job, if you catch my meaning. Is it safe it talk about this here?"
1:20 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: She hums quietly, pondering the question before whispering back, "It's not as though the selling of this map data is illegal or anything. It's a legitimate business venture and form of employment."
1:21 AM - Kari: "Yeah, but... why did they want it so bad? They seemed kinda dangerous, didn't they? Didn't you say they're the kind to shoot first and ask later?"
1:22 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Who, the..." her voice drops even lower as she says, "Flal? I didn't know that's what the package was. Mr. Silk didn't say anything about it."
1:24 AM - Kari: Kari's face flushes a little, clearly having said something she really shouldn't. "M-maybe we shouldn't be talking about this. Mr. Silk specifically said he wanted me to be discrete. But... I... I thought you'd know."
1:25 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "Hmm..." she leans back, breaking the whisper and returning to a normal volume. "Well, I'm sure Mr. Silk knows what he's doing, whatever it is."
1:27 AM - Kari: "R-Right..." Kari says, clearly not as sure as Widoia is. "Um... maybe w-we should just get going." She seems pretty uncomfortable at the moment, holding her arms and buzzing her wings every now and then.
1:30 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Apparently unaware of your discomfort, or perhaps ignoring it to help you through it, Widoia cheers, "Alrighty, now let's go check out the limbwork shop! You wanted to see some cool augs, right?"
1:32 AM - Kari: "Y-yeah." Kari forces another wry smile, doing her best to push past the uncomfortable thoughts.
1:35 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: Grabbing your hand, Widoia leads you through the walkways, past a pleasant, peaceful-looking park, and through a few sets of clearly marked alleyways. The prestine shine of the main streets begins to give way to slightly grimy, dirty walls. A few buildings have shutters over their entrances, though one in particular is wide open. Displayed in its windows are assorted arms and legs for the varied races, all made in highly polished metal.
1:39 AM - Kari: Kari blushes slightly, and after a bit of walking, she finds herself clinging to the spider girl's arm. Hand-in-hand, she takes in all the sights. As the neighborhood takes a turn for the unpleasant, however, she steps just a little closer to Widoia. "Hey, Wids? This neighborhood doesn't seem s-... Wow." Her eyes gloss over the wares in the window, clearly enraptured by the mechanical devices.
1:40 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "It's just a little dirty, not like there's gonna be a buncha thugs hanging around the shop of a /psionic augmentation specialist/."
1:42 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: The devices seem to almost glow in the spotlights shining on them. Every crease, crevice and screw is highlighted in full, and your eyes miss no detail on the assorted limbs. There are even a few Dryder leg augs folded neatly up on the side. There are augs for basically everything. "So, want to go in and see if we can find the owner? Maybe he can chat if he's not busy."
1:43 AM - Lil Bitta Mekton: "I'm sure you'd /loooove/ to speak with the person who makes all these, right?"
1:44 AM - Kari: Her eyes roam over every last little bit. "Are you kidding me? Yeah! Of course I would! .... Even if I'm a little intimidated now."