[Eselberg] Nerds Come in Pairs

[darkfox202]

Vetra sighed as she straightened herself out of her kneeling position, rubbing her lower back as she was finally able to stand up. She was called on to restore power to a hangar blast door; apparently, the wiring had fried, and the door itself had sealed shut. Thankfully, the hangar was relatively quiet at the time, and no one was harmed, nothing was damaged. But the faulty wire just so happened to be just underneath the floor. So Vetra had to open up the floor panelling, and basically crawl in to try and replace the wires. And in the process, apparently finding a literal tonne of other random mechanical sundries, ranging from broken ship platings, to bits of wiring, to circuit boards, to even battery boxes.

Vetra knew that the station had been abandoned before, but come on! At least clean up any messes that had been jammed up underneath the floor. Vetra grumbled a bit as she peeled off her goggles from her face, blinking a bit as she switched from tinted blue to standard...lights? Oh, right. Blast doors. Idiot. She needed to reset the control, and then they would open. At least it was only a wiring issue, for JUST the blast doors. And that the burnt wiring didn’t cause another issue. Or… You know what? Just focus on the reset.

A moment later Vetra was blinking as the now-revealed star let loose a stream of bright light into her face. Ugh. She had been spending too much time in the dark underbelly of… well, the floor. After blinking and rubbing her eyes to get used to the sudden change in light level, she looked back at the various components laying out on the floor. Good thing I brought the duffel bag. Vetra was certain Kai would appreciate at least some of the stuff she managed to dig up.

The Raiju smiled a bit, before she started stuffing the various bits inside her bag. In the middle of the clean-up, however, she paused, squinting at a dusty battery. A wipe later, and she raised her eye in appreciation at the box-like battery. Lithium-Water battery. Nice. It could be a nice… Athletic? Yeah, athletic charge, compared to the more high-energy Lithium-Sulfur. Plus, she liked how the white contrasted with the emblem- a power symbol around the spokes of a windmill. The size was good, too- It was the 40152 type. She pocketed the battery, and looked around the hangar, making sure that she had cleaned up everything.

Once that was assured, she turned around, and walked off, boots ringing over the plating, the mismatch clear between the older, rusted ones and the newer, cleaner ones. One of these days… One of these days, we’ll need to replace the entire floor. Granted, the administration was probably busy handling other things, but… Well, one does get tired of finding random junk in their workplaces. Sighing a bit, Vetra rubbed her back with one hand, as she rummaged through her duffel bag front pocket with another, pulling out what looked like a notebook.

Make that a holographic notebook, as when Vetra opened it, it imitated the pages turning of a regular book. The Raiju paused the animation, before navigating the UIs to get to Kai’s number. She tapped the contact icon, and waited, thankful she didn’t take off her headphones. Though, where was her mic..? Ah, there it was. “Hey Kai; you still up for meeting at the Cocoa Loc- er, Moca- I, uh, meant the Coca Moca Loca!? I just finished the job here, and it was annoying.” Vetra complained a bit, as she began tugging on a loose wire tangled in her tail. “Anyways, it’ll be good to meet up with you after this. I think I found some things you may like!”

“Yeah I can meet you there, not far already, just left the doc’s. I’ll get our orders in when I get there. Same as usual?” Came Kai’s reply over the line, having just been walking out of the medbay. The bandages were still quite sore around his arm, holding off on the pills until he had something to drink to take them with. The man really needed to be more careful when working, otherwise Vetra and Ichika would both kill him if the job didn’t. Closing the line with her, he walked out into the main commons area, the view of the rest of Kalis system in full view.

Several holographic displays had several vehicles and craft on show, their full digital likeness lazily rotating above their projectors. Heading off to the side before heading up the steps, knew it would probably take her a good 10-15 minutes or so to get there from the opposite end of the station. So he went ahead and started putting in the request for their food, paying for both as he got them both their usual, and an order of cinnabites each. With their stuff on a tray, found a nice spot in the mostly empty circle of booths with tables next to the shop. Waiting, he sipped some coffee as he took two of the meds for his arm, and settled in as they kicked in.

Vetra gasped after she heard Kai’s response. “What did you… Oh, nevermind. I’ll see for myself!” Vetra grimaced after she snapped at him, and she softened her voice considerably. “And yeah, Salami and Veal Muffuletta with a side of Cranberry Cheese Salad. You know the coffee- Cinnamon Dolce Latte.” At that, the Raiju sighed. “...And maybe a Pumpkin spice scone. But just one.” Vetra was quiet for a moment, before she ended on: “And Kai? Thanks. I’ll see you soon.”

Vetra ended the call, and hurried through the increasingly crowded halls of the station, irritatedly flicking her tail up and out of the way of others. She had perfected moving through a crowd to an art form, as she weaved her way through the others- though the large duffel bag did make it a bit harder. As she finally approached the main commons area, she took a moment to appreciate the system. And to brace herself. Who knew what Kai did this time? Though, due to the fact he was still getting coffee…

Nevermind. That was never reassuring. Vetra sighed, and slid off her earphones, holding her holobook in the left hand, looking around the station, before heading over to the cafe itself. She idly waved off the waitress coming to attend her, smiling as she informed her someone was here already for her. Moments later, and she was making her way over to the table, whereupon reaching it, she stood at the edge of the table, hands on hips, and looked at Kai. “I hope you haven’t been getting into too much trouble?”

“Oh just the usual. You know, bad manifold that needs replacing, got to touch it. Then surprise, when it explodes in steam and metal at the slightest application of pressure. Nothing major.” Kai said it so casually, despite the numerous small nicks and cuts already healing over that were visible. Not to mention, the full bandaged covering of his left arm, but yet still unworried in his delivery of the explanation. Offering an apologetic grin up to her, he oddly got sidetracked by how cute he found grumpy Vetra was.

Vetra glowered at him. There went her typical chill greeting. She put her hands on the table, and she was certain literal sparks were coming off of her, based on how the others were slowly edging away from her. ...Ultimately, it fell apart when the idiot grinned at her. The Raiju couldn’t stay mad at him forever.

...Not his fault he wasn’t immune to getting shocked.

Vetra sighed, and slid into the seat next to him, tiredly telling him, “Please don’t kill yourself; you still owe me a pizza, a movie, and a trip to the research station on Kalis B.” She reddened a bit as she attempted to subtly slide closer to him. And just to try and hide the fact, she tried distracting him from noticing her scooching by asking him a question: “And what did you get to eat?” She put her elbows on the table, and her head in her hands as her tail flicked her and there. She had to keep it away from the edge, however- it was too long to really risk putting it in front of other people. Speaking of not getting in the way, she stuffed the duffel bag underneath the table at her feet. After this, she would show Kai the parts she found.

“It’s not like I’m trying too, just a rash of bad luck is all. It happens in engineering from time to time. Part was just improperly made, and the last person who did the job, didn’t know a stress fracture from their ass crack.” He gave a deep sigh at the explanation, not having anything to say in a positive light about the ship’s previous owner. Not that he didn’t have a wealth of negative to say about them either. “The Sadistic Spriggan is a fine vessel, but her old master was a lazy son of a whore.”, Kai added further grumbling.

He then held up his cinnamon confections, pointing to her with her food as well, “Just some sugar to nurse the meds, and a sandwich that I already ate while I was waiting.”

Vetra sighed and rolled her eyes. “You’re hopeless, I hope you know that. Entering anything with the name sadistic in it is never going to go well.” Putting a finger on the bridge of her nose, she continued on: “I hope the ma- wom- WHOEVER was in charge of that ship was able to compensate you. Because it was obviously ‘something major.’” At that, Vetra glared at Kai’s heavily bandaged arm. However, Vetra blinked again as she realized something, and deflated yet again. “Well, at least you didn’t lose an arm or anything. That would certainly kill the fun of shocking you.” Vetra’s mood lightened at that, as she poked at his leg, sending a shock through it.

Finally getting her ritual greeting done, she smirked at Kai, before she turned to face her salad and started wolfing it down, speaking between bites: “My work today wasn’t quite as bad as yours. I had to deal with a stupid blast door malfunction. ..It actually wasn’t that bad, if it wasn’t for the fact that the wire was beneath the floor panelling, as well as a bunch of junk jammed in there as well. Surprised there weren’t rats or anything in there…”

Vetra shook her head, managing a weak smile at Kai. “At the very least, I found a lot of parts; I think you can use some of the pieces I found. But there’s one battery I’m keeping- it’s too good of a battery for me to pass up.” At that, Vetra stretched, back popping as she tried to work out the kink in her back, muttering darkly: “I definitely had to pay the price to get it.” She eventually settled back down to finish off her appetizer.

The shock was at this point expected, and it always did shameless things to his nerves, among a certain tightness in his jeans. Good thing he wore thicker wear for his work, letting him hide it at least, but it always left his leg so numb for a bit. From her he just accepted it like it was a love bite though, as it was normal routine and behaviour between the two of them at this point.

“Funny part is, the Spriggan is the clan ship. It’s how we got here, found the station, what we woke up on when we got to this space, and well, was home until the station…” Kai clarified to his more than floofy companion. “The last guy who owned it, and the original crew, was a wealthy slave baron of some race I no longer can remember, much like where we came from before.”

“Honestly, probably for the best, as I only have bits and pieces, most not very happy bits. Like getting shot, having been in a galactic war, though I did get to fly a flag ship or two. Along with a few other warships.” The more he thought about it, the more he figured he sounded like a crack pot honestly. Maybe he was just some eccentric old guy at this point, but eh, not like he wasn’t a loved old coot anyways.

“So what’s so special about this battery?”

Vetra looked at Kai, putting a hand on his shoulder as he talked. “I certainly hope you gave that shitshow a run for their money, and freed the slaves.” Her mouth was twisted in a grimace, but then it broke way to a wry smile as he asked about the battery.

“It’s a Lithium-Water battery. You know Lithium-Ion batteries? Yeah, well, one of the major perks of that kind of battery is that it’s rechargeable. I have a few back home, actually. Problem is, they can take only so much recharging before I have to scrap them. Plus, they have a distinctly… ozone? Yeah, Ozone-like taste. Which is fine and all, but it’s like the equivalent of drinking Dileade. Since this one is water, it tastes more like water, plus it’s more efficient in its energy discharge and recharge.”

After speaking on that bit about batteries, Vetra continued on: “And it’s better than Lithium-Sulfur battery, in my opinion, because, who wants to taste rotten eggs for their drink? Trust me, you do NOT wa-” She was interrupted as the waitress came back with their food. After smiling and nodding at the waitress, she began digging into her food.

Moments later, and she popped back out of eating, wiping her mouth as she asked Kai: “So, have anything planned for today?” Ugh. Her tail was getting in the way of people in the aisle again. She shifted in the booth a bit as she attempted to move her tail, and ultimately decided the best place to put it was… on Kai’s shoulder.

What? She didn’t want to dirty her tail on the floor, and the table was full of food.

It was probably good then that he, for the most part, had finished eating. As for plans, he did have a few ideas of late, especially after his work time debacle today. “Well I’ve been thinking actually of late. Just a kind of side project if you will, but one I’m really hoping to do.”, Kai said as he patted and stroked the tail resting on him. It was a bit warm given the station’s current climate settings.

But he couldn’t argue with this kind of softness, or the slight fragrance her fur gave. Something he was never sure if it was due to what she was, or just whatever shampoo she used, but it was in it’s own way comforting. But that was where his thoughts as usual, turned to her as they did, and how he saw her with him in his side project. Though with how he thought of her, and regarded the quite energetic woman, more considered it “their project” at this point. “How would you feel about helping me build a small ship of our own?”, he asked carefully, looking to gauge how she took the question.

Vetra raises her eyebrows at him claiming that. “So THAT’S why you’re so interested in the various bits and bobs I find lying around in the station.” Vetra failed to maintain her mock sour look, face turning into an excited grin. “You, build a ship? Of course you can count me in! Someone has to make sure you get the wiring done correctly! After all, a- a…” Vetra’s smile turned into a thoughtful frown. “What kind of ship are you aiming for, exactly? It’s gotta be small, we obviously can’t build a frigate in a hangar…. Unless, of course, you somehow managed to get access to a shipyard port, as well as a few billion credits.”

Vetra dug into her food for a moment, chewing thoughtfully over what Kai just said, not realizing for that moment her head was dipping slowly closer and closer to her food. When she realized it, however, she jerked her head back up, and her head snapped to the culprit- KAI PATTING HER TAIL.

“H-hey!” Vetra’s protests rang half-hearted as she attempted to chide him. “Not while I’m eating, please and thank you!” Okay, maybe while eating was fine, but… “At least give me a warning first! Trying to put me to sleep while I’m eating, I oughta shock you for that…” Vetra looked back at her food for a moment, trying to regain her composure, but her resulting silence was a bit too much for her. She eventually, desperately, tried distracting herself by asking Kai: “S-so, yeah. Where are we building this ship? What kind? D’we have the resources for it?” Vetra sat back in her seat, folding her arms together in an attempt to look like she was at least somewhat in control.

“No idea, and just what you’ve salvaged so far. Figured I’d talk the idea over and plan with my favorite partner in crime about what kind of ship we would do.” Kai gave her a sly grin, letting go of her tail as requested. Clearing his throat gently though, he added, “I want to do maybe a shuttle at the least, or even a corvette if we can swing it.”

At this point, Vetra was basically the Bonnie to his Clyde, and he was sure even she realized that. “So what do you say my dear, we build ourselves an extravagant yacht for just the two of us?”, Kai said jokingly with a chuckle as he wondered what input she would give. At the very least, he could always call on his granddaughter to help them, and lend them her workshop in getting a decent amount of their future work on this project done.

Vetra gave a smirk at Kai’s first statement, but then it softened into a genuine smile, though it turned into a red faced frown as she felt him stop. “D-did I say you should stop? Am I-i eating now?” Her tail practically flicked itself into his face as she looked away again, before returning to look at him with a slightly-less flustered face. “A-anyways, of course I’m in! For ship type, I would love to go with a corvette. But we may struggle with parts. So we may have to stick to a shuttle… for right now.” Vetra was quiet for a moment, before she began elaborating a plan: “Maybe we could make our own shuttle for transport- there’s a resort opening up soon, right? So we make a shuttle, design it to be super fast- and comfortable, I guess- so that we can transfer guests to the resort. People are probably gonna have to stop by here first, or want to visit the station from the resort- we get money from them, we use the money to get parts, and we build a corvette with all the things we could want! I, for one, would really love a copper pole.”

It took her a moment, but then she realized what she said. Her face became beet red, instead of pink, and she put her head in her hands, blustering: “N-not for that reason! ...For discharging! N-no! Not that kind of discharging! SHUT UP!”

“Huh, guess I should get one for the room in that case then.”, Kai said with his own smirk, having said nothing at first. It was a joke that had crossed his mind, but found it all the funnier when she realized it herself, his hand stroking her tail to feel better. All in all he liked the business plan, not that he had thought to that extent on the idea, which made her input all the more invaluable. Even if she was a total mess at times, but she was his mess.

“KAI THEEEERRRRWOOOOOOOOOD!!”

~-~-~-~-~

An hour later, and Kai and Vetra were next to the kitchen table, Vetra having mysteriously procured some blueprint paper- “Don’t ask where I got them!”- and working furiously on the design for the shuttle. Various other balled up scraps of blueprint paper were on the floor, Vetra having tried to throw them in the basket without looking, unsuccessfully, and this current one was looking like it would be much the same.

“The problem here is that the liquidized oxygen could potentially freeze any bit of circuitry we have going on here, and we can’t risk putting a heater near, because, y’know, we don’t want the tank to explode.” Vetra sighed, ears drooped. She was really into the idea of liquidized oxygen to help lower space requirements. The less space the oxygen took up meant that the more space could be devoted to other things, such as fuel space, or even better, engines.

Of course, Vetra was aiming for speed.

“Maybe we could rely on fiber optics? Instead of relying on copper, could we instead use electromagnetic waves to transfer the electronics?” Yeah, The Raiju was getting desperate. She shifted the topic to something else out of frustration. “So have any idea what engine design we’re going with? We’re probably gonna need at least a couple more than necessary to improve how fast we can get…”

“‘Bout the only thing we have access to is chemical burners. Which for now is all we need, and we aren’t going anywhere further than the next planet over anyways.We can worry about upgrading afterwards when we have more of a budget.” Kai didn’t really want to burst her bubble on anything, but without outside funding, the pair were on a budget of peanuts as is. He could ask his daughter for funding, but felt bad about the idea. Unless he could find something solid as a benefit to the station to bring to that deal. “I’d have to basically start a fueling business to just make the fuel constantly and regularly available even with that option too.”

Vetra folded her arms on the table and put her head on it, eyes closed in irritation- No she wasn’t pouting! “Fiiine. Chemical fuels it is. For now.” She remained that way until Kai also brought up the need for fuelling business. Then she perked back up. “I mean, the UNS hasn’t really started moving into the system, right? And we have a gas giant, Kalis B…” At that, Vetra pulled out her tablet, and pulled up a map of the system, tapping on it to bring up the gas giant’s composition, showing it to Kai.

“Helium and Hydrogen. We could feasibly use those for fuel. The only problem is the process of collecting, and more specifically, safely storing the hydrogen with our budget. Also even making a gas collector or fuel depot.” Vetra mulled it over a bit. “Something else we could do is collect the ice chunks in the rings and break them down to form components. Still requires a mining station, but less specialized than a gas-gatherer. However, we would need a processing thingamabob..”

Vetra looked back up to Kai. “Or we could just suck it up for now, and buy fuel for a bit when we initially start our business. Eiiither way, I don’t see us being able to do this long term without a loan..”

“I might have a solution for that…”, was all Kai would say as he got a figurative lightbulb on the topic of a loan. Walking away briefly, he leaned out the kitchen door, before calling up to the whole house. “Kyoko Hazanna Therwood, to the kitchen please.” Off somewhere, there was a grumpy commotion upstairs, before the faint padding of feet could be heard. Despite it being an estate in a hab facility, the house was not big enough to warrant an intercom.

“What?! What the fuck do you want that you felt like yelling through the whole house?! Don’t they teach you airheaded flyboys how to use a goddess damned phone!”, came back the less then happy response of a certain ex-spook. Kyoko came padding down the stairs in just a t-shirt with laptop under one arm, a tired scowl on her face framed by a bedhead of dark bluish purple hair.

“Wait. I thought parents were supposed to be the ones loaning money, not asking for it…” Vetra shook her head, before sliding off of the chair to approach and smile at Kyoko. “What, and miss the opportunity to see you again?” Sure, Vetra didn’t see Kyoko or other family members a lot, but she always made sure to treat them well.

...Well, better than how she treated Kai. The Raiju leaned against Kai and smirked, throwing a question at the man: “So, Kai, what exactly are you asking of Kyoko?” Vetra was clearly enjoying seeing what was going to happen to her compatriot.

“Kyoko dear, I need some logistics run. A decent scale helium-3 fuel refinery and depot operation, particularly in orbit of the local gas giant. Vetra and I have a plan, and we need the numbers run as well as planned out. Then she can propose it to Set on our behalf.” Kai was aware he left the part out originally to Vetra, that she would do the presenting of the plan. But hey, couldn’t make it seem like nepotism since it was to his own daughter.

“........That’s it?”, Kyoko said more than questioned, giving a piercing look of annoyance to the man. “You called me down here for just that. Fucking call next time, that way I can ignore it and listen to the voicemail later. For a massive nerd, you sure are dumb sometimes.” The nekomata sighed, ears down in annoyance, and something else she always felt when forced to interact with this man.

“Fine Kai, I’ll do it, on one condition. Call or message me next time, and I want 10% in cut for the payout.”

Meanwhile, on Vetra’s end, she had straightened up upon hearing Kai’s ‘volunteering’ of her to go see Setsune. “Wait, WHAT!? You’re the one who came up with the entire concept of the ship! ...I mean, I DID say we could get fuel from Kalis B…. and I DID suggest a couple of concepts… BUT THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT!”

Very shortly later, however, and Vetra was looking intently at Kyoko. “And you DO have MY number, right? We still need to get together one of these days, when you’re not drowning in paperwork and me in wires.” She waved away at Kai. “And no, we’re not involving him.” At that, she flashed an apologetic smile at Kai for a moment, before she continued on: “You never know. We might want to do something that Kai won’t like.”

“Unless, of course, Kai wants to join us in looking through various clothes and decorations for hours on end?” At that, she winked at Kyoko- honestly, Vetra had no intention of spending hours looking for useless things.

“Probably for the best, Kyoko kinda hates me as you can see. I’m not one to be a mood killer by just being around. As for you presenting, it would be weird to make a formal plan approval request to my daughter. Nepotism and all that old school jazz.” Kai simply raised his hands in defeat, knowing when he wasn’t liked or wanted. He wouldn’t force the issue, neither aggravate it either, and this way he had something to work on to keep him away from Kyoko.

“Yeah sure I guess…”, Kyoko replied to Vetra reluctantly before averting her gaze from her step dad. “I don’t hate you. You’re just not my father, so stop acting like you are. Now do we have a deal or not?” Her voice was not so loud now, but still held an almost trembling anger to it, begrudging even as she referred in any capacity to the man before her. Her’s should have been the one to come, not him, not someone she had to watch her sisters be happy to have around.

“Yeah… yeah we do. Thank you.”, was all Kai said before returning to the kitchen table.

Vetra tilted her head in Kai’s direction in acknowledgement, though her gaze never strayed from Kyoko. “...I really do think we need to have a day together. But not right now, apparently. We won’t keep you waiting any longer. ...And Kyoko, don’t overwork yourself, alright?”

As Kyoko left the pair to their own devices, Vetra trotted back to the table, raising an eyebrow at Kai. “I think we might need to work out some issues about family, one of these days. ...But not right now, unfortunately. Repairing a relationship requires both sides willing to participate.” The Raiju grimaced to herself. “Trust me. I’ve had enough spats, and yes, bad arguments, with my brothers and sisters to know.”

Speaking of. She kinnnndda wasn’t too excited to appear back on her planet again after… What was it? Six months? Yeaaah. The family was probably worried sick about her- one note prooobably wasn’t going to be enough.

That was off topic for today’s plan, though! Vetra refocused her attention towards Kai, and gave a small groan. “But… I can’t fault your logic. ...So, uh, what’s Set like?” She raised her hands at Kai’s look. “Hey, I haven’t been here for that long!”

“She’s the eldest of my daughters, ex-military like the rest of the family. She takes her job very seriously, and is good at it too, but she can be sweet when you get to know her. Wasn’t always like that, used to be a touch cold and an analytic type like Kyoko. “ Kai didn’t blame Kyoko for hating him, she was right after all, he wasn’t her dad. He was the step dad, and that was that, because there was no way he could replace that man in her life.

Resting the side of his head in his hand, as the elbow was propped on the table, he continued. “I think her getting married sorted that out of her though, but she’s also a bit of a wounded animal at times. I don’t mean that she's bad, or anything like that, but the girl has scars that run deeper than the skin.” Looking Vetra more in the eyes as he finished, “The previous owner of the spriggan I mentioned. He had captured her and held her as a slave. But she was rebellious.”

“His treatment and the things he did to her body were cruel.”, he said finally before letting that hang for a moment. The gap between him and Kyoko may have been vast, but that between him and his daughters was miniscule in comparison. With a sigh he straightened out the blueprint paper on the table, before walking around to pour a fresh cup.

Vetra was silent for a moment, before scowling. “That entire ship is just evil, thanks. First, I find out that it has the gall to ruin your arm, and the owner never really cleaned the ship, so it was probably a slob. Now… This.” Vetra spat out the last word. “You need… Honestly, that ship… Urgh!” Vetra gave a huff, before going silent for another moment.

Eventually, she piped back up. “Kai? Promise me this. When we make this ship of ours, you are going to scrap that hellship. I don’t care if we have to do it ourselves, that ship can’t exist anymore. Got it?”

“Not exactly my decision on that one, but the whole family’s. So if you feel that strongly about it, call a meeting together with the others, and run it by them ‘k.” With a sigh he walked around and stuck his mug in the microwave for a bit. “So with the logistics done, now we need a workshop and a hangar.”, Kai added as the applianced hummed behind him, the man leaning back against the counter as he turned back to Vetra.

The hangar was probably going to be the harder part of those two needs for this project. The workshop probably not, as his granddaughter was likely willing and eager to help them on that front. “If you don’t mind meeting with yet another of the family, Sachi can likely help with the workshop.”

After a moment of sullen silence, Vetra managed to perk herself back up and focus on the task again. She gave a deep thrum in her throat, before turning to face Kai. “So, meet Set and Sachi. Probably gonna have to meet with Set first to get this underway, then Sachi.” At that, Vetra gave a wry smile. “I bet you’re just trying to make me meet with the family more, right?”

After shaking her head a bit, chuckling, she continued on: “And what about the hangar? Don’t leave me doing all the work, lazybones! Obviously, we don’t have a shipyard, so there is no luxury there. …Mind you, it may actually be easier to build in a vacuum, if we somehow manage to get suits.” Vetra made that thrumming noise again, before speaking idly again: “Then again, we may need to design the ship with atmospheric entry and flight in mind, if we want it to be a shuttle…”

Soon after saying that, Vetra gave a smile at Kai and stretched, before standing up and grabbing her jacket, putting her arms through it. “Then again, that probably won’t be my problem, will it? At least, not right now. If you’re still struggling, I’ll try to help.” She began zipping up the jacket, grimacing at the oil stain on her tank top. “After this? I need a shower.”

“We get the funding and the support for the start up, and we can get our own hangar built as part of it. So it’s important you sell the idea to her, we need this for more than just the funding. As for meeting the family more… Happy side effect.” Kai chuckled to himself, letting the joke get his mind off the whole interaction with Kyoko for now.

Vetra raised an eyebrow at Kai. “You’re placing that much faith in me? Hum, thanks for the pressure.” She gave a mock scowl in Kai’s direction, before her face softened. “I’ll try, Kai. In the meantime…” The Raiju gave the man a pat on the shoulder, sending another little shock through him, before she turned around and waved at him, looking over her shoulder. “Well, I guess I better be off! TRY and rest, would you? That arm needs to get better, and you moving it most certainly won’t fix it!”

~-~-~-~-~

Vetra sighed as she paced back and forth in front of Setsuya’s office door. She was fairly certain that the secretary was looking at her funny, but she didn’t care at the moment. She had a big proposal to make, and if Set asked any questions… Well, Vetra was pretty sure she needed to come up with answers on the spot.

Eventually, however, she managed to get her chin up and open the door to Set’s office, stepping in, with what she hoped was a modicum of determination.

“Ah future step mum, what brings you to my office? Hopefully Father isn’t causing you trouble, I hope?” came the feline woman’s greeting as Vetra entered. She put the stylus down as she gave her guest her full attention, a smile on her face as she clasped her hands together on the desk casually.

“Pft. That outcome is very debatable, especially if Kai continues trying to kill himself while fixing ships…” After lowering her voice and muttering for a bit, Vetra shook her head, and faced Set.

“So, how’s work been treating you? I hope you’re not overwhelmed with setting up the station?” Vetra paused, chewing the inside of her cheek for a moment, before finally going ahead and biting the bullet. “I hope not, because, well… “ Vetra took a deep breath in, and pulled out the paper Kyoko had given her detailing costs. “Kai and I are trying to build a ship to start a shuttle ferrying-esque business, and, well… It’s kinda hard to build a ship with very few parts.” At that, Vetra rubbed the back of her head, before grinning sheepishly. “So, uh, yeah, we managed to get some help to run the logistics, and we figured out starting costs and pricing- which includes the start-up of a helium-3 depot- that may be needed to start this little business venture.”

Vetra paused for a moment, wondering if she should continue on speaking, maybe trying to sell it to Set by saying something about how a fuel depot would also help the station, but she eventually decided against it at the moment. Probably better to save it when Setsuya was going to ask questions.

The station admin sat back at the request, becoming just that, as her position demanded of her. “Is that so? I figured this was a more personal visit, but I suppose we’ll have to have a more casual one some other time when business is settled. Can I see the paperwork you have on this?” Setsuya held a hand out until the pad was handed over, her digits already manipulating the display to resize and scroll the data for better viewing after it was. Nothing was said as eyes tracked across the screen quickly, taking it all in entirely before lowering the pad after some time.

Setting the device down on her desk, her expression took on a pensive demeanor as her mind mulled the data over. “I take it you had my sister help, the clean clinical layout screams her handiwork. The plan is solid, and I can see the benefits, but there is something important to work out. What are the terms? What does this station receive as benefit, and how will ownership, as well as labor be settled?”

Upon hearing Set lament that it wasn’t a personal visit, Vetra winced internally. However, the real problem came when Set began asking the economic and business details. She hmmmed for a second, trying desperately to buy time as she thought over what she and Kai discussed earlier about such terms.

Chewing on the inside of her lip, she let a moment’s silence slip by, before she came out with her proposal: “So, you know that what we’re doing is a hydrogen farm on the neighboring gas planet- we’re mainly using that to try and start a shuttle service, and if we try to make a collector and refiner around said planet, we obviously are going to produce too much fuel for a single ship, or even a small fleet. So, any excess we have, we’re going to sell- and for Kalis Station, we can offer a pretty big discount.”

Vetra took a breath, before continuing on: “As you know, currently, Kalis Station is importing fuel from the companies of [X] and [X], which actually leaves the station in a vulnerable spot- if we annoy these companies, or don’t pay them enough, they could withhold the fuel from us. So this hydrogen collector and refiner would be really beneficial to Kalis Station, as it effectively cuts out a middleman and supplies the station with fuel at a much cheaper cost.”

The Raiju tapped her digipen on the datapad’s edge, small sparks of static electricity cracking whenever she touched it- a sure sign of her nervousness. But she continued on, regardless: “As for ownership, it’ll be a joint ownership between me and Kai, as a Limited Liability Company. We’re thinking about mostly automating the process, though we are still going to have to consider technicians, and for lack of a better word, technical ‘overseers’ and engineers to ensure the process is going smoothly- but all in all, I don’t think we’re going to be hiring much.”

“At this point, it’s really just us getting the business registration, which is why I’m here with you!”
Also, it was probably a good idea for her to keep in mind to schedule another little ‘date’ with Set.

“That is true, and this would halt the need for those costly deals. Good, I see the merits, and I will approve it. I’ve had a program compiling the contract paperwork during the discussion, and based on the papers you submitted. You should be seeing it come up on your slate now, so please read over it, and sign on your line if it is satisfactory.” Setsuya steepled her fingers as her expression softened to that of a pleased kitten, happy to be through the formalities of their talk for the most part.

“Tell father, that if he keeps up this clever planning spree with you, he might have to be the one put in my seat after a while,” she chuckled, as it was all processed and the papers were filed away. Mainly just keeping it all tidy for future records, and back checking. Bureaucracy was boring, but she was good at it, and it beat at least getting shot at.

Vetra raised her eyebrow at that statement, and ruefully said: “Good luck trying to strap him down to that seat.” After closing her eyes and giving a sigh, remembering the bandaged arm like it was only yesterday.

Which, to be fair, it was.

“Anyways! Now that we got this done, do you have some more time? I do think I need to plan out a time we can go do… something!... together. Kai only brought me to this station a few months ago, and I really haven’t had a chance to properly meet and greet everyone.” The Raiju held up a finger, ruefully smiling. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it right this moment, as I’ve got to meet Sachi the mechanic to get things done now. Don’t ask me what Kai’s doing at the moment- he left me to handle all the organizational and meeting side of this little business start up.” Despite the harsh comment, Vetra’s tail was wagging lazily, as she returned to her original subject matter.

“But I do think we can try to meet sometime later to get to know each other- who knows, maybe I’ll meet someone who’s as good at disc golf as I am!” At that, Vetra twirled her finger in a circle, leaving a small static afterimage in its wake. Granted, she was probably so good because her disc/frisbee/whatever it was had metal edges, and she basically turned it into an electromagnet to guarantee that it would always go into the metal net.

“You never know, I might be the cat that shows up in your lap at random. But yeah, perhaps we can grab dinner sometime and talk more,” was the admin’s reply with a small giggle. The idea that she might have an electric fox for a mum in the future, was a bit amusing. However, becoming friends with Vetra was definitely a future goal, as time allowed of course. “Also tell Sachi that momma says hi for me. I’m sure she would love to meet you and make a friend too, just be careful, my daughter tends to be very curious about technical things.”

Vetra smiled at Set, assuring her: “Oh, don’t worry. I can keep up. And I’ll be sure to pass it along. Anyways, off I go- cya, live long and prosper, and all that fun stuff.” Vetra waved as she exited the room, before suddenly she popped her head back in: “And make sure not to get buried in paperwork! I’ll try and make sure Kai doesn’t add any insurance claims to the list!” And with that, Vetra finally took her leave, checking her analog watch for the time- for some reason, digital watches always broke around her- they always reset and got the time wrong.

Vetra’s lips twisted into a thoughtful appearance. She probably had time to change into something more fitting for a workshop- she had a fancy jacket she used for electrician work/meetings, right? Best head home right now and figure that out…

~-~-~-~-~-~

A short while later, and Vetra brushed off crumbs from her sweatshirt guiltily. She never meant to stop by that donut shop… but to be fair, the donut holes looked too good to pass up! And besides, she had enough foresight to get enough for Sachi as well. …Though, she didn’t know what Sachi liked, which is why she got the variety pack.

She knocked on the slightly ajar door, before opening it, and blinking upon seeing the room. She took a moment to gather the gist of the room’s layout, before her eyes settled on the person in the room- Sachiko. The Raiju observed Sachi for a moment, before smiling and waving with her free arm, calling out to Sachi: “Well, hello hello! I’m in need of someone highly skilled in the ways of technology! Or at least, in this case, someone with room to help us get a ship going, and patience enough to deal with the mess Kai makes!” …And maybe enough insulation to keep Vetra from shocking everything.

Sachiko quietly worked on the maw of a familiar Canine, various tools were picked up and used, and finally, her pet Whiskers on her head. “There you go darling, now just need to test your strength, and you're done,” she said, before her ears picked up on the doors opening, causing her to glance over as she lifted a slab of steel alloy which was promptly bitten and crushed. “Hello!” She said as she smiled at her guest taking her appearance, including her tail, which was bigger and fatter than her own.

Whiskers ripping the steel caught Sachiko’s attention, bringing it back. “Good girl! hmm... I wonder if we can get some Ultrite for you to bite? Ah, maybe not.’ she said, taking the now damaged steel slab out and setting it aside as Whiskers hopped off. The innocent, normal-looking dog approached Vetra, and sniffed her before licking her hand, and scampered off back to duty.

Sachiko turned to Vetra, and approached her sink to wash her hands. “I’m quite skilled with tech, you’ve actually seen my masterpiece,” she said, meaning the normal-looking dog that didn’t look robotic. “Unfortunately, SachiTech- the company I’m setting up with my girl- doesn’t have a hangar, but there is room for parts of a ship, I’m actually interested in making a ship, and I kinda have a goal of a new one for my clan, with newer technology, and no previous history of being owned by a spawn of a demon’s dung-oh that wasn’t very polite, I apologize,” She said, feeling bad for the off chance she had offended Vetra.

It was here where she spotted the treats Vetra had brought. “Are those-?!” She could feel her mouth water at the memory of getting the treats from upstairs. She plucked up one of the donut holes and took a bite of it. “Mmmm!” She said in pleasure before she focused: ”So, what kind of ship are we planning to build, and –yummy!- I take it you don’t have room to build, like a hangar? I might have an idea about that potentially, if the rumors I’ve been hearing are true. It will likely be difficult to be sure too,” she said to her potential Step-grandma.

Vetra raised her eyebrow at Sachi, smirking slightly at her bubbly appearance. “Keeping tabs on everyone in the station are we, little miss spymaster?” Vetra then chuckled, sliding the bag over to Sachi, though she quickly got on to more serious matters. “But yes, I am needing a place to basically build and store the ship Kai and I are making- honestly, I’d much rather us start a ferry business without having to resort to using that hellhole of a ship…” At that, Vetra broke off a bit, muttering to herself, before she straightened herself and got back to the subject.

“However, there’s a couple of other things we had to consider when we wanted to start this- namely, fuel! Y’know the planet Kalis B? Well, we’re thinking about building a fuel depot there. Which is all fine and dandy, but running an extraction and refinery setup is gonna take some logistics and manpower- manpower that, well, we may or may not have. So, I was thinking you could help us with automation and droids, as well as any other more advanced software stuff we might need to cover. I hope you’re not too busy to help us out?”

Vetra ended her explanation with a bit of a hopeful look, twirling her finger in that classic electric circle spin.

Sachiko smiled as she was called a little miss spymaster. She licked her lips to get at the doughnut leftovers off of her lips and grabbed a napkin to deal with the leftover bits off of her cheek. But when Vetra started talking about building and then the automation and androids she got this look as if she had stars in her eyes like she was so in love and a fan. “Certainly, I’d love to be of help with anything you need tech wise. Though I think there might be room in the hangar bay for a new ship, I'd say we could use something new- hence building something, which I’d love to do. But even if we add SachiTech to this, there might not be enough, which is why.. We may need to do a salvage operation, and I know where to go!”

She moved to her desk and pressed a button and the star map appeared. “According to rumors going around, there's a system somewhere near Kalis and they say… THERE'S A WHOLE SYSTEM FULL OF SHIPS! A whole treasure-trove! A junk yard full of ships from huge ships to fighter ships! If we can get a group to go there, maybe we may find a carrier class starship, something huge to carry ships into battle, but we could repurpose that, make a ship repair area, but also a ship building area. They may have droids too! Something we could repair and have them make stuff for us.” She said, feeling excited by the minute. “Of course I’d like to talk to Vivi, my girl too and see what she says,'' She added.

Vetra held up her hands, chuckling a bit. “Woah, slow down there! The system where there’s salvage definitely seems like a good place, but you gotta remember, this is a really small operation we’re doing here at the moment. Going a full on carrier may be a tad bit too much at the moment- besides, we already rented out a hangar; I probably should’ve told you that first, but, y’know, I was also wanting to get the automation done as well.”

The Raiju tapped a couple of fingers on the desk, mouth screwed up in thought. “We just want enough to kinda basically finish our one ship at the moment, as well as enough to set up the dihydrogen station above the gas planet. Then we see what the profits are and expand from there.” Vetra gave Sachi a smile at that. “Don’t focus too much on the end goal of the big picture- try to focus on the steps that lead to the big picture.”

Sachiko blinked her eyes and blushed when she realized she might be going overboard. She nodded “Yeah, true,” she said as she, when she learned they were already renting out a hangar. She turned to look at the scrap she had then turned back

”I think I may be able to make some robots, with what I have from spare parts, right off the bat, but of course, there's a limit from the stuff here, maybe at a minimum I can get 3 to 2 androids at most. Maybe the salvage operation might bring back things we can definitely use and maybe improve on what we have. What are you going to call the business anyways?” she asked. “Just if I need to put some kind of insignia on the robots, I mean.” Sachiko clarified. She decided to discuss payment for the work once Vetra had the idea of what they could get with everything.

Vetra smiled gently as Sachiko’s face fell. She reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair, remarking: “Don’t worry about it too much, Sachi. Just think about it like this: We’ll probably hire you to make more, so you can treat these original ones as a sort of prototype to fine tune.” Vetra then withdrew her hand, and began rummaging through her pockets- grumbling a bit to herself as she searched for the paper Kai gave her. It also conveniently held her attention while Sachi’s hair began to stand on end, thanks to static buildup- perhaps coming from the hand of a certain raiju?

Soon enough, Vetra pulled out the slip of paper, and showed it to Sachiko: “Here we go. KaVe Logistics. Kai originally wanted to call it Therwood Logistics, but when I told him I didn’t want him to take all the glory, he gave me a weird look and then proposed this idea instead. It’s a bit stupid, but it works, I guess.” She shook her head in exasperation, before brightening up and looking at Sachi: “So! What day do you think we can meet to start the salvaging? I can try and see if I can get Kai to join us- he’d probably leap at the chance to explore old wreckages of ships.”

Sachiko blinked, as her hair was ruffled by a lot of people, like her mom and dad, and Vivi seemed to enjoy doing that as well for some reason. Unfortunately, the effect of Vetra doing it like they have caused a static build-up, forcing her hair to stand on end. She blushed with embarrassment as she saw it on a reflective surface and quickly she tried to comb her hair back.

She was finished when she was shown the piece of paper and she looked at the paper as she took it in hand. “I like it, I mean, if you two are partnering up it should have both your names, though I admit I’m a little guilty since my company is called Sachitech, not SaVitech, hmm, maybe I should talk to Vivi about it and see if she’s bothered..” she said ending in a muse to herself before speaking to Vetra again, “provided we have a ship to use, I’d like to go sometime this week if possible. I’d bring Vivi, and I feel like mommy would be concerned for safety so if they are ok with it, I’d bring the Zoren siblings with us too. Lotara can handle any demons, and Tarkus and Verena could heal maybe but I’d have to ask them.

Vetra was all ears and nodding along to Sachi’s plan- take a ship, head to the system this week, and salvage, bringing Sachi’s partner… wait, who were the Zoren twins aga- Wait. Demons. What?

Vetra clapped her hands together, exclaiming rather loudly: “Now hold on a minute!” The Raiju folded her arms under her chest, and stared hard at Sachi. “You didn’t mention this earlier. What’s this about demons in the system? Sachi, what’s the full story with this place?”

Sachi blinked her eyes when Vetra spoke, and she soon realized she hadn't mentioned the demons which made her feel extremely guilty that she hadn't mentioned them, she slapped her forehead before she turned to look at the other older girl. “I’m so sorry! I’ve heard of it from the people that come by, Miners and travelers, mostly the latter, they say there's this system where there was this huge battle so it's littered with ships and technology, which is in my opinion something like a gold mine. Security Chief Makoto reckoned that there might be demons, that they like to congregate where there were battles, with negative emotions I think, but she also mentioned there might be Isferatos, or as her people preferred to call them, Shadow Demons. They don’t like light and the chances were the power would be limited. “

“I really want to go there, maybe we won't encounter demons unless we are unlucky. I'm hoping we don’t. The travelers aren't clear, but they seemed to think it's about a few weeks or so west of here” She said, though began thinking that maybe she should send a spy to or something. This suddenly caused her to look at her junk pile. She knew she had enough stuff that she could create something small like a drone! A grin formed and she turned to Vetra. “I’m sorry about before, but you’ve given me a great idea!” She said to her with a smile on her face.

Vetra’s look was firm as she faced Sachiko for her pleading look: “No. Out of the question. Demons are too big of a risk to face- Kai is NOT a fighter, and I’m an electrician, for Raijin’s sake! I would love to salvage something too, but if we are, it has to be in a system that has a modicum of safety- no demons, preferably no pirates, and no fighting.”

The Raiju’s face softened slightly after a moment, and she rubbed an eye. “Sachi, I know you want an adventure, but you have to realize, most of us have already had an adventure- and we’re fine where we are right now!” She stopped, tugging on an ear, tail flicking, before observing Sachi’s sudden change. This girl knows how to handle rejection…

“Well, what’s the idea? It better not involve something explosive- I’d much rather not have Setsuya chew me out because we almost blew a hole in the station.” Vetra was joking on that last part. At least, she hoped she was.

Sachiko stared at the firm look with a minor bit of understanding. Vetra was right. No matter how much it had upset her, she was right to worry about demons or pirate gangs when they didn’t have the means to fight back. This forced her to calm herself and come from a logical understanding. It also allowed her to come up with a new idea, something she knew would be good.

The younger hybrid observed the Raiju’s rubbing of her eye an action she knew was the result of headaches in some cases which made her feel guilty that she might have caused something painful to happen, and she listened as Vetra continued to speak before the change in subject. The topic of explosives caught her attention, mostly because she never made one before.

“Nah, although Explosives…..” She allowed herself to pause for dramatic effect. “Nah, I don’t know much about them so I probably shouldn’t make one, but no! My idea is to make a drone. Something that lets us see potentially dangerous places, like underwater where non-water breathers can’t go, or that system. You're right, it’s foolish to go unprepared, and with people that won’t be able to fight. I mean the Security Chief didn’t believe in the system’s existence now that I think of it, so if I make a drone, with a weaker FTL that fits, we might be able to take a look and no one gets hurt.”

Her mind momentarily went to the explosive idea, but she wasn’t sure why they needed it. She knew that her family didn’t want to fight a war, and as she processed things, she thought of explosives. It might cause problems.

Vetra tapped the back of her hand with the other hand’s forefinger. “And tell me, Sachi, how do you propose to bring back scrap with such a drone? Are you saying that coming in a larger group won’t attract demons?” Vetra shook her head. “Sachi. We are not going to that system. End of story.” Vetra just shook her head, and uncrossed her arms.

“Listen, I’ll just have a talk with Kai, and maybe together, we can figure out a place to salvage things for these drones. As of right now, d’you think you could do 2-4 drones, given some supplies- hopefully, some of it salvaged? If you need any base electric stuff done, I can do it- I can do circuit boards and the like lightning quick.” Vetra gave a chuckle- she was kind of proud of herself for that one. But then she became serious again. “I don’t think we can discuss prices yet, either, considering we don’t necessarily know what parts we have, and exact specifications of these bots…”

Vetra trailed off for a moment, thinking, before resuming: “In any case, the major part of this visit was just to see how you would feel about making drones for us, and now that that’s settled, somewhat, I think I can get with Kai and we can call you for a time to get together and get some details hashed out!” Vetra smiled at Sachi, before turning around, and heading to the exit, looking over her shoulder and throwing a parting: “It was wonderful to finally see, Sachi- hopefully I can get a lunch date scheduled between the hecticness that is Kai, and work.”

Sachiko shook her head”not so much to bring back scrap, but just recon mostly to see what's up there. ” She frowned as Vetra stated that they weren’t going there end of story. She understood, an unknown, potentially dangerous area? Probably not a good idea to go there, but the chance to look at tech reverse engineer it, see how it's made, they could get new tech to upgrade the station or to upgrade ships.

She loved the chance to go to places where she could get tech even if damaged so she can oversee engineer. She nodded”sure, observation drones, or scanning drones are likely simple t make that I can do 2-4 drones. I might be able to create electric stuff, if I had enough parts, but wouldn’t mind your help with that” she told her. She nodded in agreement on the topic of prices she needed to discuss that with her girls first.

“I don’t mind making drones, but I think the main thing was ships, I think ill need to talk to Vivi, and see what she said on the topic, as currently SachiTech is a small company. “ She said as Vetra began leaving, though she couldn’t help but worry she might have annoyed or worse pissed her off. She thought it best to let it go. “I’m happy to meet you too, and looking forward to our companies doing business and things together!” She said to the departing Vetra and went back to her work. “Note to self, talk to Vivi about business opportunity”

~-~-~-~-~

Vetra groaned as she collapsed onto her cluttered couch, and a handful of wires fell off of the already crowded space. After lying there for a minute, she idly took out her phone- rubber insulated, of course- and checked her texts. Still no update after Kai had responded to her ‘I’m home.’ Vetra sighed, and threw the phone onto the nearby desk, before kicking off her shoes and lying her head back.

Unfortunately, her socks were also annoying. Why were they soaked in sweat? Grumbling to herself, she lifted her head again, and wriggled her ears in displeasure. She reached forward, and yanked off a sock, throwing it in the vague direction of her laundry. She repeated the process to the second one, paying no mind to the fact that sparks were emitting from the first sock- she missed the shot, and now it was covering some wires.

Vetra’s electricity bill was interesting, to say the least.

Grumbling to herself again as a thought occurred to her, she rolled off the couch and padded over to the desk- while she was waiting, she might as well ask Kai to get something to eat for them. One quick send, and she put the phone down in front of her computer set-up, before looking off to the side to take a quick once-over at her apartment. Was it too messy?

Vetra’s apartment felt cramped- she didn’t have a mansion like Kai. It just consisted of a main room that multi-tasked as a living room, a tinker’s spot, her streaming setup, dining area, as well as housing for a few arcade machines she picked up. It was littered with wires and dotted here and there were incomplete circuit boards and bits of circuit boards. Overall, it felt cramped. Granted, Vetra probably could’ve had more space if she put things against the window that almost took up an entire wall. But no way was the Raiju going to give up her space-view.

A flickering drew her eyes to a slightly ajar door. Her room. Messier than even the living room. She should probably clean that up soon. …And get that lightbulb fixed. Vetra shook her head, as her pants became entangled with one of the various bundles of wires she left hanging around. Time to change.

…

Sighing, this time in relief, Vetra sauntered out of her bathroom in much more casual clothing, sitting on the couch edge and leaning against the backrest as she hummed to herself, shaking herself occasionally. While she wasn’t wet, she was certainly damp. She couldn’t dry herself fully with a towel- that tended to lead to even more lightbulbs exploding, even with the grounding bar she installed in the bathroom. So, instead, the Raiju had to resort to just waiting to dry completely. Which suited her just fine, as she could wait for Kai to arrive.

A few minutes later, there was a click and beep as the door was unlocked, and slid open. The very man in question, walked in with a bag of some sort of carry out food. “I figured it would be late when we got done, so I got dinner while I wasn’t busy. Everything went well I hope during discussions?”, he said, coming in to remove his shoes, and take a place on the couch beside her.