Time flies when you're having fun, and even when you aren't. The time to meet with the Confederates at the Fumitor salon draws near, and Tasha has to get ready for it, which is mostly selecting how she wants to look and how to hide the Viceroy's package from passerby. Aaron agreed to take Hakeber to the donut shop to meet with Lacci, likely in part because the buck likes donuts and also promised to bring back a box for the rest of the crew, including the Phins. The two Jotoki may or may not like donuts, but they'll probably want to at least taste them.
In the end Tsha decided to continue with her Khattan styling. More and more she recognizes the safety in appearing Khattan and the power and safety it lends her and her crew. The Khattans are the most powerful of the Galactics, with the farthest reach and uncountable wealth across the many Houses. While Tasha herself doesn't appear to be feline, in this era where full body transformation is only a few shekels away and design associates -- mezzodes -- is a matter of flaunting wealth, she doesn't need to. A Vartan/Karnor is unusual enough, especially one that is more than superficial modifications. She's 'obviously' a mezzode, and dressed well, 'clearly' associated with a Khattan power -- and thus risky to endanger.
As such, she goes with more casual clothing, but still actual fabrics as opposed to mass produced high tech items. In a peculair twist, Tasha's old clothes would probably be worth a lot of money while complex, high tech fashions are common place off the shelf items! At least flaunting wealth remains the same, in whatever manner, and so she goes with understated but 'expensive'. A Khattan representative on the town. Not business, but perhaps pleasure. Liza helps get her ready.
"Lucky Kaa wants to go with you," Liza informs Tasha. "But I told him that a Phin walking with a Khattan might draw extra attention. Then he told me that he likes attention. I think he just wants to get inside the Confederate spaceship though."
"Wellll, he has been good -- dinging my ship aside. And honestly, I like Kaa a lot." Tasha leans back in her chairm head angled so Liza can work on it. "Attarcting attention migth help us. Or not. We can forward inquries to Mr. I., he can probably see through anything negative or hostile and find us who is genuinely interested and wants to hire us. Besides, the extra protection doesn't hurt and I think it's a good idea Kaa gets a feel for that ship."
"We also have the crew uniforms for their walking harnesses now," Liza notes as she does a last inspection of Tasha's outfit. It has less of the 'diplomat' look to it and more of the 'owner' look, in her opinion. "I suspect Kaa might also have sexual motive for visiting the Wyvern-class ship. But.. I honestly thinks he has a sexual motive for everything somehow."
Tasha grins at that. "You understand him just fine, then! Apparently that's very common among the Phin. Did you know he can see through your clothes and body? He probably knows a lot more about you than you know about him, and their whole society can do that with each other." The young woman holds her hands out in a shrug, careful not to disturb her hair by moving too much. "Really, I like the Phins. Maybe I like them more than I like Vartans these days. But Kaa is a good man, whatever else he does. I think he must have a good 'heart'. He can come."
"I'll let him know," Liza says, nodding. She then asks, "But don't we need a Vartan in the crew, in order to get to Varta?"
"We have Shojo," Tasha notes, realizing the man must be extra-quiet, or extra shy, if Liza didn't think of him. That could be a problem; she decides to check on him at some point in case the transition has been too much for him. "But we may also have that girl Lacci." Girl, despite both of them probably being the same age. "She's trained in Terran history, tactics and other things and I think she and Hake-bear might get along well. That'd be good for Hake, too."
"Shojo is one of us though," Liza says. "I can't see him as a guide to Vartan culture. Maybe I'm underestimating him though? Anyway, do you need me to accompany you, or will you be fine with just Kaa?"
"Oh you said 'a Vartan' not 'a Galactic Vartan.' That's different. Yeah, we'll need someone else. Maybe Lacci. Maybe not. We'll have to keep an eye out for replacements if Lacci ... is as Lacci as I think she might be." Tasha does not elaborate further, instead she answers the second question with, "Kaa is fine. We'll already be drawing attention, and I don't want to make the Confederates more nervous."
Besides, with kaa Tasha can let her hair down a little more, even if she'll have to put it right back up once they reach Confederates.
"I'll go see to his harness then," Liza says. "Gabriel will be taking the shuttle to the Terragens ship later, according to his posted schedule."
"He's a big busy wolf, doing big busy wolf things," Tasha agrees, smiling. "Hopefully they'll pay off for all of us. Well, time to do my part too." And with that, she rises.
It doesn't seem logically possible for a six-legged robotic harness to strut, but Kaa somehow manages it. "S-so, the Confederate pilots guide their s-s-ship with telepathy?" he asks Tasha, after hearing about her first visit to the Fumitor shop.
"I think it's more like a neural link," Tasha replies as they make their way down the docking spoke, head tilting. "Sort of like my neural embeds? But instead of using a direct neural connection through wiring, or scanning technologies, they use some sort of organic version. Little engineered creatures that somehow make the process possible and link them to their ship and each other. The Fumitor shop offers a kind of reduced version for 'communion,' but according to Iria the real thing is a lot more powerful. They become part of their ship, which is also alive."
The Phin pilot makes a ratchety noise. "Impress-sive," he says. "We don't know how they move, you know? They only give off a gravimetric s-sig-nature when they enter or leave hyper-s-space."
"Unfortunately I don't either," Tasha admits, which is true. She has some suspicion, but nothing she feels remotely confident on. "Their technology is very dofferent from what I'm used to. I speak to a lot of AI, and I've been on many ships, but their organic craft are very different. The Confederates are very different. They're probably the Galactic power I know least about."
"Nothing artificial about their intelligences-s," Kaa remarks, then whistles at a passing Khattan woman, who quickly runs away from the hulking Terran. "Fishing is poor today," he says. But the Fumitor shop is coming up, just around a corner now.
Tasha has to try very hard to supress her grin. She clears her throat, but notes, "I'm glad you came. We should do things like this more often." She then nods her head, indicating where they're heading. "Almost there. Time to be official, at least until we both put it aside. Here, that'll probably happen quickly."
"I think I can fit through that door," Kaa says, seeing the narrow opening as a challenge.
The Korv looks up and waves Tasha to go on inside. "All the way to the back," he squawks.
Tasha glances at the door, then Kaa, and back again. "Uh, let me know if you need help?" The offer sounds uncertain.
And then the hybrid glances over again, to the Korv. She gives her a nod and, "Thanks, we will if Kaa here doesn't get wedged in the door," before walking behind the dolphin and putting a hand on his back, gently but firmly moving him forward.
"Watch and be amazed," the Phin says. "I'm the greatest pilot in the universe after all." The legs of the harness can fold up and press against the harness, since the driver needs to be able to swim in it as well. So Kaa does this for the forward pair, balancing on just the back four legs as he rushes forward into the door.. or falls forward. As soon as the front legs are clear they unfold, and then the second pair folds up, and so on until the 8-foot-long dolphin is inside. "Piece of crabcake!" he announces from inside.
The Korv proprietor can just click his beak at the sight.
Tasha watches the Phin's antics in bemused silence, finding herself blinking after the fact. "Well," she begins, rubbing her nose, "That's definitely some kind of reassurance." If she hadn't hired him for his piloting skills, she thinks she might have brought him along just for his effect in cheering her up and on morale. She clucks her tongue, then follows along inside. With Kaa in the way she can only grab his tail fin and follow. "Full speed ahead, pilot-t-t-t!"
"Carefully," the Phin replies, as he steps over and around the various customers, who likely think they're both just hallucinations. Tasha can pick out some movement near the back wall of Sifran crystal - the rustle of curtains from the air flow. That must be the 'back' that the Korv spoke of, since she doesn't see Iria or Captain Murquois in the main area.
Tasha edges around the Phin, ubcertain he can see her behind him. It makes for a tight fit, but she manages to get close enough to point out the rear entrance. "There, that's probably it. Let me get around you so I can enter first." She further scootches, ducking under a leg, then leads the way inside.
"Your wings tickle," the Phin notes as Tasha squeezes under. Thankfully, Kaa doesn't try anything. But she's soon at the fabric barrier. "Two inside," Kaa reports after a rather powerful sonar ping that Tasha can feel in her skull.
"What the hell was that?" Iria curses from the other side of the curtain after the ping. Of course an Eeee would hear it!
Tasha has to shake her head out a little after that, wondering if the Eeee could hear it where as she just felt it. It only takes her a moment to get the answer.
She turns and looks at Kaa. "Kaa," she says very carefully and slowly, stepping over and reaching over the rap her knuckles gently against the dolphin's snout, " ... you know Eeee have sensitive hearing, don't you?"
"They're so quiet though," the Phin counters, just as Iria's head pokes out from between the curtains, nearly bumping noses with Tasha. "Oh, you're here, good.. is that a dolphin, or are you just happy to see me?"
Iria catches Tasha leaning in towards Kaa, hand on her hip, knuckles tapping the dolphin's snout some more. She looks up and over. "Oh, hi Iria," she greets the other woman, smiling a bit awkwardly and wagging her tail slowly, "I was just reminding my dolphin here about Eeee hearing and sonar." She then extends her not-raping hand to present the Phin. "I am happy to see you and this is a dolphin. This is Crazy Kaa, my pilot."
"Lucky Kaa!" the dolphin corrects. "The greatest pilot in the universe!"
"Not so great at some other things," the hybrid chimes in. She steps back and throws an arm over the Phin's head. "But he's still pretty good. Can we come in?"
"I don't think he will fit in the chamber," Iria notes, holding the curtain back to show something of a storage closet, with Captain Murquois leaning against a shelf of transparent boxes full of Fumitor cubes, and several other things of unknown purpose. It looks like standing room only.
"He can just stuff his snout in and we can put the curtain over it. Or, I can order him to wait outside. He'll harass the clients and probably be a probelm, especially if he tries the fumes." Tasha's grin is lopsided. "Unless you have another option? He wanted to see your ship, you know."
"He can stick his head and beak inside," Iria says, then backs away to the corner next to her captain so Tasha can enter.
It's Tasha's turn to scootch inside. Being wider that Eeee and more heavily built she has to pull her wings around herself and does so, then reaches back and pulls Kaa inside by the nose. Once in she leans near the door, resting her hand on the Phin's head. "Well, that was complicated. Ready to make our lives even more so?"
"You spoke of some sort of business transaction," Murquois says. "What are you offering?" The Aquilan is taller than Tasha, but not quite as wide.
Tasha looks up, takes a moment to study the Captain, then nods. "I did." She then reaches down to the underslung bag under her arm, removes a long box. The box is opened, put aside, and within that is silvered bag, which she pulls a clear plastic cube with a green center from. "In exchange for helping us get a hyperspace-capable bioship, we're prepared to offer this." And then she extends her hand out for either of them to take the cube from.
It's the captain who takes it and holds it up to the multicolored, liquid light of the wall. "Haven't seen one of these in a long time," he notes. "We'll need to take it to the ship to read it. So I guess you're coming along?"
Tasha smiles widely. "Of course. I wouldn't pass up the chance to see such a magnificent ship. It's an interesting opportunity." She then lifts the hand on Kaa's head and points down at the man. "Subtle Kaa, being a pilot and a pain, would also like to come along. He will flirt with everything and be kind of a bother, but he means well and he's fun to be around."
Murquois hands the package back to Tasha, and tells Iria, "Inform Baku," then gestures for Tasha to lead the way out, since she and Kaa are effectively blocking the door.
Tasha inverts the packing process, putting the cube back in its bag, and the bag in the case, before it all goes in to the purse-like accessory she carries. She then taps kaa's head. "Full reverse, one-hundred-and-eighty. Take us out, Mr. Kaa!"
Entering the Bakumaru (or 'Goddess of the Devouring Nightmare Sea' as Iria claimed) was an experience. Specifically, the experience of being swallowed as the boarding tube sucked them up one by one from the dock, eventually depositing them into an airlock of sorts. There was some sort of invisible scan before a valve opened to let them into the ship proper. Everything was in freefall, since the Confederates didn't use stators or other forms of artificial gravity. Given the Captain's taloned feet and the fact that Eeee basically have hands for feet, this wasn't much of an issue for them, and Kaa likewise has no difficulty in his multilegged harness. Tasha's magnetic booties were useless, however, since the corridors where made of flesh.. albeit very hard and armored flesh. Dim light came from glowing veins in the walls, and had a pulsing rhythm to it like a heartbeat.
Floating awkwardly, Tasha realizes she isn't going anywhere without help. Thankfully for her, she brought along a dolphin in a suit made of arms. She comandeers one, holding on to it and letting Kaa pull her along to where they need to be. It's mildly embrassing for an avian used to skill in open air, yet nothing she has nor brought along is suited to freefall. "Well, things are certainly interesting so far," she observes, trying to make small talk to deflect attention being directed at her lack of freefall management. "I can see the walls pulse subtly and the boarding tube is very unique."
"You should use my dorsal fin," Kaa suggests as they make their way down the corridor after the Confederates. Iria opens a door valve to one side, and they all enter what is probably the medical bay - which it makes sense to have located close to the airlock, after all. It isn't like any Tasha has been in before, since it's built for freefall - meaning there are beds on the floor and on the ceiling. They're also the first signs of non-living technology Tasha's seen. They end up at one of the lab stations, whiles curious attendants watch them in silence.
"We should be able to read the package now," Murquois says to Tasha.
Tasha switches as recommended, which makes keeping steady that much easier. She does have to let go briefly once they arrive to remove and pass along the package, however. Once the device is free she pushes it forward with a hand and sends it slowly drifting towards the captain. "I hope it'll meet your expectations," she tacks on, having little idea as to what the cube actually contains but feeling she should exert some personal touch in to the exchange.
"I don't have any expectations," the Aquilan claims, and sets the package in a microscope-like device.. which then extends a needle into the package to contact the green part. "Injecting decoder enzymes," Iria notes, and activates some sort of display. It uses light, as expected, but Kaa reacts as well, so it may include a sonar component to provide virtual surfaces as well. "This is a very old sequence," Iria notes as she watches strange symbols on the floating display.
"I'm fond of antiques," Tasha admits with little grin. She watches the process just as much as the otehrs do, though she has little idea what it entails. And, like the others, she has no idea what's inside.
Actual images begin to decode now, including a few of the Confederate settlements on Abaddon, and views of the bioroid Titans, along with a lot of odd codes and formulae. There are 3D views of what look like living cells as well - but Tasha remembers the first one as being from one of the kaiju. There is even more stuff that she doesn't recognize at all, but may be related to the alien hover-crabs. "This is.. quite a lot of information.." the captain notes, while Iria squeaks in Eeee to the medical technicians to come take a look.
"I'm also fond of information." Wich is true, Tasha does think she must enjoy it given she goes out of safety and sanity's way to find new tings and visit strange places (and people, beings, dimensions, times, realities ... ). She doesn't offer just how she got the information yet, or what its relationship to her is yet, prefering to wait to see if the question comes up. While the others work, she asks, "Having fun, Kaa?"
"Interesting pic-t-tures," the dolphin notes, having turned his head to watch with one big black eye. "Hyperspace corridor navigation data."
"So it is." Tasha cocks her head to the side, wondering just how much about home is being relayed, and how many questions that's going to mean. All the little worries, like if this is a good idea and what may come form what happens here flit through her mind. Part of her misses the time when she acted rather than thought and consequences were for the morning after.
"A very narrow corridor," Iria notes. "A veteran deepblazer wouldn't even follow a crack that small. Explains these ship requirements though."
"Yes, you see the problem. It's necessary, though." Tasha hopes the young men she met aren't going to be the ones to do the piloting. She recalls them having great difficulty with loud noises, sudden surprises, and most everything else in general. "Is it too early to ask if this is enough and if the ship is a possibility?"
"If these tissue simulations are accurate.. yes," Iria says. "I don't know if we can synthesize all of the components, but they could improve our energy curves.. and some of it is just unbelievable. You've seen these crystalline creatures?"
"Who do you think went and got the samples?" Tasha turns to Kaa and smiles, hoping her pilot might be proud of his boss, before turning back to Iria. "And I'm one of two people that found them originally. Their place of origin isn't known, but I've suspected they're extra-universal, or at least extra-dimensional."
"And they grow toporgic," Murquois says quietly. "You need a small, fully organic ship with a decent mind," he notes in a normal tone. "We have one.. but no pilot. It hasn't been trained at all yet."
"What are the requirements for a pilot? We have Kaa, but Kaa is already assigned to a ship and I can't spare him," Tasha asks, head cocking to the side. "Unless the training is brief, anyway. or can be done intermitantly."
"It is more that the ship itself hasn't been trained," Murquois says. "It doesn't know how to fly yet, as it is still very young. We can speed that process along though, we have a ship-breaker. Darksight should be able to teach it to dive and navigate the corridors."
"He did want to talk to me, anyway." Tasha taps the side of her muzzle a moment, thinking, then asks, "And this is all something that has to happen on this ship, or at whatever facility you use?"
"Initial training needs a mothership," Iria explains. "It has to be done in flat space, until the ship is able to use the deeper corridors. They can be a bit.. eager.. when they're young." That statement, for whatever reason, makes Tasha think of time with Eadwig the Vykarin.
Not to mention her experience with a number of young pteras, one of which pulled her across a street and through a pile of feed, several buckets, and a slow to react deckhand. She had bruises. "Then that's not something we can handle, that's what I wanted to know. Sorry, Kaa." She glances at the data displayed for a moment, then turns to the captain. "Then it's settled, then? The ship for the data?"
"We'll see what the ships think," Murquois says, and shuts down the display as the needle withdraws from the package. "Baku can be clingy about her children."
Tasha inclines her head. "I understand." It's a heartfelt sentiment. Even though she can't have children, she is still very possessive of all things she's attached to and the idea of having children of her own. "I should be in port for a while longer, until my ship arrives. Until then I'll be seeing what I can do while I'm here."
"Let's go make introductions then," Iria says, holding the package out for Tasha again.
And in the cube goes, back behind its numerous shielding. Kaa turns and grabs Kaa's dorsal fin, indicating her should follow Iria and Murquois.
The two officers lead the way deeper into the ship, through several pressure valves until they come to a space that probably serves as a hangar. It has some very large nipples in it, and latched to one of them is a small (around 30 meters) ship that reminds Tasha of the 'retro rocketship' models Katherine had in her apartment. It's a cigar-shape with three fins at the rear and three smaller ones near the nose, along with clusters of spiny whiskers along its length. "She doesn't have a name yet," Iria notes. "But she's probably the smallest hypership you'll ever see. Twelfth generation drive, no mechanicals or cybernetics and PK thrusters."
Kaa clicks a lot at the sight of the 'tiny' starship.
"Hmm," goes Tasha, who pushes off just enough to glide forwards a ways. She doesn't need to be closer, but moving closer is something Karnors do when interested, and she has spent a lot of time around Karnors lately. She studies the ship, but as usual finds she can't really evaluate technology so far beyond where she came from. She'll have to take their word for it, but at least the sight was worth the trip alone. She's never seen a baby starship before, and this one is unique. "What do you think, Kaa? PK thrusters?"
Her pilot is still just clicking, so Iria explains. "It means psycho-kinetic thrusters," she says. "A reactionless drive system that uses.. uh.. willpower, sort of."
The baby starship opens an eye on its side, and for a moment, up close, it seems more like a dolphin than a piece of bio-technology. It has the same eye.
This is followed by a sense of something brushing through Tasha's fur.
"Really? Are we talking projective psionics, or..?" And so Tasha glances at Iria. The phenomenon of psionics ws something that came completely out of nowhere from the young woman, the strange and multi-faceted power mind over matter and other things besides. There are apparently many versions, and many methods to use it, and even an universe or dimension that seems to be made entirely of the effect. She's about to say something more when she feels the effect, turning back to the ship and feeling and noticing it's watching her watch it. "I think I was just scanned," she remarks with more than a hint of awe.
"Be careful," Iria says. "Infants like to suck on anything they can grab and put in their mouth. She doesn't have a proper mouth, but she can be grabby. And yes, psionics, but without any technological or cybernetic modification. Baku still needs some amplifiers herself, but she's massive, and this little girl isn't."
"She also meets your specifications on maintenance, since she doesn't have any user serviceable parts, as it were," Murquois says. "No tech-level restrictions or vulnerabilities."
"She's beautiful," Kaa says. "What is her pilot interface?"
"Hybrid contact-psionic," Iria claims. "No need for intermediary cells."
"I'm not really sure how I'd stop a ship from grabbing me." She isn't even sure how to stop herself from floating around with help, after all, and a ship with powerful telekinetic powers seems a bit like a creen trying to drag a ptera. She also knows she's unique, and quite possibly has a peculiar nature on many levels, and thus may well seem shinier, as a Vartan child might go for the most polished rock. She reaches over and takes hold of Kaa's fin, again. "So, telekinetics. That's something, I'm still not sure how all of that works. I, um, I mostly deal with more conventional ships and automated technology. AIs." Which is very true, even if it sounds like a lie to sound more Khattan.
"In practice it isn't so different than Khattan gravimetric drive," Murquois notes. "The main difference is that our ships can navigate hyperspace without an active pilot. Their mass detector is part of their brain."
"These days I mostly use Kaa's brain." Tasha reaches over and knocks on where she thinks Kaa's brain might be, but like so many things does not actually know. "So, the pilot interface. A hybrid contact system doesn't need intermediary cells? Something like a neural interface system, but psionic?"
"Basically," Iria says. "A form of touch telepathy through direct stimulation of the neurons. The pilot rides inside of her brain."
"Huh." Tasha thinks back on previous experience, but the clest she has is riding atop of her Titan's brain, and then being connected directly to it. "So ... A lot like how I pilot my Titan, then, It's a very intimate form of contact, but you say she's very young." A pause. "I think I see the difficulty. Doesn't that also mena the pilot would be influenced by the ship? Can that go badly?"
"There can be some identity drift if the pilot isn't prepared," Iria notes. "And the ship will react to moods and memories as well if they're strong enough. Pilots need to have disciplined minds and focus."
"Well there goes your chance, Kaa. And probably mine." Tasha pats Kaa's fin, knowing well how it goes. Had her own machine been less contained, more invasive, she might not have turned out so well. She nearly had an identity collapse after Nora's not-safe-at-all memory dump in to her mind and still has residual side effects, some of which are just odd memories where as others result in things like being attracted to yourself, or at least things that look like or seem like you. "My own experience is with a heavily regulated AI, and it's more supportive. I think maybe I'm the one in the ship's position."
"Well, once she's memorized a route, she won't need a pilot to follow it again," Iria points out. "At least, not to the degree where the pilot needs to pilot."
"That also sounds familiar." The Melchior rarely need sher either, except in the case of decision making and surprises, at least the kind of surprises that need a sentient organic mind to deal with. "So in many ways they're not that different at all, even if the structure and origin are different. An organic mind can probably achieve the same sort of emotional detachment as an inorganic one, so assuming one is better there is probably just bias. I think your ships have personalities though, as living creatures and not pre-designed AI for specific tasks. I mena, personalities that aren't pre-made or learned over time from interaction?"
"They're living, sapient creatures with their own minds and personalities, yes," Iria says, patting the side of the baby ship. "But they're also made for a purpose, and get pleasure from that purpose. Just as we want to fly, so does she."
Tasha doesn't say anything on the matter of being made for a purpose. She fulfilled hers, and so purpose becomes a matter of navel gazing and will probably make her want to drink something. She did get pleasure from fulfilling it, though. It may well be why she's here. Instead she decides maybe now's the time to try to approach the ship while Iria is also showing confidence, and so lets go of Kaa to make her way over and tenatively reach out. "Do you ever have ships decide they'd rather go and do their own thing?"
"Oh, they do that on their vacations," Iria claims with a straight face. "We've even got a resort for them. As for just going rogue.. well, there are issues with that. They're still dependent on others to feed them when they're young. Baku is big enough to forage for comets on her own, but by that point she's used to us and likes working with us.. most of the time. She's still warming up to Murquois." She winks back at her captain.
When Tasha is close enough, she could reach to touch the hull-skin if she wanted to.
"It takes time. I know. I remember the first time I was given my own AI, I wasn't comfortable with having another being dependant on me or made for me. But we got used to each other." Tasha hopes it's not a strange thing to say, but decides there must be Khattans that don't fit the mould or else had to grow in to being very Khattan and perhaps had once been like her. "I know Vartans believe in the spirit behind things, that ships have spirits, and places do, too. I wonder if we who deal with ships who can talk to us get lazy about feeling a ship, expecting it to tell us. Or maybe it's better if we don't assume?" She reaches out then, wondering what all the little extensions feel like. She suspects they're fuzzy, which just makes her want to touch the ship more.
The hull isn't quite like a dolphin's. It's much more rigid than it looks, but she also see the whiskers moving about. The skin is cool, which isn't surprising since radiating body heat would be bad in space. It's also surprisingly leathery instead of rubbery.
Tasha can't help but smile. She moves her hand up and down, and for a moment is taken back to being just a little chick -- or cub depending on how you look at it -- and petting her first ptera. She thinks she got knocked on her butt, but she also thinks she giggled. Several years later she ended up in a wrestling match with a young ptera, which had made her very angry and extremely dirty at the time, yet now the memory makes her smile all the more. She loves her machines, their shiny sleekness and reliablity, but part of her wonders if she's losing some bit of herself behind fake masks, machines, and distance. It's a weird feeling, reflection, fond memories and petting a baby spaceship.
"I think she likes you, since she's not bouncing you off the nipples," Iria says. "Do you have experience with big animals? Well, bigger than Phins at least?"
"Some," Tasha hedges. "Back on that world you saw, and others. I used to be angrier, did you know that? I guess I made things move mostly by yelling at them. But, now I think I regert not having been nicer. And I think I miss the animals now that I have so many machines. I've ben trying to make amends." Thinking on just that, the young woman considers just what a baby needs. The answer, aside from nutrition and safety and other such necessities, is obvious. She pulls back her hand a moment, gives it a kiss, then passes the kiss on to the little ship and resumes petting it.
The whiskers wiggle in response, and Tasha feels like she's being petted again.
"I guess everyone likes being petted. Even me." And so Tasha closes her eyes, lost for a moment in the wonder of mutual contact and a kind of unspoken affection. It's simple and nice, something else she's found she misses a great deal. Having failed to make any real connection with other Vartans and having reached what seems to be the limit of integration with Karnors, she's wondered where to go from here.