AL: New Dawn

[Machina Somnium]

They did indeed meet a lot of different people through this job. This penitence they had taken on before they could ever return home. It wasn't something they shared with their charges, though. Because it didn't translate well, how and Bavethjan Alien Life agents were selected. It was cute that Sebastian felt like he had gained a best friend, or a possible friend. The elevator started going up at a medium pace, a soft hum could be heard as well as the trickle of water from the outside.

"Every companion interviews their possible charges, but I've done a few extra here and there because of my background in social studies." Explained Valled with a soft smile, leaning back against the elevator's wall. The labels were written in Bertdiphango, a circly language that read like dolphin-speech and was written similarly to sheets of music. Only in different shapes. It was an Organic Bavethjan dialect of many, but one accepted and taught planet-wide. Colonies were made to teach it too since it featured in most government-commissioned tech. The buttons listed at least fifty different decks or floors, and some were accompanied by symbols. Like dry decks with a crossed out droplets, residential with beds or cafeterias with little forks.

"I'll investigate what destinies we will be going for and let you know where we're going in the next 48 hours. It depends, really, but most journeys are at least a week long. And with a maximum of several months. But I don't think it will take us that much time. Maybe a month or so if we need to slip galaxies. And because we wouldn't be going alone, there's always stops and other people traveling along with us Bavs." Their elevator journey was over, no stops in between. There was a light ding noise and the doors opened to a dry deck with a residential area. They left the elevator and other people walked in. Some were mammals, a couple of reptiles and bavethjan folks.

They had just arrived to a wide plaza with a circular lake/fountain in the middle. It looked deep enough to dive in, which was confirmed when a bav stepped out of the water and went on with their business. So not even dry decks were fully dry, then. There were gates to other corridors, elevator doors and a lot of vending machines. Some benches to sit, what looked like a cafe on the other side as well as miscellaneous shops. One for clothes, one for gadgets.

 

[BookKnight]

Sebastian had just started to make out some of the Bertdiphango script - he'd never done well in school and left before he had more than a basic handle on the three main languages of his home planet - right as the door opened. He jumped back like a frightened kitten, his tail fluffing in surprise. He calmed almost as fast as he'd startled, and he sheepishly flicked his tail to get the fur to lay flat again before hurrying out after Valled. He then stopped almost instantly, standing in the way of those trying to get into the elevator. He realized he was in the way and moved aside, still staring around.

Lights! Shops! Hustle and bustle! His tail flicked in excitement. Oh, he could get used to this! If he was stuck here, he could see making this a new home for himself. He could set up a stall, or not and wander about making a few little scams here and there. It would be perfect because everyone here was transient. It would be one of the best places to-

He blinked and scowled at himself, his tail giving a single thrash of annoyance. No! He was going straight! Or at least straighter. At least for now, he had to behave himself. He couldn't go about daydreaming of some kind of illicit business while at the mercy of a group of high-minded people who were interested in helping people get a new life. If the new life didn't work out, then he would consider doing some small-time stuff, like selling rings for more than they were worth and such.

He checked his watch. "Valled," he said suddenly, "is there a place where I can, uh, use the facilities? All this water has given me a need, if you know what I mean."

 

[Machina Somnium]

For all the time they had had to study other cultures, Valled wasn't so sure what their guest meant with this. They were halfway through the penitence, but they hadn't actually had many warm blooded mammals like this one in their charge. Reptiles and sentient gas?, sure, fair. But of course, they were very different.

So when water was mentioned, the bav looked around with their four big eyes, bottomless as space itself and twice as bright.

"Oh?, well... feel free to take a quick swim if you want!. Was that what you meant?" Said Valled, mentally racing through idioms and biological manuals they'd studied in the past. All so they could understand Sebastian better.

 

[BookKnight]

Sebastian bit his lip to keep from laughing as the tip of his tail wagged in amusement. "Uh, no, that is not what I mean. I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind me being more direct, but in the interest of avoiding miscommunication, I need to visit the bathroom. The washroom? The toilet? I need to, well, urinate." He gave a sheepish shrug and tried out a wide-eyed look of innocence.

 

[Machina Somnium]

"Ohh!" The bav let out a surprised noise followed by a light chuckle. Of course. They'd read about it somewhere, the effect an active water stream could have on some species' brains. Called couldn't imagine how or why it happened, perhaps they should read up on it during their rest cycle.

"You see that door over there? It should be familiar enough to what you're used to no problem. There's usually at least one in every public space." They explained, leading the way to a white door that opened automatically to reveal... A fairly normal bathroom.

 

[BookKnight]

"Thanks, Vall!" Sabastian called cheerfully, saying the name so it rhymed with "pal." "I'll be right back, I just need a few minutes."

He skipped off into the bathroom and closed the door. Once he'd established that it was, indeed, a standard bathroom with all the standard facilities, he found a corner and sat on the floor. At least these bathrooms were clean. Actually, they were the cleanest bathrooms he thought he'd ever seen anywhere. He laid his pack gently on the floor next to him, opened the top, reached in, and extracted a small bundle of rags. The rags wiggled. He moved the top two aside, and a tiny, black and white bundle of fur mewed hungrily up at him.

Sebastian smiled down at the tiny kitten and stroked the top of its head. "Hey. I know you're hungry, but at least I'm on time, right? I was petrified I was going to miss this feeding."

The kitten mewed as if in protest, and he chuckled softly. He set the bundle on his lap and shifted so he could extract the miniature bottle from his waistband where it had been held next to his body to keep warm. It took a couple of tries to get the kitten to latch on, but soon he had it suckling away hungrily. Once it was done eating, he used a warm, wet rag to give it a bath and help it relieve itself as it was too small to know how to do such things without a mother's tongue to help it along. Then, cleaned up, warm, and fed, the kitten curled up in its nest of rags and went back to sleep.

"Good little kit," Sebastian murmured gently. He tucked it in his bag where it had been hidden the entire trip here. Then he stood, put the bag on his shoulder, and prepared to leave. Only to realize that he actually did really have to use the facilities for their intended purpose.

Several minutes later, Seasian came sauntering back out to called, grinning happily. "Much better! Sorry for the wait, but I couldn't." He chuckled at his lame joke and smiled at the other. "So! Where to now?"

 

[Machina Somnium]

While Sebastian used the bathroom, Valled took their chances to make sure the paperwork had come through accordingly. They reread the feline guy's application and then messaged back and forth a bit with The head of the living units. They would be heading there now, so it was better to triple check everything was ready. Even if the bav had left everything ready a couple of hours before their shift started.

When he came out, the bav looked up from what looked like transparent rectangle the size of a modern mobile phone. It was rippling with small waves, except for a solid white circle in the middle. Valled pressed the circle and the transparent rectangle around it fell to the floor and shattered. It was a thin sheet of ice. They pocketed the white circular device.

"All good! No need to worry. I nade sure everything is ready in our accommodation. This way!" They said, passing through the plaza and around the deeper waters in the middle. There was a hallway that required a code to access, and the keyboard was strange, it required you to draw over circumferences and press on small circles.

"We'll give you a keycard for this door" They said. It was a long hallway of doors with red lights on top and bed signs.

 

[BookKnight]

"Uh," Sebastian said, staring at the shattered ice on the floor. That was a new one to him. Highly cool - pun totally intended - but new. How did it not melt in the fish-fellow's hands? Oh, wait, fish were colder than mammals, and this particular fellow was wearing one of those suit things. Although Sebastian wasn't sure if it was covering Valled's hands. Either way, that might explain it. Or it was tech related.

"Right," he said, snapping out of his curiosity-induced drift. "That will be cool! I was afraid I'd be stuck to a small area like just one room for the duration until we reached the new planet. I mean, I could take it, but who likes to be cooped up that long? Except for maybe a few people. What was the ice tablet? Do you make a new one every time you need it? Why break it and not keep it or make it out of something more durable? If it's an eco thing, maybe a rock?"

He babbled curiously, mostly talking to talk as they followed the Bav along the hallway, craning his neck to see everything. Once they'd left the plaza, there wasn't much to see, but a good observation of every tiny detail could only help, not hurt. He hoped he'd be allowed to explore the plaza more thoroughly. Exactly how tightly restricted would he be? Would he have to take Valled with him everywhere? Would he have regular access to anything not sensitive or secret? Were there a lot of cameras? He couldn't see any off-hand, but they made cameras smaller and smaller these days.

 

[Machina Somnium]

Under the light, the Baby's hands did glisten in a way their face didn't. So their hands may be covered in part of the suit, as transparent as it may be. They seemed happy to let Sebastian chat on as they entered the new hallway.

The area had water, up to their ankles. It was dimmer there, in contrast to the brightness and neons of the plaza. Instead, this hallway was only lit by emergency lights that highlighted anything of importance on the walls, and some round lightbulbs over each door. Smaller doors, different from the big gate at the corridor's entrance. The one that separated it from the plaza. There was significantly less traffic and less noise. And not all the door-lights were on.

"You'll have mostly unrestricted access to this deck, and the observation deck. We're in favour of socialization when desired. And... Well, water and ice are easily obtainable and easy to recycle resources. A species who uses rock more in space, might use rocks instead, though." Explained Valled, not answering every question. There were glyphs by every door in bavethjan. Numbers, maybe? They got around fifteen doors down before the blue alien stopped.

"This will be your room. It's dry, worry not. We tried to make it accommodating and easy according to your species. I'll be right here." They pointed at the door in front of what would be Sebastian's room.

"I can access your room, but I'll never do it unless there's an emergency or you tell me to explicitly. You can't access any other private rooms unless the resident gives you the keys or the codes." They continued to explain. "If you need any help at all, at any hour, you can contact me. For any reason. Don't ever feel shame or like you're a burden, okay?. This is a big life change, and I want to help you in any way I can" they said, briefly resting their hand in the middle of their chest as they smiled at Sebastian.

 

[BookKnight]

Sebastian tried not to focus on the feeling of wet socks and shoes as he sloshed through the ankle-deep water. He liked water, but this was the most water he'd ever been around in his life. It was going to take some getting used to, that was for certain. He stopped to examine the two doors. They looked like normal enough doors, for a spaceship filled with water, and he glanced between them. Would the Bav's room differ much from his own? He nearly asked but pushed his curiosity down. That was probably kind of personal, and Valled had been really patient and tolerant so far. Sebastian didn't want to push things too far.

"Thanks!" he said brightly. "Is it some kind of code or DNA scan or voice-activated? And does it lock? I'm alright if you need in, that makes sense, but I'd rather not have a bunch of random people walking in unannounced."

 

[Machina Somnium]

"I wish we had that kind of tech here, but it's reserved for higher security decks. Worry not, here's your key. Nobody should be in your room unless you invite them, or it's needed because of an emergency. Okay?, if you notice any security breaches or you feel unsafe, tell me immediately. If I'm not available, you can call security." Said Valled. They gave Sebastian a key-card shaped line a flat oval, and then used their own to open the door to his room. You only had to scan it over a card-reader near the handle.

 

[BookKnight]

"Thanks." Sebastian took the key and studied it a moment. Not an easy thing to copy or hack. He liked that. He could pick nearly any physical lock, but he was rather limited in his electronic abilities. He used to have a handy little gadget that could crack most low-level electronic codes, but there was no way it could handle something like this. Besides, he'd gotten rid of it before coming here. He was trying to go straight, after all. He scanned the key of the handle and pushed open the door.

A little piece of home greeted him. It wasn't a large area, but roomy enough and decorated in mostly wood and metal with a few swaths fabric and blankets to soften the hardness of the room. A doorway at the back left led to what looked like a small but fully functional bathroom. Straight ahead was a round, plush bed just the right size for one person to stretch out or curl up. A little window over the bed gave him a view of the great universe. It wasn't as bright as he'd always thought. The stars were actually dimmer up here, not greater. Maybe the world's atmosphere acted like a magnifying glass. On the right, there was a small counter with a tiny sink, little device that looked like a high-tech hot plate, a small refrigerator, and a kettle for water. Sebastian walked over and checked the cupboard. Yes, just as he'd suspected. Just the right amount of dishware, mugs, and a couple of pots and pans, just right for a bachelor while ensuring that if he wanted to use the plates constantly, he'd have to make sure to actually wash his dishes. At the front, only a few feet in front of the bed, there was a little sitting area with one chair and one loveseat, both covered in blankets.

Sebastian carefully sat his bag on one end of the loveseat and sat himself on the other end. They had done really, really well at copying what his last place had been like. Only this was a lot cleaner and a lot less crowded. He'd shared the place with three others, and none of them had been that great about cleaning up after themselves. It had been a little bigger than this place with a somewhat better kitchen setup, but it was more or less the same. It was nice to see what could have been. He leaned back on the sofa and let out a little sigh. He'd done it! He'd broken away from the only life he'd ever known! He'd done what no one in his old neck of the woods thought possible. He was going to have a better life. Just so long as he didn't mess it up.