Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Nine

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Ivor was pretty thankful for Tala's quiet thoughts, if her unshielded thoughts were anything like her speaking voice, he'd have had a headache already.
He nodded slowly.

Ethan nodded. "I see your point. Tablets are a hell of a lot more portable than these. Lighter, more content, and readable even in the dark." He shifted the books in his grip. "I guess physical books are mostly a sentimental thing. Libraries, at least to many species in this universe, are a almost like a symbol that knowledge is free to everyone. A place where you can go and get access to information, and no one will stop you or tell you you aren't good enough to learn." In the other universe his masters had never really wanted him near their books except to dust them, so the freedom to learn whatever he wanted meant a lot to him.

Hewitt scoffed. "The desire to learn should be merit enough." As arrogant as the Aketi were, they were big on the whole learning thing. "Denying access to knowledge is a means to control the masses, nothing more."

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Hewitt laughed. "That was a long time ago." He conceded. "though not such a problem with my people, almost everything is digital. Why carry heavy books around when you can carry a tablet that contains a whole library? "

---
Esk smirked a little. "Whenever anyone says something should be simple it always ends up being anything but."

Rigel chuckled and nodded "I am leaving the roster to volunteers and necessity this trip. If you want to come along, you obviously can, but if you don't that's alright too."

Ethan nodded. "It's effective. If you keep the people ignorant, they're going to be far worse at resisting the system." He looked thoughtful. "Of course even the educated can become blind to new ideas eventually. The Guild spent so long in denial that the Family could ever reach them, and they had all their archaic ideas, and yet they worshiped knowledge, or claimed to worship it at least."
They reached the library. Ethan headed to his desk to set the books down, looking relieved.

Esk frowned a little. He'd never had a simple job go simply. "It's my job to keep you guys safe." He told Rigel.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Esk frowned a little. He'd never had a simple job go simply. "It's my job to keep you guys safe." He told Rigel.

Rigel nodded and shrugged "Alright, get ready to go then, we leave tomorrow." (I think it's tomorrow?)

(Yep, they leave tomorrow)

Esk nodded. "yes captain." He nodded curtly and went to pack. Not much else to do after all.

(Timeskip?)

(may as well. Unless there was anything else to do?)

(go for it)

JUNE 23 2790

Another morning in Ottawantreal.

~~
Moriah, hearing about the trip to Mars the morning of the departure, decided she wanted to go. The other androids protested, but she promised she'd stay on the ship. She hastily packed a bag and hurried to the Silver Devil to see Rigel would let her go along.

~~
Tala would be going. She'd taken her stuff to the Silver Devil the night before, and was already in the ship.

~~
Asher switched out of power saving mode kind of early in the morning, and just worried for a while. The closer departure time drew, the more he thought that legs were overrated, and he should just call the whole trip off. Leaving Vestia and everyone he cared about to get major surgery done to him by the people who'd created and enslaved him? Not a fun idea.

~~
Ellie had enjoyed spending time with Shane and Matt together, and later she'd probably taken Shane out on a date somewhere. She had promised him one, after all.
She wasn't quite awake yet this morning, just starting to get moving.

~~
Ethan was somewhere, in some lounge with a random laptop.

~~
James triple checked the Silver Devil's supplies and cleaned her floors while he waited nervously for any news of Armin's condition. He might not be going on the trip, but he was going to make sure the people who were going would be properly fed, and in sanitary living conditions.

Rigel would let Moriah come along, though he was curious. Instead of asking though, he just went over the list of who all was going. Him, of course, Luka, Dawn, Nova, Tala, Asher, Esk, Moriah (I think that's everyone?) This ship would be full.

~~~
Shane slept in this morning, still thinking about their date last night. He woke slowly before getting up to start the day.

~~~
When Starr woke, she asked about Armin's condition and how he was doing. She was concerned for her friend, but didn't want to intrude with the vavare doctor there.

Mourn had, at some point during the night dragged some stuff over the devil and set up his computer to keep working there. He'd fallen asleep sprawled on the keyboard again.
Snoring gently.

---

Esk hadn't that much to pack, now he rose early to grab a decent breakfast before hauling his bag to the devil for launch.

---

Luka hadn't slept well, she was, admittedly, a bit anxious about this mars thing. Megabrain didn't sound like great people, she was wary someone would say the wrong thing. She decided she was going to stay with the ship, and avoid the potential to make things worse by meeting terrans.

---

Matt slept in.

---

Kay didnt sleep well either, he was worrying about Asher and then feeling guilty about worrying about Asher because then it made Asher worried and arghhh.

As morning came he groggily looked up at his partner and managed a weak and slightly sad smile.

---

Armin had dozed through the night, waking occassionally for water and under the watchful gaze of the doctor. If Vestia asked, she would inform the ship that things were progressing as expected.

Armin looked sicker than even, he barely moved. He was saving what little energy he had for the molt.

---

(how many rooms did we figure the devil had? <_< room sharing whooo)

(I think we decided there were six or seven rooms? And I think I'm counting nine passengers omg. Yay awkwardness!)

Moriah gave Rigel her thanks, and set her stuff down somewhere before looking around the ship curiously. Ooh, this was nothing like the ships she was used to.

~~
Vestia had inquired a few times about Armin's condition, and she told Starr what the doctor had told her. She was worried about Armin too, she was fond of the vavare tailor, and she always hated seeing her passengers in pain and stress.

~~
Asher smiled a little forcedly at Kay in return. This was so not fun, he hated seeing Kay so worried, and knowing that it was only going to be worse after he left. He'd rather stay here, and go to Mars later. Why hadn't he decided to do that yesterday instead?

"Want me to bring you something from the company gift shop?" he asked, trying for humor. "James asked me to bring him back a t-shirt, he wants to write rude things about our creators on it." He'd talked to James a bit the night before.

(shoves people randomly together bwhahahaha)

Kay shook his head and grabbed for his tablet. [I think I can live a long and happy life without any Megabrain tech memorabilia.] He tried to smile. [Do you have everything?] He asked.

"Yeah, maybe it's better to avoid giving them any more money than is absolutely necessary." Asher sat up, using one hand to keep himself steady. "Yes, I packed everything, and I don't think I forgot anything important. Of course I'll probably think of something I forgot once the ship is halfway to Mars." He smiled wryly. That always seemed to be how things worked.

[Badge?] Kay asked, he was paranoid okay?

"Already packed," Asher said. He might hate those badges, but he knew it would be very, very bad if he didn't have one on Mars. "And I packed a few basic repair supplies, and some clothes, and I repacked the pendant." He patted Kay's arm reassuringly.

Kay nodded, reaching out to take Asher's hand. He looked anxious. [They'll have no reason to suspect anything then.] He reasoned, trying to make himself feel better.

Asher squeezed Kay's hand gently. "Just an ordinary law-abiding android coming in for repairs. More major repairs than they usually have to fix, but nothing really shocking." He smiled softly. "I'll put on my most boring smile and they'll totally buy it." He was trying to convince himself as well as Kay though.

Kay nodded slowly and rested his head on Asher's chest, cuddling into him and trying desperately not to think that this might be the last time they saw one another. He couldn't help being paranoid and fearful, even if he knew it was an overreaction. It was just a brief trip, it would only take a few days, and then Asher would be back to normal... right?

Asher held Kay close for a while, still using one arm to keep himself stable while he held Kay with the other. Eventually he sighed. "I should get up. I don't want to be late for the departure." This entire trip had been scheduled for his repairs, it'd be incredibly rude to make the others wait.

Kay reluctantly pulled away, nodding slowly.

Asher looked at Kay guiltily. He knew how hard this was for him, and he really wished he didn't need to rush to get ready. But, well, having half your body paralyzed meant getting ready took longer than usual. Ugh.

He unplugged his charging cable from the wall and rolled it up so that it was hidden in his arm again, then pulled Kay in to give him a brief kiss. "I'm sorry about this. I know it's... about as far from ideal as we can get. But the trip should only be about a week."

Kay kissed Asher back a little desperately, pulling away again and nodding once more at Asher's words. [Realistically speaking, there's no reason for them to do anything to you except repair your legs.] He was trying to be rational. [As you and James said, they aren't cackling evil masterminds, they're just an oblivious corporation. ] He ran a hand through Asher's hair affectionately. [It'll be nice for you to be taller than me again.[ he attempted humour.

Asher nodded in agreement, yeah, he really didn't believe MegaBrainTech were intentionally evil, just that they were interested in making money and satisfying their customers. He leaned into Kay's touch a bit, and managed another small smile. "I'll have to get used to seeing the tops of people's heads again. It's going to be a strange experience. And I'll probably just run around opening doors for people for a few weeks, just for the thrill of it." Doors had been one of his greatest frustrations in getting used to the wheelchair. He would be glad when they were something he barely had to think about again.