Starr's Shuttle, Pegasus

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I don't remember its name at the moment. Starr, feel free to edit the post title if you want lol

Asher smiled softly, and headed off to find somewhere nice to sit.

He ended up fussing over that blog post he'd been working on instead of relaxing, but hey, at least he was doing something that didn't involve talking to reporters. That helped.

Nova would read her book or go to eat when it came time to as they waited for word. Eventually, she would check the news to see how everything was going.

The Terran Empire would do a press release at some point, announcing that they were going to investigate the androids' possible sentience, and that they were going to be keeping them safe in holding facilities until the investigation was complete.

After that, Asher and Nova probably had a looong day with lots of interviewing with tons of news reporters. Yay.


TIMESKIP - JULY 12 2790

The campaign was going reasonably well at this point. The Terran Empire’s investigation was well underway now, with many independent researchers and psychologists interviewing androids at the new holding facilities, while hundreds of programmers investigated Mourn’s code and the android source code. Public opinion seemed to be shifting in favor of the androids, encouraged by the fact that most of the androids being interviewed were careful to lay the blame not on their owners or abusers, but on the corporation that had built them in the first place.

Not everything was going great, of course. The androids who hadn’t been located and brought into the holding facilities were often found by anti-robot gangs, and their bodies often ended up on the doorsteps of robot rights activists. In one holding facility, a few of the soldiers assigned to protect the androids had taken one android away and killed him. The soldiers had all been court martialled as soon as it was realized what had happened, but the fact that it had happened at all was horrifying.

Asher and Nova were both pretty safe, due to being in the public eye and therefore having extra protection, as well as of course having Nova’s powerful magic, but they both probably received a number of death threat messages as physical letters (which were received and discarded by the sapient rights group on their behalf), as well as via any online contact information that could be found.

Asher kept his messages to Kay, James, and Starr short and positive, avoiding mentioning any of the darker stuff as much as he could. He knew they were probably all worrying about him, Nova, and the campaign as a whole, and he didn’t want to make them worry any more than they did already.

Asher knew that Starr's baby would be hatching today. He wished he could be there, but since he couldn't, he'd sent Starr an encouraging note, and asked Nova to tell him when the baby had hatched, when they were out of earshot of anyone else of course. He was worried about Starr and the baby, but also kind of excited to have a new sister. He was sure she'd be adorable.

Nova kept Starr updated with both the good and bad as it happened and came to her attention. When in public she continued to be as professional as she could be. She answered what she could without revealing any secrets but remained quieter than Asher, letting him take the lead.

Asher and Nova were currently at one of the holding facilities, because the Terran Empire wanted to make sure that robot rights activists were satisfied with the conditions there. The Terran Empire probably wouldn't have cared that much, except that they knew at least a few empires might suspend trade agreements if any more androids got hurt on their watch.

This facility was pretty nice, other than the fact that it was in a desert, about thirty miles from the nearest town. The indoor areas were pretty spacious, with public computers, games, and books for the androids' amusement. The outdoor areas were tidy, if nondescript, and the fence around the perimeter of the facility was harmless chain-link fence (facilities where free androids were kept had electric fences, but here that really wasn't necessary, since these androids were harmless). The soldiers on guard were all very polite, clearly having no interest in getting themselves in trouble.

Some of the androids had come over to greet Nova and Asher, and showed them around a bit. They seemed reasonably happy, all things considered. Hey, at least they were away from their owners now.

Nova was glad the androids were happy, though a bit concerned about them being all together. That made them an easier target in a way, but then again, they were supposed to be safe now. At least until the vote was done. Right?

She spoke to the ones who spoke to her, being kind to them because she truly thought they were alive.

The place seemed to be well guarded, so hopefully the androids here were safe enough. It was certainly better than what would have awaited them in some of the cities on this planet, at least.

The androids liked Nova, they'd seen her on the news a fair bit by now, and they thought she was mysterious, in a good way. They didn't know about her species, but there were rumors that she was a magical being from a distant land, so they totally asked her about that.

Nova couldn't answer about her species, but to them she confirmed that she wasn't a Terran. She would also tell them that her species were also fighting for freedom from slavery out there.

The androids liked that. What? They weren't the biggest fans of the Terrans at the moment, and they sympathized with her about the crappiness of being part of an enslaved species.

Nova seemed to be getting a fan club among the androids.

Asher got quite a few questions too, the androids wanted to know about how he'd gotten involved in the robot rights movement.

After a while they'd probably relent on the questions, and give the two some space to poke around the facility.

"How are things at home?" Asher asked Nova when it looked like nobody was listening to them too closely. He wanted to know how Starr and the baby were doing.

(Are they on the same time, since the skip?)

(Yeah, let's say they are, for convenience. :D )

(lol, ok)
Nova smiled again and dipped her head a little "The princess has hatched, she is pure white and has been named Luna." She informed softly.

Asher smiled softly at the news. He had a new baby sister! Awww. "That's wonderful. The hatching went well, then?" He remembered poor Danika and how she'd needed to be helped out, he hoped Luna hadn't had any trouble that way.

"No trouble, she's healthy besides her odd coloring." Nova replied happily.

"Well I'm glad to hear that." Despite what Starr had been through to have Luna, Asher couldn't really feel sad at the moment. Baby star dragons born into freedom were wonderful. He just hoped everyone on Vestia was handling this well. "Please send Starr my congratulations, and a welcome to Luna, when Starr isn't too busy." Starr had to be flooded with dragon thoughts right now, all her people must be talking to her about this. He didn't want to give her a headache.

Nova smiled and dipped her head "I will, and have sent my own already." She said softly.

"Thank you," Asher told Nova. He was so glad she could tell him what was going on back on Vestia, it was much safer than using messages.

"Your welcome, I know you are concerned for the others, I'm sorry that I don't have more news about Kay but Starr hasn't been focused on seeing him much."

Asher smiled softly. "That's all right. We've been writing to each other, which is fine." Asher knew Kay was uncomfortable around Starr still, anyway, so maybe that was for the best. "We'll be home in a few months, and then we can catch up properly with everyone."

"That's true enough. Sometimes I wish time could be sped up to get to the good things." Nova said with a chuckle.

"Me too. You must be looking forward to being home, so you can meet Luna and see everyone again," Asher said. He assumed she had friends among the star dragons, and missed them.

"Yes, I am looking forward to being back, once this is finished here." Nova said "I wish to find my soulmate and have a family someday."

"That's definitely something to look forward to. I'm sure you'll find a good mate, maybe even on Vestia. All the newcomers there seem like good people,." Asher said, smiling a little. He was kind of sorry Nova had to be here with him instead of enjoying her new freedom, yeah she'd chosen to be here, but it wasn't exactly a fun job.

"They are good people, but none there have sparked my interest in such a way." Nova said with a small shrug.

"Well, you're free now, so you have plenty of time to find someone right for you," Asher said. "There's nothing wrong with waiting a while to meet the right person, anyway."

Sometimes Asher wondered if he should have waited a while before asking Kay out, rushing into a relationship after decades of slavery had meant he'd had no idea about the extent of his mental health issues, and that had resulted in a lot of heartache for Kay. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kay, but maybe waiting a few more months to start dating would have been healthier for both of them.

Nova chuckled and nodded. "True enough, especially given how long we live."

"That's true. It's nice that you have some time to find what you're looking for," Asher told Nova. He knew star dragons could live a very long time, but it was hard for him to comprehend the scale of it.