Unity Station

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Just outside of Imperium space, a small but well equiped research station.

Unity is a joint venture between multiple worlds, hence the name. Xenobiology, anthropology and astronomy are some of the things researched here.
There's a small school, a few shops, one or two tiny restaurants and a coffee shop but generally speaking, the majority of the inhabitants are either researchers or family of researchers.

The chief of medicine is an insectoid woman named Yessalia.
Chief of security is a man named Tias.

"It seems like the chaos never lets up on Vestia," Asher agreed, smiling sadly. He found a seat as well. "it's a lot to adjust to, but so far you guys seem to be doing a splendid job." He shook his head, "I must admit, sometimes it worries me to think of bringing the children to Vestia, when she seems to be such a magnet for trouble."

"I have no desire to spend time with my.. uncle." Jarral told Danika matter-of-factly "However it would seem the alternative is to wander this place alone and I am not certain I like the way some of the inhabitants are looking at me."
Certainly Jarral attracted attention. It wasn't just the way his pale skin almost glowed under flourescent lights, or how unhealthy and utterly alien he was, the constantly moving and shifting shadows that cloaked him were creepy enough.
He was fairly accustomed to attracting attention, enough to know it rarely ended well for him.

Starr nodded agreement then sighed "The alternative is to never see the kids, as well as all the new kids we have freed before this time-distortion that are on Vestia now." She frowned at that thought then shook her head again "Even being able to speak to them, it's not the same as being able to hold them again."

~~~
Danika looked at him then held out a hand towards him. "Then come along, if it gets too much you can retreat to your room." She said gently.

"That's true," Asher said. "If they were to stay here, everyone on Vestia would miss them. And I don't think that all the adults and the other dragon kids staying here would solve the problem either, even if they could handle the quiet of life on a small space station." He shook his head, "It's a difficult situation, we're going to have to discuss it with the other parents at some point, I think."

"Some of my people want to have Vestia be home for us, others want to re-create our homeworld and hide it." Starr said with a sigh. "I was looking at the current state of the empires and if it would be possible to make our empire again.

"That sounds like it'll be a complicated debate," Asher said. He shook his head, "Finding a homeworld isn't easy. My people were lucky enough to win the legal battle to get one, but the situation is so different for the dragons. Is the Mimosa Empire on your side, at least? From what you've said, they always sounded good."

Jarral stared at Danika's hand but didn't take it, instead he folded his hands inside his robes and dropped into step alongside her.

"I have been trying to contact them since our return, but with Vestia's comms out, I wasn't able to send the messages. Another thing I was working on here." Starr said then smiled a little "Even though that means I have had to let my kids reunite with everyone without me."

~~~
Danika figured he wouldn't take her hand, walking alongside him easily back to Vestia and Kay. She sent him a message that they were on the way to meet him.

"Ah," Asher nodded. "I think we have the components to repair Vestia's comms here, I'll have to to see about getting them to her so they can be repaired." He watched Starr thoughtfully, "You could probably take some time off, if you wanted. Your work ethic is admirable, but your empire isn't in immediate jeopardy, is it?" He felt like she should be able to spend time with her kids if she wanted to.

Starr smiled softly and shrugged "I could, but there's so much to catch up on from the last ten years."

"I suppose so," Asher looked concerned."Should I be letting you get back to work then? Can I help you out somehow?"
He cared a lot about Starr, and he understood that there had to be an incredible amount of pressure on her right now. He didn't want to get in her way, but he did enjoy talking to her, and he also wanted to help if he could.

Starr shook her head and smiled at Asher "It's good to take breaks, and good to be with you again." She had missed him as well as her other children.

Asher smiled softly. "I'm glad. I've really missed you, Starr." He shook his head, "It's been a weird ten years." He'd loved a lot of what had happened in those ten years, but yeah, looking back it all seemed kind of surreal.

Starr smiled and nodded. "I missed you too, and the kids." She said honestly. "I would like to hear some of what you have been doing."

"All right," Asher looked thoughtful. "Would you like to hear about anything in particular?" So much had happened, and there was a lot that he wanted to tell her about. It was hard to know where to start.

"Just whatever you want to tell me about." Starr said with a smile. She knew they were well and had stayed safe, so anything else was a bonus to her.

"Well," Asher thought that over, "I guess the kids might want to tell you what they've been up to themselves, so I should let them have the chance to do that if they haven't already." He considered, no, he didn't need to tell Starr about the sadder things that had happened in his android family right now. He could stick to happier stuff.
"Well let's see, I've kept my blog going, and it still has readers. Sometimes they even leave comments," he said with a smile. He did enjoy blogging, it was nice to be able to share his thoughts without facing a crowd of people.

Starr chuckled as he thought of what to say and what not to say. "The kids have been trying to talk to me since we returned. It's good that you have found something you like and makes you happy."

Kay headed to meet Danika.

Jarral walked in silence with Danika till they reached Vestia again. He looked uncomfortable. He'd have far rather been alone with his texts and translations honestly.

Danika walked with Jerral to meet with Kay, going over to hug him when they reached one another again.

"Yes, I guess they've probably have told you a lot," Asher said, smiling a little, "I like being able to make a difference in some small way. Public speaking was never my thing, but it does feel nice to be able to help people understand Android politics."

Kay hugged Danika tightly, eventually realising she wasn't alone and nodding awkwardly to Jarral.
The kid creeped him out and his existance was still taking a lot to wrap his head around.

Jarral just stood to one side, looking disinterested.

How are you little one? Kay asked Danika at last, pulling away to get a good look at her. I've missed you.

"You have always liked being more behind the scenes rather than in the spotlight." Starr said with a small chuckle.

~~~
Danika looked up at Kay when he moved back a little to see her. I'm good. I missed you too, and mom and the others. Images came with the thought of the others, everyone so big in comparison to her as she remembered them being.

Asher nodded. "Peace and quiet is good. That's definitely one of the benefits of living out here in the middle of nowhere." He smiled, "That and the ship repair job. I'm glad I got to keep my old favorite career."

Kay smiled sadly. I'm so sorry we were lost so long. He really did feel guilty about that. Not that they could have prevented it but still.
He glanced at Jarral. [You don't have to stay if you don't want to.] the kid looked really uncomfortable.

Jarral stared at him in that wierd unblinking manner he had. "I have nowhere else to go." He told Kay flatly.

Kay frowned.

"My Lord wishes me to learn more about your disappearance, the best way to do that is to remain with your ship and your crew." Jarral reasoned. it wasn't his full reasons for staying of course, but he wasn't going to admit he was sort of lonely.

[How do you both know one another?] Kay asked at last. He'd been trying to figure that out. They'd wandered off together earlier so they clearly were at least somewhat familiar with eachother but he couldn't remember anyone mentioning Jarral being around previously.
Had they?

"Jerral lived with us when we were on the planet." Danika replied, glancing over to Jerral with a smile then looking back to Kay "You couldn't help being gone, but I am glad you are back."

Starr smiled happily, glad Asher had found happiness in his life. "I'm glad the whole fight for rights went well even without us around."