UPON VESTIA: CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

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Asher considered his words for a few seconds, glancing around the room as he thought, then looked to Kay again. "I've been thinking over everything that's happened today, and I feel like it would be wrong for me to leave Terra before the androids have been granted their freedom," he said. "I think it might be in the best interests of the children and the androids if I stay on Terra while Vestia goes on to the Imperium." He wished he could have phrased it better, but he just didn't know how. Ugh.

"Would you rather come along, or should I come find you afterward?" Asher asked. He knew that being around Starr was pretty uncomfortable for Kay, after all.

Starr had left the gathering after a while to go to the 'nursery' where her egg was with the other baby dragons. It was a way of socializing the baby before it hatched, something that hadn't been a problem before since there had been three. This also gave her time to be around her people and talk to them as just another mother.

Kay thought about that. [I'll come. It means you don't have to tell me later.] He wanted to be involved in this full plan damnit, it... might make him feel slightly better.

Asher nodded, that made sense. "Sounds good." They'd get directions from Vestia, and go to the nursery to see Starr.

Kay followed along anxiously chewing his lip, clutching his tablet to his chest the way he always did when he was upset or nervous.

Starr looked to the door when Asher and Kay came in, smiling at the pair and standing to go over to them. "Hello my friends."

"Hello," Asher said, smiling softly at her. He glanced around at the baby dragons, and noticed the egg, "How are the young ones doing?"
Partly he was stalling on telling her why they were here, and partly he was genuinely curious. He hadn't exactly had much of an opportunity to visit the dragons since his Mars visit.

Kay nodded to Starr, but he couldn't quite be as happy about seeing her egg. He couldn't help but still associate it with the family's disgusting crap. At least he could mostly block those thoughts from being projected though.

He looked tense and grim.

Starr smiled and looked around at the young ones playing together or napping near their parents. "They are all healthy and doing well here." She noticed how Kay acted and reached a hand out to him, though didn't touch. "You are tense." She observed then looked back to Asher and tilted her head. "Did something happen with the protest?"

The babies were interested in the two newcomers, especially the 'silent' one they couldn't 'hear'. The eldest ones came over to Asher and Kay, curious about them and as always wanting to play with anyone that came in.

Kay looked away, this was Asher's thing to explain. As a way of avoiding this conversation while still being able to listen in, he crouched down under the pretense of greeting the baby dragons.
Of course, he'd never been overly fond of children but the baby star dragons were sweet little things and it was hard to actively dislike them anyway.

He reached out a hand to the one closest, trying very hard not to project the sadness he felt seeing them. Danika should be here with them.
And she would be soon, he told himself, but Asher wouldn't. Eugh.

Asher had pretty much gotten used to the idea of where these young dragons had come from. He was good at ignoring unpleasant truths and focusing on the present, he had to be in order to cope with how his siblings had sometimes been treated on the space station.
He smiled at the baby dragons, although he didn't crouch down to talk to them. He was trying to focus right now on the problem at hand, and the babies were going to distract him with their cuteness if he let them.
He forced himself to focus on Starr. "I'm glad they're doing so well," he said. In answer to her question he added, "I've been thinking that for the sake of the androids, it might be best for me to stay here to help continue the liberation effort, while the rest of you continue to the Imperium. I'd like to know your thoughts on the idea."

Starr thought about that then nodded. "Having one to look to as a leader would be a good idea, though not without protection. The kids miss us all so much and I miss them." She got quiet a moment then smiled softly "Nova is willing to stay with you and whoever else is wanting to stay here. We can take her travel stones and tweak them or I could leave my ship here with you. It would be a way to travel if an emergency came up, unless the Silver Devil crew wanted to stay too." She said, thinking aloud

Asher smiled softly. "My thanks to you and Nova. She proved to be an excellent ally last time, and her teleporting stones would be excellent for this, and they would save a lot of time getting back to Vestia once this is over." The ability to teleport out of a bad situation was certainly a comforting thought too, he was still nervous about possibly being cornered by an anti-robot gang.
"I won't ask the Silver Devil crew to stay. They and Vestia's crew are so close these days, and the Silver Devil might be needed to get into the Imperium safely." It was a lot less conspicuous than Vestia herself, at least. Inconspicuous might be needed out there.

Starr nodded, he certainly made a point about that. "Then I will leave my ship just in case it's needed. Should we leave Celia here or take her with us?" She asked curiously. To her, this was happening now so she was trying to think of all the angles.

Asher nodded gratefully. "Thank you. I don't know what Celia plans to do," he said, frowning. "I think whatever she decides is probably all right. She's lived a lot of lifetimes, I'm sure she can keep herself safe." He hoped so, anyway. He didn't understand her all that well, nor did he really want to. She made him nervous.

"We should find out, last thing we would want is her to renege on the deal because she thought we ditched her." Starr said with a smile. "I will make sure Nova has the proper paperwork to be allowed to use magic in defense or a show if you need to make money for anything and we can't be reached." Not that she even thought they would be unreachable, but the Family had re-taught her caution.

"Yes, that's a good point," Asher agreed. "I'd guess Celia's planning to download herself into the new body as soon as our creators suspect she's in on this, but after she's in the body, I don't know what she's planning. As long as she makes it safely into the body, I think she'll give us all the information we've asked from her though."
"Excellent. We don't want Nova to get in trouble helping me, and a license would be a good preventive measure for that. Hopefully public displays of magic won't be necessary, but planning ahead is wise." He really appreciated Starr's support in this, it was good to have her perspective, from all her years of experience. He wouldn't have thought of getting her licensed, the idea hadn't crossed his mind.

Kay stood up again, looking anxious. [We should arrange a meeting place.] He pointed out. [If things take longer, we can return here to meet you. ]

Starr nodded then smiled again "You are my son, I want you safe." She said simply

Asher nodded at Kay's idea. "It's difficult to know what's going to end up happening, so deciding on a place might be hard," he said. "If Nova and I somehow lost contact with you guys, I'm not sure what we'd do next. But that's unlikely to happen. If things here finish quickly, we'll follow Vestia or maybe even teleport back if Nova can manage it. Otherwise you guys can come back to Terra and join us here. Certainly we can discuss it when the time comes to decide."
He smiled at Starr. It felt really good to have a mother who wanted you to be safe.

Starr nodded and smiled softly "Find out how many will be staying here and we will see what we can do to make the stones as strong as we can, though I like them being a backup more than a main way out. "

[How far do you think they can teleport?] Kay asked.

"I doubt many of the crew will want to stay, and some of the ones who do, like James, would just be too risky to let stay on Terra anyway," Asher added. "Hopefully transporting only two or three people would improve the range on the stones?"

Starr nodded in thought, speaking to Nova, since she was better at the stones. "The number won't affect the range, since they are for individuals, though it will help if only dragons or androids stay. Nova says."

"The species makes a difference?" Asher asked curiously. "We can keep the group small, so she won't have to make as many long-range teleporters. Makes it cheaper to rent hotel rooms, too," he added, wanting to lighten the mood.

Kay still looked fretful. [Can the magic find Vestia wherever we might be?] He asked. He liked the idea of Asher being able to return asap like that, rather than months of travel to meet up, but was it actually possible?

"More as a safety measure than anything else. Dragons can survive even in space if necessary, as can androids, so long as you don't get too cold." Starr said.