“So, any thoughts yet?”
Arkay and Tah were still wandering around, looking at big, bright, shiny new ships, all in different shapes. None of them though were what Arkay was looking for. They were too fancy. Colossal but sleek at the same time. Way too big. They were definitely the sort of shape Arkay was looking for, but everything was very big. Even the smaller ships were too much.
It didn’t help that Arkay was still refining what he wanted. He had originally wanted a “sporty ship”, but Arkay had narrowed down his criteria somewhat. Now, really, Arkay was looking for a ship that was cosier, with more long-distance travel features and, specifically, at least one bedroom that was large enough for Retvik, Litvir and himself.
“Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts…” Arkay muttered. “I never realised how many different ships amd stuff there were.”
Tah clicked, then shrugged. “Well, a lot of different people want a lot of different things. You though, I think you want a camper van rather than an actually sporty ship.”
“That is closer to what I’m thinking about, yeah. I want to be cosy but also kinda want to go fast and have a smooth ship. Because, no offence, Shield Six is nice but it is rather… boxy.”
“And I totally agree!” Tah clicked some more. “But Shield Six was kinda built to originally contain two one-meter tall entities, and then we adapted it to hold six little robots. And we adapted the ship again when we picked up Kanuva and later Akah and Tahvra.”
Arkay was about to nod in agreement, but he suddenly paused. “Have I met Kanuva?”
Tah thought for a moment. “I… actually don’t think you have. You sort of… went away for a bit after you gave us proper bodies, and we ran into Kanuva after that. I think only Retvik and Galyn have probably met him, and the former Divine Guardians might not remember him because Kinisis was a nasty woman.”
“You can call Kinisis bad words, you know.”
Tah clicked. “I know. I do try not to swear though.”
“Why not?”
“Doesn’t feel right.”
“Oh, fair enough!” Arkay was satisfied with that answer. He glanced around quickly, then decided to move onto the next section of ship sales. This current place was for brand new ships, and Tah had only brought Arkay and Vikalos here for inspiration. While yes, Arkay could probably afford one of these ships, Tah was well aware that he could get far better deals elsewhere.
“Tah?” Arkay suddenly asked as they headed to a new section of dog-fighting ships.
“Yes, Arkay?”
“Is it worth me getting a ship with guns on it? And does Shield Six have guns?”
“Shield Six doesn’t, but we do have a Nuh. And a Gah. And a Leh. And a Pah. So fighter ships are kinda useless to us.”
Arkay thought for a moment. “I suppose I don’t really need weapons either. I mean, I’m already a weapon of mass destruction. Actually, Retvik and Litvir are probably basically nukes too.”
“Most beings out here are walking weapons of mass destruction,” Tah shrugged. “I mean, Vikalos was a god of hell and fire and mean things like that. You’ve not seen Vikalos in full rage mode.”
“And you have?” Arkay asked. “I can’t even really imagine Vikalos getting that rage-y. Although, speaking of Vikalos, where is he?”
Tah glanced around. He and Arkay had clearly left Vikalos behind. But it was more likely that someone had seen Vikalos and dragged him away to talk. A long time ago, before the Thantir were even founded, Vikalos had been a stupidly high ranked member of the Justar, and that meant that pretty much every Justar Decay Lord wanted to talk to Vikalos.
When Tah couldn’t work out where Vikalos was, Arkay decided to give himself telepathy, and quickly discovered that Vikalos was still at the entrance, talking to most of the staff. That did explain why Tah and Arkay hadn’t seen anyone around.
“You know where Vikalos is?” Tah asked.
“Yeah. I had no idea Vikalos was so notorious. Or infamous. Or whatever the correct word is.”
Tah clicked a few times. “To be fair, coming here was more for your benefit, to help you get a better idea of what sort of ship you want.”
“Fair enough. Shall we go and find Vikalos?”
“Are you done here?” Tah asked back.
Arkay glanced around again, then started heading back to the entrance. “I mean, I think so? I’m not buying anything here. It’s not that it’s out of my price range, but there’s nothing here catching my eye, and I don’t want any of these fighter ships we’re walking past.”
“I thought you liked Psiksi’s ship though?”
“I do, Psiksi’s ship is cool as fuck, but I don’t need a fighter ship. If I really need to fly and shoot something, I can do that myself, without a ship.”
“Very true.”
Arkay quickened his pace, then switched to floating in the air. Tah found he needed to teleport to keep up.
“Is something wrong, Arkay?”
“Nah. Not with me, anyway. But I’m picking up that Vikalos is sick and tired of being talked at.”
As Arkay and Tah reached the entrance, it turned out that Arkay was very correct about what was going on. Vikalos was trying to keep himself calm and civil, but he was struggling a bit and really needed an exit from the current conversation from the three staff members present.
“Hey, Vikalos!” Arkay exclaimed. “Tah and I are done, have you seen anything you like the look of? If not, we need to get moving.”
Vikalos took a deep breath, then grunted, glad that he now had a way out. “I’m done here. I was more looking for spare parts anyway.”
“Well, alright, we’ll head to the next place, they have lots of spare parts!” Tah clicked. “Come on, Vikalos.”
Tah tried to grab Vikalos’s hand and pull him away, but he was a tad too short, so Arkay pulled Vikalos away instead.
As soon as they were clear, Vikalos’s stress level began to drop. Tah unlocked the ship, and Arkay led Vikalos inside.
“Thank you, little ones…” Vikalos was breathing normally now. “I always forget how… popular I used to be.”
Arkay sat Vikalos down and patted him on the shoulder. “Well, don’t worry too much. If you need an out, I can make one for you.”
Vikalos patted Arkay on the head. “I appreciate that. So, Arkay, Tah, where are we heading next?”
“A second-hand dealership!” Tah buzzed. “Won’t be too long.”
“Oh good. Because I haven’t found what I am looking for.”
“Oh, me neither!” Arkay beamed. “Let’s get going. Before anyone else tries to talk at you…”