Carpathia IV: Episode 233 - Shenian Whale
Amenaru's House, Kitchen
Plate in hand, Mikado paced around the kitchen, trying to make sense of the appliances. He wanted to heat up some of the yummy seaweed and rice that Kit introduced him to but he didn't know what device was appropriate. They all somehow resembled the sorts of things one would find on Tokkastra, but different enough that he was afraid of using them. He never had a chance to even warm up a pastry while on Shadowdancer before and never gave a Carpathian kitchen a second thought... until now.
Fortunately, Ramses came to the rescue.
Ramses: Looking for something?
Mikado turned with a start, as he didn't hear Ramses approaching.
Mikado: Oh! I was just trying to figure out which one of these contraptions would be best to heat this up.
Ramses: It'll taste best from the oven. About 15 minutes.
Mikado: That's fine. I don't have to go anywhere quickly.
So that Mikado could help himself if necessary in the future, Ramses showed him where the oven pans were and slid the seaweed and rice onto one. Then he showed Mikado how to use the oven, sliding the pan in and setting a temperature. That left nothing to do for the next fifteen minutes.
Mikado: I have a question. What's a wingman?
Ramses, still a bit dazed and sleepy, blinked a few times while the question processed in his brain.
Ramses: Oh, right! What I said last night. That it's good to have a tokki wingman?
Mikado: Yeah, that's the one. It sounds like a good thing?
Ramses: When someone wants, say, a date or sex, sometimes they'll bring a friend along to help get the conversation started. It's all part of the game, really. I have to say, tokki certainly are direct about what they want.
Mikado: I don't think I'll ever get used to other species' copulation rituals.
Ramses: I never really thought about it that way, but I guess they are complicated for a culture that is in the habit of just asking directly. Very efficient.
Slow, heavy footsteps told that someone else was coming down the stairs. Amenaru? Kit? Mikado and Ramses watched to see who would round the corner. It was Darius, looking like he just popped out of a tumble dryer, with his fur sticking out in all directions, matted, and cowlicked all over. Darius plodded his way slowly down the remaining stairs, bracing himself on the handrail, and staggered towards the kitchen.
Mikado: Wow, Ramses, you really messed him up. I'm impressed.
Ramses: Just doing my job!
Darius rolled his eyes and waved his paw back and forth, as though shooing them away.
Darius: Out of the way, you two! I need protein!
Ramses: How about a double roast beef sandwich with egg and cheese?
Darius suddenly stopped and then swayed back and forth a few times before answering.
Darius: That sounds lovely, thank you.
Ramses smiled and gave Darius a scritch behind his ears before setting about to gather sandwich supplies.
Elsewhere on Andrast
From a distance, one might think they were looking at an ordinary city. Gleaming towers that rose up into the sky, the tallest of which was at least 80 floors, standing out like a beacon amongst the rest. Roads that attempted a grid-like structure, but bore the chaotic hallmarks of a city built upon the ancient trails. Outside of the city, the building sizes decreased and the roads snaked out from the city center like a pile of dropped spaghetti.
A normal city. Except there were no people.
More precisely, there were five people, but with more on the way. Within the city was a large void, no roads or buildings. Only a marshy inlet that lead to another, much larger marsh that would be considered a sea on any other world. There, Alka and Cyn gazed out over the brackish water, flanked by Adell, Aire, and Admiral Zhang.
Admiral Zhang: Pharaoh Hamset will be joining us shortly and he can explain the details. The nekomi have more than two dozen cities like this one, completely empty, from before their population nearly died out. They like to maintain them for when they grow enough to use them again. We will continue searching for a planet of your own. There are still many even within our space that we haven't explored yet.For now, this is can be a temporary solution.
It was difficult to tell if Alka was listening, since he appeared to be thoroughly distracted alternating between looking up at the high rise buildings and down at the inlet.
Alka: It's perfect! I love the humidity here and we are forever grateful. I promise that we'll take good care of it.
Adell: We will help you get settled and our main goal is to get you to self-sufficiency, hopefully leading to a trading partnership.
Alka continued to marvel at his surroundings while Cyn took over the conversation.
Cyn: We have many skills besides computers that I hope your people will be interested in. We are very skilled at stonework and jewelry-making. We used to be experts at fishing, but you can imagine that we haven't used that skill for awhile.
Alka: I read in the ancestral diaries that, on our planet, we used to dive for jewels. I understand it was quite a popular game. The ones who could dive deepest and bring up the most beautiful stones became very famous. We also had mollusks that produced some popular stones too.
Aire: Those are present on several planets, including Andrast. You might find some down there right now.
While Aire spoke, Alka started removing his clothes, starting with his top, revealing his blue skin, equally as spotty as his face, on his chest.
Alka: If Pharaoh Hamset gets here before I get back, please give him my apologies, but I'm afraid I just can't wait anymore!
Nobody objected, now used to Alka's impulsiveness, and Admiral Zhang gave him the go-ahead, perhaps also curious as everyone else what hotoh butt looked like.
Teri: Go right ahead, Alka.
And with that, it was off with his pants, revealing his splotchy blue bum, which faced towards the others. They could not see his front. Moments later, he dove into the water and quickly disappeared.
Adell: Out of curiosity, how long can you stay underwater?
Cyn: Six hours, depending on the person and to about 400 meters, also depending on the person. I hope this planet will be able to revitalize us.
Aire: Our scientists figured very quickly that you managed to replicate your homeworld's water very accurately, if the data you provided us is correct. Our working theory is that it's not just the water. It's everything else in the water, all the way down to the bacterial level. We also think that your bariatric chambers might not be a suitable substitute for actual deep diving.
Cyn: It does make sense. For ages, our assumption was that our water wasn't pure enough. It is very possible that this was the wrong assumption.
Admiral Zhang: The research doesn't end here. We'll keep working together on this until we're all sure or find another solution. We worked together with the nekomi to find a solution to their sterility problem. I hope we can help you recover from your life expectancy problem.
Cyn: We are grateful and we look forward to working with you. I hate to do this, but I would like to ask you for yet another favor.
Admiral Zhang: Oh? And what is that?
Cyn: Ours was the last ship, and the smallest, to leave our homeworld. We all set courses away from Vashta, in different directions, hoping that at least one might find a new place to settle.
Cyn held up her hand and spread her fingers wide, sliding her other hand down each finger as though mimicking a plane taking off.
Cyn: One this way. One that way.
Cyn slid her hand down her index finger.
Cyn: The largest, carrying ten million of our people, that way.
Finally, Cyn pointed to her thumb.
Cyn: And we came this way. The closest ship to our course is the largest ship. We would like to contact them to inform them of this place. We will need a very powerful transmitter, something we do not have, to send an encrypted signal. They may be thousands of light years from us.
Adell: We do not have such a thing either, but the dragons may be able to help with that and to encrypt the signal in such a way that the Vashta would not be able to decipher.
Aire: Another thing for the to-do list. We should focus on getting you settled first.
Admiral Zhang: Indeed. Your shuttles and Pharaoh Hamset's shuttle should be arriving any minute.
Before any shuttles arrived, however, a blue, screamy streak shot from the inlet beside them.
Alka: KYAAAAAA!
Alka hit the ground on his feet and sloshed his way through the shallow water toward land. Behind him, way out from the shore, a massive tail lifted up from the depths and swat back down, creating a wave that washed far enough ashore to prompt the others to rush back toward the city by about 20 meters.
Alka: I've never seen a creature so huge! What is that?
Adell: Seems you met a Shenian giant whale. How lucky! They don't come into the inlets very often. No worries. They only eat algae, kelp, and brine shrimp.
Aire: Andrast doesn't have much in the way of sea carnivores big enough to devour any of us, but you should study the sea creatures database to be safe.
Alka: No shit! I shouldn't have jumped in there so fast.
A rumble in the distance, and all looked up to see several shuttles approaching.
Admiral Zhang: Alka, put your clothes back on. It is time to get back to work.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
Falke2009
