I stepped off the Leviathan first, breathing in the slightly less recycled air and covering my eyes from the harsh change in light. I turned back towards Noah, who had his eyes glued to the mind bending sight of the gyroscopic space station. So much so, that he got dizzy, and tripped on the trim of his oversized coat. He stumbled down the ramp and directly towards me.
“Oh sh-” Noah’s arms flailed wildly.
I caught Noah, two of my arms on his shoulders and the other two on his hips. We both made an “oomph” sound as I abruptly stopped his momentum.
Noah looked up at my face sheepishly. “Sorry about that. It’s just so… unbelievable!”
I looked up and around. Directly above us, far away, was the other side of the space station. It appeared like the buildings, the people and the vehicles above us were upside down. If you traced the ground with your eyes, eventually it would curve up and you’d end up looking at the ceiling, which was also the ground. It’s overwhelming if you’ve only lived planetside. It was a lot like being encased by a city instead of just being in one. Overhead, nimble security ships whizzed past lumbering passenger liners that drifted lazily through the air. Uncountable spaceships of different sizes were above us, floating at different angles and altitudes. Some appeared to be right side up, others looked like they were upside down or sideways, and the rest were hanging in the sky at an oblique angle. From down here, the scale of the space station was a lot larger than it appeared from the inside of a cockpit. There were constant sounds of whirring underneath us, and thousands of thrusters roared through the air above us. I could lightly smell the residue of burnt fuel, too. In gyroscopic stations, you were always surrounded by sights, sounds, and smells.
Noah followed my gaze upwards. “How does this work? Is it anti-gravity or something?”
“Nah.” I reluctantly let go of Noah, since I was holding him for uncomfortably long. “It’s just good old centripetal force. The entire space station is slowly rotating, and the force of the rotation is pushing us against the floor, creating artificial gravity. We’re technically in zero gravity right now.”
Noah stroked his chin. “So if the rotation stopped, we’d go floating off?”
“Yeah, we would. There’s countermeasures for that, so I wouldn’t worry about it, though. Come on, this way! Remember to turn the tablet off now, we’re going to be around other people.”
I patiently waited as Noah fiddled with the tablet and put it away in one of the many pockets on his cloak. Once he was ready, we lined up side to side as we started our walk towards our destination. Noah had to take a couple more steps per one of my long strides. Togumo legs were much longer than human steps, after all. It wasn’t going to be a long walk, thankfully, our docking bay was pretty close to my friend’s shop. The Maralu space station was also relatively safe, so as long as Noah and I minded our own business, we should be fine. I did have my handgun on me, just in case.
As we were walking, I noticed that Noah was glancing at people who were standing outside of shops, eating dinner, and flowing past us. There was a diverse population of races at Maralu station, so Noah was probably curious about the different kinds of people that he was seeing for the first time. Thankfully, his gaze didn’t linger on anyone for too long. Nobody liked people who stared.
We passed damp alleyways filled with tattered vagrants. We craned our necks to peek at vibrant shops with neon signs advertising their goods and services. We squeezed past dense crowds in narrow passageways, my arm around Noah’s shoulder. Our mouths watered as we walked between enticing food stalls. We stopped abruptly to not get run over by a lunatic on a motorbike being chased by multiple people. This station never changed. I spent a lot of times hopping from station to station, moving wherever I could find jobs, but Maralu station was the closest one to home. I had friends, clients, favorite restaurants and bars here. Sure, it wasn’t the safest place around. But if I were to ever retire, if I managed to stay alive for that long, then I’d settle down here, maybe buy an apartment overlooking my favorite view. Maybe work as a pilot or something. Maybe living planetside was better. Fresher air, real ground, plants and animals. I wouldn’t know, since I’ve never lived on a planet, never had a planet to call home. I decided to ask Noah what his planet was like the next time we had a conversation. I bet it was beautiful.
As the lights around us started to dim, simulating a day cycle, the environment around Noah and I started to change. There were only dark, narrow passageways, creaky decrepit apartment buildings, and shady people around us. We were almost there. Noah hung close to my side, and I couldn’t blame him. I’ve almost gotten mugged a few times here, in the past. A few suspicious individuals cast glances over at Noah, but once they saw me walking next to them, they scuttled off somewhere else. A wise choice. I towered over most people and these claws weren’t for show.
We stopped in front of a small shop with a tiny sign that read “Yori’s Self Defense.” We were here. I gestured for Noah to turn the tablet and translator on, and once he was ready, I stepped through the front door, with Noah close behind. I shut the door behind us and stuck my chin upwards. Yori was standing behind the counter, their back facing towards me. There was nobody else in the store.
“Hey! You! Got any nano suits?” I barked, making my voice as deep and gruff as possible.
“Do I look like I fucking have nano suits!?” Yori spun towards me violently, temper flaring, and saw me sporting a shit eating grin. “Fuck you, Saka, I thought I had to deal with an idiot!” The Aeon chuckled. It sounded like they were squeaking.
Yori was relatively short, standing at around the same height as Noah. Their head fins were pierced in several places, studs, hoops, and rings biting into the thin membrane. Yori’s skin was silvery gray, although it technically wasn’t correct to call it skin. Aeons are covered in tiny scales that fit neatly into each other, and it felt smooth if you ran your fingers over them. Yori also had several large tattoos decorating their body, the most prevalent one being a kinetic tattoo depicting the lunar waves on the Aeon home planet. As I watched, the tattoo moved across Yori’s neck and onto their shoulder. Their gills were currently not visible, they were useless out of water. Yori’s small hands were scratched and calloused from years of hard work. Their eyes were stunningly icy blue, their eyes were a snapshot of a tiny glacier. Yori’s thick, muscular tail was wrapped around their waist. Their powerful legs rippled with muscles, for maximum thrust while swimming. Like most Aeons, Yori was falling-on-your-knees beautiful. And as usual, Yori was wearing their stained jumpsuit, with the torso half open, exposing their white tank top.
“And who’s that behind you? It’s not like you to work with someone.” I had told Yori that I was bringing a new hire along to get some armor. I had some explaining to do, though. I swished my tail nervously. I could trust Yori.
“Yori, you have to keep this a secret.” They nodded seriously. I continued. “This is Noah. I found him today on an Anri poacher ship, in a cage. I got him out, and I’m going to be giving him a job with me until I can get him back home.”
Yori’s eyes widened. “If you found him on a poacher ship, then that means…”
I turned to Noah. “You can take the cloak off now, you’re safe here.”
Noah nodded, and slowly took his cloak off. Yori bounced with excitement. Noah’s cloak fell to the floor, revealing the pale human.
“I can’t believe it! You’re actually a human!” Yori came through a small gate on the side of the counter, and power walked over to get a closer look at Noah. Noah started blushing, hints of pink beginning to show on his face. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Yori looked over Noah from top to bottom, stroking their chin with their fingers. After a moment, Yori turned to face both of us.
“So, you’re looking to get Noah a suit? Full body and helmet?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Noah needs a way to conceal his identity and stay protected. I also brought him in person because I know you like to take measurements directly, and he’s the first human you’re working with.”
Yori clapped their webbed hands together, making a “plap” sound. “I can’t wait to get started. Here, follow me.”
Yori led us through the gate on the counter and into the back of the shop. A plethora of suits and armor of all kinds of shapes and sizes hung on racks on the wall, and fabricators and work benches hugged the sides of the room.
Yori gestured around the room. “Noah, this is where I make all of my products, including the suit and armor that you’ve probably seen Saka wear. I’m going to be taking your measurements so I can tailor it to fit perfectly, if that’s okay.”
Noah nodded. “Thank you.” He was shifting his weight one leg, then the other, back and forth. Noah was excited, shy, and nervous.
I laid a hand on Noah’s shoulder.
“I was thinking of getting Noah a suit with light armor and a shield. And a full helmet, of course, one that makes sure his eyes aren’t visible. Noah, do you have any requests?”
“Not really, I don’t really know anything about spacesuits. If possible, I’d like something that’s easy to run with.” Huh. I guess Noah did mention something about nighttime runs once before. I don’t think humans are very fast, though. I wondered why he focused on movement for his suit.
Yori flicked one of their head fins with their right hand. “A runner, are you? I can do that. Let’s test your physical capabilities and range of movement. I'd like to get a feel for how I’m going to make this suit work. Follow me.”
I loved how Yori tailored their suits to meld into the wearer’s personality, physical capabilities, and style. Buying from them was one of the best choices I’ve made.
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Yori led us into a separate, smaller room that looked a lot like a gym. Actually, it was a gym. There were chrome weights, a cheap treadmill, and even a bar for acrobatics. Yori really upped their game since the last time I bought from them.
Yori turned the treadmill on. “You said running, right? Here, hop on this treadmill.” Noah stepped on. Yori gradually increased the speed, as Noah went from a walk, to a light jog, to a full on sprint. Once the speed of the treadmill got too fast for him, he jumped off to the side. Like I expected, Noah’s top speed wasn’t very fast. I could easily outrun him on all six limbs.
“Whew!” Noah was breathing heavily. He stretched his legs and his back. “That got the blood pumping. Running after being cooped up in that cage feels so good!”
Yori recorded Noah’s top speed, lost in thought. They were probably doing mental calculations.
“Hey Yori, can I go on the treadmill again? And can you set it to a jogging speed?” Noah asked. I guess Noah was more athletic than I thought. I had assumed that Noah was a nerd, since he was so skinny.
“Sure, go ahead!” Yori adjusted the speed absentmindedly, and walked back to the work room. Noah’s light steps, rhythmic breathing, and the creaking treadmill echoed through the room as he jogged in place.
“I’m going to be in the other room too.” I told Noah, and he raised his fist in response, opposable thumb faced up. I assumed it was okay, so I left Noah to get his exercise and walked up to Yori, who was leaning over their table.
Yori was an old friend of mine. I’ve known them for about eight years, back when I was first starting out as a mercenary. Yori was an apprentice at another suit shop then, and they made my first suit – a cheap, tattered piece of shit that could barely take a bullet. It was perfect for me at the time, since I was broke and inexperienced. I took on harder and harder jobs, and saved up money to buy better gear from Yori, whose skill also improved. We pretty much grew in tandem, and I hung out with them a lot in between jobs. Yori was probably my best friend, and my only real friend. They are one of the only people I could trust with Noah’s secret.
Yori turned to face me, whispering. “Hell of a situation, huh. Coming across a fucking human and deciding to keep him. What’re you gonna do?”
“Yeah, it’s crazy. I’m gonna figure out a way to send Noah home.”
“Why? You’re not the type of person to look out for strangers. You’re a mercenary, you just do the job, no questions asked, and move on to the next one. What changed?”
“I dunno, I just felt bad for him. I didn’t want to leave Noah there, or get tangled up with rich bastards or the government trying to get rid of him. Plus, he’s a really good shot.”
Yori nodded dryly. “Uh-huh. Talk to me again when you’re ready to tell me the real reason you’re going through all this trouble just for a human you met today.”
Damn. Yori always saw right through me. I watched in silence as Yori drafted up some ideas. It was always entertaining to watch them work. Their pen moved across a tablet screen with smooth, precise movements, spawning concepts and drafts with flicks of their trained and practiced wrist. It was like seeing a master conductor at work, the canvas their orchestra and the pen their baton. Before I knew it, thirty minutes had passed. The squeaking of the treadmill still emitted from the gym room. Yori and I were so engrossed in their work that we completely forgot Noah was still in the gym.
“Wait, is Noah still running?” I asked Yori. They shrugged, just as confused as I was.
Yori’s pen clattered to the table, and we both trotted over to the gym room. There, we found Noah still jogging, huffing and puffing on the treadmill, beads of sweat running down his forehead.
“Noah, are you okay? You’ve been running for thirty minutes straight!” I asked in alarm.
Noah hopped off the treadmill and began running in place. He talked in between deep breaths. “Yeah, I’m fine. It was about the same time as a warm up lap.”
That was a warm up lap? Yori looked just as shocked as me.
“Noah, how long can you run without stopping? Like, the longest time you’ve ever ran.” They asked, eyes wide.
Noah paused to think. “Uhh, I run marathons, and my fastest time was about four hours, give or take.”
Incredible. Humans have amazing endurance. Even the fastest and most athletic Togumo couldn’t run for more than 10 minutes at a time.
“Wait, what’s a marathon?” I asked, flabbergasted.
“Oh, it’s like a long race where you run 42.2 kilometers from start to finish. I used to jog to stay in shape, but running marathons became a hobby!”
Are humans crazy?
“Are you sick in the head?” Yori blurted, mirroring my thoughts. “How can you run for that long!?”
Noah laughed. It was a cute, quiet chuckle. “My friends used to say the same thing. I dunno, I started it because I wanted to challenge myself, and eventually, I just kept doing it, seeing if I could get better times.”
“Can most humans run for that long?” I asked, curious. Maybe humans weren’t as helpless as I thought. Maybe ancient humans’ endurance allowed them to get away from predators?
“Hmm, probably not. Marathon runners train to run that long, but the average human probably can’t run a marathon that fast. If I had to guess, I’d say an average healthy adult human in their prime could run for 30 to 45 minutes straight? If they absolutely had to, of course.”
Still a lot more than the Togumo then, and we were probably the most athletic species in the Galactic Union. I wonder what their secret was. Was it in their body structure?
Yori asked before I could. “How? Like is it a body structure thing?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, it’s a body structure thing. There’s a lot of factors that allow us to run for so long, but the main ones are our feet and sweating. Human feet are built to kind of act like springs, storing elastic energy and returning the energy as we take steps. It makes jogging very efficient. On top of that, humans sweat a lot, and when the moisture evaporates from our skin, it cools us down. That’s what allowed humans to be hunters before we had civilizations. Humans would chase prey for miles, for hours straight, until the prey collapsed from exhaustion. Even though humans don’t hunt like that any more, it still remains a core part of our structure.”
Yori and I were trying to process this information. Not a lot was known about humans, and now we were learning that humans were predators despite their squishiness, and on top of that, they hunted in a way that I had never heard of before.
Yori was the first to break the silence. “Okay, I’m definitely going to have to account for that in my designs.” They glimmered with excitement. “This is going to be an insane project, I can’t wait!”
They tossed a nearby towel towards Noah. “Here, wipe yourself off. I’m going to take your measurements so I can get started on this thing as soon as possible!”
Noah complied, wiping his forehead and neck. He reached under his shirt and wiped his chest and back, too. Yori gestured for Noah to throw the towel in a nearby basket, so he tossed it. It hung on the lip of the basket.
We followed Yori back to their work room, where they grabbed some measuring tape and other instruments from a drawer. It was all alien to me.
“Okay Noah, take off your shirt.”
I averted my gaze as Noah reluctantly pulled his shirt off. However, curiosity eventually got the better of me, and I took a peek at Noah as Yori began measuring various parts of his head, shoulders, arms, and torso. Noah wasn’t as skinny as I thought, but he wasn’t muscular either. The best way to describe it was close to lean. He was decently built, and his muscles were clearly visible because he had low body fat. Noah glistened in the bright lighting of the room, vestiges of sweat remained on his pale skin. I looked away quickly, like a cheating student noticing their teacher’s gaze.
Yori was unfazed, however, executing their job with machine-like efficiency and precision. After a while, they instructed Noah to put his shirt back on. They measured the human’s lower body without instructing him to remove his clothes, probably out of consideration.
“Okay, we’re all set. I’ll start working on this right now.” Yori’s piercing eyes were lost in thought. “You two can leave now, I don’t want any distractions. I’ll let you know when I’m done and you can come pick it up.”
“Alright, thanks Yori.” I replied, already moving to leave the studio.
“Thanks, Yori.” Noah echoed, and we both waved to them. We left the brilliant Aeon to do their work. I helped Noah put his cloak back on at the front of the store, and we were off.
----------------------------------------
“Hey Noah, you feeling hungry? Let’s grab something to eat.” I looked at various bright neon signs advertising their various services.
“Yes. I can eat.” Noah replied, his accent back. He had turned off the translator again, but he was quickly improving.
I had no idea what humans were able to eat, but Noah said they were hunters, so I should probably go to a place that served meat. After a few minutes of walking, I found a suitable restaurant. It was some sort of diner. There was bound to be something that Noah could eat there, and the menu looked great to me.
Noah and I walked in, and we were promptly guided to a private booth. A lot of Maralu restaurants had booths that were closed off, so customers could eat in complete privacy. I preferred it, it prevented people from interrupting your meal. After we took our seats across from each other, I grabbed menus on a nearby rack and handed it to Noah. He pulled out his tablet and turned on the translator.
“What are you getting?” Noah asked. “I don’t know what anything on this list is, and I don’t think I could get a burger out here.”
A burger? Must be a human dish. “I’m thinking of getting the synth-meat steak. For celebrating the completion of today’s job and our new partnership.”
“Ok, I’ll just get the same thing as you, then. Is synth-meat fake meat?”
“Yeah, it’s lab-grown. Real meat is expensive out here, and the nearest cattle farm is thousands of light-years away.”
We placed our orders on a tablet affixed to the wall. I briefly considered ordering alcohol but decided not to. Definitely a bad idea.
“Hey, Noah, can you tell me about your planet? I’m really curious about humans. There’s not a lot of information about them on the net.”
“My planet, huh?” Noah looked up, wistfully. “Well, Earth is hard to describe as a whole. It’s so diverse if I tried to explain everything we’d be sitting here for hours. Sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to explain it all. The shortest way to summarize it is that it’s blue and green, and full of unique environments, animals, and people. There’s really no other way to describe it, you just have to see it for yourself.”
“Alright, when I get you back to Earth, you’re going to have to show me around. I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“That’s a deal, then. You show me around the galaxy, and I’ll give you a personal tour of Earth.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” Even though this promise ever being fulfilled was as distant as the countless stars, I still had a glimmer of hope that we’d be able to make good on it, one day.
“What about you, Saka?” Noah asked. “What’s your home planet like?”
I fiddled with the end of my tail. “Well, I’ve never been to my home planet. We abandoned it because of climate change and the lack of resources, centuries ago. I grew up on different megaships and space stations, always drifting around. Thanks to that, though, I know my way around ships.”
“Wow, I can’t imagine that. Everything I’ve seen since I was kidnapped is just straight out of books and movies. It’s still kind of unreal to me.”
Despite what he claimed, Noah was actually adjusting pretty fast towards his situation. He didn’t even blink twice when our dinner came through a slot on the wall. The synth-steaks were here.
“Hey, it actually looks pretty good! I was worried when you said lab-grown meat, but it looks pretty normal to me!”
“I heard real meat is a lot tastier and juicier, though. Do humans not grow meat?”
“Nah, we’ve got a lot of cattle farms, and we don’t have the technology to grow fake meat yet. I always eat steak once a week, it’s a family tradition.”
“You definitely need to treat me to some Earth meat someday. I can’t believe you guys have real meat all the time!”
“For sure!” Noah lifted his fork and knife. “Okay, let’s see how this is.” He shoved a small chunk of the synth-steak into his mouth, and chewed for several seconds.
“Not bad. I’ve had worse steaks than this, back on Earth. I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat alien food, but it seems fine.”
“I’m glad you like it.” I took a bite out of my steak myself, tearing into it with my razor-sharp teeth. Delicious as ever. This restaurant wasn’t bad at all. I made a mental note to come back here again one day. Both Noah and I devoured our steaks with blinding speed. Once we were finished, we continued our conversation and exchanged tidbits of information about our cultures.
It was starting to get late, so we decided to head back to the Leviathan to turn in for the night. But before we could do that, we had to buy Noah some clothes. He only had the ones on his back, and none of my clothes would fit him. We stopped by a small clothing shop and Noah picked out clothes that were primarily meant for Aeons. Their body shape is probably some of the closest, so it was the best possible option. Once Noah went into the changing room and tested out the clothes. Sadly, I didn’t get to see his outfits, since we couldn’t risk his identity being revealed. Oh well, I’d get to see them some other time. I paid for his clothes, and we were on our way back to my ship.
Once we were back, we said our good nights and retired to our rooms. I changed into my pajamas (an old tank top and underwear) and plopped onto my bed. I was asleep the moment my head hit my pillow.