Aya awoke in Taylor’s penthouse with a newfound feeling of optimism. Last night, Flora informed her and Taylor of how successful the meeting was. Flora explained that the men and women of her planetoid would soon be without food and Priscilla lent a sympathetic ear. Though even innocent Flora could tell Priscilla was most excited about the new fashion trends she’d be setting, the young madame-in-waiting ardently defended Flora from the much older board members. Priscilla even remarked how they were looking for new employees to hire at the Electra Company, and this silenced all detractors.
“Isn’t this great, Eterna?” Aya said, holding her tattoo in front of her face.
“You have landed yourself in a most favorable outcome, my child. Not only have you found blessed relief for your friends, but it seems your biggest foe is vanquished.”
“There is still Priscilla,” Aya said, and a cocky smile stretched across her face. “But she seems more obsessed with boys and fashion. I could take her on my hands tied.”
“Be wary, sometimes parents instill the same instincts in their pups,” said the wolfhound marking on her skin. “But I feel you have nothing to worry about. With Flora on your side, she will be swayed. Perhaps she will even give up hunting the thunderboar.”
Aya lifted herself out of bed, continuing to talk quietly. “One can only hope. I’ll work on that once everyone’s been safely relocated. I…”
Aya heard a squishing sound, and to her ears, it sounds like wet, webbed toes pressing against the firm ground. The presence felt non-humanoid to her. Aya grabbed her spirit-wood staff laying by the bedside and positioned for attack. The squishing sound became louder and louder until she felt something cold, slimy and rubbery grab her exposed leg from behind. She let out a scream and kicked her leg up in the air, spinning around to see a small, two-legged, two-armed creature the size of her lower leg, fly past her with a loud squeak. Aya quickly reached out her hands and grabbed it by the three long antennas that grew out of its head. They had little yellow spheres at the end of them and resembled the hat of an Aquan court jester. It gazed at her with deep, dark black and shiny eyes. Aya could feel her heart melt at the sight of it. She began to cuddle it in her arms, which to her surprise, it reciprocated by nuzzling against her bosom.
“I… see you met Paul.”
Aya turned her head to see Taylor watching with his head resting on his hands on the top of the small platform. He lifted his head off his arms as soon as he caught her gaze.
Aya’s face turned bright red, and she rubbed her legs together. Her voice gushed in a way she rarely showed. “You didn’t tell me you had such an adorable Oceanita Monkey. I haven’t seen one since I left…”
“Tarabos?” Taylor said with a wink. “That’s where my dad and I found him. We caught him in the Great Oceanita as you Aquans call it.”
“Normally I’d frown upon you holding one in captivity”—Aya began to play with the creature’s rounded cheeks and was met with a lack of amusement—"But you saved him. He might be the last of his kind, and I really appreciate that you’ve been taking care of him in this huge tank.”
“See, I’m not all bad,” Taylor responded, resting his head on his arms with a grin.
“Maybe not,” Aya responded as the creature began to nibble on her finger and chitter.
“And I know you probably just use him as a cute pet to woo girls,” she said with a sly, all-knowing voice.
“Damn,” Taylor said swishing his hand across the table with a she-got-me motion.
“It’ll take more than a cute pet to make me forgive you for what you did,” Aya said with one hand on her hip and the other cradling the critter. “Aquans don’t let go of wrongs easily. And I’m a proud Aquan.”
“Is that your mantra?” Taylor responded snidely. “Maybe I should adopt it after what sunflower did to me.”
Aya set the creature down. She frowned at Taylor. “I wish I could have more sympathy for you. It probably wasn’t right for Flora to expose you that way; but then again, you tried to pick her up and she didn’t want that.”
Taylor sighed. “I suppose you’re right there, Miss Aquan. I brought that one on myself.”
“I’m surprised,” Aya responded. “Is this a moment of clarity for you?”
Taylor closed his eyes and flung his hair back. “Girls, their charms are hard to resist for me. I mean can you blame me with how fine they look? See even Paul can’t get enough.”
Aya looked down and saw the Oceanita Monkey had latched onto her leg and was licking her tanned skin. “He’s probably just hungry,” she responded with a roll of her eyes. “And I’m hungry myself.”
She slipped on a bed cloak and headed outside to grab a large blue and white food cooler. It had been removed from the Blue Thunder and was full of soul fruits, the local delicacy from Aya and Flora’s planetoid. A hint of drool appeared on Aya’s lips and she brandished her fangs. She slid the cooler’s top off to reveal a host of blue and white tear shaped fruits, freshly preserved and growing from the hydroponic properties of the cooler. She held one in her hand and closed her eyes, preparing to savor the sweet juices pouring down her throat when she sunk her teeth in; but when she opened her eyes, she found the fruit missing from her hands. “Taylor?”
Taylor held up his hands. “Wasn’t me. I think Paul was curious about what you had. He is a monkey after all.”
Aya watched as Paul through squeaking and chittering bit into the food with his own fangs. He chewed it for a little bit, having never tasted a soul fruit before, but once he learned of its sweet and enriching qualities he let out a happy cry and buried his face into the fruit. Watching him get the blue and white seeds all over his face, Aya held her hands to her chest and let out a small sigh over the overwhelming cuteness. “I guess I can let him get away with it.”
Aya grabbed another fruit and Taylor gave a plea. “Hey how about you toss one my way?”
Aya reluctantly grabbed another one and hurled it at Taylor’s face with full force. It splattered onto his face. He frowned, his face dripping with blue juices, and Aya tried to stifle a few giggles. “I didn’t mean to do that”—Taylor placed his hands on his hips and scowled at her—“Seriously, I wouldn’t waste such delicious morsels like that.”
Aya burst into laughter. Taylor looked like an angry soul fruit crossed with an interpretive dancer with his face entirely blue and speckled with white seeds. Taylor tried to play it cool with his new face paint. “So, are we going to sit around all day playing with food?”
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Aya’s ears perked up. “Huh?”
“I don’t want to encourage jealousy but don’t you think sunflower is going to hog all the glory?”
Aya took a pause to ponder what Taylor had said. It was true that Flora had not only flown them there, but she was the one persuading Priscilla to help them. Aya’s smile changed to one of puzzlement. For a so-called hero, she sure wasn’t doing anything heroic.
“Maybe we can have a little fun? I can show you some of the local flavor,” Taylor said with a wave of his thick eyebrows.
“Whatever you say, fruit face. I’d be down to see this world up close.”
Eterna cut in. “Maybe you can also see where your people will work?”
“Yeah, where will the people of my planetoid work?” Aya asked.
Taylor spoke in an honest and thoughtful tone in response. “If you let me get cleaned up, I can show the working space for the average people. It’s down on the street of my penthouse.”
Aya picked up a pillow from the couch and hurled it at Taylor’s face. “My lace pillows,” he said as the blue from his face wiped off on the pillow.
The two dressed in warm clothes. Aya in the dark coat she wore yesterday and Taylor in his spacesuit—which had now become his standard attire, having not been allowed to change out of it except for bathroom breaks. They headed down the elevator after putting Paul back in his tank.
The bottom floor of Taylor’s penthouse was a café. It was rife with a thick strong smell of coffee and electrolyte beverages guaranteed to wake anyone up who poured them down their throats. There were small high-rise tables with tenants of the building perched on them, enjoying their breakfast and morning coffee. Some waved at Taylor who gave a sad smile realizing he’d no longer be neighbors with such upper-class company.
Exiting out onto the cold, windy streets, the sun beamed down on the glistening, freshly fallen snow. As the winter breeze blew cold against Aya’s nose, she could feel the mucus gather inside. Winters were short on her planetoid, but she loathed them immensely. A planetoid with an indefinite winter period was something she hated far worse. She knew it was her warm, tropical Aquan blood that bred these feelings of disdain, but she didn’t blame it. She chose to hate icy hell she was stuck in.
She gripped her staff with shaking hands, still carrying it because she was still unsure of this world. Male patrons dressed in white suits and women in icy blue business dresses, dark leggings and heels, paraded around, trying to spite the cold with their fashion and icy veneers. There were no animals or foliage to be seen in either direction, just gleaming steel towers and little food carts manned by men bundled up in heavy coats.
“I live in the business district, Miss Aquan.” Taylor said, holding his hand out. “Most people who work for Electra use these office buildings.”
Aya turned around and peered in the dark glass windows on the side of the street. She observed the ground floor of one of the office building and saw many people confined in a jungle of panels. Each panel separated a person at a desk. They typed on what looked like bigger versions of Taylor’s tablet. Each had a look of mundanity on their face.
“They look so bored,” Aya said.
“Welcome to work,” Taylor responded back.
Aya reminisced about the orchids of soul fruit trees back home and the fun she had guarding farmers from ravenous wolfhounds. She thought of the village children playing hide and seek with her. Her village’s idea of work had fun and excitement interlaced at every turn. She pictured the rowdy farm folks. She saw Allons with his straw hat and gap teeth, now confined to a business suit. She couldn’t help but smile at that image while feeling he’d be completely out of place.
“I doubt the villagers will like this that much,” Aya said at last.
“At least it’ll support them,” Taylor said.
“How does typing at a square in a bigger bunch of squares support them?”
“You are so naïve.” Taylor responded causing Aya to frown. “But nativity is an asset when you’re hot.”
“Ok enough with the flirting. How does it support them?”
“It gets them points on these little indicators we have,”—Taylor pointed to a little black device hanging off his suit—"Points are traded for living expenses and nice beautiful decadences-food, drinks and fun.”
“You pay for food and drinks?” Aya asked.
“I forgot you guys all just pool your resources together and hand it out to people. If you all get the same, where’s the fun in that?”
“What it takes to live is good enough for us. Well, except Mr. Du Bois with his mansion, but since his ancestors founded the village we give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Taylor put his arm around Aya and held his hand parallel to the sky. “Welcome to the world of luxury, Aya. When your friends are all typing at little screens, they’ll all be able to live like Du Bois.”
“Oh, that is kind of nice!” Aya said with sudden realization. “They also won’t have to worry about danger that comes from being around wolfhounds. The wolfhounds will be safer too.”
“Exactly,” Taylor said with a large grin. “Trust me, your redneck friends will be quite happy here.”
“Hey get back here!” A loud commanding voice screamed as a large hubbub clamored behind them.
Aya turned around to see two men, dressed in clothes much different from the business people dashing towards them. They wore dark grey heavy coats and beige square hats. One of them wore a pinstriped vest underneath his coat. He sported messy blond hair and bright blue eyes that shone with a determination as he ran. The other man had cropped and slicked dark hair, and a long scar on the side of his face. His eyes were darker and he looked about ten years older than the first man.
The older man slammed into Aya causing her to stumble and fall onto the snow. “Hey!” she screamed leaping to her feet with precision.
Aya was not a person to be crossed, and she chased after the men slipping and sliding. “Why’d you attack me?” she hollered at them.
“Nothing personal toots,” said the dark-haired man in a raspy voice. “You’re just taking up getaway space.”
Aya focused her soul energy into her staff. It was made entirely of wood from an Atma tree. The wood began to shimmer with a silver sheen. With a yell, Aya fired a glowing white beam into both of the men’s hearts.
Slowly, both of the men came to a stop. “Whoa, what did you do to me?” the dark-haired man said in a relaxed voice. “Suddenly, I feel light and airy. Not a care in the world and…”
Aya decked both of the men in the face, and they slid, spiraling across the ground. “A little bit subdued?”
Taylor ran up to her accompanied by men in Yellow Jacket uniforms. One of the Yellow Jackets smiled proudly and even though she couldn’t see his eyes underneath his shades, Aya could tell he was pleased with her. “What did you do to stop these men?” he asked.
“I just used the wood from my spirit wood staff to soothe their souls. It relaxes their bodies and allows them to feel bliss.”
The Yellow Jacket clapped. “That’s an amazing power. What we wouldn’t give for something that peacefully stops criminals.”
Aya placed her hands on her hips and gloated. “I live to ease conflicts between humans and animals, even when those animals are other humans.”
“Like I said,” the Yellow Jacket in his deep voice responded. “With your powers and your attitude, we’d certainly have less people trying to run point scams.”
The Yellow Jackets proceeded to place a metal bar between the arms of the subdued criminals. The bar emitted green electricity around their arms, creating a cuff made of electricity. The dark haired man with the scar pointed at Aya with a whining voice. “I don’t know why you’re after us, copper. It’s this dagger eared broad who has the stolen points on her indicator.”
The Yellow Jacket who had commended Aya walked over to her and found an indicator hooked into her dark coat. “Elven woman? I think you’ll have to come with us for questioning. You’re a suspect now.”
“Darko,” the blond-haired man intoned in a boyish voice. “I thought we were running a clean point scam and not involving anyone else.”
Darko gave a smirk even sleazier than Taylor. “Spark, my boy, there’s no such thing as a clean point scheme.”
Aya started to run, but the Yellow Jacket pulled a small dark weapon from his belt. A wire shot from it, attaching to Aya’s backside. He pressed a button and electricity coursed through it, causing Aya to flail violently and fall to the ground. She bit into her lower lip and blood soaked through it. She looked up in fear as the Yellow Jacket put electro cuffs around her arms.
Taylor stood off to the side staring at her. Aya looked at him, but he returned a cold glance. She realized he couldn’t care less about her. He was free to return to his life of decadence without Aya to keep him in check. But that was the least of her problems, now that she had been entangled in a not-so-clean point scam.