The girl was waving to the leaving gunboat from the cockpit of the Albedo.
Standing in the entry of the control room, Logan was looking at her, still somewhat surprised and even... shocked.
She finally turned around, smiling. "That was Brayie... He's so cute!" She said to him, giggling. "Errhhh..." She was still talking, rolling her eyes while grinning"... And he's so funny!"
He opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something.
But he closed it back in a blink. He then remained silent during a few and finally said. "You know a lot of criminals?" "Yeeeees?" She replied, smiling to him. "I love to dance annnnnd... I danced in many places. Met a lot of friends!"
He glanced at her and shook his head. "Bloody hell, girl. Are you stupid?" "Nooooo?" "Dancing like that and undressing into the bargain? Did you only think about what those men could have done to you? And do you even think that is correct to behave like that? Jeez...Someone should teach you good manners i tell you."
She was looking into his eyes, appearing to be rather sad. "Awww... You didn't like it?" Which caused him to look away, coughing. "Errrh... That's not the point." "You liked it then!"She said, beaming.
The girl then skipped, looking quite excited. "Where are we going anyway?!" He sighed, leaning his shoulder against the side of the door.
All That was exhausting him.
He finally replied "New Tokyo..."
+++++
The Albedo was entering in the Atmosphere...
The girl literally had her nose pressed against a window of the cockpit, her mouth making a 'O' in fascination. "It's so beautiful!" Logan mumbled something, busy following the instructions of the main spaceport's traffic control.
The ship finally landed on their assigned pad. Logan took his PDA and headed to the airlock, the girl on his heels.
She was endlessly and quite annoyingly asking "Where are we going where are we going where are we..."
He finally let out a growl and turned around, holding her by her wrist to make her focus. "You. Nowhere." "Awwww... But i want to try the food there!" "Food is..." "And i want to buy some clothes!" "Erhhhh.." "And i want to dance!" "..."
He shook his head and finally said. "Not on my watch. You're too young for this." "Lies! I dance very well!" "Errh..."He mumbled once again, reminding her last 'show', on his ship. Annoyingly, he couldn't quite deny that claim. "Listen... you will be a good girl. I have friends here... I will ask one to lend you a ship to allow you to go wherever you want to go. Also i have what those rogues left in my hold to sale. So yes. Be a good girl and stay here." That said, he ignored her yells, stepped out, and closed the airlock, using his personal key.
Logan breathed in... A satisfied grin appearing on his face.
He was quite in his element here...
Moreover... It gave him some holidays.. With that bloody brat inside his ship.
Logan wasn't planning to come back until he would see some friends, sell his cargo and most probably end up drunk in some traditional bar they had here.
What was that alcohol they were drinking here? Seekie? Something like that.
Ah yes... Some drinks couldn't hurt.
And a good cigar too.
He put his hand on his left pocket with satisfaction, taking his packet of cigarettes.
Smocking one became nearly impossible with that brat throwing water at him when she saw him doing so... and a lot of others vicissitudes.
But she wasn't there...
Putting a finger on the packet to grab a cigarette, something suddenly crashed his finger, making him shout in pain.
A few passer-by looked at this old man waving his hand to release his finger from the packet of cigarettes, raising an eyebrow in confusion or frowning, in view of that blatant lack of self-control.
There was what could be seen as an home made rat trap in the packet... And of course no cigarettes...
He cursed and looked around, trying to locate a tobacconist's...
Hogara waved at Logan to make him notice him.
He then ordered another bottle while the old man was finding his way in the crowded bar. "Well well well... Isn't that my favorite gaijin?" he said, greeting him "Here my friend. Take a sit... Have some Sake." Logan finally sat in front of Hogara, grinning. "Ah! Sake that was... Didn't quite remember the name of that awful alcohol you're drinking here..." "Hai... But i do remember you liked it.. Back in time"
Logan filled his cup and sipped some Sake, making a somewhat comical grimace. "Yeah well..." Hogara burst out laughing as he was looking at his friend's expression.
"Anyway... How are you, Stevens-san?" "Oh...Fine fine..." He started, putting back carelessly the cup on the table. "...Except i was boarded by a rogue ship, a fair part of my cargo was nibbled by an annoying little squirrel who found it funny to accompany me here... And yes.. My quarters now look like a bloody teenager room... The mess..."He finally made a pause, sullen, and took another generous sip of sake.
Hogara had raised an eyebrow during the tirade"A squirrel you say, Stevens-San?"
He was busy refilling his cup and grunted something. He finally sighed. "Yes. The kind of squirrel with breasts and a brain the size of a chickpea, see?"
Hogara couldn't hold a chuckle as he was looking at Logan. "You? You have a woman in your ship? Couldn't have guessed such a thing, misogynist as you are..." "Well yes... Not like i asked her to come"he mumbled while taking another sip of sake.
He then sighed again. "Something wrong, my friend?" "Hmm..."
Hagoro waited patiently, taking a tiny sip. Unlike Logan, he wasn't known to hold alcohol well.
The old man finally shook his head and said"The worst of it is she reminds me a bit of..." "Hai? Oh..." Hagoro nodded, noticing his painful grimace.
He looked away, a bit embarrassed.
Logan told him ages ago after a drinking session he had a daughter. What was her name already? Some libertonian name. "She is young then?" He chuckled, shaking his head"Hell yes... I don't even know how she ended up wandering in space..." "Parents?"asked Hagoro, before taking another tiny sip. "No clue... All i was able to know is her mother is a which and that she doesn't know who is her father." "Hmm... At least it's giving you some company, Stevens-san. Cannot be that bad."
Logan almost choked with indignation. "Hell! I'd rather be dead." Which made his friend chuckle, raising his hands as if he was meaning 'I give up'.
"That lass has no dignity! Ya know what she did?!" "ie ie... Tell me"replied Hagor, chuckling. "She... errh... Danced... For those rogues. Stripped actually. It made me cringe. Jeez..." "Uh..." "Yes.. Uh, as you say. And then she walks in my quarters, sleeps in my bed... Naked!"
Hagoro was trying to not laugh. "And where do you sleep?" "In the cockpit..."he mttered while refilling his cup. He then drank all the Sake in it a blink.
"That's why i wanted to see you actually... Listen..."
The two men were walking on the streets, slowly moving towards the main spaceport.
One of them was staggering while the other was supporting him, trying to help him to walk.
It wasn't truly a hit... And the passerbys were looking at best with curiosity at those two men.
The man holding his friend stopped and repressed a sigh. "You're sure you don't want me to call a cab, Stevens-san?" "Nah nah nah..."replied his friend, shaking his head frantically "We'almost there." "I hope so. I'm sorry to have to say that, but you are quite heavy, friend." "Yah yah yah... My bad. Just keep walkin'."
With difficulty and quite some panting, they finally reached the spaceport and Logan attempted to gather his thoughts to remember where exactly his vessel was parked...
Quite sure of him, he hobbled along towards an alley which regrettably wasn't the good one.
He started to explore the alleys one by one, railing against the vessels parked for not being the Albedo.
Hogara was following, trying to not smile, and at times apologizing to the people working there for his friend's behavior.
He suddenly stopped, noticing a crowd surrounding a vessel. "Ahem... Stevens-san..? Isn't that your ship?" His friend vaguely gazed at the people and started to shake his head"Nah... Can't... Wait... Actually it is." Frowning, he walked to the crowd. "Wha' tha hell are you all doing here? This is my ship."
They all started to talk at once. "Wow wow..."Shouted Logan... "One at a time."
"Someone ordered suchis and asked them to be delivered here..."
"I met a woman on the neural net and i proposed her to have some drinks. She said she would be.."
"A lady bought various clothes and said we should deliver them here."
"I'm the jeweller from 'Hanata ltd' and someone asked me to come here to show him or her our wedding rings."
Hogara and Logan exchanged a look. One of them was smiling, the other was frowning for good. "Out of here!" Finally shouted Logan, trying to reach the airlock of his ship to open it while the crowd was whining, shouting and complaining at the same time.
When he finally managed to open it, a girl jumped on him in her attempt to get out. "Finally!" "You..." started to say Logan, fulminating already.
He then eventually noticed she was 'almost' naked. Incidently, he noticed as well the crowd behind him suddenly became quiet. "Errrh"He mumbled, attempting to push the girl to make her come back into the ship. "Wait!"She said, giggling.
Skillfully threading her way between the door and him, she grabbed the suchi bag and the clothes, blew a kiss and headed back into the ship in a blink.
The men finally emerged...
"Wait.. Who will pay us then?"
"...And do you think we could have some drinks with her tonight then?"
"About the wedding rings..."
"What the hell were you thinking?!"was yelling Logan, ranting and raving about the girl who didn't seem to really listen to him.
She was currently busy devouring some suchis while checking the clothes all at once.
Hagoro was glancing at her, somewhat fascinated. She indeed seemed to be quite young. Young and cheerfull.
Logan snapped his fingers a couple of times in front of his eyes, frowning. "Ahem..." Started to say Hagoro, focusing on Logan while clearing his throat. "So... I assume that is your passenger, Stevens-San?" "Yeyeye... That's the annoying brat. Stop looking at her like that."
The girl raised her head and glanced at Hagoro and then at Logan. She smiled, her mouth almost filled with food. "I donft mindf." "Sheeesh... I already told you to not speak while eating." "Oooops Shorry!"
They finally managed to enter in the freighter... Logan had to pay quite a painful amount to make everyone go, and it just looked like he was close to explode.
However... Hagoro could see it was just a facade. Was it amusement he perceived in his eyes? Or relief? Hard to say...
Yet, he was still walking round and round, taking a pissed expression while blaming the girl for her stupidity.
She finally finished to eat and smiled cheerfully. "That was soooo tasty!"
Logan indistinctly groaned something and finally sat. "Okay listen lass... We have to talk." "Can i try those clothes while we do so?" "Erhhh... No." "Come on... Please!"
She didn't wait and, getting up, she started to slip on a skirt. She then turned around, grinning. "How do i look like?!" Hagoro and Logan stared at each other, and then back at the girl.
Hearing that, the girl giggled and started to dance a bit. She finally asked"What did you want to talk about anyway, honey?" "Honey..." Hagoro was glancing at Logan, trying to not chuckle.
"Shut up. Right.... My friend here, Hagoro Terazawa, agrees to take you back to Liberty..."He then whispered to himself "That way you won't be anymore under my feet..."
Hearing that she looked quite sad. "Buuut... I want to stay with you... Annnnd... Shosho honey told me i could find a new shippie in.. Hmm.. Ah yes! Okinawa!" "Shosho... Honey?" Asked Hagoro, an eyebrow raised in amusement while looking at Logan. "Yay! A boy i talked with while you were away!"She leaned forward to look into Logan's eyes and suddenly sniffed.
She grinned mischievously and asked : "Uhoh... You drank, didn't you?" "Errrh..."Logan took a somewhat comical 'not guilty' expression "Erm... Just a little." She laughed "Liar! He drank a lot, didn't he, Hagogo?!"
"Hagoro... Well hmm.."He tried to not chuckle once again and was about to reply but finally shut up when he noticed his friend's hard stare. "Sooooo..." The girl was now glancing innocently at Logan"Could we go to Okinawa?" "What? Hell No."
"Ohhhh please!" "Errrh... No i said no! Eh go away!"He shouted when she hugged him, begging : "Please please please!" "Okinawa is under blockade, madam"said Hagoro sententiously. "Rmmm? And that's bad?" "Quite. That means every vessel not allowed to go through gets shot." "Uhuhhh..." "However..."He gave a side look at Logan who was currently trying to get rid of the girl"I heard one could earn of lot of credits by doing so... Those miners are desesperately in need of supplies, you know, Stevens-san..."
He heard quite an epic yawn coming from behind and he turned around, already annoyed.
The girl was entering in the room, her hairs in a real mess. Obviously she just woke up, and was still struggling to emerge.
He mumbled something indistinctly, rebuffing her about what she was wearing... Or not wearing, actually.
Ignoring him, she headed slowly to a chair and sat without fuss, still yawning.
"Uhuhh... Where are we, love?" "We're almost arrived, lass." "Really?!"
She suddenly got up, looking quite excited, and started to try to look outside, sticking her head to the windows. "Uhoh... I can't see anything!" Logan allowed himself a quick sigh. "We're inside a bloody gas field. Now be a good girl and sit back. You're distracting me." "I do?"She asked, smiling softly.
+++++
One had to admit it was quite a mess in the docks.
Not really because of the activity caused by a potentially high number of vessels waiting their turn to dock or moor...
No... The activity level was actually quite low.
The last events that occurred were what was bothering them all.
They heard enough stories about GMG supply vessels mercilessly shots by Kusari Naval Forces enforcing the blockade ordered by that Emperor...
They had friends out there, trying to do their job and dying because of a power grab attempt maybe by a sprawling corporation.
That's why, on this late morning, Fujisawa traffic control welcomed with a reasonable amount of curiosity that Dromedary appearing from no where.
Greetings were exchanged and soon, the venerable GMG station snatched the Albedo.
It took a few to moor on the docks, and when the old freighter finally stopped, a small crowd was waiting already.
The airlock opened and Logan stepped out, soon followed by the girl.
He gave a circular glance at the docks and grinned inside, noticing the few supply vessels that could be seen here.
Logan was already counting in his head, extrapolating how much he could ask for that water and that traditional Kusarian food he filled his ship with.
The girl suddenly overtook him, skipping along. She started to greet and hug everyone. He gave her a disapproving look, for form's sake.
Masakazu Toki was somewhat confused.
Confused by this woman insisting on calling him 'Mazazuzu honey'.
Confused by her insistence on getting a ship despite him explaining her again and again they weren't quite in position to sell vessels to foreigners right now.
Confused even more by those provocative clothing she was wearing.
He gave a furtive glance at her again, and then at the man accompanying her.
That one didn't seem to enjoy the situation either.
He had quite some difficulty to make her introduce herself properly. All she said first was "I'm Concordia!". Was that even a name?
When she eventually said she was born in Baffin, he somewhat understood.
He heard some tales about some weirdos living there... Worshiping some kind of nonsensical deity.
Either way...
He shook his head and finally asked them to follow him. Maybe that was a good occasion to get rid of that useless thing taking space in hangar 23.
They finally faced what seemed to be a brand new T-493-B.
The girl opened her eyes wide, beaming. "Whooooooo... So shiny!" "Hai... She never really served" "Ohh? Why is that, love?" "Hmm.. It's the result of a project we worked on with the help of Kishiro technologies... The result of all that work was however unusable and unreliable, sadly." "Rmm?" meanwhile, the girl came closer to the vessel and started to caress the hull.
A voice apparently coming from nowhere started to talk angrily in Kusarian, making her yelp in surprise. She quickly beat a retreat and hid behind Logan. "Uhuhhh... What was that?!" "Hmm.."
Masakazu was chuckling silently, rather amused by that fuss. He however eventually sighed. "That is what i was talking about, miss. This vessel is a prototype. Inside its shell lives an autonomous intelligence. Hmm... Her name is Fune." "Fuuune?"Her head appeared on the top of Logan's shoulder. She glanced at the ship and then at Masakazu. "There is a fairy living inside?" "That's an AI, lass." "Eye...Iiii..." "C'mon... You do that on purpose?" "Noooo? She can hear me anyway?" "Hai... She can."
The girl left her shelter and walked slowly towards the ship. "Hellooo? Fuuune? I'm Concordia?"
Masakazu suddendly took his pad and mumbled "Oh for the love of..." He then headed to the exit, still staring at his datapad, and saying to Logan"Ahem... I have something important to take care off... My apologies... I will be back in no time. Hmm... Just stay here and... Whatever you do... Don't enter in that ship." Logan watched him leaving. He shrugged and mumbled "Sure whatever. More time to spend with that brat. Don't try to help me."
When he turned around he saw her entering in the Kaichou using its airlock...
It was dark inside and she banged her head into a vault as she was advancing.
moaning softly, she massaged her forehead. The girl suddenly jumped with fright when she heard a pop coming from behind.
The airlock closed itself. She tilted her head, starting to be a bit worried.
Didn't that boy say there were ghost inside the ship?
She was tempted to run. But where? And she didn't see much around her.
With difficulty, she advanced, whispering "Fuuune? You're there, honey?"
The confined space inside the hold was silent. She finally made it to the cockpit and smiled, caressing the back of the seat. "It's nice here!" She then leaned forward too peek at the cockpit instruments. "Uhuhhhh... Looks so different from the Unicorn honey... I wonder how it works..."
Busy touching everything, she didn't notice that a screen switched on behind her. An idealized kusarian woman was glancing at her with a rather annoyed expression.
She finally allowed herself what could be interpreted as a sigh that made the girl jump.
Her voice then echoed in the cockpit : <Stop it>
Turning around, the girl finally noticed the screen and smiled cheerfully"Ohhhh? You're Fune?! Woa..."She came closer to the screen and giggled "You are so cute!" The kusarian woman was pouting, staring at the girl unkindly. She asked <Why did you enter in me?>
The girl thought for a while, putting a finger to her lips"Uhoh... Oh! You mean in the shippie? I wanted to meet you?" She then took a pause, and asked timidly "You aren't a ghost, right?"
An awkward silence followed. Taking that as a no, the girl moved back to the instruments and sat carelessly on the armchair. "Fuuune honey? You tell me a story?" <ie> "Hmm? What does that mean?" <It means no> "Awww... Why not?! I love stories!"She put her feet on the instruments console, making the kusarian woman frown. <Sit correctly> "Buuut... It's more confortable..."She wriggled, trying to look at the screen from her position.
A silence followed and she finally turned around, lying on her knees."Fuuune? You're still there, love?"
The kusarian woman shook her head<I have only one story. I don't trust you enough to tell it> "Ohhh? But i'm a nice girl!" The woman shrugged, mumbling something undistinctly in Kusarian.
The smiled cheerfully. "I tell you my story then?!" The woman rolled her eyes, as if she was thinking 'Whatever'. "Okay!"Said the girl, smiling.
She started by talking about her life in Baffin, before she decided to run away...
The 'scary thingy dingies' she was asked to do, the boring and endless lessons about Chao magick, Esoterik and what seemed to be various spiritual disciplines.
She checked carelessly neural-net about some of them while listening to the girl.
Just beliefs meat-bags like that one were fond of to give a meaning to their pathetically illogical lives.
The girl had quite a naive way to see things that made her think she was somewhat retarded.
She then talked about how she decided to leave Baffin because her mother was a witch. She mentioned a 'unicorn'.
Fune wasn't exactly listening. She however conveniently made her avatar nod at some key points of that flow of words.
The girl then came to the part about her 'wandering'.
Dancing in many places and meeting a lot of friends... Was there some kind of button she could push to make her stop talking?
Anyhow.. She noted two points mildly interesting.
The girl liked to visit places, and she didn't like to hurt people.
Fune could somehow relate.
She never left Okinawa. They didn't let her, and after they became displeased by her refusal to follow the last pilot orders to destroy others vessels, the only thing she 'saw' was the walls of that hangar.
The girl finished by telling how 'the unicorn' died, killed by a 'Felicia honey', and how she ended here, helped by a sweetheart named Logie.
She then insisted her to tell the story and Fune almost gave up.
Reluctantly, she told her a succinct version the girl didn't seem to fully understand... Obviously.
She remained silent for a while, tilting her head. "Soooo... They keep you here because you were a baaad girl? But you were not a bad girl if you refused to kill sweethearts, right?"She said, pouting.
The avatar nodded in agreement. "Awww... Must be boooring... And you talk to people often?" <ie> The girl laughed "That's why you're all grumpy?!" Some mumbling in Kusarian could be heard.
She giggled hearing that and then thought a fair bit. "I think i like you! We could be friends!"
Fune remained prudently silent. She finally said<What would you ask me to do?> The girl smiled mischievously, putting a finger on her lips"Well rmmm... First you would have to do the dishes... Everyday! Annnd... <ie>answered Fune. "... help me do shopping annnd.... Find me a nice boy annnnd... Oh! You could work a bit on my belly? I think i'm a bit fat.."she said pouting while massaging her stomach. <impossible> "Why? Aren't you a fairy?"
Fune took some time to think about what she was supposed to answer to that...