Green = GOOD!

/Exceptional Writing
Yellow = unsure of keeping language
Orange = Likely changing/eliminating
Red = Will change/eliminate
Purple = LEWD/ think about

Lol is someone actually reading this?

A Ray of Flavour

A frigid blue light pierced through space as a lone cargo shuttle skidded out of the Echo.
Inside two uncommon individuals, one at home everywhere, the other having no home, resided
in a joint venture born of different aspirations.

In a dimly lit cramped compartment in the rear of the frigate, a tense young woman
worked on her craft, her lean frame hunched over an out of place metal work-desk. Small wisps
of pearly white smoke glided upwards from her worktool as she cursed to herself in her native
tongue, Lumen, she was behind schedule. She paused and glanced at a nearby silvery metallic
canister and frowned, she would need more Prif soon she thought. She was trying to stretch
what she had now, but doing so takes more time and precision. Precision was something she had
aplenty, but time on the other hand was yet another resource in short supply.

She pushed the matter of her dwindling Prif supply out of her thoughts and focused back
on her work, hardlight produce doesn’t make itself after all. It was only a matter of time before
they reached their destination, she noted, they had just left the Echo and the familiar hum and
pulse of their Echo Engine had ceased replaced by the low roar of the sub-light engines.
Fortunately she only had two echoes of her past this jump, but that brought her little comfort as
the Meriochras jerked upon entry into atmosphere. She would need more time, and she knew
just the man to get her some she noted as she stood up and put her worktools down.

The door slid open slowly as she exited her work compartment, she really needed to look
into that she thought, as she began to stride down the corridor, weakly bathed in a golden light.
Something about the transition from space to atmosphere seemed to make the doors move
slower, she mused. Probably something with the power supply when the sub-light engines
adapted to atmospheric conditions, she sighed as she added looking at the power supply to her
already extensive mental to do list.

As she strode down the corridor towards the bridge Adebayo ruminated on how she
would finish the order in time. She would likely need about 12 hours to complete the order,
taking into consideration small breaks she would need. She checked the time on her holowatch,
16:47 pm in local Vakk time, she could finish the order by morning if she pulled an all-nighter.
However, first she required some help in dealing with the customer until then.

The door in front of her began to slide open slowly, she sighed in resignation and grabbed
the handle to slide the door open manually. She winced and squinted momentarily, as she
entered the bridge, her eyes adjusting to the brightly lit interior. “Oww, too bright. It’s like
staring straight at a star in here.” she snapped. Theron didn’t bother to look back at her as he
raised his arm and made a swift hand gesture to silence her.

Adebayo grumbled to herself as she swiftly strode over to the Engineering Console and
sat down, and taking a quick glance over at Theron, in the pilot seat, whom was having a rather
amicable conversation with the aerospace traffic controller over the comms. She zoned out
Theron’s jabbering and brought up the power supply systematics on the console in front of her.
She stared intently at the screen and paused as she analysed the power flow, the reactor was
doing fine, and the engines were operating at their normal rate in atmosphere of this condition.
She tapped on the console screen and brought up the power flow for the doors, furrowing her
brow in concentration as she muttered Lumen obscenities in frustration. Clearly, something was
diverting power away from the doors, but she had not an inkling as to why.

"How are the Prif supplies holding up?" Theron queried. Adebayo looked up in surprise,
she hadn’t noticed that Theron had finished.
She frowned and answered, "At this rate we'll be out in two months time."
"And the Raysins?" He asked.
"I've completed one hundred and ninety seven."
"So not too many left?" He mused.
"A hundred and three more!" She turned away from him, huffing.
Theron smiled and began to chuckle.
“I’m glad you find this amusing Theron, but our order isn’t complete and our customer
isn’t going to pleased if they find that their expensive hardlight fruit isn’t ready for their lavish
birthday gala.” She scoffed.
“Indeed, and who is responsible for producing this expensive hardlight fruit you are so
distraught over?” Theron quipped.
Adebayo huffed once more, and swiveled her chair to face Theron again. “This is our
largest order to date, and it was made and accepted on short notice. It was you who so strongly
recommended we accept this order after all” glaring at him. “Besides, producing Raysins is
very arduous, they are very small, and it hurts my hands and wrists. It would almost be easier if
that brat ordered 300 Sunfruit instead, at least my hands wouldn’t hurt so bad.” She sighed.
“Alright, I get it, this is serious. You know there is nothing I dislike more than a
dissatisfied customer. I assume you have a plan already? You wouldn’t have left your work
compartment otherwise.” He noted, suddenly getting serious.
 Adebayo sighed once more, “Well... the customer can’t be dissatisfied if he doesn’t know
that anything dissatisfactory has happened. I’ll just need you to distract the customer until
tomorrow morning. Once I finish this order I’ll deliver it straight to the Palace, as long as it’s
there by morning everything should be fine. We’ll likely need to use some of our credits to bribe
some of the palace staff and guards. You will probably have to give them a payment upfront to
keep them quiet about the late delivery until I can deliver the Raysins and then I will give them a
final payment for the trouble we caused.”
Theron shrugged, “Alright, sounds good to me. I was going to be bored this entire job
anyways, deliveries are always boring. All I do is pilot, I never get to talk to anyone because
they already ordered on the Uniweb. Besides, this will give me a chance to practice my
roleplay.”
“Don’t do anything too weird, last time you did roleplay you left that poor guy waiting at
that hotel on Cygnus Prime.” She reminded.
“Oh yeah, poor bloke. He was a cute guy, a shame we had to leave so soon, but we did
have another order to deliver. Oh well, I’m sure he’s over it by now...” Theron mused.
Adebayo rolled her eyes, “Whatever, as long as you distract the customer I don’t care
what you do so long as he’s still able to go to his own party tomorrow.”
“Well, we’ll see in the morning.” Theron chortled slyly.

Adebayo yawned and closed the power systematics info on the engineering console. She
swirled her chair around and sat up, stretching out her arms and yawning once more before
walking over to the pilot’s seat, where Theron remained seated.

“Look, you can see the harbour now.” Theron observed with a smile as Adebayo peered
outside the cockpit window. They had been in atmosphere for a few minutes now, and Adebayo
had only now actually bothered to look outside the shuttle and view the planet. Before her stood
the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Vakk, “Paradi”. Tall shining skyscrapers and buildings
stood densely clustered around it’s famed azure bay, one of the finest natural harbours in the
Galaxy. As they flew closer she could begin to make out the beach along the bay, with its
renowned soft pearl white sands and warm waters. Adebayo, could make out a massive throng
of people on its shores, more than she had ever seen on a beach before.

“There must be a festival or something on the beach today, I’ve never seen that many
people just on a beach before.” Adebayo noted curiously.
“Perhaps there is, the aerospace traffic controller did say we would have really good seats
to the ‘show’ after we landed.” Theron recalled. “There does seem to be a stage or something in
the middle of the shore. Look, even the Palace is crowded.” He added.
 In the centre of the city, right along the shore of the bay, stood the iconic Palace of Paradi
elevated by an artificially created hill. It stood out both as a powerful symbol of the nobility and
as a architectural anomaly among the heavily developed and commercialised skyline of Paradi.
It’s marble construction contrasting heavily with the glass, steel, and bright lights of downtown
Paradi. The Palace was surrounded by gardens, marble statues, and fountains, and indeed the
Palace grounds were also filled to the brim with people.

“Oh well, I guess we will figure it out when we land. The spaceport is right on the
western shore of the bay so I guess we will be getting front row seats to whatever spectacle they
have in store this evening.” Theron noted as the Meriochras began its descent towards the
spaceport.

Adebayo nodded slightly, and returned to her seat by the Engineering Console. She took
note of the ships fuel levels and did began researching nearby agricultural regions of Vakk,
surely a Tropical planet such as Vakk would have rare and exotic produce they could stock up on
before leaving. She could hear the humming of the landing gear deploying as the Meriochras
slowed to a near stop. They hovered for a few moments before the ship gently descended onto
the landing pad, the ship landing gears thudded against the steel landing pad and the ship jerked
momentarily as it tilted slightly to the left.

Adebayo grunted, “Oof, we really need to fix the left landing gear too.”
Theron waved at her dismissively as he raised himself from the pilot’s seat, “Nah, it’s
fine. We’ve had worse for longer and we’re still fine.”
She rolled her eyes, “That doesn’t make me feel any better about having a broken landing
gear.”
“You can waste your time worrying about every little thing that goes wrong, but that’s
not how I want to live my life. Regardless, I’m going to get changed for my night out at the
Palace, it seems.” Theron smiled as he strode past her towards the door. As he neared the door
it began to slide open slowly, Theron waited impatiently for a few seconds before he grabbed the
door handle and slammed it open himself. He gave a quick glance back to Adebayo, “Maybe,
we could look into these doors though.” He conceded before exiting, the door gradually sliding
shut behind him.

Adebayo smirked to herself as he left.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theron stepped into his room, turning the lights on the brightest setting, as the door
behind him gently slid shut. He sighed as he carefully stepped over piles of clothing laying
sporadically around his small chamber. His bed laid in a corner, it’s sheets and pillows thrown
about on it, and a body-length mirror hung on a wall beside the door to a small closet.
Approaching the closet door, he stepped over one final pile of clothes before appearing in front
of the mirror. He stared intently into the mirror analysing his appearance while humming to
himself in thought as he began stripping off his clothing off.

His current body was as close as it came to being his “normal” form. A tall human male
form with rich brown eyes, dark hair, pale skin, with slightly defined muscles, and a lean frame.
He stared down at his crotch, smooth and featureless, he didn’t usually bother with forming
genitalia for his day to day working forms, but he would probably need to form some for this
upcoming task.

Theron, sighed to himself, humanoid genitalia is such a pain to form. Well, he would
probably require a female humanoid form for this task, perhaps he could try out his Isabela
personna. ‘Yes, that would do’, he thought. He took a deep breath as a warmth spread through
his body. His body began to gradually shift form until he was no longer recognisable taking
altogether five minutes to complete.

The familiar warmth of shapeshifting gradually dissipated from her body as she took a
final deep breath before studying her new form in the mirror. Her hair was a bit longer than she
had anticipated, but it would do she thought as she twisted and turned in front of the mirror. Her
frame was just the right size, lean but not stick thin like those ancient human models of the early
21st Century. Her skin had darkened to a warm tawny brown, and her eyes had faded to a smoky
grey. She squished her newly formed breasts together and then jiggled them momentarily,
humming in deep thought as she did so. Her breasts were the normal size she used with her
Isabela persona however she was also going to have to distract a member of the royalty of this
world after all so it may be necessary to necessary to bring out the “big guns” so to speak.
Humanoids do seem to love oversized mammary glands, and while they were indeed fun to play
oftentimes she had no idea how so many humanoids nearly worshipped these mounds of fat and
flesh hanging off her chest now.

She glanced over at her desk and checked the holo-clock sitting atop it and grimaced.
She need to go soon, but she should just have just enough time to change once more before then
if she rushed it. She took yet another deep breath and prepared herself as the familiar warmth
spread through her chest. The warmth gradually built up into a painful searing sensation as she
accelerated her shapeshifting, her breasts growing a full two cup sizes in a little over a minute.
She unclenched her jaw as she finished letting out a breath of air in relief. Yes, this would do
better she thought as she walked over to her closet.

She manually opened her slowly sliding closet door, and began browsing through her
plethora of different clothing. As she skimmed through her dresses, searching for anything
palace-worthy, her eyes fixed on a crimson A-line dress with a thigh-high leg slit. “Yes, this will
do as well”, she muttered to herself as she grabbed the dress and her undergarments and quickly
began to dress herself.

Her door buzzed as she was near half-way done dressing herself. Adebayo’s voice
crackled through the ancient intercom, “Are you ready yet?”, she snapped impatiently.
“Give me a few minutes, I’m about half done getting dressed.”, Isabela shouted back.
“Well, I can hear you’ve changed already, you’re going with Isabela?” Adebayo asked.
“Yes, now leave me alone, I’m getting dressed! Just give me a few minutes, damn it!”
She yelled.
“Fine, just hurry up!” Adebayo yelled back.
Isabela smirked as she continued getting dressed.

Isabela rushed to finish putting her dress on, as Adebayo waited impatiently outside.
Taking one final twirl in front of the mirror she walked hurriedly towards her door, while sliding
her gold stilettos on, and forcefully slid the door open manually finding Adebayo leaning against
the hallway wall in front of her.
“Finally done?” Adebayo quipped before pausing momentarily her eyes quickly glancing
over Isabela. “What are those?” Adebayo asked quizzically.
“What are what?”, Isabela replied puzzledly,”
“Those massive jugs hanging from your chest! I mean Isabela, we could sell those
melons for profit here and be on our way. You look absurd.”
Isabela chuckled, “Is that Lumen for I’m jealous of your boobs?”
Adebayo’s face grew flushed as she stuttered, “N-No, it’s just…”. Adebayo’s radiance
briefly appeared beside her, a small nebulous ball of light quickly shifting from it’s usual serene
deep blue to an agitated red before fading as she recompsed herself, “Whatever, just come on!
We’ve waited long enough.” She snapped back. She turned from Isabela as she began briskly
walking towards the rear hatch exit, clearly still irritated.

Isabela waltzed over to the rear hatch exit, savouring her victory in flustering Adebayo,
her stilettos clacking loudly against the titanium alloy floor. The rear hatch door hung open
against the landing pad, light from Vakk’s sun illuminated the later section of the hallway as
Isabela began to, carefully, descend the rear hatch and onto the landing pad. Stepping outside
the Meriochras, she found herself blinded by the rays of Vakk’s sun, “Liv”, bathing the planet in
it’s warm embrace that gifted Vakk it’s famous tropical climate.

The sound of sea birds and the ocean could be heard in the background as she stepped on
the landing pad, the spaceport being situated on a peninsula with ocean on 3 sides of it on the
outskirts of Paradi. Surely, if paradise existed, it was situated along the soft and warm coastlines
of Vakk, thought Isabela. It was no wonder why so many of the Galaxy’s wealthiest and famous
individuals found themselves drawn to it’s treasured shores and gentle waves. Well that, and it’s
equally famous low taxes and lack of labour regulations excluding, of course, environmental
regulations. Have to protect those money-making beaches, pristine seas, and Vakk’s nearly
perfect tropical climate after all.

Isabela took a deep breath, taking in the balmy salty air of the shore. Glancing around at
the crowded spaceport before her, inhabitants of every corner of the Galaxy shuffling past each
other, carrying goods from near and afar to and from the markets of Vakk. Isabela could make
out two merchants across from the Meriochras’s landing pad seemingly arguing over some
matter. The larger of the two threw its appendages in the air as if in frustration and retreated
within their ship, while the smaller of the two wandered off likely in an attempt to stay away
from their enraged partner until they calmed down.

Turning to her right she found Adebayo staring in the distance towards Paradi’s Bay,
where the massive crowd they had seen early had swollen even larger. Adebayo closed her eyes
momentarily as she took a deep breath of the warm salty air, before opening them as she let out a
drawn-out sigh. The warm and gentle rays of Liv illuminated Adebayo’s face, shining against
her warm sienna skin and wavy dark hair, revealing a smilet on her face. Her bright red eyes
were shining. She looked the happiest Isabela had seen her since they embarked on this delivery.

“You seem content”, Isabela noted.

“As content as I can be with another hundred and three raysins I still need to make.”,
Adebayo replied.
“Well, shouldn’t you be getting started then?”, Isabela pointed out.
“I probably should, but even I need a break every now and then, and besides I want to
figure out what that huge crowd is there for.” She responded. “Look, there are some people
gathered over near the edge over there that probably know what it is.” She observed.

Indeed there were quite a few people gathered around the edge of the spaceport facing the
bay. Most likely some merchants or traders waiting for whatever it is the crowd was waiting for
as well. Adebayo began walking towards the group without waiting for a reply from Isabela, who
let out an exaggerated sigh before relenting and following her.
As they approached the group, wading through the congested spaceport, the sound of a
woman’s voice, far off in the distance, could be heard over the lively ambience of the port. The
woman’s voice grew louder as they neared the edge of the port, Isabela was just able to make out
the words as they reached the group waiting on the edge of the port. “ - our destiny is not to stay
silent in the face of these transgressions against the people of Tros. Our planet and people may
be small in comparison to the boundless universe before us but our resolve, our values, our spirit
and will are limitless. Our planet is rich in not only beauty and wealth, but in drive, compassion,
and grit, and we will not surrender our hard earned peace and prosperity to religious extremists
hiding under the guise of justice and righteousness.”

Isabela pushed her way through the group, which had grown to a small crowd, and
reached the edge of the port where Adebayo now stood watching the beach. The platform they
had previous seen now was lit up with massive holo-screens above it in every direction
projecting the woman speaking on it. Isabela placed her hands on the warm metal railing in front
of her, and glanced over at Adebayo, her jaw wound tightly together and her brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?”, Isabela asked concernedly.

Adebayo eyes widened in surprise as she turned her head to find Isabela beside her, “Oh,
it’s nothing. Just… Well, I knew Vakk was at war before I came here, but I didn’t expect all…
this. The war is far from here and they’re winning, so I just didn’t think it would be like this…”
She trailed off, as the speaker on the platform continued.

[Probs need to add an indicator here]“My fellow nationals, together we can overcome the
evil before us, together we can show the entire galaxy the strength and resolve of the Vakkish
People. We will never allow those who use children as combatants in their wars of aggression to
continue unabated. We will never allow those who treat men and religious minorities as second-
class citizens to export their ideology of oppression abroad. And we will never allow those who
betray the time-tested traditions of our galaxy, replacing Queen and Country with Despots and
Theocracy. No, we will never allow these vile beliefs to spread through the healthy and
prosperous arteries of our Galaxy, infecting and destroying all that we have struggled for.”

“She’s really going isn’t she?” Isabela noted dryly.

Adebayo didn’t respond her gaze fixated on that luminous platform and it’s charismatic
speaker, now shouting at a fevered pitch.

The speaker continued shouting as a turquoise beam of energy shot forth from the middle
of the bay before them, reaching nearly 200 meters into the air as it gradually expanded outwards
parting the waters of the bay with it, creating a hollow circle in the middle of the bay, “And to
those ends I am honoured and humbled, as the Duchess of our great planet, to reveal the
culmination of Vakkish ingenuity and determination.” The beam, now clearly a shield, stopped
suddenly as a loud mechanical groaning could be heard emanating from the bottom of the bay
inside the void created by the newly appeared energy shield. The familiar roaring drone of
sublight engines began to permeate the bay, echoing off the skyscrapers and surrounding hills of
Paradi.

The Duchess’s voice reached a climax as the low roar of sublight engines intensified, “I
present to you, the people of Vakk along with the watchful eyes of the Universe, the Royal
Vakkish Navy’s newest addition, our most advanced and powerful ship yet constructed by the
people of Vakk. A ship to rival those of the galaxy’s superpowers, and that will crush the
shattered remains of religious extremism among the people of Tros. A ship that will protect the
great people of Vakk, and serve as the vanguard of our shared values. I present, the first
dreadnought class starship created solely by Vakkish shipyards, the RVS ‘Hand of the Void’!”

The low roar erupted out of the energy shield as a horizontal tower of metal raised out of
the hollow circle in the bay. The wind picked up as the ship’s titanic engines hauled the massive
dreadnought upwards, it’s hull shining in the early evening light. Countless turrets ran along the
hull turning periodically to scan the the horizon, as if always on guard, expecting a threat where
none laid. The dreadnought began moving forward towards the city proper, passing over the
crowded beaches, and eventually halting over the middle of the city, hovering over it as if to
protect it from the immeasurable horrors and dangers that laid in the stars above.

The massive crowds along the beach cheered wildly as the dreadnought lifted itself above
the city. Once the ship halted over the city the a murmur began in the crowd slowly growing
until the the hundreds of thousands gathered around the bay became one chorus passionately
breaking into the Vakkish national anthem as an extravagant fireworks display began over the
city, illuminating portions of the hull of the mighty dreadnought in pink, green, blue, and red.

Isabela stood in awe at the powerful demonstration of Vakkish strength and unity before
her, however mindful of the job she had to complete she reluctantly tore her gaze away from the
extravagant display in front of her and turned to face Adebayo, whose face had grown
frighteningly pale since she had last seen her. Adebayo stood weakly beside the railing she now
gripped firmly, staring blankly at the dreadnought now hovering protectively over Paradi.

“You don’t look so well, hun.” Isabela remarked with concern.

Adebayo didn’t respond.
“Hey, Adebayo are you feeling alright?” Isabela now asked urgently, laying one of her
hands on Adebayo’s shoulder and shaking slightly.
“Hmmmm?” Adebayo’s face, still disturbingly pale, turned slowly towards Isabela as her
gaze came into focus. “Oh, what it is Isabela?”
“Are you alright? You seem really zoned out and you’re looking freakishly pale right
now. You’re not normally like this.” Isabela replied.
Adebayo’s face gradually grew less pale as she regained her composure, “Yes, I told you
already I’m fine.” Adebayo retorted in irritation.
“Are you sure?” Isabela asked cautiously.
“Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking about all the work I still need to, which speaking of I
should get started on. I’ll see you tomorrow after I’m done.” Adebayo, replied in irritation, as
she turned back towards the Meriochras and began nudging her way through the crowd in haste.
 “Well, clearly something is wrong”, Isabela murmured to herself, after Adebayo had
disappeared into the crowd. She sighed as she raised her wrist to use her holowatch, bringing up
Google Maps and searching for “Paradi Palace”. Her holowatch projected a map of her
surrounding area and a red route appeared on her map to guide her to the palace. Skimming over
her route her eyes widened in interest, “Oh, a Human restaurant, specialising in Martian and New
Earth Cuisine, hmmmm… Well, I should have time to get a little something to eat on the way.”
She muttered to herself as she nudged her way out of the crowd surrounding her and began her
way towards the city proper.

As Isabela left the spaceport, the loud mechanical groaning from within the hollow circle
in the bay began again for about a minute, before a loud thud was heard throughout the city. The
energy shield holding back the water in the bay began to slowly shrink shortly afterwards before
narrowing back into a beam and slowly fading away. A small ripple across the bay forming as
the beam disappeared, the bay appearing as if nothing had happened.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The toilet flushed itself automatically as Adebayo wiped the tears from her face. She
raised herself from the cold bathroom floor unsteadily as she teetered over to the sink taking a
deep breath to calm herself as she reached it. Turning on the faucet she cupped her hands
beneath it to catch the lukewarm water before raising them to her mouth and rinsing the lingering
taste of vomit from her mouth.

After rinsing a few more times, she stood straight up and glanced at herself in the mirror,
before closing her eyes and taking a few more deep breaths. Finally regaining her composure,
she took one last look in the mirror adjusting her hair slightly before leaving the bathroom and
entering her dimly lit room. A few sparse belongings were placed neatly throughout the room,
with a holo-tablet laid on top of a small desk set against a wall. Adebayo quickly grabbed the
holo-tablet off her desk and continued into the hallway outside her room, and took a right down
the corridor to the rear of the ship where her small work compartment laid.

Entering her work compartment, Adebayo frowned in displeasure at the mess she had left
from last time she had worked. Her work-tools were scattered about her work-desk and
throughout the room, she sighed and gathered her tools briefly organising them before sitting
down to get to work once more. Only one hundred and three more she thought to herself. She
checked on her sugar in the small melting pot beside her desk, finding it at the right temperature
she reached over to the other side of her desk and grabbed her small metallic container of Prif.
Opening the container she carefully sprinkled a portion of the Prif into the melted sugar, making
sure not to waste any of her precious Prif.
 After sprinkling just enough Prif into the melting pot she closed her container of Prif and
set it back on the other side of her disk before grabbing whisk to stir the Prif into the melted
sugar. The sugar thickened as the Prif was stirred into it, and became slightly clouded. Once the
Prif had been stirred well into the melted sugar, Adebayo made whisked out a small glob of the
sugar-prif mix from the pot and set in the centre of her work-desk and set down her whisk. She
waited a few seconds to let it cool before rolling it into a ball and grabbing and activatating her
Prif manipulator afterwards, small sparks appeared at the end of the tool as it activated. Holding
the ball of sugar-prif steady, with her gloved hand, against the work-desk and set the point of her Commented [1]: May need to go back and add
reference to gloves
Prif manipulator against the small ball. The Prif reacted almost instantaneously as it began to
glow and travel through sugar mix congregating near the point of the Prif manipulator. Moving
her hand swiftly she began running the point straight lines across the surface of the ball as the
nearby Prif in the ball reacted creating white lines on and below the surface. The ball became
mostly transparent as the Prif separated into distinguishable glowing white lines throughout it.

After roughly five minutes had passed she began finishing her work on this hardlight
seed. The white glowing lines had now become a deep violet colour as the Prif circuits
throughout the hardlight seed neared completion. As she completed the last line in the circuit the
entire hardlight seed brightly glowed that same deep violet colour, before she turned off her Prif
manipulator causing the Prif inside the hardlight-seed to fade back to a dull white. The seed now
complete, she sat it carefully inside a nearby suitcase, specially made for hardlight-seeds.

Setting down her Prif manipulator, “Well, only one hundred and two left to go”, she
yawned as she stretched briefly before concentrating once more on her work repeating the same
process throughout the rest of the night.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isabela thanked her Uber driver as she stepped outside his aeroflyer parked in front of the
Martian and New Earth cuisine restaurant she had seen on Google Maps. A neon sign outside
the restaurant saying, “Martian Sun” glowed brightly, as she walked towards the entrance, her
heels clacking against the pavement.

An outdoor patio in front of the restaurant buzzed with a quiet but lively ambience,
incandescent Edison lights dimly illuminated the patio with a fireplace crackling calmly to the
right of the patio. The patrons were an eclectic mix, in various garbs and attire, none of which
seemed very economical. Most of them seemed to be human, with a scattering of non-humans in
the mix, though various languages could be heard among them as she walked through the patio
and entered inside.
 A young Kitsune stood behind a counter taking orders from the Martian Sun’s patrons,
and the menu was written on a black board with some sort of white powder substance that
reminded Isabela of the powdered Prif that she used for the hardlight seeds. But surely they
would not use such a lucratively expensive material such as Prif for something as superficial as
writing a restaurants menu, she thought. She would have to ask this young Kitsune worker about
it, Isabela decided as she stepped in line trying not to look out of place in her bright crimson
dress. However, none of the patrons seemed to pay her any particular mind, most of them being
in similarly unusual attire for a seemingly casual restaurant.

Looking over the menu intently, Isabela found herself at a lost at what to get. She had
never heard of any of these foods before. She had tried human food before, but none of the items
on the menu looked like anything she had seen before. Why did humans have to be so
complicated with their food, Isabela lamented to herself. Checking her holo-watch, 18:32 local
Vakk time, it was getting late and she needed to get to the palace before it was too late. Their
delivery was initially supposed to arrive at the palace at around 19:30 local Vakk time, and if she
arrived at around the same time she could enter the palace as the vendor and proceed from
there… If only this line would move faster, she thought.

As she waited in line, Isabela began to check her holo-watch impulsively as she grew
anxious over the time. Peering past the man ordering in front of her, she spotted the Kitsune
worker momentarily lose focus on the patron ordering as her eyes darted past the line towards the
entrance. Her eyes widened in shock, before she nodded slightly and concentrated back on the
man ordering in front of her, apparently oblivious to the Kitsune’s temporary lapse in attention.

Isabela swiveled her head towards the entrance to see a small group of three individuals
having entered the establishment. Two young men stood chatting casually with each other: one
short with blond hair, an average build, and dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans; the other of
average height also with blond hair, a slim build, and dressed in an officer’s uniform with a pair
of sunglasses covering his eyes. A woman woman with dark hair and of average build and
height stood next to them, also in an officer’s uniform, as she scanned the room awkwardly
making eye contact with Isabela for a split second before flashing a quick smile and moving on.

Isabela froze momentarily, caught off guard by the woman making eye contact with her,
and missed the man in front of her finishing his order. The young Kitsune worker called out,
“I’ll take whoever is next, please.” causing Isabela to jump a little in surprise.
“Oh, sorry” Isabela managed to blurt out as she walked up to the counter.
“It’s alright. Are you ready to order?” the Kitsune asked.
“Ummmmm… Maybe I’ll take…” she vacilliated, as the Kitsune put on a brave smile
despite clearly dying inside a little. Isabela paused as she peered at the menu again, so many
options and they all seem like they would be good despite having no idea what any of it was.
 “You should try the Olympus Mons Empanadas, it’s what I always get.” a man said
behind her.
Isabela turned to find blonde officer, and his two companions, behind her, “Oh.” Isabela
turned back to the poor Kitsune worker, “Yes, I will take one of those.” she decided.
The Kitsune, looking relieved, inputted her order quickly, “Alright, that will be 15.5
kredits.”
Isabela froze, “Ummm… Do you take regular credits?”, she asked embarrassedly while
patting her pockets.
The Kitsune bowed her head slightly and sighed in resignation, “No ma’am, we only take
Vakkish kredits here.” she answered exasperatedly.
“I’ll pay for it then.” The blonde officer behind her called out.
“Oh, that’s not necessary sir” Isabela protested in vain as he reached past her and placed
a 100 kredit bill on the counter. The Kitsune opened her drawer and placed the bill inside and
began to count his change. Isabela turned, still embarrassed, “I can pay you -”
“No worries, I got you.” The blonde officer smiled back to her. “I just hope you like
your Empanada.” He laughed as he took off his sunglasses to reveal a pair of emerald green
eyes.
Isabela laughed as well, “I just hope it comes out fast, I have to be somewhere soon.”
She replied as she checked her holo-watch impulsively.
“Oh really? Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he inquired.
“Would you believe if I said Paradi Palace, actually?” She responded bemusedly.
The blonde officer laughed, “Would you believe we just came from there?” he revealed
with a grin.
Isabela took a step back in surprise, “No way! Are you two Palace Security then?” She
asked in shock.
The two officers laughed, as their short companion tapped his foot impatiently, “Not
quite.” the dark haired officer chuckled.
“Though you could say we are there often”, The blonde officer grinned. “Why are you
heading to the Palace? Especially at this time of the night?” [add he asked or something here]
Isabela bit her lip as she thought to herself for a moment. This situation was obviously
either a lucky break or a very serious threat, it was clearly too late now either way though. She
had only one choice at this point, forward. “Yes, I’m a vendor actually. I’m delivering the
hardlight-produce to the Palace for the Marquess’s birthday party tomorrow.” She responded.
“Though at this point I might end up being a little late.” She laughed as she checked her holo-
watch once more.
The blonde officer eyes lit up, “Oh, well it’s your lucky day then because we just so
happen to be returning there after we’re done with our little outing today. Why don’t you join us
tonight?” He offered, glancing at the dark haired officer for a moment before fixating back on
Isabela.
 Isabela paused once more before responding, “I don’t know… I mean I would love to
join you all of course, you seem like a fun bunch, but - ”
“Well, we’re a hungry bunch right now”, their short companion interrupted in irritation,
his patience apparently reaching its limit.
“Don’t worry we’ll get food here first, of course, Gavin” The blonde officer responded,
rolling his eyes.
“Yes, first like right now then, Savun.” Gavin quipped back, folding his arms across his
chest.
Savun sighed, “Go ahead and start ordering then, I’ll be right there. Also, I see what you
did there and it’s not funny. Do you want to ruin everybody’s night?” Gavin smirked while
rolling his eyes, and walked past Isabela to start ordering his food.
“He’s such an asshat sometimes…” Savun muttered. “Well regardless, so how does one
get into the Hardlight Produce business?” He asked, his face now a sly grin.
“Ermmm…” Isabela mumbled. “It’s a long story, and I’m not the one who makes the
Hardlight Produce my friend does. She is the one who does all technical stuff, and I just handle
all the customer engagement”, She explained.
“Oh, there are TWO of you?” Savun’s eyes glowed with mischief.
“Savun…” Kumiko warned
“What?” Savun responded in an incredulous tone. “I was just surprised that she had a
business partner, that’s all.” He retorted. “Besides, where is this friend of yours? Are you
waiting for her?” He asked his head turning side to side as if to look for her.
“Oh, ermmm… She’s still on the ship back at the spaceport. She’s very tired right now,
you know big order and all, so she’s sleeping right now.” Isabela replied.
“Ah, well that’s unfortunate…”
“Savun…” Kumiko warned again, rolling her eyes.
“WHAT?! I’m just saying it’s unfortunate that we were unable to meet her partner, is
that so bad?” Savun replied in defense.
“Whatever…” Kumiko sighed.
“Regardless, I guess I should probably order now” Savun said looking up to find Gavin
and the Kitsune waiting for them. “Ermmm… I guess I’ll have an order of Olympus Mons
Empanadas, extra thicc, and what do you want Kumiko?”
“I’m not hungry…” she answered quietly.
“So that will be another order of Olympus Mons Empanadas, extra thicc.” Savun called
out to the Cashier, who nodded briefly as they entered their order into the console.
“Well, I guess we should move out of the way for others to order.” Savun said, noting the
small line that had formed behind them. “There’s an empty booth over in the corner.” He
pointed towards the right corner, where a booth sat empty and isolated, and began making his
way towards the corner.
Isabela looked awkwardly around for somewhere empty for her to sit, but before she
could locate an empty space she was interrupted, “Are you not coming with us?” She turned and
found Savun and his friends staring at her, she blushed momentarily. “Oh, ummmmm, I…” She
sputtered before he

~~~ (Everything below is kept so I don’t have to type it again, it’s not in order)

“Alright, that will be another order of Olympus Mons Empanadas, extra thicc, and that
will be all then.” He replied turning to the Kitsune again, who nodded vigorously as she entered
the new order to the console.
Kumiko grimaced, but didn’t argue with Savun after he ordered for her, as she scanned
the room around them.