RP: 188604 [AdVenture Capital] 1: Nath Tower

"Awww. Don't leave," Akemi said as he hovered on over to Arccos and the Iroma. "Aashi totally wants you here if you'd like to be here. Since you came all this way you might as well try enjoying yourself." He didn't want to seem like he was ignoring Lycosidae but he had to quickly try to make an effort to get the other Spacer to stay. "Everyone is invited. We're here to celebrate the opening of this place. The more of you and your friends the better. Besides, Aashi gave me a pass to do whatever I wanted with her. Maybe we could share it. Just look at her butt!"

"Actually, there is something I can do about the lack of material problems." Lyco moved towards Arccos once more herself, albeit clunking along quite slowly. Had trouble getting grip on the fancy flooring. "Using basic starlight cells I can construct a deathcrawler... erm, lifecrawler variant for both public and cargo transport duty... Maybe, 1000 KS each? Much cheaper than shuttles. Magnetized track pods means a high-speed monorail system for them, doesn't even have to be completed until way afterwards... You all seem to want to build these mega-structures, but the public workforce has no way of even getting between them besides horse and cart."

"Twelve percent of resources kept as transport costs. That's what I want in return."

Of course the subway hermit wanted to build a train system. It was obvious, really.

Truffleclub seemed to be rather more comfortable hanging in the shade at one corner of the room, to the distinct displeasure of the staff. They had finished observing the immense glass building itself, and seemed to realize which of the new forms was at least controlled by their old friend, almost instinctively. Suspicious. Things had never really been right since Arccos started acting so ethereal, and the posse of newcomers wasn't making it any easier. Cloudy's self-imposed isolation was different from Lyco's. More like a fear of loss.

"Yes, stay," Aashi said cooly, her body positioned towards Arccos as if she were the center of the universe. Slipping her hand over to a serving tray, Aashi grabbed a flute of champagne and handed it to Akemi, then pulled a second one off of the tray and offered it to Arccos.

She went on, "This is a good time, and a good time is always worth having."

"Evacuated magrail tube systems are the only civilized way to travel on-planet," Queenie agreed. "As for the sand screen, sabotage is only a worry if we use dangerous power plants. The worst that can happen if the screen shuts down is that things go back to normal; that's part of the appeal."

She transmitted again, for Lyco's benefit. "Groundbreaker 'Queenie' Eight-Four 4242-4286, formerly of the Island of Stability mothership. It would be overgenerous to call what we have left a 'fleet'."

Werner was about to respond, but Aashi had other matters to take care of. He sighed softly. Werner was not a socialite. He looked around and took in the scene before he moved to find the bar.

After a few minutes of searching he found it. And it was currently unoccupied. 'Fantastic...' Werner thought as he walked up and took a seat closet to to the end of the bar. "I'll take a whiskey, neat, and keep'em coming." He said as the bartender moved to fill his order.

"Interesting... So you are a colony architect?" Bean-shaped eyebrows furrowed a little, examining the blue-haired woman closer with their green and red eyes. Lyco was so stocky and rotund that such a polite and refined expression came across as rather forced, but they were trying their very best to fit in. Wasn't really much a person could do when everyone else was either completely faceless or ungodly attractive. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Starting up industrial projects on this planet is certainly challenge. But transport infrastructure would definitely help. My chief skills are in automata and vehicle construction, in all honesty. Have you ever designed something like a monorail before? Succeeded in building one?"

Lyco pulled up a few files over the poly whilst she was talking, examining the past efforts of this 'island of stability'. They didn't seem particularly militaristic or anything before the fleet disbanded... If this 'Queenie' actually served on it, of course. Records got so easy to fake after the everyone jumped ship out of the IWL.

"-Oh!" Thoughts interrupted by watching the distinctly tall horned alien lady pass the champagne glass right over her head. This building's own architect, weren't they? "You may need something stronger, miss. Spacers are next to immune to alcohol, just like most industrial poisons."

"Forgive me. My name is Lyco. Steelrender Lycosidae Nine Two 4561-8893." Raspy voice continued to be a close attempt at friendly towards both of them, clapping both of her oversized metal hands together, and then clasping them into the middle of her chest. She thought about lying, but decided the not particularly hidden rotary gun on her right arm was a good enough deterrent to fend off any immediate attempts on her life, should they be holding old grudges. "I was part of the fleet 'celestial circus', but that was a long time ago... Erm, like, before they went pirate because all the type threes jumped ship... Old news!"

"So, Miss Aashi Nath, what inspired you to start building here, of all places?"

A covered figure would enter the lobby. Spacecase would take off his gasmask looking quite confused he looked around to see if he could find someone he knew so he could ask what was going on.

Queenie nodded, then tilted her head. "Engineer, mainly. I'm about making things work, there's enough concern about making things pretty as-is. I built the Shravana Hive's rail system. It has zero rails rather than one or two, but same principle. The trains float along the guideway, and can cross a thousand kilometers in less than an hour if need be, at a very low cost. I think it would be more expensive to build here, though."

She stopped to listen for after that. Even though a politician and an extrovert, this party was pushing her limits. In a few years, maybe the Hive would raise some career diplomats to fill these shoes, so to speak.

"Why did I decide to build here?" Aashi asked, sounding incredulous in an attempt at humor. "It's where the good queen Uso wanted her empire built around her, so it is where I built!"

Seeing that Uso had not made an appearance, yet, she typed out a message to her.

Uso
Your people are here, at Nath Tower. Will you present yourself to them?
Aashi

Click to expand...

Uso would walk into the party, hugging a somewhat reluctant Gut-Stripe against her chest.

"You can't just not go. We just saved your planet! This is what people do when they save the world, they have a party..." Uso explained, lifting up Gut stripe so that she was eye-level with even the tallest among them at the party. "Pluuus you totally killed an NMX carrier with your ship. You can put a kill-marker on the side now. Do you I'ee brag about yourselves to other I'ee? Because between you, Sammy, and the JTF, you're pretty much hot shit right now.

Which is a term we have,

It is good..." Uso further explained, hearing her datapad chirp with a new message, she shifted Gut-stripe over to one arm, using the other to check her messages

Aashi,

That kind of party? And here I was hoping you'd present yourself to me.

Uso

Click to expand...

Aashi,

BTW, totally here now. My pad's been blowing up with messages. Apparently you throw a good party.

Uso

Click to expand...

Gut-Stripe hung limp in Uso's arms like a cadaver, glancing sullenly around the room. "I do not understand the purpose of this," she stated. "But... yes, I am pleased about the... kill we attained." The giant wasp wriggled about as Uso shifted her in her arms, clinging onto her with her arms to keep herself up. "What is it that you aliens enjoy doing at a 'party' like this?" she asked as Uso checked her datapad. "I admit, as odd as the Ee'ith may behave, even they prefer to sleep quietly rather than partake in this... revelry."

"You I'ee have vices right? I mean, you love killing things but you also love doing other things too? Juice boxes? You like those right?"

Uso would take a hold of Gut-Stripe again and start moving towards the bar,

"Does your kind get drunk? You 'evolved by random chance' races love that sort of thing."

Queenie closed her eyes and shook her head at Uso's approach. She wasn't sure to be heard over the noise when she said it, but the words still came forth, "There's no shortage of 'aliens' here who would rather not be, I'm sure of it." Lip-reading was mostly out of the question, given her face veil.

The Thi-Thi warrior tilted her head to one side at the mention of juice, wriggling up a bit higher in Uso's arms. "I... yes, I enjoy the juice," she stated stiffly, almost as if she were embarrassed. "Although... drunk... I do drink, so I have drunk, but I have not been drunk. What does it mean?"

Uso's cat like ears would be scanning around the room, briefly pointing at Queenie as she took Gut-Stripe towards the bar. If she overheard, she didn't make a mention of it.

"Lets find out, it doesn't work on me." She said, "BARKEEP! YOUR FRUITIEST DRINK, AND ALSO YOUR BEST JUICEBOX!"

Uso would set Gut-Stripe down on one of the bar-stools... which put the Thi-Thi warrior just a bit too low. She picked up Gut-Stripe again and set her down on the counter itself as the Bartender came by with a green mixed drink, and a box of pineapple juice.

"If you want the science behind it, alcohol is a depressant for most creatures. It reduces inhibitions, and makes you more sociable. Enough of it also impairs motor function and causes vomiting.... but, you know... a lot of it is needed for that. Normally you're supposed to have just one or two unless you hate yourself or have something to prove."

"A thousand kilometeres!? That thing must be massive!" Lyco exclaimed, genuinely surprised by Groundbreaker's remarks, considering the woman's modesty. They had heard of the hive, but still had to look up specific poly pages to recall any concrete details. "Ah... I see, it's a lower gravity environment..."

She's also a type three. Lyco kept on smiling even as her heart sunk, weighted by feelings of inadequacy.

"...But... B-but like I said, I can make buses that can travel both on and off rails. So we can build the tunnels slowly over time, if needed." Breaking eye contact, briefly over to Akemi, and then down into the floor. "Whether that would be more simple tha-"

Cut off, by 'Queenie' saying something towards the more literal queen of Usoland. Didn't have the heart to start over.

Aashi had just finished typing something into her keypad, so that gave a new space to talk to her, at least.

"But why Uso?... Is it really just the money?... I'm more confused because Yamatai or Nepleslia has plenty of safe havens for you capitalist types..."

The queen was holding one of those giant bees again. So much for their actions being both logical and obvious, thus trustworthy...

Since Arccos was harsh as usual and Queenie didn't seem worth talking to Akemi decided he'd just try to make the one Spacer that liked him feel at ease. Seeing how a drink had been offered to him and the taller Spacer over the head of Lycosidae, the Neko took a sip from his and then handed it to his stout buddy to show she hadn't been forgotten. With his hands free he proceeded to lightly rub the woman's neck and shoulders. He had intended this to be her time so he reasoned he'd help her make the most of it.

When Akemi heard Uso enter and order he briefly turned to call out to her. "Is Vier coming?"

The I'ee seemed rather perplexed by the stool when she was sat upon it, glad that she was soon seated atop the counter instead, where she lay on all six legs. She listened to Uso in silence, though the shout to the barkeeper made her tense up and splay out her wings, apparently disliking the loud sound. "So you are saying that this 'alcohol' is poison, then?" she asked, regarding the two drinks set in front of her with suspicion. "You aliens enjoy drinking poison." Inwardly, Gutty was withdrawing every nasty thing she'd ever said about Ee'ith and Sammy, leaning cautiously closer to the green drink and the juice box and prodding them with her antennae.

The barkeep handed Uso a kamikaze and the I'ee an effervescent drink when Aashi approached the two.

She patted her Empress on the back as she called out to the man behind the bar and pointed with her free hand to Uso's green elixir, "One of those for everyone!" He set to work preparing kamikazes and shuffling them out to people at the bar and in the crowd, getting Lyco, Spacecase, Queenie, and nearly all others present in the initial wave of alcohol.

Queenie, not wanting to chance removing her veil (and perhaps not the inevitable coughing fit, either), waved away the offer of a drink. "I've no thirst, thank you." She continued her conversation with Lycosidae, too distantly aware of Akemi crawling over her conversation partner to be distracted by it.

"The network I built is for transporting bulk materials, mainly. The Hiveworld is under a thousand kilometers across, and after that, very nearly the entire population live within a hundred square kilometer area. Last I checked, we still hadn't installed any seats... I think the locals will appreciate your idea, if they can get past the sheer terror. That shouldn't take too long, they ride horses as-is."

As much as Queenie wanted to throw some more sarcasm in Gut-Stripe's direction, she found she did not have the heart. Still, this didn't seem the venue for a philosophical discussion... or perhaps it would depend on which drugs were most preferred, after the first round of alcohol.