A
Ametheliana
188604
Queen's Slave
Akemi had flown in to 188604's established star port, built by the I'ee and used by a good deal of USO, and stepped out onto the tarmac with a clicking of his spurred cowgirl boots. He wore assless chaps over a pair of tight ashy jeans. His black shirt was left unbuttoned and a wind picked up, blowing it slighty open to expose a flat torso with peeking abdomen muscles and a V shaped hip structure whose bottom half was cut off.
He had been called to this meeting by Uso at some point in time and arrived with two half ID-SOL in tow. They were dressed in business suits and had real shiny watches and Emrys Uno Sunglasses. They had slick brunette and black hair and didn't crack a smile when Akemi jumped in the air and clicked his heels together when he saw the Queen's Slave. He went through the open hatch and was greeted by Uso standing with her back towards him, busying herself with looking at something on the main display table.
"Cool. Akemi is here. You got the stuff right? Because we need to buy... like, a lot of it....
ALSO
Tacticus here will be helping with the buy.... Tacticus introduce yourself!"
Tacticus really had nothing else to do, sure he normally would've been tending to the gardens right now. But he sort of required his old body for that. Although he was growing to enjoy this one. The wings were a enjoyable feature and flying had certainly been a grand thing for him to learn. Yet part of him wondered just what he'd be doing now. What could he do? He had to think of something. So when Uso had suggested he tag along on a shopping trip, he saw no reason not to go. He agreed with the task without really knowing who was coming along and what they were needing.
Grey eyes were directed to the person that he wasn't sure if he had seen before. So he merely gave a small wave with a smile.
"Hi, I'm Tacticus. Nice to..." Tacticus started though he felt his wings jerk a small bit, cutting him off. "Drat! Still getting used to these."
A few red feathers fell to the floor and he was quick to pick them up. Merely putting them into pockets till he could find a trash can.
"So...we have what we need now?" he asked.
Akemi, cool and collected, looked Tacticus up and down and focused on Tacticus wings for the majority of the time the grey eyed winged man until Tacticus' feathers exploded.
"Hey, I'm not here to pull any feathers, just here to pet them. I like your look," Akemi said as he looked away from the feathered friend and towards the table Uso was bent over. "I have what you need in orbit, awaiting deconatimation at Howard Station after a handshake and another agreement or three are made."
"Huh? Sorry I'm still getting used to this body." Tacticus tried to explain better. "My original body didn't...have these nor...well a lot of things it lacked that this one has. Sometimes the wings still seem to have their own mind and puff up like that."
The compliment on his appearance went over the former robot's head. He wasn't used to positive feed back and honestly, his outfit was kind of picked out by Uso. She had been the one to go shopping with him that day. So with the altered suit on him was honestly her doing.
"You wanted butter here?" Akemi asked as he bent down to do aslav squat without touching the ground of Uso's cool ship interior. "I can do you one better, but I have to know. Why butter?"
Uso would stand up, and turn to face Akemi, trying to give him the least 'advantage' when looking at her, "Why not butter? We have to start somewhere with food-stuffs. A bulk order of butter was going to be my starting point... then I was thinking of taking Tacticus to a Nepleslian grocery store to pick out some choice foods.... Taci used to be a robot so this whole food thing is new to him. That means he'd have a good feel for what people here would probably want to try eating." Uso explained.
Tacticus was sort of relieved that matters just seemed to go back on track. Trying to explain how his original body got crushed and all wasn't a fun process. Eh oh well. As Akemi and Uso chatted, he was beginning to wonder if he really should've tagged along. She seemed to have this under control. A small nervous smile came to his face when she pointed him out again.
"Right...there's still a lot of things that are new to me." Tacticus agreed with her. "Wait...I would?"
He glanced to Uso with a surprised but confused expression.
"Why not?" Uso asked, "Robots don't taste stuff right? I mean like.... your kind of robots. The robotic robots."
"Right I've never tasted anything before...but are you sure I'm the wisest option to...well, I guess the word is be the taste tester of sorts?" Tacticus asked.
"You will look at numbers rather than the taste of cucumbers, am I right." Akemi sort of half chuckled and said, "Why don't you just buy a colony station where you can grow your own food?"
"Yeah, cuz Uso's just made of money these days. We've got a garden.. thing, sorta going but it'll be a while before we can produce the amount of stuff we need." She then turned her attention to Tacticus.
"Of course I'm sure. You've never tasted anything before. These people live on seaweed or whatever. Akemi's burgers are blowing their minds... so, I'm sure whatever you like they will also like."
"The planet currently isn't able to house a good enough garden due to how the climate and soil is." Tacticus explained with a bit more confidence as this was a matter he was familiar on. "The soil consists mainly of sand and very little dirt, making planting a tricky matter as it is."
This was one of the few times Tacticus really had any confidence to him. Course it easily melted away as his mind was refocused to Uso and her words.
"Well...I guess when you put it that way, it has a good chance of working out." Tacticus replied to her.
Uso looked deep in thought, "Can we buy dirt? Is that a thing people sell?"
"Well it's not dirt that you need, you need dirt that is suitable to be considered soil. Where it's able to hold the needed conditions for plants to be able to grow. Good soil will help hold the water and other nutrients in it that will help feed and keep the planet alive. The weather is also another problem as due to the planet being a desert, the temperature is rather hot and probably can be rather humid from time to time." Tacticus started. "While plants can grow in these conditions, a lot of crop based plants need specific conditions to keep them going and to grow long enough to provide a good harvest."
Again, that odd confidence had resurfaced as he had gotten onto a subject that he held good knowledge on.
"You can techincally buy fertilizer and other things to aid with growing plants." Tacticus continued. "Clay is actually used a lot of time, as it's able to hold more water in it that the plants can get easily when rain might not be avaliable. The farm I used to help out on had a natural deposit of clay in the area where they made the farm, so they didn't have to buy it."
"Yeah..." Akemi said. He paused, hoping Uso and Tacticus would wait for him to collect his thoughts. "That's why you get a colony station, which comes with all that whatever you need."
"We already have a station. Candon and the FSC is putting one together now but we still need local stuff!" Uso said, "We already have all this space, we might as well use it! Put people to work! DO things! We don't need the added hassle of trying to move plant stuff from space back to the surface for use......"
Uso turned her attention to Tacticus,
"And you! I'm pretty sure we can adjust the temperature and light coming in... which means..."
Uso turned her attention back to Akemi,
"YOU! Know where to buy soil? Or do I need to like... steal some from somewhere?"
Tacticus jumped at her sudden burst and his wings puffed up again. Causing a few more red feathers to fall off due to him being startled by her raised voice.
"Y...you could but...plants do much better with natural sunlight..." Tacticus squeaked out, not really sure if he should interfer further or not.
"Then we just have to get the temperature right?" Uso asked.
"IT's different for each plant species, corn requires different temperatures and soil conditions than wheat does. If you know what crop needs what conditions than..perhaps you can, but it'll be tricky.." Tacticus replied, picking up some of his feathers again.
Akemi said, "Why get soil when you can do aeroponics or hydroponics? Didn't Aashi make an Iroma arcology at Nath tower with Iroma smokable drugs that now looks destroyed. She should have tought you that you don't need soil to grow plants, you just need space, water, and nutrients. Where did Truffleclub go? I need to give him a hug. He could plant tons of stuff."
"You know, Uso, this seems a lot like what you normally do."
"Aeroponics is space-stuff. You use that when space is at a premium and you've got one of those tightly controlled enviromental loops. It is great when you know exactly how many people you've got, and can setup the exact life support stuff... but you need seed material to start that off anyways... I mean, I suppose Vier can manufacture... what is it? Nitrogen? The plant stuff.... but the more complex stuff is easier to grow when it is all... like.... in fields and such." Uso explained, "Truffleclubs workin on it too. He is in the brass palace... just look for the like, hippie lookin people...
.... So Whachu need Tacticus?"
"You know Truffleclub?" Tacticus asked curiously, well it shouldn't have surprised him.
It really shouldn't have surprised him, Truffleclub had been around for a long time. They were a rather old robot from the looks of it but a very intelligent one. A good person none the less.
"Carbon Dioxide, actually. They use that to make oxygn." Tacticus corrected Uso. "Eh...need for what? Growing crops is a hard process and can be tricky, even more so due to the fact...we're in a desert. The conditions aren't suited for what we wish to grow..."
Glancing down, he clealry appeared to be pondering on what answer to give.
"So lets make the conditions right. We can get basic raw materials from Vier... if we need to use whatever-ponics to get this working then lets do it... but I'd rather grow it planetside." Uso said.
"Well...we could make a green house, that would aid in controling the temperature and other conditions..." Tacticus said, still pondering. "However...we'd need to make a really big greenhouse to house a field of crops..."
"That's just.... glassright?" Uso asked.
"Mainly us, the walls and ceilings are usually made of glass to allow sunlight in for the plants." Tacticus replied. "The glass is actually able to protect the plants from cold weather while being able to absorb the needed sunlight for the plants during the day. However you need specific equipment to help maintain the plants beyond the needed sunlight and temperature conditions."
"Ok, so we get that too right? You know what? Just make a list of all this stuff and we can have Vier build it. Wanna go food-shopping?" Uso looked over at Akemi, "You're welcome to tag along too if you want."
"You'd...have to purchase the equipment seperatly and know just wnat things you have to set for what crop you are growing..." Tacticus replied softly. "Shopping sounds good."
"Sorry I couldn't be of help?" Akemi said, slightly confused why he had been called to Uso's rusty old ship to let someone tell him his ideas were not good enough for 188604. Well, he had other fish to fry. "So Uso, what would you like out of diplomatic relations with the rest of the Kikyo Sector? I know you have some backdoor relations with some of them, but I want to know about what more you want. I also want to say thank you for letting the burger places really take off here, too, and I want to let you know there already is a-"
"Aaaaaaaaaaa....." Uso said, waiting for Akemi to finish what he was saying.
"A butt load of equipment in a Henkei cargo ship with some various luxury items. The sort of odds and ends you were looking for because you're my pal and I'd like to give you the things you need in life, honestly. So I went ahead and just got you a few things; butter, honey, jewelry, household finery, glassware, silverware, tableware, ready wear, bedroom accessories like tempri-sama blankets or the nice silk ones or the divets, apparel and clothing of the finest standard, soaps, liquors, legal drugs, illegal women, etcetera. What else did your list say?"
"Still makin that list.... We want to work with people who want to work with us, but at the same time I don't want to involve someone that's too big. Yamatai or Nepleslia might eat up all the air out here if you know what I mean. Just being on speaking terms is good enough for now, then we just hook up whoever needs a deal to whoever wants to make a deal happen.
If people like Candon, Jack, and Truffleclub do well here, then we all do well."
Akemi sort of huffed, "Well how do you think I got these things for you? You told me I could be a diplomat for Uso and that you needed fine goods in the same breath. So I did them in kind."
"..... whaaaat did you promise in return?"
"That's up to you, really. They said raw materials, but you could give them a bucket of algae and they'd be happy to just have made the contact with you... and myself, as well. Huey 'The Man' Graves certainly is one of the straight ones. Good diplomat, good guy. I wonder if he really is straight, too. Best to send all genders with the next basket!!" Akemi seemed hyped about his meeting and future plans. "What would you like me to give you next time I'm off the planet and out of walking distance from you. I like that, you know, I really do. I love being close, you and I. I feel like perhaps," he said, "we are not close enough?"
"That is a surprisingly good job. You're like a different person," Uso commented, taking another look at Akemi, "How about we talk about expanding your business? What is it you want out of all of this besides just provoking people who are easily provoked?"
"Well I want to provoke the people that don't want to be provoked, too." Akemi said in all seriousness. "I would like to send some delegations to work on the internal strife your nation faces and in doing so, will strengthen the places of 'business', as you call them. More so, I'll be helping uplift a whole people."
"Reform those cities spent in anarchy by having everyone talk it out or by throwing enough money at each warring group to make them too rich to fight or care about anything but booze, babes, and burgers; The Akemi's Standard. If that's what you want done then that's what I can do but I can also work something else out. I'm full of ideas when I'm not filling hotties, so I tend to know a few many things that could really help you out. I think of this like an act of goodwill to you for allowing me my Embassy on your soil. And, besides, I think it only fair I give back to the people of 188604. The 'Spacers, for one, have given me so much and they can't build their honeycombs if they don't have peaceful cities to do that in, you feel me, Honey?"
"When you see an Akemi's, you see a business. When I see one, I see so much more. And so does the majority of the Kikyo Sector." Akemi stated. "There are a lot of things I am also doing to expand my business that I haven't told you about, Uso. For instance I am working with AwesomeCorp on a project you might like."
"That aside, I'm thinking of opening up a few space ports. By that I mean one is installed and the other three are en route, you could say. Paying for things is easy, the hard part is finding the time to enjoy them all." Akemi was really excited to get a chance to talk to Uso but wasn't about to tell her too much, he just wanted to give her a slice of Akemi life.
Tacticus wasn't sure on where to chime in now, sure he had given his opinion but he wasn't sure on how that was gonna go. The conversation was going odd, the mention of illegal woman and such made him raise a brow. Everything else sounded fine; save for the drugs and the illegal woman. Was he joking? That was another thing Tacticus had to get used to, was being able to tell if people were joking.
The former robot was silent, standing there in a living body that was a back up body of a Elysian's. His red feathered wings twitched and he put a hand over the feathers that were sticking up. Trying to smooth them out. The texture was nice, and he almost absentmindly kept smoothing them out, snapping out of it fast enough though.
"Sounds like you'll be busy for a while with those plans." Tacticus said, giving a kind smile.
He had to say something right? He wasn't sure what the man was talking about, so best to just say something positive. Right?
Akemi said to the robo-peep, "I'd like you to stay here with Uso, I'll go. Uso, can you concisely tell me what you think?"
"Eh...sure, alright..." Tacticus replied nervously to the request of staying.
A weak shrug left him as he stood there, not really sure on what to contribute to this. The whole matter was a strange one. They went from talking about farms, to a collection of things. At least this man had plans, Tacticus didn't really have any plans.
Akemi idly scritched at the Elysian wings of the robot soul and then stroked them mildly. "I could get off to this!" He squeaked with a happy interest in Tacticus.
Even though he had gotten used to his own fingers against the feathers growing out the wings, he didn't really have others touching them. Granted, he never said no one else could touch. It's just no one ever had tried to touch em before. So when feeling the foriegn finger tips against each feather and the skin underneath them, a high pitch sound left Tacticus; it wasn't a painfully loud high pitch sound, more like a squeak honestly.
"What's...that suppose to mean?" Tacticus questioned, all of his feathers were now sticking up.
Making them look puffier than they normally were. Course, he hadn't stopped Akemi. He wasn't hurting him and no feathers were begining forcefully ripped out. So...for now, things were okay.
"Elysian bumps..." Akemi cooed as he got little closer to Tacticus and lifted a leg up slightly as if ready to mount Tacticus' wing if it could happen. "I'm being very gentle," Akemi grinned, "Aren't I?"
"Wh..." Tacticus muttered, his voice showing confusion and a bit of fear. When Akemi saw that face of Tacticus' he pushed once towards him and then away, walked backwards, and tilted his head so that his raven black hair fell down in an inky wave. He had a pleasant smile on his face and put his hands behind his back, moving back and forth on his heels
He didn't know what was going on, he hadn't really looked into the species that he was currently in the body of. So there was a lot he didn't understand. Course, he didn't understand this whole little interaction. His red feathered wings remained puffed up as he stood there, staring confused at the man who had just started to act so strangely.
Course when the man pushed toawrds him a bit, Tacticus instinctively leaned back. His wings twitching uneasily now though he straightened once Akemi removed themself from him. Though he just stood there, giving a confused but now more nervous look to Uso. As if seeking some aid in what the hell had just happened.
"I just like you is all, you might have a great smile or something that humping your wings produces and I wanted to find out." Akemi said with a genuine smile and bow. "Thanks!"
The confused and nervous expression remained as Tacticus looked over to Akemi. Their reasoning... didn't help him get rid of thosw emotions.
"Uh...you're...welcome?" Tacticus replied uncertainly.
"Arigatou!!! So," Akemi said, turning, "Uso?"
"I think that is enough of you making Tacticus feel weird. Your expansion goals seem great, we'll see what we can do to make them happen."
Akemi didn't feel all that great about having to leave someone that was so apparently interested, but he had a good reason now to go achieve Uso's laissez faire style of government while she made the post-robot-sian feel comfortable. If there was one thing Uso was good at, it was taking an interest in starry eyed youths and watching their dreams crush around them. That's what Akemi saw Uso doing most often and he kind of wondered if Uso had any friends that stuck around very long after they found out that they couldn't complete all of their dreams.
It made Akemi pretty sad as he walked through the starport to think of all of the youngsters he had seen Uso trying to help throughout her time on this planet. He wanted them to grow in front of Uso's eyes. Maybe he would start a new charity for doing what Uso did or maybe he would set up some One Two Red Blue music lessons for Tacticus the once-bot. He made mental plans as he watched the beautiful starry sky of the planet.
Queen's Slave
Akemi had flown in to 188604's established star port, built by the I'ee and used by a good deal of USO, and stepped out onto the tarmac with a clicking of his spurred cowgirl boots. He wore assless chaps over a pair of tight ashy jeans. His black shirt was left unbuttoned and a wind picked up, blowing it slighty open to expose a flat torso with peeking abdomen muscles and a V shaped hip structure whose bottom half was cut off.
He had been called to this meeting by Uso at some point in time and arrived with two half ID-SOL in tow. They were dressed in business suits and had real shiny watches and Emrys Uno Sunglasses. They had slick brunette and black hair and didn't crack a smile when Akemi jumped in the air and clicked his heels together when he saw the Queen's Slave. He went through the open hatch and was greeted by Uso standing with her back towards him, busying herself with looking at something on the main display table.
"Cool. Akemi is here. You got the stuff right? Because we need to buy... like, a lot of it....
ALSO
Tacticus here will be helping with the buy.... Tacticus introduce yourself!"
Tacticus really had nothing else to do, sure he normally would've been tending to the gardens right now. But he sort of required his old body for that. Although he was growing to enjoy this one. The wings were a enjoyable feature and flying had certainly been a grand thing for him to learn. Yet part of him wondered just what he'd be doing now. What could he do? He had to think of something. So when Uso had suggested he tag along on a shopping trip, he saw no reason not to go. He agreed with the task without really knowing who was coming along and what they were needing.
Grey eyes were directed to the person that he wasn't sure if he had seen before. So he merely gave a small wave with a smile.
"Hi, I'm Tacticus. Nice to..." Tacticus started though he felt his wings jerk a small bit, cutting him off. "Drat! Still getting used to these."
A few red feathers fell to the floor and he was quick to pick them up. Merely putting them into pockets till he could find a trash can.
"So...we have what we need now?" he asked.
Akemi, cool and collected, looked Tacticus up and down and focused on Tacticus wings for the majority of the time the grey eyed winged man until Tacticus' feathers exploded.
"Hey, I'm not here to pull any feathers, just here to pet them. I like your look," Akemi said as he looked away from the feathered friend and towards the table Uso was bent over. "I have what you need in orbit, awaiting deconatimation at Howard Station after a handshake and another agreement or three are made."
"Huh? Sorry I'm still getting used to this body." Tacticus tried to explain better. "My original body didn't...have these nor...well a lot of things it lacked that this one has. Sometimes the wings still seem to have their own mind and puff up like that."
The compliment on his appearance went over the former robot's head. He wasn't used to positive feed back and honestly, his outfit was kind of picked out by Uso. She had been the one to go shopping with him that day. So with the altered suit on him was honestly her doing.
"You wanted butter here?" Akemi asked as he bent down to do a
Uso would stand up, and turn to face Akemi, trying to give him the least 'advantage' when looking at her, "Why not butter? We have to start somewhere with food-stuffs. A bulk order of butter was going to be my starting point... then I was thinking of taking Tacticus to a Nepleslian grocery store to pick out some choice foods.... Taci used to be a robot so this whole food thing is new to him. That means he'd have a good feel for what people here would probably want to try eating." Uso explained.
Tacticus was sort of relieved that matters just seemed to go back on track. Trying to explain how his original body got crushed and all wasn't a fun process. Eh oh well. As Akemi and Uso chatted, he was beginning to wonder if he really should've tagged along. She seemed to have this under control. A small nervous smile came to his face when she pointed him out again.
"Right...there's still a lot of things that are new to me." Tacticus agreed with her. "Wait...I would?"
He glanced to Uso with a surprised but confused expression.
"Why not?" Uso asked, "Robots don't taste stuff right? I mean like.... your kind of robots. The robotic robots."
"Right I've never tasted anything before...but are you sure I'm the wisest option to...well, I guess the word is be the taste tester of sorts?" Tacticus asked.
"You will look at numbers rather than the taste of cucumbers, am I right." Akemi sort of half chuckled and said, "Why don't you just buy a colony station where you can grow your own food?"
"Yeah, cuz Uso's just made of money these days. We've got a garden.. thing, sorta going but it'll be a while before we can produce the amount of stuff we need." She then turned her attention to Tacticus.
"Of course I'm sure. You've never tasted anything before. These people live on seaweed or whatever. Akemi's burgers are blowing their minds... so, I'm sure whatever you like they will also like."
"The planet currently isn't able to house a good enough garden due to how the climate and soil is." Tacticus explained with a bit more confidence as this was a matter he was familiar on. "The soil consists mainly of sand and very little dirt, making planting a tricky matter as it is."
This was one of the few times Tacticus really had any confidence to him. Course it easily melted away as his mind was refocused to Uso and her words.
"Well...I guess when you put it that way, it has a good chance of working out." Tacticus replied to her.
Uso looked deep in thought, "Can we buy dirt? Is that a thing people sell?"
"Well it's not dirt that you need, you need dirt that is suitable to be considered soil. Where it's able to hold the needed conditions for plants to be able to grow. Good soil will help hold the water and other nutrients in it that will help feed and keep the planet alive. The weather is also another problem as due to the planet being a desert, the temperature is rather hot and probably can be rather humid from time to time." Tacticus started. "While plants can grow in these conditions, a lot of crop based plants need specific conditions to keep them going and to grow long enough to provide a good harvest."
Again, that odd confidence had resurfaced as he had gotten onto a subject that he held good knowledge on.
"You can techincally buy fertilizer and other things to aid with growing plants." Tacticus continued. "Clay is actually used a lot of time, as it's able to hold more water in it that the plants can get easily when rain might not be avaliable. The farm I used to help out on had a natural deposit of clay in the area where they made the farm, so they didn't have to buy it."
"Yeah..." Akemi said. He paused, hoping Uso and Tacticus would wait for him to collect his thoughts. "That's why you get a colony station, which comes with all that whatever you need."
"We already have a station. Candon and the FSC is putting one together now but we still need local stuff!" Uso said, "We already have all this space, we might as well use it! Put people to work! DO things! We don't need the added hassle of trying to move plant stuff from space back to the surface for use......"
Uso turned her attention to Tacticus,
"And you! I'm pretty sure we can adjust the temperature and light coming in... which means..."
Uso turned her attention back to Akemi,
"YOU! Know where to buy soil? Or do I need to like... steal some from somewhere?"
Tacticus jumped at her sudden burst and his wings puffed up again. Causing a few more red feathers to fall off due to him being startled by her raised voice.
"Y...you could but...plants do much better with natural sunlight..." Tacticus squeaked out, not really sure if he should interfer further or not.
"Then we just have to get the temperature right?" Uso asked.
"IT's different for each plant species, corn requires different temperatures and soil conditions than wheat does. If you know what crop needs what conditions than..perhaps you can, but it'll be tricky.." Tacticus replied, picking up some of his feathers again.
Akemi said, "Why get soil when you can do aeroponics or hydroponics? Didn't Aashi make an Iroma arcology at Nath tower with Iroma smokable drugs that now looks destroyed. She should have tought you that you don't need soil to grow plants, you just need space, water, and nutrients. Where did Truffleclub go? I need to give him a hug. He could plant tons of stuff."
"You know, Uso, this seems a lot like what you normally do."
"Aeroponics is space-stuff. You use that when space is at a premium and you've got one of those tightly controlled enviromental loops. It is great when you know exactly how many people you've got, and can setup the exact life support stuff... but you need seed material to start that off anyways... I mean, I suppose Vier can manufacture... what is it? Nitrogen? The plant stuff.... but the more complex stuff is easier to grow when it is all... like.... in fields and such." Uso explained, "Truffleclubs workin on it too. He is in the brass palace... just look for the like, hippie lookin people...
.... So Whachu need Tacticus?"
"You know Truffleclub?" Tacticus asked curiously, well it shouldn't have surprised him.
It really shouldn't have surprised him, Truffleclub had been around for a long time. They were a rather old robot from the looks of it but a very intelligent one. A good person none the less.
"Carbon Dioxide, actually. They use that to make oxygn." Tacticus corrected Uso. "Eh...need for what? Growing crops is a hard process and can be tricky, even more so due to the fact...we're in a desert. The conditions aren't suited for what we wish to grow..."
Glancing down, he clealry appeared to be pondering on what answer to give.
"So lets make the conditions right. We can get basic raw materials from Vier... if we need to use whatever-ponics to get this working then lets do it... but I'd rather grow it planetside." Uso said.
"Well...we could make a green house, that would aid in controling the temperature and other conditions..." Tacticus said, still pondering. "However...we'd need to make a really big greenhouse to house a field of crops..."
"That's just.... glassright?" Uso asked.
"Mainly us, the walls and ceilings are usually made of glass to allow sunlight in for the plants." Tacticus replied. "The glass is actually able to protect the plants from cold weather while being able to absorb the needed sunlight for the plants during the day. However you need specific equipment to help maintain the plants beyond the needed sunlight and temperature conditions."
"Ok, so we get that too right? You know what? Just make a list of all this stuff and we can have Vier build it. Wanna go food-shopping?" Uso looked over at Akemi, "You're welcome to tag along too if you want."
"You'd...have to purchase the equipment seperatly and know just wnat things you have to set for what crop you are growing..." Tacticus replied softly. "Shopping sounds good."
"Sorry I couldn't be of help?" Akemi said, slightly confused why he had been called to Uso's rusty old ship to let someone tell him his ideas were not good enough for 188604. Well, he had other fish to fry. "So Uso, what would you like out of diplomatic relations with the rest of the Kikyo Sector? I know you have some backdoor relations with some of them, but I want to know about what more you want. I also want to say thank you for letting the burger places really take off here, too, and I want to let you know there already is a-"
"Aaaaaaaaaaa....." Uso said, waiting for Akemi to finish what he was saying.
"A butt load of equipment in a Henkei cargo ship with some various luxury items. The sort of odds and ends you were looking for because you're my pal and I'd like to give you the things you need in life, honestly. So I went ahead and just got you a few things; butter, honey, jewelry, household finery, glassware, silverware, tableware, ready wear, bedroom accessories like tempri-sama blankets or the nice silk ones or the divets, apparel and clothing of the finest standard, soaps, liquors, legal drugs, illegal women, etcetera. What else did your list say?"
"Still makin that list.... We want to work with people who want to work with us, but at the same time I don't want to involve someone that's too big. Yamatai or Nepleslia might eat up all the air out here if you know what I mean. Just being on speaking terms is good enough for now, then we just hook up whoever needs a deal to whoever wants to make a deal happen.
If people like Candon, Jack, and Truffleclub do well here, then we all do well."
Akemi sort of huffed, "Well how do you think I got these things for you? You told me I could be a diplomat for Uso and that you needed fine goods in the same breath. So I did them in kind."
"..... whaaaat did you promise in return?"
"That's up to you, really. They said raw materials, but you could give them a bucket of algae and they'd be happy to just have made the contact with you... and myself, as well. Huey 'The Man' Graves certainly is one of the straight ones. Good diplomat, good guy. I wonder if he really is straight, too. Best to send all genders with the next basket!!" Akemi seemed hyped about his meeting and future plans. "What would you like me to give you next time I'm off the planet and out of walking distance from you. I like that, you know, I really do. I love being close, you and I. I feel like perhaps," he said, "we are not close enough?"
"That is a surprisingly good job. You're like a different person," Uso commented, taking another look at Akemi, "How about we talk about expanding your business? What is it you want out of all of this besides just provoking people who are easily provoked?"
"Well I want to provoke the people that don't want to be provoked, too." Akemi said in all seriousness. "I would like to send some delegations to work on the internal strife your nation faces and in doing so, will strengthen the places of 'business', as you call them. More so, I'll be helping uplift a whole people."
"Reform those cities spent in anarchy by having everyone talk it out or by throwing enough money at each warring group to make them too rich to fight or care about anything but booze, babes, and burgers; The Akemi's Standard. If that's what you want done then that's what I can do but I can also work something else out. I'm full of ideas when I'm not filling hotties, so I tend to know a few many things that could really help you out. I think of this like an act of goodwill to you for allowing me my Embassy on your soil. And, besides, I think it only fair I give back to the people of 188604. The 'Spacers, for one, have given me so much and they can't build their honeycombs if they don't have peaceful cities to do that in, you feel me, Honey?"
"When you see an Akemi's, you see a business. When I see one, I see so much more. And so does the majority of the Kikyo Sector." Akemi stated. "There are a lot of things I am also doing to expand my business that I haven't told you about, Uso. For instance I am working with AwesomeCorp on a project you might like."
"That aside, I'm thinking of opening up a few space ports. By that I mean one is installed and the other three are en route, you could say. Paying for things is easy, the hard part is finding the time to enjoy them all." Akemi was really excited to get a chance to talk to Uso but wasn't about to tell her too much, he just wanted to give her a slice of Akemi life.
Tacticus wasn't sure on where to chime in now, sure he had given his opinion but he wasn't sure on how that was gonna go. The conversation was going odd, the mention of illegal woman and such made him raise a brow. Everything else sounded fine; save for the drugs and the illegal woman. Was he joking? That was another thing Tacticus had to get used to, was being able to tell if people were joking.
The former robot was silent, standing there in a living body that was a back up body of a Elysian's. His red feathered wings twitched and he put a hand over the feathers that were sticking up. Trying to smooth them out. The texture was nice, and he almost absentmindly kept smoothing them out, snapping out of it fast enough though.
"Sounds like you'll be busy for a while with those plans." Tacticus said, giving a kind smile.
He had to say something right? He wasn't sure what the man was talking about, so best to just say something positive. Right?
Akemi said to the robo-peep, "I'd like you to stay here with Uso, I'll go. Uso, can you concisely tell me what you think?"
"Eh...sure, alright..." Tacticus replied nervously to the request of staying.
A weak shrug left him as he stood there, not really sure on what to contribute to this. The whole matter was a strange one. They went from talking about farms, to a collection of things. At least this man had plans, Tacticus didn't really have any plans.
Akemi idly scritched at the Elysian wings of the robot soul and then stroked them mildly. "I could get off to this!" He squeaked with a happy interest in Tacticus.
Even though he had gotten used to his own fingers against the feathers growing out the wings, he didn't really have others touching them. Granted, he never said no one else could touch. It's just no one ever had tried to touch em before. So when feeling the foriegn finger tips against each feather and the skin underneath them, a high pitch sound left Tacticus; it wasn't a painfully loud high pitch sound, more like a squeak honestly.
"What's...that suppose to mean?" Tacticus questioned, all of his feathers were now sticking up.
Making them look puffier than they normally were. Course, he hadn't stopped Akemi. He wasn't hurting him and no feathers were begining forcefully ripped out. So...for now, things were okay.
"Elysian bumps..." Akemi cooed as he got little closer to Tacticus and lifted a leg up slightly as if ready to mount Tacticus' wing if it could happen. "I'm being very gentle," Akemi grinned, "Aren't I?"
"Wh..." Tacticus muttered, his voice showing confusion and a bit of fear. When Akemi saw that face of Tacticus' he pushed once towards him and then away, walked backwards, and tilted his head so that his raven black hair fell down in an inky wave. He had a pleasant smile on his face and put his hands behind his back, moving back and forth on his heels
He didn't know what was going on, he hadn't really looked into the species that he was currently in the body of. So there was a lot he didn't understand. Course, he didn't understand this whole little interaction. His red feathered wings remained puffed up as he stood there, staring confused at the man who had just started to act so strangely.
Course when the man pushed toawrds him a bit, Tacticus instinctively leaned back. His wings twitching uneasily now though he straightened once Akemi removed themself from him. Though he just stood there, giving a confused but now more nervous look to Uso. As if seeking some aid in what the hell had just happened.
"I just like you is all, you might have a great smile or something that humping your wings produces and I wanted to find out." Akemi said with a genuine smile and bow. "Thanks!"
The confused and nervous expression remained as Tacticus looked over to Akemi. Their reasoning... didn't help him get rid of thosw emotions.
"Uh...you're...welcome?" Tacticus replied uncertainly.
"Arigatou!!! So," Akemi said, turning, "Uso?"
"I think that is enough of you making Tacticus feel weird. Your expansion goals seem great, we'll see what we can do to make them happen."
Akemi didn't feel all that great about having to leave someone that was so apparently interested, but he had a good reason now to go achieve Uso's laissez faire style of government while she made the post-robot-sian feel comfortable. If there was one thing Uso was good at, it was taking an interest in starry eyed youths and watching their dreams crush around them. That's what Akemi saw Uso doing most often and he kind of wondered if Uso had any friends that stuck around very long after they found out that they couldn't complete all of their dreams.
It made Akemi pretty sad as he walked through the starport to think of all of the youngsters he had seen Uso trying to help throughout her time on this planet. He wanted them to grow in front of Uso's eyes. Maybe he would start a new charity for doing what Uso did or maybe he would set up some One Two Red Blue music lessons for Tacticus the once-bot. He made mental plans as he watched the beautiful starry sky of the planet.
