Chapter 97: Nightmares? What Nightmares?
"Hello, Sha Shou; how are you today?" said his pet. At first, Au’dtair was not sure who she was talking to until the small fighter craft answered her.
"Very good, Mei Xing. But Sha Shou is currently studying the ships that are available to purchase or steal and is unable to take you back to Jun Li. If it is okay with you. I will be your pilot today," came a male mechanical voice over the speakers.
The voice sounded similar to Saalistaja programming, but at the same time, very much not. However, Au’dtair finally learned his pet’s name: Mei Xing.
"That will be perfect," his pet smiled as she rested her head against the back of her chair. "Now, can you give me an idea of what I am walking into?"
"I am unfamiliar with the expression ’walking into.’ I have also determined that you are not, in fact, walking, let alone at risk for walking into something," replied the male voice, and Au’dtair was happy that he was not the only one not to understand what his pet was trying to convey.
"Sorry," she chuckled. "Earth sayings are a bit weird, but you will pick them up quickly enough. ’What am I walking into’ simply means what can I expect once we get back to Jun Li. In most cases, it implies something negative."
"Ah, I understand," came the male voice as the fighter craft lifted off of the ground and started to take off. "In this case, you are ’walking into’ a meeting with Pippa and Stargazer as well as a client that wants to meet a day sooner."
"Understood, thank you," his pet replied. She seemed to like to say those words a lot.
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"If I may ask," came the hesitant voice of Sha Shou 2.0, "Why are there so many voragyvis on board?"
"There are no voragyvis on board," I answered back. I was going to keep them all, but I just didn’t want to deal with Jun Li on top of everything else right now. So, when in doubt, deny, deny, deny.
"But I read 21 voragyvis," replied the X94.
"You are reading none, understood?" I continued to press.
"I don’t understand," said the X94, and I chuckled. As long as this one didn’t get infected with the AI bug, I was all good.
"You don’t need to understand. Just erase the 21 other signatures onboard and make sure that Jun Li can’t find them," I said with a shrug. I could have sworn that there were only 20 Nightmares on the ship, but I had probably miscounted when they all ran inside. Anyways, Jun Li was big enough. They could disappear into the ship, and he would never notice them.
"Actually, keep one Nightmare signature on board. Night will probably choose to stay with me," I clarified. It would seem too suspicious to erase everything when there was clearly one of them with me.
"Understood. Erasing the other 20 signatures, leaving only your own and one voragyvis," replied my fighter craft, and I nodded my head in approval. It was so nice to deal with programs that didn’t talk back to you every chance they got.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome. Approaching Jun Li. We have been approved for landing in Bay H," said the X94.
Just as he finished speaking, I finally saw Jun Li appearing from the darkness, the lights of the different rooms and floors sparkling like little stars in the sky. I was going to miss the planet, but at the same time, I was definitely looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed.
Camping was not for me. No matter how much I wanted to pretend otherwise.
"You’re back," came Jun Li’s voice over the speakers. "And brought a voragyvis with you."
"I know you don’t approve, but Nightmare is the sweetest, cuddliest thing ever. And while he might hurt a fly, I think you are perfectly safe from him," I said, trying not to laugh at my own joke.
"Whatever," snapped Jun Li. "I need you inside to deal with that fucking human."
"Which one? There are 11 of us, after all," I said with a smirk. The X94 had gracefully landed, and the reach hatch and ramp were already opening, allowing all of the voragyvis but Night to disappear.
"Pippa Flynn has been requesting your presence for the past few hours," grumbled Jun Li as I undid my seatbelt and left the ship. A quick look around the docking bay reassured me that everyone was out of sight.
"That’s nice. Tell her that it is only polite to make a request for an appointment with my secretary," I continued, strolling down the short corridor to my room with Night in my arms. Opening the door, I deposited him gently onto the floor before I stripped myself and jumped into the shower.
I was definitely smelling more than a bit ripe after a few days without a shower. However, I also understood that Jun Li wouldn’t be able to hold Pippa off forever, so I rushed through my routine and quickly found a cute outfit to put on.
Yes, it was still made from the bullet-proof fabric, but when you had as much of it as I did, you could spare some fabric for everyday use. Not like this dress was everyday wear. But hell, after wearing the same outfit for three days, I was entitled to wear a random ballgown.
The one that I chose was definitely a standard ballgown with a strapless sweetheart neckline and a single long sleeve on my left arm. There was also a slit on the left side of the skirt that went all the way up in a diagonal to my thigh.
Yeah, after wearing a catsuit and armor for a few days, I was ready to go to the opposite end of the spectrum as soon as I could. Maybe tomorrow I would go for jeans and a sweater, but I made no promises.
The comms inside my room continued to go off, but I ignored it as I got dressed, put on makeup, and did my hair. Everyone could wait, and if they didn’t want to, well, then that was on them, not me.
