It was five minutes until the shift's end when Aturiel approached Reg with a worried look on his face. Reg's replacement at the smelter was getting suited up when Aturiel came up to Reg and tapped him on the shoulder.
Reggie hadn't really jumped, but he did turn his head swiftly. "Oh. What's up, man?" Reggie continued watching the display, watching for any pressure issues, or problems of any kind.
"I've been watching you today Reg, and you seem distracted. More than once you spaced a little, like your mind was on something else. You seemed so happy yesterday, what's going on with you today?"
Reggie sighed and tapped at a few more icons, keeping everything normalized. "Nothing major, Aturiel. I'll live. I just have a flood of things to do today."
"Come on Reg, you're the best human worker I have in here. I can't have you swinging back and forth between ecstatic and depressed all the time. I need you a your peak! Now if there's something wrong I'd hope you trust me enough to be truthful!"
"look," Reggie began, surprisingly calm suddenly as he turned to Aturiel, "I'll be fine. I told you, I just have a lot to do today, that's all. I'll be at my peak again in no time." As if to emphasize this, he fiddled with an icon without even looking at the display, regulating a small fluctuation.
"Ok, alright. I believe you bro. Just remember I can't afford to keep giving you half days and days off all the time! If there's something seriously wrong, I want to be the first person to know about it so we can handle it properly, ok?"
Reggie nodded. "You got it, my man." Reggie then turned back to his console, focused back on the panel. He really did need to get his mind in the game--and keep it there.
Once Reggie's shift replacement finished getting into his work clothes he patted Reg on the shoulder and gestured him toward the changing room where he could get back into casual clothes and clock out with his ID Card.
Reggie was quick to get his usual daily clothing on, knowing what the rest of the day had in store. He looked over to Aturiel after a couple seconds. "Something up, Man?"
"Yeah, I've been worried about the state of things lately. Our business has been booming lately, but I'm worried that all of that Tritanium is being used to build warships. I think we might be on the brink of war with the UHN."
Reggie sighed and rubbed his temples. "Well that's just fantastic," he replied, sarcasm lacing every word. "Like we need that..."
"I don't know for sure, but every time those haulers come in and take away our bricks of processed Tritanium, I get this terrible feeling of foreboding. All the ultimatums that we see on the news about the Alchemical furnace don't help. I don't know for sure, but I think that we might be in for an even bigger set of Tritanium orders in the near future."
"I can handle the orders," Reggie said, "but the sound of war isn't something I'd enjoy too much. I've got better things to do than worry about dying early. You know I wouldn't raise a hand to you or any other 'Two."
"Right, well we'll see what happens. Go get some rest and take care of that pile of things that's bothering you!"
Reggie nodded and began to head out, getting his jacket on and making his way out of the building
Once he made it out of the front doors and into the sunlight he'd see Kaira standing there to the left of the entrance waiting for him. A smile crossed her face when she saw him and she walked over and gave him a hug. "Hey Reg, ready for a little sightseeing?"
Reggie hugged back hard, but not enough to hurt her. "We've got a problem, Kaira."
Kaira's look of excitement faded into worry. "What, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Luxtra is missing, she never came home last night," he said quickly, practically not taking a breath, "and I'm thinking that she found the pride..."
"Oh no, that's bad. I've been around Venius's pride before, they're very violent and territorial. If your Luxtra tangled with them it could be very bad! We'll need to find her right away!"
Reggie nodded. "That was the plan, but I don't even know where to start except by the farms."
"How much land did you cover, and which quarter?"
"I'm not even sure, I was just gonna run through again. It was dark last time I looked, I could have missed her."
Kaira closed her eyes for a moment and tried to psychically locate Luxtra. After three whole minutes she sighed and opened her eyes with a dejected look on her face. "Well I can't find her psychically, not without some way for me to tell her apart from the rest of the numerous other Luxrays out on the plains. Do you have something of hers that I can use to get a fix on her aura with?"
"I doubt it, I've been wanting to buy her a collar, but she hates them...would her food bowl do? Jeez, I'm just lost..."
"Anything that she's touched within 72 hours will work. Come on, I'll teleport us over to your condo building. I remember where it is from yesterday." She said, offering Reg her hand again.
Reg took her hand gently, just looking at the ground. It would be faster than taking the tram anyway, and the sooner he got home the sooner he can begin the search.
The teleport was just as gut-wrenching as the first time, and it seemed to take just a fraction of a second longer than the last time before the world rematerialized around them again. They were standing in the lobby of the condo complex, just in front of the grav-lift. "I don't know which condo you live in Reg, so lead on."
Reggie swiftly stepped into the lift and had it take them to his floor as soon as Kaira was on board. He refused to let go of her hand, though -- it brought him comfort, and he needed that.
Kaira gave his hand a comforting squeeze as they walked down the hall. Her three fingers were still something different than reg was used to, but it still showed that she was worried about him. Once Reg had flashed his ID Card and the door slid open, she said "Ok, now just get me something she's touched recently! Anything will do!"
Reggie was quick to run into the kitchen area, searching for her food bowl. Blaze got off of the couch, eyes wide. "Well, at least Reggie is making new friends," said the Blaziken, chuckling.
"Oh wow, you can speak English! Impressive! My name is Kaira." She said, offering Blaze her hand.
Blaze shook her hand firmly. "What do you need? I noticed Reggie is killing himself looking for something in the cabinets."
"I'm going to help him track down his missing Luxray, and I need something that she has touched recently that I can use to read her aura with."
"Ah!" Blaze looked excited for a moment as he ran and grabbed the card from the desk in Reggie's room. "Reggie, stop looking, we have something better than whatever you still can't find!" Reggie ran up alongside Blaze, then immediately patted him on the back.
"At least one of us is thinking properly today. Thanks." Blaze nodded and handed the card over to Kaira.
Kaira saw the loving words printed on the card and stifled the urge to comment on how heartwarming it was. She found Luxtra's pawprint and put her hand on it, closing her eyes to concentrate for a moment. She stayed that way for several more moments, leaving Reggie and Blaze in silence.
Reggie and Blaze took a moment to look at each other, Blaze offering a comforting pat on Reggie's shoulder.
After a few more moments Kaira opened her eyes. "I found her, but she's a good distance away. I can teleport us most of the way but my energy is already partially drained from the last teleport and all of the searching I did, so we'll have to walk some of the way."
Reggie nodded, hope back in his eyes. "The sooner the better. Don't drain yourself too much, okay Kaira?"
Kaira took his hand again and teleported them a second time. This time it felt like they were hanging in limbo for a full second or two before re-emerging. Long blades of grass tickled their legs and a gentle breeze swept over them. Kaira suddenly looked a little pale. "Ok, follow me."
Reggie began to follow her as instructed, gently giving her hand a squeeze. "Kaira, are you okay?"
"Just a bit drained. I haven't teleported over distances like these for a long time and my abilities are a little out of tune from disuse." She said with a few deep breaths. "I don't use my powers for anything other than mind reading and healing at my job after all."
Reggie offered a smile, even though he was still worried. "Don't push yourself too much, y'hear?"
"Heh, don't worry. I know my limits. That's why I didn't take us the whole way! But It's sweet that you're worried about me. What about you, I think I can sense a little bit of tiredness in you, you weren't up all night searching were you?"
"Not searching ALL night," replied Reggie, shaking his head. "But I didn't sleep anyway." He took a look around as they were walking, hoping to find some sign of his Luxray.
Once they got closer to the site of the battle, evidence soon started turning up. There were burned patches of grass where lightning had struck and started small fires, and some grasses were torn up as if by claws of a whole pride running at full tilt.
"From what I can sense, the pride chased her for at least a mile." Kaira said, pointing to the signs of the pursuit
Reggie shook his head once more, fighting the urge to scream. "I hope we find her soon...this isn't good..."
They walked on for several more minutes until Kaira suddenly stopped and bent down to inspect the ground. She plucked a blade of grass and held it out to Reggie; it was encrusted with a layer of dried blood.
Reggie swallowed hard, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's just not good...not at all..." He looked up and glanced around again, now afraid of what he might find.
"Come on, I can sense her life energy now and it's very faint!" Kaira said, breaking into a sprint.
Reggie began running right behind her, eager to find his Luxray but afraid of what he'd find nonetheless
After running a good distance they finally came across Luxtra, who was laying unconscious in the tall grass. Her body was scorched from lightning strikes in two places and there were many many bite marks encrusted with dried blood. Kaira came to a halt and knelt down to examine her.
Reggie immediately knelt at her side. He couldn't tell if she was unconscious or not, and he was certainly afraid to find out. "Oh God..." He stroked her in one of few uninjured spots on her back, afraid to move her at all. "No no no no no...please no..." He took one of her paws and stroked it gently, leaning down and whispering into the Luxray's ear. "Can you hear me? You awake, girl? C'mon, gimme a sign or something..."
"She's out cold and fading fast. I'm glad I saved my energy and didn't teleport all the way, it means I'll have enough energy to psychically heal her." Kaira said, picking a bite mark and laying a hand on it.
Reggie nearly didn't hear Kaira speaking. He was still whispering into his Luxray's ear, stroking her paw and praying silently that she'd make it. After a few seconds, he gently placed his forehead against her cheek.
Kaira's hand glowed slightly for a few seconds and when she raised it, the bite mark was gone. She put it on another injury and repeated the process. "I think I have enough energy to get them all." Kaira said quietly.
Reggie called Luxtra's name once more, and she stirred, even if barely. "That's right girl, hang in there, we'll get you back in good health in no time, I promise!" He took her paw and gave it a soft kiss, and Luxtra began purring quietly. "You'll be okay..."
Kaira healed the burn marks next and flecks of charred skin and hair simply fell off in her hands as the new healthy skin grew back. Once she had finally finished, Luxtra slowly began to regain consciousness and Kaira looked even paler than before
Reggie looked up, still stroking Luxtra's paw. "Kaira, you're not looking too good. Let's get her home, somewhere familiar. I can barely carry Luxtra, but both of you would kill me. C'mon." Reggie slowly slid his hands under Luxtra. "This might hurt a little, girl, but don't worry. I'll be right here the whole time, okay?" The only response he got was a quiet purr and a weak attempt to lick his hand. "Can you help?"
Kaira put her arms under Luxtra and helped lift her up. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm just completely tapped after that. We'll have to walk the whole way...Unless...Hold on, let's put her down for a second."
Reggie shook his head slowly. "If you're planning on lifting her psychically, no." He smiled up at Kaira. "First off, you've used enough of your energy as it is. Second, she'll be more comfortable if I carry her. I'd always carry her around until she became the size of a lion," he added with a chuckle.
"No, that's not it. I think I have my digital pad with me." Kaira said, digging in the pockets of her shawl. "If I can just...there!" She pulled it out and began fiddling with it.
Reggie nodded, still holding Luxtra as he slowly set her on the grass. "What's on your mind?"
"I'm just sending a quick alert mail here..." Kaira said. A few moments later a bright green flash of light filled the air in front of them and Nolus appeared out of a teleport.
Reggie jumped, not expecting it at all. "Nolus!" Luxtra stopped purring almost instantly, apparently frightened by the sudden flash of light.
"I came as soon as I got the alert." Nolus said. "I'll take care of this." He bent down and laid a paw on Luxtra and finished healing her the rest of the way, bringing her back to complete health and restoring her energy.
Reggie looked in astonishment as Luxtra got to her feet, looking healthy once again. She walked in circles for a couple seconds, then rubbed against Nolus, apparently in thanks. "She's okay?"
"Kaira fixed at least half of the problems before running out of energy, I took care of the rest. She should be fine now." Nolus said, patting Luxtra on the head.
Shortly after Nolus finished speaking, Luxtra trotted over to Reggie and pressed her head to his chest, purring loudly as he wrapped his arms around her neck, shuddering as he buried his face into her mane
"You're lucky you got to her in time, from what I can tell she was practically at death's door." Nolus said, going over to share some of his energy with Kaira, who looked like she was ready to pass out.
"Thank you both," he whispered, his voice broken. Luxtra sat down, leaning against him and purring loudly.
"Anything for you Reg." Kaira said, kneeling next to him and putting an arm around his shoulders
Reggie fought several sobs back down his throat, still shuddering as he wrapped an arm around Kaira as well, resting his head against her shoulder. "That was easily the scariest moment of my life..."
"Well I gave you enough energy to teleport home, so I think I'll leave you kids be. Call me if you need anything else!" Nolus said.
Reggie nodded as Luxtra lied at both Kaira's and Reggie's knees, purring and occasionally nipping at Kaira's knee playfully. "Thanks Nolus," Reggie said, still slightly broken. "I'll catch you later."
"You know Kaira gave every last drop of her energy for you Reg," Nolus said telepathically into Reggie's mind, "That should tell you how lucky you are." Nolus waved and then vanished in another flash of green light, having teleported back home.
Reggie smiled at the telepathic message once he was gone, and gently tugged Kaira into a hug, resting his head on her shoulder as best he can. "Y'know something, Kaira?"
"What's that?" Kaira asked with a smile.
He gave her a gentle squeeze as he responded. "I really am very lucky to have someone like you."
She grinned and returned his hug. "Same can be said about me. Now then, you ready for me to teleport us back with the energy dad gave me?"
Reggie nodded as Luxtra still lied against his legs, still nipping at Kaira's knees. "Yea, I'm ready."
Kaira patted Luxtra on the head and closed her eyes to concentrate again. They teleported again for the third time that day, and this time appeared in the hallways right outside the door to Reggie's room.
Luxtra immediately stood up, most of her sticking on end, which ended up giving Reggie an intense laugh, both of relief and hilarity. "I've NEVER seen her fur do that since she was a kitten," he said between fits of laughter. Luxtra simply went into his room, shaking slightly, and began to groom her fur.
"So, are you going to introduce me to the rest of your family?" Kaira asked.
He immediately nodded and rattled off the names of his crew. Tiger was first to tackle Reggie, as always. Nadien and Kip were next, and they all refused to let Reggie up, parking on different parts of his body with Tiger on his chest. "Guys, I DO need air too," laughed Reggie. Blaze was next, and he was certainly puzzled.
"How did you get up here without me noticing," asked Blaze.
"Teleported," was Reggie's simple reply.
"That was me!" Kaira said with a laugh, raising her hand like a kid in a classroom.
Blaze chuckled and picked tiger up so Reg could finally sit up, kip and Nadien perched on a knee each. "I never did introduce myself, Kaira. I am Blaze." He extended a hand once more.
"Nice to meet you. Did Reg teach you how to speak?"
"No, I went to school with him. Graduated with him as well."
Reggie nodded, smiling. "We've been through kindergarten all the way through high school."
"Wow, you guys have been friends for a long time! Not too many Pokemon make it through the human education system all the way." Kaira said, obviously impressed with Blaze
"Dedication can take anyone anywhere," said Blaze with his usual whistle. "I learned that at school as well."
"It's nice to meet you all!" Kaira said graciously. "Now how about that sightseeing trip we discussed earlier?"
Reggie nodded excitedly. "I'm all for it! Just let me go pester Luxtra again real quick, alrighty?"
"Sure, go ahead. We've got the rest of the evening after all!"
He smiled and went into his room, noticing that Luxtra was still trying to straighten her fur out. He began to stroke her, helping fix her fur and just to comfort her. "I'm buying you a collar, you know that right?" Luxtra grunted a response as Reggie continued. "We'll both go and pick one out tomorrow, that way you have one you like. Sound good?" Luxtra nipped at his hand then licked it, purring. "Good. I love ya girl. I'll see you tonight."
Reggie gave Luxtra another squeeze before he went back into the hall. "Ready when you are, Kaira!"
"Yeah, same here. I don't have energy left again, so shall we take the train?"
He nodded and turned to Blaze. "Feel like babysitting again?"
"Of course. You have your fun, I'll hold the fort down. You owe me big, though," laughed Blaze finally.
"Yea yea," responded Reggie playfully, "I'll keep it in mind, ya bum." He then turned to Kaira and gave her a massive hug. "Thanks again for the help. Shall we head out?"
"Yeah, you use the train every day so go ahead and lead the way!" She said, returning his hug and letting go so he could head out first.
Reggie swiftly climbed out of the train, his hand gripping Kaira's amidst the bustle of other egressing passengers. "You know the way to the tower, right?"
"Actually, When I told you we should wait to get off until a different stop, it was because I know there was a station in the tower's basement! We can find an elevator straight to the top!" Kaira said, leading him through the station.
"Oh, well lead on then," he said, laughing as Kaira lead the way.
Kaira pushed her way through the crowd and eventually they found a public elevator that wasn't occupied. She pushed the button for the top floor and the doors slid closed. There was another window but they could only see wall through it since they were still underground.
"Oh," Reggie said, smiling. "I forgot we're going rather high with this one too. A mile and a half, right?"
"Yup! This will take a bit even at a decent clip." Kaira said as the elevator kicked into motion and floors started moving past the window
"Well, this'll be one heck of a view, now won't it?" Reggie smiled and kept looking out the window, waiting to see how fast they'd be rising.
The floors that shot down past them seemed to accelerate at a frightening rate, and the grav-lift that operated the elevator hummed louder and louder. Eventually they passed through a section of roofing and the city appeared through the window, quickly dwindling underneath them as they rocketed upwards
"Holy--that's fast!" He stepped back, momentarily surprised, and nearly bumped into Kaira. He slowly approached the window again, hands against the frame, and watched as everything grew smaller.
Kaira came up beside him and looked out the window as well. After a few seconds the tip of the Sativan Tower became visible in the east and the Nascan Tower in the North, both just barely poking into view through the haze. "Hey look, there's our tower!"
He laughed and tried pointing towards it. "I see it, I see it! It DOES feel small from here, wow!"
"Teyn is an amazing city, the tip of this tower is only a few dozen feet from the siege shield that covers the city. Not close enough to reach out and touch, but still pretty close!" Kaira said proudly.
"That is so cool," Reggie said, still staring out. "Here's a fun question for you: what would happen if I DID touch the shield?"
"It'd feel like grabbing a power line." Kaira said with a laugh. "You'd barely have a hand left."
"Oh, well that's...nice..." He chuckled slightly. "Why is information like that usually amusing?"
"Years of slapstick comedy on the TV I think. Say, how would you like to take a trip up into orbit?"
Reggie spun around to face her, amazed. "You can do that?! How? Where? When?"
"We can rent a small shuttle and take a ride up to see the K'tellian space station, there are lots of ships for hire up at the spaceport at the top of the tower!"
"That's gotta cost a fortune though," said Reggie, "I can't see that happening anytime soon."
"Well I'm the daughter of one of the 4 founding brothers! I'm not exactly poor." Kaira said with a tinge of shame, as if admitting one of her own personal character flaws.
"I know, but even still. Dinner I can see, but I couldn't let you pay for a shuttle ride, at least not the whole thing. I'd have to help out somewhere, Kaira."
"Hey, didn't you say that you weren't gonna be stubborn ALL the time?" Kaira said with a sideways grin. "Don't I get a turn?"
Reggie laughed heartily at her response. "I guess you do." Reggie smiled and brushed his hair back. "Something is gonna die inside of me, I know it," he said with a chuckle.
The elevator finally slid to a stop and Kaira gestured to Reg to follow her. "How much do you know about the 8 space stations around Earth Reg?"
He followed behind her, remembering back to his high school years. "I know that they were built by Ares for the Blue River, a sort of gate for dimensional travel, right?"
"That's right. The Blue River is basically a massive dimensional rift molded into the shape of a ring that orbits the Earth, and the 8 space stations are what operate it and keep it stable and up and running. Whenever someone needs to send a ship through, they encase it in a G diffusion field and inject it into the ring portal, at which point it accelerates to near-light speeds and orbits the Earth completely a few hundred times before being spat out in the target dimension." Kaira explained as they walked through the halls towards the spaceport.
"Thank Heaven for G-diffusion. Being a splatter on the back wall isn't something I'd consider healthy." Reggie shook his head at the thought as he followed close behind. "Can't say I've ever been in space before, so this'll be fun!"
"It costs even more to actually ride the Blue River though, so for now we're just going to go sightsee around the station." Kaira said as they emerged into a bustling lobby. "Besides, I have a nifty idea for something we can do that'll blow your mind!"
"If this is another prankster-type idea of yours, then this'll end up more fun than I originally thought." Reggie playfully tugged on her hand, still following beside her. "I won't ask you to spoil the surprise though."
They squeezed their way through the crowd and eventually made it up to a reception desk. A somewhat stressed looking K'tellian behind the counter addressed them. "Commercial or tourist departure?"
"Tourist please, we want a small shuttle for a little sightseeing. Private." Kaira said, pulling out her ID card.
"2500 Credits." The receptionist said blandly, and scanned her card.
Reggie very nearly tripped on his own feet when he heard the price. He whispered so that the receptionist wouldn't hear. "Yea, something inside of me JUST died," he said with a soft chuckle.
"I told you, it's nothing!" Kaira said, putting her card away once the receptionist finished scanning it.
"I'll take your word for it, Kaira," he replied, the smile never leaving his face.
"Your ship is in dock 7B, port 35." The receptionist droned. "It's ready to leave whenever you are.'
"Thanks, we'll have it back in one piece, I swear!" Kaira joked, leading Reg away.
He followed close behind, eager to get onto the shuttle. "I'm very tempted to ask just what you have in mind. But I won't."
They walked on for several more minutes, passing into a branch of passageways that emerged from the top of the tower where ships could dock. The main hallway had a transparent floor that Kaira pointed to. "Take a look, you can see the roofs of the city buildings down below us now!"
Reggie inched a bit closer to Kaira, the transparent floor just enough to frighten him a bit. "Wow, that's one heck of a view..."
They walked on a little more before leaving the main hallway and heading down another branch, reaching a smaller airlock with an ID Card reader. Kaira flashed her card again and the computer beeped for a few seconds before the airlock doors swished open and granted them access.
Reggie smiled with anticipation, nearly bouncing as he walked. He had never been this high up, nor had he ever been in space. He was very eager to give this a shot, and seeing the planet from outside the atmosphere was bound to be an amazing sight for him to behold.
The inside of the shuttle was very cramped, the receptionist had noticed that there were only 2 people in their group and allocated them a 2-person craft. The walls were an even flat Tritanium silver color and the seats were much bigger than human size, having been designed to accommodate Mewtwo anatomy. There was even a big hole in the back of Reggie's seat where a tail would normally fit through. Kaira gently made herself comfortable in the pilot's chair and gestured for Reggie to sit next to her.
He was certainly eager to sit next to her, but something else had caught his attention. "Okay, on top of being the most awesome girl ever, you're royalty AND a pilot?!"
"These private shuttles are pretty easy to drive, it's not too much harder than driving a modern hover car. It just requires a few extra lessons and an exam. Besides, 78 years gives you a long time to develop various skills!" Kaira said, pulling a secure harness over herself and clicking it in place tightly.
Reggie began pulling his own harness in place as well, laughing. "You have a good point. Why does this feel big on me?" He laughed, knowing the answer, but feeling a need for a wisecrack. "And I like how they have premade holes, just in case I get the crap scared outta me."
"That's for a tail, which you don't have, and it's the reason why I couldn't take you through the Blue River in this shuttle anyway! Can you imagine what the G forces would do to you when there's a big hole in your seat? You'd be pulled right through even with the G diffusion field!"
He laughed loudly at the thought, doing what he can to tighten his harness as best he can. "I know, but still. Amusing to think about."
Once Kaira was sure they were both properly secured she reached down and pressed the only physical button on the control panel. The little holo projector lens on the console sparkled to life and an entire holographic control panel appeared in front of Kaira, complete with holographic steering sticks and digital status readouts on the rest of the ship.
Reggie found himself drawn to the holographic console. Somehow, even after working with one during his time at Montalbo, this had amazed him. "That's wild..."
"You should see some of the control systems they have in the bigger ships!" Kaira said. "I was on a massive freighter once and their bridge had a huge holographic diagram of Earth that you could plot a course on just with the stroke of your hand!" Kaira said, examining the readouts before launch.
"That's just amazing! Those things still surprise me..."
Kaira ran a few more pre-flight checks, then psychically contacted flight control to get clearance to take off. Once she had obtained it she hit the holographic button to activate engines and a smooth loud humming filled the cockpit as the ship burst to life.
Reggie simply gripped his seat, eager to get moving. "How fast can this thing go anyway?"
"I don't know, I've never flown this model before. Want to find out?" Kaira said with a mischievous grin.
Reggie smiled and put on a grin of his own. "I say punch it."
"Heh, you got it!" Kaira said with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. She hit the holographic button for undocking and there was a gentle thump and a clang as the clamps released.
Kaira slammed the holographic sticks forward they were both shoved back into their seats as the shuttle accelerated upwards. Several other smaller ships and a large freighter whizzed past them and the clear blue sky filled the viewport in front of them.
"HAHAHA! GOGO!"
Kaira pushed the engines into the red and they rocketed upwards faster and faster. The sky quickly started to fade out into darkness as they pushed into higher altitudes and the readouts beeped furiously. "Whoohoo! This one's got a kick!" Kaira shouted excitedly.
"Dang right, she does!" Reggie laughed and applauded as the expanse of space became more visible. "This is AWESOME!"
Once the atmosphere had faded away sufficiently a thin little line of blue light became visible in the distance. Kaira pointed to it eagerly and said "Look, there's the Blue River!"
Reggie immediately looked towards it, excited. "It's amazing...wow!"
The little blue line of light quickly grew in their perspective as they approached, turning from pencil-thin to at least 100 feet in diameter. It was a huge maelstrom of churning blue power, half encased with a series of power collection grids, that looked as if it could burst from its containment at any moment. A few more miles distant Reg could see the shimmering lights of the K'tellian space station, along with the lights of several large ships around it.
"Kaira," asked Reggie quietly, "How often do you do this?"
"Not very often, I think it's been about a year since I've been up here." Kaira replied, not taking her eyes off of the viewscreen.
"I think I know where to put my trip money," he said with a chuckle. "This is unbelievable...thank you for taking me out here."
"Heh, here you are with your mind blown and I haven't even gotten to the best part yet!" Kaira said with a snicker. "Wait until we get to the station, you'll be able to see the Alchemical Furnace that the UHN has been so upset about recently!"
Reggie began bouncing yet again, smiling wide. "I can't wait!"
It took a few more minutes before they reached the station, but the whole thing was so large that it was clearly visible even from such a long distance. The bottom half was mostly T shaped, with a large hexagonal juncture that connected to the Blue River and a disc-shaped top. The top half was one massive spherical Tritanium dome that housed the furnace. It had several small cooling chambers sticking out of it and a large door on the top where reactive matter could be added to the chamber and melted down. There were several large shipyards hovering in space around it with large warships in various states of construction, and thousands of different sized freighters milling about carrying the raw materials output by the furnace.
"Well, it's NOTHING like I imagined..." Reggie leaned as far as he could (which wasn't far) and watched the Furnace, staring at it in pure awe. "It's huge..."
"It can process about 50 tons of matter at full capacity, it's Lord Opulous's pride and joy." Kaira said with patriotism leaking out of her voice again.
"Apparently rightly so."
They flew through the swarms of freighters and got closer to the furnace. Reg could see the individual cooling chambers sticking out of the main hull where the subatomic plasma was allowed to reform into matter. Some of the chambers were open and disgorging huge blocks of various solid metals and other raw materials, while others were closed and operating furiously with several lines of coils glowing bright blue on their surfaces.
Having never seen the Furnace this close, or at all, all he could do was stare in awe and occasionally sputter bits of words that sounded like amazed praise, but always got caught on his tongue before dying out. He was already pressing against his harness, but he hadn't realized it as he attempted to lean further forward.
Kaira took them in a full circle around it before flying upwards to get a good view of the top. There was a cylindrical no fly zone around the big double doors at the top where civilian craft weren't allowed, so Kaira parked them right at the edge so they could watch. A large freighter ship had just arrived after a long trip from the solar system's asteroid belt and it was towing a massive asteroid behind it. Its engines were blaring away at full capacity as it struggled to haul the massive craggy hunk of rock towards the doors to the furnace.
"Wow, check it out! It looks like we might get to see them putting a new dose of fresh matter into the reactor!" Kaira said excitedly.
Reggie, already leaning in as far as he can, struggled against his harness as he chuckled. "This'll be good!"
The freighter's horizontal thrusters burst to life and slowly spun it around so that the asteroid was brought around to the doors, and a blindingly bright line of light appeared as the doors began to crack open. Their shuttle's viewscreen automatically dimmed to keep it from blinding them, and the light brilliantly illuminated all of the carious caverns and crags on the asteroid's surface in a wash of intense whiteness.
Reggie instinctively squinted despite the dimmed screen, but opened his eyes back up to watch the spectacle. It was sheer brilliance to him, a completely new experience. He glanced at Kaira who seemed to be enjoying herself as well, which brought some warm feelings inside of him. He looked back towards the Furnace, taking in every moment, knowing he wouldn't forget it.
The light of the reaction inside the furnace poured out unrelentingly as the doors spread open completely, and the freighter slowly fired its thrusters to shove the asteroid inside. Once the asteroid was only a few dozen feet away from the entrance the back end of it began to heat up bright red, then white as the column of heat from the furnace began to hit it. It was halfway to liquification when the clamps that held it to the freighter burst free with a few tiny explosive charges, propelling it the rest of the way inside. Its shadow only blocked the column of light for a few more seconds before it was entirely vaporized into plasma inside the furnace, and the double doors quickly crawled shut before any of it could leak out. The rear end of the freighter was glowing red slightly too and venting clouds of boiling coolant as it quickly flew away to cooler space.
"I don't think I've ever seen THAT happen before." Kaira said with a satisfied nod, "It was totally awesome."
Reggie laughed loudly as Kaira spoke before replying. "I haven't seen ANY of this before, and it definitely IS awesome!"
The lights all over the entire station dimmer for a second, and then turned back on at double their original intensity as the reaction chamber adjusted to handle the new fuel and Kaira watched a bit longer before turning the around and flying back down to the bottom of the station.
"We've been so occupied sightseeing that we still haven't gotten to that really kickass surprise I promised you! Are you ready for an even wilder ride than our takeoff?"
Reggie laughed even harder, though even he wasn't completely sure why. "I think that's the first time you've ever cursed in front of me! But yes, I am!"
"Well I'm not out in the general public anymore am I? Now let me just fiddle with these controls here and we'll be ready to go." Kaira input a few co-ordinates into the holographic panel and then began to unbuckle herself from her seat.
Reggie looked over, still laughing slightly. "What are you doing? If it's gonna be a wilder ride, I'd think surviving it would make it more fun!"
"Oh, you'll see. Get yourself unbuckled too and follow me, we're going to take a little space stroll!" Kaira said, finishing her fiddling before climbing back towards the airlock.
He was quick to unbuckle his harness and get right behind her, a wide smile on his face. "Ohhh, no way, you're kidding!"
"No joke! I may be low on energy still right now, but these shuttles are designed with space walkers in mind. If I put my hand here in this little console there's a Triton 3 inductor that'll give me a psychic recharge. I'll make a psychic bubble to keep in breathable air and heat, and we'll have no big space suits obstructing our view!" Kaira said, pointing to the console.
Reggie was now hopping with excitement, laughing. He quickly realized how easily Kaira was able to pull out the kid in him. It felt fantastic to forget all of his worries and just let loose and have fun. "Let's do this!"
Kaira stuck her hand inside the little indentation in the holoconsole and it glowed brilliantly blue for several seconds. After she was done recharging she lead him into the airlock, created an airtight psychic bubble, and filled it with every molecule of oxygen that she could pull out of inside the airlock. She psychically pressed a few buttons on the control panel and the outer door opened up with a violent hiss.
"Ready? On three!" Kaira said, stepping towards the open outer door with him
Reggie smiled and took her hand, still anxious to leap. "On three. I'm rather tempted to just say 'three'."
"Well why not! Three!" Kaira said, and they both took a flying leap out of the door. The artificial gravity holding them down vanished the moment they leapt from the ship, and they gently spiraled together inside the transparent bubble into the vast blackness. Kaira simply let them drift for a few moments so Reggie could enjoy the feelings of weightlessness.
And enjoy it he did. At first he tried to grab nothing in particular, but quickly figured out that there really was nothing to grab. He then just lied flat, spinning slightly. "Woo, I have no idea where I'm going," he said with a laugh.
Kaira mimicked a swimming motion with her arms and legs, not getting anywhere, and laughed along with him. "This is fun and we haven't even gotten around to the exciting part yet!"
"And what, my dear lady, is the exciting part," asked Reggie with a grin.
"Well, you remember I told you that the Blue River acts as a massive matter accelerator as well as a portal right? We don't necessarily have to be inside it to feel its effects, we can just fly close to it!" Kaira said, finally taking control and flying them up towards the blue maelstrom.
"Oh God, ohgodohgodohgod," Reggie repeated, getting louder and laughing more the nearer they got to the Blue River, "This is gonna be NUTS!"
The swirling azure storm started pulling on them immediately once they passed a certain distance and it dragged them both forward at a speed that made them both fall back against the boundaries of the airtight bubble. Kaira had to be careful to control how close they got, otherwise the G forces would make them pass out as they accelerated faster and faster, pressing harder against the back of the bubble. The space station quickly shrank and vanished behind them as they blasted through space leaving a lavender contrail of Kaira's aura behind them.
Reggie was quick to look back, watching the station shrink in the distance as they accelerated. He laughed loudly, enjoying the feeling, and finding it funny to be pressed against the back of a bubble in space.
They kept on accelerating faster and faster, until the Earth seemed to start spinning faster than normal underneath them as they orbited. Soon the lights of a whole different space station came up in front of them and Kaira had to pull away to avoid hitting it.
"Whoo! We just covered a few thousand miles in less than a minute!" Kaira laughed, her face pale from the blood being forced out by their acceleration.
Reggie joined in her laughter, slightly dizzy but enjoying himself just the same. "That was absolutely nuts!"
"We're not through yet, not until we make an entire orbit!" Kaira said enthusiastically. They weaved around the station and zoomed back in close again, picking up even more speed. "This river doesn't flow the other way, and it'd take much longer to fly on my own power back!"
"Oh, I'd imagine so," screamed Reggie as they picked up speed once more. "I'm definitely saving up for another trip like this!"
Kaira made sure that the magnitude of their acceleration never got dangerously high, but they still kept gaining velocity until the Earth seemed to twirl below them and they passed three more space stations in quick succession. After several more seconds she let them drift away from the Blue River to coast on momentum alone, still streaking through space, and they began to descend towards the atmosphere. "Guess what we're going to be using as a brake!" She yelled
Reggie's face twisted into a wide smile, a sort of incredulous happiness. "No way...just no way," he yelled back, laughing. "Ohhhh, this'll be good."
The Earth quickly swelled up beneath them as they plummeted downwards and Europe passed underneath them. Kaira took him by the hand and spread her arms out like a skydiver as the atmosphere began to scream over the bubble in huge tongues of flame. Soon they couldn't see anything other than the massive orange glow around them and the roar of the friction filled their ears, drowning out Kaira's exhilarated yells.
Reggie gripped her hand tightly, spreading his own limbs as well, screaming at the top of his lungs, seeing if he can beat the scream of the friction, not quite succeeding. Nonetheless, he kept screaming as loud as he could out of pure enjoyment.
By the time the flames died down they had already passed the rest of Europe and all of North America and were screaming through the sky across the pacific, the air still roaring past them deafeningly and clouds lashing across the bubble. The ocean sparkled beautifully below them as they rocketed west towards Japan. Suddenly Reg heard Kaira's soundless telepathic voice inside his head, "Now grab both my arms and hold on tight!"
Reggie gladly did as he was told, holding on tightly and unable to stop laughing as he watched the world fly by at such speeds.
Kaira drew him in closer and created a short horizontal boost that sent them into a crazy spin, the two of them shooting through the air together like a missile. Slowly the shores of K'telle crept up on the horizon as the atmospheric friction against the bubble slowed them down, and Kaira gently halted their spin as they zipped up over the shore and over the K'tellian grasslands, now only suspended a few hundred feet in the air.
Breathing heavily, winded by his own laughter and screaming, Reggie glanced up at Kaira, wild excitement still in his eyes. "Am I dreaming or did all of that just happen?!"
"That was as real as the ground below us! It took most of the energy I got from the shuttle, but here we are!" Kaira said, now flying them both towards Sativa on her own power as the last bit of momentum faded out.
"If we weren't in plain view," said Reggie as he gave Kaira's hand a gentle squeeze, "I'd hug you and never let go until my joints rotted away."
Kaira glanced around quickly for any ships or hovercars in the air around them, and since they hadn't quite made it over the city yet, she hugged him anyway. "Just until we make it to the Sativa Siege Shield." She whispered.
Reggie gladly wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he could. "Better than not at all."
