Seto stared down at the screen in front of him, his face tense with concentration. He had scribbled over many faulty designs in annoyance, struggling to figure out exactly what he wanted his own ship to look like.

It has to be a good ship, one that I can live comfortably on until I get back to Earth… He drew a line on the screen, but quickly backtracked with a frustrated huff. He tried a few more styles and shapes, only to cross them out again and again. Eventually he just placed his head in his hands and groaned.

"Having trouble?"

The half human turned his gaze upwards, and found Baulrad standing on the other side of the transparent screen. For a moment he debated on if he should tell the other alien to go away and that he could handle it himself, but that thought was quickly washed away. He's my mentor, he's already risked a lot to help me. If I want to get home sooner than later, I need his help. The least I could do is be honest with him.

With a defeated sigh, Seto nodded his head. He motioned to the screen in front of him half-heartedly. "I can't figure out the design. I've listened to what you've said, I know what I need. The bridge, the living quarters, the gravity generator… I know what I need, I just don't know where to put everything." He brought his hand back and ran his fingers through his longer hair. "It's so frustrating…"

Baulrad chuckled and sat down on the big metal chair as he scanned all of Seto's rejected designs. "It's okay to be frustrated, building your own spaceship isn't something that happens often. It's a pretty big milestone, it's okay to be nervous. I know I sure was!"

Seto leaned closer. "You were? Really?" His tone filled with surprise.

The alien blushed slightly and shrugged. "Yes, well, there was a time long ago when I was a childling preparing for my leaving ceremony…" His beady eyes gleamed with nostalgia.

"Leaving ceremony?" Seto echoed. He had been learning as much as he could about space, reading everything the computers gave him access to, but he'd never heard of that. "Is that a tradition from your planet?"

The large alien grinned in pride. "Yes, it is! On my home planet, when you come of age you are tasked to build a ship and travel the stars. Most people return, but some people find a love of the stars and travel for the rest of their days." He chuckled and patted himself. "I'm among those people."

Seto raised an eyebrow, and motioned to the workshop around them. "For someone who found a love for the stars, your ship doesn't see that much action."

Baulrad's face fell for the slightest moment, his eyes darkening at the mention of his grounded ship. As fast as the sadness had appeared, it vanished an instant later, and a pained smile took its place. "Well, I'm afraid space travel doesn't pay the bills."

The half-human stared at his mentor silently. He knew that he had struck a nerve, and that what he had just said was a lie. He didn't feel the need to push for the truth when it obviously hurt him. The least he could do for the man who had taken him in was respect his past.

So he simply motioned back to the screen of scribbled ship designs. "If that's the case, Mister Star Lover, then can you help me figure out how to make this ship correctly? I won't be a very good mechanic if I can't do that."

The large alien caught on to what he was doing easily and smiled. "Thanks, kid." He moved to the screen and erased all the old scribbles. "How about I show you the more common ship designs and then we work on your own?"

"Sounds good to me." Seto agreed, resting his chin against his hands.

The teacher and the student quickly fell into another lesson, happy to have each other to comfort and protect themselves from the bad memories that they both held within them.

As the ship design came together was allowed to begin his apprenticeship, Baulrad also gave him more tasks and duties. Soon, his world on the outpost became more than just the workshop and their small apartment.

The outpost was much bigger than it looked on the outside. The large metal sphere in the middle was the main hub for activity. There were shops, a small hotel, large screens, and several small spots to sit and call people on other planets. The whole area reminded Seto of the bustle of Domino City.

In the main sphere, you could also gain access to Baulrad's mechanic shop through the elevator, go upstairs to the power banks and gravity generators, or take the hallways to the six smaller spheres that each had separate purposes.

The first three were designated living spaces. The spheres themselves also were walled off in different areas with simulated environments, for aliens that may be more sensitive to heat or require moisture. Seto and Baulrad's own apartment was in the mechanic's shop in a separate room (since you never knew when someone might need a repair), so he'd barely visited those.

The fourth sphere was the cafeteria, which is where most of the people on the outpost got their meals. The apartments didn't come with conventional kitchens since the whole station was a cluster of different species with different cultures, it was much easier for the outpost to have one singular space for people to cook or grab food.

The fifth sphere was a mixture of things. Hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, a forest area, a pool, and even a desert area. One might assume that this was some luxury area, but it was more of a self-care spot. Just like with the simulated environments in the apartments, it was a place for aliens who were sensitive to certain environments to go when they needed to recharge or recover.

The sixth outpost acted as a work area for the more professional aliens and shipment of goods. The ones who weren't mechanics or shop owners, but did fancy work like developing products or pitching ideas to heads of companies on other planets. According to Baulrad, it wasn't used that often.

"I don't even know why Jug would waste money building something like that. Nobody who is that important comes all the way out here unless they're completely lost." Baulrad had complained one day while they carried a pile of parts through the hallway towards the main hub.

"Jug? Who's Jug?" Seto queried with a slight grunt as he adjusted the sheet metal in his arms.

Baulrad helped him keep a grip on the metal. "He's the owner of the outpost. Kind of an asshole, and he likes money a lot. The more credits he can make, the happier he is. But outposts cost a lot to run so he tends to cut corners, or build things he thinks will make more money and then they never get used."

"I dealt with people like that on Earth." Seto recalled the many old, greedy CEOs he had the displeasure of meeting whenever he had to attend some event. "They were always the same. So desperate for money they don't think about if it's actually a good idea or not."

The large alien let out a laugh. "That sounds like Jug alright! But don't you worry. He may be a little dumb with his credits every now and then, but he still takes care of his own. That's why I decided to work here in the first place."

Seto opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off as his foot caught on something and he fell forward with a crash, the sheets of metal he had been carrying clattering all over the hallway. His head spun after it hit the hard ground, and he let out a groan of pain.

"Seto!" He felt Baulrad's strong hands help him sit up. "Are you alright?"

The half-human hissed as he rubbed where his forehead had connected with the floor. "Yeah… I'm fine…" He pushed himself to his feet, thankful that his wounds were all healed.

Then, his sensitive Karalis ear twitched as he heard the sound of snickering. He searched for the source, and noticed a group of three other aliens leaning against the hallway, the one in the middle still had their foot outstretched, happily showing that they were the one that tripped Seto.

"What the hell's your problem?" The half human snapped, his mismatched eyes narrowed as he glared at the middle one.

The alien flattened his bet-like ears and sneered, revealing sharp, needle-like teeth. "My problem is you, you little freak." He pushed himself off the wall and stood with his clawed hands on his hips. "You should have been left out there to die!"

"Klupzut!" Baulrad exclaimed, his voice like a father disciplining their child. "How could you say that?!"

The alien waved his clawed hand at Seto. "Look at him, Baulrad! He's half-Karalis, he's one of them! You really want their kind on this outpost after all the planets they've taken over? After what they did to you?"

Seto felt Baulrad's grip falter, and saw the same pain lace across his face. But he quickly recovered and sent a harsh stare towards the three. "Seto is a victim of them just as much as the rest of us. He wouldn't do anything to hurt us!"

"Maybe his weak little earthling half wouldn't, but what about the monster half? What if that killer DNA takes over and he helps those bastards kill us all? Then what will you have, Baulrad? Nothing! Oh, but that's all you have already, isn't it?"

Seto wrenched his way out of his mentor's grip and shoved Klupzut backwards, hard enough to make the alien fall to the ground. He sent a furious glare down to the other alien, his Karalis ear flattened and one yellow eye glowing.

"You leave Baulrad out of this! He has nothing to do with your childish behavior. I don't care if you think I'm some kind of freak, that's your own stupid opinion. You think you'll scare us but tripping me and taunting us? Please. I've met children with more creativity."

Klupzut's two friends took fighting stances, and looked ready to pounce on Seto. But the looming shadow of an angry Baulrad made them hesitate.

"Leave, now." Baulrad ordered, his voice the angriest Seto had ever heard.

The two aliens helped Klupzut up, and then scurried away while glaring daggers at Seto the whole way. The main aggressor was slower as he walked past, his challenging expression remaining on the half human as he sneered. "Don't think you're safe. Baulrad won't always be there to protect you, freak."

"Does anything get through that empty head of yours?" Seto challenged right back with an unimpressed laugh as he leaned forward, their faces inches apart. "I took down a Karalis prison ship, I'm not afraid of you."

Seto could see the irritation in the alien's eyes, likely annoyed that the half-human hadn't been intimidated by his threats. He growled and spun on his heel, storming away without saying another word.

Once the bat-like alien was out of sight, Seto picked up the fallen metal sheets, and he and Baulrad returned to the safety of their workshop. They set the supplies they had picked up in their spots, and then returned to their work.

As the hours drew on, Seto felt his own insecurities building up to the surface. Then, his blue eyes caught sight of his reflection in the shiny metal. He stopped halfway through turning a wrench, his ear lowering slightly as those same bad feelings began to consume him.

On the opposite end of the ship, he heard Baulrad's drilling stop. The larger alien looked up and gave a worried frown. "You okay, kid?"

Seto went to answer, but quickly stopped himself. "It's stupid, nevermind…" He muttered, turning his wrench with more force than necessary as his glare remained fixated on his own reflection.

Baulrad's hand quickly grabbed the hand on the wrench, gently pulling it away. "Your own feelings aren't stupid, especially if you're hurt." His beady eyes narrowed. "Is this about what Klupzut said?"

The half-human sighed. Baulrad is too perceptive for his own good. He turned his gaze downwards and shrugged. "It's stupid. I know he's wrong, but… I am half-Karalis, and I hate it so much, after what they did to me, and... " He shuddered and suddenly looked up. "Am… Am I a monster?"

His mentor looked shocked. "Now how in the hell did you get something like that in your head?" He questioned, his tone one of sadness.

Seto felt his cheeks heat up in shame. "The Karalis, they've hurt so many people, just for the power, to be perfect." He spat the last word. "Now I'm part of them… I'm a freak... I'm not supposed to be, I should be a human, I should be on Earth. Maybe… Maybe I really am just a monster."

Baulrad stayed silent for a moment, and then motioned to himself. "Then what does that make me? Am I a freak too?"

"No!" The half human exclaimed. "It's- it's different!"

"I don't think it is. All aliens are a little odd, but that's what makes us who we are!"

Seto's ear lowered again. "I guess…"

The man placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, kid. You're brave, and strong. I know you are dealing with a lot, and it's understandable. But you have to remember that nothing is just black and white. Sure, the Karalis may be a group of evil conquerors, but that doesn't mean all of them are. You're an example of that."

"But I'm not-"

Baulrad cut him off. "I know, I know. You're not supposed to be a Karalis, but you are and you can't change what's already happened. The only thing you can control are your actions in the present. Your past self is set in stone, but the future you is not. Who do you want to be?"

Seto's eyes widened slightly as he realized what his mentor was saying. It would be difficult, especially when so many people held an understandable hatred for the Karalis. But he would show them, just like Baulrad said, that there were shades of grey they didn't see. He looked at the large alien, and gave a firm nod. "I understand… And I'll do my best."

The older man smiled, and ruffled his hair. "That's all I could ask you for, kid."

As he grew to accept the fact he was half-alien, Seto soon discovered that there were some interesting side effects that came along with that transformation. He already knew some, like his funky ear, his ability to breathe underwater, the ability to make his hand into a claw, among others. Still, it was a learning experience every day.

It was after repairing some tech for one of the aliens that lived in the hotter, more dry climate apartment buildings. Seto's alien skin had suddenly become unbearable to deal with, constantly itchy and feeling like it was constantly being prodded by needles.

A few hours into working on a gravity generator, he kept having to stop and scratch at the irritated skin. The painful feeling had gone from just his exposed skin, to also cover the rest of it.

Baulrad watched him with concern, and eventually set down the wrench he was holding. "Do we need to go back to the doctor, kid? You've been scratching a lot."

"No!" Seto snapped, feeling irritable out of nowhere. "It's fine, I just need… I need… Ugh, I don't know!"

The large man sighed and stood up, walking over to their shared desk, and picked up his large cup of water. "You told me once that you're able to breathe underwater, right?"

"Yes… But I don't know what that has to do with my stupid-" Seto let out a shocked cry as the cold water that Baulrad had been holding was suddenly dumped onto him, soaking his clothes and skin. "What the hell was that for?!"

Baulrad looked at him with a smirk. "Feel better now?"

Seto hesitated for a moment, and realized that in the places where the water had hit, his skin no longer felt as uncomfortable as before. His ear lowered and he let a sheepish grin arise on his face. "Much better. Thanks for that."

Baulrad set the cup down and made a satisfied noise. "No problem. But that means you need to make sure to stay hydrated and be careful in warmer climates, especially dry ones. It seems like you're an aquatic creature now, kid! Or is that a human thing?"

"It is not a human thing." Seto quickly corrected as he pulled off his soaking short, using the wet spots to clear any remaining irritation until a thought made him stop. "Then does that mean that the Karalis are?"

The larger alien made a curious noise. "I think it might!" He laughed and plopped down on the metal bench. "That's crazy, I never would have guessed that!"

"How come?"

"You know it better than anyone, the Karalis have experimented with their own DNA for generations. It's to the point that nobody really even knows what they originally look like, nobody even knows their home planet! You might be the closest thing to their true form that we have."

Seto's mismatched eyes widened as he brought up his green colored hand. He wiggled the fingers slightly, and let out an amused chuckle. An orphan turned CEO, and a human turned into a true Karalis… What an odd legacy to have!

Baulrad stood proudly, his hands on his hips as he took a huge gulp of air. "Ah, just smell that garbage. Have you ever seen a junk planet as beautiful as this one?" He asked as he turned his gaze downwards to look at Seto.

The half-alien young man scrunched up his nose in disgust as he stood knee-high in the garbage. He had known that Baulrad liked to scavenge for parts, but he hadn't expected to be dragged along this time to a planet completely covered in garbage.

He lifted up his boot and cringed as a black oily substance slowly sliding off of it. Seto let out a disgusted noise and looked at the older man. "Can I please go back to the ship?"

"We're here to get parts for your ship." Baulrad reminded him in a stern tone. "And scavenging is a good way to make some credits when you are in between planets. So, no, you're gonna stay here and learn!" He knelt down and began to dig through the junk piles.

Seto grumbled under his breath, but decided against reminding his mentor that the only thing his ship would be used for was getting back to Earth. He waded through the trash piles, occasionally pulling out something that caught his interest or looked like it would be useful.

Slowly the two mechanics gathered a rather impressive pile of discarded items in front of their ship. It consisted of wires, old electronics, metal in good condition, and even some items that weren't damaged in the slightest that they could use (or get a good price for.)

After Baulrad dragged over what looked like an old engine that someone had attempted to chew on, he wiped his grime-covered hands on his pants and made a satisfied noise. "I think that this should do it for now. Let's wash up and have some lunch."

"Coming!" Seto called from a nearby pile. He moved to walk towards the ship, but the reflection of light made him wince and stop. He cringed slightly and brought his hand to block the invasive shining.

His mismatched eyes curiously searched for the source, and noticed something colorful nearby. Against his better judgement Seto waded through the junk until he was standing above the colorful object. He knelt down, wrapped his arms around the item, and pulled.

After a few forceful tugs, the item was ripped free and nearly knocked Seto onto his back. He pulled the item closer, and let out an interesting noise. The colorful item wasn't some hunk of metal, but a small, broken robot.

The little robot was about the size of an average human head, with a spherical body that was flat on the very bottom and was made of a dark metal with white blue lines. There was a small black spike on the bottom (though it was more curvy than sharp), and a cracked screen in the middle of the spear.

Seto turned the little robot in his hands, letting his fingers pull at the blue stripes and revealing small storage areas that seemed to hold little arms with tools on them. "Wow… This thing isn't in that bad of shape, why would someone throw this away?"

"Seto!" Baulrad called again from the ship.

The half-alien young man jolted at the call, he had forgotten about lunch! He quickly hurried back to the ship and ran straight to his mentor, holding the robot in front of himself. "Look at this, I found it by the trash slugs."

Baulrad raised his unibrow curiously, his large hands taking possession of the broken bot. He turned it in his arms, examining the metal closely. "Hmm… I've never seen this kind of droid before. But this metal is pretty pricey, so it had to come from somewhere nice. I wonder how it ended up out here…" He moved to hand it back to Seto. "Good find! I bet we can make some good money off the parts!"

For some reason, Seto felt his heart twinge at the idea of taking apart the little droid. He held it closer to himself and frowned. "Or… I could try and fix it?"

The large alien looked surprised for a moment, and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not. The worst that could happen is that you can't. Considering we don't know it's origin, it may be hard. But I think you're stubborn enough to figure it out." He grinned, picked up a bowl of lightly cooked tentacles, and placed them down. "Now, eat your protein, and let's get back to the garbage."

Seto finally settled down, placing the little robot down by his feet, and dug into the meal. All the while, he thought about the weight against his legs, and felt his determination grow. If I can make a machine to solve the millennium puzzle, I can fix a little robot.

The next several days were spent with all his attention focused on trying to fix his newly acquired droid. Bauldrad didn't seem to mind, he even encouraged it.

"The robot is made of parts neither of us have worked with before, it's a good test to see how well you'd do if you ran into something like this outside of the workshop." He had told Seto while ruffling his hair. "It's always a good idea to challenge yourself. Helps your mind grow."

So he left Seto to his own devices, unless he had something he specifically wanted to teach him or learn from new ships that rolled through their shop.

The little robot turned out to be quite complicated. The spherical body was filled with different kinds of tools that folded super tiny. There were some computer parts, wires, and a few parts that Seto had no idea how to handle.

A few times, he had to ask Baulrad to explain things to him. But unlike when he was on Earth, he didn't feel ashamed for asking. He knew his mentor was a helping hand, someone he could rely on.

It took him a few weeks. After building a replacement screen, making wire replacements, and gaining some new burn scars on his human hand it was finally, finally done. All that was left was to let the robot charge and then see if they fixed him right.

The curiosity Seto had for the little droid seemed to latch onto his mentor as well, which meant that both he and Baulrad were sitting on the floor eagerly, waiting for the weeks-long project to finally wake up.

The half-alien had almost dozed off when he heard a gentle, musical note. Both he and Baulrad jumped, and scooted closer to the little droid. On the black screen, a little blue dot had appeared. The dot blinked three times, and then expanded and split in two. Seto realized with a start that those were the robot's eyes.

With a slight whoosh, the robot floating into the air. The black spike on the bottom now had a constant stream of blue rings going from the top to the bottom. Whoa… It floats! Seto grinned excitedly as he realized something even better. "It works!"

The robot made a beeping noise that sounded curious, and floated up to Seto. It released a series of varied electric beeping sounds and then waited patiently.

From behind him, he heard Baulrad's rumbling voice. "He said that he recognizes you as his creator, and he would like to know your name."

Seto spun around to face his mentor. "You speak robot?"

"Binary is the correct term, but yes I do."

The half alien rubbed at a spot on skin right behind his ear. "I thought that chip the Karalis gave me was supposed to help me speak and understand all known languages?"

Baulrad motioned his head forward. "That's the problem. Not a lot of people recognize Binary as a language because droids are sort of seen as lesser than us, not their own group of people. They can understand most every language, but their initial programming doesn't let them speak it."

Seto scrunched up his nose in distaste, his ear fin lowering. "That's stupid. How the hell do people understand their droids then?"

"Well, language chips exist. You can install them into your droids to program them for your language. But they're pretty expensive…" He rubbed his scruff-covered chin. "And I doubt they have Earth English, since your planet is technically not on the star maps."

Oh hell no. Seto did not spend weeks repairing his robot just for some stupid pejudice to make it so he couldn't understand him. He looked between the robot and the large alien, and then focused solely on his mentor.

"Can you teach it to me?" He asked hopefully. At the sight of his mentor's unsure expression, he quickly continued. "We have a robot that speaks Binary, and you understand it! We can take it slow, and you can help me learn it through experience. Please, Baulrad?"

The older alien scrunched up his face in thought, was silent for a near minute, and then let out a sigh. "Alright, Alright."

"Yes!" Seto exclaimed, unable to help feeling giddy like a child as he turned to his new robot. "Now that the language barrier can be worked on, I think it's introduction time, my name is Seto Kaiba. What's yours, little buddy?"

The robot quivered in excitement and let out an extremely long beep noise before continuing with several shorter ones. Seto looked towards Baulrad for an answer to what the floating droid was saying, and let out a snort of laughter at the sight of his mentor looking very overwhelmed.

"Uh… His name is 8LU76825990- I can't keep up!"

Seto laughed again as he looked at the little droid. "Okay, that name is pretty cool, but how about a nickname for simplicity?" He hummed, what would be a good name? "8LU… 8LU… Oh! How about Blue?"

"Blue?" Baulrad echoed curiously.

"On Earth…" He made sure to clarify for the robot. "Which is my home planet, the numbers and letters that make up 8LU kind of look like how you would spell B-L-U. So, Blue." He looked back at the robot. "What do you think?"

The little robot let out an excited whirring noise and Baulrad around Seto so fast it almost made him dizzy.

"Well! I'm guessing that's a yes then!" Seto grinned and gently grabbed the robot, pulling into a gentle hug. "Welcome to the family, Blue!"

Blue beeped curiously, and then slowly let a metal arm emerge from his side, using it to copy the hugging motion the best he could. Baulrad watched the scene with a fond eye, before joining in on as well, wrapping both the half-alien and the robot in a very comfortable hug to celebrate the arrival of their new droid companion.

A few months passed after that, with Seto and Baulrad continuing to build his ship, assist his mentor as a mechanic, and learn Binary with the help of Blue.

It was during this time that Seto was able to discern that Blue was likely some kind of research robot before he was discarded. The little guy had a scanner attached to his body, and he liked to scan everything he could to learn about it.

Then he would often fly over to both Seto and Baulrad to excitedly explain what he had discovered, while the two mechanics listened and nodded along.

His ship was coming along as well. It was big, so it took up a bit of space in the workshop. They wouldn't be able to move the ship outside the shop until they could have oxygen and a gravity generator. They were still missing several parts, but Seto didn't mind. As long as the ship could take him back home, he would be fine.

It was at the end of these several months that the trio took another visit to the trash planet, returning with plenty more items to sell. They washed the more valuable items, and put them in a bag to carry to the main hub.

"...Well I think you should have to clean the shop. You're my assistant after all, that's an assistant job!"

Seto made an offended noise. "Excuse you! If I remember correctly, I'm the one that saved you from the trash slug by throwing salt at it." He smugly turned to his robot companion. "Am I remembering that correctly, Blue?"

The droid made an affirmative beep, proudly carrying his own small bag (so he didn't feel left out).

Baulrad scoffed and rolled his beady eyes. "Just because your home planet also has slugs and you knew that would hurt it doesn't mean you aren't out of cleaning duties, because I did the-" His eyes drifted and then he froze. "What the…"

Seto's attention turned away from Baulrad and towards the center of the hub. There was a large crowd standing silently, looking up at the holograms around them. What was going on here?

The trio slowly migrated to the crowd, and turned towards the holograms themselves. Instantly, Seto felt his heart seize. "Oh, no…"

It was a breaking news report, the Karalis had taken another planet. It wasn't Earth, thank the gods, but they had still taken another. The population had fought back, but now two thirds of the population was dead. It filled Seto with rage. These bastards… Why? Why are they doing this? Why do they want to take over the galaxy?

Seto's ear fin flattened and he let out a low growl. "Bastards…" He muttered. "They won't take Earth, not if I have anything to say about it…"

He watched the screen for a moment longer before turning to look at his mentor… But he was gone. Seto froze, and spun around to search for him. When the crowd was void of the large, tusked man, he looked at his robot. "Blue, where did Baulrad go?"

The robot beeped, explaining that Baulrad's heart rate had skyrocketed and then he had gone back the way they had come.

Seto and Blue quickly hurried back to the workshop. They searched everywhere for Baulrad. The shop, the living area, even looked out the windows to the ships docked outside. But he wasn't there…

He was just about to run and find help when he heard Blue let out a loud whir. His robot companion floated over to a wall and beeped out several quick sentences.

"A false wall?" Seto repeated, moving over to the panel Blue was next to. He could see the smear of fresh oil on the wall, and formed his alien hand into a claw to pry the wall open. Behind it was a small hallway, and a light at the end.

He tiptoed down the hall, until he found himself in a large room with a huge, unfinished ship. He gasped in awe, he hadn't even known this was here.

His mismatched gaze turned to the right at the gentle blue glow, and he realized he had found him. Baulrad was sitting there, his eyes staring at a holographic photo. It was a younger looking Baulrad… and a child that looked a lot like him.

After a long silence, Baulrad's misty eyes turned towards him. "Do you remember when I told you about my kind's tradition, about how we build a ship to take a journey to the stars?"

The pieces of the puzzle came together quickly as Seto looked on the impressive ship. "This was your son's ship…"

The large alien nodded.

Seto took a gulp of air. "But… This ship was never finished."

Baulrad let out a shaky breath. "One day, the Karalis came to our planet. They attacked us a few weeks before my son's coming of age was due to happen. I wanted to run, to get away while we could. But my son… Bhlalda… He wanted to fight.".

Unconsciously, Seto's hand moved to clutch Greer's necklace as he continued to listen to his mentor.

"He was so brave, he inspired others to rise up too… But against the Karalis, they didn't stand a chance." Baulrad closed his eyes with a wince. "I… I was such a coward. I didn't fight with them. I know they would have killed me too, but at least I could have died fighting along with my son…"

"After that, I came here. I put his ship out of commission, and never traveled again. I didn't deserve it, not after what I did."

Baulrad let out a shaky breath and looked towards Seto. "But then you came along. You helped free dozens of prisoners from the Karalis, you survived the Karalis, and living on Derth for weeks. You want to protect your planet, just like my son. That… That was why I first agreed to help you. What I wasn't expecting along the way was to think of you as another son."

The man ran a hand across his face. "But with the Karalis taking more planets, I'm scared for everyone, but most of all you. I know you will fight to get home until your dying breath, but I don't know if I can handle losing another son. Not to them."

Seto stood silently, his hand squeezing the necklace right. Slowly, the half-alien moved to sit across from Baulrad on top of an old crate. He leaned against the back wall, his mismatched eyes misty.

"I barely remember my real parents. I was orphaned when I was young. Ever since then, I've always been the parent for my brother. I had to grow up fast, especially after we were adopted. My stepfather is no father. So, I guess I eventually gave up on the idea of family…"

He forced himself to continue, letting the emotion flow out. "But you… you took me in, you care about me despite the fact I'm half-Karalis, you teach me things I need to know. You've never hurt me, and have always been there to help. I think… You've become like a father to me… and I thank the stars every day that I was lucky enough to meet you."

Baulrad sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Bhlalda would have loved you, kid. I bet you and him would have found some crazy scheme to destroy the Karalis in a week. He was just like you. Brave, super smart, and strong."

Seto smiled, he saw that as high praise coming from Baulrad. He wasn't sure what to say in response, so he just blushed and whispered,"Thank you."

They sat in silence for several minutes before Baulrad placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself up. He walked over to the old ship, gently brushing some dust off. "You know, some of this metal is still good. I think it would work well on your ship…" He nervously glanced over. "If you wouldn't mind that."

The half-alien gave a shy smile. "I wouldn't mind one bit, Baulrad. I think that's a great idea."

After tireless hours of work, Seto's mismatched ship now had small patches of gentle green metal from Bhlalda's ship placed all over his almost completed one.

The colors were a disaster, but Seto found that he didn't mind. With the necklace from Greer, and the ship parts from Bhlalda, it felt as if the spirit of freedom would always be with him, given by two people who lost their lives for that cause.

"She's just about done now, isn't she?" Baulrad said, his hand resting on Seto's shoulder proudly. "What are you going to call her?"

Seto thought about the spirit and bravery that the people he knew in space had shown, the power and sacrifices they all had made, and came up with a perfect name in an instant.

"The Wyvern."