Trystan's Star - Ch. 6

Trystan's Star - Chapter Six

Trystan settled into the cockpit with a smile on his face.  It felt good to be back where he belonged, behind the stick instead of under the hood, so to speak.  With a flick of the switch and a quick entry on the keypad the engine was revving to life, the quad lifting off the ground just enough for the landing gear to clear.  While the gear retracted into their respective housings, he turned to face Esie, who stood beside him, the cockpit still open for the moment.  "Purring like a kitten!"  He grinned at her, not even considering if the Namphus was familiar with the phrase.  Technically, the quad's engine sounded nothing like a purr, but rather much more like a jet turbine, but it conveyed the intent well enough.

"Well, it certainly should be."  She had to raise her voice to be heard over the quad but she wanted to give him a few instructions before he sealed the cockpit.  "Play with it gently until you get the feel of it, then open her up and have at it.  The commlink should cover us in the area you were talking about, but if we lose the signal, don't worry about it.  The data recorder is linked to the ignition, so if the engine's on, it is."  She wouldn't have any visual contact nor any kind of live readouts, so all she would have to go on would be what the recorder registered and Trystan's own comments and reports.

Pausing a moment, she stepped back to watch the quad, looking for any signs of instability as it floated before her.  She nodded in satisfaction, the hover-system holding it perfectly steady, as it should.  Looking back at the Celestian youth as he zipped up the collar on his anti-G suit and pulled on his racing gloves, she spoke once more before stepping back well clear of the racer.  "Be careful, but fly her like you would in the races.  If there's the slightest problem, come back immediately.  Don't risk letting it become something serious."

Trystan nodded, his anticipation of cutting loose in his ride still keeping him juiced with adrenaline.  The delay of showering and getting suited up hadn't diminished his excitement in the slightest.  "Will do, fuzzy."  He grinned as she rolled her eyes at what was becoming his regular nickname for her.  Looking down at his console, he ran through his standard pre-race checklist with quick, practiced precision, ensuring that all sensors and systems were operating properly.  With all systems responding in the green, he gave a thumbs up to Esie and hit the button to lower the dome.

"Have fun!"  She knew she didn't have to tell him, there was no doubt that he already was.  The gleam in his eye, the eager expression and the tension of his muscles were all clear signs that he was about to have the time of his life.  She reached up and hit the buzzer alarm that would warn everyone else in the garage that a quad was on its way out, then stepped back to give him more clearance.

Trystan gave it a bit of lift, then skillfully maneuvered the craft out of the bay with a light touch.  He brought it out into the main corridor and down towards the rear bay doors, a graceful smoothness to its movements that made both pilot and mechanic feel a sense of pride.  To the others in the Supreme Racing garage, especially those who had seen him race, the gentle and fluid motions were a bit of a surprise but he knew better than to gun the engines inside.  He owed too much to Garrant and the rest of them to do something so disrespectful as that.  It was a restraint he had never bothered showing when leaving Carl's.

Emerging from the workshop, he let it continue to edge forward while he took his hands off the stick to put on his headset and helmet.  He gave a slight grunt of approval as he tightened the strap on the helmet, noting that there'd been no discernible veer while he'd left the controls to their own devices, a good sign.  The last thing he wanted was for the quad to be pulling one way or the other, even a little.  "Well, so far, so good.  You reading me, Esie?"

"Loud and clear, Trystan."

"In that case, I'm moving out.  I'll take it easy at first, ‘til I get to a clear spot, then I'll fire it up, ‘kay?"  He smiled as he pulled out into the lane, joining with other traffic, though it was relatively light.  Still, it didn't take him long to start passing people.  None of the nitwits living in Gateway ever drove fast enough for his tastes but at least he was courteous about it and didn't drive like he was racing.  That would probably give people heart-attacks.

Fortunately it didn't take him long to get to the ghost town, one of a few different areas of the station that had received little development and what had gone into it had been largely abandoned over the years.  It was officially known as part of Blue Sector, and near to the very center of the city's level of the station, while most of the activity happened in Red and Green sectors at the outside edge of the city.  One day it might be reclaimed as Gateway Station's population continued to grow but for now it was just what Trystan needed.  It had already been a couple minutes since he'd seen signs of life so he felt fairly secure in his belief that he could safely test the quad out there.

He brought the quad to a hover, deciding it needed to be pushed in the same manner he would for a race.  He let it sit idle for a few moments, giving a good stable reading for Esie's data recorder before he slammed the throttle forward.  The engine roared, the thruster flared and in seconds he was rocketing up to speed and the sparse buildings were flying by.

He was tempted to bring it up and take advantage of the large open space overhead, but that would be sure to attract the wrong kind of attention.  That wasn't the kind of test he wanted to give her just yet so he kept to the streets, deftly maneuvering around the corners and through barrel-rolls and high-G turns to put as much stress on the systems as possible.  He kept flying far longer than was likely necessary for the test and even included a couple of high-speed spin-outs but that wasn't really for the data records, it was just purely for his own enjoyment.  This was fun.  This was life.

Still, he knew he had to bring it home eventually so he finally managed to slow himself down and make his way back to the garage, though he kept catching himself slowly accelerating even in populated areas.  When he finally set down outside of the Supreme Racing garage he was grinning from ear to ear.  Espatha'nai stood by, watching him with those inquisitive, feline eyes of hers as the cockpit hissed open and he hopped out.  "Flies like a dream, fuzzy.  I'm starving, let's go get some grub.  My treat."  He smiled and went to strip off the anti-G suit before leading the way on a quest to stop the rumbling of his stomach.

Esie smiled and shook her head, amazed at how such a small being could be so consistently hungry.  It had to have something to do with his hyperactive nature, his metabolism burning off the food's energy at an extraordinary rate but that was more the field of medicine.  She was quite content to stick with something that felt more natural to her.  She stood just inside the garage while Trystan changed back into his street clothes, taking the opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds one last time.  It was hard to say how long it might be before she worked in such an environment again.

She felt she shared a bond with the men who were hard at work within.  Grinding, welding, assembling and disassembling.  And cursing, she thought with a smirk, overhearing a burly mechanic's dissatisfaction with the results of his efforts.  To her, it was a natural attraction — man and machine.  Not, perhaps, if by "natural" you meant created and instilled by nature.  Still, there was something primal about the whole thing, the need to build and fix and create, something which had filled her since her childhood and something which she gladly dedicated her adult life to.

"Hey, Esie!  Fall asleep?"  Trystan's voice snapped her from her reverie, the youth almost right next to her.  "Didn't think I'd taken that long in there."

She returned his smile and shook her head.  "Just thinking.  Are you ready to go eat?  We could perhaps go to that Chinese restaurant."

He laughed.  "Really got you hooked on that stuff, huh?  Bit far away though, was hoping we could hit this little bar and grill down the road.  Only a few minutes walk.  I could really go for a nice juicy burger right now."  He smiled, even as his stomach seconded the motion.

"Well," Esie remarked as she glanced down at his belly.  "It seems I'm out-voted.  Lead the way, then...  But please, I would like to hear your impressions on the racer's performance.  I can review the data later, but I want to hear it from you while it's still fresh in your mind."

Trystan was all smiles as they began their walk, leaving the quad in Supreme's parking lot.  It'd be safe there and he was sure Garrant wouldn't mind, just so long as he had bay six clear for use.  "Where do you want me to begin?  It handled beautifully.  Way better than it ever did when ‘Crawl' was working on it."  He'd taken a liking to the name Kristoff had accidentally used in reference to his former sponsor.  It just seemed infinitely suitable for a man who, so far as Trystan was concerned, was as low as a man could get.

"Was there any hesitation in the acceleration?  The turns?  Was either direction more responsive than the other or were they executed equally?  And the rolls?  I know you tried them.  Did you feel any shimmy in the controls?"

Trystan blinked at the barrage of questions, surprising from the usually calm and methodical woman, then laughed.  "Is this your revenge for when I was helping you with the maintenance?  Jeez, girl, I thought I was the motor mouth around here."  He waited while Esie cleared her throat quietly.  Namphus didn't blush like humans did, but other than the flush of colours to her cheeks, she had all the body language of shy embarrassment, which he found very amusing.  Usually, the roles were reversed.  "Anyway, it took turns like a dream without so much as a hint of vibration to bitch about, so the new fins are doing their job.  Although, I think there was a slight groan when I did the about- face maneuver.  Just to starboard, though."

Esie's brow furrowed slightly as she listened to him intently, sifting the positives from the negatives and making a mental list of anything that she would have to look for in the data log.  It was possible that it was just a matter of fine-tuning the quad for the sensitive touch of her pilot but first she'd search for any technical anomalies that might reveal themselves.  She remained silent, focused entirely on his answers to the point that she effectively ignored their surroundings, letting Trystan guide her to their destination even as he continued his review of the test drive.

"The port spin was as good as can be expected when you do that sort of thing in an atmosphere.  As for acceleration, nice and smooth, excepting the obvious lurch when I blast it from cold.  Emergency deceleration worked nicely too, no hard shudders or anything."

"What about the sensors?  Did they read well and keep up with you?  Did you hear any whine from the engines over that music of yours?"

Trystan snorted at her teasing tone then turned up his nose long enough to put on an air of superiority, though he couldn't manage it for long.  "I'll have you know that I didn't playany music.  I know the sound system works.  I wanted to be able to listen for noises."  He grinned while Esie just rolled her eyes, waiting for him to actually answer the questions.  "And the sensors were all within specs and — so far as I could tell — picked up all obstructions around me.  Engines sounded fine, though might be able to tune it a bit more at the higher speeds for more energy output.  Seemed to be easing off."    He glanced over at her as they came up on Mikey's Grill and nearly burst into laughter.  He swore he could almost see the scrolling calculations and technical cross-referencing passing through her eyes.  She really did live for this stuff.  He grinned and shook his head slightly.  To each their own, he guessed.

While Trystan and Esie were just entering — both very much looking forward to a good meal — another pair had already spent quite a bit of time sitting in one of the booth's but had yet to order, much to the chagrin of one of the two companions.  The intention, when they had arrived, had been much the same as anyone else but from the time Izzy had sat down at the table the young woman's mind had been preoccupied with a persistent problem and she was determined to fix it.  With her companion unable to make the order herself she was forced to wait, though she certainly wasn't going to do so patiently nor quietly.

"Chi-ep?"  The small, furry face peered up from under the table, apparently trying to sound as pitiful as it possibly could.  It was actually one of her best talents, making her eyes appear bigger than her head, watering them up and looking oh so very sad.  It was highly effective on a great many people, melting their hearts at a glance, and was what had inspired her owner to adopt the little trouble- maker.  Unfortunately, "the look" only worked if Izzy actually looked at her pet.

Reaching down to scratch the head of the Genetically Engineered Companion — more commonly known as a Gec — the woman didn't spare so much as a glance even as she spoke to the lemur-like critter.  "Sorry, Tessa."  Her eyes were locked on the electronics and tools spread out on the table before her.  It was a Pocket Portable Mainframe, or at least that's what it would've been called before she'd dismantled it.  At the moment, it was called a work in progress.

To Tessa it was the enemy, standing between her and a good meal but she wasn't one to give up so easily.  At least not when it came to food.  Climbing up onto the seat next to her owner then up to the table itself, she carefully avoided stepping on any of the tools, chips, wires and other various things which had no viable purpose to the Gec.  Regardless, she knew that disturbing them — and especially breaking or scattering them — would only get her in trouble which wouldn't quiet her stomach.

Izzy remained oblivious to her pet's activities as she was involved in the process of replacing a microchip which measured less than an eighth of an inch each side.  A magnifying glass, similar to something a traditionalist jeweler might use in his work, hung before her face, attached to the plastic and fabric headband she wore by an adjustable arm.  Peering through it and into the innards of her PPM, the tips of her superfine needlenose pliers loomed large as she gently fit the chip in its proper place.  "There..."  She smiled at her handy-work, hoping that this time her pet project would prove more successful in its operation than her last test had been.

"Chirp?"  Izzy looked up, having been entirely unaware of her pet's approach and caught off guard by the noise.  The view from the gadget on her face nearly scared the life out of her.  She swore that in that split second of time she could see the Gec's brain through the back of it's eyes.  She let out a short squeak of a scream as she jumped back in her seat, frantically swatting the magnifying lens away from her face.  Even as her breath caught in her throat, her face turned bright red at the realization that her yelp of fright had been audible but it just as quickly faded to simple annoyance.

Tessa, knowing a good time to hide when she saw one, had leapt back off of the table, bringing a pair of screwdrivers with her as she landed on the bench opposite of Izzy.  Almost as quickly as she had vanished from sight a furry little head cautiously lifted to look out over the table, it's small yellow eyes widening as it met the vivid green of her owner.  Her tiny nose twitched slightly as she tried to feign innocence but it was a wasted effort on one who knew the little terror so well.

Her hands going to slim hips, Izzy gave the genetically created critter a stern glare, her hushed voice carrying plenty of irritation.  "Princess Annalissa Tessarina Mirahdi!"  She glanced over her shoulder as a pair of customers entered, the door creaking in distracting fashion, as it always did.  They were an odd combination to be sure as one was a Namphus woman and the other was, by best guess, a young Celestian, based on his build and the dark purple hair.  Either that or he was just short and dyed his hair.  It could be hard to tell sometimes.

Turning her gaze back to the Gec, whose whole head had popped up to look over the table, she whispered at the creature even though she knew Tessa didn't really understand the words.  Izzy felt certain that while the specifics were lost on Gecs, they were smart enough and empathic enough that she'd get the message.  "You nearly scared me to death! Then who'd be feeding that bottomless pit of yours?"

"Chipu chipu chirp?"

Izzy sighed with exasperation, then smiled at her pet.  She was just too cute to stay mad at.  Reaching down to pick her tools up off the floor, she was only vaguely aware that the newcomers had taken the booth immediately behind her.  Sitting back upright, she drew her fingers over her ear to hook an errant lock of red hair behind it before speaking to the Gec once again.  "Now, Tessa, you just be patient.  I can't order now, I have to test the new components I just installed."  The Gec seemed less than thrilled about another delay but remained quiet.  For the time being at least.

Taking the headband contraption off of her head, she sat it on the bench seat next to her then pressed the button which would bring the PPM to life.  While the miniature computer — small enough that she, like many others, normally wore it strapped to her wrist with a velcro strap — went through its boot up cycle and a self-diagnostic, Izzy busied herself returning her tools to their proper places in her nylon toolbag.  The tools were all brand new, a sort of pre-graduation gift from her parents to aid her as she worked on her final project, which she was hoping would be a little more successful this time.

As with much of everything else that was going on in the small restaurant, the waitress who walked past her went unobserved by Izzy but for Trystan, it got him one step closer to his primary goal.  That goal, of course, was to silence his growling stomach.  His eyes scanned down the menu even as the waitress came to stand beside him, knowing that there had to be real meat on the list somewhere.  Vegetarian... soy... tofu.  "Tofu?  Eugh.  Where's the beef?  Ah!"  He smiled as he finally found the real food on the back of the laminated sheet and ordered a steak-on-a-bun, well done and cooked all the way through with a large glass of orange juice.

Esie, meanwhile, requested two hamburger patties — no buns, just meat, and only barely cooked — and a milkshake.  Trystan raised a brow at the milkshake, somewhat surprised that she was even familiar with them, but she just smiled in return.  "They're good!"  She spoke with an almost defensive tone and Trystan just had to shake his head at her, mirroring her smile.

While Trystan and Esie went back to their discussion about his quad's performance, Izzy was far more concerned with the performance of her PPM.  All the basic functions checked out, which was good to know, but it wasn't them that had been giving her headaches.  The real challenge was yet to come.

Opening a small plastic case which had been sitting at the center of the table, she pulled out a set of five silvery rings custom-sized specifically for her and leaving another, identical set inside of it.  While they looked relatively plain, they were actually filled with micro-electronics that would monitor the position and usage of each finger, transmitting the data back to the PPM.  She slid one on to each finger of her left hand then wiggled her fingers, unused to wearing any kind of jewelry.  Taking a deep and relaxing breath, she made a mental note to double-check the calibration of the sensors for the length of her fingers, among other variables.  For a test run, the current specifics would suffice.  "Okay, the moment of truth."

Izzy used what few buttons were on the PPM to scroll through some options until she found the newest entry, or rather re-entry, since she'd already installed and uninstalled the component more times than she could count.  She tapped the select button to run the program associated with the new addition, not even realizing she was holding her breath.  There was a quiet beep as it informed her it was compiling the comparatively large program she had dubbed "HPT", or Holographic Projection Tools, the three seconds she spent waiting for the results feeling like an eternity.

Finally, her patience was rewarded as a holographic screen and keyboard sprang to life over the PPM.  Her eyes went wide with elation at the sight of them, although it wasn't the first time she'd gotten this far and she noted that the image wasn't as crisp as she would have preferred.  "Hm, still a little fuzzy."  She spoke quietly to herself and licked the dryness from her lips, happy that it at least seemed stable.   "Let's see how it handles interaction."  With only a little hesitation she reached out with her left hand to touch the keyboard, the sensor rings allowing it to detect her keystrokes, the random letters she typed in appearing on the screen, but the poor graphic resolution of the holo- imagery left the letters nearly illegible.

"Damn."  She frowned in irritation, both at the blurriness of image and that the rings weren't reading her fingers entirely accurately, with some keys being read before she touched them or when she hadn't touched them at all.  Still, it was something that was relatively basic, if time consuming, to fine-tune.  "Huh?  Oh no!"  She groaned as the image suddenly scrambled then de-rezzed completely, the PPM shutting down.  Again.

She'd gotten a little more time out of it this attempt, but the end result was the same.  "Why can't I get a consistent power supply?  It just doesn't make sense, it shouldn't be using that much power."  She sighed as she picked up the PPM's power cord, something most people could go for days and even weeks without using, and plugged the computer into the wall socket available at the booth.  "Looks like it's back to plugging it in for now.  Although I suppose given the power drain problems they might not appreciate it if I run it in here.  Guess that means it's time to order, hm?"  She'd been speaking to the Gec, or so she had thought, but it suddenly dawned on her that the furry little critter was nowhere to be seen.

"Tessa?"  She leaned over to look beneath the table, but there was no sign of her, which only increased Izzy's concern.  Not that she was overly worried about the Gec, since Tessa would come running back to her at the first sign of trouble, but rather for whomever was on the receiving end of her mischief.  If she'd gotten to the kitchen...!  "Tessa, where are you?"

Tessa had no intention of causing any trouble, she just wanted to eat.  The kitchen (while tempting) was a little far away for her liking, though, especially considering that the odd pair sitting in the next booth had already received their orders.  Surely they would share some if she gave them the look!  Sitting next to the purple-haired human, since the other one had "predator" written all over her, she looked up at him with her best pleading eyes and gave a quiet chirp to get his attention.  A second chirp was made and the guy was still oblivious to her presence.  This guy was as bad as Izzy!

Trystan's attention was focused entirely and intently on his meal and nothing was going to distract him from it.  While Esie happily devoured her medium-rare hamburger, its red center oozing juices, Trystan was savoring every moment of his meal.  By the time he'd finished swallowing the first bite of his mustard-coated steak-on-a-bun Esie's first burger was already a memory, but flavour that good was meant to be enjoyed to its fullest.  When his mouth was finally empty, he leaned forward to put his elbows on the table, his meal in one hand while he gestured casually with the other.  "So now all we've gotta do is find ourselves a techie with a knack for over-sized flashlights, right?"

Esie nodded as she took a mouthful from her milkshake straight from the glass, the straw delivered with it laying on her plate.  She'd never understood the point of them as it only inhibited her ability to enjoy the thick sweetness of the drink.  "Something like that.  An engineer who is good with designing and attaching the stuff you need in such a way that it won't interfere with the maneuverability and speed of your quad."

Pausing with a fork full of barely-grilled hamburger midway to her mouth, she looked across the table at him and grinned widely, the amber, felinesque eyes glinting the warning of a pending tease.  "And someone who doesn't mind a lot of questions about what they are doing.  Someone with the patience of a... oh, I don't know, a Namphus perhaps?"

Trystan looked at Esie with genuine confusion even as his partner's next bite found its way into her mouth. "Doesn't mind a lot of questions?  What do you...?  Oh."   The purple-haired youth actually seemed to blush and though it was only slight, it showed readily on his pale complexion.  "Uh... sorry, didn't mean to be a pain."

Although the smirk lingered at the corners of her lips, Esie waved it off, not having been at all serious.  Well, perhaps to an extent.  "You weren't a pain, Trystan. I was just teasing you. I don't mind the questions but someone else might. And that was my point."  She took another swallow from her milkshake before adding one more thing for him to keep in mind.  "Oh, and someone who won't rape your cashflow. A good engineer is worth their weight in precious jewels but is usually reasonable in their fees."

Trystan took a bite of his steak-burger and chewed on it while listening to her advice, offering her nothing more than a grunt of agreement.  His dad had taught him early and well... don't ever spit food on a woman, it'll shorten your life span dramatically.  Once he finished swallowing, he took a long pull from the glass of orange juice before finally speaking again.  "Yeah, he better be willing to work cheap.  Maybe for a percent of the winnings."  Somehow saying "he" seemed wrong but he didn't know why.  There were an abundance of male techies out there, after all.  Maybe it was just lingering disenchantment from Crawl?

He was leaning forward to take another bite of his meal when his sandwich quite abruptly disappeared from his hand.  "Huh?!"  First he felt the jolting pressure on his head, then he'd caught sight of... something furry... darting in and out of his vision.  He'd only seen a peek of its form, but thanks to his retinal enhancements had gotten a clear look of what had been visible.  Even still, he had no idea what the small creature had been, he just knew it was still perched atop his head and he was almost afraid to move.  "Uh... Esie?  What...?"

Esie didn't know whether to help or just indulge herself in a fit of laughter at the comical sight.  Whatever it was, she had only gotten the briefest of glimpses of it as it had leapt down from the partial wall which separated the booths but now the rodent-like creature seemed content to hastily nibble away at its stolen meal.  Although, Esie smiled with an almost predatory glint in her eye, while Trystan had frozen in place, it still seemed rather nervous, constantly glancing over its shoulder.  A moment later and she found out why, as a fiery-haired woman jumped to her feet from the next booth, hastily rounding to lay eyes on peculiar situation.

"Oh no!  Annalissa Tessarina Mirahdi!"  Izzy said the name in a mix of anger and horror, a deep blush colouring her cheeks.  Tessa knew the tone all too well, her little yellow eyes seeming to grow as big as saucers before she made a hasty retreat and hopped down to the seat next to Trystan, taking the spoils of her thievery with her.

Trystan's gaze had been alternately flicking from the infuriatingly amused Namphus towards the creature he couldn't actually see, but could feel and hear.  He was about to ask what exactly it was sitting on his head that she found so funny when the woman rounded the corner from behind him and yelled what sounded like some kind of name.  Maybe.  His head swivelled towards the source of the voice reflexively but before he caught more than a glimpse of her, he whipped it back around.  He'd felt the creature jump down from atop him and now found the little furball sitting next to him and quickly stuffing its face with his dinner.  "Hey, that's—"

Suddenly his brain caught up with the rest of him and processed the brief look he'd gotten at the woman.  The young woman.  The young, cute, red-headed woman who was probably about the same age he was.  Trystan's head snapped back to face her, a bright smile on his face as he lifted his gaze to her face.  With his left elbow coming to rest casually on the table and his cheek leaning against his loosely-closed fist as he peered up at her, he spoke calmly, almost as though everything was completely as normal.  "Hi, nice to meet you.  I'm Trystan, this is Esie and behind me is a weird-looking hairball which is eating my dinner.  Care to join us?"  He wasn't exactly trying to be suave, as the thought of attempting such never crossed his mind, but he'd always said that half a steak sandwich was fair trade to spend time with an attractive woman.  Well, he would've said it, had it ever occurred to him before.

Izzy was slightly confused by the sudden change in pace and simply blinked at the young Celestian while the Namphus burst into another brief fit of laughter.  "I, uh...excuse me a moment?"  She gave a sheepish smile as she leaned over to reclaim the delinquent Gec, Trystan not leaning back out of her path until the last second.  It wasn't that he was trying to be rude, it simply took him that long to figure out what she was doing.  His hesitance, however, provided his superior eyesight with a very brief but altogether enjoyable view before he hastily shoved his back against the seat.  It left him in a bit of a daze, at once embarrassed and yet still wishing she wasn't wearing the jacket.  It had been entirely unintentional but it had certainly got his blood pumping .

A glance over at her target came in time to see the last of his dinner vanish into its mouth.  How this was managed was hard to explain, as its mouth was much smaller than the chunk of steak-burger it had stuffed in there.  If Trystan could find a suitcase able to pull off a similar feat, he'd be able to put his whole quad into a handbag.  The resultant expression on the furball's face — cheeks stretched to their limit, mouth tightly closed and eyes big and round — was quite comical, especially with the close-up view he got while the woman stood up.  He tried to suppress both the laugh and the grin which threatened what little dignity he still had after being robbed by a long-tailed rodent thing yet a snorting chuckle still escaped.  He was sure that made him look quite the classy fellow but she was fortunately preoccupied at that moment, dealing with the meal-snatcher.

Having grabbed Tessa by the scruff of her neck, Izzy straightened and held her at arm's length, all set to give the lemurish creature a stern lecture.  Her ability to scold her pet, however, fell apart at the sight of Tessa's face.  It reminded her of a bizarre contest that some of her classmates participated in called "Chubby Bunny", in which they stuffed their mouths with marshmallows.  Whomever got the most won and she was wondering if perhaps she shouldn't have entered the Gec into one of their games.  She didn't recall any mention of chipmunk genetics being included in the biological creation, but Tessa certainly seemed to have them.

Giving up on any attempts to remain angry with her pet, she gave an exasperated sigh and set the Gec on her shoulder.  "Well, it's yours now, I guess.  But you better not spit it out or I'll be very cross!"  Izzy wagged a finger in Tessa's face but it seemed there was little cause for concern on the matter as Tessa was already chewing like mad in an effort to swallow the meal as fast as possible.

With a shake of her head, Izzy looked down at Trystan, feeling quite bad about the whole thing.  "I am so sorry about all this."  She ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to think of how to explain herself... and her pet.  "It's kinda my fault.  I was working on my PPM, adding some new holographic hardware, running a few tests and—" She waved a hand to indicate the apparent clutter spread out across her table then stopped herself, figuring they probably didn't really care about the specifics.  Still, while the details slipped past Trystan, a pair of more attentive ears weren't so distracted by the woman speaking them.

The Namphus leaned forward slightly as amber eyes observed the woman, her curiosity obvious in the way her head tilted slightly to one side, her pointed ears perking up.  As amusing as it had been to simply sit back and watch the humans as they attempted to handle the Gec's antics, there had been something that she had said which had very quickly captured Esie's attention.  Something about adding holographic hardware?  She glanced at Trystan, noting that he had completely missed her reference but that really wasn't all too surprising.  Humans tended to lose focus when around members of the opposite sex.

"Um, anyway, I wanted to finish up before ordering and I guess Tessa was a little too impatient.  I'll be more than happy to replace the little garbage droid's meal."  Tessa, still perched on her shoulder, had somehow managed to swallow it all and was happily smacking her lips, having quite obviously enjoyed Trystan's meal as much as he had been.  Izzy gave the little trouble-maker an annoyed glance.  There wasn't really much to be done about it, she supposed, although reparations seemed in order.  "I am truly sorry.  Is there anything I can do to make it up to you, ah... Trystan, you said it was?"

Make it up to him?  Well, that brought to mind a variety of thoughts, all of which he quickly dismissed as they were far from proper.  Besides, he didn't even know her name!  He blinked.  Well, there was an idea.   "Uh, well, your name would be nice.  I gather that she's, um, Tessa?  Right?"  He found himself interrupted by Esie, who was, unfortunately, sticking to business rather than pleasure in her questioning.

"Excuse me," Esie had taken advantage of her being outside of their conversation — as well as beyond the sphere of their attention — to slip out of her seat unnoticed, walking over to the girl's booth before she had finally spoken.  Crouching beside the table, she looked over the tools, bits and pieces which were spread over its surface while the two humans became abruptly  aware that she had moved, waiting a moment before looking up at the girl with a quiet smile.  "You wouldn't happen to be an engineer, would you?  Of the electronics variety?"

Izzy looked slightly puzzled as she glanced back and forth between the two, as though unsure of who to answer first. "Uh, I'm Issabella Mirahdi, though everyone calls me Izzy."  She reached up a hand to absently scratch Tessa's neck, the Gec leaning into her hand and very clearly enjoying the attention immensely, but for Izzy it was something of a nervous action.  It wasn't that she was overly shy about her chosen profession but as a student for the past several years she'd gotten used to any study of her work quickly becoming a critique.  "And, well, yeah.  Kinda.  I'm going to graduate next week."  She sighed, looking back at her PPM.  "Assuming I can get that thing to work."

Trystan looked from Esie to Izzy and then to the mess of electronic stuff on the table, trying to figure out how the conversation had left him behind.  Why would Esie think she was a techie?  Did he miss something?  Sure, she had a lot of tools and she'd said something about holograms but what did that have to do with anything?  His gaze snapped back to the Terran girl as his brain finally checked its messages.  Seemed that there was a rather important little tidbit of information which his ears had passed along only to run into the roadblock known as hormones.  "Uh, did you say holographic?  As in light?"

Izzy smiled slightly at Trystan's question, even as she moved to join Esie at her table.  "I guess you could say light.  It's just a holographic projector I built for my mainframe, sort of like what they use in training droids and such but in this case it's meant to give me a keyboard and vidscreen anywhere I go."  Her excitement at the concept of her project was clear in her tone but it quickly faded into a frown as she shrugged slightly, irritated with her lack of success.  "But it's just drawing too much power for the PPM to handle.  Keeps draining the battery.  Fast.  I don't know, maybe I'll have to rebuild it."

"Mind if I take a look at what you have here?"  Esie glanced up from her study of the various parts, an eyebrow lifting slightly.  She was quite interested in the Terran's work even though she doubted she'd be able to fully understand it.  Regardless, she wasn't about to touch it without permission if only because she knew how she would feel were the positions reversed.  There was little more irritating than having someone throw a job into disarray without even a thought as to additional work the disruption might cause.

"Um, I... suppose you can."  She agreed hesitantly, resisting a defensive urge.  "Are you an engineer as well?  My degree is going to be in micro-electronics, with a minor in mechanical."

"Actually, yes, I'm a mechanical engineer by nature and profession.  Electronics are not my field of expertise but I just love to see how things work."  She flashed a smile to the human girl, certain that she was a kindred spirit in that desire.  "It is as you humans say, nothing ventured, nothing learned."

The two humans glanced at each other as the Namphus spoke the slightly altered cliché, passing a smile between them with Izzy laughing quietly.  It wasn't quite the same but it worked well enough.  Her own curiosity was peaked by the line of inquiry she'd been receiving.  "But, um, why did you ask if I was an engineer?"

"How about we all take a seat at your table and perhaps Trystan can explain our interest in your skills while you wait for your order."  She saw no reason that either of them would complain about the suggestion, so sat down herself, taking a more hands on look at Izzy's equipment and parts.

Trystan stood up from his seat in the booth then lifted one leg to half-kneel on the padded bench, his forearm resting on the back of the seat while he looked around the partial wall.  His gaze skimmed over the tools, wires and other various parts which littered the table.  He didn't have a clue what any of it did, really, but he knew what they were for — building stuff!  As he turned his gaze back to Izzy, his smile actually managed to get even bigger.  "Would that be okay with you?"

"Um, sure, I guess."  She was still a little confused about everything, but no sooner had she given her answer than Trystan was around the corner and sliding to the back of the bench opposite Esie.  She just stood there for a moment, then gave a mental shrug and returned to her seat, now with Trystan beside her.

Tessa remained on her owner's shoulder, but now spread out across her neck, hiding herself in Izzy's red hair.  Feeling a little skittish and being right next to the victim of her recent heist, all that was visible to Trystan was a tiny black nose and a pair of yellow eyes peering out at him.  Trystan raised a brow at the concealed watcher then shook his head.  Izzy was looking almost as anxious as her pet, so he decided to offer some words of comfort.  "Don't worry, Esie knows what she's doing.  Well, with tools anyway.  What we really need right now, though, is someone who can design and build some complex tech stuff."

She nodded mutely in response but at least he'd succeeded in taking her attention off of Esie.  He understood how she felt, it was the same way he got whenever he saw someone poking around his quad, even if all they were doing was looking at it.  It was his pride and joy and he could tell that her work was just as important to her, much as it was with Esie.  They had little in common, really, beyond that singular desire to follow their hearts in life.  He smiled at her as he pondered the odds of three such people finding each other, turning in his seat so that his back was against the wall, one leg drawn up onto the bench.  "Hey... do you believe in destiny?"

Merely a half-second after the words left his mouth, it suddenly occurred to him just how much the question had sounded like a bad pick-up line.  "Uh, what I mean is... well... I'm a quad racer, okay?  Esie here is my mechanic and partner and she's really good, but we need someone who can make serious modifications to my ride."  She was looking at him like he was speaking ancient Latin and her UTD was on the fritz.  Or maybe he was just being self-conscious?  He couldn't tell for sure but the internal debate made him feel a bit nervous, which soon led to his words speeding up as though he were trying to finish more quickly.  "Um, anyway, I do a lot of races, mostly on the station, but there's a new kind of competition that I want to get into except my quad's not properly equipped for it yet and I'm thinking maybe you'd be perfect for it because you've got experience working with light beams and stuff."

He paused and took a breath, completely unaware of the bemused Namphus eyes which had lifted to watch him, then blurted out a quick question.  "So you think you could set up a laser beam emitter and detection suite that I could use for simulation combat in space?"

Izzy couldn't help herself but to smile.  She didn't know why but something just seemed to feel right about the proposal.  Maybe it was fate, or destiny as Trystan had mentioned or maybe it was just a chance for them all to help each other out and do some good for themselves at the same time.  She smiled brightly at Trystan.  "I could certainly see what I can do for you.  It's the least I could do after Tessa's rude behavior!"  Izzy pulled Tessa off her shoulder and put her on the back of the booth seat between them, though the Gec immediately hopped down under the table.  "Besides, I could use the work experience if nothing else."

"Rockin'!!"  Trystan wasn't very good at hiding his excitement as the entire cafe had just discovered.  A moment later it occurred to him that he was in a rather public place, his normally pale cheeks flushing slightly once again.  "Uh..."  He glanced around and gave a short, nervous laugh before refocusing himself.  His ability to completely switch gears was rather remarkable.

"Okay, well, I can't really afford to pay you outright but I'll give you a fair share of the winnings until you've been fully paid for your services."  He was quite resolute, nodding his head once in affirmation of his decision.  "However, the sooner you can upgrade my quad the better, cause the inaugural contest is coming up really fast and I need to be ready."

"I hate to interrupt," Esie interjected calmly, though laughter shone in her amber eyes.  "But you said that it was the power supply's inability to support the holo-emitters which was your primary problem?"

Izzy blinked as her attention was drawn back to her work, but if she was bothered by being the target of two separate conversations, it didn't show.  "Well, it seems that the problem isn't the power source so much as the holographic projection component's consumption.  It's just such a power hog, so for now I have to keep it plugged in, I guess."  She absently toyed with her ruddy locks as she eyed the PPM with consternation.  "Maybe that's why no one's done it before, huh."

"Every great innovation begins with one person succeeding where others have failed."  Esie gave a soft smile.  "I was just wondering if you'd considered rerouting the input from the short term power source so that it's not being directly infused?  Perhaps if it passes through a booster it won't give you such a hard time."

"You know, that may just work!"  She poked around at some of the pieces on the table, then began opening up some of the black plastic storage cases she used to haul all her spare parts around.  "Hm, I thought I had a few around here."  Shrugging, she went about completing the clean-up of her tools which she had begun earlier.  It would be hard to order dinner if there was no room in which to eat it.

It took him a moment but it suddenly occurred to Trystan that the two women were once again speaking about Izzy's holographic thingamajig.  How they could be so easily distracted was beyond him, especially when they had important bus— "Hey, what's that do?"  He pointed at a fairly large chip which had a resemblance to some kind of angular centipede, with at least as many legs.  He paused briefly, trying to remember what he'd been thinking before he saw the bug-chip.  "Uh, nevermind.  Anyway, I'm gonna be renting a garage for my quad until the race but we'll have to supply all our own tools.  I'll be happy to help with whatever I can!"  Whether that was a promise or a threat would depend on personal perception.  Esie smirked slightly, thinking that she might have to find some more creative ways of getting Trystan out of her hair.

"Oh, yeah, about your quad.  I'll do what I can, though it's been a long time since I've seen one of those up close."  Izzy grinned despite herself.  "My dad was the head mechanic for his best friend back in the day.  Just as a hobby, you know?  Used to help him build and work on his quad.  Small world, I guess."

It was then that she noticed the absence of her genetically engineered mischief-maker and began a hasty search, first checking beneath the table then scanning the restaurant's interior in a near panic.  "Tessa?  Where—?"  Hearing a soft thunk — the sound of a glass falling over, followed in short order by that of the glass rolling across the table — her eyes went wide and she whipped her head around, twisting to look at the booth Esie and Trystan had been occupying.  She was just in time to catch a glimpse of a long, ring-striped tail flicker in and out of her line of sight.  "Tessa!  Get your furry little hiney over here now!"

A fuzzy little head slowly appeared as she leaned into view, her hind feet remaining planted.  "Chipu?"  Her golden eyes blinking innocently but the small chocolate brown glob of milkshake which sat atop her twitching little nose spoiled her attempts to appear blameless.  A small pink tongue darted out to remove the evidence but it was already too late for the Gec to maintain the charade.  Izzy glared at her little hellion and sternly pointed to the floor beside her.  "You.  Here.  Now."  The sorrowfully little meep almost melted Izzy's heart but she knew that Tessa was just getting in trouble now because she thought she could get away with it.

Tessa began her slow, moping return, moving to the corner of the table, then freezing in place as her tail brushed against the glass she'd already knocked over, sending it rolling once again.  Izzy's breath caught in her throat as she watched it make its way to the table's edge, leaving a trail of chocolate shake behind it.  Her body tensed, preparing for an attempt to intercept it, when Tessa hastily spun around and snatched the glass from danger, tiny claws gripping its lip.  As her owner breathed a sigh of relief, Tessa deftly set it upright  and patted it lightly with her forepaws as if to say "see, it's safe", though the series of chirps came out more akin to "wheepucheep."

Izzy was glad that the glass had been saved from a messy demise on the floor, but the table was still a disaster area and the waitress was approaching with clear annoyance etched into the lines of her face.  Turning her gaze from the waitress to her pet, Izzy despaired at ever being allowed back into Mikey's Grill for the rest of her life.  "Tessaaaaa... look at the mess you've made!"

The Gec started walking back towards her, head hung low, but was soon distracted by the realization that her feet were all sticky from stepping in the milkshake she'd been walking through.  Stopping on the spot she began to quickly clean her paws with her tongue, very happy to be thorough with the task.  Izzy groaned and shook her head before looking at the waitress.  "I am so sorry."

"Are you ready to order yet?"

Izzy was actually amazed at the woman's restraint but then again it was understandable that she wanted to at least make some money off of her.  She'd been occupying the booth for close to an hour and now had  caused quite a mess.  "Um, yeah... a turkey club sandwich and fries, please?  And..."  She looked back over to Trystan, who sat impatiently confused at the sounds he'd been hearing.  "Would you like anything?"  She still owed him a replacement meal and, now that she thought about it, perhaps she owed Esie something as well.  "Or you, Esie?  Since my little terror just shared your drink with the table."  She sighed, but Esie just gave an amused shake of her head.

"Fries sound good."  Trystan smiled cheerfully, waiting until the waitress had left before lowering his voice to find out what he'd been missing.  "What happened over there?"

"Tessa happened."  Izzy frowned slightly, looking back over at the other booth.  "Speaking of whom... Tessa, you've got three seconds.  One... two..."  The Gec, still busily grooming herself, recognized the tone and wasted no more time in getting herself to Izzy's side, looking up at her with big round eyes.  "Nuh-uh.  That little save doesn't get you out of trouble, little Miss Mirahdi.  You get yourself up on this seat immediately, before they throw us out."

Izzy raised her gaze to meet Esie's, rolling her eyes in frustration.  "Give her an inch and she'll take a mile."

"She seems quite the handful."  The Namphus mused, feeling that she could sympathize rather well after spending close to a week with Trystan.

"Oh, she is.  But when she's not misbehaving she's actually very good company."  She glanced down as her Gec climbed up onto the bench between her and Trystan and curled up on the seat, tail wrapped around her body.  "I think she's just a little too smart for her own good."

"Uh, not to seem ignorant or anything, but... what exactly is she?"  Trystan looked down at the furry little creature with curiosity.  He'd never really seen anything like it.  It looked almost like a rodent of some kind but acted like a monkey... which was another thing he'd never seen, at least not in person.

Izzy smiled, chuckling quietly.  "She's a Gec.  You know, a genetically engineered companion?  Guess you don't go down to Earth very much, huh.  They've been hugely popular down there for years, everyone wants one.  I'm sure they'll start showing up around here and throughout the colonies eventually, they're not as expensive as they were when I got Tessa."  While she talked she did some more work on cleaning up the table so that they'd have somewhere to put their meals, returning the various spare parts to their plastic containers.  "Anyway, what they do is take the genes from various animals — cats, squirrels, mice, dogs, whatever — and splice them around until they get the specific traits desired by the customer.  They're entirely tame and live a lot longer than most pets.  I've had Tessa for almost seventeen years, ever since I was six!"

"Which explains the name, huh?"

"Tessa?"  Izzy looked at him confused for a moment then realized that he meant the full name.  "Ohhh... Princess Annalisa Tessarina Mirahdi?  Um, yeah, well..."  She blushed faintly.  "I was six, after all."

"And I thought ‘Espatha'nai Rarahu' was a mouthful." Trystan grinned as he cast a glance at the mechanic, then motioned with his head to indicate the waitress' return.  "Here comes lunch.  Take two."

Tessa's head perked up at the familiar and much-loved word "lunch" but Izzy shot her a discouraging look.  "I should think you've already eaten quite enough."  Tessa sighed and laid her head back down, snorting quietly before falling silent while Izzy and Trystan went about eating their meals.

The two women cheerfully engaged in conversation — comparing the schooling of their different races, their shared love of building and tinkering quickly forging a friendship between them.  Trystan, for his part, tried as best he could to follow the discussion but found it going far beyond his experiences and way, way over his head.  Still, at least he had silenced his stomach and the fries had been quite good.  He'd even snuck a couple down to Tessa, which from the way the Gec was curled up against his leg, seemed to have won him a friend for life.  When it finally came time for them each to get going their separate ways home — with Izzy insisting on paying for all of them plus a good tip for the poor waitress who had to clean up after Tessa — phone numbers were exchanged and Trystan promised to call each of them with specific directions to the garage he hoped to use.  It was cheap and charged by the day but it was essentially just a work space with no tools provided and if they needed a diagnostic computer it would have to be rented for an extra ten yenta a day.

Until then, however, they each had their own business to take care of.  Izzy needed to put some more time into her PPM project and try out Esie's suggestions, while the Namphus herself had to get in contact with a friend she said was the reason for her coming to Earth space in the first place.  Trystan, in addition to making arrangements with the garage, needed to get down to the Blaze of Glory contest's headquarters and get the details for exactly what they'd have to do to his quad to get it admissible.

With only another two days before the deadline, he knew they might be looking at more long days, but hopefully the prize money would be enough to recompense both Izzy and Esie; to make all the work they'd done and would do for him worth their while.  It would be unlike anything he'd done before, he was sure of that much.  Like a video game but real.  Or more real, at least.  Either way, if they could get his quad rigged up for it in time he'd soon be in the thick of things, out in space with all the other competitors trying to shoot him down.  He couldn't wait!

With such eagerness filling him, it wasn't much of a surprise that Trystan arrived bright and early at the garage he'd rented from Homech Storage, yet he still found his two partners already there waiting for him.  He'd called them each the afternoon after they'd gone their separate way to pass on the address for the storage facility but the conversation had been rather brief.  The two of them were already engaged in a discussion about Izzy's holographic whatchamacallit when he contacted them and they simply dropped him into a three-way call.  Watching the two of them on the split- screen of his vidphone, babbling back and forth with technical terms he didn't think he could even pronounce let alone identify, he'd simply given them the name and location, then excused himself so that he could go get registered with the Blaze of Glory competition and find out what exactly they needed to do to his quad.

Registering had been easy enough with the contest being open-ended, much like the free quad races, but they wouldn't guarantee placement until after their judges got to inspect the craft being entered and approved all the modifications which were necessary.  That was fine, since he had every confidence that they could be ready in time, especially since he'd bought the basic sensor package from the contest officials.  It was expensive and even he knew it probably wasn't worth half as much as they charged him for it but in this case the time saved was more important than the money.  His dwindling bank account might've disagreed with that, though, and he was beginning to regret the previous day's purchase.

All in all, it hadn't even taken very long and Trystan had still managed to get home with enough time to accept delivery of his new training droid, too stubborn to even consider canceling it.  He even skimmed through the owner's manual before he got some sleep, for once following the adage of "early to bed, early to rise".  Somehow, though, and despite him being the only one with personal transportation, he was the last to arrive.  The two women stood outside the designated garage, Izzy's holographic vidscreen and keyboard glowing between them as they happily discussed it's operation.

Trystan shook his head slightly as he slowed his sled to a hover a few feet off from them, offering a wave and a smile to the pair before activating the remote door opener that Homech had given him.  Guiding the quad inside at a nice, easy pace, he parked it dead center of the room then looked around at the interior while he waited for the cockpit to open and the engine to wind down.  There really wasn't much to it.  Metal floor, walls and ceiling with hard plastic workbenches lining the walls, nearly identical to those used in the Supreme garage.  A few lights on the ceiling made sure the whole room was brightly lit and it was fairly spacious as well as nicely decorated.  Nicely decorated, that is, assuming one could find appreciation for the fine art of graffiti which covered virtually every flat surface in the room.

Hopping out of the quad, Trystan stretched out his arms and gave off a loud yawn before turning to face the others.  "Morning!  Uh, got your computer thing working, huh?"  He nearly sighed, figuring the statement only highlighted his lack of any advanced education, but Izzy certainly seemed to appreciate his mentioning of it, which made it worthwhile.

"Yeah!  Esie's suggestion worked great!  I had to use a total of three different boosters to get everything powered just how it wanted to be but it worked!"  She smiled, proudly patting the PPM she wore strapped to her wrist, the holographics having been turned off before she entered the garage.  "And I've even got the sensor rings calibrated, so once I fine-tune the projectors, I'll be done!"

"Congratulations!"  He grinned, noting that Esie seemed quite proud of her own role in the project's completion, then turned to pull a somewhat squished, very heavy duffel bag out of his cockpit.  It was a bit of a struggle but he managed to put it down on the ground without killing himself.  There was certainly a lot of grunting involved, though, and his back didn't appreciate the abuse.

"Yep, looks like I'll be graduating after all!"  Izzy laughed, but her joy turned to a mix of confusion and curiosity as she watched Trystan unload the bag.  "Um... what's that?"

"This is the official sensor net used for the contest."  He smiled as he unzipped the bag, but it his face fell when he saw the tangled mess within.  "Supposed to make life easier on us but it might take a day just to unravel this thing.  Jeez."

Esie smirked, raising a brow as she glanced inside the cockpit.  "Unless you installed a storage bay I don't know about that must've been a rather uncomfortable ride."

Trystan snorted.  "Tell me about it.  Good thing I'm as thin as I am.  Bag took up half my seat!"  He shrugged as he pulled out pa