They landed on their plot of land in Canda and went to the nearest teleporter a few miles away. Using the teleporter, Nikolas, Autumn, and Fate arrived at Karsire, where they turned in their jobs and got paid. Then they hopped onto the teleporter once more and went to Frakar, the home of the Hephaestus Guild.
What was essentially a planet-sized factory, half of Frakar was molten lava, dotted with hundreds of metal barges upon which smithies, factories that needed excessive heat, and generators sat. The other half of the planet was covered completely in factories, all in one massive building that put the Advanced world to shame.
It was easily the biggest building any of them had ever seen. They arrived in this gargantuan building, the roof of which was some sort of one-way metal that allowed light to flow in from the sun. They also spotted what looked like crystals near the top of the walls, probably some form of a light source. The floor in this section was covered in black and white checkered tiles, and the walls were sheathed in wood.
The trio waited next to the teleporter for a bit, knowing Maya, Cait, and Tom should be joining them soon. Within the next few minutes, the six were reunited again and they started toward the map on the wall next to the teleporter.
"There." Tom pointed at a spot on the map that said 'housing department.' He then trailed his finger from the star marked 'YOU ARE HERE,' through the building to the housing department. "Alright, got it. Let's go."
The five followed Tom, the members of Styx knowing from experience that he was great with directions. Eventually, they arrived at their destination. Here, the walls were white and popcorn, and the floor was covered in dark wood. Of course, that was just the inside. Fate knew that underneath it all were metal walls and concrete floors. They had passed many sections on their way here with different interiors.
They made their way to one of the dozens of counters here, each one manned by a man or woman that looked profoundly bored. A quick check with his senses revealed they were mortals. The counters were tiered, with a shelf-like desk on the inside for the workers to hold their things. Luckily, the lines were short, so after only a couple of minutes of waiting they were at the counter.
"How can I help you?" asked the woman behind the counter. She had short black hair and green eyes, in an outfit that looked appropriate on a real-estate agent such as herself.
"We'd like to commission some Embodiments for a house," Maya told her.
"Alright, and what kind of amenities were you looking for?" The woman swiped on her desk, causing it to light up as a screen. She started scrolling through and typing on it.
"Brick house, soundproofed walls and doors, carpet or wooden floor, air conditioning system and heating system, and lights and electricity. Veneer plaster for the interior walls."
"Size of the house?"
"Four thousand square feet for now, with the option to extend later. Six bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, laundry room, a hangar big enough to hold five ships, and two bathrooms."
The woman looked up at the mention of bathrooms. "You are Exemplars, are you not?"
"Yes, why?"
"Exemplars don't need to use bathrooms. They convert it all into energy."
Maya blinked rapidly a few times. "Oh. Well, never mind on the bathrooms then. Just make a miscellaneous room, then."
"Alright." The woman typed on her screen. "Would you like to add furniture as well?"
"Yes, please."
The woman handed Maya a tablet and said "Fill this out with what you want and bring it back."
The group went to one of the lounge areas nearby and studied the options. After they agreed on the furniture they would get, they selected what they wanted and where they wanted it, and they brought the tablet back to the bored-looking woman. The woman placed the tablet on her screen, which allowed the screen to download the data. She nodded. "Alright, that's going to be forty-five hundred Shrallins. Are you paying in cash or credit?"
"Cash." Maya and the rest of the group pulled out their wallets, splitting the bill six ways. It was a little more than they thought it would be, but that was probably because they didn't account for the hangar when they were estimating.
"Cash," of course, wasn't a thing here. Everything was on a card attuned to the owner's biometrics, designed to teleport to the owner if they reported it lost to the EPF. They still used the word "cash" to make things easier, though. The group handed their cards to the woman, who had a small flash of annoyance pass through her eyes.
"You can tap the cards against each other to share funds," she told them.
The group did so, deciding to load the money onto Maya's card. When they tapped the cards together, small screens projected out of them, asking who was transferring and how much. They finished and Maya handed her card to the woman, who slid it through a card reader on her desk and handed it back.
"Payment was approved. The builders will be there within the next three days to construct your house."
They thanked the woman and left, jumping onto a teleporter pad back to Canda.
Nikolas sighed. "Guess we got to sleep in our ships a bit longer."
"At least we aren't sleeping on the ground," Autumn said.
"You're right. Still, we should look into getting comfier beds for the ships soon."
"They're already some of the best beds the Shyviate Collective has, Nik."
"I know where he's coming from," said Fate. "It's not that the beds are bad, it's that it feels cramped in there after a while."
"Well, we shouldn't have to worry about that for much longer," Maya chimed. "Three more days at most, and then we'll have a new house to ourselves."
"Let's not forget who took away our other one," said Tom.
That soured their moods.
Of course. They still had a job to do.