"I wonder what he's dreaming about?" Crystal asks herself as she watches him sleep. He had been asleep for almost a day now and she was getting slightly worried. She herself was feeling quite better after eating and sleeping a lot as well. As she sat in the bed looking at him, she also noticed that he was actually wearing a full-face covering helmet and that the screen was just really clear. She slides out of bed and carefully walks over to him.
She slides her fingers over the glass and shivers at the icy cold feeling. She leans in closer to take a better look at his face and gasps in shock when she sees a metallic face instead of the fleshy one, she saw when they were back on the ship. Getting overtaken by curiosity she continues to look over the rest of his body. That's when she learned that his combat suit was actually very thick armor compared to how thin and muscular it really looked.
"I wonder if he could survive a fall from space like those space soldiers who fought that alien race from those old stories." She ponders to herself as she continues to examine him. After a few more minutes she decides she's being too intrusive and moves away from him.
"Find anything you like?" He asks just as she gets back to bed.
"Oh, uh, um... how long were you awake?" She asks stumbling over her words as she became extremely embarrassed.
"Shortly after you touched my visor. My suit didn't perceive you as a threat, so it woke me up in safety mode." He answers looking over at her. "So, now that you've seen my real face, do you find me to be a monster like everyone else in the universe believes."
She couldn't say it out loud, but she did have to admit that it was known throughout her systems galaxy that there was a fierce and monstrous race who was born of flesh but as they aged developed metallic skin. They were also rumored to go around conquering planets as well and taking over that planet's technology for their own use. The cloaking field they used back on Bulla sure seemed similar to Chalmaya's "Chameleon" skin, which allowed them to use camouflage in every terrain.
He took her silence as a "yes" and sighed. "Doesn't really matter now does it? You're stuck with me until we get to Primia. If being a monster is what get you there, then I'll be the worse monster in the history of monsters to get you there." He tells her as he begins to look away and put his hands behind his head again. "Monsters aside, anything you want to do? You seem a little healthier and I think some time out in town will help some too."
Just as he figured, the mention of getting out of the room and going out to explore perked her right up. "There is a couple of places I would like to visit." She says excitedly. She gets up and grabs her shemagh and scarf so she can cover her face. He couldn't imagine how much of a hassle it had to be to have to keep herself concealed. If they weren't under such strict circumstances, he probably would have let her go out as she was.
But their current circumstance didn't allow that. While he had no doubt, he could easily win a small skirmish in the streets and get her somewhere safe. The problem came from how many innocent people would get caught in the crossfire. It was against Primordial code to lose innocent lives intentionally or recklessly in combat. Since they didn't really bring a change of clothes, she was pretty much ready after putting on her shemagh.
On a whim he pings their driver from a couple days earlier and to his surprise the man actually returns the ping and says he can get their in 15 minutes or so. After checking with Crystal, who was okay with waiting, he tells him that 15 minutes was fine. After that they both head down to the lobby and wait.
Sure enough, after roughly 15 minutes their driver pulls and waves to them. "Hey, hey!" He greets them happily as they approach. "I didn't think you guys would actually give me a call." He says.
"Same actually. I doubted you would return my ping." Asus says in response.
"Oh of course my friend. Oh yeah. My wife to give her thanks as well. Apparently, it turns out Primordial currency is quite exotic here. Even though it was just a Blend and probably not worth much on your world; but here what you gave me was enough to pay off almost four months' worth of bills. Neither of us can thank you enough." He says gratefully as they enter.
"You're welcome. Is one Blend really that much here? On Primia that'll just barely a two-person meal." He asks wondrously.
"That's just how the economy goes my friend. Oh, here. Take this. It's 23 Seeds. If you keep using your currency it might bring you trouble. It ain't much but it should last you at least three days. It's the least I can do after how much you helped me and my wife."
"You really don't have too. It was even my intent. It just so happened that my currency was worth that much."
"Either way, you got us out of a smork and we are eternally grateful for that." He says denying Asus's humbleness.
"What's a smork?" Crystal asks, tilting her head in confusion.
"It's uh, basically trouble." He answers after a minute of thinking of a translation equivalent. "Oh, my name's Big by the way."
"I'm Derringer, nice to meet you Big."
"I'm Crystal, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Nah, the pleasure is all mine." Big says happily. "Also, don't worry about this trip. There is still some left over from what you gave me last time, so we'll just say you paid in advance."
"Oh. Thank you Big." Asus says. The rest of the trip was just small talk and when they arrived in the center of Salu, Big told them just to give him a quick ping and he would come back for them. They thank him and head on their way to do whatever it was Crystal wanted to do. As Asus quickly learned, Chalmayan's had great recover systems. If he hadn't seen her nearly dead state and nursed her back to health himself, he would have never believed she was terribly sick only two days prior.
The first thing they did was go and get food. After their eight restaurant he was completely baffled. He looked over her petite body. She had almost a perfect hourglass figure, yet she was packing it away like a black hole. They continued on to 12 more places and then she switched to food stalls. "Okay! Now I'm ready to explore the city!" She says happily jumping up and down.
"I take it you never went out much as a kid." He says as she takes his hand and interlocks their fingers as she begins her happy march forward.
"Nope. I spent my entire life in my parents villa. It wasn't like two months ago when a man and woman in emerald and gold armor similar to yours appeared with my parents and I was told to go with them that I finally left. After that I boarded the REAPER, and well.... well, you know what happens next."
"Yeah. I guess I do." He responds dryly following her.
"HEY, IT'S A FAIR!" She shouts happily pointing at an area with multiple rides and stalls. Before he could even give his thoughts, she made an immediate turn towards it. "Oh my God. It's so pretty!" She squeals after they purchase their entrance tickets and get inside.
He did have to agree. There was just the perfect amount of flashing lights that contrasted the bright neon lights of the city. The blaring music was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire place but not so loud as to where you couldn't hear the person next to you talking. It was also small enough for you to know it was crowded but big enough for you not to bump into people.
Before he knew they were bouncing from ride to ride, stall to stall and he was genuinely having fun as well. That's when something he was told back in training entered his mind.
"Remember troops. No matter how much you want to give to our glorious Empire, The Primordial Republic. Never forget to take care of yourself first. Always find time to go on a break, do not overexert yourself, especially before or after a long mission. Without breaks, you mind goes numb. If your mind goes numb, accidents happen. When accident happens, Primordial's die. Never disregard yours, nor your troops physical or mental welfare."
"Ah, so that's why my mind has been so heavy lately. I've been so caught up in what I was supposed to be doing, that I forgot the very basics." Asus says to himself.
"Wha wuz zat?" Crystal asks as she chews on a squid-like food.
"Nothing. And aren't you a princess. Stop talking with your mouthful." He says chastising her, but she merely just sticks out her tongue and says no. He shakes his head at a loss of what to do and decides to continue eating his snack as well.
"So, does your visor automatically open and close when you eat or do you have to like, pre-program it before hand?" Crystal asks quizzically as his visor splits three ways allowing him to eat. She was still slightly shocked every time she saw his real face but was slowly getting used to it.
"It's basically a pre-program." He answers taking another bite of his Pelpian Tup Pasta. Despite the name it had no noodles. It was a dish of thinly sliced meat the same length and thickness of noodles and heavily spiced is various hot peppers and juices. "So, anywhere else you wanna go?" He asked as he finished up his food and water.
She looked around and he could tell she was eyeing everything they hadn't yet got to. "Looks like we're going on all of them huh?" He said and he could practically see her eyes sparkling. "Alright, let's get going then."
She quickly finishes her remaining bits of food and soda. "Alright. I'm ready." She says throwing away her trash. And then finally after roughly six more hours they hit every ride and food stall in the fair. "Oh my gosh, this was so fun." She says excitedly as she leant against his arm as they made their way back to where they said they would meet Big.
"I'm glad you had fun." He says as they walk down the crowed street. They didn't know how many more times they would be going out during the trip, so they stopped by various stores and made sure to buy her enough clothes to last a few occasions. She wanted to buy some for him, but he told her he never removing his suit aside from when it was time to hygiene.
"I'm going to take a shower alright? I feel like I sweat a ton." She says as they entered the hotel room again.
He watches as she just kicked off her shoes and tosses her top off as she walked into the bathroom. He shakes his head in disbelief at how comfortable she had gotten. Then he remembered what she said back in the city and how excited she got over a simple fair. "I guess she really did have it tough growing up." He says to himself as he sits down in his chair and lounges back. The more he thought about it the sadder her life seemed. He couldn't imagine spending his entire life inside a house.
Before he even turned five, he had already been enlisted into the Imperial Army as per Primia's law. Every citizen was to serve a minimum of fifteen years. Those who chose to stay got to pick between staying Enlisted or becoming an Imperial Officer. Those who wanted a challenge and to fight for the glory of the Empire stayed enlisted. Those who wanted to command those braver soldiers would become officers.
However, sometimes people would change their minds, and the almighty Empire knew this. That's why the "Job Change" was made. Any Officer who wanted to fight for the glory of the Empire could take combat roles and any Enlisted who no longer wanted combat role could just request the change and after 48 to 96 hours it was approved. Those who didn't want to stay in after 15 could happily retire and go about their daily life.
He hissed in pain and grabbed his left eye as the sharpest pain yet struck it. It was a pain so strong he almost felt the urge to pull out his eye. He stumbles over to his pouch on the table and pulls out the bottle and takes a pill. After a few minutes the pain fades away and he collapses back into the chair. His decision was made.
While on the way back to Primia, he would give her back her lost childhood no matter what.