Chereads / The Sole Anomaly / Chapter 30 - A Speaker And His Listener

Chapter 30 - A Speaker And His Listener

Femi activated the ship's communication, the aim was to tell the Alliance that they were about to leave the planet. It was a process that had to be recorded in the Alliance's database, so they couldn't just leave.

The Syncro Trio didn't bother reporting that the Rimora crewmates were 'lost' while on a mission.

The reason they didn't do that was because due to Alicia and her colleagues manipulating the information, it was like the Rimora mates had left the Alliance HQ immediately after they completed their registration, anything that then happened after that was on the two kids not her. 

Things were easier this way compared to if the Syncro Trio declared them dead during a hunt.

So, to those who kept record of who was situated in the City Moribus and Moribus Hanger in the Alliance HQ, the Rimora mates had just toured Morribus City for a day without causing an issue and decided to leave the planet, like some people usually did. The only odd thing about them was coming all the way to Planet Terramoribus to register as a Galactic Wanderer.

After the process of reporting was complete, the Rimora crew was recorded to not have caused any issue. The future Alliance and other official Hangars that they'll be landing need not to treat them as criminals.

With that settled, the Hangar workers gave a green light for Rimora to take off.

Rimora left Planet Teramorribus.

*****

The ship moved at a slow pace, still within the Terramorribus solar system.

"Eina, please come," Arwan called. 

Eina knelt down with her eyes closed, not too far away from Arwan. Femi was sleeping due to the drug he used for the aftereffects he felt, so she waited with concealed excitement for him to wake so they could do the activities he had told her about, but while she waited, she was called by Arwan. 

She turned her head towards him, her eyes becoming vertical and sharp.

Arwan said, a mischievous smile forming on his face, "Hey, come sit by me. I need your help here."

Eina didn't reply, she delicately stood up and sat by his left, with the seat turned towards his direction.

Arwan pointed to the panels beside the steering wheel,directly in front of her, "Would you like to learn how to run the navigations?"

Driving while navigating wasn't hard for Arwan but having a partner to help with the navigations while also talking to that person sounded better. The best reason to explain why Arwan would make sure Eina or anyone that isn't Femi be his navigator is because he doesn't like feeling alone.

Eina didn't think about the offer, and to signify that she was interested, she turned her seat towards the panel with a face of determination.

Arwan was glad. 

"It works like this, you input the coordinates of the planet we're going to on that panel and it shows a rough map. On a normal note, the map is not supposed to be that detailed but we are registered Galactic Wanderers, it's like that because it's part of the features we pay for." Arwan explained.

Eina gave a silent nod that made Arwan continue.

"That's how the map works. For the detection radar, the ship detects various bodies around it and displays it there. And once again, Alliance features give us a more detailed view about these things. Oh and you can expand the panels to form a holographic screen, it'll make things more understandable that way."

Arwan stretched his hand to tap a button. 

Two screens appeared glitched, then stabilized in front of Eina, making her iris widen.

Arwan was happy to see her reaction. 

"Uhh... If you have any questions feel free to ask me." Arwan said.

"Understood." Eina whispered.

"Ahwan, what's that?" She pointed out the viewport, towards flying creatures, varying from the size of a car to a truck. 

Arwan first wondered if his name was hard to pronounce before he explained. "Ahh. Those are space creatures. Creatures that have evolved with the trait of being able to breathe in outer space."

"Hmmm," Eina's mind processed the new information.

"We should avoid them. Enough conserving power, let's move faster." Arwan said. With a crooked smile, he added, "Why not call me Ar?"

Arwan didn't wait for a response. He immediately accelerated the ship's speed, launching them towards their destination at a rapid speed.

"Ar, this says we reach the planet in 3 days at this speed." Eina stated, eager to do her task.

Arwan coughed, "Ahhh... Yea-yeah. Nice to see you're getting the hang of it."

Arwan felt weird. He now had a short name his friend could call him.

*****

[18 hours later]

The bridge had only two individuals with one talking and the other being a good listener.

Arwan kept telling Eina about different space bodies they passed by. It was fun for both of them, this was the first person Arwan had spoken to since Killian – regarding conversations between him and Femi, he counted himself as the listener – Eina was just happy to listen to someone, again.

Things went on like that ever since Eina sat by Arwan, until when Femi walked into the bridge.

"Hallooo!" Femi greeted them.

"Oi, you feeling better?" Arwan asked.

"Right, I was injured!" with a look of realization, Femi began stretching his body. After confirming a few aches he took off the upper half of his body suit to check the marks on where previously it hurt.

"See... I'm all better now." He said, showing the injury marks that had reduced drastically compared to before.

Arwan sighed, then cursed, "Tsk. All you blessed bitches. I merely used a buff battery and I'm extremely drained, even after using energy boosts! Damn the algorithm."

"Tough luck," Femi teased as he approached them.

He reached Eina, confirming what she was doing, he inquired, "Eh, you really learnt how to use this stuff. Is it interesting? Doesn't seem like it to me."

Eina glanced at him, she replied, "Mhm. It is fun."

Femi felt confused at why it was considered fun, he usually had thoughts like this about why people liked stuff and why somethings made them happy.

Most of the things Femi likes, if he was asked a reason why liked them, his honest response would be because his hunch said he'd like it which always ends up to be true. 

If his hunch didn't spark the feeling, Femi didn't believe he'd find anything that'd rile up his lacking emotions.

Although Femi could be happy, feel anticipation and be surprised about stuff, it was all his hunch guiding him towards those feelings.

The hunch was Femi's only way to gain complete humanity. And there's where his problem lies. Recently, Femi noticed that the whispers and guidance of his hunch are becoming more distant… as if it's disappearing. That's why Femi wants to attain those emotions urgently, once and for all. 

Femi his thoughts aside. He smiled, "Alright! You said you're not injured right? We should spar, but let's go eat first. I'm hungry."

Eina was about to instantly follow Femi when she remembered that she was actually listening to Arwan moments ago.

She glanced at him using her facial expression to ask if he's okay with her leaving. 

In response, Arwan said, "Of course. Go goof around. You've been a good help this past few hours. Y'all enjoy yourself. I'll also be taking a break soon, I need to sleep too, my body aches. There won't be any obstacles for a while, so we can let the ship drift on its own."

"Yes. Thank you Ar." Eina said, standing up to follow Femi.

Femi took notice of the name Eina had called Arwan and felt a foreign sensation that weighed on his chest for a while. It left immediately though.

He continued to smile quietly as he looked at both Arwan and Eina.

Arwan's word snapped Femi back to reality from whatever zone he was in. 

"Eina said she can cook. Let's have her do something for us." Arwan suggested.

"Ehhh, Lil Eina can cook? That's so cool! We should do that then." Femi hopped on the idea.

"You have no problem with that right?" He asked, directing the question to Eina.

"I'll cook." Eina stated.

And like that, the Rimora mates had their first group meal together.