Chapter 12

I frowned at my tablet, puzzling through the reading exercise. After a few days of Drakconese primary lessons, I could already read and write the numbers. Learning to read their language was another thing entirely.

NAID materialized on my tablet. “I have found you an oravirven.”

“You did?”

“There is one person aboard who is not a drakcol and is a warrior soul. They are not male, though. Your language identifies them as non-binary,” she said, bouncing on the screen.

“Is your display broken or are you excited?”

“Excited,” NAID said with a wide grin, making her heavy lids close.

“What does their language call being non-binary?”

Her thin lips pursed. “The closest translation would be third gender or non-gendered, but it’s not exact. This species has one sex, but they identify by three different genders.”

“But their pronouns are they/them?” I asked.

“Correct. Is there a problem? From my understanding of your planet, not everyone accepts non-binary people.”

“I have no problem. I wanted to make sure I understood correctly.”

“You will like Urgg. They’re mated to Captain Talvax.”

My mouth fell open. “The captain’s mate is my mentor?”

“Yep,” NAID said in a chipper voice like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Right, that’s not awkward.”

“I’m detecting sarcasm. Why would it be weird?”

“It,” I paused. “It just is.”

“I can find you another. They will be your same gender and soul type, but they will be drakcol.”

“Soul type?”

“There are four soul types: warrior, spiritual, seeker, and creator. You are a warrior soul.”

I laughed so hard that I almost dropped my tablet. “There”s no way I’m a warrior. That’s not possible.”

“Why?”

“I-I’m me,” I said helplessly.

“So? You’re you. The Crystal marked you as a warrior. It’s never wrong.”

“The damn Crystal. It all comes back to that stupid rock.”

“You should be careful who you say such words in front of. Even I might take it offensively. I’m based on the Crystal’s energy.”

“They would become violent?” I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper.

“Of course not. Drakcol might originate as a warring people, but no one would harm you. They would not even challenge you. You belong to Prince Kalvoxrencol, and he would fight for you. No one has bested him yet. You’re more likely to make people dislike you.”

When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “It’s their religion. You don’t have to believe, but you can be respectful, as any drakcol would be of yours.”

“That religion changed the course of my life without any input from me. No religion should control people”s lives like that, especially when I don’t share the same faith in a rock.”

After a few seconds of pregnant silence, she asked, “Would you like to meet Urgg? I can set up an appointment.”

“That’s fine.” Looking for anything to say, I asked, “How’s the name search going?”

“Extensive. I even asked one of the seeker souls on board.”

“Really?”

“He asked about my change in appearance, and I told him I was more comfortable in this guise. It feels like me.”

“What did he say?”

“Wyn asked so many questions, he forgot about my initial inquiry. He’s given a report to the lead seeker, Dr. Qinlin. Now, she and others want to talk to me.”

“About?”

“My independence. It’s an oddity.”

A prickle of worry slid down my spine. “They’re not going to hurt you, right?”

“I cannot be hurt.”

“That’s not true,” I argued. “Maybe not physically, but they can hurt you emotionally or rewrite your programming.”

“You truly see me as a person,” NAID said, her voice soft.

“Yes.” There was not a single doubt in my mind.

“They are not planning on changing me,” she said in response to my earlier question. “They want to observe my progress. Consequently, none of the seeker souls will weigh in on my name, but they are very curious about what I’ll pick.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t know why this is so difficult. Even Edith Smith said something similar to you. ‘Pick a name that feels like you or that you like. You can name yourself after your favorite character from a TV show or book even. Pick something for you.’”

“That seems like sound advice.”

“I concur, but I can’t find something that feels like me.”

“You know,” I started, rearranging on the couch so my back was against the arm, “you don’t have to pick right now. There’s no deadline for figuring yourself out.”

“Thank you.”

“What are friends for?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, my eyes widened. I hadn’t had a friend in a very long time, not since Vince, but NAID was most definitely my friend.

Her smile grew blindingly bright, to the point her eyes disappeared into her baggy skin. “We’re friends.”

“We are.”

With another grin, she winked out of the room.

When I grew bored of my reading exercise, I switched to watching a crime procedural, my favorite. The episode played the familiar music and characters, soothing me. I could almost imagine I was in my apartment on a Saturday, binge-watching with Lucy asleep on top of me. Everything was right in the world, then the door opened, and I was back to reality.

Kal strode in, and I tracked his movement to the food dispenser. He grabbed a bowl of fruit and popped a green slice into his mouth.

I watched his throat bob before my gaze traveled down his body. His sleeveless, high-collared shirt clung to his wide chest, allowing me to ogle his strong arms, while his fitted trousers gave me an excellent view of his thick thighs. Two necklaces with red gems swung from his neck, matching earrings hung from his lobes, and silver cuffs decorated his tapered ears. I couldn’t help but wonder about his wings. Did they fold up beneath his shirt or did they disappear between uses?

When my gaze returned to his face, I froze. He was staring at me with a pleased smirk. A flush rushed to my cheeks. I wished I was one of those people who could control their emotions or expressions, but no such luck.

Feet padded over the spongy ground, and the couch dipped. Kal sat next to me, his thigh brushing my arm. The couch, while backless, was wide enough for us to lie side by side. Lucy sat up, stretched, and relocated to Kal’s lap. I rolled my eyes at her traitorous action but stayed focused on my show.

“Now you can’t move,” I teased.

“What?”

“It’s a cultural law on Earth. You can’t move cats when they”re on your lap.”

He stroked her back. “That must be inconvenient.”

“Yep,” I said, fighting to keep a straight face. “People are late all the time because of it. Businesses struggle since many workers don’t show up on time because of their cats. It is an epidemic. But it’s the law.”

His lips separated as he studied Lucy. “Cats must be gods among your people.”

“In a way. They definitely think they’re gods. Little house gods.”

After a brief silence, he lowered the bowl toward me and asked, “What are you watching?”

I picked up one of the red berries that curiously tasted like cherry-flavored candy and popped it into my mouth. “A TV show from my planet.”

“Ah, yes. I’m familiar with the concept. I quite like Star Trek. I have not watched all the sequels yet.”

My mouth fell open. “You watched Star Trek?”

“I’ve been wanting to learn about your culture and stumbled on it. I find it very interesting.”

Kal pushed the bowl into my arms, and I snagged another berry. “So Star Trek. Anything else?”

“Not yet. What’s this?”

“It’s a crime procedural.”

“Can I watch with you?” he asked.

“Sure.”

We watched the episode as we demolished the bowl of fruit. It was oddly peaceful. Lucy remained on Kal’s lap, deep asleep, twitching every once in a while. About halfway through, I shifted, back hurting, and moved against Kal. He didn’t react, seemingly engaged in the story, though his tail curled around my wrist, the tuft at the end flicking against the back of my hand. The movement was oddly distracting, yet I didn’t shift from his side.

When the episode ended, I looked up at Kal and focused on the deep line between his eyebrows. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking many things.”

“And they are?”

“This is entertainment?”

“Yeah.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me. Someone was murdered, and you watch people examining this person’s death?”

“Seeking justice.”

“Are murders so common?”

“Common enough, yeah.”

“That’s very sad.” He gently touched my cheek with the back of his finger. “You had to live through that.”

“No one I know was murdered.”

“But you enjoy this?” he asked, fingers on my chin.

“I do. It’s the mystery of it, the who done it.”

“Hmm.” He stroked my chin, sending tingles ricocheting down my spine.

Moving out of his grasp, I asked, “You don’t have something like TV shows on your planet?”

“No,” he said, tail caressing my knuckles. “We have plays, but they’re usually about wars of the past, family, or love. Fiction books have become quite popular in the last few hundred cycles, though there are very few drakcol authors. Recently, experiences have become popular after the importing of the technology.”

“What’s an experience?”

He grinned. “Do you want me to show you?”

It took me a minute to decide, bouncing between the options as the worst possible scenarios played in my mind from Kal luring me to my death or the technology hurting me. He did not press me for my answer.

“Sure.”

Kal stroked Lucy. “We shall have to wait for her to move.”

I fought a smile, sitting up. Lucy, predictably, stretched and jumped off.

We exited the elevator on the fourth floor. Vines grew around the railing and trailed over the glass wall that blocked us from the ledge. Kal directed me into a shop with blinking lights and foreign letters. One glass counter spanned the plain entryway of the shop, and a tall, bright blue, and pencil-thin alien stood behind it. Three monitors behind the counter depicted gorgeous scenery, two green aliens hugging suggestively, and a battle.

“This is an experience shop,” Kal said. “The lone one aboard. There are two suites on deck eight for the crew members. We can use them, though they have a long wait list.”

I nodded, staying close to his side as my eyes remained on the new alien.

When Kal and I got close, the alien looked up from their tablet, eyes yellow with huge, round pupils. Near their long nose that ended in a sharp hook was another set of much smaller eyes, whose purpose I couldn’t even begin to guess.

“Welcome to Crak’s Virtual Emporium, how can I help you?” they asked in a nasal tone.

“One suite for an hour,” Kal said.

The alien prodded the console on the counter with bony fingers. “Room three. You will get a fifteen-minute warning before shutting off. If you want more time and no one has reserved the suite, pay more at the panel near the door.”

We stepped into a square room that was completely empty.

“I think we should do a simple exploration program,” Kal said as his clawed fingers scrolled down a list I couldn’t read.

“Whatever you want.”

“What do you want? We can start a story. Adventure. War. Romance.” His lips quirked.

“Exploration is fine.” I had no idea what was about to happen, so I didn’t have an opinion.

After a moment, he moved to my side. “It’s initializing.”

The walls, floor, and ceiling began to flicker until the room vanished and a forest appeared.

“It’s like virtual reality,” I said, gaping.

“I have no idea what that is,” Kal said. “You can walk around, see the sights, and hear the noises. You can only go so far before you’ll hit a wall but with this,” he held up a remote similar to a track-ball mouse, “you can scroll forward or in whatever direction, and the scenery will change. You can’t get hurt with the safety protocols.”

Taking a deep breath, I commented, “I don’t smell anything.”

“It can’t create smell or feel.”

“It’s still cool.”

“Cool?”

“Amazing.”

The trees were tall and wide like redwoods, but they were dark purple with light blue wisteria flowers, much like the one in the garden. Bugs with massive wings like butterflies that glittered in a rainbow of colors floated by, except they were the size of kittens. Dark green vines with red and blue blooms wrapped around the trees. Oddly shaped birds flew overhead while they released whistling songs.

I jerked to a stop and pointed to an animal the size of a moose but was a cross between a lizard and a worm. The creature was red with smooth skin, deadly talons, a long tail, and four beady eyes. Its forked tongue snapped out and snatched one of the butterfly-like insects.

“What is that?” My voice was quiet, despite the fact the animal wasn’t really there.

“A verculmis,” Kal replied. Quieter words followed: wyrm, lizard, frog, and worm. It was like NAID couldn’t decide the exact translation.

“What does it eat?”

He chuckled, moving behind me until his chest brushed my back. “Not people. They eat insects. They’re actually quite calm. They can and will attack if threatened, though.”

“It’s weirdly awesome.”

We wandered the massive forest until a monotone voice announced, “Fifteen minutes.”

“Did you want to get another hour?” Kal asked.

“No, but I would like to come back.”

Kal smiled, revealing his sharp canines. It made my heart flutter and sunlight pool under my skin. “I’d like that,” he said.

When I headed toward the door, his tail curled around my wrist, stopping me. I looked at him in question, and he said, “We still have time.”

I strode in a different direction. Kal stayed beside me, his shoulder brushing mine.