It is all over the news. No matter where you live, no matter what government you have, no matter what alien civilization you belong to, or faction you are in, there are some consistent things:

A Neplusultran blue cat by the name of Tom Catz killed Emperor Dominus and is now being given command of the Strife Alliance flag ship "The Niven". To fill the power void, a half-blissian by the name of Angel Bard has seized control of Haylor (or "Base 3") and consequently, has taken over Planet Tharia.

Your character, whoever it is, can be from anywhere, but they will start at a space station in a neutral area of space. It's up to the players to figure out what their character is doing here.

The game begins in the year 6100. New Years is being celebrated even as news is going on about the death of Emperor Dominus.

---

Some info on the Characters above:

Tom Catz - An unknown till now unless you want your character to have run into him during his explorer years (which has been the past 4 years)

Emperor Dominus - A barrakian who has been in charge of Planet Tharia and Haylor (Base 3) for the past two decades. He was considered militaristic like most barrakians and rumors had spread he was on the verge of a discovery that would give him the edge needed to conquest the star cluster. Whatever it was, he is now too dead to use it.

Angel Bard - Only semi-famous for being half-blissian as those are rare. But unless you're the kind to pay attention to things like that, most wouldn't really know she existed. Since blissians are known for being the carebears of the galaxy, most view half-blissians in a similar light and would find Angel taking over Haylor/Tharia as odd.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:53, Tue 15 Mar 2022.

Esther had a great idea!  What if ice cream trucks were space ships?!  And what if they didn't just serve ice cream, but other goodies as well!?  So she chased her dream.  Hers may be the galaxy's only full-spectrum mobile dessert parlor.  Carrot cake, pumpkin pie, ice cream of all sorts of flavors, and so on!

Much as she loves her job, everyone needs a break.  So that's what she's up to.  Taking a break.  Just aimlessly wandering the shopping district of the station with her robot to see what may catch her fancy.

"Ooh that jacket looks so cute!"



OOC Notes to self:

Esther the bunny.  Is she a relative of Angel?  Like maybe Angel's Dad's cousin's daughter?

Winter: Night dreamer set free from service?  Or still bound to Vel?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:54, Tue 08 Mar 2022.

Reid was in what some might describe as a bit of a... sour patch. The delivery was made on record time, and by no means is that a bad thing. However, what wasn't exactly a good record for him was that on the return to his small delivery ship... it wasn't there. Luckily, there aren't many trips he makes without his two favorite 'friends', Binary and Smiley! While he's helped with robots and made drones of various varieties for delivery purposes, these two were constants that he almost never went anywhere without. So to clear his mind, he'd go on a roam around the station, Smiley following shortly behind, and Binary floating a short bit overhead.

In this roam, he found himself in the shopping district, which, was not a bad place to be. Even if he didn't buy anything, window shopping was always a fun pastime!

A deer in the shopping district is sipping at the milkshake he got over at Dairy Dee's as he eyes some Circuit Cycles on display at the Q.V. (Quality Vehicle) store. He doesn't yet notice the rat boy, but Esther turns his head. Most folks have never seen a half-human half-blissian, so she is generally excused as some alien race. But the deer smiles, knowing what he's looking at. He walks over to Esther.

Standing at 4'6", he's not as tall as Esther's 5'5". He looks up at her and says, "Pardon, ma'am. Don't suppose you were... wanting that cute jacket?"

Meanwhile, Reid is approached by some thug-looking human. "Well hey there, kid. Where's your parents, eh?"

A grenu nearby perks his ears and looks over at the human. Although he is far enough from Reid that Reid won't hear it, the grenu growls, baring his teeth. He begins heading over to the thug. However, the grenu was close enough for Esther to hear him growl...

Esther's waitress robot gets a cartoonish cat face when she notices Smiley.  ( Not this body, but this face fer sher: https://itk-assets.nyc3.cdn.di...04-at-5.26.44-PM.jpg )  "Oh my!  Look at that wonderful robot, boss!"

Esther is taken aback by sudden strange question from deer man.  Must be a salesman.  "Oh!  I..."  She puts on an apologetic bashful smile, "Just admiring, really.  Can I interest you in a doughnut hole?"

Her eyes glance in the direction Cherry indicated and gasps at the apparent confrontation about to unfold.  "Oh dear..."

She realizes her gaff in front of the deer.  "Sorry.  Worried.  About... that."

Ester points at the thug in a timid way.  Cherry approaches the confrontation waving around a sweet smelling basket full of goodies.  "Free samples!"

Smiley's roll came to a halt as Reid's walking slowed to a stop in response to the thug-like human. Reid looked up at the approaching human, raising a brow. Stranger danger was a thing, but he was hesitant to act harshly just because someone looked a little 'thuggish'. It could be a question of legitimate concern. As he was about to respond to the man and answer the question, some of the rat boy's favorite words were stated. 'Free Samples!'

He'd give a polite wave to the man, turning on a dime towards the source of the words. "Gotta answer that in a sec! Sorry, sir!"

In a jiff, the rat boy was fast approaching, a stride in his step as he looked up at the robot. There was a wide-toothed grin to the kid, realizing what the source was, and given the smell, what the free samples could be!

While Binary floated behind Reid, Smiley stayed behind, the monitor acting as their face showing an older-style image with a happy-go-lucky smiling emote, the bigger robot extending out an arm and hand. "Pleased to meet you! Your inquiry may have to wait, but socializing does not!"

[OOC: Mono-text is Smiley talking. Italic Serif is Binary beeping. ] (Normal text is Reid talking o'course.)

Anthony turns his attention to the thug and rat boy. Then the free samples. "I suppose the doughnut hole you mentioned is part of the free samples...? And what's to worry?"

The thug looks at Smiley. "At least someone here has manners... though I think I have my answer. He is a runaway and doesn't want to admit it, so he's using the free samples to buy time so he can think up a lie. Name's Charley, by the way."

Miso slows down his trot, glancing at the free samples. Food. The universal attention-grabber. He still keeps an eye on the thug, but decides to trot over to the free samples. "Whatchya got?" he asks Cherry.

Cherry is so happy!  The basket unfolds in her hands like a fancy toolbox ( https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws...918-1c105152f03c.jpg ) to display loads of different samples.  Each are bite sized, like the dougnut holes.  Of which there's a couple popular flavors.  There's also a tiny cheese danish, a miniature apple pie, little cinamon rolls, cupcakes, fudge, and on and on.  The bottom has a layer of those freezable bags you can put into coolers and on top of said layer is various tiny ice cream cups.

"One per customer so others can enjoy too, please.  But take as many coupons to pass around as you like!"

Esther is relieved angry dog and thug didn't fight.  "Oh.  N-nothing to worry about, it seems.  Yes!  They are part of the free samples."

Reid nodded at the notion of one per customer, but did the polite thing before just thieving away with a treat. "Hiii!" He'd wave, given a handshake would be difficult while the bot was holding the basket. "Can't take a snack without an introduction first. Whiiich. Hi... again. Pleased to meet!" The grin did not disappear.

"Brep beep ba ba bee. Skoo brep bee. Bep ska beep. Pap bee brrt?" The floating drone seemed to give out a series of spaced-out beeps, though it's tone was 'cheery' at the least, the glowing eyes from its face screen 'blinking'.

"Pleased to meet you Charley. Manners do make for a good start on the right foot. And as to your guess, I am afraid to inform you, you are incorrect! It was a good guess!" Smiley seemed to look closely at the thuggish man. "There is no reason to be concerned though. He is in safe hands and sensors!"

There was a slight twitch from Reid's ear, but his focus kept to the robot with snacks... Smiley was good at answering questions! Usually...

Anthony says, "I should have known..." he looks longingly at the free samples, but without taking his eye off Esther. "Er... my name's Anthony."

He rolls diplomacy. It comes up 7. Not TERRIBLE, but not good either. "And... I couldn't possibly take a free sample when you turned down my own offer. This is clearly your business and I'll not... impose."

Charley seems unamused by Smiley's answer. "Safe hands? Alright. Who?"

Miso keeps glancing in Charley's direction, but noms one of the miniature pies. Apple flavor specifically. He asks, "These samples are from... Esther's Goodies?" as he reads the side label of said sample box.

"Brep beep ba ba bee back atcha, cutie-pie!" Cherry answers, "And yes.  Esther's Goodies is a full service dessert boutique.  We've got a huge menu of desserts, and if you don't see what you're craving, just ask!  She's always on the hunt for a new culinary challenge!"

Esther's confused.  Both by vague guardianship of the boy and by Anthony's reason for turning down her offer.  "I'm sorry.  Did I upset you?  I don't understand.  Enjoying the love I put into my desserts isn't an imposition at all.  Oh!  I'm Esther.  Nice to meet you, Anthony."

Binary seemed to bounce (or moreso float) up and down excitedly at the returned 'Hello', the drone quite literally doing a little mid-air roll to express the enthusement.

Smiley's hands did a quick and quite literal spin. "These hands present! If there are any safety concerns, do know I am a fully-functional Ratte-Model 44a, and have been designed to alleviate risk for heavy lifting, heavy moving, and in the rare unforeseen circumstance of unkindness, I am equipped with knowledge on Deescelation!"

Reid ended up taking the tiny cheese danish, giving a thankful nod of the head before... what occurred could be a magic trick. There was a danish. Now there is just a rat with slightly puffed out cheeks. The danish just.... disappeared.

After finishing said pastry, Reid would speak again. "Thank you ma'am! One of the best samples I've had! Compliments to erm... wouldn't be a chef.... it'd be the baker! Compliments to the baker! Which if correct, is probably named Esther? 'cause Esther's goodies! Yep! Compliments to the baker, and compliments to the friendly dessert offerer-rer-rer!"

Anthony head-scratches, trying to think of how to salvage the conversation. He shakes her hand and says, "Nice t'meetchya Esther. I... guess I failed to convey my intent. I wanted to buy something for you. So I assumed when you said the jacket was cute, I thought you wanted it." he looks down.

Charley says, "Alright then, Smiley... who are his legal guardians?"

A little spurgeon hops up, grabs a doughnut hole, and lands back on the ground. Standing only two feet tall, spurgeons are short even to children of all but the shortest of races (Gigantic compared to fairies. No, I'm not letting that one go). The li'l critter grins up at Cherry. In an appropriately dinky voice, she says, "Hi! Thanks for the sample!" and noms on the doughnut hole that may as well be the size of a baseball to her.

Miso looks over to Reid and quietly says, "Psst... hey kid... that big guy over there? Don't trust 'im. I was sure he was going to persuade you to go aside with him. But I know the guy. He's bad news. So stay in the open, OK kid?"

Cherry giggles at Binary's aerobatics.  And gives a big digital smile to the cute ratboy's magic trick.  "Amazing!  And I'm so happy you like!  Esther is right behind me.  Hear that, Esther!  The magician likes it!

"And you're welcome, miss!"

She turns the samples toward Charlie next to indicate he can have one too.

Esther smiles broadly that the boy liked the sample and waves.  She turns an apologetic look to Anthony and answers softly, "I wasn't expecting you to be familiar with that part of Blissian culture.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness!  There is something you can give me that would be worth much more to me than a cute jacket.  You can give me your honest opinion of the sample you try.  Even if you don't like it.  It would mean a lot to me."

Reid looked over towards Miso at the comment in regards to the suspicious and thuggish man. "Wait, ya know him? Why's he bad news? Oh! And hi! Who're you sir?" Reid whispered, giving a glance towards Smiley. There was a momentary quiet from the ratboy, an ear perking up at the mention of the creator of said treats being very well present, and once they waved, he'd return a very cheerful wave. "HI MA'AM!" He'd greet with, but didn't continue further upon noticing the conversing with the deer, so as to not intrude too heavily, attention going back towards Cherry and Miso.

Smiley tapped a metallic finger to the bottom of the screen that showed their digital face. "That would be a difficult inquiry to answer! The current conundrum of where they are is an issue indeed! Though I have no doubt our capacity to find them is suitable to the task, so you need not worry sir!"

Binary seemed to turn its 'eyes' towards the man a short bit after Miso's statement, it however did not make any beeps at this time.

[OOC Note: It is known that 'who' was asked in this case. :3]
This message was last edited by the player at 06:41, Fri 18 Mar 2022.

Charlie is getting increasingly annoyed with Smiley, but the invitation to try a free sample means he now has ALL the excuse to go talk directly to the kid. He heads over to try a sample, widens his eyes and says, "Holy guacamole! This tastes just like auntie's pumpkin pie!"

Anthony glances at Esther. "You certainly don't lack for persistence or forcefulness, do you? Alright. I'll try one." he goes to the treats and tries a honey confection. "Hmm... really sweet. Love it."

Charlie then looks down at Reid. "Hey kid, your robot needs fixing. I think its broke. I've asked like three times where your parents are, and it can't seem to answer. So I'll try you: Where's your parents? Or do I have to go ask security to ask you for me?"

Miso says, "Don't listen to him, kid. He's bluffing. And even if he isn't, security here will do right by you. Which he doesn't want."

Charlie says, "Do I know you?"

Miso says, "No, but I know you. Listen, if you care so much about this kid, go do like you said. This nice half-blissian lady here with the treats will wait here with the kid."

Charlie narrows his eyes and says, "Fine. I'll go get 'em..." and walks off.

Miso mutters, "To answer your earlier question, my name's Miso. Wait here, kid... the nice lady will care for you... out in the open. But I don't wanna lose this guy."

He then takes off following Charlie from a distance.

Bipip looks confused and slightly scared by the confrontation and hops back a few feet before watching. She squeaks, and looks at each of the people present, to see reactions, but then gets concerned after Miso takes off. "But I heard him say the other one was trouble... If that's true, won't the grenu get hurt?"

Esther giggles from the cute boy's super eager greeting and approaches with Anthony.  When he and Charlie try samples she watches with so much anticipation she forgets to breathe.  Their reactions make her giggle some more.

"So glad you think so!  I tried several recipes before settling on those.  Thank you so much!"

She doesn't really understand the weird exchange with Smiley, but guesses that the doggy must be mistaking this nice man for someone else.  So Esther gives a naive shrug to Bipip's question.

"I could always just call security and have them come to us," Cherry offers.

Which she does.  But keeps it internal so as to not interrupt conversations.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:15, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

Reid looked at all the people present brought by either snacks, or the ruckus of a strange question. He'd frown at Miso's departure, especially with the concern brought up by Bipip. He'd look towards Smiley on that notion. After a quick nod to the bigger robot looking over, Smiley began to roll after the pair! Socialization wasn't finished after all!

He'd give a small wave to the small crowd that's gathered. "So uuhm. Why're we calling security?" He'd tilt his head towards Cherry.

Binary gave a short series of beeps at the departure of the thug, the tone seeming to be vaguely offended. "Ska-brrt-pip-beep."

Reid looked towards Esther, realizing they were now in CONVERSING DISTANCE! "Hi again! Aaand... thank you for the sample! I'd compare it to someone's cooking I know... but everyone cooks unique! So instead! On a scale of 'bleh' to 'great', it's squeaky! Which... erm... one step above great!"

[OOC note for edit: Binary speaks in beeps. For differentiating words, each beep being a letter, there'll be -'s between letters forming a word, and spaces between words as normal.]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:34, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

Bipip says, "I dunno...? I think people are calling security because they are worried for you and worried for the puppy?"

She looks at Cherry, hoping for a better answer than what she gave. But then looks at Esther, having only eaten half of the doughnut hole. "This is very yummy, miss! Thankiiiiies!"

Anthony says, "Err... sorry, I'm lost on what was going on. Was kinda hoping you'd tell me." he gives a helpless smile/shrug to the rat boy. "Should I stop them and let them know security is coming... here?"

He looks pretty confused. Not surprising given he wasn't privy to the whole Charlie/Smiley/Miso/Reid exchanges.

"To be helpful!" Cherry answers, "Much more expedient than walking to them!"

But yes, she reports more or less what Pipip surmised.  People are worried about maybe orphan boy, possible kidnapper, hopefully overly paranoid doggu.

Esther giggles some more at the boy's enthusiasm and Pipip's adorableness.  "Oh you're quite welcome!  And thank you so much for your compliments!  My name is Esther O'Hare.  What are your names?"

Cherry shrugs at Anthony's question.  "I informed security what direction the two went, so that should be enough, shouldn't it?"

Reid raised a brow at the concern, before giving a slightly nervous chuckle. "No need for concern! Security already knows I'm kinda on the station? I had to report something stolen 'cause it's not there anymore. So I'm here 'cause of that. But I'm not lost! Smiley is sorta right, they are making sure I'm safe. So no need to be worried! Well... erm... might be now, 'cause of the two going to -find- security." He'd looked toward Esther, returning to a bit more of a smile. "I'm Reid! This is Binary, and the big one that talked to the man and then kinda followed after them is Smiley!"

The beeping drone gave a singular affirmative beep that didn't seem to indicate a letter. A small opening slid upward on the drone, before a small robotic arm extended out, waving at the group, before the arm retracted back in, and the opening closed.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

Miso and Charlie turn a corner and then Charlie picks up speed, as does Miso. But nobody besides Smiley sees this. Then some security personnel arrive at Cherry's location. "What is the problem?" one of them asks Cherry.

Anthony and Bipip just quietly nod to Reid and watches the security personnel in silence.

Meanwhile, about 100 yards away, Smiley catches up to a scene where Charlie had turned in an alley. Miso is in the middle of wrestling the guy, Charlie's wrist in Miso's mouth as Charlie is shooting lasers at random, but being forced to soon let go of the gun...

Esther looks concerned.  "Oh dear!  Stolen?  Maybe I can help you find it.  Nice to meet you in any case."

She and Cherry return the wave.

To the Security guy, Cherry explains what's happened so far.  "...They went in that direction."

Reid waved towards the security guy. "If it helps, ya can find 'em by looking for a big kinda boxy robot with a happy face screen. He'll respond to Smiley! 'cause.. ya know, he's Smiley!"

Binary gave a concerned series of beeps to the security person, the glowing 'eyes' on the faceplate adopting a more worried shape. "Bo-bap-brrt-skdoo-skdoo-ba-beep  bop-skrrt  breep-ska-bee skdaa-ska-beep-bo-bo."

Reid looked towards Esther, nodding, and extending a hand up and towards Esther. "Pleased to meet ya! And if ya'd like... but ya don't hafta if your busy." He'd also offer a handshake towards Anthony and Bipip.

Charlie's spitting curses gets cut off when he catches sight of something that causes his hair to stand up.  "N-no..."  He stares wild-eyed in the direction behind Smiley and his pupils shrink to pinpricks.  His jaw drops open and a brief pathetic sound like a scream that got caught in a terrified child's throat exits, tears streaming down his face.  After dropping the gun and losing control of his bowels and bladder, he begins to shudder violently in a blind panic!  Within a few heartbeats his eyes roll up and he passes out.

Standing behind Smiley is a black one-eyed fox girl wearing a simple black hooded robe.  She's adjusting her eye patch.

Miso had a curled fist at the end of his tail ready, but seeing the guy suddenly look past him and freak out, Miso quickly turns to see Winter (and Smiley). He knew something wasn't quite right with that robot, but did Smiley really freak out Charlie that much?

...or is the girl with the eye patch someone dangerous? "...miss, am I interfering in something personal?" he asked cautiously, figuring that to be the best way to gather info while hopefully not sounding threatening. But to cause that much terror, he can only imagine this girl is someone very important, very rich, and very "when you see me, your time has come" style of enforcer.

The security officers look over the people present. A spurgeon. A kid. A deer. And a half-blissian. Yeeeaaah. Possibly the least threatening group of people they've seen. Ever. Compare that to hearing about a suspicious human and an angry grenu? They head off in the direction Miso and Charlie went.

Winter can see security approaching quickly.

Cherry starts dancing to the groovy beep-boxing of Binary.  She gives a happy bye-bye wave to the Security guys.  "Be sure to come by Esther's Goodies after work for free samples!  Even if we're closed, I'll be available to divvy 'em out!"

Esther shakes hands with Reid.  "I'm on break, so I can help look.  Anybody else want to pitch in helping him find...  What is it we'd be looking for?"

Winter slowly shakes her head in answer to Miso.  Noticing the guards approach, she realizes that reaching for something under her cloak might be mistaken for hostility, so she pulls it back to show what looks like a microphone on a handle.*  The dark fox then unclips it from her belt and brings it up to her lips and whispers.

A modulated voice from the device says, "The Human had a gun.  I think the Grenu was fighting for his life."

*(( I'm imagining a smaller version of this thing:  https://youtu.be/VSV9S2Ol3bc?t=204 ))

Reid gave a somewhat nervous chuckle, realizing the thing that was stolen wouldn't exactly be a thing you find on a work break. Usually. ".... Well, that's gonna be a tiny bit hard to find on a work break ma'am. And I don't wanna interrupt your break either! 'cause, well. It's a big thing to find, yeah but... well... it's kind've... uhm... kind've a courier.... vehicle. For... space deliveries?"

Binary took notice of the dancing groove, and adjusted the beeping to a more melodic tune. Something simple but easy to move to.

Smiley waved to the guards with a great bit of robotic enthusiasm, before swiveling to look towards the newly arrived fox. "If this is true, and your presence stopped such a dangerous possibility, the gratitude is high! As well! Are you injured, harmed, or in any need of medical or physical assistance sir?" The robot turned towards Miso, rolling a bit closer.

Miso spits Charlie's wrist out and takes a few steps away, "Ewe gross! The guy pooed himself!"

He sticks his tongue out in a "bleh" motion as he side-steps over towards the security, Smiley, and Winter. He looks at Winter's epic microphone and says, "...nice piece of tech, ma'am. Whatever you did to get him to freak out and go unconscious... thanks."

Security look down to where Charlie is. "Aw geeez... we gonna have to clean that up?" "Since the guy was an assailant? Yes. We have to take him into holding." "Gross. Good thing our office has its own refresher..."

One looks at Miso. "How healthy is the guy?"

Miso says, "I bit his wrist only to hold it and squeeze it the same way if you had grabbed it with your hand. I hit him a few times in the arms and legs, and bodychecked him in his center of mass."

Miso then looks at Smiley. "As for me... he got me in the cheek, in the side, and kicked my tail." he realizes how that sounds and says, "As in literally, kicked me in the tail, near the base... I'm bruised. Will probably be fine, but I'm not stupid enough to refuse a medical checkup if you're able to give one."

A security guard says, "We do have medical staff on the station. We'll just have you and... uh... this guy... checked out by them." "Wait! We could have the medical staff deal with the gross first!" "Say, you're right! Why didn't I think of that?"

Anthony starts to smile at the dancing and copies a LITTLE bit. Like the guy who is nervous about looking dumb for dancing in public, so he just awkwardly moves to the beat a little bit.

Bipip is still staring in the direction Miso went.

Anthony looks at Reid. "Someone jacked your ride? Please tell me it had a tracer...?"

Cherry loves the music and dances enthusiastically.  Esther is more subdued and graceful in her dancing, but maybe not as restrained as Anthony.

The bunny looks a bit shocked by Reid.  "My goodness!  So...  You don't have a way home, do you?  Oh dear.  My ship is roomy.  I can take you home at least.  I assume you told your parents and your boss about all this.  I'm not sure how else I could possibly help.  And don't worry about my break.  I'm my own boss, so I take time off for as long as I like."

Winter isn't quite sure how to answer Smiley and Miso, so she simply nods to them.

Things look well in hand so she turns her attention to the delicious scent she's smelling.  A dancing robot with a very unusual basket.  And quite the eclectic collection of other people.  She turns and quietly heads toward Anthony's group.

Reid gave a somewhat nervous shake of the head. "It's got a tracker! I imagine if it's out and about in space it's gonna be found... sorry to the thief in that case. But... I sort of... haven't called my family yet." He'd look down, a tad bit embarrassed. "Kinda gonna be weird to tell 'em... 'Hi-hi! I lost a -whole- ship!'... heh." He'd look up at Esther. "And... thank you ma'am." He'd glance over towards Binary, for some reason snickering a bit, before nodding.

Binary slowly turned to look towards Anthony as the deer did the small but refrained dance. It'd slowly float over, music getting just a little more ominous, Binary's 'eyes' trained on the deer.

Smiley gave a robotic thumbs up before responding. "While I am not outfitted for medical procedures, I can direct you to Binary! Their tools are more suited to and outfitted for checking of such or check-ups, and Binary will gladly assist you in any needs you might have sir! Their only refrain would be R.R.'s input that said assistance should not be rendered, and those occurrences are so unlikely they haven't even happened more than twice! As well, your concern and direct involvement for R.R.'s safety has been noted and I would like to be the first to give you a whopping thanks for it!" The bigger robot extended its hand towards Miso.

To the ominous Binary, Anthony gets the dear-in-the-headlights look and stops dancing entirely, looking intimidated.

Miso curls his tail to shake Smiley's hand with a smile of his own. "You're most welcome... this guy here is one I recognize from a human trafficking gig that goes from station to station. So I knew he was bad news."

Security look rather shocked and disturbed at this news. One goes with Miso, Winter and Smiley back over to Team Esther, while the other security guard remains with Charlie to await the medical personnel, who appear to be arriving already.

By now, a small trickle of blood is running down the side of Miso's lip. When Charlie had struck him on the cheek, Miso apparently cut his lip on a tooth.

Bipip bounces anxiously. "You're hurt!"

Anthony looks at Miso. "Woah... what happened?"

Miso says, "Charlie didn't like that I was onto him, so we fought."

(The group is now together, assuming Winter and Smiley went with Miso over to Reid/Esther/Anthony/Bipip)

Anthony says, "This kid has a ship. And some jackers stole it."

Miso says, "It's just not his day today, apparently."

A medic comes over and begins giving Miso a look-over while the group chats.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Thu 24 Mar 2022.

Cherry hands her basket over to Esther then takes Anthony by the hands to dance with him.  Both to stand protectively between the deer and the music bot, and to snap the guy out of his daze.  "May I have this dance, hon?"

Esther aws at poor Reid.  She offers the boy a comforting side-hug.  "You're welcome, sweetie.  Maybe I could help out by making the call for you?  I'll be a buffer between you and the barrage of questions."

She gives an empathic look toward Miso.  "Oh dear!  I hope you'll feel better soon.  Maybe some ice cream to numb your mouth after the medic checks you out?"

Winter arrives and listens.  Her eye slowly scans each person, then the basket.

Binary gave a happy secondary beep as Anthony was offered a dance, the musical beeps continueing. It didn't continue to advance, staying where it was instead.

Reid sort of giggled just a bit, looking to Anthony, half-whispering towards the deer. "Sorry, they wanted to surprise you with a offer to dance... they're not great with that stuff though. Surprise scary into asking to dance.... but since you got an offer, they're happy all the same!" Binary made a quick turn towards Reid, the digital eyes 'squinting', but the music did not cease.

At the side-hug and offer, as well as the 'aw', the rat's nose turned a little red out of embarassment. "I-.. I'm a big rat. I probably... should be the one to let 'em know. Wouldn't be a good courier if I gotta have people deliver things for me... including bad news." He'd pause for a moment, before looking at Esther. "Not to be ungrateful for the help offered, no-no... just don't wanna make you do stuff that's my responsibility 'cause than that'd be-..." He'd stop midway, giving a quiet but nervous squeak, as if to stop what was sounding like it'd be a long ramble. "Ya know....?"

Smiley crossed it's arms as best it could at the mention of the thug being related to human trafficking. "Now that is a crime that should be very much punished. Poor moral and ethical etiquette like that is very much a horrible way to behave! Your assistance is very much appreciated sir!"

Reid gave a nod in agreement with Smiley, and a thumbs up to Miso, still looking a little nervous in expression, but very much grateful for the help.

Miso nodded to Smiley and Reid with a smile. "No problem."

Anthony blushes from Cherry's offer and awkwardly takes her hands to dance some. But a few glances at Miso and he looks downcast. "Thank you, ma'am. I... I just don't feel right dancing when someone is hurt and a kid is stranded without his parents."

Miso says, "I'm fine. Just a few bruises, nothing major. And maybe some dancing will help cheer the boy up." He looks back to Esther. "But I'm not gonna turn down ice cream..."

The medic says. "He's right. This grenu will be fine. But make sure he doesn't overly strain himself."

Bipip says, "It's good to hear he'll be OK!" she then hops to look up at Reid. "Reid, you sound like a good, responsible boy! But even adults need help from time to time, right? How about we all join you when you send the communication? We can be your moral support!"

Anthony says, "...who's she?" as he looks at Winter.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:28, Sun 27 Mar 2022.

Cherry has a digital smiley that the dance antics got a giggle out of Reid.  She nods to what Miso said and answers Anthony, "Seemed to me like Esther had the cute mommy angle covered, so I aimed for lightening the mood with whimsical fun.  If you'd rather aim for concerned family member than fun friend, I won't stop you."

Noticing Winter's gaze at the basket, she takes it back from Esther and offers a sample to the dark fox.

Esther looks relieved that Miso is doing OK.  "All the ice cream you want on the house, Hero.  You deserve it."

She nods to Bipip.  "Good point, and thank you for making it."

She then addresses the group.  "Anyone who'd like to join, let's head to my dessert sanctuary."

So long as there looks like a consensus, she leads the way.

Winter is overwhelmed with so much variety and can't decide on what to sample.  When asked, she whispers into her device.

"Winter."

Reid would follow along the way to the sanctuary of desserts, Smiley rolling along, and Binary floating after.

Walking along the way, he did look over towards Anthony, attempting his best reassuring smile. "If it helps, I'm not actually stranded." He'd gesture towards Esther. "The ship poofing was kinda... recent occurrence. Was tryna figure what to do, 'cause I know there'd be a way back... which! I wasn't wrong. Just didn't think it'd be by friendly dessert trader... which, don't look a gift bot in the audio output mechanism and all!" He'd give a thumbs up. "And I think Miso'll be fine! Tough hero!" He'd look towards Miso, giving a solid nod.

Binary seemed to float a bit more towards Winter, digital eyes trained on the device she used to project her voice, than towards the fox herself. "Bop-bo bip-brep-beep-ska-beep bop-skrrt-brap-brrt-ska-pap bip-bee pap-bee-brrt-ska bep-brrt-pip-bop-bee bee-brrt-bip-breep-brrt-bip boop-bop-bee-ba-bee-skdaa-bop-bap-bep-ba be-beep-bap-brep-bep-skrrt-bop-bo-be?"

Reid looked towards Winter after Binary's long string of beeps that seemed to hold an inquisitive tone. "Erm... sorry, they're askin' if your voice box's okay. If... the question isn't minded. They're a lil' bit of a worrywart!" There'd be a glance towards Reid at that, before he'd smile towards Binary, lightly blowing a raspberry at the drone, who returned the favor, albeit only in sound.

The group ABSOLUTELY follows the half-blissian to her dessert sanctuary.

Bipip has yet to report her own problem, so focused was she on Reid and Miso's problems. But it finally begins to sink in she has a similar problem to Reid and that this might solve HER problem at the same time. She still doesn't voice it yet, though.

Miso hears the concern for Winter and was wondering the same. Grateful someone else asked.

Anthony says, "Quite nice of you, Esther. I um... I... thinkIcanhelp." he mutters that last bit. But doesn't repeat himself should she miss it.

Esther turns a curious look at the curt fox, but doesn't think much of it.  She giggles at Reid converting the gift horse saying into a robot one.  Once in her shop she takes out a powered ice cream scooper, does a quick finger flip with it like she's a gunslinger, then hands it over to Anthony with a smile.  Then from a wall cabinet she takes out an BIG glass bowl to hand him.  It could easily feed more than a dozen humans if completely filled.

"Thank you for helping, Anthony.  Any flavor our hero points to, he gets.  And if he's in a sharing mood, he can ask what flavors his new friends would like.  I'll handle the rest."

She nods to Bipip and then the video-phone to indicate she's been elected to help Ried phone home.  Then it's taking out fresh brownie batter and popping it into the oven, heating up the syrups, hand-whipping the cream, and so on.  This sundae's going to be the stuff of legends!

Cherry also helps by setting the table height to be ideal for a grenu then getting appropriately sized chairs for the guests such that everyone can sit together.

Winter watches Binary, then looks at her device, then looks back.  She gives a thumbs-up in reply.

Her eye's gaze then turns to Anthony's huge bowl and Esther's flurry of activity.  Oh.  Not just a mere ice cream cone for the doggy, it seems.  Would she be allowed to share too?  She tries a taste of ice cream from the sample basket, and her eyelid gets heavy.

Reid looked towards Miso, before shifting around in his pack. He didn't want to be mean and get a second 'sample', so if the notion of sharing was to be brought up, he'd at least offer a thing in return, even if there has yet to be a lack of mention of such from Miso. He'd pull out a bag of jerky, but before he could say much there was a slightly high pitch but low volume beep. Reid'd look towards Binary, blinking a bit before going 'oh', and looking back towards Miso, holding the bag out. "... S'not ice cream, but somethin' you could keep it for travels... ya know, when done with the ice cream? Since you helped, only fair you get a thing for later, and all the ice cream now?"

Smiley seemed to stay to one of the walls, given his size the habit was borne out of not blocking people's path, but he still spoke up. This robot wasn't a socially avoidant sort! "If any assistance is needed while I am aboard this vessel, please do not hesitate to ask!" The statement seemed moreso directed towards Esther and Cherry, but given the robot did not move to face either, it could be excused to mistake for otherwise.

Reid looked towards Bipip, than the phone as it was nodded to. He gave a small grumble.
_{"Jerky reward first.... phone call... hrmmmm. Second. I'm gonna sound like the worst courier..."}

Anthony smiled. Once again, he failed to communicate what he was getting at with his offer of help, buuuuut... he is given the opportunity to help serve the guy who got beat up trying to keep Reid and others safe. In the moment, that somehow feels nicer than what he wanted to offer. Especially if it means he can give his offer on top of this later. He says to Esther, "Thanks!" almost too enthusiastically before immediately blushing from his enthusiasm.

Miso pondered. "One scoop Raspberry. And one scoop of Coffee? And one scoop of Chocolate Fudge Brownie." He nodded decisively. "And thank you so much, Esther! The gift of sharing is made all the sweeter when it's your stuff! But for everyone's sake, I'm going to insist everyone have no more than two scoops. I know what I can handle, but I don't want anyone here to get sick." Miso smiled at Reid. "Thanks! I really like those!" He bumps Reid's arm with a paw.

Bipip hopped in place at Reid's mumbling. "Reid! Reid!" she wiggled her little T-Rex arms at him as she hopped to get his attention. "I don't have a way off this station either. But I'm no failure! And neither are you!" she cheers at him. "Bad things happen to all of us! Sometimes the timing just happens to be on your first day. But it's not your fault!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:44, Tue 29 Mar 2022.

Esther smiles sooo much to hear Anthony say "Thanks" for being put to work!  Makes her feel like she's back home.

"You just made me so happy, Anthony.  Thank you and you're welcome!"

She's also sooo happy that Miso took the hint big time.  She smiles and blushes from his compliment.

Cherry nods to Miso. "Agreed!  And we keep a close watch over all our customers to make sure their visit here is a pleasant one.  That means we won't let 'em indulge themselves sick."

Sweet waffle batter is whipped up and poured into the waffle iron with incredible efficiency of movement.  The gigantic brownie is taken out of the oven, chomped with a huge cookie cutter that made it just the right size and shape to fill the bottom of the bowl, and slipped into said bowl in the same fluid motion as the one next used to open the waffle iron already done baking the ice cream cone disc.

Esther's ears wiggle.  Glancing at Lev, she chimes in, "Bipip's right, sweetie.  Your loved ones will understand.

"And consider me your way off if need be, Bipip."

Cherry nods to Smiley.  "How 'bout you pick out the music, hon?"

She half expects him to BE a jukebox, but if not indicates a jukebox nearby.

Winter's not sure how this is supposed to go.  But Miso seemed nice enough.  And this ice cream is sooo worth the risk.  She tips the sample basket and points at the label of the flavor she tried.

"Caramel Marshmallow Vanilla Bean," it reads.

Reid nodded towards both Bipip and Esther, a small smile forming on his face. "'least the delivery went well still! Failure's not in the delivery... than I'd really hafta question it." He'd look towards Bipip, raising a brow. "Wait a minute. I know how I got stuck here... how'd you get stuck here? If ya don't mind the inquiry?" He'd focus a glance towards Bipip, raising a brow. He was hopeful that it wasn't due to anything bad. Missed the time to get off the station... but given why he was sort of stuck, he couldn't rule out concern.

Smiley raised an arm and gave a ecstatic-for-a-robot thumbs up, before looking towards everyone present. "As a choice in music has been requested, it would be rude of me not to inquire about the input of everyone's auditory tastes! Is there any types of music preferred, or generally not preferred, by the audience present?"

Binary glanced towards Reid, before floating down to his height, slightly bumping against the rat-boy's other shoulder. Reid looked over for a moment, before deadpanning. "Coulda just said it..." He'd smirk, before looking towards Miso, bumping Miso's arm back in the same friendly gesture.

Bipip says, "I don't know, Reid! I had a ride and then they took off without me and never came back."

Miso looks over to Smiley. "Preference for something upbeat, but I'd like the volume to be lowish. Enough you can sing to it if you want, but you can also easily talk over it without need to raise your voice."

Anthony nods, "I like the song Garfshnarkle by The Oogleflags."

Miso says, "That works fine." then looks at Reid. "Coulda said what?"

Anthony starts serving ice cream to people. He starts with Winter since she was the first besides Miso to state a preferred flavor. When he gets to Winter, he asks, "Remind me... what was your involvement with Charlie?"

Bipip sees the ice cream being served. "I'm full from the doughnut hole! But I'd still like a little ice cream. How about... cherry?"

Anthony doesn't have to state his preference since he can just serve himself. BUT he is taking his blissian-given task seriously and decides he'll have his after he has served everyone else first.

(( Searched Garfshnarkle and got music:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZuO7Qgw0TM  Searched Oogleflag and got music:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWz0qVvBZ0  XD ))

Esther was wondering the same and is a little relieved that Reid handled the potentially embarrassing question, a feeling that reminds her just how different she is from a real Blissian.  She doesn't want to admit that she has no idea who the Oogleflags are, so she simply nods to the suggestion.  Again being reminded of just how two-faced she can be.  But the seed of self doubt is crushed under a mountain of memories of affirmation from family and friends which helps her stay focused on the task at hand.  Within seconds the random pile of ice cream balls in a giant bowl becomes a delux sunday with banana bunny ears, whipped cream hair, waffle cone tube whiskers, chocolate syrup drizzle fur pattern, marshmallow eyes, and a cherry nose.

"Thanks for pitching in, everyone," Esther says with a big smile.

Cherry cheers Bipip's choice of flavor then sets a serving spoon next to the sundae, then an individual bowl and spoon for each of the guests.  In her experience it's much better to share this way than everyone eating out of the big bowl.

Winter imagines an idyllic scene of baby seals playing gleefully with one another on a pristine shore...  Unaware of the poisonous oil spill creeping silently toward the shore threatening to kill everyone in unrelenting sticky corruption.

Her gaze turns to Anthony.  After a pause, she slowly shakes her head no.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Sat 02 Apr 2022.

Smiley looked towards Miso at the question, responding just short of the rat boy opening his mouth, Reid crossing his arms just a bit with a slight huff at the robot. "Nothing of concern sir! You made the friendly gesture of bumping one's arm, and the recipient forgot to return the favor! Binary did their own variance on the act of reminding!"

Reid turned a little red in the face at the robot's exclamation of such, before nodding. "Should've thought a lil' quieter on that...."

Reid would speak up a bit louder from the very quiet self-whisper. "Smiley's right... Binary helps a little bit with reminders about... not accidentally ignoring friendly gestures! Which, sorry 'bout that."

Binary floated up and down like a nod as if to confirm what both were saying. After a moment, Binary's 'eyes' seemed to take a new image, both taking the image of musical discs, playing the requested song at an intermediate volume friendly for conversation and listening. If the song had lyrics, they would be played as they were, no beeping, oddly enough. They turned their gaze towards Anthony as if to confirm if the song was correct.

Reid glanced towards Bipip, taking a moment to process the left behind notion. ".... Well that's mean! Hrmph. Well, no more taking off without a Bipip now. I don't think anyone who's good with desserts can compute the meanness to do that." He'd look towards Esther, giving a thumbs up!

Anthony sweatdrops at Winter. "...uh... I'm confused. What do you mean no? You don't wanna answer for some reason? Or you weren't involved at all?"

Miso gives Reid a "huh?" look. Then shrugs. "To each their own..."

To Reid's comment to Bipip, Miso says, "Reid's right, Bipip. We gotchya."

Bipip bounces in place. "Thank you! This means I have friends again!"

Winter's half-lidded eye fixes on Anthony.  She whispers something in reply, her lips forming just two syllables.  She then glides to the table and takes a bite from the flavor of ice cream she'd asked for, and her eye closes completely.  Her hood wiggles a little as her right ear turns toward Reid, and the other turns toward Bipip.  Shame.  Abandonment.  Noted.

Esther leans over to give Anthony a shoulder hug and whisper in his ear, "I think she doesn't want to talk about that.  Let's enjoy the sundae."

Esther bites her lip, holding something back, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of someone deliberately abandoning Bipip.  She then takes a seat near Bipip to give the tiny lady a comforting pet.  "That's right you do!"

Esther watches Winter enjoy the ice cream with a smile that shows she's super happy that the dark fox enjoys the dessert.  Then with a wiggle of her bunny tail, she eagerly watches for everyone else's reactions to the elaborate sundae.

"So your robot friends can read your mind, Reid?  Neat!"

Reid gave a so-so gesture in regards to Smiley. "Sorta! More like if I say somethin' too loudly he's gonna hear it. Which isn't bad! Means if I'm in trouble, he should know, 'cause Binary'd know.... like a small assembly line of information!" He'd look towards Binary, giving a thumbs up. Binary gave an affirmative beep, before looking toward Smiley. Smiley responded with their robotic thumbs up after a few moments.

"You do indeed have friends! In this case, barring external situations that cannot be commanded or commandeered by those present, your newfound acquiantances should be able to remain by your side within reasonable notions! Abandonment is highly unlikely with the supportive nature observed from those present!" Smiley reached down to Bipip, offering a robo-hand shake.

Anthony blushes from the whisper and nods. He noms his ice cream.

Miso says, "Sure is nice being treated like a V.I.P., Esther. Thanks. Given Reid and Bipip's situation, though, are you taking in strays? I'd like to work for you if you have a job... the benefits are irresistible."

Winter feels like she is being watched.

Bipip hops into Smiley's hand! She smiles at him. "Smiley!" she says, spreading her arms in celebration at even the mention of his name.

Anthony looks at Binary. "Um... sorry about earlier... wanna dance?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Master?  Is that you?

---

If not, Winter doesn't want to tip off whomever it might be.  So she casually gets up to "get a closer look" at the ice cream selection.  Instead she uses the chance to search for the spy through a new perspective and reflections in various shiny surfaces.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:53, Tue 19 Apr 2022.

Esther head-tilts at Reid in curiosity.  "So I misunderstood when you said you should have 'thought quieter?'"

She blink-blinks with a weirded-out look on her face at Smiley's strange way of expressing happiness.  The bunny then smiles over to Miso and nods.  "How could I not?  And sure!  I can't offer high pay, but you're right about employees having all the sweets they can ever want."

Bipip's adorable gesture makes her blush and giggle.  Esther then looks back to Reid.  "Please.  Try some.  I'd love to hear what you think of the sundae."

Reid nodded, acquiring a respectable size of ice cream sundae. It wasn't the biggest portion, especially given Reid's stature, but it was sizeable enough to satiate most peoples ice cream cravings on such scale. He'd take a taste test bite, before giving a bit of a wide smile, and thumbs up from the hand with the spoon in it. "How'd ya make the ice cream? I've eaten lotsa store-bought stuff... it's good! But nooooot like this? Hm. Maybe it's a texture or storage thing? Or well, how it's made too!"

Smiley's monitor could emote a bigger smile, but generally too big a smile could be a little creepy to some! So instead, the big robot would add two smaller corner smiley faces to the monitor screen, carefully lifting the Bipip up in hand!

Binary turned towards Anthony. There was a moment of computation, before two small slots opened, small but decently well-made utility arms extending out from the slots. The arms extended out a decent bit, sharing a similar noodle-like flow to that of Smiley, likely for ease of storage and compression. There was a series of three beeps as Binary extended a hand to the deer!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:41, Wed 25 May 2022.

Bipip hops happily in Smiley's hand and says, "Thank you, friendly bot!"

Miso gives a smile to Esther. "Thanks. Appreciate it."

Anthony takes the offered hands and blushes as he starts trying his hand at dancing. He seems OK at it. Just lacks confidence.

Esther is sooo happy!  Everyone likes her sundae, Anthony is dancing, Bipip is being super adorable, Miso's going to be helping out, and even the strange lady looks like she's interested in more ice cream!

"So glad you like, everyone.  And I really appreciate the feedback.  Thank you!"

To Reid she gladly shows off her Blissian-tech ice cream machine.  (( Looks like this: https://www.trustedreviews.com.../06/Lakeland-F-1.jpg  only large enough to make those big buckets of ice cream you see at parlors. ))

"My ice cream is made very traditionally.  I do sneak in a little extra cream than the recipe calls for.  I feel it makes it smoother, and I can make it at a slightly lower temperature.  The trad-off is that it melts a little faster and isn't quite as sweet.  But I figure the toppings and stuff compensate well enough for the downsides.  What do you think?"

Winter looks relieved.  She turns to look at the others, slowly scanning the room.

Binary seemed to have at least some protocols for dancing, and the type of arms utilized assisted with a decent flow of movement from the floating robot. They did adjust the volume of music they played a bit so as to not cause any ear ouch for the dancing deer! Reid did look over, giving a bit of a grin and thumbs up. "Binary's the best dancing friend to ask for! They float, so there's not gonna be any stepping on toes! Or tripping! And they can do the spinny move really well!"

"Your thanks is greatly appreciated and welcome!" Smiley used their other hand to give a very light pat to Bipip, force applied adjusted for the Bipip in hand!

Reid looked towards the ice cream machine with excitement, approaching and looking with a curious and keen eye at it, the rat-tail of his seeming to wag just a bit. "Coooool! Itsa good idea 'cause... yeah, it could melt faster. But, lotsa people tend to eat the ice cream before it gets all goopy! If okay to ask, what all's the ice machine able to do?"