Tap…tap…tap
Her steps echoed along the silver metal walls, the lights above giving her just enough to keep from tripping over her own feet. Vending machines sat spaced apart beside benches scattered here and there. The handful of floors she had explored so far were packed with more spaces than she could walk.
Some looked like lounges. Others were cafeterias of every conceivable size, or open atriums connecting to the floors above—though never through the decks themselves. Their stairways were built from concrete, metal, and glass.
Small galleries lined certain hallways, selling whatever they could to whoever happened to pass by, while the fancier shops sat recessed into the walls.
Rectangular ductwork stretched overhead, pulling and pushing air through the vessel. The constant hum of the HVAC filled her ears and something about the white noise eased her mind.
"I don't even know where I'm going…I'm just walking in circles."
Her voice barely rose above the steady drone in the background.
Sienna practically floated down the quiet corridor, munching lazily on a sugar stick. Each crunch reverberated faintly behind her as she watched her own shadow dance across the floor.
Her feet carried her everywhere and nowhere until she passed a narrow hallway. Sienna stopped, pivoted on her heel, and took a brisk right turn without a second thought.
She found herself staring at two people guarding a door, the short hallway bathed in soft light. One was a Librei, the other a Mustela—both stationed in front of whatever waited behind the metal door.
Their faces had been carved into boredom and mild irritation. The Librei leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, dark blue gear wrapped around his body, looking like he would rather be anywhere else.
The Mustela, on the other hand, sat behind a small desk with a sheathed knife resting on one corner while he scrolled lazily through his phone, his ears flicking with every press.
Sienna's quiet munching caught their attention, and the feathered man turned her way.
The Librei pushed himself upright and uncrossed his arms, his stare boring straight through her when she came to a stop in front of the desk.
"Sup."
The Mustela didn't even look up from his phone, his voice flat, bored, and utterly uninterested. Sienna finished off the last of her sugar stick and tossed both the wrapper and the stick into the bin beside the desk.
Her gaze shifted to the tablet lying face down, then to the small metal sign bolted to the door.
"What do you want."
This time, it came from the Librei, planting himself in front of the door. His gloved hand curled into a fist, the once-tan material worn nearly black from long use.
Sienna stayed quiet for a moment before finally answering.
"I wanna pass through...so, uh…how much?"
Her voice cracked through the stale air, turning it awkward in an instant. A long, resigned sigh slipped out of the fluffy-eared man behind the desk.
The dull purple-haired Mustela finally looked up from his phone, turning it off and setting it face down.
He looked like he wanted to complain about the injustice of being on shift, his round white ears forced upright, his exhausted eyes staring right back into hers.
"You don't even know what's back there."
Sienna paused for a moment before speaking up, twitching a finger slightly—the smile on her face faltering for a second.
"Cant I be curious?"
He remained unamused, reaching across the desk for the tablet.
Her eyes flickered to the librei stepping closer, the spotted pattern of his feathers scattered through his hair.
"ID?"
Sienna pulled up her clutch bag and popped it open, searching through for her ID before giving it to the man who snatched it—glancing between her face and the card with a skeptical look.
"When were you born?"
Just the question itself forced her brows to pitch lightly, though she kept herself steady before answering.
"Sixteen O' eight."
Her tone was dull like a rock, the librei handed her ID back without ceremony. She slipped it into her bag and closed it with a quiet snap.
The mustela finished tapping on the tablet, then slid it toward her before turning the screen around.
"Its just a couple hundred."
Sienna dragged her finger across the screen until it would not scroll any farther, not even pretending to read the terms and conditions before signing and tapping accept. The screen flipped to another window immediately.
Another paywall.
She willed it forward, and an outline popped up with a string of numbers at the top.
A balance of five hundred thirty-seven pesos flashed beside it with a minus sign. A moment later, the screen shifted again.
An opaque bell in the upper right of her vision buzzed red, dancing around without pause. Sienna glanced at it once, and it quieted immediately—the little icon turning yellow and going still.
The Mustela dragged the tablet back his way while the Librei stepped aside, giving the metal door behind him a heavy bang.
I...I didn't think that would actually work.
Her feet moved before she had even thought it through. Another door waited ahead, and the moment the metal one shut behind her, this one swung open. Her ears perked at the Rat Pack music drifting through the background.
A handful of guards lounged around in outfits identical to the Librei behind her. To her left, a small band played calmly, their music blending into the chatter of the patrons scattered throughout.
Sienna walked through the sea of mostly normal-looking people and dropped herself onto a stool at the counter.
She let her weary feet rest, plopping her bag between her legs and idly soaking in the warmth of the room for a minute.
The music settled into her bones, soothing her spirit as her head dipped in slow, tired bobs. Her body tried to steal rest wherever it could—if she had been home, she would have slept through the whole day and worked through the night without complaint.
clnk—!
Her eyes darted up at once, locking straight onto the bartender's. An empty glass sat between them, catching the dim light above in its clear surface.
The man behind it had a pleasant face, his short Coelhinho ears standing neatly at attention as he rested a palm on the counter.
"What can I get started for you?"
Sienna's mind churned for a moment before her brain finally spat out an answer, at the same time, pushing herself upright from the counter.
"Anything that'll keep me awake." She paused. "Whatever you've got."
The bartender nodded once and turned away.
She watched him work—nothing flashy, nothing showy.
He pulled a slim bottle from the shelf, its label scuffed from heavy use and poured a measured shot into a metal shaker. Then he reached for another bottle resting on the prep counter, its cap barely visible from where she sat. A dark syrup followed soon after, tapping softly against the steel.
He tossed in a handful of ice cubes that clattered sharply, then snapped the shaker shut.
His wrists rolled the metal with talented ease, his shoulders moving in a relaxed rhythm for a short while.
Then he popped the lid off, strained the drink into the waiting glass and slid it her way with a professional smile.
"There. This should help."
Sienna wrapped her hand around the glass and took a quick look at the drink, pulling it close enough to give it a brief sniff.
It carried a faint sweetness with something sharper she could not quite put into words. She took a cautious sip, then downed the rest.
Her metaphorical feathered tail practically wagged behind her, and her eyes lifted a little from their drowsy half-lidded state.
"Here."
She looked back up at the bar, pointed at him, and snapped her fingers, sending the payment forward with a thought.
The bracelet on his right wrist flickered a few times, at the same moment, a few dollars disappeared from her account.
"By chance."
Sienna lowered her hand before tracing a slow line around the rim of her empty glass.
"There's not, like…a little back room behind here, is there?"
Her voice dipped near the end, her hand falling still while her metaphorical tail wagged behind her.
But his expression barely changed. The bartender reached deeper into the prep counter, then slid a simple card across to her. Sienna dragged it toward herself while he took her empty cup away to wash.
She flipped the card over, reading the thin strips of information printed across it. The instructions were straightforward enough.
…I didn't think that'd work either! Just like the movies.
She stood and glanced around before spotting a passage on the opposite side of where the little band was playing. A sign hung above the entrance, glowing bright green and flickering every few seconds.
Sienna pushed her stool back into place and headed toward the passage.
I just need to make a left at the end, tap this card, and knock. Right?
A few too many steps later, and past a restroom, another door waited ahead—standing between her and whatever lay beyond.
Her eyes wandered for a moment before landing on the card reader. She tapped the card against it, and the indicator blinked green, the lock clicking open at the same time.
Sienna hesitated briefly, then pushed the door open just wide enough to slip through. She stepped inside and shut it behind her in one motion.
The first thing that hit her was the faint stale air, followed by the low hum of something deeper than murmurs passing through the space, and—
That familiar ambiance from a lifetime ago.
For a split second, she could almost see her younger self sprinting through a place like this, learning about the world one mistake at a time.
She shook her head lightly, scattering the memory.
"Huh…not bad at all."
In front of her sat two old brown leather sofas with a table dab in the middle, all three sunk into a shallow depression in the floor. A handful of people lounged there—chatting, drinking, or wasting time one way or another.
To her left stretched a small cafeteria, busy with people tearing through meals of every size. Groups clustered together, some clearly guards assigned to the vessel, others from similar lines of work looking for fresh regions to wander into.
Her feet carried her through all the little pockets tucked inside, her eyes searching for something specific.
After a few minutes, she finally found it—a man typing away on a laptop, tucked far from everyone else. Sienna sat down in front of him, her weight sinking into the cushioned seat with a soft thud while his slightly pointed ears twitched at her arrival.
"I almost mistook you for an Elfin, heh."
The man shut his eyes and sighed, disappointment written plainly across his face. Sienna's gaze drifted to his tail, no thicker than her wrist, colored close to her own tufts but rougher and spotted.
"There's no way they'd live anywhere near a place like this."
His tone was flat, bordering on exasperated. His greenish irises lifted from the laptop screen, utterly unimpressed by her quip.
"Is that so, mister."
Sienna's voice carried a rare spark of liveliness, a smug glint slid across her eyes.
The rough tailed man properly looked up from his laptop.
"Alright then—what do you need?"
She paused, thinking harder than she probably needed to.
"I didn't think I'd get this far so uhh...heheh—"
Her eyes drifted around the room without settling on anything before turning his way, the background fading into a blur.
The next thing she knew, she was already back in her room.
Ugh—damn these papers. Why didn't I just do them yesterday? Now look at me. Brilliant, Sienna . Real smart.
Her mind complained on repeat even while she typed away at her reports.
Even at her age, her body wanted to protest the boredom of it all—Sienna felt like kicking her feet at the sheer amount she had to write. She would not get paid until she finished, even if the job itself had been a failure.
She raised her arms high, grabbed one wrist, and stretched her whole body out.
"mmnn—haa…"
Blood rushed to her head, forcing a yawn out of her before she glanced at the date in the bottom-left corner of her laptop. January twentieth—it had not even been a week since she had returned. Her gaze slid toward the sleeping feline beside her, Ikade's long, furred tail draped across her face like a blanket of soft fluff.
The sleeping feline lay curled up, her ears floppy for a change.
A few more key presses, and she was nearly done.
After almost an hour of typing and rereading, she finally reached the end of the report. Sienna tapped the screen, signed on the dotted line at the bottom and saved it before sending it off in the same motion to a certain old man.
ding~
Ugh. Who could that be?
She shut the laptop the rest of the way and stood up, setting it on the nearby counter before heading toward the front door.
Sienna peered through the peephole, shifting her head slightly until her view landed on a small trolley waiting outside. A lightbulb practically flicked on over her head. She opened the door—only to be greeted by a smiling face drawn on a balloon.
It was a delivery bot.
She glanced past the doorframe and quickly scooped up the bags perched on the trolley's rack. The machine rolled away the moment she lifted the last one off, a cheerful little tune playing with each turn of its wheels.
A small flicker of amusement crossed her face as she watched it go. Turning back inside, she closed the door and set the bags on the counter beside her laptop.
Right when she was about to sit down, her bracelet buzzed against her skin.
She lifted her wrist, and a small screen flickered into view—a simple but effective notice showing the vessel's outline with a single word at the top.
Departing Soon.
Two words, actually, but that was beside the point.
A grin pulled at her lips. She waited for the countdown to finish, and soon enough, her bracelet buzzed again.
At first, the room only vibrated softly.
Then more. And more.
The floor trembled under their feet, the walls humming hard enough to make her body feel strange. Ikade rolled straight off the couch, panic stamped across her face.
"Hee?!"
Sienna abandoned ship and ducked behind the counter, listening to the feline's panic rising by the second.
"?!Nan—?!"
Ikade's voice blurred into one long, frantic sound, calling out to her with barely hidden desperation.
Sienna kicked off her slippers and crept toward her on tiptoe. Ikade was only halfway upright when Sienna wrapped her arms around her waist and lifted her clean off the floor.
The feline let out a very unflattering word before flailing wildly.
"Let go! Damn pervert, let go!"
A stray kick caught Sienna in the stomach, and another landed hard enough to throw off her balance.
She hit the ground with a silent grunt, her ass taking most of the impact. Ikade tumbled free, spinning around with the expression of a tiny boss.
"Uff!"
Sienna tried to scoot away but couldn't get far.
Ikade raised both hands as if to pin her—and promptly straddled her.
Sienna caught the dainty hands mid-pounce, and a quick tug-of-war broke out between them. Ikade huffed and puffed, pushing with all her might, but she barely managed to move Sienna's hands an inch.
The Librei's smug expression did not help her mood.
Sienna laced their fingers together and rubbed the back of Ikade's hand. For a moment, she let Ikade think she was winning.
Only to shove her back with a quick push.
"What's wrong? Going soft on me? You used to be so fierce back when we met."
Ikade's ears turned several shades redder, her hair flying everywhere before she backed up a little and turned to the side.
"My strength's sealed! That's all!"
Her voice squealed at the end, her eyes darting around the room. She barely got the words out before yelping again at the feel of someone blowing on her fluffy ears.
"So you're a chunni after all."
They kept fooling around for nearly twenty minutes before finally ending up back in the living room, their surroundings no longer shaking or rattling around them.
The blast door covering the outside window groaned. Both of them looked up at it, watching it unfold like a blind.
They stood and brushed the dust from each other's clothes with quick little pats.
Sienna caught Ikade's expectant look and nudged her gently from behind, guiding her closer to the window. Then she stepped in beside her and took her hand.
Their eyes adjusted to the glare spilling in, but—
It wasn't what Ikade had imagined.
"I kinda hoped it'd look…different."
The feline glanced at her, their hair stirring softly in the wind. Ikade's shoulders drooped a little while Sienna squeezed her hand lightly.
It was a sad sight. The dirt lay dry, little sand dunes forming here and there, with small canyons splitting through the land. Patches of green clung sparsely to the few places where water had pooled.
Sienna could almost feel the heat rising from the emptiness, the old, familiar sound of survival waiting to swallow her whole.
And the abundance of beasts waiting their turn.
"It'll be fine! Not everywhere looks like this. C'mon, you didn't forget that already, right?"
Sienna stepped closer and bumped her shoulder against Ikade's, trying to lift the wilted cat's spirits.
"Give it a few days. You'll see more than just dirt, promise."
She tugged the wilted cat toward the front door and the two of them slipped into their shoes before grabbing their purses.
"How about we go on a date, mhm?"
Ikade only gave a soft nod, curiosity flicking through her ears as Sienna pulled her along.
Sienna led her through the countless halls of the vessel, their footsteps soft against the metal floors. Ikade's mood lifted little by little, her ears rising a bit higher with every corner they turned.
Eventually, they stumbled across a small exhibition tucked near the ship's midsection and Ikade's eyes lit up at once.
"Whoa…they're way bigger than I expected."
A massive skeleton hung from the ceiling. The fowl's talons alone dwarfed both of them. Ikade let go of her hand and practically speed-walked around the displays, her excitement carrying her from one section to the next.
The beast—once draped in feathers, though more like fur—had been stripped clean, leaving its pristine skeleton on full display. Sienna's eyes drifted toward the rear of the creature, taking note of the four smaller tails branching off alongside the main one.
A creature like that could have fed a small village for weeks.
But that was not the only place they wandered into.
The two of them moved through every corner that caught their interest, taking pictures of anything that appealed to them—whether it was a fancy drink at a café or a tiny dramatic scene playing out between other passengers.
Hours slipped away without either of them noticing. They ate at a small restaurant tucked into the wall, browsed through pockets of greenery trying to sell whatever novelty they could, and even stopped to admire a few artists sketching the landscape outside.
Through it all, Sienna ignored the little bell in her vision that kept buzzing red. She was not ready to deal with whatever it wanted from her, so she left it alone.
By the time they wandered back to their room, the afternoon light had already settled inside. Ikade trudged in first, her tail dragging across the floor from exhaustion.
Sienna set her laptop aside and helped Ikade into the bedroom.
The moment Ikade landed on the bed, she curled up and fell asleep without a sound. Sienna draped the blanket over her, removed both their shoes, then crawled up to the bedframe and used it for support.
Her laptop slid across the mattress the moment she looked at it. She pulled it into her lap, flipped it open, and pressed the power button.
Sienna typed in her password, moved the cursor to her messages, and clicked on another icon.
"You'd think they'd have something better than email by now."
She muttered under her breath, casting a glance toward the light switch near the door. It flicked off, dropping the room into darkness. Only the glow of her laptop lit her face when she opened the first message in her inbox.
It was from the doctor—the same one who seemed to care more about her money than her well-being.
She double-tapped the email he had forwarded to her again. The message was short and painfully simple: a reminder not to ignore him, followed by a warning that if she kept delaying, she might end up dying before it was too late.
Sienna scrolled down just enough for the attached file to appear. She tapped it twice, waiting a moment for it to download.
The file swallowed her entire screen—all three hundred and six pages of her history laid bare, the rest of the room dissolving into a blurry mess of color.
Medical Report — "Sienna", June 14th, 1608
Her fingers forced the pages downward, skimming past the parts she'd already memorized and the ones too useless to read again.
But not everything was unimpor—
'You ha ve a m a ss in y our br a i n.'
Her scrolling stopped exactly where it needed to.
She slowed to a crawl, reading the lines once, then again, then again. Each detail cut through the haze in her head as the meaning settled in.
"…crys…talline…pressin'…pons…var…olii…"
"between...med...nucleus too..."
"Heh...what shit luck."