A little snippet from a sci fi novel I'm working on
The passenger vessel cruised along through space, beginning to close in on its one-week voyage to the Talsayan system. The lounge deck aboard the ship was buzzing with xenos from different species all rich enough to afford a trip on a ship this grand, taking advantage of the luxury couches and the fizzing, gourmet drinks handed to them by the caterers in their sleek, shiny company uniforms.
Kyril sat on one of the couches, one foot up on the glass table in front of him as his other hung down to the floor. His large, gold eyes were set on the holographic newsfeed in front of him, projected by the band around his wrist. He adjusted how he sat in the seat, pushing himself further back into the cushions. The couches were awkward to sit in, being much taller than the young Zandeesian was used to. At least the ship would finally be docking in a few hours, which meant Kyril wouldn’t have to share his cabin with his annoying turd of a brother, and most importantly—the Virtual Entanglement connection was finally somewhat stable, and Kyril could catch up on all the news and gossip he missed.
Kyril’s eyes scanned the holograph, reading the boxy and uniform Zandeesian letters as two of his former classmates fought and insulted each other over conflicting political opinions. He hid his smirk with one of his sleeves as he read over it, itching to confront them as to why they both were wrong and why his opinion was the superior one, but as soon as his fingers reached to open the keyboard, Nyx’s familiar hand grasped hold of his arm.
Kyril let out a yelp, “Nyx--!”
“--Kyril!” Nyx bounced on his heels with an excited grin, “Kyril—they just re-opened the souvenir shop! Do you want to go in?”
Kyril yanked his arm out of Nyx’s grasp and shot him a painful glare, “Ah, no?”
Nyx let out a groan, “Pleaaase! They have this gun that shoots lasers that I really want, and it’s only sixty credits!”
“Mom gave each of us three hundred credits, what happened to yours?”
Nyx giggled, his gaze falling to his feet, “... Virtual reality games...”
Kyril huffed, “Then that’s your issue, not mine.” He turned his attention back to his screen, growling as he realized he had to find the political post again.
Nyx groaned and stomped a foot against the floor, clenching his fists at his sides, “Pleaaaase! Some stupid T’setsei kid was talking about getting it, and I have to get it before he does!” He begged, practically falling to his knees as he grasped onto the fabric of Kyril’s shirt and yanked it down with him.
Kyril tore his shirt from Nyx’s grasp, glaring at him as he fixed it back into place.
“Kyril, please! Kyril, please! Kyril, please!” Nyx begged, bouncing on his heels with each word.
“They don’t have more than one?”
Nyx creased his nose, “No...”
Kyril let out the loudest, most exasperated sigh known in the galaxy, and as soon as he began to stand, Nyx perked up and stared at him with wide eyes and a cheesy smile.
Kyril flicked his wrist and the holograph disappeared back into his wristband. Heated political discussions with other Zandeesian teenagers would have to wait.
Nyx hopped along the sleek floors of the lounge deck, Kyril lazily following behind with embarrassed glances to the xenos around him. The souvenir shop sat just between two hallways, displaying multi-species clothing with a vast choice of designs and colours in its windows, along with little useless trinkets, some subtly stereotyping the races in the Confederacy.
The two Zandeesians were greeted by soft music that seeped through the speakers above, along with the rows of shelves filled with stupid little items only an idiot would buy, at least in Kyril’s eyes.
Nyx broke into a sprint, almost knocking over a rotating jewel display as he made a sharp turn towards the toys. Kyril stayed by the entrance, lazily sifting through the corny, multi-species shirts hung up on one of the circular racks. They were a bit too big for a Zandeesian, with zippers under the sleeves to accommodate anyone with over two arms. Right smack in the middle was the ship’s company name, repeated in each of the eight languages recognized in the Confederacy, Zandeesian being a solid third.
Kyril scoffed, dropping the shirt from his grasp as he wondered if they managed to sell any of these atrocious things. He turned to the next shirt when his eyes glanced over the cashier as she was tossing clothing hangers underneath of the counter.
A Zandeesian, with her blue complexion and short, slender built indicating she was of the stryxil ethnicity, with a small, pointed snout, large, orange, almond eyes, and cheeks freckled with bioluminescence. The sight of her put Kyril into a panic, his hair beginning to puff with static before he managed a few calming breaths.
It just had to be a Zandeesian, and a cute girl, too, and he was only in here to buy Nyx some stupid toy gun.
Kyril was hardly that mundane.
A quick glance around the shop set an idea into his mind: if he bought the most expensive item here, it would take a bit of the edge off the humility. He’d look important, rich, and with the most expensive item being one of the T’setseian “healing geodites,” he’d even look culturally knowledgeable.
A few quick steps and Kyril was at the locked display case, his tail flicking at his feet as he studied the geodites. An array of colourful crystals stared back at him, glistening in the display lights as they sat on their silky, cushioned pillows. He finally settled on one—the inside littered with black crystals that glistened with specks of white and purple, resembling somewhat of a galaxy. The label read that it was for “spiritual cleansing”, and that it would cost almost the remainder of his credits if added up with the price of Nyx’s stupid toy.
Kyril turned on his back toe, waving to the cashier, “Excuse me, can you...?” He was at a loss for words, never really having to get something out of a display case before. The cashier understood regardless, and trotted over. Her eyes gave Kyril a quick glance up and down before a polite smile spread on her face, “I apologize, we don’t let people touch them unless they’re buying--”
“--I am buying.” Kyril narrowed his eyes at her, and the cashier’s expression shifted to surprise.
“Really?” She pursed her lips, “...If you say so...”
She pressed a thumb to the bioscanner on the case, and slid the case open after it beeped, “Which one would you like?”
“The...” Kyril paused for a moment, reading the label, “The spiritual cleansing one.” He kept talking as she took the little geodite along with its pillow into the palm of her hand, “I like to collect them. I’m just fascinated by the cultures of other xenos. We can learn so much from them.”
“You must be very intelligent, then.” The cashier mentioned.
Kyril chuckled and laid his twin-ears flat against his head, “I did get the highest grade in my advanced sciences class... I just wrote a thesis about how teleportation may be possible through the bending of reality and hopping from one fold to the other. Nothing too serious... for me, at least.”
The cashier gave an acknowledging murmur as the two walked back to the checkout counter. She set the geodite in a little, clear giftbox, “Is that everything?”
Kyril glanced to the side as Nyx was bounding up to them with the laser gun in one hand, its packaging seemingly more expensive than the toy itself. He stood on the tips of his two front toes, sliding the gun towards the cashier when his eyes caught onto the geodite in its fancy casing.
Nyx snickered, “Why’re you getting a geodite? I thought you said they were stupid!”
Kyril froze up, bioelectricity running up his spine, “I never said that!” He answered, hoping Nyx would get the hint.
It flew right by Nyx’s head.
“You said they were stupid, and the T’setsei were stupid for believing rocks had healing powers!”
The cashier struggled to keep her face straight as she checked out their items.
“I never said that!” Kyril snapped at him, which only made Nyx’s mischievous giggling worse,
“Yes you did--” He let out a pained yelp as Kyril stomped down on Nyx’s foot.
They were interrupted by a beep sounding from the counter, and Kyril cleared his throat before inserting his payment card into the slot.
“It’s fine,” She said as she bagged their items, “My siblings make things up about me, too.”
Kyril knew it was an attempt to make him feel better, but all it did was humiliate him even further. The cashier smiled and held the bag out to Kyril, who snatched it from her grasp and quickly thanked her. Without another word, he turned and lead Nyx out of the door, completely humiliated with static filling the air surrounding him.
Nyx struggled to keep up as Kyril stormed down the hallway towards the cabins, reaching out to grab at the bag, “Kyril, my gun! Can I have my gun?”
Kyril really couldn’t wait to finally get off this cruise ship.
If you actually got this far, thank you so much aaah ^^ it means a lot. I hope you enjoyed it!
