The next two days passed slowly, with the crew on edge after being attacked on their first night sailing. Very few creatures made their homes in the cloud layers as there was no where to find purchase. The Fortunes Favor must have been close enough to the nearest continent shelf that something desperate found them. The further they got from any main land, the lower the threat of monster attack became. It would never go away completely, the magic of the solvar carved boats was too strong to go unnoticed by power hungry creatures forever.

  Aka spent more and more time with Keizeron as the days went on, pouring over the map to ensure they stayed on path. It was impossible that they could stray so far they would miss Flolon, but drifting to much would lead them to hit land at an inopportune location. Their captain assured them they didn’t need to check so often, but Aka was not going to fail their first mission beyond Reglilis. It didn’t help that they often found their mind preoccupied with something else.

  On the third morning they sat down with Keiz to make sure the ship hadn’t drifted too much in the night, but once they concluded they were still on the right path Aka didn’t get up from the table. The captain didn’t say anything, only waited and finally Aka pulled out their piece of the senka rod, setting it on the table between them. Keizeron looked at them expectantly.

  The faun had been holding onto the rod since they stole it from the temple, and it was starting to vex them. The rod was supposed to have some mystical power beyond knowledge, but so far they hadn't noticed anything beyond the warmth they felt when they held it. Sometimes it felt like the relic was alive, but Aka had yet to figure out how to communicate with it. It's inaction annoyed them to a degree, should they be trying to use it? To figure out it's secrets? Was it so hard to use because Aka didn't have magic? They had no idea, and the feeling was finally starting to bubble over.

  After sitting in silence for another minute, Keizeron finally sighed and asked, “what’s wrong?”

  “How do I use this?” Aka responded quickly, gesturing to the rod with both hands in frustration. “This is an ancient world saving artifact is it not? Why is the only thing I can do with it turn on and off the little light it produces?”

  Keizeron picked the rod off the table and twirled it in his hand in a surprisingly playful display. The rod was about eight inches long, and an inch thick in diameter. It was a bit to big to be used like a traditional wand, but he could use his sword as a spell casting focus if he needed to, so anything was possible. He inspected the materials, it was made of a sturdy iron base with gold plating and had a bright sapphire embedded in it. The light was on now, and it didn’t seem to emanate from the sapphire in particular, just the center of the rod. Though, the gem did sparkle with magic in reaction to the light.

  “Well, most of the stories I was told at school simply state that it is powerful enough to revive Aria when put together. I’ve never heard anything about the powers of the rod while it’s still split apart. Have you tried to attune to it or cast an identification spell?” Keizeron asked.

  Aka huffed, pulling a strand of curly white hair out of their face. “I don’t know how, I'm not a castor and none of my trinkets can cast something like that.” They sulked. “I mean, I suppose I can sense it? It seems to know when I want it to turn it on and off, but other than that nothing.”

  Keiz set the rod back down and moved over to his bookcase. His hand brushed over a few spines before he grabbed out a spell book and sat back down. Keiz flipped through the pages, scanning them quickly as he went. After a moment he found what he was looking for, a classification spell. It wouldn’t tell him everything about the rod, but would give him a better idea of what it could do.

  Keizeron pulled a piece of chalk from his desk and drew a few symbols on the lacquered wood. It cost less of his own magic when he could prep the spell like this, a luxury only afforded outside of battle. With practiced ease he drew a large circle around the runes and placed the rod in the center. Keiz set his palms on either side of the arcane circle and the chalk began to glow purple, the power emanating from his hands. The chalk filled with color like water flowing through a channel.

  Keizeron looked up for a second, and noticed that Aka was watching him with an uncharacteristic look of wonder on their face. With a small smile he turned his focus back to the spell he was casting. A familiar warmth washed over him as his magic interacted with the rod’s. What he didn’t expect was the magic of the rod to reach back out to him with intent.

  The power of the rod flourished when it felt him, and Keiz could hear a giggle and light voice clear as day; “Hello again Keizeron! It’s so good to see you!”

  He withdrew his hand from the rune with surprise, and stood up so fast his chair fell over.

  “Captain?” Aka asked in alarm, their ears flat against their head. Their previous curious demeanor returned to steadfast seriousness as they watched his reaction.

  “Did you hear that?” Keizeron asked slowly. The voice disconnected when he stopped the spell, but he wasn’t sure if it had only spoken to him or if it had spoken aloud. However from the way Aka was tilting their head and looking at him with concern, he suspected they didn’t.

  “Hear what?” Aka confirmed.

  Keizeron picked up his chair, a little chagrined at his overreaction. He straightened himself out and sat back down, shaking his head slightly. He knew what the voice was, it had just been years since he had heard it and it caught him off guard. Not that he would let Aria know he had forgotten the sound of her voice.

  “Uh, Hello.” Keiz said hesitantly, putting his hands back on the desk. The rune had already dissipated, the magic spent in determining the attributes of the rod. He had been so alarmed he didn’t notice the spell was done.

  “Are you talking to the rod?” Aka asked curiously. Was that some magic trick they were unaware of?

  They both sat in silence for a moment, but the rod was quite again. “I guess not,” Keizeron sighed. He took out a journal from the top desk drawer, and jotted down a few notes. He tore out the paper and handed it, along with the rod, back to Aka. “It appears to have a passive magic that won’t come out until the right conditions are met. I can’t say for sure what those are, but I'm sure you’ll know when the time comes. It also has a strong aura that can accelerate healing.”

  ((“In game terms, healing spells and potions become twice as effective when used within fifty feet of the rod. So for example when you take a minor healing potion you’re going to roll 4d6 instead of the normal two.” Caine explained, looking over their screen. “On top of that, you can roll up to twice your number of hit die on short rests, and within the aura you are immune to diseases.”

  “That is insanely powerful,” Lucky whistled while Winter furiously scribbled down the notes of her prize.

  “Unlock the second part of it’s power and tell me that again.” Caine winked.))

  “If the powers are proximity based I think it’s best I keep it on me at all times,” Aka observed as they took the rod from their captain. They hesitated a moment, clearly wanting to press him on what he heard when he was casting the spell, but decided against it. Aka put the rod back into their jacket pocket and left without another word.

  Keiz leaned back in his chair, looking up at his ceiling. There was no doubt there was more going on here than he could understand at the moment. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Aria, and he knew the crew would as well. But he didn’t need to rush them all right now. There were nine more pieces of the rod to gather, he had the time to wait.

  ~*~

  By noon on the fifth day they started to feel a distinct chill in the air. Whatever remnants of fall thy had been enjoying the past few weeks were gone now, winter was here to stay. The crew started to don their warmer outfits while they were above deck, and by the end of the day they noticed the occasional snow flurry breeze through and could see their breath against the cold. Keizeron kept a careful eye on Mea all day, knowing she was easily influenced by the weather. Fortunately with enough of a warning she was able to adapt quickly to the new environment, and actually seemed to quite enjoy showing off the warm dress Sola had found for her when she was sick.

  Willow spent her free time adding the fur trim to her outfits, as well as the poncho Zero wore. She was careful to preserve the original design of the clothing item, and the automaton gave her a large hug when she was done. Despite the chill in the air it’s metal exterior was warm, and she could feel the buzz of the magical systems that kept Zero moving.

  Sola traded out his normal blue bandanna for a dark navy scarf and added a new jacket and boots. He felt much more comfortable on deck, until he realized he could no longer access Tempest, the magic sword tattooed on his bicep anymore. He tried to summon the enchanted weapon through the fabric, but Tempest had only ever responded to his touch. Sola mumbled angrily to himself, wondering if the first thing he’d have to do in every fight from now on was take his jacket off.

  “What if I cut a hole in the sleeve?” He asked that afternoon, sitting on the spare bed of the room Aka had turned into an office. It was the only room Mea and Willow had not painted since Aka didn’t want any distractions while they did their book work. He flipped absently through one of the many blank journals his friend had on hand. Most of them were bound with simple leather covers, but a few were bound with sturdier materials.

  He put the empty book back and started to flip through another one when he realized there was already writing in it. As soon as that registered Aka leaned back from their desk and snatched the journal from his hands. “I would thank you to not go through my things,” Aka said stiffly, narrowing their eyes at him. “And do not cut a hole in your sleeve, you would look ridiculous as well as give our enemies something to aim for in a fight.”

  “Hm, good point. Maybe after I cut it I could lower my pauldren. I’d have to adjust my straps but it’s a small price to pay.” Sola replied, messing with the armor he had on over his jacket.

  “Why do you only have one pauldren anyway?” Aka closed the book they had been working on to properly address their first mate. Sola spent a minute fiddling with the straps before he took the whole thing off in frustration. He loosened his collar of his shirt and pulled it down along with his jacket to show Aka his shoulder. Though it had long since healed there was a jagged scar running down from his collarbone to the edge of his shoulder. When they frowned at him Sola pulled his clothes back up and retied the front of his shirt.

  “What happened to you?” Aka asked, catching Sola’s gaze. Their red eyes were round with genuine concern, but Sola had already opened up to one of his crew mates this week and didn’t feel the need to share more.

  “I had a shitty childhood,” he shrugged, pulling his jacket back on.

  Sensing his tone, Aka just nodded. At least he could rely on the lamb faun to not want to talk about emotional subjects.

  “I did too,” Aka said after a moment, turning back to their book and avoid eye contact. “I’m the youngest of five, no matter what I did I never stood out. My parents made it a point to be unaware of my existence until I stole that necklace from that pompous noble lady. But then all they did was label me an embarrassment and a problem and send me off to work on a ship.”

  They realized Sola was staring at them, and it struck Aka suddenly that they were complaining about getting in trouble for robbing someone to a person who had lost an eye. They flushed, covering their mouth for a second. “Sorry, it’s not the same I know-” They stuttered. “I- sorry.”

  “It’s similar enough I suppose.” Sola shrugged.

  Aka looked up at him, and saw their first mate didn’t look offended in the least. They looked down at their book for a few moments, waiting until they no longer felt so hot. Aka closed their book. “It’s a magic tattoo isn’t it? Does it have to go back to the same spot or could you move it somewhere more accessible?”

  Sola gasped loudly, sitting up straighter. He pulled the armor and jacket back off, and pulled Tempest out with a flourish. He moved the blade down his arm and carefully pressed it against his wrist. The blade melted back onto his skin easily, and wrapped twice around his wrist before the hilt settled on his palm. “Why did I never think of this before?!”

  “I accept appreciation for my help in gold coins,” Aka informed him with a wry smile.

  “Do you accept favors? If I give out gold coins every time someone has a better idea than me I’d go broke.” Sola smiled back.

  Aka covered their mouth again, trying to hold back a laugh. “I suppose we could work something out, but what could you even do for me?”

  “What?” Sola sounded offended. “I’m plenty useful!”

  They continued to bicker until Sola had to go back above deck for a shift at the helm. Aka kept on making their notes, splitting time between writing in the ships log and their own personal journal. Even alone, they still managed a small smile as they worked, absently humming a tune Willow had taught them the day before. Maybeif they tried harder they could actually make their crew mates proud.

  ~*~

  Night gradually settled over the deck of the Fortunes Favor, and after a warm dinner consisting of steamed fish and veggies Keiz gathered the crew on the upper deck. Zero held the helm while he talked.

  “We’ll arrive in Flolon tomorrow as long as we don’t encounter any more slow downs. I know we’ve been in the air for a while, but we’ll need to avoid the port town and get a bit further inland before we can stop for the night.” He paused long enough for Sola to hear Willow sigh quietly. “We can’t avoid towns forever, but the less stops we make the better. Once we’re in Flolon it’ll be about a week until we reach Solversey, accounting for possible stops for the weather. We won’t know what to expect when we reach our destination, so we’ll need to approach with caution and try to gather information when we do have a chance to stop in town. The blizzard is going to be enough of a problem to deal with, but we have to consider the possibility something else has already found the rod and is using it.”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  The crew looked uneasy at that, and it was clear to Sola why. It hadn’t even occurred to him that the next piece of the rod might be in use already. He briefly wondered how many of the pieces had been found and were hidden away from the world instead of shared like the first piece was, but it was a problem that could be dealt with later. He had no idea how much time would pass between their journeys towards the next piece of the rod, it wouldn't help to worry about it right now .

  The first mate had spoken to Aka about the piece of the senka rod they already had and Aka told him it was simply something that boosted the healing magic used around it. It hadn’t seemed like a powerful effect, so he hadn’t considered the other pieces might do different things or be stronger.

  From the concerned looks of the rest of the crew, Sola knew he wasn’t alone in this line of thought. As the crew scattered to get ready to sail through the night, they did so in relative quite. He didn’t think Keizeron’s intent was to unnerve them, but he’d need to talk to his captain about his pep talks. They felt more like funeral speeches.

  The next day passed in a similar silence, and as they drew closer to the continent the weather turned from chilly to unbearably cold. Despite his thick jacket Sola found himself shivering constantly, and wondered how often he could get away with casting his minor heating spell before anyone noticed him. Keizeron and Willow seemed to be doing fine against the cold, though Willow started to sneeze a bit more. Zero was similarly unaffected, save for the fact he was finally getting cold to the touch. Aka’s fur was a bit fuzzier than normal, and Sola wondered if it had grown out or if they stopped brushing it to keep warmer. Either way, he thought they looked adorable. Mea on the other hand stopped coming above deck after a certain point in the day. Sola felt bad for her and her familiar, who had to worry about freezing in this weather. He hadn’t sailed with many aquans, but their strong magic came at a price, a high sensitivity to the elements being one of them.

  Keizeron wanted to avoid cities to reduce the chances they left a trail for the unity coalition to follow, but Sola wondered if they should stop and get something enchanted for Mea to prevent her from getting frost bite. He wished he could just enchanted something himself, but from what he had heard it wouldn’t be an easy task. It was difficult for people who had a good handle on their magic, so someone like him who barely used his powers wouldn’t be able to do it at all. Keizeron could enchant a lev stone, but the magic theory was very different between boat accessories and jewelry.

  Once his shift on helm for the day was over Sola wandered the deck looking for Mea, to see if she even wanted his help. After a brief search he found her sitting in the galley with Zero, a cup of water placed between the two of them. They were both staring at the wooden mug so intently they didn’t notice their first mate enter the room.

  “What are you doing?” Sola asked, making both of them jump.

  Mea flinched, disrupting the spell she had been casting and the water in the cup froze with a loud crack.

  “Hello Sola Rea!” Zero said jovially while Mea leaned back on the bench in annoyance.

  She picked up the mug and turned it in her hands before looking up. “I’m trying to practice my thermoregulation so I don’t freeze to death once we reach the land. It’s not going well.” Mea explained with a huff.

  ((“What. I refuse to believe Annie Mea knows that word.” Zenith said.

  “Hey, just because intelligence is my dump stat doesn’t mean I don’t know anything. Controlling the temperature of the water around her is a racial trait I just unlocked. Even if her parents didn't teach her much I’m sure she would have picked up basic terminology from somewhere.” Ren argued. Maybe the power wouldn’t be immediately useful, but it made sense story wise for her to practice with it before they reached the ice country.

  “I’ll allow it,” Caine said, ending the argument.))

  “You’re doing what?” Sola deadpanned.

  Mea tossed a tentacle over her shoulder. “It’s basic stuff for aquans, but since I got my powers so late I didn’t learn it fully before I left home. There was no point before I got my powers and no one wanted to train me after I got them.” She sighed. Mittens, once again in his crab form, clicked his claws at her.

  She patted the top of his shell appreciatively. “Yes yes, you are doing your best and I thank you for all your hard work. But I have NO idea what you mean by ‘imagine the particles vibrating at different frequencies.’ Like,” she covered his eyes and made a ‘he’s crazy’ hand gesture to Sola and Zero. Mittens snipped her hand in annoyance.

  Mea let out a yelp, withdrawing her hand quickly. “Fine then! We’ll both freeze to death out there!”

  “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I could try to talk to Keiz about stopping in town to see if we can find you enchanted gear. I’m sure this winter wonderland sells heat touched equipment at every possible location.” Sola explained.

  Mea clapped her hands together, “that’s so sweet of you to offer! But that is so, so expensive, and I bet its only gonna cost more in the port towns since they know unprepared people will pay an arm and a leg for it. I want to learn how to do this for myself.” She explained, but she still looked pleased he even offered on her behalf. “I mean, I’m not great at heat spells yet, but you could try enchanting something for me-”

  She cut off as Sola gave her a stern look, and without meaning to they both glanced over at Zero. The automaton stared back at them, and tilted his head in confusion. For a second Sola thought he could literally see the gears turning in it's head.

  “What’s wrong?” Zero beeped in confusion. “Why did you stop talking and look at me like that? Is it, ohhhhh?” His eyes lit up with excitement, his voice hitched in a scandalous way. For a moment Sola was worried he had figured it out, until the automaton leaned forward and whispered; “are you two dating?”

  Sola snorted, just as much amused as he was relieved. Mea on the other hand burst into loud laughter, patting Zero on the shoulder. She went on for a good minute, long enough for Sola to start to feel insulted.

  “It wasn’t that funny,” Sola said, crossing his arms.

  “No, no! It’s not that!” Mea gasped, wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s, oh, Zero bud do you remember what we were talking about the other day?”

  “No.” Zero replied with confidence.

  “Ok great. Well, I’m going to refresh your memory. I am a lesbian. I only date girls,” Mea explained patiently. She tapped Zero on the top of his head, and the lights in his eyes narrowed as if he was thinking hard to understand her.

  “I do not get it, if you only like girls why do you flirt with Sola and Keizeron and not Willow?”

  “See, this is exactly what we were talking about in the first place. It’s, ugh. It started when you said you don’t want to date anyone-”

  “Oh no, of course not! I’m married!” Zero rattled it’s head.

  “What?!” Mea and Sola asked simultaneously.

  Zero looked taken aback by his crew mates reaction. “What?”

  “You’re married?” Mea repeated, knocking over the ice cup as she stood up. It clattered to the floor, immediately forgotten.

  “Who said that?” Zero asked.

  “You did!”

  “When?”

  Mea let out a scream of frustration and grabbed Zero by the shoulders, shaking him furiously. “Oh dear,” Zero said, completely unperturbed by her outburst. Sola finally had to intervene, walking over to Mea and picking her up by the waist. She continued to yell as he dragged her away from the glitching automaton.

  “I am going to take you to Aka and let them poke around in your brain until these memory problems of yours are fixed for good! It’s like talking to a goldfish, and I would know! I have many goldfish friends!” Mea raged, but didn’t try to escape from Sola’s grip.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to-” Sola started to try to calm her down, but was interrupted by a loud whirring noise coming from Zero’s head. It’s eyes blinked on and off a few times, before they lit up bright yellow, much brighter than Sola had ever seen them burn before.

  “I am married,” Zero said slowly. He looked up at his crew mates and they saw his body heave as if he were breathing heavily. “Where is my wife?”

  Sola and Mea stared at him, completely silent.

  “Uh, is she like, a robot too?” Mea asked hesitantly.

  “Who?”

  ((“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”))

  With his memory problems it was hard to tell when Zero was joking or not, but Sola found it hard to believe he would joke about something like this. He set Mea down, holding out his hand to indicate that she should stop messing around. Mea was a jovial person, but all this back and forth right now wasn’t helping.

  “Zero, is this a feeling or an actual memory?” Sola asked slowly.

  Zero narrowed it’s eyes, trying to find something to focus on. “Who, what am I? How long have I been here? Can you even hear me?” His accent changed slightly as he spoke. Zero looked up, but it was clear he didn’t register Sola or Mea in the room with him. With a loud hum, the lights in his eyes went out and Zero slumped forward. His head hit the table with a dull thump as the other two watched in alarm.

  “Zero!” Sola exclaimed, leaping over toward his side of the table. The first mate gently shook Zero’s shoulder, and then snapped his fingers in front of the automatons face when he didn’t get a response. The first mate frowned, and he looked up at Mea for support.

  “Should I get Aka or Willow?” Mea asked him.

  ((“Hey DM, what do we know about automatons?” Zenith asked, his notes in front of him splayed out for any sort of clues they could give. The group hadn’t really spent a lot of time yet talking about the lore of the land, and in order to make the podcast more sponsor friendly, most of the game was home brewed and only loosely based on various ttrpg games. Of course, they didn’t have any sponsors yet but they were hopeful.

  “Make me a knowledge check,” Caine responded. They shuffled through their spiral notebook, glancing over the notes they had made with Blair about automatons and Zero in particular.

  Dice clattered to the table, more than Caine had thought there would be. They looked up and realized Winter had also rolled.

  “Uh, thats an eleven,” Zenith said, grimacing. “Sola is a brave boy but he is not a smart one.”

  “He’s smart in his own unique way, why did you roll Winter? Aka’s not there.” Caine asked.

  “Oh, you just said roll, I didn’t realize you only meant Sola. They were talking about coming to get me so I thought I was included.” Winter replied. “I did roll a twenty two though.”

  “No, that’s my fault for not specifying. But next time, if one person is asking they’re probably the only one rolling.”

  “But Sola asked what WE know about automatons!” Lucky pointed out. “Like collectively the whole group. So I think the rest of us should roll too!”

  “No.” Caine said quickly as Blair and Ren got their dice ready. “I’ll let Aka roll because they probably talked to Sola about Zero before, but in this moment Willows knowledge of automatons is not going to help Sola make a decision. Now, if you would let me.”

  “Fine! But Willow would have helped out so hard if you gave her a chance,” Lucky mumbled.

  “Automatons are made by the unity coalition for specific jobs that need to be done.” Caine started.

  “Oh shit! Is Zero a cop?” Lucky exclaimed.

  “Ew, no.” Blair snorted from across the table.

  Caine cleared their throat, and the table quieted back down. “If ya’ll would let me finish. The process for making them is kept under strict lock and key, to prevent other nations from learning how to make them on their own. Typically they can be found on unity ships or working in other places run by the government. They’re known for being a bit varied, but loyal to a fault and will follow orders given to a tee. They are strong and sturdy, and are given hard repetitive tasks because they don’t fall victim to muscle fatigue like organic beings do. Most of them don’t really seem to have personalities per say, and act more like machines with a task to be done. While automatons are a bit uncommon to find, they aren’t unheard of and most of you have encountered a few during your lives.

  What is a rarity is seeing automatons outside of unity jobs, but it does happen from time to time. Occasionally one will be damaged and will be auctioned off, so you'll see some working with unaffiliated nobles or merchants and even well to do ships. These ones are more likely to have a personality, as that is seen as a flaw by the coalition. Zero can’t remember what happened to him, but it’s apparent to you all that Lady Adelaide is the sort of person who would relish the chance to have an automaton on her ship.”

  “Aw man, was I thrifted?” Blair realized. “She pulled me out of the bargain bin with a bunch of puppy robots that don’t flip and parrot mimics that only say cuss words!”

  “Damn, if only she took the puppy robot instead. That would have been cool.” Zenith laughed.

  “I’m just glad she picked you over a bargain bin furby, I would NOT want that on our ship.” Lucky shuddered, thinking about the horrors that could have been.

  “They were out of the puppies when Adelaide was out thrifting, and the parrots weren’t even saying cool cuss words so she took Zero instead.” Caine explained, not really sure how much of this they wanted to make cannon. It would be open to interpretation. “Anyway, neither Aka nor Willow seem to be able to fully heal him when Zero gets hurt. Aka can repair the parts he breaks, and Willow can buff out the damages, but neither are fully effective. I will say, the few times Zero has been hurt, Sola you’ve noticed he prefers to go to Aka for repairs.”

  Not that the ship’s automaton had been hurt many times. In fact, he avoided the battle with the parrafin completely, and so had really only taken damage during the first fight with the cloud chasers and when they were escaping the burning temple. Like most players, Zero regained the majority of his hit points during a long rest after the fight, but magic and other repairs were only partially effective. Caine had been willing to let him be healed, but Blair had insisted. They wanted to make things more challenging since Zero only took half damage from non magical means. Caine didn’t mention it, but they already had plans to use this weakness to their advantage. Maybe not yet, but the team was in for a world of hurt. Caine grinned, and Zenith weighed his options before replying in game.))

  “Get Aka,” Sola replied, keeping his eyes on Zero. Mea nodded and quickly left the room, her footsteps fading as she retreated up the stairs. If any of his other crew mates had fainted, Sola would have told her to get Willow, but this was different. From what he had seen, Willow’s magic didn’t have the same effect on him, and ultimately it was Aka that was interested in learning how to repair him. They had checked before to see what they could do about his memory problems, but didn’t have the right equipment to help.

  Sola picked up the fallen cup, and debated what to do about Zero while he waited. He had never shut off like this before, and he wasn’t sure if it was like a person passing out. Could he move him, or would jostling him hurt? Zero was pretty heavy, his metal body made him sturdy in battle but could be difficult in times like this. Sola was sure he could lift Zero, he wasn’t lacking the strength, but it circled back to his original problem. It would take some effort to move him, even just propping him up, and Sola didn’t think he could do it gently.

  It finally settled on the first mate that there wasn’t really anything he could do in this situation, and he sat down at the table opposite Zero’s unconscious form to wait. He watched his friend intently for any signs of movement, and after a few minutes he heard the approaching footsteps of his crew mates.

  Aka entered the room, a look of concern on their face and Mea in tow. The navigator had their tool kit with them, and when they saw Zero laying on the table they quietly set it down and pulled a few devices out. Mea must have filled them in before they made their way back to the galley because Aka didn’t ask any questions as they started to remove the plate on the back of Zero’s head.

  The navigator removed the first screw with practiced ease, but in their haste they dropped it onto the table with a loud clatter. With a jolt Zeros eyes turned back on, and he sat bolt upright. Aka withdrew in alarm, not wanting to hurt him with the screw driver they were holding right next to his head.

  The three of them stared as Zero whirred and clicked for a few moments, as if going through some sort of boot up process. Then it’s eyes turned back on, flashing a bright red before returning to their normal gentle yellow. Zero looked at his crew mates, turning slightly and checking to make sure everything was in order. “What am I doing here?”

  “You,” Aka started, before Zero turned to them.

  “Aka!” He exclaimed, as if he only just noticed their presence despite staring at them for several seconds since he woke up. “It is so good to see you! What is your sexual orientation?”

  Aka blushed a bright red before rounding on Sola and Mea in an accusatory way. “Is this some sort of prank?” They bristled, their fur standing on end.

  “No!” Mea quickly tried to explain. “That’s what we were talking about before he shut off! Well, not you specifically, we were talking about ourselves and he said he was married and then he started glitching and turned off!”

  Aka looked over to Sola for confirmation. The first mate sighed. “She’s telling the truth Aka, no one is trying to prank you. But even if you did manage to snap him out of it, we still need to find out whats making him go haywire. We can’t have him going offline like that in the middle of a fight or a mission. Zero bud, can we still look for the cause of your glitching?”

  Zero looked around the room at their concerned faces, and shook his head as he picked up the fallen screw. It felt around the back of its head for the place the bolt went, and Aka stepped forward to help him put himself back together. “I understand your concern, but now is. Hm, now is not the best time. We should wait until we are back over the land at least, when the sailing will be safer.”

  Sola frowned. Zero had not proven himself to be the best decision maker, and despite his reservations Sola wasn’t sure that he could be trusted. “I’m going to have to talk to Keizeron about this. We’re going to determine if you can still take helm shifts until we can fix the issue.” He warned.

  Zero said nothing as Aka put the screw back in place. Once he was whole again he addressed his first mate. “That is acceptable.”

  The already tense mood of the ship only got worse as Sola went back to the upper deck to talk to Keizeron. They chatted briefly, and Keizeron eventually ruled that since they didn’t know what the problem was, nor had any incidents like this before, Zero could continue to take helm shifts. As long as Sola or Keiz were the ones on shift with him.

  ((Zenith frowned as the rest of the party finished voting. He could understand why they wanted Zero to keep taking shifts, but saying his partner needed to be one of the two more experienced crew mates sort of undid what they were going for.

  “I get that he needs to be watched, but if Sola does more than three shifts in a two day period he takes a level of exhaustion. And if that happens I WILL play him as cranky. This is a threat.” Zenith said, glaring at the rest of the table.

  Caine laughed, making a note in their journal. “Don’t worry babe, Keizeron won’t make you take more shifts than you can handle.”

  “What? Does he not need to sleep like the rest of us?” Lucky asked.

  “He just graduated college,” Caine said in a way of explanation. The rest of the group nodded in understanding, all of them also being relatively fresh out of college. Save for Lucky, who was on her last year, and Ren who was working on his masters. With just as much coffee in his veins as blood, he could understand a thing or two about working after sleepless nights.

  “Would it help if Mittens learned to drive the ship?” Ren asked.

  “You want your crab to drive?” Winter responded skeptically.

  They looked at Caine, who was frantically looking up the intelligence of a cuddle crab, a monster they home brewed specifically for Ren. “Uh, maybe not as the crab. Maybe you will unlock a better form to help, or maybe Mea could try to learn herself?”

  “Look, doing a job is already cutting into the time Mea can spend high, you want her to take on more responsibility?” Ren sighed.

  “You have already run out the sea weed you got at Leuson, Mea is sober until you guys reach Flolon, at the very least. We’re getting off topic, we were talking about Zero?”

  “No, I think we’re good on that,” Blair piped up, sitting up straight and grinning at the commotion they had caused.))