Maybe... maybe it really is time we were on our way.
Stow our credits in some rarely-trafficked part of the house. Sleep. Be cute and cuddly and helpful all through tomorrow... and tomorrow evening, show Ali what we've earned.
You go back home. The ride back down is uneventful. You enter, lock the door and go lie down next to Ali's bed. Knowing there's 250 credits next to you feels nice... but not as nice as you thought it would. Instead you feel like you should have more. Much more.
You close your eyes and try to sleep, but you can't help thinking about everything that's happened. If only you had more control over your life, more power over the world... Sleep comes with anxious dreams, hunting and being hunted, hiding beneath an endless canopy of purple leaves from an angry light, running infinite loops through convoluted tunnels, indifferent droids ignoring the beast chasing-
Status gained: HungryThe mood in the morning is a bit heavier than usual. Their actions don't appear too different compared to other days, but you can tell the difference, your memory makes it easy to do so. A bit more attention on Dad. A larger breakfast, a larger bag, a tighter hug when he leaves, lasting more seconds than usual. But nothing exciting. Just different.
When you are left alone with Ali, you stop your games and go find your credits. You deposit them in front of her and then puff out your chest in an effort to look even more majestic than you usually do. She's so surprised she doesn't realize what they are at first. Even after she does, she's so dumbfounded she has to check them with her little device to make sure they're not counterfeit.
"Wow. Where did you get these?"
"Eiwhyl. Sold medicine."
"Oh. So that's what that was."
She kneels and gives you a strong hug.
"I'm so proud of you!" she says while rubbing the back of your head.
You emit something between a whine and a quiet growl in response. After a while she moves her head away from yours and looks at you with a big smile on her face.
"So what are you going to do with it?"
Age: a few weeks (hatchling)
Size: about the size of a large dog
Status: hungry
Health: fine
Weapons: claws and teeth
Armor: soft scales
Abilities:
- Glide: You can glide in order to survive falls and quickly move great distances, though your wings are too weak to allow you true flight. However you can use favorable winds and updrafts to increase your glide time.
- Rudimentary Human Language: You are able to understand human language to a very basic degree. You won't understand everything though and there will likely be misunderstandings. You can also attempt to speak, but you can only form simple, short sentences and it's very hard for others to understand you.
- Large Sonic Rifle covered by old torn clothes (in Maintenance Tunnels, behind a pipe)
- Pack with plastoid tape modifications (in apartment)
- Half-used medpac
- 250 credits (1 yellow, 1 orange)
- half-used roll of plastoid tape
- flashlight
- small can of droid oil
- small metal toolbox
- Ali's Apartment (Lair): A tiny 2 bedroom apartment. The little human Ali lives there with Dad/Jobal and Mom/Ania. Room 327.
- Ali's Apartment Tower: Apartments arranged in a circle. Clean, bright, mostly locked doors, few hiding places. Little traffic during the night.
- Eiwhyl's Clinic: Sells medpacs and other healing items and provides treatment. Warning: stabby. Room 509.
- Streets: Dirty streets, parked hovercars, shops, building entrances, street vendors, little traffic during the night.
- Maintenance Tunnels: Interconnected tunnels, small and large, going low and high. Connect various streets and buildings. Wires and pipes. Dark, dirty, with old machines constantly rumbling. Scavenger-vermin and hunters-of-vermin.
- Garbage Pit: A large room with mountains of garbage half-submerged in a sea of sludge. More garbage frequently arrives from holes in the ceiling. A monster lurks here, may pull prey underwater.
- Hydroponic Pool A room with a large pool filled with plants. A ceiling full of bright lamps. A spherical gardener-droid takes care of the plants. Patrolled by hostile gunmen. A corridor leads to other rooms. Storage room. Processing room. Other rooms are unexplored.