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It’s yet another quiet morning at the Baile. A lot of those lately, it seems. The sun’s shining, a few fluffy clouds are scattered about in the sky, and heading in from the general direction of the town is an architect, pausing every few steps to look around and whistle “Kail! Where are ya, boy?” a few more inquisitive whistles, and he once more resumes his path towards the fountain.
The mechanical penguin isn’t far from the fountain. In fact, it seems to be lurking near a four-foot-tall Lotorian, who is watching the robot with intense curiosity.
Kethren brightens up when he sees Kail and heads that way. “There ya are!” and blinks a couple of times “Ah, morning there. What brings you buy our humble planet this morning?”
The Lotorian looks up at Kethren, eyes going wide and mouth falling open. “I’m sorry. Should I go? Did I do something wrong? I meant to do nothing wrong.” He looks left and right, seemingly ready to bolt.
Kethren blinks a few more times. “Er, you might want to calm down. As the designer of this city, what we have so far anyway, I’m just curious what brings tourists along.”
“Oh,” the Lotorian replies, tail lashing back and forth as he looks at his feet. “Sorry. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
Kethren nods, and leans against the fountain. “Well, if you need a place to relax and get your bearings, you could do a lot worse. We did make sure to get the tavern and hotel up first, so there are options if you’re not a fan of tents.”
“I shouldn’t live alone,” the Lotorian says, wringing his hands together. “I tend to panic.”
Kethren raises an eyebrow. “Well, I can’t honestly say that I was planning on installing a dating service into one of the buildings, but we might find someone willing to run such a scheme if there’s enough interest.”
The Lotorian blinks nervously, then peers up at Kethren. “Dating? I do not seek a mate! It’s just…all my life, I have lived in small spacefaring communities, close quarters, surrounded by others. I thought I would have that again on New Lotor. But no.”
Kethren nods. “Yeah, I heard that that particular plan didn’t exactly bear fruit.”
The twitchy Lotorian returns his attention to Kail, whiskers flexing. “It must be very nice…very convenient…to be able to make companions for yourself.”
Kethren smiles. “I’m sure it is. I could do a fair job building a robot, I suppose… but I’ll never have the artistry about it that Aina does.”
“Maybe I should learn how,” the Lotorian replies. “Or…not. I’ve never been very good with machines.”
Kethren nods. “Might be a bit of an impediment, alright. Meantime though, you could always seek Aina out, I’m sure she’d be willing to build one for you.”
The Lotorian scratches the side of his snout, pondering. “Are they difficult to maintain?”
Kethren grins. “Not particularly. I’ve got a pair of them. The larger one is in my ship, guarding some stuff right now. Probably wouldn’t hurt to bring em in every once in awhile to be checked over, but they hold up remarkably well.”
“Hrm,” the Lotorian says, grunting. His snout bobs up and down. “I will go scrounge together some scrap to sell for credits. How much do they cost?”
Kethren shrugs. “I don’t know that she’s actually made any to sell just yet, so that’s something you’d have to negotiate with her. Though I’m sure the price goes down if you supply materials.”
The Lotorian’s face breaks into a toothy smile, full of fangs and whiskers. “Good to know.” With that, he scampers away.
Kethren waves, then crouches down to check over Kail.