"Chessie…are we seriously just walking in circles?"
Cecilia shot Ikade a sideways look, the chocolate bar still dangling from her mouth, her black cap crooked on her head.
The brim sat low over her eyes, half her sight black.
Cecilia took another bite of chocolate, trying to get rid of the taste still stuck in her mouth.
"Chessie...?" Cecilia spoke around the chocolate. "Haven't heard tha' in a while. Not since we left school."
A vein twitched on Ikade's forehead.
Before Cecilia could finish chewing, Ikade grabbed the half-eaten bar out of her mouth and refused to let go until the chocolate snapped in half.
"I keep telling you—stop talking with your mouth full."
Ikade tossed the stolen piece into her mouth, looking far too pleased with herself.
Cecilia glared at her, then finished chewing what little chocolate she had left. Her attention shifted to a poster on the nearby wall and she pointed toward it.
A massive ten-wheeled vehicle crawled over a pile of fallen logs, surrounded by a forest thick with mist. Each tire stood taller than either of them.
"See? I told you we'd find something."
Ikade rolled her eyes.
Ikade rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath while Cecilia plugged the address into her bracelet. A path unfolded across its small screen, leading them deeper into the vessel.
Her smug tone gave Ikade every reason to roll her eyes. She turned her head away and muttered something under her breath while the feathered woman plugged the address into her bracelet, following the path it marked out.
Cecilia grabbed Ikade by the wrist and pulled her along, walking backward with an easy grin—nearly tripping over her own feet. Her cropped T-shirt shifted lightly with each step.
The jacket draped over her shoulders kept slipping toward her elbows, forcing her to shrug it back into place.
Light blue denim jeans finished the look, paired with simple sneakers tapping softly against the metal floor.
With every step, the corridor grew more crowded, their conversation dissolving beneath the steady hum of the vessel.
Soon enough, the two of them stood at the entrance, staring up at the banner draped above them.
Construction & Outdoor Equipment Exposition.
Ikade's eyes shimmered like the night sky.
"Do you...think we should try overlanding?" Ikade glanced toward her. "Just for a while. I think you'd like it."
Cecilia stared at her.
Ikade stared back.
Then Cecilia lifted both hands to her cheeks, letting a grin spread across her face before shaking her head dramatically, muffling her voice between her palms.
"Huaaah—! You? And where exactly would this grand adventure take us, hmm?"
Ikade visibly cringed.
Her ears lowered when several people nearby turned to look.
"Could you not say it so loud...?"
"You brought it up."
"I was just thinking—since we're already here, maybe we could look at the trucks." Ikade traced a small circle through the air with her finger. "We won't be back for months anyway, and I might've saved a few places we could visit afterward."
Cecilia lowered her hands.
"You already looked?"
"Only a little." Ikade hurried through her words. "Nothing is planned-planned. I just remembered you saying you wanted to try it once."
She glanced toward Cecilia before looking away again.
"And...it might be good for you. You can't keep brushing off what Mann told you."
A knot, something squeezed in Cecilia's chest.
Her grin disappeared before she could control her muscles. Ikade's face stiffened a couple seconds later before her ears dropped.
"I didn't mean it like—"
"I know." Cecilia's shoulders stiffened. "You don't have to explain it."
Ikade closed her mouth.
The crowd continued moving around them, leaving the two of them standing inside a silence neither knew how to break.
Cecilia looked toward the rows of equipment ahead.
"You could've just said you were worried."
Ikade peeked at her.
"So...is that a no?"
Cecilia let out a breath, grabbed Ikade's hand and pulled her toward the camping section.
"I'm blaming you if this goes wrong."
"Eh? For real?!"
Cecilia glanced back.
Ikade's surprise did very little to hide the spark beneath it.
Maybe someplace other than a concrete box would do me some good.
They reached a section packed with camping gear, where someone was busy explaining things to whoever cared enough to listen.
They bickered back and forth like always, drawing a weary sidelong glance from the presenter—a man with a full head of thick hair, a heavy beard, and sharp canine ears that twitched with every raised voice.
He reached behind the stand and pulled out a few backpacks, laying them across the display while explaining their different features and sizes. Each came with its own tradeoffs. Some spread the load across a wider surface, while others could be opened from the front.
Potential buyers clustered around the displays, some clearly experienced, others much less so.
Once they finished with the packs, Ikade drifted toward the hunting display beside it. Several crossbows rested across the tables, their strings slack and no bolts anywhere near them.
"Um...can I try that?" Ikade leaned closer. "We only had hunting bows back in my village. I've always wanted to see how one of these felt."
Cecilia shot her an amused look and reached for a slightly smaller crossbow.
"Here, try this one instead."
Ikade pouted yet followed Cecilia's guidance and placed her foot into the stirrup.
"Put all your weight on that foot—yeah, like that."
Fortunately for Ikade, the crossbow she was trying to cock back had somewhere to grab. She looked back at Cecilia, silently asking for help.
"Use your arms and shoulders—don't use your back, okay?"
Ikade tried, making it only halfway before her face flushed with effort. Cecilia let out a soft laugh and helped her pull the string the rest of the way until it locked into place.
"How do you...huff...make this look easy…?"
Her arms and hands trembled beneath the sudden strain.
"For one, I actually exercise." Cecilia tapped one of Ikade's shaking arms. "And I've been doing this for years."
"Wait—isn't your crossbow way bigger than this?"
"Mine's bigger because I used it on pe—" Cecilia coughed into her fist. "Things. Big things with tough hide."
"Mhm, is that so?"
Ikade gave her one last suspicious look before moving on.
Cecilia quickly put the bow onto the display before trailing behind Ikade.
They wandered between the displays without much direction. Ikade stopped at anything that grabby her eyes
Somewhere along the way, the tables of smaller equipment gave way to trailers and heavy machinery, more and more until they were replaced by much larger machines.
Ikade suddenly stopped in the middle of the expo, nearly causing Cecilia to walk into her back.
"What?"
She only looked ahead and Cecilia followed.
It was huge.
Ikade looked up at the vehicle, then slowly turned toward her.
"So...this is the 'something' you found."
Standing beside it, both of them had to crane their necks just to see the top. The poster had not done its size justice. Ten massive tires lined its sides, each one taller than either of them.
The cab sat too high to enter normally. A ladder had been bolted beneath the door, leading toward the few narrow windows above. Dirty brown plating covered the vehicle's lower half, scratched and scuffed.
Its size alone would make most beasts think twice. Anything stupid enough to attack would have to get through the plating first.
A small kiosk stood several feet in front of it. Cecilia grabbed Ikade's hand and pulled her over.
They reached for the same button.
Click.
A screen slid from the top of the kiosk and began playing a video, and subtitles appeared along the bottom a moment later.
The video switched between old footage of the freighter in service and then being renovated, little by little until it became what stood in front of them.
"Must be nice, throwing money at your problem."
Ikade's ears flopped to one side at Cecilia's comment before she reread the transcript.
"Well...we have money."
Before either of them could talk themselves out of it, Cecilia spotted a man walking between the nearby vehicles. A badge hung from his neck, swaying with every step he took.
Cecilia raised a hand and waved him over.
His pointy ears caught her eye first, followed by the slow wag of his smooth tail behind him.
"Nice to meet ya."
They shook hands, his smile unwavering.
"I'm guessing you're interested in this little truck?"
"…That's putting it lightly."
Ikade stared up at the driver's window. From the ground, the cab barely looked large enough for one person.
The man followed her gaze.
"These were originally used to carry transmitters into places normal vehicles couldn't reach. They're still in service, but this model was decommissioned."
"And it still runs?"
Cecilia asked.
"Wouldn't be much use if it didn't. We removed the crane and some of the old equipment, but the vehicle itself works fine. Anything related to safety was replaced, including the fire-suppression system up front."
He clasped his hands together.
"Want me to show you around?"
"Show me what it can do."
He ducked beneath the guardrail and motioned for them to follow.
"We'll start here. The main winch can pull roughly twenty-three tons with a hundred and fifty feet of cable."
He tapped the bright red housing mounted across the front of the frame.
Cecilia leaned closer.
"Twenty-three tons?"
"Give or take. There's also a rotating work light mounted beneath the front overhang." He pointed toward it. "Useful if you're trying to recover something at night."
Ikade looked between the winch and the towering cab.
"What happens if this gets stuck?"
The man scratched beneath one of his ears.
"You find something heavier?"
Cecilia snorted.
He led them around the side.
"There's another winch beneath the rear chassis. That one only handles a little over three thousand pounds, but it's better for smaller recoveries."
He gave the frame a light pat.
"Both sit high enough that a car probably won't even brush against it."
A row of storage compartments stretched along the vehicle's side. Each one ended halfway to the ground and barely covered half the height of the tires.
"These came with the freighter. This side has three separate compartments."
He pulled the bright red handle on the nearest one.
Clck—shff.
The narrow cover above the compartment lifted first. Once it cleared the edge, the larger door pulled toward him, then slid down, stopping just short of the floor.
Empty storage greeted them. Metal racks lined the walls and ceiling, with a small light fixed near the center.
Cecilia leaned forward and looked inside, mumbling under her breath.
The man pushed the lower panel back up, and the cover settled over it with a firm clunk.
"The other side is almost the same, except it's divided into two wider compartments."
He tugged the handle once to make sure it had locked.
Clck.
"Perfect." He dusted his hands over his pants and walked to the rear. "Lets go the the back."
Ikade tapped away at her phone for a few seconds before hurrying after them.
Bit by bit, the rear of the freighter came into view. It sat higher than the front, with a metal-grated staircase folded flat against it.
Higher than the front, with a metal grated staircase hugging the back.
"You weren't lying after all."
he man turned toward them.
"The lower frame is reinforced and angled. If a vehicle were to hit the rear, it'll be pushed down and away instead of getting wedged beneath it. Though that's a big whatif."
He pointed along the edge of the old cargo bed.
"We added mounting hooks too. You can hang tools, cables or whatever else you don't want taking up space inside."
He scratched at his hair, walked to the rearmost tire and climbed the short ladder fixed above it.
"To lower the staircase, you can climb up here and release it manually. Or you can try jumping for the latch, if you enjoy embarrassing yourself."
Cecilia looked up at the latch.
"I could make that."
"Please don't, I rather not see in the hospital anymore."
The man reached above his head.
Cl-clank!
The staircase rattled loose and dropped onto the floor with a rough metallic thunk. Several nearby visitors looked over before returning to their conversations.
"Any questions so far?"
Cecilia and Ikade looked at one another, then shook their heads.
"Then come around this side."
He climbed down and led them toward the metal door opening into the cab.
A label near the staircase caught her attention.
Onboard PTO...a generator?
"Mind your footing," The man said. "The stairs are steep. There's a small lift on the opposite side rated for two hundred and fifty kilograms."
It took him two hard pulls to open the heavy door.
The lights flicked, filling the cab with a soft glow.
The man then climbed inside and sat on the edge of the slim table anchored near the center.
To their left sat an open area meant for storage and work. A compact metal sink had been built into one wall, with a locker bolted beside it.
Behind the man, off to the right, sat a single seat on a swivel. A wide, curved monitor was bolted to the wall.
"The filtration system is over here. The tanks can carry up to six hundred gallons of water."
Farther ahead sat the driver's seat, pushed away from everything else.
Cecilia had already moved toward the front.
The driver's seat stood apart from everything else, surrounded by an oversized steering wheel and a dense cluster of buttons and gauges. Three monitors hung from the ceiling above it.
She dropped into the seat and rested both hands on the wheel.
"Oh, I like this."
Ikade looked around the cab.
"It doesn't feel nearly as cramped in here."
"You'd be surprised how much space these had before the conversion." The man said. "Most of the old equipment was removed, which gave us room to build around what remained."
"What if we need to sleep?"
"Not in the cab. The living module takes up most of the old cargo bed. Come back down and I'll show you the layout."
Cecilia gave the driver's seat one last reluctant look before following them outside.
Once they returned to the kiosk, the man tapped through several menus. The display dimmed before switching to an overhead view of the living module.
Its entrance sat at the very rear, connected to what remained of the cargo platform.At least there was enough room to move without feeling boxed in.
The module came furnished just enough to avoid looking empty. Posters covered parts of the walls, a slim phonograph rested on a small table and several smaller amenities had been fitted wherever space they could find.
"This is our 'normal' setup." He said, curling two fingers into quotation marks. "We built the living module ourselves. There's enough headroom to stand comfortably unless you decide to start jumping around."
He swiped through several more images, showing them the storage beneath the furniture and the access panels running along the floor.
"How badly is this about to hurt my account?"
Ikade and Cecilia looked back at him while he tapped a few inputs on the kiosk, the display switching to another screen.
Three hundred and fifty-one thousand dollars...
Though the lettering was small, the amount was anything but.
Ikade went still beside Cecilia. Her tail slowly sagged until it nearly touched the floor.
"You okay?"
Ikade's head drooped forward like a deflated balloon.
Cecilia stared at her for a moment, then reached down and flicked her limp tail.
"That's...uh...a lot."
"You don't have to decide today," the man said. "Its not we can just up and leave."
"No, I'll take it."
Ikade's head snapped up.
"Chessie—"
Cecilia brought her bracelet over the kiosk and selected the direct-purchase option before Ikade could finish, she skimmed through and signed at the bottom.
Tap.
Tap tap tap.
Tap.
The kiosk chimed.
A confirmation spread across the display, followed by the vehicle's new ownership record.
The man blinked at the screen.
"Well...congratulations. Name's Salas, by the way. Probably should've mentioned that before you bought the thing." He gave an awkward laugh. "We'll need a little time to finish everything up. Two weeks at most, though it could be ready in a few days. The rest of the paperwork will be sent to your account."
Cecilia puffed out her chest.
"See? We're fine. We can afford it, and we'll make the money back in three years. Easy."
Ikade continued staring at her.
Cecilia stepped closer, grabbed both of Ikade's cheeks and tugged them outward.
"You're gonna stretch them—!"
Ikade grabbed Cecilia's wrists, trying to pull her hands away. Her tail flicked wildly in protest, which only made Cecilia's grin harder to hide.
With the freighter secured until their stop, they moved deeper into the expo before Ikade recovered enough to properly question Cecilia's spending habits.
Rows of generators hummed quietly behind safety rails, their casings opened up for the public to inspect. Cecilia paused to snap a picture or two while Ikade crouched to read the placards, nodding along like she understood more than she probably wanted to admit.
A little farther in, traps for game lined a long wall—simple steel snares, pressure plates and folding cages in all kinds of sizes.
They passed tables stacked with mundane necessities—water filters, cookware, portable heaters, repair kits. Things that did not look impressive until someone suddenly needed them.
And before Cecilia really noticed it, the displays started changing.
Specialized devices lined the walls behind reinforced glass.
Body armor hung open across several racks, each plate labeled with its impact rating. Beast suppressants of every type filled sealed cases along the counters between them.
She kept chatting with Ikade as they wandered past the different pieces of camping gear. Ikade occasionally tried some on, only to find them too bulky and uncomfortable.
So instead, they simply wandered, letting curiosity guide them while Cecilia poked at anything that caught her interest. She drifted toward whatever looked the strangest, even buying a few novelties along the way.
Ikade, on the other hand, kept circling back to a bow resting on one of the tables. On their third pass, Cecilia caught her saving its listing and price to her phone.
By this point, they had split up and regrouped more times than Cecilia cared to count.
"Can we sit already? My legs are starting to kill me."
Cecilia guided them toward a quieter strip of wall outside the main foot traffic. She settled onto the floor and leaned back against Ikade, both of them holding cold drinks they had grabbed from a booth.
Sip...sip sip.
Cecilia paused halfway through, hissing softly when a cold flash struck her brain. Her head tipped back just enough to bump against Ikade's.
Her legs throbbed every few seconds.
Shff...shff...
Cecilia turned her head. The bottom edge of a poster had begun peeling away from the wall behind them, its adhesive giving up one strip at a time.
One corner curled inward.
The rest followed.
Then the entire poster slid down the wall toward their heads.