As Swinn finished fixing the replicator along with the mini teleporter, he stretched his back, flexed his legs, and started walking around.
He decided to look around Sil's ship, walking down the hallways as he saw the remnants of the life lived there. The ship had luminous moody blue lighting, and whirred with energy, causing Swinn's ears to flicker. It was fascinating to him how someone could live their life all in one spot, and the little habits that they formed while they did. Things were placed in areas that didn't exactly look pretty but served a practical purpose.
Towel, Sil's clone, followed closely behind. Honestly, Swinn didn't mind him watching as much as he thought, he was quiet and didn't show any sign of untrustworthiness. It wasn't like he wanted to betray Sil anyways, so he didn't have anything to hide.
Swinn's walking break was over, and he returned to the kitchen where the replicator was. It was a machine not unlike that of a hot drink maker where it was cube shaped except where the center had empty space to print out whatever was requested. Not only that, but there was a touch screen where he could scroll through a long list of items that Swinn had never seen before. It was powered by a nest crystal, making him wonder just how rich his client was. He wanted to give it a quick test before he definitively called it fixed.
Scrolling through the list, Swinn selected a blue cylindrical tube looking object that he thought was some sort of drink.
The replicator then lit up and started creating the object. While it was being created, he saw that inside there was a light blue liquid. When it was done and he opened the cap, he smelled it only to grimace at the pungent scent.
"Blegh," Swinn plugged his nose and set the bottle down, "Do you really drink this stuff?"
Swinn looked at Towel, who just shook his head.
"Is it supposed to smell like this?"
Towel went to sniff the bottle and shrugged, "I don't know, I never used this shampoo before. Logan must've put this in the database incase I developed dandruff or something."
"It's shampoo?" Swinn smacked his head, "I'm an idiot, I should've known…"
"So your species uses shampoo too?"
"Yep," Swinn chuckled before remembering something, "One time, I got a client that smelled HORRIBLE, like dying corpses bad. Apparently we weren't supposed to bring it up because being washed to them was the equivalent of a war crime. It had something to do with the way they communicate with smell."
Swinn's heart shaped nose then scrunched up remembering the scent.
"You smell like…" The Sil clone sniffed in his general direction before smiling, "...pine trees."
Swinn was caught off guard and didn't know how to respond. Smells were a very important thing in his culture, and had particular connotations. He just had to remind himself that Sil was a different species.
"So, uh, what's your other self doing?" Swinn quickly asked to change topics.
"Hmm…He's asking someone important for directions," Towel half lied.
"How?" Swinn exclaimed as he lightly tugged at his hair, "So fast too? Wasn't it only a little bit ago that he left?"
"Yep."
"Gosh, I hope he doesn't say the wrong thing and find out that he came from my planet, that'll really ruin our trading routes— oh no, what if they think we sent him! I mean, I kinda did but— with all the strikes and the precarious political situation—"
"Whoah, calm down, it's literally fine, I'm just talking to the guy that everyone was striking against," Towel held his hands up, "I have plenty of experience when it comes to talking. I've learned from the best when I was younger. I'll be careful."
Swinn took in a deep breath and calmed his nerves. He just had to take his word for it, he already knew that Sil was very unique, even for an alien, and what he said could very well be true. Besides, it wasn't like Swinn could do anything about it, he was barely making ends meet despite being such an important asset for his job.
"I guess that's not so bad."
"I could tell you what else I'm doing," Towel leaned back on the counter before crossing his arms.
The Sil clone decided to omit some of the more violent details. Swinn didn't need to know about all of that, especially since he was effectively just a civilian.
—
In an office space, a Galicar woman with light green scales and deep blue patterning wore a suit with not a single crease on it. She was looking at a graph that had a red line going upwards, indicating that profits for her company were at an all time high. She placed her clawed feet on the table as she leaned back in her chair.
"Ugh, I wont have as large of profit margins as I wanted. I wonder what to do…" She signed and scratched behind her forehead where the mark of a scaly arrow was at, "Should I increase the prices of our products? Hmmm, no, I did that already, it's too soon. Astor isn't going to be happy…"
The Galicar woman sat there for a bit before suddenly sitting upright in an epiphany, "Well, I'm sure I don't need ALL of my employees, I'll just fire the unnecessary ones!"
She started laughing to herself before a blonde haired man burst down the door, the sheer power caused several papers to be strewn about as he suddenly held the Galicar woman by the throat.
"Now tell me, who do you work for?" Sil demanded.
The Galicar woman was in shock, desperately grabbing at Sil's hand to no avail, "I'm— I'm the boss of this company—"
"That's not what I mean, and you know it. Is this part of your god's condition?" Sil glared at her. He'd been traveling for nearly 700 years now, and he recognized that marking on the Galicar woman's forehead to be the mark of a dedicated follower. Not only that, but problems that had spread across an entire planet were usually the cause of a higher power at work.
"I'd— I'd die before I let you know the name of my god," She strained out before Sil tightened his grip. Sweat formed on her forehead.
"So you do work for a celestial," Sil smirked, further tightening his grip, "And how exactly does your god gain power?"
The Galicar woman began to activate her dedicated follower form, her arms now enlarging and turning a darkened green, her scales grew denser by the second. With an increased strength, she managed to break out of Sil's grip, and land onto the floor.
"You may kill me, but more will take my place!"
"So you don't want to betray your god, but—" Sil then took note of the environment around him. The office space held many decorated items, highly ornate furniture, detailed with very clear beast crystals. Across so many cultures and civilizations, he recognized them as signs of wealth.
"For someone who doesn't seem to care about her life, you really do lavish in it. Cut the bullshit, we both know that's a tough act you're putting on. If you don't tell me where your god lives, then…"
Sil then created 10 clones, all with speed and strength abilities. They rushed the Galicar woman and pinned her arms and legs against the wall. The real Sil punched her in the chest, again and again, forcing her lungs to never get a break.
"I'll just find someone who will."
The Galicar woman let out desperate sounds, trying to breathe against all odds, gasping, wheezing, choking until— Sil stopped, and the clones let her go. She fell to the floor, and immediately took a deep breath.
"H-he… h-he lives at yelanar island— It has a volcano—"
Sil summoned his soul weapon. The book floated above his hands as he chose qi perception. Pooling all of his MC cells into the ability, he spread out his field of vision across the planet, discerning from the green and red outlines before eventually finding a white outline located where an island was at.
"Not even hiding in your celestial space? Basically begging to be attacked," Sil shook his head in mock disapproval, before turning his head to look at the woman, "Glad to know you weren't lying. Little tip, I recommend you don't lie more often, but I doubt you'll live beyond this day."
Scrambling to head underneath her desk, the female Galicar pressed a button hidden there, causing several alarms to blare. 5 guards burst through the door, all pointing their guns at the godslayer. Sil held his hands up, playing along.
"Hmm, I suppose this isn't lying…" Sil dryly commented.
Right as they were about to shoot, he had teleported away, only leaving behind an afterimage that disappeared as the bullets shot around the Galicar woman, nearly killing her. She stared in shock as the guards that were meant to protect her had almost ended her life.
"....I think…. It's fine if the workers want better conditions… yeah…" She breathily whispered.
—
"He's talking to their leader?" Swinn asked in shock, "And he's not even remotely worried? Are you lying to me or what?"
By now, Swinn had helped himself to a cold fruit drink while sitting on a couch as Towel sat on the one next to him. It was safe to say that he was invested in Towel's little story. He had yet to bring up anything about celestials and used more prettier language instead.
Towel just shrugged, "It's nothing really special, I'm pretty experienced after all. Anyways, I'm not done…"