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Alis sat on one of the benches on the edge of the autowalk and kicked her legs without thinking about it. It was a perfect late summer day. They all were, ever since Lassic had announced the experimental new Climate Control System that would cover Camineet, to be expanded to the other cities of Palma.
Honestly, Alis missed the seasons, but no one wanted to complain. Either they were happy with the weather or they were scared of Lassic. Rainy days weren’t worth getting shot in the street.
"It's damn hot out, isn't it?"
"Huh?" Alis jerked herself out of her idle thoughts and looked at her new...companion, she supposed. Calling something that could talk a pet seemed off, even if most Musk Cats were pets.
"I said, it's damn hot out, isn't it?" Myau's tail waved in the bright afternoon sun in time with his strange, lilting speech. "I'll be glad when we get out into the wilderness and find some shade. It might be all right for humans, but I've got a permanent fur coat!"
"CCS only covers the cities, so it's cooler outside anyway. We're moving into the rainy season right now...I have an umbrella, but it will probably be even colder in the cave... I should get a coat too..." Alis trailed off, muttering to herself. Warm coats were fairly cheap in second-hand shops nowadays, but she really didn't have that much money left after the trip to Motavia. She knew she'd outgrown her old one. Maybe Suelo had kept Nero's around? She'd have to ask.
"Hey! Alis!" A paw struck her leg. For the second time Alis had to jerk herself out of her thoughts to see Myau half in her lap, looking up accusingly. "You're off on your own again. Let me in on the plans!"
"Sorry. It's nothing important, just trying to think of where I can get some warmer clothes," Alis apologized. "I didn't mean to shut you out of anything...I guess I'm not used to working with someone else."
"Hm." Myau settled back down. "I assume you can't just buy some at the store?"
"Of course I could, if I had the meseta. Passports and space trips are pretty expensive these days."
"And not a lot of people are willing to pay for...what we're trying to do."
Alis breathed a silent prayer of thanks that Myau's brain had, for once, caught up to his mouth. People were rushing past them on the autowalk all the time, and she did not want to have to explain to the robot cops. "That's right," she replied. "I had some savings that Nero had left me, but..."
...but working the spaceport didn't pay very much, and the robot cops had demanded bribes just to let her take the body, and funerals were expensive, and she still couldn't believe Nero was gone. The grief always snuck up on her, like a crowd of sworms, for all she pushed it aside over and over again. It wasn't going to stop her, nothing would, but when Nero had whispered his plans to her in the dark, both of them curled up against the wall and pretending to sleep, she had always assumed she'd be following him on his quest. Not be the hero, the one who would take down the king of Algol herself.
Belatedly Alis realised she was off on her own again and Myau had been talking for the past minute.
"...perform, I'm rather good at that if I say so myself. That's how I got meals for Odin! Big guy was always hungry, and looking cute at First Food only gets you so far."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't- wait, you used to have to make money for Odin too?"
"Yup!" Myau raised his chin high, chest puffed out as far as a Musk Cat's would go. "None of you adventurer types have much cash."
"Well, it's not like it's a real job where you get paid..." Alis ran her fingers over her sword as she tried to decide how to feel. It was nice to know that someone else had her problems. It was also a reminder that there were plenty of unexpected problems coming her way, even after she rescued Odin. She sighed. "I'll feel bad if you're out there dancing for everyone. There has to be another way."
"I hope you have some ideas, then, because I'd like to eat tonight."
"I have money for food!" Alis dragged out her wallet and waved it in Myau's face. [60 meseta] read clearly across the electronic display. "It's enough for a meal! ...if you like First Food."
Myau looked skeptical, but shrugged. "I've gotten used to it. Of course, then you won't have a coat..."
"I'll manage," Alis said as she put her wallet away. "I've made it this far, haven't I? I'll find some more odd jobs somewhere."
"Where?"
"Um, well...around." Alis settled back and tried to think. "I can ask Suelo if she's heard of anything. Tria at First Food was talking about how she ordered a package from Scion, but it got delayed, so I can ask her... Or there might be something else at Scion. It's a long walk, though."
"Seems inefficient." Myau licked at a paw in the manner of cats: in such a way as to imply indifferent dismissal.
"I know it is, but I'm already asking so much of Suelo. I can't make her find jobs for me too." Alis could tell Suelo didn't like her taking dangerous hunting jobs anyway, even if they both knew her real mission was even worse. It might be a polite fiction, but as long as Suelo didn't ask Alis wasn't going to tell. It was the least she could do for the woman who'd taken her and Nero in after their parents had died.
"Of course not. But what about a sign board?"
"A sign board? Like...people would just post messages?"
"Exactly!" Myau stood up on his hind legs and waved his arms like a desperate store clerk. "Put up a job for Alis and Myau, the best warriors on Algo! Monsters slain! Packages delivered! No job too large!" He flipped backwards, landing perfectly and wrapping his tail around his legs. "I'll dance around it, that should drum up some interest. Soon the jobs will be rolling in, you'll see."
Alis winced. Suelo would hear about that for sure! "You...really don't have to...."
"Nonsense. There isn't a cuter or more intelligent Musk Cat on Algo. We'll have so much work we'll have to turn them down to get back to our real quest." Myau tilted his head and looked almost apologetic. "It would be easier if we didn't have to do it ourselves..."
"Suelo's not getting involved!" Alis snapped, then sighed. "I mean, you're right. It would be easier. But it would also be easier if we weren't the only ones doing it."
"Some sort of organization..." Myau mused. "With people to do the jobs and other people to handle the administration, so the adventurers just have to check something to find a job...that could be pretty useful. The monsters aren't just going to disappear, you know."
Alis had found a nest of sworm eggs just before she'd set off for Motavia. She'd smashed every single one, but how many more were lurking in the forest? "Oh, I know," she said. "And it's a nice idea. But isn't it all a little premature?"
Myau shrugged as best he could. "We'll work on it when this is all over. Haven't you thought about what you're going to do for the rest of your life?"
"Not really," Alis replied, with a careful eye on the rapidly-upcoming Camineet station. "I'll worry about the future when I'm sure we're going to have one. Now come on," she said as she stood up and mentally got her 'cute, flighty adolescent girl' persona ready to bluff past the guards, "we've got a robot cop to get past. I hope you're as good at acting cute as you say you are."