When Brant's feet settled down on the concrete flooring of Aaron's workshop, he cast an exploratory glance about the space. Rows of spotlights hung from the ceiling. Not all of them shone, but those that did illuminated small portions of the room. 

A freestanding anvil stood not far off, smooth and shiny in finish, and possessing only half a dozen dents. The iron block was horizontally sandwiched between two workbenches. A mound of tools lay stacked on one, and on the other, wires and metal plates sprawled across the workspace. Drippings of crimson-hued adhesive snaked across the work in progress. 

Reinforced shelves lined the walls, their horizontal beams bulging outward as their contents, varied, numerous and often large, tested the tensility of their boundaries. Whether exotic or commonplace, the items resting on the shelves appeared just the sort to fuel Aaron's endless projects. 

"This way." Aaron said, abruptly ripping apart the blanket of silence. 

He led the way to a dimly lit corner of the room, which derived most of its illumination from a pair of lights recessed into the floor. Several vehicles filled the space. Some sported wings, and others, wheels, and still another pair utilized both. The majority of the vehicles bore signs of incompleteness, with open hatches revealing splayed wires, and several instances of metal skeletons merely suggesting the contour of the ship-to-be. 

A lanky black robot stepped out of the shadows and mechanically waved as the party drew near. 

Baird's eyes widened. "Sila?" He turned to Aaron. "I thought you said it got destroyed." 

"Master fixed me." the robot declared. 

His eyelids opened still further. "Woah, three words now?" 

Aaron smirked. "I took the opportunity to make some upgrades. Basically, I tripled the linguistic algorithm's efficiency." 

"That's awesome." 

With a nod, Aaron turned to Sila. "Where'd you park the Stingray?" 

"Right over there." the robot replied, pointing a long finger several yards down the line. 

Aaron led the party down the row of vehicles and stopped before an indigo ship with a body shaped like a pill, with flat, semicircular wings extending outward in a wide circumference. On the back of the body, a vertical projection rose up, with a turret fastened to the top. 

"So, that's it." Aaron said, briskly moving on. "I should also show you the other thing we're bringing along." 

He stopped before a lengthy rectangular vessel with rounded corners and a bright violet hue. It stood at a short height compared to Aaron's other creations, only about five feet high, including the retractible legs it rested on. 

"What is it?" Brant asked. 

"I call it the Armory. It's not a passenger ship, but it's handy for holding weapons and dispatching them where needed." Aaron glanced at Wendy and smiled at her. "It was her idea, actually." 

She shrugged. "Only a bloody idea. He actually designed it." 

"Well yeah, but a flame's impossible without a spark." 

Baird unsheathed his sword. "Show me how it works." 

Aaron grinned. "With pleasure." 

He took the blade in one hand, and in the other, he received the remote Sila offered him. He clicked a button on the remote, and a row of lights on the vessel's underside beamed down. Some of them shone red, and others green, but they seemed to follow no discernible pattern. 

Aaron stepped over to a green light and crouched down. After he held the sword underneath the beam for a few seconds, a hatch opened with a swish, and a robotic hand reached down. It took the weapon from his hand and retracted, closing the hatch behind itself. 

Aaron turned to Baird. "Inside, it's scanning to see if it recognizes the weapon. Of course, we know it doesn't, so in a moment it's gonna ask for a name to label it in the database." 

Baird nodded and stood patiently. When a mechanical voice asked the very question Aaron had said, Baird cleared his throat. 

"Thunder blade." he declared. 

Wendy frowned. "Isn't it bloody sparks? More like lightning than thunder." 

Aaron and Baird both shrugged. "It sounds cooler this way." they said in unison before sharing a chuckle. 

After taking a violet button from his pocket and sticking it on the inside of Baird's shirt, Aaron nodded. "So, that's just a little microphone of sorts, so if you say, 'Armory: thunder blade', it'll let out a little cannon and shoot it down to you." 

"Handle first, I hope?" Baird asked. 

"Oh yeah, of course." 

"Okay, cool stuff." Brant said, "But can we get moving one of these days?" 

Aaron narrowed his eyes. "I'm not just showing off, you know. You guys need to know what we've got at our disposal." 

Wendy laid a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I do think the Stingray and Armory should be sufficient. Let's get your bloody sister back." 

"Sisters." Aaron said thoughtfully as he marched back to the Stingray. 

******************** 

Several hours later, the Stingray skimmed over the lush greenery of Ferange, swiftly approaching the Marna River. Darkness had recently overtaken the land, and that being so, the palace a couple miles ahead had begun its light show of search lamps that endlessly rotated their intense narrow beams. 

Inside, Baird stood with a clenched jaw and held onto a handrail in the lower half of the ship, right beside the closed exit that spanned the entirety of body's length. 

Aaron clambered down a ladder from the upper half and laid a hand on Baird's shoulder. "You sure you wanna do this?" 

Baird met his gaze and nodded. "I know it's risky, but I've gotta do it for them." 

"Yeah, but why can't...somebody like Brant do it?" 

"This part of the plan is only a distraction. I think Brant should have a more direct hand in fixing his own mistake." 

Aaron nodded. "I guess that makes sense. I just can't help but worry, for Abby's sake—" 

Baird smiled reassuringly. "Just don't. We can do this." 

Wendy peeked down from above with hands on her hips. "We're at the bloody drop point guys. Whenever you're done with the lovey-dovey stuff, we can get this ball rolling." 

Both men met her irritated glance and laughed. Then, after they exchanged a hug, Baird watched the door slide upwards until it could no longer be seen. He leapt down onto the moist grass below and dashed toward the bridge. 

Baird cast a glance back as the Stingray departed behind him. Then he jogged down the bridge's length. The wooden planks thumped beneath his feet as he went. He inhaled a deep breath and smiled at the familiar freshness of his homeland's air. 

Baird stopped at the end of the bridge when two armored guards stepped into his path. They both placed their hands on their holstered guns and held up the other in a halting motion. He complied and waited for them to speak. 

"What's your business coming this way?" asked the bulkier of the men. 

"I've come to pay your god a visit." Baird replied, keeping his tone level as he spoke. 

The bulky guard looked to the other man, who stood taller, but also carried less substance on his bones. He tapped a boxy protrusion from his wrist and spoke into it, stepping a few feet away as he did so. Baird and the remaining guard stood and awkwardly avoided eye contact as they waited. 

Finally, the scrawny guard returned and nodded at his comrade. "Kookaburra says he would be delighted to see him." 

The husky guard cleared his throat. "Alright, let's just make the standard checks." 

Baird remained calm and collected as the two men patted him down. They frowned at finding nothing but an empty sheath on his back. After asking for identification and discovering he was Baird Amergin, the man who'd murdered former Alcontean Emperor Pietrovo just over two years ago, they appeared all the more eager to escort him on to the palace. 

Baird smirked to himself when the men called into their wrist devices with animated voices, demanding extra security. They clasped their hands around his arms and hurried him along. 

After a brisk walk, the trio reached the front gate, which unhurriedly slid open before them after one of the guards shouted into his wrist again. Once the door had swung open fully, they shoved Baird inside. 

He passed between two parallel lines of armored guards under a dim overhead light. Two men stepped out of the formation to assist his escorts in guiding him to his meeting with the Alcontean god of laughter. 

After traversing a long hallway, they came to a spiral staircase. Baird ascended with little effort, but his quartet of escorts huffed and groaned as they followed behind. When they finally reached the top, they found themselves before a shiny white door. 

One of the guards lifted his wrist to his mouth. "Alright, we're here. Are your men at their posts?" 

A crackly voice on the other end affirmed. Faint laughter floated over the airwaves. 

"Okay, sending him in." the guard said. 

One of the men reached forward and opened the door. He pushed Baird through the entryway before promptly shutting it. 

Baird frowned at the fact none of his escorts had followed him through. With a shrug, he took in his surroundings. Vibrant lights exhibiting every color in the rainbow and several more flashed overhead, casting garish hues all about. Equally obtrusive was the music blasting through the expansive chamber, with a pumping beat and bass line, accompanied by shrill and repetitive tones. 

Scantily clad young women lined Baird's path, the colorful lights flashing on their exposed skin. Several of them wriggled their bodies at Baird as he walked, but he kept his gaze focused ahead and paid them no mind. 

Baird finally spotted a man sitting in one of two chairs at a well-furnished table. The other seat lay empty opposite him. A jolly grin spread across his face and lingered there as he tapped his foot to the driving music and received a shoulder massage from a smirking woman. She wore a glossy catsuit, complete with a lifeless tail that snaked into the walkway and possessed no function but posing a tripping hazard. 

The man ran a hand through his matted hair and flashed his pearly teeth at Baird as he approached. With a flowing motion of his hand, he beckoned him to sit in the seat across from him. 

"Well hello to you, fair sir!" Kookaburra greeted, his voice immediately becoming lost in cackling. His fingers wrapped around an opaque bottle. "Have a seat, and a drink!" 

Baird narrowed his eyes and sat down. "I'm no fool. Neither food or drink will enter my lips until I leave this place." 

Kookaburra snorted. "That sounds like some sort of a challenge." 

"It's a shame you misinterpreted it that way." 

"Well, why don't you tell me why you came here, then?" 

Baird kept an iron grip on his calm demeanor, but inwardly, his mind raced. He groped in his pocket and found a miniature notepad and a pen. 

"Well, I'm a writer, as you probably know," Baird said, twirling the pen through his fingers, "and truly, it's a fascinating time we live in. The Alcontean gods are returning, the various insurgent movements are being stamped out at a commensurate rate, and the Empire's eventual dominance over the entire continent appears inevitable. Anyway, I plan to write a book on the return of you gods, and so I wish to interview you." 

Kookaburra had been leaning forward and listening intently, his ever-present smirk perched on his lips as he did. Once Baird finished speaking, he chortled. "It is a wonderful time, isn't it? Quite a cause for rejoicing and glee!" 

Baird felt a strange urge to laugh wash over him, even though he hadn't found the god's statement amusing in the slightest. "It really is." he agreed, "Of course, I can imagine not everybody is pleased with this arrangement." 

"Oh, no, of course not. But there's a four-letter word that describes such people perfectly." 

"And what might that be?" 

Kookaburra's lips resembled a poorly-constructed dam, just barely able to contain an incoming floodwater. "It begins with a 'd' and ends with a 't'." 

Baird bit his lip and pretended to think, although his final answer had in reality occurred to him immediately. "Dolt?" 

A raucous laugh pierced the air. "No, dummy! Dust!" 

"Oh wow, that's...dark." 

"So will their graves be." 

Baird's forehead wrinkled. "Likely so. Well, if you don't mind, can I ask my first question?" he asked, peering at his notepad. 

"Go right ahead!" 

"Okay, so starting basic, where were you born?" 

Baird looked up from his notepad to see Kookaburra's attention fixated on a smiling dog who approached him. Its tail wagged so fast it became nearly invisible. The animal hopped into Kookaburra's lap and slurped at his face. He returned the favor, causing Baird to wrinkle his nose. 

"Excuse me, did you hear me?" Baird finally asked. 

Kookaburra glanced up and opened his mouth, but then the dog whispered something in his ear. He giggled and mumbled something back. They became lost in laughter together. Baird subtly scooted his chair back, frowning as he beheld the weirdness before him. I hope it's not too long until the others do their thing.

******************** 

A/N: If this Kookaburra character isn't weird, then nothing and nobody is. I may envy Baird for his domestic blessings, but in this point in time...nah, I'm good. 😝 

What I'm not good on is votes, though so if you could leave me one of those, and maybe even some comments, that'd be great. Thanks! 😂 

(I feel like that's my gimmick now. Intentionally forced connections between whatever I was talking about, and a reminder to do that. This'll be a funny shtick to develop.) 

Anyway, here's a random(ish) question, but it's still story-related. What character so far do you consider yourself most like? 

(This is harder than I originally thought. Brant, maybe? Sometimes I can be a bit bullheaded in pursuing one specific goal. But frankly, I wish I was like Ace in some ways, and who wouldn't?) 

And now for our random-random question: What's your favorite color, and how well does it go as clothing? (See, I've gotta put a little more effort in there.) 

(My favorite is green, and the darker the better. And I think that's a great color to toss into an outfit, so I'd say mine works.) 

Well, I've gotta dash, so thanks for reading, have a blessed day, and I hope to see you in the next update! Bye!