"Cil…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.
Around them, the corridor remained busy, packed with people too absorbed in their own thoughts to pay much attention to two women wandering around with no real destination.
"Yeh…'lessh we…ffhn somethin.'"
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 chunk into her own mouth, looking far too satisfied with herself for someone who had just committed daylight robbery.
Cecilia glared at her, mourning the loss with every crumb she still had left, then chewed just enough to speak. Her eyes caught on a poster fixed to the wall nearby and she jabbed a finger toward it.
An enormous vehicle barreled over a pile of fallen logs, the dense forest behind it swallowed by mist until the vehicle and greenery blurred together.
Each of its ten tires stood taller than either of them.
"See? I told you we'd find something."
Ikade rolled her eyes.
She turned her head away and muttered something under her breath while Cecilia plugged the address into her bracelet, following the path it marked out.
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—and 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 every few seconds, forcing her to tug it back up again.
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 camping...err overlanding? Just for a while?"
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 slightly, and her eyes darted toward the nearby people who had turned to look. Still, she pushed through the embarrassment and forced the words out.
"…w-well since we're already here, maybe we could buy a truck or something like that. We won't be back for months, so...a change of pace might be nice."
She stole a quick side glance at Cecilia as they moved deeper into the expo.
"I'm sure you said you wanted to try it at least once."
She hurried through the last part, stealing quick side glances at Sienna as they moved deeper into the expo.
"It'll be good for you too. You really shouldn't keep brushing off what he said."
Ikade hurried through the last part, bobbing her head while tracing little shapes in the air with her finger.
Cecilia turned and stared at her.
A bead of sweat slid down Ikade's brow. She swallowed nothing and stiffened, refusing to turn her head, suddenly very interested in the backs of the people ahead.
Her hand dropped back to her side.
The silence stretched until even Cecilia felt it pressing between them.
"I'm blaming you if this goes wrong."
Cecilia finally relented, easing back and giving Ikade space.
She grabbed Ikade's hand and tugged her toward a section packed with camping gear, where someone was busy explaining things to whoever cared enough to listen.
"Eh? For real?!"
Cecilia glanced back at her, watching the way Ikade's surprise tried and failed to hide the spark underneath it.
Maybe someplace other than a concrete box would do me good.
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.
They were not the only ones trying out the gear. Other potential buyers clustered around the displays, some clearly experienced, others much less so.
"Um...can I try that?"
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, managing only halfway before her face flushed with effort. Cecilia let out a soft laugh and helped pull it the rest of the way, locking it into place.
"How do you...huff...make this look easy…?"
Her arms and hands trembled slightly, clearly protesting the sudden request.
"For one, I actually exercise and use telekinesis. remember?"
"Wait—isn't your crossbow way bigger than this?"
Cecilia could feel a gaze on her, putting it back onto its display.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Mine has...cough—had to pouch through tough hide."
"Mhm, is that so?"
Ikade then started looking toward another part of the expo before heading in a direction.
Cecilia followed her gaze.
It was huge.
Taller than normal, with little to no windows.
The two felt small standing next to it.
The only way into the cab—if it could even be called that, was by climbing a ladder bolted to the side. The lower half of the vehicle was coated in dirty brown plating, its paint scratched and scuffed but surprisingly free of rust.
Its sheer size alone would scare off most beasts. And even if something foolish enough did attack it, the body looked more than capable of surviving the scuffle.
Cecilia grabbed Ikade's hand and nudged her toward the small kiosk positioned in front of the vehicle. Curiosity won them over, and they both pressed the button at the same time.
A screen slid down from above and began playing a video, its subtitles appearing shortly after.
"...So a small group bought up old stuff and remade them for camping."
"Must be nice, throwing money at your problem."
Ikade's ears flopped to one side at Cecilia's comment before she reread the transcript.
"I guess? Wait… if it's for rich people, doesn't that mean it's for us?"
Before either of them could talk themselves out of it, Cecilia spotted a man nearby dressed in comfortable clothes, his relaxed pacing giving him away almost immediately.
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 cut in, staring up at the driver's window.
From ground level, it looked like only one person could barely fit inside, even that felt generous.
"That's true, yes. These were used to transport transmitters for many years—mostly to harder to reach places. They're still in use, but these models are decommissioned."
He cusped his hands lightly.
"They still work. We only removed the crane and things like that. All the safety equipment was replaced—like the fire suppression system up front."
He stepped beneath the guard rail and guided them closer.
Cecilia's gaze moved up to the mounted fire extinguishers, then along the thick chassis before them.
"If that's the case, sell it to me."
"Alright. Well, to start, we've got the main winch. It can pull around twenty-three tons out to about a hundred and fifty feet."
He tapped the bright red winch bolted to the frame.
"The front does come with a rotatable light, its right under it."
Cecilia and Ikade murmured to each other while he kept explaining.
"We also installed a smaller winch in the rear. It's a bit harder to get to since it sits right under the main chassis. That one can handle a little over three thousand pounds."
He gave the front end a light pat.
"And you won't have to worry about any regular car hitting either. Both sit too high for most of them."
He guided them along the side of the vehicle, stopping in front of a large compartment that ended halfway to the ground, barely covering half the height of the tires.
"These also came with the freighter, this side has three...different panels. There."
He huffed and slid one of the panels toward himself. The cover lifted slightly and stayed attached to the container while the compartment panel lowered closer to the ground.
Empty storage greeted the three of them, with racks lining the sides and ceiling.
Cecilia's eyes moved to the light fixed in the middle of the box, cutting through the dark inside.
"Then you close it like...this..."
The man pushed up and away. The panel slid back into place, and the cover shut with a firm clunk before he reached up and tugged on a bright red handle.
"The other side is almost the same except its just two instead of three."
Clck.
"Perfect." He dusted his hands over his pants and walked to the rear. "Lets go the the back."
Ikade, meanwhile, tapped away at her phone for a few seconds before hurrying after them.
Bit by bit, the rear of the freighter came into view.
Higher than the front, with a metal grated staircase hugging the back.
"You weren't lying after all."
He turned around to face them.
"Even if a car rams into it, the frame's strong enough to force it downward instead. Along the edge of the bed, hooks and things like that were added too, in case you wanted to hang something off the side for whatever reason."
He looked at the staircase, scratched at his hair, then walked to the rearmost tire and climbed up the ladder fixed just over it.
"To lower the staircase, you can either climb up the ladder right here or try jumping up to unlatch it from the top."
He reached for something above.
Cl-clank!
The staircase rattled loose and dropped to the ground with a rough metallic thunk. A couple of nearby visitors glanced up at him, then went back to minding their own business.
"Any questions?"
Cecilia and Ikade stared at one another before shaking their heads.
"Then come around this side for a second."
He jerked his head and started back down the staircase, leading them along the side until he stopped in front of the metal door leading into the cabin.
Cecilia's eyes drifted once more toward the rear bed. Two spare tires were stacked on top of each other, strapped against the cage beside another mounted unit.
A little farther out, her gaze caught the label on the kiosk in front of it.
Onboard PTO...a generator?
"Mind your footing. The stairs can be a bit steep. There's a short lift on the opposite side rated for two-fifty."
It took him a couple of hard yanks to pull the heavy metal door open.
The lights flicked on, flooding the interior with a soft, warm glow and revealing a space far larger than either of them expected. Ikade took it in while the man hopped up and sat casually on the slim desk anchored in the center.
"It's pretty spacious in here. To your right and my left—you've got the water filtration system. It can hold up to six hundred gallons."
To their right stretched an open area suited for both storage and work. A compact metal sink was 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.
Farther ahead sat the driver's seat, pushed away from everything else.
Cecilia dropped into it, glancing down at the oversized steering wheel and the dense cluster of buttons and gauges surrounding it. Three monitors hung from the ceiling, but even then, the space felt roomier than any vehicle she had ever driven.
"It might look cramp, but once you start, you'd be surprised how much you can fit in here."
"What if we need to sleep?"
Cecilia blinked, finding herself staring back toward the kiosk.
"Right now, this is the only one we've got. We're working on a few more types, but yeah, the unit takes up most of the bed either way. Whole thing's still a bit bigger than a semi."
He tapped the screen a few more times, and the display dimmed before switching to a clean overview of the bed—or what replaced it.
The entrance sat at the rear, bolted to what remained of the bed.
At least there was enough space to move without feeling boxed in.
If it could even be called that.
It came furnished just enough to avoid feeling empty—posters mounted along the walls, a slim phonograph resting on a small table, and a few other small amenities tucked neatly out of the way.
"This is just our 'normal' setup." He said, using his fingers for quotations. "This back part we made ourselves. It's just tall enough that you won't bump your head unless you hop a little."
He swiped a little more, showing off the added amenities.
"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.
Cecilia heard Ikade go still beside her before she even looked over.
Who's tail sagged.
"You okay?"
Ikade's head drooped forward like a deflated balloon.
Cecilia stared at her for a second, then reached down and gave Ikade's limp tail a flick.
"…that's uh...a lot."
Tap.
Tap tap tap.
Tap tap.
"See? It's fine. I can pay for it. This is nothing compared to what we have, and we can make it back in three years."
Cecilia puffed her chest out with pride and stepped closer, grabbing Ikade's cheeks before tugging 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.
They moved on from the kiosk after that, drifting deeper into the expo before Ikade could recover enough to start questioning Cecilia's spending habits properly.
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, game traps 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.
Devices lined the walls behind reinforced glass. Body armor hung on racks, spread open, plates labeled with impact ratings. 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.
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 leaned back against Ikade, settling onto the floor. Both held drinks they had grabbed from a booth, parched from all the walking.
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 in protest, pulsing every few seconds. The fatigue jumped in and started tag-teaming her from every angle.
shff…shff…
Cecilia turned her head just in time to see a poster slumping against the wall, no longer able to support its own weight.
It tilted.
Wobbled.
Then slid toward them.