Issac stood on a human balcony on the wall of the community section of the ship. It was the largest room aside from the engine room, fitted with a large human balcony with comfortable seating and tables, as well as a human access to the larger room which looked almost identical to the human area, just larger. He gripped the edge of the balcony as he watched Kikata help the new girl carry some bags onto the ship, his brother perched upon Kikata's shoulder. He could never really understand how Richard felt safe up there. 

He had trouble distinguishing how old the girl was, she looked as though she could have been anywhere from fifteen to twenty in human years. Either way he would have considered her pretty, her white hair adding a strange touch that didn't necessarily make her less attractive, but perhaps even more alien than Kikata appeared. She did not speak as Kikata explained to her where to find her own room, only nodding her head. 

"Oh, Issac is ready." Kikata's voice said as she turned towards him. Atrix followed Kikata's gaze and quickly averted her eyes when they fell on the human balcony. She stood awkwardly staring in another direction, her hands brought up to her chest as if uncertain with what to do with herself. Kikata made it to the balcony within only a few seconds, the speed at which she traveled was still a bit unnerving to Issac, who tried not to flinch as a large gust of wind swept past him upon her arrival. 

"Hi." Issac said holding up his arm. 

Kikata smiled warmly, "That is Atrix over there, you will have to excuse her she is shy around new people." 

"Oh." Issac said, he tried to look for the white haired girl again but Kikata's titanic figure blocked her from sight. He stepped back as Richard was lowered down next to him. 

"How does an an alien beach day sound for your first trip on a new planet?" Kikata asked, quickly changing the subject off of Atrix. 

"Really? That'd be awesome, yeah!" Issac said enthusiastically. 

"Good, well I'm going to help Atrix get settled in. I think Richard said something about a cooler?"

"Gotta' have a cooler on the beach." Richard commented.

"We have beer?" Issac asked, watching as Kikata rejoined Atrix on the far side of the room, they quickly disappeared into the larger hallways. 

Richard laughed, "Yeah bud we got plenty of beer. David hooked us up big time." He said with a wink. 

"Oh." Issac said as he followed his brother into the human walkways. They called the shuttle and waited for a few quiet seconds. As they entered the shuttle Issac asked, "So, who is this new person again?"

Richard rubbed his chin, "She's uh. She's a friend of ours."

"Is she a crew member now?"

"Sure. You can say that, like a trainee." 

Issac gazed upon his brother suspiciously, "Oh."

Richard stepped off the shuttle first as it came to one of the human living areas that contained a walk in refrigerator, "Look uh. There's something you should know about her before you get to know her. Probably best you don't bring it up in conversation, might be awkward."

"Okay?"

"She's got a sort of condition. Kind of like a very mild Autism among humans. I mean she can appear completely normal. But socially, she just doesn't understand sometimes. She has issues with social anxiety and will probably seem very,,,well, offish at times."

"Oh, okay I'll keep that in mind." Issac said. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"We aren't leaving right away?" Atrix asked. 

"Well it's Issac's first time on a world that is not his own, so he has to at least spend a little time off the ship."

"Okay, well I will stay here then," Atrix said as she knelt down by her bag, Jo, the small creature that was once Prila's pet, crawled cautiously out of one of her bags and began to sniff his new surroundings. 

"It may be a long time before we are back here." Kikata said. "I think you should spend the last day outside, you won't regret it a few weeks from now trust me."

Atrix kept her gaze glued to the ground, "But what if someone sees me, asks what I'm doing, where I'm going." She looked up towards Kikata, "I'm already stressing and anxious, and i don't know."

Kikata shook her head and tried to maintain a reassuring demeanor, "No, hon, we'll go somewhere private. Like we did that one time with Prila remember? We'll put the ship down in the water off some deserted coast line and relax for the rest of the day."

Atrix breathed deeply, but nodded, "Fine, okay." 

~ ~ ~ ~  

Clear blue water began to bubble and evaporate into massive clouds of steam as the ship lowered into the water. The new ships were capable of landing or hovering in any terrain, giving them a large advantage over the older model Nova Guard ships. The main landing ramp lowered unto the shallow water, submerging partially. Kikata walked down the ramp with Richard and Issac in her hands which she held cupped by her bare stomach. 

"Here we are!" She said cheerfully. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Atrix standing tentatively at the top of the ramp. She wore a swimsuit that was white in color. It kept her upper torso mostly concealed, wrapping around her chest before ending just above her navel. Likewise it reached about halfway down her thighs. Kikata was worried that she was under too much stress, Prila was the one who kept Atrix calm and in check, it would be her job now. "You coming hon?" She asked.

Atrix nodded.

Kikata turned back towards the water and slowly stepped in. She set her hands down on the ramp and let Richard and Issac stand on their own.

Issac crouched by the water, he was surprised at how calm it was, "Somehow I expected the water to look different." He said, larger waves started to lap at the ramp as Kikata sank into the water. 

Richard shrugged, "Their atmosphere is nearly identical to ours, so is the water." 

Issac nodded. There was a rush of wind as Atrix jumped from the side of the ramp into the water. Her figure was warped beneath the waters surface until she eventually reemerged on the shoreline, she took a few dripping steps onto the beach before sitting down. 

Kikata lowered her body into the warm water, letting out a loud gasp of relief as she did. She let herself slowly submerge, her hair spreading from her head as she slipped her face under. Her eyes fluttered open, staring only slightly downwards towards Richard and Issac. Her lips curled in a smile before she blew her lungs out creating a massive churning of blubbering water around her lips. She lifted her chin from the water, "All aboard!" She said before lowering her head back into the water. Presenting the top of her head as a boat to Richard and Issac. 

Richard laughed and stepped forward, taking a fistful of black hair in order to hoist himself up onto her head. Issac followed behind his brother, yet struggled a bit more on the small climb, his weaker arms not able to lift his weight as easily as Richard. He quickly sat down on the damp hair, his fingers gripping it nervously as Kikata's head once again rose up out of the water. Richard remained standing, a small blue container hanging from his left hand while his right hand still held onto a handful of Kikata's hair much like a jockey would hold the reigns of a horse. 

Kikata swam slowly until her fingers and toes could grip the pebbly earth beneath the waters surface. "Land ho!" Richard called from atop her head. Kikata grinned playfully as she reached the beach, she lowered her chin to the earth to allow her passengers a way to climb down. Issac took hold of some of her hair and clumsily repelled down over her forehead, beside her eye and then finally onto the ground. He turned to see Richard taking a more central route over her nose. His feet touched down on her upper lip when her mouth suddenly opened, her tongue tucking against his leg so she could draw his legs into her mouth. 

"Ah!" Richard yelped, "Our ship has betrayed us! Issac! Save the beer!" He yelled before dropping the cooler towards Issac, he managed to catch the cooler only just barely. Kikata continued to giggle as she pushed away from the beach back out into the water.

Atrix watched from afar with a slight smile. She felt a sudden urge to rush in, join the horseplay, to joke and laugh with her friends. But as she stood her feet were bound by invisible shackles. Her smile disappeared as her mind went from cautious happiness to frustrating anxiety. Why, why why! her mind shrieked, it had not produced any logical reason yet for her sudden shift in emotion and in that brief moment of wondering she was consciously aware of her condition and was able to acknowledge that it was nothing but chemistry. She tried to push them away, somehow churn the chemicals back into something like that of a normal person. Her own desire to be normal made her cringe, sent a stabbing pain into her chest and pulled her ears down into the side. Now the paranoia sets in. Illogical paranoia with no evidence. Kikata, Richard, the new engineer…they saw her as a freak! She knew it must be true. Everyone must laugh at her behind her back, or feel pity for her as if she was a senile old woman who was living day by day completely oblivious to the fact that she was no longer herself, no longer normal. She took another step, but this time in the opposite direction. The voice telling her that this was all just a swirl of emotion with no foundations had been drowned out by the thousands of thoughts and feelings, questions to which she herself, no, the condition answered for her. She was a burden to Richard and Kikata. She was no more useful in this search as the pet that Prila had left behind. What did her fighting skills bring to this world? She was the prophet of a dead religion, she was the master of a lost art. She sneered at her own illusions of being able to rescue her lost teacher, her best friend, the closest thing she had ever had to a mother, or sister, all wrapped up into the only thing that kept her going. Why bother? Why not just flee right now.

Kikata looked up from the water, "Uh oh." She whispered to Richard who she still clutched between her fingers for their little playful games. 

"Think she's having an episode?" Richard asked. Atrix was standing on the beach, her hands brought up to her chest, a very clearly distressed look upon her face. Her tail hung limply behind her and her ears were laid flat on the sides of her head as her silver eyes darted rapidly from side to side. 

Kikata nodded, "I'll go talk to her." She placed Richard down next to Issac who was doing his best not to stare at the titanic Neko girl that stood on the beach behind him. He could have sworn he heard a whimper escape her lips. 

Atrix Why are you such a fool? Why can't you just get over it. Atrix stop pitying yourself and do something. Atrix why don't you stop causing trouble for everyone all around you. Atrix-

"Atrix." Kikata's voice called gently. 

Atrix blinked, accidentally releasing a stream of liquid that dampened her cheek bones beneath her eyes. She blinked again and she was able to focus on Kikata. "Y-Yes?" She said quietly. 

Kikata desperately wanted to cuddle and soothe Atrix but she knew that it could potentially make her less comfortable. And so even though the look of despair was so blatant on her face she would not be wise to comfort her so straightforwardly. "Let's take a walk, huh?" 

Atrix nodded, the frenzied mixture of pain and anxiety in her chest starting to melt away as Kikata guided her down the beach. She nodded and responded shortly to Kikata's small talk, which was successful in making her feel less alienated even if she had to feign interest. She took comfort in knowing that Kiakta was a good friend, and even a student of Prila. She could sometimes sense a good bit of Prila's voice coming from her. 

Feeling that enough time had passed from the episode Kikata turned the subject back onto Atrix, "We're really glad you are here with us, Atrix." She said, her eyes locking down into Atrix's so her statement would be known to be genuine. 

Atrix nodded her head, "Yes. I am glad you let me come….I was worried you guys were annoyed by me." She said, she forced a laugh to try and make her worry seem less serious. She was bad at lying socially. 

"Of course not, we were only worried at first because of the school and training. It's nice to have a friend along for the journey." 

Friend.. The word seeped into her mind like warm water onto sore muscles. She let her lips curl into a true smile, "It is good to be with friends." The statement came as a sudden realization. Kikata and Richard were her only other real friends outside of Prila…and she had only seen them several times in the past year. The pain struck her chest again, though this time it was not paired with the seething anxiety. She could not hold it back, her hand rose up to her lips as she started to sob. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Issac glanced down the beach where the two titanic figures had finally gotten out of earshot. "So, there's no like giant birds we have to be worried about or anything, right?" he asked looking back towards the massive tree's and other vegetation. 

Richard shook his head, "No, not really. Not here anyway." 

"Oh, good." Issac said. He sipped on a cold and refreshing beer slowly as his eyes examined the alien waterscape. His mind did not believe that he was off on some other world. He felt as though he must be somewhere on earth. Couldn't fathom that earth was many lightyears away. The ship resting on the water's surface still mesmerized him. During all his classes he had never dreamed of actually getting to work on such an awesome machine. The robotic mind that he had been interacting with would continue to amaze him every day, each lesson bringing her closer to what scientists had previously passed off as something that could not be achieved. Sentience. Maybe it would be his turn to get his face in the news…or at least a science journal. "So." He continued, 'Who is this Atrix really?" 

Richard sighed, he figured his brother was not persuaded by his weak stories. "That's a complicated question my friend." 

"Oh."

Richard leaned back onto his elbows and stared down the beach to where Kikata and Atrix sat down next to each other, "I suppose you deserve to know the full scoop."