Jye-kule steps off the auction dock and into a narrow hangar approach corridor, where rust flakes cling to old plating and coolant mist curls along the floor. Ahead, the passage opens toward a sleek bay lit in cold white strips.
The Off-Worlder waits at the control panel by the hatch, calm and still, while behind them the auction chamber noise fades into a distant, sealed murmur. The air here tastes metallic, cleaner than the market, but stale with old engine heat.
Seevin
Going so soon? You always did run when the bill came due.
Seevin appears at the far end of the dock plating, shoulders tight, flanked by the echo of his own anger. He does not rush in, but his stare follows Jye-kule like a hooked blade.
The Off-Worlder
He is leaving because he chooses to. That is the difference you never understood.
Jye-kule
The hatch is only a few strides away.
The Off-Worlder taps the panel, and the hangar hatch parts with a heavy sigh. Beyond it, a compact ship glows in the dark berth, its ramp down and waiting.
✓ Quest Accepted
Board the off-worlder's ship
“"What does Seevin mean by leaving when the bill is due, did you not pay?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +0)
Jye-kule
What does he mean, leaving when the bill is due? Did you not pay?
The Off-Worlder
I paid for your freedom. He means debt in the old sense, the kind he likes to keep alive after the numbers are settled.
Seevin
A sale is never settled if the prize walks out talking back.
The Off-Worlder
You hear that tone, Jye-kule? That is the sound of a man who mistook ownership for law.
The Off-Worlder
I do not buy servants. I do not collect them. I offer a door, and you decide whether to step through.
Seevin
Step through, then. Let us see how free he feels once the hatch seals and the dock fee comes due.
The Off-Worlder
You are already answering your own question for him, Seevin. That is why he is leaving with me.
“"Bye bye little theavin' Seevin, I'll see you around." I say to Seevin as I board the off worlder's ship. I turn to the off worlder and say, "I'm sensing that I have much to learn from you, I join you willingly as a free man, and I know you understand that makes me far more valuable to you than were I to enter as a slave."”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled -1)