[Timeskip a few days later]
"I'm more concerned about the stellaron disaster." Said a man in brown robes.
"Yeah... Do you think the short life species that arrived would even do something to help?"
Oli froze, he was wearing a curtain of blue color he stole from a resident home earlier. His head was covered by a somewhat big prop head he also stole from a left over piles in one of the containers he passed on an alley to make sure he was hidden.
He approached the two gentleman, overlooking below civilians and cloud knights alike.
"Excuse," he tapped one of them, "did you say short life species? Would one of them happen to be pink haired?"
They turned to him, sizing him up and down, probably fascinated by his choice of fashion.
"Uhm, I don't know much, I only heard from one of my friends."
"... And what's with that head and outfit?" He asked.
"Oh this?" Oli gestured, his arms covered by the long curtain, "It's good isn't it? I paid a good price for this."
They both looked at each other, before they could tell him he was scammed, the man had already left from their sight, vanishing amongst the crowd.
'So they're near, I need to find them, I can't get out of here...'
Oli passed the guards on the end of the stairs, turning to an intersection and heading to a bigger platform. Here, the city was more bustling and lively. And had more guards, at the center of this place was a wide platform with stretchers and cloud knights all lined up.
A short child with horns on her head, wearing regaling robes was attending to one of the knights.
He stood at the back of the crowd watching her. His big head was an odd size of an intellitron head. Though, he could just lie to anyone if they would ever ask why he was much bigger.
He moved on from the crowd, Bailu was doing good work, helping people. And he didn't want to intervene or bring more chaos if any cloud knights would find him suspicious.
'I can't leave this place, starskiffs cost and I'm broke. Eugh, what a bad day to be broke. Maybe I could steal... Yeah, just a little more.' he moved towards an alley he found in the distance, a small gap he could slip through and probably find trash to hide or better his horrendous outfit.
Just as he was about to enter it, he stopped. Voices came from the alleyway, getting louder as they seemed to get nearer, he turned the other way, another alley. He went for it, but he heard more voices.
The cloud knights were sealing off gaps that he could escape to. Feeling distraught, he decided to move along. He'll have to find another place soon, some of the other places were slowly being locked and guarded, worse they even ask for identification.
He sighed, going back the way he came from as a squad of knights were patrolling ahead. The general was really making sure everything was smooth.
"Hey, you."
Oli stoped on his tracks, he craned his head to see a cloud knight approaching at him. His heart almost skipped a beat when his hands touched his shoulder.
"I thought the Intellitrons have been gathered at the Haven center," he sighed, "Are you lost sir?"
Intellitrons? Oh, he almost forgot about that part. His shoulders loosened from the tension he felt earlier as he adjusted his tone to match that of the inorganic species.
"I'm only looking around to find something nice." He said.
The cloud knight shrugged, "Well, take care. The mara struck individuals are getting higher, and outside of this area means meeting alot of them."
"I'll do my best to keep out of trouble."
The cloud knight nodded and soon left.
'Now I need to find a way to get out of here... How how!'
His gaze landed on a guy carrying a box, a small child following him also carried another but seemed to be struggling.
A wicked thought crossed his mind as he followed them. It would work, it definitely will.
* * *
"And that's about it. Take care you two." The cloud knight stepped to the side to let the two pass.
Oli was watching from the far side of the port, away from the cloud knight's vision. Soon, he activated his gravity shift and walked on the side of the edge, his vision went sideways and back to normal as if the wall of the edge was the floor.
The starskiff was beginning to move, so he ran for it and shifted to stand under the starskiff's hull. He crawled to the side, peeking into the deck.
"Son, do you remember your studies?" The father asked, sitting on top of the box he carried.
"Yes, father. The history of Xianzhou, and mathematics, I recited the history, do you want to hear it?" The boy grinned.
Oli watched as the conversation became irrelevant overtime, so he looked to the front and saw the Starskiff haven, he needed to hide first so he went crawling to the back and waited there.
"We're here," the father said, stepping out of the starskiff, "don't stress too much, alright?" He kneeled down in front of his son.
"I'll try." The boy nodded then went off.
The father had a longing in his eyes as he stared at the direction that the boy went. He could almost feel like crying, happy for his son that he wouldn't have to struggle like him. He'll find a much better place in the future.
"Remarkable, isn't it?"
The father jumped, a big headed intellitron wearing a blue cloak was standing beside him too close.
"I... Who are you?" He asked.
"When you give so much respect and care for your child," he ignored his question, "you find them loving you more."
The father swallowed the lump on his throat, for some reason this man seemed to evoke a sense of wisdom, he was about to say something when he was interrupted.
"What's your secret?" He asked.
The father seemed embarrassed, but felt proud that someone had recognized his own worth as a father who did his best for his son. Not everyone back home did.
"Well, honestly just patience and good morals." He replied.
The intellitron turned to him, cocking his head.
"Good morals... That's something I'm still learning... Thank you, you reminded me of my father."
"You're... Welcome?"
The intellitron soon left, giggling like a child.