KISMET ─ vento aureo.

▹ TWELVE ;

☆ ⁺ « 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐃

★˚⋆ SALE! ZUCCHERO! WHERE THE FLACK are you? Not even gonna bother to say goodbye?"

The crew waited for a few minutes for the greasy pair of mechanics to come slinking out from the bowels of their shop. No one appeared.

Granted, it was hard to tell from the leaning piles of metal and dank lighting, and the smell of oil and coolant and whatever else that up-dog odor was. At least they'd been nice enough to take the Passione off of the lifts this time. Narancia had nearly ploughed the place to the ground the last time he'd tried to remove the ship from the shop.

"Where are they?" Trish murmured. She looked loath to step any further into the shop. "They always like to gloat when we pay them."

"I paid them remotely through the account Zero set up for us," Fugo said. "They probably didn't feel the need to see us off."

"Bastards," Mista muttered.

Narancia wasted no time checking out the Passione. He hopped over the suspicious stains on the floor and narrowly missed running into a tower of barrels. "Sheesh! Just look at what they did to our ship!" he shouted. "You sure she's ours, Cap? She looks amazing!"

You barely recognized the interior when you stepped into the ship. Everything was so bright and shiny you had to squint a little bit. The interior wasn't sweltering for once and you didn't have to block out the flickering lights. As you made your way past the rooms to the bridge, you marvelled at how high-class everything seemed. You'd forgotten what the Passione was like under all the peeling metal.

[ MY STARS. IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A SHIP NOW. ]

You side-eyed the turtle tucked under your arm. "I don't remember turning you on."

[ IT'S AN AUTOMATIC THING. I SYNCED TO YOUR SHIP'S COMPUTER SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BOTHER WITH ALL THAT. ] To your horror, Coco Jumbo's voice echoed through the ship-wide speakers. [HELLO ALL! WELCOME BACK TO YOUR HUMBLE ABODE! ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT SO HUMBLE NOW, IS IT? ]

"Run a scan on the ship's systems and a full check on the engine room," Fugo said. "Also make sure the security prints and idents are still updated. If the mechanics messed with anything, let me know."

[ YOU BETCHA. ]

You shot a look at Fugo, who only shrugged. "Coco's working for us now, right? Might as well use that computer for what it's good for."

"Stars, look at the kitchen!" Trish squealed. "It's like night and day! There are actual working appliances in here! We can finally make hot drinks again!"

Mista called out from the back of the ship, "Yooo, the rooms look sick! There's in-line lighting, and, wait, what does this—you're kidding, you can adjust the temperature and speakers from your holopad?!"

"The med bay doors actually work!" Narancia shouted. "We don't have to rip up shirts for bandages!"

Although you were just as giddy as the rest of the crew about the state of the ship, you were still wary. A cursory glance over all of the rooms didn't show any signs of tampering, and Coco's scan came back negative. The mechanics had just fixed your ship and dipped. Which would have been fine for anyone else, but Sale and Zucchero never finished a job with so little hassle.

"That's what seven million credots does to a person," Mista drawled, settling into his newly upholstered chair at the tactical station. "Makes everyone a lot nicer. Also, sweet flack these chairs are banger. It's like melting into butter."