Vanguard: Awakening

Freedom's Price: Chapter Seventeen

Thrum thrum thrum, bzzzzm, thrum thrum thrum, bzzzzzm

Cedric relaxed in a nearby chair as the laser cleaner vaporized his clothing. The head-rumbling buzz of the lasers eliminating the soil from his clothing was incredibly satisfying. The machines were well-sized and incredibly well-kept, based on the timer it would only take ten to fifteen minutes or so to completely clean his clothing. There was no washer or dryer cycling, just the incredibly intense web of lights shredding whatever dirt and grime found purchase on the clothing. Cedric found himself staring at it for a few minutes, after he figured out the controls. There was a few mechanical buttons and a knob for intensity. Some settings being too high or too low for certain articles of clothing. Cedric simply rolled the knob to stay in the middle of its frame, the average standard setting that would work on most clothing. It was a huge room, obviously another converted storage cell. He was the only one present in the vast space, the rest of the crew was already kicking off the evening festivities. He had forgotten to inform Grey where he was going, he hoped she wouldn't be kept waiting too long.

To transport his soiled clothing, Cedric procured a large trash bag. Its plastic material and size was not that much unlike what he was used to growing up. If something wasn't broken, why bother fixing it he surmised. Trash bags were trash bags - there really was no other improvement to be done with them. It did a fine job, even if it was just for a couple articles of clothing.

He thumbed the onsie he wore, it was the grey jumpsuit. The foot part of the onsie was a set of thick mesh boots, and did a fine job of behaving like a cross between between house shoes and work boots. It was a mesh, airable material - extremely comfortable. If he had to do any hard labor onboard, he'd wear one of the jumpsuits for sure.

His clothes' cycle completed with a loud beep - causing him to ever so slightly jump in his seat. He made his way over to the machine, popping open the hinged circular door and withdrawing his clothing. Sure enough, they were spotless. The air upon opening the machine smelled of ozone, proving its validity. Inhaling deeply, he smelled absolutely nothing except the ozone odor, pleased - Cedric reclaimed his belongings and considered smoking a cigarette on the way back to his room. Ash trays lined the corridors of the Ravager, but interestingly enough the smell of smoke was barely present. He wondered if it had something to do with the makeup of the cigarettes being able to burn via nitrogen instead of oxygen. It didn't take long for him to arrive at his room. He slid the door open to reveal Grey and Kipper idly conversating about something.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" Kipper exclaimed.

"Did you get lost or something?" Grey chided.

"Cleaned my clothes after showering."

He noticed Grey inhaling deeply in response, "Much better." She said.

Cedric nodded and opened his closet, returning his belongings there. Kipper was sitting on his desk chair, holding a mask of sorts. Grey was relaxing stretched out on his bed, her back resting against the wall-side where his pillow would be. He noticed his bedding rested on the desk. Cedric spotted a wicker-like basket with some clothing resting easy on the bottom of his cabinet.

"Sooooo... You ready for an upgrade?!" Kipper exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah? An upgrade? Lay it on me."

"Look who's decided not to be moody anymore." Grey commented.

"That shower made me feel like a new man. God, feels good to be clean again."

"I'll bet."

"Ah, real quick. Where can I get my hair cut? Also I need a shaver."

Kipper and Grey looked to each other back and forth, Kipper shrugged and Grey shook her head.

"Check storage Cell E, got shaving stuff there. It's where most of the powered magitech goes."