After a week of recovery, Jita finally cleared Vance 'healthy enough to not stay in the medbay 24/7'.

Those were not her exact words (Vance is pretty sure there isn't a 24 hour day cycle in space), yet that was the general gist of it.

Meaning she shoved him out into the hallway and told him, "I don't need you in the medbay anymore so go explore."

Vance, donning a brand new t-shirt and sweatpants, found himself in a stark white hallway, much like the medbay itself. On one side of the hall were doors, so sleek they almost blended into the wall itself, labeled with tiny silver plaques with writing in english and two alien scripts, one of which Vance recognized to be 'standard'. (Jita had been teaching him the basics of the alien world, such as standard, the standard language among the common galactic populous). On the other wall were long windows looking out onto the vastness of space.

Vance caught himself looking out the window, into the void. He could see his reflection in the glass (he needed to shave, but other than that nothing was new), but looked straight through it. Vance focused on the abyss right behind the glass- dead space. It was pitch black, save for a few specks of starlight. Vance put his hand on the glass. It was cold. Huh. So it really was all real.

Or if it was a dream, it was one hell of a hyper-realistic dream.

Every hallway on the starship looked the same, Vance discovered as he wandered. Or rather, the one continuous hallway was so similar it seemed like Vance hadn't left the area around the infirmary. It seemed most of the doors led to living quarters, as the plaques next to them were inscribed with what Vance thought must be names. Words like 'Zyxos Julien' and 'Sugilite'. Occasionally, Vance would pass a room and hear a conversation from inside it. Some conversations were in english, others in alien languages. Either way, Vance didn't stop to listen, he did have moral standards, after all, and eavesdropping on aliens went against them. Other than that, the halls were pretty empty.

Vance soon fell into a rhythm,  enjoying his solitude as he wandered the empty hallways. This was interrupted when one of the automatic doors opened and another person walked out. She was lanky and tall, a bit taller than Vance, and has a mop of fluffy orange hair on her head. Her skin was a slight blue off white, and she was wearing a black cami and jean shorts. Vance had to take this all in after she collided with him.

"Oh shit sorry." the person said, helping Vance up. "I wasn't watching where I was going." She laughed a bit, somewhat awkwardly. "Do I know you?"

Vance smiled awkwardly. "Uh. No. I'm new?" He shrugged, hoping to look a bit less like a human disaster.

The person smiled. "Sweet. I'm Glass". She extended her hand for Vance to shake.

Vance shook Glass' hand. "Vance."

Glass smiled again. Vance noticed two of her teeth were sharpened, like fangs (Vance wondered if she were a vampire). "So, where ya from, Vance?" Glass asked.

"Arizona." He responded, putting his hands in his pockets. "It's a place on earth." He hoped Glass knew what earth was.

"Ooo, an earthen." Glass said, lightly punching Vance on the arm. "We don't get much of your kind 'round here. So tell me, what's it like being human?"

"It's... eh." Vance shrugged for the second time in this conversation. "What's it like being..." He glanced over Glass' body, realizing he didn't know what type of alien she was.

Glass laughed and put a hand on Vance's shoulder. "I'm an aeribisque, dumbass." Vance didn't know what that meant. "And for your information, it sucks. Big time."

"Uh." Vance said, brushing off Glass' hand.

"We're the galaxy's chosen 'slave race', so.... Yeah. I'd go into details but you already seem out of your element as-is."

Vance didn't know he looked so awkward.

"Anyways, Vance." Glass continued. "What brings you to the starship peony?"

"My son and I were abducted by aliens," Vance explained. "We were separated before I was found by you people."

Glass seemed a bit startled, she took a step back. "Damn dude. Sorry." She said. "The good news is, if I know the people in this ship they're already working on a plan to get your son back."

Vance smiled. "Thanks- Glass, was it?"

Glass nodded. "Yup. Say, whatcha doin' out here just wandering about?"

"Jita kicked me out of the medbay." Vance admitted. "Told me to find my way around myself."

Glass seemed shocked for a moment, then sighed.     "Typical Jita. I can give you a proper tour if ya want."

"That would be much appreciated," Vance responded

"Sweet!" Glass replied. "Let's start with where we are now, this is the residential hallway. If you stay here long enough, which you probably will, you'll get a room. We have a lot of guest spaces specifically designed for newcomers like you."

Vance nodded as Glass continued. She talked a lot, more than any of the other aliens Vance had met so far. (Jita talked but mostly about things like vitals and medical supplies and her little brother who worked in tech. Arwin didn't seem to talk much at all.)

"The rooms are pretty small and boring looking but they serve their purpose." Glass explained as she and Vance walked down the hall. Glass seemed like she could walk faster if she wanted too, but was slowing herself down to match pace with Vance's leisurely stride.

Glass continued with her tour, explaining to Vance the ins and outs of life on the base. She showcased the living quarters, public space, kitchen (Glass made a point to tell Vance she couldn't eat and this room was functionally useless to her), atrium (it wasn't a true atrium, it was like a greenhouse in the middle of space. Glass told Vance that Arwin had it installed after too many people complained off missing actual dirt. It was the only place aboard the starship that seemed almost earthlike, despite having a wide variety of space plants), storage areas (Glass hinted that she had a few stories about the storage room, most likely having little to do with storage and a lot to do with somebody by the name of Astrid), and the hangar bay (it was big, and full of both ships and people. It looked almost out of Star Wars.)

Eventually, Glass and Vance reached what Glass dubbed 'the most important part of the starship peony', or the tactical room. Like every other room in the base, it was guarded by a sleek, automatic door.

The tactical room was dark, the only illumination coming from computer screens (which were all around the room) and holographic projections. Unlike most of the other rooms, this one had a few small windows, looking out into space. There was a fairly large crowd gathered around a few tables, all seemed to be nonhuman. Vance was about to make a comment on the lighting when he was interrupted.

"Vance, Glass, thanks for making it." Arwin's voice cut through the middle of Vance's thought. He spun around, and there she was.

Arwin seemed displeased. She continued, her voice stern as ever. "We've been waiting for you two."