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_ Part 4 _

My first night in Polcia culminated in the weirdest bout of sleep I'd ever had. I lost count of how many times I woke to varying degrees of darkness, wondering what strange room I'd found myself in, and why I could hear Sasha snoring from a bed beside mine.

Despite all those disruptions and self-inflicted mind games, the clock staring at me from the table gave the time as close to eleven.

"Twelve hours," I mumbled into my duvet, clearing the sleep from my eyes.

"What d'ya say?"

Sasha glanced over from the end of his bed, holding a remote in paw. The whole room seemed to be floating. His voice distant. As if I were looking at the world in third-person. I decided to delay venturing any further out from my covers.

"Kaz?"

"I slept almost twelve hours."

"Yeah, I ain't been up long either. Damn trip really took it outta us, huh?"

"Feels like it's still got it." A squeeze and a rub of my eyes didn't help much. "Head's a mess. Like I didn't sleep at all."

"The wonders of jetlag."

"Clearly." The lifeless television caught my attention. I scooted up the bed to get a better view. "You don't look to be suffering."

"Nah, not really." He shrugged. "Lucky, I guess."

I watched him toy with the remote, tossing it idly between his paws. "You thinking of watching something?"

"I_was_. Trying to get the TV going."

"Is that not the remote?"

"Well yeah," he shot back, "but it's not working. Either it's dead, or the batteries are."

"What about buttons on the set?"

"If there are any, I haven't found them. No 'accessibility' panel like in the damn elevator."

Sasha's griping made the decision to sink back into bed easy. The warmth of the covers and the softness of my pillow did their best to recast their spell on me. Maybe a little more rest would've helped get over all this head fuzz. The constant muttering and groaning from the bed opposite made sure I'd not get the chance to find out.

I heaved off the duvet and sat up again. My book did its best to appeal, as did my laptop over on the desk. Another bout of floatiness overruled them both.

"What's the damn point in having a TV if it don't work?"

"Gonna take a shower." I struggled out from my cocoon, fur prickling to the cool air beyond. The warmth cracking through the blinds offered a poor alternative. "Maybe it'll help me feel less like a walking corpse."

"Wish you luck," Sasha rumbled. A hard smack of the remote followed.

"Working or not, if you bust that thing, we're gonna get charged."

Another grunt. A deep sigh. The remote found itself launched to a new home on Sasha's bed. In one piece, thankfully. "Think up anything you might wanna do?"

"Do?" I padded past him towards the en suite.

"Yeah, as in things to do today. Bed's good and all, but can't stay in it all day."

"And who said I was gonna?"

"Ooh, okay," he sang. "Don't get precious."

"Just..." It took his swaying tail and sneaking grin to trace his bantering. I pinched the bridge of my muzzle. "Lemme go shower. Clearly I need this."

Hot water on my face and soothing lather in my fur helped clear out most of the rustiness. I had a whole lot more appreciation for how long Sasha had spent in here the night we arrived.

As much as my shower refreshed, it couldn't stop my yawning, or those quirky, almost out of body sensations. Still, at least I felt less like roadkill and more like an actual, functioning person.

Stepping out of the cubicle, the wider room of en suite also had a lot in store to comfort me. Heated tiles managed to find just the right temperature for my pads to press down upon. The shower, too, waited for me to be clear before the water stopped. Finally, moving over to the fur dryer, that also kicked into life with no extra action required. A lot of the gadgets and tech here had confused the hell outta me, but things like this were doing their best to impress.

Cleaned, dressed and finally feeling closer to presentable, I sauntered back into our bedroom.

"Did ya think of anything?"

I took a moment to process that. "About?"

"Stuff to do today."

"Oh... No."

"Man." Sasha scoffed. "You had long enough in there."

"Yeah. I was kinda busy. Showering."

"Can't multitask?"

"Not when my head's in five different places at once, no."

"You're really gonna leave this all on me?" He huffed, lying back to sprawl over his bed. "Thanks, man."

I jabbed his arm as I passed. "Don't mention it."

"Alright, fine. Let me grab my phone... I'll take care of things until you're useful again."

"Appreciated." My bed creaked as it caught me. Most of its warmth remained. Damn, what I'd have given for a bed this good back home.

A moment's peace came with Sasha's research. Normally, I'd have called him out on his own lack of ideas after riding me for the same thing, but I was still firmly entrenched in bed mode. I did hope this dizziness would clear soon, though. Sightseeing or not, I hadn't come all this way just to sleep in a hotel room.

"Okay." Sasha sat up, throwing his legs over the side of his bed closest to mine. "So... There's a tour of what they call the 'Historic District'. Not all that far from here."

"What's there?"

"Historic stuff, probably."

"Oh damn, really? Call the papers."

"Can't. Busying using my phone to do all the work."

Firing back an insult required too much energy. Well, verbally at least. Planting my muzzle down between index and small finger did just as good a job.

"Yeah and fuck you, too." His tail swished. After throwing back the same gesture, Sasha did at last decide to offer up an answer. "There's the parliament building... The prime minister's house... some cathedral."

"Doesn't seem all that much for an historic district."

"There's other stuff. Museums... y'know, standard... historical stuff. Plus, there's a tour apparently. Probably the best way to see the best sights."

"Anything else beside that."

Sasha tapped away at his phone, calling out a few more suggestions in the process. "...There's a sporting hall of fame... More museums. Lots of science ones-- Oh, there's Unity Tower: tallest building in Arlone. They've got an observation deck you can pay to go up onto. That'd be pretty cool."

"Yeah... probably."

"I can just feel your excitement from here, Kaz. Really." He swiped up his screen a couple of times. "If you wanna go further afield, there's the Creigiau Hills... Huh, they're to the east. Guess we passed them on the way in last night."

"You really wanna come to the city, only to head right back out again?"

"I'm making suggestions is all." He let his phone drop. "Feel free to gimme your own at any time, man."

I decided to let that pass by. What I had in mind, now wasn't the time to bring it up. "So what's there then?"

"Lots of old forts and stuff." He chuckled before adding, "shockingly, a couple of museums, too." One more swipe. "Old villages that are part of the city now-- Cool pub... Nice looking food."

That sent my ears springing upwards. "I could damn sure go for some food right about now."

"That's a start at least," Sasha replied, smirking. "I'm guessing you don't have anything specific in mind."

I shook my head. "Anything edible. It's almost twelve and that chicken salad bowl I grabbed at the airport last night isn't cutting it anymore."

"Likewise." He stood up from his bed, motioning towards mine. "If you do wanna eat, you're gonna have to tear yourself away from that. Unless you wanna start spending silly money on room service?"

"Pass." I forced my muscles into action. A shaky spell did its best to stop me sitting up and reaching for the menu. "There's no way I'm spending... gods a-fucking-bove! I hope that sandwich comes with a steak."

"Exactly." Grabbing his jacket, Sasha beckoned me towards the door. "C'mon. Let's go actually do something."

Keen as he was to get out into and start exploring the city, we had one slight hurdle to clear first: the elevator.

"Ok..." Sasha stopped at the first door in the elevator hall. "There's a call button out here at least. That's a start."

"What are you worried over? We can just use the buttons behind the panel again."

"If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right." The 'down' button bore the brunt of his tension, or annoyance, or whatever had him pummeling it. "Last thing I want is people like that stag next door laughing at us."

"Don't take it so hard. It's one guy." The display above reacted, counting the floors up from ground level. "One guy getting moody over us making some noise."

"Yeah... Still sucked."

"Not denying that."

"I don't like getting talked down to. That's all."

"Nobody does." Just a couple more floors until the elevator car's arrival.

"It's like at work... when I'm not following what the guys from Polcia are chatting about. They joke, but it's them talking in a language I'm not so hot at. Like I'm expected to instantly be on their level, just 'cos it suits them."

"I get you. Reminds me of trying to check through the garbage I get sent from the Polcian office." A ping sounded. The doors opened. "I'm expected to be a mind reader sometimes, I swear."

We stepped into the arena of our next battle. This might've been a different car to the one from last night, but the setup was just the same. Nothing on the inside walls except for a floor display and that trusty 'accessibility' panel.

"Think," said Sasha. "There has to be a way to do this."

"The buttons are right here."

"I said I'm gonna do it right--"

"Hold, please," called a flustered voice from outside, in Polcian. A moment later, we had a tigress in a business blouse for company. "Thank you so much."

Sasha and I looked at each other behind her back, our shrugging, wide-eyed glances asking, 'what now?'.

"Select ground floor," she announced. Shit. Was she talking to one of us? Sasha threw out his paws, tensing into a grimace.

"How--" A ping interrupted me, doors closing ahead. The elevator car shuddered into life. A monotone voice sounded to confirm, 'Heading to... Ground floor.'

Casually as you like, the tigress started rummaging through her purse. Sasha and I on the other hand, we were anything but casual.

'What the fuck?' he mouthed to me, jaw dropped with amazement, disbelief or a mix of the two.

"Guess that's how it's done--" I stopped myself short. The tigress peered back over her shoulder. Her curious glancing shut us up until we'd fled the elevator, and the hotel lobby completely.

"That was embarrassing," I mumbled, rushing to the revolving doors.

"Yeah," Sasha sneered as he followed. "You shoulda seen your face."

"Should've seen yours trying to work the elevator."

"Least we know how they work now."

We exited out into the open air. A single step was enough to hit the wall of noise outside our hotel. I thought the city had been hectic last night, but things had intensified fivefold today. Wherever you looked, you couldn't hope to find an empty space out here. Traffic and people alike had crammed themselves into every place imaginable, even on the hotel's access road.

"Gods damn." Sasha scoffed. "Busy enough for ya?"

A paw grasped my shoulder from behind. "Excuse me."

"Sorry." I hurried to one side, allowing some lion to slip with luggage in tow. We braved another step to get clear of the doorway.

By no means was downtown Zelengorod quiet... but this right here was on a whole different level.

"So where we headed?"

I looked at Sasha. "Don't you know?"

"No. Should I?"

"You were the one looking up stuff to do."

"Yeah, exactly. Stuff to do, not food."

"Alright, fine. No big deal." I turned back to the city ahead. "Let's take a wander and see what we find."

As loud and as crowded as every street seemed to be, the foggy aching did start to clear from my head. Maybe it was the fresh air helping, or maybe it was simply the need to be a hundred percent focused on every step I took. Back at home, we had the walkways to carry and guide us. Here, you soon learned how to jink and swerve around people barrelling right for you, while at the same time working out the next step to take without doing the same to someone else. It was new, but I gotta say, weirdly fun, too. Like riding a bike without training wheels for the first time. I could head in any direction, at any time, and I didn't need to wait for a walkway interchange, underpass or anything to do it. Granted, if I stopped or made a sudden turn in the midst of the crowd, I still ran the risk of getting bundled over and trampled.

We soon eased to a gradual stop, part of a crowd easily fifty-strong standing in wait at the crossing of yet another busy street.

"Seen anything you think looks good?"

Sasha's question prompted me to take a scan of the area. Honestly, I'd been so swept up in the city itself, I'd not bothered to take a closer look. It was a hell of a lot easier to take it in during the day time. All those ads still played out on the walls above street level, but without the darkness and neon to border them, they didn't sear the brain so much.

"Well?"

"Not yet. Feel free to look as well."

"I am, man." He pointed to a place across the street. "That Estordorian place looks kinda busy. Gotta be a good sign."

"Everything's_kinda busy." I focused in on the brick storefront, _'Ibarra Seafood & Grill', complete with the red and green flag of Estordor draped above an open doorway. "Not sure I can do seafood this early in the day."

"They'll have more than that on. I ain't wanting seafood, either."

"I mean I'm not sure I'll be able to handle the smell, let alone eat it."

"Fair." We got the green light to cross. Like a wave, we moved as one with the crowd. "Let's keep on looking then."

We didn't make it much further before hunger teamed up with the unwelcomed second wind of my headache. The crowds were relentless. Every street, every damn street, was busier than the last. Three roads over from the hotel, I decided we'd take the plunge with the next decent place we found.

"What about here?" I nodded towards the black-painted door of some restaurant-bar place ahead.

"Where?" Sasha shifted for a better look past the big brown bear waddling ahead. "Gods above could this guy be any wider?"

I bit down on my lip for the agonising moment it took to confirm he couldn't understand Velikan. "Here. 'The Locksmith'." On closer inspection, it was more a bar than a restaurant, but screw it, if it served food, it'd do. "Verdict?

"Works for me!"

Brilliant. I let us on our way, squeezing through the crowd and ducking inside. The smell of grilled meat greeted us first, followed by the various scents of a hall swamped by people of all species. Around us, several rows of long, wooden tables sat filled with those here for their lunch. Beyond them, the bar area ahead looked almost as busy as the pavement outside. At least the laughter and chatter came more manageable than the dull roar we'd just escaped.

"Wanna grab me a beer, please?" Sasha shuffled between me and the wolf sitting at the table closest. "I need a slash."

"Beer? You're starting early."

"I'm on vacation; ain't never too early."

"Fair. I think we need to grab a table to order food, though."

"Ahh, we can do that after. Beer us, man."

"What you want?"

"Something new."

"Helpful."

"I try," he shot back with a smirk. "Not hard."

"Look, just get something you've not heard of before." I watched Sasha swerve off past the bar crowd. That left me to try and throw myself very much into it.

While it was packed out to the brim, it didn't take me all that long to slip into a space at the bar. Turned out that would be the easy part. Way less easy would be getting the attention of one of the three bartenders bouncing back and forth. They seemed to get to everyone eventually... Everyone but me, that is.

"Excuse me," I called through the noise. No response. This was getting stupid, and my headache was fast returning to peak levels. Teeth gritted, currency card gripped tight, I leaned forward far enough to almost clear the bar completely. "Excuse me!"

At last, that got someone's attention. One of the staff, a short fennec fox dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, ambled his way over. "Yes?"

Whether it was the hand on his hip or the slight cock of his head, something about him gave off one hell of an attitude. Whatever. I wasn't here to be his friend. "Can I order, please?"

"You can... although a lot of others are waiting, too."

"I know that. I've been waiting as well."

"Fine." His big ears dipped back. Harder to spot was his jaw setting. "What can I get you?"

Finally. A quick scan of the beer taps confirmed that Sasha would get his wish. Of the eight taps available, all but one of them were completely new to me. "What is the... 'Regg-is' like?"

"'Ree-jis'."

"What?"

"It's 'Ree-jis' Regis. That's the name of it."

"Fine, yes, Regis." Okay, big-ears was officially a dickhead. "What is it like?"

"Standard... draught lager. It's pretty common."

"Not where I come from--"

"I'm sorry, but did you call me over just for that?"

"No, I just wanted to know more before I ord--"

"As you can clearly see, it's real busy today. I'll be back when you decide what you--"

"Hey! No." I reached across the bar, stabbing a finger at him. "It took me this long to get your attention. I just wanted to know what that beer was like, that is all."

"Calm down there, sweetheart," goaded the rat apparently stood next to me, turning to share a snide grin with the barman. "They'll let anyone in 'ere these days, eh, Jamie?"

The fennec snorted. "What can I get ya, Terry?"

"Two Sahlbergs and a Bennett's."

"On the tab?"

"Ah, you diamond."

With that, and without even setting eyes back on me, the barman upped and left for the taps. I'd have been even more pissed off about it if this rat hadn't jumped right on me.

"Don't they got beer where you come from or summink?" I kept my focus fixed on the fuckwit fennec. That didn't stop the annoying buzz in my ear. "'Regg-is'."

"We have plenty in Velika," I snapped back. "Just not these."

"Velikan?"

"Yes." For the first time, I looked up and directly at his coarse grey fur and buck teeth. "I am from Velika."

"Shortest fuckin' Velikan I ever 'eard of." Time to turn away again. "Go and shrink in the wash, did ya?

As angry as I'd have liked to get, instead, my tail began to tuck. Stupid as it sounded... that jibe hurt. "You know, some Velikans, they originated from Polcia--"

"Yeah, see, I don't actually a toss, son."

Alright. No chance of me coming out on top in any form here. Chewing the inside of my cheek, I glared past the fuckwit fennec pouring the even bigger fuckwit's drinks, reading all the different liquors and spirits on the shelves behind him. Of course, those I'd mostly heard of, and could pronounce.

"You good, man?" I didn't think it possible to be so glad to hear my native tongue. Sasha set his paw on my shoulder, guiding himself past the otter waiting behind me. "Being served?"

"No. And hell no."

"Oh, what we got here?" I kept my back to the rat. "Another mini-Velikan?" Of course, it didn't shut him up. "Nice hair. You come dressed as a stoplight or what?"

"I see you make a friend," Sasha shot back. His spotty Polcian didn't hurt his sarcasm, but he could handle himself a whole lot better in Velikan. "So who's this ugly prick you've attracted?"

"Long story short, this guy seems to be a regular, or is friends with that fennec barman-- who is just as big a prick, by the way. Took ages to get him over here, and when I did, he just gave me shit over how to pronounce Regis."

Sasha glanced around as if processing and analysing everything I'd told him. "Regis is pisswater. We don't want that--"

"Excuse me." Here came my 'friend' again. How no-one else around here minded his crap was beyond me. "We speak Polcian in this country. You might wanna start trying it."

"Let's just go," I muttered. "Find someplace else. This isn't worth it."

Apparently, Sasha thought different. He put on the widest grin, easing past to take my place at the bar. "Hey, Ears!"

The fennec glanced up from the three beers he'd set down for said 'friend'.

"Two Triple Peaks." Out came his currency card, held up for all to see. "Please."

Whether it be from the demand, or the slight on his appearance, the barman sure looked less than happy as he skulked back to taps. As for the local rat beside us, well, Sasha decided he'd do his best to spread the love.

"Velikan." He waved his card right in the guy's face. "As good as Polcian."

No answer. They just glared at one another, Sasha's relentless, toothy grin earning a growing scowl in return. I don't think the rat could've looked any more pissed if Sasha had walked up and hit him. The way things were going, that kinda action wasn't all that far away. "Relax, man."

"I am relaxed, Kaz." Their glares turned to stares. "Are _you_relaxed?"

"Oh yeah," the guy rasped. "I'm positively chilled right now."

Our drinks arrived a short time after, thank the gods. Sasha slapped his card to the reader, but couldn't resist one last dig at the barman.

"You are new?"

"Excuse me?"

"Look." He gestured to our drinks: two-thirds beer, one-third head. "The rest?"

The fennec let that hang, blanking us on his escape to another customer further down the bar.

"You gotcha self some stones on ya," said my, or I suppose, our'friend'. "I'll give ya that much."

"Sorry." Sasha handed me my beer. "Still you are here?"

"Problem, Terry?"

Two more guys, a lanky weasel and a stocky wolverine, pushed their way to the bar. They crowded around us. Closed in. Turned the air cold.

"I dunno." The rat folded his arms. His turn to show teeth. "_Do_we have a problem?"

Sasha refused to be budged, more concerned with sipping down his drink. Okay. Game over. Time to go.

"Well?"

"Come on." I tugged at his jacket. "Now."

It took another tug, then a full-on yank to shift him. Much to the delight of the locals.

"Oh, don't go. Please."

"Tell your boyfriend you wanna stay."

"Alright, let go." Sasha shook himself from my hold. "What you panicking 'bout--"

"Just come on!"

"I am!"

We slalomed through the crowd, past the busy tables, all the way to the very front of the venue. I dared to check behind. Those guys hadn't followed us. Breathing came easier.

I caught sight of a doe and her gazelle friend gathering their coats. By the time we'd cleared the last of the tables, they'd already left for the front door. We took ownership of the window ledge they'd been milling around; a perfect place to rest our drinks, keep eyes on the bar, and calmly talk Sasha down. "What the hell was that!?"

"What was what?"

"We've not even been in the country a day, and already you're gunning to start a fight."

"I'm ain't starting anything."

"Could've fooled me. You were five seconds from having those guys jump you."

He waved that away, more focused on gulping down more beer.

"I'm not joking, man."

"Kaz, ain't nothing happening in here."

"No?"

"Did you not notice the security?" My pause gave the answer. "Check out the bottom of the staircase."

I obliged... and he wasn't wrong. A short ways from where we'd been served stood a broad brown wolf. Thick arms crossed, he managed to fade into the crowd with all the black he wore. Damn impressive for a guy that size.

"There's another one lingering around the toilets, too." He took another sip from his glass. "Like I said; ain't nothing happening in here."

"I guess... I still don't think getting thrown out of a bar is such a great start to a vacation."

"It'd be memorable." His tongue poked the inside of his cheek, a wry smile creeping. "Didn't happen, though."

"Only 'cos I pulled you away."

"If you say so."

"I do say so--"

"Look, that guy was being a dick, alright?"

"No argument here."

"Old fucks like that, messing with people our age, giving us shit over being Velikan. Prick's gotta be in his mid-thirties at least."

"You can't--"

"I wasn't gonna just stand there and let him get away with it."

"You won't stop--"

"I ain't scared of him, or his friends."

"Okay!" My sigh boomed out more like a roar. "Fine." No sense getting him fired up again. "Let's just drop it, yeah?"

He threw up a quick paw, attention wandering away from our ledge. "Suits me."

Sasha saved and debrief done, at last, I had a chance to try this beer I'd carried halfway 'round the bar. It went down well, had a bitter 'spice' to it... Different, but nothing special. Not that I knew much about drink, other than what I liked and what I didn't. That department firmly belonged to Sasha. "Maybe we should try someplace else for food."

"Fine by me," he muttered. "Don't think we'll get ourselves a table anytime soon, anyway."

"How do you rate the beer?"

"Not bad. Nothing special."

"Exactly what I thought."

Sasha picked up his glass, swirling the last quarter of its contents. "A full glass woulda been better."

"Could ask that fennec for the rest of it."

"Hah. I think I'd rather throw it at him..."

"Those ears would make a good target--"

"Ah, screw it."

"What?"

"I'm over this." In one swift movement, he threw back his beer, downed the remnants, and slammed the glass back to the table. "Drink up. Let's get outta here."

_ Part 5 _

So much for sitting down and grabbing something good to eat. To hell with that rat and his damn friends.

Polishing off that beer so fast on an empty stomach got me real lightheaded... Sure helped our walk through the city feel that much more of an adventure. A walkway or two would've come in real handy on our search for a decent place to eat.

With each street we passed, our standards slowly fell. First to go went our want for a quiet place to sit and chat. Instead, we'd settle for a place not busy enough to have us thinking we might not get served. Next, my distaste for seafood went out the window. I'd take someplace serving anything as long as it filled my stomach, fishy stink be damned... Too bad we'd left that Estordorian place so far behind.

In the end, we had to cave completely. Every single place we stumbled across was filled to the point of bursting. That left just one option: a street food vendor... though not the kind you'd find in the backstreets of downtown Zelengorod.

Standing patiently at the corner of a plaza, far below the huge office buildings and their interlinking footbridges, a faded red machine tempted us over with promises of 'Hot Food'.

It offered a menu, and some dispensers for napkins and such... but with its simple number pad (which Sasha thanked the gods for) and a sensor for currency cards, it was basically just a fancy, oversized vending machine.

We both made our selections: spiced vegetables and noodles for me, and some bright orange, tangy-looking chicken for Sasha... I guess he'd jabbed at any old thing on the keypad. A matter of minutes later, we each had our lunch. It might not have been as 'social' as ordering from a guy at a stand, like our plaza at work back home, but I suppose this worked out way more pleasant during a tough day at the offices around us.

Refuelled and recharged, finally, I felt back with with it. Up to speed. Less of a drone running on autopilot. I could face anything that day threw at me. Even Sasha's suggestion to explore even more of the city.

"The old courthouse is about five minutes away," he stated, nose buried in his phone. "Also... uh... a war memorial."

"Anything else?"

"Man, there's attractions on top of attractions according to this map... Depends what you wanna go see."

"I don't really know."

He exhaled a chuckle, tossing a glance that asked 'For real?'. Wasn't any helping it. I'd always been this way. Someone who visited places to see people, rather than things... Things were dull. Seen one building, seen them all. And scaled down or not, all this here was no different.

"Alright." His phone went back into his pocket. "In that case, let's take a wander. See what it is we stumble across."

I didn't resist. After all, we'd already ventured deep into the city and gods knew how far from the hotel. If were going to do anything with the afternoon, I suppose exploring made the most sense. This was a holiday, so why not try and follow Sasha's lead by getting into the tourist mindset?

Another half hour of walking took us out of what I'd deduced as being Arlone's business district. The buildings finally took on some personality, some colour, as opposed to skyscraper after generic skyscraper. Yeah, buildings that size might've been interesting to some, but as a Velikan, the permanent shadow cast by a forest of giant buildings wasn't anything new.

Sasha settled into the role of guide here, leading us around some of the monuments and older buildings. To his credit, he knew way more about them and their history that I expected. As for what he didn't, his phone made for a decent backup.

The courthouse here came as the first landmark to wholly catch my attention. It proved to be the best example of old-style architecture that we'd see that day... Well, 'old'. For a supposed 'historic' district, nothing gave an outright impression of belonging to history.

But yeah, the courthouse. It sat tall atop a broad stone staircase, bold red brickwork rising up high towards a steep domed roof, separated by a thin, white-panelled facade. Five pillars stretched its width, with the centre one serving as a backing to a statue of some highly distinguished, cane-wielding lion.

"Kenwyn Holmbush. Former Prime Minister, and judge before that."

A statue of some former Prime Minister and judge, according to Sasha.

"From about a century ago."

From about a cent--

"He oversaw the reform of the state healthcare system."

"Wait, how the hell do you know all this?"

"Republica," Sasha confirmed, matter of factly. "He's a bonus unit for the Linvendian faction. Gives plus ten percent health to all other units."

"Ah. That guy... Guess I forgot his name."

"Yeah, I read up on him in the encyclopedia."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Fair point, I thought... I had no idea that was Sasha's kinda thing.

"Gonna get a photo?" he asked, waiting for a large group of tourists, backpacks, maps and all to shift out of his shot. "It's a kinda cool view from here."

"Yeah. Kinda." I dug out my phone to snap off my own picture. No harm in getting a souvenir beyond random snaps of the airport and buildings like I had done so far.

Admittedly, the more I looked at and studied the courthouse, the more interesting it became. An old design in a new world, so to speak. But, still, just like everything else around us, it was so bright and clean. Sanitised. Almost playing old as opposed to truly fitting the bill. That took a lot away from the impression it left on me.

"Come on," Sasha waved me to follow on down the street. "The cathedral's not far."

We weaved our way past locals and tourists alike. Be it from their dress, their manner, or whether they needed the whole damn pavement to gawk at something catching their attention, it wasn't hard to tell them apart. I wondered what impression Sasha and I gave off, and which of those two we leaned towards.

As we passed beneath well-trimmed trees, growing from thin islands of green within a wider sea of grey, I mulled over the newness of not only the buildings... but everything else along with them.

Sure, compared to places like Velika, Polcia was well known for being ahead of the game on a whole load of technical stuff. Maybe not to the same extent as back in my parents' days, but still enough to take note of. You wouldn't have to go more than a day at work to see the signs... usually from Polcian programmers my age doing something overly fancy. Hell, there's a reason why we have a whole team in the office dedicated to compatibility. Fast as Velika would try to close a gap, Polcia would find a way to open up a new one, and as irritating as it was... I couldn't help wonder what it'd be like to be on the other side.

"So much automation."

"Huh?" Drifting off into myself was a habit fast getting old. "Automated what?"

"Check it out." Sasha pointed at the street sweeper rolling past us in the bus lane. The cab was empty. Just like the taxi we caught last night. "It's weird."

"Yeah..." A couple more taxis rolled by. Again, automated. That came before a bus; the number 65 heading to Auldwych via Tannery Avenue. That _did_have a driver aboard at least.

"Fuck your luck if you're a driver or a cleaner around here, huh?"

Sasha had a point. I kept my thoughts on how impressive it was to see how far driverless vehicles had come here to myself...

"Or a cook. That chicken I ate earlier tasted like cardboard."

"Looked spicy at least."

"Okay. Spicy cardboard."

"My noodles were okay."

"Bettin' an actual person woulda done way better, though..."

We must've missed or took a turn away from the cathedral Sasha mentioned, because in twenty minutes of walking, we didn't catch sight or scent of anything resembling it. What we did find however, nestled between a small wooded park and a modest row of stores, was a marble obelisk of intense black stretching up above it all.

"War memorial," Sasha confirmed. He didn't need to. The place had that kinda air to it. Immaculate, even more so than the city around us. Everything seemed so calm, quiet, even in such a large, densely populated place. Traffic trundled past behind us, but chatter was at a premium. As if the monument itself hung heavy over those passing beneath it. Not a surprise. It wouldn't have looked out of place standing in Velika at this size.

"Wanna head closer?" I turned to Sasha. "Get a better view?"

He kept his focus ahead. "This is fine... View's fine."

No arguments with that. Even from back where the pavement met the memorial's smooth concrete, we could study its every detail. Alone it sat, central to a gardened square dedicated to nothing else but the rolling lists of names adorning countless stone panels, standing to attention at the marble tower's base.

Sasha snapped off a photo. I resisted. Instead, I stared further down the street, watching person after person appear from below ground. The steps they scaled lead up from 'Monument Square' station. Yes. It even had its own metro stop.

Shining in the sunlight, rising almost as high as the three storey stores lining the square, I suppose it was intended to come off as much impressive as it did respectful. Memorable for certain. But for me, a so-called 'Polcian-sized Velikan', what struck most was the overwhelming sense of ambivalence. The realisation of what it stood for. The confusion over how I should've felt for it. I couldn't gauge Sasha's opinion in that moment, nor did I feel right to ask for it. On reflection, I regretted that.

Something about the memorial spun me back out again. Carried me closer to the daze I'd woken up with that day. It left my wandering for the rest of our walk around the city. We caught a few more places of interest on the remainder of our afternoon wander. Like the fancy clock tower, all bright colours and gold plating, rising from the heart of a busy intersection. Sasha took great pleasure in explaining its significance, but the detail left my head as fast as it entered.

The sun waited for no-one, dipping further with each road we cleared. Time closed in on early evening. The swarms of tourists might've spread thinner, but the pace of the city didn't let up any.

More and more locals flooded out into the open, ranging from teens, to guys and girls our age, right on through to folk older still. All seemed intent on welcoming the fading light, dominating the scene in the process. What's more, the bright, vivid displays of fur we first encountered the previous evening also returned. All kinds of colours on all kinds of folk on all kinds of body parts literally shone beneath the streetlights. I had fun imagining how bad my parents would freak if I came home looking like this. Maybe turning the rings of my tail from red and brown to blue and green would be a suitably bold look, just like the raccoon I watched head into an Astro Burger ahead.

"You all good, man?" Sasha bumped me with his shoulder. "You been quiet for a while now."

Had I? I hadn't noticed. "Think so."

"What's up."

"Nothing really." I rubbed at my eyes. The dryness unmistakable. "Jet lag, maybe?"

"Fair. You were well out of it this morning."

Watching a few more locals pad along, voices loud and cheerful under an increasing electric glow, my mind began to find focus. Be it what we'd seen that day, or simply the niggling that'd been there since we first arrived here, I couldn't stop thinking about my book on the side table. "I could do with heading back to the hotel at some point, I guess. Soon... To rest up."

I kept my attention on the Astro Burger. So much colour inside, and not just from all the sci-fi themed displays. Dozens of would-be night goers massed around menu counters, making their selections for the workers behind the counter to prep. Yet more automation.

"Yeah, that's a fair shout." Sasha rubbed his muzzle, shrugging. "I guess we've seen plenty for one day. And my feet are getting kinda sore, too. Kinda missing the walkways, y'know?"

"You're not alone," I said with a snort. "So which way back to the hotel?"

"Lemme check." Out came his phone, eyes widening at the result. "Uh... We're headin' the right way at least... but maybe hailing a robo-taxi would be a good idea."

"For real?"

"Yeah, for real. Imma leave that to you."

"Wait, why me?"

"Hey, you're the one fluent in Polcian."

"I'm_really_ not fluent--"

"Plus, I've been guiding us around all the damn day." He jabbed me on the shoulder, tail swishing. "Your turn."

Deja vu struck fierce. We stepped out of the taxi we'd caught, negotiating the steady stream of people running between us and the entrance to our hotel. A spatter of rain had started, night closing in while the city below grew brighter.

It took over thirty minutes to make it here with all the traffic. At least we didn't have to haul our bags behind us this time round. A tradeoff of sorts... not that it eased the fact we'd just spent what equated to twenty-something Krona for the privilege of a 'quick' trip.

The foyer presented itself as well as ever. Pristine, like so much else we'd seen, but thankfully a whole load quieter. A few of the more upmarket clientele rested in plush, expensive armchairs, sipping on coffees purchased from the Pezzuri's counter set up in the far corner. I hadn't noticed that last night... a nice shot of caffeine would've come welcomed.

We paced up the marbled floor, towards the front counter. They had staff working there this time round. Either that, or we'd arrived early enough to catch them.

"Hey," I nudged Sasha in the side. "Maybe we should ask reception about our TV remote? See if they can do something for us."

"Nah." He didn't miss a step, carrying straight on past, towards the elevators. "Got a better idea..."

"On!" Nothing. Our TV remained dead in spite of Sasha's yelling. He glared ten foot daggers, growling at its defiance. The thudding cuff he threw at its side didn't help much. "Fucking... On!"

"Man, try something else." I watched the show from my bed, sprawled out along with my laptop. "It's not working."

"But everything else 'round here works this way. The elevator... robo-taxi."

"That food vendor didn't."

"At least the buttons on that worked." He wound up to launch the remote from his grasp. "As for this damn thing..."

"Don't. Do it. Seriously, we can't afford the bill."

He grunted out a sigh, choosing instead to toss it onto his own bed. I hoped I might get some peace at that point. Or at least enough to let me focus on my computer. And my book.

I flicked through the latter to my 'bookmark', shuffling it free from between the pages. Unfolded, I set it down beside me, out of view of Sasha pacing back and forth.

Back to my laptop, my birth parents' address went into the search box. One click bought up search results. Another, a map showing its location in Arlone... or rather, the Greater Arlone area. "Holy..."

"Say something?"

"No," I answered, rubbing my eyes, and the bridge of my muzzle. "Nothing."

Sasha resumed his pacing. As for me... I pondered how a place could be so damn big. One blue pin marked the location of our hotel, deep in the heart of the city. The red pin marked my parents' address in Victory Hill... a neighbourhood way out on the outskirts to the southeast.

It wasn't until I'd properly sat down and studied things, got past the initial worry of making it over here and finding someplace affordable to stay for this 'vacation', that I realised, somehow, I'd overlooked this one final step. Arlone... hell, it was less one city and more several that'd grown to overlap each other. The numbers didn't lie. It'd take close to an hour to drive there.Without traffic, no doubt. I dreaded to think of the taxi fare that'd rack up. Another option, the metro, didn't help me feel much better. The map for that reminded me a lot of my lunch... if I'd dropped it on the floor. Ten separate lines twisted all over the city, running between hundreds of stations. I'd have to change trains twice just to get even halfway there. I gave up before tracing the rest of the route.

"TV, on. On, TV."

Sasha wasn't helping. In any sense of the word. Okay, he knew nothing_of what I was up to, but all the constant groaning and stomping still got to me. Never mind the remote, at this rate, it might be _me_throwing _my laptop that'd get us in trouble here.

"Kaz, you good?"

"Fine." "You sure? You look pissed over something."

"I'm fine... Work stuff."

"Work? Man, forget all that. You're on vacation." That word had me gritting my teeth. "Make 'em wait."

I glared a hole through the back of his head, slumping to let mine plonk against the backrest. How much I'd have loved to have that damn TV be my biggest concern in that moment.

"Do you have any fancy Polcian words I can try on this thing? I'm kinda close to taking the loss here."

"TV... Explode."

He chuckled. "I know that one."

For the first time in a fair bit, I laughed too. "TV, combust."

Sasha glanced at me all confused. I repeated in Velikan and got another snort. "Okay, yeah, I like that word better. TV, combust!"

We spent a good stretch of time asking the TV to kill itself countless ways in both Polcian and Velikan. It did neither that, nor turn itself on at any point. We were done. We'd been bested by a cheap hotel TV. At least it let me forget about the map on my laptop for a little while.

"Damn you, TV," Sasha grumbled, jumping back onto his bed. "How can I make... Why so hard? Shit... TV turn on!"

Just like that, it did. The fucking thing turned on. It flashed up onto some talk show. Both Sasha and I just gawked like idiots at one another.

"No. Way."

"What did I say?"

"I don't know."

"TV," Sasha called. "Turn over." Nothing happened. "TV... channel one."

The screen flashed. Up came channel one, as requested. We'd cracked it. "Guess we have to get the command just right."

"Yeah, looks like it." A smile spread across his muzzle, finishing as a beaming wide grin. "Imma try out other stuff!"

Sasha leapt up from his bed again, bounding like a pup off into the en suite. From the doorway, he called out, "Lights, turn off." They did. "Yes!" His cackling filled the room. "Lights, turn on!"

I left him to race around our room, playing with the lights, locks and just about everything else here. All the noise and the brown blur he created pulled me right out of my research work. His success with the TV did offer me an alternative at least... even if it was the news.

'...Kelley, who last year announced his intention to retire following the World Games in Sturanja this summer, will be aiming to recover in time to defend his mixed-size long jump championship against young Vodak favourite Imre Jelinek.'

"Door, lock!" A thump sounded from the other side of the bathroom door. "Oh, shit! Kaz, it locked!"

"Try not to have too much fun in there."

"Shower, on... Ah, that doesn't work. Sensors only."

I snickered to myself. At least he'd chilled out for now.

'...world news, Free Democratic Party candidate Dmitri Tatrenko has emerged as strong favourite to win the Velikan presidential election next month. Polls released today show that Tatrenko is forecast to win a sixty percent majority of the Velikan governmental cabinet, ahead of--'

"Kaz, are you watching more politics shit?"

"Kinda."

"Boring."

"Keep playing with the toilet or whatever it is you're doing in there, Fox."

"Will do!"

'...would be the FDP's third victory in a row. Tatrenko, who has campaigned to further deepen Polcian-Velikan relations already strengthened during President Belikov's two terms, has been keen to play down the significance of those polls. Speaking at a party convention in Zelengorod this evening, Tatrenko was also keen to avoid being drawn into talk regarding the ultra-nationalist, anti-Polcian immigration 'Velikan Progress Union'. The former fringe party have been polled to win a surprising number of rural seats, as well as the country's industrial heartland...'

"Guessing you won't be voting next month," I called.

"Haven't thought much on it." The bathroom door opened. Sasha stepped back into the room. "Whoever wins, nothing changes."

Time for me to change the channel. Find something more uplifting. I flicked through a few of the stations here, catching glimpses of a variety of different shows. Some soap came first, starring some vixen getting real loud and weepy with her husband or boyfriend over something. The next few... all mundane drama stuff, aside from one channel broadcasting an ad for the Polcian Science Academy. Apparently they wanted people to apply there to 'Join The Best'.

Tricky tech aside, TV here wasn't that dissimilar to back home. Mostly.

"Gods damn." Sasha padded into view beside the set. "Is this for real?"

I'd switched onto some game show. A flustered squirrel stood behind a podium, running through questions as fast as possible. "I... think so."

"That's fucked up." The camera kept panning to what loomed behind him. In front of a huge bank vault stood some... giant animatronic bear, all fierce-looking in an overgrown security outfit. "No, really."

It lurched further and further forward, sounding out robotic growls while the crowd watched on. A countdown on-screen revealed the contestant had five seconds remaining to answer three more questions. No chance.

He knew it, too. The guy stumbled over his words, wasting those last seconds until a buzzer wailed. The host, some weasel in a shiny grey suit, sounded out his regrets.

'Oh, I'm sorry, Joe. That's time up... Vlad the Velikan has caught you.'

"Kaz, did he just say...?"

"Vlad the Velikan, yeah."

"Cringeworthy..."

'Vlad? Claim your prisoner.'

The crowd cried out with false, dramatic screams. That big robotic bear's paw lowered, fingers positioned to slam down around the squirrel as if to take him into its possession. The feed switched back to the host, putting on a damn cheerful look given what supposedly just happened there. 'Sadly... that's all the time we have this evening. Join us again next week where ten more contestants will be battling it out for their chance to pull off 'The Heist'...'

"Wow." My jaw hung open with a scoff. "I don't think they'll be airing this show back home any time soon."

"Yeah, no doubt." Sasha shook his head. "Big, bad Velikans, huh? Stereotypes are a bitch..."

In the end, I settled on some kinda music entertainment channel. They were showing a set from a festival taking place down in Estordor, at one of the big electronic clubs on the coast there. They had all the lights shows and smoke machines in play, while a crowd of hundreds danced and swayed along to the beat. I'd always wanted to go to one of these big shows. Even the best clubs back home really didn't compare--

"This music sucks." Sasha's flicking tail followed him past the TV. "Turn it over."

"Fuck you."

We each teased out a laugh. His attention soon moved on to the lamp on the desk. "Light, turn off." It dimmed into darkness, along with every other light in the room. "Huh... Light, turn on."

I left him alone to play with the rest of the furniture. Maybe having some music in the background would help me concentrate. Plotting out a plan to get all the way to Victory Hill wouldn't be easy...

A sudden buzz rocked me. Damn near had me jumping right out of my fur, even. Loud vibrations sent my ears bolt upright. I turned to the side table. My phone rattled again. Great, another distraction.

I reached out for it. 'Home' flashed up on screen... My parents. Oh, gods. I never let them know that I'd arrived! "Hello?"

"Kazimir!" Ma barked. "Hello."

"Hi. Sor--"

"How are you? Is everything going okay?"

"Yeah, good. I'm--"

"Hello, Kaz." Dad's voice came onto the line. "I'm here, too."

"Hi, hey..." I glimpsed at the alarm clock. "It's after seven here... late there. Why are you still up?"

"We were about to settle in for the night," Ma explained. "But we wanted to call you first."

"We didn't want to bother you," Dad rumbled. "But we hadn't heard anything until now."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that. We got into Arlone real late last night and I crashed and since then I s'pose I just got distracted by everything and..."

"It's fine," Ma replied.

Dad chimed in to confirm, "We're just glad to hear you're okay."

I could hear the relief in their voice. Then the sighing that came after. My head dipped. This bed seemed a whole lot bigger than it did a minute or so previous.

"Blinds, open... Blinds, close!"

I glared at Sasha over by the window. "Hey, man... Hey! Can you keep it down for a bit please?"

He held up a paw, offering an apologetic cringe.

"...had fun?"

"Sorry, Ma." I adjusted my phone back to my ear. "What was that?"

"It's Dad."

"Oh."

"I was asking if you've had fun over there so far."

"It's been decent..."

"Only decent?" He chuckled. "I thought you'd be having the time of your life, what with how much fuss you were making over wanting to visit."

"Well, yeah, I mean. I'm still feeling... jet lagged and all."

"That's to be expected."

"Don't overdo it," Ma cut in to say.

"I won't."

"A good night's sleep or two will help."

"I know."

"What have you done so far?" Dad's turn again. "Seen the sights?"

"Not a whole lot. Like I say, jet lag's hit me, but we've had a walk around downtown."

"And how's that been?"

"Busy. Really busy. Even at night, it's like Zelengorod on a bad day. But yeah, seen some old stuff, too. The courthouse... Mostly been hanging out, though. Wandering and such."

"Make sure you see as much as you can while you're there. You'll regret it if you come home and realise you've missed something."

"I won't," I insisted. "There's a tour or something like that, according to Sasha. We'll probably check that out at some point."

Sasha spun around with two thumbs up. Right before he tried asking the heating to turn itself up.

"That sounds good to me," Dad replied.

"Make sure to get plenty of pictures."

"I will, Ma." Doing my best to ignore Sasha's moaning at the uncooperative thermostat, I asked, "How's everything at home?"

"We're fine," she replied. "Everyone's fine. It's been a quiet weekend since you left."

"Am I that loud?"

Ma's chirping had me smiling. It wouldn't last. "We've not done much. Your father and I booked a plot at a boot fair over at the school this morning. Sold some more of the clutter in the store room, and some of what we moved out of your room."

"_My_room?"

"Some of Artur's old toys. Board games. Some old model cars that were collecting dust up on his shelf."

"Did you tell him?" I lurched forward, almost folding up on myself. "Does he know about it?"

"Yes. It's fine," Ma confirmed. "We didn't take anything besides what we agreed he didn't want last summer."

"Ok..." I settled back. "That's fine then."

"Calm down." Dad jeered. "You sound more upset than Artur would be."

"Just making sure he knows is all--"

"Honey." Ma's voice softened. "You know we wouldn't clear anything of anyone's without asking first."

"Yeah... I know. Just Art's room is pretty bare these days. It's weird."

I heard Dad snort. "I think the word you're looking for is tidy."

"One way of looking at it, I guess..."

The conversation hung for a moment. Any friction didn't last long.

"Well, we won't keep you. Bed's calling."

"Okay, Ma."

"I hope you have fun and enjoy the rest of your trip. You take care of yourself."

"I will do... and you, too."

"Take care of yourself," Dad echoed. "And remember, call if you need us, okay? Doesn't matter the time."

"Sure." I shifted, growing uncomfortable in my own fur. My knee caught my laptop beside me. The map of Arlone shone bright from the screen... sent my ears dipping. "Thanks... G'nite"

"Good night," they sang back in unison. The line went dead. Left me with alone with my computer. The route to Victory Hill, metro lines and all remained. My stomach began to shift, twisting into knots while my tail slid closer, ending up in my lap.

"Kaz!"

I bounced and recoiled. Sasha was here, too. "Huh, what?"

"I asked, parents buggin' ya?"

"Uh, yeah... yeah, just checking in on me. I never called to say we'd got here like I promised."

He hacked out a laugh. "Sounds 'bout right. Mine messaged me last night, before I even had the chance. Fuckin' parents, huh?"

My laptop ensnared me again. The address was there in the search bar. My stomach bubbled. I felt fit to puke right there and then.

"Kaz, you all good? No bad news or nothin', no?"

"Nah, it's all good. I'm just..." I tore myself away, lasered in on Sasha instead. "It's distracting. Everything's distracting."

He cocked his head, brow furrowing. "Feel free to turn the TV off. I ain't watching it."

I huffed. "Not that..." A swipe of my paw closed my laptop. The other I used to rub my own brow. "It's fine."

Sasha stood there with a face that said he didn't agree. "Been thinking. Should get ourselves some air or something. No-one likes being cooped up for too long."

"S'pose."

"Wanna grab some dinner? Gotta be a good place out there that's not a machine and not filled with old buck-toothed anti-Velikans."

That got a smile outta me. The hole those noodles filled at lunch had begun to grow back. "How about we try that 'Ibarra's'?"

"The Estordorian place?" I nodded. He tossed me my jacket. "Sounds good. Lead the way."