“Oh…” The Utaysi opposite him looked crestfallen, upset even.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put pressure on you. It's mostly boilerplate stuff in the contract really. If you bought the loadout from the simulation for example, you’d have to film a certain amount of content every month of the year to qualify for that discount. You’d be able to submit film and audio to us without direction but we have the right to refuse it, or you can be accompanied by a Myrmidon film drone. Uhh, what else…” They flicked through the legalese. “You wouldn’t own any rights to the content in perpetuity, which is pretty standard these days.”

He looked back up from the pad at Senjen, then caught the ball of his fist in the other hands. “Damn, I didn’t even get to the work placements or the advertising opportunities. Ok, let me generate your quote now…”

There was a few second delay, in which Ruk sent a message privately to Senjen.

“Whatever it is, don’t accept their first offer. Heck, don’t accept any offer you don’t feel comfortable with.”

“Alright! Before discounts and incentives your order comes to 4,166,666,667 Galactic Credits. If you join the content creator program and fulfill your contract, this comes down to 3,125,002,500. Now of course one of our mantras here at Myrmidon is that [i]anyone[/i] can purchase from us, so we have a wide range of financial products available if you’re unable to pay the full amount up front. Mortgages between three and thirty years are popular; if you’re able to confirm the deposit you can put down and your monthly earnings I can provide you with a monthly cost?”

[hr]

Once Jess approached the opening she’d see Light spinning around and moving laterally around the room at a gentle pace. The walls and a centre island were stacked with equipment suited to QV customers. Power tools, weapons, medical equipment, the list was endless. Light reached out manipulars to pick things up then discard them again. QV quite liked ‘investigating’ chaotic piles of things in shops - it mimicked their natural reef foraging behaviour, so Myrmidon had simulated that masterfully here.

“On a purely functional level, it seems better in every respect.” Light’s simulated voice had started to develop a slightly tipsy element.

“It just doesn’t feel very…[i]homely[/i] right now. My old suit fits me like a glove and knows what I'm thinking. Despite the heater, this one feels quite harsh.”

“The mind-meld would fix that. At the moment it is configured so any species could pilot it.” Symphony explained, before turning to Jess.

“Would you like to have a try?"