For such a large vessel, the windows were pretty small, though that might not be right. Was it even proper for a ship to have windows in the first place? Levro had kind of assumed that it was natural for a Terran vessel to have windows on account of them not looking like a real ship, as well as the fact that they did actually have windows, but it certainly didn't seem to be a necessity. 

Were these windows actually a luxury feature?

"First time?" Kathy, in proper Nekh fashion, appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "Bah, who am I kidding? We don't let others on outside of special circumstances. Do you like the view?"

"I mean," Levro managed to keep himself composed in spite of Kathy's assassin-esque behavior, "it isn't anything I haven't seen before. If you've seen the void once, you've seen it a million times."

"Ha! Yes I suppose that's true. Still, I believe a much more limited picture gives you the time and attention span to focus on the minutiae. Tell me, did you ever notice how some of the stars seem to have rings about them?"

Levro raised an eyebrow, only to be met with a confident expression. Obliging the implied request, Levro squinted out the window. Sure enough, some of the closer stars seemed to have a faint halo around them.

"I suppose I hadn't. Do you know what it is?"

"The Emperor and some of our top scholars studying related fields believe it to be to the beginning of the star's 'well', the area in which the bubbles space faring vessels and lifeforms create around themselves to traverse Split-Space begin to dissolve. As I understand it, the confusion as to the specifics revolve around the fact that this ring of light, really a sphere mind you, does not perfectly align with the calculated and measured edges of this zone."

"So nobody is sure, got it." Levro acted as if he had any idea what that meant. "I imagine that there are a few ideas though, is that correct?"

"A few. I won't bore you with subjects I don't have a proper understanding of myself, but the prevailing theory is that there is some boundary that interacts with the light emitted by other stars, either scattering it perpendicular to the surface of the sphere or spinning it around the edges and releasing it at a certain point. Beyond that, I'm afraid I have neither the knowledge nor expertise to explain."

Levro nodded, still confused. Kathy did the same, smiling kindly as her tail gently swayed.

"Why did you decide to talk to me? I imagine you are busy, no?"

"Me? My job is to entertain you and your family while we are travelling to Nectar."

Levro nodded again, ever so slightly in awe that the Terrans could waste a valuable ship's time with passenger transportation, and that they did it so frequently that the entertainment of passengers was an issue in need of rectifying.

"What made you think I needed entertainment?"

"Could you not see your face in the window?" Kathy tilted her head, a strangely 'cute' action for a woman her age. "Unlike the rest of your family, you seem to be bored. I know this ship doesn't have much to do, in fact it is quite sterile in comparison to our craft in service domestically, so my duty is to keep you from losing your mind from the monotony."

"O-oh." This was considered sterile? Sure, there wasn't exactly a wide spread of colors nor were there many of the so called 'facilities' that Kathy was probably referring to, but Levro could hardly consider this place boring. In comparison to most galleys, this place was practically flooded with stuff to do.

It had a gym room, a feature of Terran conditioning that he had grown accustomed to under the tutelage of Prince Edward, alongside a slew of separate rooms that he had never seen before. There was a game room - simple enough to figure out the purpose from the name - as well as a 'Mini-Arcade', a 'Sim-Room', and a 'Theater', the last of which looked nothing like any theater he had ever seen before. There was no stage, which made sense. Having a contingent of actors on call for a crew of 8 (10 including Kathy and her aide) would be ridiculous even for the Terrans.

Regardless of the purpose or efficacy of those rooms, they were already more than anything made available to the sailors and passengers of even the most extravagant of galleys. To refer to the accommodations as sterile was just . . . and that didn't even consider the more personal aspects. Everybody got their own room? A bed on the same level of comfort as the ones in the palace? Their own bathroom? On a void-vessel?

"Would you like to join your family in the game room? Your sisters have grown fond of a few of the board games we have. I overheard them trying to convince your father to play a game called 'Monopoly', would you happen to be interested?"

"Monopoly?" Levro had played his fair share of board games, his family purchased a few of them for parties and general entertainment, his understanding of them being a way for Terran children to be taught lessons in a fun and engaging way. "What is the lesson behind that game?"

"Lesson? I suppose it would be to practice mathematic, financial, and negotiation skills, as well as establish a basic understanding of property and how to balance rent, ownership and investment risk." Levro rubbed his chin, frowning. That was a lesson Terran children were expected to learn? That was hardly something he needed to know, it was safer to say he didn't. "It is certainly one of the more difficult games to master, but it isn't difficult to play."

"How can that be the case?"

"Can you roll dice?"

"I can."

"Can you make decisions for yourself?"

"I should think so, I am to be a king in the future."

"Then so long as I handle the reading and rules for you, then you can play. Remember, the expectation is that a child should be able to play the game as well."

- - - - -

Levro looked down at the board with a profound feeling of confusion. He didn't know how long he had been playing, nor did he quite understand how to achieve the goal of the game, but he definitely felt he was having fun. As for the situation on the board, he wasn't really sure who was in the best spot.

His mother, Leaze, held the most territories by far, but as a consequence didn't have much money remaining. Two of her holdings were 'mortgaged', a strange term, and she didn't even have two properties of the same color (aside from the utilities, but let's be honest, do those even count as properties in most games?). 

The older of his younger sisters, Elc, held two of the red cards, an orange card, and one of the dark blue ones. The younger of his two sisters, Tima, held a purple card, the last red card, an orange card, a green card, and the other dark blue card. The two of them were in the middle of a heated debate over who would get the dark blue 'monopoly', and who would get the red 'monopoly'. Obviously, both of them wanted the red because it was a prettier color.

Levro didn't think they were in this game to win. From the start they hadn't displayed an interest in anything beyond the red territories, purchasing what the had as bargaining chips to get the reds. 

Lev himself wasn't quite sure how to end this game, the rent paid every time he rounded the board was lower than the amount of money he earned from passing 'Go'. His monopoly on yellow (the only one on the board at the moment) was helping a bit, doubling the amount his family had to pay whenever he 

Levro's father, in a rather ironic twist, had tons of money and almost no territory. He was also, incidentally, a frequent visitor to jail. He never stayed there long, either landing on the space or using one of his get out of jail free cards to keep moving along. His penchant for landing on the chest and chance spaces was humorous at times, but after a while it just got old.

"Should I be buying the houses?"

"Do you have the money to?" Kathy's aide, a boy about 16 years of age, had quite the attitude. "The yellows and reds are 150 per house."

"I believe I have sufficient funds, yes. Three houses, one per property, if you would." Despite Levro's desire to reprimand him, his role in the game was as the bank. 

"Three? Alright." The boy picked three oddly shaped green blocks out of the box and threw them towards Lev. "You can sell them for 75 whenever you feel like it."

"What? That's ridiculous!"

"The game would last forever if you could sell them for full price. There needs to be a way to punish players for a mistake." Levro's eyes drifted to his fuming father. Objectively, he had not made a single mistake. Somehow he was still in the worst position.

- - - - -

". . ."

"Gimme Kenticky!"

"NO! It's mine! I want Illnoy and Iniana!"

The argument between the sisters never seemed to end, even when both of them had mortgaged most of their properties. They didn't seem to mind, red was their favorite color, but it did make it easier for Levro and his mother to traverse the board. Speaking of which, Leaze had managed to get a monopoly, the light blue set, and put four houses on each. This was because they were only 50 each, a third of the price he had to pay for houses on yellow. It only took her three passes around the board to get the money to afford it, she just mortgaged her territories whenever she had to pay off an expense. 

Honestly, this tactic had proven devastating. Bahn had been unfortunate enough to land on Leaze's house-packed spaces twice in a row thanks to an uncharacteristically bad roll on his part. He was bankrupt, officially out of the game, and the few mortgaged properties he still possessed from landing on Oriental transferred to Leaze, who promptly paid for their unmortgaging using the funds previously accrued. 

"Oho? Girlies? Are you sure you still want to fight?"

"Go away mom!" "Gimme the red!"

His sisters were by no means poorly behaved children, so this continued riotous behavior was quite a surprise to him. He had to wonder what about this game was making them act like this.

"Alright! Community Chest! What does it say?"

"Your properties are assessed for street repairs. Pay 40$ for every house, and 115$ for every hotel." Kathy delivered the message flatly. "With 12 houses on the board, this total comes to 480$." After un-mortgaging all of her properties, Leaze didn't have that money.

"What? Really?"

"Really. Which properties do you wish to mortgage?"

"Won't I have to do it for all of them?"

"And you'll have to sell some houses. 25 a pop."

Suddenly Levro found that stepping on his mother's property wasn't going to be as big of a hit. His coin purse wouldn't much like it, but he would survive it without mortgaging. 

- - - - -

"Congratulations, Prince Levro, for winning the game of Monopoly!" 

The room was in chaos. His mother, Leaze, sought pity from her husband after being bankrupted by (of all things) a utility she had sold to Elc. Elc then landed on one of Levro's yellow properties, bankrupting herself in turn. Levro made a trade with Tima to give her the monopoly on red she had so desired in exchange for a few of her unmortgaged properties.

Tima then mortgaged all of her properties, including her monopoly, to make the cards more red. Much to Tima's dismay (and Elc's tantrum) Levro refused to do the same. At that point, he just wanted the damn game to end, and in a few more turns she had landed on enough of his spaces to siphon away all of her money.

"I never want to touch this game again." He rubbed his face with both of his hands while the aide dutifully cleaned up the board and cards. "Are you sure that isn't something built to torture people?"

"Your sentiments are shared by a majority of those who have played the game, but I ensure you that in a month's time you will have the inexplicable urge to play again." Kathy smiled, her tail contentedly swaying behind her. "I assure you the phenomenon is quite well documented."

"Yeah, well, if I ever get that urge I give you permission to slap the stupid out of me."

"Hmhm! I might just take you up on it." Kathy clapped her hands, grabbing the attention of Levro and his family. "Who would like to float in the air?"