As the warehouse disconnected from the previous world, I immediately went to release Suki and Toph from stasis. Upon waking them up, they walked out as if they were never asleep in the first place.
"Silva, Did something go wrong?"
"Nope. Everything went as expected. I left and you and Toph cane with me."
"Then what do we do now?" Toph asked
"Well we can stay here for a few days or we can go to the house and see if we can start the next jump."
"Next Jump," They both said without hesitation, so we went to the house looking for the next packet. And oh boy were there packets. At the top of the pile was a letter to me about companion protocols. There was a brief congratulations on finding my first companions. Then there were a few important things of note. First, I am allowed to freely take with me up to 8 willing companions. These companions will gain access to several benefits. As an addendum, stasis pods are not required for willing companions, and any unwilling companions I may bring using a stasis pod will not gain the companion benefits. Which is fine with me I'm not in a big hurry to go around kidnapping people.
Then there was the list of companion benefits. The first is, at the end of any jump a companion may choose to either stay in that world or return to their homeworld at the moment they left. If they choose either of these options they will not lose access to anything they have gained while traveling with me.
"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Not that I wouldn't be happy traveling, but having the option to go back home is really comforting" Suki said, but Toph just grunted in disinterest.
The second is, companions get half the budget that I do when traveling to new worlds. They are free to take drawbacks to increase the budget. Any drawbacks that I take that will severely affect the world and my companions will act as if every traveling person had opted to select that drawback. So, if I chose a drawback like "The Fire Nation has already won the war" it would also increase Suki and Toph's budget.
"What's this about a budget and why do we only get half" Toph demanded
"Well, these worlds are dangerous and different. In order to fit in, we get the option to gain new abilities or learn new things to fit in better."
The final benefit is all companions gain access to the warehouse as well as companion housing located inside the warehouse. Current companions can now design the companion house with the next packet. Suki and Toph barely waited for me to finish explaining before they grabbed the next packet. They spent a long time going over everything, only occasionally asking me a question or for my opinion.
"Silva, we're not sure what a lot of these common areas are. We picked good bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and a lot of things came free because you already have them in the warehouse. Now we're not sure what to do with the rest." Suki told me.
I give the list a look over and think about it. "A lot of these options sound practical, but will quickly be redundant. Like this gym can only handle regular workouts, but in a jump or two, you'll be beyond that. I think you should pick something relaxing. I would recommend the entertainment center with some miscellaneous stuff to fill it. Everything in that room will be completely new to both of you. Plus sometimes the places we go will show up in stories and if you pick this you can get a better understanding before we go."
"I'm fine with that, it's not like I could get a lot of use out of a library."
"Alright then, It looks like we're all done with the housing," Suki said closing the finished packet. The packet shimmered and disappeared and when it did the entire warehouse gently shook.
"Why don't you two check out how your new house turned out and I'll look at the last packet."
"Alright, we'll go ahead. Why don't you bring the packet when you're ready?" Suki said before the two of them excitedly ran off. I bent down to pick up the last packet and it was thick. Mass Effect and science fiction/fantasy story set hundreds of years in the future. It would be quite the adjustment for me, having never been anywhere near that high tech. For Suki and Toph, it would be mind-blowing, but I don't even know how to begin to explain some of this setting to them. Wait we just got a game room I wonder if this will show up there. Either way, this will be a long explanation. I think as I start going toward the companion housing.
The companion housing is incredibly luxurious. It would be more accurately called a manor, but considering it has 8 bedrooms and 8 baths that should have been obvious. In fact, I don't know if I'll ever go above 7 companions so I can keep a room for myself. Moving out of the foyer I hear some voices down the hall.
"Whoo! This is the good stuff"
"Toph! Get down from there!"
As I walk into... a bar? Huh, I guess they got a bar. I see Toph standing on a tabletop drinking directly from a bottle of rum and Suki trying very hard to get her to calm down.
"Silva!" Suki yelped
"Sil...va" Toph slurred
"Seems like you're having fun"
"Oh, Yea! This place is great! It's nicer than Azula's palace."
"It is amazing, but what about where we're going first?"
"About that, this place is a little hard to describe. Have you two been to the game room yet?"
"Whoo! Enter-ma- tain-ment Cenner!" Well, at least Toph is a happy drunk. I think as Suki pinches the bridge of her nose.