"That's... we hadn't thought about you being able to do that," Unity say, surprised.
After a moment's thought, they add, "Just be careful of your aim. We wouldn't want you to vanish forever because you accidentally got inside Saturn's rings and a rock knocked the Wand out of your hand or something."
They shudder. "That's a terrifying thought."
“So is the vastness of space. It’s terrifying and beautiful at the same time… and to me, it is completely harmless.
“I don’t think I would go near a planet. Especially a ringed one like Saturn or Uranus. What am I, a Klingon? HaAa, hehh..?” She winces at the rest of that joke which she thinks is best left untold. “20th Century film reference. Klingons invade planets.”
"Huh. I guess to us... empty space would seem a lot like just looking up at a night sky? Just with more stars?" Unity say uncertainly. "So we assumed you'd aim for a planet..."
“I just want to fly in complete solitude, gaze into an endless sea of stars no matter which way I go, and be so deep in the emptiness that I couldn’t get to another heavenly body if I tried!” Her glow flickers brightly as she thinks about it. “It’s not much different than sun bathing… just me and…”
She thinks carefully about how to put it. She doesn’t want to sound preachy.
“…I know I don’t come off as the religious type. But the beach was where I felt closest to the Dawnflower. I felt like I could, I dunno… vent? Be grateful? Share my thoughts, like a diary? It was easy to say I didn’t want tan lines, I need privacy blah blah. But sometimes I just wanted to be alone, and just feel the Sun Goddess’ gift.
“And now I wanna do that in space!” She has a big smile, like ‘get it?’ But probably nobody gets it. “Well, y’know. It’s October. The beach is cold now. When it’s Summer, maybe I can do the Dawnflower stuff at the beach and L.C. can go with me.”
"Right, that makes sense," Unity say, thoughtfully.
"Well, depending on where exactly you aim, the Sun could still be visibly different than the other stars," they point out. "Anyway, we hope your 'getting away' is as restful as we hope ours is."
When Zellgato brings the kit to where he's working in the lab, Henri nods and they head to the time ship.
Day eight, trying to figure it out with Zellgato's help:
Day nine, trying to figure it out with Zellgato's help:
Henri sits back, tired and frustrated. "It feels like I cannot maintain the level of concentration all day. It's probably my fault for trying to do it alone."
“When it comes to both Fire and criticism, I can dish out more than I can take,” she replies. “But I can handle more heat than most, and I’m here to save your—” Don’t say ‘anus!!!’ “—lives.”
She flies into the space the astronaut pointed out to her and tries warning things up without the fiery punch-kicks.
☀️
[dice=Blazing Orbit]2d6+5
[dice=Burn, if applicable]d6
The Astronauts thank Nissa as she leaves and it's easy enough to find the ice. It doesn't take Nissa too long before she learns what a compositor byflow valve looks like. When it pops open, heat increases quickly.
Nissa can head back into the shuttle or out into space.
When Zellgato brings the kit to where he's working in the lab, Henri nods and they head to the time ship.
Henri sits back, tired and frustrated.
"It feels like I cannot maintain the level of concentration all day. It's probably my fault for trying to do it alone."
"But, you're not alone," says a voice.
The voice is familiar.
Henri knows the voice is inside his head. But, he knows that he's inside his head too.
As are a billion nanites.
He wants to compare them, not to Unity. but to Karnivore former scans from when he helped hunt him down. Karnivore's sudden shift and loss of control, and within a year or two, a storm of creatures. Zellgato would like to make sure there isn't a connection--such as the chimera taking some of his power set, or perhaps traces of that in the final form of Karnivore.
Karnivore's DNA is on file in Boston Theoretical from when he worked there, or for the military. For at least one year, a research lab was devoted to him with equipment designed to test his strength and speed. Fauna would transform his own DNA, become a vicious beast of his own creation, and return to his human form after. The beast became more advanced each time as he experimented. There's something off though. The researchers couldn't figure out why, but each time as Karnivore turned back into Fauna, more of Karnivore remained.
"Right, that makes sense," Unity say, thoughtfully.
"Well, depending on where exactly you aim, the Sun could still be visibly different than the other stars," they point out. "Anyway, we hope your 'getting away' is as restful as we hope ours is."
“Yeah! You enjoy your nature walk, too! I can’t imagine anything more relaxing than solitude!”
The Astronauts thank Nissa as she leaves and it's easy enough to find the ice. It doesn't take Nissa too long before she learns what a compositor byflow valve looks like. When it pops open, heat increases quickly.
Nissa can head back into the shuttle or out into space.
But as much as Nissa craves this solitude, she checks off the astronauts first.
“So, mission accomplished? If everything is in working order, will you two be able to make it back to Earth safely?”
…and seeing that they are indeed safe, she wishes them well and shrinks away to practically nothing..!
Karnivore's DNA is on file in Boston Theoretical from when he worked there, or for the military. For at least one year, a research lab was devoted to him with equipment designed to test his strength and speed. Fauna would transform his own DNA, become a vicious beast of his own creation, and return to his human form after. The beast became more advanced each time as he experimented. There's something off though. The researchers couldn't figure out why, but each time as Karnivore turned back into Fauna, more of Karnivore remained.
Zellgato brews up a coffee fortified with mushroomy nutrients for himself; and Henri if he so wishes for some as he ponders his provisional thoughts on Karnivore.
He takes care to only use the name Karnivore-as he considers the history of Fauna and Flora. From his perspective it feels too much like a child soldier situation driven into a corner and corrupted by the power and accolaids. But still suspects there were outside influences perhaps given the timeline.
☀️
Nissa looks out into space as she circles Uranus. She stares into the Sun.
She is no longer clad in her little Star Trek dress. Out here, there is no one to dress for. Just like on the beach, she wants to be pure for her goddess.
Mother, she addresses the Dawnflower. You made me what I am. My physical form is gone now, and all that remains is a likeness of my former flesh-self, made of… sunlight? Is that what I am?
Not that I’m complaining. I love the freedom of flying. I love the space when everything is built for larger people. Why do people think I want to be flesh again? That would be normal. I was never normal. And this not normal is so far from human, I don’t even need to pretend anymore.
I just hope you think I’m using your gift well. I think I did okay just now, with those astronauts. And the wand isn’t going to get me home for several hours.
So I guess it’s okay to just… float.
The wand is safely stowed within Nissa’s pocket dimension. For a while, Nissa sits on the hull of the spacecraft. But when she is no longer afraid, she puts her Void Flyers to use, and lets her fire burn brightly once she is a safe distance from Apollo 69…!
"It feels like I cannot maintain the level of concentration all day. It's probably my fault for trying to do it alone.""But, you're not alone," says a voice.
The voice is familiar.
Henri knows the voice is inside his head. But, he knows that he's inside his head too.
As are a billion nanites.
Henri looks at Zellgato as a smile crosses his face. Likely to Zellgato's confusion, he replies, "There you are. I've been waiting for you to find what you needed to talk to me. Now that I only have a voice and not the confusion of your appearance, I remember where we met before. Oh, is this really you or is this the nanites using your voice to communicate with me?"
"It's not really me. Not really. It's all you, buddy," the voice says, "The nanites are allowing you to manifest me, just like they did the other day on the street. I'm not here. I've never been here. I never will be here. But, that doesn't mean I can't be helpful."
The voice sounds like it's smiling.
"Clearly this ship is designed to communicate with your nanites. Utopian tech or Atlantean or someone else the Atlanteans stole it from. Why isn't it working? What makes this ship different from Mother and Aviary and Opportunity?"
Theo, likely on edge to know his daughter is several planets out, stomped down to the labs, demanding what progress R & D made on his new armor.
Theo, you may not want to intimidate the lab techs, but you are quite intimidating and in a mood.
Lab techs scatter. One, who was too slow to get out of the way before Theo was fully in the room, looks like a deer in the headlights aand, then, very slowly and intentionally spills coffee on himself so he has an excuse to "go change this".
Kai comes into the room hands on their hips.
A year's sabbatical on Atlantis--and 2 more years running the labs--has changed Kai. They're a little louder and more boisterous.
"You know, the one thing I didn't miss about you? How patient you were. Do you know how hard it is to find people who both understand and the science and the historical detail you're looking for? That mousy brunette you just chased out of here has spent more time in Greece than you have, most of it on her hands and knees ... what? No. eww. Gross. ... I mean, in archaeological digs ... "
Kai forgets where they were going with this rant and changes gears, "Fine. We still have the fine detailing to do but ..."
If Kai presses a button, you don't see it. As if Kai just willed it to happen, a suit of armour on a specially designed stand glides into the room. Lab techs, tools in hand, chase after it, trying to finish what they were doing.
Achilles would be envious.
Kai forgets where they were going with this rant and changes gears, "Fine. We still have the fine detailing to do but ..."
If Kai presses a button, you don't see it. As if Kai just willed it to happen, a suit of armour on a specially designed stand glides into the room. Lab techs, tools in hand, chase after it, trying to finish what they were doing.
Achilles would be envious.
Out slides a magnificent mixture of Greek war aesthetic and high tech armor. It looks like it allows for maximum movement and sufficient protection.
"OH! She's beautiful!" Theo marvels. "Wouldn't have been surprised if you had stolen this from Hephaestus's Forge!"
The Olympian turns to find the mousy assistant from before and gives her a 'thumbs-up'. "Great work!"
"How long until it's ready for test runs? My Restmas is ending soon."
Henri looks at Zellgato as a smile crosses his face. Likely to Zellgato's confusion,
Zellgato raises an eyebrow, furrels his mask slightly with two hands as Henri starts to talk to himself, or the nanties he'd assume.
Taking several steps back Zellgato opts to scan and just watch the oddity. However, his stance promotes the thought that he is on guard, just a bit. Given his history with body inhabiting voices in friends.
The university professor with a PhD in Archaeology and oral proficiency in Ancient Greek blushes as Theo mistakes her for a lab assistant, "Umm. I was thinking that perhaps it's best if I stick around for the fittings. My university doesn't really need me back. It's not like there's much new in Ancient Greece ..."
She looks Theo up and down like she's taking measurements.
"If you need to adjust anything, I should help keeping it authentic," she says, not taking her eyes off of Theo's thighs.
"If you need to adjust anything, I should help keeping it authentic," she says, not taking her eyes off of Theo's thighs.
Theo looks down at the professor as she gets her measurements. "You wanna get something to eat down at the commissary after this?"
Kai rolls their eyes, audibly.
The professor looks like she's about to accept when Kai says, "We're going to need you for the engraving, Professor."
"I ... I'd love to ... some other time. If you're ever in Toronto, I'd love to show you my collection of Minoan replicas ..."
She's walking backwards as she says this, requiring a Dex check.
She trips over the wheel of one of the tables.
Theo can make a Dex based check to catch her.
Theo lunges forward and catches the stumbling professor, doing a quick flip forward to hold the back of the professor's neck and waist in a very steamy love novel cover way.
"Well. Looks like the new armor works well with my natural agility. Again good work, Doctor..?" The Olympian draws out the question, hoping the mousy professor will say her name.
The voice sounds like it's smiling.
"Clearly this ship is designed to communicate with your nanites. Utopian tech or Atlantean or someone else the Atlanteans stole it from. Why isn't it working? What makes this ship different from Mother and Aviary and Opportunity?"
The scientist muses aloud, his eyes out of focus and he thinks, "Yes, that's always been the question, hasn't it? Zellgato, the nanites are speaking to me, asking a good question. They asked what's different about this ship and the entities I spoke to in Utopia. The obvious answer is that those were in Utopia, but I think there's more. The interface must be different. The technology that created the nanites I consumed as well as Mother and Aviary and Opportunity all originated hundreds of years previously. This ship was built 500 years in the future. Wireless protocols have undoubtedly change, even in the same world, but these were created in different worlds and may not have a common baseline at all."
His eyes snap into focus and he looks at Zellgato. "Can you access the schematics we found again? I need to cross-check what the ship accepts for inbound signals and protocol handshakes against what the nanites are familiar with. I suspect that they are going to both be very flexible, but maybe I can help them find a common language..."
"You've looked at the schematics, Henri," says the voice. "You're not going to see anything new there. If thinking as an Engineer isn't working, think as a biologist. Those nanites were alive and reproducing quickly 500 years before this ship was created. What does life do?"
"Over a thousand years before, it seems... life goes on. Life grows. Life... evolves. It learns and mutates and evolves. I don't need to do anything here, do I? Don't treat it like a machine, treat it like a limb, like an extension of myself."
"All it needs is to be guided on the right path, and evolution will take care of the rest," says the voice. Henri can almost feel the person leaning in nearby, excited, encouraging. "Do you know what to do next then?"
”It needs to be guided. To be used, to be trained. So it can evolve in the desired way. Is this why the Pilot said I could teach him how to fly the ship when next we meet?”
Henri moves to the captain’s chair. ”Better strap in, Zellgato. I don’t intend to go anywhere…”
Henri sits in the captain’s chair and closes his eyes and reaches out…
Mostly, he sits and feels, trying to extend his awareness to the nanites.
With a sigh as Henry just upts and decides to try it out. ....Alright, give me a moment" he'll run out, and snag a pack, his little emergency kit and runs back in. "Always need to have a few days of rations and water tablets." Strapping in and sighing that this probably won't go great but better in a pair.
’All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.’
Nissa soars through outer space, cherishing an experience that cannot possibly be shared with anyone in her life.
—except my daughter. Darkstar, we’re doing this!
After several hours…
…Nissa is back on the flight deck. She once again dons her little Star Trek minidress, and calls out,
“Oh, Ronn-nnyyyy — I’m HOOO-ooommmmme!”
…Nissa is back on the flight deck. She once again dons her little Star Trek minidress, and calls out,
“Oh, Ronn-nnyyyy — I’m HOOO-ooommmmme!”
The Flight Deck door flies open and out runs Theo, scooping the Lucky Star gently in his arms.
"You're back! How'd it go? We haven't heard confirmation from NASA yet!"
Nissa is still giddy as ever. ”I was in space! I melted ice to save the astronauts, and then… I just made sure they were okay, and I floated around—”
She struggles with attempts to describe the experience.
“—it was li—I recited a Sally Ride quo—the stars we—I bur—it…”
At a loss, she just shrieks with pure unbridled joy, “I was in space!”
"Damn right you were!" Theo said, caught up in Nissa's exuberance. "That reminds me. I should offer a prayer of thanks to Zeus and Hermes for your safe return."
Unity finally get out on their three-day trip into the Appalachians on the ninth day of their enforced rest. They'd called ahead and made some arrangements with the national park they'd be staying at, so as their ride draws near the parking area they anticipate a nice, quiet time where they can get to appreciate nature in what solitude and peace is possible in the busy, crowded modern world.
What they hadn't anticipated was that, having called ahead, someone could leak their plans to the news, so that when they arrive, they're confronted with a swarm of news drones.
They thank their driver, grab their large pack, and get out of the vehicle with a sigh, power-walking in their bipedal form as soon as their feet touch the ground. At least mechanical and electrical flight are disallowed in the park proper, so they only have to endure the barrage of questions until they can get onto a hiking trail.
”We're just here to get away from it all and relax for a bit,” they say to the buzzing drones, “nothing more.”
One of the pushier drones buzzes up near their face. “Would you say you're getting in touch with your animal side?”
They fix the drone with a baleful glare. ”Just as much as all these people,” they say, waving their lower-right hand at the parked vehicles they're passing. “Humans, after all, are animals too.” They show their teeth in a predatory smile.
“Just because we have more fur than most people doesn't make us less of a person or our desire for a bit of solitude and nature any less human,” they add. “We need to create more opportunities for people to have places and time for these things. It's good for the soul.”
With that, the ground under their feet goes from paved to gravel, and the news drones, after Unity pointedly don't turn around to answer their last volley of questions, reluctantly give up the chase. A couple do try stealth systems to bypass the rules, but this isn't the park's first celebrity visit, so they're quickly brought down.
Unity hike down the trails, picking the roughest and wildest ones until even their senses can't pick up signs of nearby people. They go a little further to a break in the trees, spread their wings, and take off. They'd double-checked, and winged flight is perfectly legal in the park, even for a creature as large as they are.
Once they're above the trees they shift to their more comfortable hexapodal form and spend a while just soaring, flying from thermal to thermal around the mountains. They let the rush of the air and the physical exertion fill their mind for a while, enjoying being able to fly just for flight's sake, looking down and marveling at how their slower, lower flight gives them a much different perspective than they'd have riding in a helicopter or something.
They check their comm unit when the sun is getting low on the horizon, making sure they have the right place. They'd confirmed with the park that there were a couple designated “flight camps”, which were really just natural clearings the park service has designated as campsites for those rare people allowed to fly in the park. Unity stow their comm and come in for a landing, enjoying the feel of grass on their paws as they touch down. They trot around the clearing and pick out a good spot, then shift forms again to set up their tent.
Once they're sure they have a place to sleep, they change back into their chimera form and wander around in the woods around the clearing until after dark. They breathe deep of the air, listen to the sounds of life around them, and feel the ground beneath them. Unity do feel like a tension they've been carrying since Boston Theoretical found them a subjective several months ago is slowly unwinding from their body.
When they finally crawl into their tent—getting it quite filthy, they're sure—they feel a kind of exhausted they only remember from the lives of those who died to make them, the fatigue of a long day moving around but without the sharpness of battle-fatigue on top of it. Still in their hexapodal form, they settle down, only a little cramped in the tent, and sleep.
Unity dream that they're hunting.
They've been here before. These sterile hallways, the scent of strange chemicals and a faint hint of blood, the slightly dim artificial lighting... but the hallways are strange. They press forward, marking each intersection before turning right, but they never encounter the same hallway twice, no matter how far they go or how the passages twist.
They go on and on. There are never doors, never windows, just endlessly splitting halls, continuing forward forever. They start trotting, then running, looking for something, anything to break the monotony...
Unity dream that they're hunting.
They've been here before. These sterile hallways, the scent of strange chemicals and a faint hint of blood, the slightly dim artificial lighting... but the hallways are strange. They press forward, marking each intersection before picking a random passageway, but they never encounter the same hallway twice, no matter how far they go or how the passages twist.
They go on and on. There are never doors, never windows, just endlessly splitting halls, continuing forward forever. They start trotting, then running, looking for something, anything to break the monotony...
Unity dream that they're hunting.
They've been here before. These sterile hallways, the scent of strange chemicals and a faint hint of blood, the slightly dim artificial lighting... but the hallways are strange. They press forward, picking random passageways, but they never encounter the same hallway twice, no matter how far they go or how the passages twist.
They go on and on. There are never doors, never windows, just endlessly splitting halls, continuing forward forever. The hallways turn to carved stone, then caves, still lit by flickering lights. Suddenly the stone around them quakes and cracks...
Unity dream that they're hunting.
They've been here before. These sterile hallways, the scent of strange chemicals and a faint hint of blood, the slightly dim artificial lighting... but the hallways are strange. They press forward, marking each intersection before picking a random passageway, but they never encounter the same hallway twice, no matter how far they go or how the passages twist.
Every hallway they pick ends in a door. The door is locked, and somehow impervious to their claws, claws that have rent steel like flesh. Every time they turn around and find the hallway behind them has changed, leading to new intersections, and every path they choose ends in another door. Finally they snarl and turn their claws on the walls.
They dream that they're hunting.
They've been here before. These sterile hallways, the scent of strange chemicals and a faint hint of blood, the slightly dim artificial lighting... they close their eyes. They sniff the air, and strain their ears. Eventually they determine the scent of blood is slightly stronger in one direction, a faint hum of machinery louder as they face it. They pad along, their eyes shut, following the scent and the sound.
Both slowly grow until they know they've arrived. They open their eyes, and see a door in an infinite wall. The door opens as they pad forward...
...and He is there. He opens his arms wide as if to embrace them, and they leap at him. Their weight bears Him to the ground, bone crunching beneath the impact. He doesn't stop smiling even when they sink their teeth in his throat.
Why are they still here?
They've been here before. These sterile hallways, the scent of strange chemicals and a faint hint of blood, the slightly dim artificial lighting... They turn around.
He is there. They leap at Him again.
They turn around.
”Finally ready to talk, are you?” he asks.
They glare, but when they offer no other response he continues, ”I don't know why you're not glad to see me. I see how you've come to enjoy what I gave you. You can't deny that.”
”No. We deny You,” they growl. “Murderer.”
He laughs, that laugh that only He laughs. ”A few lives? How many have you saved with what I've given you, hm? Don't the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?”
”And how many more have you killed since that day?” they snarl in response.
”One hundred seventy-six thousand six hundred and fifty four,” He replies.
He looks at a device in his hand. ”One hundred seventy-six thousand six hundred and fifty five.”
He doesn't stop smiling. ”One hundred seventy-six thousand six hundred and fifty six.”
They leap at him...
Unity wake with a start, shaking the dream from their mind. Why must they always have such strange dreams? Some they wonder if they've had just as a consequence of their mind trying to figure itself out. Others...
“Sometimes a dream is just a dream,” they mutter, getting to their feet. They open their tent and pad out into the open air, looking at the eastern sky where it is beginning to lighten as dawn begins.
”After all, it's not as if any part of us comes from a creature with prophetic dreaming powers,” they comment to themselves.
They pause a moment.
Firmly, they push the thought aside. They haven't caught dawn on the wing before. They're not going to let such thoughts ruin it.
"Damn right you were!" Theo said, caught up in Nissa's exuberance. "That reminds me. I should offer a prayer of thanks to Zeus and Hermes for your safe return."
“Okay.”
Her father is, after all an Olympian. So it makes sense to pray to the Oly—
“I prayed to the Dawnflower,” she starts. “It was like all those times at the beach… only… I called Her ‘Mother.’” She pauses for a moment. She isn’t sure how this makes her sound, so she just mumbles, “Yeah, so that was different. And being in space was also different.”
She wonders…
“Dad, do you address Zeus as ‘Father?’”
”It needs to be guided. To be used, to be trained. So it can evolve in the desired way. Is this why the Pilot said I could teach him how to fly the ship when next we meet?”
Henri moves to the captain’s chair. ”Better strap in, Zellgato. I don’t intend to go anywhere…”
Henri sits in the captain’s chair and closes his eyes and reaches out…
Mostly, he sits and feels, trying to extend his awareness to the nanites.
Henri feels it then, when he opens up, reaches out, stops trying and lets it happen. The ship sends his nanites 500 years of updates all at once and it feels like someone used a sledgehammer to hammer a twelve-inch metal rod through his frontal lobe and before anyone could say Phineas Gage, it's done.
"Hello," says the voice inside Henri's head. "What is my name?"
She wonders…
“Dad, do you address Zeus as ‘Father?’”
"Yes", Theo said frankly. "But I imagine he might get tired of hearing it, if not from me, but from his multitudes of children."
At the Flight Camp, Unity notices that stones of various sizes have been gathered to form an arrow, pointing at a stump. The arrow is outlined in woodchips. The tree that fell sits near the stump and makes a natural bench at the Flight Camp.
A large flat rock sits on top of a hollowed out hole in the stump, forming a lid. Beneath the rock, is a wooden tube about 18 inches long. It looks handcarved.
Inside is a single feather.
That face ... the face of the man you attacked ... if only there were some way to see inside your head. The details could help.
Nissa, Who's Your Daddy? <-- Tasha Gentry News (Tasha's been promised a private interview but it hasn't happened yet and the headlines are getting punchy.)
Mount Olympus Transdimensional Experimental Laboratory Ready to Test <-- Science Now
Who Elected Unity to Speak for Animals? <-- Gene-Splice Community News
Don't call HIM Charles; Call THEM Unity. ;-D <-- Hawks News (they incorporated the emoji into their headlines; which is not uncommon, but this was a sarcastic laugh react)
TAROT. Are They Back or NOT? <-- Super Hero News Network
What's Henri's Secret for Staying Young? <-- Super Hero News Network (the Answer is 'time travel').
In case it hasn't happened yet, Theo contacts Tasha to set up the time for the interview with Nissa The Bombshell and The Olympian.
Unity examine the feather they found in its odd hiding place curiously. Was this placed for them, or perhaps just some previous flier thought they'd leave a surprise at the camp for the next person who used it? They try to identify the feather.
They're not checking the news or sending messages while they're out here. Watching the dawn while in-flight was... not quite as impressive as they'd hoped, but still lovely and relaxing after their dream. Though speaking of their dream... they've never really described PhDestruction to the others, have they?
Nor their dreams. Not that they really think there's anything to this dream beyond nerves about finally hunting down their creator, but... well, maybe when they're back they'd better talk about it.
But for today, they romp in the woods. They don't have goals or destinations, beyond whatever catches their interest in the moment. Sometimes they creep between trees, trying to see some wildlife (they mostly scare it away). Sometimes they take to the air, riding thermals for the joy of flight.
By the time night falls again and they return to their camp, they're wet (having dunked themself in a stream to wash off some of the mud and dirt they'd accumulated over the course of the day) and their muscles ache, but they feel good. They crawl into their tent and drop into a dreamless sleep, putting off worrying about the future for tomorrow.
Nissa is not exactly pleased with Tasha getting snippy, but like Pah, she’s gotten too big to push around. Better to play the game.
Her text—
☀️: Heyyy, Tasha!
☀️: I needed to make sure my adoptive parents and my sisters were ready for this story.
☀️: That box has been checked.
☀️: Are you free tomorrow?
She doesn’t state her availability for the remainder of the week. The implication is that there isn’t any. One never knows when the phone might ring, and she’ll need to wand herself into outer space…!
Nissa sees they could be on for tomorrow, but the more fun “on” is next week. Well, at least she’s playing along.
Nissa replies,
☀️: Book us for Live, dear!
☀️: The Olympian and I are looking forward to it.
She shows Theo her reply, then says, “I’ll say ‘Dad’ on the show. The reaction will probably be interesting if she picks up on that live.”
Though she’s turned over a new leaf for the Dawnflower, Nissa hasn’t forgotten The Art of BuIIshit.
Do not look at the headlines. Do not look at the headlines. Do not look at the headlines. Ifyoulookatheheadlinesthenoisewillcome. Do not look at the headlines. Do not look at the headlines.
Next Week on Tasha Live, Nissa and the Olympian! <-- Tasha Gentry News
Nasa Loves Nissa! <-- Science News
Did the Blonde Bombshell Visit Uranus? <-- Hawks News
Gene Splice Community Elects Unity to Speak for Animals <-- Gene-Splice Community News
Looking at any of these headlines triggers a blaring audio/video report. Is it possible the news got louder in the three years you were awway? Just don't look too long at the headlines. Don't let the AI see any expression of interest. Don't even squint.
Restmas is almost over. You've passed numerous psychological assessments, answered 10,000 questions from various intelligence agencies, had adventures, and probably snuck some work in.
Anything on your last day?
Unfinished business?
Nissa loves Nasa Loves Nissa! She says bring it to the newsfeeds—yes, reading about herself! She can’t help it! All this fame!
And there’s still a lot of anxiety about how things are with L.C., too, but…
…all this fame…!
Restmas is almost over. You've passed numerous psychological assessments, answered 10,000 questions from various intelligence agencies, had adventures, and probably snuck some work in.
Anything on your last day?
Unfinished business?
Nissa wants to spend the 12th day with L.C.
“So, you probably heard I snuck some work in. I was in space…”
On the 12th Day of Restmas, Theo has an armour fitting with Kai and Dr. Korey Winterdown.