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Post by Lynn on Sept 1, 2015 19:55:24 GMT
It had been a long, hot day, sticky and nasty and VERY much not what the twins were used to. They'd had to fly to America, center of the resource wars and nastiness, to board their shuttle to the Aries, and almost immediately Finley had begun to feel ill. This had led to a quick scurry from the little plane to the shadowiest corner of the airport the pair could find, and Aisling now stood over her brother protectively while he recovered from the brief but nasty exposure to light that been too bright, too hot, on his sensitive skin and eyes. They were used to Ireland, where the sun didn't shine nearly as bright and where one could usually find the cover of some trees or clouds to break it up, so this ugly, nasty Florida weather did NOT agree with either of them. However...
"Why are those darn walls made entirely of GLASS?" the younger twin complained from his bundle of darkness on the floor, and his sister looked down at him and made a curious noise. "With that bright of sunlight, you'd think they'd be more interested in keeping it out." The addition was said in a voice that was not normal for Finley, and Aisling kneeled down beside him and peeked into the hood of his thick cloak, her green eyes meeting his unusual lavender ones, visible even through his dark sunglasses.
"Not everyone has the same problem as you, little brother," she reminded him gently, and he huffed, but nodded, knowing she was right. "Plus, these Floridians who've grown up here keep saying this is unusual even for their weather. They're afraid it means something very bad will happen." She glanced behind her, out one of those glass walls and to the direction they would be heading next. Even from this distance, the shuttle sitting on Cape Canaveral's lift-off base was visible, and she examined it as best she could with it being only a shadow. "Soon, it won't be an issue though," she whispered, and felt Fin's hand touch her's. Taking it, she squeezed, feeling him return the pressure through the soft glove he wore to protect his flesh.
"Soon..."
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Post by summerrain on Sept 1, 2015 20:15:06 GMT
This was a different part of America than they were used to. Being from the west coast, the triplets were used to heat and humidity, but the pollution in the air was even worse here than it had been back home. The three of them were walking down the corridor, each pulling a large suitcase.
"Where were we supposed to meet up with them again?" Aster asked.
"The west doors are where the buses stop," Galax responded. "Cape Canaveral has multiple buses for all the people who are going to Sanctuary."
"Man, you always have the answers," Acacia said with a laugh. "But let's take a break, this airport is way too big."
"Like our layover in Houston? Bush Intercontinental is ridiculous," Aster reminded them.
"Bush Intercontinental Airport is one of the largest in the country," Galax informed them. "A number of travelers find their destinations in the Houston area, while others set out from there, and even more are simply switching flights, like us."
"Smart ass," Aster responded, playfully bumping into her brother. She paused when she noticed another girl. "Hey, I think they were at our training," she said, motioning to them.
Acacia walked over, a smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Acacia," she said, holding out her hand. "That's Aster, and our brother Galax. You guys going to the Aries too?" Aster and Galax both offered their hands as well, the ones that weren't holding their suitcases.
"As to why this airport is mostly glass, that is because it reduces heating costs in the winter," Galax told them. "South facing windows invite more sunlight in the winter, thereby reducing heating costs."
"But this is Florida," Aster challenged.
"They get cold winters too sometimes," Galax reminded her.
"Smart ass," Aster repeated.
"Will you both stop it?" Acacia said with a sigh.
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Post by Lynn on Sept 1, 2015 21:01:00 GMT
Aisling glanced up as the trio came over. unconsciously tensing and shifting so she was in front of her brother, a purely instinctive defensive motion, since Finley was in no danger but was currently not up to his usual state. She relaxed when he made a soft sound in the back of his throat, an unspoken signal telling her she was being rude, and stood to take Acacia's hand. "I'm Aisling, and this bundle of cloth is my twin, Finley." A gloved hand waved and Finley also stood, his cloak shifting around him to settle lightly, covering him from head to foot. Sharp eyes examined the trio behind their dark glasses, then settled on Galax, and one invisible brow rose as he spoke. "My understanding is that heating hasn't been an issue this past decade or so, what with all the heat held in by the pollution and such," he said, his voice a light cross between a tenor and baritone, too high for the latter and just a hair too deep for the former. "Not that it will matter to us here soon," he added, and Aisling nodded, then smiled to the trio herself.
"We are going to the Aries, to answer you, Acacia," she said, smiling lightly. "What will you guys be doing once we reach Sanctuary?" Her curiosity about their jobs had Finley hiding a smile. Such a nosey creature at times, he thought. But at the same time, he wanted to know as well. A light beeping came from one of his bags and he chuckled. "Oh Finley, you didn't!" Aisling said, laughing. Her brother knelt down and opened the bag, revealing a small piece of machinery with six insectoid legs and two plastic 'feelers' attached to its head, which were lit on the ends with bright blue leds. "Oi... Why do you still have that thing?You won't need it in an agricultural society..."
"Because I can't just abandon it," Fin replied lightly, placing the little robot on the floor in front of him. "I know YOU don't believe Bug has feelings, but I do." Aisling just rolled her eyes.
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Post by summerrain on Sept 1, 2015 21:14:57 GMT
"I was planning on going into the medical field," Galax said. "So, I guess that makes me a healer? Oh, but I'm also going to help tutor the younger children."
"I'm going to be sketching new plants to help with cataloging them," Acacia replied.
"I dunno," Aster said with a shrug. "I never really thought about it."
"As for your response to the heating, this airport was built quite a while ago, back in the late twentieth century," Galax informed them. "It's difficult, nearly impossible, to reconstruct a building of this size in a reasonable amount of time. Too many people use this airport on a daily basis for that to be reasonable."
"You're doing it again Galax," Acacia said with an eye-roll.
"Sorry, I forget that you two don't do the brainiac thing," he responded with a laugh.
Acacia pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry about them," she said to the other two. "We're triplets, if you haven't been able to guess." Standing next to Aster, it was obvious that they were identical. With Galax too, there was enough resemblance for them to obviously be related. Same eyes, same smile...
"Oh, are you guys on the same bus?" Aster asked suddenly. "We're on bus two, scheduled to leave in an hour."
Acacia looked at the robot with interest, getting down on her knees to see it closer up. "Wow, did you make this yourself?" she asked.
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Post by Lynn on Sept 1, 2015 21:27:47 GMT
Aisling grinned as Acacia displayed interest in Bug. Oh dear, she thought. Looking to Aster she nodded. "We are indeed. We were supposed to be here yesterday, but our flight was delayed due to..." She hesitated, her eyes traveling away from the triplets as she recalled hearing of the disastrous riot on the tarmac that had delayed their flight. Thirty people had died and another 145 had been injured in an unexplained explosion that had also damaged three planes and destroyed another one outright. Finley glanced up at her, knowing what she was thinking, and another of those low, soothing sounds echoed from the back of his throat. It was a strange noise, more similar to one someone would use to sooth a crying infant or restless pet, but it had always done a good job o relaxing his twin, reminding her he was there for her.
The youth then gave Acacia his attention back and smiled. "I did, yes. I was in a high school robotics competition. Bug here won it for me. I use him for exploring things I don't know much about and don't trust." He pointed to the little camera mounted on its back. "That's actually why I brought him, Aisling, by the way. In case we need to explore areas that either aren't safe or we can't fit into." He cocked his head slightly, and a stray strand of his fiery red hair slipped out from under the cloak, only to be tucked back in fairly quickly. "I can modify him too, to be stronger, quicker, not have the camera. Any number of things."
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Post by summerrain on Sept 1, 2015 21:42:49 GMT
"Jeez, you brainiacs are all the same," Aster said with a laugh. "You sound like Galax."
"On the contrary," Galax began. "I prefer the theoretical side of it. Robotics, while having the potential to be very helpful in the medical field, isn't my primary concern. However... I am interested in the mechanisms that power the robot. What kind of battery does it use?"
"Cia, maybe you should show them what you do," Aster said with a grin.
"You think so?" Acacia asked, a bit hesitant. Aster nodded, and Acacia reached into the front of her suitcase, pulling out a sketchbook. "Well, we do have a while before the bus leaves," she reasoned, opening it. The first was a sketch of their house, with a big tree in the front yard. "This is our house, off the coast of southern Oregon, just north of the California border," she explained. "This one is the high school we went to." There were other sketches, too, some that were of plants, some were of animals, and some were of other things entirely. A couple sketches were of different kinds of dragons, even.
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Post by Lynn on Sept 1, 2015 21:55:27 GMT
"Would you believe it's actually powered by corn?" Aisling said with amusement, pointing to the robot. "Fin throws a couple handfuls in it and off it goes. Thing can last four or five hours on maybe a cup or so of corn, although heck if I know how it actually WORKS." Her twin grinned and winked at her, then got his attention diverted by Acacia's drawings.
"Dang, those are good," he said appreciatively, and Aisling, after peeking over his shoulder, nodded her agreement. "They'll make for wonderful memories, for sure." When the pictures of the dragons came up, Aisling glanced at him and chuckled soundlessly when she saw his attention was thoroughly caught. "You like dragons then, lass?" he asked Acacia, looking from the drawings to her, his head cocking slightly to emphasize the query and encourage her.
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Post by summerrain on Sept 2, 2015 5:37:50 GMT
"Corn? I would like to know how you developed that," Galax responded, looking down at the little machine.
"Okay, okay, the two of you can geek out over your little toys once we get on the shuttle to the Aries," Aster said with a laugh.
"Oh, um... Thank you," Acacia responded to Finley's praise, blushing slightly. "They are memories, but I will certainly be glad to not have to wear a mask just to walk to school." Dragons? "Oh, yes, I enjoy reading all kinds of dragon stories. From Harry Potter dragons to Pern to the roots in mythology. It's amazing to see how many different kinds there are out there. I like to think that the different kinds of dragons relate to different elements. Four-legged dragons like the ones in Pern seem to be more Earth-type to me, while the wispy dragons that you see all over China seem to be more air-element dragons."
"Cia, let the boy get a word in!" Aster laughed.
"You know you'd be doing the same thing if he asked about soccer," Acacia countered.
"Fair enough," Aster conceded with a sigh.
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Post by Lynn on Sept 2, 2015 17:27:57 GMT
Aisling chuckled with Aster, then listened to Acacia, nodding about the wearing a mask item, though she an Finley had been lucky and hadn't had to, and as she bubbled over about liking dragons, the blonde smiled, looking to her twin. She was surprised he wasn't stuttering like a fool, since, personally, she found the twin girls rather attractive, as well as their brother. Maybe he saw something else, she thought. He had always managed not to when a female displayed she had a brain after all.
Finley wasn't considering the fact he wasn't stuttering. He was charmed by Acacia, he really was, but at the moment, there was nothing more he could see going forwards, so he merely enjoyed the moment. Listening to her speak of dragons, he grinned, and chuckled when her sister cut in, stopping her. "Oh no it's fine," he insisted. "I agree with her, to a point, actually. I never pictured Pernese dragons elementally, given their purpose in being created, but as for the dragons myths on this planet? You have the fire-based Western dragons, or European if you will; the air-based Chinese Lung dragons; the Indian and Japanese Earth-Based dragons, then there's the Warrior Qilin, more of a draconic horse, if you will. Even America has legends of dragons from before the Europeans settled here, great beasts of the earth and sky who were the guardians of the land. And of course the giant Sea Serpents spoken of by sailors. Personally, next to Anne's creations, those are the ones that intrigue me most."
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Post by summerrain on Sept 2, 2015 22:27:34 GMT
Acacia nodded at Finley's words. "Yes, I believe each different type of mythological dragon originated because specific areas of the world were looking for reasons for certain events," she continued. "Earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes, and so on. Especially in ancient times, when they didn't have the ability to explain natural disasters."
Aster and Galax shared a look behind Acacia's back, sharing a grin. Not many people before now had clicked with their younger sister so quickly. It was nice to see her getting along with someone so well. Then Galax's wristwatch went off, and he looked at it. "Whoops, that's an old alarm from school," he said, hitting a button to silence it. "We've still got a good forty minutes before the bus leaves."
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Post by Lynn on Sept 2, 2015 22:52:53 GMT
"Many of the dragons were treated as gods of a sort, or guardians. Natural disasters were usually seen as a sign of the gods displeasure, regardless of the culture. I think, out of all the cultures of the ancients, that the Egyptians were really the only ones that didn't worship Dragons as beasts. Cats, Eagles, Owls and to some extent the dogs they had. But none of their myriad gods have the form or even the head of dragons. I wonder why..." He cocked his head slightly as Galax's alarm went off, but when the lad explained, he nodded, then gave his attention back to Acacia.
Aisling lips twitched as she watched and listened. "Finley," she said lightly, and he looked up at her, his eyes shining behind his dark glasses. "You're monopolizing." He blinked, then flushed, looking to Acacia and inclining his head in apology.
"I am sorry lass," he said sheepishly, and his sister chuckled softly and patted his head, unable to ruffle his hair as she normally would have due to the necessity of keeping the cloak on.
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