Welcome to Gaia! ::

Friday is here at last, eager science lovers! It's been utter pandemonium in the lab this week: beakers flying everywhere, mostly at me; heavy objects nearly falling on me; near-fatal forklift accidents involving me. Oh, wait a second... I just realized my research staff might be a little angry that I've been making them work 22 hours days. But the results speak for themselves: we have a jam-packed report this week, with evolutions from four great items:

You still have a chance to get Aria Dannata, our newest EI, before its first evolution! This operatic item is sure to build to an incredible crescendo, so make sure you're in on the ground floor.

It's an eventful week for Pandaista! Qin walks down one of the streets and happens upon a crowd in front of a flashy store. Curious, he makes his way to the front and finds that Furinge Salon is having a promotional deal! Buy a headpiece of your choice and one of their talented hair stylists will style your hair to match for free. Pawsome! Not caring if this will end up as a bad hair day, he darts into the store. Moments later, spots a neat beanie mounted on a mannequin’s head. Happy with his choice, he makes his purchase and takes the receipt to the connected salon.

Ling patiently looks around the station while she waits for the stylist to come back. Noticing someone has taken the seat beside her, she peeks over and spots an adorable beanie. “Cuteee!” She squeals gleefully and asks, “Is that your item?” “Yeah,” a male voice responds, “Spiffy, isn’t i—AH!” A look of surprise passes Ling’s face, a similar expression mirrored by the boy sitting next to her. Without thought, she exclaims, “It’s you! Peeping Tom!” And just as quickly, he counters, “I'm not!”

Regret at her sudden outburst shames Ling into silence. He really wasn’t, the association had just slipped out. Twiddling the lensless glasses in her hands, she occasionally glances at the boy occupying the next seat over before muttering a small apology. “It’s okay,” Qin comments, “It’s just embarrassing,” “Pfft,” Ling snorts, “EmBEARassing.” Catching her pun, he bursts into laughter, causing her to do so too. The two hair stylist returns to a pair of customers in a giggling fit. Looking at one another, they shrug and smile in amusement as they begin working their magic on the now happily conversing pair.

Emerald Dream - As the Dreamer and the Superficialist make their way along the yellow road they soon come upon a loud clanging sound. A man dressed in all shiny metals stands along the road preening, quiet proud of his fabulous collection of clothing. He has no heart and no time to appreciate anything but himself, so the pair offer to take him along.

Hoarfrost Pass - Upon his return to the city, Cicero is offered the Princess in marriage for returning her safely. He tells the emperor, "We still don't understand the enemy which took her. I would rather have permission to travel north again, to investigate further threats to the empire." The emperor is reluctant to lose the hero, and deliberates for several weeks. At last, he agrees.

Meanwhile, Stieg travels west to his homelands. His people recognize that he is no longer enslaved to his blood rage and allow him to live among them again. Now he carries a different weight on his shoulders. One day, an eagle finds him, carrying the latest of many letters. It contains an oath, promising the sender will meet him at the pass before the month ends. Stieg reads runes before he sets out on his journey, and sees the quiet pattern of the dawn stars.

Long after Cicero has left his city, a whisper spreads. A shaken servant, a woman responsible for dressing and bathing the girl since she was small, tells it one evening to her close friends. She speaks of a small girl with a birthmark shaped like a cornflower, and a woman who returned from the Northlands who had no birthmark. She speaks of a darkness in the Princess' eyes that others do not notice. The next morning, the servant is gone.

Far in the north in a frozen fortress, a woman's body lies, the flower mark on her skin buried and secret with her, beneath the ice and snow.

That's all for this week, friends! Tune in next time for more scientific news. In the meantime, you can keep yourself busy by voting in our weekly EI poll, or head over to the Cash Shop to stock up on all the finest items. Here's wishing you all an unusually fond and misty farewell!