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 Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:58 am
"You could be a cosmonaut," said Iouri seriously, pointing to some of the other heights on the wall. The cutout of Gagarin wasn't much taller than Cass, only two inches or so. "Being short's not so bad."
It was a bit difficult to believe this coming from Iouri, who did not really seem like he had ever been short in his life. Awkward childhood not discussed. "All the early space explorers were short! See, it pays off. Gagarin was 5'4" and he was easily the most important person in the 20th century."
After a moment's hesitation in which it occurred to Iouri that his young protege might have no idea who Yuri Gagarin was, he quickly added, "First human being to orbit the earth. A proud son of mother Russia! Like me!"
Iouri lined himself up with the height chart and towered over his heroes. "Well then," he said. "Want to see a rocket ship?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:23 am
"Sssso..." Cass said slowly, hinting at suspicion that was slowly vanishing. "That's really how big he really was? This isn't some display for little kids?" It never hurt to double check when your brother was constantly calling you a little girl for having such a stature.
Slow realization brought more wide eyed expressions from him, though. "That's cool! Oh! Oh, Russia- they... and the... I know about the dog! T-they put a dog in space with Sputnik!" His mind wasn't a total empty chasm occupied by only fiction and fantasies. Mostly. He just... happened to learn this tidbit from TV and details were all but lost.
At the offer of seeing a real rocket, all he could do was nod his head rapidly and get ready to scuttle on Iouri's heels again.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:17 pm
"Yes!" exclaimed Iouri happily, grateful that the boy knew at least something. "Laika. A trailblazer in her own right. I have a dog named Laika!" So named because of her resemblance to the actual dog, although people rarely got that part of the reference. A rat terrier was a rat terrier to most people.
The hallway went on for a while, winding past various displays before widening into another sort of node. This room was in many respects the twin of the meteor room, except that instead of a giant rock, it held a space capsule encased in a carefully-fitted shield of thin plastic. The hatch had been removed so that intrepid visitors could get a look inside.
Off against the wall was a reconstructed crash couch inclined at a low angle, with tight walls around it and a sign overhead reading "WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SIT IN A SPACE CAPSULE?"
Iouri bounded to the center of the room and practically preened. "This is my favorite part of the exhibit!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:32 am
"You have a dog?" Cass half squeaked out in utter jealousy. He was one of those kids who yearned for a puppy all through childhood and was very firmly told no because of a family member's allergies. His brother's bug fancies were a poor substitute, even if he did use the scorpion they shared to terrorize babysitters at the cost of a few stings.
He was quickly off the jealousy train as they made their way into the next room though. He skittered this way and that, eying the space capsule and peering all around and inside before darting back to the crash couch against the wall and nimbly stuffing himself onto it and trying to adjust for the angle. He was getting to the point where he really needed no invitation.
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Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:47 am
"How does that feel?" chuckled Iouri. It always cheered him to see kids get enthusiastic about the interactive parts of the museum - not to mention that it justified the money he'd gotten administration to sink into the exhibits. If the youth of Destiny City thought that science was cool as a result of his efforts, then it was mission accomplished for Iouri Spekter.
"As you can see, it's quite cramped." he said, motioning the the tiny amount of space between the chair and the walls. "That's why early explorers had to be short!" In space, you could not exactly open a window or let the roof down if you needed more space.
"Anyways, this is the end of the Space hall."
Indeed, it was a dead end.
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:22 pm
Cass nodded a little, glancing around the dead end. It was here his mind had managed to slow down enough to check the time, and when he saw it, he had a small freakout to the point of falling out of the interactive exhibit and dropping his cellphone.
"CRAP!" He blurted out, scrambling to pick up the phone and ejected battery and fumble it all together and start trying to gnaw off his wristband.
"Th-- ack, thanks f-for the tour, I have to go," He said it what probably would've been a rapid string of words if he hadn't choked and stumbled on several syllables thanks to the urgency, and then quickly darted around to where he remembered the exit was.
He was so dead.
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