Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was a beautiful, clear day in the Western reaches of the Kawani lands. The sun was shining, the recently fallen snow had melted, the temperature had risen to a balmy, spring-like temperature...all told, it was a beautiful day to be out. Even better to Zapina's way of thinking, it was the sort of day where enough Soquili would be on the move that she might, might be able to move around without attracting too much attention.

It was a risky proposition, she knew. Members of the Mall'wari Troupe tended to stay within the borders of their herdlands, behind the ring of now-defunct torches , the 'firewall,' that marked the edge of their land. This had been a safety measure; keeping the virus contained as well as keeping the more severely affected members of the herd safe from external peril. But the firewall had long since been abandoned, and a greater understanding of the virus had made some members of the Troupe brave. For her own part, Zapina was still wary; one of the resident Anti-Viruses had explained that the spread of the virus was mostly mental; that unless a non-infected individual spent a LOT of time around an infected Mall'wari, the only real way to spread the disease was to expose a Soquili with a very low tolerance for...

Well, for weirdness. Zapina had long since lost most of her self-conscious attitude towards her appearance. Like many members of the Mall'wari, infected and uninfected alike, she appeared to have blurred, blocky, pixelated edges when being looked at. It was normal for her, but for the greater wolrld? Not so much. So it was a calculated risk for her to venture out beyond the firewall; a risk to herself, and a risk to any sensitive souls she might encounter. Still, it was a risk that she needed to take once in a while; as a File, it was her responsibility to be informed about the greater world as well as her home in the Mall'wari. That meant occasionally looked at things with her own eyes.

On this particularly beautiful day, Zapina was striding across a wide open stretch of newly exposed grassland. The sponginess of the ground was a reminder of the recently melted snow, but otherwise it could almost be spring instead of the middle of winter. Letting of a light sigh, Zapina uttered one terse word. "N̙͎͇̻͒ͦ͒i͎͖͉͙̘͑̿ͧ̾c͖̦̲̦̣̙̩ͩ̐e̓͊̒͗ͯ͋ͯ͜.̰̞̝̦ͭ̾̊"

Trotting along at Zapina's side, her wolf familiar gave a sideways glance. Since Zapina had started manifesting the virus, Server Unavailable had become her loyal companion; as Zap's case had become progressively worse, Server had become invaluable. Because the act of speaking caused Zapina's memory to fade out, she kept her speech to a minimum; it was Server's job to interpret Zapina's gestures, expressions, and badly distorted fragments of speech into a coherent whole. Sometimes, this was easier said than done. But sometimes, like now, Zapina needed no interpreter. It really was nice out.

Danger, danger, so much danger...but to whom?

Zapina had been careless. She had been so eager to get out in the world, to take advantage of the beautiful, that she'd forgotten her duty. Well, not her primary duty, of course; that was, and would always be, to gather and share her stories and information. But she, like all members of the Troupe, had a duty to the Soquili community at large, a duty to contain the virus. A duty to keep others safe from infection; that meant keeping a wide, WIDE distance from other Soquili. Being close enough to another Soquili to have a pleasant, non-shouting conversation could put them at risk; consequently, Zapina had always tried to keep a watchful eye out for other Soquili. The least she could do was warn them before they got too close. So how had this mare gotten within 'the danger zone' so easily?

Well, that was an easy one; lack of attentiveness on the part of Zapina and Server both. She couldn't help but give her familiar a mildly reproachful look; after all, Server WAS a hacker, and therefore supposed to be good at keeping her eyes and ears open.

Honestly, Zapina was surprised; though she'd established a security protocol before ever considering verturing out of troupe territory, she hadn't expected to really need it. She wasn't an idiot; she knew that her look was at best strange and at worse, intimidating; the flickering, 'glitching' effect on one's appearance was quite unsettling, and not limited to those actually infected with the virus; Server was one such individual, sharing Zapina's visual weirdness but lacking any of the mental affects of the virus.

At any rate, all of that was moot; the mare standing and giving them such a friendly smile was clearly not scared of what she saw and in fact seemed curious! What Zapina wouldn't give to be able to tell her, to TRULY tell her, in a cascade of beautifully flowing words. But no, she'd have to delegate that responsibility to Server. Instead, she took a wary step back from the other mare, raising a wing in a gesture meaning 'careful.' As she did so, she uttered another characteristically terse statement: "C͉a̡̼̬̭̙r̵̮̭͈̩͈ef̠̫̬͓̟̘ú͉l̮̝̘͖.̶̺̼̫̺͖͚̱ ͕̻No̱̹̗̲̯ṱ ̨̗̫̤ͅc̡͚̺͚̺͚ͅḷ̬̹̯̰os̮̜̤̜̜͎ͅḛ̺̻̟͚.̪͓̯̠"

For her own part, Server could have kicked herself for not paying better attention. While Zapina's primary concern was the potential infect of strangers, Server was always worried about the effect the strangers might in turn have on Zapina, who wasn't used to the ways of the greater Kawani lands like those who made their living out there. She tried to run interference for Zapina whenever she could, not only in matters of speech but in matters of personal sensitivity. And she knew she totally the disgusted look she'd been given. Quickly, the wolf moved in between Zapn and the strange mare, giving her friend a reassuring look before addressing the mare.

"Hello yourself; no offense taken, but you should really stop there. Stop, or even back up a bit, just to be on the safe side. We really don't want you to run any risk of infection, do we?" Smiling in what she hoped was a non-threatening manner, Server nonetheless was keeping a careful eye on the situation; there would be no new threats on HER watch!

Zapina had been more than a little anxious about the other mare's reaction to Server's warning. Sure, Zapina approved of the intent, and she felt that her familiar had done an admirable job of rapidly communicating necessary information. However, as always, Server's delivery had been blunt and forceful. There was no future for her in storytelling, Zapina would be the first to admit. Considering that Server was a Hacker and not a File like Zapina, one could argue that there was nothing wrong with Server lacking a File's way with words. Still, as a storyteller herself, it always pained Zapina when something that could have been said musically was flatly stated in a way that could be considered rude or, worse, boring!

So Zapina had watched the other mare warily, hoping that she wouldn't simply decide Zapina and Server were weirdos who were better off left alone. After all, this mare was the first stranger Zapina had seen in...well, in longer than she could recount; for a File, that was saying something! And Zap desperately wanted to prolong the encounter...even if she couldn't safely be too close while it was happening.

She must have done something right lately, however, as the spirits had taken pity on them. Rather than get offended or leave, the mare actually listened to Server, stopping at an acceptable distance from the glitched pair. Even more delightedly, she actually seemed interested in them! How Zapina wished she could launch into a full and detailed explanation for the benefit of the mare; explain the strange laughing malady that affected the minds of those infected and the even stranger 'side effect' of the rippling 'glitch' appearance of infected and uncorrupted alike, provided they spent enough time in the company of one already affected. If it wasn't so troublesome, it would be a wonderful story!

Still, Zapina knew better than to push herself. The virus had taken a long time to attack her, but now she was as infected as the least-functioning member of the Troupe. Fortunately, she had a better handle on controlling her symptoms than some; all she had to do was, sadly, remain silent.

Mostly silent, anyway. Giving the other mare what she hoped was a friendly smile, she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as she responded, "C̭̪om͏̻p̰͉̟l̢͈̦̗̹̯̦i͙̲̜͢c̲̞a͉̘̜̲͢t̳̭̬̦̣͖͢ȩ͔̟̞̦͕ͅd͓̲̲̙̝ͅ." Then, feeling emboldened by the other mare's bravery in sticking around, she followed up with introductions of her own. Gesturing at Server with one hoof, she said "S̮e̮̱r̤̝͕̻̲͠v͎e̜̩r̻ ̖͔̼U̮̪̥̺n̛̦͓̤̲͔̮̻a҉v̵̯̣̻͕a҉̬̩i̼̠͉͟l͕̯̖͖̣̳a̭̠̱̻͟b̶̹̪̫̱̤͓͙l̙è.̭̮̠̦͟ ̙̰W̵̮o̘̯̣̭̞̟l̼f̘͟.̲͉̠̘ ̵H̪̠͔̞̥̮a̜̰̙͠ͅc̴k̥̯̳e͟r͙̝̯͢.̡̲͕̥ͅ" then pointed to herself and said "Z̦̩̲̣̹à͚͍p̩̝̭̞͈̣i̪̖̜̮n̗̱͜a̧͚ͅ.̩͕̘̩͕̲ ̢̲F̲̺i̝̳̰̝l͎̠̘̜̭̬̼e̟͙͚̖͘." Finishing her little introductions, she smiled proudly at not just Thalia but also Server. She'd managed to say several words without flubbing once!

For her own part, Server was impressed, but also worried. It wasn't good for Zapina to talk; perhaps they ought to just mosey on their way now, for the safety of BOTH mares...

Well, maybe after a little more conversation. But just a little. In her growly voice, Server said in response to Thalia's original question, "It's not a common disorder, but it's better safe than sorry, as Zapina said. She's Zapina, I'm Server, if you didn't catch that," Server added with a quick glance at Zap.

Zapina had long since come to terms with some of the 'constant' effects of the virus; her unusual 'glitched' appearance was beyond her control, as was the odd hum and occasional crackling snaps of static. Back when the audio effects had first started, Zapina had been put out; it had been difficult to get used to the constant noise, and she had spent many sleepless nights adjusting to random outbursts of static. The intellectual part of her had wondered if her Ulun'Suti blood played any role in her static viral manifestations; after all, it was a known fact that Lightning Ulun'Suti had a close relationship with the electrical element. Couldn't she create a low level static field, even before she came down with the virus?

Still, most other infected members of the Troupe could not claim that Suti blood, and they all exhibited some sort of 'electrical' quirk. If her blood was behind her audio issues, it firmly believed in sharing the wealth! Even the non-Soquili in the herd were glitched, displaying the odd disappearing-parts aspect of of the virus and making weird noises.

That said, she had been infected for far longer than she cared to acknowledge, and her hums and crackles had long since passed into the realm of 'white noise.' Any reaction the other mare made in response to Zap's noises was chalked up to simple discomfort in her presence, a sentiment Zapina was more than capable of understanding. She was a very unsettling mare these days, there was no denying it!

Though she was pleased at the other mare's fortitude, and smiled in her crooked way when Thalia repeated and confirmed Zapina's own name. "Ć̪ó̠̥̮ͅr̺̘͕̝r҉̗͎͕̳̩e̢c̬̟͓͙͝t̵̯̖̜̬̹̹" she said with a slight bob of her head. She wanted to continue the conversation; explain how she and Server came about their names, the meaning they held within the Troupe, and their own comparative newness to the traveling lifestyle...but one glance at Server's frown was enough to seal Zapina's lips from any further risk.

Server herself was under no such restrictions, obviously, though she was feeling decidedly antsy about the whole meeting. Still, they had warned the mare, who was doing a moderately respectable job at keeping her distance, so Server would let it slide. Zapina was clearly keen on continuing this little interlude, and it was rare Server had a chance to oblige her friend with a little novelty. So, unsettled as she was, Server was in it for the long haul. "Our names are connected to our home culture, within the Mal'waari Troupe. The Troupe has been isolated for a long time; it would seem we've gone in a different direction with names." Server paused, wondering if it was appropriate to share even that bit of info with someone they'd just met. "We aren't really 'distance travelers', but I've been out and about a fair bit in my time. Some of the best advice I can give you is to keep track of where you are so you don't get lost, and listen to your gut at all times. Sometimes things just won't feel right, and you should trust those instincts."