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 Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 9:06 pm
The familiar cold of her wonder brought a smile to her lips. By now she equated it to the welcoming embrace of stepping into her home, or at least her home away from home. Granted she was dressed for it considering her uniform had plenty of layers that kept her warm enough, though there were times when even she got cold in here. The idea of possibly having proper temperature control throughout her wonder was another thing she was looking forward to, assuming she was ever able to restore the power here.
That was the goal, though, wasn’t it?
Ekstrom couldn’t help the smirk when she opened her eyes. It was pitch black, as she expected, though she doubted Andreiya would be too thrilled about that.
“Hang on, I’ll get some lights.” Focusing for a moment, she pulled a portable, high lumen work light out of her subspace and quickly got it set up to illuminate the area around them. She pointed it toward one side of the room, and then pulled a second one out and pointed it toward the opposite side of the room, so they could see the space in full. It looked like another lab, not the first she’d seen here and she doubted it’d be the last, but it was her first time in this specific one.
The room itself was surprisingly large. On one side there were three long desks that spanned almost the entire width of the room. One side of each desk was entirely flat–where the consoles were all embedded, if she had to guess–while the other had a myriad of lab equipment, now dusted over and in disrepair. The other half of the room was split down the middle, shelves on one side and what looked like long carts on the other. There were metal boxes of varying sizes throughout that half, empty or tipped over or broken. And there was dirt. Everywhere.
“Well…this space is new to me." Ekstrom looked back over at Andreiya, her expression turning sheepish. "Welcome, though."
Backdating to 8/2/24.
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 1:49 pm
Andreiya was not a fan of the sudden chill, and no matter how much he thought he’d braced himself for it, he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t much of a fan of the hot summers on Earth, but winter was tolerable when he had the proper outfitting.
His uniform offered him some resistance to the chill but he shivered and rubbed his arms while the lights were out.
Waiting patiently for her to set up the lights, Andreiya debated how to handle what he assumed to be the proper formalities. “Does that happen often?” he asked, taking a step towards the nearest dusty surface. He stuck out a gloved finger and brushed it across some unidentifiable technology. He pinched the dust between his finger and thumb before grinding it into nothingness.
“I know very little about how Knights travel to their Wonders. I assumed you would have a landing pad or something. But you have not been here before? Do you not know your own Wonder?”
Though blunt, Andreiya did not seem to have any malice in his voice. This was a surprising fact, and though he was clearly keen to examine this strange area, he turned to face her. The light wasn’t quite in his eye but he squinted and then shuffled to take a different position in the room so he could see her better.
“I didn’t even ask where we are. And you did not ask my name. I forgot to give it. I am Andreiya. And you share a name with your Wonder, don’t you? What is it?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2024 1:05 am
”The cold?” Ekstrom asked as she made her way over to the flat side of the closest desk. The layer of dust was such that she decided she probably shouldn’t disturb unless she wanted to start a fit of sneezes, but she could tell beneath that layer was a panel of glass. Beyond that, it was hard to say, but it might have been some kind of screen or input interface, if the console in her quarters was anything to go by.
Looking back over at him, she managed a small smile. There was fondness in it, but her tone was an apologetic one, because she loved her wonder but knew that it wasn’t exactly in tip-top shape. Maybe it was too soon to share?
“Yeah, sorry. I probably should’ve warned you. Without the power there’s no temperature control anywhere, so coming here is like walking into a giant icebox.” She moved slowly, taking in what details she could as she walked alongside the desk. “Mm…as for how, knights have an incantation they recite when they wanna go to their wonder. No landing pad for me, but maybe someone else might?”
The next couple of questions were a little surprising, mostly because he had asked them so bluntly, but rather than be upset by that fact Ekstrom laughed lightly as she replied. “I come regularly, actually! Just that I haven’t been able to see all of my wonder, yet. Getting around isn’t that easy because of the power situation.”
She was about to share some similar experiences during her previous visits when he turned to face her. She stopped talking then, blinked curiously before her eyes went wide when he explained that they’d skipped the formalities. “I am so sorry,” she said, cheeks taking on a bright pink hue out of embarrassment. She’d just whisked a perfect stranger off to her wonder without even knowing their name…
Thankfully it didn’t look like he was all that upset by it, considering the very matter-of-fact way he brought it up, so she bounced back as quickly as she could to correct her misstep. “Ah, I’m Ekstrom Squire of Mercury. It’s very nice to meet you, Andreiya.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2024 6:32 pm
“Oh. It is nice to meet you, too. Ekstrom. I will remember that.” He nodded firmly, and though he had already committed it to memory, it was for courtesy as well as science. He wanted to learn. Which meant building a good rapport.
“I did not need a warning, I am durable. But if you invite me back, I will dress warmer next time.” Although, maybe that was too forward. There weren’t any plants to examine here–at least not immediately–but he found himself enthralled by the prospect of power, and her devotion to restoring it.
There was a little skip in his step as he walked in a small circle around the room. “Did all of your Wonder look like this before you got here? Dark, and cold? But you keep coming back. Are you looking for something here, too? Or just trying to bring your Wonder back to life? Oh, I am sorry. I have a lot of questions. I don’t get to talk to Knights often. I think it’s very interesting.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2024 9:57 pm
”Sounds like a plan to me!” Ekstrom laughed lightly, glad to hear that her new friend was interested in coming back despite the lackluster introduction to her wonder. She knew it had a lot to offer, it just needed to be given a chance! And if Andreiya was willing to do that, she was more than happy to have him back for more visits in the future.
She carefully moved across the room, toward the shelves on the other side. “Pretty much. I teleported into the ‘lobby’ when I first got here, and the only light was this really, really faint pulsing light in front of me. I…did a lot on that first visit, but I guess not enough to restore the majority of the lights.”
The Squire turned on her heels then, squinting as she caught the glare of the light with the movement. Adjusting herself much the same way he had just moment earlier, she took a second to refocus on Andreiya. “And yes, I do!” came her very enthusiastic reply. “Since my goal is to restore the power, I’m trying to get a feel for the space, what was done here, how it worked in the past, all that good stuff. I’m sure I’ll find something as long as I keep looking, so I have to keep coming back!”
Ekstrom waved away his apology then, and shook her head. “And ask away, I don’t mind. This is the first time I’m getting to share this much about my wonder with anyone, so I’m actually pretty excited.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2024 7:14 pm
“Oh, good,” Andreiya sighed with relief. He knew he could easily overwhelm her with questions but he planned to make a conscious effort to ask a reasonable amount. “Isn’t it dangerous to teleport so freely? I would be afraid of winding up somewhere I shouldn’t be. We’re not supposed to use our warp pads if we suspect there’s damage to them,” he chattered. “It could result in injury. But I suppose our technology is vastly different from your magic.”
As she moved around the room, so did he, though he kept a watchful eye on her.
“What have you found here? Anything useful for your…”
Though his voice trailed off, it was clear that he was still thinking. “Well, all of you Knights and Senshi seem so different. What are your goals?”
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 7:31 pm
”I don’t honestly know if I’m doing it right half the time,” the Squire admitted with a sheepish little laugh, “but I just try to visualize where I want to go when I recite the incantation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I figure once everything’s all set here, it won’t be that much big a deal since I can just walk to where I wanted to in the first place.”
Which…maybe took away from the convenience of transportation, but that was fine. For her, anyway.
“I’ve found…my ring here,” she said, flashing the little silver band that she currently had around her left index finger. Touching it with her thumb, she channeled the magic briefly to show him a little bit of what it did. “So I can do a bit of camouflaging if needed. And a few other little things that are pretty specific for here.” She gestured to her belt to show the “little things” in question.
“As for goals, honestly for now I’d just like to figure out how to get the power restored so I can explore all of what my wonder has to offer. If you mean in a less me-specific way, I…honestly just wanna keep people safe from Chaos.”
That’s what she seemed to be most focused on during her patrols, anyway. Keeping DC’s innocents safe.
Kyuseisha no Hikari Mercury Aspect — A Mercury Knight's form becomes staticy / glitchy in appearance, as if they were products of the advanced technology that is their planet's pride and joy. This enables them to blend in with their surroundings slightly: opponents have trouble seeing them if they are standing still, and their movements can be difficult to read in close combat.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 6:25 pm
Andreiya filed away every scrap of information she shared with him. He nodded eagerly as he listened, as if trying to encourage her to go on.
He hadn’t known Knights could do things with rings so that was definitely going into his ‘things to explore later’ file.
“You seem to have worthy goals. I hope you can accomplish them. Those are very logical. I admire you,” he said suddenly, with firm conviction. “I have met many people since coming to Earth and many of them have no goals. They look to today, not tomorrow.”
He wanted to know more about her ring, about her belt, about this place. He didn’t want to press too much or overstay his welcome. He was willing to put in the effort to make her want to invite him back.
“This place is dusty. Can I help you clean it up? I would like to hear more about the things you want to do but we should be productive, yes? I have been on Earth for a while but I still have so much to learn. I don’t dislike your world. I just miss my own. I want to go home. But I want to help people, too. I want to keep them safe.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:59 pm
His compliments got a faint blush out of her, and she gave a shy little shake of her head.
“Just what makes sense for me, I guess? I don't know if it's worth your admiration or any of that…but thank you!” She beamed at him, considering his words and the conviction he seemed to have behind them and wondering if she ought to give herself a little more credit than she did when it came to her knight things. Nothing she’d done so far had felt particularly praiseworthy, but hearing someone say that she had good, forward-thinking goals was surprisingly encouraging.
And he even offered to help her clean, of all things. If it was possible, she brightened up even more.
“I won’t say ‘no’ to getting some help with the cleaning around here,” she said, quickly summoning two duster sticks and a vacuum-packed bag of the refills from her subspace. “Lucky for you, I can talk while I dust! Feel free to ask me more questions. I'll answer as best I can.” Ekstrom quickly prepped both sticks and crossed the distance between them to hand him one.
“If you don’t mind, though…” she said, her smile softening as she offered him the duster, because he said he missed his world. Not that she had any idea if it was really far, nearby but inaccessible, or had completely been wiped from existence, but she had a feeling there was something there.
“I’d love to hear about your planet, too.”
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2024 3:15 pm
Andreiya seemed slightly suspicious when she asked about his planet, but such was his nature. For as much as he loved discussing Velenya, he was still cautious. He didn’t know who might try to use that information against them.
…Probably not Ekstrom.
She didn’t seem like she had any penchant for foulness, and Andreiya considered himself a very good judge of character. Objectively speaking, of course.
He accepted the duster diligently, because he hadn’t made an offer he wasn’t keen to follow through on. He wanted to see this place cleaned up, and though he wouldn’t admit it, the idea of starting small–restoring even just a room–felt like such an obtainable goal.
It wasn’t like the long-term experiments or projects or missions he was currently set on, where he could make progress but not have the satisfaction of a truly completed job.
As soon as he was equipped, he half turned away and began working on the nearest dusty counter. He had his questions, but he intended to make this a fair exchange of conversation. Maybe it would open the doors for her to trust him and teach him more.
“I will tell you what I can. We are from Velenya. It isn’t like Earth at all.” Proudly, he explained, “We built our own world. It’s not organic, like yours. It is synthetic and well-maintained.” Well, except for the part where it was dying, and the Commodore along with it, but he wasn’t ready to share that much. “But it means we are very limited in what we have available to us. We have to resource our materials externally, which means we have to go harvest off world to replenish our needs. We are mostly self sufficient, but such things are also necessary. We have a home planet, a true planet, but I have never been. That’s the one I want to restore. Our Commodore is from there. I want him to see his world again. I want it to thrive. For him. And all of us. I love Velenya, though. But it would be nice if we could have a world like Earth, too. I think most of you take it for granted, to have water and oxygen and trees and animals and the freedom to live how you like. Most people seem to waste it. But I suppose it is not always easy to appreciate what you have if you have never been without it.”
He made a face as he brushed up a cloud of dust and exhaled with great effort to blow it away from him as he continued his enthusiastic dusting.
Ekstrom seemed like she had a lot of work to do if she wanted to get this place completely clean and restored. He intended to be as useful as possible for as long as he could.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2024 12:45 am
She looked hopeful but had no intention to press if he refused. He probably had his reasons if he preferred not to share; and even if he didn’t, she couldn’t imagine it was for some nefarious reason. Someone who was willing to help a perfect stranger dust off an old, abandoned room didn’t seem, at least to her, like someone who would be knowingly involved in something underhanded.
In any case, it wouldn’t affect how much she shared about her own wonder. Equivalent exchange didn’t have to apply to everything, after all.
Ekstrom turned to start dusting as well, her expression going from restrained hopefulness to delighted excitement when he started sharing. She turned to look at him once or twice as he spoke, reacting specifically to the idea of a synthetic planet, as well as the idea that a whole planet needed restoring, but she didn’t want to interrupt so she held her tongue until he was finished.
“Mm…” she hummed a bit, mostly weighing his last statement about taking Earth and its resources for granted. She had other questions about Velenya, actually, and about his people and the Commodore, but it didn’t seem like the greatest time to continue asking just to satisfy her own curiosity. He shared plenty, and maybe he’d be willing to answer more of her questions in the future, but for now what he told her was more than enough.
“Yeah, can’t say I disagree with you there. I don’t think we’re a lost cause, but we could probably be doing a lot better about taking care of our planet.” She paused with her dusting to look over at him–in part to avoid the giant dust cloud she’d just kicked up with her duster, but also because to her there was something about sincerity being fully expressed when properly looking at someone.
“I try to look at everything in a positive light, so I like to think there’s hope for us. If there's even a sliver of a chance at something, anything, as long as there are people who are making the effort I don't think any endeavor, big or small, is ever hopeless." Her smile was as bright as ever, her optimism perhaps a bit blind but backed by genuine conviction in her words. "So if there’s ever anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to reach out. I don't know if I'll be able to do much, but I'm more than happy to do what I can!”
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