Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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- Dec 1, 2016
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23rd July 2013
08:39 GMT
Roy looks towards where Supertown stands out like a wart against the verdant forest below. "Is that actual gold?"
"I didn't check. Probably not, but once you get matter transmutation technology gold isn't really anything special."
"I wasn't thinking about the cost. It's just… Gaudy." He turns to Arisia. "Is this some sort of space thing?"
She looks a little confused for a moment. "No, we..? Don't cover buildings in gold on Graxos Four." Something occurs to her. "Except-. I think some places around the equator use gold film to reflect light away from their windows. But not for decoration."
Roy look towards the local star, probably working out the amount of sunlight Supertown is likely to get. Yes, that's not why. "How about other planets?"
"W-. I haven't been to all that many planets, but I haven't seen anything about other planets having gold buildings in my planetary database."
Donna shakes her head. "Is this really important?"
"Different species perceive colour and shape differently. Understanding why the New Gods of New Genesis coat their buildings in gold might reveal something fundamental about their psychology."
She throws me a quizzical look, and I manage to keep a straight face-
"Snrk."
-for a good ten seconds. It gets a chuckle out of Roy and Arisia as well.
"No, it's probably… Either someone made their buildings gold when they first got the ability to make all the gold they wanted, and now it's tradition… Or the gold thing is incidental and it's just a facet of New God technology that we can't perceive."
Donna nods. Okay, we're well inside the atmosphere here…
"Roy, flight systems?"
"Finally. All systems green." I release our tether, and he's flying on his own. "Thank you."
"Okay, I'll drop you from orbit next time. Your inertia belt system should let you survive."
He thinks for a moment. "I know you just said that 'cause I'm whining about being a passenger, but-."
I nod. "You actually want to try skydiving in power armour."
He tries to shrug. "Eh."
"I'll drop you when we go back to Earth." I slow to a halt. "Alright, this is it. Troia, you and Lantern Rrab have Supertown, Arsenal, you're with me." I clench my left fist. "Connect." My rings and Arisia's ring start glowing faintly. "If we get interrupted, that'll stop. Direct communication every half-hour."
Three nods, then Roy and I peel off while Arisia and Donna fly onwards.
"Alright, now-."
"If they react badly to us showing up, retreat. If they complain about my armour, check for threats and then get out. I got it."
"Good show. New Gods have a sort of.. magical translation assistance so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding them-."
"But the armour's got a translator program for a bunch of alien languages just in case, I got it. Seriously." I nod. "Were you serious about the woad?"
"No."
"Uh."
"Woad is a plant native to Earth. It isn't cultivated on New Genesis. You won't recognise many plants here, though the underlying evolutionary logic which gave rise to Earth plants still applies so you might see a lot of things which look a bit like plants you're familiar with. Eating them is probably safe, but you should make sure that I'm around before consuming just in case."
"Right. Uh…"
"I don't have files on Primitive culture, but based on what I know about tribal societies in temperate environments it's entirely possible that they haven't discovered shirt technology yet."
"Okay."
"If that's what you were working up to asking about."
…
He sighs. "I need a girlfriend, dude."
"Even though I can assume female form, I'm-"
"Huh?"
"-taken."
"No, that-. Wasn't what I meant. Ah. Arisia. Is she..?"
"Other than the slightly off skin colour, she's basically human. Physically and culturally compatible. She's going to want to move back to Graxos Four when her training is over, but that's only in the Sector next door so the travel time isn't that bad."
"Okay, but you know her better than I do."
"Well, yes, and if you want me to tell you her tells for what construct she's going to make then I can certainly do that, but I've only really interacted with her professionally."
"But don't you know what everyone around you wants?"
"I can see what they want, and-" I make a point of looking at him, and when he doesn't complain… "-if you're looking for normalcy then you've completely missed the boat. But I generally don't share what I know with other people due to respecting their privacy."
"I-. No, that's fair."
"Also, she's got a massive crush on Lantern Jordan."
"Huh?"
"That's not a privacy violation; she's not exactly subtle-."
"But he's her teacher." I give him a look. Come on, we were both teenaged boys, don't be a hypocrite. "And like, twenty years older than her!"
"Twenty two, to be precise. Ah. Have you seen the Disney film 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?"
"Yes?"
"Esmeralda was sixteen. Want to guess how old Phoebus the Guard Captain was?"
"Twenty two years older than her?"
"About that. So it's not a lost cause, and I think that Jordan would thank you for trying because he finds it creepy too… But it's not that weird that she'd find a mature man attractive."
"Okay. You got any better suggestions?"
"Ah. Catwoman's single?"
08:39 GMT
Roy looks towards where Supertown stands out like a wart against the verdant forest below. "Is that actual gold?"
"I didn't check. Probably not, but once you get matter transmutation technology gold isn't really anything special."
"I wasn't thinking about the cost. It's just… Gaudy." He turns to Arisia. "Is this some sort of space thing?"
She looks a little confused for a moment. "No, we..? Don't cover buildings in gold on Graxos Four." Something occurs to her. "Except-. I think some places around the equator use gold film to reflect light away from their windows. But not for decoration."
Roy look towards the local star, probably working out the amount of sunlight Supertown is likely to get. Yes, that's not why. "How about other planets?"
"W-. I haven't been to all that many planets, but I haven't seen anything about other planets having gold buildings in my planetary database."
Donna shakes her head. "Is this really important?"
"Different species perceive colour and shape differently. Understanding why the New Gods of New Genesis coat their buildings in gold might reveal something fundamental about their psychology."
She throws me a quizzical look, and I manage to keep a straight face-
"Snrk."
-for a good ten seconds. It gets a chuckle out of Roy and Arisia as well.
"No, it's probably… Either someone made their buildings gold when they first got the ability to make all the gold they wanted, and now it's tradition… Or the gold thing is incidental and it's just a facet of New God technology that we can't perceive."
Donna nods. Okay, we're well inside the atmosphere here…
"Roy, flight systems?"
"Finally. All systems green." I release our tether, and he's flying on his own. "Thank you."
"Okay, I'll drop you from orbit next time. Your inertia belt system should let you survive."
He thinks for a moment. "I know you just said that 'cause I'm whining about being a passenger, but-."
I nod. "You actually want to try skydiving in power armour."
He tries to shrug. "Eh."
"I'll drop you when we go back to Earth." I slow to a halt. "Alright, this is it. Troia, you and Lantern Rrab have Supertown, Arsenal, you're with me." I clench my left fist. "Connect." My rings and Arisia's ring start glowing faintly. "If we get interrupted, that'll stop. Direct communication every half-hour."
Three nods, then Roy and I peel off while Arisia and Donna fly onwards.
"Alright, now-."
"If they react badly to us showing up, retreat. If they complain about my armour, check for threats and then get out. I got it."
"Good show. New Gods have a sort of.. magical translation assistance so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding them-."
"But the armour's got a translator program for a bunch of alien languages just in case, I got it. Seriously." I nod. "Were you serious about the woad?"
"No."
"Uh."
"Woad is a plant native to Earth. It isn't cultivated on New Genesis. You won't recognise many plants here, though the underlying evolutionary logic which gave rise to Earth plants still applies so you might see a lot of things which look a bit like plants you're familiar with. Eating them is probably safe, but you should make sure that I'm around before consuming just in case."
"Right. Uh…"
"I don't have files on Primitive culture, but based on what I know about tribal societies in temperate environments it's entirely possible that they haven't discovered shirt technology yet."
"Okay."
"If that's what you were working up to asking about."
…
He sighs. "I need a girlfriend, dude."
"Even though I can assume female form, I'm-"
"Huh?"
"-taken."
"No, that-. Wasn't what I meant. Ah. Arisia. Is she..?"
"Other than the slightly off skin colour, she's basically human. Physically and culturally compatible. She's going to want to move back to Graxos Four when her training is over, but that's only in the Sector next door so the travel time isn't that bad."
"Okay, but you know her better than I do."
"Well, yes, and if you want me to tell you her tells for what construct she's going to make then I can certainly do that, but I've only really interacted with her professionally."
"But don't you know what everyone around you wants?"
"I can see what they want, and-" I make a point of looking at him, and when he doesn't complain… "-if you're looking for normalcy then you've completely missed the boat. But I generally don't share what I know with other people due to respecting their privacy."
"I-. No, that's fair."
"Also, she's got a massive crush on Lantern Jordan."
"Huh?"
"That's not a privacy violation; she's not exactly subtle-."
"But he's her teacher." I give him a look. Come on, we were both teenaged boys, don't be a hypocrite. "And like, twenty years older than her!"
"Twenty two, to be precise. Ah. Have you seen the Disney film 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?"
"Yes?"
"Esmeralda was sixteen. Want to guess how old Phoebus the Guard Captain was?"
"Twenty two years older than her?"
"About that. So it's not a lost cause, and I think that Jordan would thank you for trying because he finds it creepy too… But it's not that weird that she'd find a mature man attractive."
"Okay. You got any better suggestions?"
"Ah. Catwoman's single?"
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