I like the top of my bookshelf. It's where I keep all my weird doodle-ma-doos. Like my pretty, flowery cardboard iPod speakers...that I've never used once. They look pretty, though. I've also got a cylinder of Chinese tea. I think I'm out of the tea, but I still have the tin because it's pretty. Pretty like my tea box, which contains two smaller pretty tins of tea. Pretty, pretty, pretty. Not quite pretty but still cool are my Star Trek Barbie and Ken. The Ken one is kinda disturbing because the stand doesn't hold him at the waist like Barbie's. Instead he "sits" on a wide plastic stick. That can't be comfortable. It must work, though, as he hasn't fallen off the bookcase like Barbie has.
Standing on my bed, I reached across all of that to my pretty teacup, the one holding both of my Tokidoki donut girls. After plucking out the chocolate one, I plopped back down on my mattress - and immediately regretted it. It's too close to the bookcase; Lieutenant Barbie promply nose-dived off it and colided with the stack of my old accounting textbooks.
"Let that be a lesson to ya!" I snorted at the doll before leaning back and addressing the cute thing hanging from my hand. "Desiree, this is why you're my favorite."
Of course it didn't reply. "Desiree" was nothing more than a cloth-made girl with donut ears and a donut inner-tube around her waist, plus a pink string to hang her by. I think she's supposed to go on cell phones, but out here in the West they don't design phones to have hanging decorations. Kinda lame, really.
I yawned deeply, eyes shut and everything. It was a yawn that Kasuga Ayumu would be proud of. Relaxed and refreshed, I opened my eyes.
You'd think I'd be used to it by now. In the three seconds it took for me to have the most perfect yawn ever, the whole world changed around me. Again. Instead of sitting on my covers, I was butt-first in dust, from my bare feet to my tush. Because this place was some sort of out-of-season farmland, the dirt was all soft, the perfect kind to get stuck on your clothing for a week. At least I was wearing jeans. I've been sleeping in my clothes ever since all this random teleporting nonsense started taking place.
"Hello there. Nice to see you again."
Toby Collins reached out a hand to me, and I accepted his help up. John and Cheonha were also there. Fortunately everyone was dressed and seemingly awake. The time zone differences in our countries being what they were, that's very lucky.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"I dunno, some kind of farmland," John said. "It's not like any place I've ever been, so unless one of you three have some idea, we're out of luck. This would happen right when Charlie was saying we should make ourselves easier to be found."
"Oi, Bethany, does it smell like China?" Toby joked.
I sniffed. "No. Smells like...dirt, I guess."
Of course it would. It was a massive field, harvested, and all that remained in it were the few scraps of dried stems and roots left behind. On one side of the field was a spread of trees, sparse for winter and rising upward along with a hill. The other side of the two-lane road sloped downward, also spotted with trees here and there. I took in all this in the two seconds it took for me to notice a problem. A large problem. About ten feet of problem, to be exact.
Aldaris turned to us at the sound of our voices, and we all stared at each other like idiots for a second. I pointed down the road.
"You, uh, may want to get out of sight..."
Aldaris hurried away from the road, heading for something I hadn't seen yet. Behind me was a barn, an old, grey, abandoned-looking thing in the middle of the field. It probably wasn't really abandoned. Out in the country, sometimes shacks just get left alone because they're full of old crap a guy won't get rid of but also won't do anything with. That's why they invented that show American Pickers.
So while our Protoss hid behind the barn, me and Toby inspected both lengths of the road to check for upcoming cars. Cheonha, not knowing what else to do, I guess, followed along behind us. The road didn't look like it got much traffic, and nobody was on it at the moment.
"We might still be in North Carolina. Or somewhere in the south," I said. "This doesn't look all that unfamiliar to me. Out in the country it gets pretty empty."
"That's a good thing." Toby's eyes wandered back over to the barn. "I don't think Charlie's going anywhere."
Toby was right. When we got back to the side of the barn, Aldaris was sitting against the far side of it, still fiddling with a jewel-thing on his upper arm. Judging by his frustration, the jewel-thing wasn't working. Hm, it must be what he uses to get on the ship when nobody's on it. But Aldaris didn't vanish in a cloud of blue, electric smoke. He let loose a silent wave of frustration before addressing the four of us.
"When the recall unit malfunctions," he said, all gruff-like. "It requires time to recharge. With the five of us recalled, I estimate it shall be a full day until it recovers its power."
"Really? After only teleporting five people?" Toby asked. "The arbiters in Starcraft could transport a lot more than that."
"Yes, because Starcraft is the measure by which reality is determined," Aldaris snarked as he pulled a part of his cloak over the jewel thing on his shoulder. Didn't like us wee ones looking at it, I suppose. "Trust that if I would leave this place, were I able."
"So we just...wait here?" John said. "In the middle of nowhere?"
"Unless you have a better suggestion."
"Yay, the conspirators are goin' campin'! Awesome!" I started giggling uncontrollably. I just couldn't help it. The situation was just too nuts. Here we are in the countryside, four near-strangers and an alien, and we have to hide from everyone. Just like a movie. Oh great, Aldaris was staring at me like I'm crazy again. It loses the effect because he does it so much. But I couldn't stop laughing. "Sorry, Charlie, it's just too funny."
All of a sudden, my humor cooled, like a level inside of my brain slowly going down. It took me a second to realize that the local psychic was doing...something to my brain. It felt exactly like being shushed, and Aldaris, one eye twitching, lifted a finger in front of his face to the shush position. With the psychic help, I settled down. ...It's still funny, though.
"Well, looks like we're going to have to hide you," Toby said, happy and oblivious to what was happening to my head. "We can check and see if this barn is empty."
"I doubt it, somehow," I said, calm enough to talk without laughing. "I'd bet it's full of rusty machinery."
"Well, whatever you find in there, have fun," Statkus said, starting off for the road. "I'm going to walk along and see if I can find a gas station or something to get us some water and food."
"No, you are not. You are going to stay here." Aldaris narrowed his eyes, and John froze. "You are also going to turn over your cell phone to my possession."
John, blushing, turned around and started back, sheepishly rubbing his neck. Was he really going to try to rat Charlie out, or did he just not think of that? I couldn't tell. The irritation on his face flattened his mouth to a line, and a glance hit me before went off to hand over his cell phone.
"Now the rest of you."
I patted my pockets, feeling only my debit card. It was still in my pocked from having walked over to the gas station for frozen yogurt. "I don't have my phone on me."
"Here's mine," Toby said. "I wasn't going to call anyone on it. Though if it rings, I should pick it up. I was expecting a call from my mother."
"I was hoping for a call from a job," I complained. "I really hope nobody chooses today to say I'm being hired. In any case, I'll go look for a gas station. Good thing I've got my debit card in my pocket."
I froze. If this place was somewhere in the United States, it was fine. I would be able to find a gas station and tell anyone who asked that I had taken a road trip with someone. Nobody's going to believe that I took a road trip plain out of the country, especially if wherever this was is somewhere across an ocean. Try explaining that one to your bank.
"In this country?" Statkus retorted, unable to know I'd figured it out on my own. "We might be somewhere that doesn't even have atms."
"Well, I sure hope that one of you guys have some cash then, because if not, we're SOL." I sighed. "If I felt like bumming from strangers, we might depend on their pity."
"I'm not good at figuring out how to explain why I'm in a foreign country," Toby said. "I've had to do that before, and I almost got caught."
"None of you shall leave this place until I have assessed the situation," Aldaris demanded. "A human can live without food for a day. Be quiet and allow me to think."
What was there to think about? It's not like he knew where we were. On top of that, exactly how does a Protoss know how long a human can go without food? Whatever. It's not like I had a plan. To judge by the looks on the other's faces, they didn't either. Cheonha stood awkwardly by me, expectantly looking at us for some indication of what we were going to do next. Well, we had no answers for her.
Aldaris was...well, he wasn't sulking, but he was glowering with thought as he stood there against the old barn. Every so often he would focus his glare on one of us, particularly me. He'd go back to thinking, and then he glared at me again. I don't know what I did, but there's no reason for that kind of attitude.
"We shall not remain here," Aldaris decided. "We must go among those trees, where they and the higher elevation shall perhaps hide us. One of you four must go and investigate for a short while, that we may determine our location. John and Cheonha may not go. As for the remaining two..." Aldaris glanced between me and Toby, unhappy with decision. "...I shall regret this, doubtlessly, but Bethany, you shall go. Follow this road until you have some sign of where this place may be. You believe you this place seems familiar, and if that is true it shall be all the better for the four of you. If not, you are to follow us up this inclination and report what you may. Return to us at twenty of your minutes, if you have learned nothing. Sooner, if you may report relevant information."
"Um, okay," I said. "Though I'm a little nervous about being lost. Oh, and before I forget, I may as well hand this over." I dug in my pocket as Cheonha went over to the guys. I, however, was headed 'Tossward. "Charlie, you were talking about us giving you an item that meant something to us, and this is what I pick. It's handy because it can't break or make a mess."
Holding her by her string, I handed Desiree the donut girl to the Protoss. Aldaris stared at the thing, completely baffled. Oh yeah, Aldaris has probably never seen a donut before. I don't figure Raynor ever had those on a military vessel. At least not the pretty kind with sprinkles.
"What is this?"
"It's one of those hanging phone decoration things they have in the Far East. She's a Tokidoki donut girl, supposed to be called Chocotina, or something like that, but I prefer to call her Desiree. See, I really wanted this one specifically - chocolate, you know - but the Tokidoki figures come in these boxes that don't tell you which one it is until you open it. However, God then pointed out to me one specific box, and it turned out to be her. So she represents for that God cares about my desires, even the silly, pointless ones. Oh, and it's also the same night I got some free spanish tapes for my mom and found my coworker's lost debit card."
Aldaris stared at me with an expression he'd never used before. He was utterly incredulous. Heck, I think I broke his brain for a second. I tried really, really hard not to giggle again. Charlie can only handle so much of my nonsense. He snapped out of it though, and for a second he looked like he would say something to me. Then he just gave up and looked at everyone else.
"Has anyone else chosen their items?" he asked, voice tinged with dread.
"I haven't," Statkus said. "Sorry."
"I have," Toby piped up. "But I left it at home. Don't worry, it's just an old book. Nothing odd."
Aldaris turned to Cheonha, and for a moment, Aldaris' eyes flashed. I think they always do that when he talks, even if we can't hear him. Cheonha didn't reply. She took one of her sandals and started picking at one of the plastic flowers on top. The glue holding it down ripped, and she handed it to Aldaris. He didn't ask any questions.
"Go now," Aldaris told me. "If you can do as much as follow this road, then you shall not wander beyond all hope of rediscovery." Aldaris gestured up at the hill. "This incline is none so imposing, and you shall have not long to be outside the range of my mind. If all else should fail, merely climb upward, and I shall find you, if you cannot do the reverse."
At least he didn't say it like he thought I was a complete idiot, this time. And he was right about following the road. I shrugged and started heading forward, around the curve of the hill. Maybe one of the guys explained watches to Aldaris. Otherwise I'm not sure how he would understand the concept of twenty minutes. Even if he knew human time back in the K Sector, time is based on planets, and Earth isn't out there.
Cheonha saw me moving, and she started to follow. With the flash of his eyes and no sound whatsoever (to my brain, anyway), Aldaris called her back. She bit her lip and looked at me like a little lost kitten. I don't know why. Seriously, she sometimes acts really weird when I'm separate from the rest of the group. It's not like the guys are bad guys, or whatever. I briefly watched everyone go up the hill; the autumn had already claimed most of the leaves of the trees, and they weren't all that close together. It must have been a new planting, or something. So it was still possible to see Aldaris, even if vaguely, from a bit of a distance.
Whatever. I had my little mini-mission to deal with, and eventually he'd be behind enough trees, especially if he nerd in the open didn't look that way and give any wandering strangers a clue that something interesting was there.
Not that there were any wandering strangers at the moment. The road was empty for a full five minutes of walking. I followed the curve of the road around the hill, and it descended as it went along. The whole countryside was just like where we first appeared: hills and trees, a lovely landscape that anyone in a car would love to have outside the window. Given that I was not in a car, I shivered. Even with my long sleeves, autumn had hit this place hard, and it wanted me to feel it. Oh well. The walk would heat me up anyway.
If this turns out to be the US, and there's a gas station nearby, I thought to myself. Then Aldaris can forget the twenty minute limit. I want food.
Another couple of minutes brought me to where the road leveled out, and the flowing hills briefly turned into flat lands on both side of the road. There up ahead was what I wanted to see: a crossroads. There would of course be a sign to tell me what the name of the road was. Huh, if this was somewhere in the English countryside, then I was going to regret Toby not being here with his debit card.
None such luck. I got a sour feeling as I approached the sign that very much was there, and getting close enough to it confirmed my worst suspicions. An overabundance of consonants told the truth: this was somewhere in Eastern Europe.
I groaned. All my hopes for food and drink were dashed. Camping is quite a bit less fun without hotdogs and cocoa. Praying that one of the guys had been on a grocery run before they arrived and had arrived with a bag or something in their hands (ignoring the fact that I'm pretty sure that they had nothing when I'd seen them before), I turned around and headed back. Well, at least we knew where we were. That wasn't so bad.
Before that point, I might have been passed by a car or two. I really don't remember. What I do remember is not long after I headed back for the hill, another car came along, and it didn't pass. It slowed beside me, no matter how determined I was to completely ignore it. Some voices with their European languages chattered at me, and I politely waved at three guys in a red Lada. Literally the only word I know of an eastern European language is what I had previously told Aldaris: "aer", meaning "air" in romanian. Unfortunately, the strangers were more well versed in my own language.
"Hey you," said the one guy in the back seat. "Hey, Beautiful, are you lost?"
"No, no thank you, I'm fine," I said, trying not to look at the guys too much. Hopefully they would get the idea that I wasn't interested.
"Ah, you're American, aren't you?" said the driver. "You look like you need a ride."
"No, I'm good, thank you." I walked a little faster.
"Seriously, you're a long way from everywhere. We can help you out."
"Seriously, I'm okay," I gave a thumbs up. "Thanks for your concern. Goodbye."
Unngh...they followed. The obvious strategy was to get away from the road, but since it had curved downward on my way there, in going back I had to go upwards. The ground extended only a little ways out from the road before dipping downwards, until I got back to the part where the road wrapped around the hill. Moreover, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go that direction - these looked to be guys in their twenties, and you know guys of that age always have more time and inclination towards random adventure. They might follow me back towards the Protoss in the woods.
"Get in the car!" laughed the guy in the back seat. "I promise we don't bite!"
Oh goodness. If that guy wasn't a little drunk, then he was just hyper and uninhibited. Either way, that made joining him in the back seat even more unappealing, even if I were someone who actually wanted a ride. In any case, I didn't answer. I just gave them a thumbs up and kept walking. Ignoring people works sometimes. Not this time, unfortunately. The guys literally slowed down to watch me. I groaned internally with all the force of a collapsing warehouse. Were all these guys under the influence?
"Are you sure you're okay?" the driver said again, sounding sober enough. "Where are you even going out here?"
"I'm on a walk, and I'm going to meet someone," I said. Yep, not a lie. "He's around here."
"Okay, suit yourself."
The guys drove off, unfortunately at much slower speeds then I would have liked. Given that I was the only person in miles, I had to assume that they were watching, so I couldn't go back to the correct hill and risk leading them up it. I kept on walking along the road, passing by the old, abandoned shack as though it wasn't there. To make it worse, this road only wrapped around the original hill for a little while, and from there it straightened and the guys would be able to look back and see me from a considerable distance. And they still wouldn't speed up. I didn't curse my luck - up ahead some of the trees grew closer to the road. I ducked behind one once I reached it, squatting there until I could be sure the guys were gone. And then I stayed there longer, because two other cars decided that they also wanted to be around.
I looked up at the darkening sky and made a noise of ill-content.
Aldaris' annoyance threatened to turn into a headache. Here he was, trapped in a forest in human lands, where the autumn trees barely bothered to hide him. Most of the trees barely reached over his head, and going uphill didn't help matters any. Still, the trees did get thicker as they went upward, and being out of the line of sight of any passing vehicles would help. Short human legs, however, couldn't keep up with his own. Letting the humans get out of his sight was not an option. Aldaris either had to go slowly or stop and wait every so often. Picking between these two accelerated the pain in his temples.
He rubbed the sides of his head as he paused to wait again. Toby at least tried to go faster, and he marched ahead without complaining. Cheonha only with difficulty navigated the rocky, root-y ground in her little plastic slippers, and John stayed by her side. Or tried to, as every time John got near her she seemed to want to step away. Aldaris found that difficult to understand. The boys' peaceful thoughts toward her were especially obvious to the psychic, and John in particular seemed to see her in a childlike, protection-requiring state. The Protoss wouldn't admonish Cheonha. She was his favorite of the four, and he also felt rather protective of her, however much the headache threatened.
Which was why all three of the males flinched when Cheonha tripped over a root and fell against a tree. She steadied herself against the trunk and pushed away John's helping hand.
"Kuduga nappayo," she muttered.
Aldaris went back. Cheonha was small enough; he offered his hands, and it took a moment for Cheonha to understand what this meant. With only a little hesitation she accepted, and Aldaris picked her up and lifted her to his side. One advantage of the rough North Korean life was that she was both small and light enough not to be a real burden to the Protoss, even at his age.
Toby clicked his tongue. Lucky...
Aldaris rolled his eyes. How many times would he have to remind these humans that he was a psychic? Besides, at his height the branches of the trees got in the way, and Cheonha's new position meant they were in her way too. She wasn't so lucky as they presumed. It was embarrassing enough without Toby's commentary to have to hold a human adult as a child - if she was an adult. Aldaris could never be sure about human developmental levels.
"Be silent," Aldaris said. "And endeavor to keep up."
However embarassing the strategy, it worked, in more ways than one. Now John didn't have an excuse to walk slower, so he and Toby marched up the hill almost as if they were competing. For her part, Cheonha sensibly avoided holding on to his neck and strangling him. Instead she placed her hands on his shoulder, all without tugging on his robes.
They marched on, and all too quickly came to the top of the hill. Aldaris wondered if this was the wisest place to stop. There was no reason to think one way or the other; the view from his height revealed many hills, all roughly alike in size and number of trees. If there was some advantage to a different place, then he, and likely enough the humans, could not know it. Aldaris set Cheonha on the ground.
"Yogi issoyo?" Cheonha asked.
"Yes, we shall remain here," Aldaris replied. Even if Cheonha's mental intent hadn't been obvious, this was a phrase that Bethany knew well from her intermittant study of her korean books, and it was no difficulty to pick this up mentally. The korean phrase was simple enough for him to remember, even with its double meaning. "We shall wait until my vessel can recall us."
"Which will take all day," John said.
Aldaris lifted his eyes upward. "All night, to judge by the position of your star."
"And you'll know when the spaceship is ready, right?"
"I shall."
"If your ship has to recharge," Toby pointed out. "That means it's solar powered, right?"
The Protoss didn't answer. Instead he settled down beneath one of the trees, patiently straightening his robe as he sat with complete control and dignity. Toby looked expectantly for an answer, but he received none but the brief flashing of his yellow stare.
Cheonha settled down next to Aldaris. She rubbed her arms up and down. "Nalsshi-ga aju chuwoyo."
That statement was beyond the korean vocabulary of everyone else present, so none of them responded. John looked around for somewhere to sit himself, but Toby stood up and paced a bit. He was a little happier than usual, much to Aldaris' dismay.
"So, Aldaris," he said. "I know how much you like to hang out with Bethany, but I think it's fair that the rest of us get a chance to ask you a few things."
"I do not 'hang out' with any of you, least of all the shiftless one," Aldaris retorted. "Moreover, ask what you like, if the sounds of your words is pleasing to the ear. I am not obliged to answer your questions, regardless of your opinion on the matter."
"You're going to have to answer questions at some point," John said. "If you get caught."
John had spoken with a lazy sort of confidence, if his dour expression revealed anything. The Protoss lifted his own eyebrow, and John twitched. The memory of his foolish actions on the Juniadros returned to him, and he silenced.
"He's not going to get caught," said Toby as he tried to pretend to be oblivious. It was a pointless attempt, as Aldaris already knew that John had told Toby about his threats. "Seriously, I'm just curious. You can't blame me for filling that way. It won't hurt anything to tell me a little about the Starcraft universe. So, first of all, do Protoss worship the Xel'Naga?"
Aldaris didn't answer, but his awful glare said much.
"Alright, alright, I'll take that as a no. But what about the Tal'darim and the Ihanrii? Are those real?"
"Refrain from using the fictionalized words of Blizzard." Aldaris turned away in disgust. "It is ill enough that they speak of that which they do not know, yet far worse that they attempt to create words in our own language."
"What I want to know," John shifted his knees up so he could rest his chin on them. "Is why the Protoss only used those super powerful planet-destroying canons on human worlds instead of on Char."
"Yes, that!" Toby snapped his fingers. "That's what I wanted to know as well!"
"You do not require an explanation," Aldaris retorted. "Be it known that if this had been possible, it would have happened."
Statkus' eyes narrowed a bit with doubt. "Really?"
"By the gods," Aldaris groaned. "Do you truly believe that the Protoss are so fond of being invaded that we would purposely refrain from using one of our greatest weapons in our own defense, merely to spite humanity?"
An embarrassed Statkus reddened a bit, but sat back against his tree trunk and muttered something inaudible. Humans don't always think in coherent words, so even the psychic got no more than a rolling wave of irritation in reply. Statkus was corrected, and that was enough.
"Anyway," Toby said. "Okay, so you can't tell us about the Protoss. That's alright, then. Perhaps you're a little more open to telling us about humans over there? What are they like? Do you know anything about the UED? What about Stukov? Did you ever meet him?"
Aldaris' eyes flickered. He had somewhat control over their color, so he tried not to let them turn as red and angry as he felt. Toby was merely curious, and mostly harmless. Aldaris only stared dully at him until Toby sighed and turned away.
"Thanks a bunch, Statkus." Toby glared at John. "This is why Bethany is his favorite. You just had to go put him in a bad mood, didn't you?"
The Protoss rubbed his aching head. As wrong as Toby was about favorites, John Statkus had ruined his mood, or what was left of it after being stuck here. Right now the only saving grace was that he was definitely able to shut down the recall unit with his quorrian emblem, and that his ship was not currently causing any more mischief on this wretched world.
Perhaps in time I shall speak of the humans I know...Toby mentioned that he was fond of Raynor. Hm, were that my memories of Commandor Raynor more pleasant to speak of. I shall perhaps tell these two humans a little, my aching brow permitting. It is a way to pass the time.
Aldaris removed his hand from his eyes and tried to relax and not think of all the remedies he had for headaches back on his ship. Only then did he remember that there were three humans present, not two, and her little brown eyes were looking up at him rather the same way a small animal would. Cheonha wasn't saying anything, but an aura of questioning was around her, a more strong one than a mere inquiry for information.
Sonsaengnim, she said, only in her mind. Help me. Please.
The english words were clumsily pulled out of Cheonha's memory, and Aldaris tensed. Just the thought of the language barrier made the nerves at the side of his head throb.
And to think, I was so near to naming Cheonha my favorite of the four.
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Author's Notes New:
- Yeah, I pretty much rewrote the entire chapter after the first bit. If you're wondering why this update is so late, it's because I had already written some of it, but then through computer happenstance lost my updated version. Fun times.
- The Tokidoki doll story is entirely true.
- Vanilla Starcraft doesn't have nearly as many plotholes as Brood War or SC2, but it is a pretty big one that the Protoss never used their planetary weapons after the Terran missions. I'm probably going to mention at some point in the text my version of why this happened.
- Kuduga nappayo is a way to say "shoes are bad." In context, Cheonha was saying "my shoes are bad", but because you can skip pronouns in korean, you can use this exact same phrase to say that anyone's shoes are bad. Kudu is one word for "shoe", ga is the subject particle, nappa means "bad", and yo is the polite style ending. Cheonha uses it here because she doesn't consider herself close to Statkus.
The phrase yogi issoyo has more than one meaning because issoyo does. Yogi just means "here." On the other hand, issoyo is the polite style form of a word that can mean "to have", "to exist", or "to stay" - the opposite of this is opsoyo. In formal language, the "exist" and "stay" parts of this word are covered by "kyesehyo" (pronounce the first y very lightly), and the "have" meaning is issusehyo.
As for nalsshi-ga aju chuwoyo, that means "the weather is very cold." Note that in korean that nalsshi is not spelled with the h character. I put it there purely for pronunciation purposes. In korean, when an s is before an i, the sh sound is produced.
- If you're wondering, Aldaris' ship actually has multiple fuel sources. Toby is right about the solar power, but solar power is difficult to collect efficiently and given the long distances in space, not always pragmatic. The ship also has radiation collectors, because space is filled with all manner of ambient radiation, especially near gas giants like Jupiter.
That too is somewhat limiting, and so Protoss have their own power sources based on crystals. This is the best and strongest source of energy, but it is also the one that Aldaris has no access to at the moment.
- Protoss can sort of control the color of their eyes. All Protoss have one or two specific eye colors that are natural to them, and the ones with two (like Aldaris) can switch between them almost at will, sort of like how the human iris can contract and expand, sort of at will. It is emotionally related. It is not generally possible for Protoss eyes to turn a color that they weren't born with (outside of archons - but not dark archons), but it is said that legendary figures here and there in history could do it.
Generally Protoss have greater control over whether their eyes are flashing or not. Normally their eyes glow faintly (with some stirring of light), and, as you see in unit portraits, glow as they speak. Tassadar's eyes flashing one after the other is highly unusual, and is the result of his training. Likewise, Zeratul's eyes, which seem not to glow at all, is also the result of his Neraz training. Glowing eyes are not stealthy, and warriors, more often Dark Templar, can be trained to keep it down. Zeratul has mastered this to such a degree that it takes him no real effort, just like his ability to cloak. However, this does risk having a negative effect on his vision, which is why the practice is not more common.
Protoss eyes do fade somewhat with old age, but they don't stop glowing without specific effort to do so. Which is why Raszagal's eyes were still normal.
Note that I'm going by original SC graphics, not by SC2 or SC1 Remastered. SC2 is SC2, and I haven't looked at Remaster's graphics enough to know what it's about. I'm just annoyed that they got rid of mah boi Aldaris' sweet goatee. Not real fond of what they did to Raynor, either.
