I'm super stoked about the upcoming chapters. This is one of the few stories I've been ridiculously motivated about. I just keep getting new ideas and I'm always wanting to write.
Enjoy!
-[8]-
A messy pile of auburn hair moved as the woman pulled the blanket off of her head. A groan escaped her lips as she exposed her skin to the cool air. The ceiling was dim as her eyes opened. Ellie blinked a few times, taking in where she was and the warmth of the blanket wrapped around her. As soon as she remembered where she was last, she jerked upright and looked around.
Zarek was gone.
A dainty hand reached up and ran over her wild hair, smoothing it down a bit. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep on the Engineer's chest. But he was gone now, and probably was at the meeting he was discussing yesterday with those council Engineers.
After she stretched her arms she hopped off the bed and walked into the 'bathroom'. It was silent, she made sure of that before barging in again; just in case.
It was empty, and she was glad to not to have stumbled in on Zarek again. She really wanted a shower, she felt disgusting after what she had gone through in the last couple days. She silently made her way over next to the half wall protruding into the room. On the very end of it, there were two familiar triangular buttons. She pressed the one on the left, and immediately, the small platform that jutted from the wall above her began to rain down on the spot to the left of her. The floor had a slight curve downward, toward a tiny drain seam around the little 'hill' in the marble. It looked very similar to a regular shower on Earth, only with the drain around the edges of the shower rather than in the middle.
She reached out and swiped at the water, testing how warm it was. The water was a bit too cool, she pressed the same button again and then reached out to test it. It seemed to get a bit warmer, after pressing it a third time, the water was a nice temperature. The woman glanced back to make sure David wasn't there, even though it wouldn't matter to him to see her without clothes. She stripped herself of her robe and jumpsuit, hanging them on the sink like structure. She slowly tiptoed into the shower once she was undressed, the water felt wonderful as it poured over her skin.
There wasn't any soap or shampoo that she saw, but it made sense because they didn't really have hair. She stayed in the warm shower for a couple minutes, fully rinsing her hair and wiping her face clean. It never felt so good to be clean. The thought of finding a towel crossed her mind, it was freezing outside the water; she didn't want to get out and not be able to find one. As she opened her eyes and looked around, directly in front of her, there was a thin crease on the wall, she reached out and pushed it. A little section of the wall popped up about an inch and a half, and she slid it to the side, realizing there were about eight black towel looking cloths inside. She took a step back and pressed the opposite button, and the water cut off instantly. She quickly pulled out one of the towels and wrapped it around herself, it was already warm.
After rubbing her hands on the other towels inside the storage cabinet, she realized the warmth was just in the fabric. This was an incredible invention in her opinion, especially for such a cold planet. The towels must have a special fiber that generates a small amount of heat naturally. She continued drying herself off, and got dressed.
…
When Ellie made her way downstairs, she found David seated on the main couch and he was looking at a huge hologram screen. The screen appeared between the two bars on the wall she had noticed, creating a nearly 8ft holographic screen on the curved wall. The blond synthetic immediately piped up when he heard her enter the room,
"Good afternoon , sleep well?"
The woman chuckled and plopped down beside David on the couch,
"I did, thank you. What are you doing?"
The synthetic kept his eyes on the large screen, typing on a keyboard that had appeared in his lap. He clicked a few buttons and pulled up a photo, it was of an older Engineer.
"I was searching for the family ties to our friend. They have an enormous database that has all of the individuals on the planet inside it. It's similar to a police database on Earth. I can find photos and records of deceased individuals too. I believe I've found his family. It looks like many in his bloodline died out, but he has a distant cousin that married into another family group. The colored collars represent which family group someone belongs to."
This made sense, it was a way to distinguish which family each person belonged to. She was very curious as to how the families were different, and how the council was selected.
"That's fascinating… Can you find a map of their planet as well? Or the distribution of the people geographically?"
The android nodded quietly, typing away on the strange keyboard. Screens changed and a map appeared, the planet was a cool blue color, and it seemed to be warmer inside the core; according to the android. He zoomed in on the area they were in, and showed her the 'city' that they were in. It appeared to be built in a groove in the surface of the planet. It wasn't quite underground, but was in a serious valley. She titled her head as she stared up at the map,
"So the city is in a valley… to protect it perhaps?"
"The city is better protected from the high velocity wind and the constant blizzard-like weather. This planet is very cold, it's average temperature is about 40 degrees fahrenheit; on a good day. This planet's temperature plummets at night to far below freezing."
The blond craned his head to look at her as he continued,
"So you could breathe the air here, but it gets so cold at night, the tissue in your lungs would begin to freeze over. You'll need a breathing apparatus to go outside at night for longer than a couple minutes. The wind speeds are that of a category three hurricane normally; they're much higher during a blizzard."
Ellie shuddered at the thought of how bitterly cold it was just in the room, much less how freezing it would be outside. She looked back to the artificial man on her right,
"Why is the planet so cold; does it have to do with the atmosphere? And why would they stay somewhere like this?"
The android tilted his head back and forth for a second, like he was contemplating an answer. He cooly responded,
"Well, the atmosphere is incredibly thick, and it blocks out a lot of direct sunlight, therefore making the planet rather cold on the surface. There aren't many planets that can support complex life like this. If you look at their bodies, they evolved to survive on this planet."
She nodded in agreement, and leaned back against the back of the couch. David kept poking through files while the doctor watched. He knew she had a thousand questions, and was just waiting for her to speak. He pulled up some files regarding their history, and what had happened in the last couple thousand years. The Engineers kept an impeccable record of their history and what all had occurred. David began to explain the findings, since she couldn't read the language,
"It seems that around the time our friend was alive, there was a large controversy as to whether human begins deserved the planet they were created on. This was a major issue for the council, and the decision was in favor of destroying the humans with the bio weapon they had designed a couple hundred years earlier. They were going to restart with planet Earth, before your kind destroyed a life sustaining planet. However, It seems that humans weren't the only species they created, they've created other humanoids based upon their own DNA on another planet as well, but there isn't much information about them here. Not that I can access anyway. "
The thought of the Engineers creating another race similar to humans made the two of them sit for a moment and truly appreciate how advanced they were. Ellie was truly curious about what the other race was like, and where they were. David continued,
"There was a civil war of sorts, right after the outbreak on LV-223. It was a revolt on the decision to destroy humans. Some were infuriated that their loved ones were sent away and killed as a result of their own weapon getting loose on their own people, and the mission was abandoned after the loss of those on LV-223, and those during the civil outbreak. The civil battle only lasted a couple years, but resulted in many deaths. That was the last major issue, and that was almost two thousand years ago. The only other major events were the deaths of some of the council members, and the precise divisions of their territories. They also seem to have a bit of a problem with rogue ships of Engineers that 'seceded' from their planet causing issues with piracy, among other things."
Brown eyes shot to the android, her eyebrows furrowed together in a mixture of confusion and misunderstanding,
"Territories? How is the planet divided?"
"For the last… maybe five thousand years, it seems that there were loose divisions governed by families. They are similar to states, and are governed by family clans or groups. But that's just the governing body, not everyone is given the colored collar to represent a family. They're more like, nobles. They're royal families that govern over territories, and anyone else is free to move between the territories, even though the way they're governed isn't too different between each area. It is an easier way for justice to be administered, and a more fair way to conduct courts. Our friend was an officer for the council."
Her hands moved to her collar, her fingers tracing the stiff royal blue fabric. It stuck straight up, and protected her neck with a couple inches of material. David noticed her actions and commented,
"It seems that our friend is a great descendent of one these families as well. This is their leader-"
He pulled up the image of a wiry and frail looking Engineer, his posture slouching appropriately with his age. Ellie shook her head and nearly whispered her next words,
"Why would we be given collars then?"
The synthetic shrugged and smiled at her,
"I suppose he wants us to be recognized as higher than common families, because if we weren't part of a royal family, we would be put in a different area. The nobility are required to live among their own families, and their regular citizens do not live in the same area. Those seem to be the only two divisions, their poor are taken care of by the citizens. It's a very family oriented society, and the young, old, and poor are taken great care of here."
How humbling, she was just handed a collar, while common families are not given any. She wasn't sure they deserved these collars, but it was the easiest ticket for her to move all about the areas. Another questioned popped into her mind,
"Do these Royal families make themselves very… secluded from the others? Or do they intermingle with regular citizens?"
"From what I can tell, it's a little different between families. There is an orange collared family that seems to be the most detached from regular life, but most of what I'm reading shows that the nobility seems to intermingle with no issues. Discrimination doesn't really seem to be an issue for them. They are governed by a council, the thirteen heads of each family, and issues are debated and decided upon by these thirteen individuals. I imagine our friend Zarek is appearing in front of the council now to explain what had happened on LV-223."
The two of them were quiet for a couple minutes, the only sound was David's hands shifting around and clicking buttons on the keyboard. She stared at the photos of what he was looking at, and no doubt he was memorizing every detail of what he read. She envied the android's quick processing, he understood languages and information so much quicker than everyone else.
The red head bit her lip, thinking about how she would learn to communicate with the people on this planet. Their technology would surely be able to help, but how could she ask to have help learn their language?
"David… can you help me understand their language? I mean… I don't want to rely on you for translation constantly."
The synthetic sat quiet for a few moments, thinking of the easiest way to help her. He looked over to her and smiled that same artificial grin,
"I can teach you, but it won't be easy. Perhaps we can find something in their technology to aid you in learning their language."
"What do you mean?"
As soon as she asked the question, a low pitched metallic whirring noise filled the room. Ellie flinched and turned to look at the teleportation platform, Zarek appeared alongside a female Engineer.
Immediately, a ton of different ideas ran through her mind. Who was she? Why was she there? Was this Engineer with him because she liked him? Was she part of the council? Was she here for business?
A twinge of jealousy had wafted over her as she stood up to eye the duo entering the room. Her space jockey motioned toward she and David, saying something to the female Engineer in their language. The pale female walked across the room and reached out a hand, as if she wanted to shake hands with Ellie. The female was tall, but only about six feet, not nearly as tall as her Engineer. Her body was lean and muscular, and she wore a similar outfit to Ellie, only her's had a magenta colored collar on the robe.
The doctor hesitantly reached out and shook her hand, looking into the angular dark eyes on her face. Her eyes seemed like they were a lighter color, and were a dark violet, instead of a black/navy color like Zarek's. High cheekbones gave the alien's face an elongated look, and her nose was rather small and straight, leading down to perfectly curved lips. The female space jockey was very elegant, and made the doctor's mouth drop open when she suddenly spoke in English.
"You are Ellie, correct?"
The female Engineer's voice was smooth, and not as deep as Zarek's; but still far deeper than her own. The red head breathed out in disbelief and found herself smiling,
"Yeah... Yes, I am Dr. Elizabeth Shaw."
"I see. My name is Morsani, I am a scientist that specializes in Earth Studies."
Ellie nodded quickly and briefly gave Zarek a look of utter shock before responding,
"So that's how you know English so well? I'm really surprised."
"I can tell, only a handful of us can speak your language. There are very few who study Earth and it's species now; since the Civil War. That's actually what I came here to speak to you about."
The doctor began feeling excited, forgetting the little hints of jealousy she had felt earlier. There was another scientist now, a friendly one at that. This could be her connection to the science behind the Engineers and all of their technological advances. She crossed her arms and half smiled at Morsani,
"You came to talk about language? Or my home planet?"
The tall Engineer smiled to her, never losing her eye contact with the doctor.
"I have many questions for you. However, I'm actually here to make a proposition. Officer Zarek informed me that you cannot speak our tongue, and he wants me to give you the capability to do so."
This made the doctor stare at her in contemplation for a few moments. Give her the capability to speak in the Engineer's language? She wasn't sure how to take this, or what the offer really entailed.
"What do you mean? How would that…"
Ellie trailed off, her mind still racing through the possibilities of what the alien could have meant. Morsani shifted her weight and nodded,
"I understand your confusion. What I mean, is that we can give you the ability to understand and speak our language, rather than spend months teaching Zarek to understand yours. The way this would work, is through a specialized chip with artificial cells effecting the receptors of the part of your brain called the Wernicke's Area. Since you're a doctor, I don't have to tell you that it is the part of the temporal lobe that has the most control over your auditory cortex, understanding, and speech. It is a small procedure we use for those who suffer brain damage to this area, so they can correctly formulate and understand speech again. For you, we could use the same process, and it would simply give your brain the understanding of our language, only spoken language, not written."
Before she could continue explaining, the doctor shook her head in confusion. She didn't appear to understand what was being said, she didn't think it was possible. A 'simple procedure' that could correct a faulty brain function dealing with something as complex as speech? After a couple moments trying to grasp the idea, the female Engineer chuckled,
"I understand your confusion doctor. I can give you the information so your… machine… can help you read through them to better understand the procedure if you are unsure. I just wanted to make the offer to you, since your friend has difficulty understanding you."
David blinked and straightened his lips in a disappointed expression, machine? It made him feel like just an object when he was spoken of that way.
Ellie took a deep breath and blew up her hair on her forehead with her breath,
"I'd like to look at it, just to be certain. That's an incredible offer, and I'm sure it's an expensive procedure, what did you want in return for such a favor? I can't imagine it's free."
Morsani chuckled once more, grinning a large white smile,
"I didn't mean to come across like I was hiding my intentions. I would simply like a sample of your tissue and blood. I have never had the chance to directly study a living human being, and I would be glad to perform the simple procedure in exchange for these two things. I honestly mean you no harm, I just would like to study how your DNA has changed since it's creation, and how you've evolved to survive on your changing planet."
Everything the female space jockey said made perfect sense to her. Being a scientist, she understood the curiosity behind the Engineer's offer. She would want to do the same to the Engineer's DNA when she had the chance. Before the red head could formulate a response, Morsani spoke again,
"I'll leave my contact identification number with you, and this way you will be able to contact me at any given time using this computer. I'll leave you to consider my offer, and you are welcome to contact me when you've made your decision. Also, if you need any help, or if you wouldn't mind meeting with me again another time, I have so many questions for you. I apologize if I come across as…nosy."
"Of course! I'd really like that actually, I have a ton of questions for you as well!"
Morsani reached out again to shake her hand,
"Thank you for your time Dr. Shaw. I will be in contact with you."
The red head excitedly shook the Engineer's hand, smiling to her as she turned to leave. It was really nice to finally find someone who would talk with her, and had so much in common with her. It felt like she had made a new friend.
The female Engineer spoke to Zarek briefly in their language before stepping up onto the teleportation platform. The three remaining individuals followed her with their eyes as she did so. Morsani turned toward them as the teleportation platform began to glow, waving to them and speaking in English one last time,
"Dr. Shaw, One last thing. I know it must be hard for you to be so far from your home, but trust me, you'll find many of us are actually very accepting of your people. It's been a long time since the human controversy, it's really died down quite a bit. So, I welcome you to our planet. And…Zarek will take care of you while you're here, he's sworn to protect since he is still an officer of the council. I've also noticed he is pretty fond of you."
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I can't seem to write enough for this story… really. I have no idea how long it's gonna go for, but it doesn't look like it's ending soon. xD
R and R please!