Ch4
Ocena slowly blinked open her blue eyes, the room coming into focus. Where was she?
*"You're awake!"*
Luden came into view.
"Hello… what happened?"
*"I don't know, you didn't respond to me at all… or protest at being carried."*
"Carried? Who carried me? Where is this?"
*"Thane carried you here. This is a part of the Tower that's been set aside as living quarters for Guardians. This room and the three rooms connected to it are all yours."*
"He did? I..." She had noticed some movement… and- She cut that thought off as a slight flush came over her pale face. She didn't remember anyone carrying her before… but the little bits she did told her she had a family and friends once.
"Where is he?"
*"Not too far, though they may be checking on you soon… you've been out for a while."*
Ocena frowned. "Just how long was I out?"
*"You passed out around noon… it's now five."* Luden said.
"I better get up then…" She sat up and swung her legs over the bed but didn't stand.
The room was warm and the bed soft. Though there wasn't much to the room. A light colored dresser across from the bed and a closet in a corner near the door. There was a short small table near the bed that had a small drawer on it. The colors around the room were plain, whites and blues.
Ocena wondered if it would be okay to paint the room with different colors? She looked to the bed noting it had the same white and blue colors. Maybe she could change the colors on the bed as well?
Ocena stood up and pushed her hair back over her shoulders and decided to look through the dresser and closet.
There were few other outfits in the dresser and closet. A few red ones, black ones and blues. Those were most of her favorite colors.
Ocena didn't change her clothes, she didn't feel the need right now.
*"I take it you like the room?"*
"Very much… am I allowed to change the colors?"
*"Of course."*
"Wait you said rooms… is there more? Do I have a-" Ocena broke off when her stomach growled. She had slept the day away, it was natural to be hungry.
*"Let's go find Thane and Victor, I'm sure they can help you get a good meal."*
Ocena smiled brightly. "Okay let's go."
She skipped out of the room with Luden following her. Only to pause when she saw a mirror.
*"Don't tell me you also forgot what you looked like?"* Luden hoped not.
"Not really… just… never mind." Ocena opened the door to leave: Luden didn't need to know she didn't find herself pretty.
She found Thane and Victor a few floors up in what had to have been the biggest cafeteria in the world. A thousand wonderful and exotic smells assaulted Ocena from all sides, making her stomach growl at her in annoyance as she watched the other Guardians grabbing fruits and hot-cooked food or stuffing bars of what she guessed might be field rations into various pouches for later. Then she noticed Thane and Victor sitting at one table with another Guardian she did not recognize.
Ocena walked over shyly and paused a bit away from them.
"Hi…"
Victor turned around from his conversation with Thane and smiled as he spotted her. "Ah, Ocena! Good to see you up and about. Come, have a seat with us! You look like you could do with some food."
Ocena slowly took a seat next to Thane, careful to keep from making eye contact. Thane raised a brow at her in confusion before smiling politely and gently pushed her a tray of some sort of steaming meat. "I hope you slept well?" Thane asked.
"Yes… I recalled some things." She said hunching down a little.
Victor smiled brightly at Ocena. "That's wonderful! Just give it some time and try to recall those new memories from time to time: pretty soon you'll even be able to recall the little things that used to seem boring to you: no really!" He added at Ocena's disbelieving look. "You'd be amazed by how often seemingly dull and brief moments get remembered first!"
At this point the fourth Guardian at the table made a quiet "Hurumph," noise, causing Ocena to look his way and properly examine him. Her eyes went wide: he… he was a machine!
"So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is the newbie you two mooks were jawwin' about earlier?" He had a hint of an accent of some kind, like he came from a big city. His body, or at least the parts not covered by his clothing, was all orange alloys. His face was a series of smooth metal plates, most of which were lightly chipped. His eyes were two glowing blue orbs set into the part of his face that mimicked eye sockets. Other than his obviously mechanical appearance, his structure wasn't that different from a human. He noticed Ocena staring and parted his mouth plates in an approximation of a smile. "Whatcha' lookin' at? I know I'm one handsome mug and all, but let's keep this professional, yeah?"
Thane chuckled quietly. "Now now Atom, she's hardly in a fit state for you to be 'flirting' with her."
"Me and my rotten luck with women," Atom muttered while placing a hand over his face in mock-dramatic fashion. The light in his right eye blinked out for a second when he looked back at Ocena, and she realized it was his way of winking.
She colored brightly and ducked her head. She wasn't used to that kind of attention. At all.
"Um… Hi?"
Atom laughed heartily. "Alright, my high for the week? Gotta be finishing the grid skeleton for that new fabrication factory joint down in the industrial district: damn good work, if I must say so myself, which incidentally? I do." He extended his hand towards Ocena. "Names Atom, dontchu' worry: I ain't a biter."
"Okay…?" Ocena took his hand not sure about him.
Atom shook her hand enthusiastically: his grip was like iron! But he was unexpectedly gentle.
"We've asked Atom here to come with us on a little field trip of sorts," Victor explained. "Thane and I think it's time you saw the City from a view down on the ground instead of up here on the Tower." He paused for a moment. "Er, that is, if you think you feel up for it?"
Her eyes lit up and she sat up more. "I feel fine can we go down after we eat?..." She looked down to the tray. "I… don't think I eat meat though…"
"Can't work on an empty stomach," Atom said. "Well, I can, but hey, can't all be perfect, can we?" Victor laughed at Atom's joke while Thane merely smiled. "Alright, we'll help ya scrounge up some eats, then down we go to hoof it with the civvies."
A few hours later the group of Guardians had taken their respective Jumpships for a quick flight and drop-off at the City's enormous Residential District. Ocena stumbled a bit as she materialized on the ground, almost falling over before Thane darted forward quick as a flash and caught her.
"Trans-materialization," Victor said from somewhere ahead of them. "Certainly takes some getting used to; don't worry about it too much."
Ocena colored softly and righted herself before looking around with interest. The last City of humanity was packed with buildings of countless types of architecture and style: from seemingly worn-down structures with clotheslines and home-made rain-catchers strewn between them to sleek, pristine buildings, the City thrummed with energy as people of all sorts bustled from here to there. An Exo in bright clothes was calling out to passerby from his fruit stand, while a few Awoken could be seen on the roof of a nearby building making repairs to some sort of receiving dish. Many windows were lit even at that early morning hour, and the walls and causeways echoed the dull but comforting murmur of the crowds.
"Wow… there's a lot here." Blurry images flashed over her vision for a moment before leaving. She shook her head and blinked, that was odd. "What all is down here?"
"What ain't down here?" Atom asked, and Ocena could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Where we are now is the Residential district: if you live in the City and ain't a Guardian, odds are you're livin' here. The place is divided up into smaller neighborhoods and communities, with a marketplace or two thrown in here and there for luck. Also if you look up, you'll notice the Traveler's almost right on top of us."
Ocena looked up to see he was right. Then started looking around once more.
"So… marketplace? And shops? What could I find?" Wait… she… she didn't have money did she?
"Most of the major shopping centers border the Residential and Factory districts," Victor said helpfully. "The further away from the Traveler you go in the City, the closer you get to the Factory district, and beyond that district is the Farming district at the edge of the City, where they grow most if not all of the food that is eaten here."
"If you're thinkin' of shopping, you're only gonna find essentials," Atom spoke up. "Stuff like food, clothing, building materials. They've got some commercial products, don't get me wrong: gotta keep the economy rollin' somehow. But resources ain't plentiful, so people gotta focus on what they really need to get by."
Victor halted as something important occurred to him. "Oh, that's right! We need to teach her about Glimmer!"
Ocena blinked. "Glimmer? What's that?"
Victor turned around to face her. "Idea?" There was a small glow as Victor's Ghost materialized. "Would you mind transmatting a little Glimmer into my hand?"
*Coming right up,* Idea replied. A soft blue light shone from Idea's eye and onto Victor's outstretched hand, and a moment later a glowing blue cube appeared.
"Ocena, this is what we call Glimmer. It's a form of matter that can be programmed into many simple and useful forms, and can also be used as a handy power source. The people of the City use it as a form of currency, and we use it up in the Tower too."
"I see…" Ocena gazed at the little cube then recalled she had a few how she had them she didn't know but she had some nonetheless.
"So… no one sells… plants or anything? Or furniture? Or paint? I was thinking of redoing my room. Don't get me wrong its nice but…"
She didn't know how to explain.
"I guess I just want to personalize it." She wrung her hands a little looking down. She could remember she liked to decorate but loathed cleaning. Strange to recall little things easier than the more important things, like Victor had said.
Luden came out and floated at Ocena's shoulder. *"I'm sure there's someone who sells such things. I've heard of a few places."*
Ocena smiled hopefully.
"Sure, there's plenty of shops that sell stuff like that," Atom said with a smile. "Like I said, 'essentials,' and ya gotta do more than survive: ya gotta live too. Hard to do that in a place that looks like the inside of a prison cell." He shot a pointed look over at Thane, whom ignored it and eyed the nearby crowd of people, many of whom had noticed Idea and were whispering among themselves. "As for changin' things like wall-color, all we need is a Shader and we're set."
Ocena brightened. "Could we go look around for some things then?" She asked before noticing the crowd as well. The people were looking at Idea and Victor.
*"We may get surrounded in a moment."* Luden warned Ocena. He didn't know how she'd do in a crowd.
His warning came just a tad too late and the small group was surrounded. Ocena gave a soft yelp and ducked under the people and slipped off a little she hated being small but sometimes it helped to escape some situations.
"Oops… I just left them in there..."
"Best get used to that."
Ocea turned slightly at the voice. Another warlock, tall and rather dark; the man was a little intimidating.
"Huh?" Ocena questioned.
"People gathering around Guardians. I'm sure your friends will explain it all to you."
Ocena frowned. "Then why bother talking to me if you didn't plan on telling me anything?"
The man just gazed at her. "I wanted to know what those three were up to with a young woman. Don't get the wrong idea I didn't think they had something bad planned-"
*"You just wondered why someone new was taking off so soon."* Luden said floating around Ocena's head.
"Yes, I see now they just wanted to show you around. If you're looking to shop home requirements try Gab's shop. He often has new stuff. There's also a flower stall, small but there none the less."
"What about seeds?"
He grinned. "Into gardening and farming hmm? I'm sure your friends can help you, I must go-"
"Hey Aron who you talking to?"
The man turned sharply then back to Ocena. "Get back to your friends little one, it'd be best if this man didn't see you."
He turned Ocena around and gave her a small push back to the crowd then was gone.
"What was that about?" Ocena muttered softly trying to get back to her friends.
*"Ocena, try not to get parted them for a while alright?"* Luden knew that man who called out. Many females had complaints about him. The guy was an annoying and pushy flirt who didn't know what the word 'no' meant; he hadn't done anything bad he never did. The dark Warlock managed to keep him in check but Luden wouldn't take any chances. It was best Ocena stayed near Thane, Victor and Atom.
"I'll be careful." Ocena pushed the rest of the way through but tripped and ended up caught by Thane once again.
'What am I a princess in distress? He's always having to hold me up!' Ocena thought flushing. She righted herself and decided to wait for them to handle the situation not knowing they had noticed who she had been talking to and the guy who could have been trouble.
