So...In this chapter is basically mostly some world building/developing this two minor characters who will play a significant part in the 'Gryphons' Arc
After dropping off the 'Fountain of Youth' Potion with a Potion Expert, Don learned that Ichabod and Marzipan were going to compete in the Interspecies Couples Dance Competition, and if a cure couldn't be found in time they wouldn't be able to compete since prepubescent bodies would be at an obvious disadvantage.
"Huh…" Don realized he spent way too much time learning about First Earth's Technology as he was not even noticing the current cultural events! After hearing that the contest was not merely a dance competition but was a way for the one of the host's Miranda Devine to use her innate psychic abilities to study the interspecies couples to see how 'in sync' they were how good was their psychic connection, a thing she had become intensely interested in since falling in love with her now husband the T. Rex-Man Copernicus…
Now intensely curious himself, Don went to the place where the dance contest was to be held to meet the couple and ask about it.
"The human/Humanimal connection is something I've become obsessed with since 'Copper' as I call him for short saved my life." Miranda said She was an elegant lady with a pale complexion, jet black hair and blue eyes that were often magnified by her eye glasses, her phenotype was very similar to the Viola Strierra Royal Family so Don, knowing that in previous generations a lot of humans were 'gene-modified' for certain features that were found attractive he guessed that the 'black hair, blue eyes, ivory complexion' was a combo that the early generations of Wranglers found very appealing
"I was born and raised on Planet Olympia…" Miranda said as she wistfully looked out the window as she remembered "...I had been born and bred to be a scientist...I mostly worked with technology, using my psychic powers to probe the depths of the supercomputers to make sure they didn't get too smart, there had been some nasty incidents in the past regarding that...Copper was one of many Dinosaur Guards who protected us while we worked...Mostly protecting us from Potential Spies from other planets who hoped to steal out technology secrets, even back before the Humanimal Rebellion that caused the divide between the Federation and Empire planets, there was really no true unity between the planets, they were constantly trying to steal from and cheat each other...Really the Humanimal Rebellion just prevented what would have been a great crash caused by the Human Empire imploding on itself!"
"I think the Turtle wants us to get to the point Darling…" Copper said in his deep rumbling voice
"Oh yes! That!" Miranda realized she had been rambling again "Well it had been a day like any other...I was typing furiously on my computer alongside my fellow scientists when suddenly...The Loudies arrived!"
"What are Loudies?" Don asked
"A bizarre species…" Miranda sighed "They defy all normal definitions of a life form...They are living bubbles that mostly live in the vacuum of space...They feed on electricity, so when they encounter an advanced civilization that runs on electricity...They suck all the electricity causing massive blackouts and to fry the machines they suck they electricity from! And what's worse killing them results in a massive toxic explosion! No one knows where Loudies came from...Some Alien Species believe they were created to keep all the other species from getting so high and mighty they attempt to become Gods so the Loudies come to take them down a peg…"
"Prevention is the only real cure…" Copper sighed "...Planets like Viola Strierra have developed special spacecraft designed to make special waves to gently push the Loudies back before they enter a Planet's atmosphere...Olympia obsessed with creating new kinds of machines neglected this and became careless...We Humanimals sensed them coming long before they appeared on the humans' scanners...We felt out fur, feathers, scales, whathaveyou, prickle feeling their oppressive electro-magnetic energy enter the atmosphere...We Dinosaur Guards knew what our duty was...I went up the floors to the room she was in just as the Loudies were arriving…"
"Yes…" Miranda said as he arrived our computers were already frying from the electricity being drained...Copper grabbed me in his big strong arms...The computers were beginning to smoke...They were about to blow! And with quick instinctual thinking he leapt out the window before all the computer exploded...And fortunately because of all the machines going on the fritz...Down below a trash machine had exploded and we landed in a soft pile of garbage...It stank but but than splatting on the ground...And we watched as the city we lived was made unlivable for the next couple of decades...Like the historical Copernicus...He opened my eyes to a new way of seeing the world! Where before I saw Humanimals as utilities like doorknobs or windows...That cold fearful night alone with Copper made me realize how much better they are than humans in many ways...Partly because the Humans had brainwashed themselves to not feel their more tender emotions so they wouldn't feel sympathy for the Humanimals and thus could keep using them as slaves!"
Don had to admit that was a trilling story...He wanted to ask more about Miranda's research on human/Humanimal connection but already the sun was nearly completely down and he had told Belladonna he would be back by evening…
So hopefully that gives us a good window into who these characters are...Olympia and Loudies are both from Cordwainer Smith but altered, Olympia is a planet where the humans who colonized it willingly made themselves blind and felt they were better off for it, and the Loudies were natives of the Planet Venus not creatures that drift through the vacuum of space
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