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Post by Dota on Feb 11, 2013 19:54:58 GMT -5
Human planet Eos of the Alliance First Landing Interstellar Terminal General Commerce, Wing D
There was unending noise in the busy terminal -- voices, movement, the looping jingles of advertisements, the ring at checkpoints -- all unified into one endless buzz. There were pockets of relief at departments of lesser concern...Immigration, for one. Humans, a species that persisted in labeling each other as "outsiders" were even less inclined to grant aliens a permanent place in their society. As such, the mass of benches and seats lining the area near the counter (already unmanned for the day) were a perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle of travelers. There were a few lone beings dotting seats here or there. One such figure was a Vuulaps male (or what was most likely a male as the visual lack of obvious gender-defining features could leave some slender males and some tomboyish females mistaken). He was clad in a nondescript black uniform with a sheen of thin, blue trim. Trying to appear bored and uninterested, his green eyes shifted over to the travel bag sitting two seats to his left.
Second seat in the row aligned with the red pillar. One seat between you and a blue bag...
The bag had initially proven to be troublesome. The best the Vuulaps's communicator had offered on "blue" was something akin to Krsio, but what the shop keeper had assured him was "blue" was undoubtedly Dalnmag. He often wondered if it was an inability to distinguish colors among species like the humans, or a general disinterest.
A replication of a human device, an antique pocket watch, complete with time-keeping symbols in an old human script tailored to match the cycles of modern life on Eos, was clipped to one of the straps.
...Display stopped on 06:00
Would the cheap knockoff would satisfy the criteria for the "signal"? The middleman setting up this meeting hadn't specified.
Ensured for the fifth time that all was in order, the Vuulaps picked up a magazine tablet from a nearby table and began to swipe through issues, but it soon became apparent that his was not a language popular enough to warrant free translation. He didn't bother to utilize his communicator. There was little desire for actual reading.
How long should I wait before I consider him a no-show?
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Post by Trunks on Feb 12, 2013 10:20:22 GMT -5
A golden aura shot up around him as the energy surged through his body. His scream echoed through the field. The shadow of his longer hair extended across the ground in front of him. He had finally ascended to the next level.
Sir
The scanner over his left eye beeped and buzzed as he scanned the field. He couldn't find the power level he was looking for.
Sir!
Kell ripped the helmet off his head. A faint announcement could be heard about the end of the virtual reality.
“What, Arthur!?”
A speaker system in the ship projected a voice of what sounded like a young man from England on Old Earth.
“Sir we are approaching the hangar bay of Eos.”
Kell nodded in acknowledgment.
“Let facilities know that their shipment is here and allow them into the cargo bay. Seal the rest of the ship. I'm going to pick up our new guest. What am I looking for again?”
“A pocket watch, sir. Clipped to a blue bag.”
Kell walked up the stairs in the cargo bay to the bunk hall toward the airlock. There he grabbed his red leather jacket and put in both of his translator earpieces. The lock hissed as fresh air rushed in. Kell took a deep breath. Outside air or not it always smelled better than the recycled air of the ship.
He walked across the extended bridge toward a man with a gun on his hip holding a screen. In his pocket was an ID badge. The man with the screen quickly scanned the card and handed it back.
“Thank you so much for the delivery, Mr. Bachmeier.”
“You bet.”
Kell eventually found his way to the waiting area. Security was tight, but that wasn't a big surprise. The Alliance liked things neat and orderly. They don't care how they make the other species feel. It took him a couple of passes through the room, but finally he found the bag with a pocket watch. He sat down a with a seat between himself and the bag. Mirroring him was a Vuulaps man who looked very nervous to be in this situation. Kell would wait for him to make the first move.
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Post by Dota on Feb 13, 2013 17:27:15 GMT -5
The Vuulaps's eyes were on the human male taking the nearby seat, though his head did not turn away from the magazine pad. Was this the right person? The only vague description he'd received had been translated from a source in the human common tongue. Too many of their kind had dark hair, and while he'd hastily researched "olive" (which, as it turned out, referred to a fruit) as a last minute thought, it did not appear to be an accurate representation of this man's complexion. The thought did not even register to assess eye color.
Lowering the device and looking up, though still not making eye contact he hesitated, then opened up conversation with what his contact had instructed:
"Good day to travel to Setra. I'd like to catch the next flight."
In reality, Setra, though historically known for its lush beauty had fallen to Class H long before their time. It was true that the general population of the galaxy could still survive a visit to the dying world, but it would be exceedingly rare to hear anyone refer to a trip as though planning a vacation. At least if it wasn't the right human, he'd get some entertainment from their reaction.
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Post by Trunks on Feb 14, 2013 21:02:48 GMT -5
"Good day to travel to Setra. I'd like to catch the next flight."
Come on now! Its me. Why do we have to play this game? Just get on the ship and we'll be on our merry way.
Things that Kell would like to say. Things that Kell has to say are.... wait. What was the phrase? He ran his hand over his short hair. Warner... something about the planet Warner. Um... fall. That's right.
"If you like Setra you should see the city Ultair on the planet Warner in the fall."
The words flew out of his mouth like he had finally got the answer correct. Maybe this guy would give him gold star. Kell smirked at his own sense of humor then realized that his new friend probably thought he was crazy.
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Post by Dota on Feb 17, 2013 12:07:25 GMT -5
For a moment, it appeared he'd botched the intro line. His words were met by silence. It dawned on him that the static-eyed races tended to prefer eye contact, even at introductions. He'd practiced this occasionally since leaving Nmao, but his nerves had washed away the gesture. It felt awkward as always, but he managed to turn his gaze fully to the human.
"If you like Setra you should see the city Ultair on the planet Warner in the fall."
The response came abruptly, and he'd missed most of the words. Any response that didn't question his mental well-being would suffice, really. But the human's eyes...they were aggravated, probably because of his species' backwards customs. By this point, the Vuulaps's irises were a deep, dark green, and he'd been foolish enough to display them openly.
Geh...this is falling apart...Why is he mad? I even offered a cut on top of general payment.
Completely ignorant of that fact that he'd instinctually tried to read the mood of a static-eyed individual, the Vuulaps averted his gaze once more, gripping the magazine pad as though it'd get him out of this mess. Humans were known to be an aggressive species.
"I'm ready to depart at your convenience."
Stupid. He probably wants to hear about payment details, first.
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Post by Trunks on Feb 17, 2013 14:20:33 GMT -5
"I'm ready to depart at your convenience."
SWEET! He got it right. Kell nearly jumped out of his seat, but he didn't. He calmly stood. As he did he caught a glance of the Vuulaps's eyes. They were green.
Ahhh... what did dark green mean.
In his line of work he came across plenty of alien species. Each had their own quirks. For the Vuulaps he knew that eye color meant everything. Which in the grand scheme of things was easy to get around. The Carmex greeted each other by rubbing their butts together. That was never a comfortable situation.
Despite being "chinese" and "african" descent he grew up in a very "japanese" household. So he started off his greeting the best he knew how. Kell bowed with his arms to his side. As he lifted his body he glanced up only to see what his new friend was doing. He extended his right hand to attempt the traditional Vuulaps greeting.
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Post by Dota on Feb 17, 2013 22:33:02 GMT -5
The human male rose and went through a wordless display of what the Vuulaps could only imagine was agreement to take on the job. The bow put the man in a somewhat vulnerable position. Was he making a symbolic display of trust? Setting the pad aside, the Vuulaps also rose, but was offered a hand before he could attempt to mimic the gesture. He grasped the human's wrist, closing a circle via his thumbs while simultaneously offering a small smile.
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Post by Trunks on Feb 18, 2013 11:33:06 GMT -5
Finally they were getting somewhere. Kell tried his best to close the gap between his pinky and thumb, but it wasn't working. He returned the man's smile. At least he made an attempt."My name is Akello Ts'ao. I bet you're ready to get out of this place."
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Post by Dota on Feb 19, 2013 18:04:55 GMT -5
"My name is Akello Ts'ao."
It appeared the name discerning add-on had managed to execute -- he'd gotten a name as natively-pronounced and not a literal translation of its meaning. He was supposed to be able to retrieve the sound clip later in an effort to ensure proper pronunciation, though he didn't think humans were a species to take exceptional offense to improper inflection.
"I am Regal of the Light Blue Elder."
He forwent the extended, formal naming, well aware that the the significance (and interest) would be lost to all but a Vuulaps. As he let go of Akello's hand, he added:
"Regal is fine. And yeah, I wouldn't mind getting out of here."
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Post by Trunks on Feb 19, 2013 20:58:36 GMT -5
"I am Regal of the Light Blue Elder."
Oh please for the love of everything that his holy please don't let that be his name.
"Regal is fine. And yeah, I wouldn't mind getting out of here."
Thank heavens.
"Regal. Well it's a pleasure to meet you."
Something was off with his name, but he was sure that he would be corrected if that were the case.
"So, my ship is right down this hallway."
He started to walk toward the direction of the ship then stopped and turned.
"Wait. I have to ask first. Why all of this? There are other ways to get around the galaxy."
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