(no subject)

[moratorium_mai]

[Continuing from this thread here.]

Mai felt a bit hesitant when Adia explained how she saw the Nexus. “...So, this place isn’t all that bad?” She wanted to believe that. ...Whoever or whatever put the portal in her neighborhood; this made her wonder if they thought she needed to be rescued. Not that I needed to be, came a self-conscious thought.

“Oh, okay. I’ll look there and ask. Thanks.” Mai picked up on Adia’s own nervousness, and didn't mind that she was. Some people in Tokyo tended to be rude or apathetic around strangers. Mai couldn’t compare her to any of them.

Surprise and curiosity could be seen all over her face when Adia mentioned she was from another planet. For real? "What's Leonis like? Do the people there travel around in spaceships?" She thought of the primetime show she watched with friends on weekends, which had mercenary human space travelers, good aliens, bad aliens, and different types aircraft they traveled in.

It was news to her, being told that her world was a myth. “Earth is pretty real, to what I know. Japan would be on the east side... Tokyo, where I live, is one of the biggest cities there.”

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

"It's different," Adia says diplomatically. "You'll see a lot of things that will stretch your beliefs. But there's an anti-violence field, so you don't have to worry about being hurt, and there are things here that you won't find on your world." There are people here who will listen to your problems, but Adia isn't sure Mai is looking for that.

"Leonis was known for its wide plains," Adia replies. "We had a lot of vineyards. And flowers. Just about everyone knew how to ride a horse." She smiles a little at the mention of space travel. "Yes, we had spaceships... some we used to travel between planets, others we used for longer distances... I used to work on a research vessel called The Chiron."

Adia probably looks nothing like the characters from Mai's show. She looks more like a refugee, one of those poor people displaced from their home country by war. "Do you have those things in Japan? The flowers, I mean. And horses."

[moratorium_mai]

“So... no one could afford any police?” There seemed to be a lot of different things going on that didn’t take place on Earth. There was very advanced technology too. All of this made home seem boring.
.
“Leonis must be like another Earth. My world has horses, other animals, and all sorts of plants... Flowers are planted in pots and containers in some places in Tokyo. I haven’t seen any horses though. I think they’re out in the countryside.”

When Adia mentioned she did research, Mai looked away and fell quiet for a bit. She was briefly reminded of Dad – for he researched too much. But Mai didn’t allow herself to dwell on that, and remained very interested to know about real space travel.

Looking back to Adia, she asked, “What was it like traveling in The Chiron? Did you meet any aliens?”

[chiron_survivor]

Adia frowns thoughtfully. "I think it's more like this place is neutral territory. But perhaps you're onto something. I can't imagine any sort of police force that could adequately protect the people who live and work here."

"So Tokyo is very urban, then?" Adia asks. She tries not to think about Leonis being like another Earth. Bad enough her people never found Earth, let alone lost the colonies that they had, so much like Earth without them even knowing.

She's not sure what she said that put a pensive face on Mai, however briefly. "It was exciting. I had only worked on out of the way research centers before -- I'm a microbiologist. We traveled to different colonies and out of the way moon bases and satellites. But no... no aliens."

[moratorium_mai]

This place is so different... This was bewildering Mai quite a bit. Making sense out of this Nexus world was likely going to take time. She recalled some information Adia had mentioned earlier. “How does the anti-violence field work then? What if someone tries to use a knife or gun to hurt somebody?”

“Yeah. There’s a lot of high buildings, and places to eat and shop at... I haven’t been all over though.”

That was a bit disappointing, that she hadn’t met aliens. Mai asked, “What does a microbiologist do?” Dad never liked to talk to her about his work. Adia didn’t seem to be much like him at all – so far. She had been open and helpful.

[chiron_survivor]

"I've never seen it in action personally, but the way it's been described to me, it's like an invisible forcefield goes up."

Adia smiles wistfully. "It sounds nice. Sometimes I'll walk around the shops here, but I don't have any money to spend."

"Well... all sorts of things, really, as long as it involves studying microscopic organisms. My research was on infectious diseases. Viruses, germs, that sort of thing." She seems quite comfortable talking about her work, but it's easy to be open and helpful when she doesn't have anything to hide.

[moratorium_mai]

“I guess there aren’t many bad people around here, huh?”
Mai felt slightly amused at Adia’s response about shopping. “I never have much to spend either. Dad sometimes mails me some money, whenever he’s not too busy working...”

She had only known Adia for what felt like an hour, maybe a bit more than that. Yet, she didn’t think there was much of a point in avoiding the subject about her father’s job anymore. “He’s a researcher too, but I don’t know what he does. But he doesn’t like to talk about that, whenever he comes home.”

[chiron_survivor]

"Well..." Adia looks around before adding diplomatically, "There are all sorts of people who visit the Nexus, and some of them are bad, or have done bad things. But they can't do anything while they're here except ask questions and talk to other people. If you meet anyone here you makes you uncomfortable, you can just walk away."

Adia's expression is sympathetic while she listens. Mai seems like a good kid, it's a shame that her father isn't being more open with her. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It's possible that his research is classified. I've worked on a few projects where I couldn't share the details."