Hot Fuzz
In the depths of the Deep Cultures Institute, on a floating bubble city nestled in the flaming layers of the Sun, Nib and Taeress were lying under the Sun Diver, looking at gutted components and loose wires.
Together.
Nib pushed the thought away, focusing on the control panel in front of her, which was currently reading all red. Nothing was broken, she'd just been tearing pieces out of the ship since yesterday, and it was rightfully complaining. They'd been trying to rework some of the design for their latest project.
Nib: "Maybe we could divert power from the deck lights? A few volts here, a few volts there..."
Taeress: "It's already too dark in there -- it's like a moody teenager's bedroom in the quarter deck."
Nib: "Ehhh. No one's ever on the Sun Diver for long. Let me steal some juice, and we'll call it mood lighting." Nib paused her tinkering, and then mimed tapping away at the datapad, attempting to look busy. Taeress fake coughed. Taeress: "That'll solve the guns. But what about the codes? If Tesin changed them..." A bit of unease welled up in Nib -- old anxieties crawling up to the surface. The Dream Team were her friends, but after the Pact Summit a few weeks ago, she hadn't heard from them. They didn't even know about the disaster until 6 days after it happened, when the news finally reached the Archipelago. Nib suspected that Imryll Novaheart had informed her people via mystics the day it happened, but the big wigs had taken the extra time to solidify things before the news broke. But now they were locked out of Ezorod, with Nib's entire career and the future of Kahlannal riding in the balance. Nib: "No. I don't think she changed them. Something has to be wrong. They wouldn't do that to me..." Taeress reached across the space between them, placing a hand on her cheek. Taeress: "Then we can only hope for the best." Nib thought about replying, cynicism and insecurity rampant within her. She thought about pulling away, or getting back to work, having not said a word. But that was all old Nib. New Nib had to be better, if anything was going to change... Fuck it. Nib leaned into the hand. The Sun Diver was put back together three days later, with Nib and Taeress on board. Together.
Taeress: "It's already too dark in there -- it's like a moody teenager's bedroom in the quarter deck."
Nib: "Ehhh. No one's ever on the Sun Diver for long. Let me steal some juice, and we'll call it mood lighting." Nib paused her tinkering, and then mimed tapping away at the datapad, attempting to look busy. Taeress fake coughed. Taeress: "That'll solve the guns. But what about the codes? If Tesin changed them..." A bit of unease welled up in Nib -- old anxieties crawling up to the surface. The Dream Team were her friends, but after the Pact Summit a few weeks ago, she hadn't heard from them. They didn't even know about the disaster until 6 days after it happened, when the news finally reached the Archipelago. Nib suspected that Imryll Novaheart had informed her people via mystics the day it happened, but the big wigs had taken the extra time to solidify things before the news broke. But now they were locked out of Ezorod, with Nib's entire career and the future of Kahlannal riding in the balance. Nib: "No. I don't think she changed them. Something has to be wrong. They wouldn't do that to me..." Taeress reached across the space between them, placing a hand on her cheek. Taeress: "Then we can only hope for the best." Nib thought about replying, cynicism and insecurity rampant within her. She thought about pulling away, or getting back to work, having not said a word. But that was all old Nib. New Nib had to be better, if anything was going to change... Fuck it. Nib leaned into the hand. The Sun Diver was put back together three days later, with Nib and Taeress on board. Together.
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