Fortuna Verto

04-Gilded Heart

Darkness had finally finished clouding the dusk of a brand new night. With night full upon them, Kori and Fiona began their approach to the Diamond Falls.

Unfortunately, having been all business this trip, Kori hadn't found any opportunity to hold a discussion with their pilot. Instead, they were left in the viewing bay in the upper level of the small shuttle, giving the pilot a quiet sanctuary in the level below. The guy would be back in around two hours to pick them up, enough time to shuttle another passenger. In addition to their pilot, even Fiona had been especially quiet the entire flight, visibly captured by her own thoughts. The combined silence made the trip feel generally awkward for Kori, who was generally hoping to work on a plan together while they travelled. She was honestly worried that Fiona might have still been a little sleepy, considering how much she was spacing out like this. From a distance, she could see exactly how much of the falls they had to work with, it wasn't even a surprise. Diamond Falls was one of the most important sources of Serenity lakes, a lake which got a lot of usage around here during the Diatal solar season. However, during the Noctal solar season, the entire river itself was frozen solid in a gradual freeze in sheets at the falls as the river struggled between its own water pressure and the growing intensity of the cold, leaving a frozen scene of falling water suspended in midair. Such was how the falls had earned their name too, the scene of glistening water captured in solid shimmering ice looking akin to diamonds, a detail they could see in all intensity once they started to walk around the basin of the falls..

"My word, now that's something. Can we get a closer look?" "Sure, but make sure you stay bundled up tight. We're going to be here for a couple hours, wouldn't want you to catch a cold or something." "Oh of course, I'm the only one that has to worry about getting sick here. You conduits really are lucky, I hope you know that." Fiona was making reference to how Kori wasn't actually human. The people of earth, those were humans, but the people of Aestus were something else. Sure, Kori appeared mostly humanoid, it was sometimes easy for her to hold herself as another human, but the biggest distinction remained the special plasma network going through her body, a second kind of blood. This azure blue left faint patterns in a few distinct locations on her body, mostly on the back of her hands and the top of her feet. She even had a slight protrusion on her forehead from the plasma core that protruded slightly as a tiny crystalline shape, itself made mostly of crystallized oxygen. She could hide her cortex easily with the right hairstyle, or even a headband, though such features were more than just decoration. This special plasma system provided her with considerably better resistance to harsh conditions, including both the diatal heat and the noctal chill, while supposedly keeping her extra safe from catching a variety of illnesses. However, it wasn't to say that such a system came without flaws, the much more pure plasma system of humans did what such blood did best much easier in their case. Humans were remarkable in how quickly they could heal injuries or how easily they could endure climates with low oxygen levels. As is, her glasses were quickly fogging up due to the intensity of her own breathing in the stagnant air.

With a quick motion, a holo panel appeared in front of Kori, and a flurry of motions after that had landed her with some basic survival equipment that had almost materialized out of the air. That done, she carried the light heat lamp over to Fiona, letting the human share in the warmth. Sure, being called conduits was a sort of slang name for her otherwise alien species, but it was actually better than the more scientific name. Homo Caeli, like Homo Sapien, but actually stupid. Literally too, it meant she was an airhead. Such probably originated by that small detail about having crystalized oxygen on her forehead, but society really took that idea on a very different angle. Getting called an airhead was actually normal for her people, making the alternative of Conduit at least garnish much more respect. If it was anyone other than Fiona, she would probably hear stupid jokes about her glasses being so fogged up cause she was such an airhead, it wouldn't have been the first time. Instead, Fiona was captivated by the still image before her, taking artistic notes of every detail for future reference, hardly even noticing the sudden warmth provided for her benefit. After a few quick notes, she would suddenly go searching for another spot even closer, providing a new and fresh perspective.