Wonderer's Wish World 2: Evolutionary Rebirth

Old Meat

Day 15

Time: 4:12 AM

Location: Garage, Rime 12

The strange machine, which Darius suddenly realized was their ride, hung in the air as the mechanics buzzed around it like bees. Sometimes, they glanced as their ensembled audience, and Darius shuffled awkwardly every time they did. It's not like he could blame them, he sure he would do the same thing, in their position, but he just wished he could tell what they were thinking. Where they hopeful? Despairing? Where they glad to see the extra mouths go, or would they be missed? Darius supposed he didn't know them too well, but the though of not being remembered at all in this place if they didn't make it didn't sit completely right with him.

Dead and gone, Darius was a little nervous by how that made him think of Soma.

It looked similar to a spider, with the body being a rather large metallic sphere, and then big legs of thin metal jutting out as legs. At the bottom of all the legs, there was a thin plate of metal, poised and flat as if sitting on an invisible floor. Darius had stared at them for a second, confused, before, finally, realizing that they probably acted as snowshoes over the snow.

Actually, after a second look, Darius realized that the large ball, the body of the contraption, was rather familiar. It was the same thing he and his friends had escaped from the Moon Quarter in! Although... it was rather beat up now, as before, it had been almost in the shape of a small rowboat: but sleek, modern, and up to date. Now though...

Darius was just hoping they weren't expecting it to fly again.

When the mechanics lowered the machine onto its legs, Darius was embarrassingly surprised to see it still standing, support on what, comparatively, looked like twigs. He then supposed that he shouldn't doubt Rime 12's engineers anymore.

There was no real goodbye, and it almost made the experience even more surreal, if that was even possible. It was only a few minutes after they arrived that the mechanics took them, lowering the strange contraption and bundling the little group in without mercy.

The only semblance of a goodbye was when one of the mechanics, one Darius only distantly remembered from his first time here, gave him a smile and a nod. But there was no words exchanged, no special meanings in the looks given, and so it left Darius reeling, feeling even more reluctant to go rather than more.

He didn't get much choice in the matter, however, as then the door swung shut, and the contraption lurched forward. Through the window Darius thought he recognized from the cockpit in the spaceship, Darius watched the door of the garage creak open slowly, rising in it's own time as the legs of the machine, which Darius saw just out on the edge of the window, skuttled forward quickly. Darius breathed in deeply, nervously, but the door opened completely right in time, letting the machine and its passengers through safely

And then they were out, hurrying across the snowy plains at a speed Darius couldn't imagine going on foot. And other than a slight drop and what may have been a stumble, there was virtually no transition between the world of metal and carpets and concrete, and the world of snow.

Darius imagined that they were closing the door behind them, but as there was no window showing behind the machine, all he could do was guess.

Turning awkwardly, Darius finally surveyed the people stuffed into the machine alongside him. It was... cramped. It hadn't been this cramped when they had been travelling in space, but Darius imagined they lost some volume when hammering the ship down into what it was now. Ai was pressed tight against his back, facing the opposite direction, but still trying to twist around, trying to get a look outside. Darius nearly told her that she was going to be disappointed, that there was nothing to look at, but he kept his mouth shut. There really was no reason to, and besides, he supposed her side, the unchanging, boring metal side, was worse.