Radiance: Part One

L2: The First Misstep

August 23rd, 2686 CE, 1000 hrs

Lyda was still trying to wrap her mind around the "Gift of Language". She'd been studying dialects and speech patterns for the past several years only to have them just give it to her. It was just as frustrating as it managed to be exciting.

She had so much to learn about these people- their culture, habits, etc. She had grown so distracted after meeting Vyrik that she'd failed to notice the discomfort of her fellow leaders as they'd made their way past their rooms and up to the conference room. They were sitting there practically naked with two complete strangers. The skin suits left very little to the imagination. It wasn't until she'd noticed Darmah folding her arms across her chest that she had begun to realize that they might as well have been nude. What a fantastic first impression.

When she arrived in her quarters, she made a note of the set up. Not too big, not too small, slightly higher ceilings- she'd helped to design these quarters with the goal of comfort in mind. Human beings tend to prefer wide open spaces, more often than not, so a higher ceiling. But the ships were meant to house so many people- slightly smaller accommodations were in order. Not to mention, power usage needed to be low, so energy saving appliances and lighting, of course. The walls were the lights, made of a phosphorescent metal-glass-plasticine hybrid- very durable. They were tinted in such a way that the light would feel natural. The back left corner of the room housed a single bed that had drawers built into its frame for storage. There was a desk directly to the right of the bed that folded into the wall, the underside hosting an air screen. The floors were made of a self-cleaning polymer with high-level shock absorbency. Everything was uniform and clean and sleek.

The drawers beneath the bed had been filled with Lyda's belongings- not much, but they were hers. After slipping out of the skin suit and depositing it into a chute on the wall to her right she stood in front of the wall opposite the bed and pressed her hand to it. A jut of frigid air hit her naked body, cleansing her of any and all contaminants- not as clean as a shower, but they would need to conserve water where they could, so it was meant as an interim. She pulled out a comfortable pair of dark green, high waisted pants, a cropped white blouse and a long, color-changing cardigan, pairing the outfit with soft soled shoes and tying her hair into a high pony before leaving the room. She dared not glance in the mirror, or waste too much time fretting over her appearance.

Vyrik and Gen. Wie seemed to have stayed put while the rest of the group had left to change. She felt like she were in some fantasy world with the two of them just nonchalantly sitting at the end of the table. They looked so very human until one paid any extra attention to the shape of their ears or the colors of their eyes and skin. Vyrik had a device pulled out and was scrolling through something while Wie sat stoic, eyes on the door, nodding at her when she came in.

It appeared that she was the first to return, so she simply took her place at the end of the table and decided to wait.

"You all lead together?" Vyrik asked.

Lyda nodded, smiling. "Taking notes from our history, it felt necessary to stay away from single-party leadership."

"Our species understands this as well. I'm merely the face and, quite often, a benefactor."

"Good to know."

"If you lead together, why do they look at you?" Vyrik tipped his head to the side, raising a brow at her.

"Oh, they don't look at me...that's funny, though." She chuckled a bit. Perhaps her having decided to take the head of the table was a mistake?- Lyda leaned forward on her elbows.