The Celestial Way

Chapter 14.4 - Small Way

When Vorzii returned from patrol, it often came back with refugees. As Veralla learned, while Terra Para had always been sparsely populated, many settlements had been founded over the centuries. Besides the main civilization centers of Kryoon City, Arcolant, and the Radiant Knights' former headquarters at the Shard, numerous other places existed amidst the hostile wilderness, forming what was known as the Beacon Highway. Some of them were small, barely an outpost of isolated people huddling around an E-beacon, while others were large and thriving communities like Dragon Retreat had been.

All of them, however, had come under siege when Ferrtau had unleashed his Revenant and when the Consortium and the Union had gone to war.

So the Radiant Knights, led by Airo, went out there to offer them shelter, and people gladly accepted. Just as Tehalix had said in the dining hall, the Order's hidden base had filled with refugees in a matter of days. It made the once empty hallways and gathering chambers seem less abandoned, and the living quarters became considerably more bustling.

Veralla liked to explore anytime new arrivals came. The refugees were colorful people, each community very different from the rest. Some of them were examples of transhumanism pushed to its limit; many had chosen to live on this far-flung planet to enjoy the ability to pursue complete freedom, including in terms of appearance. There were hybrids between humans and uplimals, or several uplimal species spliced together in so-called 'chimeras'. Cryptids – non-existing creatures – were also a popular choice of morphology, as well as – to Veralla's surprise and delight – morphs that imitated dragons in form or design. Synthetic bodies, from unusual to bizarre, and nanoswarm clouds were quite prevalent, and purely digital individuals too. Cloned, forked, hive-organized, gestalt – the forms of consciousness were dizzying in their variety. It was like all these people were aliens from across the whole galaxy.

In essence, they were: within the mirror of the inner cosmos, not the medium of the outer world, Veralla realized.

Even so divergent, the refugees were very tolerant of each other, since they had lived within the enlightening influence of the Radiant Knights, the original colonists of the planet. Veralla walked among them in her free time, amazed by the unfamiliar sights, peculiar sounds, and multitudes of curious scenes she came across during such strolls. She was particularly fascinated by the dendroos, whose bark-covered bodies grew strands of leaves and colorful blossoms, and had the ability to subsist almost entirely on light and little else, which she found amazing.

The refugees were equally astonished by her appearance and name, though only at first. They readily accepted her, offering friendly smiles, kind gestures, soothing soundwaves, warm-hued lights, and other even stranger methods of communication. They all thanked her for the help and shelter the Radiant Knights provided, even though she did not do anything herself. Still, it warmed her soul to see so many people who were peaceful and good. It was most endearing when she managed to witness their expression of love toward their families, their friends, and its more intimate variants toward their mates.

She felt happy, yet she also wished to have the same. She started to miss Airo very much, and while she was happy when she was among the refugees or the Radiant Knights, she felt something lacking in herself, as if she was not truly a complete being.

Veralla decided to visit Kiana and Zuckeroff to see if this lacking would persist in their company, since she has known the two of them for the longest time after Airo. One afternoon, when she was having a day off from training, she went to the residential section where they lived now; their old rooms were restructured into dormitories to accommodate the large influx of people, and Kiana and Zuckeroff had been assigned to one such revamped lodging.

She followed a complex route through grav-shafts, hallways, and intersections, already familiar enough with Ilsorin's layout so she could navigate without accessing the Viirt for guidance. She stopped on her way to marvel at a group of tall-framed idoru transhumans reciting poetry. She then arrived at a large room, divided into several smaller sections, each making a tiny apartment. She pinged the door to Kiana and Zuckeroff's room. Zuckeroff called her in, and she entered.