Never late again, nights alone in her dorm, Zara was turning into a
star student. Mesta had seemingly forgiven her for the dress code
violation and things had smoothed over between them since her first day
misfortunes, but she still hadn't made many friends. Even though she was
in a class full of Goldens like herself, they were all so consumed with their
roommates, their own social circles, it seemed like everyone was a part of some
group except her. Deep down she knew why, it was because she didn’t go to the
club.
She
knew she was different but there was room for aribu like her, aribu like her
were the most successful in their careers, surely? Deep down she believed that
at the very top, the king would smile if he knew how hard she studied, how
badly she wanted to be that valuable Cog in his Great Machine, after all,
wasn’t that really what mattered?
She
waited with tender nerves as Mesta handed out marks for the first big test,
eager to learn how she had done.
"Well
done!" Mesta congratulated as she handed her the tablet.
Zara
stared at the bottom of the document as it reached her hands, for a moment of
disbelief… An A? She couldn't believe her eyes! She flipped the
tablet over, it wasn't a mistake! She
earned an A! It was too good to be true! Brimming with pride inside,
she knew now that she was going to do well in university, that she would have a
promising future and an exciting career, a career she was destined for...
At
the Reception desk in the Moha Lab, Doctor Seton was keeping the aribu staff very
busy, the Crystal Program was shipping more and more expirees to the Gora lab
every day, which was helping free up some beds at least.
The
nurse stamped a Release tablet and gave it to the porter who then wheeled the
cart of expired examples out into the Hub, passing several establishments
before arriving at a storefront with a sign overhead that read ‘SHIPPING’.
Pondering the bomb idea in the privacy of his own thoughts, Orius stared out of the office window towards Lemuria, troubled that the idea already had legs when he had fought so hard for some measly vimana funding. It was too soon to play around with bomb ideas, he was afraid of what he didn’t know about the atomic energy, it's exponential powers went beyond his understanding and control, he knew it wasn't healthy, either. What would the toxicity of a bomb big enough to annihilate Aquilla's lair do to the city? It certainly wouldn't select it's victims!
A
loud knock on the door disturbed his thoughts. "Yes, come
in..."
The
door opened and a porter rolled in a cart of crystal skulls, they couldn't have
come at a better time. "Just leave them by the credenza, thank you."
As
the porter left, Orius walked over to the cart and inspected the Crystal Skulls
one by one. He held them up to the light, ran his palm over the crowns,
weighing them, feeling them, eyeing their quality, they were all quite
different, more so than intended perhaps. Perhaps, given their beauty,
Atalon wouldn’t be too upset about that?
Imperfections
aside, the craftsmanship of the Nefilim was incredible, they could outdo any
gen, it was a shame the masons that could master the Lemurian Crystal like this
were being phased out, perhaps this was a chance to review that decision.
One
skull in particular spoke to Orius. He picked it up and carried it to his desk,
took a seat and placed it before him as he faced Lemuria, out the window. He
closed his eyes and held his hands over the glossy crown, focusing his thoughts
on the image of the skull in his head, trying to focus on the energy of the rock,
trying to rekindle some ancestral gifts of the ancient crafts, trying to draw some kind of
divination from it...
But the
only images he could summon were little vignettes of red headed Lemurian
goddesses, their hair shimmering in the light as they danced in the mushroom fields...
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