UEG Colony World Cascade
Friday, 29 September 2843
2:30 PM

"There's snow in my pants." Parker grumbled to no one in particular as he adjusted his faded blue cap and shoved his hands into his pockets. White snow crunched under his boots as he fought the howling wind. The technician trudged his way down the sidewalk, snow assaulting his body as he did so. Cascadian winters were brutal, and Parker just has the misfortune of getting caught in a truly horrific blizzard. As far as he could see, his entire world was white, and he could only make out the faintest outline of Cascade's capital of Anchor City in the distance, light silhouettes of buildings standing out against the cruel white curtain. He raised his arm and activated his holotool strapped to it, the device instantly lighting up and displaying the current temperature.

Negative forty degrees celsius. Could be worse, he supposed.

Even with his thermal regulators working overtime underneath his three layers of clothing, he could still feel the merciless chill biting into his skin. It wasn't exactly unexpected. He had spent twenty-six years living in the planet's subzero conditions, so the cold was something he was used to. Not that he enjoyed freezing his ass off, of course. To ask him if he enjoyed the cold was like asking if someone who grew up in a hot environment if they enjoyed getting heatstroke in the sun.

A car sped by, its hoverlift engines keeping it suspended a few feet in the air immediately kicking some snow onto Parker. He cursed, angrily flashing a rather rude signal at the driver. But there was no use getting angry. The sooner he got home, the sooner he could kick back and enjoy his vacation time for the next week. At home, under a heated blanket in a temperature-regulated home. That in his mind, he shook off clumps of snow off his clothes and continued his tedious journey home.

Somewhere

Silvia had no idea what happened, or where she was. What she did know that it was cold, very cold, which made sense considering appeared to be caught in the middle of a blizzard. There were troubling gaps in her memory, troubling in the way that while she could remember her name, and everything else about herself, this of course meant she didn't have amnesia... just after a certain point her memory simply went blank.

In the moment however she had more important priorities, the very top one being a basic desire to not die. Her clothing was horribly ill suited for the weather, hell she could already feel her fingers and grow numb after standing there for a minute at most. At least she were wearing boots, so that was a silver lining despite how insignificant it really was in the bigger picture.

After looking around trying to locate any kind of landmark, just something to help her figure out where she was, or even better a place she could take shelter. Her eyes strained against the snow, but she was able see what appeared to be a lit silhouettes of some structures, though she definitely couldn't tell more than that. She reasoned these buildings had to be quite far away, yet she would rather take her chances instead of laying down to die in the snow. With her arms held close to her body in a meager attempt to preserve body heat, Silvia slowly started to make her way to what she hoped was shelter, fighting the snow and wind along the way.

Parker continued to trudge through the snow, which had gotten ankle-deep by this point, grumbling and cursing all the way. His home was less than a kilometre away, but at this rate, it'd take him much longer than the usual five or so minutes it normally took. He could have taken his car to work, on hitched a ride on a bus, but noooooo, he decided to actually get out and walk to work. Admittedly, the day was bright and clear in the morning, with the frozen icicles hanging off tree branches glistening in the sun. He enjoyed those sights, and maybe he did enjoy that morning stroll through city park.

The wind howled, and Parker's cap was almost blown off his head. He yelped as he swiftly snatched it from the air and tightened it. He stared up towards the sky. The winds were picking up, and the blizzard was getting more severe. Not a good thing. He didn't want to experience a whiteout again. Checking his holotool once more, he noted that the temperature had fallen by one degree. He shivered. He honestly hoped it wouldn't drop to negative sixty this year. Shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, he picked up his pace.

Just then, someone stumbled out of the snow-covered forest, appearing cold and confused. Parker couldn't make out who it was, but the person clearly needed help. He made his way towards the person. Nearing the person, Parker noticed that it was a woman who seemed to be in her early twenties. His eyes widened slightly when he saw what she was wearing. She was wearing a thin, sleeveless dress, which had slits in the sides that revealed her admittedly shapely legs, and a pair of knee-high boots.

Clothes horrifically unsuited for the cold. Did she have a death wish or something?

Still, she clearly needed help, her arms wrapped around herself in an attempt to preserve body heat. Parker approached her slowly. "Hey!" He called over the sound of the wind. "Do you need some help?"

Silvia's attention was quite suddenly drawn to a nearby voice, although at first she wasn't sure if anyone was there given the harsh conditions. At this point she was seriously shivering after only a few minutes of exposure, which meant she wasn't in any condition to fight if things were to go south. The man in question was difficult to make out despite how close they stood to each other, yet he had a distinctly odd air to him. Perhaps it was the cold getting to her.

She attempted to open her mouth to speak, but was then abruptly interrupted by a heavy gust of wind which was almost enough to completely knock her down. Silvia after regaining her footing tried to talk again, however she couldn't muster the energy to form any words, not when her entire body so mind numbingly cold. Instead she nodded her head, hoping that the stranger could see her well enough.

Parker could see the woman in question open her mouth to say something, but no words came out. "What? I can't hear you. Speak up!" He called. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew through the area, forcing him to take a step back to avoid falling. The woman, however, seemed to be hit the hardest. She almost fell, but thankfully managed to regain his footing. "Whoa there!" Parker rushed to steady her, instinctively putting his arm around her shoulder. "You lost?" He asked, looking her in the eyes. Then he noticed that she had purple eyes. Odd, but not exactly uncommon. "Uh, where do you live? I can take you home."

His holotool beeped, and he spared it a glance. By now, temperatures had already dropped to below forty-four. That wasn't good. He couldn't risk standing out in the open for any longer, and it seemed like the woman was showing the first signs of hypothermia. "Shit." His breath turned to mist as snow continued to pelt them both. He had to get her someplace warm. Parker turned back to her. "The weather's getting too cold. I hope you wouldn't mind coming home with me." He slowly began to guide her in the direction of his home, fighting the wind with each step.

Silvia offered no resistance as the man guided her along, not that she could do a thing if she wanted. Besides while in a dangerous, undoubtedly fatal situation she wasn't about to turn down the help unless she truly had a death wish. Now that she was closer to the man she was able to get a better idea of his appearance, which was odd to put it a way. The fabric of this coat was foreign, well actually that was the case for his entire garb, he did however look prepared for arctic climates so he had to be a local of some kind. His looks were about average, far from ugly but nothing remarkable to be frank. Above all else, he wanted to help and she intended to capitalize on that.

Her shivering only worsened as they continued to shuffle along, her hands were fully numb and probably frostbit far as she could tell, in fact her entire body was starting to truly feel the effects of the cold. Quite suddenly, Silvia lost her footing and fell to the ground despite the man's assistance as her legs had given out completely, the freezing conditions finally sapped most of her energy. She was still conscious, but barely so.

"Whoa!" Parker cried as the girl lost her footing and fell to the ground. He bent down to help her up. "You okay?" He asked. Then he noticed that she was shivering madly. Her lips were beginning to turn blue, too. While she was still conscious, it seemed as if she was going to pass out any minute. He had to do something. Quick. Cursing his luck, Parker scooped her from the ground into a bridal carry, before sprinting off. His boots provided enough grip as to not slip and fall, potentially injuring them both.

Parker kept running, quietly thankful that there wasn't anyone else around on the street who would notice this, probably getting the wrong ideas. He would've died on the spot if that happened. He shook those thoughts from his mind, though, too focused on making his way back home, his face feeling the effect of cold. Finally, the sight of his family home became clear, and he swiftly turned and ran up the driveway. He shifted the girl's weight to his right arm, noting how light she was. Then, he tapped his holotool against the security console.

The maglocks on the door immediately deactivated, and the door slid open with a hiss. He entered, greeted with a gust of warmer air. He was never so thankful he had the foresight to set the building's temperature regulator to a comfortable twenty-four degrees before be left. The door closed behind him, finally leaving them in warm shelter.

Parker gently laid the girl down on a couch in the living room, recalling his many, many lessons on how to treat hypothermia. It was one of the most important things growing up on a cold planet, after all. He considered himself lucky to not he an inhabitant of actual frozen planets like Hiemal or Stolitsa. Conditions there were subzero all the time, unlike here on Cascade, where there were at least five seasons.

The continent of Brittia was currently experiencing its second winter, where conditions were much more brutal than its first. During the first winter, temperatures rarely dropped below negative twenty. During the second, temperatures always dropped below negative twenty.

Moving the couch closer to a heating unit mounted to the wall and a vent on the floor, he made sure to increase the temperature of those two. Then, he sprinted upstairs and pulled out a spare blanket from a closet, making his way downstairs and spreading it over her. That done, he sighed and walked over to the kitchen and poured a glass of warm water, before walking back to the living room and pulling out a chair. He sat down and shifted towards the girl. "Here," He said. "Drink this. It'll warm you up. Can you tell me your name, please?"

The next series of events were nothing but a blur to Silvia, who was still awake fortunately enough. Before she truly realized it she was lying down covered with a blanket and was definitely indoors. It seemed the man knew exactly how to treat hypothermia, something that the woman never dreamed she would have to deal with, but she survived her brush with it. Her head rolled to the side to look at the glass of water, and after a moment sat up to take it. To take a drink from a stranger in other situations might not be recommended, yet she figured since he went through the effort of saving her life that she wasn't in any danger, besides she wasn't the paranoid type either.

Silvia took a sip from the glass, not quite enjoying the taste of warm water if she were to be honest, still she needed to warm up. "Silvia." She eventually responded to his question and gave the glass back with a nod. She then fell back onto the couch, after which she gave a long drawn out sigh. "What about you? Got a name?"

"Yeah," Parker nodded. "I'm Parker." He introduced, taking the empty glass and placing it on the coffee table. "So, what were you doing wandering around outside in minus forty-four degrees?" He asked, standing up and unzipping his jacket before taking it off, revealing his plain red hoodie which he also unzipped, showing a white tee shirt with the logo of the Damascus Robotics Research Corporation, the company which he worked for as a technician. He repaired broken machinery and fixed technical issues. Working there had offered him a fairly modest salary of fifty thousand credits a year. More than enough to pay his bills.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what are you wearing?" He asked, gesturing to Silvia's choice of wear as he sat down. It looked like clothing someone would wear during the summer or something. "Why aren't you wearing... you know, something for the cold?"

"Well, because I'm probably not supposed to be here." Silvia started with her explanation, and yes she fully intended to be upfront with this guy. "Gotta be honest, I didn't plan to be standing in the middle a blizzard, especially while wearing these clothes and yeah they are meant for much warmer weather."

She stopped for a moment to carefully take in Parker's own clothes, then sighed. "I have never seen clothes like that either, so my best guess is I'm very far from home, however the problem is I got no idea how I got here. Zero idea, like there are literal holes in my memory. Actually kinda pissed about this, but I got lucky so can't complain too much. Oh and uh, thanks for pulling me out of that mess. Not being dead is nice." She made sure to at least give some thanks, both out of common courtesy, and the fact she would likely die later on without his help.

Parker raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean you don't remember how you got here?" He asked, leaning in closer to her. "People don't exactly appear out of thin air, you know." He gestured over to Silvia's clothes. "But with clothes like that, I would've guessed you're from Arcadia or something." Arcadia was, of course, a mainly tropical planet composed of numerous islands of varying size floating on an immensely large ocean. Parker had never been there, but its inhabitants always seemed to dress for the warm weather. Silvia's clothes reminded him of the ones Arcadians wore to formal events. Still, her clothes looked far too ancient, almost as if they were from another time.

The technician put a hand to his chin. "Unless scientists on Axis Mundi have been experimenting with teleportation again." He'd seen vids and read reports on the topic. A colony that really was one big research facility. Very popular place for scientists due to the lack of populated settlements. Last time he checked, the scientists there were messing around with a weather control device, which went badly wrong and blew up itself, the research team, and a chunk of the continent it was on. However, teleportation was something they were researching years ago. The project was shut down when people started disappearing from various colonies. "Where is your home, anyway?"

Silvia shrugged. "Exactly that, I got have absolutely no idea at all how I got here, one moment I was somewhere a lot warmer and in the next I was here." That said she was starting to remember a little more, definitely not the very cause of this mess, although she was certain something big happened before she got thrown into a blizzard, just she couldn't recall exactly what. A sort of vague feeling of a memory being there, but that was about it.

She then sighed yet again. "Arcadia, Axis Mundi... never heard of those cities, and those clothes of yours like I said before, I've never seen anyone dress like you. So yeah if there is some teleportation shenanigans going on here, it took me way far away. So far that I doubt you'll know where I'm from anyway."

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Parker asked, leaning back. "And what do you mean you've never seen anyone dress like me before?" He gestured to his discarded jacket. "It's normal for people to be wearing this in subzero temperatures." Now, Parker was pretty confused. Why would she never have seen clothes like him before? Maybe she was from an isolated colony or something? But then again, there was one thing she said which was really bugging him. "Far away... hm."

Parker's holotool beeped twice as an alert, and he tapped it. The display immediately expanded, showing time, temperature, and most importantly, weather alerts. The most prominent of which was the current weather condition outside. It was negative fifty right now. Ten degrees within the span of less than half an hour wasn't good. "Looks like we won't be going anywhere in a while." He paused, contemplating what to say next. "And, well, I guess since you're very far from home, according to you, you're uh, welcome to stay here until we figure out what to do."

He was being too welcome and trustful. He knew that. But curiosity and concern overrode those two thoughts. This was a real mystery.

"Oh no I understand that's all to protect you from the cold, but it's the style. Like I have no idea what your jacket is made of, it's definitely not wool." Silvia then threw a glance at the... thing that Parker keeps referring to, little did she know its function. "Then there's that... I don't know, device? The one you keep looking at. What the hell is it? Then there's you're home." She threw her arms out wide to the entire place. "Its massive! What are you? Some kind of rich merchant? A noble?"

Parker raised an eyebrow. "Wool? No one makes clothes out of wool anymore." He picked up his discarded jacket and showed it to her. "My jacket's made out of carbon kevlar polycotton." He said, running his fingers through the material. "It's waterproof and highly durable, along with providing excellent insulation." He pulled off his weatherproof gloves, revealing a pair of fingerless ones underneath. He just liked to wear them, and they helped provide some protection when handling machinery.

Silvia then asked about the device on his wrist. "My holotool? It's a computer. I can browse the net, read some reports, record some videos and stills, and play games." He explained, tapping it and expanding the holographic interface, which glowed blue. He tapped it several times, and graphs and diagrams, mostly on the current weather outside appeared. He tapped it again, causing them to disappear and the tool to power down, displaying only time and current weather.

The girl suddenly spread her arms wide, and Parker immediately shifted backwards with a yelp, startled. "What? I'm not a noble. We don't even have nobility anymore. Not in more than a thousand years. I'm just a technician." He looked around the interior of his house, lit by several electronic lights. "My house isn't massive. It's just a normal three-storey house. It's not even the biggest in this neighbourhood. My family's owned this place for years."

Silvia wasn't sure if she should believe this man or not, sure the world was more than big enough that some society that doesn't have nobility could exist, it was definitely not unheard of but... then everything else. "I don't know what a 'technician' is." She started, not entirely sure what that was supposed to be. "But it doesn't sound impressive, are you telling me that you seriously can afford living here?! Shit you can probably fit three to four families in this place and still have room to spare!" Silvia wasn't mad, but was just astonished. "Secondly, what's... Gods I don't even want to try pronouncing whatever the hell your jacket is made of, but really, what is that stuff? Third... that holotool, I only understood what part of what it does. What's a computer? What's the 'net'? What the hell is a video?! How the fuck do you fit a board game on that thing!? I..."

With a sigh she threw her hands up, and shook her head. "Holy shit, I really am in a faraway foreign land..." Silvia looked up at Parker and pointed a finger at him. "Above all else, how in the ever-loving Gods do we even speak the same language!? Everything about your... civilization is so goddamn weird and alien that its impossible to think we share the same tongue."

Parker shrunk back at Silvia's sudden outburst and put his open palms in front of him. "Whoa, calm down. I told you, I'm a technician. I repair broken computers and fix technical issues." He put his hands down. "To be exact, the jacket's carbon kevlar polycotton, nanoengineered synthetic fibres. My jacket was manufactured in the Brisk Fabrication Yards on Hiemal. It's made by the Advent Corporation." He showed her his powered-down holotool for a closer look. "As I said earlier, my holotool's a compact computer. I can connect and browse the StellarNet whenever I want. Don't you know that?"

Of course, the confusion came when she said something about his civilisation being weird. "Okay, what?" He asked in disbelief. "I knew the colonies were diverse, but damn, you not knowing what a holotool even is?" That probably supported his suspicion that she was from an isolated colony or something. "Can you at least tell me what planet you're from?"