Proper Introductions
FairessEve, Adam, Unknown
Day 0, Yesterday Evening
LOCATING MOST RECENT FILES...
DATA RETRIEVEDADAM CLARKE: DAILY LOG
Over the past few days, I've been using my downtime to make my way below the central district of Angel's Landing--much further than most are willing to spelunk for fear of getting lost. Above me was dim, slitted light from sewage grates, and surrounding me was the stench of only a few thousand years of accumulated humanoid (and otherwise) excrement. For years, waterways have carved a twisted labyrinth under Angel's Landing, the ancient roots of what once was a city buried, eroded, and forgotten along these former canals. Tall pillars, once white and new, are covered in moss and muck, most of them collapsed and twisted like silent stone serpents. Even so, the most rotten of ruins can hide secrets, messages from our past we lost long ago. I can't help the gut feeling there's something still here, just waiting to be discovered.PERKLE VISUAL FEED: ACTIVATING...
PERKLE AUDIO FEED: ACTIVATING...
REPLAY LOADING..."What the--
really, Eve? Right now?" Adam's finger curled around his earpiece, one slight jerk away from yanking it out. "Turn off that garbage so I can focus."
The voice in his earpiece snerked. "I don't need to defend Plasmic Star to you. She's sold more than a hundred thousand records--the lack of one classical snob won't leave a dent."
"Eve." The hint of warning in Adam's voice was always hot-cold, like a spout of water threatening entropic emnity with a burn before a frosty snap. "You can see I'm suspended more than a hundred feet above a septic, rocky death. I'd appreciate my last moments not being played alongside 'Kiss, kiss, give me love!' How can such a heavily auto-tuned voice still manage to be so grating?"
"Whatever! She's my robot angel girl. And besides, you've been reinforced to withstand over a hundred G's. Worst that would happen is you might dislocate a few joints. Easy fix."
Adam resisted the urge to roll his eyes, fixing his gaze on a pillar well out of his reach. "Eve, if you experienced 'dislocating' several of your joints, I don't think you'd bank on calling it 'easy.' Now turn it off or you're getting poached eggs for breakfast tomorrow."
"Eugh, like rubber, so thick and tasteless and..." An audible shudder passed through the earpiece before the music flipped off. "Fine! But I better get extra Parmesan on my scrambled. You always scrimp on the cheese. No sense of adventure."
"Says the girl sitting safe and sound in her lab while I climb around ancient waterways. Is it even worth pointing out the irony?" Adam kicked himself into motion, feeling the heavy swing of his legs push him through space. When he deactivated his grapple hook, there was a familiar rush of adrenaline--one was never quite so vulnerable nor so graceful as when mid-air, relying on the aerodynamics of one's own body to steer toward doom or destiny. His hand punched safely into the pillar he'd targeted, sending a puff of dust and plunk of pebbles to dissipate into the black, watery abyss below.
"Well, some of us get our rush of adventure in more reasonable ways. You know, like listening to heart-pumping, beat blasting music or indulging in delicious fo--well now, that's interesting."
"Do tell." Adam's voice was a grunt as he grasped a chink in the pillar to climb around it. Another little leap awaited him--he could see the beginnings of a rooftop some seven meters away. After a deep breath, he pressed his feet up against the pillar before kicking off it and turning mid-air. His arms stretched out on either side of him, a whirring, metal man-bird before his fingertips grasped the end of the rooftop. Eve, as ever, went on as though they were in the middle of a game of croquet.
"All your monkeying around has picked up some interesting info on Perkle's sonar. I mean, it's still just underground sewage runoff below you, but the aqueduct system around you is very different from the sewage lines above. I mean, most places build off and feed purposely into the old water systems, but this... it's like it was totally skipped. I wouldn't be surprised if you were climbing on a fresh water feed."
"Not surprising." Adam pulled himself onto the rooftop with a soft huff, then turned to gaze back at the system Eve described. "After the Stygian occupation of Angel's Landing, we lost more than can ever be accounted for of our history. The detail in these markings the pillars have--they were clearly made before the Abberation Wars occurred. Craftsmen of the era--"
"Ohmigods, I think I just aged ten years! I'm not following you on a live feed for a history lesson, A-Boy."
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and flicked a hand in the empty air. "Right, I'm sorry; I keep forgetting you have no interest in Orieon artifacts."
"Come again?" Something clattered on Eve's end--probably chopsticks. She always had a tendency to order out instead of putting up with Ace's lunches.
"You remember I've been searching for the Seraphic Library. You know, supposedly built near the end of Orieon's life and sanctioned by Orcorum?" Adam started walking again, following the line of the roof with an eye on the ruined stone he could see stretching out from far beneath it. "There's an old prophecy about the library's founding: 'We who were formed from the flesh of a god bear also the seeds of His knowledge. We treasure not only our bodies formed from divine will, but also the minds we are blessed with, which create beauty, reason, and the foundation of a society that will build upon itself until it ascends into the stars. But let it be known to all my brethren that there is secret knowledge, dreadful knowledge, that could entice us toward our own destruction. When the flesh of Orieon turns against itself with dreams of blood and greed, the divine knowledge and all its great purpose will be lost to us all.'
"And that's what happened, in a sense. During the First Stygian War, it's recorded that the Seraphic Library collapsed in on itself during the fighting and fell into a chasm. Primitive explosives that exploited the city's sewers, maybe, or tremors caused by elemental magic. Just like that, it disappeared off the face of the planet, wiped out, built on top of, forgotten. A good number of scholars don't even believe it exists. Orcorum's clerics, though... they're less willing to give up on such a legend and much more helpful for it."
"Well, sounds like you ought to be indoctrinated into their church. Should I pick up some robes and a pamphlet before you get back?" A tight squeak sounded--her chair leaning back. How was it
she was the tired one between them?
"Not all scholars can afford to collect dust while debating and theorizing. And even I have to admit, this looks prom...ising." Adam's voice trailed off as he caught a glimpse of one of the exposed aqueducts below. A golden glitter flashed as the comfortably perched Perkle on his shoulder cast a beam toward the water.
What could he do but smile?
FURTHER ACCESS DENIED. ENTER DECRYPTION CREDENTIALS TO PROCEED
CREDENTIALS NOT RECOGNIZED
DATA UNAVAILABLE
INCOMING MESSAGE...
FROM: EVE
(¬‿¬) I see you. Chat properly over dinner sometime? <3
Making Friends and Influencing People: Part I
FairessEve, Adam
Day 1, Morning
"You're way too chipper for just having stepped out of a sewer. And last I checked, it's not your birthday." Eve glanced up from her computer as Adam came striding into the lab. His smile was, unfortunately enough, contagious, and the fresh waft of juniper-esque cologne was equally perky.
"Well, I
am expecting a present this morning. Have you finished compiling Perkle's sonar data?" Adam was already leaning closer to catch a glimpse of her screen, and just like that, his smile disappeared. One of his bronzey fingers pointed accusingly at the offensive imagage as he scowled. "How the blazes did you get
that?"
Eve simply shrugged and tabbed up some visual reconstruction software on her computer. There were a few faint, but recognizable features of the ruins Adam had visited the day before. "Perkle gets around more than just smelly sewers, you know. And come on, a shirtless Eiishii in the middle of training? Priceless. I mean, he's sorta older, but those abs! Gods, the things linen hides. I mean, if he wears linen. Do you think it's imported silk? Or maybe genetically altered spider silk he wears?"
"Eve! This voyeur habit of yours? It needs to stop. It's not endearing, you're well above the age and breeding of a lust-addled stalker, and... just... really? Mr. Umemoto? The traitor? The blademaster who can cut anything?" Adam grasped the armrests of Eve's desk chair, swiveling her around to face the burning amber of his eyes directly. "Do you
want to end up dead?"
"Yipes, so serious." Eve held up her hands oh-so-peacefully, only to scowl and grab at Adam's arm as he moved one hand to delete her precious Eiishii compilation. "Hey! Destruction of personal property! Way worse!"
Adam didn't even bother to look her way as he held her at arm's length. "Eve, that man is dangerous. If he caught you snooping around him... gods! Why do you have such a perverted sense of curiosity?"
"Keeps me entertained. Unlike you." Eve stood up from her chair in a huff and moved toward the window--which happened to be the entirety of the walls. "Does this mean I can delete your request for an excavation team?"
"Absolutely not. Our findings were... well. There's no understating it--this could be the most promising lead in finding the Seraphic Library
ever. We can't afford to pass up the chance! And I'll make sure the Tower Masters know." Adam's hands clenched before one ducked under his chin. "I'm sure they'll listen. I know we're short handed and the Stygian Blades are at large, but our findings... our findings are irrefutable. If I can't get their support, I'll find an Orcorum church that's more like-minded."
"Aaaand there he goes again, from ice to fire!" Eve leaned up against the glass and sighed. "Ace told me we'll be landing at the Tower docking bay in less than an hour. Did you want me to come with?"
Adam actually hesitated before flashing a smile. "Well, it was
our discovery. Short of the Stygian Blades raining fire on us, I can't imagine anything will deter us. It's short notice, but my request for an audience should get us going again by the end of the day. Well... one hopes."
"Aw, don't pitter out already!" Eve sauntered her way back to him and clasped his metal hand in her squishy one. "Let's do this!"
