Update 10: Follow the Hi-Viz Dragon
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"My uh, apologies," Zalan says, suddenly feeling put on the spot to match Tieran-Sha's diction and failing immediately.
"Sorry, I haven't been sleeping a lot," Zalan continues, not mentioning the drugs. "I managed to get that deep contemplation engine that I've been working on functional. It kind of... took me all night, and then all day, and then I kind of fell asleep..."
"Ah yes! You've explained the basics," says Tieran-Sha. "I'm pleased by your hard work and triumph over adversity! But. Was that the priority here?"
"It's, I think it's the reason the alarm's going off," says Zalan.
"Ah," says Tieran-Sha, as realization dawns. "Ah...!"
He looks at Zalan again. Is that, gratitude? Pride? Zalan feels as though a million tons of weight gently lifts off his shoulders.
"I'm fffairly confident I did it correctly," Zalan says, answering the unasked question. "And that this alarm is accurate and there's an actual serious macroscopically-significant for-real major fucking problem that everyone's right to be panicking about." He didn't mean to phrase it quite like that, but all the words just fell out of his mouth in that order.
"I thank you for the warning," says Tieran-Sha with a polite, canting bow of his head. "In that case, we should proceed with added haste."
"Right. I was just headed to a shelter."
"I just have a few other rooms to check first," says Tieran-Sha. He watches Zalan, half expecting him to immediately scamper off alone.
Zalan nods reflexively, then stands there in awkward indecision. Having found a friendly face, he's reluctant to leave. After a few more moments, Tieran-Sha smiles, taking it to mean Zalan has chosen to stick with him. He trots off towards another wing of the habitation section. Zalan trots after him, still unsure if this is the right move, until it's clear the moment to make a decision's over.
It's just his high-viz...
"Hey, why'd you put on your high-viz?" Zalan asks.
"Why, to be more visible~" says Tieran-sha, almost playfully.
Zalan goes "Hm."
Tieran-Sha scans his surroundings as they walk. More quietly than before, he explains: "I'd hoped it might impress the situation's severity, and invest myself with an air of practical authority beyond my station."
"Yeah, well, it's working," says Zalan.
He feels momentarily sheepish. Are young dragons so accustomed to acceding to the aesthetics of official policy? Under the circumstances, it seems reasonable to do whatever an emergency worker says without asking for credentials.
Tieran-Sha continues even more quietly: "Aside from that, my construction harness offers some magicks I feared might prove useful."
Zalan thinks he detected embarrassment in Tieran-Sha's voice. He must've meant it has defenses built in, but didn't want to say so explicitly. As though it seems shameful to think to his own protection first, while others go without. Of course, in his current state, Zalan's not confident he can read his own emotions, never mind someone else's...
!!!
Zalan's heart nearly catches in his throat. He feels a dawning embarrassment, then sudden exasperation at himself for thinking the way he's thinking.
Zalan thought he firmly shelved these thoughts long ago. He still remembers their early chemistry, and the way Tieran-Sha seemed downright flustered during his early visits to Zalan's family household, years ago. But that faded with time. By the time Zalan moved away, it seemed their relationship had gained firmly platonic roots.
And he values that. Tieran-Sha's proven a stubbornly loyal friend, a reliable source of advice, and a source of boundless enthusiasm. Zalan isn't certain if his soul is greedy for more. It may be that it is, but he's chosen not to risk it. Establishing the other dragon as a goal of his desire would forever alter the character of their relationship.
he is handsome, though; that's just objectively true.
This isn't the time or the place. The shelter's going to be way too crowded for any sort of private discussion.
Zalan falls in, for now, reasoning that this won't be much of a detour.
"Are you just knocking on doors?" he asks.
"Not all of them. Some students asked the arcology who's missing and where their lairs are. I lacked proper authorization to do this myself, but recorded the answers."
Zalan considers if he could gather more up-to-date information. He isn't sure how. They can ask the arcology who hasn't checked into a shelter, and where their residences are registered, but they're forbidden from actually asking who's inside a private room.
A dragon's lair is, in principle, sancrosanct. A holdover from the old times when a breach of privacy was a declaration of war. In practice, each bubble is breached at multiple points. But these are all voluntary. Or "voluntary," relying on loss of face and status for compliance. Theoretically, Zalan could return to his room, barricade the door, switch off his communications, remove the arcology's permission to perform emergency communications, and sit there in silence. Presumably until some kind of monster broke in, but who can say for certain?
If some other dragon has the same idea, there's only so much Tieran-Sha can do about it. He can roar and pound on the door, but if they ignore him, that should be the end of it. Zalan happens to know that Tieran-Sha has taken jobs rending habitats down to scrap metal, but doing anything of the sort here would be a serious breach of honor.
"Here," says Tieran-Sha.
For a moment, the hairs of Zalan's mane rise, fearful that his friend's principles might evaporate in a crisis.
Instead, he whispers "Smile or something," before politely chiming the door.
Zalan smiles or something.
"Hello! Is this Ramntha Na-Veth?" Tieran rumbles with heroic confidence, addressing the door's signal stone. "I am named Tieran-Sha! I'm here to help. It is imperitive that all students head for shelters at once. If you're still inside, I humbly implore you to come with us and enjoy safety in numbers as we proceed to greater safety. If you've already escaped, please accept my apology for any implications this message may engender."
Is that his way of guilting them into coming along?
For a long time, there's no response. Tieran-Sha looks relaxed, but his visage wavers. Zalan thinks he hears some distant thumping noise coming from elsewhere in the arcology. Further away still, there's a great rush of air, similar to an airship passing overhead. The Air Guard has ships like that. Maybe they've already arrived. Or maybe it's not that.
The local mana feels unusual. He might call it otherworldly if he wasn't afraid of jinxing it. But then, it might already be the literal truth.
Tieran-Sha makes a concerned sound, then turns away from the door.
"Perhaps they left already. We can-"
The door slides open.
"WAIT!" says a feathered dragonelle.
They wait.
"Yes I'm ready to go sorry I'm- You said Tieran? I'm Ramntha Sorry to keep you waiting."
Zalan gives her a look. Tieran-Sha takes only a moment to regain his composure, then bows his head fractionally.
"Not at all. Thank you," he says. "But we must hurry."
"Are you okay?" asks Zalan.
"Not really!" she says. "There's some huge fucking thing outside. I figured if there was a real emergency I'd be better off jumping out the window and flying away but I think I'd rather try the shelter actually haha."
That wasn't even a laugh. She said 'haha.' Tieran-Sha frowns gravely, then jogs down the corridor to bang on another door.
"What kind of thing?" Zalan asks.
"Airship... monster?" says the dragonelle. "God I sound like a wyrmling or something. Let's hurry and discuss this somewhere safer."
Tieran-Sha is shouting at this door.
"...Although I don't know if anywhere is really safer," says Ramntha. "What if the whole arcology loses lift?"
"Well, there's redundant magick to make it land softly if that happens," says Zalan. "But it kind of depends on how bad things get."
Zalan thinks that he should be freaking out. The fact that he isn't is coming as a pleasant surprise.
"We can wait no longer," Tieran-Sha says as he returns. "There's one more set of quarters I'll try en route to the nearest shelter. We'll pause there only briefly, and then hopefully to safety."
The trio runs. Ramntha has more to say, but Tieran-Sha politely requests they all quiet down and try to focus, in case they aren't alone. Zalan almost contradicts him. There's some kind of giant threat right outside. What if the whole habitat's about to be blown apart?
While Tieran-Sha speaks to a third door, Zalan tries to race through his messages. Kezey is asking if anyone knows what's going on. Ioseth is more angrily and more demandingly asking the same. There's a flurry of messages between departments, but any sense of organized control seems to be subsumed into a complete lack of information. Administrative channels are just telling everyone to get to shelter as quickly as possible. One technician says they were attacked...
Tieran-Sha makes an aggressive, frustrated noise.
"Let's get you two somewhere safe," he says, and takes off that way. Zalan and Ramntha rush after him. The sound dampening floors struggle with three dragons at full gallop.
"You mean us three," Zalan says.
"If everyone's accounted for, yes," says Tieran-Sha.
"But you know they won't," says Zalan.
"Such pessimism!" Tieran-Sha says.
"There's always going to be a few who think they're better off staying near the sky," says Zalan. "Hell, I'm not sure they're wrong."
"I am!" says Ramntha. "Well, pretty sure. Rather depends on how much worse it gets in here."
Tieran-Sha says nothing. Zalan thinks of what to do...
vote 1:
[] Don't discourage Tieran-Sha from trying to rescue people. - He's right. We can't just leave them out there!
[] Try to convince Tieran-Sha to shelter with Zalan and the others. - Dialogue suggestions may prove useful.
vote 2:
[] Prioritize sticking with Tieran-Sha, even if that's more dangerous. - Zalan feels surprisingly alert. His elixir's still active. He can help solve problems, provide a second pair of eyes, has authorizations Tieran-Sha doesn't, and knows the arcology better.
[] Prioritize staying in the armored shelter, even if you have to split up with your friend. - You've been out of your mind for hours. Sit down before you fall down.
Last edited:
