[ COMPLETED ]
German Translations Provided By @vanessanats
BOOK 1 of the ORPHIC series
ZEITGEIST
/ˈtsītˌɡīst,ˈzītˌɡīst/
the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"His eyes gave him away. There was a drowning man. Behind that smile."
Malibu, California May, 2010
SHE AWOKE TO THE SOUND of beeps and whirs, of something moving on wheels. She blinked, her eyes registering the ceiling light. She'd shifted to curl on the floor sometime during the night. The blanket was still wrapped around her body, but there was a pillow now, right beneath her head, tucked carefully to her head.
She furrowed her eyebrows at the whirring metal arm spinning and turning as it waved at her. She scanned the room- the lab was just as messy as ever, tools strewn out across tables, some laying on the ground, having clattered after Stark ran out of room. She adjusted her gaze to stare at the robot now emitting a series of quiet clicks and loud clacks. She tilted her head, and took a closer listen.
The quiet clicks sounded shorter, the louder clacks sounded longer- dot, dash, dash, dot.
Morse code rang familiar in her ears, and Verfall found herself surprised by what it was asking.
. — — . P . E — T
— . . D . . — U — — M . E
She thought she got the translation wrong by the second word, but she listened again and the message remained the same. She scanned the robot, uncertainty flickering between her eyes. She looked to the lab door for a moment, before reaching out with hesitance.
"Can The-" she paused, shaking her head, "-I touch you?"
The robot, DUM-E she supposed, let out another series of clicks and clacks.
— . — — Y . E . . . S
She slowly reached out, her fingertips barely brushing against the robotic arm. It chittered with happiness and her lips twitched upwards into a tiny smile.
The door to the lab suddenly lurched open and Verfall flinched, pulling her hand away from DUM-E as quickly as possible. She exhaled softly as Stark sauntered inside, grinning from ear to ear. She calmed the anxiety clawing at her chest, quietly standing to her feet and folding the blanket Stark had given her.
DUM-E let out a series of noises, like they were curious.
She didn't give them much attention as she stepped over towards Stark, who grabbed a red and gold suitcase sitting besides his suit prototypes, propping the thing open. He looked to Verfall as she appeared beside him.
