Wands and Warframes

Corrispondence

Once behind the Orokin era walls of Cetus, Harry transfers out of his warframe and allows the owl to land on his shoulder.

"Hello there, you've been gone a while. Come on, as we're planetside, let's see Master Teasonai and see if he has any treats that are safe for you to eat."

Walking through the village is an interesting experience, as it seems like everyone wants to look at the owl. Eventually he is able to make his way to see Teasonai, who upon seeing the owl immediately stop talking to his current customer.

"Tenno, what a pleasure. And this fine specimen of a bird, where did you find it?"

"It's an owl, and I didn't find it, it found me. They're apparently used for carrying letters, as you can see."

"Is that what that is, how odd. How do you read it?"

"They've applied a substance to the surface of the animal skin." Harry removes the letter and unfolds it to show the proof.

"That seems widely wasteful, there are so many better things that the components of that letter could be used for."

"Tell me about it, they have an educational establishment that they've invited me to. I'm seriously thinking of going just to find out how they can afford to be so wasteful. Anyway, enough about my mail, can you examine the owl and let me know if there's anything I need to do to care for it properly."

"Hmm, if you'll allow me to look after it for an hour I'll give it a full diagnostic."

An hour later, and a cryptic message from the Quills contact Onkko, Harry returns to see how the owl is getting on.

"Absolutely amazing, the owl shares a lot of similarities with the local wildlife. Which, apart from the insects, seems to have come from a different evolutionary tree to everything else in the solar system. The only animals that seem to share the same evolutionary tree as us are kubrow and kavats of course."

"Um, yeah, there's a pretty good reason for that. However, I'm not really at liberty to talk about it."

"No, no I understand. You Tenno come across secrets all the time, and you trade on your reputation."

"Look, New Loka might have more information if you can sweet talk them."

"Those crazies? I doubt anyone from Cetus could step one foot inside one of their compounds without having weapons pointed at them. If my curiosity becomes bad enough I will send one of my apprentices. Anyway, your, owl was it? Yes, owl. It had some parasites living in it's feathers. We have extracted them and are keeping them for study. It also had no antibodies for any of the illnesses found on the plains. We noticed that it already had some nanites, so we've just reprogrammed them to also act as a second immune system. It should also be safe to transport it the same way you transport your other living companions. Also, you are aware that the harness is made from animal skins?"

"We were, thank you for pointing it out though. I need to get going, as this letter isn't going to translate itself."

"Thank you for allowing me to see such a magnificent specimen of a unique animal that isn't infested."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════

Harry makes his way to Lua with the letter, as his lander is coming in to the landing pad he muses that it's almost like having a home. Oh, he has his orbiter and railjack, but they don't have the same feel as working near to his mother. He sometimes wonders whether he'd have been kicked out, like Rell was, if he'd been older when he appeared on the Ten-Zero. Then again, it's probably not fair on the other Tenno, who were all going through puberty when the accident happened. As a result, he had a very different experience with Margulis, and then Natah, than they did. He doesn't remember his parents trying to kill him, though there is that memory of a man shooting a green light. Disembarking, he makes his way down to the Lab and his mothers workspace. As he approaches, her pod opens and she disconnects from the computer network.