The Celestial Way

Chapter 8.8 - Haven by the Way

"What do you know about dragons?" she asked.

Caught off guard, he stared at her.

"Why are you asking me?" he said, forcing himself to speak.

"I want to know what dragons truly are," Veralla said earnestly. "I searched about them in the mesh, and read and read and read, but there is just so much! I found thousands of stories about dragons, and each describes them differently: some are small, like the dreyks in the geodesic dome; some are large and strong, like the statues around town; and some are... something strange, called 'symbol'. And here is this dragon," she added hastily, tapping the flatscreen, "who doesn't look like me at all." She looked back at him, downcast. "Am I the only dragon... here?"

"No," Airo said very quietly.

"Where are the others, then?"

His gaze drifted toward the ceiling. "I fought on a distant planet long ago," he whispered. "Dragons lived there. I imagine... they still do."

"You fought... dragons?" she asked, her purple eyes wide.

"Yes," he said, his voice oddly strained.

"Why?"

"They were... not like you. Different, as you say. Lost." Strength returned to his voice. "They attacked us. We attacked in return. Some of us tried to help the dragons. There was a war, and many died, both humans... and dragons."

"What happened to the dragons?" Veralla prodded.

"I do not know," he said honestly. His tone was bitter. "More than seven centuries have passed since."

"You do not remember what happened?" she gasped in awe.

"No. I was... away, for many years. I was told many things have changed during my absence."

"Oh," she said, relieved. "Then why have you not learned what has happened?"

Good question, Airo thought. Out loud he said, "Maybe I should."

"I can help you!" Veralla said. "We can use the Viirt! You can learn about anything in there! And if there is too much to learn, you can use virtual time-dilation, to use less time while you learn! Kiana showed me how to do that." She yawned widely. "I feel sleepy now. We can start tomorrow, yes?"

"Okay," Airo said, glad this awkward situation was resolving itself. Veralla hopped off him and climbed on the couch, where she curled upon herself and promptly closed her eyes.

He left her to sleep, and went outside. He sat on one of the observation terraces, the tables around empty in the early morning. He watched the rising suns for a few minutes, fighting his urge to keel over from exhaustion.

Finally, he got his tired body under control. "SAI... Yeoman Cloud," he called.

"Yes, Commander?" the power armor speakers responded at once.

"Does this armor support time-dilation interfacing?"

"Of course, Commander. All Orion-class PPGs are equipped with an advanced MMI suite enabling the wearer to modify their sensorial perceptions and stimuli, even in the absence of physical access sockets or implanted wetware."

"Right... Put me into the slowest subjective time state. Collect all historical information for the last seven centuries in the available databases, and prepare the thirty-seconds version for each major event. And give me something to juice me up."

"At once, Commander!" Yeoman Cloud boomed with zest.

With the SAI's assistance, Airo began the daunting task of catching up on seven centuries of history and progress.