Grayscale

Chapter 9, Officiated

In a desert city, the red sun shines overhead and reflecting chrome beams into the atmosphere, off the silver-lined skyscrapers at the edges of the town. On the sidewalk to the road into town, a shattered glass portal of Spatial Iskel opened up, Efni and Endrai wandering through, Efni taking on her "Pearl" disguise as soon as she was through, Endrai looking around with an open mouth smile.

Endrai; "Wow... And you said this was in Lorinthian Empire territory?"

Efni shrugged, running a hand through her auburn hair.

Efni; "Technically... Aludia is in a trade agreement with the Empire, and steadily letting them build more and more fortifications on the planet. The Soviets were never gonna find this place on their own anyways; literally on the other side of the galaxy."

Endrai chuckled and looked towards the town, ringed with silver skyscrapers that seemed to get older the closer they got to the city center. Endrai looked to Efni with a smile as she took Endrais hand. Endrai smiled as he gave her hand a soft squeeze and they made their way into town. Once past a checkpoint manned by shorter, almost skeletal aliens with three green eyes, they finally got to see the city in its entirety; the center was home to a palace of what looked to be solid chrome and silver, similar in architecture to a mosque.

Endrai; "This place is gorgeous... But, why pick here, out of the whole universe at your fingertips?"

Efni giggled as she walked with Endrai, looking up at the skyline and watching the as the buildings seemed to get more ancient the closer to the center they got.

Efni; "Well, two reasons; one, this is one of my favorite planets aesthetically, I love the silver contrasting with the desert. Two, there's someone here Orlog wanted me to check up on; seemed to him there was someone split among the timelines."

Endrai glanced to either side to see the streets filled with tourists of various species, notably the occasional reptillian alien in vibrant green armor, stuttering at the concept.

Endrai; "... H-how does that happen? How often *does* it happen?"

Efni shrugged again, glancing down to her hand holding Endrais.

Efni; "Well, it's not *super* common, but it happens enough we're prepared to handle it. It could happen for a few different reasons; a pocket of Chronon radiation suddenly bursting, exposure to the timestream, a *lack* of Chronons even... Just generally getting out of sync with the timestream."

Endrai nodded with pursed lips, meager though they were as a reptillian, the pair making their way over a flat, grated bridge situated over a river that ran through the city, the riverbed sparkling as if pieces of chrome and silver lay at the bottom.

Endrai; "So, time *does* flow... You make it sound like it's set up like a proper creek."

Efni looked back to admire the riverbed before looking back to Endrai.

Efni; "More like... a whirlpool, is how I would describe it. It doesn't go from past to future and end, it just circles back around through a buttload of... Capillaries, is how I'd best describe the timelines."

Endrai subtly shook his head, steadily processing the information as they begin approaching the silver palace, glistening in the red suns evening light.

Endrai; "Like you said, time is a flat plane for you... Hard to comprehend that one, really."

Efni giggled as they began walking up the steps to the palace, passing a couple crowds of people standing and posing for group pictures.