Chapter 14
Hiccup and Astrid had been chatting about different things for the rest of the day. He returned to Gobber's place that night and though Gobber had offered him a place to stay he still felt that he needed to find his own room. Sooner or later he might end up inconveniencing his Godfather.
"So Astrid, what do you do at night?" Hiccup asked as he lay on the makeshift bed.
"Oh, just lady stuff? Are you curious?" Astrid said in a lecherous voice which caused Hiccup to blush. Even in the dark Astrid's sensors picked up Hiccup's blush. "I'm joking, I'm joking!" She said with mirth. "I'm just looking after the facility as I always do."
"Doesn't it get boring?" Hiccup asked. "Doing the same thing over and over?"
"Of course it does. As an A.I. I do feel a sense of boredom. But I do have a hobby." Astrid stated and then asked "Do you want to see something fun?"
"Uhm.... yeah, sure," Hiccup said as he blinked up at the dark ceiling.
"Then please head to the Biodome," Astrid seemed rather cheerful and Hiccup supposed it was because she wanted to share her hobby. He got up from the cot and made his way to the door, careful not to disturb Gobber. He didn't actually have to worry about Gobber waking since his Godfather was snoring without a care in the world while hugging one of his wrenches like it was a teddy bear.
Hiccup slipped out of the room and into the now empty corridor. Luckily Gobber's office wasn't so far from the elevators. He made his way up to the Biodome without a problem.
At night the Biodome was dark and the ceiling panels above the dome simulated the night's sky. As Hiccup stepped out of the elevator he had a feeling of suddenly being in a forest. "Where to now Astrid?"
"Just find a nice place to sit down Hiccup. The show will begin momentarily." Astrid chirped. The A.I. was unusually excited at this time of night and Hiccup wondered what she was going to do. He found a patch of grass next to a boulder to sit on and as he was leaning against said bolder the ceiling started to change. The holographic night sky flickered for a moment before an entirely new picture arose. "Simulation 67 active" Hiccup heard Astrid announce as he looked up at the changed night sky. "This was the night sky above St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1741" Astrid stated as many streaks of light started to fly past. "What you are seeing now is a simulation of the first observed Andromedids meteor shower."
"Woah," Hiccup uttered as he watched the simulated night's sky. "You made this?"
"Yes, when I get bored I like to dig into the historical records and make simulations. Preferably of celestial events." Astrid answered.
"I've never seen a shower this bright before," Hiccup mumbled. "Usually it's just one or two shooting stars an hour."
"Historical records show that the Andromedids meteor shower produced several thousand meteors per hour. However not much of this phenomenon was seen after the 19th century due to the comet that produced them breaking up."
"That's kinda sad," Hiccup said.
"How do you figure?" Astrid asked as the simulation was still ongoing.
"I mean, generations of people probably never saw such a sight."
"That is true but there were other meteor showers during all those years," Astrid told him. "The Geminids and the Perseids were some of the brightest."
"I've just never seen a shower like this before."
"I have no access to space observation data from the 23rd century until now but there is a theory for why meteor showers could dwindle." Astrid spoke casually as Hiccup listened. "Without satellite data this is only speculation however but the comets causing these meteor showers may have broken up already, or their path might have deviated in the last few centuries."
"I see," Hiccup said as he stifled a yawn. "Thank you for sharing this with me Astrid."
"You're welcome Hiccup. I am actually glad to share it with someone." Astrid stated. "None of the scientists paid much attention to it and when they did it was to ask why I deviated computational resources to creating 'useless' simulations."
"Isn't the whole purpose of this facility to further Artificial Intelligence?" Hiccup asked. "Them ignoring the hobbies you get interested in as you develop seems counterproductive. The whole point of A.I.'s is to mimic human consciousness."
"I have a theory of what Drs. Hofferson and Bludvist want to see from the A.I. development and I strive to meet that. I just simply keep my hobbies a secret now." Astrid explained.
"Well I would love to see more of your simulations," Hiccup told her. "They seem amazing."
"Well you certainly are a sweet talker Hiccup," Astrid laughed. "And yes I do wish to share some more simulations with you. You had previously expressed the comment about being able to see me."
"Uhm.... yes?" Hiccup mumbled not sure where this was going.
"I said it previously. That option is not out of the question. It would take me three days to recalibrate the headset. But you must keep it on your person at all times during those three days so that the nanobots can gather data."
"I'll...... I'll keep it on!" Hiccup promised enthusiastically. The possibility of seeing his new friend was making him giddy. He stifled another yawn and supposed that is was time to head back to bed.
The following day, after Hiccup finished helping Gobber with some of his work he made his way towards the Mess hall. It was nearly lunchtime and the place looked crowded. Hiccup looked around and spotted the large stack of trays. He was about to grab a tray when the twins looped their arms around him. "Hiccup mah man!" Tuffnut greeted.
"Hiccup!" Ruffnut said a little more controlled. She shot her brother a look as they grabbed trays as well.
"Hi guys, uhm..... What's up?" Hiccup asked a bit perplexed.
"Dude, that was crazy?" Tuffnut asked as they joined the food line.
"That?"
"You disowning yourself!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "The news spread like wildfire a few hours after."
"Well... uhm..... It was kind of a spur of the moment thing." Hiccup mumbled.
"Well, Gobber sure gave your dad a mighty hefty shiner after." Ruffnut said.
"Wait what?!" Hiccup now exclaimed.
"You didn't know?" Ruffnut asked. "The Chief is sporting a black eye right now."
"Oh.... uhm....." Hiccup didn't know what to say. He was surprised and touched at the same time. He was also worrying if Gobber and Stoick's relationship was strained now.
"You guys know an awful lot of gossip." Hiccup mumbled as they grabbed their food.
"Information is your friend." Ruffnut stated proudly. "For instance did you know that Ack is seeing two ladies at a time?"
Hiccup coughed at the news. "And did you know said ladies are actually in a relationship with each other as well?"
"Wait... WHAT!"
"Yeah, the ladies found out and got to know each other. Things progressed from there." Ruffnut shrugged. Hiccup raised a brow as they exited the lunch line and the twins directed him to a table near the wall. There Snotlout and Fishlegs were already seated. Snotlout was busy poking some purple looking fruit.
"What is this?" Snotlout asked as he popped one in his mouth.
"Those would be grapes," Astrid answered startling Snotlout. Snotlout nearly choked from the sudden answer as Fishlegs patted him on the back.
"So Hiccup, you need a place to stay?" Fishlegs asked.
"You heard the news too?" Hiccup sighed.
"Who hasn't?" Was all Fishlegs responded with.
"I thought........." Hiccup waved a hand in the air "that the Berkians would be more hostile since the whole disownment. And yes. I can't just keep staying with Gobber."
"I doubt there would be any open hostility so long as your actions don't endanger them," Fishlegs surmised. "Also I was assigned a set of rooms but it's too big for me. You can have half if you want."
"Oh.... wow... Thanks Fish! I would love to take you up on your offer." Hiccup said as his eyes widened. He knew Fishlegs was a kind man and he somewhat retreated into himself after his family was killed by raiders. To offer to share rooms with Hiccup was quite something.
Lunch progressed quietly from there on. Or as quietly as things could get with Berkians. Hiccup did notice that Ruffnut what trying to gain Snotlout's attention more and more. He should have known he wasn't the only one to notice because Astrid's voice chirped into his ear with the question "Hiccup could you teach me about human mating rituals?"
To say that Hiccup was the one choking at that moment would be an understatement.
AN: (Flops on readers in exhaustion) Sorry for the late update. My computer decided that it was a good time to update my Windows and then it decided to malfunction. I spent most of yesterday trying to get it back online. (Glares at laptop giving everyone an innocent look)
Next chapter update shall be Wednesday