Chapter 78 – Memories
"This looks much better than Tau Ceti f, right?" Letty asks quietly as we're sitting in her jet and approaching Gaia after leaving Abyssa.
"Depends. Tau Ceti f was kind of bland from a distance. This is much more... normal, I guess. Resembles past Earth." I shrug lightly as I gaze at the planet. It's largely covered in blue oceans, although most of the surface is an orangeish yellow of the deserts and scorched plateaus.
The only truly different areas are the north and south pole. The north is largely covered in gray, mainly because of all the industry and infrastructure there, and the currently not visible south is the only one with abundant vegetation. Where we're going is around halfway from the equator to the north pole, where Arcology Elysium is.
And speaking about where we're going. "Do you want to go somewhere specific, Letty?" I ask, turning to her as she sits with a slightly distant expression.
"Mmm, I don't think so?" She turns to me with a small smile. "I can do whatever, and if we do put a portal somewhere, we'll be able to come here whenever we want."
"Okay." I nod and pause for a moment hesitantly. "...I'd like to go to a couple of places, if that's alright?"
"Su..." She starts and looks at me suspiciously. "You mean alone? ...Ah." Making a slightly worried face, she leans to me and gives me a big, reassuring hug, making me smile a little. "You mean some places you've memories with?" She asks quietly.
"...Well, yeah." I sigh lightly, feeling the bit of tension I didn't know was there flowing away. "My house... mainly, I guess. It's hard to explain..."
"Mhm, I understand." She nods her head, looking at my face somewhat curiously. "Do you want to go there alone? Or should I accompany you?"
I look at her with raised eyebrows. "It's not like we're gonna do anything there. I just want... to see, I guess." I mutter and she giggles.
"Then I can go? I wanna see as well. Would that be alright?"
"...Sure." I puff out a breath of air as my lips shape themselves into a smile. "Let's see together."
...
"I'm having mixed thoughts looking at it." I tell Letty as we approach the massive space lift on Gaia - the same one where we had a pretty unforgettable experience of almost having Letty kidnapped and me killed - and we look at it together, having received clearance to land and now only approaching the spot.
"Well, I certainly can't say I like this place." Letty snorts. "But this is where we learned magic is real, huh?"
"Mhm." I nod with a small smile.
"Say, those people back then... won't they try something again?" I ask.
"Psychos? ...Probably. Sooner or later." She shrugs a little. "But I'm not that worried now. I mean, magic, yeah? And they are overall not that strong."
"What are they even after? It can't be that they are targeting you randomly."
"Yeah... well, I don't know really. I've heard they aim to create something like... a succesor for humanity. Maybe create something fundamentally more than the AI we currently have. I think that might be pretty similar to moving across the mind, maybe even presence axes that your mom was talking about? And I suppose they want to capture Mechanical to develop it all further? But if you wanna know details, then I've honestly no idea." Letty shrugs again and reaches her hand to me, holding my own as she turns to me with a smile.
"Alright." I mirror her expression. "I guess they aren't really a danger to us now."
"Yeah." My girlfriend flaps me on the head lightly and caresses my horn with a grin when I look at her in surprise. "Don't worry about it, Helia. You've your perception and abilities. You could literally destroy Gaia now, couldn't you? A group of extremists without magic won't be nearly enough to harm us."
I giggle at that and look out at Gaia, now a massive orb occupying at least fourth of the display. It's an unreal thought... that I could destroy it. Because I could, literally now. I could...
How beautiful it would be, and how pointless.
"We're docking in a minute." Letty tells me, bringing me back to earth. To the spaceship? "We're leaving the jet here, and I've a surprise waiting for you." She grins at me, offhandedly steering the ship to its spot, a tiny hole in the massive outer ring of the space lift's head rounded with neon light.
I perk up with interest at her words and look with raised eyebrows at her sneakily smiling face. "Is that surprise related to why we're leaving the jet?"
"Mmm, somewhat?" She smirks a little. "I can guarantee you'll like it."
"I'm having high hopes now." I comment as Letty turns the jet, flying into the dock filled with air kept inside by a... something field. I don't remember how these things worked... although I probably could swiftly learn if I pushed my mind and perception, I guess? Huh.
I ponder over the implications for a while as my girlfriend softly taps the jet down to the metallic surface, which causes a sudden shift in gravity as the artificial one gets turned off and lift's centrifugal starts affecting us. Directly after that a set of neon blue belts extends from the ground and secures the ship on top of the weak pull.
"Good. Now we're free to go." Letty announces, shutting down the systems and glancing at me with a smile. I stand up from my seat at the same moment as she does and we synchronously step to the door, she extending a hand to me - one I happily lock with mine - and hopping down first. The artificial gravity on the lift is substantial because of it's size and quick rotation, but it's still way weaker than on Gaia, not to mention Tau Ceti f.
We jump down to a rather large... let's call it a hall, it's basically a set of small docks arranged in a two rows, similarly to prison cells, which makes them open for air to flow in between, but not actually visible as each is closed off by a hologram. I, unlike normal people, can see with more than my eyes... when did start using my perception field on matter, if we're on that? Huh. Maybe because I wanted to see what was behind the walls? I'll need to watch myself better in the future.
How well it shows my power though, that I can learn to do something by thinking about it...
As I'm shelving the thought, I notice that Letty extends a long string of Nihility that passes through the floor and beelines to a security camera that's watching us... then trails the electric cable and snaps it where it connects with other cameras that cover this dock. I look at her with raised eyebrows and she looks back with an innocent smile as she starts constructing something out of nanobots on the floor next to me.
When two roundish shapes are created, I already get an idea what she is making and walk up to her side. I wrap my arms around my girlfriend's waist and lean my head on her shoulder as she glances at me with a smile.
"You'll make me feel guilty." I tell her quietly, watching the bike in front of us. An almost three meters long, aerodynamic shape with a round tip, triangular windshield, and two soft seats, one directly behind the other, as if melded out of a single shape with the rest of the sleek vehicle. It's black in color with vivid yellow lines and details, and it's the shape that I paid particular attention to back on Tau Ceti f.
"Why?" Letty asks, drawing my eyes to her slightly concerned pair.
I point at the bike and give her a look supposed to say that the question is entirely unnecessary, and she looks between me and the vehicle in confusion for a moment before her face lights up and she slips out of my arms, then smothers me in a big hug. "I don't want you to feel guilty because of something I want to do."
"Mmm." I smile, nuzzling into her shoulder. "Still. Is there something you want?"
"I... don't know?" She says hesitantly. "I mean, hm. A tour of Gaia, maybe? Is that fine?"
I nod. "Yeah, I can do that. I don't know many places, but there's a couple I can show you." I pull away from her and watch her face for a moment, then yelp in surprise when she picks me up by my waist and puts me on the front seat of the bike, then quickly seats herself behind me and wraps her arms around my waist so I need to spread my wings not to get them squished.
"Why is it me driving?" I ask quietly as I focus on my body, wanting to change it not to poke Letty with my wings or tail by accident.
"Well you're going to be showing me things, no?" She asks with mirth. "Don't you want to drive your girlfriend around your birthplace?"
I smile at that, and I feel a soft pang in my chest at the same time. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."
Then I flip the mental switch and shudder as my body ripples ever so slightly and changes. My wings retract into my back and disappear from view, my tail does the same, horns burn into pitch black embers that flow around me like leaves on the wind for a moment before disappearing.
I turn my head around, looking at Letty with a smile and catching view of the wavy blonde hair flowing down my back. She sucks in a deep breath at the sight and I giggle, reaching to her hand wrapped around my slim waist with my fingers, ending in round nails painted in yellow, and interlocking our fingers. "You like it?"
"...I can't say I don't." She replies after a moment. "Why?"
"Why I ask, or why did I do that?"
"You know it's the latter, dummy." She flaps me on the shoulder, both amusement and annoyance in her voice.
"Well... I don't know, really." I shrug lightly. "It just felt right. But, well, I don't want to parade around here looking like a demoness, because, uh, I wouldn't have anything against it, but many people would and it would be really annoying."
"Mmm, alright... you don't have dysphoria or anything, right?" She asks in concern.
"No, not at all." I shake my head. It's a little hard to describe without going into details of how exactly my ability works, but I'm pretty sure I'm not changing my body just physically, but also... spiritually? Like, the body I change into is not something foreign, but a new natural state that I can change back from anytime I want. Does that even make sense? I think it does. "You ready to go?"
"Mhm!" She nods enthusiastically.
"Then let's go. Gimme directions to the pod?"
...
Acrology Elysium is a... peculiar place. Originating in a simple, twelve-kilometer wide dome of glass with industry-devoted foundation and filled with residential and recreational buildings, it remained as such over past four hundred years; merely the insides changed so much they are simply unrecognizable.
What initially was a sizable space where a few tens of thousands could live in good conditions over time became a skyscaper-filled mess of small alleys and passages that houses over three million people. It could be loosely split into three sections that overlap and conflict frequently.
The first is the Upper Level, which is where the largest corporations, most prestigious services, and richest people are. It's mostly centered around the central supporting pillar of the dome and is much smaller than lower levels. Twenty to thirty buildings is all it is, but they are the largest the acrology has, at over half a kilometer in height each.
Directly below that is the Middle Level, where all ordinary people and smaller corporations live and are located. In comparison to VOW, it would be something of a commoner's district and a commercial district rolled into one, and it's the largest part of the acrology. This is where our college is, or was in my case, and where we all live... or lived in my case.
On the bottom is, as position suggests, the Bottom Level, which is basically where the poor live - poor being those that either were born in the acrology, but have no money and connections to obtain any good housing and job, or managed to get inside from the Underworld, but don't have money or ability to move anywhere higher. Catherine was one of the former after her mother died and until a few years back; now she's much better off.
And all of this is built in a peculiar style that is a mix of modern, immaculate white similar to the style on Tau Ceti f - the buildings look like each was melded out of a single piece into a roundish, smooth shape - with the older metal-and-glass designs that were supposedly very popular on Earth before it was ruined, just with the addition of neons and screens, both those aesthetical and serving as adverts.
Underworld, to complete the picture, is a massive net of underground tunnels around and under the acrology, some of them reaching as far as kilometers deep or all the way to other acrologies. The Underworld is ruled by gangs and so-called Underlords - a rather edgy name if you ask me, but says all you need to know about them - and is home to all those that don't have money to move to the acrologies as well as all the engineers, researchers, and other people whose jobs would endanger the acrology otherwise.
The part that matters to me though, and the one we're in with Letty, is the Middle Layer.
Speeding through the city along one of the main lanes outlined by transparent holographic displays, I'm not quite sure if I have a smile or a grimace on my face.
On one hand there's the rush of air as I fly past hoverers and other larger vehicles, the freedom of this little journey, and on the other is the destination that I want to arrive at - I know I won't be able to move on if I don't - that I don't want to arrive at at all.
...That's a contradiction, isn't it? Maybe that's also the reason why I make multiple small unnecessary detours and figures that distract me from the goal.
I can do that only so much before Letty starts to worry, before I myself start having second thoughts, and before I arrive at the first destination of today's trip. Gently pulling the bike to a stop, I lower it till it touches the ground and sigh lightly, looking to the side.
At my old home.