Aetheran Child Page 16

  Bloo, and everyone else for that matter, looked slightly different from her simulation. Her tentacle-like dreads did not come down to her shoulders but were rather shortly cut and shaped into small spikes. The look suited her just fine, too. Her blue skin radiated with less vigor and seemed more subdued, under thin layers of protective oils. She smiled and showed her brilliant white teeth. Her bright red eyes seemed to burn with passion of a thousand fires but now they burned calmly like a peaceful flame.

  Lexan knew he looked different too. His hair length matched Bloo's and his skin tone appeared gleaming white rather than a simple tan as his avatar did. Occasional skin ruptures and imperfections covered his face, although he knew he could command the nano machine inside his body to fix them.

  He took a strange device from his belt. It looked like a coin and he placed it behind his ear. Instantly, the movie reappeared in its original form with the celebration going on and the two main men dancing wildly with various attractive Shuns, none of them human. Lexan turned to Bloo and mentally gave a command to the device to turn off her avatar so that he could see her real beauty.

  Bloo followed suit, plugging in a similar device behind her ear. They kissed and smiled. The movie took on a new role, a background noise. Lexan put his arms around Bloo and slowly undid her shimmering suit. She did the same to him, taking off his belt and then his chest piece. When she took off his bracelets, Lexan's nano-constructed computer slid out and crawled over his suit. It spanned and contracted, trying to find a place where to reside. Bloo watched it with interest, not having noticed this particular behavior before.

  Lexan put his hand inside the neck hole of his suit and stretched it over his shoulder. The NCC silver liquid flowed onto the skin and seeped deeply into his pores. When the process was finished, the liquid was nowhere to be seen and the only thing left behind was a silver tattoo symbol. A half ellipse with pointed ends crossed by a sharp-ended line that held a thorn in the middle. The whole computer either entered his blood-stream or spread out over skin. Bloo still watched with interest, and Lexan laughed, realizing that just yesterday Romul showed him this neat trick.

  “What is it doing?” Bloo asked, slowly stroking Lexan's shoulder where the mark was, her finger tracing the half-ellipse.

  “It's flowing through me. The tattoo is the interface.” Lexan moved his hand and touched the thorn. The tattoo immediately came to life and enveloped his finger. He traced a line with his finger toward the device behind his ear. The thorn on top of the sharp-ended line extended toward Lexan's ear and connected with the device. Lexan took away his finger and the liquid seeped down to his pores, leaving the distorted tattoo in place. He gave a mental command and the tattoo started pulsating with colors.

  “Wow.” Bloo stared at it. She moved her hand over to the suit and slid it over Lexan's other shoulder. He slid his arms out, put them around her, and kissed her. Her lips felt ice-cold, almost blood chilling. Her whole body felt like ice.

  Bloo kissed Lexan back, feeling his steamy hot lips. She felt his muscles, too large and too defined for an ordinary human. Being an Aether had a very positive effect on the body, she thought.

  Lexan slid Bloo's suit off her shoulders so that it would just above her breasts but below her arms. He instinctively flexed his muscles when Bloo caressed his chest. He smiled to himself, knowing that most of the muscle definition he had, he gained wearing that bulky suit when he traveled from Earth. He remembered leaving hibernation and realizing that his whole body had aged into almost full maturity. Even though he was only in his mid-teens, he had the body of a young man , a young athlete in fact.

  Bloo's body resembled his in this way. She had lean muscles and agile legs of a gazelle. Everything about her gave off the feeling of a college girl. 'College', Lexan thought, what an Earthly word. He gave a signal to the NCC to recategorize the word into a lesser-used dictionary. Bloo looked at him with her untainted eyes, those rarely seen on Earth. Those eyes that are devoid of any major stress, sleeping disorders, and drug use. The black outer rim of her eyes made the shifting red in her irises even more prominent. He looked into her eyes and kissed her once again.

  Her cold hands slid his suit to his waist, exposing perfectly-toned abdominal muscles. His hands did the same, revealing more of her blue skin. He felt the tiny reflecting scales and the soft hairs on top of it. Her skin felt like the softest fur when he stroke it one way but when he moved his hands against the current of the scales, he felt harshness and pain. Lexan dug his hands into the lower of her back, her natural oils and mucous gave way to his touch and seceded back into her pores. She shuddered a bit.

  “I'm cold,” she suddenly said. She always said that whenever Lexan broke the protective barrier on top her skin. Her body warmed up a few degrees. He gave a mental command and the room started warming up, closer to Lexan's comfort temperature. Bloo stopped shaking and shifted over closer Lexan, previously wary of his hot body.

  Soon enough they both laid on the bed almost completely naked. Lexan took off the temperature regulating tank top, Bloo followed suit. They kissed, smiling as they did so. Lexan moved lower, kissing Bloo's blue chest, and blue stomach. He slid her suit completely off, exposing the second part of the atmosphere regulating gear. Instinctively, he ran his hands over her curvy body, feeling soft fur and scales. She grabbed his shoulders and wrapped her tail around him, bringing him closer to her. Bloo slid her hand onto Lexan's chin and brought him up to her lips again. Her tail tightened incredibly strongly. He would not escape her now, she bit her lip slightly.

  Before they continued any further, Lexan pressed his finger against the oddly shaped tattoo on top of his shoulder. The half-ellipse shone slightly. The bottom dripped a bit of its fluid. The fluid contoured his body and jumped its way onto Bloo's scaly fur. Lexan pressed his finger four more times against the shape and four more lines followed. The first slid over his arm to the top of his other finger, the second line followed through his other arm. The two other followed to the device behind his ear while the last and final pooled itself in the middle of his body. The lines extended onto Bloo's the same way, up her arms and to the device behind her ear with one line reaching the middle of her body and pooling in a circle above where her belly button would be if she were a human. All lines a fraction of a millimeter thick with unimaginable date throughput, linked the both of them.

  Bloo's thoughts became Lexan's, and his became hers. Every jolt of emotion, translated to ones and zeros, traveled through the silvery lines from one to the other. They essentially became one but still separate. Whenever Lexan touched Bloo's body, he could feel his touch as if she had touched him. He felt both the giving and receiving end but somehow separately. As if he had two bodies, as if she had two bodies as well. As if whatever touch or emotion he invoked, he did to another person while someone else followed and copied his action except this time, Lexan would receive the touch and feel the emotion.

  II

  Lexan sat across from Bloo, staring deeply into her eyes. He held her hands, both sat cross-legged and completely naked. The outside world ceased to exist. Bloo's short dreadlocks glistened with sweat, her skin gleamed in the unnatural lighting. The blues on her skin danced and sparkled. Lexan's liquid computer connected the two of them.

  Upon his chest sat the symbol he crafted. A half ellipse, twisted and sharpened at the ends, crossed by a thin line horizontally that ended in arrow points with a single thorn sticking upward in the middle. It glowed majestically, shifting through brilliant colors. Thin silvery lines led across his arms and legs. Where his knees touched Bloo's knees, the line jumped onto her body. The same happened with their hands. In the middle of Bloo's chest glowed an unidentifiable shape, she did not have a symbol of her own yet.

  Their minds linked as one, they thought together, meditated together. Her memories became his, and his memories became hers. She gently guided Lexan to look inside her heart and see who she was before she became an Aether.

  IIIr />
  “Blooranga, that was my name,” she said. “I come from the Cardinal Regions, no, I come from the outskirts of the United Galactic Nation. From a planet called, Karmínoko, the Crimson Tear. It is a fabled planet,” she paused. Her memory guided the two of them into another world. A large red planet with blue veins of ice and water. “The Karmínoko circled the giant red star known as the Perlakre, the Blood Pearl. We, the people of the Crimson Tear lived peacefully and completely isolated from the rest of the galaxy. The people outside did not know us.

  “We were too far away and uninteresting for anyone to notice.” She said and her memory swirled to show her as a child jumping and bouncing around on her tail at the playground. Other children like her, with blue or green skin, played various games. Large indigo trees surrounded the area, but instead of leaves, they held strong vines that dropped down everywhere and had flat tops that resembled solar panels. The tall Karmínokos walked around and tended to their children. A large red sun loomed overhead, illuminating the sands. Small wooden indigo huts stood at the edge of the playground. A large man came up to Bloo, took her hand and led her away. She smiled happily.

  “My parents were nothing out of the ordinary, artisans that created various surf boards used to scale the sand dunes.” Lexan remembered the way Bloo surfed across the clouds the first day he had met her, “I learned to surf at a young age,” She seemed to answer his question.

  Her memory swirled once more.

  “We all lived happily. Of course, we had our problems.” Images of war came to mind. Enormous metal creatures stood on two legs and attacked the villagers. The villagers, in turn, shot the creatures with spears with diamond points, “The wars were not a regular part of our lives. They came every hundred years or so.” The image of the metal creature disappeared.

  Bloo was young once again, about ten years old if she were a human. She wandered into a large indigo forest. Strange, small blue skinned creatures greeted her. Many tailed foxes the size of a fist jumped up and crawled over her body. Enormous bright red insects feasted upon the trees around. Munching noisily while staring warily at Bloo. She simply walked by them to the river. Various colored fish traveled up and down the stream.

  Bloo jumped into the river and swam. She moved quickly, kicking her feet and steering with her long, slender tail. She swam good two or three lengths until she noticed a boy following her. She turned to him and splashed water. Laughing, the boy splashed back.

  The memory disappeared all of a sudden.

  A feeling of sadness swept through Lexan, the same sadness he had felt when he left Alary.

  Her memory resurfaced immediately. The beautiful brunette stood in front of him, just as she had stood, the first time she saw him. The large bullies stood around her, attacking Nangern.

  “GET OFF MY SISTER!” yelled Nangern.

  The memory fast-forwarded to when Lexan attacked the bully and almost killed him.

  He had passed out and woken up with Alary in his arms. He remembered that all too clearly, the feeling of safety. The feeling like he had to protect someone.

  Lexan forced the memory out of his head. Bloo felt the same pain he did.

  She stared at him and asked intently who the girl was. Lexan replied asking who the boy was.

  “Just someone from my past,” said Bloo, and Lexan nodded in agreement.

  “I think this is enough for today,” He said, withdrawing his hands from hers. He stood up and put his clothes back on and let the silver liquid fall back into its cradle upon his wrist.

  “Tell me about her.” Bloo asked him, her eyes full of curiosity.

  “She was my first love. I left her behind so years ago when I came here.” He said, averting his eyes and heading toward the door. Bloo stood up and hugged him. He returned her hug, feeling better already. She had a way about her that calmed Lexan and made him feel happy just to be alive.

  “These trips down the memory lane..” he said, shaking his head. He smiled a sad smile, knowing that whatever hurt him on the inside, hurt her just as much.

  Bloo smiled back, kissed Lexan and put her clothes back on too. The feeling of misery and sadness disappeared and was replaced by the usual upbeat energy they had together.

  They left for class together minutes later.

  IV

  After the last class of the day, Lexan left for the Tronics district to meet Romul and Remu. They were an odd pair, twins, one girl and one boy. Romul, the boy, was a chubby tall boy with long hair that he usually wore in a pony-tail, at least his avatar did. His blonde hair slicked back, it gave him the look of a professional in a career that was not meant to be taken so seriously.

  Remu on the other hand, appeared much cleaner and professional. She stood as tall as the boy, very thin and wore short hair as dark as night.

  “Ah here you are Lexan. Let's start our security lesson, shall we?” Romul grinned put his arm around Lexan's shoulders and they walked. Remu walked shortly behind them, giving a dark look toward Romul every once in a while, “First of all, you can't work with the equipment you have right now.” Romul took Lexan's wrist into his hand and stared at the shimmering liquid.

  “It's completely out-dated!” He laughed, opening his mouth broadly.

  “We should first head to the NCC shop on the fifteenth floor.” Remu suggested and pointed upward.

  The Tronics District consisted of about five different Spheres. At the moment, they stood at the middle plaza of the central Sphere. It had been augmented and adjusted to include five different main plazas, as opposed to one, meaning, the usual light that came through the ceiling windows was nowhere to be seen. The sphere also consisted of twenty different levels all lined with shops. They took off to the fifteenth floor through the tubular elevator.

  Once there, they stepped out and Lexan noticed the immediate change of environment. The whole plaza transformed into a busy street with small shops on the side and men with carts carrying computer parts. Neon-like lights jumped out at Lexan, robots talked and announced sales. It was all very busy.

  Romul lead them toward a small shop right beside a large dance club. The music boomed loudly as Lexan walked by. The store resembled a thin hallway, wide enough to house metal shelves and two people side by side. Remu walked behind them once again. Most of the shelves contained old computer parts, ancient enough to resemble Earth's technology. Lexan laughed at that. All of it was dirt-cheap.

  At the end of the hallway stood a man behind a counter. Behind him, the metal shelves were replaced by dark blue shelves made of what looked like polymer plastic. While the hallway seemed very messy, behind the counter, the store changed into a clean futuristic store with treasures of unimaginable technology.

  “Welcome,” the man said scratching his scruffy beard. He had very short, frizzy hair and wore plain clothing. Romul walked up to him, exchanged a few words quietly. The man nodded and gave Romul a small clear box. Yet despite its see-through appearance, one could not see into the box without opening it. Romul stashed the box into his pocket and subsequently, he erased it from his profile to make it seem as if he was not carrying anything at all.

  Remu joined us into the opening where she could finally fit with us and talked, “We need a newer model of a nano-contructed computer for him.” She cocked her head toward Lexan and took his wrist to show the man. Her eyes eyed the man coldly.

  “Oh yes, that's an ancient model. I didn't know anyone used it anymore.” The clerk said.

  “What about all those old parts over there?” Lexan turned his head toward the metal shelves.

  “I got it for free, while traveling across the galaxy. I use it to set the mood,” the man laughed, “and what sets the mood better than some ancient computer parts that are only good for throwing at people?” he laughed again and continued, “I really hate the stores nowadays, everything is so clean, and with the latest technology, serviced by droids. It feels cold and impersonal.” He smiled at Lexan then noticed Remu still
starring.

  He turned around and walked a couple paces backward, reached into the plastic shelves that ironically resembled the shelves in the “new” stores. He grabbed a three or four boxes and brought them forward. They all looked the same, stainless steel outside with laser printing that described its contents.

  “Okay, let me see your NCC.” the man touched Lexan's wrist and the computer slid out. Lexan gave a mental command and the liquid poured out onto the counter, leaving a thin line behind for connection. The nano-liquid unfolded and showed a screen.

  “Ah, I see,” the man mumbled as he touched some of the buttons on the screen. Then he set up a wireless connection and did all the work in his head. He stood with eyes frozen on the screen while the screen flashed different diagrams.

  Lexan followed all the information presented on the screen and called upon Joshua.

  “Joshua. Record his actions and tell me of anything suspicious.” He told Jousha, after he mentally muted his helmet. Joshua's face appeared in the lower right corner, right by the avatar status. He nodded.

  “Okay, well, this isn't really that much of an old model as your friends make it seem,” He started, still starring at the screen. One of his hands reached and put two of the four boxes below the counter, “It has many limitations though. Someone customized the firmware to disable a few functions.”

  “Raki,” muttered Lexan. He downloaded all important information into his head and unplugged the silver liquid.

  “I assume you'd like to get rid of this.” The man looked up, Lexan nodded. The liquid quickly disassembled and fell apart on the table. The clerk scraped it and threw it into an opening in the wall, marked “Trash”.