Heads Will Roll (Aerys)

[Vicky]

Darkness seeped from the corners of the room, staved off only by a soft, blue luminescence that cast flickering shadows against the walls. The sole source of light were two glowing fish, no larger than a man's thumb, that swam round and round their glass encasement. Silhouetted by the light was the slight figure of a young woman, seated on a stool and gazing at the fish. Her eyes, intently watching the creatures dart from one end of the bowl to the other, gleamed with an unearthly sheen.

These fish -- if you could call them that -- were undoubtedly beautiful creatures, and it was amazing how similar they were, in physiology, to their counterparts on Earth. It made sense, considering the principles of Darwin's theory -- living organisms take on the best possible shapes in order to better fill their niches. But this bioluminescence... So-Hyun couldn't quite grasp its purpose. This was not a predatory species, and such light would only attract predators, would it not? This wasn't likely to be a case of sexual dimorphism either -- where males compete by appearance (as with the plumage of a peacock) to impress potential mates -- because the females emitted light as well. Perhaps this was batesian mimicry -- perhaps this fish had copied the luminescence of a poisonous one in order to escape harm...

These specimens were fresh from the wild, and they were the first living things from Pandora that So-Hyun had had the chance to study. And yet, she was already in need of a break. Without turning on the lights, So-Hyun felt her way to the door and stepped out into the light. She quickly shut her eyes as she entered the hallway, momentarily blinded by the drastic change in the brightness of her surroundings. The sun streamed in through the ceiling-to-floor windows, immersing the lab in gentle warmth. To gaze through the clear, reinforced glass was to gaze into an otherworldly paradise -- quite literally. But So-Hyun only glance through the windows as she made her way to the break-room... or pod or whatever one would like to call the semi-spherical, glass-encased lounge set aside for the scientists.

She went directly to the refrigerator, a scowl plastered to her visage. After failing to find any other beverage, the young scientist extracted a pitcher of unknown, fluorescent yellow liquid from the refrigerator's interior. There wasn't much left, so she forewent taking the effort to retrieve a cup and sat on a chair by the fridge, sniffing the contents of the pitcher. It was a strange, tangy smell -- one that made her nose prickle and unlike the smell of anything she had drank before. It was probably some concoction with ingredients of Pandoran origin that that food science enthusiast had come up with. So-Hyun dared a sip, drinking directly from the pitcher's edge. It was unexpectedly salty with a tinge of sweetness -- not extremely bad.

Her thoughts soon drifted from the liquid she had just ingested and back to the organisms she had been observing. As much as she loved freshwater creatures, she couldn't help the giddy anticipation that bubbled up within her when she thought of the dwellers of Pandora's seas. She had seen the kinds of large animals that roamed the land, and she wondered whether the sea creatures were just as magnificent. But, for now, she was confined to local creeks and streams. Not only was the sea a great distance from the compound, but there was also the issue of the sea-faring tribe, who were hostile toward the so-called "Sky People." This was one of the main reasons she had been among the last to be awakened from cyrosleep.

Her thoughts were again diverted from their current train as she realized that she had become thirsty. The salt in that yellow liquid was evidently making her mouth dry. Though she knew it would make her all the more thirsty, So-Hyun tilted back the pitcher, moving to drain half of the remaining liquid in one swig.

[• Aerys •]

Chris had felt ostracized from the first moment he had set foot in the compound proper. Sure, he had grown acquainted with a few of the other team members operating on Pandora, but their respective duties carried them out of the campsite or kept them out of the lab. His primary location of work had been in the heart of the compound itself, processing and delivering samples to the scientists who had served longer terms on the planet than himself. It was, for lack of a better term, bitch work, and Chris was unashamed to say that he was fine with accepting such menial tasks.

It had been five full days since his arrival on the foreign world, and while everyone else had been taking complete advantage of their avatars and finally putting to use the years of training they had undergone, Chris had yet to have his own decanted from its growth tank. He attributed his wait to adjusting to the change in environment, an excuse that proved viable...until nearly every other researcher that had flown in on the newest shuttle had executed successful uplink procedures. Malandra hadn’t pushed him, of course, but then she had always had something of a curious soft spot for him. He didn’t know if anyone else bought the adapting bullshit or not, but he would have been kidding himself if he didn’t admit that it was sheer nervousness that kept him from climbing into his link bed.

There was no regret for anything that he had done that had gotten him to this point, but “bold” and “brash” and “insane” had never been notable words in his vocabulary—which is what he considered everything about this trip to be. He was afraid of the unknown, simply put, and the prospect of acting as a surrogate in a world he knew only through photographs and sketches and textbooks frightened him. It was hardly a comparison, reading about something versus experiencing it, and Chris was aware that he’d someday have to contend with his fears and just do what he came here to do.

Still...a little procrastinating didn’t hurt.

Which was precisely why Chris was returning to one of the many lounge-like areas scattered throughout the compound. One of Malandra’s closest assistants had sent him off to retrieve samples gathered from his fruitful explorations from a few days ago, several of which had been circulated through each specialist. The list included flora specimen (Chris had traveled rather slowly after acquiring those, pausing in the artificial light to examine the strange plants), tissue from deceased fauna, water, and even fecal matter. Everything was a boon of information and research for Malandra’s team, including the pitcher of liquid he had temporarily set in the refrigerator to chill.

He was careful as he tucked away the Petri dishes of collected material into the bag slung over his shoulder, arranged the slides to keep them from breaking, and generally unaware of his surroundings when he slipped into the room. So intent on his job he did not acknowledge the other figure in the room at first, not until he opened the fridge to find his container absent. Abruptly he slammed the door shut, eyes widening from behind thick, black-framed glasses as he straightened and stalked around the girl seated at the table. He knew he recognized her, but a name eluded him in the wake of his surge of confusion and near hysteria. Remarkably, the boy managed to keep his voice steady as he spoke, bright blue eyes fixed on the pointedly empty pitcher.

“Uh...you do realize you just drank a bunch of Prolemuris urine, right?”