trans_9 | Alien Arts Are Appreciated

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Alien Arts Are Appreciated

Jeka had been keeping herself busy; but even the most determined of people are shooed off-duty eventually, and Jeka knows better than to overwork herself unnecessarily. Everything seemed all right now, but everyone on board knew how quickly that could change.

She wasn't tired at the moment however, nor was she hungry. Instead, she was bending her energy toward a more personal project: attempting to locate any Orandian artifacts that Stacy had rescued from the collapsing timeline.

She wasn't having much luck.

Sighing in frustration, she drummed her fingers against the dais of one of the statues. It took her a moment to realize that the inky black material had shifted from a statue of the Legion in mid-flight to one of the Orandian royal family -- a time before her mother had died, and long before her body had been warped into this shape.

"What the--?!"

[[OOC: The shifting statue is currently one of four snakes, posed like a family portrait. None of them look even remotely like Jeka.]]

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Ba'al was watching the woman from a distance, for a moment. He was fascinated, largely, by her appearance - snake-like, and certainly alien. It was unsurprising to see other alien life, of course, though this was an obvious example. As for the serpentine features... a curious coincidence, perhaps, and an idle trivia at best.

The statue before her, as well, caught his interest, with his shifting forms. She seemed surprised as well, to see it, and perhaps to recognise something. If it appeared as it was - he could not figure out the exact connection, but from what he could tell from her response... he made a note of a possible threat to him. As much as he appreciated art, he appreciate self-preservation a great deal more.

"Fascinating," he said calmly as he stepped forward, revealing himself as he gave her a cursory glance, and fixed his eye back on the statue. "Are there many wonders such as these, here?" The question was to ease into conversation, perhaps. He was still trying to play it relatively safe.

Jeka turned to look at the speaker, settling back on her coils a little. Well, at least he wasn't staring at her.

"This ship is full of strange things, so I suppose there must be," she answered. A quick check revealed that the shifting statue still showed the same image. "I'm fairly certain this isn't from my reality. I take it it's not from yours either?"

The male nodded, mostly to himself, at that explanation. Of course there were many things on the ship; personally, he had been here for far too long all ready, and he still knew there was more to see. This simply proved just that.

"Of course," he vocalized, before he allowed himself to respond to her question. "No, I cannot say that I've ever seen anything quite like it." His pose was casual, hands behind his back, but his mind was still sharp, seeking opportunities for information or future leverage. "Is it safe to assume this is not particularly unusual by your standards, then?"

"I'm an unusual case," Jeka answered. "But I'm more accustomed to living, sentient shape shifters than inanimate ones." She itched to inspect it more closely, but that didn't seem appropriate while in the presence of such company. "What do you think, science or magic?"

"I see," Ba'al replied calmly, with a nod. 'An unusual case' - he presumed that that meant that perhaps her world was like the Earth he knew; that many things were kept secret. "I cannot claim much experience with anything of the like." Which was true, but even more so for this 'persona', of the time.

The question, however, received a slight breach in manners, as he scoffed quite visibly, though he quickly came back with a smile, it was almost patronizing. "Science, of course. Magic is merely an ignorant explanation for the unknown."

There were undoubtedly secrets being kept, but Jeka's life was more unusual in that she spent most of her time on a moon-sized space station with an absolutely sprawling variety of teenagers from other planets. 'Unusual' was simply what they did.

She hid a smile behind her hand in response to his scoff. "I'm afraid you're going to have to adjust your position on that subject aboard this ship. I don't use it myself, but I'm personally familiar with several people who use it both regularly and well."

Idiocy. To believe that magic actually existed, clearly this other alien (or whatever it was, really) was not advanced enough to be able to tell the difference. And to insinuate that he should believe in such things - ridiculous. But he needed to remain pleasant, even while he tended to his pride. "Perhaps," he said, giving a vaguely strained smile, "But I will have to see it to believe it, as they say."

He still needed to gain some modicum of trust, however; and so he attempted an elevated degree of friendliness. To get them on slightly better terms. "Ah, but I forget my manners," he said, feigning apologetic, "I am Ba'al."

"The Magic Team on board is run by a woman named Nanoha Takamachi," Jeka said. She could tell that the man was not inclined to alter his beliefs. He'd learn and adapt on board, she supposed. "She's quite friendly, you can set up an appointment with her over the comms if you like."

She inclined her head toward the man in acknowledgment. "Forgive me my own manners," she said. "I am Jeka Wynzorr, or Sensor."

Nanoha Takamachi - Ba'al took that name as a mental note, glad of the information. Perhaps she could be useful to glean further information on the ship and its workings - especially its crew, if she was a leader of some team. There was also, of course, the potential for a profitable alliance, there. "I will take that advice with gratitude," he said, bowing his head slightly.

"A pleasure, Jeka," he replied as charmingly as he could lend himself to, choosing the first name he was given. "I hope we can become friends." Not particularly, of course, but she could well prove interesting, if nothing else.

"You're welcome," Jeka said, inclining her head in response. "I hope that we can be friends as well."

He seemed to be not particularly interested in what the statue was showing, which was something of a relief. Now to make sure that he stayed away from the topic. She cocked her head to the side. "What planet are you from, if it's not too rude of me to ask?"

Ah, the tried and true question of planet. Understandable when dealing with so many who were quite alien, and some quite literally so. Nonetheless, at least it was easy for him to keep distancing himself from alien connotations. Ironically, it was not technically even a lie this time around. "Simply 'Earth', I'm afraid," he smiled falsely again, before he asked her for the same. "And yourself?"

"A planet called Orando," Jeka said. "I've spent most of the last few years based on Earth. It's an interesting planet, if crowded. I enjoyed my time there."

"Orando?" he inquired, lifting his eyebrows - something that was not quite an act, though it was exaggerated. He truly had not heard of the planet before, and any information she might be willing to give could prove infinitely valuable, in the future. And there was, perhaps, a small amount of simple curiosity, as well.

"I, unfortunately, cannot say for certain whether Earth is really 'all that'," Ba'al replied, wary of his human slang. "I do not have a lot to compare it with, after all." In truth, however, he had to agree - there was an appalling amount of humans there, but their culture had proven somewhat amusing.

"It's quite far away from Earth," Jeka said with a shrug. "They're practically on opposite sides of the U.P."

She cocked her head at him curiously. "Humans haven't developed space travel yet? What century are you from, if you don't mine my asking?"

If only she'd been able to do more research into Earth history. It was a sprocking shame how much had been lost over the years...

"U.P.?" he repeated again, still moderately curious. The more he could get from this conversation, the better. "I'd like to hear more about this Orando, however - I think it would be fascinating."

In his mind, most humans were primitive - but clearly she meant one specific culture and planet, not the race as a whole. Besides, if Ba'al were keeping to his pretence, he would only know of the one anyway. "It's the 21st century, of the Gregorian calendar," he explained, "Space flight is still a fledgling development; possible, but largely for the... privileged few."

"I'm sorry, the United Planets," Jeka said. "It's the highest governmental body when and where I'm from. That being the thirty-first century by the calendar you mentioned. Space-travel is fairly commonplace for me."

She thought for a moment and smiled. "Would you just like to hear about it, or would you like to see it too?"

The United Planets - logical enough, he thought. He nodded calmly, but internally Ba'al was taken a bit aback by her time period. Of course, time travel had been achieved in the past, so it wasn't entirely unreasonable to think that whoever brought them here had the capability. Regardless, it seemed that she would have a lot to tell him. "Fascinating..." he replied, feigning surprise, "I suppose it would be, by then."

For a moment, he was confused. But then, there was a lot on this ship that might be able to grant a view of a distant (possibly even destroyed) planet, and so he smiled, "Both would be delightful."

"Would you prefer to use the Sensoriums?" Jeka asked. "I could show you right here, but there's a slight risk of accidentally walking into one of the sculptures."

Well, she could include them in the illusion, but that would destroy the ambiance of her homeworld. Perhaps she could just cover them with shrubbery.

Ba'al was impatient, yes, but it was hardly appropriate to show that. He'd rather see it sooner than later, but instead he said, "whatever is more convenient for you. I'm sure I could manage, with either." At least the curiosity of it was enough to stem the annoyance, for now.

"Both are equally easy for me," Jeka said. "Some people just find my abilities unsettling."

As she spoke, the art hall around them transformed into another place entirely. The two of them were standing on a grassy hilltop under an orange sky. Off in the distance, some dome-like stone structures were build into the sides of other hills. The breeze tugged at their hair and carried on it the scent of strange and alien plants.

"I can effect the senses of living beings," Jeka explained, so that Ba'al wouldn't be too startled.

Before Ba'al had a real chance to respond to her warning, he saw the changes in the art hall, and his surprise was evident, if contained. With raised eyebrows, he looked across the land that had appeared so suddenly, and up to strangely coloured sky. It was a rare treat to see an alien planet that was distinctly alien. His suspicions were kept in check only by her explanation...

"An ability that can prove quite useful, I imagine," he replied to her explanation, but he eyed her out of the corner of her eye. Useful, and perhaps dangerous.

"Very useful," Jeka said. "It's helped me and my teammates save lives more than once." It was a shame that it apparently hadn't done enough against the Ohm...

She gestured at the stone domes nearby. "This is where I grew up. We're a traditional sort of species, so while our technology is certainly advanced enough for more modern-looking buildings, we tend to stick with the classics. Not to mention Orando's population isn't even half of Earth's, so we can afford the extra space."

"I can only imagine how it could be used in a battle situation," he agreed, nodding to himself as he continued to look over the landscape she was apparently projecting for him. He tried to keep his attention thoroughly both on her and the 'planet'.

"I can see the merit in that," he agreed, with another nod. Ba'al personally preferred his planets to keep relatively simple themselves; he, however, did not prefer a quaint life. "And one would hope. Eath's population has grown disturbingly large..."

"Oh, very," Jeka said. "And in a wide variety of other situations. It does tend to make people nervous however; so I make sure to use it responsibly." Mostly. The occasional joke between Legionnaires aside.

"Earth is the seat of the United Planets, so I'm sure you can imagine that it's a very crowded place," Jeka said. "The amount of diversity is utterly staggering for a new arrival." She gestured at the domes. "Would you like a closer look, or would you prefer to see something else?"

Ba'al nodded to himself. He would not take it completely at face value, but she seemed honest. Caution was still necessary, but it seemed she was unlikely to be a cause for concern.

"I would like to see whatever you are willing to share," he replied, putting on another smile.

The landscape morphed around them, bringing them inside the domed building. The walls were brown on the inside too, decorated with pink stone and the occasional tapestry showing enormous snakes and strange symbols that were probably letters. The floors were gray stone tiles decorated with interconnecting carvings.

Jeka slithered over to one of the windows -- they appeared to be mere rectangular holes cut in the side of the dome.

"That covers a great many things," she said, shoving her hair back over her shoulder. "One of the reasons I joined the Legion was to educate people about my homeworld. It's not exactly an ambassadorship, but it's close. Is there anything specifically you're interested in?"

Ba'al continued to survey everything she was showing him, there, and attempting to take in as many details as possible. Much of it would prove useless, he was sure, but he would not take his chances. Besides, there certainly was an element of curiosity to it, as well.

"A valiant cause," he remarked, and he did mean it, really (to an extent, at least). "To allow people a greater knowledge of the universe in which they live is admirable." As for his own interests here, "I... take a great deal of interest in the cultures and worlds of others in general. I think it truly valuable to learn about them."

"I'm glad you think so," Jeka said. "I wish more people did -- or at least that fewer people were deliberately close-minded. Just let me know if I start to bore you."

She tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Orando is one of the few monarchies in the United Planets, and we tend more strongly toward the matriarchal than most other species seem to. We're strictly carnivorous, but we do not eat other sentients -- that was one of the worse rumors I encountered."

"Of course," he replied, intending the reply to be universal, and vague. He was interested enough in what she had to say, at least, and would not interrupt her, but he would be polite in her requests as well.

Her insistence against the eating of sentients almost made him smile - but he quickly suppressed it. It was an old moral argument, that he had heard many times in different ways, and so it was somewhat amusing - but he had no desire to get into a deep discussion over it.

He would let her talk of what she wished.

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Alien Arts Are Appreciated

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