Log:Ghost's Dry Run

2014/02/25 	 Ghost Ten

1

Ghost finishes her routine work for the day, and stretches. She feels like relaxing, in good company. So stepping up to the communications tower, where her PDA will work, she calls Ten's number."

Ten picks up. "Hey. What's up?'

Ghost smiles, "Ten, this is Ghost. If you're not otherwise engaged I wondered if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight?"

Ten says, "Oh - um, ok, sure! I don't have plans.... Any particular reason?"

Ghost says, "No special occasion. Just for the enjoyment of good food, good company, and a pleasant environment."

Ten says, "Sounds good to me.... and I could do with a break from studying, anyway! Where and when?"

Ghost says, "At seven? Would that be convenient? At the Embassy on Sandy Bottom Island."

Ten says, "Sure, I can do that. Um, where at the embassy do we meet?"

Ghost chuckles over the phone link, "At the gate. I'll escort you in. Hopefully security is sufficiently tight you couldn't get in otherwise. But I wouldn't like to put that to the test."

Ten grins. "You never know, it might be fun. Anyway - see you this evening, then!"

Ghost says, "I'll be looking forward to it."

Ghost heads down to the PG danger room to prepare it, leaving a request at the gate to be notified if Ten arrives before she is finished.

Ten swings across town to get to the embassy just before seven. She's hoping her costume is the right thing to be wearing - well, is is what she wears as Ten.

Ghost is waiting at the gate. She's dressed in what is clearly a military uniform of some kind. However despite a certain Fae style to it, it doesn't seem to be in the style of Undermoon fashion. "Hi, Ten. So glad tyou could make it." She greets you. Truning to the gate guard she speaks in Fae, "We'll be in the Princesses' Guard Practice Room if needed."

Ten returns Ghost's greeting and looks at the guards with some curiosity. She hasn't has all that much contact with the far so far. She wonders what they make of humans - and her....

Ghost leads you through the courtyard and to the Princesses' Guard Quarters. "Do you drink alcohol, Ten? If so, as a substitute for the original vintages I've selected a bottle from the Palace cellars."

Ten says, "I do drink, yes - I don't get drunk, though. I hear far wine is amazing....."

Ten looks about the place on the walk, marvelling at various things, in particular trying to figure out how the bigger-on-the inside thing works.

Ghost says, "The tales merely do them justice. I never cultivated a taste for wine until quite late in my life so I can't really compare them to the vintages of the Nebula I came from.""

Ghost leads Ten down to a door in the basement level. "We'll be dining in here." She says with a knowing grin on her face. "After you."

Ten asks. "where are we?" as she steps through the door.

As Ten steps through the door the gravity drops to about seventy percent of Earth normal. Ten comes out on a railed platform high about a city and parkland landscape, buildings set amid large expanses of green, parks, rivers and streams running like a tapestry almost a mile below. On the far side of a five mile wide span a transparent wall climbs into the sky and curves inwards passing overhead and descending to meet ground level behind the platform. To left and right the ground slopes up, higher and higher, until Ten can see the two directions meeting tens of miles above where she stands. The most prominent feature is the icy blue gas giant and multiple moons glowing outside the habitat.

Ten stops dead. "Woah."

Ghost steps through after you, "The orbital habitat in the Areion system." she answers Ten.

Ten says, "Do you mean we're actually there Or is it a hologram like at the gym?"

Ghost says, "A hologram. This is a simulation of a orbital habitat back in the Nebula I came from. My arrival on Earth was as a result of a Transporter malfunction. I don't even know where my home Nebula is in Space. I don't even know if this is the same dimension that I call home."

Ghost chuckles, "Actually I suspect the Dwarven artificers would be outraged if they heard me calling this a hologram. It's much more realistic than that. But hologram is close enough."

Ten nods. "I thought it probably was, but I hear all sort of wild stories about what the Fae can do..."

Ten looks slowly up from the ground to the gas giant overhead. "It's amazing. The view and the technology! Or magic, or whatever/"

Ghost smiles, "The Fae use magic. You Earth humans use technology. Both are capable of wonders. But a Fae mage will study and work centuries to perfect his or her Art. While you spend four years at a place of learning like the University in the city. It could be said that each has developed along the path most suited to them." She gestures around, "This, the original I mean, is pure technology."

Ten nods. "This is home for you? We must seem a very backward lot!"

Ghost laughs, "Not at all. The progress you've made in the last twelve hundred or so years is astonishing. Our technology base came pre-wrapped so to speak, after the rebellion against the overloads of the Empire. We haven't even regained everything that was lost during the Long Fall. Antigravity being a prime example. The Empire had that. We haven't recovered it."

Ten laughs. "You've lost me. I have enough trouble with *our* history."

Ghost says, "If you're interested I can tell you some of our history over dinner. But don't let me become a bore. Tell me to shut up if you get tired of me babbling on, and we'll change the subject."

Ten grins. "OK. But I doubt it will be boring...." She looks about. "So where exactly are we eating? And how big is this place really?"

A floating open topped vehicle rises to hover against the edge of the platform. A section of railing in front of the vehicle sinks down to allow access to the seats in the vehicle. "There's a well respected restaurant in the habitat, called Max's Heights. I thought we might eat there. As to the size..." she pauses a moment, "I do have the memory uploaded as it happens. Since I needed to access memories of here to prepare the simulation. The habitat is... five Earth across and fifty Earth miles in diameter."

Ten whistles as she climbs into the vehicle.

Ghost settles in beside you and the vehicle moves away. The railing at the edge of the platform rises back up. The vehicle seems to be following a slightly meandering course amid hundreds of others, from small personal flyers to stately cargo vehicles, but after a few moments the destination seems clear. A tall building that stretches all the way to to nearly touch the habitat roof, two miles high, set amid a forest of trees that would make a Earth Redwood seem small.

Ghost says, "Max is an old friend of mine. We were in the shadow culture together. He was part of my team, and when he'd made enough from that to retire he opened the restaurant."

Ten says, "We'll meet him then? A simulation, I mean?"

Ghost nods, "Yes. He's... well, you'll see." She smiles in recollection.

Ten grins. "How did you make this all so detailed? I mean - this setting must be reconstructed from your memories?"

The vehicle comes to a stop against a balcony at the top of the building. "I have headware, Ten. All my memories and sensory perceptions are recorded and then downloaded for storage. Effectively perfect recall. Provided I upload the relevant recordings." Ghost says.

Ten says, "Oh... right! I could do with that...."

Ghost says, "It's very handy most times. There are downsides though."

Ten says, "Oh? Like what?"

Ghost says, "Like recalling my best friend's death perfectly. Jade-Alpha795. She zigged instead of zagging. Got hit by an anti-armor laser and..." Ghost pauses, sighing. "Likewise, perfect recall of every mistake I've made."

Ten winces. "You can't selectively delete?"

Ghost shakes her head, "Not easily. The headware recordings are in a hologram type matrix with everything merged together. And if I could, I still wouldn't. Recalling my mistakes, and the consequences to those mistakes, reminds me to take every care to avoid making other mistakes in the furture. And even the worse memories... Well, I wouldn't cut out a single instant of the time I knew Jade."

Ten nods. "What happens if you run out of storage?"

Ghost stands and steps out of the vehicle onto the balcony, "I have space for about a year's worth of storage in my headware itself, Ten. And I download regularly to my PDA and backup on multiple data stores. It's not likely to happen."

Ten nods, and follows out, grinning. "Just wondering. Saw a cheesy old TV show once with an android who said he couldn't forget but they specified how much memory he had and it was ridiculously small...."

Ghost laughs at your comment as she makes her way to the door of the balcony leading into the building. As she does, the door opens and a huge shaggy furred creature comes shambling out. The chef's apron tied around the immense waist looks incongruous. "Little Ghostie!" the creature roars, fangs showing, and it grabs Ghost and lifts her up in a rib-squeezing hug.

Ten grins at the chef's reaction.

Ghost laughs and pummels the creature's chest, "Let go of me, Max, before you break any more of my ribs." She turns her head to Ten, "Ten, meet Max. Max, this is Ten. A good friend of mine."

Still effortlessly holding Ghost, Max looks at you, "Any friend of Ghostie is a friend of mine."

Ten smiles. "Hi, Max."

The creature grins, revealing a huge array of fangs, "Welcome to Max's Heights, Ten. Tonight you dine free." He puts Ghost down, "I have just the table for you. Mana rise is in twenty minutes. There's a storm out there too."

Ten says, "A storm?"

Ghost smiles, "I made a couple of changes. Obviously Max wouldn't be speaking English, and the food is from the Palace kitchens. So it's real and edible."

Ghost just smiles, "You'll see. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Ten grins. "Actual edible food sounds good."

Ghost nods, "Indeed. Lead on Max."

Ten follows, looking at the sights about her, as always.

Max leads Ten and Ghost to a table on the interior balcony, the transparent dome of the habitat only a few dozen feet above them. The view is amazing, with the gas giant filling over half the sky and many moons slowly passing beneath the habitat casting shadows on the roiling clounds of the planet.

A spaceship passes by, a sleek fast looking craft with shield glowing and thrusters sending bright trails of ionised ejecta behind it.

Ten says, "I'd ask questions, but I hardly know where to start!"

Ghost says, "Let's start with a drink. I do hope you like the wine I selected."

Max rumble-laughs and goes to fetch the wine and pour it into Ten's glass for tasting.

Ten smells and then sips the wine.

Max awaits for your verdict.

Ten says, "Wow! It *is* good!"

Max pours to refill Ten's glass and then Ghost's glass. He puts the bottle in a small portable cooler unit at the side of the table.

Ghost looks worried suddenly, "I should have thought to ask. |You're not vegetarian are you?"

Ten asks Ghost, "Are restaurants really so similar there? Or did you change that too? Oh, no, I'm not, don't worry."

Ghost says, "Yes, they are. You know, Ten, that's not a question I would have thought to ask. For me this is normal, and Earth restaurants being so similar seemed natural. I guess it's from the common heritage we share. The human culture is the dominent one in the Nebula, and maybe humans tend to do the same no matter where they are?"

Ten shrugs. "Maybe. I admit I don't know. Haven't travelled much."

Ghost says, “Neither have I on Earth. I've mostly been on Undermoon or one of the Twilight Worlds for the last sixty subjective years. I haven't done much travelling on Earth. That's an omission I ought to correct.

”

Max returns to the table with bowls of a clear cold soup,

Max adds fresh rolls still warm from the oven.

Ten nods. "I think I should too!" She pauses in case Ghost expects any ritual like saying grace, before starting.

Ghost says, "Try the soup, Ten. It's quite spicey but most people find it delicious.""

Ten samples the soup.

Ghost sips her soup too after Ten has sampled it. The favour is spicey without being 'hot'.

Ghost says, "What do you think?"

Ten says, "Pretty good! What is it?"

Ghost says, "It's a fish soup. ."

Ten says, "From the embassy kitchens, Ghost says? Perk of the job?"

Ghost laughs, "Very much so. There's a tale I can tell you about perks of the job if you'd like to hear it."

Ten smiles. "Sure!" And tries a roll - and gets a look of wonder on her face.

Ghost pauses to let Ten savour the taste. "When I was just starting out as a shadow merc, doing data runs, I ran into a situation that meant I had to leave Derwood for my safety. So I hired on with the Hyperion, a luxury cruiser, as a cargo-rat. Back in the high Mana field of the Nebula I could move heavy loads around with spells. One of the perks was the food. But I stuck with basic rations, because I didn't want to develop a taste for foods I wouldn't be able to afford once I left the ship. So while all my fellow crewmen were eating in style I had proto-nutri paste for the entire voyage."

Ten smiles. "I don't think I could have passed up that perk..."

Ghost chuckles and nods, "My childhood was spent living in an alley behind a cheap restaurant. I ate the scraps the restaurant tossed out into the trash bin. Proto-nutri paste was a step up from that."

Ten nods.

Ghost sips her soup. Then lifts her wineglass, "A toast. To you, Ten. You're brave, heroic in the true sense, putting yourself in harm's way to protect others. As you did in Krovkev. You saved those soldier's lives when you took the cannon blast aimed at them. I would have unhesitatingly had you in my shadow merc team or as crew on the Hawkwing. And there's no greater praise I can offer." She smiles, "I meant to tell you that when we were in Krovkev but the opportunity never came up at the time."

Ten smiles. "I'm not really all that brave. Just pretty much indestructible."

Ghost chuckles, "I have to disagree. How did you discover you're pretty much indestructable? By braving risking destruction in the first place."

Ten grins. "Well. ok. But incrementally."

Max comes over and points up through the roof of the habitat, "Moonrise."

Ten looks the way Max is pointing.

A moon is rising over the edge of the gas giant. There's a aura around it. Then as it goes closer to another of the moons and reaches a critical distance, the aura quickly expands to fill all space around with a scintillating display of vivid hues and colors, an intense northern lights effect illuminating the clouds of the planet in bright spectrums.

Ghost looks at Max, "That's quite a storm."

Ten stares. "I've never seen anything like it. Well, maybe in computer graphics but not in real life - I mean, well, as real as this is."

Ghost nods, looking up and out, "The aura is caused by a small fraction of the wild mana being released by the storm turning into light. This is quite a major storm. We're safe here..." She chuckles, "Obviously, as this is a simulation. But if this was real it would be dangerous to be too close to the moon.You might not come out the same as you went in."

Ten nods. "Maybe. Unless I'm invulnerable to that too. What sort of thing might happen?"

Ghost shrugs, "Anything. Literally. It's wild mana. Uncontrolled. I saw one aspiring mage enchanter turned inside out. He didn't live long after that of course. "

Ten winces.

Max clears away the soup course and brings a medley of meat dishes and sauces with pots of various vegetables.

Ten says, "Mmm. Smells good - perhaps I should get a job here. Better than the Starguard cafeteria by a long way!"

Ghost taps the hilt of the sword she wears, "Mana storms are the most intense sources on Mana to be found in the Nebula. Which is why so many mages are killed by them. They seek out storms to enchant powerful artifacts. I enchanted Stormcast in the most powerful storm on Serica in over a century. She became one of the Seven Great Blades."

Ten says, "so - you braved one of these atoms yourself?"

Ghost smiles, "I could speak to the Princess. The guard are always looking for good people. But you'll be spending time on Undermoon. If you're not immortal the time rate will age you fast compared to your Earth companions."

Ghost nods to Ten's question. "Yes. I was foolhardy and lucky."

Ten says, "Hm. I guess I don't really know if I have an extended lifespan or not."

Ghost nods, "Do you remember me arriving here on Earth, Ten?"

Ten nods.

Ghost says, "That was sixty subjective years ago for me. Some of the linked realms have horrendous time rate differences."

Ten says, "So I guess Lorelei - um, Princess Stephanie - doesn't age? If she's spending most of her time there now.... and she didn't seem to have aged last time I saw her."

Ghost nods, "The Princess is Fae. She is immortal, subject to the Guard keeping her alive." Ghost chuckles, "I think only Titan and myself realised that the Princess is more than capable of doing that herself."

Ten says, "I'm not surprised, I mean, she was a superhero before she - well I guess she was really always a princess? But before the world knew that."

Ghost nods, "I read all I could about her career. The Princess is..." Ghost pauses for a moment, then continues, "I am honoured to be in her service, Ten. She is one of the most outstanding and worthy people I've ever met."

Ten says, "I've never met her - well, not to talk to. I've seen her, but.."

Ghost says, "Would you like to visit Undermoon? I can arrange a visa, and an audience with the Princess if you like."

Ten says, "An - an audience? Really? I mean... what reason could you possibly give?"

Ghost smiles, "The Princess isn't some aloof royal blood, Ten. Although the gods know there's enough of them in the court. If I tell the Princess you'd like to meet her that's reason enough when considering your heroism."

Ten says, "Still... I don't know if I should really waste her time just as, well, a fan.... but I would like to see Undermoon!"

Ghost nods, "Diplomatically speaking you're in Undermoon now. But it's not at all the same thing. I'll arrange a visa for you, Ten, and give you the grand tour at your convenience."

Ten says, "I'd love that!"

Ghost lifts her wineglass, "To the tour."

Ten says, "The tour!"