They spent the rest of the day learning to fly. Or in the case of Kinny and Aranam, playing a dangerous game of tag. Or in the case of Édéla and Ríváné, an elaborate competition of some sort. Point was, they did not learn much of Civitatem Lucis besides a few pointers of how the people enjoyed their time off. The general consesus seemed to be 'wild, rambunctious, but safe' as even Éjjel, for all of his detailed explanations on the mechanics of flight or how might certain manoeuvres be done, engaged in a bit of rough play with Jade. An incredibly safe version compared to whatever the two boys were engaged in, but nevertheless pushing the limits of one's body.
Needless to say, most didhad no trouble sleeping that night.
The next day, however, it was back to exploration. Ríváne showed her two guests around, first taking them to a massive statue, arranged from an assortment of bones. Unaltered human bones, to be precise, as she explained with a radiant smile. Preserved with a special technique, then sealed behind a thick layer of glass to protect it from damage, the abstract statue looked as though it had been lifted straight out of Hell. A quite macabre sight when compared to the colourful, artistic buildings surrounding it, it most resembled a sacrifical pyre of some sorts. Bleached flames melted away corpses, which reached for a four-point star within the centre of the arrangement, while unknowable shapes descended from the statue's top. Forged of remnants as it were, it created a visceral impact within the viewer.
Precisely the point, as Ríváné explained. Dating to two-hundred and seventy-four years ago, it stood as a reminder of a conflict between the rahn'fehr and Civitatem Lucis. The author obtained permission from families to use the remaining bones of fallen soldiers and create a memoir in their honour. After five years of work, the statue was unveiled, its impact resonating with the servicemen of Abevr along with the locals, starting a tradition of donating one's bones to artists. In fact, there were several such compositions on the planet.
When the impact of this particular... relevation... faded, the Institute of Technology took its place. Which, according to every single metric known to humanity, could really have went better. Ríváné spent the majority of time trying to translate concepts for Kinny and Jade, then giving up and handing the matter to Éjjel. Who failed even more miserably. Older technologies sections had a better rate of success, however, even there, Civitatem Lucis' achievements were alien. There was talk of ránei, ítéra, and a phenomenon which Ríváné and Éjjel debated for half an hour before they realised neither of them could explain it in simple terms. The theory of even stranger things followed: soundmasons, interplanetary propulsion, wormholes, interstellar journeys, construction techniques for satellite swarms large enough to eclipse stars... A lot seemed impossible at first glance, but Éjjel insisted it all had solid foundations in physics.
Naturally, Ríváné swore to make up for the failure on her part, so she arranged to visit a building site the next day.
It resulted in a surprisingly novel experience. Not only did her guests get to experience some construction techniques first-hand, they got to see how a structure took shape along with the remarkably life-sized nature of its holographic blueprints. They were not the only ones visiting either: a few curious children stared wide-eyed at the process of material literally flowing into its place, then shifting between colours until it reached an aesthetic composition. Or a lone worker making minor corrections with remarkably flashy tools. As Éjjel explained, the building industry on Abevr was a point of artistic pride for city management, luring tourists from the solar system along with more distant stars whenever there was a large construction project in the works.
No wonder buildings were all unique.
As if to demonstrate this point, Édéla took the group for a sub-orbital tour, hopping across the planet's stratosphere as though it were water and her vessel, a skipping stone. Pattern upon pattern emerged from such a distant point of view, revealing an eye-catching network of abstract shapes. It was like spotting clouds in the distant sky, only there was literally no end to it. City blended into city on the surface, stretching as far as the senses could see. However, the true shock probably came when Kinny asked if this was usual. In turn, Édéla replied that no, it was not. Most planets had denser cities and this was considered quite conservative. Especially for a hub like Abevr.
Next came the Museum of Art. A two-day experience in total, it spoke to every sense a human possessed and even some they did not. While Civitatem Lucis may have lost a sense of fantastic abstraction during their progress towards scientific understanding, they certainly did not lose their creativity. Riotous combinations of touch, scent, taste, sight, sound, ítéra, space and many more venues of experience greeted them. Some of the pieces took an hour or so to navigate through, or even more, if one wished to explore all of their nooks and crannies with seemingly shifting gravity along with compositions that took on new meanings with each second of observation. And that was not even mentioning what Ríváné translated as 'Anti-Logic Puzzles'; a bizzare and straight-up surreal form of art which relied on betraying every single expectation of human logic. They made everyone's head hurt, especially Éjjel's, but they were quite an interesting time.
However, the next day, Ríváné informed everyone they were taking a break as she had a couple of administrative matters to attend to. Something which could not be done over Civitatem Lucis' extensive network, apparently. So she gave everyone a day off to digest what they have seen so far and letting them do as they pleased while she performed her duties. Aranam chose to accompany her and Édéla retreated into her room, stating she would return in a moment, but she wanted some privacy. This left Kinny and Jade in a very, very empty house, with Éjjel being their only company.
The last two days have been pure torture for Ári.
Though she tried to take some solace in Warwick's presence, along with the fact they got good quality food and more than enough water, the isolation from her peers was driving her up the wall. They were kept isolated from the rest of the facility, with only a robot to serve as a source of interaction other than themselves. Of course, the company was not some horrible abomination or perhaps a member of the rahn'fehr, but still, it slowly wore away at the woman's nerves. Especially with how silent everything remained.
Nobody told them anything. Not even by proxy. Thick walls along with relez bars kept them from forcing their way out; evidently, Civitatem Lucis did not use lax security. They did not even get a light, sans a lamp sunk into the high ceiling, far beyond their reach. Maybe if one of them jumped off the other's shoulder, they could have reached it, but the chances were slim. Not to mention the glass up there had to be reinforced just in case someone thought of this exact same plan in an effort to get at least some sort of leverage against their captors. It was as perfect as prisons came: even when Ári tried to leverage her strength against the plain furniture or the wall, she could not make them budge an inch.
They were trapped.
And despite her best efforts to keep relaxed and hope beyond hope that this was just some misunderstanding, evidence pointed to the contrary.
"They... they really believe we did it... do they not?" she muttered under her breath. She had not spoken for a while, having retreated into her shell in an attempt to regain some measure of self-control and coherence. She wanted to get out of here: to take a walk in the corridor at least, to see the skies, to get a punching bag to work off some frustration, to talk with someone else for a chance... It really was getting to her. Even now, she found her hand around her yku, pressing deep trenches into her palms as she gripped then released it. "They think we conspired with the rahn'fehr..." she opined, her voice low. "That is unreasonable."
