Kinny laughed and, getting a quick grasp, he lunged back and poked at his side before he darted away. "Tag! You're it!" he called, forgetting for a moment the language barrier.

Jade watched Éjjel, then began to mimic him slowly. This felt more right than she'd felt in ages, and she snapped her arms down suddenly, shooting herself up with a pleased chirp before she slowed by spreading her arms and pushing her legs forward, spread open before she spun, pulled her limbs to herself, then dove, caught herself above the ground by spreading her limbs, then grinned wide at Éjjel.

"I have not flown this well ever before!" she exclaimed.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

He heard the shift in her breathing and looked back. His heavy breathing was hard to miss.

"Keep your wits ready," he managed to tell her clumsily in her native language. His eyes lacked focus, and his defensive posture swayed. "You should stay... behind me."

He wasn't doing well. He wasn't doing well, and like this he couldn't protect the scared woman.

Instinct said to break out, get her free, and then keep her hidden from her own people. Reality said that he could scarcely hold himself up.
 
Éjjel returned Jade's joy with an inquisitive look as he finished the exercises. Her statement implied she tried this before, or at least something along these lines, but was enjoying herself with the mindset of a child; a clear disparity. Perhaps they had a more primitive version of this technology at home? Only one way to find out, he supposed. So with a casual gesture, Éjjel flew over to Jade. Not everyone needed to overhear their conversation.

"Have you flown before?" he asked as he lowered his right arm to his torso, palm facing upwards. He bridged about half the distance between them, almost as though he were reaching to hold onto Jade. Or perhaps invite her to fly together.

As for Kinny, even if a language barrier existed, some gestures and some games remained universal across time and space. And even in a complicated civilization like Civitatem Lucis... there remained more than enough room for a 'primitive' game like tag. Therefore, the next moment of Kinny's reality consisted of an Aranam, who launched himself with incredible speed. The chamber seemed to shake with the huge man's weight as he moved, a powerful illusion of senses created by sheer velocity along with mass. Worse still, Aranam proved quite nimble as he twisted his body at the last second, feinting his opponent just so he could tap Kinny's knee. Letting momentum carry him, he turned back towards Kinny with a clear challenge written on his face.




Ári's heart jumped into her throat. It beat with a franctic rhythm, constraining her chest and depriving her of air. This... why... but... she... loyal to... Civitatem Lucis... and... why... but...

A soft hic made it out of her mouth.

Tears burst from her eyes.

Her stomach fell away.

Her hand went to her collarbone, gripping her yku. Knuckles whitened around her only source of comfort in this situation as she fought against raging emotions, struggling to calm down. Because she knew she needed to be calm. Whatever this situation, no whatever this misunderstanding was, she would clear it up. Immediately.

She was not a traitor.

She did not conspire with the rahn'fehr.

If needed...

Ári swallowed.

"Do... do you trust me?" she asked Warwick. Her voice trembled, yet it held strength even as her fingers tried to break platinum.
 
"I have wings, but they are weak," she explained as she closed the distance and took Éjjel's hand. "One wing is... not formed correctly? The bad wing makes flight difficult."

Despite her words, she had no visible wings. "I gave up trying and I also gave up using the form that has wings many years ago."

Kinny's grin only widened and he laughed as he launched himself right after Aranam, his own mass matched by inhuman speed and flexibility, but he also moved with care: more clumsily than the other man, but certainly quite eager to avoid too strong an impact... though he seemed to trust the walls to handle him as he bounced off one when he veered just in time to avoid body-slamming Aranam.

Slam!

He laughed, rather than making any indication of pain.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

"More than the others," he told her, his words halting and unsteady as he fought to keep on his feet.

"I... think I need to... sleep..."

Despite his words, he kept trying to stay up.

"If... lose consciousness... you... stay safe?"
 
Éjjel did not seem to be bothered by the idea, as not every body modification worked out. He imagined it would be even worse for someone who looked so impressed by Civitatem Lucis' technology, not to mention possibly quite dangerous. It did not even occur to him that he misunderstood Jade's meaning: he thought the use of present tense was a simple grammatical mistake. Nothing to worry about or freaked out by. He even smiled as Jade took his hand, signalling her acceptance of the partnership.

"Let's fly well," he told her. "If you have any questions, I can answer them. I know how this works." The smile on his face was unmistakeable as he slowly made them float upwards with a series of small movements. "And I can show you the basics if you want to learn." A small spark in Éjjel's eyes. He looked eager.

In the meantime, the game of tag continued; though Aranam did stop for a moment to see if Kinny was all right after the collision, he quickly realised their physiques were even more similar than he had thought. Never mind the musculature or the body structure itself; Kinny was also probably altered in similar ways. And this, in turn meant no holding back.

With an almost ravenous smirk on his face, Aranam exploded towards his opponent, far too fast for normal human reflexes. Pushing the boundaries of beginner gear, he intended to lead his 'opponent' on a crazy chase for supremacy.




"Yes," answered Ári, though she did not feel as confident as she should have been. "I... I will guard you," she added. Still shaken from the events, she did not know if she really meant it or if she said to reassure Warwick, but the pit in her stomach did not get any shallower. Question after question popped into her mind, leading her into doubt after doubt. Because even though deep down, she knew why this happened, she could not fathom it. Or perhaps she would not fathom it. It seemed too unreasonable, too unreal and far too cruel.

Yet, the situation was very real.
 
"Please do," Jade urged. His eagerness was unmistakable, even to someone like her who struggled with reading faces. "I have a decent grasp on how to move, but... accuracy is lacking."

By that, she meant she felt as graceless as a hatchling.

Kinny laughed and launched himself right back at Aranam. It had been a long time since he played a game like this with his trainer, and he had a feeling he'd be coming to this building a lot in the future, if it was allowed. The only thing strange was feeling wind against his face!

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Warwick grunted quietly, and his consciousness finally faded.

His body ached so badly...
 
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."
 
Kinny didn't object in the slightest to having a day to digest. He spent some time stretching, then used his phone to call his mother after Édéla asked for privacy.

"Call Mother," he announced in half-fluent Onic.

Left alone with Éjjel, Jade laid on a nearby couch and stretched.

All the tension of being surrounded by new stimulation and so many people left her wanting to hide, but out of politeness to Éjjel, she remained visible, though she felt more and more like hiding the more moments passed.

"Yeah, Mama, they're treating us really well! We're taking a break from touring today, but... Oh my gosh, Mama, you'd love it here! The fashion, the art, the architecture!"

Jade's face twitched slightly as Kinny paced on the phone in a nearby room.

"Auntie Jade? She's a little overwhelmed, yeah. She's forgetting to use her words sometimes. I'm helping as much as I can, but it's a good thing we're having a break today. The local language is a little difficult cuz it's mostly learning vocabulary, and their dictionaries aren't entirely complete, but it's pretty fun to learn."

Jade rolled to face away from Kinny.

"How is everyone back home?"

Blessed silence, but only for a moment.

"They did? Aww—I mean uh, yeah, no, that's bad. Haha..."

His awkward laugh made her want to scream. Instead, the small woman groaned and shifted form, right in front of Éjjel's eyes.

She became no more than two feet tall, with one white-feathered sparrow wing and one skeletal sparrow wing. Her outfit similarly changed with her, all at once, into a one-piece number with high leg holes and a little white buttoned collar and wrist bands. Fishnets, high heels, a bunny ear headband, and a pin-on fluffy tail finished the playboy bunny look, and the now black-haired Jade crawled beneath the couch in silence.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Warwick closed the distance and rested a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't deserve this, but he had a feeling that this was more convenient for her people when it came to dealing with him. She just happened to be caught up in it.

"You should not be in here. You're an innocent," he muttered, then looked at her for a few long moments, and his eye softened slightly.

"I want to get you out of here," he added as his gaze turned back to the bars and hardened.

With that, he rose and walked to the bars. He grasped one, and with his his other hand, he drew a symbol on the back of his grasping hand.

He twisted the hand that gripped the bar, and the bar shattered, falling into shards as a few embedded themselves into his hand.

"They should notice that," he muttered, then took a few steps back and waited, legs shoulder length apart and hands clasped behind his back as he glared forward. "If not, I'll break another one."

Running out freely would just get them tossed somewhere worse, he was sure. Doing this, he made a show that he could get out, but he wasn't trying to escape. Their captors didn't need to know how much it took out of him to do that, or how it interfered with his ability to heal, as evidenced by the blood that dripped from his hand.

He didn't want to do it like this, but nobody came for him to tell that he'd trade information for her freedom.