[h3][color=6ecff6]shy jung[/color][/h3]
[hr]
Technology in the hollow moon was surprisingly… hard to access. Sure, there were strange geological structure with ionic bonds and carbon chains that might have been interesting for a naturalist to study, but some people like engineers were met with the infuriating task of deciphering lines of alien code – assuming they were ever able to reach them. The Custodians were functionally no different from Shy’s own drones, and surely there must have been a sort of network available for them to communicate and navigate through Hollow Moon. Only problem with that is how Shy could not fucking find any of it. Must have it been deeper in the moon? Even when she could not find a tangible piece of tech and she tried to pick up the signal and tap into the network, all she got was a bunch of alien jargon. It sure was not the sequence of ones and zeroes she was used to, and she probably should not have expected the Latin alphabet or Arabic numerals within the core of an alien world. 

Ugh, she’d probably have to find some kind of expert on xenolinguistics to help her crack it – but oh wait, there [i]weren’t[/i] any experts on xenolinguistics, because this was the first sign of alien life that’s been discovered! Damn piece of sh—

[i]“Alert. Mixer storm manifesting in - twenty, minutes. Exit Hollow Moon or seek shelter soon.”[/i]

Oh, isn’t that great? Hollow Moon might have been more of a pain in the ass than it was worth, but Shy supposed that was the cost of being the first. She glanced around her surroundings, hearing the growl of a distant storm – or was it a beast in the jungles? It was hard to tell at times, but she was afforded the comfort of not being totally aware of her surroundings by the three spherical drones hovering in the air with the assistance of maglift technology. If they detected anything within range, they would alert her and stun whatever alien beastie that came running with an electrical arc or low-powered optic laser. Shy, bored as ever, worked the tech-pad computer on her wrist. The nearest safehouse would be… shelter twelve. 

The distant sound of crashing trees seemed to signal its location as Shy double-checked the navigation assistant to make sure that this was not the case. [i]'These things are never easy on Hollow Moon.'[/i]

The sound of a barrage of suppressing gunfire followed suit. [i]'Fortunately, humanity made sure that wouldn’t be a problem.'[/i]

Booming roars the bright blue thunderheads rolling in threatened more than just Shy's safety. She was no naturalist, but she knew that the wildlife will be looking for shelter just like she was. No morsel could possibly be worth getting caught out in a mixer storm, and surely the many generations of learned fear taught them it was better to be hungry for a short while. Anything not smart enough to take cover probably didn't last very long in this world. It was just as well then that Shy soon came upon the shelter with five minutes left to spare. The very static in the air was beginning to make the hair on her neck stand on end, and make her right arm and right eye feel irritated and numb. Even her tech-pad was experiencing interference. Whatever caused these storms, there was definitely some kind of combination of ionization and electromagnetism in the air.

Whatever.

[i]"Entry logged at shelter - twelve."[/i]

There was only one other person inside the shelter, another woman. Looked like the mercenary type too, probably has a big gun. Shy inputted an order for the drone to deactivate until the storm passed, and the three spherical robots slowly drifted over toward a recharging station for different technologies. She played with one of them a while back, it was pretty basic stuff; they relied on electrostatic generators to create a field to be siphoned by electronics equipped with a receiving antenna connected to heavy-load capacitors. The people of the twenty-first century could only dream of this household utility. As they entered their dormant state Shy yawned deeply and stretched her arms above her head, pacing her way toward the couches. Maybe she'd strike up conversation with this stranger.

"Moon's not as exciting as I thought it'd be." Shy commented dryly, breaking the silence as she fell carelessly onto the cushions. "What do you think?"