Gurkenkrater
Cath
StarfrostedFox
Not a Sayan
Raqueltrper
Love DoveLight sounded confident in his opinion, but Senjen still seemed skeptical. “I don’t know, I just have a hard time thinking that someone would rather fight a war, that they might lose, if they had the option to just easily go somewhere else. There is so much space out there, so many unclaimed stars. If you didn’t have to worry about planets being habitable, we could all expand out in different directions and it would be, I don’t know...millions of years before we even had to interact with each other. The Utaysi do have that choice, at least, but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Regardless, Senjen much preferred to talk about his own hopes than hypothetical wars, and the talk of what QV cities were like did easily capture his attention. He wondered if Light had come from a QV world, or if he was from somewhere like Korit? Either way, he would have come from somewhere much different from Orostro. “I’ve seen pictures of QV settlements and everything, but I don’t think that really captures what it’s like to be there. There’s simulations that can do more, but...honestly I started avoiding those. I want my first time experiencing these places to be when I’m there, seeing it with my own sensors, feeling it with my own hands. Of course, if I wanted to visit a QV settlement, I would need to get a more specialized frame. I may not need air or anything, but this body does sink like a brick. I know there’s submersibles and suits that visitors can use, but that’s not how I’d want to experience it, you know?”
The transition to the Concourse brought them once again into microgravity. He had gotten somewhat used to the sensation during the journey to Korit, but he had not spent too much time in space before this job. That “drop” during the shift, that feeling of falling, was still, metaphorically speaking, breathtaking to him. And that wasn’t even considering the sight of the Grand Concourse itself. Orostro had space stations, but nothing like this. Korit’s space infrastructure had been built up over a time spanning almost two thousand years, fueled by trade with worlds across their corner of the galaxy. They simply existed on a scale that the Utaysi had not yet reached. This station was like a city all its own, and it was almost hard to believe that they had the technology to put so much life in the dead of space. Yet, his sensors did not lie to him. Senjen was silent for a short while after they left the train and floated out into the open, and when he did speak, Light might have noticed a certain lightness to his attitude. “No, no, we don’t need a monorail. It will probably be faster just to...well is ‘walk’ really the word, when we’re all floating around?”
Senjen could only imagine how much of a challenge it must have been to design a space in microgravity that so many people were meant to traverse. Despite the crowding, it was organized in a way. Pedestrian traffic was situated in lanes, guided by these “ropes”, of a sort, that ran up and down the cylinder. Senjen was not completely sure of what they were made of, but it looked to be something like carbon fiber. They could be used for moving around in zero-G, if one did not have thrusters, and were numerous enough that one was never too far away if someone ended up with some unwanted momentum. They were mostly taut, but had enough give to avoid harm if someone ended up flying into one at a decent speed. Part of the additions Senjen had made to his frame for traveling had been a simple RCS, but it was still better only to use it when needed to conserve its fuel.
“Okay, so I’ve read up on this. There’s all sorts of rules and unspoken conventions for moving around in a station like this, right?” Senjen said, sounding almost excited. “We need to go to the other side of the Concourse, so...faster traffic sticks to the inner lines. But there’s still speed limits for pedestrians, so not too fast. Even with all the rules, collisions are still more, uh, expected out here, compared to in a gravity well. A lot harder to avoid bumping into strangers, but we still try to minimize it. I know one of those unspoken rules is that whoever has more mass has the right-of-way, because ultimately, regardless of politeness or any other societal custom, inertia still has the final say.”
Senjen grabbed one of the ropes and pulled himself in front of Light, then looked back with a chuckle. Once again, he banged a hand against his chestplate hard enough to get a few metallic clanks. “And well, who has more mass than me, right? Grab my tail and let me pull us along. We’ll get there in no time.”
Regardless, Senjen much preferred to talk about his own hopes than hypothetical wars, and the talk of what QV cities were like did easily capture his attention. He wondered if Light had come from a QV world, or if he was from somewhere like Korit? Either way, he would have come from somewhere much different from Orostro. “I’ve seen pictures of QV settlements and everything, but I don’t think that really captures what it’s like to be there. There’s simulations that can do more, but...honestly I started avoiding those. I want my first time experiencing these places to be when I’m there, seeing it with my own sensors, feeling it with my own hands. Of course, if I wanted to visit a QV settlement, I would need to get a more specialized frame. I may not need air or anything, but this body does sink like a brick. I know there’s submersibles and suits that visitors can use, but that’s not how I’d want to experience it, you know?”
The transition to the Concourse brought them once again into microgravity. He had gotten somewhat used to the sensation during the journey to Korit, but he had not spent too much time in space before this job. That “drop” during the shift, that feeling of falling, was still, metaphorically speaking, breathtaking to him. And that wasn’t even considering the sight of the Grand Concourse itself. Orostro had space stations, but nothing like this. Korit’s space infrastructure had been built up over a time spanning almost two thousand years, fueled by trade with worlds across their corner of the galaxy. They simply existed on a scale that the Utaysi had not yet reached. This station was like a city all its own, and it was almost hard to believe that they had the technology to put so much life in the dead of space. Yet, his sensors did not lie to him. Senjen was silent for a short while after they left the train and floated out into the open, and when he did speak, Light might have noticed a certain lightness to his attitude. “No, no, we don’t need a monorail. It will probably be faster just to...well is ‘walk’ really the word, when we’re all floating around?”
Senjen could only imagine how much of a challenge it must have been to design a space in microgravity that so many people were meant to traverse. Despite the crowding, it was organized in a way. Pedestrian traffic was situated in lanes, guided by these “ropes”, of a sort, that ran up and down the cylinder. Senjen was not completely sure of what they were made of, but it looked to be something like carbon fiber. They could be used for moving around in zero-G, if one did not have thrusters, and were numerous enough that one was never too far away if someone ended up with some unwanted momentum. They were mostly taut, but had enough give to avoid harm if someone ended up flying into one at a decent speed. Part of the additions Senjen had made to his frame for traveling had been a simple RCS, but it was still better only to use it when needed to conserve its fuel.
“Okay, so I’ve read up on this. There’s all sorts of rules and unspoken conventions for moving around in a station like this, right?” Senjen said, sounding almost excited. “We need to go to the other side of the Concourse, so...faster traffic sticks to the inner lines. But there’s still speed limits for pedestrians, so not too fast. Even with all the rules, collisions are still more, uh, expected out here, compared to in a gravity well. A lot harder to avoid bumping into strangers, but we still try to minimize it. I know one of those unspoken rules is that whoever has more mass has the right-of-way, because ultimately, regardless of politeness or any other societal custom, inertia still has the final say.”
Senjen grabbed one of the ropes and pulled himself in front of Light, then looked back with a chuckle. Once again, he banged a hand against his chestplate hard enough to get a few metallic clanks. “And well, who has more mass than me, right? Grab my tail and let me pull us along. We’ll get there in no time.”