Māchina ex Deō

[Chainlinc3]

Alfred leaned against the railings of the UAS Librarium, flagship of the Evacuation Fleet, watching the sun slowly drop below the horizon. Light was fading fast, and the time of his mission crept closer as the shadows lengthened. He was... having second thoughts about this entire affair-- yes, he would be fighting the good fight, but the administration of the endeavor was approaching the whole situation too... scientifically. In his opinion, at least.

Just yesterday, the "control squad" had been sent out-- four prisoners, thrown at the enemy to be monitored for both survival and effectiveness. As far as he understood it, their successes would be the baseline by which all the other squads would be compared... And, rumor had it, they set the bar rather low by missing each of their check-in calls that day.

And yet, the sunset was just as beautiful as yesterday's had been. The... the cold-blooded murder commited by the administration in no way made the air less sweet, the sun less bright, the colors less vibrant. The world moved on, and so did everyone else.

He sighed, and turned his back to the sunset, watching instead the bustle of people along the airship's deck and the rising moon behind them. The Librarium was of an old make-- or so he had been told-- but was still the largest vessel in the Fleet, with more than 700 people living in it's belly. Furthermore, much of the administration had relocated here, and the cargo hold had been emptied and replaced with a vast library. This ship alone held more civilization than most of the settlements on the surface. The rest of the fleet... It boggled the mind to think of the vast power Valkyria had once held. But more importantly, it served as a chilling reminder of the fierceness of the foe that forced them from their home.

A thin spiral of smoke trailed up from one of the smaller, outlying ships. Most research was done out there, for the safety of citizens, and the occasional plume of smoke was hardly out of the ordinary. A few harpies-- weak, winged demons with vicious claws-- harried some of the other ships on the outer rim of the fleet, and he could see the discharges of the crew's weapons from here. All and all, this was basically an average day.

He considered consulting Priscilla, but opted against it. Releasing her would attract too much attention from researchers, and could give some of the citizens the wrong impression. Instead, he sighed and pushed himself off the railing. Rocking slowly on his heels, he gave the darkening sky one last wishful glance, then headed for... he checked the letter he had recieved over breakfast.

"Room 213A... Somewhere down near the library, right?"

With a shrug, he headed for the stairwell and descended into the ship's interior and, for the first time, wondered what kind of people he'd be working with.

[Dreamless Days]

Whyte spun around again, his eyes wide as he walked down a long corridor on The Librarium. He was simply in awe at the giant airship, it was massive. Bigger than anything he'd ever seen. And it wasn't just that. Whyte was seeing more people in one place than he'd ever seen in his entire life. It was amazing how so many people could not only fit into one vehicle, but that they could co-exist at once. The world outside of this place was more or less rife with the dog eat dog mentality, but in here people seemed at least to work together.

A rare smile hit his face as he finally left the corridor, and ended up at one of the ends of the ship. He stepped over to the railing and leaned way over the edge, much like a child would try to do. He continued to smile as he looked down to the ground far below. He was so high up, it reminded him of when he used to lean out over the cliff back at Banora. The smile on Whyte's face however faded quickly as an image of Cerberus suddenly flashed through his mind. The shock of seeing it's face almost caused him to let go of the railing.

Pulling himself up, Whyte stepped away from the railing slowly, breathing hard to calm himself.

"H-He's not here... He's not... Not yet." He whispered to himself.

He stood there for a few minutes, staring at the floor and breathing before finally closing his eyes and turning around. If he dawdled here any longer he would be late. He had almost forgotten that he was here for a reason, he was supposed to be going to a meeting room or something. The room number stayed freshly in his memory however, as he had repeated it constantly.

"213A. I think I need some directions..." He mumbled.

He entered the corridor once more, this time trying not to become distracted by how large the airship was. He began to look around, searching for someone who might be able to help him find the room.