AEA7
E, Eris, Erim [He, His, Him; She, Hers, Her respectively]
Suun and Seel would both be mistaken for women on the planet Earth. Rather tall women, approximately seven and a half feet tall, and a build that is intimidating. Suun has more feminine features; eris breasts are larger and e had enjoyed breastfeeding their children, even the ones that Seel gave birth to. Seel has the voice of an angel and enjoys singing very old Druinte folk songs that are despised in the city of Triusia. Their life in Choice had been an idyllic existence. Both were born in the city and had only traveled to Triusia in their adulthood with the group of social Druintes who wanted to change mainstream Druinte culture. They hate Triusia despite the beauty of it. The technology on display there makes it a testament to Druinte engineering, but both Seel and Suun hated the sense that the city was a chaos of Druintes rushing from Hall to Hall and not taking the time to appreciate the distinct beauty of their surroundings. The city is loud with so many inhabitants and it hardly seems that there is ever an opportunity to stop and appreciate anything.
The mall of Triusia, the center of the planet’s largest city, is used as a transition area for the social Druintes as they move into the Hall of Orphans. The mall is an extremely long field of grass that is framed by stone walkways all around, and then sandwiched between pools of water that run the length of it. Water on Druont is clear, but pools of it appear to be a color red that is almost orange. The grass of the mall is a deeper shade of red and is maintained by robots that keep it neatly trimmed. Grass on Druont is feathery, it grows as small stalks with tiny off branches that sprout puffs of tendrils to absorb nutrients. As a result, lying on the mall is extremely comfortable and it is big enough to accommodate the city’s numbers if they all chose to lie out together during the midday eclipse; when Druintes generally break from the work day. When the social Drutines are there, it becomes a tiny town with the convertible pod traveler dwellings that they use for shelter. There are many different makes and models of pod travelers on the planet; the convertible ones are generally used for long range expeditions and they provide protective shelter with oxygen if necessary.
Suun and Seel were satisfied with Falstraq’s comfort. They chose to believe that the new life being forced on them would be good for everyone. They were happy to learn on the day of their transition to the Hall that they would be able to continue their work altering the environment of Druont in selected locations. Some social Druintes, like Falstraq, held jobs outside of the city of Choice, but not Suun and Seel who worked with other social Druintes on projects pertinent to the city of Choice. The social Druintes in Choice had been working to change weather conditions in and near the city to ensure that it remained habitable for as long as possible. The weather next to the vast Druont ocean has always been volatile, and the inhabitants of Choice have been developing technology to reduce the rains and winds that sweep in from the ocean; methods that allow for an open air society to avoid the use of a dome structure to cover the city. The MDDS was made aware of this work that Suun and Seel were doing, and they will be allowed to continue their work at the Hall for Atmospheric Surveillance, and that is a great comfort to the couple. It would be easier to imagine that their lives would not change so much.
The transition of the social Druintes into the Hall of Orphans is a slow process and as they move in, the MDDS determines the length of time that each of the social Druintes will be required to reside at the hall before they will be considered full fledged members of Druinte Society. The day that Suun and Seel are to be moved into the Hall, Falstraq is in a meeting with delegates of the MDDS discussing the couple.
“This is not wise.” Falstraq explains. “If you are serious about those two pursuing their atmospheric work, then you will not subject them to the hostilities of the orphan hall physical exercise period.”
A delegate respond, “They have the desired demeanor that we would like to see in the orphans, do you not agree?”
“That is not in dispute,” Falstraq says.
“Then these unnamed orphans you are so worried about will fare as you do with the greater orphan population.”
Falstraq sighs. “Is there a point where the MDDS will call this a failed experiment? Or are they forcing this no matter what?”
“This must work. There is no contingency.”
Out on the mall, Suun and Seel hold hands as they enter the front door of the orphan hall. The delegates of the MDDS overseeing the transition look disgusted at the two who are oblivious to it.
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