lolita (transcript below cut)
[Begin transcript:
The 101-Project
It had long been suspected that it might be possible to engineer a timeship which thought like a living, growing, biological creature. No experiments had ever been performed, however, as the entire concept was simply... unpleasant. Biology was still vaguely repulsive to the Houses, the situation only beginning to change after the rise of groups like Faction Paradox and the suggestion, in the face of the coming apocalypse, that biological breeding on some level might be a wise precaution. A century and a half before the War, the ruling Houses had already sanctioned the production of several machine-hominids - artificial sentients, actual robots, previously thought to be too “vulgar” for words - and after that it wasn’t long until the obvious suggestion was made.
A new breed of timeships, said the Homeworld’s more progressive elements. A timeship which was intelligent, in the biological, hominid sense of the word, a timeship which could commmnicate and therefore receive orders.The coming War would require troops, and a timeship which was in itself a self-aware unit would have been an agent worth entire armies. However, in principle nobody was sure how to go about creating such a ship. It wasn’t possible to simply graft an artificial intelligence onto a Pre-War vessel. A “normal” engineered brain wouldn’t understand the more subtle processes holding a timeship’s body together, and it was even speculated that no mind could know what a timeship knows without becoming so abstract that communication became impossible. Clearly an entirely new breed of ship had to be grown, nudged toward hominid communication rather than programmed for it, slowly educated and nurtured as it grew in its cradle. The first attempt at this was known as the 101-Project, the Presidency declaring that an entirely new numbering system would be brought into use with the new breed.
The 101-Project was an infamous failure. Nobody outside the Homeworld could have been shocked. The idea of the Houses “nurturing” a whole new species, when even their own children were force-bred and force-educated, was simply laughable. They knew little of psychology, and cared even less, attempting to steer the 101’s course by constantly attacking the craft with heavy-duty biodata waldoes. But at least the first bio-timeship was successfully reared, even if it was never actually going to be controllable.
Almost nine-hundred years earlier, a similar bio-application of technology had been attempted when the Imperator Presidency had sanctioned the breeding of the insane, unstable babels. The pattern now repeated itself, although on an even grander scale. The Houses had repressed their primal heritage for so long that they’d simply forgotten what biology meant, so the protean, struggling thing born out of the 101-Project could only have been a surprise to the Houses themselves. As it lay in its cradle of dampers and manipulators, screaming and lashing out with its multiple biodata strands while desperately clawing at nearby time to find some form of escape, it's possible that the technicians started to remember what their culture had spent the last ten-million years trying to suppress.
End transcript.]
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Good Morning Sunlight
Still not quite used to life in the Glade of Dreams, Lex wakes up and has some trouble taking everything in.
Raylex sweetness that I forgot to post. <3 1.026 words. Also on AO3!
The early hours of the morning were starting to creep up on the Glade of Dreams, as its two suns rose to provide warmth and light to all of its inhabitants. Many creatures had already awoken from their slumber, pacing through the greenery of the jungles and forests to start their daily errands.
This, of course, was far from the case for two limbless lovers, who were tangled up together in a sleepy cuddle, covered in soft, fluffy blankets amidst the tall grass surrounding them.
The blankets in question–all of which had various warm, muted colors and were decorated with nature-inspired patterns–had been handknitted by Betilla the Fairy, given to them as a present on their wedding day. Perfect for a couple of sleepyheads.
The shorter of the two–that being Lex, of course, the alien Stargazer–faintly mumbled some incomprehensible gibberish, lost in whatever he was currently dreaming about. His grip on his lover–Rayman, who else?–tightened in his sleep, as he clung onto him like a koala bear.
As the morning began to set in, Lums illuminated the air, flapping their little wings and humming softly. While most of the Glade’s inhabitants were used to these tiny creatures and their general presence, Lex was still growing accustomed to them after having lived most of his life in deep space. Sure, he didn’t remember much–if anything–of what that was like, but his body sure did, and it acted accordingly.
Space was quiet. The Glade, though it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary to most folks, was not.
Lex stirred in his sleep, feeling his eyes begin to open ever so slightly. He groaned–he was barely awake, and yet all of his senses were already being overwhelmed at full blast. Too many bright lights. Too many loud noises. God, it was… a lot.
He buried his face deeper into the fabric of Rayman’s hoodie, nuzzling his chest in an attempt to let it calm him down enough to go back to sleep. Of course, though, said attempt was unsuccessful, and he wasn’t going back to dreamland anytime soon.
Not long after, he felt the familiar touch of gloved fingers delicately stroking his back, and he couldn’t help but feel a smile make its way onto his face.
“G’morning,” Lex whispered, bringing one of his hands up to caress Rayman’s cheek, getting a silent chuckle out of the hero.
“Morning, snugglebug,” Rayman replied–his voice deep and hoarse as he adjusted to the feeling of being awake after his slumber. Lex’s smile brightened and a heat rapidly rose to his face. No matter how many times he’d heard it before, he never got tired of that adorable, sleepy voice. It was like music to his ears… if he had any ears. It was like music to his, uh, antennae. Which were, speaking of, twitching at every little sound vibration in the air.
Rayman let out a long, drawn-out yawn, smacking his lips for a while afterwards. Though he looked like he was more than ready to go back to sleep, he pulled his beloved closer, fighting his body’s urge to close his eyes once more. “Something caught your attention?”
Lex shook his head against Rayman’s body, merely letting out an unsure hum. “Not… not really, no. Just… I dunno. It’s way too early in the morning for the world around us to be, uh, this active. This loud… and bright.”
“You overstimulated, sweetheart?”, Rayman muttered, continuing his embrace with delicate strokes on Lex’s back. “‘Cause I think it’s real quiet and peaceful. But I know you’re a bit more sensitive to all of this stuff than I am.”
“Mmmm… maybe,” Lex sighed, pulling their shared blanket higher up in a feeble attempt to block out the rays of the suns.
“We’ll crash somewhere closer to the shade next time, bud. Sorry about that.”
“You… you don’t have to apologize, silly. It’s not–it’s not your fault.”
“Aw, but it is. I’ve gotta protect you, y’know?”
An amused snicker escaped Lex. What had he done to deserve this man?
“You can’t… you can’t protect me from everything. But I love you anyway.”
“Still gonna try… only the best for the love of my life,” Rayman softly mumbled, lightly nuzzling his nose against the top of Lex’s head. And at a sentence and gesture like that, Lex couldn’t stop his entire face from heating up.
“...You’re too nice to me,” Lex muttered meekly, letting out a quiet yelp as he felt his lover begin to sit up, dragging Lex up with him in the process as the two were still tangled up in each other’s–hypothetical–arms.
“Y’wanna grab some grub?”, Rayman yawned, rubbing his eyes. “All this sleeping is making me hungry… and we could go somewhere more quiet. Could make you some blueberry pancakes.”
Lex grinned, looking up at Rayman as he sighed contently. “Blueberry pancakes do sound pretty nice right about now. You–you spoil me, y’know that?”
Rayman, finally starting to fully awaken, ruffled Lex’s hair–being careful not to be too rough, considering how fragile his antennae were–and let out a hearty chuckle. “Yeah, but I like spoiling you. Seeing the way your face scrunches up when you get happy is the highlight of my day.”
A shy, squeaky giggle was all that Lex could come up with in response, and Rayman could’ve sworn he practically felt his pupils turn into hearts at the display. He pulled him closer, rocking him back and forth for a bit as he traced his finger across the smile on Lex’s face.
“That’s exactly what I mean…”, he cooed, kissing the top of his head one last time before he finally stood up, letting the pile of blankets fall to the side and stretching his body as best as you can without any limbs. Lex wasted no time in getting up along with him, grabbing the soft blankets and nuzzling his face against them one last time before the two lovebirds headed deeper into the forest, hand in hand. Next on the agenda; blueberry pancakes… and maybe another nap.
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