in a strange land

Merry Christmas Frankii!

I’ve been listening to the martian’s soundtrack and it’s amazing so I thought I’d give the design of my original species, orols, a look,

they’re meant to be a fusion of technology and organics, but I was thinking about non-earth technology and how it might be different from what we’re used to. I described glowing circuits running under their skin, but I had a lot of fun imagining circuits from a technologically advanced race. orols are big on the free flow of ideas, sharing information and emotions telepathically, so I thought circuit that were chaotic, organic and disorganised would be a good tie-in to that concept.

♡ K a w a i i  S p a c e ♡

by missjediflip

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Mabel didn’t completely understand everything Kellan told her, but it all sounded very interesting. She remained quiet as the alien spoke, giving reactions when necessary but otherwise trying to figure out what it all meant. Life on Earth was confusing. Mabel supposed the same could be said for other planets as well. And the way Kellan kept changing her wording into past tense gave Mabel a sense that something was amiss. Though, it really was too early in the friendship to pry for backstory details. “A robot?” Mabel asked with a slight frown , not sure if the terminology was outdated or offensive. She hoped not. “Wow, I bet he’s like super advanced compared to earth stuff, huh?”

“Those are super cute!” The psychic picked a green pair of sunglasses from the rack, sliding her own heart-shaped pair on top of her head. “These are too! How many do you want to get? Just one? or more so you can match different outfits? I have, like, 5 at home.”

Mabel was a very attentive audience- she was very much like a young orol, willing to listen and eager to understand. That being said, it was about as tricky to explain as it would have been for a fish to try and describe water to something that lived in a desert. “Oh, undoubtedly,” she said, with a tinge of pride, “Well, I don’t know about some of the magically assisted constructions, some of them are undoubtedly complex. But BB barely registers on the same category as human machines. He’s a genuine stable artificial intelligence- we perfected the technique some time ago.” She was definitely boasting now, and stopped herself, swapping out the glasses for the pair Mabel offered. “I’m sure he’d love to meet you, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.”

kellan-tow:

Kellan watched the gesture with curiosity and mirrored it experimentally, curling lilac digits into a first with her thumb stuck out and angling it towards herself, eyes still on Mabel. “Shy- like nervous, but of people.” That made sense- she was learning to kerb herself, albeit slowly- Earthlings didn’t tend to share as much as Orols did. “Lie?” She blinked, and a wave of green washed briefly through her face before she remembered. “Oh, yes. Orols don’t- didn’t- really lie. We lived inside each other’s heads. No-one really had any need for secrets. If someone felt something about you, even if it was negative, they just sort of told you.” She laughed, “I got told a lot. But it was good. I- It’s difficult sometimes, not knowing what people are thinking. That probably seems very strange.”

She was distracted from her train of thought by the clothing in the window- in particular, the loose, floating vests with floral colours exploding across them. “Those aren’t unlike common Absedian clothes!” she said, “It’s warm where we live, and the big sleeves would be comfortable with your wings!” Hers were currently folded back against her arms and tied down, which made them stiff, but they got in the way in most Earth clothes. She turned to answer Mabel’s question, “Ah, well, about- hmm, maybe one earth year? Maybe more. BB will know, I’ll ask him when I see him next.” She held the door open for Mabel- a gesture of courtesy she’d learned recently- and wandered into the shop, cooing over the summer dresses.

“I think it’s a little harder when you do know what people are thinking of you.” Mabel commented quietly. Even with Kellan’s explanation, Mabel didn’t think she’d like wearing her feelings for all to see. She imagined it felt very vulnerable. “So, you’re psychic?”

Mabel’s attention turned to the dress. She always loved a good floral print. “Wait!” she spun on her heel to look at Kellan once they were in the store.“Can you fly?” Mabel’s interest hadn’t just been caught, it’d been placed in a birdcage and given to the alien. “I wish I could do that. I can only levitate a little. but that’s not the same.” It was now Mabel’s turn to chatter on. “Who’s BB? Is he your friend? or flight attendant or something? Flight attendants are for planes though. What are they called on rocket ships?” The questions kept coming as the teen lead the other towards the racks of sunglasses. 

“Psychic, in a way,” she mused, “Not in the same way as your Earth psychics. Orols- it’s hard to explain. We come from technology- we’re partly organic but we’re artificial as well. That- we never lost connection to the system that spawned us. It lets us network, constantly. We’re always sharing thoughts, ideas, discoveries. Even when we’re- what you would call sleeping- there’s always someone there. It’s-” she turned a shade of teal. “It was-”

She was cut short by Mabel’s sudden stop, and nearly walked straight into the back of her. Steadying herself on a nearby rail of clothes, she nodded, pulling her sleeves down to show the girl her pearlescent wings. “It’s harder on Earth- your gravity is stronger than ours was. I’ve had to work quite hard, but I can manage a little now, and I’m getting stronger. It’s a good way to adjust to Earth’s environment, actually.” She was delighted by Mabel’s stream of questions, not least because it distracted her a little.

Mabel watched as Kellan’s skin rippled with colors that made the psychic think of lavender flowers blowing in a soft spring breeze.  It made her feel calm in the same way. “It’s much more pretty than hand gestures.” Mabel complimented. “Though, it’s gotta be hard not to be able to lie about what you’re feeling sometimes.”

“People are - shy, sometimes.” She wasn’t one to badmouth someone, even if talking about someone vague and theoretical. “But don’t worry about me.” She shoved her thumb at herself with a smile. “I’m chock-full of questions and info.” Mabel pointed to the shop as they got closer, the front window displaying summer fashion and accessories. “Here it is! We can find you a pair of glasses here. I got another question though first! How long have you been on Earth? I don’t wanna be rude, but I’m gonna guess not very long. I hope you like it, though!”

Kellan watched the gesture with curiosity and mirrored it experimentally, curling lilac digits into a first with her thumb stuck out and angling it towards herself, eyes still on Mabel. “Shy- like nervous, but of people.” That made sense- she was learning to kerb herself, albeit slowly- Earthlings didn’t tend to share as much as Orols did. “Lie?” She blinked, and a wave of green washed briefly through her face before she remembered. “Oh, yes. Orols don’t- didn’t- really lie. We lived inside each other’s heads. No-one really had any need for secrets. If someone felt something about you, even if it was negative, they just sort of told you.” She laughed, “I got told a lot. But it was good. I- It’s difficult sometimes, not knowing what people are thinking. That probably seems very strange.”

kellan-tow:

“Sun… glasses…” Kellan was learning that sometimes earth words were mashed together and turned into a new word, one which didn’t especially mean either of the old ones. She made a mental note to find out what a Chuk-E-Cheese was (maybe 352 knew?) but shelved the matter for the time being. Beaming at Mabel’s friendliness, she said, “Oh, that’s just- so helpful to know. I’m really struggling, we don’t have weather nearly as much where I’m from as you do here on Earth. I thought the rain was bad but sunlight all the time hurts a bit! Do all earthlings wear sunglasses when it’s bright? That might explain why you’re able to live on the surface so much…” she realised she was rambling slightly and her skin went bluer, periwinkle in shade. “Sorry. I- I don’t suppose, if I promise not to ask too many questions, you might show me where I could get a set of sunglasses, do you? It’d really help me out.” She didn’t have information to offer Mabel in exchange for the young girl’s wisdom on sunglasses, but that didn’t seem to be capital on Earth in the same way it was back home.

“Oh! So you’re from another planet?” Mabel might have been used to most other worldly oddities by now, but that didn’t mean she didn’t get excited all the same. Especially when it came to aliens. The idea of life outside of earth intrigued her. “Well, no. Not all wear sunglasses, but it’s recommended. Helps protect your eyes, y’know, from the light. Plus, they look rad.” She laughed softly and shook her head at Kellan’s apology. “It’s okay if you ask questions. That is, if it’s okay if I ask you questions too! Like, how do you do that cool color thingy?” Mabel was all kinds of curious about her new possible friend. “And of course! There’s a shop that I like just down the street! Let’s go find you the most awesome pair they have!”