#orpheans

Jaynix fell silent as the Orphean continued. "You see. I spend most of my time here in the Residential District. As I said I watch over a Great Tree. As such I've made many mental notes in regards to who comes and goes from this District. Regulars. Occasional visitors. But the moment I laid eyes on you my Ovah was utterly confused. So I followed you hoping to fill in this blank. Would you be so kind as to tell me your name and some information that I can use to classify you for the rest of the Orpheans?"

Jaynix took a deep breath "Yeah. Yeah, sure. I don't see why not. Hello Mon'barac, my name is Jaynix. Corporal Jaynix. I'm new in town, I was found in Noctilum by a team led by Elma a few days back."

Mon'barac began pulling on of his antennae again "New. Yes. That would explain it, my Ovah is sated and can sense you are a trustworthy person at least in relation to the trust we feel for Lin, Elma and the like. Since you refer to yourself as Corporal it would seem that you are of the military or at least the military as it existed on your Earth. Interesting."

"Yeah…um…"

Mon'barac tilted his head "You find me strange? Yes. We are odd lifeforms. But I suppose any lifeform that isn't one of one's own species is odd."

Jaynix nodded "Yeah. That makes sense. I know I've spent all day looking at odd beings. Won't be ending any time soon either."

"Truth be told; we find you humans to be far odder than we. A strange species existing without an Ovah yet unafraid of its absence. We've long since learned no one else carries an Ovah…fascinating."

Jaynix crossed her arms "Alright then! Mon'barac."

"Yes?"

"You are the first Orphean I've met so if you'd do me the honor, answer another…query. What do you guys do in town?"

Mon'barac nodded "Yes. Of course. You are unfamiliar with us thus unfamiliar with our actions. The Orpheans direct an AM called Orphean Technologies that arms BLADE with weapons and armor of our design. We as a people are not combat trained and our bodies are fair more frail than your kind so we do our best to ensure that you can protect us, ensuring our continued survival."

Jaynix chuckled "Based off what I saw from the Nopon and Ma-non, neither are they. Given the big fight against the Ganglion I'd have expected some more war like Xenos to help us out…what is it with BLADE and bringing in pacifists?"

Mon'barac shook his head "We aren't pacifists. We merely have no methods of fighting. We saw no need to learn what you call the art of war preferring to grow our knowledge and intelligence. Living in peace, together with our Ovah."

"Eggheads eh? Well, there are advantages there and I have to say, it looks like BLADE has done a great job keeping you guys safe. Anyway, it's about time I asked this as well. What's this Ovah thing you keep bringing up?"

Mon'barac crossed his arms "The Ovah is a joined will that all Orpheans possess. We all know what each other is thinking and we live in unison."

"Not much for privacy…"

"There is no need to hide our thoughts from each other. If we could, we'd doubt one another. We wouldn't be able to live in our conjoined unity and harmony. Looking to how you humans behave seems to prove that it'd cause more troubles than anything."

Jaynix scoffed "Maybe. But because we don't have a joined will, we act on our own beliefs. We're quicker to do things, even if we can get a little too emotionally invested."

Mon'barac nodded "Yes. I have feelings from my Ovah that agree with your statements. Many Orpheans have been saved by the selfless acts of you humans and we thank you for it."

Jaynix cast a look around, noticing more Orpheans, several of which were red in color, one was eating leaves from a tree.

"Herbivores. Though that's obvious given your appearance."

She continued watching the red ones as Mon'barac spoke.

"Those are like you. New."

"Hm?"

"The red Orpheans. They came into existence as a result of our presence around humans and other species defined by genders. They are in some concept, female Orpheans."

Jaynix nodded "So you guys all lived with no gender definition but being around gender definition…inspired your Ovah or whatever to…apply gender definition? You guys are super weird."

Mon'barac shrugged "To be honest, I'm still uncertain as to why the Ovah deemed them necessary but if the Ovah wills it, it must be. Thank you for this conversation, Jaynix. It was enlightening."

"Don't mention it."

With that, Mon'barac walked away in thought. Looking over the other Orpheans around that seemed to be a constant pose for them, always thinking.

"Knowledge really is what drives them. Interesting."

"Jaynix!"

"Hm? Hey Lin, where'd you go? Leaving me with the bug men."

"I just went to catch up with Hope. You were fine though, right?"

Jaynix shrugged "I guess. Orpheans are…interesting…ah shit. I meant to ask him about that Great Tree and Naza…Naza something or other."

Lin patted Jaynix's shoulder "You'll have plenty of time to talk with all your new Xenoform friends."

Jaynix shook her head "Y'know. I don't think Mon'barac saw our interaction as friendship, just a means to garner more information. About me specifically."

The pair began walking with Lin speaking "True, but that is what the Orpheans do best. They gather information. Knowledge."

"And then they spend all their days thinking about the information, right? Quite an inquisitive species. Though I'm guessing their gear shows that it pays off."

Lin nodded "Oh it definitely does! I've studied some of their stuff and it is insane! Not to mention the crazy Skell they designed for one of the Ganglion Commanders! That thing was actually super intimidating in design…though the Orpheans are more for effectiveness than aesthetic I think…so it probably wasn't their idea to make the Almandal so fearsome."

Lin looked over to Jaynix, who seemed to be staring off into space. "Hey? You okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, totally…just…thinking about what you said is all. You ever think to bring it up to an Orphean?"

"I haven't actually. I guess with the mess of the Ganglion and everything I kinda forgot. Next chance I get I should meet with one of the 'head' Orpheans and see what they have to say about it…oh! They might even tell me a bit about their tech! Now I'm getting excited!"

Jaynix smiled "Good for you, hope the meeting goes well." Bringing up a hand she began rubbing the younger girl's head.

"Stop that! I'm not a kid!"

Jaynix laughed before looking back across the Residential District to other Orpheans who were sitting around some trees, at peace.

"They're really interesting…but I guess we all are to each other."

Lin nodded to Jaynix, who brought a hand up again. Quickly, Lin covered her head and took off, Jaynix following close behind.