Chapter 3. Illianya, Exploration and temptation
Her mind was a swirling current with tumbling waves of emotion. Her head pounded. The walk had not helped calm her. She felt her stomach turn, which was shortly followed by a loud gurgle.
Illianya peered down the length of the passage-still some distance to walk. Her legs were beginning to feel sore. Another gurgle.
Relenting to the complaints of her stomach she hopped the barrier for the pedestrian conveyor and almost lost her balance upon landing. After she regained her composure (and nervously glancing around to see if anyone bared witness), she rested her weight on the conveyor railing, giving her aching soles a rest.
With a soft snap, she flipped open her satchel and pulled out a small meal bar. Illianya stared out of the curved windows of the sky-bridge as she snacked, watching the turbulent landscape of Ferto.
Pure white, dunes of snow cresting like waves, covered Ferto's surface. Skeletons of petrified fauna barely breached the surface, their petrified brown carcasses a constant reminder of the harsh conditions outside the university walls. The sea of white extended as far as the eye could see. Not that that was very far, though.
Smog from centuries of extraction facilities, refineries, and failed terra-forming attempts, hung heavy in the atmosphere. Thick swirling tendrils crept out of its mass, attempting to consume the campus, kept at bay by a swarm of cleansers that patrolled the sky. The massive hexagonal drones were burned soot grey from their duties-their flashing bright green operating lights kept them from blending into the pollution.
The distant glimmer of towering mega-structures in the harsh mid-day light shone through the storm. On the horizon was another pocket of habitation; the flourishing corporate towers of Gorryntiak, beacons of civilization in the otherwise dreary wasteland.
Spotting the trademark shape of the Yei-Meano corporate tower, Illianya sighed, longingly. It had always been her dream to work at their R&D facility. Ever since she had seen the magnificent beauty, the flawless form, the knee-weakeningly provocative fifth-gen frigate,
Fujin.
The mere thought of the technical marvels held behind those mirrored walls made her heart race. The drives she could see. build. test. The overwhelming power of the advanced tech was enough to make her wet. Well, not literally, but in her mind, nothing could top the majesty of Yei-Meano's masterpieces.
Another sigh.
"Haven't even left campus yet. Maybe I can convince some people to take a trip out there during the term-break... no point going if it's just for a day."
As she ripped a large bite from the bar a drone skimmed overhead and raced past the Medical-Sciences: Biomedical Department (MD:BD for short). The rising vapors spewing from a bright orange metro exhaust stack was caught in its turbulence, leaving a twisting spiral of steam following its wake. She craned her head against the glass to get a better view of her destination.
Three ivory-white cylinders, three times as wide as they were tall, rose from the tundra, positioned like the points of a triangle. Although the genetics division-the building she was on-track to-was the smallest, it still eclipsed its siblings at this angle.
Large alloyed support struts rung the bottom of each. A forest of antenna and communication arrays sprouted from their crowns; billowing insulation and protection cloth clinging desperately to the device frames. Similarly wrapped tubes and instruments winded along their exteriors like bulging veins.
Rows of equally spaced rectangular windows, black-tinted and palladium reinforced, marked each floor. Heating fields casted a warm glow from the edges, creating an orange vignette in each window. Networks of transportation bridges, like the one she was in, connected the department to the closer complex buildings. Obscured at this angle, she knew the tallest of the triplets sported a massive crimson red caduceus that ran the full height of its front exterior, and the CC passed along its base.
She scarfed down the remainder of the bar as the conveyor reached the buildings rear entrance-alloy-plated doors painted bright orange, a stark contrast to the buildings white color scheme. Neatly gliding off the walkway as it terminated, she strolled into the facility.
A hiss of hydraulics and rush of cool, chemically sterilized, air greeted her. Checking her watch to make sure she wasn't late, she shuffled down the corridor, peeking curious glances into each teaching lab and demonstration room.
Doing a double take as she passed one, she peered through viewing glass of the door and spotted Tracy. Perfect posture and singularly focused. Tracy missed her hurried wave, but the girl beside her noticed and gave her a gentle nudge. Tracy returned a surprised smile and waved, but her smile was immediately replaced with shock, eyes snapping to the front of the class, blushing with embarrassment.
Illianya bounced away from the door, making it to the staircase doorway just as she heard the door slam open behind her and a shrill voice yell "YOU'RE INTERRUPTING MY CLASS!"
Illianya giggled as she slid into the heart of MD:BD, the massive center staircase. At least she got some revenge for Tracy accidentally denying her last night. Resting both arms on the protective railing while she waited for the next carriage, she gazed wide-eyed around the facility; the scale of the Med buildings always amazed her.
The stairway, designed in the shape of a double helix, ran the height of the building, all 12 floors up and 6 floors down. Each upper floor was at least 20 feet, the insane amount of wiring, heating, life-support systems, and who knows what other advanced technology filling 8 feet of space between each floor. The bottom 6 floors, burrowing deep into the planet, were each at least 100 feet.
Passenger carriages glided on rails below the steps. The above ground floors were dedicated to teaching halls, demonstration rooms, the Biomedical library, study centers, and administration. Laboratories and their relevant support facilities occupied the below-ground floors.
Jumping off at sub-level 3, she was happy to note that, as expected, the floor was almost eerily quiet. Knowing the people usually doing these studies, they tended to not leave the laboratories unless necessary. Tracy had told her that the late-years running the tests convert the offices into temporary living spaces, rather than make trips back to the dorms.
She rushed to the laboratory she was expected at and swiped her id card. The door rotated upwards and an asexual automated voice greeted her. Two doors were at the end of the hall, the left marked
Participants
, the right, sporting numerous bio-readers, marked
Staff
.