Here there be dragons, made of words and doodles.

whoo boy this is getting put up for you guys
this is gonna be long
also
do me a favour
read these things first or maybe just scan my #OPOETU tag in general
and also open up this link and then press play when you get to the part where they get lead to their ship okay
you’ll thank me for it

-=-

Today was the day.

Well, for Kieran it felt like night, since he’d spent the whole time he should’ve been sleeping worrying about the Ceremony in the morning, so the Aider was passed out on his desk at his parent’s house for the first time in eighteen years. His breath gently ghosted over the metal surface, condensation gathering on it for a few milliseconds near his mouth. Pale teal lights slowly traveled up the information highways on his prosthetic leg in seemingly lazy patterns, further indication of how deeply asleep he was.

“Kieran,” his father, an Aider as well, murmured as he gingerly stepped through the automated doors to his room, coming to check on him since he wasn’t out and about in the house yet on a very important date. He grumbled in his sleep, fingers twitching slightly in response to hearing his name and the lights on his leg sped up for a second, but neither did much else. His father frowned, pressed a button on his sleeve and walked out of the room, already headed back to his business. “Of course,” he grumbled irritably. “Today’s the day of the Ceremony and he’s still asleep.”

Sudden ringing broke out in Kieran’s head, an alarm sent from his father’s system to his own. Mumbling to himself, the Aider grudgingly got up and almost walked out of his room before remembering what day it was. With a small gasp, he shot to his closet and rapidly pondered over the small selection of uniforms he had, eyes flicking back and forth. His left gloved hand ran through his swept back fluff of deep teal and black hair and he grunted in frustration, finding nothing special to wear until his eyes caught on a flash of teal in the corner of the small closet. Of course, the uniform his mother had made for him last night for the ceremony was perfect, how could he forget? He rolled his eyes at his own forgetfulness and sleep-addled state of mind, and while his Leader mother hadn’t done much besides just attaching piping that was his marking color onto the seams, it was the thought that counted. Kieran pulled it out of its holding beam and quickly changed into the uniform, pausing to ponder over how well one of the boots fit around his leg before dashing out of his room and into the kitchen to grab a protein bar and say goodbye to his mum and dad.

A gentle beep and a line of text across his vision warned Kieran as he left that the Ceremony was starting soon and that he should report to the nearest teleporter in order to get there on time. The Aider hopped onto one of the discs that moved all over the city behind a rather peculiar-looking Leader– he had a mohawk and a very strange look on his face that, to be honest, didn’t sit too easily with Kieran– and squeaked into a teleporter with a few others of his class and a couple Leaders, including the one that was in front of him minutes before the sorting would begin.

Elsewhere in the city, a particular Leader would be woken at the same time as Kieran.

“Adrian, get outta bed this instant!” a booming voice harped from somewhere in the house, jarring the Leader, whose name woke him rudely, out of his antigravity hammock and onto the floor. Just as he was regaining his composure and standing up his father, a Leader as well, nearly ran through the automated doors and took in a deep breath to yell again until he saw that Adrian was already up.

“Oh. Well, up an’ at ‘em, boy. Promise me you’ll get a good one today, eh?” the man chuckled and slapped his son’s back before leaving.

“Fuck,” Adrian growled and stretched his now-aching spine, his dad always hit too hard, as well-meaning as he was. Casually he sauntered over to his own closet and grabbed the uniform his mum had added orange accents to, as was the norm for the Ceremony, and slipped into it. Seconds later his mother, an Aider, came into the room and started furiously trying to shovel her version of a ‘healthy breakfast’ into his mouth, a constant stream of crooning coming from her lips; most of it along the context of “my little boy is growing up,” ”my little boy is finally getting a partner,” and all of it just getting on his nerves.

“Mum… mum. Mum, stop it!” the Leader eventually hissed, though it was very garbled through the mess of metal in his mouth, as he batted the fork she was thrusting at his face away. Finally, with a defensive-sounding “okay” she left, leaving Adrian to irritably sigh and ruffle his blood orange and black-striped, messily styled cockatiel-like hair before leaving his room as well.

He left the house after mumbling a quick goodbye and ignored the Ceremony warning that flashed across his eyescreen when he stepped up onto a moving disc, curiously eyeing the frazzled-looking Aider who had jumped up to the disc behind him. Adrian couldn’t take his attention off the strange lights on his leg; he’d never seen anyone in Konotipol who had to use a prosthetic limb before. The way the lights travelled up and down in lines over the smooth, glassy surface mesmerized him and the Leader could’ve stared at it for hours if a message didn’t zip across his vision stating that he was near a teleporter and to get his ass into motion if he didn’t want to miss it.

Stifling a yawn to inconspicuously look away from the Aider, the Leader walked off the disc and into the teleport pod, quickly taking a spot in one of the capsules on the walls. Adrian slyly winked at Kieran when he walked in after him, smirking in response to the shocked look he gave him. Kieran’s expression turned into a scowl milliseconds later and he pressed his back against the wall of the last capsule, hoping there was no chance that he would be Connected to a Leader like Adrian. A loud humming started and the lights in the room intensified to a near-blinding level –making everyone shut their eyes for a moment– then in a flash they were in the back of the Ceremony Building, being quickly ushered out of the teleport by a Seer and onto the building’s stage where others were being sorted into two lines by class. Excitability and nervousness coursed through the air like bursts of electricity from a Tesla coil and infecting everyone in the building; even the stoic Seers.

Kieran hardly walked on his own once he left the teleporter, the rushing sea of excited fellow Aiders pushing him along until he was picked out by a Seer and pulled aside. The Seer pointed at a section of the Aider line where people who were his height were standing and gave Kieran a gentle push in that direction. He scampered over there as quickly as he could without tripping and took a spot in line. Meanwhile, Adrian had a small bubble around him as he walked through the crowd; the others were too scared to bump into him or even dare to get in his way, warded off by his tough-looking exterior. A Seer came up to him timidly and pointed in the direction of his section before skittering away, tending to other less intimidating Leaders. Said Leader chuckled and easily stepped into line across from Kieran, the two Leaders on either side of him scooting as far as they could away from him. Everyone quieted down quickly as two holograms of a middle-aged Leader and Aider pair flickered into view at the far end of the line, slowly becoming solid before speaking.

“Children of this generation,” they began, speaking in unison. Adrian raised an eyebrow and scoffed, along with a few others who did the same thing. “Today you will find your second half. Be forewarned, after this Ceremony you will have two hours to gather anything you may need and arrive in the Cadet bay for deployment.

“Aiders, spread out and hold out your hands,” the two finished speaking and waited for their orders to be followed, which they were rather quickly. Kieran’s thoughts went back to his last day of Upper Schooling where they did a quick run-through of the ceremony, sans Leaders, as he flexed his hand for a second, running his fingers over the smooth skin around the sockets on his palm. Mind racing, the Aider willed himself to calm down and took in a deep breath before succeeding, stepping back and holding his left palm out to his side.

“Good. Leaders, step forward and take your place beside the Aider opposite you.” The directions from the two rolled through the air and one by one Leaders began to step forward. Adrian strode cockily across the distance between him and Kieran and spun around when he reached him, stepping back into place quickly.

“Fancy seeing you here.” he said quietly out of the side of his mouth and smirked, obviously toying with him, like a cat playing with a mouse before going in for the kill. Kieran quickly hissed a ‘shh’ noise at him, giving him a quick glare before the hologram pair spoke again.

“The time has come. Leaders and Aiders alike, Connect your hands.”

Kieran’s fingers fumbled with Adrian’s as the latter took his hand in his and rapidly connected the plugs on his hand with the sockets on his own. Instantly it felt like a marching band of sensory overload exploded into their minds, causing both the Aider and Leader to stumble and pitch forward slightly, staggering under the weight of the sudden influx of sensory input. They could feel and read each other’s emotions and thoughts, as well as other things. Kieran could feel the wisp of hair curling over onto Adrian’s forehead, and Adrian could feel his own fingernails pressing into Kieran’s hand and the skin underneath. Neither of the two could even organize themselves until the holograms at the end cleared their throats almost impatiently once it seemed that everyone was done floundering in the overload of data and feelings.

“Now, some of you may not have felt what just happened. Those who did, however, feel free to try to disconnect your hands.” As they said this only a few did, only to notice that their hands were stuck together. After waiting for a few moments, the holograms continued. “For those who didn’t, please disconnect your hands and step forward.” An even yet scattered amount of Aiders and Leaders came forward sheepishly, eyes glued to the floor.

“Everyone else, leave with your partner and report to the Cadet bay in two hours.” Kieran shook his head to clear it and began to walk off before stopping short, halted by the hand that was Connected to Adrian’s. Before he could give him a scowl, Adrian sucked in a deep breath and took off with him in tow. Kieran’s quiet but persistent protests were ignored until he had pulled them both up onto a transport disc that was heading to both of their houses.

“Easy princess, don’t want to wear out your vocal chords too early now, yeah?” the Leader snickered, his smirk returning. “That’s my job.” He watched as Kieran’s jaw dropped, successfully stopping anything he might’ve been about to say in its tracks. He could feel his shock transferring to him through their Connection and decided to make it worse, just because he could. “Now, how’s about we stop by your house first?”

When they finally reached the Aider’s house, Kieran was already sharply pulling Adrian off the disc before they came to the small loading station in front of it, shoulders tense. He said nothing as he yanked him through the front door and into his room, leaving his parents to stare at each other and wonder what happened. Hastily, he began throwing everything into his levitating storage capsule while trying to ignore the comments Adrian began making when he had to pack his undergarments, a blush taking over his white face when he finally finished loading everything up, purposefully staying silent throughout it all in equal parts trying to not goad Adrian into making more comments and to avoid embarrassing himself.

“Let’s go. Now,” he squeaked after the capsule closed and programmed itself to follow him, slowly bobbing up and down in the air. The Aider jerked the Leader out of his room again, only to be met by the sight of his mum and dad blocking the hallway, beaming smiles on their faces.

“We saw you rush in and your mother just couldn’t let you go without saying goodbye,” his father said, offering a small shrug in apology after seeing how flustered his son was.

“And without meeting this spiffy young man,” his mother remarked in an almost patronizing tone. Kieran’s face contorted in a wave of exasperation and a massive amount of awkwardness that broadcasted clearly across his Connection with Adrian. The Leader held back a snicker and held out his free hand, smiling back cordially.

“Dynata. Adrian Dynata,” he offered and shook his now second-father’s hand energetically, earning approving nods from the Aider’s parents. “Well, it’s been nice to introduce myself to you two, but we’re in a rush,” the Leader added and after a bit the pair were heading back out of the house and on the way to the other’s.

“What was that for?” Kieran hissed as soon as they were back on a transport disc, floating towards Adrian’s house at a moderate speed.

“What was what for?” he returned, letting out the chuckle he had repressed earlier.

“Making those comments about my clothing, and pretty much everything you just did.”

“Not like I can help it, cupcake.”

“And that! Do you have call me names?”

“Well yeah, it’s my specialty.”

The Aider, now a shade of flustered grey, couldn’t think of anything to shoot back so he stood there brooding in silence, free hand clenching into a fist until they reached the location of the Leader’s house. Casually he pulled him off the disc and through the door where his parents were already waiting. Adrian’s father let out a laugh of triumph and gave his son a thumbs-up, his approval of Kieran obvious. His mother, however, automatically launched into yet another stream of crooning, this time about how adorable the pair was, how Kieran was just the sweetest looking young man and only paused her rambling for a moment to ask what his name was.

“K-Kieran,” he sputtered, looking straight at the floor, unused to the amount of attention that was being lavished on him. The mother nodded and then pushed the two towards Adrian’s room, babbling too fast for them to pick out anything besides the phrase ‘get packing.’

Adrian packed his small amount of things quickly with very few words and programmed his capsule moments before they decided to leave. When they walked out of the door with their capsules floating behind them both of Adrian’s parent waved goodbye, his mother even beginning to break into tears as they left. At that moment another warning blinked across their eyescreens telling the pair that their time to pack and get ready was almost up and that they should hurry to the nearest teleporter.

When they finally reached it they found a crowd similar to the one at the Ceremony, a massive throng of matched Leaders and Aiders waiting to use the teleporter in clumped groups chatting amicably with their friends. Kieran waved to a few of his classmates that he knew somewhat, though he never really got close enough to anyone to call them friends. Adrian on the other hand had quite a few friends who weren’t scared off by his rebellious exterior, though he couldn’t see any of them in the crowd. The two of them waited in silence as the contrastingly noisy crowd got smaller, the teleporter sending off groups at a fast pace to the hangar where their ships were. After a few minutes they were shepherded in themselves, and with a tell-tale flash of light, the two were there.

The sudden transition from white, reflective surroundings to those of black and matte metal was a bit jarring, seeing as most of those who came with them, their own selves included, had never really seen the hangar for more than just a passing glance while out and about, and even those who had seen it had never been inside. The teleporter let out onto a winding catwalk that was packed with Connected pairs just like them in double-file lines above the main floor of the hangar, and Adrian could just barely spot a wide set of staircases across the vast expanse where those who had arrived before them were descending and being assigned to ships. Said ships were in a massive assembly below them, arranged in meticulous rows of identical streamlined ships of black and white, just like their soon-to-be pilots.

The crowd noise from before was amplified with the increase of people grouped together and heightened anticipation, their excited chatter echoing around the high ceilings of the hangar to create an almost overpowering wave of sound, like the Ceremony all over again. Kieran didn’t much like crowds and settled for staring down towards the floor, noticing the connected hands of those in front of him. It was peculiar to see the differences; one pair farther ahead’s fingers were locked tight together and they were standing shoulder to shoulder with wide smiles on their faces as they talked, while the two immediately in front of him were standing in silence as far away from each other as they could on the narrow catwalk and they both seemed to be making a conscious effort to keep their fingers from touching. Kieran looked down at his own hand entwined with Adrian’s, pursing his lips. He didn’t exactly like the Leader it was attached to, but neither did he dislike him either, intimidating appearance and cocksure nature aside. Not that he had much grounds for either of those feelings to make a definite statement, considering how little they knew of each other. Similar thoughts weren’t in Adrian’s mind however, he’d done his thinking about the Aider earlier before they’d gotten into the teleporter and found him to be not all that bad, he supposed. A bit squirrely and far too conventional, though. At the moment he was instead admiring the ships down below in a manner similar to childlike wonder, amazed at the sheer number of how many there were.

As the pair’s position in the line advanced closer, Kieran found himself anxious, yet surprisingly eager in equal parts; he’d played things safe most of his life and now he was about to be basically jettisoned off his home planet to journey around for the good of the universe with someone he’d only just met, an idea he found both terrifying and exhilarating. Adrian was much the same though there was barely even a hint of nervousness in him at all, Leaders were outgoing and ready to tackle just about anything by nature so this was just another adventure to go on, though on a larger scale than what he was used to. Then again, they didn’t go to school for nothing, both of them were raised and prepared for this and now it was time to test their mettle.

Eventually their section of the line moved around the edge of the area and then down to the floor where they were lead by an older Leader, apparently an engineer, to their own ship with their luggage capsules drifting along behind them. While it was still identical to the others it was a beautiful thing regardless, tall and slender with smooth planes of white and black metal outlining its main body. Twin sets of thrusters and stabilizers stood out from the back sides, making the whole ship look somewhat like an inverted capital letter ‘T’. With a quick look at both of their marking colours, the older Leader pulled up a holoscreen from the side of the ship and tapped a few buttons, looking expectantly at the two afterwards. Adrian and Kieran looked at each other in mild confusion before the engineer’s fiddling suddenly took effect: accenting streams of colour shot bright along the sides, stripes of orange and teal unfurling like ribbons and meeting in the back, arcing over the stabilizers. The two of them reacted in their own ways; Kieran’s jaw dropped with a delighted gasp and Adrian blurted out an amazed “holy shit!” and a short burst of laughter. A quick look around the hangar would show similar events unfolding, previously uniform and monochrome ships lighting up in bright paired colours, reds and greens, blues and oranges, yellows and purples, and every shade in between rocketing across the room accompanied by surprised shouts, laughter, and cheers. The older Leader then gestured at the entry airlock of the ship and, with a knowing smile and a salute, left them to board on their own.

Adrian took off like a shot, yanking a still awestruck Kieran behind him as he ran up the ramp leading to the open airlock laughing like he’d just won the lottery. In a way he did, one doesn’t get granted command of a brand new, state-of-the-art, customised ship every day. The airlock opened up into the main bridge of the ship, featuring a fully outfitted cockpit in the front and a large interactive map and command centre in the main area. There was an elevator in the back and the Leader knew that it would lead to the many other decks including engineering and medical as well as their quarters should he enter it, having studied the diagrams of the ship while he was still in upper schooling; a time that now felt ages away. Fully engrossed in the moment he stood marveling at the interior, the colour scheme of which was inverted from the outside of the ship. Every now and then he’d let out a short breathy laugh or mutter quiet exclamations of amazement, eyes constantly roving over every detail that they could gather in. Occasional accents of the pair’s colours were scattered around; a teal hologram here, a panel of orange buttons there, the bright colours standing out sharply against their shiny black and white surroundings. The Aider was equally as entranced, sporting a wide smile like a kid at Christmas, previous worries forgotten for the meantime as he and his partner turned in circles slowly in an attempt to completely take in the breathtaking view.

Suddenly a trilling noise broadcasted over a loudspeaker system in the hangar, followed by a voice.

“Leaders, report to your pilot stations, prepare for launch. And Aiders,” the voice paused for a moment while a faint chuckle was heard, “prepare for one hell of a ride.”

With yet another continuation of his near-constant gleeful laughing, Adrian broke out of his reverie to follow instructions and move to the cockpit of their ship where there were two seats for them, one situated directly in the middle and obviously meant for the Leader of their party, and another off to the right and slightly behind it, Kieran already knew that seat was for him as he followed. Aiders never knew their ships like Leaders would, even if they did know the basics of piloting in case of an emergency, and he was absolutely baffled by the mind-boggling display of innumerable screens, buttons, switches, toggles, and some mechanisms he had no idea what they did. Abruptly he was pulled both out of that train of thought and down into his chair by Adrian, who was already rapidly flicking switches and adjusting knobs with his free hand as if it was no problem at all, which was exactly the case. In the last semester of his schooling Adrian and all of the other Leaders in his generation were trained specifically how to operate their ships with just one hand, along with all the other ins and outs of piloting until it was just second nature to them. A series of taps on one specific screen brought up a holograph covered in dials, each being turned with a deft wave of a pitch-black hand, specifics tuned meticulously with the flicks of adept fingers.

Slowly the rumbling sound of ship thrusters powering up rolled like a mounting wave of thunder through the hangar as hundreds of other Leaders followed the same motions, rising in volume until the drone of engines felt as if it was vibrating through their very bones. Kieran sat stiffly in place, wonderment replaced with anxiety as he unconsciously clung to Adrian’s hand and the edge of his seat, his facial expression looking much like a deer in the headlights and a polar opposite of the look of pure exhilaration on Adrian’s. Once again, the voice came over the speaker system, this time announcing from the speakers within the ships to be heard over their noise.

“All Leaders online?

One by one reply intercom buttons were pressed, perfectly timed “yes sir”s fired off by each Leader, one right after another, until everyone was accounted for.

“Copy that. You all have the coordinates of your assigned missions already programmed into your maps, follow the directions and you’ll do just fine. Leaders, when I give the word, each one of you will dispatch in order of your company. Prepare for exposure.”

The hangar was quickly cleared of all personnel and slowly the expansive rectangular aperture airlock slid open, heralded by red revolving lights around the opening. A sudden tremor rocked all the ships as the air in the hangar was sucked out into space, eliciting a terrified squeak from Kieran and a tightened grip on his chair. Adrian turned slightly to give him an incredulous look before focusing his attention back on the controls in front of him, as well as the vast view of open space before them. Thousands of stars shimmered in the blackness ahead, and those with keen eyes could see the vague outline of distant planets beyond, an absolutely breathtaking sight. The trill sounded again and the same voice spoke, a tone of finality to their words along with a slight hint of pride, like a father seeing his child take their first steps.

“Omicron company, you are cleared to launch. Ladies and gentlemen… Make us proud out there.”

-=-