The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and The Hooded Lucidian

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The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat
and The Hooded Lucidian

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It was yet another wondrous sunrise over the city of Hallifax, every beautiful colour adorning her surroundings with all the shades of the dawn. And yet something was amiss - Elaesree Shevat was disturbed. Perched up at the highest point she could find, she watched the city with an eagle eye, trying to spot the problem. Her wings fluttered restlessly, the feathers shifting constantly in the winds above the city, though as always, she was ready to fly at a moment's notice.

The play of light over the city slowly faded away as she observed, the eye-catching illumination simply muting into a more usual scene as the sun followed its inevitable path. And yet still, the cause of her disturbance eluded Elaesree. She was beginning to get a little sore from the ledge she rested upon, though, and decided to descend back down to the Matrix. The joy of flight temporarily lifted her concerns, though the niggle in the back of her mind reminded her soon enough of her quandary.

Elaesree knew she wasn't mistaken. She had been raised to solve problems with logic and reason, but also to listen to her inner voice. And right now, something screamed 'WRONG' in her head.

She inclined her head politely towards Keeper Fraesic Sunfar, and sketched a brief salute at Senior Deputy Commissar Leeoh Vardan, and quickly made her way towards the Bureaucratic Ward. Perhaps the flow of people near the shops would be enlightening. She moved swiftly, keeping her wings tucked close to shrink her personal space and avoid accidental contact with others. She wasn't a large trill, by any means. Her thin frame was slightly shorter than average, and her sleek, brown head and wing feathers were limned with silver, which tended to make her fade away in a crowd. She preferred it that way. Being the centre of attention was not her idea of fun. Rather the opposite, in fact.

Choosing at random, Elaesree navigated the city without a specific location in mind. As she came close to the Jade Company Tower, she chose a spot that seemed out of the way, and tucked herself close against a wall where she could easily look in most directions at once.

For a time, it seemed as though nothing of interest would happen. She didn't mind. There was no hurry. She was finished with the college and had no mind to pursue higher education at present. At eighteen years old, her parents were pleased to let her roam the city in service to the Collective. She saw plenty of people coming and going - mostly trill and lucidian, of course, but the occasional loboshigaru and aslaran, and even an igasho and a krokani.

Eventually, she came to notice something strange. A hooded lucidian seemed to keep coming by, following the same path each time. This wasn't entirely unusual, given the city's usual currents of breezes and winds constantly flowing. What was unusual was that, upon further inspection, the lucidian seemed to follow the exact same path every single time. Each footfall seemed to be placed in precisely the same location, at the same speed, with the exact same movement of the lucidian's limbs.

Elaesree considered as she watched. The shadows began to lengthen as she sat thinking, peering at the hooded lucidian. Every half hour, on the nose, the lucidian strode in from a southerly direction, making his way north. He did not look around, did not pause, simply strode in and strode away.

A sneaking suspicion began to settle in Elaesree's mind. Abruptly, she shifted from where she had been standing, choosing a new position right by the entrance to the lobby of the Jade Tower. Suspicion confirmed - the pattern continued, and at this new, closer viewpoint, she could see that every detail appeared to be identical.

With a faint frown coming over her face, she considered her options. She could alert the Board of Directors, though the lucidian did not seem to be doing anything of notable impact at present. She could follow him away from the Tower, though that risked being seen away from the company of constant witnesses.

As she thought further on the matter, she came to a conclusion. It seemed she had discovered a small anomaly in time. That would account for the odd feeling that had been lingering within her, as she had noticed that previous anomalies had caused such similar feelings. It wasn't even that unusual of an occurrence, really. She had noted several of them over the past few years. While she could make it someone else's problem, she felt she could handle it agreeably by herself. And with that, she decided to act.

Moving to stand directly in the path of the hooded lucidian, Elaesree waited patiently for his next pass to begin. Ensuring she stood where he could not avoid her, she stared at the approaching lucidian.

As he approached, she stood firm, flaring her wings out to brace herself in case of impact. And then he walked right into her.

She felt a vague sense of resistance, and a chill that couldn't be explained by a passing gust of wind. And with that, the hooded lucidian disappeared.

Elaesree blinked at the disappearance, showing no other sign of her surprise at the confirmation of her theory. To be safe, she waited for the time when another round would start, though darkness was starting to fall over the city. No sign of the lucidian. Waiting a few more moments to be certain, still she saw no further appearances.

With a slight shrug, Elaesree relaxed her wings briefly, then took offi nto the sky to head over to the Visitors' Ward. "Well. That was odd," she murmured to herself. "But I suppose it is done with now."

As the day faded away into night, and the stars emerged above the city with their cold brilliance, Elaesree Shevat returned home to the manseof her parents, and told them off the adventure that day. They seemed strangely amused. "We are very proud of you, dear," her mother told her. "But perhaps next time you should pass the matter along to your superiors?"

Her mouth twitched slightly, and she responded, "Yes mother," as any dutiful daughter would. And that was the end of that.