Chapter Text
The next morning came quickly. Too quickly. I know that I had gotten at least eight hours of sleep, according to my watch, even if it didn’t seem to match up with the time on this new planet, but it felt like I had only slept for one.
Neo had woken up a few minutes after me, startled awake by what he claimed was his ‘internal clock’. Never once has Neo woken up on his own before. I’m pretty sure it was a nightmare, but I didn’t push it; I don’t have the energy.
Once Neo and I had fully woken up (we still felt like zombies), we made ourselves a bit more presentable before leaving our small room and entering the dining room where Gregory was cooking breakfast. I didn’t recognize the ingredients he was using, but it smelled really good. Almost like my mom’s pies back home.
That thought hit me like a bullet and my head dipped slightly as my mind grew distant. A bad habit of mine, I suppose. Gregory’s voice, exclaiming that breakfast was ready, rang through the air and snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up, Neo had already gotten himself a plate of blue, purple, and pink glop. I stared at it in shock before hesitantly getting my own plate. Gregory served himself last and then sat down at the table with us.
“So, boys, how did you sleep?” Gregory started, and Neo began talking faster than his thoughts could keep up. As usual. At least one thing was still normal here: Neo Plinth. During Neo’s talk sessions, I usually would tune him out, but this time I was interested because he was talking about his dreams. Neo used to never have dreams. Maybe he isn’t as normal as I thought?
“...and then this giant warthog with wings came charging towards me, wanting to kill me, when suddenly a warrior stepped in and saved from the warthog, slaying the beast with ease,” Neo finished, grinning ear to ear. When Gregory asked what the warrior looked like, Neo froze before quickly replying with: “Just a generic dude in armor.”
I hadn’t really noticed up until now how good Neo was at story telling, even if it was a crazy warthog dream–and he seemed to love it too. Last time I saw Neo grinning this much was when his dad bought new headphones that actually worked.
“Clay. Neo. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise you this world isn’t that bad. Some would say it’s better than Earth,” Gregory chuckles as we all finish up our breakfast. The breakfast tasted very fruity, like berries, but had the texture of an egg omelet. It was an interesting mix, but tasted really good. “Anyways, I’m going to tell you as much about this world as I can without overbearing it, okay?” He continued, his grin growing a bit more serious. Neo and I nod along, not sure what to expect.
“First off: I’m an official researcher for some foundation whose name I have forgotten because I never really bothered to learn it. Something smart I’d assume. Anyways, my point is, most of what I’m telling you, if not, all, is factual and backed up with scientific evidence. Even if it sounds crazy. I wish I could show you the evidence, but the only notebook I had was lost long ago, and now probably destroyed.” Gregory finished, taking a second to breathe after his rattle of words. The man grinned at us as if we understood everything he just said in the span of probably five seconds. I was just going to pretend I understood so as to not hurt his feelings.
“What did you just say?” Neo suddenly asked. I slapped my hand against my forehead. Idiot. Neo’s face quickly flushed with embarrassment, but Gregory only chuckled light heartedly.
“Don’t worry boy, I do have a habit of talking too fast. Just know that everything I tell you is true,” He stated (much slower thankfully) and reached over to ruffle Neo’s hair. Neo frowned a little at his already messy hair getting even messier; a pointless waste of energy I’d say, but it’s his energy so oh well.
“As I was saying…This planet is known as Aiko. Why? I have no clue, so don’t ask. From what we know, this planet has been developing at a similar rate to Earth, just a tad bit slower. By a few hundred years. There are a few civilizations, some are humans that got sucked into this place, others are natives of this planet, and a small few are mixed between the two. The nearest civilization is mixed. If you two choose to get on the move again, I recommend stopping there.
“If you haven’t already figured it out, the flora of this planet has very similar if not the same biological processes as our flora back on Earth, but the way that these plants react to these processes is widely different. For most of the grass and shrubbery type plants, their color will change depending on how much light they get, or how high the pH levels in the soil are. For example: the grass around is yellow, not because it’s dead, but because it absorbs the light from the sun which gives it typically a warm yellow or orange color. Now, the grass back in the forest, that I presume you both came from, was blue. This is because the pH levels in the soil there are higher.
“Next, fauna. I’m not sure how much you’ve seen yet, but the animals on this planet have similar behaviorism to those on Earth, and we’ve been able to identify and categorize these animals into the same groups as the animal groups on Earth. Although we did have to bend some of the rules for these animal groups because of how different these animals are. One example is the Caelum Balaena, or otherwise known as a sky whale. Despite the fact that they are literally called whales, we categorized them as avians. There has been minor studies done on this creature, but since they are almost always in flight, it’s terribly difficult for us to study them thoroughly.
“Any questions?” Gregory asks, finally finishing his grand speech about this world. Neo and I shake our heads, both of us dumbfounded. I had a lot of questions to ask, but my brain couldn’t take my thoughts and put them into words, so I just sat there shocked.
Although, one question did almost break from my lips. Why did Gregory keep saying ‘we’?