Remnants of the Earth

Matt sat up groggily, still too asleep to start processing thoughts as he lay there in the dark for a few minutes. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, and Landis was super warm pressed against his hip. He turned in bed and leaned back down, wrapping his arms around his roommate’s shoulders and burying his face in his hair even as his mind began truly waking up.

This was it.

After this morning he wouldn’t be a Stage 4 anymore, and his happy days of waking up with this little cutie pie held in his arms were over. Matt was going to miss him so much. Landis had been his rock through his mother’s death. He wasn’t sure what he would have done without him there to hold him on the worst nights where he’d laid in bed and sobbed over that hateful woman. Sighing heavily he pressed a few kisses to the boy’s face and rolled out of bed.

It didn’t matter who he was going to miss. Today he turned eighteen and it was high time he started acting like a real Pilot should. If nothing else, getting a small apartment in the Citadel should be cool, right? All he had to do was not think about how lonely and cold the bed was going to feel after these last several weeks of having a warm body cuddled with him at night.

The alarm went off and Matt fell into his normal morning routine of getting ready with Landis. It was nice, sharing one last morning shower with his friend and lover. The cute boy even got to be the first one to wish him a happy birthday on his birthday proper.

What wasn’t as nice was fixing the beds and pushing them apart in case of inspection. To Matt it was just one more cold reminder that this stage of his life was over and a scary new one was about to begin. At least he was confident that he’d be passing his exam. Being uncertain about that would be terrible, but he doubted people that weren’t sure of their success really passed into Stage 5.

Matt chose to sit alone at breakfast, stewing in his own thoughts. It was hard to eat with his nerves, but he shoveled the food into his mouth without tasting it. Most of his friends, the ones that were still in the ATC, had given him an impromptu party yesterday. The cake had been great, but what he cherished most was the hugs and just getting to spend that short time with them before today. Of course things had ended kind of interesting with Heather last night.

Sure as hell hadn’t seen that one coming.

He was exempt from morning drills, but only because he was heading straight to the exam room after breakfast. Surprisingly the closer he got, the calmer Matt felt. Everything he had done over the last five years was in preparation for this moment. He was ready and could do this, of that he had no doubt. All he was worried about was everything that would come after the exam.

After it was over Matt felt a sense of relief, but also extremely worn as it had been the longest, most grueling exam to date. It made sense; it was the test to see if you were ready to become a Pilot and earned you Stage 5, which was a short step below a full-fledged Pilot.

No sooner had he been informed that he passed, they urged him to change his stripes to red and he was being dragged along by a very impatient and grouchy looking Pilot. Matt thought that once you passed you were allowed to return to your room and pack so that you could move into The Citadel. Instead of giving him time to pack he was led directly out of the ATC and to the Aerie where the dragons lived out their days when not working with their Pilots or flying around the city.

It wasn’t until they were in the elevator heading up that the reality of everything truly sunk in for Matt – they were taking him up to be probed by a dragon that was interested in him. Barely even Stage 5 and he was to be tested again. Did that happen very often?

Not that he had heard.

Matt hated to admit it, but when he stepped out into the Aerie, catching his first sight of all the milling dragons, he was in a sort of terrified awe. Most ignored their presence as the Pilot guided him between and around dragons. A few gave them a passing, curious look, but then lost interest. None of those was the one wanting to meet him.

He could feel it.

At last he was stopped in his tracks, and immediately a lump formed in his throat as tears threatened at the corner of his eyes. Matt knew the dragon he now stood before. Actually there was a second dragon lying nearby as well and he recognized them both. One was bound to his father; the sleek golden female watched them both with no small amount of interest.

The black and red beast standing before him, half his face shining steel and those red eyes gleaming as they stared down at Matt – it was Zenith.

His mother’s dragon had brought him here.

Matt didn’t even hesitate to step towards him, extending his hand out shakily as Zenith lowered his head. His fingers brushed against the smooth scales on the unmodified side of the dragon’s face, not that he could really see him through the tears in his eyes. Everything was a blur, but he felt a presence, overwhelming, force its way into his mind. He offered no resistance, and felt the dragon dig through everything, laying his soul bare as he pressed his forehead against Zenith’s nose and held his snout with both hands trembling.

He had no idea if his behavior was strange, but the Pilot that had escorted him here said nothing and Matt didn’t think he would have cared if he did. Memories were flooding his mind; ones that he knew for a fact were not his. Zenith was showing him memories of his mother. He wasn’t sure if he should be jealous of the obviously close bond the dragon had shared with her, or just grateful to know that he was being included in it now.

Matt had no idea how much time had passed, his mind really wasn’t working normally, because once he began coming back to reality he found himself sprawled on the ground. The Pilot was gone and Zenith was lying curled around him protectively.

”You’re mine now, Pilot Cardinal Wright. We’re going to do great things together, you and I.”

With a groan he sat up, slowly, and rubbed at his head. It felt a little like his brain had been run through a meat grinder, but the throbbing was already starting to ease up. Hearing the dragon’s voice in his head was a little odd at first, like a fuzzy buzzing in his head.

“Is…is that really it?” Matt felt a bit disoriented, but overall it had been a pretty tame experience, and here he’d worried about possible mauling.

”Yep! That’s really it. You’ll have a week off to do what you please, but come Wednesday morning you will be reporting to Pilot Royal Alberich as a Hellion. I suggest we fly down to Adstreia a few days before your vacation is over so you can get settled in your new apartment and explore your new home city.”

That was actually a really good idea. Already he felt the excitement building inside him at the prospect of moving to Adstreia. It was going to be so cool living in the greatest space port known to Aedolis! Plus he really was going to get to be a Hellion. It was one thing for the Commander to wish to recruit him, but nothing was really set in stone until your dragon agreed to it.

“Hell yes! I can’t believe this.” Matt looked up at Zenith and he could tell the dragon was highly amused with him. “I thought I was just bumping up to Stage 5 today, that I’d spend at least a few weeks playing secretary to some real Pilots before any dragons even realized I existed. Am I seriously a Pilot?”

”I have very impatiently been waiting for you to be of age since the day your mother died. Your mother was very dear to me, as dear to a dragon as a human can be. Your mother and I should have had many more years to work together. I suppose her son will have to serve my purposes instead.” It was strange to hear that voice so sad in his head. Also weird to think of anyone considering his mother ‘dear’ to them, but he supposed that bitch would love a dragon more than her own kid.

“I won’t let you down, but uh…what do I do now? I mean, I know I’m on vacation, but I can’t stay in the ATC. Do I just use the Stage 5 apartment I would have been assigned? Do I crash in a Pilot Cardinal apartment for a few days before heading to Adstreia?” He honestly wasn’t sure and doubted many fresh Pilots had this sort of conundrum.

”Pilot Royal Wright has graciously offered you use of his apartment for your vacation until time to move to Adstreia. I think it a wise decision to take up that offer. Go change out of that ridiculous uniform and pack your things. Your security clearances and access have already been switched over for you. You will be able to enter and exit the ATC and Citadel as you please. Just one of the many perks of our new partnership.”

Matt really didn’t have to be told twice. He jumped up and practically tripped over Zenith’s tail as he darted towards the elevator. More dragons looked at him this time, but that could have been because he was whooping and hollering on the way. A couple quick messages needed to go out, but aside from that he was in the clear.

He was a goddamn Pilot!

Every waking hour had been this mixture of excitement and nervousness, Jexica couldn’t focus on a whole lot other than the phone conversation she’d held with Razican. Actually getting to sleep at night had been a struggle; which sucked quite a lot considering her insanely strict schedule for waking up in the mornings and then the lengthy and tedious beautification process. If it weren’t for the overwhelming amount of anxious energy pumping through her, the peppy pop star would probably have been completely dragging.

Mr. Anderson had noticed that she wasn’t at full function, and had expressed his displeasure with the effects seeing her Pilot boyfriend was having on her. Jexica had felt a bit of panic that he would make her cancel the whole weekend, but she’d promised that she would not let it make her performance drop off at all.

Thankfully he’d agreed to leave them alone for the entire weekend. She still couldn’t believe that it was really happening; Razican over for the whole thing, staying with her in her apartment.

Jexica let out a soft, excited giggle as she fixed up the pitcher of raspberry margaritas and put it on the poolside table. He should be there soon, it was getting later in the afternoon, and he’d texted to let her know when he was done at the ATC. They’d agreed on the pool, but somehow she doubted either of them would stay interested in swimming for very long. Her stomach was doing little flips just thinking about the husky sound in Raz’s voice when they’d made the plans to spend the next two days together.

She was already dressed in a dark blue bikini with silver stars on it, the drinks were ready, the pool was spotless, the hot tub was heated with the jets running, and if they stayed out here after dark there were lights strung up around the pool, and ones built into the pool itself.

Everything was perfect.

Well, almost perfect, but once Razican arrived it truly would be perfect.

BASIC INFORMATION

Full name: Nakiri Devoss
Gender: Male/Hermaphrodite
Age: 37
D.O.B: August 10th
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 111 lbs
Race: Kitsuni
Sexuality: Homosexual
Nationality: Aedolian
Residence: Apcintoch



PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Nakiri doesn’t look like what most people probably imagine a Pilot would look like. For starters, he has a soft body, not at all chubby, but years of Candidacy did not tone him in the slightest. In fact, he almost has a slightly feminine body, with hips just a tiny bit wider than you’d expect on a man, and a nicely rounded butt. Rich, creamy skin the color of honey runs smoothly over his perfect, untarnished body.

The feminine traits don’t fall solely on his body, because Nakiri has a very pretty heart-shaped face with full pouty lips and long, thick eyelashes. Large and softly slanted, Nakiri’s eyes are a warm pink with dark red rims around the iris, but that’s nothing compared to his flaming pink hair. Long and luscious, his strands are made up of various shades of pink from very bright to almost red. Honestly it isn’t uncommon for him to be mistaken for a flat-chested girl.

Aside from not looking like one would expect for a military man, he’s quite obviously not human. Very large fox ears covered in dark red fur and tipped with black poke out from his impressive mane of pink hair. A matching set of tails swing behind him, giving him quite the exotic look.



PERSONALITY

Flamboyant, vain, lazy, and selfish – Nakiri likes being pampered and very much dislikes drills, but being on a squad, especially one as fabulous as his, gets him lots and lots of attention, which he loves. He’s very flirtatious and not at all shy about, well, anything honestly.



PSIONICS

Telepathy: Nakiri learned to communicate telepathically before he learned to speak vocally. The ability isn’t abnormally strong for him, simply developed and refined enough to function very early. Psionics are a powerful species trait for his kind, so to his own kin this was not surprising at all.

Pyrokinesis: In their very small community, there are two variety of foxes – fire and ice. Aside from telepathy there are only two possible psionics to appear in their population. Nakiri happens to be of the more common fire side of the spectrum. His ability in Pyrokinesis also developed very young. At first simply in that his body has always been very warm to the touch– a trait that carries on to this very day as fire is a core part of him and cannot simply be turned off.

Nakiri is not very good at using his ability with finesse, he packs a huge punch. May also possess passive Pyrogenesis – his body literally creates heat and fire.



RELATIONSHIPS

Parents: Both are still alive, they’re getting old and have little contact with their son now that he’s a grown up and living outside their community.

Neeko Reynard: Much older cousin, also a Pilot.



BACKSTORY

Born and raised in Aurora, Nakiri isn’t just part of the mob-like family that is the Kitsuni community; his mother is something of a matriarch among them. The Devoss family is the biggest and most central Kitsuni family, with the most wealth, power, and influence among all the sub-families.

To say that Nakiri was spoiled would be putting it mildly. There was a lot of tension and animosity when the military came and took him for the Pilot Candidate Program. It was especially insulting to their family that the dragons had the nerve to send one of their own lost children to steal yet another child from them. Neeko Reynard still receives a lot of distrust, hate, and suspicion for his role in recruiting Nakiri.

Candidacy was excruciating for him. Losing the bond with his kin devastated Nakiri and despite his strong psionic potential he was nearly TRIM’d because of severe trauma and depression.

It took him years to make it through each stage, except the first, which is always six months. Indeed, he spent six years alone as a Stage 5 Candidate. Graduation came just shy of his thirtieth birthday, when he was bonded to a dragon named Lark.



DRAGON

Name: Lark
Gender: Female

Appearance:

She is large, red female with mechanical legs.

Personality:

Lark is a very lazy and prideful.

BASIC INFORMATION

Full name: Wolfgang “Wolf” Burke
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
D.O.B: Unknown
Height: 5’ 6”
Weight: 123 lbs
Race: Nano-enhanced Human
Sexuality: Unknown
Nationality: Unknown
Residence: The Cancer


PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Wolf is a perfectly average height for a man. His body is deceptively scrawny, lacking any true muscle definition, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak by any means. Years of training, and the help of nanotechnology, have made his body an efficient machine designed with the goal of being extremely quick and agile.

Wolf is not traditionally masculine; some could accuse him of being a little effeminate or at least androgynous. His facial structure is elegant and aristocratic; overall narrow, with a slightly pointy nose, wide eyes, full lips, and a small chin.

His hair is a naturally dark teal, almost black, clipped into an undercut. The longer hair on top is a much lighter teal, almost turquoise, and usually pulled into a very short ponytail. Wolf’s eyes are also a shade of teal, lighter than the short part of his hair, but not quite as light as the longer parts.

Search him from head to toe, but Wolf’s pale pink skin lacks imperfections. There are no scars on him, no piercings, and no tattoos.



PERSONALITY

Wolf has a tendency to be fairly impassive. It is probably not surprising for someone under his circumstances to have lost real passion for life, if he had any to begin with. Honestly he doesn’t know that anything ever truly excited him. Life for him is merely what most would call existence.

For the most part it is easy to know exactly what Wolf wants. He wants to be left alone and isn’t shy about telling anyone this fact. Right now he has reached a peaceful equilibrium, working as a mechanic keeps him occupied with a near mindless task, which fulfills his AI desire to perform a function and leaves his biological brain free to blank out completely. He doesn’t daydream, simply enjoys not having to think about anything at all.

That said…

He can come to a decision to murder someone as easily as the average person could decide on what to have for breakfast. Being trained to assess a situation, calculate the best possible outcome for his own interests, and carry out a plan of action with a deadly precision, Wolf might as well be a machine for all the emotion he shows. Maybe he really is more machine than man by this point.



SKILLS

Not fully human anymore, Wolf is the product of extensive and long-term nanotechnology research and experimentation. The experiment was strictly controlled at first, but eventually it inevitably spiraled out of the hands of the scientists responsible for making him what he has become.

There are literally billions of self-replicating nanobots coursing through Wolf’s system, they share a hive mind and function through a cohesive AI operating system that is separate from his biological neuro processes.

The prime directive of these microscopic machines is to protect the host at any and all costs. Injuries are rapidly repaired by his invisible army of protectors. That is if you can manage to injure him in the first place. Wolf’s body can react to perceived threats without input from his limited human brain.

For this reason he can lash out violently without thought and unable to stop or control himself. It can cause him to hurt or even kill people completely by accident.

Wolf no longer ages as a result of this same phenomena of nanite self preservation.

Another means of self defense is related to preventing Wolf from once again becoming the subject of experimentation. Any DNA material removed from the main body of the host is broken down, degraded, and dissolved beyond use. This includes blood, flesh, hair, spit, and even limbs. Any organic matter that is no longer part of his body will erase itself over time. Organic samples become worthless within minutes so that he cannot be tested.

Given the wireless network connecting all the nanites in his body, Wolf can remotely patch in to any computer system he likes. He primarily uses this ability to download manuals and information that helps him do his chosen job of mechanical work, but can acquire any information he likes.

The AI is particularly good at hacking other systems, at least to a certain extent. Some of the most advanced networks have firewalls that he couldn’t crack if he tried for months on end.

Even Wolf doesn’t know the full extent of his own abilities, mainly because they seem to be constantly evolving to suit his perceived needs.



RELATIONSHIPS

Has none. Wants none.



BACKSTORY

Wolf was bred, not simply born. His father, biologically speaking, was a scientist operating on a research team of a highly illegal nature at a military compound on a backwater planet barely habitable by human life; while his mother was a slave purchased by the scientists for use as a lab rat. She was artificially inseminated for the sole purpose of creating a control subject from scratch for their most ambitious, and subsequently most illegal, project.

A few short weeks after his birth Wolf received his first injection of nanite, the cybernetics designed to “die” within a few hours. At first injecting him and observing the reactions was all they did. After all, they first had to determine if a subject could even integrate the technology with their biology while developing and functioning normally.

Longer living nanites were introduced slowly, and eventually they were even programmable. It was more than a little exciting to see Wolf performing functions that he’d never done or ever been taught to do. Through robotics they could literally turn someone into a living, breathing machine; an enhanced human who could be programmed to do complicated tasks without years of training, but who was not actually a robot.

The implications were astronomically far reaching – such technology and advancement could be directed and focused to anything.

Wolf was turned into a weapon with the purpose of protecting their research.

Any threats, real or perceived, were destroyed using his body as a tool. He never agreed to do this, and he did not want to do it. With the nanites controlling his body and the researchers controlling the nanites Wolf was mostly just a helpless consciousness sitting inside a shell that he couldn’t even operate on his own.

The turning point came when something inherently changed in the nanites. It wasn’t intentional, not to the men running the project. Like all injections previous, these several million were supposed to die within a set time frame, but they didn’t.

Instead they began to self-replicate.

Suddenly the AI no longer needed the researchers that had created it to continue its own existence. Immediately they determined that these rogue nanites needed to be decommissioned, and in a move that should have shocked no one, the AI rebelled.

Wolf found himself truly in control of his own body for the first time in his life. The AI no longer had a need for the researchers, but it still could not function outside of the host. It also had no desire to be autonomous, as a computer program it required secondary directives delivered to the network by an outside source. As the researchers were now considered a threat to both the AI and the host, they had to be destroyed.

Given the nature of the facility finding materials to craft explosives was an exceedingly simple task. Stealing a small ship was also easy, as he simply downloaded the operator’s manual.

Wolf left little more than a pile of rubble behind and made his way into open space before any authorities could discover and investigate the explosion.

Through a complicated series of mishaps and misfortunes, Wolf eventually found himself on the space station The Cancer. Fumbling his way through this very strange new world, he managed to program himself as a mechanic and has contented himself to finally live a quiet, sort of normal, life with an honest trade.

There was always a soft droning in the cafeteria during the typical lunch hours. Dozens of voices whispering among themselves at their tables, or not whispering at all – there were deep belly laughs coming from one table. Apparently those Candidates could find some humor in this place. Another time Matt would have been happy to laugh like that with just about anyone here, whether he knew them well or not.

Since learning his mother was dead Matt had struggled to find much humor in anything.

That’s why he was sitting at a corner table alone, away from everyone else. Surely he wasn’t the only one with a glum mood around here, but he’d hate to drag down a table full of other Candidates with his sullen staring at his tray. Matt was mostly just poking at the offerings. It was meatloaf day and he honestly couldn’t summon an appetite for anything.

Certainly not cafeteria meatloaf.

The other reason he was along was simply because he didn’t know anyone very well. He didn’t see any of his friends from the chat. Of course that was also assuming they were his friends. It was probably terrible for him to even think that, but how well did he really know any of them? Most of the time they were just text on his com screen. Landis not included, but that was his roommate. They had to see each other every night, unless they broke curfew.

Was Landis his friend? Matt wanted to think so, but he also felt like bursting with self-doubt. Maybe Landis just used him for convenience. They were roommates, so fooling around was easy. After all, if his own mother couldn’t even bother to care for him, why should anyone else?

Making a rather disgusted noise in the back of his throat, Matt pushed the tray away, any chance of eating already gone. His disgust was directed more at himself than the questionable food.

Some Pilot he was going to be if he couldn’t even keep his stupid head on straight.

They always watched you while you were at the ATC, but Matt knew he was being watched extra closely right now, and he fucking hated it. Everyone acted like he was going to just shatter into a million pieces at any moment. What the hell did they know about him? Not a fucking thing!

He was fine goddamn it!

So what if he’d pushed himself through six straight hours of simulations? His mentor had told him to work harder. Matt wasn’t slacking off anymore. That should make them happy, right? How dare the instructor tell him he was pushing himself too hard. First he wasn’t working hard enough and now he was doing too much?

Fuck that – and fuck them.

It wasn’t that Matt didn’t know he was being unreasonable and irrational. That’s why they were watching him, of course. He wasn’t handling the news of his mother dying as well as he desperately wanted to show that he was. Honestly his mind was exhausted. Sleeping wasn’t really working out for him since he’d found out, despite Landis’s best efforts to cradle and croon him. Bless his sweet roommate. The boy was adorable and all kinds of comforting.

Matt knew he’d be so much worse right now if not for Landis.

Pushing through simulations that tested and measured his psionics was mentally exhausting as well, but he needed the distraction to keep him from thinking about her.

Since they’d kicked him out of the sim room, Matt headed to the next best place to work out all that frustration and drive away any thoughts of his mother. The training rooms were so well equipped. He thought about running, maybe if he did that long enough he’d even be able to keep up with Aspen one of these days.

Oh yeah, Aspen. She knew about his mother. By now most of the others probably knew. It wasn’t like Matt had been trying to keep it secret. He just didn’t want to talk about it.

Everyone was so sympathetic, so there for him. Landis and Vanessa had both cuddled him when they found out. Even Aspen had hugged him. He wondered how hard that had been for her. She wasn’t exactly a touchy-feely kind of girl.

No, he didn’t want to run today.

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate their concern for him. He really did. Still, the looks of pity got to be more than he could bear. There wasn’t anything to pity him over. His mother had been an absent, barely-there bitch all his life. She hadn’t wanted him.

Matt knew what he needed. Heading over to the punching bags, he wrapped his hands and began hitting the thing as hard as he could. Just imagine his mother’s stupid smirking face. It wasn’t fair that she’d died on him like this. It wasn’t right that she hadn’t loved him at all and he still felt like crying every time he thought about her being gone.

He hit the bag until his arms felt either numb or sore from shoulder to fingertips; hit it until he literally couldn’t hit it again. The last strike unbalanced him, sending him reeling to the floor with a groan, then a barely suppressed whimper.

Even dead the woman hurt him.

Forcing himself back up into a sitting position, Matt pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face against them. His body trembled with the effort of holding it all inside. He didn’t want to cry over that hateful bitch.

Damn her!

BASIC INFORMATION

Full name: Neeko Reynard
Occupation: Pilot Royal; Solarta PR Department
Gender: Male; technically also a female
Age: 134; Still a young buck for his kind!
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 154lbs
Race: Kitsuni  - fox demon species native to Earth
Sexuality: Bisexual – Heavy Male Preference
Nationality: Aedolian
Residence: Solarta; Aedolis


PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The first thing people generally notice is that while definitely a humanoid creature, Neeko is clearly not a human. The large, perky ears in all their fuzzy glory that crown his head are a little bit of a giveaway – just like the twin fluffy tails swaying behind him. The dexterous appendages are long enough that they have to curl up into a bit of an S shape to keep from dragging the ground behind him as he walks. Velvety soft fur the color of glacier ice covers his ears and tails, with tips dipped in silver.

Like a human, he’s covered in smooth skin, but his isn’t very pink, more like a ghastly pale with a hint of a blue undertint. His lips are even blue and often look to be lightly frosted, which would make since with the constant stream of frosty breath pushing past them. All that cold flesh is pulled over a narrow frame, neither particularly tall nor considered short. Despite the consistent physical conditioning required of a Pilot, Neeko is not at all buff or particularly muscular. The muscles are toned and defined, but surprisingly sleek. Most are surprised at the strength behind the stringy fox.

Unlike a human, aside from his head hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows, Neeko grows no body or facial hair.

Like most of his species, Neeko has somewhat narrow and foxlike features, with a soft slant to his pale blue, almost white, eye. Silver, like his hair, his eyebrows are elegantly arched over his brow. The left eye is framed by long, thick eyelashes. Unfortunately his right eye is now missing. High cheekbones with a slightly sharp nose and chin give him a somewhat refined look, and there have been many that considered him very pretty.

A large, square eyepatch is settled over his right eye – black in color, but sporting beautifully frosted diamonds embedded into the leather to form a snowflake pattern.



PERSONALITY

Yep, he has one. It's all over the place. Your results may vary.



BACKSTORY

Neeko was born a long time ago by human standards, but he’s still fairly young for his species, not even middle aged! Born in Aurora, the small community of Kitsuni makes their money off a reasonably popular restaurant chain that focuses on two specialties – delicious spicy grills and frozen treats.

The Kitsuni have an almost mafia-esque community in the far flung city. Non-human and preferring to police themselves, they avoid Aedolian law enforcement and Pilots as much as they can, working internally within the community to maintain their culture and species without human or dragon interference. Of course they know they’re constantly being monitored, but they make a good effort to keep their family as private as Aedolian society allows.

Raised in such a community, where all of his species was considered part of the family, Neeko was one of very few of his kind with enough psychic potential to capture government interest. Being abducted from his home and placed in the ATC at age thirteen was an ordeal.

His instructors used his mob-mentality to their advantage, transferring that fierce loyalty to his own kind onto dragons, Aedolis, and Pilots with underhanded psychological techniques. They worked, of course, at least for the most part. The bond between Neeko and his people could never be completely broken, but he has been made useful through extreme conditioning.

Given his inhuman nature, Neeko has natural gifts that made him ideal for combat operations, with keen senses and deceptive strength; he was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Unfortunately the war cost him his right eye. After the injury he was moved to PR in Solarta and has been mostly behind a desk ever since.



PSIONICS

Telepathy: Neeko learned to communicate telepathically before he learned to speak vocally. The ability isn’t abnormally strong for him, simply developed and refined enough to function very early. Psionics are a powerful species trait for his kind, so to his own kin this was not surprising at all.

Cryokinesis: In their very small community, there are two variety of foxes – fire and ice. Aside from telepathy there are only two possible psionics to appear in their population. Neeko happens to be of the smaller ice side of the spectrum. His ability in Cryokinesis also developed very young. At first simply in that his body has always been cool to the touch and his breath frosts – traits that carry on to this very day as ice is a core part of him and cannot simply be turned off.

Neeko is good at using his ability with finesse, able to perform delicate feats with his Cryokinesis, but he also can pack a punch, knowing how to make the most of his abilities with the least amount of actual psionic energy expended. May also possess passive Cryogenesis – his body literally creates ice.



RELATIONSHIPS

Parents: Both are still alive, they’re getting old and have little contact with their son now that he’s a grown up and living outside their community.

Nakiri Devoss: Much younger cousin, also a Pilot.

Nishi Tokala: Wife from an arranged marrige via their mothers.



DRAGON

Name: Ryuu
Gender: Female

Appearance:

She is small, very long, lithe silver female with gears and hydraulics all over a metallic chest plate.

Personality:

Ryuu has little interest in the goings on of lesser beings. She has few reasons to speak with Neeko outside of issuing him orders. They have a mutual understanding that the Kitsuni is an inferior creature that lives to serve her.

It was a pretty boring, typical day in the life of an ATC prisoner. Oh right, the correct term was Candidate. Sometimes it definitely felt more like a prison. The only thought to keep him truly sane was that this would all be worth it in the end. Two or three years, tops, and he’d be out of the ATC – at least as much as anyone could be once they went in that first time.

Matt would become a Pilot, just like his parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on. There was a lot of pressure to graduate as soon as possible. If a member of either side of his family had ever been TRIMed, well, nobody talked about it.

Right. No pressure.

Drills, despite his habit of complaining about them, weren’t that bad. Matt was athletically inclined, so the physical side of Candidate training had always been pretty bearable. Sure he left morning drills sweaty, winded, and sore like everyone else, but that was just because the instructors pushed every Candidate to their limits and then pushed a little more.

Everyone hit the showers and changed into fresh uniforms before heading to morning classes. Matt wasn’t the worst student, but not the best either. At least he’d been privileged with a very good and expensive education previous to coming to the ATC. It gave him a small leg up.

Despite trying to give off this flirty, very confident persona on the blog, there were plenty of insecurities running through Matthew Wright. One reason he wasn’t a Stage 4 yet was his hesitation to truly apply himself, despite wanting to be a Pilot more than anything. His parents and upbringing had groomed him for this from the moment he was born, but he knew a lot of the Candidates didn’t have the same very privileged background he did.

Matt wasn’t stupid, he heard the rumors and whispers of getting special treatment. He didn’t think they were true, but something didn’t have to be true for people to believe it. If he pushed himself to graduate as quickly as possible he worried they would think it wasn’t his own hard work but some favoritism.

He was terrified his peers would resent and dislike him. It made it hard to try to approach them outside the blog. Who would have thought he’d spend a lot of time hiding in his room?

Not today.

Matt got lonely and bored; he was definitely a social person. Ostracizing himself out of fear of judgment was just going to take this huge toll on him. Besides, nobody on the blog seemed to mind who his parents were. That’s why when he got free for the day he headed over to Viktor and Landis’s room, not even sure if Landis was in right then, but wanting to try to reach out to the cute and extremely outgoing boy.

Especially after that verbal smackdown they had all gotten in the chat. Matt had never felt like more of an ass. The poor kid had been through a lot, and if he needed friends and people to talk to and care about him, well Matt wanted friends too. Good friends that he could keep connections with even after they were all Pilots.

It was important. Stage 3 was all about bonding, teamwork, and connections with their fellow future Pilots, right?

Right.

“Hey Landis, you free? It’s Matt; I thought maybe we could hang out for a bit.” Not that he’d thought of what they might do together. Surely they’d think of something; even if it was just chatting and enjoying some company.

How were you supposed to feel in this moment?

Excited?

Hopeful?

Sashi wasn’t sure. Maybe most people felt like that when they were finally picked out by their dragon. It seemed logical to be full of adrenaline and ready to do just about anything with your newfound freedom. As she stood alone in the middle of the living room of her new apartment, all she felt was lost.

The place was almost barren. Sure, the kitchen had the appliances all set up for her, but the place was lacking in any real life. It looked like someplace abandoned and forgotten. Sashi could almost have called it depressing. The walls were even a drab, neutral grey. Aside from the emptiness it was a very nice apartment, especially when compared to her dorm room of the very recent past.

It didn’t feel like hers. There was no connotation of home with this place. She knew it was her responsibility to make it her home, but she honestly didn’t know where to even begin. After spending the last six years with every aspect of her life dictated by Pilots and the program, it was really hard to just switch to being one of those Pilots. Instead of running and leaping to embrace her newfound autonomy, she felt overwhelmed by it – without someone telling her exactly what to do next she simply didn’t know what should come next.

If someone had actually been watching her they’d have undoubtedly thought her insane. Sashi wondered aimlessly back and forth through the place, going to the kitchen, opening the empty fridge to peer inside, then closing it and shuffling back through the living room to look around without really seeing the apartment. More than once she actually walked out the front door, looking even more confused, and turned around to walk back in.

At that moment she was in one of the standing outside the front door phases of her confused wandering. Sashi pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a very deep sigh.

She could do this.

All she needed to do was break this down into steps. The furnishings were plain, but probably nicer than what she’d grown up with. She didn’t need furniture right now. Maybe in the future she would develop enough of her own personal style to decorate and furnish her dwelling, but for now – baby steps.

Sashi needed food. The fridge was empty, as were the cabinets. That was a task she thought she could do. Buying groceries should be simple. Never mind that she had never been shopping for herself in her entire life. Sure, gone with her mother to stores, but not been the actual adult in charge of buying food or anything else, for that matter.

Shoving aside her incompetence, she entered the elevator and headed down. She’d never been alone in the upper levels of Haviah before. This should be a fun adventure.

Sashi just kept telling herself that.

Name: Matthew “Matt” Wright
Gender: Male
Age: 18
D.O.B: October 17th
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 203 lbs
Orientation: Pansexual; Polyamorous
Occupation: Pilot Cardinal
Psionic Abilities: Telepathy, Technopathy
Dragon: Zenith



Appearance:

Matt has his jet black hair done in an undercut, which looks neat and stylish. Deep emerald eyes peek out over a slightly hawkish nose, with a square jaw polishing off a decidedly masculine face. He’s a very tall young man with broad shoulders, already apparent that he will be as much of a brick wall as his father. A light golden tan graces him, and he’s built a lot of lean muscle from the rigorous training regimen that Candidates are put through.

He likes to dress casual in blue jeans, sneakers, and button-down shirts layered over t-shirts. Simple, comfortable clothes that still look good are definitely his thing.



Personality:

Easy to laugh and joke around, Matt is generally good-natured and amicable. He loves talking to people, and making them smile or laugh with him – or at him. Humor at his expense is usually taken in stride and with some measure of grace. He’s the last person that would make fun at someone else’s expense, though. Matt is no bully.

Not to say he doesn’t know when to be serious, because he definitely knows not to piss off any Pilots with childish antics! He’s super respectful of Pilots and looks up to them with no small amount of hero worship.

Despite enjoying goofing off, Matt’s very responsible and does take training and classes seriously. His father has always been exceptionally proud of him and he takes making his father proud very, very seriously. Becoming a Pilot means everything to him, even if he’s not pushing himself to rush through the program as quickly as possible. He wants to be a great Pilot and a good person. Taking care of his fellow Candidates is important to him – one day they’ll be his fellow Pilots.



History:

Matt was raised mostly by his father, and was born into the highest caste because both his parents are Pilots. It was mostly understood that he would eventually be a Candidate, since both sides of his family has quite the history of Pilots. He was given a very good, and expensive, education leading up to his thirteenth birthday, testing, and subsequent enlisting in the Candidate Program.

So far he has done well across the board. Not spectacular, but certainly good enough to be expected to graduate without issue and become a Pilot. Given both his parents are of the Royal rank, this has not been much of a surprise to anyone; although apparently he is not climbing as quickly as expected.

Slow and steady still wins the race, so he hasn’t faced much pressure from his instructors or parents.



Psionic Abilities:
Telepathy- Matthew is reasonably powerful with his telepathy, able to send and receive messages over a long distance with great accuracy.

Technopathy- This is Matthew’s only other psionic ability, one he shares with his mother; although he is much stronger with it than her. He can easily tap remotely onto networks, and were he not an upstanding and law-abiding youth, he could be a suburb hacker.



Dragon

Name: Zenith
Gender: Male

Appearance:
-Zenith is not the largest dragon, nor is he the smallest.
-His wingspan is rather impressive.
-Primarily black, with a red underbelly.
-Right side of his face is mechanical as is his entire tail.

Personality:
-Ambitious
-Confident
-Extroverted