Qarotti, Eron 14, 5531 - Second Shift Equifār Verdaris' looming form disappeared around the hallway corner. The sound of her heavy boots echoed in her wake. Tendakeo waited for the crisp click of the stairwell door swinging closed. When it came, he sagged in relief against the wall opposite his apartment. He barely heard his neighbors' words of gratitude for dealing with the Knight.

Qarotti, Eron 14, 5531 - First Shift Drusira approached the out-ward entrance of the Dragon's Lair, hoping that the hooded figure she saw standing in the dim yellow light wasn't actually as familiar as it seemed. Instinctively, she dropped her gaze to the snow, only realizing belatedly what she had done. Watching the light play over the snow, she realized how unusual it was that the light was on in the first place.

Qarotti, Eron 14, 5531 - Second Shift Laycia observed Sinner's Landing from high above, on the back of her hover speeder. From her perspective, the colony seemed like a living thing laid bare. Traffic behaved like sluggish blood pumped through tired veins built from industrial alloys. The wide lanes referred to as main-ways connected the inner core-rings to the outer rim of the colony.

Trezza, Eron 13, 5531 - Third Shift From the moment Tendakeo realized that he and Veshrin had been sentenced to Sinner's Landing, he had spent his time devouring information about it. Records going all the way back to its settlement more than six hundred cycles earlier; testimonies from current and former residents; the medical histories and quality of life reports. He knew both the predominant species of tree filling the forest around the colony, and how they supported the planet's hyper-predatory ecosystem.

Trezza, Eron 13, 5531 - Third Shift Veshrin mentally prepared for yet another endless shift as he climbed the questionable stairwell in the back of the Dragon's Lair. The not-so-faint whiffs of cycles-stale urine reminded him there was a limit to how much sanitization chems could do. His legs sighed in relief when he stepped onto the third level's narrow landing.

Sensations. Grains of sand being ground together in a crevice with soft, unprotected skin. The sweetness of light and heat absorbed by dense scales. A cyclical hum and the steady flow of air. The air current stimulated hypersensitive hairs as it flowed across them. A halting image as these sensations collided, their stimuli intermingling and interfering with each other. Incomprehensible, they mercifully fell apart, only to rejoin, more securely and legibly.

Visit the post for more.