The entire 'Redstone Valley' space station was like a gigantic cross-shaped cylinder, with buildings distributed along the inner wall of the cylinder. The space station obtained a small portion of gravity through the centrifugal force of its rotation, allowing many facilities to be installed on the ground.
"Even so, the gravity here is still too low. A light jump can send you flying high," comnted a student who accompanied us.
"It's quite novel. I see many people gliding through the air, needing only a small thrust from the devices on their backs to easily navigate within the space station."
After finding the accommodations arranged by the tournant organizers in the space station, our group settled down for a rest. Then, as tradition dictated, we went out for a stroll. However, since this was a space station, the shops and malls inside followed the design and construction style of the Federation mainstream. Other than a few products related to 'Red Marrow Crystal,' there was nothing particularly special about the content or goods, although the prices were quite a bit higher.
Soon, everyone lost hope in the specialty products because there wasn't anything particularly eye-catching. Instead, it was the structure inside the space and the lifestyle of the people that sparked curiosity among the students traveling with us.
Since the space station was entirely lit by artificial light, there was no distinction between day and night. As a result, recruitnt and work schedules were sotis inconsistent. Within the sa family, soone might get up at 8 a.m. for school, while another might not start work until 3 p.m. Many shops operated 24 hours a day, but their staff worked in shifts.
Moreover, although there weren't large amounts of soil for growing plants and trees within the station, there were various elaborate glass terrariums. For instance, inside so large hotels and restaurants were completely glass-encased terrariums, growing a variety of lush plants and flowers, along with fluttering butterflies, a small number of insects, and even so birds and animals.
So residents also had simpler clear glass boxes in their hos, with clear water circulating inside, filled with fish and aquatic plants, or other types of flora.
As for the distribution of species, Elves were scarce within the space station, likely because they did not favor an environnt full of tal constructions and glass. Humans remained the majority, with a small number of Ork able to adapt to the space station environnt. As for those who seed to thrive in the space station, it was the rpeople. They appeared to be born for life in the weightlessness of space.
For them, space was like the sea, and planets were like small islands of land. As a branch of humanity, their physical structure differed greatly from ordinary humans, and they had even begun to experience partial reproductive isolation. To conceive, they would need special artificial insemination to alter so genetic combinations.
"Costin, did you grow up in space from childhood?"
At that mont, we were dining in a space station restaurant, and in the center of the restaurant was a large crystal column filled with flowing light blue liquid. This liquid emitted a faint glow, and a young rmaid woman swam inside. She occasionally sang and perford dances and, during her breaks, would detach from the top of the crystal column to walk and sit in the restaurant.
In the water, she had a tail, but once out, she could choose to change shape, transforming her tail into human legs. However, as she explained, this ability was generally sothing only rpeople of Sequence 4 or higher could manage. When they were young, most rpeople found it more comfortable to live in water or in weightless environnts.
"Yes, I've mostly grown up in this space station, only occasionally traveling to other places aboard a starship," the rmaid with sea-blue curly hair introduced herself with a light chuckle, swirling her wine glass.
"You're all so curious. I work in bars and restaurants, and basically, 80% of the questions I answer are about the differences between rpeople and humans."
"It's because you are indeed rare. In the current Federation's mainstream species, rpeople seem to have the smallest proportion, not even one in a hundred thousand."
"There are few rpeople living in natural aquatic environnts because we are also considered a High Rank intelligent species. We prefer clearer and cleaner liquids," she explained a bit.
"I feel like rpeople are a highly designed, artificial species, made to live in space and high-tech environnts."
"We don't really need to eat. As long as there are so nutrients in the environntal liquid, we're good. Besides, we can directly absorb electric energy. That's right, like charging a personal terminal, we don't need to eat and can simply soak in liquid with a weak electric current to store energy."
"That sounds amazing. That must save a lot of trouble," said a student, eyes shining with excitent.
"That's right. It's actually the result of highly adapting to interstellar travel. A starship doesn't have much space for producing food, so absorbing electricity is more convenient. Plus, we don't need to use the bathroom, hehehe."
As the others wanted to continue asking questions, the rmaid singer seed a bit afraid and quickly waved her hands, "Let's stop here for today. If you're still interested, you can co back tomorrow."
After saying this, she waved, leaped gracefully, and transford back into a lively rperson with a Silver Scale tail, swimming back into the crystal column, where she could sing, dance, or even snooze.
After finishing today's sightseeing tour, our group headed back to our accommodations. That's when the teacher also reminded everyone.
"Actually, in the 'Inverted Star Lake Sword Fighting' tournant, there are participants from the rpeople as well, and they are even among the favorites to win."
"It's rare indeed, but in weightless environnts, both fighting and performing are areas where the rpeople excel. So, when you were chatting up that rmaid out of curiosity earlier, I didn't stop you—in fact, I supported it."
Reviews
All reviews (0)