Mission Day 7

DATE: 09/01/12119

I woke up from the oddest dream this morning, and while I am not particularly keen on giving dreams too much thought, I will acknowledge there may be some truths hidden inside our subconscious minds. So for scientific purposes, and only scientific purposes, I will log it here my journal.

I was in one of the sporos surrounded by lush green plants. In the middle was large tree, so large there is no way it could have grow to that size with the sporo's growing conditions, but in dream world it made perfect sense. I wandered up to the tree and noticed it was an apple tree filled with ripe red fruit. I went to reach for the closest fruit, but it was just outside my grasp. Suddenly Geo came from around the trunk.

He looked at me softly with his bright blue eyes and smiled down at me. His smile made my heart skip a beat and I was happy to see him. With his long limbs he easily picked the fruit I was reaching for. He took my hand in his and gently placed the apple in my palm. I brought the fruit to my lips and took a bite. The sweetest flavor exploded in my mouth as its juices dripped down my chin. I moaned softly with delight and closed my eyes to savor the flavor.

I felt Geo's hand touch mine once again and opened my eyes just in time to see him lean forward and take a bite of the fruit right where I had bitten. He closed his eyes and smiled in pleasure while I could feel my face getting hot at the thought of our proxy kiss.

Suddenly the ground around the tree began to shake and the floor cracked. Roots started breaking through the gaps in the metal as grow lights fell from the ceiling. It was as if the whole sporo was falling apart and being swallowed by this tree. I turned to look at Geo when, without warning, the floor opened up beneath me and I feel into darkness.

Perhaps it means that Geo and I will be able to break free from the restrictions of the sporos and bring the cultivation on Ilterra to greater heights? Or maybe those Catholic stories grandma had told me when I was little resurfaced in my subconscious, and the apple tree is meant to symbolize how by working together Geo and I will damn us all? I wonder if they grow apples here? I should find out...so I can avoid them, of course.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn't notice how much time had passed until I heard a beep at my door. I quickly pulled on my white uniform, tied up my hair to look somewhat presentable, put my mask on, tucked my seed pouch in to my pocket and ran out the door. I had expected to see Lena's cruel smirk, but instead I was greeted by Albin's charming smile.

"Good morning, Ancient One," he said with a sparkle in his eye.

"Flora, please. I may be old, but I'm not that old," I said, but then hesitated to think if that even made sense. Albin chuckled softly, and I found myself warming up to him and his company. It would be nice to have a friend, someone I can rely on. I returned his smile, "shall we get going then?"

"Of course," he said before turning to walk towards his car. "You must have made quite the impression to have the old crone Nera ask for you back so soon. Can't say I've heard of that happening before," Albin said while glancing over at me, waiting for me to spill information.

"I'm happy to hear that," I said humbly.

"Nera embodies the pod's creed that the only things worth putting time into is something or someone useful. Whatever you did must have been no small feat." Albin eyed me with a sly smile as both of us stopped at our respective car doors. He leaned over the hood and playfully said, "you'll have to tell me your secrets." A sparkle of excitement twinkled in his eye as he waited for me to respond.

"I have no secrets," I said with a laugh. "But it's too soon. I would hate to share information that doesn't work, so you'll have to wait until the results come out," I tactfully replied in an attempt to navigate around their power politics. While harmless, I didn't want any gossip to make it back to Nera and give her an excuse not to trust me. Albin stood alongside the car and stared at me for a moment as if assessing me. He must have been pleased because a smirk appeared on his face before he settled into the car.

Albin quietly drove through the winding tunnels deep in thought. I can honestly say that it was the quietest I had seen him since we met.

"Geo asked me to remind whoever was driving me this morning to go to the lab instead of the infirmary," I said quietly to break the silence. Albin blinked as if suddenly remembering I was in the car with him.

A devilish smile broke out on his lips, "Ah yes, Lena told me about your eventful appointment with Geo." Thinking about yesterday's encounter with Geo made my cheeks blush with embarrassment, and for once I was thankful I had the mask on to hide it.

"Lena and Geo didn't seem to get along much," I said while trying to push the embarrassing memories of my outbursts into the back of my mind.

Albin chuckled lightly. "Lena and most Arcans don't get along much. It's hard to forget an old enemy, even during an alliance," he said with a shrug. "That, and she just isn't that friendly," he laughed.

I let out a small laugh in agreement. "What does she do for you?" I asked, curious about his relationship with the Navis woman.

Albin thought for a moment before responding. "I guess you could say she is my ambassador of sorts. Ilterra is large and needs defending from raiding pods. Lena helps me negotiate the planet's protection and helps me manage the relationship with Navis."

"Oh," I said in surprise.

"You seem shocked," Albin said flatly.

I mentally kicked myself, fearing that I had implied Lena was incapable of the job and that Albin had made a mistake. "I just mean that I am a little surprised," I said stumbling over my words. "She didn't seem to be a big talker."

Albin smiled, "I am just teasing you. The Navis people don't seem to talk much and are very direct when they do. So I will have to apologize on her behalf if she was too crude with you."

"Not at all," I said, relieved he was not upset with me. "We couldn't really communicate anyhow so nothing needs forgiving."

Albin's brows furrowed in confusion. "You couldn't communicate?"

"No, she didn't have an ear piece. I could understand her, but she couldn't understand me," I said. I suddenly recalled all those awkward moments when I was glad I couldn't communicate with her, and I quickly added, "but it worked out though! No trouble at all."

"That won't do. You will be working with Lena for quite some time so I will make sure she wears her ear piece, don't worry," Albin said with a smile.

I put a fake smile on my face and internally groaned. No one to blame but myself.

Albin parked inside a narrow tunnel. It was so narrow I could not open the car door all the way and had to gingerly slide along the rust colored wall to escape. The walls were so discolored and patched over I didn't even notice the door just a couple feet in front of us until Albin stopped right in front of it.

He pushed down on a section of the wall, revealing a keypad panel. He quickly typed in a code and grabbed the door's handle to open it, but the door wouldn't budge. The keypad buzzed and flashed an error warning. The confusion on Albin's face was obvious as he went to type in the code again. When the error warning flashed again I could sense Albin's body tensing with frustration. His eyes narrowed into angry slits as he began pounding the door continuously, making my hands ache.

After a while the door slowly slid open and Albin took a step back. He was fuming as Geo lazily stepped out into the doorway. Geo looked right past him with a flicker of amusement in his eyes. Instead he looked at me.