The Animal Fair (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

"I suppose that's true," said Sharl, a little doubtfully. They changed the subject rather than let worrying over their mutual 'friend' cloud the day out, and headed off to the 3-D theater to watch a show about traveling through the Himalayas! Sharl was familiar enough with mountains, those being a natural feature Neo had in abundance, but the Himalayas were novel anyway, a vast diversity of peaks of different shapes and sizes cast out beneath an alien sky of blue and white, the mountains themselves dotted with snow only at their tops, and with so many people living on them. It was very strange not to see mountains covered in ice or ruling over vast deserts, and the view was almost as good (for their technology) as riding in a flitter!

[Electra]

The ride itself was not very impressive, at least not nearly as impressive to Sharl as it seemed to be to the people who watched it with them. It was the sort of thing used to entertain small children in Tronik, not grown adults! But despite the supertech on display on parts of Earth, the general level of technology just wasn't very high. He was starting to get used to it. After the show, they walked around some more, looking at more of the native animals of North America, wolves, mountain lions, beavers, all animals who once roamed freely across land where buildings now stood. Miss A explained a little about each species to him, but was mostly content to allow him to read and explore on his own.

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl was a little saddened to hear about all those animals that were now homeless, but the centuries that had passed since their displacement made it less of a moral burden for him to bear. He was sure that if Tronik had so much land to expand onto, that their advanced resources would let them avoid hurting the landscape. He didn't fault these people; from what Gina and his studies had said, they'd been incredibly primitive when industrial settlement had begun in this land, so much so that new technologies had just made things worse until very recently. Eventually, they headed to the gift shop, pulled by the natural tide of tourism. "I suppose it would be silly to buy anything," Sharl reflected, looking down at himself in a toy snake's eyes.

[Electra]

"Silliness is what gift shops is all about," Miss Americana told him encouragingly, walking with him around the shirts, cups, and displays of stuffed animals. "You buy something you don't really need, and it helps you remember your trip. Go on and pick something out, my treat." She waved a hand at the collections of stuff. "I wouldn't be surprised if Gina could make a digital copy of anything you buy, and you could take it with you, in a way."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl wound up buying a broad-brimmed baseball cap with FREEDOM CITY ZOO emblazoned on it in happy, multicolored letters, the lions that were the zoo's most famous mascots curled around the edges in careful stitching. Maybe it was primitive and garish, looking like something a little kid might wear back home, but he decided it was appropriate for the occasion. "If anyone asks," he said with a little smile, "I'll tell them I made it myself. Maybe the girls will think that's cute." He smiled a little and added, after she'd paid, "Thank you, Miss A. That was really nice."

[Electra]

"You're very welcome," Miss A told him kindly. "I'm glad you've been able to get out and enjoy seeing some of Earth. It has its problems, but it's a good place, overall. I hope you'll take back plenty of good memories with you. Now is there anything else you'd like to see? It's getting late, and they close early in the winter," she reminded him. "I promised Gina we'd be back before dark."

[Avenger Assembled]

"No, I think I've seen everything," said Sharl with a little shrug. "Everything I want to see today, anyway." He studied Miss A as they headed outside again, the pair of them almost alone in the cold winter evening. "I'd like to make more visits to the outside if I can, whether with you or someone from the Lab...or even alone," he said daringly. "Not that I don't like going out with you," he added hastily and with perfect sincerity, "it's just...I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back. I want to make sure I have a chance to see everything."

[Electra]

"I can help you get in touch with some of the people from the lab," Miss A offered as they walked to the entrance to the zoo. "I'm sure they'd be happy to interact with you more, and it would be nice for you as well. You just have to remember that you do have a lot of secrets to keep, and in those cases I won't be around to help if you get stuck or start forgetting. That's a lot of responsibility on you."

[Avenger Assembled]

"It is a great responsibility," Sharl agreed thoughtfully, "but...I want to do it. I'm sort of like an ambassador, right? Even if no one knows it, or is ever going to know it. I've really been happy with my time with Gina, and with you, but going out on my own will let me see things for myself. If we're going to get out there, and see things...well, one of us has to take the first step. And I did that already." He grinned slightly. "Even if I didn't know what it was at the time. I can't unlearn, or unsee, what I've seen."

[Electra]

"That's true," Miss A agreed gravely as they walked through the front gate and down the sidewalk away from the zoo. "If you believe you're ready, I'll be happy to speak with some of my colleagues about hosting you for a little while." Her beautiful face creased with an impish smile. "Just remember, you don't have to do anything Dragonfly asks you that makes you feel uncomfortable. She means well, she just gets... carried away."