Owner	Pose
Kian	In point of fact, they do have vehicles on Kian's world.  What Kian called a 'one person transport' settled itself on the landing pad near his home, flying completely automatically, and predictably, inside there was plenty of room to fly in should one wish to.  It might make one wonder how he tolerates his room at the Tower without losing his mind.     In any case, there's plenty of room to get comfortable therein.  Kian has discovered that being 'the /Rhytak/' means if he asks for something, he generally gets it pretty quickly, so when he put in a request for one of the clan's transports, it was approved a lot faster than it otherwise might have been.     He hoped no one was inconvenienced by his request.     He also hoped he wouldn't let himself get used to this sort of treatment.  To paraphrase Mel Brooks, "It's good to be the godling!"     It is *not* autopiloted to the local branch of the Imperial University.  Kian slides himself into what looks like a massage table, and controls the flight from there.  Akiar craft are flown under telepathic control, more like an extension than a vehicle.  Now, Cait has seen Kian fly and knows what kind of an aerobatic showoff he can be.     He behaves himself.     Mostly.     The flight isn't long, the landing is gentle--while not with the flexibility of an Akiar's wings, the transport's wings are still active surfaces, so it lands in a manner much more like a bird than an aircraft--and Kian has to spend a moment or two after touchdown reorienting himself to being only inside his own body.  "That iss always a little intense.  It's even more interestin' in space!" he says, finally getting to his feet.  "We'll be meeting wit' Zoras /k'syr/, he iss one of the biophysics researchers I worked wit' before.  You haf the translator on correctly, yis?"
Caitlin Fairchild	"<Pretty sure I do,>" Caitlin tells Kian in passable Akiar, nodding enthusiastically. She's dressed... relatively informally. A compromise between her sense of modesty and the Akiar preference for going around un-dressed. So she's donned knee-length black athletic tights that ride up to her navel, and a raceback sports top in green. Her hair's worn loose and tumbling down her back, and she doesn't sport any jewelry and only minimal cosmetics. Caitlin follows Kian into the building willingly, trying not to rubberneck at their technology. The evolution of science between their two species is a fascinating case of evolution in its own right. Each species with their own needs, priorities, and enthusiasms, making for places of bizarre convergence and unpredictable differences alike.
Kian	They're barely inside the building when a yellow and black-winged bustle of pure energy greets them with raised wings and outspread arms.  <<Kian!  Gods within, I was afraid I might never see you again, but you keep surprising me!>>     Kian gets as far as, "Cait, this iss Zoras k's--OOF!"     This being the moment that Kian is glommed on to by the old man.  And he is definitely the oldest-looking Akiar that Cait will have yet seen: hair all white, musculature faded but not gone, face gently creased with lines of age.  When he releases Kian, he bows to Caitlin.  <<And is this a friend of yours from that other world?  Unbelievable!  Are they all so impossibly tall?>>     <<Uh, she's wearing a translator, Professor, she can understand us.  And her name is Cait,>> Kian says, hiding a smirk.  Her name comes out something like 'Keit'.     Zoras doesn't miss a beat.  <<How wonderful!  Are you here to be studied?  Is everyone on your world as incredibly large as you?  How-->>     Somehow, Kian wedges his way in between the torrent of words.  <<We're here to study me, Professor.  /Rhy'thar'yw/ are a lot more common on their world, so she might be able to tell something about me that we couldn't.>>     <<Oh.>>  He only sounds a little disappointed at not being allowed to research the alien down to her genetic structure.
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin laughs a little and smiles at the professor as warmly as she can. She executes the little bow that Kian had taught her when greeting a stranger politely. <<I'm Doctor Caitlin Fairchild. But like Kian said, please, call me Cait,>> she reassures him. <<And I'm definitely well outside the median height-wise,>> she adds in a more conspiratorial tone. <<But I am here to discuss some research,>> Caitlin tells Zoras. <<I'm a geneticist, on Earth. Well, and a xenobiologist,>> she amends a beat later, <<but there is no doctoral program in xenobiology so I guess it's more of a side-job. Anyway, Kian graciously said you might have time to help me with a few questions I have about Kian's genetics?>>
Kian	<<Yes, of course!>>  Evidently, Zoras' age is physical only -- he *sounds* young and enthusiastic enough.  <<Although of course we haven't determined anything ourselves.>>  He waves Caitlin forward; Kian hides a snicker.  Maybe he could have warned her about the old professor's enthusiasm.     <<We've sequenced him clear down to his pinfeathers and the Gods only know where his /rhy'thar/ comes from.  We haven't been able to pinpoint anything even remotely certain.  But if your world is used to /rhy'thar'yw/, I'm sure you have some sort of insight we don't.>>  He waves her down a corridor.  Doubtless the signs mean something, but the translator doesn't handle the written word.  <<Oh, this way, this way!>>     Kian *definitely* tried to stifle a snicker there.
Caitlin Fairchild	<<Ahh.. maybe,>> Caitlin hesitates. She keeps up with the professor easily despite his vigor; those long legs eat up a lot of ground, quickly. <<We've got a lot of humans on Earth with similar powers and abilities to Kian's. Lots of kinetics, who can manipulate... oh, fire, electricity, that sort of thing. In some cases they can produce effects that function just like a natural flame or electric arc would. In others, they create something that acts a lot *like* energy, but disobeys the environment around them,>> she explains. She falls silent for a few moments when they reach the labs and seats are provided; Caitlin looks around and elects to sit on a sturdy looking equipment bench, instead. <<What's interesting about Kian is that his powers have always been a little, uh, *weird*,>> she hedges. <<But more and more lately they're acting in ways that indicate he's got more conscious control of them. I don't know if you've got magic in this world, but Kian definitely does.>>
Kian	<<You *must* send me some of your research!  Kian can translate them for me!>> Zoras says, and the look on Kian's face at being volunteered for *that* job is pretty eloquent.     Unable to directly contradict the old researcher, Kian just says sourly, <<It's not magic.  Magic is the word you use when you don't have a rational explanation yet.  I only bend reality, I don't break or ignore it.>>
Caitlin Fairchild	<<That's why I said just a 'little' weird,>> Caitlin teases Kian. She gives his ribs a gentle elbow nudge and smiles at him reassuringly. <<Like-- all right, let's talk about my powers,>> she suggests, and looks back to the professor. <<My bones are about as hard as carbon steel and my muscles are much much denser than other humans. But everything I do is just physics, there's no... shortcut to it. I have to eat a lot of food and exercise regularly.>> <<We've studied Kian as well, and I don't know where his powers 'come from'. He doesn't have a gland or an organ or some weird substructure in his bones that makes him into a walking electromagnetic generator. He does it by willpower. And considering how his powers interacted with Terry's, and especially in Wonderland, my hypothesis is that there's an element to them that is not strictly a genetic factor.>>
Kian	Zoras throws open a door and ushers the Tians through.  <<And it's more than just the electromagnetism.  It's all atomic forces.  Of course, the weak and strong forces are a lot less common, so I know the electromagnetic are the ones he uses most.  Is that right, Kian?>>     <<Uh, yes, professor,>> Kian confirms.     Zoras' lab is large -- like all Akiar spaces.  Probably some pieces of equipment are so obvious they're common to both Akiar and Earth labs.  Doubtless some are so advanced they're not at all obvious.  <<Yes, of course--that Kian is /Rhytak t'Kiare/,>> he says, oblivious to Kian's wince, <<and his powers are a direct Gods' gift.  I don't know what kind of test you could do for that.  Gods are annoyingly difficult to find in the lab.>>
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin laughs once despite herself, and immediately covers her mouth with an apologetic expression. <<I'm sorry. I just remembered how many times I've had to chase a Rhytak /out/ of my lab,>> she says, and giggles again. It just takes her a moment to comport herself again, and she starts digging in her bag for a laptop and some printed sheets of paper. <<This is something else that I wanted to look into, though,>> Caitlin tells Zoras and Kian. She slides over several pictures filled with complex blocks of color. <<There's a hypothesis among xenobiologists that many sentient species share a common origin point,>> Caitlin says. <<We keep meeting bipedal mammalians-- sometimes amphibians,>> she allows. <<But there are a lot of species that have similar atmospheric conditions and can even mate with each other. I've got a hypothesis about that,>> she confides. <<But that's not important right now.>> <<When Kian arrived, I got a tissue sample from him and ran it through a genetic mapper. You can see here, red is adenine, green is guanine, cyan is cytosine, and tan is thymine.>> She slides over a colored overlay and aligns it with Kian's results. <<And here is a genomic sequence from a human on Earth. Humans and Akira have well over 99.9% commonality, genetically,>> she informs the two birdmen.
Kian	Zoras' eyes light up with professional interest; Kian's widen with shock.  The old man recovers himself first.  <<Really?  *that* much similarity?  That's amazing!>>  He even pushes past Kian to see Cait's research.  <<Let me see the molecular models for the codons -- ah, yes, I see!  Extraordinary!>>     Kian finally finds his voice.  <<Wait, are you saying Akiar'yw and Earth people are *related*?  How... how is that even *possible*?>>     Zoras' voice changes slightly; the words are thicker and more musical -- liturgical /Akiar'shak/.  <<'For the Gods did choose, and the chosen ones were Gifted.'  That's what the ancient writings say.>>     Kian just stares.
Caitlin Fairchild	<<The Ancestral Commonality hypothesis is that sentient life on a bunch of worlds was ... seeded, or engineered,>> Caitlin explains. She's as excited as Zoras is about being able to discuss such a fascinating topic. <<Like the genes for intelligence, opposable thumbs, that kind of thing.>> <<Here's the real kicker,>> she says, and brings over a third sheet. <<Just for kicks, I fed Kian's genetic map into the database at Columbia University, where I study,>> she explains. <<What I found is... well. Humans and Akiar don't just share the DNA structures in ACH. When I sequenced his mitochondria it flagged a common ancestor in the system-- Homo Neanderthalensis. Uh, one of the precursor species to modern humans.>> <<I think that humans and Akiar evolved from the same species,>> she says, and flexes her hands at the two Akiar. Feel free to discuss, she's only just validated tens of thousands of years of religious and cultural oral tradition...
Kian	Kian finds his voice again... sort of.  <<Are you saying we *are* Earth people?>>  It comes out more like a squeak.     Zoras is only just warming up.  <<Amazing!  Are there still Ne-an-der-tal-en-sis on your world?  Do they have wings?  Can I meet one?  Kian!  Promise me you'll translate her work to our language!>>     Kian looks rather like he's just been run over by a tsunami and hasn't figured out which way is 'up' yet, and gravity isn't helping.     Zoras is rapidly writing notes.  <<Incredible!  It has been theorized that the ancient legends may have meant we were seeded from elsewhere.  You realize what you've done, Kian /k'Rhytak/?>>  He *completely misses the pained look Kian gives him.  <<You've provided evidence for our creation legend -- it may not be a legend after all!>>     Kian stares some more, this time at Cait.  He tries to say something, but only a squeak comes out.
Caitlin Fairchild	Zoras' enthusiasm is contagious and exhilarating, but Caitlin's attention is first focused on Kian's whimpering surprise. She reaches over to touch his shoulder reassuringly, then stands up and gathers him into her arms for an extremely motherly hug. Caitlin is very good at those. <<It's just a hypothesis,>> she cautions Zoras. <<And I want to leave you with some DNA samples so you can do some genome mapping on your own. But, my theory does make a lot of sense,>> she agrees. <<Especially when it's been confirmed by your own oral and religious traditions.>> Caitlin laughs, a little sheepishly. <<Kian told me otherwise, but I was stil nervous I'd create some intergalactic incident with this revelation. We've got some people on Earth who would react really badly to being told that they were a product of alien intervention.>>
Kian	<<This is wonderful, wonderful!>> Zoras enthuses -- his body may be old, but his mind is convinced it's still in his twenties or thirties.  <<I would be honored to prepare a full research document on this with you, Keit!  Just imagine, actually having documentary evidence for the basis of our religious beliefs -- it is an article of faith that our people were chosen from elsewhere and made into our current form, I would've never thought it could actually be demonstrated!  And, that explains why a /Rhytak/ would be sent to your world rather than staying on ours!>>     Kian has a look like he was knifed, but somehow he rallies enough to contribute to the conversation beyond a squeak.  <<No, I didn't think it would be an interplanetary incident,>> he manages to get out.  Physical contact being what it is, Cait can't help but notice the raw shock and unexplained dread Kian is feeling, but other than that he keeps his mind to himself.     Zoras remains oblivious.  <<Extraordinary!>>
Caitlin Fairchild	The telepathy makes it easy, but Caitlin has learned to be sensitive to the moods of the people around her. She rests fingertips on Kian's shoulder, then looks at Zoras. <<Professor, if you don't mind, I think I need a little fresh air,>> she asks of him. <<Would you excuse me?>> She gives Kian a pointed nudge and a look, and once courtesy permits, withdraws to the balcony. The redhead waits until Zoras activates his communications gear and gets involved with the work at-hand. <<Are you okay?>> she asks Kian. <<I'm so sorry to drop that bomb on you like that, I didn't think it'd be so much of a surprise.>>
Kian	Kian switches to English, to prevent being accidentally overheard *and* understood.  "I... wish you had tol' me firs'," he admits, "but... nnh.  Well, it could not haf been kept quiet forever, I think.  What Zoras /k'syr/ said is right: comin' back from another worl' with evidence supportin' our creation story *is* the explanation mos' Akiar will accep' for why a /Rhytak/ was sent to an alien planet: to make that knowledge available to us.  An' it only makes sense if they believe that I'm a /Rhytak/.  Even I think the statistics are otherwise ridiculous, and I /don't/ believe I'm a godling."     He sighs heavily, and looks like he would like a railing to lean on, but it's an Akiar balcony: there isn't one.  "I mean, yis, it stands to reason that *that* is what our creation legend means, that we were created from another wingless, mindtouch-less species.  The ancient writings are vague on why."  He attempts a laugh, and it comes out as more of a snort.  "But you don't ever expec' to *prove* a legend, do you?"
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin ducks her head and has the grace to look a little sheepish at Kian's gentle remonstration. "I don't know, it's gotten to the point where I have no baseline for normal,>> Caitlin admits to Kian. "And you're dating Garfield and Terry, you know how 'normal' so often is not," she points out. "I wish I had more answers for you, Kian, I really do," she says with sincere sympathy. "I don't know why you have your powers, what they're for-- I don't know if you're like Thor, or empowered by whatever empowers him, or you're part of something else entirely." "But I do know science, and all my tests tell me that we're cousins. Distant, *distant* cousins," she stresses. "But related to each other, anyway."
Kian	"I suppose there was no way to have cushioned this for my people," he says abstractedly.  "Jus' the fac' of my bein' on Eart' an' someone there discoverin' the connection between Eart' and Akiar... well, whether it happened today or tomorrow or nex' year or nex' century, whenever it happened it woul' be taken not jus' as proof of our creation legend, but proof of my status as Avatar of Kiare.  She *is* the Goddess under whose wing science and discovery are.  No matter what I did, it would fit."     He glances back inside, where Zoras is rapidly writing notes.  "But I think you should go ahead an' do research wit' Zoras /k'syr/.  I mean, at leas' what you're doin' is /science/."
Caitlin Fairchild	"Kian." Caitlin touches Kian's shoulder gently, and hunkers down so he's not obligated to look so far up into her eyes. "As someone who has *been* an avatar, I can tell you that it's not all it's cracked up to be." Sincere sympathy emanates from the redheaded scholar. "And it does not define who you are as a person. Maybe Kiare is like Thor. Maybe you're supposed to be the next Thor. Or be like Donna, the future of an entire pantheon." "But those destinies were dreamed up by other people. Who you are-- what you want to do-- that's for you to decide," she reassures him. "And no one can tell you you're doing it wrong. Okay?"
Kian	"That's what I told Aela /q'rhysat/ -- if I am a /Rhytak/, she can't tell me what to do, and if I'm not, she can't tell me I have to be one.  That was when Terry accidentally dropped us through to my worl' las' year.  Which only means they can't control me."     He looks away, and then meets Cait's eyes directly.  "But I also can not make them *not* believe I am one, an' expec' things of me that I don't know if I can deliver.  I haf my freedom to fly, but that doesn't mean I don't have a ceilin' anyway."     There's a heavy, heart-felt sigh.  "If you haf been touched by your gods, I don't know, can you see if I have been touched by mine?"
Caitlin Fairchild	"That I don't know," Caitlin apologizes, wistfully. "But there's a lot I don't know about a lot of things. Donna's a godde-- Rhytak. Right? She's got the same ... origins, same purpose or something. Maybe Thor is also. Maybe it's something completely different," she ventures. "And maybe this is just all a... a way to get us to talk to each other, and share ideas and blend cultures," she suggests. "And it doesn't take a Rhytak to form peace between two worlds. Just a good heart," she promises Kian, and offers him another reassuring hug.
Kian	"I don't know, maybe," Kian says, unconvinced.  "We know about other sentiences in the galaxy, the viceroy tol' me that much, an' that we haf deliberately chosen to not try to communicate wit' them.  I do not think the Akiar will want to blend -- me an' Terry an' Gar notwithstandin'.  But maybe if I can jus' get us to talk wit' other races, it's wort' the trouble."