Space AU Fragment

[forestofglory]

For several months I worked on a CQL space AU that I eventually decided not to finish. The problem was I had lot worldbuilding but no plot. I could have done a canon retelling but I just didn't feel like I had anything interesting to say with that. I did polish up a couple of pieces of it which are posted as The Other End of the Sky. But one of my favorite worldbuilding bits is just sitting in my draft folder, so I thought I'd share it here.

Finally they ease out of view of the remains of Lotus Pier, the curve of the planet hiding what is left of their home from view. JC lets out a long slow breath, and Wei Wuxian bounces to his feet saying. “Lets see what supplies we have.” He needs to be doing something other than sitting and waiting.

The shuttle, Yellow Bird, is mostly used for short trips between the station and the planet, and is not equipped for long travel. It’s a single small room, with a large window next to the controls. A small door across from the controls leads to the tiny bathroom. The dark teal floor of the shuttle is inlaid with thin lines of gold and silver that make up a complex array, which wraps around a small potted tree. This array powers both the artificial gravity, and the continued breathability of the air. The carefully channeled qi helps the ship stay small and light, unlike some of the lumbering imperial ships. The remaining space on the walls is outfitted with cabinets, and the barest of kitchens: a hot plate, a kettle, two small pots, and a tea set secured in a transparent case.

Yanli and Wei Wuxian start opening the cupboards, looking for supplies. The first one Wei Wuxian opens contains a small folding table and chairs. Disappointed, he opens another cupboard, and finds this one full of sea green packages with the purple lotus logo of Lotus Pier stamped on them. Suddenly, he’s fighting back tears. Lotus Pier is gone, and he doesn’t even know if anyone else made it out. The urge to drop to the floor, curl up in a ball, and cry for hours is strong, but he has to take care of his siblings now. So he takes a deep breath, wipes his eyes on his sleeve, hopefully where no one can see, and makes himself read the label on the packets.

He’s found the food. There are several boxes labeled mixed dim sum; meal packets with steamed fish or duck packed with vegetables and rice; several kinds of soup; picket lotus root; instant hot and dry noodles; a couple of types of sandwiches; three different kinds of burritos; and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. There's also packages of tea and a bag of uncooked rice. It’s more than enough food for a simple trip from the station to the planet, but luckily the station prefers to keep everything well stocked.

Behind Wei Wuxian, Yanli says, “Well, we have plenty of water, anyways.” She’s standing on the other side of the shuttle looking at a cupboard full of barrels of water.

“Don’t worry, Shijie, I found the food.” Wei Wuxian steps aside so she can see the cupboard behind him.

“Oh good, the other cupboards mostly have entertainment. I was starting to get worried. Let's all eat something so we don’t have to make a plan on an empty stomach.”

JC seems a bit reluctant to leave the controls, glancing at them anxiously as he sets up the small table and three chairs. Yanli takes down the tea set and starts making tea. Wei Wuxian opens the cupboard on the other side of the kitchen and finds bowls and chopsticks. He brings them to the table. Meanwhile Yanli leaves the tea to steep and opens up two packages of dim sum, and one of meals packs with duck, carefully giving the built-in talismanon each container just a spark of spiritual energy to heat them up. She places them on the table as Wei Wuxian is arranging his finds, and he sets each green and purple spolced bowl down with care.

The three of them sit down and eat, not talking much. Wei Wuxian is cramming an entire har gow into his mouth when the control panel chimes. JC puts the slice of duck he was about to take a bite of back in his bowl, and rushes over to the controls. Yanli sets down her tea cup and follows, so Wei Wuxian goes over as well, still chewing.

I just had lot of fun deciding what would be in the shuttle. I like my tree powered arrays. I loved thinking about the food here. I wanted it to reflect both the cultural diversity of setting and the ecology of Lotus Station. Culturally the setting is Han majority , but multicultural with lot of other groups present. In terms of ecology Lotus Station has lot of aquaponics and grows rice, fish, shrimp, duck and lotus. (And other things)

Comments

[theladyscribe]

Oh I love the visual of the tree in the middle of the little ship! What a fun and interesting way to power the gravity and provide oxygen. The food is making me hungry too - the sticky rice especially. Thanks for sharing this little bit!