“Hey, don’t sweat it, stations freak me out too.” The Aeros girl sitting across the table from Aishe said conspiratorially. “No sky!”
“Wh-- Who are you?” The blue-eyes of the youth dropped from the picture window looking out over the interior of Blue Heaven to the winged person who had taken a seat in front of her.
“I’m Miiya Aether!” The girl chirped. “And, before you ask, yes, these are real.” She louvered the feathers on both wings. “And, also yep, I can fly in up to one-and-a-half gee’s.” She grimaced apologetically. “Sorry, I can’t carry you, though, except maybe in quarter-gee or lower, but you can pretty much fly on your own, then.” The grimace became a grin again. “I’m an Aeros. Ever seen one of us before?” Be fore Aishe could reply the girl went on, “I’m human, like you, this is just a gene edit I inherited. You could get it done too, but then you and I would both get fired. Haha.”
“Because I’m a…” Aishe made the connection immediately, but was cut-off by Miiya once more.
“Yardstick! Haha, they tell us not to use that term, but you might as well get used to it.” The winged girl bubbled. “Yeah, you’re a pureblood… um… ugh hair?” Miiya ventured, looking down at the tablet in front of her.
“Ughyr” Aishe corrected, possibly for the hundredth time since she had left Urumqi. “From Xinjiang.” When Miiya’s eyes crossed a little, she added: “Asia? …on Earth? …Terra?”
“Oh yeah!” Miiya jerked a thumb over her shoulder, as if indicating the actual direction toward Terra. “That one! All yardsticks come from Terra.” At least that’s what her materials had said. “Well, I am your Personal Youth Ambassador. PYA. Miiya the Peeya.” She quirked an eyebrow, looking up and back. “Doesn’t sound all that flattering, actually.” The grin returned. It seemed to be her default expression. “I’m not sure why they call it “personal”, I have, like, five other kids assigned to me.”
Aishe was taken a little aback by the person before her referring to her as a “kid.” The winged girl seemed to be at least two years her junior. But maybe that was another mutation? Decreased ageing? Miiya had not stopped talking, and she did not seem inclined to do so anytime soon. Aishe had never known anyone so exuberantly loquacious, but there were many things off Terra that were new, some that she liked and some that she found disturbing. She decided that she liked this noisy, irreverent mutant.
So far, her experience as a ward of GeneCorp had been full of wonder, and this she--when able to get a word in edgewise--related to Miiya. Aishe had never been farther than Kashgar. While her village was ostensibly electrified and had a few network connections, they still relied on truly ancient tech like solar and solid-state batteries, cobbled onto practically-prehistoric stone, wood, and brick buildings. She knew of starships, cybernetics, Genetic Engineering, and off-world colonies in theory from teachers and the village tinker, but experiencing such a massive flood of tech firsthand all in the span of a few days had been a bit overwhelming.
“I know! That’s why I’m here! To help you adjust!” Miiya chirped. “Don’t worry, I’ve never lost a kid yet!”
Over the course of their meet-and-greet luncheon, Aishe learned not to take Miiya’s somewhat-unnerving proclamations too seriously. She also discovered that Aeros were voracious eaters. “H-how…?” She began, when her ‘mentor’ returned with a fifth plate piled high from the buffet.
“I know, right?” Miiya said around a mouthful of sandwich. “I used to think thmm wamf sumffn…” She swallowed. “...wrong with me, too, cuz I didn’t grow up around Aeros.” She cocked her head to the side in a dismissive gesture. “But, no, this is just the way we are. I’m REALLY different--and not just the wings. I can see a lot farther than you, my blood is thicker, my bones are lighter and more flexible, even my muscle tissue is different from yours under a microscope.” The Aeros girl was getting into her role now, genuinely excited about the talking points she had been encouraged to cover with her charge. “And there’s soooo many other edits out there; people who can see in ultraviolet, people who can live in high-radiation without medicine, miners, sailors, soldiers, swimmers, and flyers, like me!” She paused both talking and taking in food on the inhale for a moment. “And this program--you--make it all possible. GeneCorp helps other companies baseline their genetic engineering; keep us all in the same Genus--at least--and make sure we don’t edit in any mutations that could result in problematic hybrids.” She paused and took a swig of a fizzy orange drink. “Whoo. That was a lot, and I think I got it right. Essentially you’re here to make sure I don’t grow a beak and start laying eggs!” She amended: “Or my kids, someday, I guess.”
Apparently the only silences Aishe could expect were awkward ones, and that was what ensued. Miiya filled it by eating, Aisha was simply grateful for a moment’s peace.