Snow Day

My breath made small puffs in the cold air, the snow on the ground had been a bit unexpected, however I hadn't been in here for a couple days due to my studying of Klatvix history. I remember explaining at one time to them what exactly an igloo was, but I didn't expect them to actually make one. They had spent the better part of a day in mounding up the snow just so they could carve it out into a place to sit in and stay warm, it would have, of course, been easier for Niracina just to choose a warmer season for this world but she wanted to experience this and Ambri had agreed to it, being curious enough about it to give it a try. As I crawled through the opening I could feel the warmth that the structure was holding in, I knew they had some sort of device in there giving them more heat than what their bodies were producing. Once inside I was warmly greeted by two smiling faces, they were both dressed warmly and seemed to be enjoying the experience. They were both drinking some tea and as I sat down they offered some to me. As I took my first sip I considered how I would relate what I had learned to them, Niracina had not taken any interest in the historical information and had kept it isolated from her main database which meant she had no idea what I had learned. As I felt the warm tea make its way down through my body I took a breath and started from the beginning.

I knew it was difficult information for them to take in, but it gave them a desire to go and see the planet as well. We changed our course so that we could see what became of the Tirtris world, it would be much closer than the next cube anyway. The rest of the time in the virtual world was spent talking to them, figuring out what they had been up to without me. It turned out I didn't miss too much, they had been discussing this snow substance and the igloo and how comfortable it actually was once you finished it, however they would soon be ready for some warmer weather again, they both preferred the sun a lot more. Before I let Niracina do that, however, I wanted to show them some other features of snow, things I hadn't explained to them yet. So we spent about an hour outside the igloo playing, making snow angels, or at least that's what they finally called them once I explained what an angel was and pointed out the shape we made in the snow. We also created snowcreatures, mine was the most traditional looking. Then there was the snowball fight, I have to say that Niracina was a pretty good shot, hardly ever missing her target. When that was done and we were worn out Ambri and I left the world so that Niracina could change the season, being in there when it was changed was just a strange experience, so it was always best for us to leave.

Back in the ship was a much different feeling, we found more and more that we enjoyed actually being able to talk with Niracina face to face instead of through the interfaces she had constructed. She did her best to make it more like the virtual world, even going to far as to modify and grow Nasero's holographic projection, but it just wasn't quite the same. We knew it was hard on her too, she much preferred being able to touch and feel things and interact on a more personal level, but she knew that we had to live outside of her world as well. We were nearing the planet and would soon see what had become of it, our systems were much faster than theirs were back when this all began. As the planet came into view, with its lifeless, dull look, I had Niracina deploy a probe to scan the planet and explore its surface, if possible I would actually step onto the planet and explore it first hand.