Rust and Water: Part One - Tortured Skyline

Part One: Tortured Skyline Herro-7 had always found long in-atmosphere flights tedious. In the past several different methods had been attempted to keep his mind occupied, but his ghost didn’t know many riddles and he got motion sick if he tried in-flight reading. Was never much of a reader anyway, but there was only so much cloud-watching an EXO could take. So he generally dozed instead. With a stretch and yawn he glanced out the view screen at …clouds, before warily eyeing the array of instruments blinking busily in Needle and Thread’s cramped cockpit. After a minute of pretending to know what he was looking at he finally gave up trying to figure out where they had ended up and fixed his bright blue optics on his ghost. “Are we there yet?” He asked plaintively. “Nearly.” His Ghost replied absently, mind on other things. “How close is ‘nearly’, Ghosty?” Herro’s ghost shot him a nasty look. He had never appreciated his nickname, no matter how affectionately given. “We’re almost there.” “How close is…” “Do you want me to turn this ship around?” The irritated ghost interrupted. “Is that an option?” The EXO asked hopefully. “No.” Herro slumped back in his seat, pouting. A glance out the window provided yet another view of endless clouds. “I still don’t get why we’re doing this.” He sighed. “We’re doing this because Cayde asked us to.” The ghost replied, the patience in his voice proving that he had managed to regain his equilibrium. Herro stretched again, feeling something click into its proper place when he rolled his shoulder. He wanted to press further but knew from experience that the more he managed to tick off his ghost the more the smooth ride of his ship would begin to deteriorate. One would think that whoever had designed the EXO would have been able to program out motion sickness, but noooo… Fingers drumming against the interior hull, Herro looked at his own faint reflection in the window. Anything was better than a constant view of clouds, and he had to admit his own sleek chassis was a distinct improvement. The Needle and Thread banked sharply before her pointed prow sliced earth-ward. The clouds parted and Herro leaned forward in his seat, suddenly a lot more interested. Not in the vast expanse of water stretching out uncomfortably close to the hull of his ship. Instead what caught his gaze was the blight fast approaching on the horizon, dark and jagged, wreathed in fog and wild overgrowth. “That’s…” “Big? Dark? Kinda Scary?” Herro suggested. Ghosty ignored his guardian. “Old Chicago.” “I was going to say that next.” “Scanning for a good place to transmat.” Ghosty continued. Herro, looking at the looming maw of water and jagged metal, shuddered before suggesting hopefully, “Shouldn’t we fly over a few more times? Y’know, scout it out from the air? Get the lay of the land?” “I don’t see any land.” The ghost turned to fix his guardian with a weather eye. Herro tried to look innocent. “You really don’t want to go down there, do you?” Herro gestured to himself. “EXO.” Pointed down, “Water.” He paused for effect before making a ‘you see?’ gesture. “The two don’t exactly mix well.” It never failed to unnerve the EXO when his ghost stared at him and gave a long, slow blink. “Fine.” He muttered. “But you get to pay for the detailing when I have to haul my rusty ass into the shop.” --- Part 2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/226460748/0/0 Table of Contents: https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/226526566/0/0