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[Arkon Sarain]

Arkon smiles and laughs, "Oh my yes, the fakes here are absolutely amazing - honestly I have knowingly bought a fake more than once here, simply so as to pay the brilliant artist who made it so believable." His smile still there as they walk on.

Seeing Lunarisse approach Arkon bows respectfully and rises with his characteristic genial face, features resting gently and easily, blue eyes regarding Lunarisse happily.

"A pleasure to run into you Ms. Daphiti, I trust you know Ms. Jenneth here..." A hand gracefully indicates Aria, "... I promised her a tour of Dam-Torsad."

[Lunarisse Aspenstar]

Lunarisse smiles lightly.   

"Thank you Doctor being such a gracious host for Ms. Jenneth. "

She gives Aria a glance.

"So what do you think of our grand City so far?"

[Aria Jenneth]

Aria bows, formally.

"It ... probably goes without saying that it is a beautiful city, Praefecta...."

She thinks for a moment.

"It's lively-- as lively as I could have expected, and maybe a little more so. But, I also feel like I could have visited a thousand years ago, and it would have been almost exactly the same. Maybe the prayer drones would have had different designs, and a few buildings would have changed, but...." She lifts her eyes towards the tops of the buildings around them. "It seems ageless.... As permanent as the sky."

Again she pauses, considering.

"Of course, probably a lot of work goes into giving that impression."

[Lunarisse Aspenstar]

Lunarisse, twitches slightly, keeping her face composed under the watchful eye of the MIO agents. 

"I am sure, as always, the Empire's efforts are unceasing."

She adds in a more relaxed tone "You can find everything here, can't you?  There's all sorts of places to eat and things to buy.  I even can find antique books here.  Why, I almost came home with a miniature slaver hound pup. They were so adorable!  Have you found anything interesting to buy?"

[Aria Jenneth]

Aria's eyebrow quirks upward at the topic shift, and at her superior's discomfort. Her eyes flick around the area-- to Arkon, to the crowds and prayer drones ... and alight on the MIO officers. Barely perceptibly, those eyes narrow, but she immediately turns back to the Praefecta.

"I hadn't thought of buying yet, Praefecta. There's so much to see! ... and I do prefer to travel light."

Given her complete lack of personal luggage, a handbag, or even pockets, that seems to be an understatement.

In the background, her personal data system receives new orders. The data it once simply observed, it now actively sifts, searching through duties and behaviors of the MIO, hunting for some exploitable priority. Nonlethal, untraceable, minimally disruptive, and ideally of no concern to anyone but the MIO....

A fit of unlicensed pamphleteering in the Torsad-Laur District, perhaps?

You were a minor distraction, gentlemen, but now you're in the way. Don't you have somewhere better to be?

If not, I may just have to make a place like that.

[Arkon Sarain]

Arkon happily lets the conversation pass him by for the most part, listening and nodding politely but not saying anything. Instead taking the time to look around them for himself: and smile at the parent ushering a child away from a stall; or to chuckle at the dodgy stall owner try to sell something for far more than it was worth; in short to generally appreciate the life about him.

It always struck Arkon as being particularly strange that outsiders would accuse the Amarr Empire, and Dam-Torsad in particular, of feeling more like a mausoleum than a living breathing city. It was unthinkable to him, one only had to turn a corner and find themselves confronted with the multiplicity of beauties in God's creation! From the grand cathedrals to the humble homes of commoners or slaves there was a sense of grandness to it all... a feeling of immensity that he always found lacking in other cities in other nations.

He smiled at his thoughts and sighed a little contentedly before being pulled back to the conversation at hand.

"A slaver hound Ms. Daphiti? Oh! One of those miniature breeds, I have heard they are quite popular." Looking down at Aria he adds, "Please by all means if you see something you like I will be happy to have it sent on to you." A cheerful look around as he considers perhaps there are some things he needs too... a chuckle at himself as his blue eyes cast about.

[Lunarisse Aspenstar]

Lunarisse says in a friendly voice to Aria. "Well do take your time. There is much to see." 

Inclining her head towards Arkon, she asks "Have the two of you thought of going to the Hedion University Campus? There is even a menagerie there, I hear."

[Arkon Sarain]

Smiles and nods at Luna, "I had thought of it yes, being a Hedion man myself it would almost be remiss not to!" A happy little chuckle, and he waves off another hawker of wares that had begun to circle them. "Perhaps you would care to accompany us? I am sure Ms. Jenneth would appreciate another take on the sights we see on our way... one that maybe is quite so boring as my own."

The MIO men still attentively watch over the group, but Arkon seems entirely unfazed by their presence. His manners, conversation, and tone having no discernible difference.

"Truth be told though I hadn't planned out a specific route..." He looks around them as the constant bustle in the narrow street flows around them like a river around a stone. A hand extends out indicating for them to walk on, "Shall we walk and talk?"

[Aria Jenneth]

"Do let's...."

She moves as Arkon indicates, her pace reduced to a gentle stroll, listening to the two Amarr converse as she absorbs her surroundings.

[Lunarisse Aspenstar]

"Sure. I have a little extra time before I need to catch my shuttle"  Lunarisse responds to Arkon. 

She joins them in their stroll.  Her eyes glance along the stalls as they walk; She is perusing the merchandise.
 

[Arkon Sarain]

"Wonderful." He beams and seems quite cheerful.

Walks slowly along with the two ladies, leading them through the winding and narrow paths of the Cauldron. He remains mostly silent, but not uncomfortably so simply enjoying immensely the atmosphere.

Eventually the smells and the claustrophobia begins to dissipate signalling their next stop on Arkon's little unplanned tour.

[Aria Jenneth]

Aria walks quietly for the moment. Her eyes linger on the entrances of alleyways, but for now she seems content to move where Arkon indicates, simply drinking in her surroundings as she goes.

[Lyn Farel]

As much as they progress through the district, they can see their surroundings slowly changing and evolving. The old brick buildings make way to newer concrete and polymer, higher constructions. Amarrian archways and spires glistening with fullerene electronic coatings tower above them, and the floor suddenly vanishes in favour of an overlapping network of walkways and strangely quiet motorways.

All the frontages start to harbor neon signs and various other adds that oddly contrast with the rest of the austere, yet grandiose city. But those alien looking discrepancies aside, the local architecture keeps its underlying majesty under which the average passerby can only feel tiny in comparison. The streets soon turn into convoluted covered mazes arranged over countless levels contributing to an general impression of verticality flowing along every spire and tower, as if trying to reach for the arid looking sky.

The local fauna also dramatically changes.  In the subdued light that still manages to light up the whole district and not totally foreign to the former atmosphere encountered in the Torsad-Laur bazaar, street sellers and various modern looking establishments contribute to form a hectic aura where most people busy themselves into various transactions or negotiations, most of the time about high tech or foreign products.

Establishments seem to offer plenty of services like virtual reality, bars, or even jacked-in scripture experiences gathering people together to share their faith and passion through collective VR communion, accompanied by a few dozens of khanid tech stores and stalls.

This is one of the various Amarrian concessions to the accelerating development of progress and a testimony to the Amarr pervasive interstellar society.

[Aria Jenneth]

Aria stops, staring open-mouthed at the soaring towers.

"Is that ... Sleeper technology?"

[Arkon Sarain]

Arkon smiles as he looks up at the great towers which the Cauldron had emptied them out at the feet of. He looks over at Luna and nods at Aria's reaction - it is not an unexpected one, after all people imagine the Empire to be a static and immobile behemoth whereas the reality was something different.

"I believe some of the elements of the technology are reverse engineered from Sleeper tech yes, I am not however an expert on such matters."

The small group soon find themselves at the base of one the VR communion churches, the neon lights illuminating them and reflecting sharply off of the ground.