Post by Griffinkeeper on Feb 9, 2013 15:59:20 GMT -5
Originally posted September 3, 2011
Chapter 2:
YWS Station was constructed in a logical manner. The station itself was spherical in nature. At the center of the station was it’s power generator. Surrounding the power generator were layers of shielding, and station systems, including shielding, water-treatment, life support, and hydroponic stations for food production. These systems made up the bulk of the inner core. The last layer before living quarters were the computer systems, where the YWS servers were kept. The living quarters were relatively shallow compared to the station itself. The deeper levels were reserved for those who wanted solitude, the closer one got to space, the busier it got.
On the very outside of the station was a thick layer of armor plating and shielding, with gigantic doors which could admit entire starships into the station. Immediately inside the armored shell was the Welcome forum, where the docks were located. It was into this area that the YWS Celeste entered.
The Celeste moved toward the dock and fired her forward thrusters, slowing the ship down to a crawl. The Celeste slid into her moorings. As it did, large plunger extended from the mooring, connecting to hard points on the ship. They acted as giant springs, absorbing the kinetic energy of the ship, until it stopped completely. After this, a bridge extended from the forum, and connected to the Celeste’s airlock. With the connection established, passengers began disembarking.
Jabber Hut watched the Celeste dock from the forum. She was dressed in the dark green uniform of a moderator. It was one of Stella’s suits and it was magnificent. Not only was it stylish, but it was also completely functional. There was a perfect pocket for everything. There was a pocket for Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style,” there were pockets for memo-pads, and there was even small pockets for her red pens. Not a single detail had been missed in its construction.
Jabber wasn’t alone. Around her were the Jr. Moderators of the fiction crew. There was Calligraphy, Lauren2010, Lava, Master Yoda, Mia Paramore, Shearwater, Twit, and xDudettex. They wore similarly styled uniforms, the primary difference being the bright green color.
Normally it was unusual to see so many Moderators in such close proximity. They were there because there had been a recent decline in greeting. Jabber had volunteered her crew to lead by example. Jabber was very proud that her crew had come. She turned toward her crew, and frowned.
“We’re at the wrong dock. They docked the YWS Celeste in Dock 13 instead of Dock 14,” she said. She looked over the Jr. Moderators as they began walking over toward the dock and frowned. Something was missing. She reached her hand down for her memo-pad to look and see if she had written down a reminder. Her hand rested on the professional stitching and stopped.
“Where’s Stella?” Jabber asked.
************************************************
Deep inside the SPEW Princess, Stella was utterly focused on the task in front of her. Moments before she could leave her ship, Snoink had arrived with an emergency situation. The patient had been severely injured and needed to be sewn up immediately. Stella had immediately taken Snoink and the patient inside the Princess where her workshop was. Clothes, yarn, cloth, and thread all seemed to spill out over the entire room. Stella took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, before she began the delicate eye surgery on her patient. Snoink squealed in horror and covered her eyes.
“Ssshh,” Stella said quietly. She moved her needle and thread with the skill of a surgeon, stitching the eye with incredible accuracy, speed, and dexterity. The first eye was stitched into place.
“Stitching the second eye,” she said calmly. Snoink moved a finger over to peek, then turned away with a stifled cry. Stella barely noticed it, engrossed as she was with her work.
“Almost done, the nose is all that’s left,” Stella said confidently. She finished the last stitches and tied a discrete knot, before cutting the excess thread.
“There, all done,” Stella said. She held up the patient: a large brown teddy bear. On his face were shiny button eyes and a cute button nose.
“Beary!” Snoink squealed with delight and gave the stuffed animal a bear hug. Stella smiled and began putting her tools away. Shortly, Snoink turned to Stella.
“Thank you so much!” Snoink said, giving her a hug.
“You’re most welcome!” Stella replied.
“How can I reward you? Would you like points, reviews, or something else?” Snoink asked.
“How about all three? I’ve written some new work that could use reviewing. After that, you can give me a couple hundred points. But in the short term, perhaps you can answer a question that’s always bugged me.”
“What kind of question?” Snoink asked.
“It’s about Grif…”
“He’s single,” Snoink said automatically.
“What? Oh, that wasn’t my question at all!”
“Really?”
“No, I was going to ask about something entirely different. Do a lot of people ask you about that kind of thing?” Stella asked.
“You’d be surprised at some of the weird questions people ask me. What was yours?”
“I’m sorry. When I first was looking through the Jr. Moderator forums, I noticed that all the various moderators had their crews and responsibilities, but Grif didn’t have anything listed at all. I was wondering if you knew what he does?” Stella asked. Snoink thought about it for a moment.
“I honestly don’t remember,” Snoink said finally. “Something about a top secret something or other.”
********************************
Griffinkeeper is one of YWS’s most enigmatic personalities. This is not to say that he is unknown, for few figures are better known that the Moderators of YWS. It also isn’t the case that no information exists on him, for there is a great deal of this as well.
However, just because one has a lot of information doesn’t mean that the information is useful or accurate. Such was the case for Grif. Many claimed to know Grif, but in truth, the majority of them only knew rumors of Grif. No one could tell if his achievements were actual or exaggerated.
There were many stories too. Grif had gone swimming with sea turtles, communicated with Mountain Goats, and had developed a device with unimaginable power. Some say that Grif never got ill, while others said that when he did get ill, Doctor Who would make a house call. It was rumored that, while transporting contestants to the Mr. And Miss Universe contest, each contestant attempted to seduce Grif, only to be turned down politely each time.
The few details that were known about Grif were trivial. He was a handsome young man. His skin was pale and while he was fit, he was by no means a physical person. He wore the uniform of a YWS Moderator, but with construction orange stitching instead of the traditional forest green. He was also the Captain of the SPEW Gryphon, a ship which had as many rumors about it as her Captain.
This was where Grif was now. The bridge of the Gryphon was a spherical room. Along the walls of the sphere were computer displays, superimposed on a visual display of the world outside. It was like being in a glass elevator. Grif could look in every direction and see through the ship to the outside. A flashing red display popped into existence at eye level.
“Interesting,” Grif said. “Adelaide, can you explain why all four of our fusion coils just happened to burn out simultaneously?”
“I was making some adjustments to the reactor when a power fluctuation occurred, burning out the fusion coils. I’ve begun the necessary repair work, but it will be some time before they are back online,” Adelaide replied.
“How unfortunate. This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with this invitation I just received from Rydia, inviting me to dinner?” Grif asked narrowly.
“I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with that,” Adelaide assured him. “Are you going to go?”
“How long until we can bring the fusion coils online?” Grif growled.
“Getting all of them back online will take two days. It’s shipyard work,” Adelaide said.
“It had better not be, Ms. Adelaide. Fusion coils are very expensive and if there is an emergency, we’ll be stuck. So, for both our sakes, I hope that when you run a more advanced diagnostic, you will discover a simple fix which will save us a lot of time and money,” Grif said coldly.
“I’ll run the diagnostic, but it will take a few hours. I think that I’ll have something for you after you finish dining with Rydia. You were planning on keeping that engagement?” Adelaide said.
“Why not?” Grif shrugged. “I’ll meet her after I finish my business with Areida. I take it that she’s in the library?”
“How did you know?” Adelaide asked.
“Just a hunch,” Grif said with a wink.
**********************************************
The last passengers were leaving the YWS Celeste when Jabber finally caught sight of Stella. Jabber approached her from behind and grabbed her shoulder.
“Stella! Where have you been?” Jabber said. Stella turned around, but it wasn’t Stella. Instead, it was one of the passengers. The passenger was about the same height as the Jr. Moderator. Now Jabber saw that the uniform clearly lacked the precision stitching and professional trim of Stella’s uniform. The member even wore a mask that bore a likeness to her. It was disconcerting, not because it was grotesque, but because the eyes behind the mask seemed lifeless. Jabber recoiled her hand from the shoulder.
“Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Let me know if you have any questions about the site, or if you have stories you want reviewed,” Jabber said to the member. The fake Stella nodded silently and departed toward a group of similarly dressed fans.
Jabber thought it was weird, but then again weird was the modus operandi of YWS.
Chapter 2:
YWS Station was constructed in a logical manner. The station itself was spherical in nature. At the center of the station was it’s power generator. Surrounding the power generator were layers of shielding, and station systems, including shielding, water-treatment, life support, and hydroponic stations for food production. These systems made up the bulk of the inner core. The last layer before living quarters were the computer systems, where the YWS servers were kept. The living quarters were relatively shallow compared to the station itself. The deeper levels were reserved for those who wanted solitude, the closer one got to space, the busier it got.
On the very outside of the station was a thick layer of armor plating and shielding, with gigantic doors which could admit entire starships into the station. Immediately inside the armored shell was the Welcome forum, where the docks were located. It was into this area that the YWS Celeste entered.
The Celeste moved toward the dock and fired her forward thrusters, slowing the ship down to a crawl. The Celeste slid into her moorings. As it did, large plunger extended from the mooring, connecting to hard points on the ship. They acted as giant springs, absorbing the kinetic energy of the ship, until it stopped completely. After this, a bridge extended from the forum, and connected to the Celeste’s airlock. With the connection established, passengers began disembarking.
Jabber Hut watched the Celeste dock from the forum. She was dressed in the dark green uniform of a moderator. It was one of Stella’s suits and it was magnificent. Not only was it stylish, but it was also completely functional. There was a perfect pocket for everything. There was a pocket for Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style,” there were pockets for memo-pads, and there was even small pockets for her red pens. Not a single detail had been missed in its construction.
Jabber wasn’t alone. Around her were the Jr. Moderators of the fiction crew. There was Calligraphy, Lauren2010, Lava, Master Yoda, Mia Paramore, Shearwater, Twit, and xDudettex. They wore similarly styled uniforms, the primary difference being the bright green color.
Normally it was unusual to see so many Moderators in such close proximity. They were there because there had been a recent decline in greeting. Jabber had volunteered her crew to lead by example. Jabber was very proud that her crew had come. She turned toward her crew, and frowned.
“We’re at the wrong dock. They docked the YWS Celeste in Dock 13 instead of Dock 14,” she said. She looked over the Jr. Moderators as they began walking over toward the dock and frowned. Something was missing. She reached her hand down for her memo-pad to look and see if she had written down a reminder. Her hand rested on the professional stitching and stopped.
“Where’s Stella?” Jabber asked.
************************************************
Deep inside the SPEW Princess, Stella was utterly focused on the task in front of her. Moments before she could leave her ship, Snoink had arrived with an emergency situation. The patient had been severely injured and needed to be sewn up immediately. Stella had immediately taken Snoink and the patient inside the Princess where her workshop was. Clothes, yarn, cloth, and thread all seemed to spill out over the entire room. Stella took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, before she began the delicate eye surgery on her patient. Snoink squealed in horror and covered her eyes.
“Ssshh,” Stella said quietly. She moved her needle and thread with the skill of a surgeon, stitching the eye with incredible accuracy, speed, and dexterity. The first eye was stitched into place.
“Stitching the second eye,” she said calmly. Snoink moved a finger over to peek, then turned away with a stifled cry. Stella barely noticed it, engrossed as she was with her work.
“Almost done, the nose is all that’s left,” Stella said confidently. She finished the last stitches and tied a discrete knot, before cutting the excess thread.
“There, all done,” Stella said. She held up the patient: a large brown teddy bear. On his face were shiny button eyes and a cute button nose.
“Beary!” Snoink squealed with delight and gave the stuffed animal a bear hug. Stella smiled and began putting her tools away. Shortly, Snoink turned to Stella.
“Thank you so much!” Snoink said, giving her a hug.
“You’re most welcome!” Stella replied.
“How can I reward you? Would you like points, reviews, or something else?” Snoink asked.
“How about all three? I’ve written some new work that could use reviewing. After that, you can give me a couple hundred points. But in the short term, perhaps you can answer a question that’s always bugged me.”
“What kind of question?” Snoink asked.
“It’s about Grif…”
“He’s single,” Snoink said automatically.
“What? Oh, that wasn’t my question at all!”
“Really?”
“No, I was going to ask about something entirely different. Do a lot of people ask you about that kind of thing?” Stella asked.
“You’d be surprised at some of the weird questions people ask me. What was yours?”
“I’m sorry. When I first was looking through the Jr. Moderator forums, I noticed that all the various moderators had their crews and responsibilities, but Grif didn’t have anything listed at all. I was wondering if you knew what he does?” Stella asked. Snoink thought about it for a moment.
“I honestly don’t remember,” Snoink said finally. “Something about a top secret something or other.”
********************************
Griffinkeeper is one of YWS’s most enigmatic personalities. This is not to say that he is unknown, for few figures are better known that the Moderators of YWS. It also isn’t the case that no information exists on him, for there is a great deal of this as well.
However, just because one has a lot of information doesn’t mean that the information is useful or accurate. Such was the case for Grif. Many claimed to know Grif, but in truth, the majority of them only knew rumors of Grif. No one could tell if his achievements were actual or exaggerated.
There were many stories too. Grif had gone swimming with sea turtles, communicated with Mountain Goats, and had developed a device with unimaginable power. Some say that Grif never got ill, while others said that when he did get ill, Doctor Who would make a house call. It was rumored that, while transporting contestants to the Mr. And Miss Universe contest, each contestant attempted to seduce Grif, only to be turned down politely each time.
The few details that were known about Grif were trivial. He was a handsome young man. His skin was pale and while he was fit, he was by no means a physical person. He wore the uniform of a YWS Moderator, but with construction orange stitching instead of the traditional forest green. He was also the Captain of the SPEW Gryphon, a ship which had as many rumors about it as her Captain.
This was where Grif was now. The bridge of the Gryphon was a spherical room. Along the walls of the sphere were computer displays, superimposed on a visual display of the world outside. It was like being in a glass elevator. Grif could look in every direction and see through the ship to the outside. A flashing red display popped into existence at eye level.
“Interesting,” Grif said. “Adelaide, can you explain why all four of our fusion coils just happened to burn out simultaneously?”
“I was making some adjustments to the reactor when a power fluctuation occurred, burning out the fusion coils. I’ve begun the necessary repair work, but it will be some time before they are back online,” Adelaide replied.
“How unfortunate. This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with this invitation I just received from Rydia, inviting me to dinner?” Grif asked narrowly.
“I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with that,” Adelaide assured him. “Are you going to go?”
“How long until we can bring the fusion coils online?” Grif growled.
“Getting all of them back online will take two days. It’s shipyard work,” Adelaide said.
“It had better not be, Ms. Adelaide. Fusion coils are very expensive and if there is an emergency, we’ll be stuck. So, for both our sakes, I hope that when you run a more advanced diagnostic, you will discover a simple fix which will save us a lot of time and money,” Grif said coldly.
“I’ll run the diagnostic, but it will take a few hours. I think that I’ll have something for you after you finish dining with Rydia. You were planning on keeping that engagement?” Adelaide said.
“Why not?” Grif shrugged. “I’ll meet her after I finish my business with Areida. I take it that she’s in the library?”
“How did you know?” Adelaide asked.
“Just a hunch,” Grif said with a wink.
**********************************************
The last passengers were leaving the YWS Celeste when Jabber finally caught sight of Stella. Jabber approached her from behind and grabbed her shoulder.
“Stella! Where have you been?” Jabber said. Stella turned around, but it wasn’t Stella. Instead, it was one of the passengers. The passenger was about the same height as the Jr. Moderator. Now Jabber saw that the uniform clearly lacked the precision stitching and professional trim of Stella’s uniform. The member even wore a mask that bore a likeness to her. It was disconcerting, not because it was grotesque, but because the eyes behind the mask seemed lifeless. Jabber recoiled her hand from the shoulder.
“Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Let me know if you have any questions about the site, or if you have stories you want reviewed,” Jabber said to the member. The fake Stella nodded silently and departed toward a group of similarly dressed fans.
Jabber thought it was weird, but then again weird was the modus operandi of YWS.