Chapter 12 #2
Tou’siils were all about pursuing and collecting knowledge, after all.
It hardly mattered. Torian set her jaw, taking things into her own hands. She checked the registry—a fancy bulletin board on a metal stand in the lobby’s center—located the headmaster’s office, and climbed the marble staircase.
The air here was so dense, she wasn’t even winded when she reached the top.
Another fancy hallway stretched before her, lined with offices of various University staff. She proceeded to the end of it, where two double doors—also solid wood—were closed and locked. Torian hesitated, forming a fist to knock.
This was it. She had one chance to make this work.
But the second she lifted her hand, the door opened … and a tou’siil stepped out.
Holy shit, she really had just stumbled on one. What the fuck were the odds?
Torian had never seen a tou’siil up close, but this one was immediately recognizable.
Tou’siil were ancient aquatics, so her skin was closer to deep blue scales with an undertone of shimmering gold.
Although her general features were humanoid, that was where the similarities ended.
Below her flowy human skirt were webbed feet and an eel-like tail.
Fins folded against her ankles, and her ears and hands were also webbed.
Her eyes stopped Torian short, though. Her pupils were a thousand shades of blue, speckled and shining and iridescent, as captivating as the darkest reach of space. They were like nothing Torian had ever seen.
“Oh!” The tou’siil offered a bright smile. “Hello!”
Torian’s mouth was suddenly dry. Tou’siil were connected through an extensive hive mind, one that had access to generations of information meticulously stored on their home planet.
They were, essentially, the living equivalent of true artificial intelligence—something humans had only halfway been able to replicate.
Talking to a tou’siil for even a few minutes would cost more than Torian could save in a month.
She ducked her head and stepped aside. “I’m—I’m so sorry. I was only trying to see Headmaster Nuun.”
“What? You don’t have an appointment,” a man said gruffly from inside the office.
The tou’siil assessed her with those sparkly eyes. “No, I don’t recognize this human,” she said absently, like she wasn’t talking to anyone physically present. A pause, a tilt of her head. “You’re right. She must be a visitor. How curious.”
It dawned on Torian all at once: This alien was speaking to the tou’siil hive mind right now. Rumor had it that not only could tou’siil talk to their entire planet, but those planet-side could actually see the world through the emissary’s eyes.
The fact that thousands of tou’siil might be watching Torian was intimidating at best, terrifying at worst.
Torian fumbled for an answer, although whether she was addressing the headmaster in his office or the tou’siil in the doorway was unclear. “I’m a visitor, yes. F-from the colonies. Colony 13.”
The tou’siil bounced a bit on webbed toes. “From the colonies? You’re from a space station, and you found your way to Rhymarra?” She waved a hand, puffing a sigh. “Yes, yes, I’ll ask. Are you free for dinner? We have so many questions.”
It took Torian a moment to realize she’d fluidly switched from speaking with the hive to addressing Torian again. “Um—”
“No pressure, of course! And I don’t have to be connected.
” At once, the sparkle in her eyes faded, replacing galaxies with flat blue.
It was disconcerting, and made her look even stranger now.
She didn’t actually have pupils like most species; just empty cerulean.
“There. Just you and me now! I’m so curious to compare humans here versus there.
It’s my next stop, but obviously, Rhymarra alone might take me decades. Say you’ll have dinner with me?”
When a tou’siil requested your time, you agreed.
Period.
“It would be my honor,” Torian said, even as her pulse raced.
“So formal. Is that a colony cultural trait—”
“Apologies for interrupting.” Headmaster Nuun finally appeared at the doorway, crossing his arms.
He appeared casual, a bulky man with a short beard and thick glasses, but Torian’s heart leapt into her throat. She’d found him. After almost a decade of study and research, she was finally face-to-face with the one person who could give her access to the Rhymarran citizenship exams.
The one man who could determine her fate—and Celise’s alongside it.
Headmaster Nuun offered the tou’siil a pointed look. “Nasra, I’d hate to keep this colony visitor waiting.”
That name sounded vaguely familiar. Torian briefly recalled Zen mentioning someone with a similar name—or maybe she was misremembering. The odds of a draic knowing a tou’siil in the human solar system felt too random to entertain.
Nasra smiled, the sparkle instantly returning to her eyes. “You said she didn’t have an appointment.”
“I changed my mind. You have somewhere to be, I presume?”
“Always.” Nasra clasped Torian’s hands. Her fingers were long and vaguely slick. “I’ll find you tonight! Everyone says hi!”
“Everyone” was the entire tou’siil homeworld.
Torian offered a nervous wave. “Ah, okay. Looking forward to it.” Assuming they’d let her dock here that long. But … one day, right? Maybe she could manage it.
Dinner with a tou’siil. What a dream, she thought, starstruck.
Nasra waved and strolled down the hallway, her long tail swishing beneath the human skirt. The moment she was a few steps away, she began talking to herself again, chatting with the hive as she turned the corner and vanished from sight.
Okay. Don’t get distracted.
Setting her jaw and preparing to fight for two lives, Torian stepped into the headmaster’s office.