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coricatchthorne · 3 months ago

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Admissions 1.1: Cylus

Welcome to Europa University: Admissions! (for story level intro and content notes please see my introductory post :)

Thanks for being here, and I hope this story can bring you some queer joy in these strange and trying times!

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"I'm not saying we can't do this, Cylie. I'm saying you should have asked me."

Cynthia sprawled flat on one of the two narrow hotel beds, eyes closed and one pale hand picking at the corner of the white bedspread. She could have been mistaken for half-asleep. But to Cylus, the hurt and anger between her uninflected words could not have been louder if she'd shouted them.

He wished she would. Wished she'd fight him, like she was always ready to fight anyone who threatened them. But she wouldn't even spar with him when they were quarreling, and he knew better than to try and bait her.

So Cylus paced, looking away from his twin to stare through the window. The view should have been unexceptional, a straight look at the building across the street below. But even the simplest of Europa City's spires were polished to an icy sheen, and so he stared into a hall of urban mirrors: that building reflecting this one and back again, and again, and again.

Which was how it felt trying to talk to Cynthia sometimes.

"You said you didn't care where we went next. I thought you wanted to see Europa." She'd actually been excited when he'd told her their next destination.

Before, of course, he'd shared his reasons for coming here.

"I want a lot of things. A cat. A permanent address. Some decent tea." Behind him, an abrupt rustle of fabric suggested Cynthia's restlessness. "You could get me some, instead of telling me I agreed to something I didn't."

"I'm not—" Cylus gritted his teeth, turning back towards her. She'd rolled away from him, too-thin shoulders hunched beneath the disarray of her platinum hair. Guilt lanced through him; she never showed her back to anyone but him. "You could at least read the packets, just to see—" he gestured towards the table under the window where he'd set out the University's materials for prospective students, even as he realized she couldn't see him.

"It's Windfall, Cylie." Her voice could have been a wall. "I don't care how fancy their university is."

"That's why—" He paused. Breathed. "That's the point, Cyn. These IDs are the best we've ever had, and they're completely fresh. We have a chance to get inside them, and build a real history that no one will question. We can have lives, not just a series of jobs and shows. We can have somewhere to stay! And when we're ready, we can finally hit them back, from the inside—"

Cynthia sat up, a quick, fluid motion that left her facing him, legs folded under her as she claimed his gaze. "If the IDs are so good, we could go anywhere." Her fists balled in her lap, voice finally rising. "Getting into Windfall's special school won't change anything that matters. All it does is put us in danger."

"I wish you would just think—" He regretted the words as soon as he said them.

"Thinking's your job." Her eyes bored into him, bright periwinkle that matched his own. "Isn't it? That's why you brought us here without telling me why. You know I'll follow your lead, so you decided for both of us. And you're right." Her voice wavered. She turned away again, back ramrod straight as she clutched the bedspread. "So go figure out the next step of your grand plan."

"Cynthia—"

"I need a nap." With a precise kick, she levered herself under the covers, pulling them up with a snap and muffling her next words beneath synthetic down. "Leave me alone."

The city was beautiful, in a remote way. The materials he'd read on the passenger ship said the buildings' design was inspired by some of the first missions to Europa, which had found fields of glittering ice spikes. When Windfall took ownership of the world hundreds of years later—as part of their "charitable oceanic conservation mission", a naked public relations move that had won exorbitant but publicly unacknowledged trade concessions from Earth—they had modeled their city on those same striking vistas, reflected onto a much grander scale.

So as he walked along heated stone sidewalks, he was surrounded by tapering towers that could have been made of ice themselves. In reality they were some kind of flexible glass, able to withstand the tidal pull of Jupiter and its many other satellites without disruption. The low Europan gravity allowed for the buildings to reach dizzying heights; though the ground and interiors were kept at Earth-standard grav, just like any other civilized place in the Terran systems.

A group of what had to be university students stumbled past him, laughing and drunk. Rich, well dressed, carefree; like he and Cynthia should have been at this time in their lives, if the world had any justice in it. He could have picked any of their pockets without even making an effort. But the streetlamps all bore the visible eyes of cameras between fluted light fixtures, and the absence of visible security staff was its own statement. Wealthy people, in his experience, preferred their police forces unseen unless needed—but that didn't mean they weren't close to hand, ready to pounce on any perceived disturbance to their pristine streets.

And he wasn't here for that kind of theft. He'd brought them to Europa for exactly one thing, so they never had to steal or busk or beg ever again.

He turned, following a flash of dark greenery down a side street. Rich people also liked parks, and so did Cylus; chances were he could find somewhere to tuck mostly out of view of cameras and collect himself. Then he would find Cynthia some tea and pastries, and maybe by the time he got back she would have at least started to forgive him.

The park was small but pleasant. A steaming fountain radiated warmth from its center, surrounded by unfamiliar vegetation in well-maintained planters. After a short walk around the fountain to assess the likeliest sightlines for security cameras, he chose a bench set back beneath a scaly green bush. It wouldn't have been a safe place to sleep: European security must periodically patrol public places like this. But he could sit here undisturbed for a moment and try to center himself, get his bearings again.

Overhead, lightly obscured by the sheltering foliage, Jupiter loomed above the forest of towers, half-full and smaller than he'd expected from its prominence in the shipboard brochures. He'd thought it might fill half the sky, but he could block it from view by holding his fist a small distance from his face.

It was nevertheless dramatic, a hemisphere of swirling clouds mesmerizing enough that he resolved to remember them next time he was doing a hypnotic induction. They'd make a good visualization, especially here; he couldn't imagine living on Europa for any length of time without getting lost in them. The famous red spot was nowhere to be seen, but smaller vortices curled between bands of rust-orange and milky white. Sol was a distant spotlight low in the sky, beaming cool brilliance that cast long, wan shadows. Some other moon hung between it and Jupiter, a small silvery segment.

The dome between the city and the blackness beyond was a barely visible shimmer, protecting them from a bombardment of radiation and debris that Europa's thin atmosphere would do little to deflect. Or so the brochures had said. Cylus had read them over and over as Cynthia slept through the journey, distracting himself from dreading the exact conversation he'd just had.

He should have just told her. But he'd known she'd hate the idea, had thought that if they just made it here first, then maybe... His hands, unthinking, sought familiar shapes in his pockets and began to fidget, soothed by familiar motions and sounds.

He just needed a little more intel. The fake IDs they'd bought—years of carefully hoarded savings while they performed and pilfered and slept in cargo containers and unsanctioned ship-hull hideaways and portside squats—would be enough to apply to Windfall's elite university. They even came with academic histories and letters of recommendation and records of accomplishments appropriate to the privileged youths they would become. But he needed to know more about the application and interview process: not just what Windfall shared online, but what the experience was like from someone who'd been through it. It was there that his whole plan could founder. The wrong attitude, the wrong reference, the wrong word could ruin everything, and send them back on the run, their precious new identities misspent and worthless.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

Cylie's breath caught as he looked down to his hands. They were occupied, by pure, anxious habit, with two tactical-glass butterfly knives, halfway through a pattern of intricate folding and unfolding. Eyes darting up, he assessed his unexpected watchers. Another group of students, he guessed, half a dozen boys as drunk as the ones he'd passed earlier. The apparent leader, a tall white fellow with dim blond hair and new-looking clothes, had fixed him with an expression of suspicious interest.

There was no way these knives were street-legal here. He'd only gotten them through the layers of ship and port security with the benefit of long practice and their unusual materials. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Cynthia would never have made this kind of mistake.

He closed the knives with a snap, smiling broadly. "Why, just practicing some tricks! I'm a performer, you see."

"What, like the Masked Parade?" The tall boy moved closer, several others near behind him.

Cylus did not wince; no need to discuss his own history with the Parade. Most everyone knew of the traveling fleet of entertainers, which made it a convenient point of reference. "Yes, exactly."

"Huh. Show us something, then."

"Of course!" Stand back, he almost said; but that would be tantamount to admitting his weapons were real, and that seemed like a dangerous idea. So instead he opened his knives and did a quick, casual helix while remaining seated on the bench. Maybe a bit of nonchalant flash would convince them and put them off, though he wouldn't have placed a bet on it.

Most of the others looked at least a bit impressed; one, a short, soft-looking brown youth with sea-green hair, displayed open fascination, stepping closer even as the rest shifted back.

The leader didn't give ground either way, affecting boredom. "That all you've got?"

Cylie's thoughts raced, seizing and discarding ideas as he summoned his performer's smile. "Certainly not. Why, I've got some fantastic new tricks I've been meaning to try out with an audience member, actually. Would one of you like to volunteer?"

The short brown person stepped forward again. A boy, though Cylus would have guessed otherwise from his build alone. His gendermark earring had the same shape as Cylie's, an upward-pointed triangle with a circle encompassing the topmost point. But where Cylie's mark was a simple silver stud in the customary left lobe, this boy wore a dangling golden triangle crowned with a circular green gem. His eyes were the same bright color, wide and eager beneath a pair of fine golden spectacles. "I will!"

The leader rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you do that, Emile," he sneered, not bothering to disguise the disdain in his voice.

Anger smoldered. Cylus couldn't be angry with Cynthia; but he could feel whatever he wanted towards this smug young man. The sudden desire to see fear in his eyes sparked a dangerous hunger in Cylus' stomach.

He turned his attention to the soft youth—Emile—as the boy moved closer with a nervous smile. "Hi," he said, his voice a gentle alto. "How can I help?"

A little more intel... Cylus pushed extraneous thoughts away. Double checking for nearby cameras, he stood and met Emile's smile with his own, turning up the wattage until Emile's cheeks darkened with a blush. "All you have to do..." Cylus tucked one knife away and placed his empty hand on Emile's shoulder, positioning him between Cylie and the other boys. "Is stay very, very still..." Cylus unfolded his other knife with a weighty click, holding the point a careful distance in front of Emile's face. "And keep your eyes on this." The flush on Emile's cheeks spread down his neck; Cylus suppressed a sudden urge to press closer, to place his lips next to the boy's pierced ear and make his earring flutter. "Can you do that for me, Emile?"

"Yes," Emile exhaled. Several of the boys snickered. Emile remained unmoving, only the softest sigh suggesting that he'd heard them.

Cylie began to trick, rolling the knife open and closed, open and closed, around and above his hand, short tosses into the air; all a safe distance from Emile, but near enough that the other boys behind the blond-haired leader started exchanging glances.

"Now imagine, if you will," Cylus said, pulling from one of those inflight brochures, "That you are a cloud in the Jovian atmosphere. You are surrounded by ceaseless storms and shifting pressures, pushing and pulling you this way and that, this way and that..." He wove a slow-building cadence of words through the soft, rhythmic clicks of the tacglass knife as it folded and unfolded. His other hand gripped firm on Emile's shoulder, feeling its warmth against his palm. "Spiraling... swirling... ebbing and flowing... twisting and turning... at the mercy of the winds around you." His blade sped faster, ever faster; a whirlwind of glass to cover his rising panic. Why had he chosen this analogy? Everything he knew about Jupiter's atmosphere he'd learned less than forty-eight hours ago. But he was in it now; nothing for it but to keep his voice and blade in motion. "Cyclones, jet streams, ceaseless circulation..."

Emile's body relaxed under Cylus' hand on his shoulder. A glance at the rest of his audience found their eyes wide; falling, finally, under his spell. Even the leader was quiet, eyes fixed on the movement of Cylie's knife.

In an alchemic instant, Cylie's panic transmuted into confidence, the unshakeable certainty that had bluffed him through countless performances, and out from gunpoint more than once.

He had this. He had everything he needed right here.

"You find yourself pulled inward, into an oncoming storm. You are spun, swept, stretched, swallowed. You fall inward, ever inward, unable to resist." Faster. Faster. He usually used his knife trainers when working this fast. A single wrong motion and he'd lose a finger, along with everything else he was fighting for in this makeshift performance.

But he wasn't afraid. Exhilaration flooded him, adrenaline beating through his veins. He surrendered to his earlier impulse, shifting closer to Emile, the easier to keep him steady. Or to feel him. The boy's back pressed against his chest; a perfect fit. "And then, at the center of the storm, for a single instant, you are..." He leaned in, close enough to inhale Emile's scent: an understated botanical perfume whose elements he didn't recognize.

Brushing the shell of Emile's ear with his lips, he laced his whisper with command: "Still..."

Emile's breath stopped, his body perfectly motionless.

"Until—" Cylie's blade slashed.

Red erupted.

The group of boys staggered back, gasping and cursing, the blond boy nearly tripping over one of his fellows.

"You are lifted anew!" Cylie concluded with a showman's finality, using a flick of his knife-hand to swirl the red silk scarf he'd conjured during his false strike. "And the dance begins again!"

He'd intended to step out into a flourish, but Emile had slumped back against him, trembling. So instead he shifted sideways, sliding his empty hand from Emile's shoulder down to his waist, suddenly aware of soft curves beneath fine cloth. Bracing Emile's back, he guided the lad into bowing alongside him.

When Cylus straightened, Emile stayed bent.

Well, that was fine. Cylie dropped the red scarf across the back of the lad's neck, ends trailing long to either side, tracking the other boys' eyes as he reinforced the frightful illusion he'd evoked. "So! Who wants to volunteer for my next trick?" He beamed, locking gazes with the leader of the little pack.

"Nobody," the boy spat with unconvincing derision, still backing away. "We've got better things to do than humor some random Parade knock-off." As they retreated, Cylie's triumph and relief were soured by irritation: at the boy's jibe, but far more at his own receptiveness to it.

He clamped down on the knot of emotion. For all he knew, they might be off to report him to the nearest security officer, and he didn't want to have to stash his knives to avoid confiscation. It was time to be elsewhere.

His eyes flickered to Emile; still bowed and scarf-draped, knees trembling. "You can stand up now, you know," Cylus said, tucking his knife back up a sleeve. "And your friends left in a quite a rush. You might want to hurry if you're going to catch up."

"Oh," the boy said, straightening at last, cheeks still flushed dark. His speech was slow, still half-entranced. "They're not my friends. l mean, I don't think they are. I only just got here a couple days ago, we're all starting at the University, and my sister said I ought to make some friends. So I asked if I could go with them after convocation. But they weren't... Very nice."

Cylus reached out to reclaim his scarf, studying Emile's face as red silk slid free. The trace of melancholy that had marred Emile's dreamy expression smoothed, and a shiver passed through his body.

Interesting.

Cylie murmured something conciliatory and reached out, making to adjust Emile's outfit as though the scarf had tugged something awry. There wasn't much to straighten; just a small pair of lapels crowning a tight-buttoned vest that flared at the waist, panels angling down to his knees, over a billowy, cream-white shirt—real silk, judging by the feel.

Emile relaxed into the gesture, and Cylie took advantage of the opportunity to examine him more closely, fussing performatively with the rest of the outfit. The waves of his soft, sea green hair were shot through with deeper blues, expensively dyed or permacolored. His gold-and-emerald mark hung from a lobe still swollen, perhaps with recent piercing. His outfit complimented his hair, featuring similar blues and greens. Soft trousers with damask panels of green vines embroidered up the outsides were cuffed mid-calf to reveal tight, cream-colored stockings and tooled leather shoes. Besides the notable earring, he wore a wide bracelet studded with stones that Cylus recognized with a start as sapphires.

It was unlike any clothing he'd seen on Europa so far; or ever, really. It was archaic, and flamboyant, and it screamed of wealth and a sheltered upbringing.

There might be something more to gain here. He wished now that he'd changed into something besides his plain gray travel clothes; but Emile's expression held only guileless interest.

"Well, what a coincidence!" Cylus refreshed his smile, noting Emile's deepening flush with satisfaction and no little pleasure. "I'm looking to make some friends myself. Emile, was it? I'm Cylus, but my friends call me Cylie. Do you happen to know any good places where I could get a bite to eat?"

-----

Next chapter >

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holycityoflove · 6 months ago

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astrogeoguy · 7 years ago

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Bright Stars, a Comet You can Catch, and the Waxing Moon Tours the Night’s Sights!

(Above: A double shadow transit caused by Io and Europa will occur on Jupiter on Thursday, August 23, as shown here at 10:40 pm EDT. Only observers west of the Eastern time zone will be able to see both shadows.)

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from August 19th, 2018) by Chris Vaughan. (Feel free to pass this along to friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics.) I post these with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory, or another in your area, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

If you’d like me to bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanetarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together!

Public Events

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday evenings after dark, they offer free public viewing through their telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here.

On Tuesday, August 21, starting at 8:30 pm, the RASC Mississauga will host a free public star party at the Riverwood Conservancy. Details are here.

On Thursday, August 23 at 6 pm, adults can enjoy some alcohol with their science at Solar System Social at Burdock on Queen St. West. A panel of experts will discuss Who Deserves To Explore Space. Tickets and details are here.

On Friday, August 24, starting at 7 pm, the U of T AstroTour will present their planetarium show entitled Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Tickets and details are here.

If it’s sunny on Saturday morning, August 25 from 10 am to noon, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through special equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification.

The next RASC Public Event at the David Dunlap Observatory will be Speaker Night on Saturday, August 25. There will a lecture by an astronomer, space crafts, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 7:30 pm for an 8 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer questionnaire here. And to join RASC, visit this page.

A Binocular Comet

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner has been gradually brightening for some time because it is approaching Earth’s orbit. This week, you should be able to see the faint fuzzy greenish object in binoculars or a small telescope, if you can escape city lights - and especially after midnight when the bright moon has set. The comet is in the north-northeastern sky and heading downwards every night on a track that lies about a fist’s diameter (10°) to the left of the bright star Mirfak in Perseus (the Hero).

(Above: The path of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in the northeastern sky this week, shown here at 11 pm local time.)

The Moon and Planets

This week ends with next Sunday’s August full moon, known as the “Sturgeon Moon”, “Red Moon”, “Green Corn Moon”, and “Grain Moon”. This one always shines in or near the stars of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer) or Capricornus (the Sea-Goat), but you’ll be hard-pressed to see the dim stars in those modest constellations due to so much bright moonlight.

Full moons occur when the moon is at opposition, with Earth positioned between our natural satellite and the sun. Because of this, full moons always rise around sunset and set around sunrise. They are illuminated by vertically arriving sunlight, so nothing on the moon can cast a shadow when viewed from Earth. Moon phases can occur at any time of the day or night. This one occurs at 7:56 am Eastern Daylight time on Sunday morning, so the moon will appear a hair less than full on Saturday evening, and a hair less than full on Sunday evening, too. Binoculars or a telescope will reveal a narrow strip of shadowed terrain along the moon’s left (its western) edge on Saturday. That strip will shift over to the moon’s right (its eastern) edge on Sunday evening. To see the moon completely free of shadows, i.e., precisely full, you will need to look at it at the time I mentioned above.

Meanwhile, the moon will make a pretty sight in our evening sky all week long as it waxes fuller and slides eastward along its orbit. Tonight, it will be perched above the distinctive constellation of Scorpius (the Scorpion), about a fist’s diameter above that deadly creature’s heart, the bright reddish star Antares “Rival of Mars”.

In the southern sky after dusk on Monday, the waxing gibbous moon will sit 4 finger widths to the upper right of bright, yellowish Saturn. The two objects will easily fit within the field of binoculars. Over the course of the evening, the moon’s separation from the ringed planet will have noticeably decreased due to the moon’s eastward motion.

(Above: On Tuesday evening, August 21, as shown here at 11 pm local time, the moon will sit above the easy-to-see Teapot-shaped asterism of Sagittarius. Once the moon leaves the sky next week, look for the Milky Way’s “steam” rising from the spout.)

On Tuesday evening, the moon will shift to sit above the Teapot-shaped asterism of stars that form Sagittarius (the Archer). This informal star pattern features a flat bottom formed by the stars Ascella “Armpit” on the east and Kaus Australis “Southern Bow” on the west, a triangular pointed spout pointing west, marked by the star Alnasl “Arrowhead”, and a pointed lid marked by the star Kaus Borealis “Northern Bow”. The stars Nunki and Tau Sagittarii form its handle. The asterism reaches maximum height above the southern horizon around 10 pm local time, when it will look as if it’s serving its hot beverage –the Milky Way appearing to be the steam rising as the teapot pours its celestial brew. (To see the Milky Way’s “steam”, look next week when the moon has moved away.) I’ll post a sky chart here.

On Wednesday and Thursday evening respectively, the moon will hop from bright reddish Mars’ upper right to its upper left.

(Above: The early evening sky, shown here Sunday evening at 9 pm local time, features all the naked-eye planets - Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.)

Extremely bright Venus is descending the western early evening sky a little by little each day as its orbit begins to carry it back towards the sun. Tonight it will set at about 9:45 pm local time and a week from now that will move up to 8:30 pm. Meanwhile, the bright planet will appear to be approaching the bright star Spica in Virgo (the Maiden). The effect is caused by Earth’s motion carrying the entire sky westward faster than Venus is moving. They’ll “kiss” next week! In a small telescope, Venus’ disk will resemble a first quarter moon, half-lit on the sunward side (although your telescope might flip the view). The planet will also be growing larger in apparent diameter because it is travelling towards the Earth right now.

We only have a few more good weeks to enjoy Jupiter this year. This week, the very bright planet will appear in the southwestern sky soon after dusk, and then set in the west-southwest at about 11:15 pm local time. Tonight, Jupiter, which has been slowly shifting eastwards, will pass close above nearby bright star Zubenelgenubi, the brightest star in Libra (the Scales). From here out it will draw farther away every night. In binoculars, you’ll plainly see that Zubenelgenubi is a pair of stars. While you have the binoculars handy, see if you can see Jupiter’s four Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) flanking the planet.

From time to time, the small round black shadows cast by Jupiter’s four Galilean moons become visible in backyard telescopes as they cross (or transit) the planet’s disk. On Thursday, August 23, Io’s shadow will begin to transit at 10:02 pm EDT. Europa’s shadow will join Io’s at 10:58, just as Jupiter is setting in the Eastern time zone, but observers in the west can watch the event. A reasonable backyard telescope will show the black shadows, but a very good telescope is needed to see the moons themselves. More shadow transits are available in other time zones around the world, including some double shadow ones.

The Great Red Spot (or GRS, for short) takes about three hours to cross Jupiter’s disk. But the planet’s 10-hour rotation period (i.e., its day) means that the spot is only observable from Earth every 2-3 nights. If you’d like to see the GRS, use a medium-sized telescope (or larger). You’ll have your best luck on evenings with steady air – when the stars are not twinkling too much. Try to look within an hour before or after the following times: Sunday, August 19 at 9:46 pm and Friday, August 24 at 8:56 pm. All times are given in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), so adjust for your local time zone.

Around 8:40 pm local time, when the first bright stars appear overhead, medium-bright Saturn will appear not too high up the darkening southern sky. The yellow-tinted planet will reach its highest elevation of about 2 fist diameters above the southern horizon at around 9:30 pm, and then descend to set in the west at about 2 am local time. This summer, the ringed planet has been 4 finger widths to the upper right of the “lid” star of the Teapot in Sagittarius (the Archer). As the sky darkens, even a small telescope should be able to show you some of Saturn’s larger moons, especially Titan. Using a clock’s dial analogy, Titan will move counter-clockwise this week from a position at 7 o’clock (to the lower left of it) to 2 o’clock (left from the planet). (Remember that your telescope might flip and/or invert the view. Use the moon to find out how your telescope changes things.)

Mars will still be very bright this week. Visually, it will appear pink or orangey due to the global dust storm it has experienced recently. Mars will rise over the southeastern horizon at around 7:30 pm local time (give or take, depending on your latitude) and then climb higher until 11:30 pm local time, when it will reach an elevation of about 20° (or two outstretched fist diameters) above the southern horizon. (That will be the best hour to view the planet in a telescope because it will then be shining through the least amount of Earth’s distorting atmosphere.) Note that 20° is lower than many trees and buildings, so a clear southern vista is essential.

(Above: The ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune rise late and remain in view all night to the east of Mars, as shown here at midnight this week.)

At visual magnitude 5.8, blue-green coloured Uranus is visible from late evening until dawn. You can see it without optical aid under very dark skies, or in binoculars and telescopes under moderately light-polluted skies. The ice giant planet is located in the eastern sky, about 4.5 finger widths to the left of the modestly bright star Torcular (Omega Piscium), which is above the “V” where the two starry cords of Pisces (the Fishes) meet.

Using a decent quality telescope you can also see the distant and very blue planet Neptune among the dim stars of Aquarius (the Water-bearer). It will rise in the east shortly before 9 pm local time. Look for the magnitude 7.8 planet sitting 1.75 finger widths to the right of the modestly bright star Phi (φ) Aquarii and 4 finger widths to the left of the brighter star Hydor (Lambda Aquarii).

Mercury will be observable in the eastern pre-dawn sky this week. Look for it low above the east-northeastern horizon at around 5:45 am local time. Next Sunday, Mercury will reach an angle of 18 degrees west of the Sun, its widest separation for this appearance. That means it will rise well before the sun, in a somewhat darker sky. You’ll be able to see it between about 5:15 and 6 am local time.

(Above: On Sunday, August 26, Mercury will reach its largest angle from the sun, and maximum visibility for this morning appearance, as shown here at 5:45 am local time.)

Bright Stars Roundup

The first stars to appear in late August evenings are the bright, white stars of the Summer Triangle asterism - Vega, Deneb, and Altair. At dusk, they are high in the eastern sky and pass the zenith at about 11 pm local time. This annual feature of the summer sky will remain visible until the end of December! At magnitude 0.03, Vega is the brightest star in the summer sky, mainly due to its relative proximity to the sun of only 25 light-years. Altair is only 17 light-years from the sun, but Deneb is a staggering 2,600 light-years away; so bright because of its far greater inherent luminosity.

Stars shine with a colouration that is produced by their surface temperatures, and this is captured in their spectral classification. Our sun is a yellowish G-class star with a surface temperature of 5,800 K. The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle are A-class stars that appear blue-white to the eye and have high surface temperatures in the range of 7,500 to 10,000 K. Look in the western sky for orange Arcturus, a K-class giant star with a temperature of only 4,300 K. Sitting low in the southwest, reddish Antares, the heart of Scorpius, is an old M-class star with a surface temperature of 3,500 K. By comparing these stars colours’ to other stars, you can estimate those stars’ temperatures.

Keep looking up to enjoy the sky! I love getting questions so, if you have any, send me a note.

#space #astronomy #planets #stars #Sagittarius #Comet 21p/Giacobini-Zinner #Venus #Jupiter #Summer Triangle #spectral classification #Mars

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blognegocios360 · 6 years ago

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Matrícula de MBA da un gran paso

Las solicitudes a los programas de MBA en los Estados Unidos cayeron por cuarto año consecutivo, afectando incluso a los programas más reconocidos y prestigiosos, según una nueva encuesta del Graduate Management Admission Council. En todas las escuelas, las aplicaciones empresariales cayeron un 7% en 2018.

Las aplicaciones de Harvard bajaron un 4,5% respecto al año pasado, y las de Wharton bajaron un 6,7%. Poets and Quants hizo un desglose de algunos de los mayores éxitos de aplicaciones de este año. Según sus datos, estas son algunas de las escuelas más afectadas:

27.7% de solicitudes disminuyeron en Jones Graduate School of Business en Rice University

19.6% en McCombs School of Business en University of Texas-Austin

16.2% en Georgetown University McDonough School of Business

13.2% en Kelley School of Business de Indiana University

Estábamos bajando de un máximo de diez años en aplicaciones “, dice Tina Mabley, decana asistente del programa de MBA en McCombs. Habíamos estado subiendo cuando otras escuelas estaban experimentando caídas. Así que no ha sido una preocupación tan grande “. En McCombs, explica, la mayor parte del declive se debió a solicitantes internacionales.

Muchos de los que están experimentando déficits han citado una disminución en las solicitudes internacionales. De hecho, según la encuesta mencionada, las solicitudes internacionales cayeron un 10,5%, mientras que las solicitudes nacionales solo disminuyeron un 1,8%.

En Canadá y Europa, por otro lado, los programas de negocios han visto aumentos significativos, con más del 60% de los programas que reportan aumentos en solicitantes internacionales.

No hay duda de que la política de inmigración está teniendo un impacto negativo en las escuelas de negocios de EE. UU. ”, Dice William Boulding, decano de la Escuela de Fuqua de la Universidad de Duke y nuevo presidente de GMAC. Usted ha visto un crecimiento en las escuelas de negocios fuera de los EE. UU., Pero EE. UU. Está perdiendo el flujo de talentos. Si vamos a mantener nuestra reputación de tener las mejores escuelas de negocios del mundo, debemos ser capaces de atraer a las mejores y más brillantes del mundo. La movilidad de los estudiantes se ha convertido en un gran problema “.

Si quieres saber más de créditos para microempresas te recomiendo que des click en el link.

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#Matrícula de MBA da un gran paso

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agathadiascardoso · 5 years ago

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Faculdade na Inglaterra: como se candidatar e bolsas disponíveis

Ter no currículo uma faculdade na Inglaterra é um diferencial na carreira de qualquer estudante. O país conta com universidades tradicionais e uma preparação acadêmica de alto nível. Confira neste artigo como se candidatar, bolsas disponíveis, principais custos, experiências e outras informações. Vamos lá?

Como fazer faculdade na Inglaterra?

Fazer faculdade na Inglaterra exige planejamento e organização. A boa notícia é que o processo seletivo no Reino Unido é bem estruturado e isso, sem dúvida, ajuda os estudantes na hora de organizar os documentos e cumprir todas as etapas do processo seletivo.

Portanto, se você sonha cursar uma graduação ou pós na Inglaterra, o ponto de partida é entender como o processo de admissão funciona. Saiba mais, logo abaixo.

Leia também sobre como é fazer faculdade na Europa e melhores universidades.

Como se candidatar?

O processo de admissão das faculdades inglesas é organizado pelo UCAS (University and College Admissions Service). Para se candidatar, os interessados devem acessar o site do UCAS e preencher a aplicação.

Com ela você pode participar do processo seletivo de até cinco universidades inglesas. Serão solicitados documentos sobre seu desempenho acadêmico e uma carta de recomendação elaborada por um professor seu.

Datas e custo da candidatura

Além disso, é cobrada uma taxa de £20 por application em apenas uma faculdade ou £26 para mais instituições. Geralmente, o prazo de inscrição é em junho.

Também há possibilidade de se inscrever diretamente pela universidade. Geralmente, as faculdades na Inglaterra abrem suas inscrições de novembro até fevereiro. Nesse caso, o candidato deve ler o edital com atenção e enviar a documentação no período estipulado.

Requisitos para se candidatar

Os critérios de avaliação são rigorosos e analisam não apenas o desempenho acadêmico, mas também as habilidades dos candidatos. Ou seja, os avaliadores vão considerar aspectos como:

Histórico acadêmico;

Proficiência na língua inglesa, de preferência a nota obtida no exame de proficiência IELTS;

Experiências extracurriculares;

Habilidades pessoais do candidato.

Portanto, quem sonha em entrar na faculdade na Inglaterra deve planejar a vida acadêmica com antecedência. Uma dica bacana é acessar o Study UK do British Council, o site tem uma seção especial com dicas de planejamento e de como se candidatar nas universidades inglesas.

Descubra aqui como é estudar na Inglaterra e planeje sua viagem.

Quanto custa faculdade na Inglaterra?

Estudar em uma faculdade na Inglaterra tem custo elevado. Por isso, antes de fazer sua inscrição, é importante elaborar um planejamento financeiro para saber o quanto essa experiência vai custar. O valor do curso é a maior despesa do orçamento dos estudantes.

Segundo o Study UK, o curso de medicina para estudantes estrangeiros pode custar entre £11.000 até £40.000 por ano. Por outro lado, uma pós-graduação em licenciatura custa £11.000 por ano e até £30.000 na área de saúde. Mas é claro, os custos podem diminuir se você tiver uma bolsa de estudos.

Além do valor do curso, você deve considerar outros gastos diários para morar na Inglaterra e entrar na faculdade. Para você ter uma ideia, simulamos no site Which as despesas mensais que um estudante tem ao estudar na Universidade de Oxford.

DespesasValorAcomodação£316Internet e telefone celular£27Transporte£80Supermercado£74Lazer£53Encargos e taxas bancárias£30Hobbies£46Viagens pelo país£90

Conheça também o custo de vida da Inglaterra e organize o seu orçamento.

Existe faculdade de graça na Inglaterra?

O ensino superior público na Inglaterra é relativamente caro. Contudo, as universidades inglesas oferecem bolsas de estudo, financiamentos e prêmios para os estudantes ingleses e estrangeiros. Existem opções que pagam o valor integral ou parcial dos custos na universidade.

Veja nossas dicas de como estudar na Europa de graça.

Bolsa de estudo para fazer faculdade na Inglaterra

Ter uma bolsa de estudo para cursar faculdade na Inglaterra é o melhor caminho para conquistar o tão sonhado diploma britânico, por um custo econômico. Atualmente, existem dois tipos de bolsas: governamentais e não governamentais.

As primeiras são oferecidas pelo governo inglês aos estudantes estrangeiros que desejam ingressar nas faculdades públicas na Inglaterra. Já a segunda, são oferecidas por instituições de ensino privadas e outras organizações para estudantes que não podem financiar seus estudos no país.

Confira a seguir quais são as principais bolsas no Reino Unido disponíveis para estudantes brasileiros e o que elas cobrem:

Programa Chevening: as bolsas são destinadas para estudantes de mestrado ou profissionais que desejam se destacar na sua área. Elas cobrem todos os custos dos estudantes incluindo passagens de ida e volta, anuidade do curso, emissão de visto e auxílio financeiro;

Gates Cambridge Scholarships: é a bolsa de estudos da Universidade de Cambridge destinada a alunos com um currículo acadêmico excepcional. O programa paga as despesas de estudo na universidade, passagens aéreas e oferece ajuda de custo aos alunos;

Rhodes Scholarships: tradicional bolsa de estudos para cursos de pós-graduação da Universidade de Oxford. O programa custeia integralmente as despesas do aluno e ainda oferece um auxílio financeiro para manter o estudante na Inglaterra;

Think Big Scholarships: programa da Universidade de Bristol que custeia entre £5.000 até £20.000 dos cursos de graduação e pós-graduação dos estudantes.

Melhores faculdades na Inglaterra

Segundo o QS World University, instituição que classifica as melhores universidades do mundo, as faculdades inglesas estão entre as 10 melhores do mundo em 2020. Stanford, Cambridge e a UCL se destacam pelo seu ensino de alta qualidade em diversas áreas de conhecimento.

Confira a seguir quais são as melhores faculdades na Inglaterra:

Universidade de Stanford;

Universidade de Cambridge;

Imperial College London;

Universidade de Manchester;

King’s College London;

The London School of Economics and Political Science;

Universidade de Bristol.

Conheça também as 5 melhores universidades da Europa.

Tem que validar diploma na Inglaterra?

Sim, o processo é bem simples. Para validar o diploma na Inglaterra, você deve primeiro entrar em contato com a instituição do país onde você concluiu o curso e solicitar a validação. Após isso, basta enviar o diploma para o órgão responsável pelo apostilamento de Haia na Inglaterra.

Por outro lado, para validação do diploma no Brasil, você deve acessar o portal Carolina Bori e conferir quais são as universidades com cursos semelhantes que estão com as vagas abertas para revalidação.

Vale a pena fazer faculdade na Inglaterra?

Com certeza! Fazer faculdade na Inglaterra é uma experiência única que abre as portas para oportunidades de emprego, acadêmico e ainda desenvolvimento pessoal. Durante o curso, você terá aulas com professores especialistas na sua área e uma infraestrutura completa de laboratórios e bibliotecas.

Além disso, ainda tem a experiência de morar na Inglaterra que, por si só, é transformadora. Você vai aprender um novo idioma, conviver com estudantes de outros países, conhecer uma nova cultura e muito mais.

Experiência na faculdade na Inglaterra

Cursar a faculdade na Inglaterra é uma realidade bem diferente do Brasil, mas que certamente vale a pena. Para você ter uma ideia, confira abaixo o depoimento de um brasileiro que estuda marketing na Inglaterra:

“Fazer faculdade na Inglaterra é a realização de um sonho para mim. Tenho aulas incríveis com professores britânicos e de outros países com um alto nível acadêmico. O método de ensino daqui é diferente do Brasil. A carga horária de aulas é menor, mas em compensação, os professores passam exercícios e trabalhos para você fazer.

Se você quer tirar boas notas precisa aprender a estudar mais por conta própria. Isso é um pouco complicado para quem precisa trabalhar para pagar os custos da faculdade. Durante o curso, consegui boas oportunidades de emprego apenas por estar cursando a faculdade.

Outra diferença do Brasil é que aqui, você escolhe sua grade curricular e estuda com alunos de outros cursos e países. É uma ótima oportunidade para aumentar o networking e conhecer novas culturas. “

Eu, particularmente, nunca fiz faculdade na Inglaterra, mas quem sabe um dia eu não tenha essa oportunidade, não é mesmo? Já visitei as universidades de Oxford e Cambridge e posso afirmar que a atmosfera das duas é sensacional. Andar pelas salas, pelos jardins e respirar o ar universitário certamente inspira os nossos sonhos mais profundos!

Se está planejando sua mudança, confira os preços das passagens para a Inglaterra na Kayak, um comparador de voos que te mostra qual companhia oferece o melhor preço para a sua data.

The post Faculdade na Inglaterra: como se candidatar e bolsas disponíveis appeared first on Euro Dicas.

Faculdade na Inglaterra: como se candidatar e bolsas disponíveis publicado primeiro em https://www.eurodicas.com.br/

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coricatchthorne · 2 months ago

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Admissions 1.2: Emile

Welcome (back) to Europa University: Admissions! Quick links if you need 'em:

Story level intro and content notes

Previous chapter

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Once again, Emile realized as Cylus told the waiter their order, he'd allowed himself to be swept along by a beautiful smile with a suggestion of hunger behind it.

As Cylus turned the full force of that periwinkle-purple gaze back onto him, Emile tried to remember why he shouldn't immediately surrender to it.

I cannot help but observe a pattern in your rash decisions, Emile, Mother had written, three nights ago. He'd sent the family a selfie taken with someone he'd thought a new friend, both of them lifting handfuls of genuine Old Earth dirt and sporting fresh piercings and gendermark earrings that identified them unambiguously as young men. While I congratulate you for committing to the course you have long considered, I am displeased to inform you that we received this news prior to your message. Here she'd screenshotted a Now post from a popular tabloid, led by a selfie similar to his. But this one was taken from the other side, at a much higher angle, showing off Emile's cleavage beneath his partially unbuttoned shirt and highlighting a saucy gleam in both boys' eyes. Below, a headline read: Rowdy Reterra Reveals Dilettante Devigne Daughter As Surprisingly Sexy Son?!

His wrist comm buzzed a message notification, drawing his eyes down with dread. Valerie, again. A guilty relief: better her than anyone else except Father, who'd already sent cheerful, oblivious congratulations to his original message. But even Val's correspondence held ominous possibilities right now, given her family responsibilities.

"Everything alright?" Cylus asked, one pale eyebrow lifting with curiosity.

"How rude of me!" Emile exclaimed, silencing his comm's notifications with a quick, embarrassed gesture. "I apologize."

Cylus shook his head with a smile. "You're fine. You just look a bit like a prisoner waiting for sentencing."

"It's just my eldest sister. I... haven't written her back for a couple days, and normally we message all the time. She's the one who told me about this place, actually!" Before he'd left home, Valerie had compiled a detailed list of her favorite spots in the City. He'd never guessed her recommendations would come in handy so soon. But Callisto's Café was perfect. The decor was spacious yet intimate: open areas partitioned by curtains of translucent, patterned fabric that evoked seaweed, punctuated with softly illuminated hanging glass art in abstract, vaguely aquatic shapes. Tables and booths were numerous, ranging from capacious to cozy enough for two, like the sheltered nook he and Cylie had found near the back. He even spotted several Devigne vintages on the high shelves behind the massive bar.

"You're at the University, right?" Cylus poured them each a glass from the carafe of ice water the waiter had left when taking their order. "I imagine that's keeping you busy."

"Well... yes, but it's not just that. I... ruffled some family feathers recently." Your choice of timing, location, and company for this transition demonstrate a concerning lack of forethought, a deviation from our previous discussions on this matter, and a violation of the Devigne family rules of conduct. I have attached them for you to review prior to your matriculation, Mother's message had continued. Do not forget to update your commcards with your chosen name. True to her word, Lyonesse Devigne had linked the document she and Valerie co-managed on family protocols for online and offline behavior, highlighting the portion about publicizing major life changes. It covered several pages, including security concerns and mitigations, press release review processes, and approved media channels. She'd also included the address of a commcard printer in Europa City, not that Emile had made it there yet.

Cylus studied him with amused interest. "You seem like a proper young man. Hard to imagine you doing too much ruffling. What got you in trouble?"

"An... indiscretion. During my Reterra last week." Emile stalled with a deep drink of water, wincing as frigid cubes threatened to tumble out onto his face. He much preferred his family's practice of chilling beverages prior to serving them. "Have, ah, you ever been?"

"To Old Earth? Haven't had the pleasure. What's it like?"

A smiling server arrived with their wine, leaving Emile time to consider. His eyes lingered on the cascade of red liquid into their glasses, a sight familiar as home, as his memory ranged over the two weeks he'd spent being ferried about Old Earth with a collection of other well-off visitors from across the galaxy.

As the server retreated, leaving two generous pours and the bottle behind, Emile spoke again. "It was beautiful, what I saw of it. They flew us over all the most famous preserves, mountains and forests and grasslands and deserts... like nothing I've ever seen. But they don't take you down into them, which makes sense given the regulations, but I felt so... removed." They'd flown over some of the old ruined cities, too: drowned, or burned, or starved, in the long, bleak era when Terra's population had dropped from billions to its remaining few, heavily regulated millions. The others on the tour had regarded the ruins with the same mild excitement they'd shown for any of the natural wonders, which had left Emile feeling quietly uncomfortable. He sipped the wine to distract himself from the complicated knot of feelings in his chest; it tasted good, mellow and warm with an undercurrent of spice. "But the ocean!" His heart soared and twisted at the memory. "We spent three days on a boat around these remote islands, which was amazing. Have you ever heard of snorkeling?"

Cylus hadn't. Before Emile realized it, he'd finished his glass, waxing rhapsodic about the experience. He'd been one of few on the trip who knew how to swim, and never more grateful for it than when stroking through rock arches and exploring strange stony landscapes below the waves.

But then he paused, sorrow surging through him. "It's so sad, though," he said, voice sinking to a whisper. "It used to all be alive, you know? You can see the echoes of it; shells and skeletons and dead reefs. I've seen vids of how it used to be, before the last mass marine extinction and the resulting... conservation efforts. Now, at least where we were, it was so... empty." Even some of the fallen cities had looked more alive, green with plants reclaiming spaces humans had been forced to abandon.

Silence fell between them for a moment, Cylus studying him over a half-empty glass. "Anyway," Emile continued, a wave of self-consciousness rushing him forward, "We ended up in New Singapore, which is where Brenn and I..." He hadn't meant to mention Brenn. But the experience felt tangled inside him, and he ached to talk about it to someone who wasn't a member of his family. For all he knew, Cylie and everyone else at the University had seen the post already, like the leader of the boys he'd fallen in with after convocation had. Maybe all his prevarication was for nothing. "We... connected, and then got gendermarks together. Then a picture of us got posted on Now, and went... a little viral. And that's how my family found out."

"Ahh," Cylie nodded, refilling Emile's glass without evidence of recognition. "Are they strict about that kind of thing?"

"Not about gendermarks or anything weird like that. My eldest sister got one younger than me. And my third-sib..." Emile recalled Dion's reply to Lyonesse's stern message, perfectly calculated to draw their mother's ire. Dion had taken a series of pictures at a club, surrounded by scantily clad celebrants with left ears pierced but empty. All their gendermark earrings hung from the ornate tunnel plug stretching Dion's left lobe: an assortment of triangles, diamonds, and circles overlapping in various orientations. Dion's note had read: Congrats, little brother! I wanted to follow your example but couldn't decide which gender this time. Think I should hold a public poll??? "Well, they change marks often. It's that my family is..." Once again, he teetered on the brink of dropping his surname; once again, he swallowed it. "...kind of private."

Obfuscation always felt awkward in his mouth. He hadn't thought twice before sharing his family name with the other members of his Reterra tour group. But he'd discovered how the very presence of that name drew conversations into inexorable orbit around the world Emile had spent his whole life deciding, with great reluctance, to leave. And then Brenn, who'd seemed more interested in him than his name, had... Well. Mother seemed sure Brenn had sold the image to the outlet that published it, but maybe someone had harvested it from a more private gallery. After all, Emile hadn't told him to keep it secret or anything.

"Does that mean I shouldn't ask anything more about them? I confess I'm terribly curious now, but I wouldn't want to get you in more trouble."

Cylus' teasing tone made Emile want to keep talking, despite everything. "Well, I'm the youngest of seven..."

Another member of the waitstaff appeared as if sent to spare Emile from his own incipient folly, carrying a plate of the flaky pastries that were the café's specialty. "What about you, though?" Emile asked as he cut one of them open, salivating at the scent from within. The first bite, chased with a sip of wine, sent his eyes rolling back in his head for a moment before he collected himself. A spring-harvest white from home would have been Emile's choice to accompany fish, but the red Cylus had chosen earlier matched better than Emile had expected with the vivid seasonings, creamy sauce, and finely chopped celery and lotus root rounding out the fish pastries. He swallowed, cheeks warming to notice Cylie watching him, and remembered to finish his question. "What's your family like?"

Cylus had a twin sister, it turned out; they were traveling performers, which sounded terribly romantic to Emile. He'd always wanted to see the Masked Parade in person, and Cylus said that he and Cynthia had even traveled with them for a time. Before he could ask more about that, though, Cylus shared that they were visiting to decide if they wanted to go to the University too. When Emile volunteered that he was only just starting there himself, Cylus had leaned forward with obvious interest, veering their conversation into the minutiae of the application and admissions process.

By the time Cylus seemed satisfied with that topic, they'd finished the bottle of wine and half a dozen of the buttery, spicy fish rolls. Emile had grown up sipping at his parents' table and had body mass to handle his drink, but by now even he was starting to feel altered.

Though he had enough self awareness left to attribute some of that feeling to how Cylus' eyes kept lingering on his.

"So, Emile," Cylus asked as he refilled Emile's glass from a freshly arrived bottle, "What made you decide to go to Europa University?"

Emile couldn't help thinking back to convocation that afternoon, and the dean's opening address. Yours are the minds that will guide the future of this system, and perhaps this galaxy. And we at Windfall's Europa University will be with you every step of the way.

Emile hadn't come to Europa to guide the future of the galaxy. Right now he was struggling to guide his own eyes, which kept wandering along the curve of pale hair at the edge of Cylus' jaw. "Well... my sister Valerie... she went here. Did really well. She's amazing. She helped convince my parents it might... I don't know, awaken something in me? Not like that," he groaned when Cylus snickered. "My mother literally just..." He'd almost said sent me of our family rules of conduct, the sort of comment almost as bad as dropping his family name. "... Reminded me to behave, after the whole... gendermark incident."

"What kind of misbehavior is she worried about? That kind of 'incident' doesn't seem like it'd come up too often, except maybe for someone like your third-sib." Cylus' tone was light, but his gaze held a sharp edge of interest.

That edge sent pleasant shivers through him; words spilled before he thought better of them. "They... don't love either of my longer term sweethearts." Xiomara, too threatening; Marc, from the wrong class. "And on top of that, our family... entertains a lot of guests, and I was supposed to help out. But I kept... Entangling with the guests. Sometimes more than one... on the same night. At the same time."

"Sounds like a perk more than a problem, if you ask me." The warm lack of surprise in Cylus' smile filled Emile's body with champagne bubbles, as did his lack of dismay at Emile's mention of other lovers.

"It wasn't always sex, even!" Emile continued, buoyed by that lightness. He really ought to ask if Cylus was making an advance. "I like... talking with people." Despite what his array of sexual encounters might suggest, Emile had often been told that he was flirting when he hadn't intended to, and equally often his own attempts at flirtation passed unnoticed. He was worse still at recognizing when people were flirting with him. It all ran together in his mind, a blurry continuum of interaction that seemed to have clear demarcations for everyone else. "But Mother's always telling me to think more about others' judgments. How they might harm me, or the family. She's been in PR for a long time, since before any of us were born. I guess it's hard for her not to think about it. But I'm not good at living that way. I just want to..."

The world seemed to contract around the two of them, a bubble of warm stillness.

"I just want to connect," Emile said softly, meeting Cylie's eyes for an instant before averting his gaze into the depths of his wineglass. "With people, and with the world."

Memories swept through him. Home: the tannic taste of first-harvest grapes, seeds slick against his tongue; the warmth of an apple tree trunk against his back as he tinkered with a damaged drone harvester; the scent of crushed green as his father culled unwelcome evidence of their planet's lingering wildness. Xiomara's firm touches; Marc's gentle, enveloping embrace. And more recently, the weightlessness of water; the dance of sunlight on stone; the feeling of earth between his fingers and the sting in his earlobe and the weight of Brenn's arm slung around his shoulders.

His hand fell away from his wine glass, palm upward on the table between them. "So I... I'd really like to know whatever you'd like to share about yourself," Emile finished, self consciousness creeping in again. "Because I also like to talk about myself, apparently. Far too much."

The touch of Cylus' fingers on his hand brought his eyes back up with a jolt. Something in Cylus' expression seemed... open, in a way it hadn't before. "Alright, then. Do you want to hear about the time my sister and I performed on the promenade of Vega Station?"

Emile, savoring the warmth of Cylie's hand against his, wanted nothing more.

The conversation flowed from there, melting into an easy exchange of stories and reflections. All of Emile's were from home: enough interesting people came to Devigne's Paradise that, without naming names, he managed to at least keep up with Cylie's array of far-flung adventures: from an asteroid colony in a distant system, to the crowded streets of Titan, to a harrowing visit to a volcanic planet on the verge of reclamation. As Emile listened, he remembered how Cylus' hand had closed on his shoulder, earlier; the way those fingers had curled against his waist while he was doing tricks with his knives. How fast those transparent blades had spun, how close, while Cylus wove words into the most beautiful shapes...

Across the table, Cylus' mellifluous voice paused.

Emile jolted, realizing he'd practically fallen into a trance; lost in the rhythm of words to the point he'd stopped absorbing their content. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," he gushed, searching for Cylus' expression in the dim cafe light. He needed to clean his glasses; pulling his hand back and retrieving a cloth from his breast pocket, he did so frantically. "I, I drifted away, there! You have such a wonderful voice." No, that was too forward for having just utterly lost the thread of conversation. "I, uh, please, would you be so kind as to repeat the last bit of your story?"

Fumbling spectacles back onto his face, he blinked to find Cylus laughing softly, something new in his eyes.

Something warm, and wicked.

"You're sweet." Cylus drained scarlet dregs from his wineglass without releasing Emile's gaze. "Being flustered looks good on you."

Without thinking, Emile picked up the wine bottle, angling it above Cylus' glass in unspoken offer. Cylus' smile widened, head inclining approval. Emile's next words spilled from his lips as inexorably as the pouring wine. "You're beautiful. Anything would look good on you." Only the truth. Cylus' dress was plain, the same flat gray trousers-and-shirt that Emile had noticed on a number of people in both the Terran and Europan spaceports. Perhaps some widely available matter-printer pattern? Regardless, those plain garments did nothing to diminish the force of his appearance: delicate features, soft-swept hair, and those slender-fingered hands, which had moved with such precise confidence. His skin looked untouched by sunlight in a way that Emile had never seen before leaving home, almost worryingly pale. But paired with his platinum hair and those striking amethyst eyes, Emile found the full effect eerily beautiful.

Cylus snickered, breaking Emile from another momentary reverie. "Really thought you were about to drop a line, there." When Emile blinked, confused, Cylus leaned forward, lowering his voice. "You know, 'anything would look great, nothing would look even better'?"

Emile flushed, shifting with sudden awareness of how wet he was. "I mean, I'm certain that's true, but I, um, didn't think of it and also I wouldn't want to be impolite..."

"Don't worry." Cylus smiled over the rim of his glass, licking a trace of red off his lips. "You've been very polite. Lucky for you..." Pressure ghosted against his calf. Emile nearly jumped from the padded booth seat. "...I'm not." The contact firmed, sliding upward: Cylus' foot, teasing the inside of Emile's knee.

Emile's breath sped.

Cylus' foot stilled, maintaining a light contact that felt like it was drawing all of Emile's blood down towards it. "Now, if I promise I won't consider it rude," Cylus swirled his glass, scarlet liquid dancing in lazy circles, "Would you like to try your line again? If you really want to be proper," Cylus' long lashes lowered, periwinkle shadowing into indigo, "You can work in a please."

"Please," Emile breathed without further thought. "Would you..." The touch against his knee intensified, pressing outward. He let it move his leg apart from its opposite, cheeks burning hot. Cylus' eyes seemed to swallow the world as that pressure shifted to Emile's inner thigh.

Emile let the first words that reached his tongue come tumbling out. "Please would you show me how those knives work?"

Cylus' touch on his leg froze.

Between heartbeats, Emile lived and died a hundred lifetimes. Why that question? Why not the line Cylus had offered him? Everything had been going so wonderfully...

This time, Cylus' laughter was no soft, seductive thing, but a burst of amusement that shocked Emile's heart into beating again. "You..." Cylus just managed to set his wine down without spilling it, bending over the table and muffling a delightfully undignified series of snorts and gasps with one hand. The touch on Emile's thigh vanished, and his whole body lamented its departure. But Cylus' overflowing mirth replaced its command of his attention.

Emile's face split into a grin so wide it hurt. In that moment, he would have said or done anything in his power, if it meant he would hear Cylus laugh like this again.

As Cylus regained control of his breath, Emile seized the wave of exhilaration and rode it through his next few words: "And also please tell me we're flirting and I'm not imagining it because I also would love to see you in anything you want, including nothing. If that's something you'd like too. P-please."

That set Cylus laughing again, which felt so good that Emile found himself able to sit comfortably with the near-agonizing fact that Cylus hadn't actually answered him yet.

"Oh," Cylus managed at last, wiping his eyes with the same red silk scarf he'd conjured earlier. "People underestimate you, don't they, Emile?"

"Sometimes," Emile admitted, suddenly shy. "You too?"

Cylus smiled and slid out of the booth in one graceful motion, standing and extending a hand towards Emile. "Well, I can't do either of those fascinating things you requested here, can I? I don't suppose you know anywhere that's good for a more... private conversation?"

It was only after he'd paid and followed Cylus out the door that he realized Cylus had deflected his last question with two others.

That counted, Emile told himself—hand exquisitely enfolded by Cylus' warm, dexterous fingers, the street air cool against his flushed face— as the best kind of answer: the kind that trusts the listener to figure it out themself.

-----

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coricatchthorne · 2 months ago

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Admissions 1.3: Cylus

Welcome (back) to Europa University: Admissions! Quick links if you need 'em:

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-----

The distant sun had set by the time they emerged from the café. Jupiter had brightened, however, a slightly gibbous slice of swirling clouds overhead. Stars scattered the rest of the sky, sparkling through the dome high above.

With a tap on the fine sapphire bracelet Cylus had noticed earlier, Emile called up a holographic display and began swiping through it, wandering into the middle of the street without so much as glancing up.

So that was his comm. Cylus tried not to think of how much he might have fenced that jeweled band for even without that capability. Instead he placed a hand on Emile's shoulder, steering him around groups of businesspeople, students, and tourists as they walked. At least this street—like most of the others Cylus had traveled that day—was for pedestrians and unenclosed personal transports only.

After navigating through a message interface—quick enough that Cylie didn't catch any of the content—Emile pulled up a map: hand-annotated, scrawled with notes and depictions of various waymarks instead of street names. "Oh!" He exclaimed as he looked up, apparently just realizing that Cylie had been guiding him. "Thanks for keeping me from running into anyone. I'm not... used to, um. Cities."

That's very obvious, Cylus didn't say. "I'm not either," he went with instead, substituting sympathetic half-truth. "I've spent a lot of time on ships and stations, and not so much on planets and moons." He intended to release Emile's shoulder. But having swallowed one impulse, another led him to stroke down Emile's arm, where he found a hand open and waiting. It only seemed polite to accept it. "Speaking of which, I'm used to 'days' being down to lighting and social convention. I know Europa City operates that way, on the Terran 24-hour cycle, but how does that track to Jupiter and Sol?" Whether clocks accounted for them or not, nearby celestial bodies influenced patterns of activity; not to mention how easy it was to go unseen.

And maybe thinking about something practical would distract him from the warmth of Emile's hand in the cool air, or the unexpected calluses on his fingers that Cylie had first noticed when they held hands in the café.

"Well, one lunar rotation—or revolution, since they're the same here—takes 86 hours, which is just over three-and-a-half City days." Emile glanced over at Cylus as he led them around a corner and down a much quieter side street. "Does that... help?"

Cylus swallowed a surge of self consciousness. Emile had presumably learned orbital mechanics at whatever fancy schools he'd attended while growing up. Or maybe his family was rich enough to hire private tutors. Since losing their home, Cylus and Cynthia had taught themselves and each other when they had time and energy, using whatever educational materials were freely available on any given comm network.

These often contradicted each other, though more about history and politics than the movements of planets and moons. Still, he fought to keep his tone light, praying he wouldn't damage Emile's impression of him by sounding ignorant. "I... can't say I fully understand what that means for how the sky looks, day to day."

Emile paused in his stride, looking up to the planet waxing above them. "Well... ignore the City clock for a minute, actually. It's easier to understand how Sol, Jupiter, and Europa cycle without overlaying an unrelated time system. So..." Emile gestured in the direction Sol had fallen. "The sun just set, right? And Jupiter—which stays directly overhead—is waxing, getting brighter. In around twenty hours, Jupiter will be full, when Europa's between it and Sol. That's 'midnight' where we are, though it's actually quite bright with Jupiter all lit up." Emile's voice softened with wonder. "That's how it was when I was arriving, and the Great Red Spot was turned right towards us. It was gorgeous." Cylie's body softened too, warmed by Emile's earnestness, and he squeezed the boy's hand.

Emile tore his eyes from the sky to check the map, starting them forward again. "After that, Jupiter wanes. Another twenty-odd hours later, when it's half-full, the sun rises. Jupiter's visible area gets narrower, and Sol gets higher, until another twentyish hours after that, when Sol goes behind Jupiter for a few hours, and the sky’s as dark as it gets. An eclipse at 'noon' every local day!" Emile laughed with delight. "I'd never seen one before." He paused, as if he'd given something away, though plenty of worlds lacked regular noteworthy eclipses.

He'd been cagey about his homeworld earlier, too. Cylus decided not to press, instead taking his best guess at what came next in the cycle. "So then Sol comes back out from behind Jupiter, and Jupiter starts to wax again?"

"Yes, exactly!" Emile beamed, relaxing. "And another twentyish hours later, the sun sets, Jupiter's half full, and we're about back where we are now!"

"So the 24-hour City days... just layer sort of randomly over all that, right? They're not tied together at all?"

"That's right!" Emile nodded.

Cylus let his end of the conversation lapse as Emile focused on the map once more. Useful information, especially that the sky was never truly dark save a few eclipsed hours. More concerns stirred in his mind. Would patrols start at some point? This felt like a city that would have night patrols, and a bright planet overhead surely made their jobs easier. His fake ID should be fine, but he hadn't intended to test it while drunkenly following a boy he'd just met...

...What was he doing? He'd gotten the exact intel he'd gone out seeking, in far better detail than he'd hoped. As soon as he'd done so, he should have made excuses and gone back to the hotel with a pile of fish rolls and a to-go cup of tea for Cynthia.

Instead, Cylus had stayed at the café for... another hour? Two? He'd let Emile's wide-eyed interest tempt him into telling tales, weaving old cover stories into a fresh semi-fictionalized history casting him and Cynthia as traveling performers. A woefully incomplete characterization of their last decade, outside the months they'd spent with the Masked Parade's eclectic fleet, but that experience had made it easier to frame many of his other anecdotes. And he'd done enough actual performing—sleight-of-hand tricks, hypnosis routines, showy knife-work—over the years to supply plenty of mostly-safe stories, only minor embellishment needed.

Except he'd started letting more and more truth into his tales. He'd made it halfway into recounting the time he'd performed knife tricks for rival warlords on a condemned planet before realizing that such a setting mismatched with any conceivable narrative of a life with established identity credentials, much less a clean criminal record. Only Emile's descent into inebriated reverie—which had looked a lot like trance, and wasn't that appealing—had prevented Cylus from revealing far more than he'd intended.

Amateur behavior, Cynthia would have called it. Correctly.

At least Emile's adorably clumsy obfuscations about his own background gave him another out; any time Emile inquired about something Cylie didn't have a ready answer for, he could deflect by asking Emile a question that would make him squirm.

Yet here he still was, holding Emile's hand and following him down untrafficked streets, each less well lit than the last. Not that vehicles seemed common here, even on the streets that allowed them. But they also hadn't passed any of the signed lifts down to the City's underground transit network in the last ten minutes, suggesting they'd left areas where ordinary people were expected to be. And Emile had reversed their course twice since their earlier exchange, muttering the first sentiments even resembling annoyance that Cylus had yet seen from him.

"I'm really sorry," Emile sighed as he redirected them again. "My sister gives directions differently than how I think about following them, and it was fine for that commercial zone where the landmarks are places with signs, but I keep misjudging it..." Emile waved his holo-lit hand at the empty, unlabeled street they were on now: eeriely clean, clearly more vehicle-oriented, lined with doors and garages that looked like utility or cargo accesses, "Here. But I think we're—Oh! That's what she meant by—" he groaned. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure that... yes!" He squeezed Cylus' hand before releasing it and approaching a formidable-looking circular hatch set into the ground.

Sweeping aside a panel of his long, ornate vest, Emile reached into a trouser pocket and produced a multi-tool, like the ones Cylie was used to seeing in the hands of grimy repair techs. "Let's see," he murmured, crouching down and touching the side of his spectacles. A pair of small, bright lights flicked on at the outer corners of the frames, illuminating the surface of the hatch as images Cylie didn't understand danced across the lenses.

Stepping closer, Cylus leaned over Emile's shoulder to watch as he unscrewed something in the hatch's surface, flipped open a panel, swapped his tool into a pair of pliers, and fiddled inside until a crank popped up from the hatch's edge with a satisfying mechanical chunk. As if he'd done nothing out of the ordinary, Emile put the panel back together, tucked his tool away, tapped his glasses off, and began cranking the hatch open, revealing darkness beneath.

Cylus glanced around with nervous excitement that grew once he confirmed no cameras were pointed at them. On the one hand, crawling into a mysterious, locked hatch with someone he'd just met was the sort of thing his twin would be livid with him for even considering. On the other, he found this breathtakingly casual attitude towards breaking and entering deeply attractive.

Like his charming little glasses, Emile had more to him than a first glance might suggest.

"Is this a... typical night out for you?" Cylus asked, trying to keep his tone light and unruffled.

"Oh gracious, I'm so sorry!" Emile's head whipped around as if he'd forgotten anyone else was there, green eyes wide. He stood, wringing his hands and scurrying back from the hatch so fast that Cylie half-worried he might trip over himself. "You're right, this is incredibly irregular, dragging you somewhere so out of the way, with no explanation... I just got excited when you asked about a private place because Val told me this was one of her favorite secrets and I've been wondering about it for weeks, but, I'll come back later by myself! Oh, that was thoughtless of me! Where would you like to go? What would be more comf—"

Without tracking his own trajectory, Cylie closed the distance between them, crowding Emile up against the nearest wall. The way he gasped, eyes dilating, ran through Cylus with the heat of all the best things in life: a clean cut, a shot of good liquor, a successful trick before an audience.

"You're so sweet," Cylus murmured, lips millimeters from Emile's neck, watching the pulse jump beneath smooth brown skin. "Go on. Show me your secret place."

Stepping back, he watched to make sure Emile didn't stumble. After a long, steadying breath, Emile nodded, eyes still glassy, and crouched to resume cranking the hatch open.

It revealed a ladder, which deposited them into a corridor, dim lights flickering to life as they entered. It was unadorned save a single sign. MARINE BIOSECURITY AREA. NO ENTRY WITH PROHIBITED MATERIALS, it proclaimed, followed by a list that included food, beverages, plants, animals, and numerous chemicals and other terms Cylie didn't recognize. Emile ignored it, so Cylie did too, praying that Emile knew what he was doing.

The hall ended at a simple, circular metal platform with a waist-high metal railing framing all sides but the one facing them.

"I think there's a protective field that'll turn on?" Emile mused, examining it. "Val said the elevator was a whole... experience, but worth it, for what's at the end." A shy sideways glance, eyes reflecting the low light. "Is this still okay with you?"

In truth, a fresh flutter of nerves had awoken beneath Cylus' horny, reckless intoxication. In years surviving between the margins of space-faring society with Cynthia, they'd encountered more than a few defunct facilities in varying levels of disrepair, narrowly avoiding injury more than once. It said something about how locked down entry to Europa itself was that no one else had broken into this space to shelter here. Though, the brochures had mentioned a small, subsurface Europan population, adapted to the environment below through some kind of genetic engineering...

"Does this go to somewhere that... people live?" Cylie ventured.

"Oh, you mean the Europans? No, no, though I can't wait to visit their habitats! But I'd never just break in..." Emile paused, as if realizing only now what he'd done, "W-well, not into someone's home. Val wouldn't send me somewhere I'd be intruding."

On a pragmatic level, this could be a good bolt hole, if he and Cynthia ever needed one. Provided he could repeat whatever trick Emile had just pulled. And in truth, Cylus wanted to follow Emile wherever he was going. He'd met rich boys before; they made for lucrative marks, when he and Cynthia could nest somewhere well-off people also passed through. But he'd never encountered one like Emile. It would be easy to classify him as simply naive; he clearly was. But Cylie couldn't shake memories of Emile catching him off guard: asking to see his knives, or breaking them in here, for that matter.

Or the way he'd met Cylie's eyes in the shy, naked instant he said, I just want to connect. Like he was praying, with a devotion Cylie had only ever seen from men clinging for meaning near the edge of death.

He wanted to watch those earnest eyes go vacant. He wanted to hear that sweet voice lift in pleasure, and in pain. He wanted to feel the pulse in Emile's throat as Cylie mapped his body with fingers and nails, tongue and teeth.

So he let desire transmute his doubts into a sultry tease. "Are you trying to get me alone in an elevator with you, Emile?"

Emile answered Cylus' mock-accusation with an embarrassed little sound that completed the submersion of Cylie's worries. "J-just to get where we're going—"

Cylie stopped Emile's words with a finger across the lips. "You're so easy. Let's go down."

Once they'd moved within the partial circle of the railing, Emile paused beside the controls, one finger poised over them. His other hand sought Cylus' again and clutched tight. "Here goes," he breathed, and pressed.

With a low hum, the perimeter of the elevator platform lit, a glowing amber circle around where they stood. An instant later, shimmering energy surrounded them, delineating a translucent cylinder that encompassed the platform and extended well above their heads.

Then they dropped.

Both of them exclaimed, clinging to each other in shock as the platform plummeted beneath them. The elevator room receded above in an instant, leaving them surrounded by reflective walls that cast the platform's low light back with a rippling, rapidly shifting sheen. Their bodies floated, feet losing contact with the metal below. They hung together above the platform, suspended in weightless free fall.

Cylus felt electrified. Either he was about to die—don't think about Cynthia, alone, wondering what happened—or his night was about to get much more interesting. What kind of person was this older sister, anyway?

And Emile's warm proximity was just enough to transmute his terror at their plummeting descent into the most intense arousal he'd ever felt.

Cylus sought Emile's mouth, claiming soft lips with his own.

Emile opened for him instantly. His tongue was gentle but eager, inviting Cylie into a haven of wetness and warmth. After a delicious interval of exploration, Cylus followed a hunch, sucking Emile's lower lip between his teeth. The answering whimper hit him like a punch to the gut.

Tightening his embrace, Cylus experimented with digging his nails into Emile's back through layers of fabric. Emile moaned into his mouth and nestled closer, the soft swell of his chest pressing against Cylie's. If Cylus could have banished his binder—banished all his clothing, and Emile's, placing them skin to skin—he would have done it. But such a trick was beyond even his means, and he didn't want to let go to do it the ordinary way.

Instead he lowered his mouth to Emile's neck. Chasing reactions, Cylus licked, then sucked, then bit, dragging teeth across hot skin as Emile threw his head back, pleading wordlessly.

Their bodies hung together, spinning in a descent that seemed to go on forever.

-----

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coricatchthorne · 22 days ago

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Admissions 1.5: Emile

Welcome (back) to Europa University: Admissions! Quick links if you need 'em:

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-----

An instant after Emile resolved to beg Cylus to fuck him, but before he could disengage his mouth from Cylus' fingers to do so, the world opened around them.

They’d entered an ice-walled cavern, kilometers wide. The surface—of the ocean, he realized, giddy—was faintly lit by long, occasionally intersecting lines of glowing blue-green. The water and ice caught that illumination and threw it out and up, bathing the great space in low, lambent brilliance.

Except for the rapidly expanding square of darkness directly below them.

They both froze: still upside down, limbs entangled and clothing disarrayed, Cylie's scarf still draped around his neck. The elevator slowed quickly, but the field cushioned them, giving them ample time to adjust and avoid a head-first landing. They touched down softly as snowflakes; even once the field blinked out, his and Cylus' bodies rested lightly on each other.

The gravity. The City was kept at Earth-standard, but this was clearly not the City. Europa's native grav held them gently; Emile felt that if either of them kicked off, they might soar away together.

They'd landed in the center of a broad platform, standing above the surrounding waters. Red lights flickered to life around them, highlighting walkways and consoles.

Out in the soft-lit waters beyond, something stirred, sending out ripples without revealing itself.

Cylus' slender body tensed, fingers withdrawing from Emile's mouth. "What... is this place?"

Hearing a faint quaver beneath those words, Emile's arms tightened, holding the slighter man protectively. "Please, don't worry," he assured, though his own heart was racing at the unexpected scope of their surroundings. But nervousness was transmuting back into excitement as he understood where Val had led him, at least in broad terms. "Do you know much about the history of Europa?"

Cylus' tension eased fractionally. Emile let go, not wanting his new friend to feel trapped... any more than he might already, anyway. As they found their feet and smoothed their clothes, Cylus turned, surveying their surroundings. Emile wished the low red light didn't make it so hard to read his expression. "A little. This was the first place humanity searched for alien life, right?"

"Yes! For hundreds of years." Emile took a deep breath; this venture had been his idea, his suggestion, so it was his responsibility to lead. He stepped through the gap in the elevator rail. Walking slowly, reminding himself of his own intoxication, Emile adjusted his steps to the low gravity, just as he would in the vineyards outside his family's grav-controlled estate grounds. With just as much care, he swallowed the urge to infodump, doing his best to summarize. "Eventually, though, scientific consensus was reached. Europa had the chemical and geophysical prerequisites for life, but the spark hadn't caught. Some people argued we should leave, or maintain a modest long-term population to observe, in case a unique ecosystem might still emerge here. Others argued that even if something did arise, we'd never know it wasn't due to our contamination. And...”

“And then Terra nearly destroyed itself and needed somewhere to put all its fish,” Cylie interjected, bitterness edging his tone.

“Right. The Blooming hit the oceans hard.” Emile’s emotions flared inside him, buoyed by wine. “So Windfall, which at the time was still establishing its Planetary Reclamation Program by ‘maximizing yields’ from terraformed worlds that ‘failed’—"

He spun back towards Cylus to gesture his use of air quotes, because even if Mother had tied their fortunes to Windfall through Uncle Adaire, Emile and Papa had always agreed that the very concept of a failed world made no sense—

What started as a dramatic turn continued into an involuntary spin as his feet left the walkway, angular momentum carrying him onward. Throwing out a hand to stop himself, Emile slapped something firm, bringing his rotation to an awkward halt.

Light flickered outward from where his palm had struck, dials and meters and a series of holographic displays flickering to life across one of the platform's consoles. Instinctively averse to triggering anything else, Emile pushed himself off the panel, only belatedly realizing that its angle had set his trajectory on a vector pointing further up than he'd intended—

—something warm and firm collided with his back, and for an instant Emile knew the shock of an unsuspecting bird being pounced from the air. Arms wrapped around him, cinching just below his breasts and clasping tight. His feet struck the walkway again as lithe thighs tensed beneath his ass, dissipating their momentum and stabilizing them both.

"Still," Cylus crooned into his ear, one hand tugging the ends of the scarf around his throat. "Breathe."

Still. Breathe. Feel. Remember. The words Cylus had poured into his ear as they fell, now softening his body into compliance.

Emile let the rise and fall of Cylus' firm chest guide his breath. His heart slowed, from the prey's instinctive drumbeat to the placid acceptance of... Whatever was asked of him next.

"It doesn't look like that kicked off anything immediately dangerous," Cylus observed, loosening his hold on Emile. "But... what do you think?”

Right, right, standing. Emile was an expert at standing. And explaining. He was proving it right now, finding his feet and turning to face Cylus again despite wanting nothing more than to throw himself back into the other boy's arms. But he needed to focus. Needed to make sure they were safe, and finish what he’d been talking about, and then—

Stop thinking about his mouth, and his hands, and his knives—

Emile wrestled his attention onto the console he'd collided with: data displays, screens and projections of graphs and charts and numerical readouts. Repeated among them in various forms were small, three-dimensional maps, and the rest appeared to be environmental readouts. The sight woke a strange and specific nostalgia in him, as Val must have known it would. She, too, had accompanied Papa on trips to the distributed terraforming stations studded across their homeworld, and these displays bore more than a passing resemblance to theirs.

“I think this is some kind of observation station. This all looks like monitoring and measurement...” His eyes jumped between displays. “Nothing indicating changes to airflow, or the local temp and chem balances...”

“It smells weird.” Tension threaded Cylie’s voice as he regarded the space around them uneasily. “And it feels like there’s irregularity in the airflow...”

Emile breathed deep, earlier excitement rekindling as he took in the scent of salt, underlaid by traces of unfamiliar life. “I think that’s... how oceans are. It smelled kind of like this on Terra, too.” Awe crept into his tone. “Except it’s so much more alive.”

Like the lake just outside the estate, almost. Even if it smelled nothing like lake-lilies, the air kissed his face the same way.

“Oh.” Cylus cleared his throat. “Well. Anyway, you were saying, about Windfall?”

Emile blinked away the memory of home. He was here, on a living ocean at last, and with someone he never would have met if he’d stayed. "So Windfall... Right, yeah. They got charged with relocating as much of Earth's ocean life to Europa as possible, with massive support from the entire Terran Consortium. Terra fired up the shipyards from the first Ark Fleet while Windfall bored the Ocean Gate, and descendants of the original research colonists collaborated on designing and upgrading the sub-marine infrastructure—that's when they started gene-modding, the ones who stayed, and became today's Europans...”

None of whom were here, as he’d assured Cylus earlier. And yet, someone must monitor all these... monitors. The notion of an unseen watcher, with vision perhaps quite different from his own, raised the hairs on his arms, and not in an entirely unpleasant way.

The stroke of a finger over his shoulder snapped him back into his body with a start. “The Europans, huh?” Cylie had moved close enough that Emile could make out a teasing edge in his smile, even in the dim light.

Emile blushed, hastening to reach his actual point. "Yes, ah, so, among the changes the Europans helped with, was the expansion and reconfiguration of the existing under-ice caves into a moon-wide network of sustainable, self-oxygenating environments, big enough for marine mammals to surface. And that! Is where we are now," he managed to finish as Cylie’s finger traced down his arm. Words slid on his tongue like warm butter. "I hope... That's... Okay."

The pressure of Cylus’ touch grew—no, Emile was slumping into him, body melting now that he’d finally finished his explanation. Before he could right himself, Cylie swept him into what Emile had always, romantically, thought of as a princess carry, slinging him through the low gravity with fluid ease.

Emile blinked up at him, heart in his throat. The red lights cast Cylus' eyes in gorgeously ominous crimson. "So what you're telling me, Emile, is that the place you brought me so I could show you my knives—" Cylie's voice did something much better than air quotes—"Is a secret ocean ice cave where Old Earth monsters go to breathe—to which you gained us entry via, at best, extralegal means?"

"...Yes? Not that they're monsters, really..."

"Well, then let's go." Cylus kicked off with shocking ease, carrying Emile through a graceful jump that landed them on what looked, as Emile took it in, like a viewing platform. It extended out over the water, its railing punctuated by the silhouettes of unfamiliar instruments.

Cylus tossed him in a low arc; Emile landed gently on his side, about three meters away. He looked down through dark metal grating to see water, ocean water, stirred by gentle waves.

A layer of mesh was strung under the platform, lit from beneath by one of the thick, glowing lines—a cable? covered in some kind of bioluminescent... algae?—running directly beneath them. Irregular patches of darkness mottled the luminous blue-green surface, which was fringed with mysterious shapes that danced with the shifting currents.

Further down, he could make out more lines, intersecting and branching. His mind reeled, suddenly realizing the scale of what he was looking at. This was another piece of the infrastructure he’d talked about earlier: the webwork that spanned Europa’s entire ocean, countless threads dwindling as they faded into fathomless depths—

A sharp series of snk-clicks drew his attention back up in an instant, eyes snapping to where Cylie had withdrawn his blades. They whirled, glass catching and refracting dim red and bioluminescent blue-green.

"Now," Cylie closed both blades with a heavy ch-chk, "I believe I said I'd show you how these work..."

-----

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#europa university #europa university: admissions #emile devigne #cylus keene #science fantasy #serial fiction #t4t mlm #trans men #queer romance #emiles antics #cylus and emile #emile tries not to infodump with moderate success

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