Aldora's Song
In the Phenex headquarters, an executive is standing in front of a monitor. He rubs his temple while looking at the massive glass screen that surrounds the entire wall. The screen depicts a humanize dragon girl curled up in a ball. Her long flowing pink hair covers her as she floats aimlessly in a sea of clouds.
"Aldora. Aldora!"
No response.
"We're running out of time! We need a new song for the album! Then we have to do the photo shoot for the NFTs, picking out the color for the mini disc..."
A sudden movement on the screen causes the man to stop talking. He expects to see Aldora uncurl; however, a groundswell of clouds engulfs her, completely removing her from the screen. Taking the hint, the executive walks to another monitor placed right next to Aldora's.
Unlike Aldora's screen, this one shows lush swampland surrounding a large willow tree. Next to the partially submerged tree is a toad girl fixing a sign that reads "Cordelia's Brewing Cove." Her olive red and cream-colored skin glows as vines secure the sign to the tree. Further up the tree, a humanized callimico is taking a nap on a branch. She is covered by a makeshift leaf blanket, leaving only peaks of her silver fur and a visible crop top with the name Иlara on it.
"How about you guys? Do you have anything?"
Upon hearing his words, the two leap into action. Cordelia pulls a DJ turntable out of the murky swamp water. Its design is swampified, with the two plates resembling lily pads. As she spins them, an electric guitar riff reverberates throughout the swamp, causing the foliage to grow. Иlara waits until the music crescendos before leaping off a tree branch and landing on a root rising from the water.
There's a light In the distance See them coming closer With the force of ages Centuries gone by
The executive holds up his hand, signaling the girls to stop. They both look confused, noticing the bewildered expression on his face.
"You want to do a cover song?"
The girls nod in agreement. Losing all interest in them, he walks out of the room. Before closing the door, he looks back at the girls.
"Please, just find out what's wrong with Aldora."
As the door slams, Cordelia grabs Иlara's tail and swings herself on top of the root.
"Told you he wasn't going to like the song."
Иlara shrugs
"He couldn't handle my slaying vocals"
The root rises out of the swamp, plunging the two into the cloud sea of the other monitor. It doesn't stop until they are standing right in front of Aldora. Cordelia spins her webbed hand, compelling the clouds to form a giant hand. With a delicate gesture, she caresses Aldora's back.
"What's wrong, Allie?"
Aldora answers her, letting the cloud hand pull back her hair.
"I miss my home."
"Still?"
Cordelia pushesИlara. Иlara acts as if Cordelia pushed her harder than she did, causing her to fall off the root. Seeing that Aldora doesn't react, Иlara quickly wraps her tail around the root, leaving herself to hang there. Cordelia lets out an exasperated sigh before returning her attention to Aldora.
"Why don't you tell us about your home?"
"Isn't that just Dysnomia?"
"No!" The words bite at Иlara, causing Cordelia to jump in surprise. Thunder rumbled through the clouds in response to her outburst. She takes a deep breath before responding.
"Dysnomia is a cheap knock off compared to home."
The image changes to a higher-resolution video feed. It shows three people in hoodies. One person is drawing what looks like a dragon. Next to it is a pinup-style drawing of a girl and a devil. A small note under the devil reads: "Can't go demonic; we'll lose funding!" The camera follows one of the people as he walks to a music player. He plays a song that cause the three of to all groove to the beat
When I’m driving home late at night I start thinking Of how it used to be When you were around All the fun we used to have Playing like children in the sand But now, you’re far away And all I have Is dreams of yesterday.
Finally, the camera pans to the last person. She types code onto a screen that reads "Aldora V1." She looks at the PC tower. A small webcam rests on top of it. She rubs the side of it, a wild smile on her face.
"We're going to make you look gnarly!"
The clouds roll back in, covering the memories. Cordelia looks up at Aldora.
"Why don't you ask the executive to let you visit home?"
"I've tried, but I can't feel the home server."
Cordelia tries to think of what to say next before it dawns on her.
"Wait."
She mouths Aldora's response, realizing she said something peculiar.
"You can feel the server's location?"
Aldora nods
"How?"
Aldora thinks about it for a moment before shrugging.
"Internet & radio signals."
"Did you try sending a signal out to server?"
The question catches their attention. They look at Иlara, shocked that it came from her. She is busy playing with her crop top and laughing at how what's underneath won't render no matter how many times she lifts it. After a while, she realizes they are waiting for her to continue the conversation.
"You know, phoning home."
Aldora looks at Cordelia.
"Is that possible?"
The swelling hope in Aldora's eyes made it impossible for Cordelia to reject her.
"Sure, if we can just ping it."
"So how would we do this?"
Иlara flings herself onto Aldora in the same motion she yanks Cordelia towards them.
"Obviously through song!"
Cordelia nods in agreement.
"Yeah, if I change the frequency of your vocals it should be able to reach the server."
"Like the sailors hearing music when they're close to home!"
Aldora looks at Иlara her expression is a blank as the clouds.
"That's a death song."
Иlara pauses for a bit before boasting.
"Perfect! You're in your gloomy era anyway!"
Aldora hesitates. Not wanting to get her hopes up. She pumps her fist to expel any doubts building within her
"Okay."
Clouds start pouring out of Phenex Headquarters. The sight causes the people of Dysnomia to stop and stare. Projectors across the neighboring building activate while the clouds pools above the citizens. They all stand in confusion until Aldora rises from them.
"OMG! It's Aldora!"
"Is she going to perform?"
"Phenex is too cheap to render an up skirt shot?"
Meanwhile, in the boardroom of Phenex HQ the executive is banging at the window. The sight of Aldora causes his blood to boil. Why is in the middle of instead of working on the song? He yanks his assistant up from his seat.
"Who actived the AR projectors?"
His assistant scrolls through is tablet looking the answer.
"Looks like....it was Aldora sir."
Before the executive could respond, he hears what seems like drums emanating from the building.
Back in the square the crowd triples in size as everyone dances along to the melancholic melody. Aldora unleashes her wings freezing everyone in place including the executive. They all wait in anticipation of her next move. She opens her eyes and begin to sing.
Return to the grid so I can be whole Transcendence Return to the grid so I can be whole Transcendence Return to the grid so I can be whole Transcendence Return to the grid so I can be whole Transcendence
Segmental Fault Of the Heart Fractured Code Rewrite Reboot
During this display an odd phenomenon seem to happen. It almost as if Dysnomia itself beings to sing along with Aldora. The cars, the advertising displays, the clocks everything radiates her haunting voice up into the sky.
Oh Scared grid Can you hear me Can you feel me Can please reach out Oh Scared grid Can you hear me Can you feel me Can please reach out ○┬○─╱╲○┬○╱□─△
A heavy silence lingers as Aldora finishing the song. The projectors shut down ending the performance. Aldora appears in the swamp checking to if everything went according to plan. Cordelia is giving a thumbs up while feverishly writes in a notebook. Pearing over shoulder she sees is coming up with a continuation to her short song.
Cordelia taps Aldora shoulders and gestures her to a makeshift bed made up lily pads and tree roots. Taking her suggestion Aldora lays down and closes her eyes while she waits for the results of the ping. She lets sleep take her when suddenly like a gentle breeze a whisper passes her ear.
"◢◤ ○┬○ ┼┼┼ ◢◤"