Sylvia Chapter 6

[random_xtras]

Sylvia's schedule soon included daily excursions to the homes of her new friends, though after the first day she no longer brought her computer pad because Grandfather had obtained Opa Riley's ancient communicator frequency and now appeared regularly in avatar form on the even more ancient small screen that hung in chunky but largely forgotten state on the living room wall. Mattias loved Grandfather's image of an elderly, white bearded human man with an eye patch, and would sit and watch him for hours, gripping his small fat toes as his dark eyes flicked from Opa Riley's face to Grandfather's simulated one. Sylvia missed most of what the two old men said to one another, since they were speaking in a language that she had not yet learned- a nearly extinct dialect of Gaelic that had once hailed from a small island on Earth known as Ireland.

But Sylvia was too busy learning other things to fret overmuch about missing out on the Irish Gaelic. Things like how to take the round ball of compressed plant leaves that was a blue cabbage and turn it into a delicious roast stuffed with savoury filling, and how to take a piece of rough fabric and a length of yarn on a needle and make something pretty and unique while using only resources that would be easy to replace.

"Zough I don't vreally understand all zhe concern about vresources," noted Hannah as she busily put together a new dress to replace one of the ones that she had literally outgrown overnight. "Ve get zhe fiber from zhe fields. Metal is vrecycled und vrevorked..."

"Well." Sylvia looked up from her work, absently accepting a small piece of dried algae from Esther as she did so. "I don't think that mainstream people have that aquatic plant that you use to make paper. And the sand for silicon things needs to be shipped from off planet." She wriggled her toes, then looked down at her foot gloves.

"I'll make you some prettier shoes sat use zhe resources here," said Esther, laughing her easy laugh. "Vhat colour vould you like?"

Sylvia startled and blinked at her friend with surprised eyes. "Oh, but I just got these, and they're not worn out at all."

Esther shook her head. "But vouldn't you like some like Tante Maria vears? I can make zhem vith straps instead of zhe ties sat go up zhe ankles."

Sylvia hesitated, but then noticed how the copper-haired girl's hand was already yearning toward her work box. "Well. Alright. But I don't know what colour. I've always just worn drab."

"Blue," decided Esther, setting the box on her lap and poking through it after putting away what she'd been working on. "Vhat is your suit made from? I can't tell."

"Microfiber made from recycled petroleum based plastics." Sylvia looked down at her embroidery and recounted her stitches before starting to work again.

"Plastic?" Hannah looked up with surprise, her nose wrinkling. "Vhy vould you vant to vear plastic? Sat is body material for mechvolk."

"It's inexpensive and recyclable..." Sylvia blinked. "Mech... folk?"

"Ja. Zhe natives. Plastic und silicon are some of the sings zheir bodies are made from."

"Convertors," offered Esther without looking up from the crochet chain that she was starting in a naturally bright blue Kerelian hemp yarn. "Zhe big volk."

"I... know what you mean," said Sylvia slowly. "I was just..." She blushed. "I'm sorry for assuming. But I thought you wouldn't know much about them."

Esther and Hannah both laughed, though the sound held no mockery.

"Ve are Archaists," said Esther cheerfully. "Ve do sings zhe old vay und like old sings. Und zhe mechvolk are very old!"

"You mean you know some of the natives?" Sylvia's eyes went round at the thought.

"Ja! Zough Vater und Mutter know zhem better." Hannah laughed again. "Tante Velocia und Arcturus visit und speak vith zhem sometimes."

Then she leaned forward curiously. "Your eyes, zhey look like zhey are glowing."

Sylvia meeped inwardly, but outwardly only blinked and blushed. "That's just how they look in the sunlight, because they're so pale."

"Ach. I've embarrassed you." Hannah frowned with sympathy and patted the shorter girl's hand. "Forgive me, bitte."

"No. It's okay. I'm not embarrassed." Sylvia rubbed her eyes, making sure that the masking lenses were in the right place, then looked down at her embroidery.

"Vould you like me to show you how to make zis into zhe back bodice of another suit of clozing?" Hannah touched the fledgling project gently. "I zink sat I'd be able to adapt our dress pattern into somezing like you vear. Und Mutter vould dye some fabric a colour sat vould look pretty on you."

"I don't want to make extra work for Aunt Maria." Sylvia looked up with an uncertain frown.

"Nein. She vould like to do it. My mutter likes to share," said Hannah proudly. "I'd dye it myself, but my fabric alvays comes out vith streaks yet, und streaks only look pretty on skirts."

Sylvia looked from Hannah's skirt to Esther's, then over at Hannah's grandmother's skirt where that lady hummed to herself contentedly over a sink full of suds and dishes. "Why... you're all wearing the same thing, only with different colours and decorations."

Esther looked at Hannah, then toward Oma Riley.

"Ja, ve are today," she said, laughing. "I hadn't noticed sat ve'd all put on our Easter dresses."

"Tvins!" Hannah grinned, her eyes dancing.

"You like being dressed the same?" Sylvia was startled again.

"Ja. It's fun," said Esther, also grinning as she munched a piece of algae.

"Vhy are you so surprised?" asked Hannah curiously.

"Well... the girls at my old school used to get mad if they thought someone was dressed too much like them. They all wanted to be unique. They'd spend hundreds of credits on artist-made one of a kind garments and accessories so that no one else would have the same thing. Some of them even bought their shoes one at a time to be even more unique."

Hannah and Esther exchanged a glance, then laughed again.

"Ve're different even if ve vhere zhe same sing," said Hannah. "Uniqueness ist how you're made, not how your clozing ist made."

Then she looked up hopefully as Oma Riley walked past the low window seat. "May I help you, Oma? Vith zhe dishes?"

"Nein," said the elderly woman cheerfully, as she often did. "Today it is my turn to play qveen of zhe kitchen. I haf made it look just as I like it, und later your mutter vill come and put it back her vay."

"I need to learn too." Hannah laughed.

"Play vith your freundin." Oma Riley set to wiping the heavy wooden kitchen table. "You tidied up zis morning."

"Yes, Oma." Hannah cheerfully turned back to Sylvia. "So, are ve making zhe pretty suit?"

"I... alright," said Sylvia slowly, a hint of her smile pulling at the corners of her mouth even as the rest of her expression showed her surprise. Then she looked down as Miriam came crawling over, doll of knotted multicolour rags in tow. "Why do the babies go to Bible study?"

"Zhe same vreason sat zhey go to school," said Esther as she handed Hannah a rolled piece of ribbon tape with numbers embroidered on it.

"They go to school?" Sylvia's surprise returned.

"Ja. Ve take care of zhem vhile ve're in class so sat our parents can vork vizout vorrying about zhem," said Hannah.

"Poor Mariam vants to learn so badly, but she is too young yet for school lessons," said Esther softly, blue eyes turning to follow her baby cousin as the little one continued on her way across the room and into the hall.

"She's alvready trying to sing zhe German ABC song." Hannah chuckled and then reached over to lay the tape along her newest friend's back.

"What are you doing?" asked Sylvia curiously, looking over her shoulder.

"Measuring you for your new cloze. Vill you lift your arm like so?" Hannah lifted her elbow, and then gave a little shriek of surprise as said limb neatly caught a newly arrived Stephan in the solar plexus and knocked the wind out of him with a whoosh. "Ach! Stepi, I'm sorry!"

He shrugged off her concern, bent double with his arms around his bruised stomach as he fought to breath. His lungs inflated abruptly with a squeak as Oma Riley came up behind him and gave him a gentle shake. "Owww. Hahahaha. Danke, Oma!"

"Speak Common," she told him, laughing herself. "Silly boy. Vatch vhere you're valking."

"Ja, ja. Common." He sucked in another deep draught of air, then grinned at his sister and friends. "Has anyvone got any vool sat needs vinding?"

"Not vright now, Stepi." Hannah sighed with relief and resumed measuring Sylvia. "Ve vound it all zhe ozer day."

"Und you don't need any more yet? Vhat kind of girls are you, to leave so little vork for zhe men?" Stephan laughed, then winced and rubbed his chest.

"You should go und let Tante Karen look at you to make sure sat you're alvright." Hannah shooed him away gently.

Sylvia smiled as she watched the siblings banter and Esther join in. But then movement outside caught her attention, and she glanced out the window. "Eeeek! Naked person!"

"Vhat?" Hannah and Esther both quickly turned their backs to the window. "Is it a man or a voman?"

"Man." Sylvia frowned over closed eyelids.

"Stephan, qvick! Do ve know zhem?" urged Hannah.

The boy peeked cautiously, and then laughed. "It's Onkel Jordan. He has his breech cloth on."

"...Breech cloth?" Sylvia peeked and saw that the tall, golden brown man who was standing and talking to Hannah and Stephan's father was indeed clad in one of the primitive garments. "Oh."

"He's a feral," explained Stephan. "Vone of zhe people who vant to go back to zhe simplest life und vish sat zhey could live on a vorld vith forests like in zhe old holos."

"Why don't they emigrate?" asked Sylvia.

Hannah looked up from writing measurements in a notebook, her eyes blinking slowly. "Zhey can't, Sylvia. No vone's allowed to leave zis planet. No humans. If ve could emigrate zhen my family vould have gone somevhere else too, so sat Vater could grow sings in zhe soil in zhe oldest vay."

"What?" It was Sylvia's turn for confusion. "But the hosts never said we couldn't leave. They brought our ancestors here to save us, not to lock us up."

"Zhe human authorities have declared emigration illegal, Vater says," said Hannah. "Vhen he protested zhey said sat anyvone who asks to do it vill be put into a correctional facility. Zhey said sat humanity ist nearly extinct, und sat ve must stay here vere it's safe."

"That's not true," said Sylvia quietly. "Grandfather has told me that there are other humans in the galaxy, even some who left Earth so long ago that they don't have any stories or knowledge of the planet and no one knows when they left."

"How does Opa Paxton know zis?" asked Esther, leaning forward with a slight frown of interest.

"He's been off planet, and he listens to the native media channels."

The other children stared at her, then exchanged glances.

"He listens to... but zose are illegal for us, even if ve had zhe sings to listen to zhem vith!" said Hannah worriedly.

"Does your opa know mechvolk?" Stephan asked Sylvia curiously.

"He... did," said Sylvia slowly, wondering what was going to happen now. "But please, don't tell your native friends that. Grandfather needs to be left be."

"Ve von't tell zhem sat, Sylvia. Don't vorry," said Oma Riley kindly from where she'd stopped to listen to the children when she noticed the worried voices and faces.

Sylvia let out a relieved breath. "Thank you. But you should tell your native friends what the authorities are saying. The natives believe in freedom for all people, and I don't think they'll like those laws."

"Ja," said Oma Riley. "Zhe authorities are keeping zhe freedom only for zhemzelves, aren't zhey? Hmmm."

One aged but strong hand gently squeezed Sylvia's shoulder, and then the elderly woman went to talk to her husband, who was currently in the living room engaged in the tossing of a soft ball up into the air for the riotous amusement of Mattie.

"Do you zink zhey vill care, Hannah?" asked Stephan uncertainly, his hands sneaking into his sister's work box even as his eyes sought hers for reassurance.

"Zhey seem like nice volk." Hanna looked to Sylvia.

"I... don't know," admitted Sylvia quietly. "Grandfather knows a lot more about them than I do."

"I zink... sat you are not telling us all sat you know," said Hannah gently. "But sat ist alvright. I vill pray, und Gott vill let happen vhat He vants."

"Ja. I'll pray too," said Esther, nodding without looking up from her rapidly taking shape project.

"Und so vill I." Stephan promised from where he was winding the yarn he'd taken from Hannah's box between two legs of the table.

"Are you making a doll?" That elder sister lifted a brow at him.

"Ja. Vhy not? Sylvia has not got vone of zis kind, I bet." He grinned, though concern still showed slightly in his eyes. "I vill make it big enough to hug und dress." Then he glanced toward their visitor. "You don't haf a doll braided from yarn yet, do you, Sylvia?"

"No. I just have an old furry soft doll, and Zeta Zelda." She watched him curiously.

"Zhen zis vone ist yours." He grinned again and resumed his work.