LF Friends, Will Travel

Visiting an Old Friend

Date: 71 PST (Post Stasis Time).

Tauress was confused. It wasn't the first instance, and considering how much time she spent around Terrans, it wouldn't be the last. But out of all the Terran induced confusions that the Ritilian had suffered, this was one of the more confusing.

Tauress was dwarfed by the primates that were part of the crowds and queues that surrounded her, Tauress's 4ft reptilian stature causing the Ritilian to almost be swallowed up by the swarm of bodies, only her natural pattern of green and blue iridescent scales causing her to stand out slightly from the crowd. Not that anyone gave her much notice: The Ritilians had long been allies and friends of all types of Terrans and everyone here was far more interested in the exhibits this facility had to offer.

The unaltered red rocks of mars fell underfoot as she walked around with Joseph, her Terran friend who had invited her with such enthusiasm to this museum. Mars was well known for its unique architectural style, as the surface had been plagued by war after war during its long and bloody history: different countries sending their own terraforming efforts, fighting over control of the surface, followed by the great colony rebellion. All of these have meant that throughout humanity's entire history there was almost always some kind of war or conflict happening on the fourth planet from Sol.

This meant that Martian cities were more fortresses than liveable spaces, every single apartment and building built to last against all kinds of weaponry, paths and rivers doubled as trenches. You could hardly walk two steps without finding something that was designed to make defending any area easier. There hadn't been a conflict here for over 100 years, but the impact of those design decisions gave Mars a unique feeling not felt on any other planet.

Apart from this location. This location was as untouched as the day it was created, unaltered red rock was scattered around this educational establishment. Every war fought on this planet, every skirmish, every battle; Both sides had come to the same agreement: You don't touch this area, this area is sacred. If it wasn't for the terraformed blue sky, it would have been as natural as the first day that the rovers had landed.

"Dude, I totally got to input commands into Curiosity, this is awesome!"

Joseph beamed with an animated enthusiasm as he spoke, further increasing Tauress's confusion. The Museum was a simple thing, based around the original exploration and terraforming of Mars. Informational boards were scattered around as they explained the exhibits: videos and other relics of the time, standard activities that were found in millions of museums around the galaxy. A perfect place to visit with kids or just a lazy afternoon.

Apart from one main selling point: This museum's claim to fame, was to have all 10 original Mars rovers, 7 of which were still in working condition; admittedly much repaired over the many many years. The exhibit in front of them had one called "Curiosity", still working even through its apparent age, lovingly maintained by experts specially trained in keeping the rovers running.

Tauress had watched Joseph type some commands into a terminal, causing the rover to go sample a piece of soil. Soil that had probably been sampled billions of times by billions of visitors to the attraction over the years. There were very few secrets left to be discovered in this small pile of rocks.

"I don't understand this, why are you all so excited about an exploration machine?"

Tauress wasn't the only one confused. While the vast majority of the people at this establishment were Terrans, other species were interspersed within the crowd: the ever adorable Hatil, insect like Krikken, or even a few other Ritilians. All of the non-Terrans were chasing after whatever excited Terran had dragged them here, each one trying to understand why their friends were so excited by the mundane.