[ By the look of surprise on Alex's face as he trades the PADD back for his notebook, he'd been expecting more cynicism. He'd been starting to script the Big Reveal in his head accordingly and actually cracks a relieved smile that lasts for about a split second before thoughts of the Covenant chase it away.
Alex gives a lot of educational tours and talks to school groups, and Julian is reminding him a bit of the kids who actually want to be there. He has to watch his tone to avoid slipping into the same cadence he uses to explain the lifespan of a tortoise or the importance of snakes in their given ecosystem. ]
As far as I know, the Covenant of St. George have existed since at least the Crusades, if not earlier. They're violent fanatics who wipe out anything and anyone they deem unnatural- which they have a very narrow definition of. They consider themselves monster hunters, the secret, sworn protectors of humanity- and they've driven more species than I can count to extinction or hiding.
[ The lecture tone is easy to ditch when it nearly becomes ranting about how much the Covenant sucks. ]
My ancestors defected from them five generations ago, and we've been trying to make up for our involvement ever since. They're not big fans of our conservation work or the protection we provide to the sapient species they hunt. They consider us not just traitors to their organization, but to all of humanity.
So, at the risk of a bit of an understatement, my upbringing was... unorthodox. But since it was the kind of upbringing that prepared me for things like surviving being lost in an otherworldly IKEA with limited weaponry, I'm mostly counting that as a blessing right now.
(Alex has the same enthusiasm, it's just almost hidden under the tweed, sarcasm and knives)
Alex gives a lot of educational tours and talks to school groups, and Julian is reminding him a bit of the kids who actually want to be there. He has to watch his tone to avoid slipping into the same cadence he uses to explain the lifespan of a tortoise or the importance of snakes in their given ecosystem. ]
As far as I know, the Covenant of St. George have existed since at least the Crusades, if not earlier. They're violent fanatics who wipe out anything and anyone they deem unnatural- which they have a very narrow definition of. They consider themselves monster hunters, the secret, sworn protectors of humanity- and they've driven more species than I can count to extinction or hiding.
[ The lecture tone is easy to ditch when it nearly becomes ranting about how much the Covenant sucks. ]
My ancestors defected from them five generations ago, and we've been trying to make up for our involvement ever since. They're not big fans of our conservation work or the protection we provide to the sapient species they hunt. They consider us not just traitors to their organization, but to all of humanity.
So, at the risk of a bit of an understatement, my upbringing was... unorthodox. But since it was the kind of upbringing that prepared me for things like surviving being lost in an otherworldly IKEA with limited weaponry, I'm mostly counting that as a blessing right now.