The Gâ'axao Safety Briefing

It's going to be time to head for another planet in a few hours. The Kesata are finishing up with their meetings, so we'll be heading out soon.

The yela'kaja gave me a big safety talk, sort of like what you're told before boarding an airplane -- only this ain't no airplane ride I'm taking. He was showing me this little holographic diagram of the gâ'axao (that's the short form of gâ'akaxaoda) while he said it. The apparatus itself is kinda strange, though I wouldn't think much about it if I saw it in a big city. I'd probably figure it was some sort of art piece or something.

The whole thing consists of a giant, emerald-green crystal held into a circular frame on the floor with metal braces, kind of like a gemstone setting in a ring, though if there's a creature with a ring big enough to mount this setting on, I don't want to meet it.. The frame holds the crystal into the floor, and the travellers are actually supposed to climb up on top of the crystal. (I'm told that while the crystal is often big enough to transport a small pickup with the upper range being able to support a whole housing unit, it's never more than a step or two above the ground.) Here's where the first safety tip comes in:

1) Try to keep to the center of the crystal.

Here the yela'kaja generated a number of Kesata models, and one human model. When he moved them in there, he pushed us all in tight in the middle, and then caused a little force field to come up around the apparatus. This led to the next warning, which is related to the one I just stated:

2) Under no circumstances is the security field to be touched. It is electrified for your safety.

To illustrate this, he had the little human figure walk up to the force field and touch it. With a little animated lightning bolt running up his arm, he fell backward unconscious. By this time I had it figured that his was his version of the little safety cards you get in an airplane, so I kept on paying attention. His final rule on departure:

3) Remain as still as possible while the entrance is in progress.

That was simple enough to show. All the figures stayed quite still as a little wave of energy passed up and down over us. He also recommended I close my eyes before activation. I'll see how that works. He didn't show what would happen if I moved too much.

Anyway, there's one final rule before you disembark:

4) Wait until the security field is taken down before leaving the platform.

Sensible enough. If you try to walk through it, not only will you be electrocuted, but you'll probably get a nasty bruise, seeing as how solid these force fields usually are.

Anyway, I'm going to make sure I know all this before we "enter" Kesata. I've never been through this thing while conscious before, so I'd better keep this stuff in mind. The yela'kaja tells me that there'll be another yela'kaja waiting for me on the other side to show me to a place where I can wait a bit and adjust to the new environment, which the yela'kaja on Kesata is presumably doing right now. I'll be sure to describe the trip to you as soon as I'm on Kesata and have a chance to sit down.