Echelon
Legacy Name: Echelon.

He was a scholar and a drifter with a particular fascination for all things space-related.

The urge to explore everything from Astronomy to Zoological Phenomena of Subeta's six-planet system had been planted in his brain at a very young age. His mother (a scientist of some small fame working for SAI) had given him a book about the five recently discovered planets ringing Subeta Proper. He'd daydreamed constantly about what it would be like to surf the waters of Azure or watch the two moons rise over Dibbala or slide around and around the rings of Mesaa.

She'd named him Echelon, a word she found interesting and somehow beautiful, far above it's meaning. 'A level or rank in an organization, a profession, or society'. As in, "the upper echelons of the business world". The secondary meaning is "a formation of troops, ships, aircraft, or vehicles in parallel rows with the end of each row projecting further than the one in front.". In a similar way, he'd given his gorgeous minion, an Aurora Pegasus. the name of Mystère - "mystery".

Mystère looked out for him. She was the voice of reason when he wanted to go chasing some rumor of a new astronomical oddity at 3:00 A.M. She saw to it that no matter what corner of the galaxy they ended up in, he always remembered to eat at least three times a day and brush his teeth before bed. She coordinated with his loyal assistant who kept shop back on Subeta Proper, documenting the giant files of notes he uploaded and submitting his application for continued funding to Subeta University once every six months. He truly appreciated the leading ladies in his life and would even occasionally remember to buy his assistant flowers.

(Though after an incident involving a carnivorous carnation cluster from Knotta, Mystère was pretty good at steering him toward Subeta Proper florists...not ones he just happened to notice on a random Atebus street corner.)

His current obsession is the study of matter that has been transformed after its journey through a black hole. It's a sketchy area of research...not many are actually bold enough to come to the brink of instant death for the collection of a few particles. Last month, it was the volume of light given off based on the age of a star and next month...who knows? He will research a topic to exhaustion but once he reaches the limitations of time, space and possibility, he moves on. He simply has to be doing something at all times. His hands, mind and body all need to be active or he starts to feel a little crazy.

He feels the same way about living arrangements. The longest he ever lived in one place was when he rented a condo on Atebus for two months. His typical accommodations are at a local hotel with good reviews, room service and all the little luxuries life requires for one to truly relax and unwind at the end of the day. Especially when one spends a great deal of time cramped into the cabin of a one-person space ship.

His current hotel is a rather upscale place on the eastern side of Lapidarian. The prosperous mines there have attracted a small crowd of semi-permanent dwellers that like to bring their families up for the weekend to enjoy the thrill of a space trip. There are giant glass sculptures in the lobby that look like a moving mobile of Subeta's solar system and the swimming pool is so big, it rivals Veta Lake.

Echelon sighs as the warm water falls over his fur like gentle rain. Mystère has to remind him to shampoo all of his fur (especially behind his ears). They order the sampler platter to share and watch Hikei Hour while they're waiting for the food to arrive.

Mystère always gets tired after she eats. Echelon smiles fondly down at his sleeping companion, turning the TV volume to the lowest setting and propping open his laptop. He viewed no less than three new clusters of non-matter (as he's taken to calling it) all in the course of one day of travel. A real breakthrough! He hastily types up the many thoughts and notes that are floating in his head and immediately forwards them on. If he gives himself the chance to actually edit his notes, his fur will be as gray as the ashes of Darkside before he's satisfied enough to let another pair of eyes view the mess that are his thoughts on paper.

His assistant is excellent at making his gibberish sound intelligible, thank goodness.

His work done for the day, he winds down by browsing some of his favorite research sites, casually on the lookout for that next burning question that will start him on the path to a new corner of space and a new adventure.