The last exhibits you saw had large crowds around them and the rooms were quite noisy with a lot of "oohs" and "ahs" from the many other visitors, who also took lots of pictures of the exhibits. Pieces of Techlandian history that they got to see for themselves!
COSMOS' headquarters were bustling. You were in just one of the several exhibit rooms that were often open to visitors. Some old framed photos on the wall how far the headquarters and COSMOS as a group have grown.
You would've liked to talk with the Operating Superstars that were supervising the exhibits, but they were usually curating the pieces and managing the crowds when one of them noticed that you were wanting to look at one of the exhibits but walked away from it to look at a photo on the wall.
You looked in the lower right corner to see the date that was written on it; 2002 was the year, and the photo showed the COSMOS headquarters when it started as a simple wooden building, and the first few members stood outside at the front of it.
"Not too close, and please leave room for everyone else." Someone said in a polite but stern tone. You turned to see one of the Operating Superstars. She was part cat with black cat ears and a tail, had bright green eyes, and had two-toned short platinum blonde hair that was black underneath. She wearing her old military uniform with black boots, a dark green skirt, and a jacket that was white with a black collar, had green epaulettes and green sleeve insignia.
"Hi, and uhh... thank you." You nervously told her, eyeing the saber on the right side of her belt.
"Salutations. I'm Petunia. A former officer of Swallowtail's Ready Fleet, now a teacher and combat instructor here at COSMOS." She greeted you. "I only use my 'killer POKE' technique against malware that want to cause damage! It's not quite as lethal as it sounds though." She boasted after she noticed that you were still looking a bit nervous, but whispered the last sentence to you.
"Thank you." You said, sounding assured. You stayed for a while longer to look at the exhibits before you asked Petunia about the library.
"I can lead you there!" Petunia cheerfully said. While you left the exhibit room and followed Petunia to the library, you thought of how far COSMOS had grown since how it appeared in the old photo you saw on the wall. Retro aesthetics with a sci-fi touch decorated the halls and rooms, and there were several framed paintings on the wall. You immediately recognized some of the famous paintings and drawings, such as Prima's abstract black and white paintings of mice, keyboards, application icons, but there were a few you didn't recognize.
"That one is from Wanda." Petunia said about a few paintings of houses that featured heavy blocks of color in reds, greens, blues, yellow and white. Near it was a painting of flowers that used black and white screen tones with splashes of pastel watercolors. "That one is from Elisabeth". She explained these with joy; these were two of the OSes that struggled to find success during their time in the limelight, but here at COSMOS, they and many other OSes that long fell into obscurity are vindicated!
You approached the entrance of the library; two large doors side by side. Petunia graciously opened the doors, and you followed her to see rows of bookshelves with tables between sections. Diana was seated on a 1970's style stuffed chair by a bookshelf and was chatting with Petunia.
"Hi!" Diana said, noticing you. She had medium-length orange hair tied in two small twin tails while the rest of her hair was worn loose, and she wore a light blue dress with an off-white blouse and beige tights. Around the collar of her blouse was a green brooch and a 6-color rainbow ribbon in green, yellow, orange, red, purple and blue. Her dress shoes were a vibrant purple and its sequins sparkled in the light with every movement.
"It's always to meet a history and retro computing enthusiast!" Diana cheerfully said after you greeted her. "I'm Diana, former member of Chariots of Colors, but now I'm a teacher at COSMOS!"
She held a magic wand that had a floppy disk charm on the top of it, waved the wand and said a quick incantation. An apple materialized in her other hand, and she held it out to you!
"Thank you, Diana!" You said, accepting the apple into your hands. Diana looked in shock when she saw you bite it, and laughed nervously. "What is this?" You asked. Petunia was a foot away and stifled her laughter.
"It's wax... I should've told you that one isn't real!" Diana nervously said.
"If you're that hungry, we can lead you to the mess hall!" Petunia cheerfully offered.
"And I can give you some real apples to eat!" Diana added.
You introduced yourself and started a conversation about the library.
"We also have archives of papers, tapes and CDs on the next floor." Diana mentioned.
"Do you do any of the archiving?" You asked.
"Yes, but I learned a lot of those skills from Zelma. She's a master at archiving, and she might be here in the library now, but if she isn't, she might be getting ready to organize our next tabletop gaming event tomorrow!"
You were curious and continued the conversation. While you were talking, another Operating Superstar approached. She had dark gray hair tied in a bun and decorated with several metal hair clips, and she was wearing a gray jacket with a black and silver striped turtleneck with a black and white flannel skirt with black boots.
"Salutations, Trish! Do you want to meet our new visitor?" Diana cheerfully asked her.
"Sure." Trish nodded and looked at you through a pair of square metal-framed glasses. She was holding a cardboard box that had several pieces of scrap metal and salvaged circuit boards. "Nice to meet you. I'm Trish, and these may be materials for another sculpture, or for another project."
You introduced yourself and started asking Trish about the sculptures she made when suddenly there was an interruption.
"I want this!" Petunia said, reaching into the box and picking up a shiny piece of scrap metal. After a moment she looked embarrassed; you looked surprised to see Petunia dropping her usual demeanor that you saw, but Diana chuckled and Trish smiled.
"Whoops… My apologies." Petunia said, putting the piece of scrap metal back in the box.
"Do you want it for your collection of shiny things?" Trish asked. She held out the piece of scrap metal that Petunia had put back in the box.
"Yes, and thanks!" Petunia said. She accepted the piece and fit it in one of the pockets on her jacket.
Diana glanced at you again. "How about we head to the cafeteria next for some real food?" She asked.
"Thanks. I'd like that." You said.
"This'd be as good time as any to head to the mess hall." Petunia chimed in.
"Don't argue in front of the visitor about this." Trish flatly said.
"Call it the café hall or something around the visitor." Wendell blurted out from a nearby table. You, Petunia, Trish and Diana looked in the same direction to see a man seated at a table with a few books and several papers sprawled across the tabletop. Wendell had scruffy black hair with blue streaks, was wearing a white shirt with a red tie, black slacks, sneakers, and a white jacket with blue and black blocky patterns on it.
"Thanks, Wendell." Trish said. Petunia and Diana nodded in agreement.
"He can be blunt and grumpy but he means well for our team and visitors." Diana said to you.
"Affirmative. That would've been dreadful if you got caught up in us arguing over what to call some things." Petunia said with a nervous chuckle. You followed as they led you to the "café hall".
Adventures will continue, in COSMOS and in the world of Techlandia!