Zoe Thompson
Zoe’s tech jacket covered her from head to toe in an instant. What the hell had even happened?! Green Lantern was explaining how he’d apparently been keeping tabs on her for the last six months. Then, the floor jumped beneath her feet and the entire ship came apart. Her restraints exploded off the wall and she went spinning into open space with too much debris to tell which way the ship even was. Something large flew past her, followed by a shower of smaller pieces that bounced harmlessly off the armour already covering her from head to toe.
A green sphere suddenly snapped into existence around her.
“Zoe!”
Green Lantern flew through his own construct and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh…”
She felt okay. Surprisingly okay considering she’d just been catapulted out of a spaceship that exploded. The tech jacket agreed a second later, flooding her vision with a bunch of information she only understood about half of.
No significant injuries detected.
“Yeah.” Zoe nodded. “Suit says I’m fine.”
Green Lantern let go of her.
…Green Lantern. Fucking Green Lantern.
Zoe stared at him for a second longer than she probably should have. Of all the people who could’ve walked into that cell, somehow it had been the random guy she’d met six months ago. The random guy she’d flirted with, thought was cute and then mostly forgotten about because that was generally what happened when you met a cute stranger and never got his number. Except apparently he was also Green Lantern and hadn’t forgotten about her.
Actually, how the fuck had he even known she was being kidnapped? Her brain, being completely useless in a crisis, immediately supplied the dumbest possible answer. Maybe he’d spent the last six months thinking about her. Their brief meeting had stuck with him so badly that he’d been looking for her ever since. Maybe this was one of those stupid love-at-first-sight things where two people met by chance and somehow just knew—
Jesus Christ, that was creepy. Although chasing a spaceship into deep space to rescue her was kind of—no. Still creepy. …Alright, maybe it was a little cute. Regardless, she’d have to defer whether she needed to be flattered or get a restraining order once she wasn’t floating in the middle of fucking space.
Green Lantern turned away from her. Zoe followed his eyes and finally noticed the other ship sitting beyond the wreckage. It was considerably larger than the one they’d just been inside, and whatever hope she had that this was all some horrible accident disappeared when sections of its hull opened and a lot of armoured figures poured out.
“...Who the heck is that?!”
Green Lantern dropped the bubble. “Fuck knows.”
They are the Kresh. Gelderia’s mortal enemies deadset on conquering the world and claiming our technology for themselves.
…Which now meant her, too. Fuck!
“Stay here.”
“Wait, what are you—”
Green Lantern was gone before she could finish. He cut across the vacuum of space. The first few Kresh barely made it away from their ship before a giant glowing fist ploughed straight through them. Zoe watched one go flying, then another, and then Green Lantern created something that looked suspiciously like a train and drove it through the rest.
“Holy shit.”
She knew Green Lantern was strong, but seeing it from twenty metres away was different. He reached their ship and disappeared through the opening they’d come out of. Though there were more than just a few still outside who’d set their sights on the few people with tech jackets.
Nurr, Veln… and her.
“...Oh.”
Zoe flinched as a blur slammed into a piece of wreckage nearby. She jerked around as Nurr tore herself free from the debris. Her green armour was scratched to hell, but she didn’t seem particularly bothered by it. Veln shot out of the wreckage a few seconds later and immediately looked back at what remained of their ship.
“My ship!”
Nurr grabbed his shoulder before he could rush towards it.
“Veln.”
“They destroyed my ship!”
“They are about to destroy us.”
The Kresh that Green Lantern hadn’t flattened were already regrouping.
Zoe raised a hand. “So, uh, what exactly do I—”
Nurr grabbed her wrist. She looked down at the metal cuff, then at the matching one Nurr fastened around her other wrist.
“Are you fucking serious?”
“The restraints will direct your tech jacket to Gelderia. If we fall here, you will continue to Gelderia and stand trial.”
Zoe gawked at her over the indignity but Nurr had already turned away. Veln followed.
“Hey!”
Neither of the Gelderians stopped.
“HEY!”
The tech jacket suddenly accelerated away in the opposite direction.
Zoe yelped as the Kresh ship, the wreckage and the fight all started shrinking rapidly.
“You cannot be fucking serious!”
She leaned against the thrust, but the cuffs kept her suit dragging her towards a destination that had appeared on her HUD.
“...Great.”
They wanted her on Gelderia that badly? She’d go to Gelderia. Green Lantern had already promised he wasn’t going to let them kill her, and he was Green Lantern, which felt like a pretty good lawyer to have even if he probably didn’t know anything about alien law. More importantly, she could get the fuck away from the people shooting at them.
Zoe looked over her shoulder. An armoured Kresh sent Veln tumbling with a punch. Nurr caught him and two more Kresh immediately piled onto her. It just wasn’t good to look at. Nevermind that they’d kidnapped her. And Nurr was a bitch, too. She really needed to remember that part. These weren’t her friends. They’d dragged her off the planet and strapped her to a wall because some alien she’d known for about five minutes had died after giving her his armour to save her life.
Veln flew in to help Nurr, but it simply turned into a one-sided beatdown once more Kresh joined.
Zoe groaned. She was quite literally being forced to leave. Nobody, least of all Nurr, could even blame her for doing nothing. Zoe stared for another second before squeezing her eyes shut.
“...Fuck this.”
She pushed against the cuffs until they snapped. The cyan marker in her vision winked out of existence and she was once again in control of more than just her head and hands. Zoe spun around and shot back towards the fight.
Nurr and Veln were getting their shit kicked in. There wasn’t really a nicer way of putting it. They were outnumbered at least four to one, and the Kresh apparently knew exactly how to fight people wearing tech jackets. One caught Nurr by the ankle and hurled her into a chunk of their destroyed ship and a second buried her back into the wreckage with a well-timed kick. Zoe crashed shoulder-first into his side and carried him away from Nurr. He twisted around and drove an elbow into her back, so she let go, spun around and punched him. His helmet crumpled.
Her eyes widened as he went flying.
“...Oh.”
She stared at her fist. The suit definitely made her stronger. Obviously. She’d lifted her dad’s outback with it once. But this was a guy in a tech jacket, too. Well, Kresh technology or whatever. And she’d just—
“THOMPSON!”
Zoe looked up in time for Nurr to fly past her. “Hi!”
“Behind you!”
Armoured Kresh hands clamped around Zoe’s waist.
“Oh, come on!”
She was dragged backwards before her suit stabilised her. Zoe threw an elbow, missed completely, tried again and felt it connect with something solid. The Kresh’s grip loosened enough for her to twist free. She spun around, swinging. Her foot caught him across the helmet, denting it with ease and sending him tumbling into the void.
Then a sizzling blast of energy clipped her shoulder.
“FUCK!”
Another two shots screamed over her head. She looked up. Her HUD outlined three Kresh currently making a beeline for her. Zoe raised both arms without really knowing what she expected to happen. A mechanical hunk of… something unfolded from her forearms, lighting up like an afterburner. Twin orange blasts hammered into the Kresh.
Zoe’s mouth dropped open. “...I can do that?!”
Affirmative.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
You did not ask.
“What else can I—”
The second Kresh’s fist snapped into her face. It snapped Zoe’s head back, but surprisingly, there wasn’t any pain. Was that just a suit thing? She caught his next punch with two hasty hands. The Kresh strained. Zoe didn’t. Despite his straining, the Kresh’s fist was slowly moving backwards and she realised that he was losing… to her.
A truly evil grin spread across her face.
“Oh, you fucked up big time.”
She yanked him towards herself and slammed a knee into his stomach. His armour shattered, and he went limp over her armoured thigh. Zoe shoved him away and looked for Nurr and Veln. Veln was grappling with one Kresh while another tried to pull him off. Nurr had three of them around her and seemed to be doing significantly better now that she wasn’t being swarmed by eight people at once.
Zoe rocketed towards Veln first.
“Move!”
He looked up. “What?”
“JUST MOVE!”
Veln ducked. Zoe flew over him feet-first and caught the Kresh behind him square in the chest. She felt the metal carapace give beneath her boots before the alien went hurtling backwards.
Veln stared after him. “Your output is far beyond expected parameters.”
“My… uhh, what?”
“You should not be that strong!”
Zoe frowned. “Fuck you too, dude!”
“No! That was a compliment!”
“Oh.” She brightened. “Well thanks!”
A Kresh smacked into Veln from the side.
“Oh shit!”
Zoe hauled the alien backwards. He twisted in her grip, but she managed to get both arms around his waist. She turned towards Nurr, then back to the Kresh in her hands.
…Fuck it.
Veln veered away from her. “THOMPSON, WHAT ARE YOU—”
She spun around three dizzying times and let go. Her Kresh hurtled directly into the group surrounding Nurr like a bowling ball.
Zoe pumped both fists into the air. “STRIIIIKE!”
Nurr stared at her. Even through a completely expressionless helmet, Zoe could somehow tell the woman was judging her.
“...Where’s my thank you?”
Nurr flew away.
“Whatever!”
The fight didn’t last much longer after that. Zoe was beginning to realise that the Kresh really didn’t like getting hit by her. There were also a lot less of them around, mostly on account of Green Lantern going sicko mode in their ship. The Kresh outside were so terrified they didn’t care, so terrified of her they were zooming back to their ship without a care for the hero onboard.
A pulse of green light travelled along the surface of the hull and all of the Kresh that had poured in came flying back out in a frenzy. Green Lantern floated out after them, holding a limp Kresh by the ankle. Zoe watched him casually hurl the unconscious alien into space before dusting his hands.
“Alright! I commandeer this stolen vessel by order of the Peaky Blinders!”
…What the hell was he on about?
Green Lantern frowned at her. “Is that not a thing here? …Oh, well. Free ship everyone. All aboard!”
“My ship is destroyed,” Veln said miserably.
Green Lantern looked towards the wreckage. “...Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“Why are you apologising? You didn’t destroy it.”
“It still sucks. You had a nice ship, buddy.”
Veln stared lamely at the remains for another second. Zoe floated over to Nurr, who was already halfway to the Kresh ship.
“Hey.” Zoe held up the mangled remains of one of the cuffs. “Before you say anything, I’m not putting these back on.”
“...You destroyed the restraints?”
“Duh! You left me handcuffed while you flew off to die!”
“We did not intend to die. But that is not my point. You should not have been able to break free.” Nurr stared at her in silence for a while. “You remain under arrest.”
“I know. I’m not asking you to let me go. But I did come back and save you both. So you both owe me a favour.”
“...Yes,” Nurr finally said.
“No more handcuffs or crucifixion.”
Veln tilted his head. “What is crucifixion?”
Nurr glanced at the broken restraints.
“To be fair, unless you’ve got some alien law saying prisoners have to be uncomfortable at all times, I think that’s fair,” Green Lantern said with a smile.
Veln raised his hand. “I agree.”
Nurr let out a long-suffering sigh.
“...Very well,” she said grudgingly. “You will remain under our supervision until we reach Gelderia, but I will not restrain you again unless you attempt to escape.”
“Hell yeah!”
“Curb your enthusiasm. You are still facing charges of murder.”
“...Less hell yeah.”
Green Lantern laughed as he floated over. Only then did Zoe remember she had a much bigger problem to deal with. Her eyes narrowed.
“...What?”
“How did you know that I got kidnapped? You met me once!”
The smile slid off his face.
Nurr flew past them towards the Kresh ship. “We should continue this discussion aboard.”
Zoe watched them go before turning back to Green Lantern. He pointed towards the ship with an all-too-tight smile.
“Probably a good idea, yeah?”
“...Don’t think you’re getting out of this.”
He started flying away. Zoe spared the destroyed Gelderian vessel one last look before she followed him.
【—〄—】
Oscar Ward
The Kresh ship, save for a few rooms that we’ve collectively agreed to not go into, turns out to be a lot more serviceable than I thought it’d be. Sure, a lot of the furniture isn’t exactly made for human proportions, but the beds are all queen-sized, which is nice. Nurr and Veln, having read the mood, are at the wheel, giving Zoe the opportunity to get that obviously burning question off her chest again.
She’s out of her tech jacket, mostly. It’s a really adaptable piece of armour, to be honest. Not quite on the level of my lantern ring, but being honest, my ring is a bunch of conceptual bullshit. She folds her distractingly toned arms and raises an eyebrow. While I can’t gauge where her head is at, I’ve got a sixth sense for verbal landmines. And right now, I’m very much in the midst of one.
I lean against the sleek Kresh ship hallway.
“...So.”
“How did you know I was being kidnapped?”
“I… didn’t.”
Her eyes narrow. “You flew into space after the exact ship I was kidnapped on.”
“Yeah, because I knew someone was being kidnapped. That it was you was a complete coincidence.”
“...How?”
I relax a lot. Everything from here on out is the truth and nothing but the truth, which lemme tell you, is a lot better for my guilty conscience.
“I’ve got a personal satellite. Long story short, I fixed it up and 364 days out of the year, I let people use it for phone service, internet and whatnot. Makes me decent money with very little maintenance. On account of my well…”
I wave my ringed hand.
Zoe gives me a funny look. “You own a satellite?”
…Do I? I mean, Cecil hasn’t requisitioned it, even though I ended up fixing up a few more satellites recently for full global coverage. So I guess I can comfortably say they’re mine, right?
“Yep!”
“And you use it as a phone company?” She leans in. “...What’s the payment plan?”
I grin. “Oh, it’s dirt cheap.”
“Then, sign me up! …But, uhh, isn’t that bad for business? You’re not, like, gonna sell my data are you?”
“Surprisingly not,” I say. “It’s mostly an underground thing anyway. People are scared I’ll hike up the prices if it goes mainstream. I won’t en-shittify it, though, or advertise it. If you find it, you find it. It’s not even my main source of income. Besides, because it’s cheap, there’s already plenty of customers.”
“Wait a second!” She leans away. “I’m getting distracted. Back to the point, buster!”
I roll my eyes. “It also helps me keep an eye on space. If something weird happens in orbit, I can find out about it. Which is how I found you.”
“So you just assumed an alien would kidnap someone? Isn’t that kind of racist?”
“They didn’t exactly say hello to anyone! You’re telling me you wouldn’t bat an eye if you saw an alien spaceship hauling ass back into space?”
Zoe’s crossed arms slowly fall to her sides. “...Well, they were here because one of their people died on Earth a few days ago. I saw the crash and ran over to help, I thought it was a jet or something. But I get to the crater and there’s an alien crawling out. His ship blew up, but he threw his armour onto me at the last second to save my life…”
I squeeze her shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“I… I didn’t even know his name till Nurr told me. Kelda saved me, and… I’m happy to be alive.” Her face slowly brightens up. “So you weren’t specifically keeping tabs on me?”
“No, why?”
She blinks.
I frown. “What am I, crazy? I’m not stalking you!”
...Oh my God. Is she blushing? I slowly straighten off the wall to squint at her with a tilt of my head.
“Wait a minute…”
Zoe’s eyes quickly dart away.
“Did you think I was stalking you because I’m some weirdo—”
“I DIDN’T SAY THAT!”
“What’s the blush for, huh?” I’m grinning. “I won’t deny I think you’re pretty, but stalking you through my private satellite? It’d be easier to find your number and just call.”
To be fair to her, she isn’t all that far off from the truth. …Actually, the truth is much worse. Now that I think about it, but at least this way I get to tease her about it and not look like a raving lunatic.
“Aww, you’re blushing!”
Zoe turns back indignantly. It’s all kinds of funny. She’s got her shoulders squared and her trembling fists bunched up at her sides.
“I am not blushing!”
Her face betrays her by burning up some more. I laugh even harder at the sight. Can’t even hear her excuses anymore. Holy shit. Back in the cell, I thought she was just weirded out—which, fair enough—but apparently there was a whole other train running through that station.
“I just thought maybe—” She cuts herself off. “It doesn’t matter!”
“Maybe what, huh?”
“Shut up, you dick!”
I snicker. “Did you think I spent six months creeping on you or something?”
“AGAIN, I DIDN’T SAY THAT!”
“Uh-huh.”
“Besides, is it that crazy of an assumption? You turned out to be Green Lantern!”
I give her a half-shrug. Don’t really have the room to talk given that I actually did keep tabs on her, just for completely justifiable reasons. The blush on her face fades, and the corners of her lips curve into a smirk.
“...Well, seeing as we’re both here, are you gonna forget to ask for my number again, or what?”
“I… H-Huh?”
Zoe’s eyes gleam. “Oh wow! Look who’s blushing now!”
“...Shut up!”
…Fuck. Now my face is heating up.
“Remind me again, am I the one who created a straight-up romance sub-plot in my head to explain why a superhero saved me from getting kidnapped?”
She splutters incoherently, jabbing a finger furiously at me as if she’s about to deliver the comeback of the century, then apparently thinks better of it.
“Whatever! I’m… going somewhere!”
“Where?” I call after her.
She flips me the bird over her back. “None of your business, asshole!”
I completely lose it and collapse against the wall. …Whew. Did not realise how much I needed that laugh after the week I’ve had.
Current Charge: 47%
…Well that certainly puts a damper on my mood. Sub 70% in the vacuum of space is scary, to say the least. I’d really rather not find out what happens if I run dry out here. Luckily, I’ve recently discovered another way of getting my charge back. …Meditation!
Turns out all that sitting around with my legs crossed and trying not to think about anything actually is an exercise in willpower. It’s nowhere near as efficient as healing people or getting someone to dig deep and commit to saving their own lives, but a trickle is still a trickle, and Nurr said we’ve got a day or so’s travel before we reach Gelderia.
The floor beneath me lurches forward and I’m thrown against a wall. Whatever that sensation was, it’s over just as quickly.
“...What the fuck was that?”
FTL travel detected.
I spin towards the nearest window further down the gangway. Stars stretch across the darkness outside in impossible streaks of light, warped by whatever the hell this ship is doing to space around us. We’re travelling faster than light. I’ve done it before with my ring, but I’ve never seen the actual process. To me, it was always instantaneous.
The wonder factor eventually fades away, though. I wander down the corridor and poke my head into the first seemingly unclaimed bedroom I find, which is good enough for me. The door sighs shut behind me. Should I use the bed? My life support aura will keep me safe from any xeno-diseases. Nah, that feels like cheating. Everyone knows meditation means sitting cross-legged on the hard ass floor.
“...Alrighty!”
I drop the back of my hands onto my knees, close my eyes, and breathe deeply. Emptying the mind… It’s surprisingly difficult when I’ve got a million worrying thoughts bouncing around in there. Nolan. Mark. Eve. Zoe. Allen. The Coalition. Viltrumites. Gelderia. …I wonder whether Cecil’s come to terms with my departure. Are Mark and Allen still eating? …Should I have asked Zoe for her number after she practically handed me the fucking invitation just now—nope! Time to focus on my breathing again.
….In
Out…
I enter a kind of routine, breathing both consciously and not as everything around me sort of disappears.
Eventually, so does my consciousness.
【—〄—】
Current Charge: 78%
“...Yo?”
Something pokes my cheek.
I crack my eyes open. “...Mm.”
“Hey!”
I scrunch my face and lean away from the poking finger. Zoe’s crouched directly in front of me. I blink at her with a vague, sleepy wince on my face. She smirks back at me and taps her cheek.
“...You’ve got a little something there.”
“Drool?”
She nods. I immediately wipe my perfectly dry mouth. A grin explodes across her face. I sigh and let my ring hoist me up on account of my dead legs.
“...Fuck you.”
“Dinnertime!”
I float after her down the gangway. “What’s on the menu?”
“Slop of varying colours!”
…Goodie.
Zoe leads me into the ship’s mess hall. Nurr and Veln are already sitting around one of the tables, each with a bowl in front of them—and their tech jackets off. Well, not off-off, but it’s not in full-body armour mode, giving me my first good look at the Gelderian people. They’re green, and kind of small compared to the average human. Both men and women alike seem to sport similar mohawk-like hair, though. Completely bald on the sides.
Nurr’s hair is longer, flowing between her shoulder blades. Veln’s, on the other hand, is tied into a small ponytail clustered at the back of his head. There are three bowls on the table that I’m struggling to find another word for besides slop. Three different colours of it, even. Purple, yellow and a nauseating shade of grey.
“...Which one’s safest?” I ask as I enter.
Veln looks up from his bowl. “Safest?”
“For human consumption.”
“All of them. The food is nutritionally complete.”
Zoe drops into the seat beside him. “He means which one tastes least like ass.”
“I don’t know what an ass tastes like.”
I smile. “Oh, don’t worry. Zoe can tell you…”
“Hey, I do not eat ass!”
“Sure, I believe you. So, which tastes the least horrible?”
I plop onto the empty seat opposite her and inspect the three bowls. There aren’t any utensils that I can see. Nurr and Veln’s Tech Jackets have apparently decided to solve that problem by spawning spoons for them. I reach for the yellow bowl.
“Wouldn’t,” Zoe says immediately.
My hand stops. “What, why?”
“I tried that one. Nuh-uh.”
I slowly move my hand towards the purple bowl.
“Wouldn’t try that either,” she says with a shake of her head.
“Which one, then?!”
“Why’re you getting mad at me? I warned you it was all slop!”
“Which one did you finish, then?”
“None! I tried ‘em all, hated them, and then said, nope, not hungry.”
Veln glances at her. “You lied?”
“No shit, I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want to eat alien baby food!”
“It is not intended for infants.”
…Fuck it. I grab the grey bowl and scoop a little glob onto my finger and chew at the grainy mush. Everyone watches me.
“...Well, how is it?” Zoe asks.
“It’s not terrible, I think?”
Her eyebrows shoot up.
“—Actually, no… I lied. It’s getting worse.” I start scraping the disgusting gruel off my tongue with a hard light spoon.
She snorts.
“The flavour develops as you chew,” Veln comments, as if there is some refined angle to this culinary travesty. “Perhaps it’s the difference between our race’s palates. I find it rather pleasant.”
I push the bowl away. There is absolutely no reason for me to subject myself to this when I’ve got two perfectly hot pizza pockets in here.
“Gimme a sec,” I say as I dip into the portal materialising above the ring. I pull my hand out of it and the warm bread and tomato sauce wafts over the table. “They’re still hot, by the way.”
Zoe looks between the slop and the pizza pocket I’m waving. “...Marry me.”
I choke on my second bite—I took the first in the GDA lobby where I first bought these things.
“You made that way too easy!” she says, as I thump my chest.
“Do you want one or not? Because I will eat all this right in front of you. Don’t test me.”
“Got you, boss!”
“You know the words,” I say. “You’re not getting one till you say them.”
She smiles sweetly. “...Zoe you are the hottest lady to walk the Earth, please let me soothe your hunger?”
“Haha, nice try.”
“...Sorry for fucking with you,” she says, hanging her head as she stretched her palms to me. “Now, can I have one?”
I guess that’s the best I’m getting out of her. I toss the unbitten pizza pocket across the table. Veln leans closer to my ring as the subspace portal closes.
“You stored that inside the ring? How?”
“Subspace.”
He sits up. “Explain.”
“I can’t. I put stuff in. Stuff comes back out.”
“Where does it go?”
“I dunno, into the subspace.”
“Yes, but what is subspace?”
“The place the stuff goes.”
“That is circular reasoning.”
“...Unfortunately, that’s the best I’ve got, man.” Veln stares at my ring. I instinctively curl my fingers into a fist. “...What?”
Zoe takes another bite of her pizza pocket. “You know, if you two want some privacy—”
“Shut up, Zoe,” I say without looking away from Veln.
Pretty sure she’s pouting in my peripheral vision.
“Does the subspace preserve matter?” Veln asks.
“Food stays hot or cold.”
“Does time pass inside?”
“Fuck knows.”
“Is there an upper limit to its volume?”
“Also fuck knows.”
“Can you store living organisms?”
“Absolutely fuck knows, and if you keep me from my pizza pocket any longer, I’ll put you in there and we can find out.”
Nurr finally looks up from her meal. “A sensible decision.”
“May I examine it?” Veln asks as I take another slow bite.
“...No.”
His shoulders drop.
“Perhaps when we reach Gelderia, then? We have significantly more sophisticated equipment there. I would not damage it, I promise. Under your supervision, of course,” he adds quickly. “You may terminate the examination at any point. I would require your permission before attempting anything.”
I look down at the ring. Honestly? That’s not the worst idea in the world. I’ve had this thing for months and still discover new shit it can do by accident. It didn’t exactly come with a handbook. Everything I know about it is either something the ring itself decided to tell me or something I figured out by screwing around.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Some ground rules. First, you’re not taking it apart.”
“I would never—” I silence him with a look and Veln raises both hands. “I will not dismantle your ring.”
“Shoot it with anything.”
Veln hesitates. “...I will not shoot it with anything.”
“Anything you think I haven’t covered?”
He ponders the question far too long for my liking, to be honest.
Nurr sighs. “...If it helps, I will ensure he does nothing without your express permission.”
Ring, what are the odds they’ll be able to glean anything from a scan? Generally-speaking.
Basic scan of Gelderian exoskeleton commencing…
Scanning…
Likelihood: negligible.
...Well, fuck it. Worst-case scenario, I tell him to stop. Best-case scenario, I get to be a better Green Lantern.
“Fine.”
Veln grins at the prospect as I lean back and raise my ring towards the blank wall. Green light spreads across it until a giant rectangular screen takes shape.
Zoe stops eating. “...Oh, hell yeah, that’s good.”
“What are you doing?” Nurr asks.
“Movie.”
Veln tilts his head. “What is a movie?”
“Any requests?” I ask Zoe.
“Something with aliens.”
Nurr stares at her.
“You have spent the entire day with aliens.”
“Yeah, but movie aliens. You’ll find it funny.”
…Somehow, I doubt that. Do these movies count as speciesism? I start scrolling as Zoe gets her chair out and drags it to my side of the table.
“No, no, no. Go back,” she says.
“What?”
“Men in Black is a classic!”
“Absolutely not.”
“You asked for requests, I’m giving you one!”
“Well, it’s denied.”
“Then why did you ask?!”
“Because I thought you had good taste. Clearly I’m wrong!”
“...Dick,” she huffs and folds her arms. “You’re the one with fuck-ass taste. Who doesn’t like Men in Black?!”
Veln points towards something further down the list. “What is Independence Day about? The image attached to it is intriguing.”
Zoe gasps. “No!”
“What?” he asks.
“We are not introducing aliens to Earth cinema with that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll think we’re fucking stupid.”
Nurr looks towards the screen. “Considering what I’ve seen of you, I must confess that is a foregone conclusion.”
I laugh and keep scrolling as Zoe starts arguing with her.