Music Banter - View Single Post

Oriphiel · 03-13-2015, 03:07 PM

Chapter Eight

When confronted with things that challenge their perception of the boundaries of reality, people react in a variety of ways. Luke decided that the best course of action was to share a few drinks with the aliens, before falling asleep on his couch as the television played a few re-run episodes of a lighthearted show about a talking motorcycle. He woke up the next morning to the sound of construction, specifically of clanging metal and the hiss of welding, and it seemed to be coming from his apartment's second bedroom (which had remained vacant ever since his ex had moved out). Luke rubbed his eyes as he stood up, and he walked towards the commotion with sloppy and tired steps. He knocked on the door and waited for a response, however the noise from within carried on without a lull. Eventually, he turned the knob, and the smell of hot solder and burnt rubber escaped into the apartment as the door swung open. Standing before him were, of course, the aliens that he had met the night before, and they had seemingly converted the empty bedroom into a dark and cluttered workshop. Through the shower of sparks that erupted from the metal being welded and the dim glow of the strange alien machinery, Luke could barely make out the details of the large device that they were crafting. Luke simply stood there, staring into the room with an expression that wasn't quite of shock or apathy, until Qez hopped off of the arcade machine she was sitting on and waved to him. Luke nodded toward her, before asking "Alright, seriously, what is all this?" Qez started to answer him, before being cut off by Retix, who was massaging her forehead and squinting her eyes as if she had a migraine as she said "Good dawn, Luke. Right now, as you can see, we're simply following the plan." "Oh really? And what's 'the plan'? I hope it's making my apartment smell so bad that those dicks in space that're after you can't track you with their space bloodhounds, 'cause otherwise there's no excuse for you guys to not spray some freshener or something while you're working."

Retix's migraine seemed to grow worse, as she continued to rub her forehead. "There's no... such thing... as a space bloodhound," she said slowly, as if in pain. Heyt, who was typing on what seemed to be a computer on his wrist, said "Last night, as you were teaching us about human television, Tyl and Valk set up this humble workspace so that we could begin to create 'the device'. Oh, that reminds me, you were never actually introduced to each other. Tyl is the one over there with the welding gun and the red hair, and Valk is soldering microchips in the corner." Valk, who was soldering with one hand and reading a book with the other, glanced at Luke and smiled as he said "It's a delight." Tyl, who had their face covered by a welding mask, simply gave Luke a nod. "Well, it's nice to meet you," said Luke, "but, uh... where exactly did all of this **** come from?" "What do you mean?" asked Qez. Luke gestured to the machinery and tools throughout the room, saying "You know, all of this fancy... electronic... stuff." "Well," replied Qez, "we needed resources to make 'the device', and Tyl noticed that there was a storeroom with ample provisions beside this building, so we..." "Oh ****," said Luke as he rubbed his forehead, "please don't tell me you cleaned out the department store next door..." Qez smiled and replied "Don't worry about it, it's not like we got caught! You know, there's an expression from where we come from. It's... actually, hold on, i'm not really sure how it would translate to English. Give me a moment..." "No, really, it's fine," said Luke, "i'm sure it's very wise and fitting. Anyway, what's this 'device' you guys keep talking about?"

Heyt, still typing on his wrist computer, said "To put it simply, it's our only shot of defeating our enemies before they conquer this humble planet. Do you really need, or want, to know anything more about it?" "Yeah, I mean... what does it do? Is it, like, a big gun or something?" Heyt shot Luke a glance and laughed, while Retix said "Hardly. Guns are designed to end lives, while our device is designed to both save them and maximize their potential." Luke shook his head and replied "Fine, whatever, as long as you don't burn down my apartment I guess it's all the same to me. Anyway, I'm going out for a bit. My, uh, friends are probably wondering what happened to me last night, so i'm gonna go check in with them." "Wait, before you go," said Qez as she walked towards him, "I need you to show me where your human telephone is." Luke smiled and replied "Why, so you can 'phone home'?" "No," said Qez, "I don't think the ashes of my planet is accepting calls at the moment. I need it so I can order a pizza. Oh, and I suppose I'll also need some human money." Luke shrugged, saying "Sure. Just remember to put a few slices in the fridge for me." "Oh!" exclaimed Qez, "Remember that saying I wanted to tell you? I think I know how to translate it. Roughly, it's something like, 'if you worry about the past, you'll become dead fast'." "That sucks," replied Luke. "Yeah, I know, but it's the only way I can translate it so that it rhymes," said Qez dejectedly.

In a few minutes, Luke had left the apartment, and the aliens continued with their work. Each one was focused on their specific set of chores, and they toiled in silence for the better part of an hour, before Retix dropped her tools and scanned the room. "This isn't going to be enough," she said, as she nursed another migraine. Valk noticed her gripping her forehead yet again, and asked "It's getting worse?" Retix shook her head, saying "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Right now, we need to worry about finding a way to get more supplies. Like I said, we just don't have enough." "About that," replied Heyt, "we could always use Luke to procure what we need." "He's not our slave" said Valk in a strangely cheery tone, "and we can find resources without dragging him into this any further." Heyt shrugged, saying "Maybe. But, though it pains me to admit this, his indigenous nature makes him far more knowledgeable about this planet than any of my scans and simulations have made us. Without his cooperation, we may not succeed in time." "Look, instead of plotting over how to manipulate him into finding resources us, how about we, I don't know, just ask him to?" said Qez as she began to move heavy pieces of metal from the corner over to where Tyl was welding. "I mean, he already said he'd help us." Heyt laughed and said "Why bother wrestling with the morality of manipulation, when the entire purpose of the device we're building is to..." Qez cut him off, exclaiming "That's different. There's a difference between doing what we have to do and doing what we want to do." Retix lowered her hand from her forehead and turned to face Qez and Heyt, interrupting them both by saying "It doesn't matter. We'll find a way to complete our plan, no matter what may happen. We'll ask Luke to gather supplies for us, and if he refuses, then we'll do what we must with what we have. Until then, just focus on..." Suddenly, there came a knock at the door, followed by a loud voice exclaiming "Pizza delivery!" "Nice! **** these moral quandaries, i'm starving!" yelled Qez as she raced for the door.

03-13-2015, 03:07 PM	#13 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Chapter Eight When confronted with things that challenge their perception of the boundaries of reality, people react in a variety of ways. Luke decided that the best course of action was to share a few drinks with the aliens, before falling asleep on his couch as the television played a few re-run episodes of a lighthearted show about a talking motorcycle. He woke up the next morning to the sound of construction, specifically of clanging metal and the hiss of welding, and it seemed to be coming from his apartment's second bedroom (which had remained vacant ever since his ex had moved out). Luke rubbed his eyes as he stood up, and he walked towards the commotion with sloppy and tired steps. He knocked on the door and waited for a response, however the noise from within carried on without a lull. Eventually, he turned the knob, and the smell of hot solder and burnt rubber escaped into the apartment as the door swung open. Standing before him were, of course, the aliens that he had met the night before, and they had seemingly converted the empty bedroom into a dark and cluttered workshop. Through the shower of sparks that erupted from the metal being welded and the dim glow of the strange alien machinery, Luke could barely make out the details of the large device that they were crafting. Luke simply stood there, staring into the room with an expression that wasn't quite of shock or apathy, until Qez hopped off of the arcade machine she was sitting on and waved to him. Luke nodded toward her, before asking "Alright, seriously, what is all this?" Qez started to answer him, before being cut off by Retix, who was massaging her forehead and squinting her eyes as if she had a migraine as she said "Good dawn, Luke. Right now, as you can see, we're simply following the plan." "Oh really? And what's 'the plan'? I hope it's making my apartment smell so bad that those dicks in space that're after you can't track you with their space bloodhounds, 'cause otherwise there's no excuse for you guys to not spray some freshener or something while you're working." Retix's migraine seemed to grow worse, as she continued to rub her forehead. "There's no... such thing... as a space bloodhound," she said slowly, as if in pain. Heyt, who was typing on what seemed to be a computer on his wrist, said "Last night, as you were teaching us about human television, Tyl and Valk set up this humble workspace so that we could begin to create 'the device'. Oh, that reminds me, you were never actually introduced to each other. Tyl is the one over there with the welding gun and the red hair, and Valk is soldering microchips in the corner." Valk, who was soldering with one hand and reading a book with the other, glanced at Luke and smiled as he said "It's a delight." Tyl, who had their face covered by a welding mask, simply gave Luke a nod. "Well, it's nice to meet you," said Luke, "but, uh... where exactly did all of this **** come from?" "What do you mean?" asked Qez. Luke gestured to the machinery and tools throughout the room, saying "You know, all of this fancy... electronic... stuff." "Well," replied Qez, "we needed resources to make 'the device', and Tyl noticed that there was a storeroom with ample provisions beside this building, so we..." "Oh ***," said Luke as he rubbed his forehead, "please don't tell me you cleaned out the department store next door..." Qez smiled and replied "Don't worry about it, it's not like we got caught! You know, there's an expression from where we come from. It's... actually, hold on, i'm not really sure how it would translate to English. Give me a moment..." "No, really, it's fine," said Luke, "i'm sure it's very wise and fitting. Anyway, what's this 'device' you guys keep talking about?" Heyt, still typing on his wrist computer, said "To put it simply, it's our only shot of defeating our enemies before they conquer this humble planet. Do you really need, or want, to know anything more about it?" "Yeah, I mean... what does it do? Is it, like, a big gun or something?" Heyt shot Luke a glance and laughed, while Retix said "Hardly. Guns are designed to end lives, while our device is designed to both save them and maximize their potential." Luke shook his head and replied "Fine, whatever, as long as you don't burn down my apartment I guess it's all the same to me. Anyway, I'm going out for a bit. My, uh, friends* are probably wondering what happened to me last night, so i'm gonna go check in with them." "Wait, before you go," said Qez as she walked towards him, "I need you to show me where your human telephone is." Luke smiled and replied "Why, so you can 'phone home'?" "No," said Qez, "I don't think the ashes of my planet is accepting calls at the moment. I need it so I can order a pizza. Oh, and I suppose I'll also need some human money." Luke shrugged, saying "Sure. Just remember to put a few slices in the fridge for me." "Oh!" exclaimed Qez, "Remember that saying I wanted to tell you? I think I know how to translate it. Roughly, it's something like, 'if you worry about the past, you'll become dead fast'." "That sucks," replied Luke. "Yeah, I know, but it's the only way I can translate it so that it rhymes," said Qez dejectedly. In a few minutes, Luke had left the apartment, and the aliens continued with their work. Each one was focused on their specific set of chores, and they toiled in silence for the better part of an hour, before Retix dropped her tools and scanned the room. "This isn't going to be enough," she said, as she nursed another migraine. Valk noticed her gripping her forehead yet again, and asked "It's getting worse?" Retix shook her head, saying "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Right now, we need to worry about finding a way to get more supplies. Like I said, we just don't have enough." "About that," replied Heyt, "we could always use Luke to procure what we need." "He's not our slave" said Valk in a strangely cheery tone, "and we can find resources without dragging him into this any further." Heyt shrugged, saying "Maybe. But, though it pains me to admit this, his indigenous nature makes him far more knowledgeable about this planet than any of my scans and simulations have made us. Without his cooperation, we may not succeed in time." "Look, instead of plotting over how to manipulate him into finding resources us, how about we, I don't know, just ask him to?" said Qez as she began to move heavy pieces of metal from the corner over to where Tyl was welding. "I mean, he already said he'd help us." Heyt laughed and said "Why bother wrestling with the morality of manipulation, when the entire purpose of the device we're building is to..." Qez cut him off, exclaiming "That's different. There's a difference between doing what we have to do and doing what we want to do." Retix lowered her hand from her forehead and turned to face Qez and Heyt, interrupting them both by saying "It doesn't matter. We'll find a way to complete our plan, no matter what may happen. We'll ask Luke to gather supplies for us, and if he refuses, then we'll do what we must with what we have. Until then, just focus on..." Suddenly, there came a knock at the door, followed by a loud voice exclaiming "Pizza delivery!" "Nice! **** these moral quandaries, i'm starving!" yelled Qez as she raced for the door. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 11-25-2015 at 08:33 PM.