6y 9m 0w 1d BV
Vanima slowly awoke from her sleep. She rose and gingerly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She exited her room with her makeup bag and went through her morning routine. After she was clothed she noticed something odd. John isn’t practicing. An eerie silence clung to the walls. She slowly walked down to the steps before the common room and could clearly hear Regalo and John talking. Oh they’re just having breakfast. She walked down the steps and joined her friends. John was sitting on the couch as he usually did and Regalo was cooking up a meal.
“So you sure you want to come along with me on the maiden voyage? I mean she’s a feisty one,” John warned Regalo from the couch.
“Who is a feisty one?” Vanima asked as she gracefully walked to the kitchen and began setting the table.
“The shuttle is finished and Regalo says that he wants to come out with me on its maiden voyage,” he answered. If John says she’s feisty then she’s probably going to be the death of Regalo.
“All machismo aside, as your medical officer I don’t recommend you go with John on the shuttle’s maiden voyage. Who knows what lunacy John will put the shuttle through.” Regalo chittered at Vanima’s comment.
“I’m going with you John just because I know you’ll try and pull some idiotic stunt and the last thing we need is seeing how durable your body is in a shuttle crash.”
Oooh! Can John’s body survive the trauma? Wait, bad Vanima! Those are Corti thoughts! John is your beloved friend and not a lab rat, no matter how revolutionizing his biology is.
John rolled his eyes at both his friends’ comments and got up from the couch. Automatically, he helped Vanima set the table just as Regalo was finished cooking.
“Oh, while we’re here I need to do some shopping in the city. I’m going to be using the money from the tickets to buy some important items, will that be ok?” John waived his hand at Vanima.
“If it wasn’t for you Vee we’d be performing at bars for tips, so as far as I see it that money’s yours.”
He called me Vee? What does that mean? He calls Regalo Regsy sometimes. Oh my word does that mean we’re that close already! This is too fast. Is it too fast? Is this how fast friendships are meant to move? Quick respond in kind.
“Um… No problem er… Jee?”
John gave Vanima a confused look.
Oh no! You sabotaged your own friendship!
John chuckled and shook his head at the Qinis as he took his seat.
Good job! You strengthened your friendship!
They ate breakfast in contented silence. The men, as usual, scarfed down their food like they were scared the vegetables would sprout legs and run away. I’ll need to teach them table manners if I’m going to eat out with them. When they finished their meal, they rose up and each did their own dishes. They walked out of the ship and out of the hangar.
“Alright you two, don’t get into too much trouble and try not to die! And call me when you’re back at the ship!” she called out to them as she took a left and the men took a right.
“Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back to you in big chunks so you can stitch him back together!” John called back and Vanima giggled slightly. Oh please don’t bring him back in many pieces though that would not be fun to stitch back together.
Vanima strolled serenely through the city looking at more of the architecture. Seriously, that building could do with some marble crenellations with some nice dark roak wood to complement it. That one needs to get rid of that ugly concrete wall and replace it with antique beige dura wood. She mentally criticized the buildings she walked passed them. At least the one thing they got right is the park, and even then a Qinis probably designed that fountain, she thought as she entered a store. Pristine white hallways greeted her as shelves of assorted gadgets stood silently before her. I’ll need an improved scanner so I can study John’s brain and immune system. This lab set will do nicely to analyze his blood but can we afford it… I miss the days where I could buy whatever I fancied, but I suppose I’ve made my choice. Poverty and the galaxy or riches and the cage? Poverty and the galaxy any day and everyday, she thought with a determined smile. She picked out the improved scanner and added some lab equipment to her trolley. She perused the rest of the shop. Oh, John would like this, she thought as she picked a small data crystal labeled Great Systems of the Galaxy. He loves watching documentaries. He’s always learning, such a clever little human. Vanima took her items to the cashier and bought them. She looked to a map of the city on her coms. Oh this restaurant looks nice. She walked out of the store with her purchases in a bag. When was the last time I carried my own shopping? 8 years ago? 10? She chuckled as she imagined a young little Qinis, whose dwarfism wasn’t apparent yet, carrying a big bag of clothes as punishment for speaking out of turn. Well I can speak whenever I want now, for I have all the turns, Regalo said so. She walked through the city as the vermillion sun shone brightly above. She had arrived at the restaurant. The building was quaint compared to the towering skyscrapers. It was a made out of the white wood of the nuru tree with a tiled red brick roof. Ah now this is a restaurant that understands the importance of setting ambiance. There were polished steel tables set outside under the shade of trees planted nearby.
“Hello mam table for how many?” a Celzi in a white petticoat asked her.
Vanima held up a single finger and the Celzi bid her to follow. She was guided to one of the tables under the tree’s shade. A gentle breeze rolled through as another Celzi brought her a menu. She looked over the options and ordered a soup. She spent the afternoon sitting quietly reading a fashion magazine on her coms as she daintily sipped at her soup. She looked to the time. The boys still haven’t called me. Are they alright? I’ll call them just in case. She tapped her coms and called John.
Earlier that Same Day.
John looked giddy as they parted ways with Vanima to say the least. The human walked with barely restrained enthusiasm as his sword bounced with every step. He and Regalo had left The Lost Minstrel to go fly their new shuttle Prestissimo. The pair was strolling down the road to the shipyard where the shuttle awaited them. Vanima had left the duo alone as she had some shopping to do, although what Vanima could possibly want to buy Regalo could only guess at. Maybe it’s more clothes.
“John, you sure you want to take it out in atmo? Not that I doubt your piloting, but this ship will handle very differently than The Lost Minstrel,” the Gaoian warned as they entered the shipyard.
“Hell yeah I wanna take it out. It’ll be a lot nimbler than the ship yeah but it’s the same nav unit so it’ll be same controls and if anything goes wrong I’ll just com you.” Regalo was still nervous by the time they arrived. The same bored Celzi was sitting at the counter.
“Hello how may I help you,” he sighed as he tapped at a tablet.
“We’re here to pilot the ship Prestissimo,” John replied
“The ship Prestissimo is ready for flight. Here is your ship data and ship log.” John’s coms beeped as it received the data. John took it out and showed it to Regalo as they walked towards the shuttle. Prestissimo was a matte black ship. It had small stubby legs without wheels as a vertical landing gear.
“John there must be a mistake. There are hardly any electronics on this ship. The only piece you haven’t removed from the original design is the shield generator.”
“No mistake my friend. I took out all the unnecessary electronics to make room for the stasis pods and larger generator along with the FTL.”
“John there are no inertia compensators or gravity plates, nothing. This ship might was well have come out of the Stone Age!” He is mad. This ship is his madness made a reality.
John shrugged and confidently strode over to the ship. He managed to scramble into the cockpit windscreen with ease thanks to the lighter gravity.
“Yo Regalo! Come on bro I don’t want to wait around all day!”
Regalo sighed as he jumped up. John had leaned over the cockpit and grabbed the Gaoian, lifting him into the ship. The inside was as sparse and utilitarian as the outside. There was a single seat in the cockpit with the nav unit and a small ancient radio coms array. In the back were four stasis chambers with two aligned against each wall.
“Why can’t we hear the reactor?” Regalo asked as he walked to the small area behind the cockpit seat.
“Give it a moment,” John replied as he strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and began flicking switches. Soon a deafening roar permeated through the ship. The roar quickly dulled to a general rumble. He looked to his human friend with a look that could only be described as why? John sheepishly grinned and replied.
“Sorry, the reactor was going at full blast as a default setting, but I lowered its power output. We should be able to go up to Mach 5 at this output. Just hop into a stasis chamber. They can double as chairs,” he explained. “If you feel like you’re gonna pass out just activate the stasis chamber because I’m gonna go fast Regalo.”
“How fast?”
John turned around in his seat and looked at Regalo with deadpan eyes.
“Oh….”
I am going to die.
John flicked many switches and Regalo could feel the ship hovering as it retracted its landing gear.
“Madoro control tower, this is Prestissimo, permission to exit city and what is my Mach clearance in atmo?” John toned into the radio.
“This is Madoro control tower to Prestissimo you are cleared for Mach 1 in atmo at the distance we’re sending you. Please refrain from going supersonic before reaching the coordinates Prestissimo.”
“Duly noted Madoro control tower, awaiting flight path to exit city.”
He really has picked up becoming a pilot. I guess having him memorize that piloting manual was a good move.
John pressed a button and they gently drifted out of the shipyard.
Regalo could only see the outside through the windshield of the cockpit and saw ships serenely fly through the skies.
“Alright Regalo we’re gonna fight something,” John shouted as the reactor slowly started to roar.
“What are we fighting?” Regalo bellowed over the roar.
“Physics!”
Regalo suddenly felt the acceleration push him against the back of the stasis pod. The force kept mounting up and the world slowly lost its colour. Regalo strained to sit up but lacked the divine strength required to fight physics.
“Hooooooollly shiiiiiiiiit,” John screamed as the acceleration went up and up. The world slowly dimmed and went black. Is this death? Have I died finally? Vanima was right, I shouldn’t have gone with him. Quickly, his sight returned and the pressure eased as John reached Mach 1 over the planet’s ocean. Oh I’m still alive… Regalo searched for a word in Gaori that perfectly encapsulated his emotions but only a human word came to mind. Damn…
John adored his high G acceleration. Man that must have been like what? 3 earth Gs? The nav unit had show that John was accelerating at 5Gs but it was by the alien standard. The acceleration vanished quickly when they reached Mach 1 a kilometer and a half over the ocean. John turned down the reactor to a muffled groan and activated the landing thrusters so they could maintain altitude at the lower speeds.
“So Regalo how did you like the flight?”
“This is without a doubt the worst flight I have ever been on in the entirety of my life and will remain the worst flight I’ve ever been on for the rest of my life.” John laughed as Regalo slowly shuffled to the cockpit. John looked out to the ocean and smiled. A green iridescent canvas lay below them with only the faintest sign of rippling waves. The noon sun created a blinding white diamond on the ocean. Regalo simply stood there with him in blissful silence as they admired the view. Man I wish I could stay like this. Only thing missing now is Vanima doing her fish out of water impression.
John brought the shuttle lower and decelerated from Mach 1 back to subsonic speed. I’ll need like a suit for this. Maybe the nanoforge could make me a G-suit. At least I’ll need a space suit if I’m going out in this thing, he thought in the background as land popped up on the horizon. Regalo had moved to sit on John’s lap, obfuscating his view of the olive green ocean. John shifted slightly in his seat until his head rested on Regalo’s shoulder. There we go.
After an hour in contented silence they flew over one of the unpopulated continents deemed too “dangerous” because of the dozens Gricka that escaped centuries ago. All attempts made to clear the Gricka out of the continent generally resulted in failure and the death of many Celzi. John brought the ship down and looked for a relatively flat clearing in the fiery woods. After a few minutes of cruising over the woods he found his clearing and landed the ship with relative ease.
Regalo got off of John, looked to the nav unit and frowned.
“John why does the nav unit recommend we leave the immediate area?”
“There’s a large infestation of animals called Grickas or whatever, but come on you’re safe with me. I am literally death for all the normal aliens how bad could Grickas be?”
“Grickas can rend the flesh of their owners in one swipe.”
John paled at the description and nervously fidgeted with the hilt of Guardian as he popped open the cockpit and hopped out. He helped Regalo down from the shuttle.
“So these Grickas, how big are they?”
Regalo scratched his chin as he tried to remember.
“They aren’t too big. I think they’re about this big?” He said holding his hands up to the width of his shoulders. “And this tall,” he continued holding his hands up differently. John breathed a sigh of relief. Oh sweet Jesus I thought they were like super monsters. God they’re like the size of a freaking cat! I could totally take on like 20 Grickas.
“Ok Regalo you really had me going there bud,” John chuckled as he drew out his sword.
“Why did you even land John?”
“Well I thought we could enjoy a nice peaceful nature walk or something away from all of the city stuff. I wanted to see the planet before Celzi colonized it. Plus I don’t think people would take kindly to some alien holding a plasma sword in the woods.” Regalo cocked his head as he conceded the point to John.
A flicker of motion caught his attention and John spun around with his sword raised. John scanned the foliage for anything and activated Guardian. The blade hummed as John slowly edged towards the trees. He could hear Regalo retreating back. Good. Now time to show this Gricka piece of shit there’s a new top dog on this food chain.
As John approached the tree line a furry blur jumped at him. Before John could react the blur was already on him. He dropped Guardian, the edge instantly turning the grass around it to ash.
“Gah fuck! Fucking ow!” John screamed as something slashed at his cheek. He quickly wrenched the culprit from his face, anger seething out of every pore of his body. His skin underneath his eye stung as he felt blood drip from the wound. His mind drew a blank as he held a struggling cat at arms length from himself.
“Ok what the fuck is this?”
The cat mewled and tried to claw at John as the human held it aloft for Regalo to see.
“That’s a Gricka,” The Gaoian answered as he slowly emerged from underneath Prestissimo.
“No. This is a cat.”
Regalo’s ears perked up in confusion at John’s statement.
“What do you mean that’s a cat? Have you seen this species before?”
“Yes I have. I had one as a pet when I was a kid. This is your mighty predator who can rend fle- ow fuck!” John dropped the cat as it bit his finger and scurried back into the trees. Once the cat had scurried away back to the trees Regalo dashed to John and began cleaning John’s wound.
“Wait, your species had Grickas as pets for how long?”
“Literally thousands of years.”
Regalo pondered the implications for a second as John picked up Guardian and turned off the edge. Any day now buddy. A few short seconds later the penny dropped and the answer dawned on Regalo. There we go.
“The Gricka are these ‘kats’ from your homeworld!”
“Indeed they are my friend, or they came from a different planet thousands of years ago but considering we have fossil evidence of evolution of the cats I’m pretty sure we came up with those furry assholes anyway.”
“Furry what?”
“Never mind…” John sighed as he walked back to the shuttle. He stabbed the sword into the dirt and sat on the ground leaning against one of the legs of Prestissimo’s landing gear. John patted the patch of earth beside him and Regalo sat down by his friend. Regalo sat beside his friend and rested his head on John’s shoulder. Ah c’mere ya fuzzy bastard. John fondly thought as he wrapped an arm around Regalo.
“See this is why I came here, nothing but peace and nature for miles. Balms for the soul.”
John closed his eyes and absorbed the sounds of life around him.
Regalo adjusted his position and was pleasantly resting his head against John’s chest, listening to the powerful heart that beat tirelessly within. Regalo closed his eyes as his mind drifted off to John’s steady beat. He said these kinds of activities are like balms for the soul. How is this balms for this soul?
“John I know you explained this soul thing but how is this healing it?”
John scratched his chin as he opened his eyes.
“Well… The easiest way to explain a soul to you is to basically think that the soul is equivalent to the mind. Your mind is your soul. Ya got that?” At the Gaoian’s nod John continued. “Great. Now think of your mind as a separate body.”
“A separate body? How so?”
“Well… Think of your physical body and your mental body, your soul, as two halves of the whole that makes you. Now much like your physical body can get injured so can your mental one.”
“How can a body in your mind be injured?”
“Not a body in the mind, but a body of the mind. Well the body of the mind can be injured by stuff like negative emotions or really bad experiences. The loss of a loved one can badly injure the body of the mind. With all injuries, physical and mental, you need to heal and with the body that’s easy we have medicine n’ stuff but with the mind it’s more complicated. Some injuries never truly heal but doing things like this or meditating can help you heal.”
Regalo pondered John’s explanation as he formulated his next question. Why is he doing these kinds of activities? He says that they are to heal the body of the mind and yet John is happy and cheery. He sleeps soundly and practices fiercely. I haven’t seen him do his crying nor heard him keen. Is his body of the mind hurt and I simply can’t see the signs? Should I ask him? Would it be overstepping boundaries his species have? No. John is my friend. If his physical body were injured I’d tear this galaxy apart if it’d heal him so his body of the mind is no different.
“John?”
“Yeah bud?”
“Is your body of the mind hurt?”
John sighed at the question and looked up. Regalo looked into those expressive brown eyes and followed where John was looking up but could see nothing.
“Well… I’m having a lot of fun in space. I mean I’ve done more exciting things these last few months than I’ve done my whole life. You’re the best friend a man could ask for Regalo, you really are, and Vanima too, even if she thinks we’re a bit quaint and sloppy.” John smiled slightly but Regalo couldn’t feel the usual warmth from it. “It’s just… Y’know… I feel like I don’t fit in. I get a little homesick sometimes,”
“You get sick of your home?”
John shook his head and clarified. “No the opposite, as in I miss home sometimes… or rather I miss Earth. I miss feeling that strong gravity, the thick air. Home is where the people who care about you are, and the ship and you two are more or less my new family, but I don’t really fit in… Do ya see what I mean?”
“Alright so although you feel loved and are happy you miss the deathworld conditions that your home planet offered?” John cocked his head in the same fashion Regalo would when pondering how to answer. It seems I’m not the only one picking up habits.
“Well… Yeah I suppose, if you put it that way. I kinda miss not being the embodiment of death and destruction.”
Regalo pondered John’s response before replying.
“John, you are the strangest being I’ve ever met. Most people would kill to have the power you do. You can crush any opponent with ease and I’m willing to wager that a squad of humans actually trained in combat would be comparable to an army. You, the culmination of millions of years of the most brutal natural selection process that has granted you inconceivable power, don’t want the power! Do you see how ludicrous that is? Most people would expect a bloodthirsty brute when they think of deathworld sapients but I have had the honour of meeting the most benign and peaceful being. ” Regalo chittered.
John laughed at Regalo’s explanation. Well shit I guess it does sound insane when ya put it like that. John’s coms beeping interrupted them. The human took it out and saw that Vanima was calling them.
“Hello?”
“John where are you two? It’s getting fairly late.”
“We landed in a clearing. Regalo and I were just uhh… talking about things. We’re heading back.”
“About how long do you think you’ll take?”
“Well it took us about 2 hours to get here at Mach 1 so I’d wager about 3 if I go to Mach 1 with protocols.”
“I don’t know what that means but hurry back.”
“Will do.” John clicked the coms and hung up on Vanima. “Vanima wants us home now so we’ll have to pack things up.”
Regalo nodded and got up. John climbed into the ship and helped Regalo up.
“Alright this time I’ll be following standard protocol for accelerating to Mach 1 so we won’t be feeling as shitty.” The look of abject betrayal on Regalo’s face spoke volumes on how the Gaoian held up during the flight here.
“We should be there in time for a very late lunch or an early dinner.” John said as he flicked some switches and began flying them back to the capital. As they accelerated John could feel the pressure push him back against the pilot seat but nothing compared to before. Man I had tunnel vision last time I accelerated. He turned around in the seat to find Regalo faring slightly worse than he was with the G-force, but that was expected of the weaker alien. When they reached Mach 1 the pressure eased. The reactor was at a hearty roar but not as deafeningly loud when they first accelerated. John turned off some of the rear shielding to silence the engine slightly to a low grumbling. To pass the time John began to sing a multitude of sea shanties he had learned during a summer in an Irish pub by the Atlantic.
Regalo listened to John singing but it simply made no sense to the Gaoian. John had attempted to teach Regalo some songs. The Gaoian picked up and memorized the songs quickly but actually singing proved to be an impossible task. “Regalo you sound like a dog trying to howl along. It’s cute sure, but my God my ears will bleed if you keep singing.” Regalo remembered John saying. The human still had him sing on occasion in jest, but having him perform with John was out of the question. Regalo liked the melody of the songs but couldn’t even begin to understand the lyrics of the song, there were too many words that wouldn’t translate or would translate poorly as the translator searched for Gaori words that had the same connotations. John’s name was littered in some of the songs. His species really are an inventive folk. John sang these bizarre ditties and tunes all the way home. Regalo enjoyed listening to him sing but found that he would have liked it more without the translator’s attempt to make sense of the songs.
When they neared the continent John slowed from Mach 1 back to subsonic speeds and gradually decelerated. He flew to the city and the coms beeped.
“This is Madoro control tower to Prestissimo what are your intentions?”
“Prestissimo to Madoro control tower we’re looking to land and link up with the ship The Lost Minstrel at hangar C86.”
“Copy that Prestissimo, sending you flight path to hangar C86.” John gracefully flew along the flight path given to him by the control tower’s computer. John activated the landing thrusters granting him more mobility at the cost of speed. He slowly flew between the skyscrapers and gently eased Prestissimo into the hangar besides The Lost Minstrel. We’ll need to move it into the cargo bay before we leave, Regalo thought as John popped the polymer windscreen of the cockpit open and climbed out, helping him out as well. Vanima was standing at the door of The Lost Minstrel as John and Regalo walked up the steps to the docking platform.
“What happened to your face?” she asked.
“I got assaulted by a freakin cat,” John told her as he walked into the ship. She gave Regalo a quizzical look and the Gaoian elaborated.
“Gricka are actually creatures called cats from John’s homeworld.”
Gricka are from John’s homeworld? I’ll need to pull up their medical files and draw a comparison between them. This’ll advance my research by years! But first that wound needs tending.
Vanima quickly caught up with John and took hold of his hand. The human stopped and looked to her.
“John I need to disinfect that wound. Who knows how your body would react to foreign deadly bacteria.” John paled slightly and nodded. She led him to the scanner.
“What’s the matter?” Regalo asked as he saw the two move to the medical room.
“We’re checking to see if John’s wound is infected,” Vanima rapidly explained as they entered the medical room. John took his seat under the scanner and Vanima stood at the terminal. Good thing I bought the new scanner. Regalo was shortly with them, making a very faint keening noise as he stroked John’s hand.
“You’re going to be alright John,” Regalo said but Vanima could hear the faint tones of fear in the Gaoian’s voice. He may be a deathworlder but his home planet might not have many viruses and harmful micro fauna. Who knows how powerful his immune system is. Gricka claws are always teeming with deadly bacteria She activated the scanner and tapped the instructions for it to look at the cut underneath John’s eye. What Vanima saw horrified her. Regalo practically bolted at the terminal when he saw Vanima’s expression.
“What’s wrong! Is he dying!”
“Whoa whoa who said anything about dying? I haven’t gotten ya back to Gorai yet,” John joked in an attempt to ease the Gaoian’s panic.
“You’re eating bacteria!” Vanima squeaked which caused both men to pause their fear and look at her confusedly.
“He’s what?”
“Your immune system! It is literally eating the bacteria! You have carnivorous cells! I… What!” Vanima shrilled as she rescanned the wound to check for errors, but John’s cells were most certainly eating the bacteria around the wound, and clotting at impossible speeds. The fibrin had already coalesced together and closed the wound. What few surviving bacteria were marked by unidentified cells and were promptly eaten by the carnivorous cells. Vanima did a full body scan to check John’s body for foreign organisms. It took all of her willpower to not faint at the number on the screen. 15,000 different viruses! Oh my word his mass is 2.3% bacteria! What was even more bizarre was how the vast majority of bacteria and all of the viruses seemed to be in stasis of some kind. It could be that foreign implant in his neck.
“So even my immune system is ridiculously strong,” John said and Regalo chittered away his fear and nervousness as relief washed over the men. Vanima tapped the data onto her tablet for further review. Another late night it seems. John rose up from his seat and Regalo patted John’s back.
“You furless idiot, don’t scare me like that,” Regalo teased as they walked off.
“What’s life without a little fear?” John joked.
“It’s pleasant! That’s what it is,” Regalo retorted. The two men walked off down the hall, idly joking as Vanima trailed behind them, absorbed in the wealth of information she collected. His bacteria and viruses must be orders of magnitudes more aggressive if this is his immune response. Even then I don’t think this is everything John’s capable off. John’s diseases are the Robalin’s dream. Forget rotgut, John’s species will annihilate us just by coughing too strongly. Regalo went to cook them dinner and John relaxed on the couch, cycling through documentaries to watch.
“Oh John! I got you a gift,” Vanima told John as she walked to the TV and inserted the data crystal. The documentary began playing as the narrator discussed the systems they would be looking at.
“Thanks Vee!”
Vanima smiled and sat next to John, watching the documentary with him. I am bonding with a friend! I am so proud of me. Look at that Vanima, you have friends and you thought you were going to be lonely all your life. Now you are watching a dull documentary about the greatest systems of the galaxy in a ship with a member of a species that shouldn’t exist while a Gaoian cooks you a meal. Vanima slowly began to giggle at her circumstances.
“What’s up Vanima?” John asked as he turned to look at her.
“Nothing just pondering the absurdity of my circumstances.”
“Oh?”
“I am watching a documentary with a species that not only should not exist according to science, but is a peaceful specimen while a Gaoian cooks me dinner in the back onboard a ship on a Celzi planet.”
John laughed heartily at Vanima’s statement, much to her confusion.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Regalo said the same thing to me before.”
“And I stand by it,” the Gaoian called out from the kitchen, eliciting another giggle from Vanima.
“How do you think I feel! I did not write busking in space with a giant raccoon and a space elf when they asked me where do I see myself in 10 years.” The aliens guffawed at John’s comment.
“Looks like all our lives didn’t turn out how we expected,” Regalo chittered.
“I don’t know about you guys but I don’t mind the way things turned out too much,” John chuckled as they returned to their contented silence.
Yeah, I don’t mind how things turned out either, the aliens thought