Part 2: The Morning After

There is goon participation in this chapter!

Mind Your Poise (Carla's Theme)





: Are you the one that wants out now, Carla?



: I'm... glad that your opinion of me is so high.



: Two... associates in the cot ought to get things nice and toasty.



: You're the one that went with it in the first place! Why is this so surprising to you?







*The screen fades to black. The music and ambience fade out.*



: But then again, maybe I was too drunk to notice.



: I had been holed up in school for so long, thinking about my future fighting against the Riklid that I never had the chance to really... look at it.

: I've lived here in Four-Four-Eight all my life, but in the last thirteen years, I'd nearly forgotten what it even looks like. The blue skies; the running water; the green ivy growing off the buildings...

: Was I ready to put my life on the line for this?

: My mom was. My dad... sorta was. Sometimes, I wondered if I had a choice.

: But for so long, I was psyching myself up for being in the war... that I nearly forgot what it even was that I was going to war for.

: ... I wonder if this is normal? I wonder if other people are feeling this way? Or if they aren't still partying from the good news last night?

Huh. Just entirely glossing over the fact we had a threesome last night with our best friend and an alien, Ezra? No reflection on how this could affect your feelings in having to fight a war if the Riklid come back?

: ... Oh, I'm not alone.



: Maybe that's what she's here–

: She?

: She looks like a 'she.' That'd be some awfully pretty hair for a man. And some awfully soft curves.

: And–

: Just – wow, she's cute.

: Should I say hi? But she's probably here for some peace and quiet. Maybe I shouldn't; I bet she gets bothered all the time in the city.

: And I'm just coming down from a wild night with two other ladies; maybe I shouldn't be thinking about another one like this.

: But it doesn't need to be a thing; there's nothing wrong in saying 'hello,' right?

: Could I really live with myself if I didn't at least try?

: Man, talking to pretty girls is hard. I spent all my life learning about robots; I don't know the first thing about being social without alcohol.

: Maybe I should just–



This person's line is spoken.

: Oh, thank God, she made the first move.

: Oh, uh, hi.

: It's rude to stare, you know.

: Oh, God, no!

: Uh... I'm sorry. I, uh... I couldn't help it.



: ... Okay, she's letting you recover. Don't screw this up now.



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Goon participation!

What do we ask this bewitching person?

* * *

Databank: Earth

In the year 2029, a satellite of unquestionably alien origin and design was found passing through Earth's solar-airspace, its trajectory aimed to Earth's orbit and Venus's. It was intercepted and brought to Earth, where it was found to contain technology that mimicked the passage of Earth's technological evolutions - some older, blockier cartridges and devices had a similar design to Betamax cassette tapes and VHSes, all the way up to modern devices similar to touchscreen tablets, and onward to light-emitting devices that existed only in science fiction. Although each device also contained pictographic instructions on how to view them, and the satellite itself was designed to act as a power source for them, it nonetheless took weeks to understand how they functioned and what contents the devices contained.

Six years later, Earth was visited by a benevolent species known as the Ghians, hailing from the planet Ghi in the Andromeda galaxy, a trip they made with warp-speed technology in just five years. The Ghians landed off the coast of Tokyo, Japan, and with their arrival, humanity's progress as a starfaring, interplanetary species was jumpstarted.

Earthlings and Ghians enjoyed a prosperous relationship: whereas Ghians had more advanced interplanetary capabilities, humans had a more thorough grasp of medical sciences, to name just two among the myriad of differences between them. Their shared knowledge advanced each other further than either could achieve alone. Like the Earthlings, the Ghians had not found any trace of other alien life throughout the universe; that they had found each other was a miracle to both species. Ghians enjoyed Earth's hospitality and it wasn't long until Ghians were finding homes on Earth just as earthlings were finding homes on Ghi. On March 28th, 2311, the Earth was attacked.