Beach Planet

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Scott's probably around here somewhere, trying to recover from James.

The water's pretty nice.

Perfect place to dump slavers.

Tod'd made a weird squealing sound, which to his species was a sound of hostility, even though it sounded funny to anyone else. "Slavers! Scum!"

~~
"Normally I'd be mad that you're not buying anything, but I make an exception for people who are hiding from those guys," Scott said. "I'm Scott. Welcome to my shop."

Asher looked at Scott curiously. He really wanted to ask about his brother but, you know, this really wasn't a good time.

Kay smiled softly. [Kay, this is Asher.] He nodded to Asher. [Why do they hate humans so much? And are there more of them?]

Scott shrugged. "We used to have a Humanist group in the area. They were pretty bad, burnt a few peoples' cars and stuff. The, ahem, Antihumanists retaliated, which stopped all Humanist violence, but they decided they hadn't had enough violence themselves yet, so here they are, still attacking. There are a few gangs around this city currently."

"That's awful," Asher said. "They should have mentioned this on some forum, we had no idea it was this bad."

Scott looked at Asher with interest. The name was very familiar, and something seemed ever so slightly off about the way he moved.

Kay wasn't sure he liked the way Scott looked at Asher and rapidly typed. [So what do we do now? Wait for them to get bored and leave? or do you have some other way out?]

"I recommend staying a while," Scott said. "It's a shame James isn't here any more, he could have talked your ears off while I ignored you, but at you should stay off the streets a while despite that."

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Matt remained laying where he was and laughed. "Naaaah, least.. I don't think i'm dead... am I? Oh maaan, this is gonna be hard to explain to Thalia. "

"You aren't dead yet, just drunk. Come on, let's get both of you fed and to bed to sleep this off" Shane said, holding out a hand to Matt and joked. "Since I got the sober ticket tonight"

Kay nodded. Hey, this guy knew the place better than they did. Still, he looked anxious. He glanced to Asher, well, looked like he got to visit this place earlier than anticipated.

---

"Ngh... But you guys have your.. thing... don' wanna interupt the thingggg. " He flailed. "The sand is comfy too.. oh.. hey... " He brightened. "you think Thalia will agree to a beach wedding?" Oops. No, he was too drunk to even catch what he'd just blurted out.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Kay nodded. Hey, this guy knew the place better than they did. Still, he looked anxious. He glanced to Asher, well, looked like he got to visit this place earlier than anticipated.

---

"Ngh... But you guys have your.. thing... don' wanna interupt the thingggg. " He flailed. "The sand is comfy too.. oh.. hey... " He brightened. "you think Thalia will agree to a beach wedding?" Oops. No, he was too drunk to even catch what he'd just blurted out.

Shane blinked and tilted his head "You are talking about the guy who never goes to the pool, I don't think he would want to get married on a beach...did you two get engaged?" No way he was letting that comment slip by unnoticed.

Asher carefully, carefully controlled his reaction to his brother's name. "Thank you for your hospitality and understanding," he said warmly, smiling at Scott.

Scott frowned. There was a certain precision in the way Asher smiled, as if an incredibly complex program was figuring out the perfect way to manipulate a thousand perfectly designed bits of machinery to produce a human response. It was a tiny detail, the sort of thing you’d never notice unless you’d grown up around androids, and knew how all their internals worked to make those expressions. He leaned forward in his seat, looking closer. Pleasant to look at, but fairly average. Average height and build. Clear speech, and an utterly inoffensive voice without any hint of a regional accent.
James' brother was named Asher. He remembered that. "You're an android," he said.

~~
"ENGAGED?" yelled Ellie. "OH MY GOD MATT YAY."

Matt grunted as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Huh? uh... maybe? " He rubbed his head. "I dunno, then he got mad at me so... " He broke into another snickering laugh. "Ooo man, he's gonna be so mad. Shhh, don't... don't tell him I said... stuff. Be cool man. be cool." He winced at Ellie. "shhhh shhhhhh shush.. "

---

Kay tensed, he stepped just that little bit closer to Asher, instinctively protective.

"I WON'T TELL," Ellie said vehemently.

~~
Asher went very still, watching Scott. He didn't know what to do, he'd never been found out like this before, by someone who had happened to know the right person and have a keen eye.

Scott stood, all his professional boredom vanished. "James' so-called brother, right? I thought he said your owner was female though." He looked at Kay, uncertain. Alien genders could be weird after all.

[I'm not his owner.] Kay's expression said all that needed to be said on his opinion of ownership, a sour frown of disgust. [I'm his coworker.] He remained by Asher's side, regarding Scott warily.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Matt grunted as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Huh? uh... maybe? " He rubbed his head. "I dunno, then he got mad at me so... " He broke into another snickering laugh. "Ooo man, he's gonna be so mad. Shhh, don't... don't tell him I said... stuff. Be cool man. be cool." He winced at Ellie. "shhhh shhhhhh shush.. "

---

Kay tensed, he stepped just that little bit closer to Asher, instinctively protective.

"Ellie, volume" Shane said then looked to Matt again "Yeah, we won't tell, come on though, it's not going to be safe at night and alone."

Matt took Shane's hand and let him help him up. He swayed a little.
"Good.. cuz he'll like.. do that whole grumpy thing he does and... and then I dunno.. he's bad with threats. Usually it's all no sex for you and then he totally cracks first" He started giggling. "So it totally doesn't work. But but.. he'll find a new punishment.. he's very... creative."

"Tmi" Shane said, wrapping an arm around Matt's waist and making sure he had Ellie so she wouldn't fall either. "Now, back to Vestia." He added, trying to get them both to move, even slowly.

Scott walked around the counter, looking at Asher more closely. "You're weirdly reluctant to speak. I haven't seen many androids without badges before, but they've never been reluctant to admit what they were."

Asher finally forced himself to say something. "You're right," he said quietly, "I am an android." He struggled with the next few words, they were some of the most disgusting he had ever forced himself to say. "I'm here to get a replacement for the badge I lost."

~~
"Yeah man, that's hot, but TMI," Ellie agreed more quietly.

Matt just laughed at both of them. "Well.. well how about you guys? omg.. did you totally make out on the beach under a sunset? because that's super romantic and adorable."

---

Kay flinched at Asher's words, that can't have been easy. He knew how much Asher hated that damn badge.

He eyed the door, trying to catch sight of those anti humanists outside.

Shane flushed at that, looking down to their feet. Totally to make sure they didn't trip on anything, yeah, that's why.

"Only a little bit. We just snuggled mostly and it was adorable," Ellie said. "I told you Shane was a total cutie, remember?"

~~
Scott gave Asher a skeptical look. "Here without your owner, getting mistaken for human and going along with it, obvious difficulty asking for a replacement badge. You've gone rogue, we all know it." He looked at the holstered gun on Asher's belt. "First Law removed, perhaps. I've been around androids all my life, and I can tell you're not operating under normal conditions."

Asher frowned. "You know it's impossible to remove the Laws. Please, we're just here to get a replacement badge and avoid the Antihumanists, that's all."

"Hmm," said Scott.

"He's totally cute." Matt agreed wholeheartedly.

---

[We just want to get back to our ship, preferably in one piece. As for the android, as he says, it's impossible to remove the laws. The weapon? It's for show. He'd hardly make a good bodyguard without some sort of threat. Look at me, i'm completely harmless, no magic, no natural weapons, I can't even speak. A weapon, even a useless one, is an excellent deterrent, in most cases anyway. Sadly the goons out there aren't very smart. ]

Shane just focused on trying to get them back to the ship. He was too embarrassed to speak.

Matt did try to walk, but he was pretty wobbly. One foot in front of the other, try not to fall down. Once they got off the sand that was slightly easier.

Asher nodded gratefully at Kay's words. His mind was under some heavy lag at the moment, processes desperately working to resolve this situation, and it was doing little but lengthen his response time and make him look more suspicious.

Scott considered what Kay wrote, unconvinced, but willing to play along. He was curious, and didn't want to scare them away. "Fair enough." He went behind the counter to search in a drawer. "Your brother, James, was quite an interesting guy. I'm kind of relieved you aren't so boisterous."

"We are rather different," Asher agreed.

~~~To the ship with Ellie, Matt and Shane~~~

Kay relaxed slightly, relieved that this guy wasn't immediately panicking and calling authorities or attacking them or anything. Still, he stayed close by Asher, already wracking his brain for convincing lies to keep the android safe.

<relax> He signed as surreptitiously as he could while Scott was distracted. <we'll get out of this.>

Asher nodded weakly at Kay's reassurance. He knew they'd be all right somehow, but that didn't make this any less frightening.

Scott pulled out a generic 'android' badge and lightly tossed it to Asher, who caught it automatically. "There you go. No fancy brand name on it, but at least you'll be allowed on the street."

[Thank you.] Kay nodded. He glanced back outside. [Your hospitality has been extremely gracious.]