UPON VESTIA: CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

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Asher considered his words for a few seconds, glancing around the room as he thought, then looked to Kay again. "I've been thinking over everything that's happened today, and I feel like it would be wrong for me to leave Terra before the androids have been granted their freedom," he said. "I think it might be in the best interests of the children and the androids if I stay on Terra while Vestia goes on to the Imperium." He wished he could have phrased it better, but he just didn't know how. Ugh.

"Yeah, they seemed nice at first." Skye said, turning away a little then shaking her head again. "Can we talk about something else?"
~~~
Starr nodded and smiled. "My people have to learn about a species before we can take the form, you don't, but you can learn now."

"It could be a rumor. A slave told me that, slaves in that universe aren't exactly known for being educated," Ethan mused. "Yes, let's play." He'd try to take his turn first, because why not?

~~
James frowned, but then nodded. "Okay. What would you like to talk about?" He wasn't entirely sure what to discuss, his own mind kept going back to his siblings and his people, and those were two topics that were kinda depressing.

Silence nodded "just have to see it, observe... watch."

Ivor nodded "j.. just looking at pictures doesn't work... have... have to actually see the animal alive... see how it moves. "

"That what you mean?" Silence asked Starr. Shifters didn't, it seemed, need to learn about a species before they could become it, just observe it.

---

Hewitt would play the game, he was a real stickler for rules too.

Ethan would argue about rules with Hewitt where they weren't clear enough in the rule book, he was perfectly willing to be pedantic about things like this. Unless Hewitt got annoyed by the arguing, in which case he'd probably get nervous and back off for a while, before going back to fussing over the rules.
The game wasn't very good, as it turned out, so it had lots of nice flaws to nitpick and huff about. Fun!

Skye shrugged and looked back to James again. "I don't know. Have you read any good books?"
~~~
Starr nodded and smiled softly. "Yes, observe, but more. Learn the customs and habits so you can emulate them. Not just the way the body moves but why they move like they do. Is the species a hunter or prey or a mix of both? Do they raise young together or let the young take care of themselves? Those kinds of things."

James thought a few moments. "Yeah, I'm reading this series about a genetically engineered lady who uses her super abilities to steal magical relics from bad guys. It's pretty awesome. You been reading anything good?"

Skye chuckled softly and shook her head "Nothing like that. It sounds interesting though so I may try it. I've been reading pretty much all the books I can. I want to understand more about other species and sometimes the best way is through the stories they write."

Hewitt seemed to enjoy the arguments more than the actual game, hostile as he might get, there was always a little glimmer of a smile on his face. He was clearly enjoying getting riled up.

---

Silence tilted her head. "why?" She couldn't quite fathom having to learn that much about a race before being able to emulate them, it was so alien to her.

"s.. so.. you.. have to make an effort to adopt a form?" Ivor asked. It sounded like a lot of work.

"To fit in." Starr replied with a shrug. "It is more effort, but it makes for a better understanding of the species before we can emulate them. When the people we are mimicking see us, we are not seen as 'alien' to them."

"c... can you change forms just seeing the creature?" Ivor asked "or.. do.. do you need to have all that information?"

"It's a pretty awesome series, you should totally try it," James said, smiling a little. "You sound like Ethan, he's all about reading other cultures' books too, trying to figure out how things work in other places. You guys ever compare notes on all the weird cultures out there?"

~~
Ethan caught onto the fact that Hewitt's annoyance wasn't dangerous after a bit, and that maybe Hewitt was even enjoying arguing about this game. So he'd totally argue with Hewitt for as long as the game lasted. It was fun to be able to disagree with someone without fearing any bad consequences, Ethan decided arguing was one of the best parts about being free.
"That was a stupid game," he told the professor when it was done. "How does anyone design rules that badly?"

Starr frowned a little then shook her head "It's best to have all the information we can, just watching isn't enough for my people."

~~~
Skye shook her head a little "No, I probably should, but his scowling makes me a little scared to talk to him. I know he won't hurt me, but it's still harder to talk to him than others."

James nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, it's kinda offputting having some guy glare at you all the time," he agreed. "And he can be kinda grumpy sometimes, so yeah." He added, "What sorta species have you been learning about lately?"

"Right now, some species called Tribbles?" Skye said with a shrug.

Hewitt chuckled, settling back in his chair. "It is quite a wonder. Clearly nobody tested this before they released it." He tossed the rules back onto the table. He'd been waving them in the last argument. He looked pretty contented though. It wasn't clear who'd won, the game was so awkward they'd sort of given up on strategy fairly quickly.

---

Ivor nodded. "n.. now what?" He asked warily.

Silence watched Starr, also curious.

"Tribbles?" James said. "What are they?" He hadn't heard of any species with that name before, hmm.

~~
Ethan picked up the rules and frowned at them. "Guess this game was just a quick cash grab," he grumbled, although he was pretty clearly amused. "Why make your board game work, when you can just release ten badly designed ones and sell them to a cruise ship in bulk? They obviously have a profitable strategy here."

"cunning." Hewitt smirked. "Though I suspect you are giving these people too much credit. They're more likely simply incompetent."

Starr smiled softly at them "Well, what form do you want to work on?" She asked curiously.
~~~
"They are a small, furry, gentle, attractive, and slow-moving but rapidly-reproducing invasive species." Skye said with a shrug. "Cute but they are not good to have around."

Silence looked uncertain. "What be useful?"

"True." Ethan set down the rules again, leaning back in his chair. "Regardless of their motivations, they made a shit game and they should feel bad about it." A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth though, it was fun to play stupid board games with Hewitt. Not that he'd admit it out loud.

~~
James blinked. "Wait, are they sapient or non-sapient?" He'd just assumed this species was sapient, but the way Skye was talking they sounded more like rabbits. Huh.

"Non-sapient" Skye replied with a shrug. "At least according to the story I am reading now."

~~~
Starr shrugged a little then smiled "We could always go to the holodeck and see what's available to learn."

"perhaps you should write a letter of complaint." Hewitt smirked back.

---

Silence tilted her head.

Ivor frowned. "t.. the holo... deck?" hadn't that been mentioned on their tour? he couldn't really remember.

"Oh, well that makes more sense," James said with a laugh. "They sound cute though, maybe the people just need to keep them separated by gender and they'd be the perfect pet." He nodded sagely.

~~
Ethan nodded. "That's a good idea. Something nice and sour sounding, teach those game designers that I shouldn't be messed with. I bet you've written a lot of complaint letters over the years," he added musingly.

"Yes, it's a room that uses technology to make us see things." Starr said with a chuckle. "It's safe there, don't worry."
~~~
"They are balls of fluff, they can't tell the genders apart easily." Skye said with a chuckle.

"DNA tests to figure out gender, maybe?" James said, laughing again. "Maybe I'm overthinking this a bit."

Skye laughed then shrugged a little. "Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes that's the best ideas."

"That's a nice way to look at it," James agreed. "I'm glad you think that way, makes me feel less silly for overthinking stories." He grinned. This conversation was nice, it was doing a good job distracting him from all the things he'd otherwise be worrying about.