Chapter 20 #2
“The captain thought it was paramount to make the design of this facility very family friendly,” Numbers says, “since Leon, Griff, and their children are stationed here for a seven-year mission.”
“I’m surprised none of them are currently enjoying this family-friendly design.”
“Axel and Nox are here, enjoying the VR pods, Jaxus. The pods have placed their minds in a shared virtual reality.”
“I didn’t know VR pods could do that!” We only have one pod on the Derecko, so I never thought to even ask if a shared virtual reality was possible. “Must be hard to get Givers to go out and explore the universe if they have fun toys like this back home.”
“Givers mainly use them for training simulations. It is not common for them to be used for entertainment purposes, for hours at a time, on Eppo.”
“Eppo must be a pretty exciting place, then.”
“Life forms on Eppo don’t fear hybrids, or visitors, the way humans do. So they frequently welcome new species into their communities, and learn about new cultures before traveling to those worlds, which does keep things interesting.”
“So, they wouldn’t reject Axel the way Earthlings did?”
“Axel Lory would be most welcome in the Deppoxyl System.”
“There were rumors he went to live there,” I whisper even though I know, when someone is in a pod, they can’t hear anything outside of it when it’s in use. “After the military stopped giving updates about him and his hybrid father, and asked the public to respect their privacy.”
“None of those rumors were true. Axel was abandoned by Lieutenant Lory in an NV compound, where the military thought it would be safer for Lory to raise him among NVs than humans.
“When Griff and Leon learned that Axel was living like an orphan, they argued it might be better for him to grow up with other hybrids, so the government allowed him to be fostered by them for a few months. His mental health and development significantly improved during that time, so they were given permission to adopt him.”
“He must have had the coolest upbringing, being raised among explorer Givers, then hybrid scientists.”
“I believe Axel has…” Numbers trails off and pauses, like he’s searching for the right words, like a human would. “…mixed feelings about his upbringing, Jaxus.”
“Like what?”
“You could always ask him yourself. Would you like me to bring him out of his immersive experience?”
“Uh… Tell him I want to thank him for the clothes.” I’m suddenly even more curious about this hybrid than I’ve been ever since I learned about his existence.
The glow from the pods fades before Nox and Axel climb out of them, and I know instantly which one Nox is. His inky black skin looks like deep waters, untouched by light (I’ve never seen an NV with that coloring before, so perhaps this is a new hybrid thing). This hybrid seems happy to see me.
Axel doesn’t. As his brother flashes a friendly smile, Axel glares at me like I’m an AI assistant interrupting him in the middle of a wank (or, at least, that’s how I think my face looked whenever Numbers interrupted me during an erotic VR pod experience).
“You have the worst timing,” Axel growls, with a powerful voice that reminds me of Braxton’s.
I can’t tell if he’s really pissed or just giving me a hard time, and it’s coming across as genuine anger because of that voice, and a square face that has a mean look to it.
He, and that face, look a lot more human than I thought he would, but he could never pass for human with his coloring, which is similar to Hex’s.
“Were you about to shoot down an enemy ship or something?” I ask, assuming I ruined an epic moment in a movie-like fantasy the pods brought to life for them.
“Not even close,” Nox says with a snort. “Axel was flirting with a hot guy.”
“You were talking to someone else in there?”
“Yeah,” Nox says. “We VR chat with humans.”
So they don’t only have two pods, but ones with less restrictions than the one on the Derecko. “Shit. I didn’t know you were—”
“We needed a water break anyway, and who knows if that guy is really as hot as his avatar.”
“He sounded hot,” Axel grumbles, “and that’s all I need. It’s not like we’ll ever meet in real life.”
“We’re working on improving relations with humans.” I say “we’re” as if I’m off somewhere actually doing something, and not just here looking pretty. “So you might be able to meet up with a human you like one day, soon.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Axel says. “But NV talks with humans always go nowhere, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t jump for joy until something actually happens.
Honestly—the Derecko crew, and the other NVs, should have been sent home ages ago.
Causing distress on Earth is really all they do. ”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration—and it’s not like the humans make it easy to work with them,” I argue, following him and Nox over to a drinking fountain that is attached to a wall on the other side of the large room. “They were constantly warring with each other before NVs came here.”
Nox and Axel move through the chaotically designed room with ease, but I almost trip over something twice, and Axel snickers each time.
“Do you always walk around like a baby deer?” he asks.
“I’m not totally used to these new legs,” I say, face hot.
“Well, humans aren’t exactly used to us, and they don’t need to rush into a stronger alliance for our benefit. It’s their planet and their solar system, and they didn’t ask NVs to come here, but they came anyway.”
“Not true,” I huff. “Lots of humans have searched for, and tried to communicate with, alien life. Their species as a whole seemed pretty okay with reaching out, so when NVs discovered their solar system, they decided to grasp the hand humans had offered.”
“Well, they clearly weren’t ready for that, so the NVs should have used better judgment, and waited for the right time.”
“If they had waited a few hundred years, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Which would have been better than being a freak for the rest of my life,” Axel growls, causing Nox to spew out the water that just flowed into his mouth.
Who the hell does this hybrid think he is? How can he blame the NVs for the way humans treated him?