Hugh was in the common room, watching the band set up, but trying not to look as interested as he was.
He was still refusing to talk in anything but Semirellian to the staff, although he had decided to speak English around his fellow prisoners, despite his belief that it was a slave language and completely beneath him. He was also being stubborn about revealing what interested him, although so far most of the workshops held some interest for him.
In his councelling sessions he had refused to speak at all. Like he was going to pour out his heart to some Dathrian. Yeah, right. At the last one, though, she had chatted to him quite happily about random stuff and had tricked him into slipping up a couple of times. But he would stand his ground and increase his guard against this conniving woman.
Even now, he knew he was being watched. Let them. He would not give them the satisfaction of his showing any desire to be here.
But today, Hugh was pursuing a curiousity. While he had never actually learnt to play an instrument, he had seen and heard some being played, but only Semirellian ones. While he had seen human ones, he'd never heard them being played. At least, not knowingly. Human culture was definitely not encouraged in the SPM base. Hugh was very interested in what the band that Christian and Spud were in played. He was a little perplexed by the names of bands, and while he understood the concept of eras and genres, he was used to different names. Old school rock? Classic rock? What was this?
Christian
"Where's Chris?!" Spud suddenly called out as Shane tapped on the snare.
"Right here!" came Chritsian's voice as he jogged into the common room, "sorry I'm late, was finishing something up."
"Painting again?" Daniel raised an eyebrow as Christian joined them on the stage and casually shook Spud's hand.
"Yeah. Carlo just wanted me to do something with his room, and we got permission, so..." Christian shrugged, "are we ready to go?"
"Test your mic," Shane ordered.
Christian turned it on, flinching as it squealed. He tapped it a few times, then spoke into it.
"Testing one, two, three... hey guys," he waved around at their onlookers, "shouldn't be a moment, sorry I was late."
Shane rolled his eyes as Christian turned back to them.
"So what are we playing?" he raised an eyebrow.
"B.O.C. Burning For You," Daniel nodded to him.
Christian pursed his lips and took the microphone from the stand as Daniel counted in their new guitarist (Damien) and Shane. The music started, and Christian paced a little before starting on the vocals.
"Home in the valley
Home in the city
Home isn't pretty
Ain't no home for me
Home in the darkness
Home on the highway
Home isn't my way
Home we'll never be
Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I can't see no reason to put up a fight
I'm living for giving the devil his due
And I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you
I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you..."
Hugh
Hugh had startled with the unusual sound produced by their instruments. Very, very different from what he was used to. And he wasn't entirely certain that he knew what the song was about. Something about having home but not having a home, and being burned for you... whoever 'you' was...
Hugh shook his head. Weird.
Christian
Christian stepped off the stage and paced a little as he played with the microphone cord.
"Time is the essence
Time is the season
Time ain't no reason
Got no time to slow
Time everlasting
Time to play besides
Time ain't on my side
Time I'll never know
Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I'm not the one to tell you what's wrong or what's right
I've seen suns that were freezing and lives that were through
Well I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you
I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for you
Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I can't see no reason to put up a fight
I'm living for giving the devil his due..."
It was just as Christian went into the ad libs that he spotted Hugh in the audience. He gave him a wink then continued singing the last part as he made his way back up on stage to the mic stand.
"I'm burning I'm burning I'm burning for you..."
He threw his hands in the air as the guitar ended, then grinned as Damien fell to his knees and head banged to a solo guitar riff.
"Give it up, show off," Shane ordered, throwing a drumstick at him.
Daniel, Spud and many audience members broke into giggles. Christian rolled his eyes.
"Next song?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Animals. Nickelback," Shane ordered, before counting them in with his sticks.
Christian missed the intro, then broke out laughing before finally picking himself up.
"I, I'm driving black on black
Just got my license back
I got this feeling in my veins this train is coming off the
track
I'll ask polite if the devil needs a ride
Because the angel on my right ain't hanging out with me tonight
I'm driving past your house while you were sneaking out
I got the car door opened up so you can jump in on the run
Your mom don't know that you were missing
She'd be pissed if she could see the parts of you that I've been
kissing
Screamin'
No, we're never gonna quit
Ain't nothing wrong with it
Just acting like we're animals
No, no matter where we go
'Cause everybody knows
We're just a couple animals
So come on baby, get in
Get in, just get in
Check out the trouble we're in..."
Christian stopped for a breather before the next verse, his face red with the effort but a grin on his face and his eyes all lively.
Hugh
Hugh's befuzzlement with the song altered when Christian winked at him. What was that about?
Then Spud threw the stick he'd been using on his instrument at Damien, and told him to stop being a show off. Well that certainly never happened at any Sem concert he'd been at. Such a display would have been... alien.
As the next song began, Hugh caught the word 'devil' again, and wondered what the facsination was. He was absently tapping his foot to the music.
Christian
As Christian came to the bridge, he sat on the edge of the stage and stared random people in the eye as his voice lowered.
"We, were parked out by the tracks, were sitting in the back and
we just started getting busy when she whispered 'what was that?'
'The wind, I think, cos no one else knows where we are'
And that was when she started screaming 'that's my Dad outside the
car!'
Oh pelase, the keys, they're not in the ignition
Must have wound up on the floor while we were switching our
positions
I guess, they knew that she was missing
As I tried to tell her Dad it was her mouth that I was kissing
Screaming,
No! We're never gonna quit, ain't nothing wrong with it
Just acting like we're animals, animals..."
Christian grinned at the looks on the faces of what he assumed were rapists and offenders of other sex related crimes. And those that were just plain idiots enjoying the song.
He was pacing again as the song slowed to an end, and took a bow when it was over.
"Anyone got a request?" Spud called out suddenly, "more B.O.C.? Scorpions? Boston? Black Sabbath...?"
"Hughsie! Newbie! Come on," Christian pointed at Hugh, "tell me you know some of this stuff."
Hugh
Hugh shook his head. Foreign. It was all foreign. He still didn't even get what the song they had just sung was even about. He would have liked to make a request, but he strongly suspected they were not familar with Sem composers. Their songs actually made sense, and usually told stories.
Still Christian was looking at him, so...
"Know anything epic?"
Surely even amongst humans they had an 'epic saga' genre? Yes?
Christian
"Epic?" Christian turned to Shane with his eyebrows raised.
Shane grinned and lowered his eyes.
"Something big," Spud suggested, "any ideas?"
"ACDC?" Daniel raised his hand hopefully.
"What about an epic love ballad?" Spud grinned.
"Lifehouse!" someone called out.
Christian groaned and covered his eyes with his hand, "is that really such a good idea after a song about humping like wild animals?"
"Everything," Shane announced, "come on Chris, you've done it before."
"Yeah, but willingly?" Christian turned back to him in protest.
But the music had already started. Christian cringed but turned back to the microphone.
"Find me here
Speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again...
You are the strength, that keeps me walking
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting
You are the light into my soul
You are my purpose...you're everything..."
Christian soon closed his eyes and started to sway.
"How can I stand here with you, and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be, any better than this...?
Yeah..."
Hugh
Well, it wasn't quite what he had expected, but he'd take it. Hugh leaned forward and rested his head on his hand as he listened to the words. These ones made sense.
Even if it was a little sappy.
Christian
There was applause as the song drew to a close, and Christian couldn't help but chuckle.
"I don't know if that was epic enough, but hey... there you go," he shrugged, looking at Hugh, "any other requests?"
"12 Stones!" someone called from the back.
"What one?" Spud called back.
"Far Away," Daniel grinned, as a few other people called out things like 'Let Go' and 'The Way That I Feel'.
"Far Away it is," Shane decided, starting to count them in.
Christian licked his lips and had a quick drink of water before the vocals started.
"Something keeps on pulling me down
And I feel like I'm losing ground
Trying just to find my reasons
And losing sense of what is real
Willing to believe in something
Forgetting to believe in me
Will I find my place in your mind
Or will I fall away in time?
Now I'm feeling, so far away
And now I'm hating, you every day
Waiting just to see the image
You follow down my road again
Trying just to find your purpose
You're fading faster every day
Willing to believe in something
Forgetting to believe in me
Will I find my place in your mind
Or will I fall away in time...?"
Hugh
While the lyrics to this song made more sense, Hugh still wasn't sure what it was about exactly. Someone's thoughts abotu a situation? But what situation?
Hugh was beginning to suspect that human music was all about metaphorical imagery or something. A little weird, but then humans didn't have powers and therefore couldn't use them to amplify any aspect of their music, so Hugh supposed that metaphorics was all they had.
Christian
About five songs later, the boys took their bows and jumped down from the stage. Shane and Damien disappeared from the common room, but Christian, Daniel and Spud stuck around to talk to people.
They'd initially headed over to talk with their usual chatter comrades, but Christian soon spooted Hugh still sitting on his own. He excused himself from the table and headed over.
"So..." he began as he collapsed into the opposite chair and leant on the table, "did we suck?"
Hugh
Hugh blinked, unfamilar with the jargon.
"Umm," he said.
He scratched his head and then came to the conclusion that Christian was asking his opinion. Not being able to use his telepathy was a real drag.
"Your music was very different from what I'm used to," Hugh said. "It sounds completely different, but we do use different instruments so that's probably the main cause. Also, lyrically yours seems to be more metaphorical that ours. We tend to be more literal, whereas yours is more poetic."
His pride prevented him from admitting he struggled to understand what most of their songs had even been about.
Christian
"Yeah, it confused me at first too," Christian admitted, looking over at the stage.
"I'm a beginner myself. But you'd be surprised how much of it is actually literal. Most songs appear to be about sex and death and falling in love."
He rolled his eyes at the last part.
"But there's some good ones in there. I take you've never taken interest in human music before."
Hugh
"Please," Hugh replied. "There's nothing wrong with our music. Why look elsewhere? The only people who looked into human culture are the researchers, and they all find it repugnant."
Going on today's performance, Hugh could see why they might feel that way about human music. On the otherhand, Hugh was also thinking that an understanding of what human music was about may counteract that distaste.
It had never occured to Hugh that the SPMs researchers either weren't thorough or were too dismissive (and thus didn't do as good a job as they thought they were), or were practically ordered to tell the other members of the SPM how beneth them human culture was. On pain of death. With cover stories pinning the blame on people outside of the SPM, and cementing the whole 'this is the kind of savagry that goes on out there' line of propaganda.
Christian
"Maybe look elsewhere to broaden your horizons?" Christian suggested, "not to be stuck in a rut, never to come across anything you might find a thousand times more enjoyable?"
He smiled a little, thinking back to the way he used to shut himself off.
"And besides, letting other people speak for you is pretty pathetic. You have to try everything for yourself and make up your own mind. You learn from others' mistakes, not decisions."
He looked back over at where Daniel and Spud sat chatting.
"I never used to see the point of music. It was just noise to me," he shrugged.
Hugh
"I liked the music I was brought up, thank you very much," Hugh replied indignantly. "It tells stories and they make sense. And the musicians use their powers to amplify the setting. Empaths make great musicians. And we have an illusionist that creates imagry to go along with it and stuff like that. In fact, what I just heard sounded a good deal like noise to me. I'm sure that the fact that we use different instruments has nothing to do with that at all."
He folded his arms across his chest, looking annoyed.
Christian
Christian eyed him off for a moment, an amused look on his face.
"I wasn't insinuating anything other than the fact you need to broaden your horizons," he said finally, "and that doesn't just go for music either. You're in one hell of a rut Hughie, even I can see that and I'm a very blinded person."
He stood up and leant over the table, leaning on his hands.
"Not that you'd ever take my word for it considering I'm oh so far beneath you," he taunted.
Hugh
"Uh huh," Hugh replied. "Perhaps you forget that the 'P' stands for Purist? Hmm?"
He leant back in his chair.
"As it is, I'm rather indulging my curiousity more than I really should. My father would be rightly appauled if he knew all the English I've been speaking lately. And associating with you instead of secluding myself, which is standard proceedure for capture. No doubt I will have some explaining to do when I get back, but they did put me in the field early and without formal training, so they may let me off lightly."
"Especially if I can prove that it was a vital part of my escape plan," he thought to himself.
Christian
Christian couldn't help but smile.
"You know, I tried that," he nodded.
"My father brought me up to be an alien hunter. A good one, if I do say so myself. And then I met some... well, aliens, who I apparently shared a history with. I didn't kill them. Lord knows why, but I didn't. I was always wondering what he'd do to me when he found out I'd let them and so many others slide because of it."
He chewed his bottom lip, the tilted his head.
"Not that it really matters now, considering he's dead and I have a lot bigger problems on my hands. But even before he died, I'd decided I didn't care. Because I'm not living my father's life. I'm living mine. And I can do with it whatever the hell I want. So if I want to waste it having a good time with four random guys for a few hours every week, then hell I will."
He shrugged.
"My reasons for following his orders were because I felt I owed him for taking me in when I was a kid with advanced powers. Teaching me everything a telepath could. So what's your excuse?"
Hugh
Hugh started.
"Telepath?" he repeated.
Then he frowned.
"What do you mean, advanced powers?"
All of the telepaths in their group had tried their best to teach him how to use his powers, but it appeared that Hugh's power was much too advanced for them to teach him any more than bare basics. He had been able to figure out his power enough to develop some cool tricks - such as the block he had put in the human boy 'Alec's mind, which would prevent leakage to his subconscious and instantly dissolve at the appointed time. But beyond that, Hugh was convinced that he could do so much more with his power - he just wished he could figure out how!
Christian
"Long story," Christian looked him over again, inquisitively this time.
"What does the word telepath mean to you? Are you one? I mean I'm not one myself, but I grew up around plenty of them."
Hugh
Hugh hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes," he replied. "I'm a telepath. The best we have. That's why I was out in the field early..."
Hugh trailed off and looked down at the table.
"Was my first assignment. Y'know, outside the base. I was really excited. But then that empath... and all the guards had shields... and then that woman got into my head and tried talk me into betraying me people and put that stupid collar on me that stopped me from using my telepathy."
He rubbed his neck absently.
"At least it's off now."
Christian
Christian nodded, understandably.
"My father had one of those collars once," he revealed, "but he wasn't in custoday at the time and I was able to acquire someone to help him get it off. I take it your first meeting with Tanya didn't come off too well then?"
Hugh
"Is that her name then?" Hugh replied. "I couldn't get anything from her when she got into my head."
Hugh looked at Christian curiously.
"She told me she was the only one who could take the collar off again. Trust a Dath to lie."
Christian
"It's somewhat true," Christian gave him a wink.
"The person I got to help is a very young, very powerful telepath. Quite possibly the future most powerful telepath in this galaxy."
Hugh
Hugh bristled at that. He had been so used to everyone telling him that he was the most powerful telepath that the very idea that he might not be rankled. He took a moment to calm himself:
"After all," he thought, "The YIRAAS does have a much larger pool of people to get strong powers from. Why, your own abilities might be nothing compared to this... Tanya. Or this other one."
"Interesting," he said at last. "Are you very familar with Tanya?"
Christian
"You could say that," Christian considered.
"She knew my father pretty well."
Hugh
Hugh snorted.
"She put the collar on him too, huh?" he asked, although it was more of a statement than a question.
Christian
Christian smirked.
"She was working undercover when she met him," he explained, "they got pretty close. In more ways than one."
Hugh
And thus Hugh imagined that Tanya lured Christian's father into a false sense of security, and then, at the critical moment, tricked the collar onto him and hauled him into YIRAAS custody. Clearly he had escaped, perhaps was broken out? And obviously got the collar off.
"I suppose you like Tanya just as much as I do after betraying your father like that."
Christian
"I somehow doubt that," Christian shook his head.
"Seeing as I've known her for the majority of my life."
Hugh
Hugh blinked. Either Christian was deliberately trying to avoid giving him certain information, or this whole thing was more complex than he realised.
"So... friend or foe?"
Christian
Christian hesitated, an internal debate the cause for his pause.
"Depends on the context," he said in a considering tone, to mask what he'd done.
"Friend, for now."
Hugh
Hugh raised his eyebrows. For now? He now suspected it was a mixture of both being more complicated and wanting to avoid giving him information. If only he had his power, he would be able to just get into Christian's head and look! Hugh hated not knowing.
"Right okay," Hugh said. "So, if she's a friend, does she visit you at all? Or aren't we allowed to have visitors here?"
Christian
"Well that depends on your status," Christian shrugged, moving so that he was sitting opposite Hugh again and putting one foot on the seat as he leant back.
"Personally, being a... 'high profile case', I haven't been able to have any visitors yet. I don't have many fans when it comes to the grand heirachy. But Tanya's managed to convince them to let me see her a couple of times. Why, got a girlfriend or something?"
Hugh
Hugh snorted.
"Even if I did, I can't contact anyone," he said. "The YIRAAS will be on them like that to try and get our base location from them."
He sat back smugly.
"Of course, I did take the liberty of putting a few shields around certain key agents' minds. No telepath will find it so easy to poke around inside."
It was at that moment that he remembered Tanya - and whoever the other powerful telepath was - might be able to. But then, if Tanya had been able to get past the shields he had guarding the information in his own mind... Interesting. In any case, Hugh maintained the smirk on his face.
Christian
"Ah, the perils of having underground connections," Christian chuckled, "though personally I don't mind ratting on half the cons I know, so I use the information to get what I want in here."
Hugh
Hugh frowned.
"Ratting on half the cons?" he repeated, unfamiliar with that phrase.
Christian
"Yeah," Christian shrugged.
"You know, dobbing them in. Giving YIRAAS information on 'bad guys' I used to socialise with. But you know, only the ones I'd rather be rid of myself."
Hugh
"Ahh..." Hugh said slowly. "So... you betray those who have trust in you?"
If this were the case, he may be better off seeking other allies.
Christian
"Not many people have trust in me. I prefer making trouble for people who'd rather see me dead or in a cage," Christian corrected.
"And that's no short list I assure you."
Hugh
"Ahh, I understand," Hugh nodded. "So in exchange for this information you get... what?"
He tilted his head slightly.
Christian
"Reward stuffs, like most of the kids in here get if they're making progress," Christian shrugged.
"I've gotten a few visits from Tanya for it. Extra food varieties. And I'm in the art workshop so they let me paint my room. And then some other kids wanted theirs done too so we got permission for that pretty easily..."
Hugh
Hugh nodded again.
"Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "Not that it does me any good. The only information I have affects my people, and I will not betray them."
Christian
Christian shrugged again.
"Your loss," he said simply.
"Though I'm sure you could think of some people the YIRAAS would love to get their hands on who are indirectly related to your batallion or whatever the hell it is."
Hugh
"It was my first mission," Hugh shrugged. "I didn't have any outside contacts yet."
He sat back, stewing. They had been that close to killing off the ursuper and his human wife!
Christian
"Bummer," Christian smirked, "so I guess you sucked at your job then."
Hugh
"It wasn't my fault. It was that stupid empath!" Hugh objected. "I did my part of it perfectly! The chef put the poison into their food and the waitor served the food to them, wiped their memories and they didn't suspect a thing. It was childs play!"
He scrowlled.
"It was their fault. They were all there to make sure that the guards didn't get the wind up, and to make sure we all got away if they did."
Christian
Christian got a disgusted look on his face.
"So... you were trained to believe that someone else would be watching your back?" he raised an eyebrow.
"To me, that's child's play."
Hugh
"I was trained to do a job," Hugh replied. "I do my job, and I do it well. I had expected the same of others, but it would appear that expectation was too high."
He frowned to himself, mulling over his last words. He hadn't really thought about the failure of his comrads until now.
Christian
"Kid..." Christian shook his head incredulously, "if you're ever going into any kind of battle situation, ever, never underestimate the stupidity of the best soldier."
He glanced across the room at one of the guards.
"Never trust anyone else to do your work for you either. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. And by the sounds of it, it was a simple assasination, right? You shouldn't have needed help from anyone in the first place. First timer or not."
Hugh
"Hey, they had telepathic shields," Hugh objected. "I couldn't get past them to do anything. And besides, that stupid empath..."
He trailed off, actually a little embarrassed to admit the volume of fear he had felt that day. Rightly, he had put it down to the empathic guard, but still.
"I don't have any way of warding off empaths, ok?"
Christian
"Heavily power reliant, huh?" Christian smirked.
"You shouldn't need your power to kill anyone. Especially if you're trying to make a career out of it. And obviously you sucked in the firts place if someone figured out what you were doing fast enough to stop you."
Hugh
"Well, I'm so sooooorry if hand-to-hand combat wasn't part of my training. I did tell you they put me in early, " Hugh growled in annoyance. "And it wasn't until after the ursurper and his wife had eaten the poison that they figured it out, might I add."
His anger seemed to slough off as he mulled that over.
"I still don't understand why they're still alive. Our devlopers said it would kill faster than a healer could heal. I was even there when they did the public demonstration. I know the other guard wasn't a healer - and besides, he was no where near them..."
Christian
"Whatever," Christian rolled his eyes.
"As for the hand to hand combat..."
He mused silently for a moment, then leant forward so as not to be overheard.
"Want me to teach you?"
Hugh
Hugh paused, a little startled at the question. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Is... is that going to be awkward?" he inquired, thumbing discreetly at the guards.
Christian
"I doubt it," Christian couldn't help but grin.
"We can do it in the gym. When I first started here they were practically complaining because I wasn't using the facilities to show some form of violence. And besides, it gives me something to do in my free time, and it's also a credit to you if they find you engaging in something instead of moping around not talking to anyone. So, are you in? I can do Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and Sunday afternoons."
Hugh
Hugh nodded.
"Sure," he said. "Those evenings are fine with me."
He felt himself actually getting rather excited about the prospect. What he failed to mention to Christian was that the SPM were rather power-elitest, and didn't see the point of a powerful telepath learning how to fight physically, and thus hand to hand was deliberately omitted. Something Hugh had always been a little disappointed about.
Christian
"Great. We'll start this Wednesday. After dinner," Christian nodded decisively.
"But let's keep it between us for now in case someone gets jealous."
He glanced over at where his bandmates were beginning to dismantle the stage equipment.
Hugh
"Okay, sure," Hugh agreed.
He followed Christian's gaze.
"Do you need to help?"
Christian
"Nope," Christian smirked.
"I only sing, I'm not a musician. They can do their own dirty work. And in the case of Shane - our drummer - it helps keep him out of trouble if he has something to do. He used to be a real hellraiser when he first came in."
Hugh
"Ahh," Hugh nodded. "Hellraiser?"
Clearly this was some sort of slang, as 'someone who raises hell' didn't appear that it could be literally true, unless Shane had some demonic powers or something. He only knew so much human jargon.
Christian
"Yeah," Christian looked confused for a moment, before catching on.
"Troublemaker. You know. Not exactly co-operative. He still isn't, really, but he hasn't been here much longer than I have. And like everyone else he'll still probably be out before me."
He pursed his lips, thinking his comment over.
Hugh
Hugh paused.
"How do you get out of here?" he asked.
If there was an accepted way out, he may be able to con them, and save himself the trouble of finding a way to break out.
Christian
"I'm not all that sure," Christian smirked.
"When they believe you're ready to rejoin civilisation? I don't know how they tell, they just guess I think. But apparently it's unusual for anyone to be here more than say, six months. When I first got here, the band had a drummer named Drew. He was here only a couple of months before he left. And I know Spud and Daniel - our keyboardist and bass player - they're both almost ready to leave too."
Hugh
"Huh," Hugh grunted.
Six months? He could wait that long if he had to. If he could con them into letting him out earlier though... Hmm.
"So you go through band members, huh?"
Christian
Chris shrugged.
"The guitarist and I joined at the same time, we're the newest," he admitted, watching them packing up again.
"Shane was orginally the singer and guitarist, but when Drew left he was the only one who could play drums. Luckily our new guitarist already knew how to play because as I said, I know stuff all. Someone was teaching me before they dragged me in here but we didn't get very far."
He tilted his head slightly.
"I'm not sure what we'll do without our keyboardist or bass player. But from what I understand they are the original members. The band isn't that old."
Hugh
"Huh," Hugh said. "They very hard to play?"
He watched the boys as they packed up, wondering what instrument was what.
Christian
"I guess it's just like anything else," Christian shrugged.
"The more you practise, the better you get at it. But I wouldn't call myself a guitarist just yet."
Hugh
"And the music sounds very different when you miss instruments?" Hugh inquired.
He supposed it must, else why the concern?
Christian
"If it's not important, why bother having it?" Christian pointed out.
"Especially with resources here so stretched."
He hesitated a moment, then raised an eyebrow.
"What workshop are you in, by the way?"
Hugh
"I've been touring all of them," Hugh said, a slight smirk on his face. "See now, this is what happens when you refuse to co-operate. They don't know which workshops you like best."
He stretched his arms.
Christian
Christian nodded.
"Well eventually you'll be stuck with one whether you like it or not," he pointed out.
"Let me know when you near the art corner of the circuit."
Hugh
"Okay," Hugh said agreeably.
He rotated his neck, and drew back his arms.
"What workshops do you do? Other than art, obviously."
Christian
"I'm doubled up on art," Christian smirked a little.
"When they realised my interest they kinda pounced on it, and I didn't complain. I am thinking of taking up a gym-based class some afternoons though. Keep my body in check."
Hugh
Hugh nodded.
"Sounds like a good idea. I mean, you wouldn't want your current skills to go rusty after you get out of here."
"Kinda like my telepathy might from lack of use here," he thought to himself.
Christian
"Exactly my idea," Christian nodded.
He couldn't help but smile a little, glad he was getting to the new kid.
"And none have so far, thankfully. But you seriously have no preferenc ein the workshops so far, or what? Just holding out to see where they put you once and for all?"
Hugh
"It's not so much that, as it is I have no particular desire to co-operate with them," Hugh replied.
Then he gave a slight smile.
"Besides," he went on. "I'm not sure which ones I would choose even if I did want to."
Christian
"You really didn't get out much before, did you?" Christian was trying not to show pity.
"I'm tempted to drag your ass out of here when I leave and show you the finer nuances of underground and surface life. I mean I had a sheltered childhood, sure, but I knew what music was at least."
Hugh
"I don't know if you've noticed," Hugh said. "But there's a war going on. We all had to pull together, specialise in what we could do best, and not waste time with fivolties. Of course, a certain amount of 'frivolous' is permitted. Y'know. Moral and all that. So I have had some exposure to music, but traditional Semirellian music, with traditional Semirellian instruments. Not this human stuff."
Christian
Christian shrugged.
"It obviously wasn't a very widescale war of importance if I didn't know about it, think about that," he tilted his head.
"Yet again another way to tell that someone is using your ass."
Hugh
"Daths outnumber Sems," Hugh replied. "Of course it's not widescale. It dates back to the original crash, you see. The designated royal family died, so they had to decide on a new royal family. Tradition dictates that this is the family with the most children, and there were two families with two children, so we put it to a vote. But see, one of the families was so thirsting for power that they rigged the voting and tried to steal the Device, and when they failed, pinned the blame on the other family. And thus when then vote occured, the innocent family was voted against. We have been fighting all this time to restore the crown to the rightful family. At one time we thought we had succeeded, but then we discovered that the heir was still alive. It took us decades to track them down. And now we have, and they are who we are after now. We don't have a large force, so we have to specialise. I'm our best telepath, so that's all I practised."
Christian
"I see..." Christian mused.
"Don't you think now that you're dealing with an Earth-bound race that the whole 'royal family' thing is kind of redundant?" he didn't have to feign an interest now.
Hugh
Hugh snorted.
"It wouldn't be if we didn't all succumb to living in this stupid human society," he replied. "Living by their laws. Their standards. They're so pathetic that even when their own kind starts developing powers they freak out. This whole planet is backwards."
He leaned forward.
"When the royalty is restored to the rightful family, we shall change that."
Christian
Christian didn't move a millimetre.
"How?" he asked.
Hugh
"Well, for one thing, the humans will be reduced from leaders of the planet to slaves," Hugh replied. "We've already started on that actually. After we regain the royalty, Sems everywhere will gather under their rightful leader. The only real threat is the Daths. They do outnumber us. But greater numbers have been beaten before. We have our best people focusing on strategy and logistics even as we speak."
Christian
"Hmm," Christian mused.
"Maybe we should rethink those training sessions after all. It seems we're on completely different sides in a coming war."
He smirked.
"I could even be doing you guys a favor unintentionally in the long run."
Hugh
Hugh frowned.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Christian
"What I mean is..." Christian began with a sigh, flicking his bangs from his eyes.
"You guys are completely against the Dathrians as a race, right? For your own reasons, which don't get me wrong - I completely understand. I, myself, am labelled a Dathrian hunter. I hunt down practically anything with a power and get rid of it."
He massaged his bottom lip with his tongue.
"But I don't do it for any sense of glory. I do it because I'm trying to restore a natural balance of what's supposed to be on this planet. Hell, if I managed to kill every alien being on the planet my next action would be to off myself. It would be game over."
He shook his head.
"I can't do what I do for anyone other than myself. I'm not a soldier - I'm a hunter. And as far as helping another race take over my own, when personally I consider them just as bad, I can't do it. And I won't. It's simply a waste of time and jeopardises my own mission."
Hugh
"You're serious?" Hugh asked. "You actually want the humans to remain the dominant race on this planet? To the end of your own species?"
He stared at Christian, a perplexed, incredulous expression on his face.
Christian
"Deadly," Christian said placidly.
"We don't belong here and we never did. I'm just trying to make things right. And when they turn around and become all self- righteous on me for it, it makes it all that much more ejoyable to get the job done."
Hugh
"Well, I suppose I agree with you there," Hugh replied thoughtfully. "I mean, we were supposed to go to another planet altogether. Plus if things had gone the way they were planning, we certainly wouldn't be having this royalty war, because the original family wouldn't have died. Still, doesn't committing genocide seem a little drastic? I mean, even we aren't planning on killing off all the humans."
Christian
Christian smirked.
"Which do you think is easier for a single Dathrian to accomplish? Taking them out, one by one, or rounding up every single alien being on the planet, shoving them into a flying saucer, and shooting it out into space?" he pointed out, "if the general alien population believed that being here was wrong, they would have found a way to leave soon after the damn crash in the first place."
Hugh
Hugh frowned.
"I thought it was because the ship was damaged beyond repair and in order to build a new one they needed a large supply of a particular mineral which can't be found here?"
Christian
"That was half a century ago," Christian pointed out.
"As far as I'm concerned, time's up. It's about time something happened about it. And about time they all moved on or got to, obviously, wherever they were supposed to be in the first place. No excuses now."
Hugh
"Right so, having absolutely no experience whatsoever with mining whatever mineral it is, or with building spcaecraft, you deem yourself an authority on how long it should take them?" Hugh asked, eyebrows raised.
It wasn't that Hugh disagreed with Christian that they shouldn't have landed on this planet on the first place, only that his perspective seemed a little... warped.
Christian
"Fifty years is more than enough for just about anything, let alone building a freaking spacecraft," Christian pointed out.
"In the next fifty years, who knows what the heck will become of this planet? They'll proably have their own ships well underway by then. And what does that say for us?" his eyebrows rose.
"I don't believe we're anywhere near advancing at the rate of our predecessors. And to think we can't build a ship in fifty years? There's no words for that. I can't fathom how lame it sounds."
Hugh
"Yeah, but you don't know, do you?" Hugh said. "You haven't been to their installation where they're building it. Maybe, instead of going around murdering your own kind in cold blood, you should be helping them to build the ship in order to get off this planet instead of whinging about how they haven't made it yet."
Hugh shook his head.
"Y'know what I think? You've been hanging around humans so long you've been corrupted by their attitudes and their way of thinking. You're so certain of your own opinion that you haven't bothered to actually look into the matter personally and find out for yourself what's going on, first hand. Oh no, you have to take matters into your own hands and start killing left and right. Y'know what? We might want to re-established ourselves as being above humans, which we are, but at least we're not interested in committing mass genocide."
Christian
Christian hesitated, before a smug look crossed his face.
"And you're 100% sure about everything you just babbled on about?" he raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"So... you've seen this warehouse, have you? You know exactly what the Dathrians are up to? Oh and while I'm at it, you know exactly how I grew up and how much contact I've actually had with humans."
Hugh
Hugh leaned over.
"It's a pity that I can't use my telepathy here," he said. "Then I could find out exactly what your life was like."
He sat back in his chair.
"But, please, excuse me, your exceeding wonderfulness, if I seek arguments to talk someone out of pursuing their goal of the genocide of their own species. And mine, for that matter. Besides, your reasoning is behind preserving the human race. And for that matter, said humans are developing powers of their own. What does it matter if Daths and Sems are here as well?"
Christian
"And now you're making excuses for them?" Christian raised an eyebrow.
He leant closer.
"It may be hard to believe, but I could bet my life that even if you had use of your telepathy in here? You'd never get inside my head," Christian grinned smugly.
Hugh
Hugh paused. In the first, Christian did make a good point. Making excuses for the humans? Putting humans, Daths and Sems on the same level? He wasn't sure where the thought had come from, but, strangely, it didn't repluse him as much as he thought it would.
In the second, Christian was a little too certain that he wouldn't be able to get in his head. This would suggest a shield of some kind. Hugh had given some of his own people shields, but just meeting Tanya was enough for him to see that there may be more powerful telepaths in the YIRAAS world. Hugh had no idea where he would measure up, but then, neither did Christian. Thus, logically, Christain's shield must have been put there by one of the more powerful telepaths around. Possibly Tanya.
He took a moment to marvel at his logic, then realised he hadn't said anything for a good two minutes, and figured he ought to respond.
"Telepathic shield?" he inquired.
Despite his surprising lack of replusion at putting humans, Daths and Sems on the same level, Hugh wasn't really comfortable pursuing that. He needed more time to mull things over.
Christian
"And it's a doozey," Christian nodded, not thinking twice at Hugh's lack of response.
He happened to glance up at the clock, then cursed under his breath.
"Gotta blaze, I'm late," he mumbled, standing from the table and grabbing his calico.
He stopped as he began walking away, turned back and pointed at Hugh.
"Next Sunday. Gym. Two o'clock. Be there."
Hugh
"I'll be there," Hugh nodded.
Christian was certainly turning out to be an interesting person. And he had given him a lot to think about.