trans_9 | Mix-and-Mingle

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Mix-and-Mingle

After the most recent pod-pop had been completed, Stacy began encouraging the crew towards the Obs Deck. They would be most effective if they were familiar with each other, and as the Jaime Reyes Incident had proved, leaving them to meet whenever they happened to cross paths was not effective.

Anyone who stepped into the Hub would be transported to the Obs Deck, no matter where they had intended to go. Those who had been exploring the City were verbally herded towards the Hub, although the energy tentacles did not make an appearance.

||Please report to the Obs Deck for Crew Introductions.||

The Obs Deck hadn't changed very much since they'd last been there. The creepy sculpture was still present, as were the fleshy couches. However, the couches were arranged in a more obvious circle this time.

Come and meet the new -- and in some cases, weirder -- members of your crew.

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Jaime laughed. "Probably not? I'm not really famous, like Superman." A pause. "Oh, unless you mean like...somewhere else? Like Stacy was saying? If there is one, somewhere, in some other world or something, that'd be pretty cool, but I have no idea. So far nobody here's come up to me and said they read my comic or anything."

Jaime rolled his eyes goodnaturedly. "Okay, our comic," he corrected.

"If there is a comic, you are so not the favorite."

Wait, talking to himself again.

"Uh. I'm not actually crazy, despite the talking to myself thingy, by the way," he said, gesturing to his temple. "Got an alien brain-sharing dealy going on."

Ax would have preferred it if Jaime was crazy.

He recoiled away from the Controller with a snarl, fortunately managing to keep on his feet this time. Alternate universe Yeerks were still Yeerks and he didn't want them near him.

Whoa, not exactly the reaction he was expecting. A little fear or "What the heck?" sure, but not snarling.

"Whoa, hey, calm down. It's not--see, it's a piece of alien technology that bonded with me. To my spine. It's what gives me my superpowers to be a hero--a sort powersuit. So, yeah, it talks in my head--and I talk back. It's sentient. It's... I'm not gonna say harmless, but Khaji's a good guy, like me. We're kinda two halves of the same hero, here."

Ax glared, crossing his arms in front of his chest. All right, so it apparently wasn't a Yeerk -- but what was with all of the victims of parasites on board this ship being content with being forced into slavery?

"And I suppose that the next thing you are going to tell me is that it is a symbiotic relationship," he replied archly. "Tic. Symbiotic."

"Kinda." A pause. "Actually, sometimes I think I get more out of it than he does. I probably could be a superhero without him--actually, I know I could be--but he makes it a lot easier. Makes it so there's a lot more I can do."

Ax scrubbed a hand over his face. He'd seen Prince Jake do it, but he had never felt compelled to do it himself before now. Congratulations Jaime, you have made the alien adopt another human tic!

"No."

"No...what?"

One of them was crazy and Ax knew that it wasn't him. Clearly the crazy person was the one who was perfectly fine with an alien parasite attached to his spine, doing who knows what to his nervous system and brain.

"No."

"I'd understand if I'd asked a yes or no question here, but I didn't, so what are you saying no to?"

"No. I refuse to believe that you are perfectly fine with an alien parasite attaching itself to your spine and having its way with your nervous system," Ax elaborated, frustration leaking into his voice. "Sspuh. Spine. Even if it gives you super powers. That is categorical nonsense."

"If I wasn't fine with it, I wouldn't have let it back in again when we got separated. I know it sounds crazy, but... he's kinda my friend. Hence why I call him a symbiote. He finds 'parasite' slightly insulting," said Jaime. "And inaccurate. Parasites harm the host. They don't usually give them battle armor."

"It probably has an ulterior motive," Ax countered. Brainwashing, that was it. The parasite was warping the human's brain to its own ends.

Or maybe Jaime was telling the truth. He was from some ~~clearly insane~~ alternate universe. Perhaps in that universe, it made perfect sense to let random things snuggle up to your spinal cord.

"It did, at first. It was supposed to help the race that planted it on Earth take over--the Reach. It was supposed to wipe my mind and turn me into a fanatical tool of the Reach. But its programming got corrupted. I was able to have more of an influence over it than the Reach did. And it learned. It started to realize it had a choice. It started to assert its free will. Then he helped me take down the Reach. And had a little talk with his scarab 'brothers' about the joys of free will, too. They were innocent--taken from their home and forcibly be reprogrammed, turned into tools, had their free will taken away. They were just as much victims to the Reach as all the other races the Reach has conquered are."

Ax was sure that there was some word for when humans started identifying with their captors. He'd heard it on the television, it started with an 's'. He couldn't remember what it was, but it seemed to describe Jaime exactly. Shouting at him wouldn't do any good.

He resisted the urge to smack Jaime's forehead against the window. That probably wouldn't help either.

"What?"

A pause. "What do you have against alien symbiotes anyway? I mean, other than the general grossness."

He was one of six young people battling an empire of alien parasites for the fate of Earth, and part of another alien race that had been fighting the parasites since they had accidentally set them loose on the galaxy. That was what he had against 'alien symbiotes'.

"I believe that general grossness covers it," he said stiffly.

"Look, I'm just a normal guy, with... uh, something of a guest, but he's a good guy, too. I know it's weird--and maybe even a little scary-sounding--but neither of us are gonna hurt you or anything."

He held out a hand for shaking. "I'm Jaime. Jaime Reyes. Also know as the Blue Beetle, in the superhero circles."

"Phillip," Ax answered shortly, reluctantly shaking Jaime's hand. He didn't think it would be wise to completely shut the human down, even if he had apparently been driven crazy by his parasite.

"You're...still looking at me like you think I'm going to eat you," Jaime said, after eventualyl letting go of Ax's hand. "But that's okay."

"Your mouth is no where near large enough for me to worry that you intend to eat me," Ax retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Unless you are capable of unhinging your jaw."

"I don't know. I've never tried," Jaime said thoughtfully, opening his mouth really wide.

Which pretty much confirmed Ax's assessment of Jaime's sanity. His eyebrows took a hike for his hairline.

"I'm messing with you. You realize I'm messing with you, right?"

"If you say so," Ax replied, sounding as if he very much doubted Jaime's statement.

Jaime scratched the back of his neck.

"Look, I'll see you around, okay? And you'll see. I promise Khaji's harmless." A correction. "Relatively harmless."

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mynameisax.livejournal.com - 2008-08-20 21:43 (UTC) - Expand

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