FADE IN:

CAMP ONE COLONY - HABITAT HALL - NIGHT

That lively SPLASHSCREEN fills JAY's tablet; a brief arboreal JINGLE plays...

"SHELDER EVOLUTION"

Jay is 12 years old (remember: 1 Shelder year = 0.8 Earth year) with chunky brown-ginger hair and a unique light-caramel vanilla-amber blend of skin tone that looks like he has been painted rather than bred...

He just stands there, in the door to the GALLEY, waiting for the videogame to load...

YOME
(cooking)
Where's Larry?

JAY
Dunno. 

YOME
(sighs)
Can you go call him? It's almost ready.

JAY
Sure...

Jay doesn't seem to care much but he complies with the request and tries BEDROOM2 down the corridor...

BEDROOM2

LARRY
(excited)
JAY!

Larry could pass for Jay's twin brother at a quick glance: same hair, similar skin... But they are clearly not related to a more attentive eye...

He's petting Dinel, kneeling on the floor. Jay is uninterested; the game has finished loading and presents Jay's profile and main menu and he taps on "CHARLIE". The game loads again.

JAY
It's almost ready.

LARRY
Ah. Okay...

Larry's friendly smile is contagious: Dinel would love to smile back but she doesn't have the muscle control on her Aralodon face to be able to. She just CHIRPS back at him with every soft touch of his child hand.

LARRY
Any news from Charlie?

Jay suddenly comes back to the living... And looks up from his game.

JAY
Urr...
I dunno. I was goin'to ask her. But there's no reception...

LARRY
The hurricane?

Sadness drops down like a bank of fog and Jay has to carry it as if it was a boulder on his back.

JAY
Yeah...

Larry stands up and forgets Dinel for a moment; the Aralodon sits down and preens her feathery winged arms.

LARRY
Yeah, I bet.

Larry grabs his own tablet from the bedside table while Jay keeps tapping on "CHARLIE" but the game is "sorry, no connection".

LARRY
When the drone deploys you'll be able to talk to Charlie again, at any time, with any weather!

Jay glances up from his tablet to drop a shy smile.

LARRY
Its satcom antenna is so powerful... It can get signal even during a thermonuclear explosion!

JAY
(amazed)
Whoah! 
But we don't have tamed noon clear explosions...

LARRY
(shrugs)
You never know...

Dinel just sits there on the floor preening: she looks like a pet that belongs there but doesn't belong into the conversation...

...but we all know she understands... and she's following on.

CUT TO:

GALLEY

Meet DIMAR and MEDA: the two young adult colonists that almost feels like bigger brother and bigger sister to Jay and Larry, but they surely aren't. 

Dinel eats a gourmet salad from a pet bowl in the corner, uncaring for Jay staring at her.

YOME
Jay, eat your food.

Jay sighs and looks back at his plate: Aralodon curry with rice.

JAY
It ain't even funny, mom.

YOME
What isn't?

Jay sighs and turns back to staring at Dinel.

Toby scoots his empty plate away and grabs the glass bottle of wine and his glass.

TOBY
(pouring wine)
I think he means the meat. It's bad taste.

Yome gets annoyed and defensive at Toby.

YOME
What are you saying? I can't cook?

Toby freezes and doesn't notice he accidentally spills wine out.

TOBY
What?
No!
I meant the joke... It's in bad taste.

YOME
(more annoyed)
What Joke?

Dimar chuckles and looks at Meda for complicity, but Meda's mind is somewhere else altogether and she's eating dinner in autopilot. His smrk of bravado dies in infancy.

TOBY
Darling. You are the smartest person I know... But sometimes you can be obtuse as frak.

YOME
Don't teach the kids that.

TOBY
Okay, you can be as dumb as a bum.

Larry starts laughing out loud and Jay suddenly realizes the word "bum" was uttered and he joins the laugh out of principle.

Yome doesn't like this... She takes it out on Toby.

YOME
I am well aware we are eating Aralodon meat. I do not think it's in bad taste. Would you rather have it rot?

Toby attempts a smile.

TOBY
Honey... I'm pulling yer leg. Reee...

He sighs and releases tension with that last word, much like English-speaking Eartlings use "Gee".

Dinel ain't bothered by any of this. She has free food and it's the tastiest forage she has ever eaten. Does not give a frak.

YOME
I'll be pulling your neck one of these days if you don't remember to feed our Aras, This one I cooked probably died of starvation.

Toby's smile hits a brick wall at full speed.

TOBY
What?

The aura at the table shifts tone.

YOME
Yeah... The others pecked him to death. I'm not sure if it was because of food scarcity or some other reason.

TOBY
Shit...

YOME
Don't use that word, honey.

TOBY
Sorry.

The kids ain't bothered, though. Larry is mumbling a funny story to Dimar, and Jay is fiddling with tablet.

Dinel's eye doesn't miss a thing.

Toby finally can enjoy his wine, but now it's more to digest the guilt than to chil out peacefully. Yome gets up and pulls his plate away to drop it and hers in the kitchen sink.

YOME
I'm not saying it's your fault. Just remember to feed em abundantly. We ain't bothered if they get fat, am I right?

TOBY
(still guilty)
Urrm, yeah, yeah.

Dinel's ears don't miss a word.

FADE TO:

HQ ROOM - LATER

Yome is busy at the big computer console in the Head Quarters room of the Habitat complex. Dinel still finds this place like a labyrinth but she is quickly getting used scampering around like a strong independent pet chicken.

She spies Yome as she monitors a spacecraft's vitals on the screen: orbit info, velocity, orientation, coordinates, signal, and other parameters that Dinel shouldn't even recognize but she somehow understand vaguely how they work.

YOME
(without turning)
Did you need something, cutesy?

Dinel snaps her head - she didn't expect it.

DINEL
Chirp. Chippity-Chirp.

What the... Oh!

YOME
(turns)
Yeah, wait. Let me turn my tablet on.

Yome grabs her tablet from the desk and fiddles with it while Dinel waits. 

YOME
Okay. Speak now.

DINEL
I was sayin - - Oh good. It works.
This is annoying, though...

Yome chuckles while she rests the tablet carefully on the desk, ensuring she can clearly hear Dinel's synthetized voice coming from it.

YOME
Yeah, I'm sorry... I noticed how annoying it is. We'll fix this.

DINEL
Anyway, I was saying that I wanted to talk to you.

Yome gets the creeps. Her "pet chicken" wants to talk to her...

YOME
Urrm... yeah. Okay.

She spins her chair to face the animal, looking down at her. Dinel ain't too happy about the gross disbalance of dominance and gets nervous.

DINEL
Urm... I mean... About that...
Aralodon... That di - - [died] - - was pecked to death.

Yome understands this is a serious conversation her "pet chicken" is trying to have with her and decides it's appropriate to pick Dinel up to place the animal on her lap.

DINEL
(immediately)
What are you doing!!!

Okay, wrong move. Yome lets go of the animal's sides and she drops back on her strong feet to land firmly, ready to run.

DINEL
I'm fine down here. Don't worry.

YOME
Okay. I'm sorry.
Do you want me to...

Yome points to herself and then the floor. Dinel takes a moment but gets it.

DINEL
No, no. You're fine up there. Just... hear me out.

YOME
Okay. Sorry. Go on.

Dinel starts walking the floor, trying to unload the stress.

DINEL
You were right to second guess yourself with Toby. While we Aras do appreciate king-size free food, it ain't because of the food that they pecked him to death.

Yome is all ears.

DINEL
It's about dominance.

Yome is amazed. She leans down as if she could hear more accurately, even though the animal's "voice" is coming from the tablet on the desk, and the animal's real voice is CHIRPING.

DINEL
Aralodons in a group want to form a tight family. In your language you could say... Urm... I guess... Colony, or Harem... depending on who's running it.

Yome suddenly rushes for her tablet again.

DINEL
(still strolling)
First we poke each other to get to know ourselves. 

She notices Yome taking notes and feels even more uneasy because of it.

DINEL
Urm...
Then...
Urr...

Yome glances at her and smiles.

YOME
It's okay. Take your time.

Yome uses the time to transcribe the conversation.

DINEL
Yome?

YOME
Yeah?

Dinel stops at Yome's feet and looks up at her until they cross gaze.

DINEL
You can record the conversation. 

YOME
Oh! Cheers!

Yome is more than happy to save and close the text file and open the recorder instead. So much less effort. So much more room to focus.

YOME
(taps RECORD)
Okay. Go ahead!

DINEL
(deep breath)
Once we all know each other, we find out every's strenghts and weak spots.
And the weak links.

YOME
What - - How would you define a weak link?

DINEL
Urm... well... 
The least assertive. The guy or gal that will wait for everyone to eat first. The kid that always asks politely and chirps at everybody regardless of mood.
The teacher's pets!

Yome has a deep realization moment.

YOME
Oh!

DINEL
I don't want to be a teacher's pet. You get me?

YOME
Yeah... But I mean... We ain't... I mean...

DINEL
No, I know. But you said I'll eventually return to my people, right? You said that.

YOME
Yeah yeah yeah! We'll bring you back!

DINEL
Yeah...

YOME
You mean... They might peck you to death?

DINEL
No, no... Nothing like that. But I might have to prove myself to them again. That's what I mean.

YOME
Oh... So...
The... The dominance thing... Let's call it the dominance ritual? It ain't final...

DINEL
Exactly! We constantly do that. It's what we spend most of our time doing.

YOME
Oh!

Yome's brain is having an intellectual feast for free. All you can eat.

DINEL
Your Aralodon curry was most definetely a teacher's pet that pissed the others off until they ganged up on him. Or her.

YOME
Him.

DINEL
Heh! Makes sense...

YOME
What do you mean? Males get it more?

DINEL
Yeah... Males have it rough as frak...

YOME
Oh dear...

Dinel starts walking nervously again. Yome feels guilty.

YOME
Well, thank you for that, Dinel.
(taps STOP)
It was incredibly educational.
(puts tablet away)
If you ever need to, urm... talk...

Human/pet-chicken psychotherapy... Dinel smiles.

DINEL
Thank you, Yome. 

Dinel calms down slightly and stops walking to extend the smile to Yome.

DINEL
You're a good human.

Yome feels all warm and fuzzy inside. This time nothing can stop her from picking Dinel up and petting her.

Dinel allows it.

FADE TO:

BEDROOM2 - LATER

The first night is proving infinite. Dinel can't sleep; this place is too weird: no foliage to hide in, no berries to munch on, no predators to lookout for... What is this?

Jay sleeps like an angel, not even snoring. Larry instead is on his left side, his face irradiated by his tablet's blue light.

Dinel gracefully jumps on Larry's bed. He barely notices and shrieks in surprise.

LARRY
(whisper)
Hey... cute-cute.

DINEL
Chirp.

LARRY
Shhh! 
(glances Jay)
Text me.

Dinel feels embarassed not having a clue what Larry means. "Text him?" how? Wait. She does know. Her AI chip immediately provides her mastery of it.

DINEL (CHAT)
Hi.

LARRY
(keeps whispering)
Hello you.

Dinel crawls up the bed, over the hump of Larry's body under the covers, and reaches his chest where she stops and sits down to cuddle. Larry feels great about it.

LARRY
Cute.

DINEL
I hope you don't mind my company.

LARRY 
(maybe a bit too loud)
Of course not!

They both brace at the loudness, afraid Jay might wake up and ruin their intimacy. He doesn't...

DINEL
Text me too.

Larry nods and from now on he keys in his response in chat.

LARRY
Hi again.

DINEL
Hi.

LARRY
You can't sleep either?

DINEL
No. It's weird :)

LARRY
Yeah... :D

DINEL
Why can't you sleep? :(

LARRY
I'm worried for tomorrow :((

DINEL
What happens tomorrow :o

Larry meets Dinel's eyes. Those deep undergrowth-dweller's eyes with a history of struggle share with him a raw primordial fear that the child has been trying to repress.

DINEL
You don have to tell me if you don want to :)

LARRY
It cool but not in chat.

Dinel widens her eyes in deep realization. She has an idea.

DINEL
I have an idea... :)

CUT TO:

HABITAT BALCONY - NIGHT

Larry stands in his pyjamas against the balcony fence; Dinel is perching on it.

LARRY
This is cool.

DINEL
(shivering)
Yeah... literally.

LARRY
Hehehe. But you have feathers... How are you cold?

She stops shivering and laughs. A simple joke.

DINEL
You ain't got any. You should be frozen.

LARRY
I'm a hot spirit ahahah.

DINEL
Ahahaha...

The tone deepens. They take their time to adjust.

LARRY
I'm scared for tomorrow.

DINEL
(stares at him)
How come?

LARRY
My drone lands and it's gonna get to Gerry's Herd.

Larry is staring out in the distant dark forest far away. He can barely see it but knows by heart it's there.

DINEL
I heard you mentioning a drone landing. What is it about?

Larry turns back to Dinel and takes a deep breath to explain.

LARRY
Basically I designed it myself. I used the chassis of a special utility drone and modified it to carry a flying drone on its top and work as a solar panel when the flying drone is up in the air...
So it can recharge itself and the flyer.

DINEL
Clever boy!

LARRY
(smirk)
This way it can work far away without our support. No need to change a battery.

DINEL
Independent.

LARRY
Yeah... Mom calls it "Endurance Exploration Drone".

Dinel catches Larry's proud eyes and tone when speaking about Mom.

LARRY
Jay helped me a lot with it. I originally designed it to just go and explore out in the wild and collect some samples. He needed a way to talk to Charlie, so we had the idea of using my drone.

Maybe this is Dinel's chance to find out more about another main character?

DINEL
Who is Charlie?

LARRY
Jay's adopt.

Larry's tone bleeds a subtle envy. Dinel catches on it but lets it slide for now.

LARRY
You're not adopted yet, are you?

DINEL
No.

LARRY
I think Mom is going to adopt you. You can trust her.

DINEL
I know.

They both smile proudly at each other.

LATER

Dinel interrupts the relaxing silence.

DINEL
Is Charlie with Gerry's Herd?

LARRY
Yeah. They are a Sairasaura family of ten. 
(painful correction)
Nine.

Dinel catches on the hurt.

LARRY
(smiling)
Jay is in love with Charlie.
(chuckles)
Gerry's the big papa, and doesn't much like Jay around his baby girl.

DINEL
Eheheheh I bet. Do they spend a lot of time together, Jay and Charlie?

LARRY
They did. He only adopted her last summer. They are migrating south, with the sun, now. So he'll only get to see her again next spring.

DINEL
I see. So that's why he needed your drone...

LARRY
Yeah. The game still works even if you're not connected, but Jay ain't able to watch and guide Charlie without signal on his tablet. So that's why I'm helping him. My drone can bridge the signal and let him access Charlie's chip as if she was here.

Dinel feels suprised to be able to "instinctively" understand everything Larry says. This AI chip is so weird...

DINEL
You are both so smart... I wish I was as smart as you when I was small.

LARRY
You're smart now!

DINEL
(sniggers)
Yeah! I have a fraking chip in my skull!

A moment of akwardness while Larry giggles. Dinel realizes she sweared in front of child. 

Larry's giggle fades and he gets embarassed by the akward silence. Dinel prefers to gloss over.

DINEL
You are chipped too, aren't you?

LARRY
(confused)
What?

Frak...

FALL BACK FALL BACK!

DINEL
(shakes head)
Nothing. Just stupid.

LARRY
Aren't you bothered that we raise Aralodons in our farm?

Ok, good. He ain't bothered.

DINEL
Urm... Not really. 

LARRY
Isn't it even a little weird?

DINEL
Mmmh... Nah. 

Larry shrugs, turning back to look at the forest.

LARRY
Oh...

DINEL
Well... You see... The wild is such a fr - - [fraked up? you can't say that!] messed up [that's better] place...

Larry turns back to focus on her - the "pet-chicken" perching on the balcony fence.

DINEL
...that I really ain't bothered by something as... innocuous... [will he understand that?] ... as an Aralodon farm.

LARRY
I thought it'd gross you out. We even eat eggs.

That... That does gross her out a little. But she can't punch him in the gut now, can she?

DINEL
(forced calm)
Nah...

LARRY
(giggles)
We're horrible. Us humans.

DINEL
(serious)
why?

LARRY
(still giggling)
We come and invade your land and kidnap your kids and experiment on them and stuff. I mean...
I feel like we're doing bad things.

Dinel is the one feeling punched in the gut now.

DINEL
Nah... I mean... Urr...
Surely it's something I had never imagined would happen. But it ain't the worst thing.

Larry feels a warm hope in his belly. The "Pet-chicken" is suddenly a surrogate mother. Or big sister.

LARRY
What's the worst thing then?

DINEL
(without doubt)
Raptors.

Silence. Mutual understanding.

FADE OUT.

END OF CHAPTER TWO