Adam woke up from a deep slumber before realizing he was lying down on an unfamiliar bed in a familiar, strange bedroom made of seemingly hard materials, with his surroundings littered with advanced-looking devices. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a surprised Vesh staring at him with his arms crossed.
"Look who's awake," the pilot of this ship spoke, "feeling alright?" He asked while leaning back against the wall, waiting for his comrade to respond, "Or are you having one of those naps again?" Sarcasm laced his voice as he smirked, earning a scoff from Adam, much to the human's dismay.
"That's easy for you to say," the young man said, pulling himself out of the bed until his butt was on the mattress with his feet touching the hard floor. "Where the hell have you been?" Adam didn't expect to have Vesh save their asses, let alone know he was going to. He didn't appear during the time everyone was awake.
Sighing from this expected notion, the blue alien nodded before grabbing a nearby chair and placing it in front of him. "I was busy fixing my ship, thanks to you taking a seat with his legs crossed. "The damage to this ship has been fixed, and I can confidently say we can fly this thing into Hope City, he stated as he puffed his chest from pride.
"I see," he stared down at the floor in contemplative display, "what about my friends? Are they well?" Adam prayed they were alive to begin with, feeling like his heart and head were about to burst if anything bad happened to them because of his own doing. He didn't want to bring them, but they were persistent. Regardless, it is still his responsibility to take care of them.
Vesh sighed once again, this time a bit longer than before. "Yes, they are well," he responded with a heavy voice. "They will likely be awake in a few hours." The answer was enough for the human to smile with relief at hearing such wonderful news, knowing his companions aren't gone or killed yet through the hand of fate.
Then he remembered something—a flashback of his daughter's last words before he lost consciousness. The very words he hadn't left behind since her sudden transformation Because of this terrific and nostalgic memory, his eyes widen at the need to go and find her in hopes of rescuing Lilim despite being forcibly changed into some abomination.
"I need to go," he spoke as he stood up from the bed, prepared to bring her back. "She's still there somewhere, and I won't stop until I bring her back." His fists clenched with shortness of breath. "Do you know where she went?" Hopeful of getting at least something out of him, he is ready to take a gamble just to find her.
"Well, I did see a twelve-foot humanoid creature with yellow feathery wings heading straight to town, not far from here." That is what Adam needed for him to understand what the situation is right now. "Why? Is that thing the one responsible for keeping your daughter?" Puzzlingly, the human shook his head to disagree with this take.
"That isn't a thing," Adam angrily growled, "it's my daughter." It took a moment for the alien to comprehend his statement, only to widen his eyes in disbelief at hearing it as reality: "I didn't rescue her in time; she was inside a bloody pentagram surrounded by dead cultists, she..." It hurts to even think about the pain of seeing a loved one defiled before their very eyes.
His eyes moved down to his feet, unable to contain the overwhelming sorrow of having his own daughter share a similar terrific experience when he was a naive child. A reminder of how he isn't always the one suffering alone, and yet here he is, loathing himself for failing to save her from whatever the hell she became.
"I'm waiting for an explanation," Vesh said, not understanding what the problem was. Even so, he continued with the matter at hand: "If you don't want to say it, then don't say it." Impatience with this matter isn't good to continue it further than they have to. "But," he stopped to reconsider taking such action, "I can lend a helping hand if you need my assistance."
Adam sat and stared at him in disbelief. "Your...helping me?" That is a surprising turn of events, especially coming from a cold alien from outer space sitting across him: "For exactly what reason do you have for doing this? You're not doing this out of kindness in your heart, aren't you?" Curious and cautious to his every word, not making him have second thoughts.
Tilting his bald head from hearing such a statement, "kindness?" A smirk formed on his face as he tried to contain his laughter. "I'm impressed with how stupid you are, he said sarcastically while continuing with his laughter. "I would honestly leave you all to your own devices if it weren't for my thirst for interest in the things around me."
Frowning from hearing his explanation, I asked, "Are you really saying that to yourself, or is it simply a mask?" He inquired with a smirk of his own, "I can see it on your face; I can read it in your body language; you're doing these because you feel pity for us." The answer froze him like a statue, unable to comprehend the right response.
"How," swallowing down his throat as his mind blanked for a few seconds before continuing his words, "how did you figure it out?" Vesh stared at him in surprise, eyes wide as his pupils grew into tiny dots. "Are you a psiker?" The human's answer was as clear as day, revealing his reasons for it and even telling him he knew all along since he started this topic.
Brow raised on the young man's face, "psiker? I'm a psychologist; a good one that is," an honest chuckle appeared on his opened lips. "It was a job of mine to observe people and see their mental states." It was also something that had saved his life a couple of times from certain death and trouble that came along with it. "You can say I'm really good at reading people." A proud grin was present on his face as he nodded.
Vesh blinked multiple times, unable to gasp the truth that lied before him as he sighs in defeat, "Forget it," shaking his head, "we were going to get your daughter back, and I suppose we need your friends to come along in this fight?" He asks Adam, waiting for his answer to this response, hopefully to hear the crucial plan for getting her.
"Good," a smile spawned on his face, "but I think both of us are enough to defeat her." As the saying goes, words are more mightier than pen or pencil, especially when the truth lies within them. A little lie is often accepted over the truth that lies with it: "I'm sure we can get my daughter back to her senses."
His companion looked him up and down before materializing a pistol in his own hand, saying, "Take this," extending the small firearm towards him, "you might need this if things go horribly wrong." The sight of a weapon meant to take life causes Adam to look at it with pure disgust and shock on his face, not even taking it.
"No," Adam immediately refuses as he pushes the gun away from him. "I don't need that." It felt too dirty to him; he isn't the type of person who uses weapons unless if his life depends on it. "It's not my nature to use weapons and end a person's life," having seen so many deaths through his entire life. No matter how bad someone is, killing them doesn't change anything and just makes him feel deeply uncomfortable.
Scowling from this display, "its non-lethal," Vesh clarifies before dematerializing it, "the weapon only works to stun the opponent," wouldn't cause any real damage to the individual or others. Simply an electroshock device to make them fall unconscious but won't do much more than that; "besides, it might come in handy if things go sour."
Still, the young man refused the offer, saying, "Sorry, I am not going to hold one," feeling it wrong to take the weapon of any type, "its just... it's wrong for me to hold a weapon that looks like the gun you showed me," mentioning the small gun from earlier, "to take another's life," despite it not being lethal. It is still an instrument for murder, or at least the appearance of one.
Vesh couldn't believe what he was hearing: "Are you kidding me?" Shaking his head, he said, "But your funeral," standing up from his seat in frustration before turning to the door, "What are you waiting for? We don't have time to chitchat," he pointed out as he went to open the door for them to leave the room together.
When the human stood up to follow his companion outside the room, walking side by side with the disgruntled pilot, he said, "You seem rather upset," trying to make light conversation between them as they both walked together through the empty corridor of the spaceship. "Want to talk about it?" Easing his mood with whatever problems he might be having.
Turning his head towards the human, he said, "None of your business," showing a very unamused look on his face before sighing, "And why should I care?" Having no reason to answer the question at all, "I can't believe I actually feel pity for primitives such as yourself," the very idea of his willingly to show any sympathy to the young man and his companions is absolutely ridiculous to the likes of him.
Seeing it as an insult, he didn't feel personally attacked but rather amused and intrigued by this response: "You are acting like a human." The statement quickly threw him into an enraged state as Adam allowed Vesh to grab him by the shirt and push him against the wall of the hallway, staring right into his eyes with intense fury.
"I'm never in the likes of you," venomous words escaping his mouth when he pushes himself against the human, their faces barely inches apart from each other, "humans and all the primitives in the uncaring cosmos are just stepping stones for our glorious civilization. So don't compare myself to the likes of you, monkey." With those last words, he pushed Adam to the floor and stormed off.
Adam let out a deep sigh, looking at his surroundings on this cold metallic hallway, seeing only walls made of metal with dim lighting all around them and the gasses pumping in this place, "fucking hell," patting his clothing to remove any dust or dirt that might have stained them, "what's his problem?"
"Monkey?" Laughter can be heard echoing across this tight hallway from him: "That is a good one coming from an octopus shaped head," despite knowing he should feel offended by such a insult; he felt a sense of humor in this even if it was meant to hurt him: "I'm starting to like that guy, but primitive? Please, I am anything but that."
Not every day does he get to see insults like this, but sometimes, Adam couldn't help but get a laugh out of it as he continued to move forward, heading towards the door of this long hallway, seeing no point in lingering here rather than going on and getting his daughter back. The latter is what he should be focusing on instead.
Although he wonders if his friends will wake up during their time getting to Lilim,, he hopes it's it's done before any of that can happen. He wouldn't imagine in getting his loved ones in trouble again. He's too focused on protecting and saving them to have the time to deal with whatever mess they make. The fewer people, the fewer problems he has to deal with.
