9. Games

The alien,Ophion, had slept for the better part of twenty-four Terran standard hours. They'd been under way in hyperspace for nearly three full days now. Auren himself had recently retired to bed. The young man had become increasingly quiet as time went on, and Lupo had caught him eyeing the door to the dorm wearily on multiple occasions as though expecting the lizard to creep out at any moment and slay them both.

Lupo couldn't blame him—the alien was more… well… that than he could have imagined before seeing it in person. And while the sight of the Keth terrified him, it mystified him, too. A part of him had always yearned to know, to witness a sentience that wasn't human. He wasn't sure what to make of it now that he'd found it.

"I am grateful for your… hospitality," Ophion stated awkwardly.

He had just entered the galley where Lupo had set himself up with one of the ship's holo-games—a strategy sim in which you used limited ground-based defenses to fend off an incoming invasion. It had become a standard genre recently for obvious reasons, and immersive three-dimensional graphics had already allowed him to pass more than a few hours in the sim since they'd hijacked the yacht.

"Are you commanding your forces?" the alien asked curiously, eyeing the display with a hint of unease. "I apologize for interrupting your Game," he said regretfully, making to leave.

Lupo couldn't help but laugh.

"My forces? No, friend. It's a game. A simulation." He signaled for the creature to approach, directing him to the holographic control interface. "Come, sit. I'll show you."

"What is the purpose? Are you refining battle plans?" Ophion inquired, staring quizzically at the game as the invading forces slowly obliterated those on the ground.

"Not at all. It's to pass the time. I thought you had a concept of games where you're from?" Lupo inquired, genuinely curious.

"We have simulations, yes," Ophion allowed cautiously, eyeing Lupo as though choosing carefully what to reveal about his people. "But they aren't for idling time; they are educational. Instructive. Not at all like whatever this is." He waved a taloned hand dismissively at the screen.

"My games are beneath you, then?" Lupo challenged, grinning at the lizard. "Does that mean you think you could beat me?"

The reptile hissed as he eyed the holo malevolently.

"Is that a yes?" Lupo asked insistently.

"I will win your game," Ophion concluded after a while, sitting beside him.

And so Lupo showed him how to play.

Once Ophion got the hang of the human controls, Lupo couldn't pry the lizard's attention away from the holo. Hours passed, and each time Lupo attempted to get up and walk away, the lizard would hiss and make excuses as to why one more round was necessary. He had yet to beat Lupo, and he spoke less and less as their sparring went on. In the game, one person controlled the ground-based defense forces, and the other was the invading aliens. They had alternated roles, but the lizard seemed partial to playing the invaders, and Lupo let him do so in most of their matches.

"You're getting better," Lupo complimented. Their latest spar concluded as they all had—in Ophion's defeat.

"Do not patronize me," Ophion scalded.

He immediately tapped rapidly through his menu and set up another round. He had picked up on the nuances of the game quickly. Lupo had been intrigued to watch him learn. Ophion had improved steadily and rapidly each match, and he'd come close to dismantling Lupo's carefully laid defenses the prior round.

"Prepare for your demise, human," Ophion hissed.

His talons clicked rapidly across the display. Lupo spent his in-game currency on shoring up his ground defenses, distributing them evenly across the globe to ensure maximum coverage. Ophion had primarily focused his credits on large, expensive units that a web of ground defense easily handled. But this round, he'd swarmed the cheapest unit in the game. Thousands of them. They did almost no damage and were primarily used to collect resources. But the lizard was using them as a flood now instead—and they began to overwhelm Lupo's ground defenses.

Lupo grinned as he frantically attempted to summon units with cluster munitions that could dent Ophion's attack, but it was to no avail. His bases across the simulated world fell as the invaders picked them off. More and more attackers spilled in all the while. Lupo threw up his hands in defeat as he watched them demolish the last of his reserves.

Ophion's tongue flicked excitedly, his eyes glimmering as his victory solidified.

"Well met, Ophion," Lupo congratulated.

The alien looked at him, his expression inscrutable.

"Again," Ophion hissed.

And Lupo happily obliged.

"Are you sure you feel comfortable letting him just walk around like this?" Auren whispered angrily.

It was what passed for dawn on the ship. The ambient lighting was a dim blush, and the faint sound of birds chirping and wind blowing through trees piped in through the speakers.

"What choice do we have? What do you suggest? Stuffing him back into that ancient cryo-unit? I've watched him through the ship's cameras; he's not up to anything. If he were, I'd know, and we'd deal with it," Lupo assured him. He squeezed Auren's shoulder. "I get why you don't trust him after what you went through on Vesperion. We'll figure out what to do with him when we get to Thestle. You have my word."

"Your word won't be worth shit if he kills us in our sleep," Auren muttered darkly.

Lupo flicked open a holo-display in the air in front of him, pulling up the ship's internal cameras and checking up on their guest just in case.

"See, he's not up to anything. He's just…" Lupo began. But then he froze. The lizard was up to something.

Ophion was manufacturing something in the fabrication room. Lupo's stomach dropped. He knew that fabs like those could print up anything from underwear to grenades. With enough time and proper imagination, the tech could produce nearly anything as long as it was loaded with suitable materials.

"Bastard!" Auren snarled.

The two of them charged off down the hallway, unarmed. Lupo prepared for the worst.

He tore into the workshop and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Ophion operating the fab.

"May I ask what you are doing with my fabricator?" Lupo inquired.

He held Auren back with one arm, half protecting him and stopping him from escalating the situation unnecessarily. Ophion turned and looked at him, tilting his head as though curious as to what the problem might be.

"Saying thank you, of course," Ophion hissed.

Behind him, the fabricator opened, revealing a pair of mysterious weapons Lupo assumed were lizard-tech guns. They were sleek, between the size of a pistol and a rifle, and their surface was a matte copper alloy, which he couldn't readily identify. Next to each, a black armored suit was neatly folded. "The suits are ablative, among other things. May your Game be worthy." Ophion bowed.

"And what about you?" Auren asked suspiciously. "Did you make yourself a weapon?"

"If I wanted to kill you," Ophion hissed, offended, "I wouldn't need a gun to do it."

He stormed past them out into the hall, heading toward the dorm.

"You could go a bit easier on him, don't you think?" Lupo asked after a moment. "We have no idea what he's been through," he added. And it was true; they hadn't learned how he'd come to be on ice, nor how long he'd been that way.

"He's a monster," Auren spat. "They're all fucking monsters."

He suddenly started crying again. His face contorted into a mask of shame, fear, and anger. Lupo instinctively gathered him into his arms, pulled him in, and held him.

"Ti sono vicino…" Lupo murmured into the top of Auren's head.

Auren's tears were hot and wet against Lupo's chest, his breath ragged as he sobbed. Auren grew heavier as he collapsed into Lupo's embrace. He hugged him tightly and held the back of his head as he cried against him.

"You're not alone," Lupo whispered, squeezing him and rocking him gently from side to side. Synthetic or not, Auren smelled of the forest.

"I just want to go home," Auren said. "I want things to go back to the way they were."

Lupo knew the feeling. But the way things were before had been a lie. At least for him. And he knew there was no way they could go back.

The past was behind them. Now, there was nothing left to look forward to but the future. And Lupo found himself hoping that somehow Auren might remain a part of it.