Page 36

Zha straightens, wiping liquid from zha’s eyes. "You know what? You're right. Let's just say it's a thing we humans experience and leave it at that."

I huff, but the heat of my anger dissipates slightly. "Alright. If thisboredomis such a problem, what do you do to cure it?"

Olivia's eyes brighten at that, and zha gestures toward the small pile of shiny rocks I had gathered. "Well, what do you do for fun?"

I straighten up, pride swelling in my chest. "I go treasure hunting." I gesture grandly to my modest collection. "I have gathered these today. They are quite remarkable, are they not?"

Zha gives the pile a skeptical look, raising an eyebrow. "These? These are what you call treasure?"

I feel a twinge of self-consciousness, my skin flickering to a faint blue. "Yes, they are treasures," I insist, perhaps a bit too loudly.

“All I see are dull, dusty rocks,” zha chitters back and I look over to the gleaming, multi-colored pile in confusion.

“There is nothing dull about them. They each have a rich story,” I argue. "Back on my home planet, we gathered these to add to our hoard. It is a practice of great importance."

Zha snorts. "Fair enough. On Earth, for fun, we have things liketelevision shows."

I grind my tusks, the word unfamiliar, and I assume meaning nothing of true value. “What is this?"

"It's a kind of entertainment," zha explains, "where you watch stories on a screen that lights up. Like tiny, moving pictures."

“Stories?” I chitter back, surprised.

“Yes, of course,” zha says in a dismissive tone.

I tilt my head, trying to visualize what zha is describing. "I have seen screens, but only used by visiting aliens. And not… moving stories?”

"Yes," zha says with the up and down head movement, "some of them are really good. You get to see different worlds, different lives, all from the comfort of your home."

“That sounds intriguing,” I admit. “But nothing you can hold or organize?"

“A long time ago, maybe,” zha says with an odd twitch of shoulders. “The story is in your mind, not in your hands.”

I let out a snort. "Your species truly is strange. So, you watch these moving pictures instead of actually gathering things for your hoard. The screens are your treasure?"

Zha shakes zha’s head back and forth. “No, the stories are what make the screens fun. The screens aren’t important. It’s what is on them. For example, my favorite show,Rick and Morty."

The name sounds odd to me, but I prompt zha to continue. "Explain this…Rick and Morty."

Zha’s eyes widen, and zha launches into an enthusiastic explanation. "So, it's about this madscientist, Rick, and hisgrandson, Morty, going on crazy adventures across differentdimensionsand universes. Rick's kind of analcoholic, super genius, and Morty's this awkward,naïve teenagerwho gets dragged along."

My skin lights up to show my bemusement. Most of the words didn’t translate, but I don’t want zha to explain it again. “This sounds chaotic."

Zha moves zha’s shoulders. "Yes, that's the point! It's wild, unpredictable. Like… uh… me. What about you?”

“I am neither mad nor chaotic,” I tell zha.

Zha gives me a long look. "Oh, you definitely have the mad part down. And the chaos? I think that's a given."

For a moment, my skin lights up orange for some inexplicable reason. That should be an insult, why would it make me happy to hear it?

"Perhaps,” I tell zha. “But I still do not understand how such a thing could relieve thisboredomyou speak of."

Olivia snorts. "Maybe one day I'll show you."

The thought of seeing these moving pictures with zha is strange, but I nod. "Perhaps. But until then, you are not to leave the enclave again without my express permission."

Zha opens zha mouth to protest, but I cut zha off with a glare and a flash of purple. "I will not always be there to drag you back from the brink of death. Understood?"