Chapter 13: Mingle

Back in my original world, I had never been particularly popular.

It wasn't that I was some social pariah who couldn't interact with anyone else, I was just a little bit awkward. What did that awkwardness translate to? Well, to put it bluntly, having a girl casually sitting in my room like this was frazzling my brain just the slightest amount.

"So, we need to talk," the pointy-eared girl said from a chair she had conjured.

<She's called Lara you numbskull, now pay attention, you get this wrong and she could end you,> BB said, clearly just as frazzled as I was. I mean, who even used 'numbskull' as an insult these days?

"What, exactly, do we need to talk about Lara?" I asked.

She let out a long, suffering sigh at that. As if it were a question that she had been dreading.

"Well, there are a few things, but first of all I want to apologise on behalf of the Guard for what you went through in the battle royale today."

That took me by surprise. What could have happened that there would need to be an apology for? Was it the number of people ganging up on me?

"I'm not sure what exactly you're apologising for, to be honest," I responded.

"Well, it couldn't have been nice to hear Akash say such nasty things about your species, could it?" Lara elaborated, her eyes soft and understanding.

<This is bait, she's trying to feel out your opinions regarding the rest of the Human race's actions, you need to act like you understand why Akash was so furious,> BB cut in.

I decided to heed my AI companion's advice. BB hadn't steered me wrong so far, and he knew much more about the sociopolitical climate of the galaxy than I did.

"I can understand where Akash was coming from if I'm honest," I said sincerely. I was being honest, too. If my species had been destroyed by some alien race, and then I had come up against some hotshot in a battle royale situation then I'd probably do my best to take them down as well.

Lara didn't look like she believed me, though. There was a sceptical glint in her eyes that betrayed the smile on her face and the nod that she gave me.

"Well, I'm very glad you can understand where he was coming from. It's not every day that we get a human of all races in the Initiate program, I'm sure we'll all be watching you very closely as time goes on." Lara stood and dismissed her chair with a flick of her wrist, the manna construct dissipated into little specks of light that blew away in the breeze.

"It was nice to finally get to talk to you one on one Jacob Lyre, I'll be expecting big things from you in the future," she said as she left the room.

"Yeah… sure…" I trailed off, a little unsure of what had happened.

<Well, basically, you just saved yourself from becoming a smear under her boot,> BB chuckled. <She was testing you, making sure you weren't some null space invader no doubt. She tends to do it with any recruit that jumps into things and seems to be incredibly strong with no skill or finesse behind their moves. You know. Like you.>

I wasn't going to deign that response with an answer. Sure, I had been a little bit scrappy in the Battle Royale, but I'd still managed to hold my own against Akash and that armour summoning cat. All in all, I'd say I did pretty well.

I wanted to mingle with the rest of the aliens that had made it through to the next round of the entry tournament. If I was going to stand up to them, I'd need to get a measure of them. I'd need to understand a little bit of what I was up against. It was all well and good knowing their names, but when names were as esoteric as 'The Ustrnir of Nadpid" I felt I had to get a better handle on things.

I passed through the hallway and into what could only be described as a university-styled common space. To the right of the room was a lounge area. There weren't any seats, and instead, the organisers had opted for a set of chairs that looked like beanbags that could conform to the body shape of the lifeform that sat in them. That made sense, considering the varied shapes of all the creatures I had seen so far.

To the left of the room was a kitchenette, which looked surprisingly a lot like the kitchens I was familiar with back on Earth. That being said, I couldn't exactly imagine cooking methods would be too different across the galaxy. Raw food goes in cold, cooked food comes out hot. Not many cooking implements needed there.

Sitting in the lounge area was none other than the tree alien himself, Akash. Opposite him was an alien I hadn't encountered yet. The lifeform had 5 legs that jutted out from a wide, circular base. Protruding from the top of that was a spindly thin column that looked as if it could contort and grab things, almost like the tentacle of an octopus. I couldn't see any eyes on the creature, but its tentacle waved toward me as I entered the room.

In the kitchen was the cat-like alien I had fought against in the Battle Royale. It seemed as if, after that fight, they had managed to pick up an elimination of their own to make it through to the one-on-one battles. I was glad, I wanted a rematch with that suit of armour now that I had a sword of my own.

Akash turned their big, bulbous eyes toward me and emitted a sound like wind rustling through the leaves of a forest. The hairs on their arms twitched and the tips of its vine-like hands quivered. Without saying a word to anyone in the room, Akash breezed past me before I could say a word.

So much for trying to make things right between us.