Eve and I made it to the downtown area and had been wandering around for a couple hours when we decided to catch another movie. It was wild how so many alien civilizations had movies and TV shows same as on Earth, but as I was told back in the Holistia Nebula while watching fucking jousting, peak civilizations evolved along similar pathways, leading to wildly strange coincidences in our histories and weirdly repeating inventions, including media and entertainment.

  Once we were in line for tickets, I saw some kind of commotion happening up front, and then a few moments later a manager came out saying the other patrons weren’t comfortable having armed soldiers in the theater with them. He apologized and offered us free tickets for a later show in the evening, and I took the offer quickly as Eve started throwing out a little attitude.

  Who would dare deny the Outsider god her time at the movies?

  “What bullshit, don’t they realize we’re here to free them from their oppressors?” Eve demanded.

  I just shrugged as we headed out into the movie theater alley, “Probably not, and considering we’re strange, armed aliens in unknown uniforms, it makes sense we’d make the civilians uncomfortable.”

  Eve scoffed, “Unknown uniforms? At the very least they can tell we’re Imperial, and they definitely know the Empire’s assisting their world now.”

  I laughed at that, “You don’t care about the Empire at all, or even this world really; you’re just upset because you feel personally offended they kicked you out—how dare they not show the Predazoan her due respect?”

  Eve glared at me, “Damn right! Do they not realize I could take over this world whenever I want? Forget their dumb separatists and the resistance, I could consume them all in a matter of days!”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “All because they kicked us out of the movie theater?”

  Eve crossed her arms in an angry pout, “Yes.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Might be taking things a little far there, sweet-thing.”

  Eve sighed and turned around to stand before me, wrapping her arms around my neck, “Maybe a little.” She cocked her head to the side, “But I can see how restless you are lately, and I figured sitting down to watch a fun alien movie would be relaxing.”

  I wrapped my arms around Eve’s waist, “And you’re not restless?”

  Eve shook her head, “My mind wanders far beyond this planet now; I find it difficult to remain engaged with this silly mission.”

  “Wait, I thought your mind was wandering towards Beta-09? Or are you not concerned with her now?”

  Eve shrugged, “Somewhat, but I find myself thinking of my other sisters too, of how they might be assimilating planets, how many others might’ve reached perfection. The Empire will surely send me after all of them in time, but the more they try to limit my powers, the harder it will be to fight and consume them.”

  “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  “Nothing really, just letting my mind wander I suppose, thinking of what could be or what should be.” She offered mildly.

  I felt like there was something Eve wasn’t telling me, but it seemed like it would be a Predazoan secret if anything, so it wasn’t like I would understand even if she told me.

  “Well, I’m here if you need a soundboard at all, sweet-thing.” I told her, then leaned down for a kiss.

  Interrupting our affection, I heard shouting at the end of the alleyway and turned to see some young vyrane girl running our way. She seemed like a street punk, with dark red hair done up in two spikey pigtails, with an outfit that looked like it would’ve belonged to an elf that was into skateboarding—elegant, yet rebellious.

  The girl seemed surprised when she saw us, but she didn’t slow down at all, running right past.

  “You never saw me—I was never here!” She said abruptly, then hurried on through, cutting around a corner to the squat dome building beside the movie theater.

  Just then, four vyrane militia soldiers rounded the corner, heading right towards us. They too looked surprised to see us, and unlike the punk girl, they stopped, all trying to catch their breath.

  “Did you…” The one in front wheezed, and I realized they all looked quite out of shape. Most vyrane men were stocky, but these four were straight-up portly, “Did you see a…a girl…run through here?”

  I remembered a time when I was a young, dumb punk running from mall security back on Earth—always trying to impress a girl of course. I had no idea what life was like for vyranes, no idea what led up to these current events, but when I saw four soldiers chasing after one young girl, I sided with her immediately.

  “A girl? No, no one’s come down the alleyway while we’ve been here.” I answered, moving away from Eve to show it was all quite empty.

  “Shit, I told you it was the next alley.” One of the vyrane soldiers snapped.

  “Oh, shut up, no one said anything like that.” Another argued.

  “Both of you shut up and lets just hurry before she gets away!” The front man said, recentering himself—preparing for more physical activity, then the four soldiers rushed off at a sloppy jog back where they came.

  Eve and I watched them go, both quite confused over what transpired in the alleyway.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “What the hell was that about?” Eve asked.

  “No idea, but I don’t like the idea of four grown men chasing after one girl.”

  Eve turned to me and smirked, “Or it’s just your default response to rebel against authority at every opportunity.”

  I rolled my eyes and pulled Eve back towards me, “You certainly know me.”

  Eve trilled a cute little giggle, “More than that, I love you.” She said, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss me.

  “Are they gone?” A small voice asked behind us—interrupting our kiss once more.

  I sighed and pulled away from Eve (who growled quietly in her throat) and turned to face the small vyrane punk. It was hard to guess how old she actually was, she could’ve been in high school or college, maybe even junior high or been a full-fledged adult. Being so small, the vyranes generally looked younger, but I could see the punk girl already had significant curves to her frame. Her eyes were big and expressive, and it looked like she was wearing dark makeup that contrasted well with her pale grey skin.

  “Yeah, they’re gone. Why were they hassling you?” I asked.

  The vyrane shrugged as she straightened the large backpack on her shoulder, “They’re just a bunch of assholes taking advantage of the chaos of wartime. Originally they were just regular security enforcement for the cities, but ever since they were upgraded to militia, their egos have inflated like a hundred times.” She explained, then looked over Eve and my armor, “You guys with the Imperial military?”

  I waved it off, “Yeah, supposed to be teaming up with the resistance to help combat the separatists.” I hooked a thumb back towards the end of the alley, “So how exactly are the militia taking advantage of this war? What, stealing from citizens or some shit?”

  “Something like that.” She held up her bag, “I was just taking back what’s ours.” She nodded to me and Eve, “What do you mean you’re supposed to be teaming up with the resistance?”

  I was about to answer, but Eve pushed me aside as she let out a frustrated huff, “The two of you are trying to have two separate conversations; it’s quite annoying.” She pointed to the vyrane girl, “You first, introduce yourself and tell us your story, then we’ll tell you ours.”

  I was surprised, but the punk girl looked properly admonished. She straightened right up as though she understood Eve was a proper authority figure. Finally, Eve got the respect she deserved.

  “Sorry.” She bowed her head, “I’m Melna. I’m a high schooler, but since our school’s being used to house displaced people, classes are all being done virtually, but really that just means everyone can skip them. With all this free time, me and my friends have gotten involved in volunteering with some of the refugees, but anytime we pass by the checkpoints, those militia guys give us such a hard time, going through our stuff and confiscating contraband—total lie, by the way, they’re just stealing. And any time we complain, they get all weird and creepy with us—bunch of soldier men harassing high school girls. I’d had enough, so I broke into one of their barracks to get our stuff back…and destroy their plumbing as revenge.”

  I barked out a quick laugh, “Nice.”

  Melna smiled, “Well, it was nice, but I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought, and those dickheads caught me, and I swear I’ve been running from them all morning.”

  “Did any of your friends tell your parents about the soldiers stealing from you?” I asked.

  Melna shrugged, “No one cares, they’re all too worried about the war now, that’s why the militia can get away with everything.”

  “And your parents?”

  Melna shook her head, “Just me and my sister in the city.”

  I crossed my arms as I thought over the situation, the militia soldiers taking advantage of all these poor citizens—abusing their authority. Same as every person or organization with authority, whether it be on Earth, a random frontier planet, or the Empire itself, it was all the same.

  I opened my mouth, ready to tell Melna we would help her get back at the militia, but Eve put a hand on my shoulder, “Adam, you know we can’t get involved. We’re supposed to behave, remember?”

  I turned to Eve and saw her expression was rather serious and let out a quick sigh when I realized she was right, “Yeah yeah, you really do know me.”

  Eve smiled softly, “And love you, remember.”

  Melna’s eyes grew wide and hopeful, “You want to help us?”

  I shook my head, “Sorry kid, I’d like to, but we’ve got our own mission.”

  Melna’s face scrunched up in displeasure, but then she grew thoughtful, “So what’s your mission? Why are you trying to get in touch with the resistance?”

  I looked at Eve, but her expression was rather blank now, leaving it up to me how to divulge. Really, how much should I tell this random girl?

  I shrugged, “We were supposed to meet up with a contact from the resistance, but we crash landed when we came down planet-side, and our Imperial contact was killed, so now the resistance leader wants nothing to do with us—worried about information leaks with separatists I guess. Sucks for you all, because we’re probably the only chance you all have in ending this war?”

  Menla’s eyebrows shot up, “Really?”

  I nodded, “Yeah, we’re a special infiltration team; supposed to head straight for the capital.”

  Melna cocked her head to the side, “How would you do that? There’s shielding all around the capital city.”

  I waved my hand out vaguely, “That’s where the resistance was supposed to help, get us into the capital so we could end things with the separatists.”

  Melna looked thoughtful then, “So what are you guys actually doing in Wesseran?”

  I laughed at that, “Nothing really, trying to connect with other members of the resistance I guess.”

  Melna quirked up an eyebrow, “And hanging out at the movies?”

  Eve and I laughed together then, “Oh no, we’re not part of the investigation team.” I gestured to Eve, “She’s a heavy weapon specialist, and I’m her communications technician.” I shrugged, “We’re basically useless unless our team can get us into your capital.”

  Melna looked like she was thinking something through then, some hidden agenda I couldn’t even begin to guess.

  “Would you two mind escorting me home? I would hate to run into any militia soldiers on my way back, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mess with me if I was with two Imperial soldiers.” She finally asked.

  “Well…” I turned to Eve, but Melna stepped in between us quickly, a cocky smirk on her face.

  “You said you aren’t doing anything—useless until you can get into the capital, so I know you’re free.” She added quickly.

  Melna moved away then so I could see Eve’s expression, but once again she was leaving the decision up to me. Really, what else did we have going on? Kicked out of the movies, sitting around waiting for our team to connect with the resistance. And honestly, I really wouldn’t want the little rebel to get in trouble with those asshole soldiers; if it was up to me, I wouldn’t mind heading over to their barracks right now to test out my new superstrength on them.

  “Sure, why not?” I said.

  Melna smiled, “Great, awesome, thanks so much!” She said brightly.

  I turned back to Eve, “You mind ordering—”

  Already with the tablet out, Eve held her hand up to silence me, “Got it.” She finished ordering a car to pick us up, then looked at me with an amused expression, “So you’ll just take care of any alien in distress, is that it?”

  I cocked my head to the side, “What do you mean?”

  Eve rolled her eyes, “I seem to remember a silly human boy finding a strange squid alien in the woods back on his home planet, taking it to his house to nurture and protect.” She smiled, “I think I see a pattern forming.”

  I laughed at that and just shook my head, “Please sweet-thing, a pattern isn’t forming, it’s already been long since formed.” I confirmed, waiting in the alleyway with two different alien girls I’d rescued—but hopefully this Melna wouldn’t so drastically change my life the way Eve had. Of course knowing my luck, nothing was certain.