The rest of the class was free of any drama outburst or mental breakdowns. But that didn’t mean the topic wasn’t interesting to Elizabeth. She was struggling to come to terms with all of it to be honest. After promising they would use their superior technology to revolutionize medicine professor Fren went on to describe How their technology allowed for a true post scarcity society, and promised that this removed the need for credits. The plant couldn’t help himself from throwing some shade about how humanity could have done this themselves, and that, obviously, complicated things for Elizabeth. She couldn’t help but feel guilty about her own participation in the unfairness of the Terran Accord. Something she probably shouldn’t, seeing how she had yet to see any proof this wasn’t all lies and that the affini weren't going to breed them for plant food. 

 

She didn’t even know what the aliens wanted with them, outside of a still somewhat vague claim of ‘take care of them.’ A claim the logical part of Elizabeth's brain was still trying to process. Surely they had to get something out of this, right? It didn’t help her logical brain that any time she was even slightly worried or thought too deeply bumble would rub against her side and bring her back to reality, though it did improve her mood significantly. 

 

“And unless there are any more questions, that concludes our lecture for today! We will make sure you get some Terran friendly food delivered soon.” Tortolin addressed his class of two, before turning towards Elizabeth and bumble. “If that is okay, I would like my floret back, miss Elizabeth.” Elizabeth blushed, and let go off what in retrospect might have been a bit too possessive a grip around the beeple. bumble waved goodbye as Tortolin picked him up and placed him back on his shoulder.

 

“goodbye Eliz!” bumble was utterly adorable. Elizabeth was really looking forward to the next time she would see the little thing. She happily returned the wave as the door closed behind Tortolin and bumble.

 

“Good girl.” Another one of Aleinas berries appeared in front of Elizabeth's face. She gracefully plucked it and chewed down. “I hope today wasn’t too much information for you petal. If you have any followup questions feel free to come see me at my hab.” A tiny affini datapad suddenly appeared in Elizabeth's lap, probably placed there by Aleina as she slid by and followed Tortolin out the door. Leaving the two humans to themselves.

 

“Making friends, are we?” Agent Yung spoke up for what was probably the first time since they met the affini. Elizabeth was trying to come up with a rebuttal, her mind trying to justify her actions when Agent Yung gave her a justification on a silver platter. “Good. Keep building rapport with the aliens. I am sure it will be of use to us when we finally get to the negotiations.” 

 

Elizabeth did her best to hide her relief. Yeah, build a relationship, get to know them, learn what buttons to push for the best possible deal, or rather, to drag out the negotiations as long as possible. That was what she was doing, right? “Yes, obviously, we shouldn’t be going into this with an antagonistic outlook.” Elizabeth realized what she was saying and quickly added. “Even though they are the enemy, obviously, they are threatening our very existence after all. But thinking like that won’t help us negotiate.”

 

Agen Yung did a suspicious nod as Elizabeth stopped digging herself deeper. “What you are doing is important, doctor Morningstar. But remember the details of our mission. I have seen what happens to the loser of these types of conflicts. We would not want to end up like the Rinans.”  Elizabeth looked away. Agent Yungs words stung, but he might be right. The Affini were promising them they would improve everything, but no doubt the Rinans had received similar promises from Humanity before that war, and everyone knew how that ended. 

 

“You need to do your part to save humanity, doctor Morningstar. remember that.” Elizabeth nodded, and sank a bit into the giant chair. He was right, obviously, how could he not be. The world did not work like the affini said it could. Her life had taught her that, hadn’t it? 

 

In the end she decided it was better not to think about it, and soon Aleina returned with a plate of steak and potatoes for Yung, and a cheesy pasta dish for Elizabeth. Aleina smiled at Yung, who simply nodded, while Elizabeth smiled as she received her dish and gave a friendly “Thank you.” That was rewarded with a light pet from Aleinas hand. Elizabeth tried her best to look professional yet friendly, and not think about how nice the bodies of these creatures felt against her skin.

 

The food turned out to be amazing, and surprisingly considering the atmosphere, perfectly salted. But the complete lack of conversation from the agent made the entire meal awkward. Luckily the tension was broken when Aleinas returned. “I’m so sorry flowers, but silly little Aleister is still refusing to open the door, and it would be such a shame to have to force it open. Until he comes to his senses we have arranged a hab unit for each of you.” Aleinas turned away and made a wave for the two to follow, Agent Yung was first off his chair and Elizabeth was right behind him, surprised by a couple of vines coming around to wrap around her feet and guide her to the ground. Elizabeth was very happy both the others were looking straight ahead as she was blushing in the back.

 

Luckily they didn’t have to brave the salt outside for long. Soon they were guided into a little bubble of glass surrounding a gorgeous garden with 5 affini buildings in it. “We have a few extra hab units here, just in case.” Aleinas explained, as the glass dome door closed behind them, the salt contaminated air was replaced with a warm, heavy air that was oddly comfortable to breathe. “Here we are Terry!” She hands him a keycard and he gives Elizabeth one last serious look before entering his hab and leaving Elizabeth alone with Aleinas. 

 

Seeing her opportunity, Aleinas rested her hand on Elizabeth's back as she guided the girl over to the next hab unit. “This will be your hab. We figured you would mind an affini sized hab less than Terry.” The plant said apologetically, or at least, Elizabeth thought it sounded apologetic. 

 

“I’m sure I will manage.” She gave a friendly nod, and stepped towards the door that automatically opened for her. Giving a questioning look to Aleinas the affini simply pointed to the data pad from earlier that Elizabeth was still grasping in her hand. 

 

“That would be your key, if you need anything else the hab straight across is mine.” Elizabeth swore she saw the plant winking as the hab door closed behind her.

 

The first thing Elizabeth noticed about her room was that it wasn’t one. This was a full blown home, and quite a decent one at that. It couldn’t really stand up to her parents mansion, or her own presidential advisor home for that matter, at least not in terms of lavish luxury. But this place was more homey, comfortable. 

 

That is, when you ignored the entire place was scaled for an affini. The doors were double the size it needed to be, and so was the furniture. She could forget entirely about making any food, because everything in the kitchen was way too tall for her. Not that she was much of a cook anyway, growing up with servants and staff didn’t tend to make for skilled chefs. 

 

The bedroom wasn’t any better. The bed was tall enough to be a nuisance to climb onto and the rest of the furniture just as large. She would feel like someone had hit her with a shrink ray in this room.

 

But the next door she checked resulted in a sigh of relief from Elizabeth. The room was still large, but things seemed to be human sized. At least sort of. It was another bedroom, and while the bed was somehow bigger than hers at home, and could comfortably fit multiple people in it, at least it was the right height for her. When she ran her hand along the sheets they seemed incredibly soft and comfy. Just the right amount of weight too. She still had some time to waste before it was bedtime though, and returned to the living room.

 

After a couple of tries she managed to pull herself onto the giant couch, and found it even more comfortable than the lounge chairs. Then came the hard part, how to turn on the TV?

 

There had been no remote anywhere Elizabeth could see, but that wasn’t entirely unexpected. Terrans themselves were mostly past those things, even if they were somewhat popular in the area she grew up in. Something about the retro feel. Regardless, Elizabeth had several techniques that might help turn the thing on.

 

She was probably looking ridiculous to anyone who may be watching, clapping and gesturing like she was used to at home, but finally she found something that worked. “TV on!” She stated in a clear and confident voice, and to her surprise, she got an answer.

 

“You figured it out! Good on you cutie, let’s find something fitting for you to watch.” A very chipper voice came from the TV as it came to life. Elizabeth wasn’t sure what to expect. Some Affini news perhaps, a bunch of serious plants speaking in some language she could not understand. Perhaps a movie that could teach her something about affini culture even if she didn’t get a word. Instead she was greeted by… cartoons. 

 

Not even Affini cartoons. These were human shows. From before the rise of algorithmic entertainment and perpetual copyright, Elizabeth figured. She did not recognize any of these characters. For a second she wondered how the Affini had even found these. They weren't mass broadcasted anywhere as far as she knew. “Uhm… switch to news?” Elizabeth asked the TV, who replied in a similar cheery fashion.

 

“Sorry sweetie, but there's no news shows approved for you. Try asking your owner!” Owner? What was the TV even talking about? She was here as a representative of Terra, she shouldn’t let the TV talk to her like this!

“I am here representing Terra, nobody owns me. I request you to switch over to the news.” Elizabeth tried to add clarity and confidence to her voice. She really shouldn’t let the TV talk to her like this. 

 

“I’m sorry cutie. The owner’s block is on, it’s out of my power!” The TV kept the same cheery voice as earlier, not a hint of remorse in it’s voice at all over not being able to do anything. She couldn’t believe how condescending this freaking screen was! For a second she considered going to ask Aleina, but that was way too embarrassing. ‘Please make the TV less condescending and allow me to watch the news.’ Not really the thing you should ask an invading alien when representing an entire galactic empire, is it? 

 

Elizabeth decided to stick with the cartoons. It could be worse after all. These old timey shows had a certain charm to them that modern animation simply lacked. Nobody could argue that the computer generated stuff was more profitable, costing nearly nothing to produce in comparison, and was perfectly generated to hit as big an audience as possible. But they did lack the soul of these older, manually animated shows, where real people wrote, animated and voice acted. 

 

Elizabeth ended up wasting a couple hours lazing at the couch, The shows really were comfy in a way the Linden stuff she watched as a kid never really was, and the hours went by fast. But at some point she decided she needed to get ready for bed. 

 

It didn’t take Elizabeth long to find the bathroom, and while she had no idea why the affini even needed a room like this, the centerpiece of the room was probably the one thing in the hab that might be able to compete with the utterly unnecessary indulgence of humanities richest. The bathtub. 

 

The tub was huge, almost large enough to be more of a tiny pool. As she closed in, the cheery voice from the TV chimed in again. “Hey sweetie! Do you want me to prepare a bath for you?” Elizabeth didn’t need to think for long. A bath sounded like just what she needed after a long day of… whatever that day had been. Exhausting, that’s for sure. 

 

“Yeah, that would be nice.” With a chipper hum the bathtub started to fill and soon Elizabeth was out of her business suit, and sank into the warm water.

 

It felt incredible. It was just the right temperature and smelled wonderfully. She quickly felt herself relax as she sank into the gigantic tub, the stress and salt of the day washing off her. But still, after a short while she felt… lonely. Her skin felt sensitive, and she just wanted someone to touch her. A warm hand… soft lips… a gentle vine… She caught her train of thought going off the rails and her eyes opened with a gasp. Her mind was railing, what was going on inside her head?

With the serenity of her bath thoroughly shattered Elizabeth reasoned she might as well get up and go to bed. The towels left by the affini were otherworldly soft and comfortable, and her expensive underwear felt rough against her skin when compared. She didn’t even bother trying the suit, simply making her way over to the human sized bedroom and sinking into the impossibly soft sheets.

 

Elizabeth had assumed sleep would embrace her soon enough. The bed, so soft and the sheets, so perfectly warm. But her thoughts simply wouldn’t leave her alone. Even with a month spent within space she had never really thought much about what her job here actually entailed. She was here to trick the affini. Drag out the time before the inevitable war, make them think they were here to negotiate surrender. This was work for a spy, she was a doctor, a bureaucrat, a PR person. She was not a liar, not a woman of deception.

 

But that wasn’t really true, was it? Ever since she returned from Ratchet, Elizabeth's job had been to pretend to be a scientist, a doctor, someone who helps others. But instead she became a corporate drone, and then a woman of sweet, empty words. Someone who packed the disgusting business practices of Terra Medical behind an empty smile and a promise of slow improvements. 

 

Christ, she needed to break this train of thought and get some rest. “I sense that you might be distressed sweetie, should I call your owner?” The friendly voice came from somewhere and did just that. 

 

“I don’t have an owner, and I’m fine. Just… Can I have some noise? Something to help me sleep?” She had left her white noise maker on their ship, and while it wasn’t usually necessary any more, at least not like it was right after Ratchet, that night had turned out to be an exception. 

 

“Sure thing cutie!” The chipper voice smiled, and soon natural sounds filled the room on a volume just loud enough to be heard. This was good, she could sleep like this. Focus on the sounds of rustling leaves and the softness of the sheets.

 

With her focus on the noise and the soft sheets, Elizabeth finally managed to fall asleep.