"Well," said the older man.  "Welcome to our home base, such as it is.  I'm sure that you have some questions for us; we'll have some for you, too.  To answer your first one, no, we're nothing like the True Men.  Well... ideologically, we're nothing like them.  We are, however, the same minority subspecies."

"Since you helped me out of a jam there, I'll let you guys ask questions first," Zhi'an said.

Everyone started at once; the man waved them down for the moment.

"Well, the obvious question is what are you doing here?" he asked.  "I can see that your ship is damaged, but why come here in the first place?"

"I'm a member of the Galactic Guardians, which is what you would call a 'superhero team'...if that's a term on this planet. I was chasing a criminal and we got into a battle above your planet. My ship was damaged and I crashed here with no means of escape," Zhi'an said.

"Well," said the man.  "That's tricky.  My name is now Gauss; these are Phantasma, Mountain, Hopper, and of course my children Quickstep and Eris.  I suppose we're something close to super-heroes; we're protecting society from the True Men.  That's difficult, though, as mainstream society doesn't necessarily trust us, either.  What should we call you?"

"My name is Zhi'an xor Kyanite, but I operate under the name of Weather Witch," Zhi'an said.

"...I had another name, once," said Gauss.  "We took new names when we realized what we are.  Apex and I both held to that tradition, even when we broke into two factions.  It's a way of embracing how we're different."

"I suppose that makes sense, my other name was just taking what was supposed to be an insult and nothing deeper," Zhi'an said. "The people of your world hate those with powers? That would make things difficult."

"Tell me about it," said Quickstep.

"They fear us, rather," said Gauss.  "I hope to be able to overcome that fear, but Apex's group started things off with some rather dramatic efforts, and the factions of the government that know about us have been trying to capture us, which doesn't help."

"This is going to make things difficult then. I suppose making first contact will be very difficult at this point," Zhi'an said.

"Well, I don't know about impossible," said Gauss.  "Dangerous, though."

"Very," cut in Phantasma.  "Like I've been telling you, big guy.  Someone, probably the government, has shot down ET crafts before-- a bunch of times, lately.  I'm not inclined to trust them to be reasonable about it."

"Really? That's surprising. No one ever said that this planet was dangerous," Zhi'an said.

"Well, what constitutes 'dangerous' for your ship?" asked Gauss.  "We have nuclear fusion and fission weapons available to us-- well, several governments do-- among other things."

"More other things than you might think," Phantasma added.

"I meant with your government shooting down space craft. That's pretty impressive," Zhi'an said.

"Well, as I said, our government has access to some dangerous weapons," said Gauss.  "So... are abilities like yours common where you come from?  Are there a lot of these 'super-heroes'?"

"No, I was the only one on my planet that had them, thanks to being forced to endure various experiments," Zhi'an said.

"Ah," said Gauss.  "That's a bad business... is there anything that we can do to make you more comfortable while you're here?"

"I don't know anything about your planet. I'd like a chance to learn more," Zhi'an said.

"That's a tall order," said Gauss.  "Can you narrow it down a little bit?  What do you want to know about?"

"Let's start with food. What do you eat? The Safian like shape would probably mean you're omnivores, but that's not taking things like religious practices into account," Zhi'an said.

"Well, broadly, the society here are omnivores--" Gauss started.

"I'm a vegetarian!" cut in Eris.

"--with certain exceptions," he continued.  "There are some animals that we don't eat, but if you just get food from stores or restaurants, that shouldn't be an issue.  What kind of food do you eat in society out there?"

"Wow, that's a question. I've seen a lot. Live small animals, an all liquid diet, there was a species that appeared to be an all liquid diet like the above, but they actually skimmed out masses of small plankton out of the liquid," Zhi'an said. "As for me and the rest of my people. We prefer food with higher levels of salt than most species eat."

"Well, that's fair," said Gauss.  "What do you eat, besides more salt?"

"We're omnivores like, um, whatever your species is called. Our planet was mostly water where fresh water is unknown, so even plants and land animals had a large salt content," Zhi'an said. "We're also amphibious, but not the best swimmers for a semi-aquatic species."

"Well, you may need to add salt to you food here," said Gauss.  "That's not generally a problem, though.  Salt is a common condiment here; you can just use lots of it.  Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of," Zhi'an said.

"All right," said Gauss.  "Well.  Is there anything that you want to know about this planet?  Or anything that we can do to make you comfortable here?"

"I should note that I'm not actually speaking your language, it's the universal translator and I can't actually read anything," Zhi'an said. "But as for questions: what is the name of your species? What's the government like? Any important notes about the fashion of this planet?"

Gauss started to answer, and then laughed at the last one.

"Well, I'm not an expert at fashion," he said.  "You might want to talk to Phantasma or Eris about that... Most of the people on this planet are humans.  Ones like us are called 'mutants,' but I think that we're still humans.  Our government is theoretically a representative democracy, but the wealthy and powerful-- and wealthy and powerful corporations-- have undue influence over it.  There are also dozens and dozens of different nations here, some of them much more powerful than others.  This nation is one of the larger, wealthier and more powerful ones."

"Oh, so this planet is still broken up into nation states? I haven't encountered many of those, but then again you haven't built spaceships capable of traveling to other planets yet," Zhi'an said. "I'll give you guys what's left of my ship, as long as you don't make weapons with it."

"That's very generous of you," said Gauss.  "We won't make weapons out of it; I don't think that we need to.  We have our own gifts, after all, and it's more natural for us to use them."

"...and all the engineering talent left with Apex," Hopper put in, grinning lopsidedly.

"That wouldn't matter.  We have principles about these things."

"Thank you," Zhi'an said. "As I'm not stuck on this planet for the foreseeable future."

"You should know that I'm not kidding when I say that other spacecraft have been captured here," said Phantasma.  "I'm fairly sure that's where Apex gets the technology that his mansion uses to keep away from us."

"Really? Then what happened to the people inside?" Zhi'an asked.

"Probably held by the government," said Phantasma.  "There were limits to what I could learn.  They might not have survived, and there are other things complicating the issue, including factions within our own government."

Zhi'an shudder.

"I know that I am not of the same species of sub-species as you, but would it be possible for me to stay with you in exchange for the ship?"

"Of course," said Gauss.  "Please feel free to stay with us, with no obligations."

"Not that we'd object to your help, of course," said Hopper.

"Hush.  She's a guest.  Guests are not expected to do work."

"I don't object to helping you out. I do have experience with super-powered conflict," Zhi'an said.

"I appreciate that," said Gauss.  "I don't want to cause problems for you, though... do you have a code of conduct for these situations?"

"I already broke it by crashing here," Zhi'an said. "I don't have anything to lose now. I may as well marry some locals."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:24, Wed 09 Oct 2019.

Gauss blinked.

"You, uh, might find that there are some adjustments to make there," he said.  "But maybe not... how do you normally handle marriages where you're from?"

"They're usually polyamorous marriages, why? Is it different here?" Zhi'an asked.

Gauss was blushing a bit.

"Well, it's complicated-- we're a big, diverse society-- but the, uh, most common pattern for marriage, or anything like it, is monogamy," he said.  "It's not that you can't work around some thing,s but it's complicated, and most people aren't used to the idea."

"Oh, that seems kind of limiting, but whatever," Zhi'an said.

Gauss shrugged.

"You don't have to do things like the mainstream does," he said.  "We're defining our own society here anyway.  Maybe that's something we should think about."

"Is this your way of hitting on me?" Zhi'an asked.

Gauss paused, then chuckled.

"It's a little too early for something like that," he said.  "I don't know how to do that, by the standards of your society, and we've also only just met.  So no, that wasn't my intention."

"Notice that he's not saying he wouldn't," observed Phantasma sardonically.

"My apologies then," Zhi'an said.

"No, it's fine," said Gauss.  "Our society is very complicated, to say nothing of conflicted, when it comes to dealing with these issues.  Ah, if you have questions about that kind of thing, we'd be happy to try and answer them, I guess..."

"No it's fine, that's not exactly vital, is it?" Zhi'an asked.

"Probably not at first," said Gauss.  "The immediate situation is more significant.  Let's see... we can go out, disguised, thanks to Phantasma.  She can create even very subtle illusions with great skill, and conceal our identities, or cover up our non-human features."

"That's good, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to leave the base," Zhi'an said.

"Nah, we leave all the time," Quickstep put in.  "It's easier for me, since I'm fast enough to keep ahead of prying eyes or trouble, but we all get to go shopping or whatever."

"That's good. I'm looking forward to seeing what like here," Zhi'an said.

"There's a lot to see," said Gauss.  "Let's see... what do you need to be comfortable here?"

"A bed would be fine, I don't really have any special needs beyond that," Zhi'an said.

"Well, that's easy enough to arrange," said Gauss.  "For now, are you hungry?  Do you want a tour of the base?"

"Both sounds good. Could we start with the food?" Zhi'an asked.

"On it," said Quickstep.  "If I have to wait for these slowpokes to get anything done..."

He vanished in a blur of movement; soon an exotic aroma of strange foods cooking filled the air.

"May I ask what everyone's relationship is to each other? Are you a family?" Zhi'an asked.

"Well, I like to think of us that way, but no," said Gauss.  "Quickstep and Eris are my children, but the rest are... well, what would you call us?  Teammates?  Colleagues?  We're all united by our mutations, though."

"Ah, found family then? That's good," Zhi'an said. "So, you have been doing this for a long time, I take it?"

"Years now," said Gauss.  "...About five years, I suppose?  We broke with Apex three years ago, which made things harder for us, but we've managed."

"What do you plan to do when you defeat the New Men?" Zhi'an asked.

"Probably look for more of our own kind," said Gauss.  "Study what we can do, train each other... ask for our place in society.  We have a lot to offer."

"Are there a lot of mutants?" Zhi'an asked.

"There must be thousands of us worldwide," said Gauss.  "Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands... I don't know.  Some regions seem to have more than others; it's hard to be sure.  Apex claims that he can sense our kind, but he certainly wasn't very reliable about doing so."

"Hmm. It certainly seems that things on this planet will be difficult," Zhi'an said.

"Oh?" said Gauss.  "What did you have in mind?"

"Sorry, was just vocalizing some frustration. I've never been a situation like this in a long time. The last time was when I was strapped to that table as the dictator of my planet had me painfully experimented on," Zhi'an said.

"Ah," said Gauss.  "...Well, I hope that the situation here isn't that bad.  You aren't being tortured, as far as I know."

"Yes, but I"m still feeling very nervous," Zhi'an said.

"Well, it shouldn't be that bad, I hope," said Gauss.  "We won't have the technology you're used to, but we aren't quite at the banging stones together stage, either."

"It's not the technology or anything. More that I can't go out out with your illusion user without risking being captured," Zhi'an said.

"It's just something we all put up with," said Mountain.  "To one degree or another."

"I haven't had to do this since I was part of the rebellion ten years ago," Zhi'an said. "I had hoped I'd never need to again."

"Rebellion?" Gauss asked.  "You were a revolutionary?"

"Yes, it's why I ended up being experimented on. There was a coup, and then the dictator decided that he needed super soldiers. A lot of teenagers were taken to be test subjects. I was the only one who survived and when I escaped, there were some members of the rebellion waiting for me. It took a few years of fighting until the coup was overthrown. After that I decided to see what else was out there," Zhi'an said.

"Well," said Gauss, smiling.  "I'm glad that you're well-trained.  That will help... I'm worried that Apex has been up to something grandiose lately.  He's been stealing a lot of advanced technology and heavy machinery."

"What sort of technology?" Zhi'an asked.

"Power sources are the big one that I'm aware of," said Gauss.  "Other things, though, that are more classified.  I think some of them might be communications systems."

"Hmm. I don't know about technology to know what they want to build," Zhi'an said.

"We need to seriously put some effort into tracking them down," said Eris.  "Seriously, we can't just leave them and wait to see what their endgame is."

"I'm more of an artillery cannon, I'm not so good at tracking," Zhi'an said.

"Well, from what I saw of your powers, you'll be good against multiple opponents," said Gauss.  "That's very useful."

"Yes, I'm certainly got experience with that, it is how I earned my 'name' as it were," Zhi'an said.

"Oh?" asked Gauss.  "Does it have a special meaning in your culture?"

"It was more the hero name I operated under. The 'Weather Witch'. It was often spat at me along with a few other curses," Zhi'an said. "I liked the sound of it."

"That's fair," said Gauss.  "You can use it here, too.  We do that... well, they're our new names."

"I'd prefer if you all used my birth-name when I'm not working. I wish to respect your traditions," Zhi'an said.

"All right," said Gauss.  "That's pronounced Zhi'an?"

"That's right," Zhi'an said.

"Okay!"

Suddenly dishes and utensils were being set on a nearby table at top speed.

"Dinner time," said Quickstep.  "Come and eat fast before Mountain and I finish it all!"

"What do we have?" Zhi'an asked as went to the table.

"Nothing fancy," said Quickstep.  "Spaghetti with a meat sauce, garlic bread and salad."

"Spaghetti is some sort of noodle dish, I take it?" Zhi'an asked.

"It's the type of noodles," said Quickstep.  "Uh, the sauce is tomatoes-- a kind of fruit-- with seasonings and some ground beef, which is a kind of meat."

"Okay, sounds good," Zhi'an said. "Mind if I see the proper way to eat it?"

Quickstep shrugged and demonstrated; the others were serving themselves as he did so.

Zhi'an waited for a chance to serve herself.

It came quickly enough-- they wanted to be hospitable to their guest, it appeared.

Zhi'an dug into the food, making sure to eat properly.

It was exotic, but seemed reasonably tasty, if rather heavy on carbohydrates.

"This is good," Zhi'an said.

"Glad you liked it," said Quickstep.  "It's fairly cheap stuff, to be honest.  But it's good, and filling."

"I've not had noodles with a sauce like this before," Zhi'an said.

"How do you normally have them where you're from?" asked Quickstep, curious.

"The noodles are usually thicker with a creamy sauce. The style of meat is pretty similar," Zhi'an said.

"We do some things kinda like that sometimes," said Quickstep.  "I'll try make something like that one of these days."

"That would be lovely, thank you," Zhi'an said.

"Well, one more food question," said Quickstep.  "I didn't make these, but I have what we call chocolate chip cookies here.  Tell me what you think."

Zhi'an took one and bit into it.

"It's very sweet. I think it could use more salt."

They looked at her oddly; Quickstep passed her a salt shaker.

"If that helps," he said.  "Next time, I'll pick up some salted caramel cookies or something."

"I did mention my species like salt," Zhi'an said.

"Yeah, I added a bunch of salt to the pasta water for you," said Quickstep.  "Just something I'll have to work with.  You're probably going to need to add salt to a lot of things to your own taste, though."

"I will then," Zhi'an said.

"So what about your friend, there?" asked Quickstep, indicating Kryten.  "She need anything?"

"An occasional dusting," Zhi'an said.

"Decent conversation is a plus," said Kryten.

"She also likes sarcasm," Zhi'an said.

"I prefer to think of it as being clear-headed," said Kryten.  "One of us has to be."

"I appreciate that you look out for me, but I'm not a child and haven't been for a while," Zhi'an said.

"I'll pass on the obvious joke," said Kryten.  "It's no fun if it gets too serious."

"Now then. where were we?" Zhi'an asked.

"Well, hopefully someone will be cleaning the table and the dishes," said Quickstep.  "I did the cooking.  Fair's fair."

"I'll do it," Zhi'an said.

"Are you sure?" said Eris.  "You're kind of a guest here..."

"I don't mind," Zhi'an said.

Eris showed her the extremely primitive kitchen.  Apparently they washed their dishes by hand.

Zhi'an rolled up her sleaves and got to work.

It was wet, soggy, dirty work, and there appeared to be a lot of dishes, but eventually it was done.

That done Zhi'an looked for a dry towel or something to help her clean up,

They were easily found.

Zhi'an went to look for the others.

They were easily found, gathered in a large room.  Hopper and Mountain appeared to be playing some kind of board game, Phantasma and Gauss were discussing something in low voices, and the others, including Kryten, were watching television.

"So, what is the proper after meal activity?" Zhi'an asked.

"Pretty much up to you," said Hopper.  "We're all doing different things."

"What programming are you watching?" Zhi'an asked.

"I think the kids are watching a comedy," said Hopper.  He didn't actually appear to be much older than Eris and Quickstep, though.

"Aren't you also a kid?" Zhi'an asked.

"I'm young," said Hopper, defensively.  "Those two are 'The Kids.'  For one thing, they're Gauss's kids."

"What are you playing? I imagine I am missing all contexts to enjoy Earth comedy," Zhi'an said.

"Well, this one's checkers," said Hopper.  "It's a two-player game with really simple rules..."

"With three players, we could try Settlers of Catan, though," said Mountain.  "More interesting with three."

"That sounds fun. Is it based on a historical age?" Zhi'an asked.

"Eh, probably," said Hopper.  "I'm not big on the history, but the game's about collecting resources and building things and stuff."

Zhi'an nodded.

"Let's play."

They showed her the game.  It was clearly more complex than checkers, and the strategies even more so.

Zhi'an did her best to win.

Int roll

(OOC: Int roll - Weather Witch rolled 2 using 1d20+1)

It wasn't pretty.  Zhi'an was having trouble following the rules well enough to work out the strategies, and she got trounced.

"Hopefully I'll pick the rules up next time," Zhi'an said. "Good game."

"It's a tricky one to learn," said Mountain.  "Want to try something simpler, like checkers?"

"I'm up for that, but wouldn't that mean I've be taking one of your places?" Zhi'an asked.

"Eh, I don't mind," said Hopper.  "I can watch, give advice, whatever."

"If it's fine with you, I'm certainly up for playing," Zhi'an said.

Mountain explained the rules and set up the board.  It was a game of pure strategy...

Zhi'an decided to take this game slower and see what her opponent was doing.

(OOC: Int roll - Weather Witch rolled 21 using 1d20+1)
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Wed 06 Nov 2019.

This time, she was able to work out the strategy and pull off a victory.

"Good game," said Mountain.

"Thank you, it was a lot of fun," Zhi'an said.

"Do you have any games like this back where you're from?" the giant man asked her.

"I was never much of a board game player, but we did have one where you controlled a small village and tried to gather food while avoiding dangerous predators," Zhi'an said.

"I don't suppose you have that with you?" Mountain asked.  "It would be really cool to play a game from another planet..."

"I believe I still have my childhood copy in the trunk. I hope it's okay," Zhi'an said as she went to look.

Yep, there it was!  A bit shaken up, but intact.

"Oh good, it's okay," Zhi'an said as she headed back to show it off.

"Righteous!" said Mountain.

"...So how do you play?" asked Hopper

"I can explain," Zhi'an said as she went through the rules, using examples, moving the figures around.

"Soooo.... how many players does this game need?" Hopper asked.

"Technically it can be played solo, but it works best with three or four," Zhi'an said.

"So the three of us would work?" asked Mountain.

"Yeah!  Let's do this!" said Hopper, enthusiastically.

"It would, oh I should also say that's per game board. Our families could get pretty big," Zhi'an said.

"Does it still work with three of us?" Hopper asked.

"Oh yes," Zhi'an said. "It'll just be a quicker game."

"Hey, let's do this, then," said Hopper.

Another Int roll, but you get a +10

(OOC: Int roll w/bonus - Weather Witch rolled 15 using 1d20+10)

It was considerably harder than it might have been, but Zhi' managed to squeak out a win at the last second.

"What did you two think?" Zhi'an asked.

"Kinda interesting," said Mountain.  "I really want to see how it works when you've got a whole bunch of people playing."

"We'd need to manufacture more boards and pieces for that," Zhi'an said.

"Well... we could try to do that sometime," said Hopper.  "I mean, is there anything in here that we couldn't fake up with paper and cardboard?"

"I don't see why hot. I never considered that," Zhi'an said.

"Yeah, well, we're used to improvising around here," said Mountain.  "We make stuff when we can't get it any other way."

Zhi'an nodded and then yawn.

"I think this will be the end of me tonight. I'm tired."

"Sure," said Hopper.  "Uh, let's see... grab a bunk in the room over there, I guess.  We'll work out the rest."

"Sure thing," Zhi'an said as she got ready for bed and headed to bed.

She'd slept on better beds, but this one was reasonably soft and quite warm once she pulled the covers over her.

It had been a long day and Zhi'an fell asleep quickly.

Various noises and what sounded like quiet arguments woke Zhi as morning came.

Zhi'an blink and looked over to where the noises where coming from.

It appeared that the group was getting up for the day, and was having a disagreement about gathering food, or something to that effect.

"(Mmmm? What's going on...,)" Zhi'an said in her native language, not realizing her universal translator was on a nearby table.

Quickstep was there at once, smiling awkwardly and attempting to explain something in the native language.

Zhi'an quickly went and grabbed her translator.

"Sorry about that, but I didn't get that."

"Well, it turns out that we need to grab some more supplies," said Quickstep.  "Leaving the causes aside, I was wondering if you wanted to come along, so you could see more of the city."

"Oh, I would love to, just let me get ready," Zhi'an said, hurrying off to the showers.

...shockingly primitive showers.  But soon she was ready.

"I'm ready to go," Zhi'an said.

"How are you set for a human disguise?" asked Quickstep.

"No, how do they work?" Zhi'an asked.

"Uh, well... it kind of depends," said Quickstep.  "I hide my feet behind shoes and my tail in my pants.  You might need heavy clothes..."

"Ah, I don't really have anything like that," Zhi'an said.

"Oh, we do," said Phantasma.  "Always open to new recruits who may need to hide.  Luckily, the weather's reasonably cool."

Zhi'an went to get changed.

Soon she was reasonably covered up.  It was a bit suffocating, but tolerable.

"Not the most fashionable option," Zhi'an said.

"Nah, we never get to do that," said Quickstep.  "Eris is going to come along too.  That OK?"

"That's fine. I'm excited to see how human society works," Zhi'an said.

"Hey, so how does shopping work where you're from, anyway?" Eris asked, joining them.

"Household items were usually ordered by a subscription service in a weekly, biweekly or monthly time frame. Everything else was purchased by going to the store," Zhi'an said.

"Well, for us, everything is going to a store," said Eris.  "We can't exactly let people know where we live, and it's not safe for us to pay for things electronically.  We use cash."

"Ah. I'm very interested in seeing it," Zhi'an said.

"Well, you'll get your chance," said Quickstep.  "Also using public transportation, since I can't carry enough stuff at top speed.  Uh, we're using folding shopping carts to carry things.  That all right?"

"No, that's fine," Zhi'an said.

Soon they were gathered again in the secret underground base.

"And what's this that you brought me?" asked Kryten.  "Spare parts?"

"There was this really advanced tank thing that attacked the grocery store. It would be too advanced for the tech level of this planet and I was hoping you could help us figure out what it was," Zhi'an said.

"...Hm," said Kryten.  "Show me the parts, and describe what it did."

Zhi'an did as she was asked.

Kryten studied the technology for a while.

"This appears to be technology too advanced for this planet," Kryten said.  "But metallurgy and other manufacturing suggests that it was created using local materials, and local manufacturing.  Perhaps humans are re-creating technology taken from other civilizations...?"

"But this planet was labeled off limits," Zhi'an said. "How would humans have got their hands on alien tech?"

"In your experience, has everyone always obeyed that law?" Kryten asked.  "Someone suggested that galactic ships have been captured here by the locals once."

"No, there have been cases, but I am surprised by that. How did they capture them?" Zhi'an asked. "Was it drunk teenagers on a joyride?"

"Don't underestimate what the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear weapon airburst can do," said Phantasma.  "The government did a lot of tests for no apparent reason..."

"Hmm. True," Zhi'an said. "Where are they said to be holding the ships?"

"Eh, they get moved around," said Phantasma.  "Back when I was involved with it, there was a lot going on in central Florida, but they've moved them since then.  Word got out."

"Ah. A criminal I was chasing also crash landed on this planet, but I don't think they're capable of this," Zhi'an said.

"It would be a very fast production time, yes," said Phantasma.  "This may have been the work of someone with some government connection, but I doubt that it's the actual government."

"I'm sorry I can't be more help," Zhi'an said.

"You brought it down before it could cause more damage," said Phantasma.  "What more do you want?"

"In figuring out who made it," Zhi'an said.

"Well, that's something that we can try with some detective work," said Phantasma.  "This isn't all ET technology-- there are components here that are manufactured locally.  We might be able to get some ideas from that."

"I'm not sure how I can help with that," Zhi'an said. "Other than being some muscle."

"Well, Kryten can help us identify technology," said Phantasma.  "Your firepower will kick in when we find them..."

"Yeah, you're right," ZHi'an said.

"Well, we'll get digging," said Phantasma.  "By 'we' I mostly mean me.  You get some food-- you were busy fighting earlier."

"Okay, I am looking forward to trying more of your cuisine," Zhi'an said.

"Well, you guys did fine getting us groceries, so that should be fine," said Phantasma.

"Yep!" Zhi'an said as she headed to the kitchen to look at what was to be had.

They appeared to be making some kind of thick soup or stew, with a crusty bread that had some kind of herb and butter mix on it.

"What are you cooking in here?" Zhi'an asked.

"Beef stew," said Mountain.  "Kind of a specialty of mine.  You don't need good cuts of beef if you simmer them for a long time."

Zhi'an poked around the kitchen to see what else was there.

Hopper was hanging out, and Quickstep was popping in and out as well.

"It certainly smells nice. I'm not sure what beef is though," Zhi'an said.

"Meat from a large, uh, meat animal," said Mountain.  "We feed them grass and grain and stuff, and they get real big.  Tasty, too.  The meat's kinda sweet."

"Ah, okay," Zhi'an said. "I've not had the chance to try many land animals."

"Well, I think you'll get to like 'em after my stew," said Mountain.  "Uh, plus a lot of extra salt, in your case."

Zhi'an nodded.

"That does sound good."

"There's also some good crusty bread to go with it," said Mountain.  "Do you eat bread, out in space?"

"Oh, yes. Bread is quite good," Zhi'an said.

"Good, good," said Mountain.  "The stew's good for you-- meat, veggies, all the stuff you need."

Zhi'an nodded.

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Cool," said Mountain.  "Just give me a little bit here-- I'm putting it on the pressure cooker to get it ready faster."

Zhi'an nodded.

"I never did much of my own cooking."

"Do you have, like, automatic kitchens in space or whatever?" Mountain asked.  He was placing a very, very heavy lid on the pot... and locking it in place.

"I mostly went for premade stuff," Zhi'an said.

"Yeah, the problem with that stuff is that it's expensive," said Mountain.  "With this many people, it's definitely cheaper for us to cook from scratch, even if it takes a while."

There was a smell of baking bread, and it was lovely.

"Oh, well, the group I was a part of gives us a stipend," Zhi'an said.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:57, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

"Yeah, that would help," said Mountain.  "No one really does that for us, exactly.  Well, sort of, but not really."

"What do you mean?" Zhi'an asked.

"Well, Gauss and Phantasma both have some money put away," said Mountain.  "It's enough for us to get by for now."

"That's good then," Zhi'an said. "My money is useless here."

"Eh, don't worry about it," said Mountain.  "We're all in this together."

"Thank you,' Zhi'an said.

"It's just good to have someone else helping us," said Mountain.  "Especially someone as strong as you."

"Well, thank you for making me feel welcome. You are a very nice group of Earthlings," Zhi'an said.

"Well, thanks," said Mountain.  "You're lucky.  The jerks in the group left already."

"Ah, well, it still stands," Zhi'an said.

"Thanks," said Mountain.  "Sooo... want a taste?"

"Yes, please!" Zhi'an said.

Mountain dished out a small bowl, and, as an afterthought, also included a salt-shaker.

"Thanks!" Zhi'an said before digging in.

It was very savory, and tasty, once you added enough salt.

"It's quite good," Zhi'an said.

"Good," said Mountain.  "Ma would be proud--a stew so good the aliens like it!"

He grinned; it was an impressive effect.

"Ah, your mother taught you to make it? She must be a good cook," Zhi'an said.

"Yeah, she was," said Mountain.  "For a while, people thought how big I was was just because of her cooking."

"Ah, so it is all due to the mutation?" Zhi'an said. "I thought maybe it might be a bloodline or caste thing."

"Nah," said Mountain.  "We're all different."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense. I didn't see too many differences in humans outside," Zhi'an said.

"Well, not like us, I'm sure," said Mountain.  "Are your folks very different from each other?"

"Not really, but I have encountered other species that are. Like Tando-han. They're insectile and had a few different castes," Zhi'an said.

"Huh," said Mountain.  "I hadn't thought about it that way... I guess there's all kinda of different aliens and stuff where you're from, right?"

"Well, not so much on my planet, but in my travels and once I joined up with the team," Zhi'an said.

"Makes sense," said Mountain.  "So where you're from, it's people who look like you, mostly?"

"Yep, though some people can be green," Zhi'an said.

"Huh," said Mountain.  "Well, cool.  Green aliens turn out to be a thing after all."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Zhi'an asked.

"It's just a thing here," Mountain explained.  "Lots of, like, shows and books and things have aliens with green skin."

"Ah, okay. Can humans be green? I notice a lot of possible skin colours with humans," Zhi'an asked.

"Nah, not without dye or something," said Mountain.  "We're all basically shades of brown."

"Ah, okay," Zhi'an said.

"Except mutants, of course," said Mountain.  "We might look like anything."

"That is quite the mutation then. I'm honestly surprised," Zhi'an said.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 06:47, Thu 13 Feb 2020.

"Uh, I don't mean shape-shifting," said Mountain.  "Just that some of us look weird."

"Oh, still. It sounds like there are lots of possible modifications from a base human," Zhi'an said.

"There sure seem to be," said Mountain.  "Lots of us wind up strong and tough, though.  I think that's the only thing where any two mutants have come out pretty close to each other."

"I haven't heard about such crazy mutations in a species before," Zhi'an said.

"Might just be a human thing," said Mountain.  "You never know."

"That's what makes it interesting," Zhi'an said.

"Do other, you know, aliens vary that much?" Mountain asked.

"Not as much as humans do...with natural mutation, anyway," Zhi'an said.

"Well, I guess that's kinda cool," said Mountain.  "I mean, knowing that we're special in some way, and all that."

"Have there been any non-mutants with powers here?" Zhi'an asked.

"Well, I didn't think that there were," said Mountain, "but lately I've been hearing about this flying, super-strong girl who isn't supposed to be a mutant, so maybe?"

"Ah, I was just curious if mutation was the only way Earthlings get powers," Zhi'an said.

"I'm honestly not 100% sure," said Mountain.  "It sounds like that's 'maybe not the only way,' but I haven't met anyone that I'm certain about."

"I've never found a good name for us powered non-mutants," Zhi'an said.

"Eh, it's all right," said Mountain.  "'Superhero' ought to work fine."

"But wouldn't you guys be one as well?" Zhi'an asked.

"If we had any respect from the public, sure," said Mountain.  "They don't trust us, though."

"It's not my place to say one way or the other. You know your home planet much better than I do," Zhi'an said.

"Just how it is, for now, anyway," said Mountain.  "I mean, I get it.  We look weird.  We're dangerous, with the powers and everything.  And the True Men make it much worse for all of us."

"I'll do what I can to help," Zhi'an said.

"Cool," said Mountain.  "Let me know if there's something I can do to help, all right?"

"You have already given me room, board and information about this world," Zhi'an said.

"Yeah, but if you can help us get accepted, that's worth helping out on," said Mountain.

"I'll do my best," Zhi'an said.

"Be sure to mention it to Gauss," said Mountain.  "He's the one who might have ideas about how to make it happen. Phantasma would rather that we just hide."

"I will when I get a chance," Zhi'an said.

"Cool," said Mountain.  "Well, I think dinner's about done.  Want to help me set the table?"

"Certainly!" Zhi'an said and set about helping.

Soon everyone had gathered for dinner.

"This is very good," Zhi'an said.

"I'm glad that you're getting to like our food," said Gauss.  "Given everything, you may wind up eating it for a long time."

"Yes, but you have been very good cooks," Zhi'an said.

"Well, we get practice a lot," said Quickstep.  "I mean, we can't afford to eat out all the time, even when Phantasma disguises us."

Zhi'an nodded.

"Yes, but home cooking is quite good. I have lived on premade fun for too long."

"Mine is, anyway," said Mountain, grinning at Quickstep.  "Yours is fast, though..."

Quickstep stuck his tongue out in response; apparently, this was an old rivalry.

Zhi;an just watched as she ate.

Soon enough, the meal was over; it was delicious and filling.  (Well, delicious when enough salt was added, anyway...)

"That was really good, thank you," Zhi'an said.

"Thanks!" said Mountain.

"...we should probably talk after dinner," said Gauss.  "The implications of alien technology on Earth, and how it's being used, for example."

"Sure, do you think the tank was alien?" Zhi'an asked.

"I'm guessing extraterrestrial tech, but human-built," said Phantasma.

"...which, shockingly, fits my analysis as well," Kryten put in.  "Which raises interesting questions.  Isn't it supposed to be your government which has access to it, even in secret?"

"Yes," said Phantasma.  "And that's a real mystery, because why would a government research project just randomly attack a mega-mart?"

"I'm not sure. There's not enough information here," Zhi'an said.

"Agreed," said Gauss.

"It suggests, to me, a rogue government agency," said Phantasma.  "Or possibly an extremist group that used to be part of a government agency."

"Hmm. It's possible, but it's too early for theories yet," Zhi'an said.

"It's a starting point," said Phantasma.  "I am familiar with the government agencies that have access to that technology, but this action doesn't make sense for them to have done it, even by the normal standards of irrational government behavior."

"What can we do about it?" Zhi'an asked.

"Do you have some way to scan for that kind of technology?" asked Phantasma.

"I don't. What about you, Kryten?" Zhi'an asked.

"I can try," said Kryten.  "...easier if I'm in range of a place that manufactures it, of course, but we can't assume that that will be the case."

"It was probably manufactured locally. At least I think so. It would be easier to keep it hidden from the public," Zhi'an said.

"A shocking exercise in logic," said Kryten.  "Well done!  Scanning... I am narrowing down the location of sources that are generating excessive quantities of electricity."
This message was last updated by the player at 03:33, Thu 12 Mar 2020.

"Is there a military base around here?" Zhi'an asked.

"Yes," said Phantasma.  "This isn't it, though.  The military base isn't that big a deal-- they train soldiers there.  Last place you'd put something secret; some idiot of a recruit would blow things wide open."

"Hmm. My next guess would be some sort of manufacturer, but I don't know this city," Zhi'an said.

"That's very possible," said Gauss.  "There are factories on one side of town.  Some are even disused, apparently closed, which would create a good opportunity for someone to move in and modify them."

"Not much to do until Kryten lets us know about power use," Zhi'an said.

"And thus, I save you from boredom by telling you that I've found it," said Kryten.

"What did you find?" Zhi'an asked.

"A location that's draining massive amounts of power, and producing low-grade radio noise indicative of advanced electronics, beyond what this planet should have," said Kryten.

"Where is it?" Zhi'an asked.

"It's on the outskirts of town," said Kryten, "if this map I downloaded is remotely accurate.  Roughly ten miles from here, to local East."

"Than I suppose we should scout it out," Zhi'an said.

"Agreed," said Gauss.  "Possibly not with everyone... who do you want to take, Zhi'an?"

"You seem to know a lot about these kinds of things, why don't you come with me, Phantasma?" Zhi'an asked.

"All right," said Phantasma.  "What about Gauss?  He could be nearby as emergency extraction..."

"Hmm. I think you're right. Would that be okay with you, Gauss?" Zhi'an asked.

"Yes, that's sensible," said Gauss.  "I'm sure either of you can send me a clear and obvious signal."

"Oh yes, that won't be a problem," Zhi'an said.

"Are you going to bring your robot?" Phantasma asked.

"That's really up to her. Do you want to come?" Zhi'an asked.

"It might be for the best," said Kryten.  "This is a technological issue, after all."

"Yeah, good call there," said Phantasma.

"Okay, sounds good," Zhi'an said. "I am ready to go."

They soon returned to the secret base; the smell of meat cooking was unmistakable.

"What is that?" Zhi'an asked.

"Hopper's grilling sausages again," said Phantasma.  "Pretty tasty stuff, even if the sausages are kind of cheap."

"I look forward to it," Zhi'an said.

"Probably a few other things, too," said Phantasma.  "Chips.  Potato salad.  If we're lucky, something healthy will sneak in there, somehow."

"Healthy food is expensive, though," said Gauss.  "Sorry about that."

"Ah, so this food contains large amounts of sugars and starches?" Zhi'an asked.

"Some of it," said Phantasma.  "Fillers in the sausage, for example."

"Sorry, I was just trying to guess what unhealthy for Earthlings means," Zhi'an said.

"That, and a lot of fat," said Phantasma.  "...to be honest, it's more how much of it you eat, but it's hard to keep up a diet containing a lot of fresh vegetables in our circumstances."

"Do they also grow wild?" Zhi'an asked.

"Yes, but it's not exactly easy to gather them in a city," said Phantasma.  "There aren't that many, industrial pollution is a problem, and we are trying to remain hidden."

"I want to help with the food situation, but I am unsure how to," Zhi'an said.

"Well, don't worry about it too much," said Gauss.  "We get by.  We just have to take advantage of bulk sales and the like."

"Ah, okay," Zhi'an said.

"...but if you think of a way to help, go for it," Phantasma added.

"Making money on this planet would be difficult. You aren't part of any known republics and I have no ID that would be valid here," Zhi'an said. "Plus I don't look human."