"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?"