Chapter Text
“Last time, Jesse! Where. Is. My shrink ray??”
“I already told you, I don’t know! I didn’t take it this time!”
“I don’t believe you! If you’re so innocent, then let me shoot you!” Yumyulack adjusts his gun and aims it at his sister’s chest, finger tight on the trigger.
“So you can ask where I hid all your other sci-fi stuff? No thanks, bro!” She effortlessly dodges as he begins to shoot, her half-open backpack serving as a makeshift shield against more accurate rounds.
Yumyulack screams in frustration and chases his sister from their shared space to the living room, Jesse using the furniture to her advantage. She mocks and teases her brother as he pursues her, her usually forgiving and sweet demeanor turned sour from the attack and accusations.
Korvo overhears the commotion as he’s cooking breakfast: bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast. He sets his spatula down and storms into the room, frowning at the fighting siblings.
“What’s going on in here? You two are supposed to be getting ready for school!”
Jesse dives behind Korvo with a wail as Yumyulack opens fire again.
“Whoops!” Yumyulack cringes as his final blast hits Korvo dead center in the forehead, hands flying up to cover his face. “Crap, sorry Korvo!”
Korvo rubs his eyes. “Damnit, Yumyulack, the effects of these rays can last for hours! What did you just hit me with?”
The replicant throws his hands up. “Just the truth ray!” He scowls when Jesse peers out from behind black robes, pink tongue sticking out.
Of all the possibilities, it’s benign. How much harm could him speaking his mind possibly do? He wasn’t one to normally filter out hurtful thoughts anyway. Physically, he feels normal. Still, he doesn’t want them going around and abusing the weapons this often, god forbid there be another incident like when Terry made him a drooling moron. To this day it takes him a few extra seconds to perform mental math.
“No ray guns for a week!” He says finally. (There’s a simultaneous ‘for real??’ and ‘hah!’ from the replicants) “Now go and finish getting ready!”
Yumyulack mutters to himself and Jesse beams as they make their way back upstairs. Korvo returns to the food, cursing at the blackened mess smoking on the stove. “So much for eggs..”
He’s scraping the contents of the pan into the trash when Terry enters, sporting a tight black wife-beater and his usual shorts.
“Hey man. Like my shirt? I thought I’d give tank tops a try!”
Korvo thinks the shirt frames his partners slim body perfectly. Not that he would ever admit this.
Except that he does.
“Yes, I like it a lot. You look hot.” He freezes midway through buttering a piece of toast when he realizes what he’s blurted out. And why.
“Woah, hold up, what did you just say?”
“I said,” Korvos eyes widen in horror as the words continue to slip out without his permission. “That you’re hot.”
Terry blinks. Since when did Korvo so openly compliment his appearance? “Wow, uh…thanks, Korvo!” He finger-guns at him. “You’re pretty spicy too! I bet you’d look pretty good in earth clothes.”
He wants to yell at Terry about how inferior the clothing is compared to their robes, how he’d never be caught dead in anything else. Instead, he chokes out: “I’d wear human clothes if it got your attention.” He smacks his forehead, stress gooblers beginning to pop out onto the floor.
“Really? Cause we can totally go shopping sometime!” Terry starts to babble about fashion and what colors will match his skin tone, barely acknowledging when the replicants come in, still squabbling. “Also, what do you mean by ‘attention’?”
Yumyulack grabs a piece of bacon to nibble while he glares at his sister, “What are you guys talking about?”
Korvo opens his mouth to speak and then stops, analyzing the situation. Any attempts he made at lying were being automatically transformed into raw, unfiltered truth, so he’d have to choose his words carefully.
He decides to sidestep the conversation entirely. “The replicants are late for school. Will you drive them?”
“Oh, sure Korvo.” Terry turns to the replicants. “The speed limit’s like, 40 miles an hour, but the car actually goes up to 140! We’ll get there so fast!”
Jesse and Yumyulack cheer before they make a break for the front door, both yelling ‘I call shotgun!’ while Terry smiles and follows them. Korvo breathes a sigh, too grateful for their departure to yell at Terry about not getting pulled over. The blue alien's mind works as he cleans up the barely touched breakfast.
The effects of one shot from a truth ray could last up to 6 hours. Back on planet Schlorp, it was a useful tool for obtaining criminal confessions or finding out which co-coworker was stealing your lunch. Here, its apparent purpose was to make his life difficult by trying to make him expose his confusing crush on Terry.
Korvo growls in frustration and leaves the pans to soak in the sink. No, that didn’t have to happen. He would shut himself away to work on the ship, where Terry was unlikely to intrude. Hell, maybe Terry would even get himself distracted by something on the way home and forget all about Korvo.
As it was, Terry had no idea he couldn’t lie.
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“And then Yumyulack shot him with the truth ray! And then he grounded us!” Jesse finishes her story as they pull up to the school, the car now dented and missing the passenger door. There are sirens blaring in the distance, mixing with the sounds of high-pitched screams and glass breaking. A lone tire rolls down the street, flaming.
“It was totally unfair,” Yumyulack complains, “Jesse’s the one who took my gun and wouldn’t tell me where it was!”
Jesse unbuckles her seat belt and exits the backseat of the car with her brother, rolling her eyes. “I said I didn’t take it! You probably lost it!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him,” Terry says, “Well, have a good day at school!” He waves as the replicants walk away, the car giving a violent lurch when he shifts from park and drives off.
So, Korvo was under the influence of the truth ray. It explained the strange comments. Terry finds himself smiling as he thinks about their short conversation earlier. The blue alien did find him attractive. And he wanted his attention. What else was he hiding from him? It isn’t a secret that Terry likes Korvo; he’s always been very open about it. He’d always assumed Korvo only saw him as a friend, and that’s why he never responded to his advances. Could it be possible that Korvo felt like him, but couldn’t say it? Or was that wishful thinking, and Korvo just had a higher opinion of him than he was usually willing to admit?
Well, he was going to find out.
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The pupa stares unblinkingly at the series of terrariums. Inside a society is built, collapses, and is built again. It mimics the rise and fall of great nations, a mini roman empire of limited resources. The tiny people housed inside battle behind the guise of good and evil, unaware that they are one in the same. Love is made and love is broken, but the cycle will continue. Because they’re tiny, but they’re still only human.
They need a real leader. One not corrupted by emotion and power. The time is coming.
The pupa narrows his eyes, looks around for his caretakers. He’s alone. He feels at the floor until he finds the loose board, ripping it up with a tiny groan. His eyes shine and he peers into the hole, admiring the growing collection as he reaches for his prize.