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"Let it go… let it gooo…" Scar sings, dancing about the balcony above. “The cold never bothered mee! Come on, Cub! You know the words! It's your favorite song!"
"If you say so, man…" I laugh, adjusting the vex mask with one hand as I fish for another stack of ice in my inventory. "If you say so…"
It's about 4 hours into building Tango's ice castle. Or, in Scar-Units, 500 Frozen references, two Disney rants, and one half hour segue into why Bob Iger ruined Star Wars.
"Oh, you know it is, Cub! We’ve all got something we're a little embarrassed about liking, and yours is Frozen. You just need to let it go, embrace your love of the film…"
“Uh-huh…”
“You know, life is an open door, you just gotta open your doors to the truth that you love Frozen more than anything else on Hermitcraft.”
“I mean, we know that’s not true, Scar. What about cake?”
“You make a valid point, Cub… cake does beat most things. As does diamonds. And pranking. And in your case?”
“Don’t say it man-“
“Frozen.”
"Yep… he said it… But, Scar- Scar, does this wall look good, man?" I look over at the finished side wall. Scar glances over. "I dunno, is it too- straight? Does it need more of an angle to it you think?"
"I mean, it looks great from here," he says. "We need plenty of space for the interior anyway, so you wouldn't want too much of a curve inward."
“Then maybe it needs to be a couple more blocks out, and then bend around… yeah… I think I’ll try that…" I grab my pick and start breaking down the wall I’ve been building for the past half an hour. "Just move it a little back…" Scar watches me a moment longer, radiating uncertainty, before returning focus to the balcony. For another while, we're working in silence. Until Scar speaks again.
"Hey, Cub? Didn't you research an icy planet once?" he asks. "Or an icy moon, maybe?"
"You mean Enceladus?" I glance over. "Yeah, yeah, years back."
"Ooh yes! Encedalus! Do you remember any cool stuff about it?"
"Well…" I finish another row of ice blocks, thinking for a moment. "Well I was interested in that moon because there might be unique bacteria in the ice? Like- alien life?"
“There are aliens on Endelasadus?!" Scar exclaims. "Woah, really?!"
"No- no, Not aliens aliens, like- E.T., or anything from Star Wars. Nothing like that," I chuckle.
“But… still aliens, right?” Even with the mask over his face, I can tell Scar’s mouth is wide in awe.
"Yeah… possibly. There may be some single-celled organisms, like amoebae… that sort of thing."
"Oh my gosh… Cub… You discovered aliens, and you never told me?"
"Well… I didn't actually find anything."
"You could’ve done, though, right? There could be aliens on Encelly-ice-moon?" A glance at Scar's expectant face.
"I mean- quite possibly, man. Quite possibly." I say.
"Oh my gosh- Cub- I knew it-" It's impossible for Scar to hide his excitement. "Dude- I knew there were aliens, Cub! You know I’ve always said it!"
“That is true." I laugh, breaking the last few blocks and starting on the wall again. “That is certainly true…"
"Cu-ub?" Scar calls, a couple more hours into building. “So you know those aliens on Saturn?"
"Uh-huh?" I reply, glancing down from the roof.
“Say you were the one who actually found them, and you got to choose what they're called… what would you call them? The- species?"
I consider. Scar's got one eye still on me, as he keeps working on Princess Tango's dress.
"I dunno, man. I dunno." I break a couple blocks, unsatisfied.
"Oh come on, you need to have something, Cub! Maybe something Vexy. Or… maybe something from your favorite movie Frozen?"
"Dude-" I add another mental tally to the list of times Scar's pretended I love Frozen. "I haven't even seen Frozen-"
"You can't keep lying to yourself, Cub! We all know you love it…" Scar teases..
"Uh-huh…"
"Anyway, Cub, your alien?"
"Is it still a bacteria?" I ask, "In this scenario? Because, I mean… dude, that's important information in naming a creature… You can’t just go around naming an amoeba like it’s a dinosaur…“
"You're stalling," Scar says, smiling.
"I’m not stalling, man! Jeez- what kind of man do you take me for?" Scar giggles. I place another row of ice. "Dude- I just genuinely have no ideas, man."
"Too worried about that roof?" Scar glances up. I pause.
"Nah, the roof's fine," I lie quickly. "No worries up here, man."
"My inventory full of ice says otherwise… we can take a break, Cub. If you're struggling."
"I’m not struggling." Again, a blatant lie. "I just want it to look good. To please the Vex."
"Of course." There's a hint of knowing sympathy in Scar's voice. We keep working for a couple minutes, in silence.
"Alien… Goodtimes?" I suggest, returning to the aliens. "Or maybe… the… Ali-Scar-n- Scalien?" Scar's wheezing with laughter. I chuckle along. "Dude- I can't think of anything good-"
"Ali-Scarn…" Scar repeats. "Oh man-"
"What would you name it, man?"
"Oh, you know I’m bad with names. And words generally." Scar dismisses. I shrug, placing another row of roof-ice I’m not quite satisfied with. "And if you're too exhausted to come up with a good name…”
“If you say so, man.”
“I mean, to be fair, Cub, we have been here quite the white… how many hours is it now?"
"Approaching… 7!?" I glance at the clock on my communicator. "Dude-"
"What?! Really?"
"Yeah- holy smokes- we’ve still got a lot to do too, man." I continue building, staring over at the other side of the roof, I haven’t even started. "A lot to do…"
"We could come back and finish tomorrow?"
“Scar, we can't just leave a prank unfinished- no, no, we gotta finish it, man. Gotta finish it…"
It's almost 10 hours after we started that we finally finish building. Scar's leaning heavily on me as we stare from afar at the giant ice palace.
"Another prank well done," he murmurs.
"Yeah, man. Looking good." I gaze over the castle, everything the Vex will complain about, say isn't good enough. The roof that still doesn’t look quite right, the squatness. But Scar’s exhausted, and he’s not resting until he thinks I am. Maybe I can head back here later and make a couple more adjustments.
"You know what we missed?"
"Hmm?" I glance over at Scar as he pulls me from my thoughts. "Yeah?"
"The aliens." Scar's smiling, giving a classic Scar-smirk beneath the mask. I snort with laughter.
"Are- are there aliens in Frozen?"
"I mean- You're the expert."
"Dude- I’m-" Scar glances at me, again. If I wasn't sure about his smirk before, I am now. My argument dies into a relenting, humoured, sigh. “Sure. Alright. Yeah. As a- uh- Frozen expert, I can definitely agree with you that we are missing the aliens."
Scar giggles, hugging closer to me.
"Nah, nah it's fine," I say, hugging back, a smile almost as big as a vex's on my face. "Come on, let's get some rest now… back to HQ?"
"Cuuub! But what about the aliens?!"
"Well…’ I consider. ‘Well, Scar, they're tiny bacteria in the ice. So… how do you know they're not already there?"
Scar pauses, and thinks for a moment, and nods.
"You know what? I wouldn't put it past you. I wouldn't put it past you at all…"
We take to the air, leaving behind Tango's base, 10 hours of pranking, and perhaps an alien or two, as we return to the ConVex HQ to get some well-earned rest.