Chapter 26: 26: Screen

The manna powered shower hadn't killed me. In fact it hadn't even tickled. But how was I to know? You say high powered beam of manna and all I think of is laser blasts, death and doom. 

After the shower I strolled over to my closet and pulled out another outfit, only to be surprised at what was waiting inside. 

Yesterday my closet had been filled to the brim with plain tracksuits, perfect for jumping around and fighting bad guys with, but now all I could see were black suit jackets, red ties and smart shoes. 

"How am I meant to fight a smuggling ring in any of this?" I muttered as I lifted one of the suit sets out on its hanger. 

<Well, put it on and you might find out,> BB replied, a hint of annoyance still present in his tone. He hadn't appreciated my antics with the shower in the slightest. 

I slipped myself into the shirt, it was softer than the harsh polyester suit shirts I was used to. The trousers came on next, there didn't seem to be any major difference there either. 

Socks, shoes, suit jacket and tie all felt the same as they usually would, and I was pretty convinced that the difference in shirt texture had only been because I was poor in my previous life and hadn't been able to afford any of the good stuff. 

"This hasn't illuminated the issue any further, you know," I said, though I had to admit that the suit looked good on me. 

<Okay, well let me just push a little bit of your manna outward…> BB replied. 

There was a subtle shift in my power, so minute that I barely felt the flow of manna change course throughout my body. My clothes felt it, though. 

My trousers and shirt became looser, easier to move around in. The shoes warped and twisted until they resembled trainers more than dress shoes. The suit jacket, on the other hand, hardened like tough armour. 

"Okay, I think I get where you're coming from, these clothes are pretty awesome," I said, knocking on a piece of fabric that was now probably harder than most solid metals.

I felt my manna shift again, and my clothes shifted back to their original smart form. 

<You know, eventually you're going to stop questioning all the things I tell you,> BB remarked, <I'm looking forward to that day.>

"Nah, you'd get too bored. We wouldn't even be on this mission if it weren't for me ignoring your advice to stay in my room," I sniped back. 

BB didnt respond to that, so I worked my arms through my back holster to secure my sword in place and left my room. 

The hallway was empty, but if I didn't grab myself a meal then my daily quest wouldn't complete and I'd end up incurring a penalty, which I didnt want. 

I shoved my hands into my trouser pockets and walked through into the kitchen area that I had met Yr'Arl in for the first time the day before. 

The cat alien wasn't there anymore, but the strange five sided alien was still sitting in the same spot that it had been in. Either it was pure coincidence or the alien hadn't moved at all. I hoped it wasn't dead. 

<Okay, luckily for you there are lots of human compatible proteins in the stores, human digestion is pretty similar to the rest of the species out here. You should be fine with just about anything.>

All I wanted was something light, along the lines of a nice bowl of breakfast cereal. There was a panel sticking out of the middle of the main kitchen countertop, so I decided to tinker with it. 

A few minutes of tinkering with the display later and I had managed to summon a bowl of what almost seemed like cornflakes in milk. Even if the milk was bright orange. I was trying not to think about the orange milk. 

<It comes fro->

I was desperately trying not to think of the orange milk. 

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By the time I was done with the cereal, I didnt care where the milk had come from. It was crunchy and sweet, which was everything a breakfast meal was meant to be. 

I still hadn't seen Akash or Yr'Arl, so I decided to head back down into the central plaza of the Guard complex. If they were already waiting for me I didn't want to keep them waiting any longer. 

By the time I'd made it out to the plaza the weather had changed dramatically. A biting cold wind had picked up, and a drizzle of rain spattered down from above. The weather reflected the general mood of the place. 

A big screen had been erected over night. On it was Lara's face, smiling and laughing, the way people had presumably always known her from her role as the host for the initiation events. I hadn't known her for long, but I could already tell what an impact she could have on people.

"When I received the news that my daughter had… had fallen in combat, I could only ask myself why," came the voice of the man who could only be Lara's father. "Why had my little girl died on a world as protected as Afina?"

There was a group of aliens surrounding the screen, together in mourning. They were all watching the broadcast. 

It made sense. If Lara had been running the initiation tournaments on this planet for a prolonged period of time then she had likely had an impact on each and every one of them in some way or another. 

"Well, she died defending the city that she loved. The people that she loved."

The screen flickered and changed to the final moments of our fight. I hadn't even realised that there were cameras watching. 

I wasn't present in the footage though. All you could see was Lara charging her shining white energy. It crackled and spat around her, building up in layers like oh so much armour.  Then she took off at a sprint, displaying all of her speedster abilities, and collided with the Null Space Invader with enough force to stun the sea spray in the air. 

Then she was gone. Disappeared over the edge and out of sight in a moment. The last we would ever see of her. The crowd gasped in shock and sorrow.

"She single handedly destroyed a Null Space Invader that had slipped its way past our security net, at the sacrifice of her own life. But worry not, the perpetrators have already been caught and taken off world."

He was lying. Lying to keep the peace, yes, but lying all the same. If we weren't able to take out this smuggling group quickly, before they got their hands on another Null Space pet, then we would have real panic and bedlam on our hands. It wouldn't be pretty at all. 

"Now, we will honor my daughter by continuing the fight against the Null Space Invaders, for the sake of us all!" 

Through sobs and choked voices the aliens in the crowd chanted back, "For the sake of his all!"

The voice stopped, but the screen continued to show her laughing face. A face that would never laugh again. 

<He's playing some sort of game. I dont know what, but there was no reason to break this news to the general public.>

I agreed with him, but the director of the Guard itself was probably still just a little bit out of my league. It'd take some time to widen my scope to that level. 

I turned toward the main gate and some of my questions had finally been answered, Akash and Yr'Arl were waiting there with two other humanoid aliens. They had dark scales skin and heavy brows. It was as if a raptor had been given the chance to evolve. 

<That's actually only one life form,> BB said, <Just thought I'd let you know before you made a fool of yourself. They're a pair of Lyrin. When they mate it's for life, and their minds undergo a kind of permanent melding. Creepy if you ask me, but manna and evolution interact in strange ways.>

I'd seen enough weird since I'd arrived in this universe that I wasn't going to start questioning things now, even if the idea of it did weird me out just a little. 

Our group of four were the vanguard, the tip of the spear, the advanced force going out into the city to route out the evil that threatened to destroy it within. Sure, that sounded a little bit Batman, but when you got down to it that was the long and short of the situation. 

<The long and short of the situation is that you're magic Batman trying to hunt down an alien invader?> BB snarked. 

He was just mad, if I was magic Batman that made him magic Alfred by default.

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