The uncomfortable silence persisted, with Kaz, Agozi, and numerous incidental listeners gaping at him as if stuck in a suspended state.

Andreas realized his bluntness had been a misstep; he'd anticipated disapproval, but not the mass recoil his question had provoked.

“I... what?!” Agozi exclaimed eventually, breaking the stillness, her eyes widening in disbelief, fur bristling slightly as her posture stiffened.

Andreas would've defused the situation with a lighthearted comment or joke, but the atmosphere's dramatic shift left him at a loss. His lips moved, yet no words emerged.

“Pardon me…” He attempted to sound genuine but failed somewhat, due to his dazed state caused by the social vacuum that had formed around him. “My intention wasn't to phrase my inquiry so... inelegantly.”

In hindsight, Andreas recognized his lapse in judgment; his imposing size, combined with their visible discomfort, had made him cocky. He'd need to avoid this mistake in the future.

“I'm less concerned with how you said it and more with what you're implying,” Kaz said, his voice now carrying a markedly sterner tone. “I need you to elaborate on this 'real violence' you mentioned… what exactly are you getting at?”

The crowd around them had returned to eating, likely feigning politeness to avoid appearing nosy now that the initial shock had faded. Agozi, however, continued to gape judgmentally from across the table.

Andreas recognized it was too late to deescalate, so he continued his inquiry albeit with slightly more restraint and more cautious phrasing.

“Fighting,” he replied, cutting to the chase. “Let me phrase this as frankly as I can…” he said, hunching closer until he met Kaz's eyes. He spoke in a measured tone. “How frequently do quarrels in your Union turn violent, with opposing factions resorting to physical force to settle their differences?”

Andreas now faced renewed silence; many onlookers abandoned their pretense of disinterest. Agozi's and Kaz's shock turned to horror, their whiskers twitching frantically. Agozi's snout appeared to verge on queasiness. If his earlier questions had spawned a chilly atmosphere, this one had frozen it solid.

“Surely this is an error in our language processing algorithms,” Kaz said eventually. “Our grasp of your language is still in its infancy, so it's not unexpected that there might be some—”

“You heard me perfectly well,” Andreas interrupted. “I'm asking how regularly you lot resort to offing each other when diplomacy fails. That's the crux of my inquiry. No linguistic mix-up involved. You comprehended perfectly.” After a short silence, he added a reassuring comment to ease tensions. “Of course, I'm merely asking to assess the potential risks to myself and my kind.”

“But why?” Kaz replied, clearly staggered and struggling to comprehend Andreas's explanation. “What conceivable reason could you have for posing such offensive questions?”

“’Offensive’ doesn't even begin to cover it!” Agozi bristled, her body language radiating anger and disbelief. “This is hands-down the most twisted, messed-up drivel I've ever heard!”

“All occupants of this vessel are civilized beings!” Kaz said, his tone betraying utter astonishment. “The notion of willfully inflicting harm on another is utterly inconceivable to us!”

“Nobody would even think of it, here or anywhere else in our society… much less use it to resolve standoffs.” Agozi said, her hands moving sharply to emphasize her displeasure.

Andreas's almost vacant gaze betrayed his skepticism as he reacted to their statements.

“Says you and your companion… with all due respect, despite your polite demeanor, I've observed several things today that don't align with your claims.” Andreas spoke deliberately, striving to convey his point clearly. “Consider the armed escort incident; you self-righteously tout your peaceful nature, then a bunch of armed security strolls past us.” His eyebrows arched, and a wry smile played on his lips as his voice took on a sardonic edge. “Your rushed excuse about 'self-precaution' rings rather hollow.”

Kaz and Agozi exchanged uncertain glances.

Andreas flashed a sardonic smile despite knowing it might unsettle them, then pressed on with his dialogue before they could interject.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

“Who's to say you don't have a fleet of dreadnaughts lurking just beyond our sensors?” He inched his face nearer, his tone and manner becoming playfully doubtful. “The crux of the matter is this: I'm skeptical of your intentions, and notwithstanding your hospitality today, I'd wager you're equally wary of me.” He reclined back into his original position, clasped his hands on the table, and glanced between them, awaiting a reaction.

A long silence fell. Andreas sensed he'd stunned them both, and a faint trace of a smile appeared on his lips, despite his efforts to hide it.

As Kaz opened his mouth to speak, his communicator buzzed.

“Captain speaking…” A moment elapsed as he listened to the caller's message. “Acknowledged. I'm on my way.” He switched off the communicator, returned it to his belt, and rose. His stern gaze fixed on Agozi. “A complication has arisen with our other specimen that demands my immediate presence. You're in charge here until further notice.” He turned towards the foyer and strode to the exit.

“W-Wait!” Agozi protested desperately, extending her arm towards his departing figure. “You can't just abandon me here with this—”

“This ‘what’?” Andreas asked instantly, greatly amused by her response.

*****

Agozi's anxious eyes shifted back to the specimen following its pointed question. Her whiskers quivered faintly, and her lip fidgeted.

Everybody had been thrown for a loop by the full-on loony ramblings about violently forcing compliance or whatever the abyss it was ranting about. Kaz had bailed on her, spouting some vague reasons about the other specimen acting up, and she was now stuck caretaking this unpredictable alien by herself.

In other words, the situation had spiraled into a hot mess.

The specimen Andreas maintained its stare from its side of the table, its enormous, prehistoric-like jaw resting in its massive palms in a pensive pose. Not even the craziest Mevik would look at you that way. Its previous mad mutterings didn't help.

Her gut had always told her something was off, but she'd brushed it off as harmless. Now, she was beginning to question whether that assessment had been a tad too optimistic.

In an instinctive act of self-protective reflex, Agozi withdrew her hand from the table, hiding it from sight.

The specimen produced unsettling vocal eruptions and revealed its flat chewing teeth, an act which only heightened her ever-increasing discomfort.

“My, my, you've gone all fidgety…” The specimen's tone seemed lighthearted, but held an ominous undertone. “Did I say something to ruffle your feathers?” it asked, a mischievous smirk playing across its lips, eyes glinting with amusement. “Or fur, in your case.”

Besides your daft blathering you mean? Agozi was now convinced that they'd crossed paths with a certified loon. Nervous tics manifested as her fingers fidgeted involuntarily.

“Say, that stadium-like structure at the center…” the specimen said with an easy-going elocution. “I'd love to see it up close. Care to indulge my curiosity?”

Agozi did not respond.

“I'll be back in a moment,” she said, rising from her chair and heading toward a nearby restroom area, the specimen's gaze following her silently.

After entering a restroom stall, she fished out her communicator and hailed Kaz. Establishing the connection took more time than expected.

“What's the situation?” he replied eventually.

Agozi's upset was clear. She kept her voice low, wary of potential listeners in adjacent stalls.

“Are you serious?!” Agozi's hand clenched the communicator as she spoke, her whiskers quivering with vexation and disbelief. “How could you just walk away and leave me with it?”

“What's the problem?” Kaz asked, his voice a mix of concern and composure.

“The ‘problem’ is that I'm left alone with this mentally scrambled simian…” she spat into the commutator, her tone razor-sharp and seething. “All respect due, but I'm no longer comfortable being around that creature without knowing more about what's going on!”

Kaz took a moment before responding.

“You're speaking as though you believe it might harm you.”

“After those disturbing comments, how can I be certain that it won't?!” Agozi replied, her voice subdued yet fast-talking. “Did you not hear the outrageous things it was saying?”

Kaz’s tone now took on a terse character.

“I need you to approach this rationally, not with unfounded hysteria,” he replied sternly, and then paused. “The xeno-psych team's got a situation with the specimen Ross. I'm en route to assess.”

“What situation?” Agozi replied, a hint of anxiety in her tone.

“The specifics are still unclear at this point,” Kaz replied. “From what I gather, there were complications with the sim test. Zelana had to pull the plug early.”

“Just that?” Agozi asked, untensing slightly. “Well, that doesn't sound too bad...”

“The situation was triggered by Ross attacking some of the virtual population.”

Agozi's anxiety resurfaced pugnaciously, widening her eyes and raising her body hair.

“How are you not more alarmed by this?!” she asked, growing increasingly frantic. “Let's face it, there is something about all this that just feels seriously off-kilter!” She pressed her back against the stall door, ears flattened against her head, her eyes darting nervously around the confined space. “We need to confine that screwball to its quarters immediately! And it stays put until and unless we can come up with a compelling reason not to!”

“And just how do you propose we pull that off?” Kaz asked, sounding stern. “We've bent over backwards to build trust with this specimen. Locking it up now would demolish our credibility and validate every paranoid thought it's had about us.”

“So what exactly am I meant to do here?” she asked, casting a furtive look behind her for onlookers or the specimen.

“Carry on as we have been,” Kaz replied. “Guide it to where it wants to go. Give it a tour of the facilities. Let it explore within reasonable limits. I'll contact you once I've handled this situation.”

“But—”

Kaz disconnected, leaving her no room for dissent.