"I knew there was something going on here. I freaking told you Roman. Ha" Chelsie said while pointing at him. "Ha" she said while pushing me in the shoulder.

I didn't respond beyond getting my feet back under me a step or two away from her. We were all silent. Staring each other down.

I think Chelsie realized the situation was precarious at that point, because the mirth went out of her face.

Nola, I hope it doesn't come to this, but can you sound proof the area so no one can hear screaming.

Done and done. Door's locked too. What now.

We decide if we can bring them on, or if we have to figure something else out.

Everyone was still staring each other down. Nobody wants to go first

I guess that's why I am in charge.

"Bud here has that weird hair growth thing, werewolf syndrome, that's why his face looks like that" I said hoping for a hail marry.

"No it isn't." Chelsie said from beside me. Dave and Roman gave her a 'shut up' look.

She did, reluctantly. No everyone was looking to me for how to proceed. Everyone. The other employees were making their way over to the stand off. \

"Let's try this again, shall we?" I said gesturing back to the table we had left just recently, but it felt like a lifetime ago

"Can I take this off then?" Verdandi asked

"Might as well. Dog's out of the bag." I said. Verdandi proceeded to rip the fabric away from himself rather than unzipping the thing. Clearly glad to be rid of it.

There was a quiet cry from Cole, but he mostly caught himself. "I'll get you a new one" I said while gesturing for him to sit down with everyone else.

I remained standing. And not just because there were not any chairs left at our table. I wanted to be in the command position for this.

"You two. Phones and all the rest of your stuff on the table." I said. I do not need 911 involved in this

"Why would we.." Chelsie started but Roman interrupted "Just listen. They're willing to talk. Do it" he said while putting his hand on hers. She took his lead and emptied his pockets, Roman followed after. I checked to see if either device was running. They were not. One positive thing I guess. I put the devices back on the middle the table and straightened to address our captives

"Congrats. You were right. We cleaned the air. Of all the things to catch us on, I wouldn't have guessed that. That was more of fringe benefit to what we were doing, not the goal. That's probably why we hid it so badly." I said

I shook my head. I didn't want to be here all night. I still had to deal with Melvin. Lets figure out where these two stand.

"If you had figured out how to pin the cleaning on us without" I pointed at Verdandi "That, what was the plan here? Shut us down, or join us?" I asked them

Roman took the lead on the question after a head shake to his partner. "I wanted to find what was breaking my models. I needed to know if you were a threat to this nation. Or the climate. Once I had that, then I would decide" he said. I don't think he was lying. But he was afraid.

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"Are any of you human?" Chelsie asked. Kind of a non sequitur, but I guess if I were in their position I'd want to know too.

"Everyone but Nola, Verdandi and Burt. That's Verdandi by the way. I borrowed his name when I lied to you." I said while pointing to him.

He gave a toothy smile back at them. He had let me know that smiling with teeth was not 'the norm' in his culture, but he had been practicing to fit in. I had encouraged that at the time, but now, kind of regretting that.

Burt chose that moment to pop out of the ground behind the two of them. "Haaaaaaaaiiii" he said by way of greeting. Getting better Burt. Also, is he getting greener?

"That one is Burt. He's still working on speaking" I said pointing at him. "Nola, on the other hand, is the one responsible for the air cleaning. She isn't going to be popping in to say hi. But she is the reason all of this, the plant, the air and the rest are possible. All of us are busy people. So you both get one question." I said.

Roman looked like he was spinning in his chair. So he was gonna need a moment to come up with one.

I looked back to Chelsie, indicating she could go first.

"What... do you want?" Good question. And Kathy teed me up for that one thanks to her earlier conversation. Too bad I hadn't really come up with a solid answer.

"I want a cleaner, healthier and fairer world. We can make that happen. Without hurting anyone. Hell, if I can do it right, they won't even know I am here" Solid answer Roy. Why thank you Roy.

Eh. six out of ten

Shut up

"Bull" Chelsie said. "That's an alien. So is that one" She said pointing to Verdandi and Burt. "There is a lot more going on here. What haven't you told us?" She said

"Plenty. But what I said was the truth. Believe it, or not. You can know more if we decide you are worth trusting." I said back "Your turn, then we vote" I said pointing to Roman

"What can we offer to you, if we were to join?" He asked

"Cover for one. We want to make sure that we don't have anyone else from your organization coming to our door. We want to continue cleaning the air, but in a way that doesn't get us caught. Beyond that, if you know ways we can do even more good, maybe using your models... we could use that to help"

Roman nodded along. "I could try to fake the data to hide you. But only historically. Someone else will notice eventually. The best I can do is mask the origin. This is too big to hide long term. Other countries will start to notice California soon enough, if they haven't already." He said. Again, he didn't look like he was lying and I appreciated that.

I hadn't thought about that. But historical data hiding might be enough. We'd want to fill out Colorado pretty quickly, or would we? We'd need a strategy session on that.

"Well then. We need a moment to talk as a group. Please feel free to wander the grounds. The walls are electrified, so, don't try that." I said apologetically while lying. I figure a little lie is better than chasing them down and dragging them back here.

I would have made sure they didn't get out

Non violently right?

Minimal violence. At most. Also, I can electrify the walls if you want. It would be easy.

We will see.

"Alright everyone. What do you think of them" I said, opening the floor to discussion. "I think they could be useful to us, maybe in a limited information capacity."

"I don't trust them. They are a threat to us if we let them go" Tyler said immediately. No surprises there

"I want to know where this conversation is going before I give my answer. What exactly is our plan if we can't trust them?" Dave asked. How lawyer-ly

"The female has the soul of a fighter, but the old fat male cannot be trusted. He will break under the lightest of torture." Verdandi said to me in his own language rather than English. I think, the syntax was correct. But still, you are alien in more ways than one my dude.

"If, and this is only if they can't be trusted, but if they can't be trusted; we could try keeping them here, or at one of the other spots in the dungeon. We can make food, beds, and whatever else. I just want to bring up that we have options." Cole said.

"Kathy are you going to weigh in?" Dave asked. She did not answer

After that the bickering started between all parties.