Once again, Scott was seeing off his mom. Seeing her hug Alice without hesitation was nice, but he couldn't help but let his mind wander to what had been troubling him the day before. Once again, he was being left behind to be protected while everyone else went out to determine his future.

When it was his turn, and his mom hugged him, she was all smiles. "Watch after your sister while I'm gone. Also keep an eye on that Cleo. I'm still not convinced we can trust her."

Scott couldn't help but let a little venom out as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid. Cleo was a pirate up until a few days ago. I'm not about to let her anywhere near anything important. Also, I've been looking after Alice just fine for years. I'm pretty sure I've got that role down better than anyone."

Scott regretted that last line almost as soon as he'd said it. He could see the words cut deeper than intended, but Lacy smiled bravely anyway. "Oh, son. I know I haven't always been the best mom, but that's what I'm trying to make up for now. My past is catching up with all of you, and I'm just trying to deal with it, so you're free to pursue whatever life you wish!"

Scott didn't feel particularly free to pursue anything at the moment, but he'd said enough about that and decided to keep it to himself this time. Instead, he offered a similar half-hearted smile. "I know, I know. Being stuck on this ship has me feeling a little angsty, that's all."

Lacy's smile wilted a little. "I know, and I'm sorry, but hopefully, this is temporary. With luck, we'll be back to our old lives in no time!"

Scott didn't think anything she could do would bring their old lives back but decided not to get into that either. After all, his mom was about to leave to do something incredibly dangerous on their behalf, and he didn't want to add to any bad blood between them. Instead, he just went with a more generic thought. "Just be careful out there, okay? Alice and I don't want to lose you again, especially now that we're just learning more about you!"

Finally, Lacy's smile brightened a bit. "Well, hopefully, you won't have to learn too much more about my past, but I'll be careful out there, I promise!" With that, she walked up into her shuttle, leaving Scott and Alice again.

Charlotte had also been there to see Lacy off in her familiar spider mantis form, but seeing as she was also riding alongside their mom in several other forms, she'd just stayed quiet and off to the side, but now that Lacy was gone, she stepped forward again. "What shall we do now? Work on the garden? Play checkers? Maybe plan out new meals with the food supplies your mother brought back?"

Scott shook his head and let out a long breath. "No, I think I'll rest my eyes and think for a bit. You and Alice can have fun, though."

In answer, Charlotte examined him in that odd way of hers, tilting her head back and forth as if trying to understand, but if she had any thoughts, the strange alien kept them to herself.

That last thought stopped Scott for a moment. He hadn't thought of Charlotte in that way in quite a while. Perhaps he did need to rest. Before long, he might say something else he'd regret.

-

Charlotte watched in confusion as Scott walked away. She might not have a long history of experience with humans, but it struck her that he was acting uncharacteristically hostile. Not in an aggressive way, but more defensive, like an animal backed into a corner. It kind of reminded her of her earlier interactions with the human. Perhaps this environment was not as well suited for human habitability as she'd first assumed. Maybe she should have tried to simulate the environment of the forest planet better? Though the field she'd created had been far more like the open fields of the planet than the environment aboard the human ship she'd integrated into her new home.

A moment later, Alice sent a general feeling of inquiry, wondering if something was wrong. Charlotte answered. "Something appears to be upsetting your brother, but I am unsure how to alleviate his concerns. Would it help if I grew trees in the field?"

Alice thought about it a moment before answering. "I don't know, but Scott is the smartest person I know. If anyone can figure out what's wrong and fix it, it's him."

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Charlotte considered Alice's words and the accompanying feelings of complete trust the girl had in her brother. It was true that in her limited experience, Scott did seem unusually clever when it came to solving problems, even among humans. Perhaps time was all he needed to overcome whatever was bothering him.

After a moment of further consideration, Alice seemed to shift moods abruptly. Charlotte had noticed the young girl seemed to contain far more emotions at any time than had been apparent on the surface before they'd become more closely linked, and she seemed to act on those shifting emotions with surprising rapidity. "I think I'll go see if Cleo wants to play checkers!"

-

Cleo frowned as she looked at the holographic board. Scott had apparently not been pleased that his little sister had spoken to the pirate behind his back, but realizing the damage was done, he set up a holographic board so the two of them could play checkers remotely, though she could only hear Alice. For some reason, Scott seemed hesitant to so much as allow Cleo to see the girl.

At the time, Cleo wondered if she could use the setup to access the ship's systems but decided to hold off, as he was more than a little likely monitoring it closely, and she didn't want to ruin a good thing yet. Instead, she just accepted it as a welcome distraction. As far as prisons went, this was one pretty nice, with a comfortable bedroom, plenty to read, and even a good exercise room, but there was a decided lack of social interaction, so chatting with the girl while they played checkers was a welcome change of pace.

Returning her attention to the board, Cleo realized there was just one problem. That girl was way too good at the game for someone her age. "How old did you say you were again?"

Alice moved a piece, jumping over two more of Cleo's as the younger girl answered. "I'm six!"

Cleo searched the board for some way to make up for the deficit of pieces she now had. "How in the world did a six-year-old get so good at this game? When I was your age, I played jump rope or hopscotch!"

Cleo jumped another piece, taking one of Alice's, only for Alice to return the favor immediately after. "I do that too, but I also play checkers with Charlotte. She always wins, though, so having someone else to play against is nice."

There she went, bringing up Charlotte again. Alice talked about the spider a lot. Although, being alone on this ship with only her brother and the spiders as imaginary friends, Cleo supposed it was understandable. She carefully considered her next move. "So what does your brother do for fun? Aside from work in his garden and work out with me, I mean."

Alice sounded almost impatient with how long Cleo was taking but answered instead of complaining. "Well, when he's not playing games with me, he goes for walks, watches movies, and talks to Charlotte a lot."

Cleo shook her head. Poor guy, having to play along with his sister's imaginary friends, but the rest of that, it sounded like things would get kinda boring. "Man, it seems like I'm not the only one in lock up! He sounds like some of those big cats you see in zoos. Always prowling about, bored out of their minds. At least the zoo keepers do their best to keep them stimulated with new things now and then. Aside from me, what was the last new thing that happened to you and Scott?"

Of course, as soon as Cleo made a move, Alice was already capitalizing on the unseen opening it left, costing her two more pieces. "Well, not many new things happened after Scott's father tried to kidnap us, and Scott was forced to kill him to save me. Mom's been kinda worried someone else might come looking for us, so we've been hidden away since."

Cleo froze mid-move. That was kinda a bombshell, and she was having trouble processing it. "Did you say Scott killed his father? Did they hate each other or something?"

Alice sounded sad for once. "No, Scott really liked his dad. He hasn't been quite the same since then, though he was getting better for a while, but something seems to be bothering him again..."

At this point, Cleo had totally forgotten about the game. Not that she was an expert on emotional stability, but that was messed up even by her standards. "Well, no wonder! How the hell is the guy supposed to process what he's been through locked up on this ship with nothing to do! He's got to be crawling up the walls by now! After something like that, the only thing to do is to go out and get wasted!"

Alice's innocent reply reminded Cleo she was dealing with someone considerably younger than herself. "Get wasted?"

Cleo laughed. "Well, you might be a little too young to realize what I mean, but he's got to let loose a little, or that stuff will eat him up inside!"

After a few moments of silence, Alice spoke again. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Now, that was an interesting question. Cleo stopped and thought. Maybe this would be a good chance for her to ingratiate herself with her host while livening things up a little. "Well, I do know a trick or two. I notice you have a lot of fresh produce on board. You don't happen to have some fruit and a little yeast lying around, do you?"

-

Charlotte observed the exchange between Alice and Cleo with some interest. Scott had told her to listen in for specific bits of information or requests the pirate might make while she thought Scott wasn't listening, and while some of the questions she'd asked had come close enough that She'd speak to Scott once he was awake, nothing seemed to warrant disturbing his rest. However, she did wonder about Cleo's insight. Would a little fruit juice really help Scott deal with what was bothering him? If so, perhaps Scott had been right to bring her on board.