Thomas leaned on Javqua’s side, as she nuzzled him. They were still at their vantage point - a small hill near the school, trying their best to stay alert.
“So…what do you wanna watch tonight?” Thomas asked, momentarily glancing at his girlfriend before returning his gaze to his holo-pad.
“Oh, anything is fine.” Javqua said. “Human movies are all pretty good.”
“Really? I was thinking of watching some of the galactic ones.” Thomas remarked, but Javqua shook her head.
“Don’t bother. I thought they were okay before, but…after watching human movies, they’re pretty plain.” She reassured him.
“Plus, it’s nice not to have carnivores as the villains for once,” Javqua added after a moment.
“Please tell me that’s not a thing for every movie.” Thomas sighed as his expression soured at the thought. It’s just like us Brits - always the ones to play the villain in every movie. Or at least, too many movies for my comfort.
“Don’t worry, it’s not. It’s more of a cliche, I guess. And while some people do point it out, it still kind of…it just…you know?” Javqua said softly.
Thomas just nodded. Of course. He thought.
“Javqua, what did you Krakovaks think about other alien civilizations when you were still pre-FTL?” Thomas asked suddenly.
“Huh? Well, for the most part, we were cautious, but optimistic. Why?” Javqua replied.
“Us humans, we were…pretty paranoid, to say the least. Our most well-known media about aliens were about invasions, or war, and stuff like that.” Thomas explained.
Seeing Javqua's expectant gaze, he elaborated. “We humans had always seen ourselves as a weak race - pushing through more with innovation and creativity rather than brute force or intelligence. To say that first contact was an eye-opener, would be… a major understatement to say the least.”
“...What exactly happened after first contact? We don't really have that info in the records… is-is it bad?” Javqua asked, both intrigue and worry lacing her stuttered words.
Thomas chuckled for a moment. “Well, after first contact, we had some major skirmishes across human space. You see, a lot of the more…devious factions thought that the galaxy’s species being meek meant an easy chance to get more land and resources.” Concern flashed over Javqua before he continued.
“But my nation, and the others that stand beside us, quickly abolished that idea. It only took a few hundred fleets, one or two cracked moons and a shit ton of datawork.” Thomas said cheekily, as Javqua chuckled nervously.
Then Thomas’s expression hardened.
“Javqua, it’s true that Xenos have a reason to fear us. The history of our species is bloody, and violent, and we can probably hurt them with ease,” he said seriously, reaching out to hold her hand.
“But that doesn’t mean we should ever feel ashamed of being ourselves. We were just shaped by the circumstances of our planets.” Thomas tried to imagine humans evolving on a peaceful Earth. Humans, living in peace and harmony, instead of waging wars and fighting -
It seemed like Javqua was doing the same. “Yeah…” She said wistfully, her blue eyes full of emotion. The two of them remained like that for a little while, feeling better about themselves.
Then, the two of them were snapped out of their reverie as Javqua’s holo-pad beeped.
“What does it say?” Thomas asked, sitting up. “Valus just texted me. The headmaster’s returning.” Javqua exclaimed, with wide eyes.
Thomas’s brain took a moment to register Javqua’s words. “F-”
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“C’mon, where is it?” Rylan grumbled as he searched through file after file.
The headmaster’s computer had been trivially easy to hack into since it didn’t even have a password - just more proof of the headmaster’s astounding arrogance - and yet, Rylan was struggling to find any video files.
David stood beside him, occasionally pointing out things he had missed.
But somehow, even with two people, they couldn’t find anything incriminating.
It was then Rylan’s holo-pad dinged.
“Answer that for me, will ya David.” He said, never taking his eyes off of the headmaster’s computer screen lest he miss something important.
“The headmaster’s returning.” David said, and Rylan’s heart skipped a beat.
“Oh shit. Uhh- how much time do we have left?” He asked.
“Thomas and Javqua estimate around…fifteen minutes,” David replied.
“Twenty, if we’re lucky,” The boy said after a pause.
“Okay…I…I think I can find the files by then.” Rylan exhaled slowly as he tried to calm his nerves.
As Rylan exited one folder to search through another, something caught his eye.
“Hey David, should we go through this?” He asked.
David looked at the computer screen. It was the headmaster’s private messages.
“Yes.” The boy said, a rare hint of emotion in his voice - mischief.
Rylan scrolled through the headmaster’s many conversations, reading them.
At first, they all seemed to be useless - just being messages to the school’s staff members, or questions to automated answering machines…until one conversation caught Rylan’s eye. Scrolling up as high as he could, he began reading.
Vancun Pevinjara - I ventilated the human’s classroom with the sleeping medication you recommended and he didn’t fall unconscious! What were you spouting?
09830 - It’s a hellworlder. You should’ve used more. What was even your plan in the first place?
Vancun Pevinjara - To ruin their reputation. It almost worked, rumors started getting spread about them
09830 - You need to be even more aggressive, Vancun. Passive actions like monitoring and petty gossip will do nothing.
Vancun Pevinjara - Listen. I just want these predator species to stick to themselves. I’m not going to do anything drastic.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
09830 - We’ll see about that. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you didn’t take action?
Vancun Pevinjara - Don’t you mention that.
“...are you seeing this?” Rylan asked.
“Yes.” David replied, sounding rightfully disgusted.
There was a short, stunned pause between the two before Rylan spoke. “Take photos of the conversation and keep scrolling down.” He instructed David, as he split the screen and continued searching through the headmaster’s computer.
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Who’s this 09830? David wondered, as he carefully took photos of the headmaster’s conversations.
“Rylan, who do you thin-”
“I FOUND IT!” Rylan screamed triumphantly, causing David to jump.
The boy excitedly began copying the video files to his holo-pad, as David let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Then, they waited…and waited…and waited…
And waited some more…and more, still…
Seeming to notice his impatience, Rylan spoke up. “There’s…a lot of footage, so it’ll take a while to download,” he explained sheepishly.
David frowned, looking at the time.
“Rylan, we have thirteen minutes.” He said.
While the two of them still had time left, they’d need to spend most of said time getting back into their disguise and leaving the building.
His friend didn’t respond, staring intently at the loading bar on his holo-pad. While it was only at twenty-two percent, it was rising at a reasonably fast rate.
And then Rylan got another notification.
“Oh no.” The boy mumbled, wide-eyed as he stared at his holo-pad. His normally cheerful voice was unnervingly flat, and David almost shivered from the tone.
“What?” He demanded. “What?” He repeated louder when Rylan didn’t respond.
“Thomas just texted me saying that the headmaster took some shortcut they weren’t aware of. He’s…already here.” Rylan said grimly, his eyes cold.
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“Shit, shit, shit!” Thomas muttered as he watched the headmaster walk towards the staff dormitory apartment.
Javqua was just as nervous as he was - scraping her claws against the ground and tearing out clumps of dirt and grass.
“What do we do?” She asked, but Thomas was speechless. Damnit. Damnit! He thought, panicked. How did he get here so fast?
“Thomas!” Javqua’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. He turned to his side, almost hitting Javqua’s snout with his face.
“What do we do?” She demanded, and Thomas took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Listen. David and Rylan are smart. They’ll find an ingenious way out of this situation themselves.” He said, only somewhat confident in his own words.
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“Okay - so, David, best case scenario, we knock out the headmaster in one hit.” Rylan said bluntly. David just stared at him, clearly unimpressed with his plan.
The download bar was at sixty-five percent, and the two of them knew that the timing was going to be awfully close.
Any minute now, the elevator could arrive and the headmaster could burst through the doors - and then what? Would they be expelled? Arrested? Could they argue the headmaster’s actions in court?
Rylan almost began to bite his nails but stopped himself.
“David, how do you feel about hiding until the headmaster falls asleep, and then sneaking out?” He asked hesitantly.
“I’m fine - if that’s what it takes.” David replied, somewhat cautiously.
“Awww man. If we get caught, my parents are gonna be so pissed.” Rylan chuckled nervously as he looked at the download bar. Eighty-nine percent.
It was then he and David heard a faint tapping.
The two of them froze, straining to find the source of the sound.
Then the tapping continued again, louder.
A few moments later, they heard a muffled voice, shouting. A voice that sounded very familiar, and sounded…strangely close, considering that they were on the top floor of an apartment building.
It was…
“Lylith?” Rylan and David spoke at the same time, turning to look at each other in utter disbelief.
Moving towards the sound, they entered the next room, and upon doing so, their jaws dropped.
Lylith was tapping urgently from the…outside of the room’s window. Upon spotting them, she waved with a smug expression on her face.
Stunned, it took the two boys a few seconds before they rushed forward and opened it.
“But…how…?” Rylan asked incredulously, before being interrupted by a heavy scoff.
“You told me to sit and look pretty. First of all, I just want to clarify that I’m fucking beautiful.” She said in a matter of factly tone. “Well, that’s debatable.” Rylan muttered, which Lylith happily ignored.
“As for how…that’s easy. I searched up the blueprints of this building to figure out it’s height. Then, I ordered a self-supporting extendable ladder online - you guys are gonna have to pay me back for that by the way - and then all I had to do was climb up and get your attention.” Lylith smiled brightly.
“You’re welcome.” She added.
Rylan was about to say something witty - but instead, he just smiled.
“Thank you.” He said after a moment.
“Now, let’s get the hell out of h-” Lylith stopped talking as the three of them heard a familiar ding.
The elevator was here, and so was the headmaster.
David spoke first. “Rylan, you go down. I’ll turn off the computer, the download should be done by now. And don’t worry - I’ll find another way out.”
Upon hearing his words, a cunning grin made its way onto Rylan's previously worried face. Instead of wasting time speaking, he just nodded - hoisting himself up onto the windowsill and letting Lylith help him out.
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David raced back to the previous room, calm and collected.
Or at least, that’s how he looked on the outside.
BY THE FUCKING EMPRESS’ TITS! David swore in his head as he reached the computer, racing to turn it off.
He fiddled around with the computer’s mouse-thingy, moving the cursor to the shutdown button.
And then his heart sank as he accidentally pressed restart.
For a moment, he was frozen in fear - before casually unplugging the whole computer.
Hearing footsteps - or claw steps, or however the fuck the headmaster walked, approaching, David looked around for an escape plan.
Grabbing the remains of their shoddy disguise, he hurried into the next room, praying that the headmaster wouldn’t wander inside.
Instead, he heard the headmaster enter the room he was just in.“What? When did I unplug my computer?” David heard the avian say, confused. An exasperated squawk emanated throughout the building, as David slipped through the next door.
Frantically looking around the room, David's spotted something that made his heart sink into his feet. In the corner, just sitting there, was a garbage chute.
He remembered Rylan’s words from a couple of days ago - “Hey, David - I think you might be able to fit in there…”
David clenched his jaw, before muttering grimly, “Fuck!”
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Just as Rylan and Lylith reached the bottom of the ladder, Thomas and Javqua came rushing over.
“You have the evidence?” Thomas asked, panting, and Rylan gave him a half-smile. “Yeah.” He replied.
“That’s great!” Javqua cheered, and Thomas began to smile, before noticing Rylan and Lylith’s serious expressions.
He quickly realized that a certain person…a very short person, was missing. Javqua came to the same conclusion as well, her expression of joy quickly turning to worry.
“Where’s David?” Thomas demanded.
“He stayed back to turn off the headmaster’s computer. He said he was going to find a way out.” Rylan answered firmly, but Thomas could hear the worry in his voice.
The four were tense, their feelings of anxiety and worry for their friend almost palpable. “Who brought the ladder?” Javqua asked, to break the silence.
“That would…be me.” Lylith sighed, her sentence changing from proud to somber halfway.
“…smart.” Javqua replied, leaving the group in silence once more.
“Wait, does anyone know the headmaster’s number? If - if we call him, we can give David a chance to-” Thomas stopped as a strange metallic sound drowned out his voice.
The four of them turned to find the source of the sound - it was coming from…the side of the building? Listening intently, they could swear they heard cursing and grunts alongside it.
Suddenly, Rylan’s face lit up, and he bolted over to a nearby garbage bin, leaping inside without hesitation.
Moments later, David shot out of the building’s garbage disposal chute with a yelp, before getting caught by Rylan… in a bridal carry.
“So you can fit after all!” Rylan yelled excitedly, only to get punched by David, forcing him to drop the small teenager.
The two boys climbed out of the large trash bin, David grumbling.
“Well that was something.” Thomas muttered.
“Wait, we…we…did it!” Javqua said, astonished.
“Hell yeah we did!” Rylan cheered raucously.
Before they knew it, the four humans and the one krakovak were celebrating loudly, laughing at their plan being pulled off successfully.