Episode 4.2

I and Nora both look at him astonished by this action. While Nora surely will hardly have any idea why he's saying it, I start to chuckle to myself.

Gasard, on the other hand, looks down at me, and almost tangible question marks circle around him, carrying the question of why we're not running away like scared chickens.

I'm the one who takes the initiative. "We come from a planet that has just discovered space," I explain, only to correct myself afterwards. "Okay, I don't come from that planet, I just grew up there." I smile at him. "Anyway, I find Kaia quite nice and I'd be happy to help you further. It's interesting."

"You find Kaia nice‽" Gasard looks struck by lightning. "You're hopefully making a huge joke that I can't laugh at at all‽"

"Why?" I ask him surprised.

"Kaia is a deceitful beast who makes everyone's life difficult except Torsos!" he explains to me.

"She was quite nice to me!" I say confused.

"We are hopefully talking about the same person," he doubted my words. "About this little red-haired, cheeky thing who always hops around looking for trouble."

I nod.

"I witnessed her fight yesterday," I explain.

He looks at me surprised.

"Okay, you didn't catch my attention." He sighs. With slightly slower steps, he now continues towards the cells. "Maybe Kaia also has a side that nobody knows."

Nora pulls me towards her. She has kept her distance from us so far, but now her body presses against mine, almost touching the man's.

"How come the hottest guys are always around you?" she whispers in my ear. But not quietly enough.

I blush at her question and look speechlessly into the room, pondering what I can answer to that now.

Gasard starts laughing again.

"I have good hearing!" he says. "So I want to befriend the good one because she will eventually become the mother of my best friend's child."

"He can forget about that!" I say firmly.

"Forget, there aren't many of your kind left," he reminds me.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." A sigh escapes my throat.

"What does he mean by that?" Nora asks me.

"Hey Janine!" Gasard laughs. He walks past Nora, around behind my back to my other side and puts his arm around my shoulder. "I suffer terribly with you, and I know from experience that he can be terribly annoying when it comes to saving a species from extinction. But he only does that for his own and his best friends'."

I look at him questioningly. I don't quite understand what he means. But he explains it to me immediately. "He's been trying to set me up with Kaia for damn long. Just hasn't succeeded yet."

Gasard stops in front of the door. He gives me the short instruction to go to the guards to pick something up there. A request I obediently follow.

The guards are standing on a high platform, from which they have a good view of the room. There are a few stairs leading up to it. I head for the ones closest to the cells and therefore the shower.

In front of them are two guards, who stare at me intrigued.

"Hello there, girl!" greets me the first guard, while the second one just grins foolishly.

"I'm supposed to pick up something for Gasard," I explain to them.

"You can also pick up some nice stuff from me!" the second guard throws at me with a kiss. Disgusted, I turn away.

"Go up, girl, that's where they'll give you his stuff!" the first guard instructs me. He signals to his colleague.

I slowly step onto the stairs. Unfortunately, I already know one of the guards. My heart begins to beat with fear at the look he gives me.

He can't do anything to me, I try to calm myself. Especially not here in front of all the others.

I avert my gaze from him.

Most of his colleagues seem nervous and eager to leave. The men's gazes excitedly wander to two clock-like objects. Round disks with lines on them. Both with four lines. While on one disk the four lines are evenly spaced, it's a bit different on the other disk. Each disk has a pointer.

I also notice that on one disk the pointer is nearing a line, on the other one, the line has been crossed.

When I reach the top, eyes are on me again. It's getting tiresome! Am I such a sensation or have these men never seen a girl before? One almost believes that, with how these guys stare.

"I'm supposed to pick up some stuff for Gasard here," I explain again at the top.

"Only someone like him can afford such a service!" comes from one of the guards.

He's immediately rebuked by a somewhat older man in black. Gray stripes adorn his shoulders.

The man briefly looks me over, then smiles.

He reaches next to him on the floor and hands me a stack. A few clothes - black, like I've seen here very often - a towel, and a small jar.

"Please tell him that our beloved ruler is asking for him," he asks me.

I nod and am about to leave when my gaze falls again on the two disks. Briefly, I hesitate in thought.

I notice the interested look the man in black gives me quite late.

"To be honest, I would like to say goodbye forever, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon," I sigh. "So I'll just say see you later or tomorrow."

The man in black looks confused and doesn't seem to understand what I mean. "Why is that?" he asks. "But you will, come back as soon as possible."

"That I will!" I wink at the man. Then I gesture with my eyes to the clocks. "Only the gentlemen don't seem to be in the mood to wait for me to enter the room."

With a smile on my lips, I walk down the stairs.

"Brave and smart girl!" I hear the man behind me impressed by me.

As I walk along the cells, a shiver runs down my spine. I'm not keen on being locked up in one of these cells again.

If only all of this were a nightmare.

Maybe I should accept the offer, I think to myself. Away from the prison and out of reach of this Kyle.

But a part of me prevents me from doing so.

Pride.

Torsos put me in here, and I don't want to beg him to get me out again.

Also...

Nora is standing in front of the shower. When she sees me, a smile forms on her lips.

Even though it's pleasant to talk to her without arguing, I wish everything could be as it was before. That we're both back on Earth.

She stands as usual under my window, using the seclusion for secret affection and kisses with her boyfriend. Just like she did before Andy. I secretly watch the two of them from my room. Instead of being happy for them, I get creative in disturbing their togetherness.

Everything would be normal. Very different from now.