One week later
The thing about unwanted guests is that they never seem to want to leave. Cody thrived on the company though. He moved through the ship with renewed energy, voice brighter, steps quicker, as if the extra bodies had restored something essential in his programming. Jinyue felt the exact opposite. Every corridor felt narrower. Every turn brought another presence. There was no space left to breathe.
The fake names did not help. Neither did the constant questions, the careful acting, nor the need to suppress his power at all times. He planned to avoid them as much as possible, but avoidance proved difficult in a ship never meant to house this many people.
His heat was due. It should have hit days ago. Instead, it lingered just out of reach, stretching his nerves thin and throwing his routines off balance. He hated unpredictability. His body seemed intent on testing him at the wrong time.
The sub-female, on the other hand, remained sealed inside the healing pod. Stable, but not awake. As long as that remained true, the others stayed. Their long-range communicator was beyond repair. The homing signal could be fixed, but no one pushed for it. They had shelter, power, and food. Urgency faded fast under those conditions.
Jinyue tried to push them to leave subtly… they weren't keen on that. They seemed to be searching for something, asking the oddest questions, guised as trying to get to know him better. Jinyue knew an interrogation when he saw one. He chose to keep his answers to a minimum all while carefully balancing his soft spoken, shy zerg act. It was exhausting.
Eventually, Jinyue lost patience and offered to repair their things himself to accelerate their departure.
Mark accepted without hesitation.
The others did not hide their doubt and worry over him hurting himself while fixing the items.
Over the days, he could feel their constant stares burning through him. Anyone would be curious about a 'weak' male zerg living alone on a deserted planet with a robot as their only support.
As they observed him, he did the same in return… these female Zergs. The more he watched, the more unsettling the comparison became. Their habits, their expressions, the way they argued and hovered and worried. Too familiar to humans yet not.
Their interactions were different and unique. Their language structure was undoubtly different, with phrases which sounded wrong to him but perfectly normal to them. After all, his life as Jin'ar had been short thus not enough to learn more complex words from his parents. At some point, the must have noticed his confusion even with how well he hid it and used the most basic language they could. Cody's explanations helped, but the oddities still sat wrong in his chest.
Due to the accumulation of many unfortunate coincidences, Collin and the other female, Kyle, as he'd named himself, decided he needed help. According to them, he should slowly be re-intergration to the zerg society since in their exact words "You as so innocent your exellency you'd be eaten alive when you go back," He hated them with renewed vigor since then for forcing their views to him.
They found him at the worst moments too, with excuses too thin to bother hiding. They interrupted his routines, lingered during meals, and hovered while he worked. Whether it was information gathering, a misguided view of a damsel in distress that needed saving or courtship, as Cody insisted, Jinyue did not care. He was close to throwing them out. Their lack of surprise at his irritation only worsened it. Case in point.
"We scavenged some food for you, Your Excellency!" Collin shouted from the corridor.
Jinyue closed his eyes to count to ten. He then smiled and thanked them softly, his head lowered to hid his irritation.
"Your excellency, what do you plan on doing today?" Kyle asked, his mouth twisted around the title, distaste clear. Jinyue couldn't help but wish for him to just stop.
He resolutely ignored them as he moved past them, not wanting to blow up on them. He didn't miss the dark look Kyle had given him, but chose to brush it off. They seemed to get the message and let him leave without a fuss.
Cody seemed to be monitoring the healing pod and the sub-female's recovery, so he chose to go to the cockpit to check on the energy reserve of the ship and do some maintenance, an action which was long overdue yet hindered by the rest.
***********
He'd been hyper-focused on the maintenance of the ship for a while now. Long enough to lose focus on the outside world. Cody tried to break that habit. It never stuck. That was why the soft cough beside him made his tail flare before he could stop it.
It was Mark, standing there with all his glory. He didn't look the least bit sympathetic about startling him; if anything, Jinyue could infer the slightest bit of amusement. Probably because of his puffed-up tail. That would have been funny to him, too, from an outside perspective. However, being on the receiving end of that mire made him bubble up in rage.
"What do you want?" He was not keen on indulging the man? …female….whatever.
"How long have you lived here? You seem skilled in fixing up your ship"
Jinyue paused. He had heard that question before, and the answer was always the same. "Long enough."
Mark accepted that answer. He straightened and turned toward the cockpit. He stopped two steps short of the threshold and looked back.
"May I?"
Jinyue held his gaze; he thought through his options. Then he nodded.
Mark surveyed the cockpit. He took in the controls at a glance. Old tech. Mixed systems. Improvised links. He did not comment.
Jinyue moved behind to give space, then leaned against the doorway.
"The power grid is fragile," Jinyue warned. "Do not reroute anything."
"I won't. I'm just curious, that's all."
Silence settled between them.
Mark studied the star map. Most of it remained dark. Only the planet's GPS seemed available. The active routes glowed faintly. He traced one with his eyes and stopped.
"Did you map this out yourself? The planet isn't marked by the system." He asked with an inquisitive tone and something else tinged to it.
"What do you think?" Jinyue offered with his arms crossed. While this so-called Mark didn't seem as annoying as his other companions, he was still an outsider all the same, wanting answers to things that didn't involve him. The man tilted his mouth to a semi-smirk that quickly disappeared.
"You are odd, why are you different with me? Do you still think I havent told the others how you really are?" He said as his hand traced the control panel of the ship in a slow and deliberate motion that emphasised his long, slender and veiny hand.
Jinyue traced the movement with a raised eyebrow, from the way the others behaved, it was clear he hadn't. Good liars or not, Jinyue discovered that he was a walking zerg lie detector three days into the quests stay. Before he could counter, Mark continued, " Then again, I'm odd too. Not to worry, I haven't done so. Just talk more."
Jinyue wondered what brought that on. So far, the man seemed okay with doing most of the talking since they'd met and assesments. He chose not to voice his thoughts. It must have been his tail which had betrayed him unconsciously, or something, because Mark replied almost immediately.
"Don't take it to heart, your situation is unique, that's all."
He ignored the last comment, and the silence continued. However, Mark seemed to have something he really wanted to say. Just at the tip of his tongue, too, since he always turned to question something and then stopped short. Jinyue's patience ran thin, and he just chose to give him an ultimatum.
"Either say what's bugging you or leave."
The phrase must have landed wrongly as Mark frowned before brushing it off. Did it mean something different? Hard to tell without sounding autistic or the zerg equivalent.
"The ship was never meant to last this long," Mark hesitated. Just enough to show it was a guided statement. There it was. Jinyue turned back to the open casing and tightened a loose clamp with slow care.
"The ship can last for 70 years." Jinyue answered simply.
"I meant the power, surely it hasn't been running for that long. On average, the ship's core can only work for 5 years under power saving. You seem to have been here for more, based on the type of ship and its state."
"You'd be correct," Jinyue then added. " And you'd be right. Its original core burned out."
Mark listened. "What powers it then? What happened with the core?"
"I replaced it."
"With what?" Mark asked, generally intrigued more than ever. His eyes seemed to shine at the new, intriguing information.
Jinyue glanced at him. "A rock."
Mark blinked once, then twice, then gave a questioning look.
"A blue mineral with unusual properties," Jinyue continued. "Stable output. High density. Dangerous if mishandled."
Mark's eyes sharpened immediately, his easy-going demeanour sharpened immediately. "You discovered its use."
"Yes."
"Not Cody."
"No."
"You..."
Silence stretched long enough for Jinyue to see the doubt in his eyes.
"May I see it?" he asked instead. "The rock?"
Jinyue reached into a sealed compartment and pulled out a small fragment. Blue. Smooth. It glowed faintly even through the casing. He tossed it without looking. Mark caught it on instinct.
For a moment, his expression slipped. Recognition flared sharp and fast. Then it vanished, sealed behind a neutral mask.
Jinyue noticed. He tightened the final bolt and straightened.
"Do not drop it," Jinyue said.
"I would not," Kaerin replied.
The hum of the ship held steady.
Jinyue filed the reaction away.
Puzzle pieces mattered.
"This is just an ordinary rock to us. How does it work?" He asked feigningly; however, Jinyue could call out the lie from miles away. He wouldn't give him any information if he could help it. That would just lower his leverage and advantage. Another reason for his reluctance to share the method was that it required mental strength to activate. Which he wasn't sure if the other male zergs could do the same. For all he knew, it might have been another oddity in his biology.
"Trade secret."
"It could change everything."
"Not interested."
"You could claim power."
"No."
"You'd save lives,"
"...."
"Is it because you only know this place as home?"
"…."
Jinyue's tail lashed.
For all the man said he didn't talk much, he sure was asking a lot of questions.
"Apologies, I seem to be bothering you."
Jinyue returned to his work now with an objective of fully ignoring the unwanted presence till it left. He thought of the others. The loud certainty. The assumptions. The way they dismissed him while relying on everything he maintained. Mark was different. Still arrogant, perhaps. Still sharp. But his interest took shape and wasn't solely focused on his biology.
Mark didn't seem offended by Jinyue ignoring him. He, however, seemed as restless as a puppy. Tapping his foot here and there or flicking his arms. He even got up and tried to help at some point, all while his face remained blank. A person full of contradictions. He gave up at some point on staying still while Jinyue continued to work.
"Will you fight me?" Kaerin asked.
"No."
"Later."
"No."
"I know you are strong; we can compare strengths."
"Either shut up or leave,"
That made the man deflate.
Mark stepped back. "You are not what the others think."
"Leave," Jinyue said.
"I would like to understand you."
Jinyue closed the panel and faced him, then promptly threw the object in his hand at him with some force. He'll survive.
Mark dodged it with ease, and the object hit the wall nearby and clattered uselessly as it landed.
"Message received," he said in a cheeky tone so uncharacteristic of his voice that it irked Jinyue enough to want throw another tool to the person who was making his way to the exit.