Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

Ender opened up the store quick and early that morning, his laptop folded under his arm. He sat down at the desk and put it down, frowning as it seemed to have reached almost acordian-like proportions.

Brushing it off as yet another spat of madness by the island (beyond the part of him that catalogued it as he always did), Ender unfolded his laptop and got to work.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Ho, Ender," Ben said, smiling as he came into the shop.

[endsthegame]

"Ho, Ben," Ender returned, as per usual, and shut down his laptop.

[momslilassassin]

"Don't suppose that thing came to life over the weekend," Ben commented.

[endsthegame]

"I managed to avoid it," Ender said, wryly. "Any luck with the droids?"

[momslilassassin]

He shook his head. "I was too busy babysitting Granddad's flight simulator. It was a pain."

[endsthegame]

"What you get for pampering your children."

[momslilassassin]

Ben snorted. "I hope his new kid isn't nearly as obnoxious," he replied.

[endsthegame]

"Yes," Ender said, putting his laptop aside in earnest, "Especially by the time it can form full sentences."

[momslilassassin]

"His wife seems nice," Ben said, "which is also kind of weird. I shouldn't have opinions about a stepgrandmother who's as old as my cousin. Younger than the Jaina at home."

[endsthegame]

"Should or shouldn't, in this case, would be defined by people faced with different ideas about time than you have to cope with," Ender noted, "But I'd be happy to make fun of your grandfather robbing the cradle."

[momslilassassin]

"And I'll visit you in detention," Ben promised, smiling. "I'll even bring lunch."

[endsthegame]

"Now, are you doubting my ability to do it without him noticing?" Not that Ender would, mind, and it was obvious from his tone.

[momslilassassin]

"Absolutely," Ben said, grinning. "You are very, very smart, but Granddad spends most of his life looking for people offending him."

[endsthegame]

Ender had noticed that-- had made note of it as a liability and a weakness and moved on, so he shrugged lightly. "I talked to Val about Arrakis," he said, mildly.

[momslilassassin]

"I talked to Val too, but we ended up on a different topic," he said a little evasively. "What did she say about Arrakis?"

[endsthegame]

A different topic? One that involved either him, or something personal of Ben's. Ender would tend towards the former. "She talked about the worms," he said, "It seems our original theories were wrong. They don't drink water at all."

[momslilassassin]

Ben hissed in a breath, not liking the options his mind was presenting to him. "What happens when they do?"

[endsthegame]

"What keeps us alive kills them," Ender noted, slanting a look at him. "An ancient Catch-22."

[momslilassassin]

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of," Ben said sadly. "Do the worms know what's coming?"

[endsthegame]

"I'm not sure anyone speaks their language," Ender replied, looking thoughtful. That's human, killing to survive, isn't it? he'd tossed back in Valentine's face, but that wasn't really an appropriate answer here. "But it leaves you to wonder why the terraforming continues."

[momslilassassin]

"Because humans have an amazing capacity for selfishness?" Ben replied. "Not our species, not our problem."

[endsthegame]

"Considering that they use the worms for transportation, nevermind the religious worship they've shown them so far?" Ender asked, lifting his eyebrow. "I'd say the Fremen might have more issues than we previously thought."

[momslilassassin]

"Killing off their gods can't possibly be good for any kind of afterlife they're aiming at," Ben said.

[endsthegame]

It sounded... politically unstable.

"They've lived in the desert for generations," he noted, "Why now?"

Yes, he was fixating on another alien-related issue. What of it?

[momslilassassin]

But it was a new alien species, so Ben didn't panic quite as quickly. "Maybe technology has just caught up for this kind of terraforming?" Ben suggested. "Or there could have been an amassing of political capital, so this was the first time the project could be thought about."

Despite his protests to the contrary, he really had learned a lot about politics by listening to his family talking.