The atmosphere in the apartment had been less tense since AJ and Maggie's "revealing moment" a week ago. Since then, neither of them had had a single quarrel, lost their temper, or complained once. So, from Joe's perspective, things become relatively dull and monotonous. He's tired of his easy lifestyle, which seems ungrateful and rightfully so, but it's not. He was just used to things tumbling around from time to time. He decided he needed to make a change, so he invited his best friends over for a chat and a drink, after which they followed the time-honored tradition of shouting obscenities in front of the television.
As a result of this decision, Joe, Karen, and Benny found themselves parked around the coffee table in the center of the living room. The host grimaced with discomfort, while his two guests stared at him with unusual intensity. The cause of this serious tension was a question Benny had just asked, and Karen wanted to know the answer. However, Joe has reservations about spilling the beans. He was clearly uncomfortable discussing the subject, but he didn't outright refuse to talk about it. He was hesitating, which Benny took to mean he was going to push a little harder.
"Come on, Joe. We have to know," he insisted.
"Why from me?" the man argued. “Can’t you look it up online or on a message board?”
"You can't trust the trolls, man," Karen countered. "People make up the craziest lies to get attention. It's always been that way. Most of the time, even articles that look legitimate are just elaborate advertisements for some weird cream or pointless gadget."
"But you, we know you," Benny took over. "You're not a sly fellow who would lie to us about this."
"Yeah, no, I understand. It's a very personal thing and it's awkward to talk about."
"Stop it. Since when did you start worrying about making a fool of yourself?"
"It's not just me, Benny. Maggie's a part of it too."
"Oh, she won't mind. Mags likes to share things, usually without being asked."
"Then why don't you ask her?"
"Because, well, then we'd be embarrassed."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Karen interjected. "Besides, you owe us. What you did with her is something idiots like me and Benny will never experience!"
"Ah, don't be like this. I believe you can do it one day." Joe tried to encourage him.
"No, we really can't. That's not it. You're the most cunning dodger this side of Big Ben."
"Wait, are you jealous?"
"Hit the ball." Karen ignored the insinuation. "The word is 'jealous,' man." this is us. Like, you wouldn't believe how many. "
"Don't get me wrong, we're happy for you and Mags," Benny reassured Joe. "It's just, you know, you don't know where to start walking ahead of us. It kind of hurts, man. At least you can tell us some details."
“…You wouldn’t go around sharing this online, would you?”
"Of course not. You won't tell anyone, swear to me, Mom!" Baldhead said.
"Me too. Swear to me, Mom," Karen parroted "The Oath."
They both exaggerated. They didn't seem to intend to corner Joe like this when they came to Maggie's for a drink, but the alcohol brought out their ugly sides. It was rude and manipulative to put peer pressure on Joe like this, but it worked. The man was obviously hesitant, glanced around the room, and finally sighed and gave up. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes vigorously with his palms, no doubt warning himself of what he was about to say.
"Okay. I'll tell you, but you know, it's going to be a little gross."
"We don't care, man. Leave it to us," Karen advised him.
"Yeah. How bad can it be?"
Joe sighed one last time, rolled his eyes as if to say "let's go," and finally let his thoughts spill out.
"Okay. Let's say you drank too much tea during the day and had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. However, it's cold outside your bed. You don't want to go, but the urge to pee gets stronger and stronger. Eventually you will make up your mind to leave .You run to the bathroom, stand in front of it, and relax! You feel a blissful release and all is right with the world. Then you realize, this is not a bathroom. You are still under the covers! A warm, wet feeling It spreads between your thighs but you don’t stop. You can’t stop! That’s what I’m saying! This is what it feels like to own a real house! Get it?!”
Benny and Karen nodded slowly, thoughtful looks on their faces. They weren't making fun of Joe. Quite the opposite. His colorful descriptions and down-to-earth perspective resonated with them on a deeper level. They all dream of living in a luxurious home with real rooms and furniture, but only Joe knows what it's really like. I was inspired and inspired to hear him talk about it, two of his friends who suddenly wanted to put their all into becoming homeowners. They also want to experience that level of comfort and know what it feels like to wet themselves because they don't want to leave the bed. This is something only successful people do.
However, some people don't seem to think so.
"In the name of the Queen, you guys are disgusting."
The three of them turned their heads and stared at the only entrance to the room. They found a ginger-haired woman in combat uniform shaking her head in extreme dissatisfaction. Just as Joe was starting his little speech, Agent Johnson happened to walk by the open door. She was a little curious about what was going on, so she listened in the corridor. She regretted the decision a little, but the faint smile on her face showed that the ridiculous anecdote was entertaining nonetheless.
"Hey, AJ," Joe waved to her without hesitation. "Want to have a drink with us?"
"Well... sure, why not?" I could take a break from my mission while the mysterious man wasn't around. "
Her current mission is to assemble a model of a spaceship in a bottle hands-free, which requires some very precise and very persistent telekinesis. Considering she usually uses her psychic abilities to defeat bad guys and break through bulkheads, AJ struggled with this delicate mission. Still, it's better than Joe humorously calling it "Quest for Maggie Stone."
the Maggie Sto
e)'s maddening, exhausting film is much better. Moreover, this is the first mission she has received that is obviously aimed at improving her telepathic abilities. She's already figured out a way to increase her output, which means she just needs to tighten up her fine control. While she's far from done, the progress she's made has boosted her mood and confidence.
"Wow. You're a lot less stressed than the last time we were here," Benny said. "Uh, no offense intended."
"Yeah, tell me," Joe chuckled. "I still think she needs to relax a little more, but at least she's not wandering around and ruining the mood."
"Oy! I'm right here, you know," the woman complained, sitting down.
"Haha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything else," he smiled happily and poured her a glass of wine.
"Then why do you still live here?" Karen suddenly asked her. "For example, are you a tenant or a friend of a relative or something?"
Joe's friends had seen the female soldier before. They first met her a few weeks ago, when they were invited to see the man's new place at a impromptu housewarming party. At the time they were so overwhelmed by the place that they didn't bother to ask any questions. Since then, they've made several visits, which has made them feel more comfortable asking residents how they are doing.
"Uh-huh…"
AJ hesitated because she wasn't sure how much she could tell a group of civilians. She thought it would be fine as long as she kept silent about the cosmic entity.
"I was sent to assist with Magus's research. She has been conducting some non-invasive experiments on me."
"Hmm...that's cool." Weird, but cool," the pudgy guest nodded.
"Wait, so Mags is a doctor or a scientist or something?" Benny squeaked.
"…Kind of?" To be honest, I don't quite know what her job is. "
She had never given it serious thought before. Given the diplomatic status granted to her by the government, she was convinced that her official title was ambassador or something similar. However, saying this would give the wrong impression to these two men.
"I know exactly what you mean," Joe interjected. "I tried reading her contract six times, but this thing made my head spin. Considering all the mental work she does, I think 'scientist' is an appropriate title."
Of course, he could have said more, but he was unwilling to reveal Maggie's true nature to his companions. Unlike AJ, his reason for wanting to remain silent has nothing to do with national security. “By the way, my girlfriend is an unfathomable cosmic entity from another world,” isn’t the kind of thing he can throw around at a man. There might never be a good time to reveal this, so he quietly hoped he'd never say it. Maggie agrees and promises to remain silent about her origins in front of uninformed people. She won't lie, but she will keep secrets when necessary.
"Ah. No wonder she is so smart." The bald man's eyes widened. "I really want to know how someone as stupid as you caught such a smart bird."
"I bet they went out to let Maggs study that brainless guy, huh?" Cullen joked.
"Huh. Funny, you're not entirely wrong," Joe admitted.
"Okay, let's go ahead. So your date is like an experiment?"
"Well...a little bit. It started out as a problem, but it's become quite serious lately."
"Voice. What about you, AJ?" Karen suddenly changed the subject.
"What about me?" She raised her eyebrows.
"What experiments did Magus have you do?" I mean, I didn't see a lab or anything like that. "
"Oh, it doesn't involve machines or equipment. Like chopping wood, writing poetry, blindfolding a monkey, standing on one's head for thirteen hours straight..."
This topic brought back memories of the past that she really didn't want to recall, and her words became less and less.
"What's the point of this?"
"I'm not sure myself..."
"I told you AJ," Joe interjected. "Maggie totally has you hooked, like in Karate Chicken."
"What?" she asked bluntly.
“You know, that movie series about birds beating the shit out of each other with martial arts?”
The soldier had obviously never heard of it, but that didn't stop Karen from latching on to the subject.
"By the way, have you seen the trailer of this new movie?" he asked inexplicably.
"They're making another one, aren't they?" Be
Frowning. "What is this, the fourth one?"
"Yeah, man. It's called Karate Chicken: The Kung Fu Chicken."
"of course."
The endless bird puns are the only reason people have to watch this lackluster show, so it's no surprise they're doubling down.
"Hey, you need to see the trailer. It's the hype. They brought Lister back and made him do this sick scissor-kick thing, and it was like, wow!"
Karen made an overly enthusiastic gesture, not considering what drink he was holding, and threw the cup across the room. It flies towards a framed picture of the Milky Way, which will no doubt be smashed to pieces by the heavy glass. Luckily it didn't fly that far as the glass and the half-pint of beer that spilled from the glass froze in mid-air. In a brief moment of panic and confusion, the three tipsy men remembered that there was a psychic among them.
"Careful, you ragdoll," AJ scolded Karen. "You've only been here an hour and you've already made a mess here."
She pointed her finger at the floating mess and coaxed all the beer drops back into the container. The thick glass floated back to its owner, who just stared at it in surprise.
"That's disgusting!" Benny yelled. "do it again!"
"Absolutely not. The next cup you eject is yours."
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Karen snapped back to her senses. “Just thinking about the trailer is kind of exciting.”
"No," she scoffed. "Are you really that angry about something so stupid? Next, bragging about that weird stick you found in the park one time?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not smart enough for this big-brained princess," Karen laughed at her.
One could almost hear AJ's neck snap as her head snapped towards Joe, who was quietly snickering.
"You promised not to tell anyone!"
"Sorry, but this is too interesting for me to keep it a secret."
"Anyway, I think it's kind of cute."
Benny tried to deescalate the situation. Unfortunately, Joe didn't notice this.
"That's for sure. Maybe I should get Maloney involved. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it! He kept teasing her.
"Don't you dare!" she warned him.
"Or what? You can't do anything with Maggie around."
"But she's not here now, is she?" Her lips curved into an evil smirk.
If he had been fully conscious, Joe might have realized seconds earlier that taunting the psyker was not a wise decision. In fact, the lady of the house is currently taking a break from taking a 6-hour nap every two weeks. That means Joe can't hide behind her like a little kid. By the time he realized the stupidity of that statement, AJ had him pinned down on the couch while Benny and Karen cheered him on. But I had no malice or anger. The impromptu wrestling match was nothing more than a slightly drunken brawl between the friends, which they laughed off a few minutes later over another glass of wine.
Yet, something didn't smile.
*SKHREEEEOKH*
A high-pitched whine like metal on metal echoed throughout the apartment. Everyone in the room froze. No sooner had they considered the source of that terrible sound than it exploded from the wall. It's a biomechanical monster, made up of parts v
Composed of pod and part shoggoth. A disgusting mass of semi-organic tentacles emerged from its plastic shell, propelling itself forward like some terrifying crab. His eyes were fixed on AJ, who at that point had Joe in a headlock.
"Ah, damn," he complained.
It pays to develop a tolerance for these situations. Joe managed to stay calm and understood why the pod monster was so angry. It senses that the person it is supposed to protect is "fighting" and comes to "rescue" him. He couldn't let that thing hurt his friend because of a misunderstanding, he knew exactly what to do. He just had to slip away from the unconscious soldier, block the monster's path, and calm it down. While the idea may seem brave, silly, or both, it's actually neither. Jo just trusted Maggie to make sure her "pet" knew not to step on the people it was supposed to protect. Whatever instructions were guiding it would certainly cause it to cease once no actual harm or malice was confirmed.
Unfortunately, the woman holding his head didn't see it that way, and she didn't relax her hand at all. She made a slapping gesture towards the possessed pod and threw it out of the room through the hole it dug, eliciting another horrific scream. AJ then roughly pushed Joe in front of the stunned guests. The man looked at Agent Johnson suspiciously as her plasma pistol flew in from nowhere and landed in her open hand.
"Come down! This is going to be a mess!"
"Wait! No!"
Joe tried to stop the situation from escalating, but the soldier couldn't hear him. She has entered "work mode" and her entire attention is focused on an acquaintance who appears to be a rogue. The monster rushed into the room again and was met by three sky-blue flashes of light. Superheated plasma splashed down on it, melting metal, plastic, flesh and furniture. The creature reacted in typical shoggoth fashion, shrugging but lunging forward with murderous intent.
The elves were not surprised or alarmed at all. As it got closer, she shot it a few more times, then used telekinesis to blow it away. The monster slammed against the wall, screaming in pain and rage. Then, it picked up the fragments of the armchair and threw them at the soldiers, showing an unnaturally high intelligence. Forced to duck for cover, the agent nearly collided head-on with the weaponized piece of furniture. She climbed to her feet, controlled her will and anger, and prepared for the general's next attack.
Only it didn't come. The monster was frozen in place, as if it were a statue. It was only then that Agent Johnson felt the presence of a strange yet familiar spirit. She knew exactly who and what it was, but glanced at the original hole, just in case. Just as she expected, it was indeed Maggie. Or, at least most of her. If the girl's baggy nightgown and barely-open eyelids were any indication, she was still in the process of waking up. However, being half asleep didn't stop her from showing off her supernatural abilities. She floated into the room, as if an invisible hand was holding her collar, dangling limply beside her. Her curly hair was an unnaturally dark color, dotted with a few unfamiliar eyes that looked as tired as the two on her yawning face.
"Oooh," she cried. "You said you'd keep it cold in your food."
"Oh. Sorry, Maggie. I was really bored and a little lonely, so I invited a few guys over and things got a little... rowdy."
"Well, that's not going to work," she muttered. "I need to adjust Shogoth's programming."
She gestured to the creature to return to its place in the playroom. Then she looked lazily around the half-destroyed room, her eyes resting for a second on each destroyed piece of furniture before settling on the two stunned guests. She waved to them listlessly, and they instinctively waved back stiffly. Then she looked back at Joe with an expression on her face that screamed that she was too tired to deal with the mess in front of her right now.
"I don't need to fix everything now, do I?"
This is the first time The Observer has wanted to put off doing something because he didn't feel like it.
"What? Oh, no, it's okay, let's just go to a bar or something."
"Agent Johnson, you need to stay with Joe while I'm away to ensure his safety."
That kill pod has somewhat outlived its usefulness as a bodyguard. Megacity Dave-156 is much safer than her arrival suggests, especially now that Maggie has government support. Of course, there's still the possibility of terrible disaster happening to the couple, but in reality, the greatest threat to Joe's happiness is Joe himself. Therefore, AJ's protection was deemed more than adequate in terms of Maggie's obligations.
"You're right, boss lady." The woman nodded.
"Good. I'm going back to bed."
"You're right, Maggie. Again, sorry for the confusion."
"We should synchronize our sleep cycles. There's no point in having a bed that big if only one of us is using it at a time..."
The girl floated out of the room, mumbling something that made Joe's chest ache, unable to believe how cute she looked when she was sleepy. AJ nudged him lightly while turning his head to the side, subtly reminding him that they had one more thing to resolve. Benny and Karen remained where they were, their faces filled with fear, confusion, and awe. Joe and AJ looked at each other, not knowing what to do. The soldier had several nasty solutions in mind, but without orders he hesitated to implement them. Simple-minded people, on the other hand, decide what to do almost immediately. He turned to his friends, shrugged, smiled, and said without hesitation:
"Did I forget to mention that my girlfriend is an unfathomable cosmic entity from another world?"
Maybe it's never a good time to drop a bombshell on them, but this is the best chance he'll get
