[Humans for Hire] - Part 193

\[[First](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fqu23z/humans_for_hire/)\] \[[Prev](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1vo9nlc/humans_for_hire_part_192/)\] \[[Next](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1vuirzi/humans_for_hire_part_194/)\] \[[Royal Road](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/95169/humans-for-hire/chapter/3830256/chapter-193)\]

*Author note:* An Award?! Before I even go to work at the Real Job™? Holy heck...I'm...giggling.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

*Terra Prime, Cleveland Ohio, North American Confederation*

When he'd first arrived here from Hurdop, Seyneen was beside himself - this was supposed to be a minor city. Overlooked, ignored, and the butt of every possible joke that could exist. The clan had specifically chosen Cleveland for that reason; he was supposed to mingle with the commoners to see if there was any sort of hint from the civilian sector that would give a clue as to the source of the military power they'd displayed. Being that he was shy a leg and a hand, any sort of physical labor was out. So with that in mind, he'd become an assistant counselor for a secondary school, helping not-quite-adults decide on career paths suited for their intellect and temperament. He'd been able to find a specialty home with proper gravity that he shared with five others from various clans that had all hit upon the same brilliant stratagem - there was even a Vilantian roommate working for the city housing office that helped find short-term homes for individuals who were only there temporarily. Last year’s unthinkable was today’s normal.

It was not an easy transition. It wasn't the fact that he was in an urban area, it was that there was an excess of...everything. It was counter to everything he knew. On Hurdop, the only ones with food stores in plenty (or even adequate) were the ones who ruled ministries and sat on the various storage locations or barter hubs where manifests always left showing less than what they'd come in with. Here it seemed there was something available to eat or drink on every corner; the scents of things being cooked was so distracting he'd almost been hit twice in his first week by passing vehicles. Fortunately his species was still relatively new to Terra, so both drivers had a reaction that was almost immediately positive rather than angry or berating. He shook his head again as he thought back to the first time he'd mistaken one of his co-workers offering him an orange for something much more serious. On the up side, they were able to laugh about it now.

It had been months before he'd been able to have an epiphany. One of the classes was partaking in practical science courses when some mixture went horribly awry causing a modestly impressive explosion and fire. Then he saw his soft, weak colleagues rushing *toward* the explosion while his instincts told him to dodge for safety in the event it got worse. Fortunately it didn't, and in the immediate aftermath he'd found himself moving toward the science room with more curiosity than anything else. He saw the other teachers performing first aid and triage actions without any sort of prompting, and as soon as he was noticed the teacher in charge put him in charge of walking the students who were unharmed to another unoccupied room and basically...lead them in playing some sort of block-placement game. In the days afterward he saw many students and even a few of the teachers as they sat with him and gently touched his remaining forearm. He'd been advised that such touching wasn't proper, precisely - but at the same time he was soft and fuzzy, which seemed to be a benefit in general. As he reflected on similar situations, he realized his species seemed to lack the instinct or training to run toward a crisis and then deal with the mental shocks at a later date; this was duly noted in his next report.

The other thing he was having to do of late was exercise. He'd grown accustomed to having food and he hadn't altered his routine. The upshot was he'd gained several kilos, and even in the lighter Terran gravity he was starting to feel it. He'd investigated and found several businesses in the area that would assist him for a small fee. He weighed his options, even as he saw his tablet chirruping with an incoming contact - it was Dani, the woman who'd given him an orange without knowing what it meant. He accepted the call automatically, thinking there was a work concern. Her smile was bright and her posture seemed like she had something she wasn't certain about.

"Seyneen, I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time?"

"No, of course not - I was just considering eating something. Possibly something healthy."

There was a light chuckle, and as she moved he noticed a large number of plants in the background. "Oh. Well, I'll be quick. There's an event coming up this week, and well, I was going to surprise my boyfriend but he decided against it. To be honest he decided he didn't want to be my boyfriend any more. I was...well, I didn't want to sell the second event pass and so I was wondering if you wouldn't want to go?"

Seyneen took a few moments to parse what she was asking - for a language teacher, she seemed to slip into some backward phrasing sometimes. "Well, I would be interested in knowing what the event is?"

"Oh! It's, ahm, it's Quintuplicon - I only got the first weekend pass; the full week would have required me to put in vacation and I was saving it for my." Dani swallowed and looked around. "For something else." She quickly pushed the thought to the side, brightening again. "So would you like to go?"

"Well, I suppose so. What will be there?"

"Lots of things. Ancient food demonstrations, games, activities, people in costume, interviews with people - there's a rumor on the local-grid that they've secured the Terran Foreign Legion for security and they're negotiating to have the commander at a question and answer session."

"You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention, madam."

"Oh I'd hoped you might like to go. It'll be an interesting thing. Lots of Terran cultures from historical timeframes...it might be interesting to see."

"I think it would be, yes."

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

*Terran Foreign Legion Ship* Twilight Rose

Gryzzk awoke slowly and tested his body while stretching and showering. Thankfully he'd been smart enough to avoid excess, but the fight was still leaving a mark. Still, the morning duties had to be tended to - time was at a premium, so he decided to start reviewing everyone's placement while he was in the shower.

"Rosie, status of the companies?"

"Undercover units are already down and in. Medical teams positioned. Uniforms en route. Gro'zel misses the horses, and you're still hung like a Vilantian moose."

"Are you quite certain that last part was required?"

"You invite me to talk to you in the shower and you expect me to not comment? Who are you and what have you done with the real Freelord?"

He sighed softly. "I'm holding out hope that today is the day that whatever portion of Vilantian manners that was written into your programming shows itself."

"That's reserved for when I'm playing patty-cake with Patty's cake."

"That is an image I never wanted in my head."

"Yeah, you haven't heard how Kiole talks about you and Grezzk in the armory. Allllll the images I never wanted in my life."

"Very well. Ship complement?"

"Given that we're in the Terra system, right now the ship's complement is the evening bridge squad, me, and Tucker - and y'all are about to get on the VIP shuttle down."

"What's the local time?"

"Mid-morning. Technically everything kicks off tonight, but the early birds exist. Already got some folks looking for a tilly. Got a couple folks looking like they need Lieutenant Edwards."

Gryzzk flicked an ear as they walked to the shuttle bay. "If you tell me it's because they're single, I will be highly disappointed."

"Well, they are but that's not the point. They're looking for an expert in the ancient-ass video game thing."

"Very well." As they arrived, Gryzzk nodded to the bridge squad - and U'wekrupp, who was in his costume as Yomios' partner. He glanced around and took a breath.

"Everyone, I understand that this may seem relaxing. However I want to reiterate that we are not here to have fun. We are here to ensure that everyone else has fun. Lieutenant Edwards, your presence will be needed upon our arrival."

As they went down, there was a slight hiccup of sorts - or there seemed to be, based on Hoban and Miroka's conversation, with Miroka noting it first.

"What was that?"

Hoban grimaced slightly. "Did you see that?"

Miroka pointed at a console display. "Was that the primary buffer panel?"

"It did seem to resemble..."

"Did the primary buffer panel just fall off my gorram ship for no apparent reason?"

Hoban flipped a few switches. "Looks like."

"I thought Kaylee just checked the entry couplings. I have a very clear memory..."

"Yeah well if she doesn't give us some extra flow from the engine room to offset the burn through, this landing is going to get pretty interesting."

Gryzzk flicked an ear at the banter; it seemed as though Chief Tucker had infected other sections with his second favorite downtime activity. The positive thing with all this was that the entry was normal - if anything was happening, the pilots wouldn't be quoting scenes to each other as they continued to do. Gryzzk toggled his microphone to add in his line.

"Define 'interesting'."

The two pilots chorused back immediately. "Oh God Oh God, we're all gonna die?"

Gryzzk cleared his throat to continue his part in this. "This is the captain; we have a little problem with our entry sequence so we may experience some slight turbulence and then - explode. Can you shave the vector?"