Zen woke up with a terrible hangover—apparently, his alcohol tolerance had dropped during his seven and a half years in cryo, something he hadn't expected. Now, he was paying for it with the throbbing headache that made him regret his own foolishness.
Stumbling into the office at exactly 8:00 AM, Zen looked like a man who had been through hell—and lost. His skin was pale, eyes bloodshot, and his hair stuck out in all directions. He appeared as though he had been buried alive and clawed his way out. The sharp contrast to his sharp, collected appearance just the day before was almost comical.
Amelia looked visibly amused. "What's this, newbie? You appear slightly disheveled. Could it be you're actually fun once alcohol's involved? I doubt it, but I'm curious."
Zen completely ignored her, scanning the room for something far more precious.
The coffee machine.
Like a zombie, he shuffled toward it and began brewing the strongest cup it would allow. As he took the first sip of the bitter liquid, the fog in his brain started to lift, and his thoughts slowly began to clear.
Robert, already comfortably seated in his chair with his apparently signature non-regulation hat tilted down, glanced at Zen. He observed the sorry sight before him and felt a twinge of guilt. Yesterday's confusion had led to some unintended consequences.
"Morning, Zen," Robert called out, sitting up straighter. "Looks like some apologies are in order."
Zen, barely functioning, turned his head toward Robert, his face contorted in a mix of exhaustion and confusion.
'Is he finally apologizing for his lack of manners?' Zen thought. 'Not that I care right now. I can't even think straight.'
"What is it?" he asked, his voice low, trying not to exacerbate the throbbing pain in his head.
"When we got word you were coming here seven and a half years ago, we set aside the administrative work meant for you. That was all the paperwork you saw yesterday," Robert said, uncharacteristically apologetic.
'Seven and a half years' worth?' Zen thought, stunned. 'At my old place, we'd have that much backlog after just a week of neglect.'
"With the expectation that you'd chip away at it over the next seven years, I didn't expect you'd finish it all in one day," Robert continued.
Zen stopped listening halfway through. 'Seven and a half years of paperwork? What the hell do I even do now? I've finished everything. If I'm stuck on this rock for years with nothing to do, this is going to be miserable.'
"-so, once again, I apologize, with all my heart" Robert concluded, though Zen had missed most of the apology. He doubted it was sincere anyway. Apologies in the military were rarely heartfelt, even if they required a certain amount of humility.
Robert quickly shifted back to his usual gruffness. "So, did I do it right, Effy?"
Just out of sight, Effy flinched before rushing in to chastise him. "Dammit, Robert! How many times do I have to tell you? Do it sincerely! You sounded like a wounded pup forced to eat dirt!"
Robert grunted. "It's not my fault the grunt finished all his work in one day. Anyway, look at the bright side—no paperwork for the next seven and a half years."
With that, Robert adjusted his hat and began dozing off, indifferent to the scene unfolding around him.
"Don't you dare escape responsibility Robert!" Effy made a move to wake the somehow already sleeping Robert but Zen stopped her.
"It's alright Effy thank you for forcing him to apologize but it really isn't needed, all I want now is to finish my coffee and see if there's any work to be done around here"
Zen sounded defeated but that was mainly his hangover speaking, the gravity of the fact that his backbreaking work yesterday was for naught hadn't dawned on him just yet.
Effy sighed "Alright if you need something be it help or at least something to do, I've always wanted four hands. And we could always do… something interesting."
Effy grinned, much to Effy's dismay Zen wasn't all there mentally, thus not giving her the reaction she had hoped for.
grumbling still dazed from his hangover, barely registered the flirtatious undertone. "Thanks, Effy. I'll swing by the hangar if I have time."
'And if not, I'll make time.'
As soon as the door closed behind Effy, Amelia was already at her desk, staring at Zen with her mouth wide open.
"You guys fucking or what!?"
Zen nearly choked on his coffee, forced to choose between gulping an unintended quantity of the hot beverage or spit it out again. He chose the latter. Trying to maintain his composure, Zen snapped back. "Damnit, Amelia. Learn some restraint, you little imp."
Amelia,did in fact not learn some restraint and doubled down. "So, How was it? Was it your first time? Were you gentle?" Out of sight from Effy Amelia grew bold beyond even Zen's expectations.
Zen decided to ignore her. He stood up slowly, walked over to the coffee machine, and began preparing a fresh cup… Again mentally blocking out the barrage of increasingly inappropriate questions Amelia hurled his way.
After a moment, he turned back toward her, pulling a small rectangular device out of his pocket and holding it up with a grin.
Amelia's eyes widened in disbelief. "You recorded the two of you? Wow, Zen, I didn't expect that from you! You naughty boy."
Zen pressed the button on the side, and the device played back a recording of Amelia's voice. "You guys fucking or what!?"
Amelia froze, horror washing over her as the recording continued for five straight minutes, documenting every inappropriate comment she'd made. That if heard by Effy would result in her untimely demise.
Her face drained of color. Her eyes glued to the recorder "Hey, Zen? You know I was just joking, right? Just a joke! Since when does a joke equal a death sentence? Come on man, we're all friends here no?"
Her sudden change of attitude was certainly a feast for the eyes as she basically groveled, now on her knees in front of Zen who calmly continued making his cup of coffee. Amelia, seeing his distraction, struck at the opportunity and grabbed the device, and threw it at the ground, shattering it.
"Hah! What now, mister genius? Your trump card is shattered to pieces!" Amelia stood triumphantly, as though she had just won a great battle.
Without looking up, Zen calmly stirred his coffee. "It uploads to the cloud automatically, so you didn't really accomplish anything." His interest seemed more focused on the brew than the girl freaking out in front of him.
"Relax, I'm not going to show it to Effy, unless you start behaving like a little imp again. Until then, the audio will be safe somewhere on my computer."
"You… you can't do this to me this is… blackmail. Yes, blackmail! Which mister Rules, is against, the rules!" Amelia pointed her finger in accusation like she was some dramatic judge ruling out judgment.
"And who's going to arrest me, oh noble judge? I'm the only investigative officer on this rock. I don't think the authorities will care about a little blackmail out here." Zen was still very hungover, but this little quarrel as much as he hated to admit it was quite fun.
It reminded him of his orphanage back home, with the constant he said she said routine, he always dominated discussions there as well of course. well at least as long as he was right, if he was wrong he would at least admit defeat.
Amelia, sensing her defeat, changed her tone, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Well, if there's no impartial investigative officer to hold you accountable, we'll just have to go to the governor."
Zen raised an eyebrow. "The governor? Doesn't the governor have better things to do than mediate our little quarrels?"
Amelia grinned. "Doubt it! Let's go settle this in court! Robert, I'm taking the X3!" She snatched the keys off Robert's desk, not waiting for permission, while Robert remained asleep, seemingly oblivious to the world.
Before Zen knew it, he was once again in the X3. Effy had asked some questions, but he dodged them, vaguely mentioning they were heading to the governor's office for "a few questions." Strapping in, Zen took a final sip from his cup and placed it in the strangely present cup holder.
"This thing has a cup holder?" Zen asked, a bit surprised.
"Yep! Effy made it at Robert's request. He's useless without his coffee before 9 AM," Amelia said, starting the engine. "Anyway, let's get this show on the road!"
Getting flashbacks from that sentence Zen decided to add another rule in his 'blackmail' scheme
Zen glanced at her. "Just so you know, if you break the speed limit or pull one of those rough landings again, I'm telling Effy."
Amelia froze. "W-what? I would never ever… You know me, Zen. Ol' buddy, ol' pal."
The craft lifted off the ground, and, to Zen's relief, Amelia flew it with noticeably more reservation than the day before. She gripped the controls so tightly her knuckles turned white, grumbling under her breath about how "stupid Zen and his blackmail. This is the fastest atmospheric ship ever created and I'm flying it like a grandma on an errand."
Over the horizon, the governor's building came into view—a grand structure of white stone with security posts scattered around the perimeter. They touched down in front of the main gate, the ship landing smoothly, much to Zen's and his neck's delight.