Ten Zero

"I'm... I'm sorry?" I say, to my rescuer. "Do you speak English?" She just looks at me with that same expression of confusion and subtle shock, before saying "Korhum, ay yamma gino?", slightly slower. "No, I still don't know what you're saying. English? You speak English?" I ask, but it's clear I'm not getting through. Although the language is something I'm pretty confident I've heard before, I wasn't sure what it was, or if I knew any words in it. "Parlez vous anglais? ¿Habla inglés? Uhh... Sprechen sie Englisch?" I ran through what few languages I knew how to say 'do you speak English' in, but clearly none of them sparked anything. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to communicate, and the unnamed person just keeps standing in the doorway, entirely silent. I have a brief moment wracking my mind on other ways we could talk; my brain considers sign language, and even toki pona (even though I only confidentially know 20 or so words of the minimalist language) before remembering that I have my phone in my front left pocket, and it should still have battery. I pull my phone out, and the woman's eyes lock onto the bit of tech, clearly curious as to what I was planning on. However, now I only had one arm covering my chest, my other hand holding on to my phone, and I was feeling a bit ridiculous standing there with my tits out.

"Uhm, shirt?" I ask with my phone hand, gesturing at the top half of my body. There's a moment where she looks at my hand waving, clearly trying to decipher the movements, before her eyes roam over my chest again. She quickly spins around and walks away from the door and down a short hallway, the tips of her ears a bright red. "Not much I can do about that, you're the one who took my shirt in the first place," I think, my face getting red anyways. It's funny, when I was younger I didn't need to worry about being topless, for obvious reasons. Early on in my transition, I still had that behavior, but at some point, my brain started getting uncomfortable about the idea. I had never been sure when exactly that had started happening, but brains can be funny like that. Eventually, around 10 or 20 seconds after she had left, the woman comes back with a version of thing that she was wearing. It was shirt adjacent, that's for sure, but one that had had a fling with a poncho? I wasn't entirely sure what to call it, but I was very sure that trying to put it on would be confusing and awkward. I take the poncho shirt from her, then make a gentle shooing motion my hand. She hands me the cloth, rolling her eyes, but plays along, and allows me to shut the door.

"Everybody needs a thneed," I mumble under my breath, doing my best to understand how I'm supposed to apply the object to my body. After a few moments of fumbling, I finally get the thing to rest in a way that feels somewhat appropriate, and open the door. The woman is still standing there, and she takes a look at me for a moment, before saying "Ah pheer bay nil chik." I look at her, feeling a bit exasperated. "Yea, I don't... whatever," I mutter, before focusing my attention back on my phone. She's curious too, and once my phone turns on, I can see a bit of excitement in her eyes. "What is this? Is she too poor to have a phone? It didn't really look like that sort of excitement though. I can't get a bead on what she wants at all," I think to myself, speeding through the lock screen the moment my phone turns on. I wait for a moment for it to go through all of it's startup shenanigans, keeping an eye at the signal icon at the top of the phone, but after 30 or 40 seconds, it's clear that I'm not going to pick anything up. "Oh come the hell on," I think. "I'm literally in someone's house! How is there no signal here?" I put my phone away for the moment, but leave it on, with the plan to check it periodically throughout the day just in case. I had also planned on using Google Translate to try to get some sort of dialog between me and the woman, but staring at my phone reminded me that I needed signal for that feature to work.

Eventually, I turn my attention back to the woman, her eyes still glued to my phone. It looks like she is expecting something to happen, but eventually she realizes I'm not going to do anything more and her face falls slightly. "Wonder what that's about," but I quickly brush past it, and go to introduce myself. I make sure I've got her eye contact, then point at my face, and say my name. "Antimony." I wait a moment, then repeat my name. Then I hold my hand out for a handshake, hoping that it's a part of whatever culture I stumbled into, and quirk my head. I figure the less words I say, the smoother the conversation will go, and that body language will get us farther in these early stages. She looks at my hand for a moment, then looks at me, and before I go to drop it, she reaches out and grasps it firmly, shaking it up and down. Then, after letting go, she points at her face, and says clearly, "Ko-lee." I nod my head up and down, pointing at her face, and saying her name, before pointing at my face, and saying my name. She nods back, and I feel a surge of relief and excitement.

"Alright, we're getting somewhere! We've got names, people! Next up, world domination," as I watch her go through the same action. I go to make an eating motion, gnashing my teeth on the air, then follow up with 'eat', and she responds with "bet". My mind briefly assumes that she just dropped some gen z slang on me, before I quickly file the word under 'eat/eating'. "At least, I hope what that means. Sure would be awkward if she really was hitting me with slang, or just saying some variation on 'yes' or 'okay'." We make our way down the stairs, but my eyes cant help but roam over the construction of the building. It's old, but not like 100s of years old. Old like it was built in the last 40 or 50 years, and had clearly been cared for and upkept in that time. But the house itself was strange, looking like nothing I had ever seen. The same design decisions from the bedroom extended out into the rest of the house, and the furniture was an eclectic mix of materials; mostly wood, clay, and metal. As well, the various different materials also had different designs to them, as though they had been built for wildly different purposes. It was like seeing a modern ikea table, with a historic jerry can right next to it. It was a bit confusing, but who was I to judge someone's aesthetic taste? Mostly, I focused on staying upright, and eventually, we find ourselves in the kitchen.

In the kitchen is an older gentleman around maybe 65, looking very distinguished. He has on a similar outfit to Ko-lee, but there were adornments on it that felt like badges or something. It was pretty clear he was in a position of some sort of power, but I wasn't exactly sure what, or where I stood in the hierarchy. He had darker green eyes than his daughter, and the family resemblance was noticeable. He looks at Ko-lee, his expression tight, before looking at me, his eyes peering into my soul. He speaks, his voice more gravely than I expected. "Ah pheer bay nil chik." "Oh, it must be some sort of greeting then," I think, and repeat the phrase back to the gentleman. A look of surprise, or possibly confusion crosses his face, and Ko-lee quickly follows up with some words that are too quick for me to parse. "Yea baby, I'm a fast learner," I think, feeling pretty excited that I'm already picking up the language. I repeat the whole face pointing process with the gentleman, and learn that his name is Sanza. Ko-lee says another quick phrase, and Sanza gestures to some cut fruit that is sitting on the table in front of him. I thank him in English, and sit down at the table, my stomach deciding now was the best time to do it's Jurassic Park expression. With an embarrassed smile, I reach out to the... fruit... in front of me, and take a moment to examine it.

The fruit has been pre-cut, and it was very obvious as to why; the exterior of it was incredibly hard, somewhere between a coconut and a cantaloupe. Inside, it was a bright yellow pulp, with small black seeds in what would've been the center. As I bite into it, the texture sort of reminds me of a mango, but the taste is brighter, like a lemon. However, it is much more mellow and sweet than a lemon, with a bit of an aftertaste that makes me think of grapefruit. Overall, I am a big fan, even though I have no idea what it is, and I absolutely dive in to the rest that are in the bowl. While I eat, Ko-lee talks to Sanza, and occasionally I can hear my name being bandied about. "If I had to guess at the situation, Sanza and Ko-lee are probably father and daughter, and I don't think daughter dearest asked permission before laying a stranger in one of their beds for an unspecified amount of time. She definitely saved my life, but I can assume that he probably knows that. So, this is likely the 'what do we do with her' conversation, but since I can't even understand what they're saying, they don't want to turn me out on the street. They've already made a claim of responsibility by saving my life, they just don't know what to do with me," I think, as I finish up the pulpy fruit. "I need to do something to show my gratefulness, and try to explain to them what my next steps are. Someone around here has to have a laptop, or maybe they can point me towards the nearest city."

The fruit was a bit messy, and I don't immediately see any paper towels or anything, so I go to wipe my hand on the top that Ko-lee provided me. "Ah! Antimony, khanung, khanung!", Sanza yells, his head whipping over to me. I freeze, my hands frozen over the front of the top I was about to wipe on. He reaches over behind him and grabs a cloth rag I hadn't seen, and tosses it towards me. "Kruna metta!", he says, gesturing towards the cloth. I reach out for it, and proceed to clean my hands, Sanza looking... well, not vein pulsingly mad, but mildly miffed. I wasn't actually sure how expressive he was in his day to day though, and since he was pretty level the entire time he had been having a back and forth with Ko-lee, I figure he just might not be a very expressive person. I finish wiping my hands and face and place the towel on the table, still not entirely sure how I was going to explain to them what I wanted. Sanza looks at me, then gives the smallest sigh I'd ever heard from someone, before speaking once more to Ko-lee. Ko-lee for her part, seems pretty happy with the declaration, and goes to pull me out the kitchen and then out of the house.

As we exit the house, I am able to get a look at the place that I was in. I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The place feels historical, in a way, but it was very clearly being used as a living place for all of these people. The roads were scuffed, the houses had clothes drying, and I could even see a few kids running around, although once they noticed me they ended up hiding behind the houses and various machinery dotted about. The houses have some sort of cladding on them, and I can't help but put my hands on the wall of the one we just left. It feels hard, but also organic? The closest approximation I can immediately think of is bone, but it feels stronger than bone, and it was in big flat panels. It was clear that the cladding wasn't meant for the houses in particular; it was likely some sort of scavenge. That being said, it looks appropriate wrapped around the various dwellings I can see.

There was a number of things that I also assume are important, but their purpose is escaping me. For example, there is a jug of some sort of liquid in front of nearly every house I could see, almost as though they got milk deliveries (although I'm pretty confident it's not milk). There is also little rocks with things carved into them, but the writing system is just as familiar to me as the language is. Which is to say, it does look familiar, but I don't have a single clue what it means. There is also some level of commerce about, but I can't tell what is being traded, nor what the money looks like. Overall, I feel incredibly out of my depth, so I figure I should stick to the single phrase that I know, but otherwise should just stay as close as possible to Ko-lee. For her part, it's clear she's on a mission to bring me... somewhere, but I don't know how close or far that thing is, so I just keep my eyes peeled and my mouth shut.

Ko-lee was incredibly excited that her father decided to go along with the plan. He did need to tweak it slightly, because apparently 'kidnapping a Corpus member is likely to get us vaporized from space', but the tweaks would work just fine for her. Sanza had explained that as long as it was framed as a transaction, that the Corpus would be happy to acquiesce. Not everyone's life was worth much, but it was quite likely that this Corpus member was high up in the hierarchy (if going by their general physique), and thus, were worth many credits. "Or equivalent," she thought to herself. Since she was forbidden to work with the Tenno, she figured the next best thing was getting someone as powerful as possible to stand on their side. In this case, the Corpus were powerful, but according to her father, were seen as less of a threat, because it was very clear where their allegiances lie. The Ostron were relatively neutral, so being able to call on the Corpus wasn't out of the ordinary, and they were also generally more defense than offensive, with their extensive shield tech. Ko-lee wasn't exactly sure how the rans- the mutal transaction was going to occur, so she knew she'd have to play it a bit by ear, but she figured that something was always better than nothing.

"Hey Ko-lee! Hope all is well?" said Nathom, looking over at her curiously. He was supposed to be checking the lorrid's, making sure that the lakewater was clean, but his attention had clearly been wandering from the gourds. "Oh Nathom, you've no idea. You see this lady right here?", Ko-lee gestured at the woman staring at nearly every object within 50 feet of them. "This is a high ranking Corpus member, I'm almost 100% sure. I saved her life in the forest, and I'm going to trade her off back to wherever she came from for some favors," she said, looking vaguely pleased with herself. "Oh, uh... that seems a bit dangerous Ko-lee. Have you talked to Sanza about it?" said Nathom, doubt clearly written across his face. "I have, in fact! This venture was Sanza approved! It was either that, or turn her out of the house after nursing her to health over the last 10 days. This was the compromise we reached." Ko-lee took another look at Antimony, hoping she was reaching out to a supervisor or something, but the woman seemed a bit lost, and hadn't pulled out her communicator since she had first seen it. She figured that Antimony was waiting for a response, but Ko-lee was surprised that no one had gotten in touch over the last hour or so.

"What favors were you expecting, Ko-lee?" asked Nathom, occasionally turning over a gourd in a facsimile of productivity. "I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I was sort of planning on playing it by ear," she said, feeling a little sheepish at the small hole in her plan. "Aren't the Corpus really good at deals? Seems like you would want to do some research or something, before trying to get in touch with them.." Ko-lee felt her face grow red at Nathom's line of questioning. "Obviously the Corpus are good at making deals, what was I thinking going in blind! I need to talk to Antimony first before anything, or I'm going to scammed out of my windfall!", she thought to herself, her mind quickly reordering her priorities. "Yea, that's a good point. She... uh, her name is Antimony, by the way. Antimony doesn't speak any Origin, oddly enough, so I figured I'd teach her a bit of that, see I can't get a dialogue going. Maybe once she understands the situation, she'd be willing to argue on my side, or at least tell me some tips and tricks so I avoid making a fool of myself in front of her supervisor," Ko-lee said, nodding her head at her newly revised plan.

"Seems like a good call. If you saved her life, there's going to be some gratitude there that she'll have that, unlike whoever is in charge of her. Just... don't spend too long or they might think you've really kidnapped her," said Nathom, smiling at Ko-lee's enthusiasm. His attention turned to Antimony, and confusion crossed his face. "Your top is inside out." Antimony's attention locked onto Nathom, and with a small, satisfied grin on her face, she responded.

"Your top is inside out."