Shades of Purple

Ilk

The Massive arrived at Conventia one week later. Tenn tried and failed to avoid Purple as much as possible, but it was hard when he had access to every single corner within the ship; at night she had nowhere to sleep but... there. And he had the annoying habit of either getting on top of her while sleeping or pulling her close to his body; and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself from his hold. On the bright side, he wasn't lying when he said that El had been demoted. She saw her being taken into a runner to take her to Foodcourtia.

Tenn couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic as she watched the familiar structures and buildings through the zhook cruiser's window. She remembered when she took part in the Great Assigning years before; the pride and honor she felt when she was assigned to one of the hardest planets. She'd be part of this next assigning; she'd be down there with the other Invaders, waiting anxiously for their leaders to arrive and give them their assignments, if Tallest Purple hadn't gotten his eyes on her. Tenn cursed fate for the thousandth time.

The zhook cruiser landed at the main hangar in the main convention hall. The Tallest were required to arrive one day before any event to get everything ready. Tenn followed Purple and Lena into the Tallest's personal lounge, where they'd stay for the duration of the event; it was tiring to travel from and to the Massive, after all. 

Tallest Red did not come. In fact, Tenn hadn't seen much of him all week. Tallest Purple claimed he had been busy working in a super-secret project and that he'd catch up later. The Great Re-Assigning would take place the next day, anyway, so there was no rush.

"What's this 'super-secret' project he's been working on?" Tenn found herself asking.

"Oh, you'll see." Purple chuckled.

"Does it have to do with the technicians he's been throwing out of the airlock these days more than usual?" Lena asked dryly. She was not in a particularly good mood today, Tenn noted.

"You could say so."

Tenn looked through the dark glass and into the hall. It was currently empty, except for a few cleaning drones sweeping the floor. There were some technicians fixing or adjusting some machinery too. Guess they were adjusting the 'dramatically special effects' the current Tallest were famous for.

"Hey, Tenn, what do you think is cooler? Smoke machines or lasers?"

Blinking, Tenn looked back at her 'husband. "What?"

"Again with that, Purple?" Lena shook her head. "When will you two get over it? It's pretty immature on your part."

"Ah, Lena, Lena, Lena..." Tallest Purple patted her shoulder, chuckling. "Of course you wouldn't understand the 'issue', as you call it. Everyone knows smoke machines rock, but Red keeps stubbornly saying the contrary, and someone has to defend the honor of smoke machines. Tenn, you never answered my question."

Tenn rolled her eyes. "I don't like either, okay? I think both are pretty dumb. I mean, what's the point? In my opinion, they are a waste of resources..." 

Tenn trailed off when noticed Tallest Purple had gone pale and he was looking at her as if she had commited heresy. Seconds later, he wordlessly left the room. Tenn stared at the door, confused.

"Oh-uh. We won't see him for the rest of the day."

"Was it something I said?"

Lena sighed. "What can I say? I've never understood why they are so obsessed with the 'eternal argument'."

"Eternal argument?"

"That's how I dub their silly dispute over lasers and smoke machines." Both Irkenettes laughed. "You were lucky, you know. Usually whoever answers like that gets thrown out of the airlock."