No Aliens Allowed

- Five -

Allen had to get more tacos for the way home. The Chipotle people were starting to give him strange looks as he ordered taco after taco.

My wallet was crying out in pain now, as Allen carried three of the seven bags we had for him. A lot of tops, mostly, but a few pairs of pants and some shoes. Allen was still wearing the grey t-shirt, but Catelin had shoved him into a jacket and a pair of jeans. Overall, looking a lot more human.

Allen fell back so he was walking beside me. "I feel strange," he said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Huh. How so?"

Allen furrowed his brow. "My feet hurt, and my head aches. I feel the strange desire to sit down and not move."

I snickered. "You're tired, you idiot."

"Tired? But I just woke up," Allen said.

"Yeah, but you're tired of walking around and being out and just wanna relax. Why are you so bad at identifying how you feel?"

Allen shifted, looking uncomfortable in the same way that he did in the car. "We're here to study feelings," he said, completely avoiding the question.

"Yes, I get that, but why?"

"I do not like to answer why," Allen said.

"You're a scientist. You love to answer why."

"Science has nothing to do with anything but science."

"So this is personal?"

Allen looked pissed, and I mentally cheered. "So it's got something to do with you, too?"

"I am done having this conversation," Allen informed me coolly. "I do not wish to give any more information."

"Dude, we need to work on the way you talk," I said. "You sound like you walked out of a novel from the 1800s."

"I do not understand --"

"Just listen," I said. "Listen to me, Catelin, Cas, my sister, anyone. Pick up how they speak. Imitate that. If you go around and use the words you do people are gonna ask stuff."

Allen cocked his head. "What kind of stuff?"

"Probably to do with where you're from," I said.

Allen nodded. "I understand. You do not want me to converse in such a formal way."

"You just did it again," I said.

"My apologies."

"Try just sorry."

"Sorry."

I grinned. "That's better."

"Speaking of my origins, I need to check up on my ship tonight, start the basic repairs and enter in the data I have collected," Allen said, shifting the bags to his other hand and pulling out a silver object, thin and short and narrow.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's what you call a flash drive. Only it contains ten times the amount of data. Allen pocketed the drive again. "I need to try to find a PTD. Your tech is too old for what I need."

"A PTD?" I asked dubiously.

"A personal tablet device," Allen translated. "The most powerful device left on that ship, with the central computers broken."

"Oh." I thought a minute, then made a split-second decision. "Can I come?"

Allen turned to face me. "You will understand nothing that I am doing. Your mind is too unevolved for that."