Page 241 of Hunters and Prey

I knew we were mostly waiting for Allie and Revik.

I didn’t see either of them, though.

A series of acts paraded across the stage as the afternoon wore on.

We got up a few times and walked, mostly so Black could look at the different animals, but we returned to the main square again and again, probably because it was the most obvious meeting point, and likely where Allie and Revik would go if they came looking for us.

All of the performances on that stage were in Prexci.

Not only that, but it was an older version of Prexci than the one I’d been trying to learn back home, so I understood even less than I did normally.

Black translated some of it for me.

He translated two play-like performances, a few speeches.

Musicians played from lower stages between acts, and artists seemed to be displaying their wares all around us, wandering among the crowd to show us jewelry and paintings, giving performances that included Barrier projections and light shows, interactive and performance-type pieces that combined a bunch of different mediums.

I really liked one little girl who kept setting herself on fire.

There was something incredibly intense about her performance, surprisingly intense, even apart from her age. She had the whole crowd in the palm of her hand by the time she’d finished, making them laugh and shriek, oooh and ahhh and then applaud wildly at the end, when she turned the whole area of the stage and most of the audience space into a jaw-droppingly realistic Barrier painting of a futuristic world, complete with giant animals and spaceships.

It was unbelievably well done, about a hundred times better than any CGI I’d seen back home. The sheer realism of it––the smell of the air, the sounds, touch, a near-vertigo when we dropped off a tall building––made it borderline frightening.

Apart from a few standouts like that girl, however, I tuned a lot of it out.

I found myself studying the audience instead.

There was something about the ordinary reality of them that still struck me, the very fact of their day-to-day, mundane lives, that hit home the alien-ness of this place more than any of the dramatic differences.

Despite the unfamiliar and advanced-seeming tech I saw evidence of everywhere, it was a strangely rural life, one that felt peaceful in a way I had, personally, never known.

I’d lived in cities more or less since I’d been born.

I knew Allie and Revik loved it here.

They’d earned it, and they had kids, so that made sense to me. I definitely got the sense this was a life they’d wanted for a long time, including when they were back on Old Earth, playing Mr. and Mrs. Apocalypse.

I wondered how well Black and I would cope, though, if we ever found ourselves living in a place like this.

Full time, I mean.

I’d cope just fine, doc, Black sent, giving me an amused smile. What? Not enough death and mayhem and psychotic vampires to keep you entertained?

Seeming to think about his own words, he frowned. As he continued to think, the humor evaporated from his face and light.

That time, I didn’t hesitate.

Climbing into his lap, I curled my arms around his neck, leaning on his chest. I felt his light and body start to soften as I looked down at him.

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” I informed him.

He smiled. I felt his light slid deeper into mine, cautious on the surface, but gripping me almost aggressively, despite the softer look in his eyes.

“I’d be fine, doc. Promise.”

I let out a skeptical grunt. “Really. You think so?”

“I know so,” he said confidently.

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