>>6129466“So, what, are there little green men on Mars now?”
“No, but plenty of green plants. Here.” Raleigh pulls up another picture. “This is from the Curiosity rover, which was in situ when the change happened.”
On the screen is a deep shaded forest, tall straight trees growing amidst a blanket of fern-like plants. At a glance the place could have been mistaken for the redwood forests of California, but the more you look, the more subtly off it seems, as of course it would, taken as it purportedly was of another planet.
“I mean, we call it Mars, but it’s not the old Red Planet planet at all. Here on Earth we got all sorts o’ crazy too: walking talking carnivorous trees, dragons, werewolves, selkies, krakens, psychic whales, ghost ships, you name it.”
Struggling to take this girl’s words at face value, you glance around the room at the various techs and marines, trying to see if she’s having you on, if this is all some elaborate prank. But the marines are impassive, and no one else is even paying attention to your conversation, aside from an occasional sideways look. Evidently none of this is news to them.
No, this doesn’t feel like a prank.
“Anyway, this is usually the part where I talk about eighty years o’ missed history, but you actually lived most of it, so we’ll skip that for now and talk about Abyssals-”
“Wait wait wait, you’re going to bring up dragons and space aliens and then just *leave* it there?”
“I mean, I could go on, but you’re kind of in a pickle at the moment, and I thought you might want to maybe get a read on the enemy before they start shelling you. Again.”
>[1] Dragons and krakens and Martians, oh my. >[2] “I suppose you’re right, I need intel on these Abyssals, and I need it yesterday.” I AM ALIVE!
