Challenge #02113-E290: Simple Communication

"I said no!"
"You said yeah!"
"Are you insane? I said yeah, nah! That means NO!!" -- Anon Guest

"Are you insane?" asked Gork. "That is not a clear means of communicating a positive or a negative."

Human Baz glared down at the little alien in her care. "It's perfectly understandable to everybody," she said.

Gork flinched at yet another explosion. "Not to this somebody," he said. "We look for affirmation or negation first. We do not wait for further elucidation."

"Well... We've flakked it now," said Human Baz. "The only bonus is that it's also flakked those other sods. Let's find a lifepod and scram."

Gork sighed, but moved along. This expedition may well come out as a loss for him. "Please tell me you have all the data files with us? It would be catastrophic to return with nothing."

"Nah, yeah. I got the hard drive backup unit straight out of the wall. We should be good."

"There you go again with your confusing method of communication... Can you not do that in future?"

"I got it, now get in there before-- Shit!" Human Baz shoved Gork into the pod and fired off her stunner in one quick motion. The dive followed after, landing neatly on a seat cushion. "If I die, just launch! But make sure I'm dead!"

Gork had heard legends about the Human tenacity to cling to life. They could effectively out-survive and out-endure most hazards known to intelligent life. Therefore, he brought up the app that showed all of Human Baz's lifesigns, as read by her livesuit.

He needn't have bothered. Human Baz was inside the pod, buckled down, and hitting launch before Gork had finished going through the reminder tutorial. With an unnerving smile on her face.

"We might not have got any physical stuff," she panted, "but I got one of their guns." She grinned, showing it off. It was still spattered with hostile alien ichor. "Reckon that's gotta be worth something."

Possibly not in the direction she anticipated. "No," said Gork, and, because he was honest, added, "Yes."

"See? Now you're getting the hang of it."

[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / jamesstar]

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