"So you are telling me that you are alien from outer space?" Adam blinked several times in disbelief, unable to comprehend if he was actually being serious about this matter or simply joking about it. Either way, he knows it's not and believes Vesh has no reason to do so.
The strange alien explains how he is in fact real, speaking from another planet, and nothing more than an ordinary extraterrestrial creature visiting them, plain and simple.
In this dinner table made of steel, comprising him and the pilot sitting across from each other, Adam's daughter is playing a crossword puzzle at the other side in this kitchen, where Garnet is guiding Lilim through the simple tasks of helping her play the said game, keeping a close eye on her in case the girl needed to stop suddenly or handle some kind of emergency.
Her young mistress is calmly seated next to the human, staring coldly between Vesh and Adam, waiting for the right time to say her piece, but she continues having pleasantries on their table just as much as any other normal dinner conversation would have been. As for Alucard? She was merely smiling the whole time, taking a sip of blood from her drink with an intense expression in her eyes.
Their pilot nodded. "Indeed," he replied, thinking that there was no point in hiding it or lying about it. This is why he chose this particular topic because he knew this would be everyone's first interest for an inhabitant of this planet to have an extraterrestrial like himself. The possibility of encountering one is so unlikely because most alien species have little interest in contacting humanity.
"That is... a lot to take in." Her father wanted to disprove this notion, but after everything he had seen, something like, Is this possible? Why visit now? He thought, wanting to get to the bottom of this predicament before even bothering to understand this alien any further. Although reluctant, the pilot knew that it was unavoidable to reveal his true identity and purpose for coming here to begin with.
"Exploration," Vesh spoke again, leaning forward with a relaxed posture and gaze from between both of them as his brain races into thoughts and imaginations that come across regarding what they might think about him, "and reporting any changes of this planet to my people," the stranger added afterward, thinking that there would be some questions to ask him rather than hear his explanation on why he is here in the first place.
There are many questions raised by Adam's mind, and the pilot was prepared to answer them all as long as it did not interfere with his original intention of visiting Earth. Fortunately, the man has been curious ever since meeting him for several minutes now, and even Alucard saw fit to keep quiet until it was the right time to speak her mind.
"I suppose it's classified?" He asked rhetorically with a huff coming from his nostrils, never losing sight of the alien's glowing red eyes that gleamed against the sunset's light from behind his shoulder. "However, I see no reason for that," he explained shortly, having an understanding of their current situation.
Adam could do it—mess with his savior's mind to get the answer—but he wouldn't—not in the way this person saved his life and likely rescued the only friends he has. He always remembers one of Doctor Sol's insightful lessons about repaying the kindness of those who help him. Because of this, he was willing to let go of such selfish thoughts just to make things easier by allowing the person to explain himself.
Vesh relaxed further while still retaining his casual, neutral face towards them and nodded his head once more. "It's a trade secret," he said casually with confidence and truthfulness that both his guests took lightly from his lips. "And so that is all you needed to know from me." A smile grew on his blue face, telling them that he was done talking about himself.
"Keep your secrets," disinterestedly spoke Adam with arms folded on top of his chest. There are countless secrets people have, and it's no brainier that their supposed hero has one. Moreover, who cares what kind of secrets they are? If they don't hurt anyone, including him or those he cares about, then let them keep these secrets to themselves.
Changing the topic in this situation to "you mentioned exploration," Alucard soon started to speak up in her hiatus of silence, regaining her calmness and professionalism. "What else is there to simply observe your surroundings before moving to a place called Hope City? What reason is there for you to go to civilization at all?"
A chuckle came out from Vesh's throat, shaking his head in disagreement, finding it hilarious of someone like her to question him about his reasoning for going on exploration; "trade secret," repeated his voice with a smirk and playful manner, slowly waving a finger in front of their faces teasingly.
Alucard couldn't help but snort with great force as she let out a sarcastic huff along with the breath escaping from her nostrils. "You're so annoying," she harshly replied back, showing irritation in her eyes as if they were daggers shooting right into his face. "Let me ask you this then: what do you want from us?"
If he had eyebrows, they would rise up at the moment from hearing such a ridiculous question, "Want from you?" Almost laughing at this point of time, "nothing at all, a finger was placed on his chest, wearing a look of disbelief upon his face, "what could I possibly gain from two individuals like you?" His attitude certainly changed from relaxed to light-hearted and self-assured in the span of mere seconds.
"To get information from us," Adam said bluntly, looking straight into their savior's eyes with a sharp gaze at hand, not caring of how much it may irritate or annoy him, "it's obvious, you wouldn't do this out of the kindness in your heart." Soon enough, Adam just kept a stone-cold expression on his face, tapping his foot against the ground. While Alucard only crossed her arms together and narrowed her eyes slightly from this.
Vesh's facial expression shifted to show disappointment written all over it, making him huff in amusement. "Alright, you got me," he said, raising his arms in surrender before dropping them back down to rest on the table between himself and them. "Yes," finally admitting his motives truthfully, "that was the reason."
"That would explain why." Pulling out his cigar from his pocket, he then began to place it into his mouth before lighting it with a lighter that was found inside his coat's pockets. Once lit and completely ignited, the cigar began to burn brightly as the smoke emanating from it was carried away by the oxygen inside, moving ever so slightly around him.
Taking in a deep breath of nicotine immediately made him feel more relaxed and at peace with himself. This action didn't go unnoticed by Vesh, who gave off a rather confused look before shaking his head in response, deciding to ignore the fact as he wanted to focus on more important things than trivial matters.
"There is one question that has kept humanity on their toes ever since they wonder if there is life outside of this planet, he said, adjusting his seat and cigar a bit, bringing them back into his mouth once again, and taking another puff before removing them from their resting place. He spoke with authority, showing in his voice, "Why haven't any extraterrestrial beings invaded or contacted us since we invented the concept of alien?"
Closing his eyes for a moment before opening them, he said, "It's not that simple," giving off a sigh while placing both hands onto the table, "many of the species living in the cosmos are preferably content in minding their own business or having the desire to interact with people, not because they hate those who are different but rather just don't care about what we are doing with our lives."
Adam furrowed his brows in a look of confusion, trying to make sense of what Vesh had just told him. "So basically," he began to speak, still having a confused look on his face, "you're telling me that even though there are alien races out there, they simply couldn't care less?" The expression on Adam's face remained exactly as it was.
Vesh nodded, letting out another sigh; "exactly," now turning his attention towards Adam; "on the other hand," coughing from the smoke entering into his lungs, still looking at Adam with a stern look on his face; "there is always an exception to the rule," feeling like it was about time he got serious again; "there are some dangerous individuals out there who want nothing more than total domination on earth," a sinister smirk formed on his face as he finished speaking.
Adam gave off an emotionless stare for a moment before asking something that has been bothering him for awhile now: "What's stopping them?" The question sounded stupid and seemed meaningless to Vesh at first, but the blue alien decided to humor him anyway. "From my understanding," he began to speak, leaning against the chair behind him, "some wanted to observe and protect the planet for reasons unknown."
"Reasons? What kind of reasons would a bunch of advanced species beyond our human understanding have to protect an insignificant rock?" Alucard spoke up, questioning him. This caused their pilot to stop leaning on his chair and look directly at her. "That is exactly why, he said, shrugging his shoulders once more. "Some are incomprehensible while others are more human than you think." A brief pause followed afterward.
It didn't take long for Adam to interrupt him again, already impatient with what he was hearing, "so basically," this time throwing his cigar at the floor so he could properly speak; "your saying that some aliens were just sick and tired of watching us fuck up our world but don't have the heart to do anything about it?" He was done being patient.
"No, it's not that." More than that exactly, "there is, how do I put this?" As if trying to find the right words that could describe it, he said, "you could say bunch of powerful otherworldly godlike entities are preventing people like us in affecting the earth," tapping a finger on the table with conflicted look on his face. Trying to make them understand the subject without giving away too much information at once.
"Just tell us already!" She is getting sick and exhausted from all this dancing around information, having no clue what the hell is going on or why they even came here in the first place. "If you have something to say, then just say it!" Alucard felt enraged all of a sudden, about ready to choke this alien bastard to get the answer out of him.
"It's because of—" Before Vesh could give out an answer, Adam felt a sudden tinge of pain in his head, causing him to gasp loudly from the sensation and making everyone stare at him in confusion from the noise he just made. Something was wrong—very wrong indeed—but he couldn't put a finger on it, and it's getting worse by the second.
"Release me..." maddening growl of his own voice spoke in his head, forcing Adam to jump out of his head with the increasing headache in his head. "Release me, Adam." It spoke again, making him think he had gone insane while everyone around him watched in complete astonishment at his reaction.
"Shut up!" Moving backwards with his hands gripping over the head, he said, "Just SHUT UP!" He screamed, unable to control himself as everything was slowly falling apart for him at this point. The room felt like it was spinning around him as he felt trapped within his own body, someone else inside of it speaking and speaking and speaking until there was nothing but pure rage consuming him whole.
"Adam?! What's wrong?!" Yelled Alucard, standing up to cautiously approach him, followed by Garnet and his daughter, with looks of concern on their faces as they didn't know what to do when he just randomly started panicking for no reason. Their eyes were all on Adam, moving closer towards a window.
"Get away...." He can feel his own bones and organs morphing into something else, muscles expanding beyond their normal limits as limbs grow longer than humanely possible. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" The transformation into something like a monster was nearing at its completion, and he didn't understand what was happening to him.
The only thing he remembered was their expressions of pure terror in their faces before blacking out, losing consciousness for the rest of this day without knowing why.
