Lucky Jack sighed, rubbing his chin.
“Well, from what I know of Malcolm, it’s not surprising that he’d work with creatures like that. He seems like the type to not care whatsoever about anything except himself,”he said, sighing again.
"Yeah…" Val murmurs, watching Andry. She follows him after a second.
"Is everything alright?" she asks.
"Yeah… I just don't like this." Andry sighs.
Val walks over and wraps him in a hug, which he gratefully returns.
"Fair enough." Val murmurs.
Etta leans against a wall, thinking. Eventually, she starts taking notes on the screen on her arm, then glances at Lucky Jack.
“I assume you run one of those sketchy adamantium businesses, eh?”
Jack looked at Etta with a surprised raised eyebrow.
“No. I own a chain of stores like this one, and some warehouses to simplify storage. That’s it. Sure, I like to collect adamantium from the junkyards, but… I don’t know, call it more of a hobby. I used to collect rare trinkets back home,”Jack replied, his tone sincere.
Naomi sat down. They would be sad if they could feel emotions because they had no one to help. They were made to help people but they have helped no one so far.
Val listens to Jack and Etta from where she is, and sighs. Andry turns to her. "What is it?"
Val jumps slightly. "I'm not entirely sure…" she mutters, still not looking at Andry. He walks over and places a hand on her shoulder.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be fine." he whispers.
Etta chuckles. “Ah, so I see you’re quite the classy type, eh?”
She looks up from her tinkering to look the small man straight in the eyes.
“And just a collector, I see. Nothing more to you at all? Nothing else involved in your silly little business?” She bends down, smirking
Jack chuckled.
“I’ve been called classy before, so I suppose it fits,”he said with an easy smile.
He then gives a sly grin.
“‘Silly little business’ is entirely wrong. Sure, I honestly could retire if I wanted to, but I admit that I have rather expensive hobbies. Also, I’m still fairly young, and boredom easily finds me. Now, whether there is more to this business or not, is my decision and my business,”he answered casually.
Etta’s smiles drops, turning a bit more cold.
“What does that mean? There something you don’t want me to know? Are you kidnapping little kids too and making them do your bidding?”
She starts to power up a device on her shoulder, eyes narrowing as her expression fills with hatred.
Shit, Jezzy, what are you doing??
Val appears in front of Etta. "Calm down."
Andry watches silently, preparing himself for a fight.
Lucky Jack’s eyebrows rose in surprise at the accusation.
“What? Of course not! That’s absolutely barbaric! I hire grown men and women. They get paid well, and I treat them well! I’m a businessman, but also a gentleman!”he explained, flustered.
Etta power down the weapon, shaking her head as she puts a hand to her forehead. Embarrassed, she sighs, nodding slightly
“Of course. You seem a respectable businessman. My apologies.” She gazes at the floor, and sighs. “Gimmie a second.” She says flatly, stomping off to a different room
Val sighs. "Even after living for so long, I do not understand the people of this world."
Andry nods. "Indeed."
Lucky Jack watched Etta go. That accusation had been personal to her, which meant that whoever she worked for had done that to her. By Ion, what sort of barbarians exist in this world? Even the true barbarians I knew back home were not so savage!
He then sighed, turning to Valerie at her comment. A curious gleam grew in his eyes.
*Might I ask, how old are you? I’m in my mid-twenties, though I’m not sure of the equivalent for this world.”
Val snorts. "It's rude to ask a lady her age, but I'll let it slide. In this life, I'm 20. However, I am older by far than the entire galaxy we're currently in."
Andry looks shocked. Clearly he hadn't known that fact.
Lucky Jack nodded in acknowledgment of her answer.
“That is why I said, ‘Might I ask’. Though, the customs of my homeworld are probably also a bit looser than this one. I’m still figuring it out,”he replied politely.
Val grins. "I'm just teasing. Although, the answer I gave is true. Considering that this galaxy is countless ages old, as in millions of billions of trillions of years old, I would roughly be… 10 million eons old, considerably older than anything that has ever lived."
Andry's mouth falls open at that. Realizing this, he shuts it with a snap.
Jack blinks.
“I see. That’s… far older than the multiverse itself…”
He becomes lost in thought for a moment.
Val nods. "Indeed. The line of Ûr is older than any if the multiverses, and I was the first, after Ûr himself."
Andry just shakes his head, bemused. "So… you are one of the most powerful entities anywhere?"
"Indeed." Val snickers.
Lucky Jack stares at her a moment in shock, too stunned to speak. Though, his eyes soon narrowed in thought, his fingers rhythmically tapping on his desk. He didn’t speak, momentarily forgetting that he had company.
Val watches Lucky Jack, then decides to do something. Slowly, the spirit of adragon manifests itself. She grins, waiting for Jack to notice that he's inside one of the dragon's legs. Andry watches in horror and fascination.
Lucky Jack noticed Val doing something, but he wasn’t really paying attention. Though, he finally saw Andry’s look and broke out of his thoughts, noticing where he was. He blinked, stunned, and quickly becoming intrigued.
Val watches Jacks face turn from thoughtful to startled then to curious. "You are much, much shorter than the dragon, and it is not yet at its biggest. What you see here is a mere fraction of my essence."
Andry looks up. The dragon's knees aren't even visible. "What the hell?"
Jack looked at Val, chuckling.
“I have always been shorter than most. But, this seems oddly symbolic, don’t you think? My home world was rife with dragons, and this one, reminds me of an old friend of mine. A massive, gold dragon, who also happened to be the patron of my home city’s bank. Old, wise, and very protective of those he cared for,”Jack replied, smiling softly.
Val listens intently, storing the information for later. For now she asks "Did he have gems and jewels studding his wings and body?"
Andry just listens, very much knowing that his friend is well beyond death itself.