video: un. an.observer

[thisislife]

[Lexi is standing behind the counter of what's clearly a used books and comics store with a wide grin on her face]

Okay, everybody! I'd like to officially welcome you to the Satellite of Love Used Books and Comics! While you're here, please give your best to Nosferatmew and Mewnos: The Paws of Fate, our batcat mascots. Don't worry, both of them have been trained to be very polite and don't assume everyone's a nom-nom!

I look forward to seeing you here!

[Private to Luz]

We did it! We really did it!

Comments

[thisislife]

Yeah, they're getting...I don't know if more rare is the right term, but almost everyone reads e-books. I hate the thought of paper books being phased out. So, it's nice to meet you and c'mon over!

[drawsghosts]

In my universe, books are mainly stored on datapads, and few planets still use paper books. Mostly the more rural ones. It's been a while since I've been in able to just go into a book store.

[thisislife]

Well, now you can! Almost whenever you like, we close at 5 in the afternoon. A girl's gotta eat more than a sandwich lunch!

[drawsghosts]

Hope you carry spy novels.

[thisislife]

We do! There are entire sections devoted to genre fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, horror, mysteries...that's where the spy novels live. I can help point you out to some in specific?

[drawsghosts]

If you have any recommendations, that would be delightful. Especially when I doubt that you carry Dawn on Ryloth or Syndic's Game, or anything involving handsome Chiss or Mirialans.

[Those two titles were his favorites back in his universe.]

[thisislife]

Oh, wow. Wow. Where do I even start?

Okay. Sir Ian Flemming's James Bond series. And most of the movies. On my planet, when you say spy? Everyone thinks James Bond. Oh, and John le Carre! He's really good, too, especially for really, really realistic books and his 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' is ranked as the best spy novel of all time where I'm from.

Bond is a fun fantasy, but le Carre writes closer to the real thing.

Oh, oh, and The Alice Network. It's about a woman who gets involved in a group of female spies and it was based on a real story. And 'The Spy Network' by Joseph Conrad is a classic.

[drawsghosts]

[He grabs a nearby pen and paper to write this down.]

I'll take a look at those and see what sounds interesting.

[thisislife]

Great! There should be more, too, but those writers and those books are the ones that really stand out to me as the best of the best. And let me see if I can find a list I found on the Omni....here it is! [reading it over] There are a bunch on here that sound fantastic!

[drawsghosts]

[His eyes scan the page.]

Some of these sound interesting too.

In my home galaxy, one of my favorites was about a Chiss who's sent undercover by his people to foil the plans of a Syndic who plans to sell weapons and spice during his stay in another section of the galaxy.

[thisislife]

They're amazing. Especially the one about the Kennedy assassination. It was like a--a breaking point in my country's history. There was Before and there was After, but there wasn't any in-between.

Hmm. I can't identify it right off of the top of my head, but give me a minute....[about ten minutes pass]--ah! I've found something similar, at least? Chiss and Syndic aren't your usual points of reference back home? I can't pronounce the authors' names, but they're here.

[drawsghosts]

Really? I'm assuming this Kennedy person was very important for his assassination to be such a big deal.

[He's picturing someone like the Emperor or Jedi Grandmaster, or the Supreme Chancellor. Their assassinations would be a big deal in his world.]

The Chiss are blue-skinned, red-eyed aliens from the Unknown Region. Many people find them creepy but I've never had a problem with them, and the Syndics are like their politicians. I think. But that's besides the point.

[thisislife]

Yeahhhhh. He was the oldest brother out of a family of politically minded brothers. Jack Kennedy was the first and only to make it to the top, but he had his head blown off even before my mom was a kid."

[it apparently was a big deal for the Earths that she's heard of. most seem to have them, but where the diffraction point is? halla. she's heard rumors about them, but has never seen in person. neither has anyone else from any Earth she's found]

Then I definitely have something in store for you. [she turns one of the books over in her hand] I'll admit, I didn't see this coming but. I'm glad it did.