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CAMP ONE COLONY - HABITAT HALL - NIGHT
That lively SPLASHSCREEN fills JAY's tablet; a brief arboreal JINGLE plays...
"SHELDER EVOLUTION"
Jay is 12 years old (remember: 1 Shelder year = 0.8 Earth year) with chunky brown-ginger hair and a unique light-caramel vanilla-amber blend of skin tone that looks like he has been painted rather than bred...
He just stands there, in the door to the GALLEY, waiting for the videogame to load...
YOME (cooking) Where's Larry?
JAY Dunno.
YOME (sighs) Can you go call him? It's almost ready.
JAY Sure...
Jay doesn't seem to care much but he complies with the request and tries BEDROOM2 down the corridor...
BEDROOM2
LARRY (excited) JAY!
Larry could pass for Jay's twin brother at a quick glance: same hair, similar skin... But they are clearly not related to a more attentive eye...
He's petting Dinel, kneeling on the floor. Jay is uninterested; the game has finished loading and presents Jay's profile and main menu and he taps on "CHARLIE". The game loads again.
JAY It's almost ready.
LARRY Ah. Okay...
Larry's friendly smile is contagious: Dinel would love to smile back but she doesn't have the muscle control on her Aralodon face to be able to. She just CHIRPS back at him with every soft touch of his child hand.
LARRY Any news from Charlie?
Jay suddenly comes back to the living... And looks up from his game.
JAY Urr... I dunno. I was goin'to ask her. But there's no reception...
LARRY The hurricane?
Sadness drops down like a bank of fog and Jay has to carry it as if it was a boulder on his back.
JAY Yeah...
Larry stands up and forgets Dinel for a moment; the Aralodon sits down and preens her feathery winged arms.
LARRY Yeah, I bet.
Larry grabs his own tablet from the bedside table while Jay keeps tapping on "CHARLIE" but the game is "sorry, no connection".
LARRY When the drone deploys you'll be able to talk to Charlie again, at any time, with any weather!
Jay glances up from his tablet to drop a shy smile.
LARRY Its satcom antenna is so powerful... It can get signal even during a thermonuclear explosion!
