Wonder Woman:
Coreyantor was an interesting place to be sure. Earth diversity was one thing; but this was something else entirely. There were aliens of all kinds here. It was impossible to describe this in words. And while I was certainly the only earthling/Amazon around to be sure there were plenty of what could be termed humanoids strolling about. There were many nonhumanoids as well. They conversed and bantered away in a multitude of different languages. They paid me no heed as I discreetly observed them. I didn't really know where to begin. And this was only a trade hub! This was a kind of getting lost I didn't really mind. There was no fighting; no good/evil. No Ares. It was just me exploring. This was what I really was at heart; an explorer. Why would I ever want to leave that?
I spotted a possible dive equivalent along the main recreational area. Such a thing was always universally recognizable. I entered. The clientele was equally as diverse as the rest of the trade hub had appeared to be thus far. I walked up to the main bar; there were several others positioned at different levels throughout the structure. There were other bars throughout the vending section that served as competition but it wasn't rocket science to tell that this was the dominant one from observation alone. I could explore the others too but this was the best place to start. An alien bartender with four arms approached me. "What'll it be lady?" Through my divine power and/or my mental link to the wonder ship I could understand all languages and be understood in all languages. "I'll have your beverage of the day if you have one." "Sure thing." I readied a credit card that the wonder ship had replicated for just this very purpose. Essentially I had unlimited money. Nothing wrong with that! Dear old dad and engineer Hephaestus had thought of everything when it came to the wonder vehicle's creation. Being a badass demigod did have its advantages to be sure! Why not use them? He returned with a dark...purple looking concoction. I wanted to say what the hell was this but I didn't. I cleared my throat paid anyway and took my first sip after paying. Maybe that wasn't the best approach but it didn't matter. It was done now. It was...interesting...? The barman of sorts watched me with six black eyes. I kept a blank expression, using Amazonian discipline to mask what could have been constituted as my true reaction. It was neither the best nor worst beverage that I'd ever had; it was sweet yet bland. But again, I was here to try new things and thus sucked it up.
The barman continued to hang around. "You're new around here aren't you?" I scoffed. "How'd you guess that?" "I remember every face that comes through here." He pointed at his head with a three fingered hand while saying this. I raised a curious brow. "Is that a trait of your species?" "It is. How'd you know that? Are you familiar with my kind?" "No; but it made sense." "So what do you do for a living...?" "Diana. I'm...an explorer." "Explorer? Doesn't sound very profitable." "In a monetary sense, no; but it is nonetheless very rewarding." "But how do you make the ends meet?" "A little of this and that." That had him studying me with even greater curiosity. It wasn't bad to keep people guessing. However, the scientist in me wanted to know things - especially why the Coreyantor overseers were so anal. I asked him about this. One thing one could always count on any world being true was that bartenders kept their ears, or similar, close to the ground. "There's been a lot of regional trouble here; security got beefed up because of it." "Why?" "There's some kind of empire from the other side of the galaxy called the Haken. They've been raiding freighters that come and go through here." "Why?" He gave an action that I could only describe as his version of a shrug. "Conquest? Who knows with these power hungry despots?" That had me thinking. Before I could inquire further however new customers arrived. "Got to go. Welcome to Coreyantor. Don't let the controllers give you too much grief." I shared a small laugh with him. "I'll try not to. Thanks." He moved off; he hadn't given me a name. That was all right. I could just as easily return through here again. But now these Haken had me thinking a lot. They definitely were not familiar. I mentally asked the wonder ship to double check every record that it had, but it came back negative on all searches to my mind. Great... It seemed that I had a real mystery on my hands, even though the Haken seemed readily familiar to many around here. It would be beneficial to learn as much about them as possible.
I returned to enjoying my beverage and just casting a curious look around the establishment. The upper level had a dance area that was now starting to draw something of a crowd. I took my drink from the bar and went ahead up there. It was a lively setting and it was only getting more so. I wasn't sure what the local time was but I'd wager that it was evening. That meant youth would come here to relax or meet up with peers, as they would on any other world. So much was different yet simultaneously the same. It was a pattern I'd noticed throughout my many travels; both on earth and beyond. I stayed in the background of the dance area as it continued to draw a growing crowd. I heard some guests say that it was indeed evening. Booze sales were going up. It was always good to know that the alien moonshine biz was doing well! Good thing there was no interstellar prohibition going on; then we would have been in some real trouble to be sure!
While tempted to play scientist and indulge my curiosity as such - especially regarding these apparent shady Haken types - I chose rather to enjoy the moment for what it was. There would be plenty of time for security research soon enough; and I also wanted to make sure these Haken would never pose a threat to earth in any way. Time would tell.