"Still around after all these years? A hero's life is a thoroughly difficult one, and you don't get paid." The voice sounded faintly female under the drone of static interference.
"No money, but gratitude can go a long way towards keeping you alive." This voice was very low, and gave the impression only one person could hear it at a time.
"But not in luxury."
"You'd be surprised."
"Fine, if I can't get your help through greed, I'll appeal to your conscience."
"Go right ahead." The quiet voice struggled to keep interest out of its tone.
"A giant black hole is threatening to destroy the galaxy."
"You can't be serious."
The female voice laughed. "Of course not. Black holes aren't my department anyway.
"So what's the real problem?"
"The space pirates have developed a way to clone Metroids using materials on hand on any planet. We need to stop them."
"Won't they end up killing themselves?"
"Maybe, but not before they've created enough parasites to reduce the population of the galaxy by a good third."
"If you insist," the second voice said doubtfully.
"I could have just asked you to help because we were friends and skipped this whole conversation, right?"
The softer voice said nothing, but in a rather smug way.