By this point, she had no idea what to expect with human foods. Unlike the flaky texture of fish and the stringy nature of birds, roast beef had a smooth feel to it. The meat had been cut into flimsy sheets, though, so perhaps the even texture was more a product of how it had been packaged. The flavor was amazing, though. It had a fullness to it that Trinitite hadn't expected, although it could have done with less of the black stuff that had been added to its edges. The odd material created the familiar burning sensation that she dreaded, but it was minor enough for her to tolerate, and she had to admit the way it complemented the meat's savor made it bearable.

It was good, although she wouldn't have enjoyed it without the whipping cream to douse the burning. To be fair, she probably would have needed it anyways, as the roast beef was uncannily dry for a meat. She took another sip of the liquid, smothering the Roast Beef's lingering taste. It was thicker than the stuff on the Pacific Lilly, but beyond that it was fairly similar.

If she had the time, Trinitite would love to shift through the arsenal of foods the humans possessed, although alone she doubted she could keep track of everything. If her sisters were here, sneaking through human society would be impossible (Firestorm wouldn't have had the patience, for one), but it was too bad she didn't have anyone to discuss this new food with.

The feelings of loneliness she'd been ignoring until now returned to the forefront. It was kinda funny, in a twisted sort of way. She'd never been around so many people, but she didn't have anyone she could actually talk to. A fleet carrier needed a fleet, after all, but even if she hadn't been disguised she wasn't sure this new fleet could fill the role. Everyone was so… distant from each other. She caught laughter and other sincere conversation between some of the workers, but mostly everyone just… worked.

Of course, things weren't very social in the Crossroads Fleet after someone spotted a periscope, but few workers here seemed to care about each other when they weren't working. Again, great for someone like her, who didn't really know how human interaction worked, but it didn't seem like this new fleet was going to fill the hole left by her last one.

"So…" The human across from her started. "...what were the Marshalls like?"

"Hmm?" Trinitite murmured, refocusing her thoughts on the human across from her. Deep, she was a part of the problem, wasn't she?

"You know," He urged, "how was your home before the abyssals attacked?"

Before they… attacked?

She wasn't entirely sure how to answer that. There had been buildings, signs of human habitation when Trinitite had first emerged from the waves, but they hadn't been occupied. She'd joined the fleet only hours after Her Princess had taken residence in Bikini, and as far as she could remember, there hadn't been any signs of struggle. It had been her resting place after The Firebringers had arranged her death, so calling the occupation of Bikini an 'attack' didn't seem accurate… at all. For as long as the Crossroads Fleet had existed, it had been their home, and for years no one disputed that.

On the other hand, it had been attacked, costing Trinitite her home, her sisters, and possibly her Mother. Other princesses had gotten close to doing so several times before the humans did, but it didn't take a veteran carrier like herself to notice differences in how Abyssals and human fleets attacked an island. Of course, Trinitite couldn't say nothing, but it was going to be easy to slip up and give her fleetmate the truth: That she'd let a fire get out of control, and burned while her family was slaughtered.

"...You don't have to talk about it." Alton added, reading Trinitite's silence. The Abyssal nodded, wanting to take the excuse the human had offered, but if he was curious, Trinitite needed to satisfy him enough that he wouldn't have any lingering questions to cause problems later.

"No, I should." The abyssal started, her mind racing. What kind of information was he looking for?

"Mom had her own island." She gambled. There were plenty of islands in the pacific, with a not-insignificant number sporting only one or two human buildings. "Until the war, I… never left it." An idea was starting to form in her mind, an extension of the story she'd fed to her potential commanders when she'd been hunting for a job. Human society was clearly full of hundreds of little rules she wasn't privy to, so if she had an excuse not to have learned all these rules, she might have an easier time dodging the human's radar.

Metaphorically, of course. Her RDF equipment wasn't picking up anything that felt like search radar from the humans.

"For most of my life, my…" Deep, was 'sisters' a ship-specific term? She spent a second trying to think of another word, but it failed to materialize. Well, she couldn't end the sentence, could she? She cringed, forced to take another gamble. "…sisters, and myself."

Alton nodded solemnly. It looked like she'd dodged that torpedo. Confident, the abyssal continued.

"We didn't have much, but when they came, they hit us with everything."

Memories the Abyssal had tried to avoid returned as she spoke. A tall, stocky battleship, her four twin turrets focused solely on her defeated princess. A harsh sun, blazing unimpeded upon bikini for the first time in years and casting the disater's aftermath in harsh light. Hypocenter's unseeing eyes, staring through Trinitite as the mangled hulk lay empty on the beach. The fireball slowly expanding from an ammunition bunker, Trinitite's anger and sorrow wiping away the last vestiges of her home.

"I lost… everyone."

He didn't reply. Silence descended between the two, Trinitite's story forgotten as the Carrier dwelled on her old life. Deep, that had only been a few weeks ago, hadn't it? With everything that had happened since then, Trinitite had completely lost track of time.

Finally, after another moment of silence, the human finally spoke.

"You know… you've got cream on your lip."

Abruptly, Trinitite's thoughts were refocused on the present.

"Oh!" Once again hoping her unnaturally-colored brush didn't show through the foundation, Trinitite took a gloved hand and guided it to where Alton was pointing. With a swipe, she'd cleared the offending liquid with a finger, wiping it onto her jeans. Another job normally covered by her paint-and-chip detail, that she'd have to do herself. "Uh, thanks."

"Look." The human started, drawing The Carrier's attention. "Besides Austin, everyone in this crew has lost their home to the Abyssals. Tirto's family is somewhere in Java, possibly dead. I was stuck on Oahu for months before a nuke gave me a ride here. Sern had the sense to get out long before the Abyssals arrived, but he still lost a lot of friends when they took Kuala Lumpur."

"It's hard, and we know what it's like. I don't want to pressure you, but believe me: Talking about it helps. We don't exactly have the time for heart-to-hearts here, but Dan's got the contact information of all the local therapists posted in the office. There's a high demand, so they're a little pricey, but believe me: It's worth the money."

Trinitite tried to keep the bitterness out of her smile. It sounded like honest advice, which made the fact she couldn't actually take it infuriating. She didn't know what therapists were, obviously, but The Abyssal couldn't afford to be honest about anything. Not totally.

"Thanks, but I don't have enough money for that." She deflected.

The human tilted his head, acknowledging Trinitite's point.

"Fair enough." He took another bite from his meal, Seeming to savor the taste before continuing. "I guess the rent out here's pretty terrible."

"It is." Trinitite slowly nodded, pretending she knew what Alton was talking about. She'd have to change the subject to… something, if he pressed the manner.

"Luckly, we managed to avoid that. The wife's parents live around here, so she moved in with them while I was stuck on Oahu. Once I escaped, we'd managed to grab a house about an hour from here."

"...Okay." Trinitite started to peel the banana in front of her, hoping her interest in her food disguised the fact she couldn't follow the human at all. Wife? House? And again, more than one parent, as if that was normal for humans. It might be, Trinitite didn't put much weight into her assumptions on humans anymore, but she still didn't understand how that would work. Humans did have less endurance than she did, so maybe they worked in shifts, like her crew did.

"That's also why so many people live in the barracks, I suppose. Saves on costs." he commented, before giving Trinitite an apologetic look. "Obviously you can't, but…"

She couldn't?

"Yeah…" She agreed unknowingly, hoping she'd managed to keep her confusion off her face. Silence continued for a few seconds as Trinitite wrestled with Alton's words.

She'd kind of assumed joining a fleet meant being able to sleep with them, but since Alton (and a lot of other humans, considering how casual he was about it) didn't, and for some reason she obviously couldn't, it meant she'd have to find somewhere else to sleep. In hindsight, that was a good thing, as it would mean keeping her true nature secret would be easier, but why? This conversation had seemed like a good idea at first, but now Trinitite was starting to feel like she was drifting from a Typhoon.

She took a contemplative bite from the banana, trying to think of how to rite the conversation. For the moment, Alton seemed okay with the silence, so maybe letting it flounder was the best option. Still, she felt like she was missing an opportunity to probe a human for some more intelligence. What kind of question could she ask? Unlike the machine at the library, the human could get suspicious, but extracting usable intel out of him could be a lot easier, if she just knew what to ask.

The Wo's rangefinders bored into her roast beef, but it didn't provide any help to the frustrated abyssal. 'Did the Navy get any new carriers?' How would he know the answer to that? Why would Elizabeth be interested?

Maybe ask about abyssals? The page she'd read about her kind had been equal parts frustrating and relieving. Relieving, because it meant humans seemed just as clueless about Trinitite as she was about them, but frustrating because there was so much that was just wrong, and whatever happened to her Princess implied the humans knew something about abyssals she didn't. That wasn't the only question about her kind she'd been hoping for answers on, but there had been so much misinformation that, even if she found something useful, she probably wouldn't have been able to rely on the answer. Maybe she could give Alton a few probing questions to confirm humans were so uninformed?

None of these questions fit with the conversation at all! Deep, this was so frustrating!

Mercifully, another voice cut in from behind her, rescuing Trinitite from her frustration.

"How come I never heard of greek food before? This is amazing!"

The Abyssal turned to see her rescuer, recognizing the other two humans she'd met before getting to work on bending rebar. Tirto and… Sam? Which one had which name, again? Either way, it was good they were here. she'll have time to build an operation plan before she was forced into this situation again.

"You get those every time the truck's here." The other voice replied dryly. They must have avoided conversation until she was well within earshot, as they were only a few yards away.

"I mean back home, Tirto." The one with the smoother face clarified. "Back in Kuala Lumpur, most of the forigen food I had was… terrible…"

The human's statement trailed off as Trinitite's gaze met his. What was so surprising about her?

Had he seen through her disguise?

Alarms blared inside her as a jolt of terror coursed through her keel. Trinitite looked away, trying to scope out any potential avenues of escape. Being several floors above the ground severely limited her options, but if she gripped the scaffolding over there just right, maybe she could slide down?

"...uh, hi?"

When the human's warning didn't come, Trinitite's attention returned to him. Her crew was still scrambling to their action stations, and she'd keep them on alert for a while, but for now it seemed like there wasn't any threat from the human.

Yet.

"Hello." She replied, slowly returning to her lunch. That human hadn't said much in their first conversation, had he? Trinitite had assumed he had just been shy, like many abyssals, but seeing him start the conversation so easily, then suddenly clam up when he noticed she was there?

It could mean any number of things, especially with beings as enigmatic as humans, but Trinitite hadn't lived for two years by assuming the best of situations. The chance that the human was suspicious of her was far too large for her to ignore. Maybe he wasn't sure, and was waiting for Trinitite to slip up again to confirm his suspicions. Maybe he did know Trinitite's true nature, but didn't want Trinitite to know that he knew. Maybe there was some human reason Trinitite wasn't privy to, and she was in danger of destroying her cover by overreacting!

Either way, she'd have to tread carefully around him.

"Looks like Elizabeth will be working with us." Alton started, ignoring the tension between the two. "I guess Austin managed to pry her from the electricians."

Trinitite shrugged, unsure how to respond. If Hypocenter had made a dry joke like that, she would have responded in kind, but…

"Welcome aboard." The darker-skinned man nodded to Trinitite, and she returned it. "What brought you to construction?"

Finally, a question she could be honest about.

"First job I could find." Trinitite shrugged.

"Ah." The man nodded. "Good luck, then."

"Thank you!"

Trinitite gave him a small smile. She wasn't sure why he was wishing her that, but she certainly needed it.

As I predicted, this chapter really fought me. When I first finished this chapter, I hated it, as it took me forever to write and it seemed to be suffering from acute talking heads syndrome. After a reread it felt a lot better, and with some edits I think this is finally at a point where I can publish it. Let me know if I made a good call or if this needed a few more editing passes.

Probably going to do an hours long timeskip after the interlude, though. I'm looking forwards to writing the weekend, after all.