Lidia scratched her head and sighed as she leaned back in her chair, “Yeah it’s a cool idea, but I don’t see how the Mordigonians could have shield-breaking torpedoes if they don’t have Orogium on their planet. They’re not interstellar yet, so there’s no way they could have gotten the ore.”

“What if we flashback to reveal that an asteroid-sized ball of Orogim entered the planet’s atmosphere at some point and the Mordigonians-” Rodney began.

Mike interrupted, “Nah, man. Flashbacks are way too cliche and break the pacing too much. Besides, how would they even know to build shield-breaking torpedos if the S.F.M. refused to believe interstellar militaries would attempt an invasion?”

“Or even that they existed?” Lidia added.

Rodney groaned, “Then how are the Mordigonians supposed to deal any damage to the Bizunians?”

“We could have Athemi hack the command ship’s comms and open a line of communication with Venera. Isn’t she still working undercover?” Beth chimed in.

“Athemi isn’t on the command ship though,” Mike said, “She wouldn’t be able to get a strong enough signal to be able to hack it.”

The room fell silent for several minutes as the writers pondered their options, then Rodney slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, “I’ve got it!” startling everyone who was seated in the room. “Athemi could use the ship’s beam cannon to ‘overclock’ the friendly comms so she can brute-force the signal data through to the enemy comms!”

The other writers nodded their heads and murmured in agreement.

“Alex, you’ve been a little quieter than usual. What’s up, hun?” Lidia asked.

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, sorry guys. I’m kinda hungry. I haven’t had anything to eat since last night, so I’m a little out of it.”

“It’s one in the afternoon, Alex! That’s more than twelve hours!” Lidia exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know. I was a little too busy to eat anything.” Alex replied.

Alex hadn’t been busy with work, but buried in manga. He’d binged 30 volumes in a single sitting and after getting just a dozen pages into the 31st he’d passed out. He awoke four hours later to the sound of J-rock from his alarm. Since he rarely ever ate breakfast, he’d skipped it and headed straight for work after a quick shower.

“Well, it’s lunchtime anyway,” Mike said, “Let’s take a break.”

Alex walked to the vending machine, dragging his feet as he made his way across the tiled office hallway. His eyes were killing him. The crew had even mentioned that they were bloodshot, something Alex had no trouble believing. He knew it wasn’t a good idea but he just couldn’t help it. The story was mesmerizing. For a manga written in the 80’s it felt extremely modern, using so many of the current tropes in ways that weren’t original, but done better than anything else he’d read.

Alex couldn’t remember the last time he had read that much manga at once. Maybe after he had first discovered the medium?

Finally reaching the end of what felt like ten miles of hallway, Alex stuck his arm out and leaned against the glass of the vending machine. His eyes lazily traced the rows of chips, cookies, and crackers. It took a whole minute before Alex realized he hadn’t even registered what he was looking at. He shut his eyes and rubbed them with his free hand, then began to yawn.

The clop of women’s footwear echoed from across the hall and a voice called out, “Alex! Are you okay, hun?” It was Lidia.

“Yeah, just trying to figure out what I want for lunch!” Alex replied over his yawn.

Lidia was a senior writer for Explorers and had been writing for television for over two decades. She was like the big sister of the writing staff and checked in on all of the writers outside of work. Alex liked that about her. In fact, everybody liked that about her. She was definitely the most loved writer on the show; not just by the other writers, but by the fans too. She was highly active on social media and had almost as many followers as some of the actors on the show. There was no doubt that she loved working on Explorers.

“Do you want to take a nap?” Lidia asked.

Alex shook his head, “No, I need some food. My stomach’s been screaming at me all day.”

Lidia chuckled, “Yeah, we've all been hearing it, hun.”

Alex laughed weakly, “That’s embarrassing.”

“What are you getting?”

A sigh escaped Alex’s lips, “I don’t know, I’m looking at these and I’m so out of it I can’t even read the packaging.”

Alex’s nose caught the scent of a flowery perfume and a warm hand on his back.

“Forget this junk, I’ll share some of my lunch with you.”

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to do that.”

“You don’t need this nasty crap, hun. Do you know how much trans fat and corn syrup is in just one of these? I have some fresh chicken salad in the refrigerator. You should be eating that.”

Any other day Alex would have been far more stubborn about this kind of thing, but today he just didn’t have the energy to object to Lidia’s gesture of kindness.

Lidia retrieved a large Tupperware container from the fridge and pushed it into Alex’s hand. Taped to the translucent blue lid was a packaged set of plastic cutlery.

“Dig in, hun,” Lidia said before retrieving what looked like a foil-wrapped burrito

Alex hesitated, “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely! I made way too much and it’ll go bad before I can finish it all.”

“Your eyes were too big for your stomach?”

Lidia chuckled and pointed at the top shelf of the refrigerator where four more containers rested.

Alex smiled, “Oh.”

Lidia tapped the refrigerator door closed with her hip and she and Alex sat down at the lunch table.

The two opened their food and ate in silence for a few minutes. The break room wasn’t usually this void of sound. It was abnormal for it to have less than the whole team chatting with one another during breaks.

“Where is everybody?” Lidia asked.

“I don’t know.” Alex replied after swallowing what was in his mouth, trying to sound nonchalant.

This wasn’t completely true, but he couldn’t tell Lidia that the others were out getting supplies for the surprise party they were planning for her birthday.

“Hm…” Lidia responded.

She knew something was up. She was definitely suspicious and Alex could feel her gaze on him.

Alex didn’t like keeping secrets. He always felt uncomfortable lying to people he liked, even when it was harmless. Something about deceiving someone who trusted you felt icky to him. Luckily for Alex, Lidia changed the subject.

“Are you going down to set today?”

“No, they actually want me in the studio to help the choir that’s performing the Fetsioan chants. I think Bruce Camdon is doing the score this season, so I’m pretty sure he’ll be there too.”

“What happened to Sophia Harday?”

“I don’t know. If I had to guess, she probably got hired to work on a movie and schedules started conflicting.”

“Doesn’t Bruce Camdon usually score video games?”

Alex nodded, “Yep, he scored Green Smoke and Ash last year.”

“I heard mixed things about that game. My cousin finished it last week and she says the controls are a little too floaty. Have you played it?”

Alex shook his head, “It’s a console-exclusive and I don’t have any consoles. If it’s ported to PC I might give it a shot, though.”

“What time do you have to be over there?”

Alex checked his watch, “A few hours.”

“You seem to have your work cut out for you.”

“Oh, yeah!” Alex replied with a sigh.

“Well, just don’t overdo it hun.”

Alex chuckled, “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try my best. Say, what kind of burrito is that?” he asked as he pointed his fork at Lidia’s lunch.

She laughed, “It’s not a burrito, hun” she said, showing Alex her food, “It’s a chicken salad wrap.”

Alex racked his bike and stepped into the bus. He grabbed the closest open seat he could find and removed his phone from his pocket. Before he could begin to dial the number to the recording studio the phone buzzed.

“Hey mom,” he answered.

“Are you at work, mon amour?”

“No, I'm on the bus headed over to a recording studio. I think I’m going to be there for just a couple of hours and then head home.”

“Recording studio?”

“Yep, I’m assisting a choir with an alien chant.”

Alex’s mom laughed, “Take that sentence out of context!”

Alex responded with a chuckle, “Sometimes I forget how weird my job is.”

“Weird, yes, but also very important.”

Alex furrowed his brow, “Eh...”

“What? You don’t think what you do is important? You think movies and video games and shows would be just as good without you?”

“I don’t know, it’s possible but-”

“No, Alex. What you do is important-to a whole industry!”

“BUT,” Alex continued, “I could be working for the U.N. or the FBI. I could be a professor of linguistics or a hospital interpreter or-”

“Alex, mon amour. Please...”

Alex sighed, “Sorry mom. I guess I just feel like I’m doing a disservice to the world. Like I’m not helping people when I could be.”

“But you and I both know that you would be miserable doing those kinds of jobs. You love what you do! You shouldn’t force yourself to do something you hate. There are so many people who love what you do and that you keep doing it. The world needs people like you, Alex. I know for a fact that you’ve inspired so many people to learn about language. You gave linguistics mass-appeal. I’d even say you helped the field go more mainstream.”

Alex sighed again and looked out the window, “You’re right mom,” he conceded, “I’m sorry.”

Alex didn’t really think what he’d done was all that big of a deal. His mom was just exaggerating his accomplishments; being hyperbolic to try to make him feel better about his career choice. 

She was doing what moms did.

“Are you still coming home next week?” Alex’s mom asked.

“Of course.”

It was an annual tradition for Alex to go back up to Canada during the spring to visit his mom. Since the death of his sisters Alex had made it a point to return to their graves and pay his respects. He was also the only family his mom had, so it was the only time his mom could spend with relatives.

“Great! I can’t wait for you to meet Jaques!”

“Who’s Jaques?”

“He’s the new puppy.”

“You got a puppy?”

“A very lovely one!”

“What breed?”

There was a short silence, “Uh… I don’t really know.”

Alex chuckled, “Is it big or small?”

“Alex, all puppies are small.”

Alex chuckled again, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Send me a picture later.”

“I will.”

“Alright mom, I have to call the studio to let them know I’m going to be a few minutes late,” Alex said, glancing at his watch, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, goodbye mon amour. Je t’aime!”

“Moi aussi.”

Alex produced a key from his pocket and stuck it into the lock on his apartment door. As he turned the key he felt a rush of lethargy and gravity seemed to double. The day might have been the longest he’d ever had, and it still wasn’t over. It was already 10PM and Alex was ready to ragdoll onto his bed. He sighed as he pushed the door open, knowing that he couldn’t do that. He still had work to do.

Alex dragged his feet through the carpeted hallway of his three-bedroom living area into his office. It was the only part of his apartment that was a mess. Miscellaneous books, essays, and newspaper archives littered his desk and floor. A path of open carpet led to his desk like a yellow brick road to Oz. The laptop he’d gotten specifically for work rested atop an encyclopedia volume to elevate it to eye-level. Had his bedroom been as disheveled, it would have been considered a fire hazard. However, since he didn’t sleep in his office Alex didn’t feel it necessary to tidy up.

Alex followed the path of visible carpet to the desk, dropped his book bag beside the chair, and took a seat. He flicked the laptop open and slid out the keyboard tray to access the external keyboard and mouse before powering on the computer and getting to work.