Chương 72: [Movie Night]

After the group finished eating Diane stood.

"Gotta get back to the lab, see you all later. Bye loser." She looked at Sam last. Sam gave her the finger. Sara took this as her cue. She was on her feet a second later, hand closing around Davan's arm.

"Come on."

"Careful Davan," Rika said.

"She doesn't look happy. You're in for it I think." Davan's shoulders slumped, the look on his face saying more than enough.

"I'd be careful holding his arm like that though," Rika added.

"People might notice." Sara let go fast.

"Fuck you." She walked out without looking back, Davan following behind her. The table laughed. Shai looked at Ronan.

"Come on, we'll get your key sorted." Torren was already standing, Rika joined him. The lads stayed put.

"We're going to get some practice in," Leo said.

"Might swing by the charity shop after."

"Charity shop?" Rika said.

"You'll find out," Parmo said, grinning at her. They split at the door.

Luka came through from the bathroom towelling his hair, a clean shirt draped over his shoulder. He pulled it on as he dropped onto the couch. Phil sat next to him with a carrier bag, going through what they had managed to find. Sam had his eyes on his UI. Leo was in the kitchen, the sound of the kettle starting up while Parmo sat at the table playing on one of the Gameboys. A knock came at the door.

"I'll get it," Luka called, already up again. He came back up the stairs with Shai, Rika and Torren behind him. Rika had her eyes moving around the room before she'd cleared the top step.

"Where's the Gameboy?" she said.

"Hello to you too," Phil said.

"Hello. Where's the Gameboy?" Rika spotted Parmo at the table and was behind him in seconds, head tilted at the screen.

"What is that? How do you make it do that?"

"I'll explain in a minute," Parmo said, not looking up. Torren took the armchair. Shai settled onto the empty couch.

"Anyone want a cuppa?" Leo called from the kitchen. A general yes came back at him. Phil had the carrier bag in his lap, one hand sorting through it, making sure everything was there, the other keeping the rest down out of sight. Torren watched him.

"What have you got there?"

"Found some DVDs earlier," Phil said.

"Figured with the okay from Mike we could show you some stuff on the TV tonight." Rika's head came up from the Gameboy.

"Oh that sounds amazing."

"What sort of thing?" Shai asked. The tea arrived, Leo setting mugs down. Sam put his UI away. Luka dropped down near Phil as he started pulling things out of the bag. Phil pulled the first one out.

"Right, so. Lord of the Rings." He held up the box set, all three cases.

"This is what our tattoos are from. It's fantasy so not our actual world, but it's the best thing ever made. The orcs in it are one of the evil races, just so you know Torren." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"That's fine," Torren said.

"People tell stories with what they know." Phil nodded and set it on the cushion beside him.

"These two," he said, pulling out Planet Earth and Blue Planet, "are nature documentaries. Someone films animals and landscapes all over our world, narrated by this bloke called David Attenborough. National treasure. If you want to know what Earth actually looks like, what lives there, this is the best place to start." Torren leaned forward to look at the cases.

"You can film animals in the wild?" Shai said.

"From very far away usually," Sam said.

"Or very carefully." Phil kept going.

"These," he said, pulling out Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and Enemy at the Gates, "are all about the last big war our world fought. Happened about eighty years ago now. Covered most of the planet. Tens of millions dead." The three went quiet.

"Tens of millions," Torren said.

"Yeah," Phil said.

"It was bad. These try to show what it was actually like for the people in it, not just the politics." He let that sit for a second then moved on.

"Rome and Spartacus are set in an ancient empire from our world, thousands of years ago. Gladiator's similar, same period. Fair warning, these have adult content. Violence, nudity, that sort of thing. It's not gratuitous, it's just part of showing what that world was actually like."

"That's fine," Shai said.

"Yeah we're not children," Rika added.

"Right," Phil said.

"Then we've got Warrior, which is about unarmed combat as a sport. Two fighters, big tournament, good story underneath it. Shaun of the Dead and Deadpool are comedies, though Deadpool is also action and also has adult content. Different kind though."

"How many kinds of adult content are there?" Rika asked.

"More than you'd think," Parmo said from behind her.

"Right," Phil said, setting the last of them down. He looked into the bag.

"Oh. Almost forgot." Leo looked at him.

"Wasn't that everything?"

"Oh, did I not mention I found these as well." He pulled two more box sets out of the bag. High School DxD and Bleach.

"No," Leo said.

"Why not, I thou—""Absolutely not." Sam had already seen them.

"Yeah, that's a hard no, dude."

"You just said adult content was fine," Phil said. Leo opened his mouth. Closed it.

"You literally just said Spartacus was fine," Phil continued.

"Gladiator. Rome."

"That's different," Sam said.

"How."

"You know exactly how. It ain't happening dude." Rika had put the Gameboy down.

"Why are those ones different?" Leo and Sam looked at each other.

"Remember when we mentioned anime? These are anime. I have no idea why these two, who love anime, want to deprive you three of watching something they love so much," Phil said.

"Remember when he dropped Leo in it by revealing cat girls to you three," Sam said.

"This is more of that. He's being a dick and he knows it."

"Do these ones have cat girls?"

"Yup," Phil said, grinning.

"Well I want to watch one of these." said Rika.

"Trust me, you don't want to waste your first TV experience on that," Sam said.

"Okay so yes these are anime, and yes they have cat girls in them. That one has a lot of pervy moments so we're not watching it. Bleach is fine, we can watch that," Leo said.

"What's Bleach?"

"It's long," Parmo said.

"Very long. Also I'm not watching that shit." Luka leaned forward.

"Let's just watch Lord of the Rings and choose something else later. Can't think of a better first time TV experience than that."

"Sound good?" he asked. The three agreed. Phil looked happy with himself. Phil disappeared into the bedroom and came back with his arms full of cushions, dropping them on the floor in front of the TV. Sam looked at the pile, decided that worked for him, and dropped down cross legged. Luka grabbed one of the dining room chairs and dragged it into the gap between the couches. Parmo and Rika took the couch. Leo sat beside Shai on the other one. Torren settled back into the armchair.

Phil crossed to the television and crouched down in front of it, sliding the disc into the player. He pressed the power button on the TV, then the one on the player, then picked up the remote and pointed it at the screen.

"What are you doing?" Rika asked.

"Setting it up. Give it a second." The screen stayed dark. Torren watched Phil move about as he made sure everything was plugged in correctly. Shai's eyes moved between Phil and the television.

"How does it—" Rika started. The screen came on. Rika's wings rustled against the back of the couch. Torren's hands settled on his knees, his full attention pulled to the screen. Shai's tail stopped moving. The menu sat there, title across it, score playing underneath, light and colour filling the room in a way that hadn't been there a second before.

"That's," Rika started. Stopped.

"That's incredible."

"That's just the menu," Luka said.

"What's a menu?"

"Like a starting page. The actual film hasn't begun yet." Rika stared at it. Torren hadn't looked away since it came on.

"The music," Torren said quietly.

"Where is it coming from?"

"Speakers," Sam said.

"Built into the TV. The sound comes with the picture." Torren nodded slowly, still watching the screen. Phil came back to his cushion on the floor and picked up the remote.

"Everyone comfortable?" Phil didn't get a reply. The three of them were still looking at the screen. He pressed play. The menu faded. The screen went dark again for just a moment. Then a voice filled the room, clear and unhurried, coming from everywhere at once. The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.