Zelnick couldn't possibly understand how horrible this was for ZEX; his displacement hadn't been anywhere near as complete as ZEX's, and "indentity crisis" had never been one of the problems Zelnick had.
He could understand that, whatever was going through ZEX's head, it was upsetting him badly-- and not just bitter-about-how-much-his-species-sucks upset. Seeing someone who had, in Zelnick's brief experiences with him, been so self-assured, so very grounded in confidence, wrought with doubt...
It was almost painful.
"Hey," he said, as gently as he could-- this was different from sad-and-bitter ZEX, "it's..." well, obviously it wasn't all right, it was clear as crystal that it wasn't all right. "I'm sure you're right, Admiral, there's got to be an explanation. If whoever bought us here could put you into a human body, they could... implant a subdermal translator chip, or have some sort of psychic field that translates-- I'm pretty sure that's how the Talking Pets work-- or... or something." Hesitantly, he slid his chair up next to ZEX's and rested a hand on his back.
I'd never hesitate to give him one, epsecially not in the midst of a minor panic attack.
He could understand that, whatever was going through ZEX's head, it was upsetting him badly-- and not just bitter-about-how-much-his-species-sucks upset. Seeing someone who had, in Zelnick's brief experiences with him, been so self-assured, so very grounded in confidence, wrought with doubt...
It was almost painful.
"Hey," he said, as gently as he could-- this was different from sad-and-bitter ZEX, "it's..." well, obviously it wasn't all right, it was clear as crystal that it wasn't all right. "I'm sure you're right, Admiral, there's got to be an explanation. If whoever bought us here could put you into a human body, they could... implant a subdermal translator chip, or have some sort of psychic field that translates-- I'm pretty sure that's how the Talking Pets work-- or... or something." Hesitantly, he slid his chair up next to ZEX's and rested a hand on his back.