"Oh. That's cool." Parker blinked. "Is the Loch Ness monster real? The guys said it was a government submarine, but I was really hoping for a dinosaur."

At Verity's self-depreciating scoff, Parker throws her hands in the air. "I know, right? My hitter is going to be all--" she dropped her voice to something southern and gravely, " 'Dammit Parker, you don't just run off to fight aliens by yourself!' And then he's going to quiz me on the food until my hacker stops squeaking and starts demanding details about the future and pulling out his comic books to try and match it."