Tatehan looked at the rifle in her hands, examining it more closely.
It was a strange combination of old and new, a bolt-action frame retrofitted with what looked like energy coils running along the barrel. The stock was wrapped in worn leather, and the scope had a faint digital glow. Definitely Martian-made, cobbled together from scavenged parts like most things on this planet.
He wondered what something like that could actually do. Rifles had been starting to become outdated back on Earth when he was still there, and now, a century later, here was this attractive stranger holding one like it was standard equipment.
Could it shoot normal bullets, or would whatever came out of it be strange and extraordinary? Energy rounds? Plasma bursts?
Tatehan was tempted to ask, but he decided he'd do so later, maybe casually, in the middle of a conversation or something.
Now, as for what she'd said...
Tatehan stood speechless for a moment, analyzing the situation.
