The New Norm

## Summary

The crew ventures to Flarn space to seek help from a mighty Flarn crime lord. He and Dar go way, way back. A high-stakes competition ensues. Nermut lends a hand.

## Plot

Pleck asks Nermut how his tail is growing back, there a nub. Dar and Bargie have managed to get Beano to sleep, Bargie reminds them that she's still running on dirt. There is a buzz noise that the crew don't know the origin of, they discover Hark Tartigast's communicator in a pile of junk. It's Seesu Gundu asking if he's going to be back in time from the Flarn district to attend trivia night. There are several messages that steadily get more desperate and drunk. The crew think that its not about the trivia night and that they are probably in a relationship. She drunkenly gives the co-ordinates for Hark's mission which C-53 is able to decipher. Pleck asks C-53 if it would be safe to do the mission, he tells him that it would be very dangerous. Bargie's holos never did well in Flarn space. Dar tells them not to worry, that they are a big deal amongst the Flarn thanks to their smuggling days. The leader Terr'ett Kestebi loves Dar, they are very good friends because Dar used to run campaigns for them. Dar has been on vacation with Terr'ett and has seen him in a two piece. Pleck feels that is one piece too many. Pleck decides to consult The Space before they go, the crew groans but Dar likes watching the ritual. Nermut hands him his wood saber from where they were using it to keep the window shade open. Pleck is hungry but everything else seems fine. Beano wakes up hungry, Pleck asks if he can wait till after the mission but he can't. They promise they'll pick him up something on the mission. Pleck is surprised to learn they are already on their way to the mission, he is suppose to consult the space at impulse zero. C-53 sarcastically remarks how that's probably what messed it up.

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The crew have landed in Flarn space. C-53 is carrying Nermut around in a pet carrier. Someone tries to mug the crew. Dar assumes they must recognise them but they don't know who they are. They demand a Kroon each and whatever is in the bag. They tell them that there is a person in the bag and they don't have any Kroon. The mugger takes KroonCard/ChipCards. The crew asks why they would do that and cause the mugger to break down. Dar comforts them by giving them some Kroon. The rest of the crew doubt how tough Flarn space is. The crew approaches the palace to find Terr'ett.

They are greeted at the front of the palace Garrett Hornberger. Dar tells them they may know their previous name, Norm. They don't know that name. Garrett confirms that Terr'ekk Kestebi is inside, Terr'ett's little brother. Terr'ett was eaten by a bigger Flarn. Garrett tells them that he is Terr'ekk right hand man, anything they want to tell Terr'ekk they can tell Garrett. Norm says that they must remember them if they are so close to Terr'ekk. Garrett remembers Norm as the one who couldn't finish a hotdog, he dislikes Norm's current name. Garrett lets them know that Terr'ekk doesn't speak regular, only Weird. Nermut tells Garrett a lot of unnecessary backstory, Pleck tells him that he'll drop him back off at Bargie. Nermut promises to stay in the bag from now on. Garrett lets them in. Norm doesn't remember if they met Terr'ekk but assumes that Terr'ekk will remember them. Garrett greets Terr'ekk in Weird, the language is too complex for C-53's auto-translator. Garrett acts as a translator for their questions. They ask if Terr'ekk remembers 'Little Norm', he doesn't. They then ask if he can remember 'Little Norm who couldn't finish a hotdog', he does and laughs uproariously. The crew have an aside, Norm reveals that they weren't military campaigns they ran for Terr'ett but roleplaying campaigns in middle school. They return to Garrett and Terr'ekk. Garrett tells them that Terr'ekk said 'I trust you Garrett' and anything they want to say to him they can say to Garrett. The crew doubt he really said that. Pleck addresses Terr'ekk and asks if he has seen Hark Tardigast, he also asks for aid with the Rebellion's fight against the Federated Alliance. He stops talking when it becomes obvious that Garrett isn't translating and is just reliving the time Norm couldn't finish a hotdog. Norm becomes angry and says that they could finish 89 hotdogs. They bring in a cart of 101 hotdogs, C-53 thinks they should stop and think about what they are doing but Norm has already begun eating hotdogs. Pleck asks how many hotdogs Norm had eaten last time before failing to eat the hotdog. It was 132. The crew become excited when they hear Terr'ekk say 'Hark Tardigast' but Garrett insists he was just reminding him of a funny one-liner he said last night. Garrett tells them that Hark Tardigast is not there. The crew decide to act in his stead and offer to work with Terr'ekk in pursuit of a common goal, he is interested. The crew ask if he has any guns or stealth ships he can spare. Garrett and Terr'ekk once again laugh about Norm being unable to finish a hotdog. They have a proposal, they will get them what they want if Norm engages in a hotdog eating contest. The hotdogs Norm has already eaten don't count because the hotdog timer hasn't started yet, they had already eaten 50 hotdogs.

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Garrett introduces Terr'ekk to a cheering crowd. He announces that Norm is here to eat 120 hotdogs in order to win resources, if they fail they will be shamed. He then announces it again in Weird. He tells Norm to start eating. Pleck thinks it's curious that there is no challenger in the hotdog eating competition, its just man vs. nature. Garrett then introduces a challenger, invalidating the 17 hotdogs Norm just ate. Norm has to eat hotdogs faster than the challenger, a vacuum called G.O.R.M. The crew cheer on Norm. They crowd around Norm so they can hide the hotdogs in their flaps. There is only one hotdog left and Norm cannot eat it, Nermut decides to eat it despite it being 65% of his body size and it being much easier for anyone else to eat it. It protrudes out his tail nub. Garrett and G.O.R.M can't believe that Norm won, Pleck lets them know that they're still speaking into the microphone. C-53's translation protocol has been working in the background and can now translate Weird to Regular. Garrett tells them to turn it off. Terr'ekk remembers Norm hanging out with his geeky brother. Terr'ekk doesn't really know why they are having a hotdog eating contest, Garrett told him that Norm had asked to be in one. Terr'ekk eats Garrett, he still has his mic. Terr'ekk apologises for the mis-communication, he explains that the Flarn are anti-Federated Alliance but aren't pro-Rebellion but wants to make it up to them. Pleck asks for some gas, Nermut is still choking on the hotdog. They thank him and call up Bargie. Terr'ekk recognises Bargie's name and is impressed, Bargie has adopted a criminal look and tells everyone to fight her. They agree to and open fire.

The crew are safely aboard Bargie, Pleck asks if she is ok. She's physically ok but emotionally broken. They still gave them the gas after they attacked them for 20 minutes. Pleck thanks Dar for helping them out, Dar admits they were a nerd. They agree that being a nerd professionally would be foolish. Beano is still hungry, Dar evacuates their chutes of hotdogs. Beano is initially excited but doesn't want to eat them when he discoverers they are not organic. Pleck wonders why they have Beano.

## Quotes

"Num num up front, nub nub in the back." - Pleck

"I don't remember him being geeky, I just remember him having a really beautiful imagination." - Norm

"Beano clean eat." - Beano

## Trivia

* Dar went to East Side school, class of 4052.
* Hotdogs are a fungus.

## Credits

### **Voice actors**

C-53 - Jeremy Bent

Pleck Decksetter - Alden Ford

Norm - Allie Kokesh

Nermut Bundaloy - Seth Lind

Bargarean Jade, Introspective Ne'er-do-well, and G.O.R.M - Moujan Zolfaghari

Beano and Terr'ekk Kestebi - Winston Noel

Garrett Hornberger - Dru Johnston

### **Production**

Edited - Seth Lind

Recorded - Shane O'Connell

Sound Design and Mix - Shane O'Connell

Music - Brendan Ryan

Additional Music - Shane O'Connell

Opening Crawl Narration - Jeremy Crutchley

Ship Design - Eric Geusz

Special thanks to Loren Humpphrey