Their comprehension of movie tropes - like the concept of cuts and scene changes - is all the better for it.

"I've got a few producers interested, I'm scheduling them time slots to come pitch you tomorrow."

Okay. Can you show me each of their best movies so far today?

"If you want to spend all day watching movies, you bet, let's see what's best rated." He queues up some more.

Watching for trouble and movies at the same time beats just watching for trouble.

Anything particularly notable about these movies? He wants some way to tell the producers' styles apart, since movies are apparently an art.

The interested producers who have made it through whatever initial filters were applied have made the following example movies:

- Planet Alone, about a planet that doesn't have a sun but does have other properties making it effectively seasoned and warm enough, and passes through Amenta's system and gets colonized before it leaves. The story is set once it's impractical for any further transit to go between the planet and features hostile local fauna, terrorists, and a romance subplot between the lead grey (an agent of the prevailing government with a very vague job description) and a military grey responsible for high-latency radio communications with Amenta.

- Under the Empire, a gritty period piece about the Oahkar occupation in Met with lots of crying springing people and machine guns and depressing corrupt bureaucratic obstacles to things.

- Neighbor, an animated kids' movie about a kindly sea monster that takes a gaggle of cute purple kids on underwater adventures and defeats a bad sea monster queen who is oppressing cute seals with the kids' help.

He likes Neighbor the best as far as first impressions go though Planet Alone is not bad! Under the Empire suffers from them understanding about one word in five and not much liking guns.

After thinking about it a bit more, he concludes, These all have their merits. Neighbor is... Almost weirdly sanitized. It's not a bad story but it's pretty simple and there's no blood or anything? Maybe it's that not-real style? I think Planet Alone is my favorite of these three, anyway. I liked that six-legged beast and I want to fight it now. Too bad it's fake.

"Neighbor's for kids, they can get scared if it's gory."

...Strange. Hatchlings are more scared by intimidating sounds and strange smells and animals that are bigger than them. That sea monster would have been pretty scary.

"Well, the one sea monster's friendly and the other one gets defeated, so I think that helps. Some really skittish kids might have bad dreams about sea monsters, I guess."

Hatchlings basically have only three emotions for a while. Scared, hungry, and 'Ooh, shiny'. 

"I guess movies for them would be very different, then."

Well, one year olds are a bit more sophisticated than that. I've never had one of my own but I talk to some. Hatchlings are kind of stupid... But mostly because of lack of life experience.

Movies would be better if you could capture the Song. Without that I don't think it will ever really take off for Draak.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

I wonder if there's a good way to record us flying? A way that'll feel like really flying? Flying is great.

"You could carry a camera but it won't feel the same."

Hmm. I should figure out a safe way to carry someone.

"Tons of people would go for that. Basically anybody who's not afraid of heights depending on how much you charge."

Everyone should get the chance to fly. Some kind of rock climbing harness that holds them on my neck? I'm having trouble picturing it, though. Would one of the greys have ideas on how to make something, maybe?

"I'd ask a purple about manufacturing something like that. I guess a grey would have an idea if they hang glide or something."

A weird saddle might work too. As long as everyone remembers we're not horses. Could you try to find someone? If you have time besides the movie thing. This sounds fun, too.

"I'm here for the movie thing, I don't know what I'd need to evaluate and sign off a passenger securement strategy, but I can ask for someone."

Exciting! I'd go looking for someone but I'm still guarding these ships.

"Amseli's assistant is looking."

As the guards keep watching and discussing movies, other Draak occasionally approach the ships and take or leave things. The guards squint at the visitors every time. But this time they stare a bit.

Two other Draak have retrieved from the ship... Two eggs the size of a curled-up Amentan one year old, each carried protectively and slightly awkwardly in the crook of a wing. They glance at the blue and sit near each other, tails irregularly moving. Probably discussing something telepathically.