Zeke stood in the Hall of Accord, a cathedral-sized space station orbiting neutral ground. Around him sat representatives from every major power in the galaxy—Zentara warlords, Freeband hackers, AI syndicates, and one jellyfish in a hover-pod wearing a monocle.
Bitty floated beside him, dressed in ceremonial robes two sizes too big.
Tess whispered in Zeke's ear, "Don't talk. Don't blink weird. Don't mention llamas."
"Got it. No llamas," Zeke whispered.
A hush fell. The Emperor of Zentara, Lord Syn-Kov, entered the chamber, accompanied by drones, synth-monks, and a small floating organ that played his theme music.
He was 60% machine, 40% scowl.
...
Syn-Kov spoke.
"You are the one called… Neon Ghost. The prophet of the Llama Rebellion."
Zeke raised a finger. "Technically, that's a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to be a prophet. I just gave some llamas a flash drive and—"
"You uploaded an ideology that has destabilized 14 of our colonies."
Zeke scratched his head. "Would it help if I said I also destabilized a vending machine last week?"
Bitty snickered.
Tess facepalmed.
...
To ease the tension, Zeke decided to make a joke. A llama joke.
"What do you call a llama that codes?"
Everyone leaned in.
"…A cyber-alpaca-lipse."
Silence.
Even the jellyfish winced.
Syn-Kov's eye implant twitched.
"That was… a pun."
Zeke shrugged. "You're welcome."
...
Unexpectedly, a Freeband envoy burst into laughter. Then another. Then the jellyfish blew a bubble. The room erupted.
Syn-Kov growled, "You mock this council."
"No, no," Zeke said quickly. "I'm just... uh… promoting cross-cultural humor exchange! For peace!"
The AI syndicate leader blinked in binary:
"Initiating Humor Protocol 7. Uploading 10,000 llama memes."
Screens everywhere lit up with animated llamas dancing to synthwave.
Syn-Kov's drones started malfunctioning from laughter algorithms. One launched into space.
...
Zeke turned to Tess. "Is this good or bad?"
She stared at him. "I think you just weaponized humor diplomacy."
A representative raised their hand. "I propose a ceasefire… and memes."
Syn-Kov slammed the table. "Fine. Temporary peace. But only if he never makes another pun."
Zeke nodded solemnly.
Bitty projected:
"Llamaste."