6y 6m 0w 5d BV
Regalo woke up with a yawn. He uncurled and naturally reached out to where John would be sleeping. He felt the dent in the bed where the human usually laid and found it surprisingly cold. That’s odd… I don’t usually wake up this late. He looked to the clock on the nightstand that read 9:30 AM. That means John woke up early… Why did he wake up early? He rose from bed and went about his morning routine. With his fur groomed and his teeth brushed, Regalo went to the common room to make breakfast. He was halfway through making a ‘salad’ as he had seen John make yesterday when the human walked in from the underbelly of the ship of all places. John yelped and nearly dropped a large black bag hoisted over his shoulder. Why did he come from the underbelly? What’s in the bag? What did he use the nanofactory for?
“Uh… Hey there… buddy. You’re up early aren’t ya?” The human chuckled.
“No, I always wake up at this hour, but you were up quite early weren’t you,” Regalo retorted innocently.
“Oh… Yeah, I was just doing things.”
“Doing things?”
“Doing things”
“What kind of things?”
“Oh y’know… the thingy kind.”
Regalo had to chitter a bit at that one.
“What’s in the bag?”
“What bag?”
“That bag.”
“This bag?”
“That bag.”
“Oh y’know… Stuff.”
Regalo was about to turn around and open the bag himself but the human scampered back into the underbelly. Just what is he up to! The human’s sudden secrecy frustrated him to no end. What could have caused this!… The performance! Regalo remembered asking John to perform for the cubs at the commune, but this behaviour was unprecedented. He sighed and went back to cooking breakfast. He made a large bowl of the salad and some sweet dough balls. Regalo set the table himself and laid out the food. He was about to start eating when Vanima arrived.
“Good morning Regalo… Where’s John?” She asked as she sat before the Gaoian. She served herself a solitary sweet dough ball and some salad before Regalo answered.
“He’s in the maintenance halls, but to what end I don’t know.” Vanima cut a piece of her dough ball and ate it gracefully. She tapped a finger on her chin as she chewed. What thoughts are brewing in that head?
“Anything unusual happen last night? If he’s there then he’s probably using the nanofactory. You would think he would figure out that we don’t have the technology nor the resources to create his weapons concept with that nanofactory by now…” Regalo stopped eating and looked to the Qinis.
“Weapons designs?”
“Hegan had John design weapons to test for his capacity for violence. From a range of 1 where a species is unable to grasp the concept of violence to 100, which are Hunters, He scored 7232.”
“But John’s practically a pacifist!”
Vanima reached over the table and put a hand on the Gaoian’s shoulder.
“I know he is. The test doesn’t measure how violent a person is but rather how violent they could be. It’s probable John will never have a reason to… indulge in his full capacity. He is still the John we know and love Regalo, and that’s all that matters. A number won’t change that,” Vanima affirmed. No number could ever change John.
“Speaking of which, where is Hegan?” Regalo asked before taking another forkful of salad.
“She’s still asleep. She must’ve stayed up all night in her bed reading the data I collected.” Regalo finished his meal and placed them in the sink to be washed later. He moved to sit in the couch and turned on the news. Soon after, Vanima placed her plate with his and joined him on the couch.
“In other news, a new fad is sweeping across the Qinis colonies. A new musical instrument called a Violin, produced by Morus Incorporated, has captivated Qinis everywhere. Qini composers are cropping up all over the galaxy. Morus Incorporated have not released a statement on the origin of the instrument nor how they came about the inspiration and design.” An image of the Qinis violin appeared beside the Vzk’tk news presenter. “Currently, the company holds a strict copyright on the design of the Violin, but competitors are already releasing their own variations of the Violins. The current competition for this new instrument is the Millos, produced by the Dukkoti conglomerate.” A picture of a different instrument appeared. It was fashioned out of the same wood but bore a closer resemblance to a mandolin than its violin predecessor.
Vanima huffed at the television and turned it off.
“Unknown source of inspiration. The only reason they’re keeping it a secret is because they’d have to pay John a cut of the revenue. Those greedy bastards,” She practically spat out the human curse word with enough venom to kill. There’s a new word in her vocabulary.
Regalo reached out and stroked Vanima’s hair, calming the Qinis down.
“Don’t dwell on what we can’t change Vanima. Any time spent thinking about what could have been is time wasted.”
Vanima sighed and nodded. Such a sweet girl.
Vanima’s ear twitched and turned to point generally behind them. Regalo turned around and saw John with an armful of sweet dough balls. The human stared at them with wide eyes like a cub caught with his hand in the Miku jar. He quickly dashed back to the underbelly, dropping a few dough balls in his mad dash.
“You’re right, he is acting strange,” Vanima said as her ears instinctively turned to hear the human’s footfalls.
“I have no idea what he’s doing in the underbelly. I’ll need to send word to the commune that John might not make it to the performance.” Vanima tapped her chin before responding.
“Don’t call them yet. I’ll go in there and convince John.”
“He’ll just flee the second you approach him.”
“He can flee all he wants. With how loud he steps I’ll just follow him until he tires out and then we can get him.” She rose from her step and entered the underbelly. Regalo’s fur bristled at her tactic. Such a terrifying girl.
Vanima wandered through the underbelly, her ears moving autonomously. She could faintly hear the nanofactory working and decided that was where John was. She silently stalked the halls and found the human hunched over the terminal muttering to himself.
“Hmm… Venetian masks would be too eerie for the kids… Maybe make them Gaoian? Yeah that sounds good. Hello Wizardro, wizard extraordinaire.”
“Wizardro?” John yelped and turned around, dropping several sweet dough balls.
“Jesus Christ! I thought you were Regalo for a second!” John exclaimed as he laughed off the yelp. The human gestured for the Qinis to come closer. Vanima approached the human and looked over his shoulder. Several outfits were strewn about in the product bin of the nanofactory. What are all those absurd and ugly clothes? One looked like John’s old EVA suit but with significantly more armored plating than Vanima’s design had. The helmet was certainly not graded for vacuum conditions. It was cylindrical with thin gold painted plating around the two large eyeholes. The gold painted plating formed a cross on the helmet similar to the religious symbol he explained to her a month back. There were holes at where John’s mouth and nose would be. I suppose for him to breath and talk. There was a long robe coloured pitch black with white dots scattered all over it.
“I need you to help me make the next 4 outfits. Honestly, if you had come sooner, you could have helped me with the [practitioner of the supernatural] costume and mask,” John sighed. Vanima tried to lift the helmet and found it surprisingly heavy in her hand. She turned it in her hands and ran her hands over the cool metal. Which metal did he make this out of?
“Is two not enough? And what happened to the one we bought on Sefsek? Why all these outfits?”
“This is more than just a regular performance Vanima. This is a performance for Regalo’s buddies and their kids. I need to blow their fucking minds with this performance. I need to be so utterly badass that they will be physically unable to cope with the raw awesomeness emanating from me. I want them to be so bedazzled by my mythic magnificence that this performance will be the only thing they’ll be able to talk about for the rest of their fucking lives. I am pulling out every fucking stop I can imagine for this show. I will eviscerate their sense of beauty so that everything they’ll ever hear will sound like tortured cats compared to me.” John had adopted a manic smile with an unholy fire blazing in his eyes. Vanima was shocked by the transformation in him. This is what Regalo means when there’s a fire in his eyes. He’s obsessed with this performance. If only Hegan was awake to record this.
“I’ll design the rest of the costumes for you. Just tell me the general theme.” The vicious grin that spread across John’s face sent shivers down the Qinis’ spine.
It was two hours before Vanima returned. Regalo was impatiently waiting for her when Hegan shuffled in with a data pad. Her grey fur was glossy and very well groomed. I’ll have to ask her how she does that, Regalo thought. His own coat was clean and kempt yet lacked the elegance the Rauwryhr’s radiated.
“Good morning Hegan. There’s some left over breakfast on the table for you,” He called out to her. He shifted on the couch and looked to the entrance of the underbelly before rising to join Hegan in the kitchen. She let out a hypersonic yawn and starting munching on the sweet dough balls.
“Good morning Regalo. I have a new test to run John through. After reading about his neurology, I wanted to test his memory,” she explained in between bites. It would be nice to know how he remembers all those pieces. At that moment Vanima returned. Regalo jumped out of his chair and rushed to the Qinis.
“Well? Do you know what caused this?” The Qinis regarded him for a moment before answering.
“John is perfectly healthy and normal. He wishes for you to head to the commune and inform them that he will be arriving shortly after. You are to inform the Gaoians to prepare a stage for him,” She curtly and courteously informed him.
“What’s going on?” Hegan asked.
“John’s doing a performance for the Gaoian commune here,” Vanima answered. “We, on the other hand, will be doing some shopping while the boys are gone.”
“Shopping?”
“Well we’ll need new lab equipment and food. I’d also like to know what you’ve gleaned from the data I’ve collected.” Hegan perked up at the prospect and avidly quivered in glee. Regalo sighed. I might as well indulge them.
“Alright, I’ll go to the commune and… inform them. You two take John’s card in the nightstand and go shopping, but try not spending too much money on frivolities. The Dominion may have restocked our nutrition sphere bank but we’re still strapped for money so spend wisely.” The girls smiled at one another. Well John, you’ll have to play harder at the next stop. Regalo left the women to their own devices exited the ship. He marched to the commune with thoughts buzzing through his mind. What is John planning for this performance? He was careful to avoid the crowded hallways and managed to make good time. He arrived at the commune gate and called out.
“You have a guest.”
The gate slowly opened to reveal Surella waiting for him.
“Hello Regalo! I’m glad you could come today… Where is John?” she asked as she looked about the hallway for an alien, but there were only Vzk’tk.
“John was being rather… strange when I asked him to perform for us, but don’t worry he is most certainly coming. He asked me to ask you to prepare a stage for him for when he arrives,” he informed her as he entered. The commune had changed slightly from last night. The long table had been separated and pushed against a wall to form a pseudo stage for the human. I wonder if they’ll be strong enough to bear his weight. There were about a dozen or so cubs present, sitting before the stage, and a lot more mothers and brothers sitting on the benches behind them. A good number of the One Fangs were standing behind the benches. All of them looked to Regalo with confusion and a general susurrus broke out.
“Regalo’s friend will arrive shortly everyone. I ask you all to just wait a bit more,” Surella announced. The disappointment in the cubs was palpable. The males lowly chittered amongst themselves.
“Where is your friend, Regalo?” One of the males called out.
“Is he not as great a performer as you claim him to be?”
Regalo kept a stoic appearance yet deflated inside. Have I placed too much value in John? Was I blinded by my fondness of him? John, where are you?
Surella pitied Regalo at the moment. She was tempted to reach out and comfort him but staved off the temptation. It pained her to see such a handsome male be made the object of jeers and mockery. She was about to speak out before a figure burst into the commune. Everyone turned and saw the most bizarre creature dressed in even stranger clothing. The being was wearing a snow-white mask that made it look like a Gaoian but it was obvious it was anything but. It stood too firmly and the mask revealed white eyes with brown dots in the center. The gown it wore was long and black with white specks dotted all over it. It looks like stars. The being wore a monstrously large pointed hat that was decorated in what Surella realised were the two moons of Gorai and more stars. It held a strange wooden device in one white-gloved hand and a peculiar stick in the other. Just before the initial shock wore of it spoke.
“I,” it declared. “AM THE GREAT [PRACTITIONER OF THE SUPERNATURAL] WIZARDRO!” it roared in a high pitched nasally voice. A wizard?
Regalo was the first to recover. “John? Is that you?”
“I KNOW NOT OF THIS JOHN, BUT HE SOUNDS LIKE A COOL DUDE. I AM THE GREAT [PRACTITIONER OF THE SUPERNATURAL] WIZARDRO!” Wizardro boomed. The Gaoians looked at each other uncertainly. “DO YOU NOT BELIEVE ME?! I WILL SHOW YOU MY AWE INSPIRING WIZARDRY.” He shuffled forth towards the cubs with a hunched back. He even used the peculiar stick as a walking stick. He’s not putting any weight on it though, Surella noted. She moved to sit with the other mothers while Regalo stood at the back with a smug look on his face.
“YOU! WHAT IS YOUR NAME!?” He pointed at one of the smaller cubs.
“Rega,” the cub shyly answered. Wizardro gestured for the cub to come forth. Slowly, the cub rose and timidly walked to the wizard. Wizardro petted the cub’s head and replied.
“Don’t worry Rega. I’m just going to show you a little something.” Wizardro gave the little cub the device and the walking stick. “Now I want you to play some music Rega.” Music? How could that cub possibly make music from wood and strings? With the wizard’s help, the cub managed to produce ear-splitting squawks. The instrument was simply too long and heavy for the cub to properly hold. “That was a very good try Rega. We must all be awful before we can be good. You can go sit down now,” The wizard comforted the little cub. Rega padded back to the cubs and joined them. The being slowly shuffled to the table and struggled to get atop them. The table groaned in protest and the weight of the being. How much does that robe weigh?! Once on the table, Wizardro stood straight, all semblances of his age and frailty melting away. He removed his gloves, revealing that Wizardro was indeed flesh and blood as opposed to some strange automaton. He took up a position with the instrument, adjusting the mask slightly, and performed the impossible. The sheer amount of noise that emanated from the instrument was mind-boggling. And it sounds good! There simply no way that anything organic could perform such a complex piece. Surella refused to believe that Wizardro was anything but a machine. She could not comprehend just how Wizardro did it. The being truly was a practitioner of the supernatural for there was no other explanation as to how a being could possess such fine motor skills and coordination. The song itself was complex beyond comprehension. The mask hid the wizard’s face but Surella was sure the being’s expression was strained in concentration. She looked to the other Gaoians to find them either in utter awe and admiration or in complete shock and disbelief. The cubs were the former while mother Mamfa and the other adults were the latter. Even the wizard himself was gently swaying to the beat of the music. When he paused at the end of the first piece, the audience was silent. Before they could formulate a response to such a demonstration the wizard launched into another piece. This one was significantly tamer than the first. It was still fast and complicated, but somehow more reserved. Surella found herself enjoying the music after the shock of it wore off. The second tune was spirited and elegant at first. Finally some peace of mind… Sadly, it was short lived as Wizardro somehow managed to make plucking noises with the stick! The whirlwind of notes resumed shortly after and soon the piece was brought to a dramatic end. Wizardro bowed deeply at the mute audience for a while. The cubs burst out with awe and fascination as they swarmed the wizard.
“O-Oh shit- hey now-” Wizardro chuckled in a deeper, fuller voice as he tried to maintain his balance. Regalo chittered hard as the mother reigned in the cubs.
“Uh… NOW YOU SEE THE MIGHT OF WIZARDRO!” he boomed in the high-pitched voice. Ah so that is not his actual voice.
“Truly none are a match for you Wizardro!” Regalo called out proudly. The wizard bowed once more.
“FAREWELL MY WONDERFUL AUDIENCE! UPON THE NEXT TIME REGALO!” Wizardro declared as he got off the tables and shuffled away. The cubs chased after the wizard surrounded him.
“Please teach us how to do that!”
“That was amazing!”
“How do you do that?”
“What species are you?”
“Young ones I am Wizardro, nothing more and nothing less. As much as I would love to spend time with you, I must go,” The wizard replied as he waded through the cubs. The cubs keened at the departure of the mysterious performer. Surella got up to stand by Regalo.
“I take it that was John?” she chittered. The male bobbed his head up and down, much to her confusion.
“Was he not?”
“O-oh yes he was indeed. I personally have never seen him do this Wizardro character but it’s most certainly him. He has a certain flair for the theatrics.” Surella chittered.
“He’s quite the character isn’t he. I can see why you’re so fond of him.”
“He tries his very best to entertain people. He’s really pushed himself beyond with this one.”
John was quickly changing outside the commune. He had thoroughly explained in great detail to the local Vzk’tk what would happen to the one who thought themselves brave enough to steal John’s bag of costumes. He stuffed the wizard’s robe and hat into the bag and took out his knight costume. The costume itself was the same design as his old EVA suit with significantly more plating. He squeezed into the outfit and donned the helmet. I feel so fucking badass right now. He replaced his violin in its case. He took out Ancil and Guardian from the bag. He strapped the sword to his waist and used magnetic attachment in the shield to place it on his back. He took the violin case in hand and waited a moment outside. Oh my fuck the little raccoon babies are just the cutest! If little Rega asked me to commit genocide I’d probably say yes. You just can’t say no to a face like that! The armor was heavy but John managed in the lighter gravity. He knocked on the gate.
A male with a white patch on his left eye opened the gate for him. Unlike Regalo’s solid brown fur, he had black stripes going down his arms.
“Who might you be?” asked the male.
John leaned in and whispered. “I’m still the same entertainer, but this is a different costume, just don’t tell the cubs alright?” The male duck nodded and let John in.
“Greetings everyone! I am Orion the Warrior!” John announced as he strode in. the white patched male went to convey to the other adults that it was in fact John in another costume. He marched up to the cubs and looked down on them as if sizing each one up. The cubs huddled closer together. John knelt down to their level. “Have no fear little ones. I can vanquish any evil that dares think of harming you,” he cooed softly. Slowly and with much coaxing from the mothers, the cubs approached the newcomer. John let them touch the plates of his armor.
“What do you hunt?” One of them asked. John stood to his full height and declared. “I, Orion the Warrior, seek out strong opponents and vile beasts to vanquish! Yet I do not see any beasts here… Are any of you strong opponents?” he asked the cubs. One of the larger cubs stepped forward. His ears were perked up and his posture relaxed.
“I’m the strongest cub! I can beat you,” he declared.
Please stop, you’re too cute.
“I should let you know that none have beaten me!” John retorted. The cub sucker punched him in the gut in the small gap between the plates. The padded jumpsuit under the plating combined with John’s deathworlder muscles meant that out of the both of them, the cub was in more pain as he hit the equivalent of a padded wall. John laughed smugly at the attempt. “It will take more than that to beat me, little one!” The cub returned to the group and they walked away and huddled. They seemed to be planning something. Soon some of the adult males join in to help the planning session, which prompted some of the females to join until the entire commune was devising a tactic to beat John. Whilst everyone was distracted with plotting his demise Regalo approached John. “Hey buddy could you take the violin from me?” John whispered as he handed the case over. Regalo strapped the violin case to his back.
“They were amazed by your performance. I won’t lie it felt good to rub it in males’ faces that I wasn’t exaggerating.”
John chuckled and stroked Regalo’s head. Regalo recoiled away from the hand, much to John’s surprise. “We’re with Gaoian’s John, such… treatment is frowned upon.”
“You never said you didn’t like it.”
“That’s because I adore it John, but it’s generally regarded as boorish behaviour to indulge in it.”
John nodded his understanding. Pats n’ pets only at home. Soon the conference broke up and the cubs seemed to smile maliciously at John.
“Try not to crush any of them,” Regalo joked as he walked back to the adults. The cubs spread out and rush John from all directions. Before John could formulate a plan to deal with the ones charging him head on, two had already latched onto his legs. By the time he looked down at them, another had taken hold of his sword arm. Before he could deal with the three miscreants a fourth cub clung to his shield arm. Soon, John struggled to even stand under the weight of the armor, his weapons, and the 4 cubs that clung to his limbs. The other 8 cubs then charged John, knocking him to the ground. He landed with a resounding boom. I’m ok with dying this way, he thought as the cubs vied for a spot to hit the armored human. The padded jumpsuit and plates rendered the punches ineffective, yet that didn’t seem to deter the cubs.
“Gah! I have been defeated! How!? The world… It grows dim…” John made a sighing noise and went limp. The cubs stopped their onslaught and examined the body, moving his limbs this way and that. “BOO!” The cubs yelped and scattered away to the mothers. John slowly got up, but his helmet fell off and clanged onto the floor. Damn they must’ve gotten the clasp undone. The cubs looked at him with unnatural interest. Go with it. “Now that you have defeated me you may gaze upon my face…”
Quite an odd face, Surella thought. Although in John’s defense, he was an alien. He had long this curly fur reaching his shoulders. He had a flat face and a slender nose. His mouth and cheeks were covered in short frizzy fur. His sunken eyes were warm and brown. He had the most peculiar patches of hair above his eyes that moved and twitched sometimes.
He knelt and bowed his head with his arms outstretched. “Truly I have never faced warriors as strong as you.” The cubs tentatively left the mothers and reached out to touch the performer’s hair. They talked amongst themselves in surprise at how thin the fur was as each took a turn to feel the alien hair. John rose from his kneeling position and replaced his helmet. It fit on his head with a click. “Brave warriors of the commune, I must go now and spread the word of your prowess.” The cubs were cheering at their accomplishment as the performer trudged out of the room sullenly.
“He’s quite the actor isn’t he,” Surella whispered to Regalo.
“He’s a rather emotive person. Always up and at them,” he replied. Surella’s ears flattened at the phrase.
“He’s at who?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said he’s always at them.”
Realisation dawned on the male. “Oh it’s just one of his metaphors. It means he’s always active.” Surella chittered at the description.
“He’s rubbing off on you quite a bit,” she commented.
“You think so?”
“I’m certain. Don’t take it the wrong way, it’s only natural you pick up his habits and he picks up yours. You two have been together for around 6 months now?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“You smell a good deal like him.” She had to suppress her mirth as his ears drooped to the side. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t smell bad…. It’s a rather… exotic aroma,” she commented. Truth be told, the peculiarity of the scent blended well with what she assumed was Regalo’s own musk. “You share a nest bed, don’t you?”
“Correct once more. One of our crew mates jokes that she can count the times John and I have been apart on one hand.” Surella’s ears perked up in curiosity.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“How often have you been apart?”
Regalo paused as he pondered the question.
“Well… There was that time he explored an unclaimed world alone. When I came to the commune yesterday and… Uh… Just give me a moment I’m sure I can think of another time.” Surella chittered as Regalo looked to the ceiling as if it had the answer.
There was a third knocking at the gate. He’s still not finished? She looked to Regalo. He merely shrugged his shoulders. What does that mean? Rico, the white-patched male, answered the door once more.
It took all of Regalo’s will to not burst out in chitters at what John wore. Clearly Vanima designed this one. John was clad in what Regalo could only describe as the longest scarf he had ever seen. The golden cloth was wrapped around John’s head, leaving his eyes bare for the world to see. It snaked down his body and wrapped around his waist and crotch before continuing down his left leg. I am so glad I have lived to see this. Regalo stopped for a moment then thought. He could almost feel the embarrassment emanating from John as he slithered forward. Where the first character shuffled and the second marched with purpose this one was odd. The fluidity of John’s gait was akin to water flowing.
“I am Sahara of the Dance. I hear that the mighty warriors who defeated Orion could be found here. Is that true?”
Might as well help you a little, brother.
“It is most certainly true. Here are the warriors you seek,” Regalo declared, gesturing to the cubs. John adamantly nodded and bowed as he elegantly strode to the group.
“I have a reward for you all for accomplishing such a feat. Come, form a circle everyone.” The cubs began shuffling and formed a circle with John. “I do mean everyone,” he continued, staring at the adults. Oh dear, what lunacy will you pull me into this time. Hesitantly, The rest of the Gaoians joined the circle. “Alright everyone, I will teach you a dance that has been in my family for generations. It is the most sacred of dances, only to be performed on the most important occasions. You must all follow my lead is that understood?” Regalo was curious about what such a dance could be. The Gaoians rumbled their ascent. “Alright…”
It took everything John had to not break character. “You put your right hand in!” he sang as he put his right hand forth. The Gaoians tentatively put their right hands forward. “Come on guys. You need to do it with passion! Put your hand in like you mean it! You put your right hand in!” he gestured once more. The Gaoians were more forceful with the gesture. “You put your right hand out!” He instructed, throwing his arm behind him. Once more the Gaoians followed his directions emphatically. “You put your right hand in and ya shake it all about!” Varying degrees of amusement could be seen in their expression as they followed John’s directions. “Ya do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around! That’s what it’s all about!” John declared as he spun around. The cubs tried to spin as fast as him but lacked the coordination and fell on their rear chittering. This is too cute. I can’t handle this. They are not allowed to be this cute. The adults were more cautious in their spin and were generally amused by the human’s antics.
“That was fun!” Rega chittered.
“Good thing it’s not over yet!” John replied as he began with the left arm. The Gaoians followed his directions much more enthusiastically this time around chittering in either amusement or at how ridiculous the dance was. The real fun began when John started on the legs. They struggled to maintain their balance as they imitated John swinging his leg back and forth. Many of them fell on their rear chittering as they lost balance. God is real and he wants me to be surrounded by Giant Raccoons. It pleased John to no end to find Regalo amongst those who had fallen. By the time John was done with the song chittering Gaoians surrounded him. It warmed his heart to see them so pleased with his acts. It had been a large risk for the musician to apply human standards of entertainment to aliens. John bowed once more and said. “Now that I have taught you the dance, you must teach it to others,” he instructed them. “Fare thee well! May we meet again!” Various farewells erupted all at once as he walked to the exit. Once outside the commune he put on his regular clothes over the super scarf. He pulled the scarf from within his clothes. Ow! Fuck! Testicular rug burn! son of a bitch! After wallowing in agony for a good few minutes he picked up the costume bag and returned to the commune.
He walked to the Gaoians and bowed. “Thank you all for being such a wonderful audience. It’s been a privilege to perform for you guys,” he told them. He could see Regalo talking with another Gaoian before coming to stand by his side. The cubs did not take the news of their entertainer leaving them so quickly well and collectively decided to swarm the human. “Oh hey I’m- Fu- Gah!” John managed to stammer out as 12 furry bodies tried to tackle him to the ground en masse. John could only hold 6 of the cubs on his body before falling once more. The Gaoians chittered as the cubs promptly sat on John. The human didn’t want to risk injuring any of the cubs by accidentally removing them with too much force.
“Uh… Regsy, a little help?” John managed to squeak. At this point he was no longer visible under the children. Regalo’s will was only so strong; he was chittering away as he tried to search for a piece of his friend underneath the mound of fur.
“John, I don’t think you’re allowed to leave anymore,” he answered as the mothers tried to coax their cubs off the sapient. John could feel the heat radiating off of all of them. Jesus fuck it’s like an oven. When the mother’s failed to kindly coax the cubs off they tried removing them by force but they would merely scurry back before John could get up. Eventually it was John’s pungent odor that repelled the cubs.
“Sweet merciful Christ I can breath,” John gasped as he rose. All of the Gaoians were holding their nose save for Regalo. John sniffed his armpit eliciting varying reactions of disgust from the commune. Crap, I forgot to shower today…
“Regalo how can you stand that smell!” One of the Gaoians called out. Regalo shrugged and replied.
“When you live with that for six months, you either learn to live with it or you contemplate the ramifications of forcefully bathing your friend.” I do not smell that bad… The pair bid their farewells once more and left the commune.
“Why did you perform so strangely?” Regalo asked.
“Because I wanted to impress your friends. I mean I don’t know that much about Gaoian culture, but in human culture, if you talk up your buddy and he doesn’t live up to the hype, it feels shitty. You feel like you let down your friends and I wasn’t gonna let you feel like shit so I came up with an ass ton of stuff to do. I honestly never thought I’d do the freaking hokey pokey with aliens though. There were 3 more costumes Vanima designed, but God freaking knows how to put them on,” he huffed. Regalo chittered slightly at the human’s huff. He patted John’s back.
“You did fantastically John. I believe the word is overkill for how much effort you put into that.” John chuckled at the remark as they walked the halls of the station. Soon they arrived at the titanic docking back and looked for terminal JN-117. “I hope the women didn’t spend too much money,” he sighed.
“What do you mean you hope they don’t spend too much money?” asked the human.
“I gave them your card so they could buy us more food. I just hope they didn’t spend too much of it.”
“Didn’t we get the Dominion to pay for our food?”
“The Dominion paid to restock our nutrition spheres. We could live off of nutrition spheres but I’m guessing that’s something you want to avoid,” he teased as they entered the ship. A sweet smell viciously assaulted their noses.
“Oh sweet merciful fuck! Did a bag of marshmallows have an orgy in here?!” John cried out as his hands shot up to his nose. Regalo was trying his hardest to wave the scent away with one hand while the other clenched around his nose. They closed the door behind them and unwillingly marched to the source of the dizzying odor. They arrived at the common room to find Hegan gagging from the intensity of the smell and a panicking Vanima in the kitchen.
“What in Father Fyu’s name happened!” Regalo howled.
“I may have used too much of the extract…” Vanima mumbled as Hegan ran out of the room.
Just as Regalo left the ship.
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Vanima smiled as she held the card. A small detail on the ID caught her eye. Species: Humanity? I thought they called themselves humans… Oh well.
“Well Hegan, how about we go out and spend a little time getting to know one another. We’ll go out and do a bit of shopping and relax. The first costume I designed for John should be finished in a few minutes and I do not want to be here when he sees them,” Vanima giggled.
“Why? What did you do?” Hegan asked as the pair began leisurely walking.
“John’s sense of modesty is… rather prudish by Qini standard.” Hegan quickened her pace at the statement. They exited the ship and started to walk about the vast docks.
“So what lab equipment do you need Hegan?” Vanima asked as they strolled to the directory. Hegan scratched her neck before answering.
“I’ll need a cerebral scanner, unless the scanner we have can double as that, but otherwise most of the tests I can do without much machinery.” Vanima nodded.
“Well you’ve been reading all the information I gathered. What can you tell me so far?” she asked as they approached the desk.
“Um… Merchant district please,” Hegan asked of the Vzk’tk attendant.
“Sector DLS-1017,” he recited.
Vanima nodded her thanks. “Yes you were saying?” Vanima prompted.
“Yes, John’s cerebral structure is childlike.” Vanima was only certified for 3 species as general practitioner. John’s neurology had truly tested the limits of her expertise.
“Childlike?”
Hegan paused for a while as she formulated an explanation.
“Yes, I don’t mean to say it’s underdeveloped but it has retained a lot of traits from what a theoretical human child would have, but we can’t be sure until we have a human child to compare him to. The ability to create muscle memory isn’t anything new but we lose that ability. John doesn’t. I’d need more humans to confirm, but John’s brain is neotenous to an unseen degree. I’ll need to study John’s ability to learn and retain information at some point,” She finished. Vanima was digesting the new information. I never thought of neoteny… So many more mysteries to learn!
“Between us, we’ll unravel the enigma that is John. If only we knew where his homeworld was.”
“Well your notes say he was class 12 correct?”
“Yes he is, but we can’t just examine every single class 12 planet in the registry. If we were to examine every class 12 planet none stop, our grandchildren would die before they finished.” Vanima sighed. “If I could find his planet, I’d be over the moon.”
“Well hiding your ship above a planet’s moon isn’t the best option.” Vanima’s eyebrow’s arched in shock.
“It’s one of John’s metaphors. It means I’d be really happy.”
“Does he have a lot of metaphors?”
Vanima giggled before answering. “Honestly, he’s always talking in metaphors and such, but enough about John,” she said. “Tell me about you. Where did you get your medical certification?”
“I got it at Nosilla Medical University on Rauwryhr,” she answered. I’ll have to look up that university.
They had arrived at the shop district. The hustle and bustle of hundreds of Vzk’tk children and their mothers trying to usher them and direct them reminded Vanima of schools of fish trying to navigate an ocean.
“Alright Hegan, which shop should we visit first?” she asked her friend. Hegan tried to see above the crowd of Vzk’tk, but lacked the height.
“I can’t see. Just tell me what you see.” Vanima stood on her tippy toes to see the signs.
“There’s a shop called Rkrt’s Electrical… Um… Another one for electrical components… A lot of stores for electrical components. There’s a medical store!” Vanima excitedly exclaimed. She was about to stride to the store but felt the Rauwryhr take her hand. She looked down and saw Hegan’s arm completely stretched upwards to be even able to hold Vanima’s hand.
“Could you not walk so quickly? I’ll get separated from you,” She strained, clearly uncomfortable with the positions. Vanima pressed her lips in embarrassment and nodded. She bent down to ease the Rauwryhr’s pain and together, they slowly ambled to the store. Where is John when you need him? The human had a predatory knack for getting crowds to part for him. A deathworlder to the core, whether he wants to be or not. Eventually, they managed to get into the store and put an end to their awkward handholding. They took one of the hover pushcarts and set to shopping. The two worked together to look for the parts they needed. Hegan scoured the lower shelves for Hazmat fields while Vanima searched the higher shelves for scanner modifications and lab extensions for the scanner.
“Oh, they have the fitness tester X20,” Vanima said with mild interest as she took the module in her hand.
“Is that the model that gauges theoretical strength with simulation input?”
“That the X25, this is an older model so it can only do theoretical strength. John tells me he’s not a strong specimen but he’s getting stronger with the FTL training regimen I have him do.”
“FTL training regimen?”
“To make sure his muscles don’t atrophy in the lighter gravity I’ve been making him run while under class twe… nine standard gravity.” Hegan paused and looked to the Qinis. Vanima tapped at her coms before then showed it to Hegan. Who knows who is listening. Hegan quirked her head up then let out a small giggle. “What?” Vanima asked.
“You noted that John is neurotically paranoid at times. It looks like his paranoia is rubbing off on you,” she giggled. Vanima smiled in defeat.
“I suppose he rubs off on everyone,” she sighed contently as she placed the module into the cart. Hegan had chosen a relatively good Hazmat field. Vanima picked out more analysis software to install into the scanner.
They bought their purchases at the till and walked out. Once more, Vanima basked in the pedestrian novelty of carrying her own shopping bag as she strained to look for a grocery shop. “Over there! The grocery store!” Vanima exclaimed, pointing at the non-descript store. It was like all the stores in the station, unadorned and boringly grey. Why does the Dominion seem intent on making the galaxy an ugly place? Once more they ambled awkwardly towards the grocery shop.
“By the stars that smells!” Hegan exclaimed, clamping her hands around her nose. Vanima gave the Rauwryhr a bemused look before taking a deep breath. The Qinis sense of smell was practically none existent when compared to a Gaoian’s or a Rauwryhr’s and pitiful compared to a human’s. Their excellent night vision and almost sonar-like hearing more than made up for the weak sense. Vanima took a deep breath and smelt a vague bitter odor coming from one of the uglier looking produce. The pair made sure to stay away from that section of the shop. Vanima took a cart and placed 10 heads of Cqcq along with the red root Regalo seemed fond of. Hegan added a wild variety of fruits from, eliciting an arched eyebrow from Vanima.
“You said John was a theoretical omnivore, but until we can get some meat for him we might as well see what plants don’t suit his palate. Can’t have him eating food that makes him throw up from the taste,” Hegan explained. Vanima nodded at the Rauwryhr’s wisdom. John rarely complained about his meals and ate with gusto. Social taboo to complain about food? She realised she never asked John whether he enjoyed the meals Regalo made for him and assumed his gusto was affirmation enough. Well the thin air and the exertion of practicing all the time might leave him too hungry to complain. She found a jar of Mara extract and was overjoyed. “Oh! I read on the Galnet that if you take a cup of this and heat it, it leaves a pleasant aroma in the ship,” Vanima explained as she took the jar in her hand.
“Are you sure it said a cup?” Hegan asked.
“I’m very sure,” Vanima replied, remembering the Qinis lifestyle galsite. They just barely had enough money to pay for the gluttonous amount of food, leaving John with a single DC and the ship to his name. They requested a hover cart to carry the food back, but the Vzk’tk grocer said the cart would arrive tomorrow morning. Unsatisfied with this, Vanima carried the some of the groceries and Hegan held the scanner components in her arms. The Rauwryhr settled for holding onto the hem of the Qinis’ white dress as they slowly walked home. They arrived at the ship without much trouble.
“What’s the entry code?” Hegan asked.
“It’s 1988,” Vanima replied tiredly, now struggling with the bags. The novelty of carrying ones purchases having worn off completely, Vanima quickly marched to the common room and dropped off the groceries on the table. She tried to lie down comfortably on the couch, but her feet were left dangling off the edge.
“Do you want me to start the installation of the modules? I’ll test the Hazmat field as well,” Hegan said. Vanima wearily nodded and the Rauwryhr left. After a moment of rest Vanima rose from the couch and rummaged through the shopping bag. She found the jar of Mara extract and opened it. The strong sweet aroma wafted up and Vanima shivered. He took a small kettle from the pantry and filled it to the brim with the extract. Wait, This might be too strong for John and Regalo. She poured some of the extract back in the jar, leaving it 3 quarters full. She left the lid open and set it to boil over the stove.
“Ship, open all doors except medical room door, crew rooms and airlock.” The ship beeped in affirmation. Vanima sighed and closed her tired eyes, letting the sweet scent wash over her for a moment. She opened her eyes and broadcasted one of the movies from her coms to the television. Hegan returned with a small box in her hands just before the end of the movie. Vanima shut off the broadcast and turned to her.
“The hazmat field works perfectly! I’ve got it set on, keep out all foreign chemicals and so far and it’s works! The software you bought should finish installing soon by the-” she turned the field off and gagged. Vanima heard John and Regalo shout further up from the stairs. I think I underestimated their sense of smell. She quickly dashed to the kettle and found almost all of the extract had evaporated. The men appeared at the stairs.
“What in Fyu’s name happened!?” Regalo howled
“I might have used too much extract…” she mumbled.
Hegan scarpered out of the room, hoping to find some respite from the odor.
The men quickly dashed out of the room. Vanima’s shoulders slumped as she sullenly trudged to see where they had gone. She found the trio gasping for air in the crew’s quarters. “Isn’t a hazmat field useful?” Hegan laughed a little.
“Hegan, if you were human I’d fucking marry you right now,” John laughed between deep gulps of air.
“What did you do Hegan?” Vanima asked as she joined them. She felt the faint shiver that came with crossing a hazmat field.
“The smell isn’t nearly as bad in the crew quarters so I set the field stop the scent from filtering in.”
“We’ll need to cycle the ship atmosphere, but good thinking on your part Hegan,” Regalo congratulated the psychologist.
“I’m truly sorry for stinking up the ship. I wasn’t sure how strong your senses of smell were and-” She was interrupted by a rather painful pat on the back from John. That’s going to bruise.
“Don’t worry Vee, we’re not mad. We all mess up sometimes. Plus, it feels good that I’m not the only one who messes up anymore!” The four of them laughed at the joke and Vanima felt the knot in her heart loosen. Regalo tapped away at his coms and the ship beeped.
“The air should be breathable by tomorrow morning. I’m heading to bed. John?”
“I’m joining ya too buddy.” With that, the men entered their room. Hegan yawned and asked.
“Are you going to bed too?” Vanima nodded. The women entered their room. Hegan had clearly unpacked, as the boxes were now neatly stacked away a corner of the room. Vanima changed into her nightwear and Hegan merely undressed. Soon they were all fast asleep.