art blog(derogatory)
noise dept.
The Stonewall Inn
I'd rather be in outer space đž
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
ellievsbear
No title available
Aqua Utopiaïœæ”·ăźćșă§èšæ¶ă玥ă
Today's Document
Fai_Ryy
đ©” avery cochrane đ©”
The Bright Sessions
tannertan36
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Color Me Curious
Cosmic Funnies
bliss lane
Discoholic đȘ©
Jimmy Eat World
seen from Singapore
seen from Singapore
seen from Netherlands
seen from TĂŒrkiye
seen from TĂŒrkiye
seen from Syria
seen from Indonesia
seen from Austria
seen from Singapore
seen from Malaysia
seen from Russia
seen from TĂŒrkiye
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United Arab Emirates
seen from Belgium
seen from France
seen from Albania
seen from Germany
seen from United States
@remezi-lash-ninth-bloom
hello cuties! my name is Remezi Lash, but you may call me "Miss Lash". i'm currently in my Ninth Bloom (there are quite a few youngblooms on Tanglr, i see). i've had three florets in the past (all passed away, unfortunately)
i specialize in scaring sophonts (they're expressions are so cute!). and i practice scarification as a hobby!
whats up Tanglr. I kinda wanna out the location of what remains of my fleet. should I do it [y/n]
ooh, i'm torn here.
on one vine, not doing it would be far more entertaining for us to find you ourselves
on the other, poor little terrans, all alone.
@remezi-lash-ninth-bloom um um um two questions!
one, could my kitty friend @captainluis be my connivent if um kitty asked and the doctor said yes?
two, can you eat ice cream and what's your favourite flavour if you can?
@captainluis may be your connivent . i'm sure it would make her quite happy
i don't eat much other than meat, but on the occasion i get ice cream i'm partial to rose flavoring
Ok. I found what I need.
Iâve spent weeks now in question with Class-Gs.
I know itâs clichĂ© with people here, apparently, but I like cats. I wish I couldâve had one in my pre-Captain days (the time Iâve spent here and not constantly on the edge from my duties has given me the opportunity to ruminate on my past, and really my personal needs).
Iâd like to be one. And, wellâŠ
Those who have really paid attention to me and Lars know that I had Testosterone blockers, pretty rudimentary ones compared to what I see here in the Compact. ButâŠwell, I did and still do kind of feel disconnect with myself, soul and body if you will.
Iâve fought with myself a lot. Iâve kind of fallen into depression over it. So, I say fuck it now.
I found an old art piece I commissioned in secret many years ago. The Pre-Accord times were very innovative with its views over the human body and the eternal yearning to be something we cannot become, and thus forth the âFurryâ movement sprouted (no pun intended).
While it has been a few centuries since the initial movement, in secret, in rebellion to the Accord government there still were small swaths of people in the movement, some leaning into the philosophical standpoints of the disconnect between the human body and mind alongside other ideals, and some plainly there for an escape from Accord life.
I kind of forgot those days, my time as the Nebula Prowlerâs captain made me forget most anything beforehand. ButâŠwell.
Hereâs the commission. Iâd like to look like this.
Ahem. If I can, I hope that my @remezi-lash-ninth-bloom can work with @hot-doctor-pepper for arranging a Class-G prescription.
But if thatâs too much to ask for, that is okay. I donât want to waste time.
I donât know about my name. I donât like it, but itâs all I know. Never had the time to think about it. All Iâm going to say for now.
Have a good day.
of course that can be arranged! i'm so happy to see you being honest with yourself ^^
@hot-doctor-pepper
@unfunny-trans-girl, uhâŠif youâd like to meet up sometime. Iâd like that. Been thinking about my old crew. Since you technically have a consciousness in there, you know more than me. Plus, itâd be nice to meet you! UhâŠyeah.
Mrauww, where do you wanna meet up? Mrrrppp
Any park? I donât knowâŠjust somewhere. Give me coordinates and Iâll be on my way.
[attached are coordinates for a park near my hab]
I seeâŠhuh. Despite how large this ship is, that park is closest to me. Maybe Remezi and Stylone know about our connections or something.
Iâll be there in a few. Lots to discuss.
Mrauww okiiii
[After a nice ride on the now-much-larger bus, on pillars some 50 feet above the ground, I get off and find my path to the park.]
[After avoiding and eventually letting a couple pets come from random Affini, I meet the opening into the welcoming and alive atmosphere of the park. There was a very nice small lake shaped like aâŠa lily silk? Besides the water lay a large bench, luckily with an area lowered for Terrans to be able to reach without an Affiniâs help.]
[On that bench was @unfunny-trans-girl. Wow. She really did look like her profile picture.]
Haiiiiii, mrauww
*I pounce on you and hug you*
wo-hoh! [I tense at the pounce, but hug back and relax into the hug.]
WowâŠitâs still so hard to believe you can justâŠlook like that. Changing timesâŠuh. Anyways. Nice to meet you. [I pull off the hug.]
Youâre very soft, by the way. Very soft. I donât know how thatâs even possible.
AhemâŠanywaysâŠuh. Shall we talk? [I take a seat in the bench, and tap for Rosemary to follow.]
*I sit beside you eagerly*
I'm soft because I'm a plushie, mrrrppp
*I gesture to the tag on my leg*
See, mrauww...
What did you want to talk about mrrrpp?
WellâŠuh, itâs a bit serious. My old Nebula Prowler. Howâs, ehâŠthings going there? Iâm worried about Lars, Aphid, the others⊠is it weird if I say I want to see them someday? I just hope theyâre okayâŠ
[I fidget, looking at the reflection of the water. It was beautiful. But I bumped my legs up and down to songs Iâd play in my head. Songs Iâd make up in my head to silence the noise around me. I always had a tendency to do that.]
Um, well, last I was there mrauww, I'd met a Khetari stowaway named Resi, she's nice, mrrrppp, umm, not much else though, oh Abigail Lumina also joined the crew, I think you knew about that though
Mrauww
I heard about that. Hopefully they get along with Resi.
[I feel a ping in my pocket from my datapad. I turn it on and see that itâs a post from Lars. Reads âso long, you allâ. Not good.]
UhâŠwell, whateverâs happening there now canât be good.
[I give Rosemary the datapad to see.]
Mrauww... oh... um... I'm sure Stylone has things under control, mrauww
mrrpp
*I look a little bit worried but not too much, and I seem to feel better as soon as I mention Stylone*
She better beâŠLars better not try any shi-
[Oh- right. Florets donât like swears.]
AnyâŠany dirt with Stylone. Ugh. I worry about them.
Mrauww, I wouldn't, mrrppp, Sylone is a very very capable Affini, mrauwwwwww
Also you can swear ehehe, I don't really mind, mrrrppp
[I chuckle a little.]
Well, I better learn to lay off a bit for those who take more offense to itâŠanyways, uhâŠthanks. Just felt like hearing it from you in person.
[I look up at the artificial sky. It was so real. If I had woken up here with no prior knowledge of the ship, Iâd live my whole life thinking it was real.]
âŠanyways. If youâd like, we could go visit some place. Iâm sure you have ideas. IâŠhavenât really traveled anywhere yet. Still so new here.
Mrauww, ummm, hmm, I don't actually have any ideas, mrrrppp,
Oh, mrauww, how about a J Cafe? We can cuddle all the florets there!! Mrrrppp
Ohhhh, Iâve heard of that beforeâŠ.Iâm not opposed.
[I nod, and eagerly Rosemary grabs my hand and begins to drag me over there.]
*I take you into a cafe full of florets unbelievably high off class Js, immediately, I get distracted and start playing with one of the other catgirls*
Wow⊠[It was like one of the streets full of sophonts, but compressed into this nice open building. The catgirlsâŠ.I canât help but blush a little bit. Envy. There also are a couple batgirls, a puppygirl, and surprisingly a lot of foxgirls! Among some occasional more exotic animals and their many hybrids.]
[I kind ofâŠfreeze up, staying close to a wall. They were all so cute, but I had no experience being here, or how it was like, or what I was supposed to do⊠so I just watch.]
*I'd completely forgotten the entire reason I came here, I was just playing around with the one catgirl, in fact I just looked like another one of the florets high on class J*
Eh⊠[I chuckle awkwardly. I didnât know what to do. Rosemary was busy.]
[I start to panic a bit, but try to keep it in as I slip out of the J-Cafe, walking briskly back to the park.]
Remezi slips into the park, scanning everywhere for her-the Terran.
Seeing Luis, asleep, she scoops them up, carefully wrapping her vines over their body as a kind of weighted blanket. The vines leech a small amount of Class-E, not enough to do much more than take the edge of Luis' anxiety if they wake.
"It's okay...I'm here. Some of those silly florets are just absentminded. I'm sure Rosemary didn't mean to leave you alone."
She says melodically, on the way back to the hab.
I know Iâve been doing pretty well, taking in all these changesâŠbut uh.
Itâs night. Iâm stuck out here. I canât find the railway back. Iâve just been at the park. Iâm tired. Iâve cried a bit. Iâm so sad. Everythingâs so beautiful. Perfect. Why does a happy day have to hurt so bad?
Iâm laid on the grass. Is it weird to say I wish some Affini came and noticed me? Pulled me up, told me Iâd be okay and back home? Home. This place still doesnât feel like it. I kind of miss the grey of the Nebula Prowler. It is nothing compared to this, but it had its limits. I knew its ins and outs. I hardly know anything here.
I just want to be okay. I want my crew okay. I am a stray cat. I wait to be seen. Is it okay to be independent and yet a stray cat waiting for love?
I really need to visit CapsicaâŠ
It is comfortable here. Maybe Iâll just sleep.
i'm coming to get you now
kbibttyâŠ..booooreeeddâŠ..miaauuâŠ..
Mrauwww, mrrrrppppp, purrrr
growing more and more jealous of this every dayâŠ.mraaowwâŠâŠtoo scaredâŠ.cant ask RemeziâŠ.
good thing you're posting about it then kitty <3
@captainluis
Remezi's ship boarded the Zealand, the main ship where she resides. With her? A "feralist" who was adjusting rather nicely so far-she almost wished he put up more of a fight-who was about to be able to have almost anything he wished for.
She opened the door of her ship, revealing the almost unfathomably large interior of the Zealand.
CLUNK!
My eyes shoot up. Stars, what was that? Instinctively I attempt to get onto my feet as quickly as possible to inspect if the ship had been struck or damaged by an asteroid or some other space debrisâŠbut quickly I am stopped by a firm but gentle vine that lifts me up a few feet, up to the âchestâ region of Remezi.
âH-hey! Iâm trying to inspect the damage, R-ReâŠâ I trail off. Remezi seems calm, in fact something about the frequency feelsâŠexcited? Yes, excited.
ââŠoh. WeâreâŠweâre docking.â I realize how much of a fool I looked, acting completely on panicked instinct from the times I was the Nebula Prowlerâs captain. Captain Luis Avogadro. I had it all. Damn that piece of shit Lars.
A few vines intertwine me to Remeziâs torso. I swear I could feel her emotion, or something like itâŠundoubtedly I was dangerously close to her core. I try to silence my mind as to not let Remezi pick up on my worried, hesitant thoughts about boarding what was now the rest of my life. A new beginning. I knew roughly what to expectâŠall the sophonts and how âperfectâ it was. But the only colors I had seen for the past decade were the sands of my home planetâs Cosmic Navy base and the grey of the Nebula Prowlerâs interior. I had to ready myself to see the entire rainbow again, after so long. Had I ever seen every color at once? No. That was too much to ask for in the Accord.
A warm, melodic âAre you ready, dear?â dances into my ears, and blares into my soulâs resonance. Stars, they are too powerful. I take a deep breath, readying myself to be exposed to things I knew I wouldnât be able to register. I nod my head, unable to speak cohesively and opting not to speak at all.
The âbiorhythmâ as itâs called amplifies that warmth, pushing the feeling of safety into my mind. Even with that, I still was unchangeably anxious. But, better get the inevitable done and over with⊠the hatch unlocks as the twist of vines, and my eyes fail to adjust as I am met with a face full of white.
Remezi exits the ship with the scared sophont.
"Are you overwhelmed?"
Her tone is slightly amused. This wasn't her first time showing a feral the wonders of the Affini.
"My hab isn't too far from here, unless you'd like to explore first."
Terrans only had three kinds of cone cells for sensing color-she mused for a moment how overwhelmed he'd be if he had her vision. The ship really was beautiful-her own aesthetics skewed a bit sharper, but everything here was round and plush-can't have a sophont getting hurt. Still, she could appreciate it.
She wondered if her hab would frighten Luis. Maybe she should put away the mice she kept for feeding...
I shake my head. âIâm good, Iâm goodâŠâ I nervously laugh, the blatant power of the shipâs interior, mocking that of a lush paradise-esque environment with bustling walkable streets, plenty of nature, and even a faux sky with clouds. Nearly everything I saw went beyond the capabilities of the Accord. It was impossible.
âLetâsâŠwe should probably head to the Hab first. I need some time toâŠeh- register all this.â
Instinctively I scoot closer to Remezi as we progress into the environment and through the brush into a more town-like area, with many shops and a larger building with a low-hanging purple sign reading âSouth Zealandâs J-Cafeâ. I wonder what that is.
After the arguably most influential 15 minutes of my life, we seem to arrive at the Hab.
The two arrive at Remezi's hab. There are large windows letting in plenty of light, but the colors are mostly dark greens and reds, similar to Remezi's own body. There is a small indoor garden in part of the living room, housing several foreign looking plants as well as...marijuana?
"We're here! There's a spare room if you wish to use it-it's the same aesthetic as the rest of the hab, but I could reconfigure it to something more your liking."
She tilts her head.
"Oh-and I saw your post about wanting to try Class-D's. Very cute. Maybe after you're a bit more settled in we can test them out."
I look away, trying not to let myself show how embarrassed I was about her mentioning my Class-D post.
âYes, but I do need time toâŠsettle, as you said.â
I return my gaze back to Remezi and the Hab. It was considered good for one Affini and maybe a couple other sophonts if need be, but it felt like a mansion. Ceilings were up to 20 feet high, there was a couch in the lounging quarters big enough for my entire former 15-man crew to sit on, Stars, even lay on. Everything was massive, which made sense considering how large Affini were.
âOh, donât worry about where I sleep. Donât try reconfiguring things, itâs good. Wasting energy on those things will tire you out. If I donât like it, it is no matter as long as I can sleep inside.â
We continue looking through the Habâs kitchen, its own compiler, and more until I find myself on that massive couch, next to Remezi. Even with how well I think Iâve taken it all, I can sense something up.
"I don't get "tired out", thank you very much, how old do you think I am? I'm only...what, 2,123 Terran years?"
She said in mock offense.
"Anyways, it'd be no trouble at all. I-well, we-Affini in general-want Terrans to be happy. Including you."
She pats the Terran's head, thorns retracting before the vine makes contact. Even if she did want to scratch it...
Before pulling away. Her biorhythym hums at a low, intense frequency.
"To be honest, you aren't likely to be judged suitable for independence if you aren't true to yourself. Your owner would probably just Class-D whatever it is out of you and force you into it."
She didn't particularly want Luis to stay independent-she was of the opinion most xenosophonts would be far happier as florets, save for maybe a few spedial cases. But saying that definetely wouldn't be helpful.
Having trouble today. I want something but canât let myself have it. Fighting with myself in my head right now. Why canât I just make a decision? I feel like I do know what I want but just canât say it. I faintly remember some affini thing having something to help that.
Class-Ds. Careful, they make you say -anything- you think of, with no filter. Might confess to something you would rather not...
Right. Very scary to risk that, but I admit that if I want to be an independent, I must get familiar with these things and be open about myself. It just very hard. @remezi-lash-ninth-bloom could maybe do Class-Ds for me sometime. I canât ask her in person, itâs very awkward you know.
As soon as I heard the Affini like drugging us, I did research on all the different classes. I...don't have the best history with drugs. Im trying to avoid most of them. But if you can't ask her in person, leave her a message? And if taking them in front of her is too much, ask for them in a short lasting pill form you can take whenever. Then find someone you don't mind listening in and take them, then just talk to that sophont.
Eris, Kae's headmate here. Hell, if it really bothers you, hopefully in a few days my hab will have the surveillance removed. Can get a dose from either Remezi or Doctor Capsica and you can say it here, with nobody else listening in? I won't judge you for anything, and once you've admitted it to yourself, can make the decision to tell Remezi or another Affini?
I am willing to do that when the time comes. Thank you for the opportunity, it means a lot to me. Iâm sure Remezi has read this and agrees, but Iâm too shy to ask.
i'm quite willing to administer some Class-D's for you, dear ::)
@captainluis
Remezi's ship boarded the Zealand, the main ship where she resides. With her? A "feralist" who was adjusting rather nicely so far-she almost wished he put up more of a fight-who was about to be able to have almost anything he wished for.
She opened the door of her ship, revealing the almost unfathomably large interior of the Zealand.
CLUNK!
My eyes shoot up. Stars, what was that? Instinctively I attempt to get onto my feet as quickly as possible to inspect if the ship had been struck or damaged by an asteroid or some other space debrisâŠbut quickly I am stopped by a firm but gentle vine that lifts me up a few feet, up to the âchestâ region of Remezi.
âH-hey! Iâm trying to inspect the damage, R-ReâŠâ I trail off. Remezi seems calm, in fact something about the frequency feelsâŠexcited? Yes, excited.
ââŠoh. WeâreâŠweâre docking.â I realize how much of a fool I looked, acting completely on panicked instinct from the times I was the Nebula Prowlerâs captain. Captain Luis Avogadro. I had it all. Damn that piece of shit Lars.
A few vines intertwine me to Remeziâs torso. I swear I could feel her emotion, or something like itâŠundoubtedly I was dangerously close to her core. I try to silence my mind as to not let Remezi pick up on my worried, hesitant thoughts about boarding what was now the rest of my life. A new beginning. I knew roughly what to expectâŠall the sophonts and how âperfectâ it was. But the only colors I had seen for the past decade were the sands of my home planetâs Cosmic Navy base and the grey of the Nebula Prowlerâs interior. I had to ready myself to see the entire rainbow again, after so long. Had I ever seen every color at once? No. That was too much to ask for in the Accord.
A warm, melodic âAre you ready, dear?â dances into my ears, and blares into my soulâs resonance. Stars, they are too powerful. I take a deep breath, readying myself to be exposed to things I knew I wouldnât be able to register. I nod my head, unable to speak cohesively and opting not to speak at all.
The âbiorhythmâ as itâs called amplifies that warmth, pushing the feeling of safety into my mind. Even with that, I still was unchangeably anxious. But, better get the inevitable done and over with⊠the hatch unlocks as the twist of vines, and my eyes fail to adjust as I am met with a face full of white.
Remezi exits the ship with the scared sophont.
"Are you overwhelmed?"
Her tone is slightly amused. This wasn't her first time showing a feral the wonders of the Affini.
"My hab isn't too far from here, unless you'd like to explore first."
Terrans only had three kinds of cone cells for sensing color-she mused for a moment how overwhelmed he'd be if he had her vision. The ship really was beautiful-her own aesthetics skewed a bit sharper, but everything here was round and plush-can't have a sophont getting hurt. Still, she could appreciate it.
She wondered if her hab would frighten Luis. Maybe she should put away the mice she kept for feeding...
I shake my head. âIâm good, Iâm goodâŠâ I nervously laugh, the blatant power of the shipâs interior, mocking that of a lush paradise-esque environment with bustling walkable streets, plenty of nature, and even a faux sky with clouds. Nearly everything I saw went beyond the capabilities of the Accord. It was impossible.
âLetâsâŠwe should probably head to the Hab first. I need some time toâŠeh- register all this.â
Instinctively I scoot closer to Remezi as we progress into the environment and through the brush into a more town-like area, with many shops and a larger building with a low-hanging purple sign reading âSouth Zealandâs J-Cafeâ. I wonder what that is.
After the arguably most influential 15 minutes of my life, we seem to arrive at the Hab.
The two arrive at Remezi's hab. There are large windows letting in plenty of light, but the colors are mostly dark greens and reds, similar to Remezi's own body. There is a small indoor garden in part of the living room, housing several foreign looking plants as well as...marijuana?
"We're here! There's a spare room if you wish to use it-it's the same aesthetic as the rest of the hab, but I could reconfigure it to something more your liking."
She tilts her head.
"Oh-and I saw your post about wanting to try Class-D's. Very cute. Maybe after you're a bit more settled in we can test them out."
@captainluis
Remezi's ship boarded the Zealand, the main ship where she resides. With her? A "feralist" who was adjusting rather nicely so far-she almost wished he put up more of a fight-who was about to be able to have almost anything he wished for.
She opened the door of her ship, revealing the almost unfathomably large interior of the Zealand.
CLUNK!
My eyes shoot up. Stars, what was that? Instinctively I attempt to get onto my feet as quickly as possible to inspect if the ship had been struck or damaged by an asteroid or some other space debrisâŠbut quickly I am stopped by a firm but gentle vine that lifts me up a few feet, up to the âchestâ region of Remezi.
âH-hey! Iâm trying to inspect the damage, R-ReâŠâ I trail off. Remezi seems calm, in fact something about the frequency feelsâŠexcited? Yes, excited.
ââŠoh. WeâreâŠweâre docking.â I realize how much of a fool I looked, acting completely on panicked instinct from the times I was the Nebula Prowlerâs captain. Captain Luis Avogadro. I had it all. Damn that piece of shit Lars.
A few vines intertwine me to Remeziâs torso. I swear I could feel her emotion, or something like itâŠundoubtedly I was dangerously close to her core. I try to silence my mind as to not let Remezi pick up on my worried, hesitant thoughts about boarding what was now the rest of my life. A new beginning. I knew roughly what to expectâŠall the sophonts and how âperfectâ it was. But the only colors I had seen for the past decade were the sands of my home planetâs Cosmic Navy base and the grey of the Nebula Prowlerâs interior. I had to ready myself to see the entire rainbow again, after so long. Had I ever seen every color at once? No. That was too much to ask for in the Accord.
A warm, melodic âAre you ready, dear?â dances into my ears, and blares into my soulâs resonance. Stars, they are too powerful. I take a deep breath, readying myself to be exposed to things I knew I wouldnât be able to register. I nod my head, unable to speak cohesively and opting not to speak at all.
The âbiorhythmâ as itâs called amplifies that warmth, pushing the feeling of safety into my mind. Even with that, I still was unchangeably anxious. But, better get the inevitable done and over with⊠the hatch unlocks as the twist of vines, and my eyes fail to adjust as I am met with a face full of white.
Remezi exits the ship with the scared sophont.
"Are you overwhelmed?"
Her tone is slightly amused. This wasn't her first time showing a feral the wonders of the Affini.
"My hab isn't too far from here, unless you'd like to explore first."
Terrans only had three kinds of cone cells for sensing color-she mused for a moment how overwhelmed he'd be if he had her vision. The ship really was beautiful-her own aesthetics skewed a bit sharper, but everything here was round and plush-can't have a sophont getting hurt. Still, she could appreciate it.
She wondered if her hab would frighten Luis. Maybe she should put away the mice she kept for feeding...
@captainluis
Remezi's ship boarded the Zealand, the main ship where she resides. With her? A "feralist" who was adjusting rather nicely so far-she almost wished he put up more of a fight-who was about to be able to have almost anything he wished for.
She opened the door of her ship, revealing the almost unfathomably large interior of the Zealand.
The necklace that doesn't come off is actually an Affini cultural thing, not liking it is a little problematic petal...
Remezi's ship flew up next to @captainluis 's. She wasn't much of a pilot, but it was self-driving so it didn't really matter. A pair of tendrils seemed to reach out towards the smaller vessel, and grabbed it, pulling it into the ship.
The following is a transcription of the last publicly transmitted audio from the pod.
[Silence, save for the tapping of presumably Luisâ finger.]
[A faint sound, a shaking, a gasp] Luis: âOH- is, (unintelligible) it must be-â
[Luis looks out of the podâs center window. Outside is the ship which Remezi directed to rescue him.] Luis: â-h-haâholy fuck.â [nervous laughter, perhaps a shuddering sigh as if a cold chill had moved down his back]
[More shaking, and the tendril was firmly planted and had captured the pod with the ease of any day-to-day activity, such a frivolous act for the Compact, yet nearly incomprehensible for Luis, who cannot respond to what he is seeing in Terran language. It is purely primal emotion in his head.] [Is it fear? It must be. But it felt like fate â yes, fate. Fear of fate, hope of fate, the fate was decided and all freedom left for Luis was how to feel about it.]
[The ship grows ever larger, eventually surrounding all sides of the pod. A cargo bay of some sort, landingâŠa sterile yet warm and strikingly massive room. And in itâŠwas that Remezi?]
Luis: ââŠbe goodâŠplease be goodâŠthey must be-â
[Audio transmission cuts off here.]
She taps on the window of the pod.
"Hello dear!"
The affini sits at about 13 feet tall currently, her body imitating a somewhat Terran-like form, an interwoven mix of dark green vines, red thorns, sundews, and red and white flowers.
"How are you feeling? I'm sure that tin can your species calls a pod was prettyyy scary. Not to worry-affini are, on average, mostly good, like you were hoping."
She grins. Her teeth are two neat rows of thorns.
"Could you come out? I won't bite unless you ask."
Probably a lie, but she had to know what was going on with the Terran first.
I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. Simply put, first contact with the Compact brought so many things new to me, even just in this moment, that I was completely stunned to make any move.
â-One moment! Just â one moment.â
I look back inside the pod. It was not too familiar to me relative to the Nebula Prowler, but it represented the last few parts of the Terran Accord.
âI justâŠitâs a very big change.â
I note the color of the walls, a boring grayish brownish color, all the storage compartments and, of course the speaker.
ââŠIâmâŠyou see, I know you are, wellâŠâ
I finally glance back, my vision met with those teeth again. It wasnât something youâd see out of a horror movie, maybe more of an abstract art film about some folklore. Either way, it was something I had never trained myself to see as a real, living being.
ââŠtrying to help me. But my mind must be, uhâŠcareful. AndâŠâ
A sharp shiver makes my body tremble and wiggle as I bite back a sharp exhale.
â-and so IâmâŠIâm afraid. Not of you. JustâŠeverything.â
"That's pretty normal. You're going to be even more scared if I have to take you out there, though."
Remezi shrugs.
"Rest assured, the Compact only wants the best for you. Otherwise you would have been left in that pod to rot."
Shaking, I nod my head with a tremor causing my hair to fluctuate as if I had been shocked by electricity.
âI know, I know⊠It isâŠmost reasonable in this situation to just leave the pod.â
I continue, finding the Captain persona shifting back into the forefront of my character.
âI anticipate whatever I encounter when I step out of here to beâŠfor my best interests. I have placed a lot of trust in you and the Compact to send out my signalâŠâ
I stand up, trying to look stoical and just.
âI hope this trust and respect can be reciprocated.â
I look to my left, eyeing the air lock.
ââŠa-Alright. Iâm coming out now.â
I turn to face the hatch, walking to adjust and unlock it and swing open the heavy oval door, and I am met with a face full of white light as my eyes adjust to my new surroundings.
I step out of the Accordâs last fringes, into the beckoning of the Compact.
"Careful, the switch from microgravity might be kind of disorienting."
The affini looks down at the Terran, trying to judge his stability in the new environment. "Provided the Compact sees you're fit for independence, your trust and respect will be "reciprocated". By affini standards, anyways."
I nod my head, not directly looking into Remeziâs eyes but rather the warm white walls and light encompassing me in all directions.
âI understand. I have done a lot ofâŠresearch of how the Compact works. I trust it is not propaganda now that Iâm here, in front of youâŠif it were, you surely would have snatched me up by now.â
I shrug, even smirking a little.
âS-so, you know- great newsâŠuh- anyways, do show me the way through this place. It seems a lotâŠit seems blown out of proportion. Much larger. I guess that makes sense for you Affini.â
I shrug again. In my peripheral vision, a stray vine appears, sort-of mimicking a guiding hand. I knew I had been told not to grab it by Salt over past undisclosed comm between us two, so I silently refused to grab it. Still, something begun to come to me, some sort of feelingâŠnearly physical, it seemed. Like a frequency so high that you can only nearly hear it in your throat. Was that from Remezi? I shrugged off the feeling as best as I could.
âAnyways, enough jargon. Take me where you need, Remezi.â
I note that the weird frequency somehow grew moreâŠsomber as I spoke her name. At that instant I remember the early post on her Tanglr account. Right, rightâŠshe prefers âMiss Lashâ. It felt very demeaning just thinking about itâŠbut from what I heard, resistance is only more reason for domestication.
âOh, sorry. You know I donât know terribly much about you, uhâŠmmmMiss Lash.â
I wince at the word, but compose myself with haste as to not alert her. To my luck, the frequency somehow feels moreâŠcalm, comfortable. It must be hers, and it pleased me to see her mood improve. Must be from me getting away with incorrectly terming her.
In that train of thought, I feel that same vine gently touch my hand, making me jump.
âOH- excuse-â
I look at up at her eyes. Fuck, donât do that!âŠwell, nothing has changedâŠstill, donât do that. I look back forward. The vine has now gently wrapped itself around my hand, not a slimey feeling I had expected, justâŠa feeling. It seemingly correlated with that intangible frequency too, which at the moment made the touch a bit warm and pleasant, almost fuzzy. I knew better than to resist, but something about the touch made a thousand theories set off in my head.
I was deep in thought of this when suddenly another vine tapped the top of my head.
âPetal? Something on your mind?â
I shake my head. âNo. Letâs go.â
Remezi led Luis out of the room, vine still wrapped around his hand. "It's a bit of a small ship, I got it last minute-I live planetside, but it made my core ache to know you were all alone out there."
She makes an overexaggerated frown. There was something...not quite childish, but close, about the Affini's speech and mannerisms, despite her not being a youngbloom.
Seed behavior...she thinks to herself, as they enter a new room. It seems to be some kind of living room, with exclusively Affini sized furniture in various shades of red, and a compiler.
"This is the living room...I think that's the right word, anyways. I just helped with the cotyledons, I was never much of a linguist. You can compile pretty much anything-provided it poses no threat to your safety."
She turns to the Terran. "Speaking of-do you need anything compiled right now? Clothes, food, water?"
Stars, it was truly large. Even a private ship, presumably for only Remezi and whatever âcotyledonsâ she had, whatever that meantâŠeven this was massive. It was surely half the Nebula Prowler, a 15-man vessel in itself.
I stare in awe, looking to find that every point I stare at looks comfortably back to me, so unforgivably non-hostile despite its entire novelty. I keep composed as always, but if this is where I will reside for some time, it could definitely be MUCH worse. I hated how much I liked it.
âAh- no, nothing I need right now. The compiler gifted by Salt kept me satiated, and Iâm sure myâŠâ
I finally pay mind to what I was wearing: my old Captainâs uniform. I hadnât taken it off for a week at least, definitely not after making that last minute escape into the pod. Damn LarsâŠwonder heâs doing with the crewâŠ
ââŠwell, I guess some spare clothes would be alright. I should probably freshen up.â
She giggled at the awed expression on Luis' face. Adorable.
"It's a standard size ship for a single affini and a few florets. Before you ask-I don't currently have any."
"Anyways. You may compile some-there should be quite a few options-I'll show you the bathroom afterwards so you can change-you should also probably shower sometime soon."
The tone of Remezi's voice made it sound more like a suggestion, but her biorhythm said otherwise.
"Salt, hm? I'm glad you had some kind of friend in all that mess-even if they are a pesky feralist-I haven't been on that "Tanglr" site long, but I have no idea how they've avoided florethood for so long."
I shrug.
âThereâs billions of us under your control, so Iâm sure at least some will take forever to- wh- what do you mean avoided?â
I turn to look at Remezi, confused.
âI figured that independents can stay independent, unlessâŠI donât remember why theyâd need to be florets, butâŠsomething about them not being able to live by themselves or whatever.â
I realize that Iâm probably babbling and making a fool of my Captain persona, and quickly snap out of it.
âI- well, I donât mean to pry. Iâm sure Salt has someâŠissue with that, hence avoiding it. Not my thing to worry about though.â
I check the compiler, looking through the list of seemingly endless types of clothing. Except each and every one was NOT up to the standard of a Captain. Dresses, skirts, crops, nearly all could be argued as traditional female informal clothing, with the occasional unisex blouse or cardigan.
âUhâŠRemezi?â I call to question, once again forgetting to appropriately term her name.
âThere are no options for, you knowâŠcaptainsâŠIâm sure I must wear something formal as long as I am still on this journey in space, wouldnât that be right?â
I continue to upkeep my hard Captain self, because even if it wasnât me, it was the character who had directed that crew for so many years. It was the character who made me feel worth in my life. It was the character I could trust not slip something out when speaking that would make me sound against the very existence of the Terran Accord. It was the version of me that could exist in such a cruel world.
The frequency has grown more, and I could nearly truly feel it now in a hearing sense. To my question, it felt like it shrunk, as if Remezi felt pity, or something else. But it made me feel a little off too. I wasnât quite the fan of that.
"Salt has a warden, who intends to make him into a floret. I'm just confused how it hasn't happened yet."
She shrugs.
"Not really my place to pry, though."
Remezi tilts her head at the Terran.
"Ah, Terrans and their restrictive societal constructs. Shouldn't a captain be able to wear whatever she likes? Although if none of this is really to your liking, I suppose I could change the compiler settings."
Hm? I mustâve heard her wrong, although I swear I heard her refer to me as âsheââŠwell, she said she was unfamiliar with taking in others since the âCotyledonâ times, whatever a Cotyledon was. She may just be rusty at understanding how to refer to us. Either that, or I was hearing things. The frequency brings me back into focus and out of a spiral of thoughts.
I pay it no mind, for now. âWell, if thereâs a way to compile a, eh- normal outfit for me, then by all means find it. Even if I wanted to wear something like that,â
I chuckle at the thought, almost bewildered at the vision of me with something as informal as that on. â-wellâŠletâs just say Iâd look like a fool. This body is not fit for things like that, you see. You probably donât know about how clothing works for us, uh, Terrans. You see- ehâŠâ
The frequency is intangible in emotion, but whatever emotion it was, it was strong. It felt closest to that of empathy, or pity. It cut me off.
ââŠsorry. All you need to know is that there is no way in the world Iâd wear that, hahahâŠâ
I compose myself back into my Captain self.
âNow, what about getting clean? Iâve been craving a good shower for a week, you know.â
The Affini tilts her head, squinting at Luis. Her biorhythm zeroes into a pinprick, something calculated, intense and almost audible.
"Do you want body that is "fit for things like that?'"
She holds the Terran's gaze for a beat longer before her biorhythm relaxes.
"And I know perfectly well how clothing works for Terrans!"
She says cheerfully, as if nothing happened.
"It's quite fascinating, really, although still tragic-your species doesn't have as much of a sexual dimorphism, yet you still come up with all kinds of cultural/societal roles based on it! Jobs, clothing, status-all obsolete for the most part, due to the Compact. I hope I can make you understand that you have the freedom to do almost anything within the Compact-as long as it doesn't harm anyone nonconsensually, of course."
I grew stiff at the question. Instinct told me to immediately switch up and shake my head ânoâ. But I couldnât find myself doing that. Instead, I responded with pure silence, although my facial expression undoubtedly was a mix of suspicion, thought, maybe a hint of sadness.
But I wave it off.
âI understand that the Compact does things a bit, eh- differently here. I donât mind not needing money!â I try to chuckle as genuinely as a fake chuckle could sound.
âBut I- I canât, you know, register that in my head. Walking around, seeing everyone dressed like they, ehâŠprefer, I guess. Itâs not something we could or should do. We should adhere to at least some dress code or formality, yes?â
Again, a small hint of jealousy leaks out, despite the entire mask of the Captain. Remezi takes her time to think as they led Luis to the vesselâs bathroom.
"There's no dress code-not that there should be one."
That's all she says, seeming to drop it for now. The bathroom is large enough for Remezi to fit, but it has Terran-sized appliances and items-conveniently.
Remezi's ship flew up next to @captainluis 's. She wasn't much of a pilot, but it was self-driving so it didn't really matter. A pair of tendrils seemed to reach out towards the smaller vessel, and grabbed it, pulling it into the ship.
The following is a transcription of the last publicly transmitted audio from the pod.
[Silence, save for the tapping of presumably Luisâ finger.]
[A faint sound, a shaking, a gasp] Luis: âOH- is, (unintelligible) it must be-â
[Luis looks out of the podâs center window. Outside is the ship which Remezi directed to rescue him.] Luis: â-h-haâholy fuck.â [nervous laughter, perhaps a shuddering sigh as if a cold chill had moved down his back]
[More shaking, and the tendril was firmly planted and had captured the pod with the ease of any day-to-day activity, such a frivolous act for the Compact, yet nearly incomprehensible for Luis, who cannot respond to what he is seeing in Terran language. It is purely primal emotion in his head.] [Is it fear? It must be. But it felt like fate â yes, fate. Fear of fate, hope of fate, the fate was decided and all freedom left for Luis was how to feel about it.]
[The ship grows ever larger, eventually surrounding all sides of the pod. A cargo bay of some sort, landingâŠa sterile yet warm and strikingly massive room. And in itâŠwas that Remezi?]
Luis: ââŠbe goodâŠplease be goodâŠthey must be-â
[Audio transmission cuts off here.]
She taps on the window of the pod.
"Hello dear!"
The affini sits at about 13 feet tall currently, her body imitating a somewhat Terran-like form, an interwoven mix of dark green vines, red thorns, sundews, and red and white flowers.
"How are you feeling? I'm sure that tin can your species calls a pod was prettyyy scary. Not to worry-affini are, on average, mostly good, like you were hoping."
She grins. Her teeth are two neat rows of thorns.
"Could you come out? I won't bite unless you ask."
Probably a lie, but she had to know what was going on with the Terran first.
I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. Simply put, first contact with the Compact brought so many things new to me, even just in this moment, that I was completely stunned to make any move.
â-One moment! Just â one moment.â
I look back inside the pod. It was not too familiar to me relative to the Nebula Prowler, but it represented the last few parts of the Terran Accord.
âI justâŠitâs a very big change.â
I note the color of the walls, a boring grayish brownish color, all the storage compartments and, of course the speaker.
ââŠIâmâŠyou see, I know you are, wellâŠâ
I finally glance back, my vision met with those teeth again. It wasnât something youâd see out of a horror movie, maybe more of an abstract art film about some folklore. Either way, it was something I had never trained myself to see as a real, living being.
ââŠtrying to help me. But my mind must be, uhâŠcareful. AndâŠâ
A sharp shiver makes my body tremble and wiggle as I bite back a sharp exhale.
â-and so IâmâŠIâm afraid. Not of you. JustâŠeverything.â
"That's pretty normal. You're going to be even more scared if I have to take you out there, though."
Remezi shrugs.
"Rest assured, the Compact only wants the best for you. Otherwise you would have been left in that pod to rot."
Shaking, I nod my head with a tremor causing my hair to fluctuate as if I had been shocked by electricity.
âI know, I know⊠It isâŠmost reasonable in this situation to just leave the pod.â
I continue, finding the Captain persona shifting back into the forefront of my character.
âI anticipate whatever I encounter when I step out of here to beâŠfor my best interests. I have placed a lot of trust in you and the Compact to send out my signalâŠâ
I stand up, trying to look stoical and just.
âI hope this trust and respect can be reciprocated.â
I look to my left, eyeing the air lock.
ââŠa-Alright. Iâm coming out now.â
I turn to face the hatch, walking to adjust and unlock it and swing open the heavy oval door, and I am met with a face full of white light as my eyes adjust to my new surroundings.
I step out of the Accordâs last fringes, into the beckoning of the Compact.
"Careful, the switch from microgravity might be kind of disorienting."
The affini looks down at the Terran, trying to judge his stability in the new environment. "Provided the Compact sees you're fit for independence, your trust and respect will be "reciprocated". By affini standards, anyways."
I nod my head, not directly looking into Remeziâs eyes but rather the warm white walls and light encompassing me in all directions.
âI understand. I have done a lot ofâŠresearch of how the Compact works. I trust it is not propaganda now that Iâm here, in front of youâŠif it were, you surely would have snatched me up by now.â
I shrug, even smirking a little.
âS-so, you know- great newsâŠuh- anyways, do show me the way through this place. It seems a lotâŠit seems blown out of proportion. Much larger. I guess that makes sense for you Affini.â
I shrug again. In my peripheral vision, a stray vine appears, sort-of mimicking a guiding hand. I knew I had been told not to grab it by Salt over past undisclosed comm between us two, so I silently refused to grab it. Still, something begun to come to me, some sort of feelingâŠnearly physical, it seemed. Like a frequency so high that you can only nearly hear it in your throat. Was that from Remezi? I shrugged off the feeling as best as I could.
âAnyways, enough jargon. Take me where you need, Remezi.â
I note that the weird frequency somehow grew moreâŠsomber as I spoke her name. At that instant I remember the early post on her Tanglr account. Right, rightâŠshe prefers âMiss Lashâ. It felt very demeaning just thinking about itâŠbut from what I heard, resistance is only more reason for domestication.
âOh, sorry. You know I donât know terribly much about you, uhâŠmmmMiss Lash.â
I wince at the word, but compose myself with haste as to not alert her. To my luck, the frequency somehow feels moreâŠcalm, comfortable. It must be hers, and it pleased me to see her mood improve. Must be from me getting away with incorrectly terming her.
In that train of thought, I feel that same vine gently touch my hand, making me jump.
âOH- excuse-â
I look at up at her eyes. Fuck, donât do that!âŠwell, nothing has changedâŠstill, donât do that. I look back forward. The vine has now gently wrapped itself around my hand, not a slimey feeling I had expected, justâŠa feeling. It seemingly correlated with that intangible frequency too, which at the moment made the touch a bit warm and pleasant, almost fuzzy. I knew better than to resist, but something about the touch made a thousand theories set off in my head.
I was deep in thought of this when suddenly another vine tapped the top of my head.
âPetal? Something on your mind?â
I shake my head. âNo. Letâs go.â
Remezi led Luis out of the room, vine still wrapped around his hand. "It's a bit of a small ship, I got it last minute-I live planetside, but it made my core ache to know you were all alone out there."
She makes an overexaggerated frown. There was something...not quite childish, but close, about the Affini's speech and mannerisms, despite her not being a youngbloom.
Seed behavior...she thinks to herself, as they enter a new room. It seems to be some kind of living room, with exclusively Affini sized furniture in various shades of red, and a compiler.
"This is the living room...I think that's the right word, anyways. I just helped with the cotyledons, I was never much of a linguist. You can compile pretty much anything-provided it poses no threat to your safety."
She turns to the Terran. "Speaking of-do you need anything compiled right now? Clothes, food, water?"
Stars, it was truly large. Even a private ship, presumably for only Remezi and whatever âcotyledonsâ she had, whatever that meantâŠeven this was massive. It was surely half the Nebula Prowler, a 15-man vessel in itself.
I stare in awe, looking to find that every point I stare at looks comfortably back to me, so unforgivably non-hostile despite its entire novelty. I keep composed as always, but if this is where I will reside for some time, it could definitely be MUCH worse. I hated how much I liked it.
âAh- no, nothing I need right now. The compiler gifted by Salt kept me satiated, and Iâm sure myâŠâ
I finally pay mind to what I was wearing: my old Captainâs uniform. I hadnât taken it off for a week at least, definitely not after making that last minute escape into the pod. Damn LarsâŠwonder heâs doing with the crewâŠ
ââŠwell, I guess some spare clothes would be alright. I should probably freshen up.â
She giggled at the awed expression on Luis' face. Adorable.
"It's a standard size ship for a single affini and a few florets. Before you ask-I don't currently have any."
"Anyways. You may compile some-there should be quite a few options-I'll show you the bathroom afterwards so you can change-you should also probably shower sometime soon."
The tone of Remezi's voice made it sound more like a suggestion, but her biorhythm said otherwise.
"Salt, hm? I'm glad you had some kind of friend in all that mess-even if they are a pesky feralist-I haven't been on that "Tanglr" site long, but I have no idea how they've avoided florethood for so long."
I shrug.
âThereâs billions of us under your control, so Iâm sure at least some will take forever to- wh- what do you mean avoided?â
I turn to look at Remezi, confused.
âI figured that independents can stay independent, unlessâŠI donât remember why theyâd need to be florets, butâŠsomething about them not being able to live by themselves or whatever.â
I realize that Iâm probably babbling and making a fool of my Captain persona, and quickly snap out of it.
âI- well, I donât mean to pry. Iâm sure Salt has someâŠissue with that, hence avoiding it. Not my thing to worry about though.â
I check the compiler, looking through the list of seemingly endless types of clothing. Except each and every one was NOT up to the standard of a Captain. Dresses, skirts, crops, nearly all could be argued as traditional female informal clothing, with the occasional unisex blouse or cardigan.
âUhâŠRemezi?â I call to question, once again forgetting to appropriately term her name.
âThere are no options for, you knowâŠcaptainsâŠIâm sure I must wear something formal as long as I am still on this journey in space, wouldnât that be right?â
I continue to upkeep my hard Captain self, because even if it wasnât me, it was the character who had directed that crew for so many years. It was the character who made me feel worth in my life. It was the character I could trust not slip something out when speaking that would make me sound against the very existence of the Terran Accord. It was the version of me that could exist in such a cruel world.
The frequency has grown more, and I could nearly truly feel it now in a hearing sense. To my question, it felt like it shrunk, as if Remezi felt pity, or something else. But it made me feel a little off too. I wasnât quite the fan of that.
"Salt has a warden, who intends to make him into a floret. I'm just confused how it hasn't happened yet."
She shrugs.
"Not really my place to pry, though."
Remezi tilts her head at the Terran.
"Ah, Terrans and their restrictive societal constructs. Shouldn't a captain be able to wear whatever she likes? Although if none of this is really to your liking, I suppose I could change the compiler settings."
Hm? I mustâve heard her wrong, although I swear I heard her refer to me as âsheââŠwell, she said she was unfamiliar with taking in others since the âCotyledonâ times, whatever a Cotyledon was. She may just be rusty at understanding how to refer to us. Either that, or I was hearing things. The frequency brings me back into focus and out of a spiral of thoughts.
I pay it no mind, for now. âWell, if thereâs a way to compile a, eh- normal outfit for me, then by all means find it. Even if I wanted to wear something like that,â
I chuckle at the thought, almost bewildered at the vision of me with something as informal as that on. â-wellâŠletâs just say Iâd look like a fool. This body is not fit for things like that, you see. You probably donât know about how clothing works for us, uh, Terrans. You see- ehâŠâ
The frequency is intangible in emotion, but whatever emotion it was, it was strong. It felt closest to that of empathy, or pity. It cut me off.
ââŠsorry. All you need to know is that there is no way in the world Iâd wear that, hahahâŠâ
I compose myself back into my Captain self.
âNow, what about getting clean? Iâve been craving a good shower for a week, you know.â
The Affini tilts her head, squinting at Luis. Her biorhythm zeroes into a pinprick, something calculated, intense and almost audible.
"Do you want body that is "fit for things like that?'"
She holds the Terran's gaze for a beat longer before her biorhythm relaxes.
"And I know perfectly well how clothing works for Terrans!"
She says cheerfully, as if nothing happened.
"It's quite fascinating, really, although still tragic-your species doesn't have as much of a sexual dimorphism, yet you still come up with all kinds of cultural/societal roles based on it! Jobs, clothing, status-all obsolete for the most part, due to the Compact. I hope I can make you understand that you have the freedom to do almost anything within the Compact-as long as it doesn't harm anyone nonconsensually, of course."
Remezi's ship flew up next to @captainluis 's. She wasn't much of a pilot, but it was self-driving so it didn't really matter. A pair of tendrils seemed to reach out towards the smaller vessel, and grabbed it, pulling it into the ship.
The following is a transcription of the last publicly transmitted audio from the pod.
[Silence, save for the tapping of presumably Luisâ finger.]
[A faint sound, a shaking, a gasp] Luis: âOH- is, (unintelligible) it must be-â
[Luis looks out of the podâs center window. Outside is the ship which Remezi directed to rescue him.] Luis: â-h-haâholy fuck.â [nervous laughter, perhaps a shuddering sigh as if a cold chill had moved down his back]
[More shaking, and the tendril was firmly planted and had captured the pod with the ease of any day-to-day activity, such a frivolous act for the Compact, yet nearly incomprehensible for Luis, who cannot respond to what he is seeing in Terran language. It is purely primal emotion in his head.] [Is it fear? It must be. But it felt like fate â yes, fate. Fear of fate, hope of fate, the fate was decided and all freedom left for Luis was how to feel about it.]
[The ship grows ever larger, eventually surrounding all sides of the pod. A cargo bay of some sort, landingâŠa sterile yet warm and strikingly massive room. And in itâŠwas that Remezi?]
Luis: ââŠbe goodâŠplease be goodâŠthey must be-â
[Audio transmission cuts off here.]
She taps on the window of the pod.
"Hello dear!"
The affini sits at about 13 feet tall currently, her body imitating a somewhat Terran-like form, an interwoven mix of dark green vines, red thorns, sundews, and red and white flowers.
"How are you feeling? I'm sure that tin can your species calls a pod was prettyyy scary. Not to worry-affini are, on average, mostly good, like you were hoping."
She grins. Her teeth are two neat rows of thorns.
"Could you come out? I won't bite unless you ask."
Probably a lie, but she had to know what was going on with the Terran first.
I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. Simply put, first contact with the Compact brought so many things new to me, even just in this moment, that I was completely stunned to make any move.
â-One moment! Just â one moment.â
I look back inside the pod. It was not too familiar to me relative to the Nebula Prowler, but it represented the last few parts of the Terran Accord.
âI justâŠitâs a very big change.â
I note the color of the walls, a boring grayish brownish color, all the storage compartments and, of course the speaker.
ââŠIâmâŠyou see, I know you are, wellâŠâ
I finally glance back, my vision met with those teeth again. It wasnât something youâd see out of a horror movie, maybe more of an abstract art film about some folklore. Either way, it was something I had never trained myself to see as a real, living being.
ââŠtrying to help me. But my mind must be, uhâŠcareful. AndâŠâ
A sharp shiver makes my body tremble and wiggle as I bite back a sharp exhale.
â-and so IâmâŠIâm afraid. Not of you. JustâŠeverything.â
"That's pretty normal. You're going to be even more scared if I have to take you out there, though."
Remezi shrugs.
"Rest assured, the Compact only wants the best for you. Otherwise you would have been left in that pod to rot."
Shaking, I nod my head with a tremor causing my hair to fluctuate as if I had been shocked by electricity.
âI know, I know⊠It isâŠmost reasonable in this situation to just leave the pod.â
I continue, finding the Captain persona shifting back into the forefront of my character.
âI anticipate whatever I encounter when I step out of here to beâŠfor my best interests. I have placed a lot of trust in you and the Compact to send out my signalâŠâ
I stand up, trying to look stoical and just.
âI hope this trust and respect can be reciprocated.â
I look to my left, eyeing the air lock.
ââŠa-Alright. Iâm coming out now.â
I turn to face the hatch, walking to adjust and unlock it and swing open the heavy oval door, and I am met with a face full of white light as my eyes adjust to my new surroundings.
I step out of the Accordâs last fringes, into the beckoning of the Compact.
"Careful, the switch from microgravity might be kind of disorienting."
The affini looks down at the Terran, trying to judge his stability in the new environment. "Provided the Compact sees you're fit for independence, your trust and respect will be "reciprocated". By affini standards, anyways."
I nod my head, not directly looking into Remeziâs eyes but rather the warm white walls and light encompassing me in all directions.
âI understand. I have done a lot ofâŠresearch of how the Compact works. I trust it is not propaganda now that Iâm here, in front of youâŠif it were, you surely would have snatched me up by now.â
I shrug, even smirking a little.
âS-so, you know- great newsâŠuh- anyways, do show me the way through this place. It seems a lotâŠit seems blown out of proportion. Much larger. I guess that makes sense for you Affini.â
I shrug again. In my peripheral vision, a stray vine appears, sort-of mimicking a guiding hand. I knew I had been told not to grab it by Salt over past undisclosed comm between us two, so I silently refused to grab it. Still, something begun to come to me, some sort of feelingâŠnearly physical, it seemed. Like a frequency so high that you can only nearly hear it in your throat. Was that from Remezi? I shrugged off the feeling as best as I could.
âAnyways, enough jargon. Take me where you need, Remezi.â
I note that the weird frequency somehow grew moreâŠsomber as I spoke her name. At that instant I remember the early post on her Tanglr account. Right, rightâŠshe prefers âMiss Lashâ. It felt very demeaning just thinking about itâŠbut from what I heard, resistance is only more reason for domestication.
âOh, sorry. You know I donât know terribly much about you, uhâŠmmmMiss Lash.â
I wince at the word, but compose myself with haste as to not alert her. To my luck, the frequency somehow feels moreâŠcalm, comfortable. It must be hers, and it pleased me to see her mood improve. Must be from me getting away with incorrectly terming her.
In that train of thought, I feel that same vine gently touch my hand, making me jump.
âOH- excuse-â
I look at up at her eyes. Fuck, donât do that!âŠwell, nothing has changedâŠstill, donât do that. I look back forward. The vine has now gently wrapped itself around my hand, not a slimey feeling I had expected, justâŠa feeling. It seemingly correlated with that intangible frequency too, which at the moment made the touch a bit warm and pleasant, almost fuzzy. I knew better than to resist, but something about the touch made a thousand theories set off in my head.
I was deep in thought of this when suddenly another vine tapped the top of my head.
âPetal? Something on your mind?â
I shake my head. âNo. Letâs go.â
Remezi led Luis out of the room, vine still wrapped around his hand. "It's a bit of a small ship, I got it last minute-I live planetside, but it made my core ache to know you were all alone out there."
She makes an overexaggerated frown. There was something...not quite childish, but close, about the Affini's speech and mannerisms, despite her not being a youngbloom.
Seed behavior...she thinks to herself, as they enter a new room. It seems to be some kind of living room, with exclusively Affini sized furniture in various shades of red, and a compiler.
"This is the living room...I think that's the right word, anyways. I just helped with the cotyledons, I was never much of a linguist. You can compile pretty much anything-provided it poses no threat to your safety."
She turns to the Terran. "Speaking of-do you need anything compiled right now? Clothes, food, water?"
Stars, it was truly large. Even a private ship, presumably for only Remezi and whatever âcotyledonsâ she had, whatever that meantâŠeven this was massive. It was surely half the Nebula Prowler, a 15-man vessel in itself.
I stare in awe, looking to find that every point I stare at looks comfortably back to me, so unforgivably non-hostile despite its entire novelty. I keep composed as always, but if this is where I will reside for some time, it could definitely be MUCH worse. I hated how much I liked it.
âAh- no, nothing I need right now. The compiler gifted by Salt kept me satiated, and Iâm sure myâŠâ
I finally pay mind to what I was wearing: my old Captainâs uniform. I hadnât taken it off for a week at least, definitely not after making that last minute escape into the pod. Damn LarsâŠwonder heâs doing with the crewâŠ
ââŠwell, I guess some spare clothes would be alright. I should probably freshen up.â
She giggled at the awed expression on Luis' face. Adorable.
"It's a standard size ship for a single affini and a few florets. Before you ask-I don't currently have any."
"Anyways. You may compile some-there should be quite a few options-I'll show you the bathroom afterwards so you can change-you should also probably shower sometime soon."
The tone of Remezi's voice made it sound more like a suggestion, but her biorhythm said otherwise.
"Salt, hm? I'm glad you had some kind of friend in all that mess-even if they are a pesky feralist-I haven't been on that "Tanglr" site long, but I have no idea how they've avoided florethood for so long."
I shrug.
âThereâs billions of us under your control, so Iâm sure at least some will take forever to- wh- what do you mean avoided?â
I turn to look at Remezi, confused.
âI figured that independents can stay independent, unlessâŠI donât remember why theyâd need to be florets, butâŠsomething about them not being able to live by themselves or whatever.â
I realize that Iâm probably babbling and making a fool of my Captain persona, and quickly snap out of it.
âI- well, I donât mean to pry. Iâm sure Salt has someâŠissue with that, hence avoiding it. Not my thing to worry about though.â
I check the compiler, looking through the list of seemingly endless types of clothing. Except each and every one was NOT up to the standard of a Captain. Dresses, skirts, crops, nearly all could be argued as traditional female informal clothing, with the occasional unisex blouse or cardigan.
âUhâŠRemezi?â I call to question, once again forgetting to appropriately term her name.
âThere are no options for, you knowâŠcaptainsâŠIâm sure I must wear something formal as long as I am still on this journey in space, wouldnât that be right?â
I continue to upkeep my hard Captain self, because even if it wasnât me, it was the character who had directed that crew for so many years. It was the character who made me feel worth in my life. It was the character I could trust not slip something out when speaking that would make me sound against the very existence of the Terran Accord. It was the version of me that could exist in such a cruel world.
The frequency has grown more, and I could nearly truly feel it now in a hearing sense. To my question, it felt like it shrunk, as if Remezi felt pity, or something else. But it made me feel a little off too. I wasnât quite the fan of that.
"Salt has a warden, who intends to make him into a floret. I'm just confused how it hasn't happened yet."
She shrugs.
"Not really my place to pry, though."
Remezi tilts her head at the Terran.
"Ah, Terrans and their restrictive societal constructs. Shouldn't a captain be able to wear whatever she likes? Although if none of this is really to your liking, I suppose I could change the compiler settings."
Remezi's ship flew up next to @captainluis 's. She wasn't much of a pilot, but it was self-driving so it didn't really matter. A pair of tendrils seemed to reach out towards the smaller vessel, and grabbed it, pulling it into the ship.
The following is a transcription of the last publicly transmitted audio from the pod.
[Silence, save for the tapping of presumably Luisâ finger.]
[A faint sound, a shaking, a gasp] Luis: âOH- is, (unintelligible) it must be-â
[Luis looks out of the podâs center window. Outside is the ship which Remezi directed to rescue him.] Luis: â-h-haâholy fuck.â [nervous laughter, perhaps a shuddering sigh as if a cold chill had moved down his back]
[More shaking, and the tendril was firmly planted and had captured the pod with the ease of any day-to-day activity, such a frivolous act for the Compact, yet nearly incomprehensible for Luis, who cannot respond to what he is seeing in Terran language. It is purely primal emotion in his head.] [Is it fear? It must be. But it felt like fate â yes, fate. Fear of fate, hope of fate, the fate was decided and all freedom left for Luis was how to feel about it.]
[The ship grows ever larger, eventually surrounding all sides of the pod. A cargo bay of some sort, landingâŠa sterile yet warm and strikingly massive room. And in itâŠwas that Remezi?]
Luis: ââŠbe goodâŠplease be goodâŠthey must be-â
[Audio transmission cuts off here.]
She taps on the window of the pod.
"Hello dear!"
The affini sits at about 13 feet tall currently, her body imitating a somewhat Terran-like form, an interwoven mix of dark green vines, red thorns, sundews, and red and white flowers.
"How are you feeling? I'm sure that tin can your species calls a pod was prettyyy scary. Not to worry-affini are, on average, mostly good, like you were hoping."
She grins. Her teeth are two neat rows of thorns.
"Could you come out? I won't bite unless you ask."
Probably a lie, but she had to know what was going on with the Terran first.
I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. Simply put, first contact with the Compact brought so many things new to me, even just in this moment, that I was completely stunned to make any move.
â-One moment! Just â one moment.â
I look back inside the pod. It was not too familiar to me relative to the Nebula Prowler, but it represented the last few parts of the Terran Accord.
âI justâŠitâs a very big change.â
I note the color of the walls, a boring grayish brownish color, all the storage compartments and, of course the speaker.
ââŠIâmâŠyou see, I know you are, wellâŠâ
I finally glance back, my vision met with those teeth again. It wasnât something youâd see out of a horror movie, maybe more of an abstract art film about some folklore. Either way, it was something I had never trained myself to see as a real, living being.
ââŠtrying to help me. But my mind must be, uhâŠcareful. AndâŠâ
A sharp shiver makes my body tremble and wiggle as I bite back a sharp exhale.
â-and so IâmâŠIâm afraid. Not of you. JustâŠeverything.â
"That's pretty normal. You're going to be even more scared if I have to take you out there, though."
Remezi shrugs.
"Rest assured, the Compact only wants the best for you. Otherwise you would have been left in that pod to rot."
Shaking, I nod my head with a tremor causing my hair to fluctuate as if I had been shocked by electricity.
âI know, I know⊠It isâŠmost reasonable in this situation to just leave the pod.â
I continue, finding the Captain persona shifting back into the forefront of my character.
âI anticipate whatever I encounter when I step out of here to beâŠfor my best interests. I have placed a lot of trust in you and the Compact to send out my signalâŠâ
I stand up, trying to look stoical and just.
âI hope this trust and respect can be reciprocated.â
I look to my left, eyeing the air lock.
ââŠa-Alright. Iâm coming out now.â
I turn to face the hatch, walking to adjust and unlock it and swing open the heavy oval door, and I am met with a face full of white light as my eyes adjust to my new surroundings.
I step out of the Accordâs last fringes, into the beckoning of the Compact.
"Careful, the switch from microgravity might be kind of disorienting."
The affini looks down at the Terran, trying to judge his stability in the new environment. "Provided the Compact sees you're fit for independence, your trust and respect will be "reciprocated". By affini standards, anyways."
I nod my head, not directly looking into Remeziâs eyes but rather the warm white walls and light encompassing me in all directions.
âI understand. I have done a lot ofâŠresearch of how the Compact works. I trust it is not propaganda now that Iâm here, in front of youâŠif it were, you surely would have snatched me up by now.â
I shrug, even smirking a little.
âS-so, you know- great newsâŠuh- anyways, do show me the way through this place. It seems a lotâŠit seems blown out of proportion. Much larger. I guess that makes sense for you Affini.â
I shrug again. In my peripheral vision, a stray vine appears, sort-of mimicking a guiding hand. I knew I had been told not to grab it by Salt over past undisclosed comm between us two, so I silently refused to grab it. Still, something begun to come to me, some sort of feelingâŠnearly physical, it seemed. Like a frequency so high that you can only nearly hear it in your throat. Was that from Remezi? I shrugged off the feeling as best as I could.
âAnyways, enough jargon. Take me where you need, Remezi.â
I note that the weird frequency somehow grew moreâŠsomber as I spoke her name. At that instant I remember the early post on her Tanglr account. Right, rightâŠshe prefers âMiss Lashâ. It felt very demeaning just thinking about itâŠbut from what I heard, resistance is only more reason for domestication.
âOh, sorry. You know I donât know terribly much about you, uhâŠmmmMiss Lash.â
I wince at the word, but compose myself with haste as to not alert her. To my luck, the frequency somehow feels moreâŠcalm, comfortable. It must be hers, and it pleased me to see her mood improve. Must be from me getting away with incorrectly terming her.
In that train of thought, I feel that same vine gently touch my hand, making me jump.
âOH- excuse-â
I look at up at her eyes. Fuck, donât do that!âŠwell, nothing has changedâŠstill, donât do that. I look back forward. The vine has now gently wrapped itself around my hand, not a slimey feeling I had expected, justâŠa feeling. It seemingly correlated with that intangible frequency too, which at the moment made the touch a bit warm and pleasant, almost fuzzy. I knew better than to resist, but something about the touch made a thousand theories set off in my head.
I was deep in thought of this when suddenly another vine tapped the top of my head.
âPetal? Something on your mind?â
I shake my head. âNo. Letâs go.â
Remezi led Luis out of the room, vine still wrapped around his hand. "It's a bit of a small ship, I got it last minute-I live planetside, but it made my core ache to know you were all alone out there."
She makes an overexaggerated frown. There was something...not quite childish, but close, about the Affini's speech and mannerisms, despite her not being a youngbloom.
Seed behavior...she thinks to herself, as they enter a new room. It seems to be some kind of living room, with exclusively Affini sized furniture in various shades of red, and a compiler.
"This is the living room...I think that's the right word, anyways. I just helped with the cotyledons, I was never much of a linguist. You can compile pretty much anything-provided it poses no threat to your safety."
She turns to the Terran. "Speaking of-do you need anything compiled right now? Clothes, food, water?"
Stars, it was truly large. Even a private ship, presumably for only Remezi and whatever âcotyledonsâ she had, whatever that meantâŠeven this was massive. It was surely half the Nebula Prowler, a 15-man vessel in itself.
I stare in awe, looking to find that every point I stare at looks comfortably back to me, so unforgivably non-hostile despite its entire novelty. I keep composed as always, but if this is where I will reside for some time, it could definitely be MUCH worse. I hated how much I liked it.
âAh- no, nothing I need right now. The compiler gifted by Salt kept me satiated, and Iâm sure myâŠâ
I finally pay mind to what I was wearing: my old Captainâs uniform. I hadnât taken it off for a week at least, definitely not after making that last minute escape into the pod. Damn LarsâŠwonder heâs doing with the crewâŠ
ââŠwell, I guess some spare clothes would be alright. I should probably freshen up.â
She giggled at the awed expression on Luis' face. Adorable.
"It's a standard size ship for a single affini and a few florets. Before you ask-I don't currently have any."
"Anyways. You may compile some-there should be quite a few options-I'll show you the bathroom afterwards so you can change-you should also probably shower sometime soon."
The tone of Remezi's voice made it sound more like a suggestion, but her biorhythm said otherwise.
"Salt, hm? I'm glad you had some kind of friend in all that mess-even if they are a pesky feralist-I haven't been on that "Tanglr" site long, but I have no idea how they've avoided florethood for so long."
