You find this creature on your doorstep.
Designation 09, Part 1
If the crash hadn't woken them, Dahlia's frantic brays certainly did.
Spruce jumped out of bed and scrambled into their boots and jacket. They grabbed their axe as they ran out the door, following Dahlia's voice.
They didn't have to run very far.
The donkey huffed and rubbed her face against Spruce when they got there. "I know darlin, easy. It's all right." They rubbed her ears and under her jaw to calm her down, and then stepped down into the new crater that had appeared near the lake.
A round container of some sort sat in the middle, still smoking from the heat of the atmosphere. "What the hell..." they murmured softly, rubbing their face in an attempt to make sure they weren't dreaming. It had to be close to two in the morning, at least.
"Dahlia, could ya get my welding gloves, please? And some tin snips?" She trotted off, eager to be further away from whatever the hell had just fallen from the sky, and they turned back to study what was in front of them.
From the outside, the pod seemed to be around the size of a large wagon wheel, but spherical. The inside was smaller. And once they got it open, they felt sick.
At first, it appeared to be a trash pod, but once they pulled it open more, they found a creature of some sort, barely breathing, and curled up so tight it looked painful. Spruce took off their gloves to pull the creature out, and they gently brushed off the bits of paper, plastic, aluminum that were stuck all over. They ran a hand gently over its shell and noticed writing over its shoulder.
UNIT 09
No, not writing. A carving.
FAILED
"You're gonna be alright, little one. It's okay. I've got you now."
It didn't uncurl while they carried it to the inn, in fact, it was still out cold as they took it inside. With one hand, they dug through a closet and pulled out a few blankets. They wrapped one around it and set it on a table next to them, then used the others to make a cushion on the floor by the fireplace. Finally, they nestled the wrapped up creature into the blankets and started a fire.
What a bizarre morning. They thought through everything they'd read, but this wasn't a creature they had ever encountered.
They sat and sipped coffee and flipped through book after book, taking notes on anything vaguely similar. They became so engrossed in their research that they almost didn't notice when the creature began to make a soft clicking, chattering noise. They glanced over and saw little antennae poking out and twitching. Ever so slowly, the creature began to unroll, staring deep into the fire. Spruce watched quietly, not wanting to frighten it.
It slowly but surely uncurled to its full length, and Spruce was about to say something when they heard, in a soft voice, "Unit Zero-Nine has failed. Unit Zero-Nine must be destroyed," and the creature stood on shaky legs and leapt towards the fire.
"NO!" Spruce yelped desperately. They jumped over the table, knocking over piles of books in the process, and grabbed the creature by its back legs as its front paws hit the coals and it squealed.
The creature sat, still and shivering, as Spruce carefully, gently applied homemade burn ointment and bandages. "You are not permitted to self-destruct," they told the creature, whose ears twitched back.
"Unit Zero-Nine failed, sir, this unit must be destroyed."
Spruce shook their head. "You're gonna have to learn a new set of rules, little buddy." Its eyes grew wider, slightly, but it didn't otherwise react. "You're gonna be okay. No one is getting destroyed. Now, when was the last time you had something to eat?"
Felix walked in, eyes wide at the scene before him. "Oh, Felix, thank the gods you're here. Can you make our guest some breakfast?" The satyr nodded and stepped closer to look at the cat-like creature, trying to guess what it would eat, then ran off to the kitchen to make it a chicken omelette.
"Unit Zero-Nine consumed adequate nutrition before last mission. That was not reason for failure."
Tag: @rainbowsandwhumperflies
