CW: Pheromone use
Notes: Written for Written for the 2022 Starbound Spring Prompt 'Greenfinger'. Inspired by this Tumblr post.
Also available on AO3
Above the tossing teal sea of treetops, the soft pearl sky was fading into powdery mauve. In the surrounding treehouses, floran younglings scampered about, dark darting figures that left flickering torches in their wake.
Greenfinger Mawu and I paused by the railing at the highest point of the tree-top village, watching these warm constellations wink on around the huts, matching the colder ones above.
"Thank you, Greenfinger," I said, respectfully bowing my head. "This tour has been very educational."
The Greenfinger beamed. "It has been our pleasure. We are interested in this new unity you are building. It seems foolish for us to withhold knowledge of our culture that you will need in the seasons ahead."
"Again, you have my deepest thanks. Your willingness to share is appreciated. When things have progressed, I'll send an envoy to you."
"We look forward to receiving them."
I cast a glance over the darkening forest. "Your nightly meal will start soon. I should let you get back to your people."
Greenfinger Mawu murmured to themself, and I felt their pointed gaze upon me. "You will return to your ship for the night?"
"I had plans to explore further." I gestured with a webbed hand towards the distant mountains. "I'll make camp so I can continue–"
Greenfinger Mawu made a noise of disgust, their sibilants pointed. "This one thinks not!"
I nictitated in surprise at the outburst.
"You, who seek to unite all races…" the Greenfinger continued, making a disapproving noise in their throat. "We will not dishonour our community by allowing you to sleep hungry in the dark. Not when there is light and plenty of meat here. We offer you a place at our fire tonight."
I found myself nictitating rapidly. "I do not wish to impose…"
"Bah!" The Greenfinger waved away my protestations. "Is no imposition. Come! There will be much meat and greensap." Greenfinger Mawu cupped my elbow, leading me back into the grand central hut.
The feasting hall was warm as we entered, the air heavy with smoke and charnel. Green bamboo walls rose into the darkness, shadow and firelight chasing across them, making the skulls of hung trophies seem to shiver and come alive.
There were some murmurings as Greenfinger Mawu brought me to the seat of honour at their side, but a sharp noise from them quelled the dissent. Any floran harbouring resentment would have, I'm sure, been distracted by the trays of food which were then passed around.
Soon my fingers were dripping with the juice of succulent meats and sticky, delicately spiced fruits. The heady ethers of fermented tree sap tickled my nostrils as a server poured me a drink, and on sipping, I found the greensap rich and sweet. Between the Greenfinger and my jovial neighbour pointing out the delicacies available, I ate and drank well, enjoying the rambunctious company.
Once all bellies were sated, Greenfinger Mawu rose and moved to the fire. From a waist pouch, they took a fistful of powder and cast it into the flames. Sparks rose into the cavernous roof, the fire shimmering with blue.
The company immediately quieted, and the Greenfinger turned slowly to address them. "Listen close, my kin, as I tell you of a time before times. A time when we were still a young race, foolish and filled with a lust for conquest…"
I settled back as the Greenfinger began, letting their words wash over me as they paced around the fire.
The story was in full flow when I found myself jerking upright, all senses on high alert, a coil of panicked dread in my stomach. There was a grumble from the honoured warrior who'd been lolling against me. My eyes darted to each darkened corner, seeking out the threat that had my instincts screaming to run.
But all was quiet; the floran lounged around the fire, rapt attention on Greenfinger Mawu. No disturbance came from without. I nictitated, confused, and flared my gills to be rid of my discomfort.
The warrior beside me touched my shoulder – a concerned gesture – but I found myself flinching away, breathing sharply through my nostrils. It wasn't until the Greenfinger, noticing my discomfort, took a step toward me, the air thickening with a nutty scent, that I understood. I raised a hand to show them all was well, and they stepped back, continuing their oration.
"Is strongfish good?" the warrior whispered, their elongated sibilants feeling extra sinister in my distress.
"I just need some air," I whispered back and fled into the cool night.
Outside the hall, I drank in the breeze. The air was fresh and clean, like floating in an island stream. I sucked in lungfuls, trying to rid myself of the cause of my distress.
I'd been such a fool. I should have been paying more attention… I leant against the railing, a hand over my face, listening to the fauna warbling in the trees.
My radio chirped.
"Captain Mio," SAIL said, "I am detecting an increase in your adrenaline and cortisol levels. While your heart rate and respiration levels are not as distinctly peaked, I am still concerned. You do not seem to have moved an adequate distance from the stressor. Please return to the ship for further medical scans."
"I'm fine, SAIL."
"With respect, you are not."
"Ocean Tides, you mother hen. Give me a moment, and I will be." I pulled the sticks out of my bun, allowing the thin, filament-like tendrils to cascade down my back, and massaged my scalp. "I made a miscalculation, that's all."
The radio was quiet but not silent – SAIL had not dropped the call. The night was calming, the susurration of the trees like waves against the shore.
"Elaborate." SAIL asked, after my vitals evened out.
"Greenfinger Mawu was telling a story. A history, to be precise, describing the long-ago aggressions between Floran and Hylotl. I should have paid more attention to the subject matter. I should have been paying attention to the subtle use of pheromones–"
"Are you in danger? I will beam you aboard–"
I jerked upright. "No! No, SAIL. I am not in danger." I ran a hand along my tendrils. "It seems that, even though the skirmishes between our people are long past, one's ability to sense floran pheromones – particularly those coded for danger to one of my kind – has lingered in one's blood.
"And your miscalculation was, what, exactly?"
"I was drowsy with drink and warmth, and I ignored the topic at hand. I should have expected the pheromones the Greenfinger would use and prepared myself accordingly."
"Is it not an odd tale to tell, given your presence?" SAIL asked.
In the distance, the clatter of gunfire drove away a group of dark, winged beasts.
"Not exactly," I said. "Yes, it's been centuries, but grudges still run deep for some. Apate Prime II, for instance. Even though underwater cities have been thriving there for many years, the memorial to the lost is still regularly visited by descendants of the overwater villages, and the memory is still bitterly held."
"I still do not understand."
I gathered my tendrils and began to bundle them back into a knot. "Greenfinger Mawu is keen on sending pupils to the reinvigorated Protectorate. Today I have met several floran who expressed interest in being sent. Indeed, many were excited by the prospect. The Greenfinger's story is to remind them of those lingering tensions. I believe they do not mean to discourage their people, only gently warn that they may not be universally accepted." I glanced back at the feasting hall. "Clearly, I have missed the end, but I hope the Greenfinger has imparted their wisdom and grace to those prospective Protectors on how they might handle such situations."
All was quiet from within the hall, but as I stood watching the sleeping village, thought chasing after thought, I felt a sense of dread stir in my gut.
"SAIL?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Am I doing the right thing?"
"Please clarify the context of your question."
"With the New Galactic Protectorate. Should I have just let it die with Earth? Am I doing the right thing by trying to bring it back?"
"I cannot say, Captain. I can give my projections for your success: running costs, performance breakdowns, decision tree mapping. But I am not programmed to discuss the wider ethical impacts of your choice. You must, as the colloquialism goes, follow your gut."
My hands tightened on the railing. "That's the problem, SAIL. My gut is telling me this is the stupidest thing I've done since that time Whip convinced me to go base-jumping off the Academy's main hall."
"On reviewing your transcripts, I would contest the placement of that incident as being your primary occurrence of stupidity."
I jerked against the railing. "SAIL!" Even as scandalised as I was by the AI's comment, there was no denying the chuckle that slipped out. "I should have your databanks scrubbed for that."
"Forgive us for interrupting, Protector," said a voice from behind me. I startled, turning to see Greenfinger Mawu standing with a strapping young floran a full head taller than both the Greenfinger and I. I squinted, sure I had met them earlier in the day.
"We came to enquire," Greenfinger Mawu said, "if you are well?"
I straightened, misgivings behind me, once more the picture of decorum. "Thank you for your concern, Greenfinger. Yes, I am fine now. I apologise if I caused a scene."
Greenfinger Mawu held up a hand, palm out. "Peace, Protector. There was no problem. We are only sorry we caused you distress. We regret we did not warn you of our intentions with the lesson."
I gave a half shrug, "The trees and the kelp continue to sway."
Greenfinger Mawu gave a sage nod. "Indeed."
They glanced up at their towering companion, and nudged them forward with a shoulder. "We believe this one has something they wish to say."
The tall floran took a hesitant step forward. "This one is called Bahati. Bahati also came to check on Strongfish. Was worried about swift departure." Bahati hunched in on themselves, playing with the vines that snaked down their back and over their shoulder. "Bahati didn't mean to listen to private conversation… But Bahati overheard Strongfish express doubts about task…"
I felt my blood go cold. "You heard that?"
"Bahati apologies. But…" Bahati clenched their fists, then relaxed and stood straighter. "This one believes that Strongfish– Protector Mio should not be worried. This one wants to help people – all people. Fish, bird, metal.
"And Bahati thinks that if this one Floran wants to help, then others will want to help. And Bahati thinks– no, Bahati knows that universe is one big nation where the brave must protect the small.
"So Bahati knows that what Protector Mio is doing with Galactic Protectorate is right and true and so Protector Mio should not doubt."
I couldn't help but gape and nictitate while the wind sighed in the trees.
"Thank you," I croaked out. I stepped forward and took Bahati's hands. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you've said that. Thank you so much."
Bahati gave me a solemn nod, which turned into a cheeky grin. "So, can Bahati be a Protector?"
I couldn't help but laugh. "I will send you an application personally when we're ready to accept cadets."
As Greenfinger Mawu guided us back inside, to the sleeping place they'd prepared for me, I couldn't help but feel moved by the young Floran's words. It was so deeply gratifying to know that my crew and I would no longer be the only line of defence against the terrors of the 'Verse. We'd soon be joined by so many others, just like Bahati; a thought that buoyed me to the stars.
CW: Canon typical violence.
Written for the September monthly prompt: Spaceship.
Tagging: @jacqueswriteblrlibrary
"Captain, we've entered the Duania Mass system," Nadanat's voice came over the comms, ka sibilants sounding like static.
Mio looked up from where she was buckling on her armour. "Understood. SAIL, have we got a visual on the Thunder Pike?"
"Yes, Captain. They appear to be headed for the third planet in the system."
"Alright. Nadanat, take us in but keep the planet between us until the last second. I don't want to give them a chance to escape."
"Yesss, Captain."
Mio selected a handful of bombs from an open chest, clipping them to the magnetic bandolier which ran over her chest. "Elaine, how's the Mech?"
"Running as sweet as she can, Cap."
"Good." Mio taped the hula girl figurine on the shelf above the chest, making it wobble back and forth. With one last check-over, she climbed into the mech's cockpit. Running through the preflight checks, she called, "SAIL, pipe me the feed from Navigation. Elaine, prep to open the bay doors on my mark."
"Aye, Cap," Elaine said, running to the controls. The feed popped up, showing The Vestige on her slow path to intercept the scourge that was the Thunder Pike.
Mio tamped down on her emotions as she watched. Anger served no one in battle, her mother used to say, and Mio had plenty of anger to cloud her vision if she wasn't careful.
It had started five systems ago. A quick run down to a known settlement capable of supplying them with fresh food had turned into a relief effort. Bodies pulled from burnt husks of buildings; Fife working overtime to heal the townsfolk; the tale of pirates told by wailing, tear-filled voices.
Mio called in a trove of favours owed, tracking the pirates' trail of carnage, only to get here too late. Once, twice. Thrice. But not this time. This time they had a destination in advance.
The Vestige rounded the planet. The Thunder Pike came into view.
"Open the doors! Now!" Mio cried.
Elaine hit the release as Nadanat pulled The Vestige into a steep climb.
The Mech sailed forward, easily slicing through the trifangles dropped by the crew of the Thunder Pike, and landed in their open bay.
The battle was bloody but short. To their credit, the Pirates fought without cowardice or quarter; but when faced with someone with arms and the skill to use them, they crumpled like a paper screen against the fury of a typhoon.
After they were defeated, it didn't take Mio long to find their hold of ill-gotten treasures, looted from the ransacked settlements.
In the cockpit, she hailed The Vestige.
"It's done. Nadanat, bring us in to dock with the Thunder Pike. SAIL, get Yuudai to organise offloading the loot and assign it to each town as fairly as she can. Once that's done I want Nadanat and Sakura to take the Thunder Pike to a shipbreaker. Get as much as you can for her – we'll give the profits to the settlements. Xictli will fly The Vestige back to each settlement and offload their share of the loot."
"And you, Captain?" SAIL's voice modulated concern.
"Single channel," Mio ordered.
"Captain?" SAIL's voice now came from her personal comm.
"I'm going home, SAIL." Mio's voice cracked. "I need a bath, and a cup of tea."
"What shall I tell the crew?"
"Anything except the truth."
"Very well, Captain. I shall block your comms for twelve hours."
Relief seeped into her voice, as Mio's head hung wearily. "Thank you."
–––
I based this off something that happened in-game – I flew into a system just as a pirate ship flew in as well. So I watched where they tucked into orbit and followed them, ending up taking a different route, so we met in the middle. I decided to take them on, and when it was emptied, I thought about what my character might do with the now-empty ship – and this was the result.
Universe: Starbound
CW: Swearing, deliberate tense switching
Words: 3212
Context: Started for August's monthly prompt: "Home". Finished for the Woe, Cubes be Upon Ye Protectorate Event. Title is from The Poet at the Breakfast Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Concrit welcome.
Or read on AO3
Tag list (ask for +/-): @jacquesfindswritingandadvice, @writeblrsupport
Somewhere, an alarm is chirping incessantly. Mio pulls the covers up, trying to drown out the sound.
"Cadet." The voice has an electronic cadence, devoid of emotion. "Cadet, wake up. I calculate a 99% chance that you will be late if you don't get up now."
Mio throws the covers back. "SAIL?"
"No. This is your other automated assistant, LIAS." The delivery is almost deadpan.
"Oh, very funny," Mio replies, equally deadpan. "You know, I regret ever installing that sarcasm module. Just my luck it was unstable…" The air is the first thing she notices – it's fresh and clear, devoid of the synthetic smell recycled air carries. The light is bright and warm, reflecting off light grey and orange walls. Mio nictitates.
"SAIL, what day is it?"
SAIL's audio crackles as it plays a snippet from an old movie, "Why, it's Christmas Day!"
"Ocean Tides, SAIL!" Mio runs a hand over her face.
"Mio, are you unwell? Did you somehow forget today is your graduation day?"
Mio fumbles out of bed and stares at the room. "I think I'm dreaming…"
The sunset postcard and hula girl Lonny got from xir sister. Goldwall's maintenance manuals next to Chian's trashy romance novels next to Mio's textbooks. Xilli's turtle plush, Fabian's guitar… It's all exactly as Mio remembers, right down to Chian's clothes spilling out of the drawers. Mio pulls the turtle plush off its shelf, crushing it against her chest. She can feel the soft pile, feel it tickle the membranes of her hands. It even has the little worn spot on the top of its paw that they all rubbed for luck or anxiety. Mio finds herself thumbing it even now.
This doesn't feel like a dream, and yet… "SAIL, what the fuck is going on?"
"Mio, I am concerned. I know you have been looking forward to graduation day; however, I recommend you forgo the ceremony and instead get checked out by the medical team."
"I feel fine, SAIL. I'm just…" Already the lines are blurring. "I'm confused. I had a dream? The craziest dream. The Protectorate was gone, the Earth was destroyed… I met Grand Protector Bright, and she had me collecting these relics…" Mio shakes her head.
"Your vitals seem normal," SAIL says, though its tone is reluctant. "If you are to make Graduation, you must hurry."
"Right."
So Mio shakes off the remnants of her confusion and hurries. Bathroom ablutions are done in haste, her uniform – perfect from where it was laid out the night before – is donned, and she grabs a slice of cold toast Xilli has left out for her, chewing as she rushes through the halls.
Lonny is the first to see her. Xe waves and laughs as Mio is hustled in with her group. They may be Dorm B, but their outstanding performance means they graduate first. As a diplomat, Mio is their team leader and is hustled right to the front of the queue.
"Anxious. Hurry, Mio. The ceremony is about to start," Goldwall says, nudging her through.
"Why isss Mio sso late?" Chian hisses as Mio passes.
"I had a bizarre dream. SAIL was this close to shocking me awake."
Xilli clacks her beak. "Tell us about it later. Did you manage to eat something?"
"Yes. I found the toast, thank you!"
Xilli nuzzles Mio's fronds. "Someone's got to take care of our Captain."
"Not Captain!"
Fabian chuckles, his eyes dancing. "Not yet."
Because they all know it's coming, Mio thinks as she stands proud at the front of the line, straightening her uniform. The six of them will be deployed to join an existing crew, and in a few years they'll get their own ship, and then she'll be Captain.
There's applause as Grand Protector Portia steps up to the podium and begins her speech. A sense of déjà vue floods over Mio, like she's heard these words before.
"Today, in the name of peace," Portia is saying. Mio's stomach clenches, dread and fear rising. She shakes her head.
"You okay?" Fabian whispers into her ear.
"I feel strange," Mio whispers back.
Fabian squeezes her shoulder.
"It's just-" he starts, but a rumble interrupts him. "Huh?"
Mio moves instinctively, like she's done this dance before. She spins, shoving Fabian hard. A chunk of concrete drops from the ceiling between them.
"Mio!"
"Run!" she screams back.
There is nowhere to go but the stage.
Mio's running, scooping the Matter Manipulator up, even as Portia, wrapped in the huge tentacle of some giant beast, is shouting at her to run.
She's chased down the corridors by screams and the noise of ripping infrastructure, and arrives on the shuttle pad as smaller tentacles worm their way through the building towards her.
SAIL guides her to a waiting hylotl ship, something she can reliably pilot, and she shoves the AI into the ship's waiting port. As Mio runs the start-up procedures, she can't help but wish Lonny was here next to her. Xe's a far better pilot than she is. Her heart twists. She left her crew. Her family. Her love.
"Cadet, I have released the shuttle and plotted a route away from the planet. You may launch."
Mio's hand wavers.
"Mio. Launch."
She hits the ignition, and they rise through the atmosphere.
"Engaging FTL… Now!"
In her haste, Mio has forgotten her seatbelt. She's slammed back into her seat, then forward. Her head hits the console, and everything goes dark.
–
Mio wakes with a start, jerking upright, and leaping away from a bed.
"SAIL?" she calls, voice tight with panic
"Good morning," comes the AI's modulated voice.
"Where are we?"
"Mio?" SAIL sounds worried. "You are in your dormitory at the Terrene Protectorate Academy."
"But we-" Mio turns frantically. Golden light reflects off orange and white walls. "There was-" She pulls the turtle plush down from the shelf, crushing it against her chest and thumbing at the bare spot on its paw. "What the fuck?"
"You were dreaming, Mio," SAIL says. "I was just about to wake you. If you do not hurry, you'll be late for your graduation."
"The graduation!" Mio's eyes widen. "Tides, I have to warn them! Where's Grand Protector Portia?"
"She's currently in her quarters. Mio, what are you talking about?"
The turtle plush is thrown onto Xilli's bed as Mio runs out of the room, still in her PJs.
"Get Fabian on comms. Tell him to grab the crew and our families and get to a shuttle now."
"Mio, I understand the last term has been stressful for you-"
"Damnit, SAIL! Just do it!"
Mio slides to a halt in front of the Grand Protector's quarters. Taking a breath, she straightens her pyjama top.
From within comes Portia's muffled voice, "For over 500 years, we have stood honourably… No, no. We have stood proud…"
Mio rings the bell, and the door hisses open.
"Blast, is it time already?" Portia asks. Her white hair is neatly swept back, and her ceremonial uniform is missing the golden epaulettes. She's mistaken Mio for her escort.
"Ma'am, no. I'm not here to take you to the ceremony. I'm here to take you to safety."
"I beg your pardon?"
"My name is Mio. I'm a final-year cadet. This will sound crazy, I'm sure, and I can't explain how I know, but we're going to be attacked." Mio swallows. "You'll say 'we welcome our newest compatriots, and present each of them with our greatest tool' and then a giant tentacle will kill you. Please, I must get you to safety."
Portia waits for a second, then laughs. "I commend you, Cadet Mio. Usually, the pranks are after the ceremony. I think this is one for the history books."
"Ma'am, please. This isn't a prank. Earth is going to be destroyed. I'm trying to warn you!"
Portia gives Mio an indulgent smile. "Listen, Cadet. This is one of the more unique and inventive stories I've been given in my tenure as Grand Protector, so I applaud you for that. But I need to finish getting ready. Come and find me afterwards, eh?"
Portia turns away, but Mio sticks her foot in the door. She knows she's not being very diplomatic, but the panic for what's going to happen seems to have robbed her good sense.
"Ma'am," Mio says firmly. "There's not going to be an after if we don't act now!"
"That's enough, Cadet." Portia has a shock weapon in her hand.
Mio can already anticipate what's going to happen but knows she still has to try. She takes a step into the Grand Protector's quarters.
"Ma'am, please-"
Mio's whole body locks up, muscles frozen from the electrical discharge Portia's just struck her with. Mio hits the ground, and everything goes dark.
–
"Cadet. Cadet, wake up."
Mio lies in the bed for a moment longer, ignoring the alarm, ignoring SAIL's prodding to rise. Her gaze flits over her surrounds – orange walls, warm sunlight, yellow bedspread – and she sighs.
"Hush, SAIL. I'm getting up," Mio says.
Mio dresses, eats both slices of the cold toast, and rubs the turtle plush's paw.
"It is quite impressive that you can remain so serene when you are running so late. Well done you," SAIL says.
Mio says nothing in response, only gives a grim little smile as she exits the dormitory.
"Mio, where are you going?" SAIL says. "The main hall is in the other direction."
"I know. Please get Fabian on comms. Tell him to round up the crew and our families, and get them to a shuttle immediately." Mio runs a fond hand over the orange panelling. "Tell him I'm sorry, I won't be joining them."
"The message has been sent. Mio, I am concerned. It is unlike you to behave so irrationally."
Mio stops at a door, and prises off the keypad's face, fiddling with its innards as Chian taught her.
"If something happens once, that's a fluke," she says to SAIL, as she works on the lock mechanism. "If it happens a second time, it's a coincidence. But once something happens a third time, it's a pattern. Agreed?"
"Agreed," comes SAIL's cautious assessment.
"Then I'm stuck in some kind of time loop. In just under an hour, an eldritch creature is going to obliterate Earth. I don't know why or how this is happening to me, but I've got a chance to stop the beast, so I'm going to take it."
The door hisses open and lights flicker on as Mio walks into a room filled with stacks of weapons and munitions. She walks directly to a cage in the back and picks the lock.
"Mio, are you sure you didn't just have a dream?"
Mio snorts as she finds what she's looking for – a monstrosity in black and shiny grey.
"Yes, SAIL, I had a dream. My dream was to graduate with my friends. To go to the afterparty and introduce my girlfriend to my parents. To have my mother be proud of me.
"My dream was to go into space with the people I've spent the last four years training with, to lead them to bold new horizons and share their adventures.
"Instead, I end up stranded, Tides' knows where, on a dead ship, all alone. My home, destroyed. Everyone I cared about, murdered. I had to claw my life back, block by block." Mio shoulders the rocket launcher. "The Ruin destroyed my dream. The fuck am I letting it happen again."
It takes longer than Mio would like to get up to the hatch beside the Hall's dome, and many strange looks, but she pulls on the harness, hooks herself onto the safety rail, and starts the climb. The dome is the highest place on the Academy campus. She only knows how to get up here because Whip brought her one morning to watch the sunrise. It had been magical – the golden sunlight glittering off the Thames, turning it into a ribbon of molten gold, and Whip's warm arm around her, protecting her from the wind.
The city, unblemished, spreads out before her now, as Mio sets up the rocket launcher. There're no strong, warm arms this time to protect her from the racing wind, and she has to brace herself against the safety rail. SAIL has long since stopped complaining; she can only hope it hasn't sent for Security forces.
The Ruin appears in the blink of an eye. One moment all is serene – the next, the sky is filled with smoke, debris and banded purple tentacles. Through the darkness, Mio sees the glint of something vast and yellow. She aims and fires the rocket launcher. There is an unholy screech. Thick tentacles reach out for her, but she fires again, blasting them apart.
The dome shakes.
Mio loses her footing. She drops the Ex Machina and watches it skitter away. Something strikes her back. Mio feels the taut safety line snap, and she's plunging towards the edge of the dome.
She falls, and everything goes black.
–
An alarm chirps.
"Cadet-"
"Fuck off, SAIL," Mio says, rolling over. "I'm sick."
An hour later, the building shakes. Mio is knocked out of bed. Goldwall's toolbox falls off a shelf and hits her on the head. Everything goes dark.
–
"Cadet-"
"I had a dream that told me not to graduate today," Mio tells SAIL before it can get any further chivvying her awake. She dresses, eats her toast, and tidies the dormitory. As she's putting Chian's clothes away, Mio smiles, thinking of Freya's tendency to drop her clothes wherever.
Mio takes her time strolling down the corridor, chatting to the graduate students. She fixes the vending machine using a trick Nobu taught her, helps the janitor clear the walkway of blossoms – not unlike sweeping flour from Sparkfoot's galley – and sits under the tree, listening to the second-year recite poetry that reminds her of Sakura's.
Mio stays on the bench after the second-year leaves, admiring the view and thinking that Kata would like the wind chimes. Then the beast comes. The tree is uprooted, and a falling branch knocks her unconscious.
–
The alarm that woke her was the warning blare of defective machinery.
Rather than 'Cadet', SAIL was crying, "Captain! Captain!"
The air that greeted her nose was stale, her vision wavering and tinted green as she stared through the darkness at the orange shape flitting distantly.
Mio twisted, looking around, trying to figure out where she was.
Another flicker, white this time, and closer too. "She's waking up! Get her out of there!"
"The mechanism's bust. We'll need to get her out manually."
The voices were muted, as if coming through thick glass, or water. Mio nictitated. She pressed her hands against a wall of glass. A tank? Why, by the Ocean Tides, was she in a tank?
"Guys!"
"I'll do it."
Another figure resolved out of the wavering darkness, unmistakably a hylotl by their cyan and lavender markings. Their webbed hands and feet clung to the outside of the tank as they climbed it. Metal reverberated against metal, making the tank shake.
Mio gripped the walls, fearful of ending up crushed and cut.
But the tank didn't fall. The top was removed, and the other hylotl slid in with her.
«Leader,» said the hylotl. Mio nictitated. It had been so long since she'd heard the underwater language, that she struggled to understand them for a moment.
«What this?» Mio asked.
«Rescue.» The hylotl smiled, achingly familiar. Mio was sure she knew this one, but like spume in a storm, their name escaped her. «Hold still. Many points to remove.»
«Points?»
The hylotl reached up to her head and pulled something off Mio's scalp. Mio screamed, the tank fluid filling with bubbles as she fought to get away from the searing pain.
«Leader, leader, wait,» the other tried to soothe.
«No! Pain! Pain!»
The other launched themself up, leaning over the top of the tank.
"Fife, do you have something that can help?"
"Try this." The one in white hands a tube of something to the other. "It's a cream that should make the electrodes come off easier."
Mio's mind whirled as the other hylotl massaged the cream into her fronds, lifting the electrodes from her skull.
Fife… Fife is a medic. Fife is her medic.
The orange blob resolved itself into the form of an avian… Xictli, Mio's second in command. That makes the hylotl…
«Youko.»
It's not possible to whisper underwater, so zir attention was on her instantly.
«Yes?»
Mio nictitated. «Nothing. Continue.»
As ze went back to the business of freeing Mio from whatever contraption she'd fallen into, Mio can't help but feel a fluttering in her chest. This is her crew. Her family. They came to rescue her, to take her back to her ship, which she captains. Mio put a hand to her head. Her memories are all so jumbled.
Finally, Youko was done. Ze helped her from the tank and into Xictli and Fife's waiting arms.
"What happened?" Mio asked as Fife looked her over.
"Your last reported position was just outside this facility." SAIL's words were perfunctory, but its tone was fretful. "You declared your intent to investigate an abandoned apex research facility and shortly afterwards your comms died. I waited three hours, planet time, per our standard procedure, then alerted the crew to your disappearance."
"When we arrived," Xictli said, "the place was not as abandoned as expected. We can only surmise you were taken by surprise, captured, and put in this… contraption. I'm sorry it took us so long to find you."
"How long?"
"A few days."
"I can see your vitals are stable," SAIL said, "and aside from some malnutrition, you have no outward signs of injury. Doctor, do you concur?"
"I'll do a full diagnostic back on the ship," Fife said. "But from initial evidence, I concur. How do you feel?"
Mio opened her mouth, then shut it again and shook her head.
"That's fine," Fife said. "It's alright to be confused. I can't imagine what they were doing to you." Yon smiled gently. "Let's get you back home."
Mio recoiled. "What?"
"To… to the ship?" Fife frowned and glanced at Xictli. "I'm going to need a full workup on what that machine was doing."
Xictli ground her beak, hands curling into fists. "I'll bring a team back down after the Captain is safe."
Mio closed her eyes briefly. "The base is Miniknog. It's thought reassignment R&D. What-" Her voice stuck in her throat. "What was the programme set to?"
Xictli and Youko shared a look.
"To assess the subject's perception of 'Home'," Xictli said.
Mio nictitated rapidly, flaring her gills. "Of course it fucking was," she said with a choked laugh.
As they rose through the floors of the underground lab, Mio watched her team work on her extraction. They might not be the crew she thought she'd have, and they may not have been the ones she wanted. Nonetheless, they were her crew, the ones she'd chosen, bit by bit. She cared for them – shared their adventures, their triumphs and tribulations.
They had, she realised, become as much of a family as her first crew; and her ship as much of a home as the Terrene Protectorate.
