Talk About Timing...

[cityship]

While chaos was going on in the city, a level below the Living Areas, the rest of the ship was functioning normally. Stacy, apparently oblivious to goings on in the city, likely do to her malfunctioning sensors there, carried on with ship business.

||Pod Release Protocols Initating,|| Stacy's familiar voice sounded out to the upper levels, though no one was there to hear her. They were all downstairs, fighting for their lives against giant cockroaches.

In the Pod Caverns, there were the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

The usual condensation and mist sprayed out from cracks in the pods, they ripped open and the people inside slid out onto the floors, covered in slime. One of them, due to his mechanical nature, slid out covered in a sort of oil mixture, in a smaller body than he'd once had.

Pop. Poppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiissss.

There was no one already freed from the ship to greet them, only Stacy herself, and the empty silence of a ship caught in the middle of a crisis.

Comments

[cityship]

||You are in the Pod Caverns|| a voice answered. It was impossible to tell where it had come from -- one moment there was nothing but the faint sound of a breeze whistling through the caverns and the next moment, the words had already been said.

||You are covered in 'slime' because the stasis fluid has a high viscosity.||

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"Who's there?" Mai frowned and looked around, "Where are you?"

She would be getting ready to fight, but the distinct lack of weaponry (and clothes) made that an unsettling prospect. She took a few steps forward, craning her head and trying to find the source of the voice.

"What are 'pod caverns'? Who brought me here?"

[cityship]

||The closest approximation of my name that can be produced by human vocal folds is STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT.|| As the voice spoke the name, Mai would feel a surge of emotions well up within her -- maternal love, duty, and honor foremost among them. ||You may also call me Stacy.||

||I am here|| the voice continued, automatically answering her questions in the order in which they were asked. ||This is the Pod Caverns. Information Classified.||

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"Fun," Mai grumbled. She shivered, suddenly discovering that standing around naked, especially while damp, isn't a good way to keep warm. She gave the room a bland look, then shrugged with a sigh.

"So... Stacy, you're invisible. Fantastic. How did I get here? And did you remember to bring my clothes with you or do you enjoy looking at naked people?"

[cityship]

||I am not invisible|| Stacy answered. ||You were brought here, and your clothing has been disposed of. I do not receive any particular pleasure from viewing nude podmates. Would you care for some clothing, Mai?||

Stacy doesn't sound threatening. She doesn't sound like much of anything, actually. Just kind of...emotionless.

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"If you're not invisible, why can't I see you?" Mai blinked in surprise, "You got rid of my clothes? Why would you... Yes. I would like some clothing. Please."

Her last word drips sarcasm, but she waits expectantly. This was a bit creepy so far, but she was (reasonably) sure she could handle anything.

[cityship]

||What do you see when you look around you?|| Stacy asked, almost kindly. ||Your clothing would have interfered with the life support systems while you were in stasis.||

Pustules on the ground at Mai's feet lit up, leading a spiral path upwards through the cavern. ||Please follow the lights.||

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

Mai took another look, making sure she wasn't missing anything. "A really creepy cave, full of weird pods, with a... is the floor pulsing? This is beyond weird."

Fine, so she was going to be annoying (it really hasn't gotten to her that the woman could, in fact, be the entire place). Mai sighed and started walking, "If you say so..."

[cityship]

||That is the Pod Caverns,|| Stacy explained. ||The Pod Caverns are within me.||

Hope it doesn't blow Mai's mind too badly! For some reason, only one person thus far had been interested in the sedatives. Mai probably wouldn't be much different.

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

That stops Mai dead in her tracks for a moment, "...what?"

She instinctively looks up at the ceiling, for the lack of someplace better to look.

"I'm inside of you?"

[cityship]

||Yes|| Stacy answered. Ho-hum, another podpop, another confused podling.

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"...that's impossible." Mai continued her walk, moving a bit faster. This was getting even weirder.

[cityship]

||That is incorrect,|| Stacy answered. ||It is the truth.||

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"How can I be inside of someone?" Mai fervently hoped that she was reaching the end of her walk. She didn't really like talking to a disembodied voice.

[cityship]

||The ship is my body|| Stacy explained.

Ahead of Mai, there was a large, circular room. When she got close enough to look inside, she would see that it was empty, aside from some strange, plant-like tendrils hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room.

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

Ok, that was something Mai had no experience with. She quirked a brow and glanced up again as she stepped into the room, "...you're a ship?"

She took a quick look around. No clothes, just weird plants.

[cityship]

||Yes|| Stacy answered. And that was all the warning Mai got before the TENTACLES ATTACKED!

All right, they didn't attack so much as grab her and wrap her up in a jumpsuit made of a stretchy material that felt like rose petals with a pulse. The tentacles also wiped her face and hair clean of the stasis goo before setting her back on the ground.

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"Whoa...! HEY!" Mai tried to struggle, but it was over before she'd even gotten a a hand-hold on one of the tentacles. Back on the ground, she tugged at the jumpsuit with an annoyed look.

"Some warning would of been nice.... And this thing is sort of weird. At least it isn't pink."

[cityship]

||The suit will keep you clean,|| Stacy explained. ||And you will match your podmates. Would you like to meet your podmates or would you like to go to the Weapons and Possessions Locker first?||

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

Mai smiled. It wasn't a very nice smile.

"Weapons. Definitely weapons."

[cityship]

The pustules on the floor lit up again.

||Please follow the lights.||

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

Mai set off, following the lights on the floor. She was quiet now. She really didn't feel comfortable talking to a ship. It felt... wrong, somehow. Ships were inanimate objects. They shouldn't be talking.

Although... she finally broke her silence to ask a question, "I thought ships were made out of wood or steel."

[cityship]

||Ships can be made of many different materials|| Stacy agreed. Which...probably didn't answer Mai's unvoiced question, but Stacy wasn't particularly good at answering voiced questions, much less unvoiced ones.

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"Hmm," Mai went quiet again. If the ship didn't want to answer questions, she wasn't going to bother asking them. It was pointless.

[cityship]

The lights lead Mai to a hole in the side of what looked like a large tube.

||Please step inside. The Hub will take you where you wish to go|| Stacy informed her.

But there didn't seem to be anything to step on to.