Unleash the Podlings!

[cityship]

||Pod Release Protocols Initiating,|| Stacy announced to the denizens of the upper levels. Down the the Pod Caverns, familiar sounds made themselves known:

Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

Mist sprayed from the cracks in the pods before the new crew members were summarily ejected from warm, comfortable stasis to their new chilly, damp reality. They'd either meet each other in the Caverns or in the upper levels, where the previously popped crew would also be waiting for them, if Stacy had anything to say about it.

This time, there were two pods spitting mechanical beings out of a more oily mixture, and one podling who was significantly smaller than most of the others.

Pop. Poppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiissss.

Comments

[cityship]

||That information is classified. If you would like clothing, please follow the lights.|| And as the voice spoke, fleshy pustules on the floor lit a path.

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was the answer she was expecting. It was just another point on her list of reasons she didn't like this place.

She was hesitant to follow the lights, but arguing and questions with Stacy had so far proved to be fruitless. There didn't appear to be an exit anywhere in the room, either, so it seemed her only choice was to walk down the now lit path.

[cityship]

The path was long and twisted, lined with pods in which Samus might, should she look close enough, see the vague form of a body. Winding through the caverns, it brought her eventually to an empty, cylindrical room with only the one door, where vines dangled from the ceiling.

Stacy's voice comes again. ||Step into the middle of the room, please.||

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

She stopped long enough to look at one of the pods, assuming it was the same sort of contraption she slid out of earlier. She didn't approve, but she was in no place to get involved with however many people were stuck in them. It wasn't her job and she needed to stay focused on getting out of this place.

When she finally reached the empty room, she halted. The vines hanging from the ceiling probably weren't a good sign and neither was the single door, but Samus was confident in her abilities to take on anything that might pop out at her. Cooperation, however much Samus did not want to do right now, appeared to be necessary, and she reluctantly stepped into the middle of the room.

[cityship]

TENTACLES GO!

Samus, your suspicion has been proved... correct. Those vines grab for her, wrapping, clinging, then forcing her into a green, veined jumpsuit that felt like rose petals. And like all jumpsuits, it had a pulse.

They didn't stop there, either, cleaning the slime from her face and hair as the jumpsuit did the same to everywhere else.

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

As her gut reaction kicked in and she began to pull and tug, struggling against the vines proved unsuccessful. Her face twisted into a grimace, as the vines running across her face cleaned the rest of the slime off. While she appreciated being clean, she would have rather done it herself in a way that totally didn't violate her personal space.

She certainly would have preferred another way of being clothed. And other clothing, too. The fact that her clothing had a pulse was somewhat disturbing.

"What is this?"

[cityship]

As soon as they were finished, the tentacle-vines set her down and retreated.

||This is your clothing.||

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

Another incredibly useful answer. At least the vines left her alone, now though. She ran one hand over the sleeve of her other arm, feeling the material and rubbing it between her fingers.

"Why does it have a pulse?"

[cityship]

||Because a pulse is necessary,|| Stacy non-answered.

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

"..."

Samus isn't even going to try and ask anymore because the more she does the more she gets irritated. She would just deal with the pulsating clothes for now and see if she can get answers from someone else later. Speaking of later, Samus wondered what was coming next.

"So what now?"

[cityship]

||From here, the crew members generally request to be taken to the Weapons and Possessions Locker or to the Living Area where they can meet the rest of the crew,|| Stacy said. ||Would you like to be taken to one of those places?||

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

"Yes, the first."

There probably wouldn't be much for her there. With the exception of her suit and ship, which she knew would probably not be waiting for her in her locker, she had very few possessions. While her paralyzer was not her weapon of choice, it would be better than nothing and she figured there was a slim chance it might be there. Plus, it sounded like there would other weapons available that she might be interested in inspecting.

[cityship]

The lights on the floor lit up again, leading away from the Clothing Room.

||Please follow the lights.||

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

No use in fighting it. As long as no more tentacle vine things grabbed her again, Samus could comply. She followed the lights walking at a slightly quicker pace than before, not taking any time to look at her surroundings at all.

[cityship]

The lights lead to a strange, fleshy opening at the bottom of a towering spire that disappeared into the high ceiling above.

||Please step inside. The Hub will take you where you want to go.||

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

After making sure there wasn't any more visible threats like the vines before, she nodded as Stacy talked and cautiously stepped into the Hub. She was expecting something odd to happen again, but would be more prepared for it this time.

[cityship]

Nothing reached out to grab her. But something beneath her propelled her upward at surprising speed -- she traveled what appeared to be miles in only minutes before she was ejected into a room full of a variety of objects, left scattered about in a disorganized pile.

Whatever small things that Stacy had brought with Samus was probably in there.

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

She sort of tumbled out, landing hard but quickly stands up and gains her composure while making a mental note to be a little more prepared after traveling on that Hub thing.

She looked around the piles, taking her time to look through each of the piles. If they had found a way to remove her suit, it wasn't there. After rummaging through the mound she eventually found her Paralyzer gun, while not lethal or very strong, was better than nothing.

[cityship]

||When you have finished in the Weapons and Possessions Locker, you may enter the Hub again and you will be taken to the Living Area where the rest of the crew is assembled.|| Stacy announced.

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

"Alright."

Samus wasn't too excited to go interact with the rest of the crew here and still had questions but she knew they wouldn't be answered by Stacy any time soon. She got up, still holding the gun, and made her way back over to the Hub to go up the the Living Area.