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]

||There is no one by that name listed on the active crew roster.||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

An active crew roster? It almost sounded like something ‘he’ would say – almost. Bringing her knees up level with her nose, she and her inner essence designated themselves to a spot just beside a small fleshy stalicmite next to what once was her 'pod'.

She missed Aya.

[cityship]

||Do you require assistance?|| the voice repeated, sounding slightly motherly if anything.

[neomite.livejournal.com]

"Ass-ist-ance?" Eve parroted under her breath.

"Who... are you?"

[cityship]

||I am STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT,|| says the voice, and with the name comes emotion; motherly love, honor, duty, and more, all somehow tied to the word(s?) themselves.

||You may call me Stacy.||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

‘Stacy’ Eve mused. The name was about as familiar as the large enclosure she now found herself within, but the voice. The motherly voice sung a tune her mitochondria was innately partial too.

It took her a brief moment, but Eve soon nodded in reply.

“Stacy… are we in Dryfeild?”

[cityship]

||We are not in Dryfeild.||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

Maybe they were in another part of Neo Ark? It seemed logical in her own mind, even if it wasn’t true.

Eve sighed dejectedly.

[cityship]

||Would you like some clothing?|| the voice asked after a slight pause.

[neomite.livejournal.com]

While not cold per say, Eve couldn’t help feel different, uncomfortable shellacked with a disgusting layer of oily fluid.

She nodded her head.

[cityship]

Pustules along the floor promptly lit a winding path.

||Please follow the lights.||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

Watching as the impressive light show wound its way into another unknown area, Eve tilted her head curiously. Stretching forward a wary arm, her palm found the pustule closest to her, and gently, ever so cautiously made contact, noting how bizarre it was.

It didn’t feel like any organic thing she’d ever seen or felt, but it certainly was alive, in some capacity. Whether it was dangerous however, she had no idea.

So looking up to the next one and repeated the process, slowly going from fleshy eruption to fleshy eruption, cautiously making sure nothing bad would happen.

[cityship]

The path twisted quite far, and pods much like the one Eve emerged from lined the way. If she examined any of them, she might see the shadow of a limb, but not much else.

At the end there was a large, circular room with only the one door, and some vines dangling from the ceiling.

||Please move to the center of the room.||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

The journey itself took a fair amount of time, but left to her own devices Eve gained a certain confidence about the area. She had even stopped to view the cylindrical oval orbs above more thoroughly, wondering what was inside as she squinted upon the various forms inside.

But when she was ready, she moved into the next room, and received another instruction. Several seconds later she stepped past the room’s threshold, and looked to the floor as she treaded apprehensively toward its center.

[cityship]

OH NO! TENTACLE ATTACK! RUN!

Except not really; instead, the tentacles from the ceiling gently swept down and wrapped around Eve, clothing her in an odd, pulsing jumpsuit that felt like rose petals. While they worked to cloth her, they also cleaned the slime from her face and hair, the suit taking care of the rest.

That finished, she was set down again just as gently as she'd been lifted. Not that bad of an attack, if the new clothing's pulse was discounted.

[neomite.livejournal.com]

The initial shock, had brought on mitochondrial wrath, but with nothing familiarly organic, the outburst of frequencies fell short of doing anything fruitful. Even the oily substances seemed to absorb the remnants of her angered protective mechanism. But just as soon as this unexpected deed started, it had finished, leaving Eve clothed and clean. She was torn.

Gaze locked to the ceiling, blinking in complete disbelief of what had just transpired, Eve scrabbled back, stopping only when her back hit the wall. Taking a few deep breaths, she willed the last bastion of self control to keep calm, and study her own pulsing attire.

[cityship]

The voice was back again after letting Eve regain composure as Stacy asked, ||Would you care to join the rest of the crew?||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

“Crew?”

Eve asked in response, flipping a finger into what she assumed was a sleeve, in an attempt to pull it up. Frustrated with being unable to maneuver it the way she wished, her eyes drifted back upward.

[cityship]

||Yes. If you would like to meet them, please follow the lights.|| Again pustules lit up, this time different ones, leading back out the door and away.

[neomite.livejournal.com]

Looking at the pustules thoughtfully, Eve poignantly shook her head. Meet who? Could this ‘crew’ be more ANMC’s, doctors, or something she hadn’t seen before?

Residing in the corner she felt most at ease in, Eve kept focused on the floor hoping that this Stacy wouldn’t be mad.

[cityship]

There's a long pause before Stacy speaks again.

||Eve, do you require assistance?||

[neomite.livejournal.com]

“I…” the small human began, pausing to think. There was only one thing, one person she really wanted.

“I want Aya…”

[cityship]

||There is no Aya on the active crew register|| Stacy said again, but in an almost gentle, maternal way.

[neomite.livejournal.com]

“Aya?”

Eve wondered out loud, the automation of the voices answer, refusing to settle in. Aya had to be there, she just had too. Shaking her head, eyes askance, placed her palms over her ears, trying to replace, the fruitfully un-replaceable voice, among other noises with the sound of her own heartbeat.

[cityship]

||There is no Aya on the active crew register.|| A large tentacle emerged from the wall and wrapped comfortingly around her shoulders.