trans_9 | (no subject)

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Throughout the ship, people would hear the familiar voice of Stacy in their heads.

||Pod Release Protocols Initating||

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

There was condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slid out onto the floors, covered in slime.

Pop. Poppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiissss.

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"Thank you." The information had not been particuarly helpful, but it had been provided.

Red clicked his tongue against his teeth thoughtfully as the voice "spoke," slowly blinking one set of eyelids, and then the interior nictating membrane. The telepath or cyborg, whatever it might be, was at a distance then. Although he could not say he knew much about telepathy, he could imagine that if thoughts were being broadcast from far away, it must require a substantial amount of power.

That voice, though. It did not, by any stripe, seem to have a natural pacing to it. It seemed compliant, so best to make use of it. He began to walk down the corridor at a leisurely pace, taking in each pod as he passed. "Are there other sentients here, or am I alone? I presume I am in no immediate danger." He flicked his eyes nervously from side to side, hoping this would not jinx him. "Am I correct?"

||There are other sentient beings here. I will guide you to the Living Area where most of them are currently located, if you wish. There is no immediate danger as long as you do not venture into restricted areas.||

The Tiss'shar hissed lightly in satisfaction and bobbed his head. "Then I won't do so." For the moment, he mentally added. "Again, thank you. I would very much like to see other beings."

He continued his wanderings, careful to keep his pace slow in case it turned out he was headed in the wrong direction. Ocassionally, he brough himself up against a pod, placing a hand-claw against the surface and drawing himself up against the casing, sniffing the living hide carefully. All the same...All that strange fleshy musk, like the flesh on the inside of a clean mammal's mouth. None of the faces he could make out through the surface looked familiar.

As he cautiously investigated the Pod Caverns, Red wondered at the beings who operated this facility. What species were they, where had they secluded this enormous room...a final question he found himself voicing aloud.

"How did I come to be here?"

He withdrew his body from the surface of the pod he had been sniffing at that moment and nipped at the slime which was drying into a leathery film on his skin. Unpleasent...like he had just licked that mammal mouth he had been smelling a moment ago. He clacked his jaw together unhappily, trying to be rid of the taste. I immediately regret that.

"Ugh...and why am I here?"

||Very well. Shall I direct you to the Clothing Room first before directing you to the Living Area?||

As for the questions: ||You were taken. You are here because you have been Chosen. You have been brought here to accomplish great things.||

He stopped sniffing and walking at the voice's explanation. She -although he hesitated to attribute it as a true woman- didn't seem capable of fervor or sarcasm. Cyborg or telepath, whatever she was, she was adamant about that explanation.

And she did not seem the type to clarify with subjective details. He would have to wait, and hope that whatever beings he was lead to they would be more forthcoming in their explanations.

But you don't know their culture, Aish-Kar. Tread lightly when you meet them. And whatever constitutes for clothing with the owners of this place might be good to familiarize yourself with. He clacked his jaw together and snorted air out through his nostrils before addressing the disembodied voice once again. "The clothing room is fine, thank you. And I must compliment you on your pronunciation of my name earlier. Is there something by which I might call you?"

Cyborg or organic, carrying on a conversation with a nameless stranger seemed simply rude.

A trail of pustules along the ground begins to glow with bioluminescent light, leading of into the distance.

||This way, please. I am--||

What Red would get next wasn't quite a name in the traditional sense. Rather, it was more a flurry of emotions, something along the lines of maternal love, duty, and honor.

||The closest pronunciation you would be capable of with your vocal chords would be STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT, though many refer to me as Stacy.||

Red blinked his outward set of eyelids several times, running a hand claw over is snout as he tried to clear the unfamiliar and almost intrusive burst of emotions from his mind. This telepath, this person, no matter how strange, suddenly left him feeling nervous. It was as if he had just been caught speaking ill about someone's mother when they were in the room next door...He had the sudden sense that whoever she was, it was her he should be concerned with above the sentients he might soon be meeting.

Thankfully, it seemed he had not offended her...If it was possible to do so. He would have thought the voice incapable of emotion, except for that sudden burst. I must not forget she can do that, he decided.

"Again, thank you, Stacy." He added the slightest click after the A in her name when he spoke, attempting to emulate the awkward sounds. With his hand claws folded close to his body and spine held nearly horizontal head-to-tail, he began to follow the illuminated nodes.

A creature falls from higher-up, springing down between platforms like a monkey, finally darting up out of sight under the hanging buttresses of catwalk.

It's fairly quiet, but far from silent - if fast enough, after the clanging of metal that slows the initial fall, that it's out of sight before any but the quickest of reactions.

Red's head immediately jerked up, his posture shifting at the sudden crashing sounds from above. His feet splayed, tail lashing, his snout pointed straight upwards, inhaling deeply. There was something moving in here, something Stacy had not warned him about. No immediate danger, she had told him, but how far did her range of perception extend?

Ever so carefully, he took one step backwards, snout trained towards the catwalks. Ever so softly, he growled to the female voice.

"Stacy, I'm not alone. Should I be concerned?"

...Regardless of what her response would be, his senses told him he should be. Whatever was moving, it carried very faintly with it the smell of an injured or dying Human. But nothing else...and that meant he could not track it. He didn't like that at all.

||I would advise caution with this podmate, though security measures are in place to protect you if your life is in danger.||

Red brought his feet together, his tail still twitching in aggitation. A hiss escaped his muzzle as he slowly drew his head back. His senses were still trained suspiciously on the catwalks, but whatever had made the sounds had either moved out of range or had stopped.

Podmate? he thought to himself. Security measures? Is this some kind of penal colony? One where inmates are allowed to run around and stalk eachother? One thing was very clear, though. Whatever had been up there was not -most certainly not- a Tiss'shar.

"Advise dually noted," he murmured to the voice. Still, perhaps it was better to wait and see if this "podmate" would show itself. Whatever it was, it moved much faster than he could and over a wider range of space...if it didn't attack, it could be useful.

Red held himself very still and waited.

There is the momentary sound of something skittering, spiderlike, and then silence.

Whatever it is is apparently quite patient.

Red snorted air through his snout. Whatever it was, it was still out there, that was for sure.

Well, his talking might have been what attracted it in the first place. Maybe he could draw it out of hiding? If it was sentient. He hoped it was. His head and tail lowered, he hoped it understood the stance as one of non-aggression.

"I can hear you out there. My name is Aish-Kar-Yan, and I am unarmed." He hoped that Stacy had not been lying when she said there were measures in place to protect him. "Would you show yourself?"

It clicks softly in the back of its throat, still in hiding. Maybe it doesn't want to come out.

Red remained where he had paused a moment longer, listening and smelling for whatever-it-was to make any kind of responsive move. Nothing?

Well, one couldn't expect to be instantaniously successful in communicating with other species. If it was not going to attack and it was not going to come forward, for the moment it was of little importance. He made note of it, however - direct requests for contact did not get a response from it.

The slime from the pods, meanwhile, was beginning to feel increasingly unwelcome on his skin. With another sniff towards the catwalks for good measure, Red continued to proceed after the glowing lights which had lit on the floor for him.

It slurks off, for now. It's not even sure if Red's blood is any good, not something that obviously... strange.

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