My lips felt dry as I traced them with my tongue. I could taste the dried blood on them. I was sitting in softness-in luxury it felt like. But my eyes wouldn't open-and I couldn't tell the nature of what was around me any further that what my fingertips could tell me.
I breathed in and shook my body lightly, letting out a cough. What followed was a scream of pain.
"You really ought to stop moving." My hyperventilating increased. It was a person-a higher life form. I wasn't alone. I was safe and that was all just a terrible dream. My people were fine-My family was alive. The planet wasn't ashes.
But then there was the strangeness of what I had dreamt…the clarity. I was fooling myself. But perhaps fooling myself into believing my happiness still existed was better than dwelling in the terror of reality. But no…this was not a dream.
I had heard a voice.
"Nanogenes," He said cheerily. "They hurt a tad but besides that you should be good as new-give or take a couple of bruises." I felt warm breath above my face, and behind my eye lids a blue light shimmered like death's tunnels.
My swollen eyes deflated and I opened them. I felt utter awe at seeing him standing there…a man. Alive with his pulse beating and his eyes prying into my own. They dilated and scanned me with a silent sort of cleverness.
"What are you doing on one of the most unhospitibal Goldie locks planets in the universe?"
I just stared blankly-my eyes rolling into my head and my body seizing abruptly. Through my thrashes I recognized his hands holding my arms and legs to a large, cream colored shelf bed. Just like any standard ship would carry.
It ceased and I gasped and sweated, clear disgust on his face. "That was…Unexpected."
"Oh damn, you're not human are you?"
I shook my head best I could, trying to mumble "Not-"
"I really should double check that for future reference,"
My attempts at speaking ceased as my body seized again, and he restrained me in a similar fashion as with the last episode. My brain felt foggy by now, and I realized I had bit into my tongue deeply.
"Alright-let me see how I can reverse this."
My eyes had shut again by now, and I waited in darkness for relief. Seconds later I felt the saliva run back into my mouth and my eyes go clear. I blinked them and stared at my body and the yellow microbes that healed it, the vigor returning into my tissues.
"So what are you exactly? I had to come up with a jumble of all sorts of species for this nano to work. And, by the way if you happen to grow a tail or maybe just a rash of some sort after this, don't blame me for your own peculiar genetics."
I looked up silently, glaring into those muddy brown eyes.
"Well if you're going to look at me like that I'm not keeping you with me-that or I'd have to sleep with one eye open."
My eyes watered and I began to look at my hands-the pearly color and smooth flesh I had so much pride in before now restored. It had been burned and marred between the crash, the attacks, and vicious blister crabs. I began to sob. He sat next to my new body and smoothed my back.
"One eye it is," was all that escaped from him. Undoubtedly he was intrigued and shocked by my abrupt fit-perhaps more than my muscle contractions.
"Who are you?"
I stared at him in confusion, "What?"
"I said, who are you? Gosh, the look on your face is like I've just walked in on you naked or something. Which, I technically have."
"What?!"
"Well, you had disgusting blood dripping out of all of your holes, what was I supposed to do, Let you sit in a pile of bloody clothes, or even worse, sit in my nice clean bed in a pile of bloody clothes? The horror-imagine all those stains!"
I sat silently and stared down at the foreign garments I wore, blinking.
"Well, who are you?"
"I'm, I'm-"
I felt my stomach churn and my face grow pale.
"Sick."
"Nice to meet you sick, I'm the doctor."
I pulled on his suit and rose dizzily, scanning the floor for a safe place to gag.
"You're not going to-"
I fell down onto the metal ground and vomited.
"Oi, your rejecting this batch too. What are you exactly? I can't keep guessing."
"I'm-"I retched once more before finishing my sentence. "Dustinian"
"Dust? Alright, quit soiling my floors I'm getting the right nanogenes."
He walked around my waste towards some sort of compartment-my vision was going blurry, and I was soon blinded to everything but lights and colors.
"Are you full Dust?"
"No-my" I vomited again and continued "My father was human"
"Hmm…nearly had the first batch right then. I didn't think you were full dust-haven't got the freaky pupils..or the blobbiness. I thought you said you weren't human?"
"I-" more sickness came in waves-but I managed to hold it in.
"I'm making you clean this later." He hesitated with the cure to gesture towards the sickness all over the floor grates.
I adjusted my stiffened neck to scowl at him.
"Here, I've done a fifty fifty dose so hopefully you've not got some other sort of species mixed in there. I'm not sure how much more your body can take."
Spores of gold flooded the air and attached themselves to my flesh. "Yes-that looks about right."
They worked quickly, and soon I was rising from the floor. "Don't slip in this nonsense you've left lying about," he spoke.
"So Dustinian? The faceless species. Always thought the whole deal with adopting the foreign parent's features was pretty neat. You've not only got the bonus of nearly being immortal-but in the good looking body of a Humanoid." He winked and did a motioned to himself "not only that-but you're ginger. I always wanted to be one…but better luck next time I guess."
"What are Dusts doing on a planet like this anyways? You're supposed to be somewhere inventing a cure for the great plague-not struggling to survive crab poison."
"There aren't Dusts anymore." I spoke softly-my open declaration bringing tears to my eyes and confusion to his.
"What do you mean there aren't dusts? You're some of the longest living people I know. Your longevity is almost that of my own people, not to mention you carry the universes eggs."
"Dead." Was all I could mutter before the tears poured down my face.
Guilt smothered his silent, clever eyes.
