Canyons of Green Crystals Chapter Three
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey
Alexis Thi Dang hates thunderstorms. She hates the loud sounds thunder can make. Even as a child, she has always hated the crashing and clashing rumbles of thunder. What's worse is that she's being chased by some naked "man" during a thunderstorm. She curses Rad and Carlos for getting her into this predicament.
Rad called her this morning to tell her that the artificial canyon was finally going to be opened to the public. He wanted her to be the first non-scientist to check it out with him. She said she would go after lunch because she had morning classes. They were supposed to meet at his apartment and then proceed to the canyon together.
When she got there, Carlos was waiting for her instead of Rad. He had a nervous look on his tan face like he knew she was going to be displeased by what he had to say. He played the unfortunate messenger and told her that Rad received a call that Dr. Jones need him in the lab ASAP. In a fit of masochism, she asked who exactly called Rad. Carlos swallowed deeply and told her that it was Sally, Dr. Jones's spunky and flirty daughter. The phrase "coquettish bitch" popped into Alexis's mind.
Carlos quietly suggested that she and Rad could check out the canyon some other time. Alexis got even more annoyed because, instead of just sending her text, Rad made Carlos relay his flakey message to her. She then decided to ask Carlos if she could borrow the keys to his truck. Carlos, almost squirming from the agitated tone in her voice, handed her his keys and gently reminded her that Rad didn't like Sally that way.
Alexis frowned briefly before chuckling under her breath. Rad is dense, so Sally can't sink her manicured, rose-colored nails into the brick wall that is Rad's mind. She left in Carlos's electric-powered, copper-orange truck. She was glad that she decided against dressing in her usual white capris and red blouse. She chose to wear an orange jumpsuit that she uses whenever she rode dirt bikes with the boys.
Oh how she wishes that she was riding dirt bikes with the boys instead! Her wet bangs cling to her face like the mud beneath her shoes. Another crash of thunder brings violet lightning to her eyes. She to glance behind her shoulder; she hopes that the naked "man" is gone or maybe some hallucination brought on by her astraphobia.
Before she stumbled upon the "man", she was admiring the work that Carlos and Rad contributed to the artificial canyon. The canyon was one of the many stepping stones around the country that will eventually lead to the goal of terraforming Mars. Originally, it was supposed to be the moon, but the United Nations ruled against it because how close a weapon could be launched from there. Alexis found their fear warranted and was grateful for their paranoia because she hopes to be the Ambassador to Mars for the red planet seemed….like an untainted future.
Rad, Carlos, and a bunch of other nameless and faceless scientists spent four years building the canyon and replicating an environment that plants and animals could live in. They were able to create a habitable environment out of a former cesspool of human waste and garbage. To her, the canyon matched the prestige of its natural predecessors at a smaller scale. It was russet-brown with splashes of corn-yellow like a wheat field at sundown. She was astounded by the result of four years of hard work that she was unprepared what she would find at the heart of the artificial canyon.
At first, she thought she came across a naked man who got stoned nearby and somehow wander into the canyon. She could only see him from behind. The man was tan like a brown cow with short, curly blonde hair that reminded her of an unhappy, vampire girl that cut her hair short. He was short, nearly as short as her, and somewhat muscular like he was on the track team. She was about to call out to the man, to ask if needed a ride somewhere, but then she saw him lift his arms and her blue-green eyes widen at his "hands". Those "hands" were like giant and sharp stingers of bees with bits of flesh attached at the wrist.
BLAM!
Blue lightning shot from those stingers and blew up a young beehive. She foolishly took a few steps forward because she thought she might be in some sort of strange dream. Her footsteps must've alerted the "man" because he turned around and aimed his stingers at her. His eyes were as bright as the blue lightning from his stingers. For a split second, she thought the man could've been Indian, but the hair and eye color dissuaded her from that assumption. She took a step back, which made the "man" look down into a puddle.
Then, like a low crackle of thunder, he looked back up at her. His stingers changed into hands as dark as his skin. He looked scared like he hurt her even though he never even touched her. She stopped shaking at his pained expression because he looked lost like he knew that he didn't belong on this world. He walked to her, close enough where even her choked whispers could be heard.
"My name is Alexis, who are you?" She asked him. His eyes dim like lightbulbs in a power outage. He didn't understand a word she said. It hit her that he might only speak some weird alien language like in well-written, sci-fi shows.
"Honey." Or maybe he actually knows English. Or at least that one word. His voice sounded like smoldering gravel as though he's been drinking hot metals from a star. Then, an angry thunder resounded and consumed Alexis's ears. She screamed and ran back to the truck for shelter from the oncoming storm.
Now, she glances behind her shoulder and sees the "man" running after her. She knows that if she makes it to the truck then she could just drive away from the naked "man". Hastily, she takes out the car keys and put them inside the lock; she's well aware that every second it takes for her to open door gives the "man" enough time to catch her. If she had her moped, she would've been gone in a nanosecond.
"HONEY!" Like in a shitty horror movie, the keys fall from Alexis's hands. She turns around with a petrified expression plastered on her pale, wet face. The "man" is only an arm-length away from her. She expects that she'll end up like the beehive in five seconds. Burnt beyond recognition.
"Honey…." He grimaces and clutches his belly like a hungry preschooler to his teacher. Her fear dissipates at his gesture. She realizes that "honey" actually means "hungry". He's just hungry and naked. She could almost laugh if the circumstances weren't so surreal.
"Just wait a second, I'll get you some food." Alexis said this while making gestures with her hands. He understands and remains rooted to the mud like a well-trained pet waiting for a treat. Alexis goes down and picks up the muddied keys. She finally unlocks the door and leans to the passenger side compartment. She unlatches it and grabs a snack from Carlos's food stash. The snack is "Honey Buns" which is like a cinnamon bun glazed with honey and an extra serving of diabetes. She tears open the plastic bag and hands a bun to the "man". He cautiously takes a bite of it before wolfing the whole bun down. She hands him the other and watches as his eyes become lit with happiness.
"Honey." He purrs happily like the engine in a Hybrid and eats again. Alexis realizes that the "man" might be from outer space like those Transformers in Detroit. He's probably not related to the Transformers, but she's not a xenobiologist. Carlos might be able to help the "man" or figure out what exactly the "man" is; he's an aspiring biochemist, so he could come up with some theories. Also, Rad could analyze the "man" to check if he's made out of some weird alien technology; he's studying Aerospace engineering, so he might know how the stingers come from the "man's" hands.
"Follow me, please." She gently asked. She points to the car, but the "man" is far too busy licking his sticky, honey-scented hands. She goes into the car and grabs more "Honey Buns" and holds them up to the "man". He reaches out for the buns, but Alexis pulls back and leads him to the passenger side. Once there, she tosses the buns inside and the "man" jumps inside. She closes the door and quickly goes to the driver side. She closes her door and starts up the car. He is eating obliviously like the most trusting child in the world. She hopes that she can help him. Or at least find him a decent pair of pants.
Author's Comments- Bumblebee's voice has been altered, which will be important to note farther down the story. I would say his human voice would probably sound like Hot Shot from the English version of Transformers: Armada. Also, the humans mentioned in the chapter are also from Transformers: Armada and will have a critical role of developing this reborn Bumblebee. Plus, I get to write about one of my favorite humans in the Transformers franchise, which is Alexis.