Crash Landing
Perry sat with his back up against the enclosure wall, sniffling with his arms draped loosely over his legs that he had pushed up against his head. Almost as if he was attempting to escape into a ball of some kind, or perhaps a gem… If he had one. If /SHE/ had one. More tears fell down his face, he couldn't stop them now, the memory played again and again in his head, looping like a broken holoscreen. He looked up at his legs that were currently pressed against his head, his large thick limb-enhancers boosting his height and acting as boots along with his slender body and his long hair- Even the way he was sitting… With his knees both pressing up against each other because of his limb enh- No, not because of that. Oh no no no, it was because he was GIRLY wasn't it?! He abruptly pushed himself to his feet, letting out a guttural cry as he raised his metallic fist, and clumsily slammed it into the wall, imagining P-07's smug face in place of the starry sky.
'Come on, do you really believe you're anything other than some girly-boy? Please, you probably LIKE acting like that. Don't kid yourself Perry. I guess being around all those gems really rubbed off on you huh? You won't ever be HALF the man P-07 is as long as you live you pathetic little GIRL.' The voice trailed off in his head, as he repeatedly slammed his flat metallic arms into the wall, doing absolutely no damage to the wall while his floating fingers retreated to the sides of his arms to prevent damage.
"I'M NOT A GIRL!" He screamed, and with one final mighty punch, he slumped over, and fell to his side, whimpering softly to himself.
"I-I'm not… I'm not… Why don't you see me as a man?" He ever so faintly whispered, staring down at his jumpsuit and limb enhancers. He pushed himself up, he needed a break. He needed to fix something, to get out of his own head. His fingers kindly obliged as they formed a small holographic screen in front of his face, various symbols and strange looking letters appeared on the screen in front of him, symbols that he apparently understood perfectly as he quickly navigated to what appeared to be a messaging application of some kind, quickly sending a message to someone. The screen closed, and he let his head rest against the wall, staring up into the fake night sky.
"Why is being human so… Illogical." He spoke to nobody but himself, his floating fingers attempting to find comfort in holding one another, as he fought back tears.
"Is this really who I was meant to be? Some pathetic organic who can't even fend off some dumb CLOD!" He screamed into the sky once again, before grasping at his face with both his hands- As he did this, the hidden door to the right of him swung open.
"Sup, Perry." Skinny smiled warmly at him, but he quickly passed her by, she could only briefly hear him muttering something about "Organics" and "Clods" as he passed her. She sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"How'd I end up being friends with a freakin' organic?" She muttered, staring at Perry as he walked away.
"Probably 'cause he looks like a gem, hah!" Carnelian cackled.
Skinny immediately shushed her, but thankfully Perry was far too caught up in his own world to notice whatever they were saying. He beelined through the familiar hallways he had grown up in, keeping his head hung low as the various gems he knew greeted him. It was nice having them as friends, but why did he feel so empty even with them? Why was it it that he wanted something more… Human? NO, HE WASN'T SOME PRIMITIVE APE HE WAS AN- AN HONORARY PERIDOT! Right…? So why did that title feel so empty… He walked towards the door to the peridot control room, it immediately slid open.
"Perry, I've been tinkering with your new modification you made to speed up my limb-enhancers, and with a few alterations I've managed to make it togglable, now we don't have to worry about the power drainage pro-" Square squinted at Perry, unsure as to what he was feeling. She had grown used to him being a bundle of joy, an overactive curious kid who constantly had something to ask or say. She had enjoyed the attention, but soon grew to care about Perry the same way all the Peridots did, viewing them as a larger, slightly dumber peridot.
"Is uh- Something the wrong, Perry?" She stepped towards him, placing a hand on his right shoulder.
"W-WHY AM I A HUMAN?!" Perry stuttered, still barely able to hold back his tears that were slowly building up in his eyes "W-Why couldn't I have just been a peridot, or even an amethyst…" He whimpered, holding his head in his fingers.
"I- Er… I need to get Peridot!" She spun around, banging on the door to PRIME's room.
"PERIDOT?!" The door slowly slid open, revealing a rather tired looking Peridot.
"Square… What do you want?" She muttered, before slowly shifting her gaze to Perry.
"PERRY?!" The holographic screen that had been open in front of her face immediately closed, as she ran towards the sad looking teenager.
"W-What happened, were you hurt, did you eat too much, are you CURRENTLY IN EMOTIONAL DISTRESS?!" She screamed, rapidly shaking his shoulders, only to be clung onto instead, and brought into a hug.
"P-Peridot…" He sniffled, resting his head on her shoulders. Peridot simply stood still, not really knowing how to handle such a situation, as the last time this had happened PRIME had still been here, and it was his "Creation Day". But now, she needed to step up, after all- It was her duty as the overseer of all other Peridots on the station! These peridots included herself, Square and technically Perry. The only reason she had even been promoted was because of PRIME's recommendation before she left to homeworld, pointing to her work on "Project P-17", a name she had come up with almost fourteen years ago. She took a deep breath, as she felt Perry pull away from her. What would PRIME do…?
"I-I don't want to be a human anymore, I just- I want to be a gem." He muttered, unable to meet Peridot's gaze.
'Oh no, I do NOT know how to deal with this situation. ABORT, ABORT!' a voice in Peridot's head screamed, before she continued to talk anyway.
"Perry… I don't know what those CLODS did to you in there, but I don't care WHAT you are. To me, you'll always be Perry, the honorary Peridot!" She smiled warmly at Perry, who embraced her in a hug once again, she let it happen, patting his back.
"I-I needed to hear that…" He muttered, slowly pushing himself away, before letting out a long, drawn out sigh as he leaned against the pink hull of the ship, slowly sliding down it before his butt softly impacted the ground.
"Please… Don't make me go back inside." He muttered, seemingly somewhat recomposed after his initial breakdown.
"Back inside… The containment area?" Peridot stared down at the now sitting Perry. He only responded with a nod.
"C'mon Perry, don't tell me you actually got angry about that dumb little choosening thing, I thought you knew already that we controlled how that works, I just match two humans with the most diverse genetic code together and then nine months later out pops a baby! Heh, I did a PRETTY good job with you huh?" Square calmly explained, resting her feet on the sleek metal table in the center of the room as she lazily relaxed on her floating chair. Peridot slowly shifted her gaze to Square, if she wasn't wearing a visor Square probably thought Peridot would've poofed her with that look alone. She quickly turned back to Perry who began talking again.
"I-I should have told you… I L-L-L-Lo-" He swallowed back tears, trying to spit out what he wanted to say.
"I LOVED P-14!" He screamed, and as soon as he did… It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, his stomach grew lighter and his sniffles grew more distant as he slowly began pushing himself back to his boots. "I-I don't blame you" He mumbled, staring at the shocked Square whose mouth was currently hanging open.
"Then-Then I tried to talk with her again, and P-07… He uh… He…" He rubbed the bruise on his chin, not really wanting to say much else. Peridot immediately noticed the bruise, tightly grabbing his right hand.
"Where. Did. You. Get. That. Bruise?" Her voice was as cold as ice.
"I-It was…" He stopped himself, unable to say his name. After all, wouldn't that be even more GIRLY than just taking it? That's what MEN are supposed to do right? Take it like a man, and he WAS NOT A GIRL. His eyes widened, and he took a shaky breath.
"I-I just tripped on the way here, that's all." He muttered, this explanation seemed to alleviate Peridot's curiosity, as she leaned back, away from Perry.
"Perry. I wanted to wait until your twentieth birth year to give you this, however it would appear as if things have moved far faster than I would have preferred them to." Peridot clasped her fingers together, walking towards Square.
She stared down at her. "I think he's finally ready, Square." Peridot said, looking at Square, and then back to Perry.
"Ready for w- OOoooh!" A knowing smile spread across Square's face as she ran into Peridot's room, formerly belonging to PRIME. "Gotta be in here somewhere…" Perry briefly heard Square mumble as she began digging through the ludicrous amount of junk that Peridot had managed to fit into the rather small room in less than five years.
"Perry! As your supervisor and former caretaker, both I and square have decided to PROMOTE you in light of your recent accomplishments, mostly fixing the habitat's water supply system and upgrading my gravity-beam." She grinned as she charged her gravity beam in her right hand, picking up the entire metal table with ease, before letting it drop back to the ground.
"Ergh, we get it… That thing drains power twice as fast, y'know Peridot?" Square smiled smugly, her feet now sadly planted on the cold metal floor.
"Well- Either way, you've shown yourself to be ready for the NEXT STEP!" Peridot's tone remained up-beat, as she watched Perry's eyes widen with anticipation, as a smile slowly crept onto his face. She had missed watching his reactions to various things, but with her new duty of overseeing the entirety of the technical and logistical sides of keeping the human zoo operational, she almost had no free time left. Square had remained in her previous position, bitterly accepting Peridot as her new overseer, while Perry now did almost all the jobs Peridot once did. Unlike her however, he seemed to take joy in the more "simpler" jobs, at least simple by peridot-standards.
Square ran out of the side-room, holding a small metal box in her hands "Peridot, I have retrieved the requested item!" She held the small box out to Peridot, who wasted no time in handing it to Perry.
"What is it, Peridot?!" He grinned, his floating fingers eagerly clutching the box's sides.
"This is something we've been working on since your last Creation Day." She smiled proudly, as she motioned for Perry to open it with her right hand "Go on, we won't stop you!" Both Peridots eagerly awaited Perry's reaction to what he would soon discover inside.
"You guys… You really are my friends, aren't you?" He smiled warmly at them, as he slowly opened the small box… To reveal… A peridot gem, and some… Visors? He picked up the visors, shrugging as he slid them on, and with a bit of effort managed to get them under his shaggy hair. They looked almost identical to both Squares and Peridot's visor.
"This is EXCEPTIONAL!" He blinked rapidly as he adjusted to seeing the station through a slightly greener-tint. "But what's this gem for…?" He picked up the Gem, staring intently at it.
"THAT! Is something that PRIME was working on, apparently she just so happened to have that thing laying around, it didn't really do anything other than look like a gemstone of a peridot, and was more like a uh- Computer, disguised as a peridot gem. So we altered a ton of REALLY weird code, and now when you put it on, all the doors here will think you're a REAL peridot!" Peridot passionately explained, clearly extremely proud of her work.
"Whoa… So this thing just sticks to me?" He stared at the gemstone in awe.
"Yup, and if you want to take it off, just pull REALLY hard, it'll come off- Eventually." Square shrugged, seemingly having become FAR more laid back after PRIME's departure.
"Ergh, well… Why don't you put it on, so you can cement your place among our ranks!" Peridot grinned eagerly, while Perry barely slid his visor down, and pressed the gemstone against his forehead. He waited for a couple of seconds, and pulled his hand away. He slid his visor back up over his eyes, and partially his nose.
"Sooo, how do you feel Perry?!" Square pushed herself towards him, the hovering chair slowly bobbing towards the new full-time peridot.
"I feel… I feel like I've finally found somewhere I belong.'' He smiled proudly, ironically the gem was barely visible through his thick shaggy hair, although that didn't stop the compliments from Peridot and Square to rain down on him, as he spent the rest of the night wandering around the facility, and receiving compliments from the various Amethysts he bumped into about "Growing a gem".
He woke up in the zoo, again. His groggy eyes slowly opened, the world was still tinted green, his visor was still on, and a gem was currently jammed in his forehead. He let out a loud groan of frustration before remembering what Peridot had told him. He stood up, and walked towards the hidden door. Without a seconds delay, it opened immediately, somehow having sensed his… Gem? He reached up and tapped the gem in his forehead. It felt REALLY weird, but he was guessing that was just because he slept with it on. He stepped through the door, and it slammed shut behind him.
"IT'S HIM! You got a gem, I didn't think the rumors were true!" Carnelian hopped up and down, pointing at the barely visible gem hidden behind a visor and long locks of hair.
"That's pretty crazy dude, even for you. How'd you get it, you grow it or somethin'?" Skinny spoke up, poking his visor.
"Huh? Oh, it was a gift from the OTHER peridots- The peridots that I am now OFFICIALLY a part of!" He smugly grinned, as he tapped his visor.
"Dude, that's freakin' tight." Skinny leaned just a little closer to Perry, only to be knocked completely off balance as the entire station shook violently, followed by a horrific metallic scraping noise, as if metal was being torn in half. Then, everything went black as Perry suddenly lost consciousness.
Perry opened his eyes, groaning. A siren blared in the hallway. The once pink hallway he had grown up in was now illuminated by a dim, red light. A small modified flask robonoid had been ejected from his hollowed out left boot, and was in the process of applying a thick gelatinous substance to a nasty gash on Perry's right thigh.
'Maybe I shouldn't have turned the lights down?' Was the first thought that flowed through his head, as he stared up at the light for a brief moment. He averted his gaze from the light, now looking down to locate whatever was causing the strange feeling he had on his chest- Oh crap, there were two gems on him!
"Gargh!" He jumped back, pressing his back against the wall- Breathing in… Breathing in- Oh crap, it was REALLY hard to breathe. He began gasping for air, as he failed to stand up, slowly he began to slow his breathing. He needed to conserve his oxygen, there were no vents in this hallway, and two airlocks had closed in front of and behind him, leaving him with nothing but a tiny slither of the once long hallway. He slowly craned his head down to get a better view of the two gems on his stomach, although he had a sickening feeling he already knew who they were. On his stomach lay the gems of Carnelian, and Jasper.
"G-Guys?!" He scooped them up, desperately attempting to control his breathing while he staggered to his feet. The flask robonoid slid off of him, falling to the ground before it began rapidly scuttling into a small opening in Perry's boot. The small opening suddenly disappeared, as Perry was left with nothing but the sound of his own shaky breathing, and the clinking of the two gems in his hands rubbing against each other.
"T-This can't be happening, this- This… I gotta, I gotta get to an escape pod!" His survival instincts he didn't know he had kicked in. He quickly shoved the gems into a small compartment in his right limb enhancer, and then began to stumble down the hallway, leaning against the wall for support. Then, he saw it. Just in front of him, what would've once been just another regular wall, now opened up to reveal a tiny round-ship, with a single seat. It seemed VERY cramped, but Perry didn't feel like complaining about his savior as he staggered inside the thankfully well-lit pod.
"W-We're safe now, we're- We're gonna be… F-Fine…" He muttered, the adrenaline flowing through him began to wear off, as he felt tears stream down his face. Just as the gravity of the situation he was in began to fully set in, the circular "door" behind him slammed shut, and the pod was suddenly launched forward, pressing him back into the rather uncomfortable beige seat.
"WH-WHAAARGH!" Perry grabbed a hold of both arm-rests with as much force as his limb enhancers would allow. The escape pod suddenly made a sharp turn, and for the first time in his life, Perry stared at the station from the outside.
What had once been an ornate, well cared for station now lay in ruins, with chunks and pieces of the once grand station floating haphazardly through space. Water, grass and all kinds of different gem-based technologies could be seen floating around what remained of the destroyed station. Strangely, chunks of rock and iron floated near the wreckage, most likely the remains of whatever meteor collided with the station. The pod remained stationary, awaiting a command. But Perry simply couldn't look away from the ruins of his former home that now floated in front of him. His gaze shifted from chunk to chunk, some being entire rooms while others were nothing more but tiny pieces of pink metal, and what was- Oh crap… No, that wasn't- That was… That was a body, a- A- He was going to puke, and the gem shards that floated next to it- It-It…
"B-BLEEERGH!" He dry heaved, thankfully having eaten nothing this morning. He began to feverishly claw at his face with his flat, floating fingers. Tears streamed down his face, everyone he knew... Was gone. His home. Was gone. The Peridots. Were G-G-G-G-
"PE...RY?!" A garbled communication signal was being picked up by the escape pod. He snapped out of his panic attack, his floating fingers rapidly navigating through the escape pod's built-in terminal. Finally, the communication attempt became clearer, and a live-view of Peridot flickered into existence on the terminal's screen.
"PERIDOT, YOU'RE ALRIGHT?!" Perry screamed, his voice hoarse, tears streaming down his face- And yet a smile rapidly spread across the distraught teenager's face at the sight of his former guardian.
"...est...oyed, rea...tor's gonna blow! …..SQUARE DIDN'T MAKE IT! …..I've been reassigned to c...ster… ….. EARTH!" Static overtook Peridot's voice as she spoke, making it near impossible to understand what she was saying. She had clearly thought she had been talking to him for some time judging by how frantic she sounded.
"PERRY, YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE, NOW!" The communicator finally seemed to establish a stable connection between the two, only for his smile to drop instantly.
"W-What do you mean Square's didn't make it?!" He shrieked, his fingers wrapping around the small built-in computer as he began to hyperventilate.
"JUST GO TO THE CO-ORDINATES I TOLD YOU TO PERRY, I'LL BE WAITING! NOW GO BEFORE-" The terminal went black, another strange symbol flashed on the screen, indicating the transmission had ceased.
A blindingly white light erupted from the center of the wrecked Station, while warning lights and sirens began to blare and flash in his tiny vessel.
"W-Where should I go?! Crap- Crap, What did she say… Earth? EARTH, TAKE ME TO EARTH!" He began to hyperventilate as he began his navigation through a list of various planets that had appeared on the screen in front of him. Popups and warning symbols flashed in the corner of the terminal, while the white light got brighter and brighter. It took Perry only a few seconds of navigating through the terminal before he found the planet he was looking for, and without even a second glance at the long imposing wall of seemingly endless text about the planet in question, he set his course.
"PLANET... EARTH SELECTED. ERROR; PLANET IS LOCATED IN A RESTRICTED AREA. ERROR; COMMENCING WARP." A robotic voice spoke without emotion, while a small black hole began to form in front of the pod. The pod slowly turned itself in the direction of Earth, as the black hole fully formed in front of it. The blindingly white light finally reached his pod. In an instance, whatever remained of the station was blown to pieces by a gargantuan explosion. Perry however, did not notice this, as he was currently pressed up against his seat traveling faster than no human had before.
Perry very slowly began to calm down, breathing in… And out… Just like PRIME had taught him to. He finally let out one long, and very shaky breath. This wasn't supposed to happen, he was SUPPOSED to be a Peridot, he was SUPPOSED to fix the station, he-he… His train of thought was interrupted by the sudden realization that he had Skinny and Carnelian in his storage compartment. He ripped the small compartment open, almost breaking it. He immediately scooped the two gems up, cradling them both in his fingers as his breathing slowed. That's when he saw it, the two, large cracks that ran down both gems. No, no no no- He began to hyperventilate again, his limb enhancers began to shake, and the gems began to rattle in his hands.
"T-They can't… They can't reform…" He muttered, staring at the two cracked gems in front of him. He held the two cracked gems against his chest as he began to quietly sob, his tears streaming down his face and onto the cracked Gems. His tears trickled off them, as nothing but the quiet sobs of the teenager cut through the silence surrounding him. Perry raised his head, still holding the gems tightly as he stared out into the warped space around the Ship. He pressed both gems up against his chest, his mind racing, only for the same robotic voice as earlier to once again begin speaking.
"ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL ARRIVAL: SEVEN [EARTH] CYCLES. NOW ENTERING STASIS MODE." The voice once again spoke VERY loudly, he winced- Only to notice a strange glittery green liquid beginning to flow into the pod through two small holes.
"W-WAIT, I'M ORGANIC- I-I CAN'T BREATHE THIS STUFF, AND SEVEN- SEVEN DAYS IS GONNA KI-'' Perry was cut off by the sudden lack of air, the pod having rapidly filled as he watched the two cracked gems float aimlessly in front of him.
He felt his vision slowly grow blurrier and blurrier, his final thoughts before slipping into darkness were of his Creation Day… The amethysts… Peridot… Prime… And Squa-...
He awoke with a gasp, followed shortly by his eyes bursting open- Only to immediately close again as a bright yellow light shone through the small glass window.
"W-What is that?!" He groggily spoke, fumbling for his visor that was thankfully made with welding usage in mind. He slid his visor onto his damp head, and once again opened his eyes. He saw… Well, he was the sky, the same sky he had seen a hundred thousand times before in the zoo… Only this time, it seemed… Different, beautiful almost. The glowing ball of light in the sky didn't seem fake, it seemed… So real- So free, like it could reach up and just- CLANG. His limb enhancer hit the window.
"Ah, oops" Perry soon realized that the pod he was in was facing the sky. He forced himself to roll out of his chair and stand up on the back of it. He attempted to push against the thick glass window, grunting and wheezing before it eventually popped open, allowing cool fresh air to flow into the Pod.
"That feels… Great…" Perry muttered, taking in a long deep breath of the uncycled air. Wait, what about the gems?! He spun back around to the back wall of the pod, which was now acting as its floor. He scrambled to find the two gems, noticing that both of them seemed to have thankfully been undamaged by the landing. He scooped them up, holding them against his chest with his left set of fingers as he clambered out of the ship. He proceeded to clumsily topple over the small ledge the second his knees rose above the opening to the outside world. He fell flat on his face, letting out a loud groan into the ground as he slowly tilted his head to get a look at the pod that was currently pointing up at the sky. The sky, the REAL sky, this must have been what the zoo's sky was based off of right? Because it was just… Amazing… Fluffy clouds drifted across the blue sky, and he soon became completely enthralled by the natural beauty of it. So enthralled in fact, that he didn't even notice the shaking farmer who was pointing his pitchfork at his face.
"T-THE HELL ARE YOU, SOME KINDA ALIEN SPACE-CYBORG?!" He screeched, taking a large step backwards as Perry turned his head to stare at the man.
"Oh, hello. May I inquire as to where I am?" Perry stood up, before leaned forward, staring down at the rather short man. He looked nothing like any human he had seen in the zoo, wearing strange clothes and with an even stranger body. He looked rather… Ugly? Was that the word for it? He had simply never seen anything like it before, and it fascinated him.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN' IN MY DARN CORNFIELD?!" He shrieked, taking a step forward as he shakily aimed the pitchfork at the teenager's face.
"Ergh, I'm P-17. I presume this is some kind of… Plant growing field, where you grow plants for the rest of humanity to consume? Personally I'm rather impressed by the level your technology has grown to in such a SHORT amount of time. I was honestly expecting a bunch of apes throwing spears at each other! Hah, well anyway…" He reached out with his right hand, his floating finger gently pushing the pitchfork away from his face while the farmer gasped in terror.
"Would you please state your designation?" He asked again, his voice taking on a slightly more annoyed tone. The farmer took a deep breath, as he attempted to recompose himself.
"M-My name's Jerry. I ain't lookin' for t-trouble lady, I-I was just a little worried is all. I-I thought I was far enough away from beach city to avoid all this weird cra-" The farmer sputtered, only to be cut off mid sentence by five floating fingers wrapping tightly around his neck. He slowly began to rise into the air, while Perry glared at him.
"I. AM. NOT. A. WOMAN!" He screamed, the farmer could only choke and gargle in response. Perry released his grip on the farmer, he dropped to the ground and immediately began gasping for air.
"J-JUST G-GO, THE H-HIGHWAY'S T-THAT WAY!" He whimpered, still gasping for air as he curled up into a ball, and began to cry.
It felt good to be the one in control, to REMIND people not to disrespect him. He felt… He felt like… P-07. He suddenly slammed his fist into the ground, beginning to hyperventilate. This was not right, this wasn't who he- He… He needed to get out of here. He ran, he ran as fast as he could through the strange fields of "corn" and towards where the man had pointed.
"BWAAAAAA!" He skidded to a halt as a strange land-based vehicle zoomed past him, almost hitting him. He took a few steps back, staring at the road ahead of him. Another vehicle passed him by, and then another… They seemed to be traveling in opposite directions, how strange… Perhaps humanity really has advanced, with these strange fast-traveling vehicles and… His thoughts were once again interrupted, as he glanced to the right of him and saw IT for the first time.
In Front of him was a vast lake, like the one in the habitat. Only it seemed to stretch out forever, as far as he could see. The smell of salt drifted towards him, and the sun reflected beautifully off of the blue waves.
"I-It's beautiful..." He muttered, a single tear running down his face as he took in the sight before him. Another car slowly approached, with a strange undecipherable sign attached to the bumper in strange archaic symbols that were simply too stupid for him to understand. It also appeared to be painted, covered in various… Plants? The window slowly lowered, revealing another human looking to be around his age, wearing thick shades and a slick red jacket. He spotted two other humans in the vehicle, a female who was driving and another far paler male in the back.
"Enjoyin' the view, huh pal?" The one wearing shades grinned as he spoke, while the other two humans began discussing something among themselves.
"I-It's rather… It's… Beautiful…" He mumbled, a smile slowly creeping onto his face.
The women who appeared to be operating the vehicle turned to face him, breaking away from her conversation.
"Oh you know it is girl! How about you hop in and we'll give you a ride into town!" She spoke with the same energy and tone of Carnelian, the memories of her immediately eliminating the rage that bubbled up within him from being called a girl.
"A-Actually, I'm a male. And thank you for offering." He cautiously opened the backdoor of the car, sitting down next to the pale-skinned male.
"Ah, my bad, man!" The woman giggled, as she began operating the strange vehicle once again. Perry felt a familiar sensation of being pressed up against his chair again, only it was far, far less extreme than in his pod.
"Hey man, so like who are you?" The pale human who was sitting next to him spoke as he turned to face Perry.
"I-I am Perry, I-" He was interrupted mid-sentance, seemingly in reaction to when he placed his floating fingers on his chest to make sure these dumb animals UNDERSTOOD who he was.
"Whoa, are you like a freakin' cyborg or something man?!" The pale human leaned in a little bit too close to inspect his limb enhancers, while Perry visibly recoiled away from them.
"I-It's just my limb enhancers, I er- I'd rather not talk about them." He mumbled, returning to a neutral sitting position as the pale human quickly left his personal space.
"You know I already noticed that cool lookin' robot-stuff he had on man, I was just tryin' to play it cool. Y'know, with how weird this town already is, it's not too crazy." Buck sounded very relaxed as he spoke.
"T-Thank you for the compliment, may I also say I find your clothing to be sufficiently "Cool" aswell, fellow… What are your designations?" He asked the teens, scratching his cheek with one of his floating fingers as he spoke.
"Oh, I'm Jenny! That's Buck, and the guy sitting next to you is Sour Cream!" She spoke in her usual upbeat, happy tone as she continued to drive.
"Well, Jenny, Buck, and… "Sour Cream", I appreciate your generosity, will we be arriving at the "town" soon?" Perry glanced down at the two gems he was still cradling in his left arm.
"We're already here dude!" Sour Cream smiled as he spoke, pointing to a strange sign containing indecipherable text and what appeared to be some kind of avian creature waving at him.