Caboose smiled happily to himself as he cooked dinner for the entire Team. Freckles was patrolling outside the Base as the sun started to set. Papi was playing video games, coming into the kitchen every so often to bug Caboose to play with her…which he would have agreed to if his body would let him stop cooking in the middle, which it wouldn't for some reason. Cerea was polishing her sword while watching over Polt and Miia, who kept switching between conspiring together over something and exhibiting rivalry behavior.
"I don't care if you were the first to lay with Darling!" Miia snapped out intensely. "Or if the bots now say you are First Lieutenant! I will claim the first spot in Darling's heart to be his number one!" She swayed back, sliding her hands over her figure suggestively like a belly dancer. "Once you go Naga, you'll want no otha!" she declared tauntingly.
"Your waist and hips may be impressive," Polt countered playfully before lifting one leg over her head to put her knee behind her neck, without bothering to lift her rear from its resting spot on her other folded leg. "But there are things I can do for him that you can't even dream of managing."
"You think you can best the flexibility of a serpent?" Miia demanded angrily.
"We'll see how long you keep that narrow waist you're so proud of with how much of Beloved's cooking you eat!" Polt snapped back.
They're such good friends, Caboose thought to himself as he listened to their discussion. They're conspiring or competing right now. Definitely at least one of those. He then turned from the two pans he'd been frying – one with steaks, the other full of mixed vegetables – to check on the soup…only to see Freckle levitating the pot. "Uh, Freckle? I was making soup…" he spoke up in confusion.
[Unidentified biological life sign detected,] Freckle intoned flatly. [Possible hostile contained.]
"And here I thought it was Miia's cooking that might create dangerous new life!" Polt teased impishly, making Miia hiss angrily.
[Life form contained,] Freckle continued. [Life form has absorbed the contents of the cooking utensil. Discarding pot.]
The pot slowly slid away, falling to the ground and revealing a blue gelatinous sphere with green eyes and a green pseudopod extending from its top. It stared around at everyone wide-eyed.
Miia and Centorea both pulled back in shock. "What the?" Miia gasped out.
"A slime?" Centorea declared fiercely as she reached for her sword.
"So cute!" Papi and Caboose called out together.
"A blue slime!" Polt marveled. "I didn't think I'd ever get to see one so up close. They generally avoid human habitation areas."
"You know about this creature?" Centorea asked eagerly.
"Of course I do," Polt countered readily. "When the Interspecies Exchange Act was first being drawn up, my Great-Uncle was responsible for cataloguing all the species that were a party to the Act and thus governed under its rules, as well as those species that for whatever reason had to be considered more animal than civilized."
"Which are slimes?" Caboose asked curiously.
"That's a complicated answer," Polt replied. "In their natural environment, slimes generally exhibit only animal behaviors. However, exposure to other species result in them expressing civilized behavior in a mimicking fashion, and their potential brain activity capacity doesn't seem to have an upper limit. It all depends on who they interact with and how much."
"Well that's very interesting," Miia growled dismissively with a role of her eyes. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"
[Is invading life form hostile?] Freckle inquired firmly.
"Now let's not be hasty," Centorea spoke up worriedly. "It hasn't done anything to hurt us…"
"Don't hurt Suu!" Papi called out sadly, pulling the slime down to hold in her wing-arms in a cuddle. "She's too cute! We can keep her, right Master?"
"Assuming the slime even is female, she's not a pet," Polt pointed out chidingly, hesitating as Papi turned her cutest pleading look her way. "Love? Help?"
Caboose suddenly gasped in shock. "Freckle! I didn't know you were a stork!"
[…Error: Logic not found?] Freckle offered hopefully.
"You were right Polt!" Caboose declared happily. "Babies don't come from the store!"
"B-b-babies?" Miia and Centorea both stammered in shock.
Polt's eyes widened, quickly realizing where Caboose was going with this. "Beloved, I'm not sure-"
"She's tiny and little, only showing animal behavior," Caboose explained as he lifted Suu into his arms, cradling her gently. "But if we love her, care for her, and raise her right, she'll be a super smart citizen to make us all proud. You said being marriage friends involves making babies, Polt…and this is our first baby, and we all made her together!"
[…Error: Logic found,] Freckle offered ruefully. [Beginning differential comparison to determine which error was worse.]
Polt wanted to object, she really did. However, she could tell just how happy Caboose was to call the little slime 'our baby'. Not only that, she could see what those two words were doing to Miia, Centorea, and Papi. If she objected at all, it would be a losing battle that might skew her relationship with Caboose. Besides, she couldn't argue the fact the little blob was adorable, especially cradled like that in Caboose's arms. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that." She stepped forward, reaching out to stroke the little pseudopod. "Welcome to the Team, Suu." Noticing Suu beginning to wriggle, she turned to Caboose. "She needs more water, but not too much."
"Okay!" Caboose carried Suu over to the full sink and dropped her in.
The water promptly exploded outward, spraying bits of slime over the room and leaving behind what was unmistakably a slime girl. Her entire body was transparent blue, save her bright green eyes and green slime hair, the pseudopod still hanging down from her head. "Suu?" she asked happily.
"Hi Suu!" Caboose greeted happily. "I'm Caboose! I'm Papa!"
"Suu!" Suu responded happily, lunging forward to hug him. He quickly caught her in his arms.
As everyone stared with dewy eyes, it was Freckle who raised a valid point. [Designation of 'Suu' for official report to Scary Smith Lady?]