Today, Lava, Squee, Billy, Yikk, Arnie, Pop, Rice, Choco and Nori went on a mission, but this time, at yet another location on which none of the crewmates from this story's primary group had ever set foot before: the Polus.
The nine crewmates got the message on their pager this morning, just as they were about to step onto their spaceship.
"Ah, that ice-cold spot from the book" Pop said. "Good thing we have tempered spacesuits and that our fingers won't freeze off or anything if we have to do any work with our hands." She hoisted herself into her pink spacesuit and put her fitting helmet and flower accessory on.
"It looked quite big in the book" Billy said. "I wonder if it's just as big?"
"If it be big" Yikk said, "we shan't get wost too often."
"Oh, of course we won't get lost" Arnie chuckled. "We'll see one another often enough every now and then, I think?" He put on an army suit over his spacesuit and put a military hat onto his helmet.
"Or will we?" Lava chuckled with an evil grin.
Soon, the spaceship departed with quite the blast.
"It is pretty neat that this ship's AI knows where it has to be headed" Rice said.
"What's an AI?" Squee asked.
"Artificial intelligence. Rather than someone at the navigations room, it's already been set by Mack before our departure."
"So it has three set locations that can be determined?" Nori said. "The main spaceship of the Skeld in the middle of space, the Mira HQ, and the Polus, huh? I honestly kind of wonder if there are more than three, but nobody knows."
"Not even Mack?" Yikk said in surprise.
"I'm afraid not."
"Hmm, doesn't sound too much wike a manajah who wikes a ton o' vawiety… no offense, though."
"I hate to say it" Lava said, "but I kind of agree on this one. Only three set locations… there should really be more."
The childish youngster and the snob briefly glared at each other, until Arnie stood in between them and gently pushed them away from one another.
"It's not like all of my fellow crewmates are nice…" Lava crossed her arms, huffed in disapproval and tried to turn her head away.
"Hey, watch your mouth" the former private said, as he looked the red crewmate straight into the eyes as if punishing her. "You should respect your fellow crewmates, whether you like it or not."
"And whether you're struggling with it or not as well" Pop said, "like me." She went to Yikk and put a hand onto their shoulder. "Mon amie, you're really not the only one who loathes that selfish butt down to the bone."
"Aw, man, you be too nice." The lime crewmate briefly took their own helmet off to kiss Pop on the cheek spot of her helmet. "That kinda made my day just now."
The girly girl merely chuckled and smiled in response.
"Oh, we're almost set to arrive" Choco said, as he pointed out of the window. "Keep your helmets on and when I put my thumb up, turn on your oxygen tanks."
"Yes, sirree" the eight other crewmates replied.
And before they all knew it, the ship gently landed on its assigned spot, and the door automatically opened as the pagers beeped with everyone's current status.
Lava grinned as she saw that she was the impostor again, but quickly replaced that grin for a straight face with a deep breath as she was afraid to be ratted out too easily that way.
Most of the crewmates had a task of inserting the keys in the ship, and a few others subsequently charted the course for the way back.
"So it's not fully AI, huh?" Rice said. "Oh well, I still got the idea of your story just now, big bro."
Nori chuckled kindly.
"C'mon, let's go together. You can trust me."
The two grabbed each other's hands and went to the electrical room to do their next few tasks there.
Meanwhile, Charlie, Navy, Vienna and the children remained at their living building.
Charlie felt a bit restless with the current situation, and was especially fidgeting with her ponytail at the moment.
"Char, are you alright?" Vienna asked. "You seem so restless."
"Oh, uh" the tomboy replied, "I'm neurodivergent… makes me twice as restless." She tried to breathe calmly. "Do you know what that is?"
"I do, but little did I know that you were that. In what way are you neurodivergent, if I may ask?"
"I'm very sensitive to sounds – especially loud ones –, I have a tougher time processing things, and… well, I must fidget often. Darn it, why is my little cube not in my pocket?"
"I see." Vienna wanted to put a hand onto Charlie's shoulder, but the latter gasped and twitched her shoulders out of shock.
"Sorry, I don't quite like being touched either… oh, I feel so awkward now…" She hid her face into both her hands.
"Charlie, are you alright?" Nika asked.
"Not quite, to be honest…"
"Why?"
"I'm nervous, about… well, uh… Y…"
"About Yikk? Because they're on a mission right now?"
"No, no… about Yuri."
"What about them?"
"They're so… loud and unpredictable… well, they're not loud right now, but…" Tears stood in the tomboy's eyes.
"If Yuri's at the edge of being loud" Navy said, "for instance, if they're about to cry, I can escort you to the dorm room, so you can take a breather there."
"And Mummy will be there for Yuri" Neri said, as he got up to get a paper tissue for Charlie to wipe her eyes with.
"Thanks, Neri, that's very sweet of you…" She dabbed her eyes and the edge of her nostrils with the paper tissue. "Guess I'm not the person who's able to handle babies well…"
"That's alright, Charlie. You're absolutely not the only one who thinks that." Navy edged closer to the young crewmate. "The other day, Vienna and I were on a mission with the kids, and while we were unconscious, Nori and Rice took care of Yuri, and not only did they cringe at his crying…!"
"Those poor twins! They had to see the explicit contents of Yuri's nappy without any kind of censorship! They both told me that."
"You don't have to help Vienna or me change Yuri if you can't stand it either." The dark blue crewmate took his youngest child onto his lap while Vienna got up to briefly head to the kitchen.
"Thanks, Navy. That was very kind of you to say."
Yuri gazed at Charlie with curious eyes, and even made a little noise as if wanting to ask her something.
"Uh… hi, I guess?" The cyan crewmate smiled awkwardly, and got a small but kind smile of the baby in return. "Wow… this feels a tad strange, to be honest… I must really get used to babies…"
"Take all of the time you need, Charlie. It's not that we force you to get used to Yuri straight away. Everyone had to get used to them at first, you know?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah. Billy told me that they felt a tad nervous when first holding Yuri in their own arms a few missions ago, and felt ecstatic when they managed to pacify them with a little song, even if they think it represented nothing at all."
"Exactly. Billy also needed their time to get used to Yuri."
"But I, myself, need way more time for that."
"That's absolutely alright. You don't hear any of us complain."
Vienna returned from the kitchen with a few cups of water for everyone. Except for Yuri, of course, as they got a feeding bottle of water handed to them instead after all of the cups were put onto the nearby coffee table.
"Thanks, Vienna" Navy and Charlie said.
"Thanks, Mum" Nika and Neri said.
Yuri babbled a little something before getting a hold of their bottle and greedily drinking its contents, which made everyone around them chuckle a little.
"I just found Pop unconscious in the boiler room!" Billy said in a panicky tone.
"Anyone suspicious?" Lava asked with the same straight face.
The Latinx shook their head hard.
"I think we'd better skip on this one" Arnie said, "since we don't have enough proof."
"O-otay then…" Yikk said with a shudder in their voice, as they grabbed their pager and skipped the vote.
Everyone else followed suit before continuing their tasks.
Arnie, who only had one remaining task, rushed to the boiler room, lifted the unconscious Pop onto his back and brought her to the medical bay.
Pop's spirit, on the other hand, quickly finished the task of opening the last remaining waterway.
"Stupid Lava" she muttered angrily, "that selfish son of a gun… I hope she gets tattled on very soon."
Yikk soon came into the boiler room and did the task of opening the waterways nearly as quickly as her.
"Man, they indeed have those speedy fingers. I'm honestly a bit jealous about it…"
After both of the waterways had been opened farther, the youngest crewmate hurried outside to head for the third one, when suddenly, they noticed something strange and green there.
"Eek!" they screeched, as they backed off.
"What's the matter?!" Squee exclaimed from a distance, as they came running towards their fellow crewmate.
"It be a… a… what this be?!" Yikk pointed at the strange green thing that sat totally still on the waterway pole.
"Looks like a huge booger to me." The dumb blonde poked the thing with their index finger, and it moved a little, making them screech and back off just as hard as their fellow crewmate. "Oh my gosh, it's a monster!"
Soon, Arnie went the way of where he heard screeches.
"Guys" he huffed as he arrived, "what's all the screeching for?"
Yikk and Squee, both too afraid to even speak at this point, pointed at the strange green blob that still sat on the waterway pole, trembling.
"Should I check what it is?"
"Y-yes please…"
The former private gently grabbed the blob and took it from the waterway pole just as gently. The creature held itself still now.
"Well, what do we have here? A specimen I oughta research?"
"Thanks, Ahnie" Yikk sighed in relief, as they grabbed the wheel of the waterway and turned it to the left to open it farther. "Pwease, take youh time to weseawch the wittle cwittah…"
"I hope it's not something harmful" Squee stated.
And just as the orange and lime crewmates wanted to return to their assigned task, and the dark green one wanted to head to the laboratory, Nori called another emergency meeting in the office.
The sound of the buzzer had scared the strange green blob to the point where it relieved its bladder to the fullest, accidentally getting some of the unnecessary liquid over the tips of the shoes of Arnie's spacesuit in the process as well.
"Yuck" he complained about the state of the shoes of his spacesuit. "I can't go to an emergency meeting like this."
"Then wipe your feet in the thick layer of snow" Billy quickly said, as they rushed towards the office with Yikk and Squee.
"Alright then." The former private did as he was told before hastily entering the office as one of the last few there.
"Lava is the impostor" Nori said. "Rice and I were in the security room and saw her vent on camera."
"What?!" Lava exclaimed at the top of her lungs. "No, I didn't!" She suddenly saw the strange green blob being held in Arnie's hands and screeched at the sight of it. "Aaah! Get that ugly thing away from here! Right now!"
The rest of the crewmates, including Pop's spirit, chuckled at her as she was being voted off.
"Sehves ya wight" Yikk giggled with a wide smile.
"Don't just scare the poor organism like that, Lava" Rice said, as he grabbed the impostor's left wrist and ankle. "Nori, you grab the other ones."
The older twin did as he was told, and with their physical strength, they easily transported Lava away.
"I will pay you nasty piles of puke back next time I get to be the impostor…!" she grumbled between her teeth, paired with one of the evillest glares that one had ever witnessed.
"So, what is this thing?" Choco asked, as he pointed at the blob organism that Arnie still held in his hands. "Where did you find it?"
"A booger with an eye" Squee said. "It's kind of cute."
"Now that ya mention it" Yikk said, "it indeed be cute!" They gently reached out their hand to pet the creature. "Aw, you be so sweet!"
"I've never seen something like this before" Billy said. "It looks so… otherworldly, you know what I'm saying?"
Soon, all of the remaining crewmates found themselves in the laboratory, where they researched the creature that just got found. Even Pop's spirit had gotten very curious in the meantime.
"Now" Rice said, "I kind of wonder what the other crewmates will think of it?"
"Yeah" Nori said, "keep it, Arnie."
"It's not just the rest of our crewmates that should know of its existence" Arnie said, as they took a quick picture of the blob thingy with his pager and sent it to Mack. "Our manager should also know. He's most likely the first one who gets to determine if we can keep it as a pet or not."
"I also hope you keep it, Arnie!" Pop's spirit giggled cutely. "It could be your – or should I say, our – pet! Man, I should definitely say this again once I'm awake for real again anytime soon…"
"So" Mack asked, "you said you found this creature on the Polus?"
"In fact" Arnie said, "Yikk and Squee found it first, but they were too afraid to do anything with it. Especially Yikk, though, as they refrained from touching it at first… so as a matter of fact, I was the first one to touch it, since I'm quite used to creatures due to having had many pets at my parental home."
"I see. It's not usual that one finds a Brainslug anywhere – you should consider yourself lucky, as these creatures are quite rare."
"Hmm hmm." The former private breathed in deeply. "This question may come off as weird and hasty, but can I keep it? I promise to take the best care I can, too, by feeding them, cleaning up after them and all that jazz."
"Of course you can keep it, Arnie. If you say you're quite used to animals and other creatures, you most likely also know how to take care of nearly every single one, too. Plus, one of your direct neighbours also has a pet Bedcrab, of which the best of care is also taken." The manager briefly scrolled through the photos on his pager and showed one of the corresponding creature to his direct 'underling'.
"That's pretty neat."
"Which pets did you have at your parental home?"
"They weren't necessarily mine. I shared them with my parents and younger brother. But alright, there were two horses, four pigs, a goat, two dogs, three cats, six koi fish, four rabbits, two guinea pigs, two hamsters, eight chickens, two budgies and a cockatoo. That's quite a ton indeed, if I may say so myself. But my younger brother and I were always eager to help my parents take care of them, of which they approved to the fullest, of course. And nowadays, my younger brother is even a veterinarian thanks to that."
"That's quite nice, too."
"Did you have any pets as a child? Or even nowadays?"
"As a child, I didn't, as my parents didn't want any due to already having so many children to take care of. Unless you count the daddy-long-legs-spiders that occasionally crawled around in our house to eliminate all of the bugs, of course."
"Oh, we've had plenty of those back at the parental home, too." Arnie laughed about the thought of seeing occasional spiders in his home. "And we may just have a few at our living building, too, even if we currently didn't see any, which is also for the best for Lava, as she has arachnophobia to the point where even hearing the word 'spider' already freaks her out."
The two were left laughing heartily for a brief while.
"Anyhoo, your Brainslug…" Mack petted the creature gently. "What gender is it? Did the research conclude such a detail?"
"In fact, it did. It's a male, and the crewmates that were with me wanted to name him Bobby, but I'm not too sure, to be honest."
"Why, but that's quite a fitting name for such a cute creature. I'd say you should name him Bobby indeed."
"Also, I can't just leave him at home the whole time… is it okay if I take him on all of my missions, too?"
"Of course, Arnie! The same neighbour of yours with the Bedcrab also takes it along on all of their missions, and you don't hear me complain about it for one bit, so please go ahead!"
"Thank you very much, Mack. You've informed me in such an amazing fashion once again. You're the best manager ever." The former private shook hands with his direct contact.
"Anytime, Arnie. If you need any help, don't hesitate to send me another message – I can even contact your neighbour with the Bedcrab that way for additional tips, if you'd like!"
"That sounds like quite a good idea." Arnie got up and put Bobby on the ground. "Have a nice day."
"You two have a nice day, too."
"Come, Bobby. I bet the others are quite excited to see you again soon." The dark green crewmate clicked with his tongue to get the Brainslug to follow him, which worked out successfully.
