Chapter 2: Contact

Woo!

Oh, yeah!

Rolling around at the speed of ball

Got places to roll

Gotta follow my rainbow

Can't stick around, have to keep rollin' on

Guess what lies ahead

Only one way to find out

Must keep on rollin' ahead

No time for guessin', follow my plan instead

Trusting in what you can't see

Take my lead, I'll set you free

Roll with me, uh... um... and understand

Trust me and we will escape from the grassland

I'll make it through, follow me

Follow me, set me free

Trust me and we will escape from the grassland

I'll make it through, prove it to you

Take my hand!

... Yeah, my rendition of this song sucks. I don't even have hands.

The morph ball trundled through the grass absentmindedly.

"... Hey, Ralpha?"

Lieutenant Ralpha Glosn paid his slightly-heavier-than-him compatriot no mind. Of all this time working together, his lower-ranked soldier he's in charge of could at least remember to address his superior officer with the respect demanded of his station, and with the appropriate military-mandated response. And to think he had the gall to get a second ration after finishing his first.

"... Oh. Uh... Lieutenant Ralpha Glosn. I have an update." Figgis said, putting his grox burger on a plate and on the floor, next to his thermos.

That's better. Ralphas turned to his corporal. "Report."

"Unusual activity detected due south-by-southwest and south-southwest, estimated at seven hundred and fifty meters." Corporal Figgis Karkit relayed. He then gingerly handed the binoculars to Ralpha.

Ralpha took the binoculars and began to scan for the activity that was reported to him. What he saw puzzled him. A gray mass had greeted his sight, which looked like a depression in the tall grass next to the jungle. This was something new, and he certainly hasn't seen this before in his lifetime. Then again, the Catachan jungles always plays host to a plethora of surprises that much of the Imperium has never documented, or even lived long enough to tell about it. He steadied his sight at the gray spot in his binoculars before lowering them slowly to Figgis. "Can I have your opinion on what it is, Corporal?"

"Unknown. It's gray, whatever it is. Could be some kind of new viral infection that affects grass fields." Figgis said with a huff.

"A distinct possibility. However, that virus might also affect humans. We're gonna have to notify HQ of this so they can deploy some burn teams. Get the comm-link ready." Ralpha growled. He hopes that this wasn't some new omen that would ail humanity in the coming future.

The morph ball continued to trundle through the grass absentmindedly. The energy they gathered from the grass they rolled over was minimal, but at least it filled their energy meter. In fact, since they had acquired so much energy, they decided to spend it on whatever upgrades they were comfortable spending on. Several Energy Parts were purchased, as well as the Spring Ball power-up.

The morph ball tested this power-up. They were launched into the air by a fair amount, enough to sail above the towering grass. They then landed with a *tap tip-tip-tip* on the layer of dust that lined their feeding area.

... Did I see that correctly? The morph ball thought.

They launched themself into the air one more time and saw a small, squat building in the distance.

CIVILIZATION!

With newfound purpose, the morph ball made a bee-line towards the structure, creating a path of grass that wilted and powdered as soon as they were touched. But the morph ball didn't mind the warpath they created, for the wanderlust drove them forward unerringly.

After a few minutes of travel, the morph ball found themself gazing up a tall and angular structure. Its make seemed to be made of some kind of concrete. The designs of the windows were small, some being cross-shaped, or some being a vertical or horizontal slit-shaped. The windows were a fortification meant to be fired out of. The morph ball noticed a small garage on the side, some tents that were erected just outside the garage, some radio-communication device on the ceiling that had two humans operating it, and several barbed emplacements on the front of the fortress, with some turret emplacements pointed out of some of the bigger windows. Though to call it a fortress was inaccurate. It might be more accurate to call it an outpost.

However, the people that inhabit the building's roof caught the morph ball's attention.

SOCIAL ACTIVITY!

The eager morph ball scouted for a ladder. However, since there was no ladder in which to scale, and that the morph ball lacked the necessary limbs with which to climb them with, they instead resorted to jumping onto the garage, hopping up to the barrels of the extruding sentry guns in consecutive jumps, and then landing onto the roof's balcony, which was covered in camouflage netting.

... Hang on. How come I can't understand them?

The morph ball paused as it snuck up behind two humans in armored garb fit for jungle warfare. They seemed to be bickering things into the radio station, and that it seemed to be barking things back to the two humans.

The morph ball wanted to say something. A simple 'good morning' might have sufficed. Perhaps a 'hello'. Or even a 'hi'. But nothing came out. It was strange. The dialect wasn't English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, or even Cantonese. Worse still, the morph ball was only proficient in the English language. But then again, if the morph ball stuck around for a bit, they might learn a phrase or two. Hopefully. But as it stands, the morph ball has no means in which to communicate to these humans. No amount of words or hand gestures can initiate communication between each other. However, their moody brooding was distracted by an aroma of good food. How the morph ball was able to smell, even while having no nose to smell with, was a question that they didn't pay any heed to. A sandwich of some kind was pulling their attention, positioned next to some kind of canister that smelled vaguely of coffee.

Oh? A floor sandwich? Unguarded? for me? Don't mind if I do~.

The morph ball rolled onto the food item and flattened it. Nothing happened, other than the sandwich flattening. The morph ball paused for a long time before a sigh escaped it. The morph ball was sadly reminded of their lack of a mouth. Without a mouth in which to eat with, they would not be able to derive nutrients from consumed food. As a morph ball, the morph ball lacked such an orifice. On the other hand, the burger had a nice smell to it. It smelled like a kind of deluxe gourmet burger, made by some kind of culinary genius.

... Wait. Why is it silent all of a sudden?

The morph ball's attention was directed to the humans that were bickering at the radio. Apparently, when the morph ball sighed, the exhale made just enough noise to catch their attention. They stared at the morph ball sitting on the floor sandwich with stunned silence.

... Uh. ... Should... Should I say something?

Before the morph ball had a chance to say anything, one of the humans drawed their pistol in a blink of an eye and fired it. The canister exploded in a shower of metal fragments and liquid innards. This prompted the morph ball to quickly retreat, opting to jump over the stone rail and make for the ground.

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed the morph ball as it rolled away.

"AH! MY THERMOS!" Figgis exclaimed, rushing over to his rations with concern.

Ralpha rushed toward the rail of the roof's balcony and looked for the strange thing that visited them. "There is an unknown lifeform in our midst, Corporal. Show some discipline!" He grimaced when the strange round thing escaped his sight.

Figgis sighed as he brushed off the metal bits off of his grox burger. "Well. At least my other ration is okay. A bit flat, but I'm sure it's fine"

"And you should stop stuffing your gob when on duty!" Ralpha groused.

[What is going on? Report!] The Comm-link barked.

"Figgis. You're on overwatch." Ralpha growled before running to the long-distance Vox-caster. "Apologies, Colonel Tobias. We were visited by a... by some kind of creature. Over."

[Elaborate, Lieutenant Glosn. What do you mean by 'creature'? Over.] The Colonel asked testily from the other side of the Comm-link communique machine.

"It uh..." Ralpha tried to find the words. "It was round. Completely round, like a sphere. It looked about the size of an ogryn's head. Maybe bigger. And it looked like it had some blue carapace shell around itself. It was about to feed on my Corporal's rations, but it seemed like we stopped it in time."

Figgis suddenly started gagging, spitting out his flattened grox burger.

Ralpha sighed. "Standby HQ. Over." He then turned to Figgis. "Report, Corporal. Are you poisoned?"

After hacking up the last bit of rations out of his throat, he wiped his mouth and snarled. "That little farker! It... It... I cannot taste it! That thing, whatever it did, stole its flavor! It felt like tasting ash from a spent campfire! Gawh!"

Ralpha sighed. He returned to the Comm-link. "This is Lieutenant Ralpha Glosn. My Corporal thought it was a good idea to eat his rations contaminated by the xenos. Over."

[The report of your charge's health has been acknowledged. We will notify a medic and send them to your location to asses their condition. Are you still under attack by this... spherical xenos? Over.]

"No sir. It fled over the balcony when we shot at it. I must have scared it off. Over."

[Very well. This has been noted in your report, Lieutenant Glosn. If at any point you at outpost POR-O-22 become antagonized by this new xenos, then you have our express permission to hunt it down. You have the discretion to capture it alive for analysis and experimentation, or to terminate it. Over.]

"Sir yes sir. This is Lieutenant Ralpha Glosn, signing out." Ralpha finished, turning off the Comm-link. He turned around to face his corporal, only to find him missing. However, this was brief as Corporal Figgis Karkit came back with a long-las variant lasrifle. Ralpha sighed. "Corporal, report. What the fek are you doing with Liddy's long-las?"

"Farkin' farker comes up here and ruins my lunch. Not today. Imma turn that critter into a wheel of meat when I'm done with it. Cook it into bug sausage and have that for a meal!" Figgis growled bestially.

Ralpha sighed. "Corporal Karkit, control yourself. It was only your burger."

"Yeah, well, Colonel Tobias said that if that thing comes around here again, we have permission to catch or kill it. I'm gonna kill it." Figgis growled as he scanned the immediate area around the outpost.

"Do you even know how to operate that weapon, Corporal?" Ralpha deadpanned.

"There!" Figgis pointed at the morph ball below, which stood on a patch of grass that was short enough to be seen by them.

Ralpha leaned slightly over the balcony's railing and peered down. He probably didn't see it escape into the grass by the time it took him to peer over the balcony. It must have been fast for such a small thing. After a brief pause, the lieutenant snorted. "What kind of animal even is it?"

"Who cares. Don't you remember what the colonel said? If it antagonizes us, we can kill it." Figgis reminded Ralpha as he stared daggers at the morph ball.

"The only casualty it took from us was your grox burger, Corporal Karkit." Ralphas sighed as he pinched his nose.

"Tell you what. If it's still there after twenty seconds, you'll give me permission to shoot it. Deal?" Figgis said with a handshake offered to Ralpha.

Ralpha's gaze hardened at Figgis. "Corporal Karkit, allow me to remind you that we are a squad detachment that is issued to be as this outpost's watch-guard compliment. We are to report significant threats to the inner settlements and colonies north of us of any plant, animal, or any other xenos monstrosity that would threaten human existence on Catachan. We'd be lucky enough if we were to wait for the backup. That is our role here."

Figgis looked over the railing once more. He then looked at Ralpha. "It's been twenty seconds already, and that thing hasn't moved since, sir."

Ralpha blinked. He then looked down and saw that, indeed, the morph ball hasn't budged from its position. With a defeated sigh, he reached to Figgis' hand to shake it before he crossed his arms behind his back and composed himself. "Fire at will."

Figgis smiled with a wicked toothy grin and began to aim at the morph ball. The second he did, the morph ball hopped into the tall grass and vanished. Figgis' smile faded into a curling and scowled frown. "Fark. I lost visual." He still fired a few of his loosed lasers into the fields of grass, but he missed all of his shots. After the fifth shot, Figgis gave up.

Ralpha gazed over the grass and saw it shuffling, noting that it was making its way to the gray patch that was south of their position. He also noticed the new two paths that it made, which seem to lead to-and-from the gray patch. He narrowed his eyes. "Hm. It appears as though our contact might have originated from the gray spot."

"Do you think it might be making a nest in that area?" Figgis asked, sounding hopeful.

Ralpha arched an eyebrow at his corporal. "It's awfully close to the jungle."

Figgis pouted. "Yeah, and? I want to hunt that ball thing down."

"What's all that farkin' racket?!" A disheveled woman with messy hair, a white tank top, camouflaged pants, combat boots, and a red bandana visited the two soldiers. Her eyes were a steel gray, her hair a fiery scarlet red, and was porcelain-skinned with a mottling of freckles covering her exposed skin. Her fair, yet anger-wrinkled face had a look that could curdle milk. Her gaze settled upon Figgis. "And what the fark are you doing with my Long-las, Karkit?!"

"Just an animal problem, Liddy. They're gone now, but I wanted to hunt it down." Figgis said, gingerly handing the Long-las he stole and giving it back to the woman who was apparently named Liddy.

Liddy walked up to Figgis, took the weapon from him with a threatening growl, and then slung it over her shoulder. "If you touch this without my permission ever again, I will make sure you have more to worry about than Catachan devils, drakebats, mamorphs, leeches, flies, worms, plants, and diseases combined."

Ralpha sighed. "Greetings, Seargent Liddy Powell. Welcome to the pandemonium."

Liddy composed herself and saluted to her Lieutenant. "Sorry for the intrusion, Glosn sir. I was investigating the sounds of weapons discharge."

"At ease, Sergeant. The Corporal and I was merely briefly engaged with a new type of xenos." Ralpha responded.

"Really?" Liddy said blinking. "Did you see it? What did it look like?"

Ralpha nodded and gestured with his hands. "It appeared to be some kind of insectoid organism about yea big. It was spherical in shaped, and seemed to be a little more than half a meter in width, length, and height. It was light blue in color."

Liddy curled her nose. "Doesn't sound very imposing. If something that small spooked the both of you, then I might consider transferring to a more competent outpost than this one."

Ralpha growled. "It snuck its way into the balcony, Sergeant. And it did something to our corporal's grox burger."

Liddy blinked before shaking her head. "Where the hell does Karkit get grox burgers out here?"

Figgis stood firmly and crossed his arms. "Old Karkit family secret, I'm afraid. I'm not telling you."

Liddy and Figgis stared daggers at each other for a few seconds before Ralpha cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, children, but perhaps we should get the outpost into high alert?"

Liddy saluted at Ralpha Glosn before running to the lower floors below the balcony. "RAISE THE ALARM! WE ARE NOW ON HIGH ALERT! XENOS HAS BEEN SPOTTED, SO CHECK YOUR FIRING LINES AND PRAY TO THE GOD EMPEROR WE SURVIVE THIS DAY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

Figgis saluted to Ralpha. "Lieutenant Glosn, sir. Permission to take the Sentinel out to hunt the xenos?"

Ralpha scoffed. "No, Corporal. However, you do have permission to use the Tauros. The multi-laser turret should suffice nicely. Otherwise, I will only resort to using the Sentinel unless we're facing off against one of the smaller variants of the Catachan devils. I'm sure Private Douggindi Walking would enjoy being your gunner. You are dismissed."

Figgis' eyebrow twitched. "Leuitenant Glosn, sir. With all due respect, the Sentinel is the superior choice of war vehicle in this engagement. I would be able to see past the tall grass without having to expose myself to the xeno scum's melee range, sir."

"Your preference for strategy, vehicular transportation, and combat capability is noted, Corporal. You. Are. Dismissed." Ralpha finished slowly.

Figgis' eyebrow twitched more. A defeated sigh escaped his lips before he went into a jog to find the gunner that would join him on his hunting excursion. Ralpha, meanwhile, gazed back at the wall of jungle that loomed past the eight hundred meters of grass plains. Ralpha gritted his teeth slightly as he resumed his overwatch. He wouldn't bat an eye if his corporal or that annoying private ended up disappearing one day. Those two, especially the private, would certainly be considered as the most expendable soldiers in this outpost, under Ralpha's private opinion. The thought of that sphere-thing opening its mouth, revealing a jaw lined with impossible teeth, latching itself onto either the corporal or private's heads, nearly made the lieutenant smile.

Ah. To dream. Be still my beating heart, lest my erstwhile desires fade from my fantasy.

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?

The morph ball crazily zoomed through the grass, erratically turning as randomly as they could while dodging the sniping shots directed at them. They didn't let up in their serpentine movements, even when the loud *zap* of their strange weapon finally stopped firing. Whomever those soldiers were, they apparently do not take very kindly to morph balls. That or they never saw a morph ball before and decided to act first and ask question later.

Having purchased enough Energy Parts to create another energy tank, the morph ball decided to turn off their Energy Drain ability once they topped their energy meter. This was mostly because he noticed the gray ashen path that lead to the large circle of dust that he created from his feeding on the energy that grew in the grass. To feel safer, the morph ball rolled further ahead past their feeding area and partly into the jungle area. One tree trunk in particular seemed sufficient enough to hide the morph ball, having a sizeable nook between the roots that dug into the ground, so they decided to hide behind it. If needed, the morph ball could drain the tree's energy.

Once the morph ball was neatly tucked away, they began to assess their combative capabilities.

Okay.

So.

Sitrep.

I can roll. I can lay bombs. I can use Boost Ball to ram myself into things. I got Spring Ball, which can let me jump high. And I got a few energy tanks during my little twirl through the grasslands. Not a whole lot I can do. I only wish that my bombs could be more modular. Like if I can add a timer to them somehow? Or if they can be remote-detonated from a hundred meters away or something? Or some kind of booby trap, where it explodes if it sensed that it was touched by something? I wouldn't even mind a bomb type that is affected by gravity, or retains its inertia while I move. But noooooo, all I can do is shit explosives and ram into things! If the bird-brained Chozo had the idea to design the Bomb power-up into the tech, then they could of had the thought of at least making it more modular! Uh... Hang on. Who are the Chozo?

The morph ball's brain, or whatever might constitute as their brain, developed a slight headache.

Wait... That's... That's right. This morph ball body I'm in is part of Chozo technology. ... Why do know that? How am I remembering that?

A distant rumble of a vehicle came closer. However, the soldiers' imposed invitation to this area wouldn't be enough to distract the morph ball of their thoughts. Once the vehicle stopped, the driver stepped out and inspected the ashen wastes.

Okay. So. Chozo. Race of bird people. They have, what is essentially, magic technology. Nobody knows how it works, while I'm currently using that tech in the form of a morph ball. I woke up like this and I don't remember anything before this. On the other hand, since I'm remembering the name of that race, then that could mean that I'm remembering my past. I hope? Sorta? Maybe?

Another rumble in the distance began to come closer, but to the morph ball, they felt as though they were safe in the nook of the trunk.

And who was I before I got myself stuck in this? Hell, I don't even know what sex I am! Am I even human at this point? Wait... Does this mean I used to be human?

The rumble grew in volume. A cacophony of multiple hollow sticks slapped the ground and among the trees in the jungle environment. Large compound eyes revealed themselves past the jungle forest. An enormous centipede body, with strong crab claws, a tentacled face, and a scorpion tail, rushed through the overgrowth and made a mad dash to the vehicle, knocking down the tree the morph ball was hiding in.

The soldier that exited their seat hollered at the gunner mounting the turret as they hopped back into their vehicle, the gunner used the vehicle's mounted laser gun to burn scores into the giant insectoid monster. The driver had opted to drive away and unpin their grenades, only to chuck them behind himself in the hopes that the tactic might slow down the many-legged monster that now chased them. Even with the laser fire and the grenades exploding from under its feet, the monster continued to chase after the vehicle, heedless of the damage and wounds it sustained.

... Hm. Um. Yeah. I'll uh... I'll let those guys handle it.

The morph ball decided that the area was too dangerous, and made its escape further into the jungle forest. Between the war zone behind them and the violent calls of nature's animal life, life in general tends to be full of various kinds of crazy. However, that giant bug thing, or arachnid thing, or whatever that insane monster was, it seemed to be competent enough to chase around a light infantry vehicle, despite its face being blasted with a concentrated firing of super-heated beams directed directly to its face. It didn't seem very affected by the deterrence in the slightest either. It must either be hungry, mad, a combination of the two, or something else beyond the morph ball's ability of understanding.

Nonetheless, the morph ball fled from the area, heading deep into new territory.

You know what? The Spider Ball power-up doesn't seem so bad. I bet it would be pretty cool to use that power. Might even turn me into a spider that lets me climb up trees where it's safe. Yes indeed! After seeing that nightmare of a beast, I'm sure I'll be comfortable enough being far enough away from it and not on the ground where it can reach me! Anyway... No more thinking about the Chozo or how I got here. No more thinking about how that thing could chow down on me like I was a crunchy grape. No more thinking about those rude assholes. Ha ha ha!

The morph ball slightly deflated, slowing down as though deep in thought.

Hmm... I need to come up with a name if I can't remember my own. It wouldn't do me good if I don't have something people can call me by, other than whatever embarrassing nicknames they come up with. Let's see... I could use my own shape as a name. Circle. Sphere. Round. Ball. Maybe something involving circle. I did circle back to that dust patch to get out of danger, after all. Although using Circle as a name might be too on-the-nose. Maybe break away the 'Cir' part and use 'Cle' instead. Or maybe I could be using 'Cir' as 'Sir'? Buh. This circular logic is getting me nowhere, since I still don't know what gender I am. ... Hm! Circular? Sir Cular? That's actually a bit better! Cular! Okay. I can go with that. Short for Cularities. Get it? Because it's a reference to the word 'circularity'? Eh? Anyway... Once I remember who I am, or figure out what my assigned sex is, I shall name myself either Cularities, Sir Cularities, Lady Cularities. I hope that I remember my old name, whatever it is. Honestly, I kinda hope to keep Sir Cularities because it sounds like such a great name! Anyway, I think it's time to check my upgrade menu thing-mabob.

Energy Part: cost 99.

Timed Bomb: cost 45

Remote Bomb: cost 99

Trap Bomb: cost 145

Weighted Bomb: cost 199

Cross Bomb: cost 399

Power Bomb: cost 999

Spider Ball: cost 249

Force Ball: cost 299

Death Ball: cost 449

Fusion Suit: cost 199

Energy Magnet 1: cost 49

... Hang on, I don't remember those bombs. Were they ever there before? Did they unlock after I bought the bomb upgrade, or were they put there as an afterthought? I don't ever remember putting those upgrades there before. Did I? Or is some random omnipotent being, either a future-seeing Chozo of the past or some other divine being saw what I was thinking and thought 'Hmm hmm yes that actually sounds like good power-up ideas for bombs. I'll put those in there for you. Have a good day!' Uh... Can I have access to the godmode cheat unlockable upgrade? ... Please? ... Pretty please? ... No? ... ... ... *sigh* Now I am more confused than ever before. May as well get some new upgrades while I'm meandering through this humid biome.

A/N: Modulate your bombs responsibly!