//------------------------------//
// Stress Management 
// Story: Buggy System 
// by Dedion 
//------------------------------//

Almira once wrote a paper on the effects adrenaline has on the body. It took her two weeks to write the massive block of an article, and in those two weeks, she learned a lot more than she thought she would. However, none of that could prepare her for when her adrenaline rush started to die down. The small pains over her body and the sluggish feeling in her legs were on the list of the things that kept her going at the moment. Her thoughts at the moment were simple as to avoid any more mental exhaustion. The goal at the moment was simple as well: Get to a body of water and let Ge-Foli reform. Anything that came as an obstacle to that goal was met with a brutal end.

One example of an unfortunate individual was a feline-like creature that had been stalking Almira. It was a fundamental law of the universe that biological beings need food to survive. It was natural for the feline to be stalking her as it most likely saw her sluggish moment as a sign that she was either injured or tired. Coupled with the color of Almira's uniform, she must have looked like an easy target. If the feline-like creature had been stalking any other thing, Almira wouldn't have given it any thought. Sadly, that was not the case.

As the creature pounced, Almira's instincts took over. She quickly rolled to her right and dodged to the creature's pounce. Almira focused on channeling her flux, causing the air to begin to swirl. The feline-creature recovered from its failed attack and was preparing to strike again, but they stopped when it felt the air around it swirling harder and harder. The beast soon found that the ground was no longer beneath its paws. It could only watch as the earth continued to get farther and farther away from it. Gravity soon gained control over the beast again and pulled it back down to meet the ground with a sickening crunch.

Almira watched as she launched the beast into the sky along with a decent portion of the surrounding area. She went on her way and was about five minutes away when the stuff she previously launched came crashing down. More unfortunate souls met their end by Almira's wind as she continued on her mission. Looking back on her previous actions,  Almira admitted there were probably ways to prevent some of the faunas' deaths. However, Almira was at a loss as to what those ways could have been at the moment. All she cared about was finding that body of water. Almira felt something on touch her from her knees on down. Instinctually, she used the flux around her to blast whatever it was with air. A torrent of water splashed back in response, drenching Almira. Almira groaned as she was so focused on finishing the goal that she didn't notice that she was standing in it.

Almira dropped the core of her crewmate into the water. Upon contact, the water began to swirl around Ge-Foli's core. The water around Almira's legs began to freeze as Ge-Foli used her flux. The core released some substance into the swirling water. After a time, the swirling water started to become more gelatinous. A small hand erupted from the viscous substance which was soon followed by another side. Eventually, Ge-Foli pulled her upper half up from the material. Almira looked at the small Ge-Foli that emerged out of the substance. From her current appearance, she looked as if she was the equivalent of a human child.  Ge-Foli smacked her lips for a few moments. "Ph of 7 and a hint of zinc... weird," Ge-Foli said before she placed her gaze on Almira breaking herself out of the ice. "Yo, Almira. I didn't know you were a..."

"Finish that sentence, and I will slice your core in half," Almira threatened. Ge-Foli considered her options at this moment. She decided not to finish her cheesy pun. While Almira used her flux to blowdry herself, she noticed a shape moving in the water. Her instincts took over again, and a gust of air shot out of her hand. The form under the water exploded in a mist of flesh and bone that was blown further into the lake. 

"By The Maker," Ge-Foli flinched, "You must be more on edge than I thought."

"Perhaps," Almira admitted. The upper half of a reptile floated to the top of the water. "The moment we get back, I think I'm just gonna pass out for a few days and never leave my bed. Or whatever it is I call my 'bed'."

"Aw, come on. It's not that bad," joked Ge-Foli.

"We're on a neutral planet with barely any indication as to where we are. We can't teleport anywhere, nor we have the capability to light-jump. For all we know, we're stuck here forever."

"... Well, at least we're not dead." Almira paused for a moment, "Or spiraling through space with limited food. Or being left vulnerable to the vacuum of space. Or..."

"I get the picture!" Almira yelled. The two stayed quiet for a few moments. "But, I guess you're right. There are worse situations we could be in right now. However, I do still need some sleep. Hurry up and reform so we can go back."

"Woman, you can't rush perfection!" Ge-Foli said offendedly. The two waited by the water's edge for about half an hour while Ge-Foli reformed. After Ge-Foli finished, the two were on their way to their Base. Ge-Foli commented on the carnage Almira caused as they did so.

As the duo finally made it back to the base, they heard music emanating from the inside. This piqued their curiosity. Where did Chrysalis find music amongst the equipment meant for combat? The two quickly entered the makeshift base to found a scene they weren't prepared for. In three hours since they had left, Chrysalis managed to build a second drone. This one was similar to Okdi in the fact that it shared its arachnid-like body. However, this one did not possess a cannon much like its predecessor. The drone held a thin device that made up most of its body. A pair of metallic wings were attached to its body. Lines of flux coursed through the drone's wings. Both researchers assumed that the flux flowing through the machine allowed it to be light enough for it to fly through the air as it did.

However, what struck the two researchers as odd is that the two drones were in the middle of a... play of some kind. Music being emanated from both of the drones as they fought each other. Okdi pounced and pinned the flying drone as it began to sing, "... And I'll rejoice as you breathe your final breath~!" The flying drone let out a chilling laugh as its body began to glow with flux energy. Its body soon turned into wisps of cyan energy before swarming around Okdi. The drone was soon covered in a layer of cyan energy. Its legs wobbled as if it seemed to have trouble controlling its body. Another voice began to sing as Okdi struggled against the flux.

"I'll live inside you forever!" the voice sang with great glee. "With Satan by my side!"

"No!" Okdi protested.

"And know that, now and forever, they'll never be able to separate Okdi from Ofadi!" The flux shined brighter, nearly blinding the researchers. The music stopped for a moment. Once it died down, they saw that Okdi and the flying drone had fused. With the flying drone now serving as a type of armored plating and the thin device that made up a majority of its body currently serving as wings for Okdi. Its regular green lights changed to a soft red. The flying drone began to sing again as the music started back, "Can't you see? It's over now! It's time to die!" 

"If I die, you die too!" Okdi rebutted. Its green lights returned as Okdi seemed to fight over control of its body.

"You die in me, I'll be you!" Ofadi responded.

"Curse you, Ofadi! Set me free!" 

"Can't you see it?! You are me!"

"No! Deep inside..."

"I am you! You are mine!!"

"No, never!"

"Yes, forever!" Ofadi took to the air, cackling. 

"Damn you, Ofadi! Take all your evil deeds and rot in hell!" Okdi yelled. 

"I'll see you there, Okdi!" The music came to a finish while Ofadi laughed in victory one more time as the music faded away. Chrysalis clapped her hooves together as the two drones unfused into two separate drones. Chrysalis's gaze caught the sight of the two researchers at the entrance of the base.

"What do you think? Even with limited resources, that turned out better than I thought it did, " She celebrated as she looked over the drones. A frown appeared on her face as she saw the dimmed lights on Ofadi. "Though, you're using too much power. No doubt that's going to bite me in the flank one day. I'll fix you later. Return to idle mode." Chrysalis raised a foreleg. The flying drone clamped itself to it also immediately after she gave the command. Its wings folded against its body tightly.

"That was kinda weird to walk into," Almira admitted, "But it was a nice surprise compared to what we've been through."

"Where did you even get the music from fighter crafts?" asked Ge-Foli.

"There were some articles I read a while back that had sections dedicated to the practice of pilots of illegal fighter crafts putting secret compartments in their ships. They put almost anything in them from snacks to drugs." Chrysalis said as she flew over to a section of the base. She fiddled with a panel in one of the wall's higher corners. The board popped off a small wave of human snacks, and other items fell out of the secret compartment. "I was getting bored waiting on you two, so I scanned the entire base thoroughly a few times. As luck would have it, some of those secret compartments were still intact." Another moment of silence washed over the group. Ge-Foli walked over to the pile of items and pick up a candy bar, unwrapped it, and took a bite. 

"Sweet," she said before Almira and Chrysalis joined in. "What other songs are on there? About twenty-five percent of human music and other artistic things was lost some years after the... what was it again?"

"Mezopian War," Almira answered.

"Yeah, that."

"Ofadi," Chrysalis started. The drone on her foreleg lit up and let out a mechanic chirp. "Play 'Meme' playlist." Ofadi let out a few more chirps before the drone began to play music.


"Somebody once told me..."