Shed Skin for Scales [Rewritten]
I frowned as the red screen exploded onto my TV, the words “defeat” blaring a noise like hissing snakes into my ears. Angered that my ninth loss had been given to me after twenty minutes per duel, I slammed my black Xbox 360 controller on the bed and slapped a hand onto my face angrily. The action wasn’t hard enough to cause pain, but it did help in alleviating some of the stress I was feeling.
“I hate you, Nicol Bolas. Why did they design your deck to work so fucking flawlessly,” I yelled, pounding a fist into my mattress. Irritation coursed through my veins like a liquid virus, attaching and then burrowing into all of my blood cells, causing my body to heat up while I gritted my teeth. “This is just great. I spend all night on this fucking game, trying to beat his scaley-ass, and I can’t even do it! It’s fucking three in the morning, I have school in three hours, and I didn’t sleep once!”
I balled my fist up, getting ready to punch something else, before opting to just sigh the frustration away. The anger didn’t just disappear, and it made itself known by remaining a tight knot in my chest. Getting up from my queen-sized mattress, I walked over to my Xbox Slim and pressed the silver power button. The machine dinged once and powered off, placing my room in darkness as I turned off the TV.
“I can’t believe I let a fucking video game get to me like that. So much for my cool head,” I thought with a chuckle, walking back over to my bed and flopping down on it. My body was cold from the lack of night clothes, so I crawled under my comforter to protect myself from the autumn-temperature in my room. The heat came in like a wrecking ball.
Once again, a frown worked its way across my face. “That’s it; I’m hell-a tired.” As my brain ran a mile a minute to dislodge the nasty image of that girl at the VMA’s, I wiggled myself down and fluffed my pillow. Slamming my head on the soft, sheet-covered pillow; my eyes closed and solidified the darkness I was seeing before.
A breath of cold air left my mouth as the warmth washed over me, and I stayed like this until my burning eyes finally eased up on me. It didn’t take long for me drift off to sleep...
I yawned greatly, smacking my lips in weariness. My body felt heavy, and I chalked this up to having stiff muscles from sleeping awkwardly. It happens more often than I would like it to, but I’m a heavy sleeper, so there’s not much I can do for it.
“Ugh, what time is it? No way in hell I’m catching the bus, that’s for sure. Meh, better get the day started.” There was a morning ritual I went through to get up and get ready for school. The ritual began with me doing what I’m doing right now; which means swinging my body around so that my feet rested on the cold... metal...
“The fuck is this? I swear, if my dickhead brother moved me while I was asleep again...” Positively pissed-off now, I jumped off my bed and stumbled forward awkwardly. Regaining my balance after hopping on one foot forever, I made my way to the light-switch next to my bed; which I knew was there, because that’s how my house was built.
But when I tried to flip the switch up and felt nothing but air, one could only imagine the amount of distaste I had boiling within. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Why won’t these lights. Come. ON!”
With a dull hum, the lights came on above me. They were so bright, that I had to cover my eyes with my forearm just to keep the harmful glare from annoying me. Hissing in annoyance, I turned my shielded eyes to the left and opened them, and then stopping to stare blankly at a window in the distance.
Now, the average person would not find a window all that interesting. It’s what was on the other side of the window that was! And as I ran over to this window, my face fell into an abyss of no emotion. Placing my face against the glass, I peered outside, and it took everything I had not to lose my shit right then and there.
“I’m... I’m in space!? Did I get abducted!?” My face began to sweat, and so, I lifted a claw to wipe away the perspiration with its back. Sliding the scaly extremity across my brow, I felt momentary relief as the cool air of this room washed up against my moistened forehead. “That’s way better! Now, I just have to.” I froze and thought about my actions.
“Wait! Did I just use a claw!?” Slowly lowering my head forwards while raising my hand, I nearly screamed like a diva that broke a nail when a navy-blue dragon claw, with no clear indication of where claw stops and nail begins, opened and closed itself to my thoughts of opening and closing my hand!
I babbled half-words and fractured sentences, trying to come up with one coherent thought that would help me out of this fantasy I was living! Stepping backwards with the fear of being changed into some type of monster, I did not expect my foot to run into something and send me tumbling.
I fell backwards and slapped my head upon the metallic floor, and for just a minute, I swear I saw tiny Spyros flying in a circle above me. But, I swatted the dragon apparitions away and stood back up, hissing in pain as the back of my head throbbed.
A habit of mine forced my claw onto the offended spot, and I freaked out the moment I touched my head. “I know from past experience as an avid gamer that dragons do not have hair, so why the fuck am I feeling some pretty nice hair back there!?” I grabbed the offending locks and swerved them around so I could see them, gasping in shock at the color and beauty of them.
My hair was a sunny summer sky, with traces of clouds between the endless expanse of bright blue locks. It was cool to the touch, almost like a comforting breeze would run itself through the tresses themselves from time to time. The hair was vibrant, and as I followed its length up with my hand, I eventually found out that two fang-shaped bangs tucked themselves and hung below two triangular-shaped scaled ears. My bangs stopped just after my jaw, while the rest fell down to about mid-back.
“Holy shit. This is the most fucked up dream I’ve ever had! What the hell kind of body is this!?” Taking a deep breath, I looked out the window and into space again. This time, instead of looking straight ahead into the vast scenery of black sky with white stars, I looked down and beheld a planet.
There were continents, but they were not like Earth’s. The shapes were different, and since it’d be useless to count the continents when I’m sure as hell there’s more on the other side, I didn’t count how many I saw at the time. At least there were clouds floating around like they owned the place.
“It’s blue and green, just like Earth. Although, there seems to be more land than sea, but the difference is hardly noticeable. As for me...” I trailed off mentally, looking down at the rest of my naked body.
“This is surprising, yeah, but the thrill is gone now. Being the ‘Furry’ that I am, this is definitely some type of anthro body; possibly reptilian, if the scales are anything to go by. However, I don’t know too many reptiles with actual hair; that’s something entirely new.” Frowning at my new predicament, I inspected my body further.
My chest would’ve knocked the socks off of any horny high-school female. There was a bevy of perfectly defined muscles littering my person, and I could feel unholy amounts of a tension in them like I hadn’t stretched the muscles a single second in my life. It was uncomfortable, yeah, but I found my eyes lingering on the belly-scales that matched my mane. The abdominals flexed on my command, and all twelve of them started their stoney salute.
I smiled like a big idiot who just found out how to operate a whoopee cushion.
Using my hands to map out my head, I soon discovered my narrow, reptilian muzzle. Based on the way my hands slid forward and slowly traveled to meet each other, I knew it was the mouth of a predator. Opening my mouth next, I used a single finger to map it out as well, coming across several rows of dagger-like sharp teeth. My chin was square, and the jawline was like chiseled rock. “I could ram a billy goat and I bet he’d be the only one to feel anything!” That thought of mine made me chuckle, but I stopped it short and continued my inspections.
With my mouth still open, I let my tongue fly out. To my surprise, it actually started to touch my belly-button! Shivering from the unnatural length and coldness, I rolled it back up with muscles I never used before and closed my mouth, deeming myself done with it. Based on the way it snaked about, I knew the appendage- if I wished -could be used like a third arm.
My body was humanoid in appearance, the only key difference being the inverted knees I now had. “Ugh, it just keeps getting better, huh? Now I look like a freaking lycanthrope, or some freaky-ass creature of the night. This shit is so fucked,” I thought with exasperation, rubbing my neck and turning my head to crack it.
I stopped as a happy smile worked its way across my face slowly. “Hello~! What have we here~!?” My excitement was rising as a curved, ivory talon jutted out from the tip of a large, bat-like wing sprouting from my right shoulder! “I bet these wings of mine stretch out further than my arm span when unfurled! I’m like, six-feet ten-inches, though! Shit, man; I’m huge as fuck!”
It took me around five minutes, but I eventually found muscles that shot both my wings out to their full glory with a mighty blast of air. I even gave a couple test flaps, feeling the cool air in this all-white metal room caress the paper-like membrane of the wings. Instead of the leathery hair like bat wings would have, mine were covered in the navy-blue scales of my body. The membrane itself matched my mane and underbelly.
My thighs were a little girly, but as I walk around now, I can’t complain about them. The thighs have given me a regal and graceful stride, almost as if demanding the attention of any sentient being around me at any given time. My butt is a little more plump than I would like, now that I’m touching it, but it doesn’t really matter.
The legs themselves are muscular-but-lithe, with a strong calf muscle that could be seen from a mile away. They end with clawed feet, with three small toes in the front and a small-hind claw on the back.
Folding my magnificent wings back up, I turned around from the window with a smile and beheld what I got up from. Twas a small black chair, made from some type of material I couldn’t place a finger on while I rested upon it. Inside the pure white room, this black chair stuck out like a virgin on a nudist beach!
My face contorted into a frown as I walked up to the chair and sat back down, feeling the soft fibers push up against my back and wings. The biggest fear I had about lying down on my back with these wings was to cause them serious damage. Nevertheless, I did sit back in this chair and made good use of its armrests. I was completely relaxed, and now that I have time to reflect, I can honestly say this whole situation was handled well!
“Unfortunately, this appears to be some sort of lucid dream. I’ve never had one of these before, so I don’t know shit about keywords or techniques to wake my dumbass self up. Best thing to do is to go with the flow, I guess. Better milk this for all it’s worth.” I folded my claws together and rested the elbows on my stomach softly, as to not cause discomfort.
“Now, this ship seems futuristic enough. Voice command shouldn’t be that farfetched for me not to try,” I reasoned mentally before clearing my throat. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling slowly to blow out any jitters I had, I got ready to try something no human has ever done.
“Well, anthro lizard, if semantics mean anything.”
“Computer: turn on,” I ordered calmly. There was a click and a whir, before a shimmering, pink hologram of an anthro lizard appeared before me. I raised an eyebrow as the tiny wavering image got down on a knee and dipped its head in greeting.
It then stayed there, making me tilt my head. “Aren’t you going to do anything? Say something,” I asked with curiosity, sitting up in my seat as the image floated away to keep distance.
The pink head came back up, and the female hologram- if the digitized tits were anything to go by -smiled at me. “Tiamat bless you, Silas Epista! Can I get you anything?” Her voice was soft, almost like a grown woman from back on Earth. In fact, this thing sounded like another female hologram I know.
“Siri? Is that you, Siri?” I sounded like someone just told me they were going to shit down my neck. The hologram let out a buzzing chuckle and nodded her head.
“I’m surprised you remembered me, let alone being able to remember how to talk! Quite a feat for a Draconian that just woke up from hyper-stasis; but I guess that can be chalked up to your Sigma Draconian body!” Siri blinked out of existence and appeared next to my cheek, smiling sweetly as I studied what she was doing. Using her pink holographic finger, Siri began prodding my face, sending little jolts of electricity through my nerves with every touch.
I raised my eyebrow, growing mildly annoyed at the constant shocks. “What are you doing, Siri,” I poked her in the stomach with my pinky, getting a echoing guffaw of joy from the hologram.
“Stop! Heheh, that tickles!”
I obeyed, lowering my finger but keeping my eyebrow up as she took deep breaths to control herself. “Phew! Alright, I was just conducting scans on your body. As it stands, you’re a little malnourished. You should be back at full strength...” My eyes nearly bulged out as she flexed her bicep into a large mass of rippling holographic muscle, giving me an impromptu ‘gun show’ while wearing a manly face. She fixed her disproportionate body with a giggle. “... roughly around a day from now, should you eat something between now and then! Your vitals are a-okay, and nothing seems wrong with you mentally!”
I watched as she flew up, winked, and booped me on the nose with a giggle.
“On one hand, I’m lost on this fucking dream. On the other, this is by far the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know whether to feel lost or squeeze this cute little thing to death.” I blankly stared at Siri for what felt like hours, before shaking my head smiling.
“You’re too cute to live, Siri; you know that,” I stated with a giggle, poking her in the stomach again. “Now, could you tell me why I’m here, in space?” Leaning back after asking my question, Siri nodded and disappeared from the feet up. Many clicks and whirring noises were heard before the sound of falling water caused me to look up.
The ceiling was shifting, and as the panels moved, I noticed pink lines of electricity moving throughout the black cords as they shifted about. “Figures she’s a part of the... wait; what am I even inside of? Is this a ship, or a space station?”
The final amount of panels shifted, and then my chair began leaning back slowly, so that my head faces the massive black expanse of seventy misplaced white squares. The whole filled with a sky-blue holo-screen, displaying the words “Asla Tech” in white letters. These words stayed for about half second before disappearing, replaced with multiple squares on the huge screen.
“If you must know, Captain; this is the Traveler-Class space station, Ark. The last one to pilot this vessel was the Goddess-Queen of Asla herself, Atharva. Its course and destination is undetermined, and our location is equally unknown. The Ark has been traveling at the speed of light for some time now, approximately eight-hundred-twenty-seven years. I regret to inform you, Captain, that one of the main thrusters was hit during lightspeed travel; destroying the Ark’s capabilities as a space-faring vessel.”
“Since then, we have been stuck in orbit around a massive star and moon. This forced equilibrium caused us to drift for fifteen-and-a-half years. In order to save power and keep your body alive, I had to turn off all non-important functions for the sole purpose of power conservation.” As Siri’s explanation ended, the massive holoscreen pulled up one of the black rectangles, and it kicked to life with a colored image of the planet below. Spinning slowly, I found my curiosity spiking again.
“And this? What of this planet, Siri?” I gripped my armrests and exhaled peacefully, all the information from her earlier rant being stored within the confines of my brain. In response to my question, however, the video screen zoomed in until the unknown planet filled up the entire center of the seventy-inch holoscreen.
“This planet is does not match the descriptions of previously charted planets by the Aslanian Star Fleet, and therefore, no information can be brought forth. But, based on a scan I conducted before you awakened, I have safely determined that large amounts of magic and life signatures have been identified. The planet below is inhabited, and the Ark seems to be facing the side of the planet currently experiencing autumn, based on the tilt away from the star,” Siri explained expertly, like she’s been doing this forever. Which she probably has, what with the entire “holographic A.I” thing being a factor and all.
“Right. So, can this space station take us down there? I’m getting a feeling that being here on this station for much longer ain’t a good idea.” Sitting up as the holoscreen zipped back up into the ceiling, I hopped off the chair and walked back up to the window, crossing my arms as I glared at the endless expanse of black and twinkling stars.
A wobbling sound, the ones that sound like a hollow teleport, rung out beside my head. It doesn’t take a genius to know that Siri had just popped up from nowhere, and I found myself not caring in the slightest.
“You’d be right,” Siri answered somberly, making me turn to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “As things stand, the space station will lose all power tomorrow. No more power means the life support systems will be turned off, and you will asphyxiate within ten minutes. News like that is really bad to give, and I don’t enjoy doing so at all!” Siri crossed her arms and pouted, reminding me of a little kid who was just denied his turn on a video game. This caused me to snicker somewhat, before using my pinky to rub her underneath the chin. She seemed shocked at first, but quickly smiled and began purring into my caresses.
Little jolts of electricity tickled my nerves subtly, making me smile and stop touching her before things got weird. Those jolts were beginning to affect me in strange ways, and I didn’t want to find out how this new body of mine would respond to such stimulation.
“So what do you want to do, Captain Silas Epista? I have food for you, if you so desire; or we could brainstorm on how to reach the planet below before tomorrow comes... which is in five-hours.” Siri drifted onto my shoulder lethargically, sitting down on her petite holographic rump before lifting and placing her left leg over her right.
Taking a deep breath, I thought about my options.
“Option one: I eat. Option two: I think of a way to reach the planet below us. Out of these two options comes a number of other questions,” I thought with a small amount of panic, turning around and walking back to the black chair. “Is there a way for me to do both options? How will the people of that planet respond to my arrival? Would I be able to take Siri with me? And most importantly...” I trailed off with a grimace, leaning my back on the armrest and staring at the ceiling. “... who is Silas Epista, exactly?”
Messing around with the questions’ order, I eventually worked out a good pattern in which to ask them. Turning my eyes upon the small hologram that was waiting patiently on my answer, I smiled a disarming smile. “I’ve got four questions, Siri.”
She nodded, and I took my cue like a well-learned actor.
“The memory loss you mentioned earlier wasn’t completely lost on me. My memories of Asla are a little hazy, and I need a refresher on its inhabitants and key moments of my past,” I lied expertly, hoping she wouldn’t pry on the matter and just do what I said. She studied me a little bit before shrugging her shoulders and flying off of mine, doing loopty-loops as she got further and further away.
Turning around sharply, Siri raised her arm and opened her hand, drawing the outline of a rectangle in the air. A pink holoscreen manifested itself and sped towards my face, making me raise an eyebrow as it stopped just short of hitting me in the kisser.
“Oh, come on,” Siri called out in exasperation, “You didn’t even flinch! A real stick in the mud, aren’t ya’!?” I couldn’t help but laugh at her squeaky voice as the screen slid back from my face. The pink squares making up its existence changed from pink, to white, to black, like a bunch of dominoes falling in reverse.
The screen- once it was completely black -came to life with a schematic of a shuttle-like spacecraft. Placing a hand on the screen, I touched different parts of the ship and watched as they responded by zooming in on the specific parts. Details about what each part does and its weight, length, and approximate cost for replacement appeared. The monetary value was just a bunch of gibberish, so I didn’t stay too long on it.
“What is this, Siri,” I asked while zooming out of the “wing” section and viewing the inside of the shuttle itself.
“Traveler-Class Multi-Purpose Shuttle, Judgement. Solar rechargeable, able to reach speeds up to Mach 2, and fully capable of supporting a crew of twelve; the Judgement is the perfect candidate for planet exploring-slash-charting. The Ark has one of these vessels within the Cargo Bay underneath the Command Bridge. It wouldn’t be problematic for me to switch over to its central processor and fly you down to the planet. It’s in pretty good shape, too!” I saw Siri’s claws from the corners of my eyes; and when they stretched to encompass the sides of the holoscreen, I raised my eyebrows.
“How are you able to stretch like that,” I asked with no small amount of shock as she slammed the holoscreen closed, giving me a digital toothy grin.
“Heheheh! An A.I never reveals her secrets, Silas! Oh, and I can’t tell you about your past. Sorry.” She gave an indifferent shrug, drifting further and further away from me. I got off the armrest and followed her back over to the window. She pressed her face against it and peered down at the planet below. “It’s so pretty...”
“Yeah. And to think we get to visit it soon!” I patted her head, hopefully comforting the melancholy-stricken hologram. “But before all that, I need to know why you can’t tell me about my past.”
“That’s simple,” she responded. “The only thing I have on file matching the query of ‘Silas Epista’ is my programming to call you that. I have no files, video, pictures, or any other type of media matching your inquiry within my database. However,” Siri enthused, booping me on the nose again. “I recall seeing Atharva place your personal possessions within a locker in the Cargo Bay. I can have it transported here lickety-split, but it’s gonna take at least five minutes. Is this satisfactory?”
Siri crossed her arms and tapped her foot, letting me know how impatient she is. “You just gave me the option! Why are you looking at me like a mother who’s waiting for her ornery son to tell the truth!? I haven’t done anything wrong yet!”
“Yeah, bring it up if you want. I’ll be resting on this chair.” I walked back over to the chair and sat my ass on it. Scooting back so that my wings were pressed up against the back of the chair, I swung my legs up onto the appropriate leg area and rested my arms on the armrests. My head went back on instinct, and I closed my eyes to complete the motions in getting comfortable again.
“I’ll buzz you when your locker comes up then, Silas! Be back in a jiff!” As Siri ended her enthusiastic statement, I heard a beep sound and then the hollow one, like someone botched a teleportation. Siri was gone now, and I had time to think about this weird-ass dream again.
“But is it truly a dream? I’ve never experienced a lucid dream in my life, and I’m pretty sure I did a couple of things that would’ve woken me up in the real world. That time I took a tumble is a good point, and I’m pretty sure the head trauma should’ve been enough to knock me back into my own body. If I find out that this is real, and that I’m in this body because of some bullshit reason; I’m going to off on someone,” I thought with a large amount of distaste, snarling to myself in anger.
“Still, I rather like the fact that a world like this exists, and that I’ve been given an opportunity to explore it. I was never one for the ‘blending in’ scene anyway, and being an alien isn’t all that bad.” I opened my eyes and inspected my claw, narrowing my eyes and nearly coughing a lung up when something unexpected happened.
“The hell was that!? Did my vision magnify!? On Earth, I had to wear fucking glasses, and now I can zoom my eyes in like fucking range finders!?” Utterly amazed by my new discovery, I focused on the window across the way and narrowed my eyes again.
White lines blurred themselves to the edges of my vision like a hive of spiderwebs, and as my sight quickly zoomed in, they disappeared completely when I willed the zooming to stop. My vision was filled with black sky and white stars, having completely shot through the clear window itself and traveled some grand amount of distance into the final frontier.
Giving a loud whistle of admiration, I blinked and thought of retracting my sight. Like a rubber band that was pulled into nigh impossible lengths, my enhanced sight snapped back into the normal view instantly; a feeling of nausea coming over me, making my hand come up to rub the numb feeling from my eyes.
“That... that’s cool. I don’t care what anyone says...” I breathed out in excitement, a smile growing on my face again as I sat up. “... that shit is amazing!”
“I’ve brought the locker so that it can pop up right in front of you!” I did not expect Siri to pop up in my face like she did, yelling her little holographic lungs out like it as going out of style.
I inhaled deeply and audibly, my eyes becoming dinner plates for a second or so. Siri laughed her ass off as I released the breath I was holding, expelling a little torrent of blue fire from my mouth like normal. Glaring at Siri, I made to grab her but fell short when I realized something.
“Did I just expel flame from my mouth!? Holy shit! That means I’m some sort of dragon!” I stood up sharply, barely missing Siri with my shoulder as I did so. I inhaled mightily and blew out, seeing a roaring jet of flame explode from my mouth about five feet out. It was short, yeah, but it got the point across! I could breathe fire!
“This is officially the best body ever,” I stated with a cocky smile. One thing still bothered me, however, and as I looked at my naked body, I found the niche quite easily. It was obvious of course, the whole lack of clothing and all. “But I could make do with some duds. Call me zany, Siri,” I spoke calmly, watching as Siri blinked at me with a blank stare. “But I don’t really care for walking around in the buff. If that locker has clothes in it, I want it up here yesterday.”
She nodded and smiled. “Goddess-Queen Atharva was really thorough with your stripping, Silas! I’m pretty sure all your things are inside there!” Siri snapped her fingers, and a purple locker shot up from the floor in front of me instantly. I gave a grunt of surprise, but kept most of it under wraps as I stepped forward with a claw on my chin, inspecting the metal container that rivaled me in height.
The locker itself reminded me of the ones at my high-school, only wider. It was rather interesting, the silver locking mechanism on the right hand side. Instead of the sliver of metal one would normally pull up on to unlock the locker, there was a metallic pad with the print of some type of dragon claw. There were five fingers on each claw.
Quickly putting two and two together in my head, I reached out with my claw and placed it firmly upon the locking mechanism. I jerked back a little when a hissing sound came from the locker, but I determined this to be some sort of depressurizing mechanism Silas Epista had installed. Why he would install something like that in a locker was a little puzzling, but I eased my way out of the curiosity in trying to make sense of his reasoning.
Needless to say, the locker did open; showcasing a purple interior with a large blob of black on the bottom. Hanging up on one of the purple hooks was a sky-blue, anaconda-patterned, biker-styled jacket. No studs or triangular-shaped shoulder spikes were visible, but it was just from the fierceness and manly over-slash-undertones I got from looking at it that made me think what I had thought.
“The blue’s a nice touch. It goes well with the underbelly and mane. This guy had taste,” I complimented the deceased alien mentally, reaching for the jacket and taking it out. Flapping the leather-feeling material once to expel any dust that might have gotten on it, I hastily slipped it on an smiled. “Feels awesome, too! Normally I’d wear some sort of undershirt with a jacket like this, but the material is comfortable enough!”
Zipping the jacket up to my neck, I hastily snapped my head around to view the black mass on the bottom of the locker. Smiling devilishly, I practically tossed it from the confines of the locker and onto the black chair, swaggering up to its side like this was my duffle bag to begin with.
I pinched the sky-blue zipper between my index finger and thumb, pulled back on it, and opened that bad boy up! Peering inside the abysmal folds, I beheld quite the sight.
Giving another whistle of admiration, I pulled out the jeans that matched my jacket. There was no button or zipper, but there was a black, lopsided belt that was lower on the right side and higher on the left. The opposite sides carried all black gun holsters, and I found myself eyeing that damn duffle bag pretty hard after noticing them!
“Please tell me there are guns! Please tell me there are guns,” I chanted mentally, sliding the jeans on with some difficulty thanks to my new knees. Once situated, however, I was stopped mid-way from reaching inside the bag by Siri.
“Hold it! Let me hand you the stuff! You’re malnourished, and shouldn’t be expending energy like this! Your Draconic Powers already take a huge toll on your body; all this extra business is gonna get your sorry ass killed,” Siri ranted like a really mature younger sister, who grew up with a brother that often got into trouble.
“Wait a minute... she’s like my younger sister, Natasha! Goddamnit! Just when I thought I had gotten rid of one nuisance...” I thought wearily, not really up for the holographic sprite’s shenanigans. But if what she was saying had merit to it, then I had no choice but to listen to her. I eyed the duffle bags zipper with a smile, noticing how Siri was inside of it just enough.
I shot my hand out and grabbed the zipper, sliding the bag closed right as the first squeak of defiance left Siri’s transparent lips. Chuckling at how easy it was to get her like that, I gently placed the bag on the ground and unzipped it again.
Now in my lifetime, I had come face to face with a lot of different scenarios thanks to my brother’s pranks. More often than not, I would be moved during my time spent sleeping it out with one of my afternoon naps. Two places I’ll never forget waking up: the dog house and the shed. Both of these places irritated me greatly, and my ire was made known on those days.
I did not, however, expect to come face to face with a gun-toting hologram of ultimate cuteness. Both of these pistols, which were flintlock in design, were practically being shoved down my throat. “Ummm... those are pistols, Siri. I don’t know how you do it, but these things shoot things to death,” I roared in her face, causing the hologram to shove the barrels into my mouth.
“A-bup-bup-bup; don’t talk! Ease up onto the chair nice and smooth, and maybe I might still have a Captain with a brain when this is done, yeh?” I don’t know why I found her forced mafioso accent to be so terrifying, but I complied with her order and sat down on the chair while crossing my arms. Siri kept the pistols in my mouth as I sat down, and after making me promise that I wouldn’t get up for the rest of my time here, she let them drop out of my mouth.
Covered in saliva as they fell on my map, I stared at the weapons with lustful eyes. Before I could touch them, however, Siri cleared her throat. It was with a sigh that I found myself turning my head to look at her again.
“Alrighty then: only two things remain in this duffle bag, Captain! I found a Sirios Unit, Contact Lens addition; and I found Zaelstrom! I always liked this sword,” Siri exclaimed, digging through the bag until her rummaging was interrupted by grunts of exertion. Her pink butt slowly appeared over the bag’s opening, and as she came out more and more, my eyes locked onto what she was lugging.
A sheath made of a waxed, black wood slid from the depths of the duffle bag; Siri tugging on the handle of the sword without removing the blade as it came out. With one last grunt of supreme effort, the sword was flung at me. Luckily for me, I had some pretty good reflexes and grabbed the five-foot weapon by its handle.
“A sword, eh,” I asked myself in amusement, turning my hand and inspecting the katana-shaped sheath like an old sword master. Truthfully, I had nary a clue on what to be looking for, which only made my constant analyzing useless. “It’ll come in handy later. I don’t need to remove its cover to see it’s a katana. Guess I tuck this on my side?”
I stood up and shoved the sheath into space between my left holster and jeans. Satisfied at the perfect fit, and that the sword wasn’t moving on its own; I stretched mightily before sitting back down, scratching the back of my head with a claw as Siri came out from the duffle bag again.
Her hands were wrapped around a contact lens. Thoroughly intrigued by it, I held out my hand and watched with some amusement as she dropped it into my hand with a glare. “These things were heavy, you know! You could have helped me once or twice, jerk!” Siri made her face pout, and I found myself chuckling as a blaring loophole popped up in my head.
“Fix your face, Siri,” I quipped with amusement, barely holding back a guffaw as she started gritting her teeth. “You’re the one that told me to sit down! If anyone should be getting that stare of yours, it’s you!” Laughing as Siri crossed her arms and turned her nose up, I took the contact lens between my index and thumb, inspecting it closely.
“She said something about a Sirios Unit. And from the way she said ‘Contact Lens edition,’ I can assume there are other forms of these things. I wonder what it does...” I thought as I slowly slid the thing closer to my left eyeball, readying myself for insertion of an unknown alien device.
I’ll be honest here: I’m not a genius when it comes to settling my curiosity. There are times where my body has come under harm from acting without thinking, all for the hunger of knowledge and busting myths. Like that one time where I used iron wool to see if it made for a better washrag.
I paused; the contact lens basically touching my eye, causing the nerves to buckle and flicker my eyelid. “Why would I think of that now?”
“BOO!”
I shoved my hovering finger forwards into my eye, causing me to shriek in horrid agony as the stinging sensation flooded my eyeball. The contact lens was in place, and I prayed that it was clean right then and there so I could avoid a harmful infection or something. Covering my hurt eye with the palm of a claw, I glared at the pink apparition venomously.
“What was that for!? I have half a mind to E.M.P this entire ship!” I stomped my foot, feeling the entire room quiver from the action as it gave a grow of protest. Siri’s eyes went wide when she saw how steamed I was and promptly bowed at the waist, repeating the action quicker than I would’ve thought possible as she became a blur of apologetic motion.
“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry...” The apologies ran from her mouth like escaped convicts, stumbling over her speedy tongue. Growing annoyed with this, I slowly slid the bottom-side of my pinky under her chin, feeling her jaw slap upon it as forcefully as her motions were halted.
“Knock it off,” I commanded like a stressed babysitter, pinching the bridge of my muzzle in irritation. She turned her flattened face up to look at me. “I still need to get off this space station, remember? Where do I need to go; and as I go there, explain to me the importance of the Sirios Unit.” I slid my finger back and turned on my heels, my moment of badassery interrupted by this black chair.
“Really? I looked so cool,” I mentally whined, drooping my shoulders before kicking the chair playfully. “Dumbass space furniture; I hope you die to death and then get reborn to experience the pain again.”
“Hey, Silas,” I turned my head so that I peered over my shoulder, looking at Siri with a raised eyebrow as she flew onto my shoulder and sat down. “The elevator is like, twenty paces forward from the left side of the chair. We should probably get over there before tomorrow comes.” She turned her body and leaned her back against my neck, placing her pink hands behind her head for added digitized comfort. I rolled my eyes in response to her actions, turning my head around and stepping over the black chair in order to reach my destination.
As I carefully counted my paces while thinking off all the terrible things that could happen if I misjudge a step or two; I stopped right before the broad white wall with waning curiosity. An event or other type of humdrum needed to transpire, or I would do what I always did, and make something happen.
“What now,” I asked with boredom slowly creeping up, placing a hand on my hip and tilting my head up. “Where’s this elevator you were going on about? I’m starting to get bored, and boredom is the natural enemy of Jus...” I trailed off and went wide-eyed, almost spilling the beans on my actual name. If Siri was more placid and showcased little emotion, I wouldn’t have cared. But since the little terror thought it was cool to shove pistol barrels halfway down my throat; there was no way I was going to continue on with my name. “... Silas Epista,” I awkwardly finished, shouting the name as if my life depended on it.
Siri’s face was in shock. I likened it to having a mother be given her newborn after long wait and a day of labor. As she uncovered it with all the hope in the world, she finds out her womb was carrying a deer with a snake tongue. “Oooo-kayyy...? If you’re done weirding me out, I propose announcing your status and name. The elevator only opens with voice commands.” She was still looking at me like I was a hacker who’s obsessed with tiny holographic avatar porn, and I had taken an interest in what her operation code could feel like around my penis.
Turning my head with a smile, I looked at the wall and cleared my throat. “Captain Silas Epista, requesting usage of Command Deck elevator.” As the words left my tongue, I found myself disappointed and irritated when nothing happened. Thinking I was fibbed to, my head whipped around as I affixed Siri with a narrowed eye. “Why isn’t it working?”
She snuggled further into my neck with her back and head, letting out a sigh completely devoid of fear from my gaze. “The contraption needs time to come up, Silas. You should probably mess around with the Sirios Unit and see if you can scrounge up some memories. The lens is used for data storage, data exporting, communication, and recording memories,” Siri counted off with pride, closing her eyes and smiling like a pleased kindergartener that just finished an abominable finger-painted piece or art.
“Yeeeahhh...” I trailed off smugly, tilting my head to the left. This got a squeak of surprise out of the apparition, which then turned into squeals of pain as I kept leaning over. “It’s almost like I have amnesia!” Pleased at how well I was playing this part, I allowed my head to crane a little further left before stopping, imagining Siri as some sort of folded up, pink lawn chair with her eyes nearly popping out of her head.
“Uncle! Uncle! Give! Give,” She protested quickly, which was all the incentive I needed to lean my head back to its regular place. Chuckling as I turned my head to look at her, I heard the door ding in alarm to the elevator reaching the Command Bridge. Siri, however, was glaring at me like I had taken all her life savings and spent them on booze and skanky flings. “Don’t you ever do that again!”
“Yeah, well, don’t tell me to do things I have no memory of doing again,” I remarked back, giving her a raspberry just as the doors opened. Stepping inside the glass elevator with a smile, I felt Siri leave my shoulder momentarily. Stopping in the center of the machine, I turned around so that I was facing the black chair in the middle of the Command Bridge’s floor. And it was with a soft ding that the doors closed, revealing a set of all white metal doors.
Crossing my arms, I gave a cough into the quiet hum of the elevator. This was meant to grab Siri’s attention, but it seemed as if she was still sore about the whole “crush you to death” schtick I pulled earlier.
I was just about to open my mouth to call for her, but I felt something small and almost weightless press itself against the top of my head with an indignant huff. Frowning at the contact with my hair, which is something I had always hated with a passion back in the real world; I gave another cough, although this one was more assertive and guttural.
“Oh, calm down. Just tell the elevator to take us to the Cargo Bay!”
“Fine. Elevator, take me to the Cargo Bay,” I snarked, trying to mock the apparition. Apparently, sarcasm was lost on elevators, so the machine promptly dinged its assent to my order and started lowering itself. “Huh, I was only playing around.”
Siri’s face came into view, hanging upside down as she clung to a bang of my mane like a spider. A horribly, pink, cute holographic alien spider. “Welp, we’re gonna reach the Cargo Bay soon! From there, we’ll make our way over to Judgement, and leave the Ark for an unknown planet! I’m excited!”
I gave a chuckle at her enthusiasm. “I’ve noticed.” Willing a single finger to come out and up, I pushed Siri back up into my mane while smiling. I then gripped the silver holding bars lining the back of elevator with my claws, feeling the cold metal upon my scales.
“This dream has been awesome so far. Let’s just hope it stays entertaining. Boredom is my natural enemy, after all.” I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths as I tried catching up on some lost sleep.
When next the elevator rings, I’ll begin a dream adventure of which I’ve never experienced. Everything feels real here, almost as if I had been given a different body for some odd reason. But I know that can’t be the case. It wouldn’t make sense if it did.
“Pssh, as if that would ever happen.”
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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OOooh! I Love it! I wish this happened to me...
i don't understand... if this is a full story rewrite.... what will happy to the second story...
MTG best card game ever.
This story is pretty kool. It's so kool that I'm pressing charges against it for several counts of "badassery"!!!
Siri... I'm getting horrible flashbacks to my high school and college writing classes, proofreading my peers work. "Manic Pixie Girl" was a common occurrence for the female character.
Intense distainfor furries
Interessting start... What about the rest of the crew... Its a ARCH ship for crying out loud...
What happen to the ship after powerfailure? Should she not give a landing order to the moon so it dont crash on the planet?