"How large do you think you are now, Blue?" Soft asked, taking part of a blanket from Rough to use for themself and sitting down next to them.
I used my magic to float the undissolved right foreleg of mine closer to me, eventually holding it in front of my face. "Well... guessing from this limb of mine, I'm at least twice as large as I was. This leg here is about half of my new leg... and I don't think I'm even finished yet."
"Seriously?" Rough asked in surprise. "You were kinda tiny before, yeah, but we never even measured you. I mean, you came up to my belt, and I'm about five foot ten.... so you're... you must be massive!"
"We could get measuring tape for when she's out of the cocoon and find out for sure." Soft suggested. Timid was still off somewhere upstairs 'posting their video' or something, and absent from the conversation. My cocoon had slowly been turning a blue tinge mixed with the green of before.
"Well if that cocoon of yours gets any bigger, we're gonna have to shove it into the basement before it blocks off the whole front of the house." Rough pointed out, trying to pry their blanket back from Soft.
I turned myself inside of the cocoon by placing my hooves on the inner walls, allowing me to maneuver. My wings weren't able to help as much inside of this goopy fluid, but being suspended in the stuff was strangely soothing. I saw that my cocoon had grown considerably, nearly reaching the side of the door with a slowly spreading resin that hardened after a few seconds exposure to the air.
"How would you even move me?" I asked curiously. "I think this cocoon is larger than the doors now."
A slight pause before Rough replied with, "I don't actually know. I mean before when this was just starting it might've been possible, but now it's just silly."
A quick thumping was heard and all eyes turned to the staircase to witness Timid racing down. "You guys, we got a problem!"
"What happened?" Rough and Soft asked, worried.
Timid reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in view of all of us, adjusting their glasses. "The problem is... nobody cares."
"Huh?" Rough blurted.
"The video I posted? They think its CGI. Really good CGI, but still fake." Timid pouted.
"They don't believe it?" Soft asked.
"They think that it's super-fake and they downvoted it for a click-bait title. I mean yeah, 'Alien on Earth is Real: Exclusive Footage' was probably over the top for a youtube video, but it isn't getting any views." Timid explained.
"So that just means we'll have to go bigger, won't it?" Rough suggested, sitting upright. "How about we take Blue to Wal-mart again, undisguised? Then people will get out their phones, call the police, start recordin', stuff like that?"
Timid wasn't convinced. "Oh yeah, sure, that's a brilliant idea. You might as well stand on the white house lawn and yell 'Look, I found aliens! Believe me its true!' to the entire world. What would you do if you were a cop and you got a bunch of calls saying 'Aliens are here'? Cause I'd ignore it and leave it alone." Timid took a breath and continued ranting. "And suppose people do take it seriously, what then? Do we really want to explain to a bunch of police and government types that we had an alien with us? What if things get violent?"
There was an awkward pause as the three considered their options. I took it as an opportunity to continue examining myself.
I pressed my hooves together experimentally, and found that they glowed a bright blue with the more force I placed on them. Was it my hoof hardening spell? That shouldn't be how it worked, but here it was... just... there now. A part of me that simply was. I looked behind myself at my wings and tried to buzz them, finding my wings to work perfectly, if only a bit slowed from the ooze.
"You okay in there Blue? It sounds like you're hammering the daylights out of that thing." Rough asked with concern.
"I was testing my wings, Rough." I replied concisely, halting the buzzing of my wings. I felt 'Eugh' from Rough.
"Those wings are going to be freaky when you come out of there..." Rough complained.
"Oh come on, Blue is an alien! She probably thinks you're freaky, Ricky." Soft countered.
"Actually..." Timid proposed, "What do you think of humans, Blue?"
"Well," I began abruptly, "For the most part, you're all kind, caring, considerate, very emotional (Which is a big bonus) and you look out for one another almost without fault. You provide for your families and each other as best you're able, you cheer each other up when they're feeling down, you have close families and you trust easily. I also have no idea how you stand upright without falling over." I paused to hear their replies, and received nothing in return for a moment.
Eventually, Rough spoke up. "That's probably the nicest reaction to humanity I could've ever hoped to hear..."
"Wait, you can't figure out how we stand?" Timid asked with surprise.
"You don't have a tail, you don't have wings, yet you stand on two legs without difficulty like it isn't even an issue!" I explained in slight exhasperation. I couldn't even imagine trying to disguise as one of these not-minotaur-- er... humans. I would fall on my flank in half a second!
I noticed that the three hadn't been paying attention to my last comment, as they had all been looking out of the window. "Hello?" I asked.
"Blue, Keep quiet! Someone just pulled into the driveway, and it ain't Mom!" Rough quietly snapped. "Ah crap, what are we gonna do?"
"Just keep calm! They don't have any reason to come inside, do they?" Timid replied, trying to pull blankets off of Rough.
"What are you doin', Karol!?" Rough whisper shouted.
"I'm trying to cover up the giant alien Chrysalis in your living room, Ricky!" Timid shot back.
"He's getting out of the car!" Soft reported, peeking through some blinds. "It's Officer Brady!"
"Can you tell what he wants?" Rough asked, flinging blankets off of themself and onto the floor where Timid would quickly pick them up and huck them on top of my cocoon. Some of them stuck to the sides, others simply crumpled down when they hit a hardened part of the cocoon.
"He's got a shovel?" Soft asked rhetorically before pausing a moment, then smacking their face. "Ricky, when you hit Blue with the shovel, did you pick it back up?"
"Uh... Oh crap!" Rough blurted, wincing in embarassment. "No! I was caught up in the excitement of it all!"
"Well Brady is comin' this way, and he doesn't look too happy!" Soft replied, hiding next to the door frame.
Three loud wooden steps were heard outside, my own hearing muffled by the ooze. Three loud knocks followed soon after on the metal door.
"What do we do!?" Soft whisper shouted to the other two.
"We can't just ignore him! Mom will come home to the police in her driveway!" Rough countered.
"Then we gotta let him in." Timid said with finality, their hand grasping the door knob and pulling it open despite the protests from Soft and Rough.
The door opened inward, concealing me from the conversation that was taking place just a short distance away from me. I could see that some of my resin had flowed from the cocoon and further along the flooring, coming just into the entryway where this conversation was going to take place.
"Hello, everyone." Kind announced to the three. "How is your evening?"
"Uh... interesting." Timid replied uncertainly.
"Would any of you folks happen to be missing a shovel?" Kind asked, the sound of scraping wood on the floor ending shortly after their sentence finished. "A certain shovel with the name 'Monte' duct taped to the handle?"
"U-uh, Yeah! Where'd you find it, Officer Brady?" Rough asked nervously.
"Well, the funniest thing happened. I got a call last night about a meteorite impacting a farm. The farmer, Josh Andrews, was understandably concerned that his wheat fields might catch fire. I was on-call that night, so I got out to the farm and discovered the crater. The interesting bit is that there wasn't a meteorite! Like someone had come in a big hurry and carried it off somewhere. Now, knowing that isn't very likely, I looked around and discovered a slim trail of trampled wheat leading away from the meteor, but no other path that would've been coming towards it. Now, it's entirely possible that someone came to the meteor impact site, being very careful to go exactly there, despite the fact that its nearly impossible to see over all of that wheat, and then leaving the way they came with an obscenely heavy meteorite filled with precious metals... or..."
I heard a metallic clanking noise come from behind the door.
"Or there could also have been a well known duo of trouble makers out that night as well that I just so happened to run into, speeding away from the very same wheat fields like they had found a demon in the back seat..." Kind's voice had gone from soothing to accusatory now. "I also found this shovel this morning, with your last name on it, abandoned in the middle of the street. Now, take a look at this indentation and tell me what possibly could've made that kind of a mark, would you?"
Anxiety, fear, worry and dread were coming from Timid, Rough and Soft in gigantic waves. I could see that Soft and Rough were sweating as well. They all shared a very fearful look with another before Timid gulped and spoke up.
"O-officer Brady?" They trembled.
"Yes, Miss Karol?" Kind replied expectantly.
"There's... something we should show you."
"Karol, what the heck are you doing!?" Rough blurted before quickly covering their mouth.
"Oh, well now I'm interested!" Kind sassed. "I was worried I'd come all the way out here for nothing but a visit!"
"Look, maybe this is what we need?" Timid explained, turning to Soft and Rough. "We need to get Blue popular on the internet, right? People didn't believe the story was real, but maybe Officer Brady could help? Police are... well, somewhat trusted, no offense Officer Brady, but still!"
"Who is Blue, one of your druggy friends?" Kind accused.
"You know I don't do that stuff anymore, Officer Brady." Rough grumbled defensively.
"How about you come inside and we can talk about it? I have cocoa made!" Timid offered.
"Well... you three don't have a history of violence and we know each other... Still, I'm going to stand right here in full view of my dash-cam." Kind mandated.
"Well... It's kind of hard to move it to you." Timid replied vaguely.
"What, do you admit to being on Mister Andrew's property last night?" Kind asked, still hidden by the door itself.
"Eh... Maybe you could just stand right here and take a look?" Timid pointed towards the center of the living room next to the couch that I had fed from Rough on.
"No funny business, alright?" Kind warned, taking a few careful steps into the home. They soon came into full view of me with their back turned, and I was still in the cocoon of course.
"Alright, are you ready?" Timid asked carefully. "Don't freak out, alright?"
"Freak out about what?" Kind asked, turning to look behind themself at Timid and instead focusing on the very large cocoon in front of him. "Holy Jesus! What the hell is that!?" He yelped in surprise, desperately trying to pull something from their belt.
"Nonono! Officer Brady, stop! She's good!" Soft cried desperately, putting themself between Kind and myself with their hands raised.
Kind was pointing something small, slim and metallic at me. "The hell do you mean 'she', Maria!? The hell is that thing!?"
Rough stood next to Soft, also barring the way. "This cocoon is holding our guest, named Blue. She's an alien. From space." Rough paused a moment in amusement. "I never thought I'd say something like that in my lifetime."
"An alien? Yeah, sure, and I'm actually Superman in disguise." Kind sassed, lowering their metal thing a short distance, pointing towards the floor.
"Blue is in some kind of cocoon stage and we don't know how long it will be until she's free of it." Timid explained, joining the barrier on Soft's left side.
Kind looked between the three humans and my cocoon in complete disbelief. "There's no way." They muttered, placing their metal thing back on their belt. "There's no freakin' way."
"Hey Blue, you still awake?" Rough asked from over their shoulder.
"I can speak now?" I replied, my voice wavering once again and deeper from the friction of the ooze against my wings. I felt a wave of pure fear come from Kind as they backed away and nearly fell over a table in their retreat.
"It's alright, Brady. She's fine!" Soft insisted.
"That thing just talked!" Kind blurted, standing further away now. "The hell is wrong with you people!?"
"We found Blue on the side of the road on that night you pulled us over. The wings you saw underneath the jacket? Those were hers..." Rough explained. "The imprint on that shovel was... well, that was me panicking like you are now and hitting her in the face with it."
Kind's mouth was open in disbelief. "You met new alien life, and the first thing you did was hit it with a shovel?"
"You were about to shoot her, Brady." Rough retorted.
Kind grumbled something under their breath and calmed down a bit. "Alright, you've got me there."
The four of them stood awkwardly in the living room for a moment, just looking at each other.
"So..." Timid asked, "What now?"
"You know what?" Kind asked rhetorically with some heat to their voice. "This isn't happening. I didn't just walk in here and see some horror show hosted by a group of college kids. Nope, It was a halloween decoration. That's it. Nothing wrong here. No aliens, no freaky cocoon things in the living room, Not even a shovel with a mysterious dent in it! Nope! Sorry Captain but everything checked out fine!" Kind ranted, flailing their arms around.
"I do not get paid enough to deal with this shit!" Kind proclaimed before slamming the door shut behind themself.
After a shocked pause from the three I asked, "How much do you think Kind owes the Swear Jar?"
About tree fity
Best chapter. also YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I can finaly read a steady story again!
I don't think he approved of Blue Stew.
The confusingly named Blue Stew because 'm pretty sure it's actually green.
Did you just break your own time line? I'm pretty sure you did. Last chapter, Blue was out for days. And then suddenly it's only the next day after Blue's arrival?
7650122
That was a hallucination from Blue's body rearranging itself, and was explained last chapter as well.
7650124 That's what is was?
Because it seriously looked like the second break was simply in continuity with the rest.
The hallucination part wasn't really well explained.
In fact, the hallucination itself was far too much structured and coherent.
Not to mention the Trump gag, in this context, it's really comming out of the left field.
7650131
Fine. I deleted the entire section.
Happy?
I like this story a lot. It's taking itself relatively seriously, but it's still pretty funny. I figured it would meander into slice-of-life when Blue turned into a dog, but this sudden metamorphosis is a nice twist...and a bit creepy, given that Blue literally watched herself dissolve in vivid detail.
I do have to pick some nits, though, regarding a couple inconsistencies. Specifically:
followed by
Also
followed by
7650153
Fixed, since I apparently didn't explain it well enough.
As for standing upright, theres two ways of looking at it.
Either you need ever faster processors trying to handle the increasing resolution of reality changing at the resolution of your sensors in ever shorter periods of tme, as in a 32 bit processor needs to be 24 million times faster than a 8 bit processor, meaning robots are horribly complex and expensive to license.
Or, you go for Sprung Loaded Inverse Pendulum design where the computer doesnt do any calculation for a static standing form and to move in a direction you just make it lean. but this makes standing robots cheap and simple and we cant have that.
Good thing none of th college kids are majors in chemistry or biology or have one of those DIY PCR units in the basement for sequencing or home made gel phorensesis tray for analysing DNA etc. Though really not having a CRT for mass spectrometry messes things up somewhat. Oh well, just have to use diffraction grating spectroscopy instead. Now, where that CD and what to use for white light source. 6 volt pencil lead arc lamp? Would be fun if due to the magic, Blue is even made of normal matter, and not a magical hard light hologram or something.
Officer Brady, wait for me. I forgot to take my meds.
Um.. shouldnt all those references to Kind in the end paragraphs, be Officer Brady instead?
7650161
This story is from Blue's perspective, and they have always called Officer Brady 'Kind' because that is how their voice sounds.
I also don't know what the rest of your post has to do with the story, as Blue isn't a computer or a hologram.
What does it WANT?!? What did WE ever do to IT?!?
At least he didn't go off the handle and shoot at her, or radio it in and call for backup. Went better than expected, honestly.
7650148 Hum no? Don't take it wrong, sometimes you just need small adjustment.
Probably just adding a line or two to make it clear that what just happened was in Blue head. The big problem to me was just that it wasn't easy to understand it was an hallucination. After that, you can put whatever you wan't however you wan'tt it in that hallucination, I may not like the scene, but I'd still be able to understand what's going on.
It would still be a bit bad for my suspension of disbelief, but most people would roll with it.
It could be made more trippy and such. And the weird way Blue suddenly know and understand thing she has no way of knowing could need to be adressed at some point, but it does not make the story line less interesting.
7650190
I already deleted it and I'm not messing around with it anymore. If one person got confused and your confusion got upvoted, then others got confused too.
7650197 It's your call to make.
I suppose that if the scene did not provide any vital information to the story, then there is no harm in doing it.
So carry on then, and keep it going!
7650165
Wait, does that mean Blue is an hivemind with multiple personalities?
I'm just waiting for Blue to finally come out of the cocoon, and the shenanigans that will ensue.
All in all, a rather reasonable reaction.
Can't wait for Blue to leave the cocoon.
7650266 I fully understand what a pronoun is. I also understand that "They" is a plural pronoun. It can be used as a singular pronoun when talking in general to avoid the use of a gendered pro noun. (Although it is not recomended in some grammar guides, mostly american ones).
In this context, you are talking directly about Blue and officer Brady. While I suppose that we could still use a gender neutral pronoun for Blue since it is not confirmed that it is now a queen, they still is weird.
But their for Brady -who is of a specified gender- is an incorect use of the singular their.
I don't really understand why you are jumping the gun like that anyway. I am not trying to undermine you, I am merely asking question about some things I did not understand about what you said.
7650333
Again, this is all from Blue's perspective, and they dont give a lick about male/female pronouns. Everyone except a Queen is a 'They/them' to Blue.
Sorry that i'm being annoyed that I deleted 500+ words that I worked on today because... nevermind, I'm not going to start flinging dirt around. I'm upset. I put in the work for two chapters on my day off, and now I'm getting criticized for it and it upsets me.
The way you approach the subject makes me feel that the rest of the story doesn't matter, but that the perception of what grammar I'm using instead makes the story shit in your opinion.
If that's not true, please let me know. I'm feeling terrible at the moment and feeling like I just wrote absolute garbage for everyone to read today in those two chapters. Especially with the two new Dislikes sitting at the top of the story, taunting me.
Wow, your updating this like a shot, I just read the other chapter in the morning and already there is another, keep up the good work!
Am slightly miffed that Blue still isn't out the cocoon though, Its a very nice suspense you've got there, you can stop building it now
I'm kidding, don't rush on mine or anyone else's account except yours.
7650339 If I was that upset about grammar, wouldn't I had voiced my concern far earlier in the discussion?
Or for that matter earlier in the story.
As thing stand, I choose to take the use of they/them/their by Blue as a changeling quirk, wich I found easily acceptable. So no, the in-story use of plural pronoun as singular pronoun did not bother me at all. (although I did spot a few occasion were the human did, but that is not too bad)
But in your comment, that I would've expected to written from your perspective, it looked weird to me.
So far I am enjoying your story, have I not mentioned it? If so, well sorry, I know I can be a bit mean without meaning it sometime.
I did enjoy your story. Enough to bother nitpicking.
Anyway, your grammar is fine, the last two chapter were fun. I like at least one other guy just did not pick up the fact that the scene "a few day later" was in truth an hallucination. That is the onyl real complaint I have so far.
7650339
Both your story and the new chapters are awesome. Don't be too hard on yourself. I'd give you a cookie if I could.
It's a great story so far. I like the plot, the development of Blue as a character, and even some of the hijinks they get into. However, don't be afraid of criticism, as a writer, you can't really progress unless you work off of your mistakes. Now that being said, you don't need to get rid of entire sections of your writing. A more generous solution, I think, is to work on continuity issues, get into the feel of your character, and write what you believe should come naturally, based on your characters situation. I.E. Take criticism, but don't go overboard pandering to the masses. It's your story. You tell it how you want to. And most importantly, don't let the few dislikes hanging over your head, dictate how you write. Besides that it's a great story, and I do hope you continue it.
7650339
I really enjoy your work.
I haven't noticed any grammar mistakes on my first reads of the new chapters (yes, I have re-read chapters) .
7650339 people are going to do that kinda this no matter where you are, irl, here, or where ever, all you have to do is keep doing what you do and really not care what they say or do, all great people have haters that try to bring they down cause their envios of you
i am so happy!!!!!! i <3 this story, its so good!!!!
What I want to know is... who gets all the money from the Swear Jar?
Now all we have to do is wait for the spooks to show up in their hazmat suits then the party will begin.
ALL HAIL THE SWEAR JAR! THE SWEAR JAR DEMANDS SACRIFICE!!! ......rough will do.
rough: ......DARNUT! ( pays a quarter)
Lol
Just a stab in the dark here, but is Blue gonna become a queen?
"Poor" Officer Brady. I see what you did there.
"White House" should be capitalized.
Gawd... Once that cocoon busts, there's gonna be a huge mess. Gonna SUCK 'ta clean up... And hopefully won't leave the place smellin' nasty afterwards. At least the goop isn't corrosive to everything, as Blue'd prolly be completely gone by now... Guess that was just their body breaking itself down in preparation to reform... Ech. Tryin' to word that so it's not overly nast is kinda difficult. XD Still... Anxiously waitin' for the next chapter. =3
New chapter.
Aw yes.
7650339
I know that feel...
Don't worry about things too much. People will dowmvote a story based on silly, unpredictable things and not tell you sometimes. Those people don't amount to anything in life, and will not be missed by anyone. The people that do tell you their reasons are cool though.
Besides, I enjoyed the version I read. Now I'm wondering: will Blue come out more humanoid, because human love? Or just bigger, because more love? Or will their transformation be completely new, because the love was given freely, yet not shared from blue?
OK let me get that strate.
1- They posted video on YouTube, but no one believe them. That realistic.
2- Police officer close his eyes, because he is not payed enough. That understandable.
3- they think after that video, metior and the fact that happened in one and same place, the government will stay it how it is ? I don't think so.
7650699
I'm government. I can tell you for a fact the government's not going to react any differently than the people. Realistically, the video would just stay on YouTube's servers until someone realized that cgi that good should be enjoyed even with the mortal sin of a click-bait title.
Though, Timid could get a lot more views of she made it a series, with less click-bait-y titles. She could occasionally post things like trips to university bio labs/alien doctors (need to make sure our bacteria doesn't harm blue), gene analysis, slow motion camera analysis, etc., if Blue's up for it. Oh there are all kinds of science experiments she could do, like seeing if blue can trigger the same touch sensors we use, or perhaps transform and use a phone.
This quoted fitted rather well and now the drill sergeant's voice is what I used for Officer Brady for the rest of the chapter.
Completely hilarious.
I keep thinking of officer Brady as officer Barbrady from South Park
It saddens me to have reached the end of the chapters thus far. good job.
7650779 Same. I even read his lines in the same voice.
7650148 I thought it was fine.
It twould've been an interesting thing. Like someone would have to be an internet archaeologist and search for the reference.
I love this chapter.
What hallucination scene is this talk about in the comments?
7650960
The scene was edited out of the chapter.
7650404 That doesn't really apply here. I don't think there are any haters here, just critics. I myself am a bit of a critic sometimes, but I give constructive criticism to hopefully help authors improve. I know I'm not always right, but I give my opinions in the hopes that it can help someone else see a different perspective.
7650339 Don't get so worried about a couple of dislikes or readers pointing out flaws or nitpicks. Most every story has at least a few dislikes. As long as you have a lot more likes than dislikes, (which you do by a large margin) you are doing well. As for the criticism, you can look at a lot of it as a way to improve or refine your work. That's not to say you have to listen to every gripe, but having readers who care enough to give you constructive criticism while continuing to eagerly await your next update really is a blessing.
OH MY GOD!
*SQUEE*
MORE CHAPTERS!
7650985
Apparently i read a scene that was edited out.