short stories

Biomeal

"Hurry!" yelled someone at the front of the room. Kyber and I rushed fervently, turning the heavy metal wheel as fast as we could.

"Left! Hard left!" someone else shouted. Grunting, we turned the wheel in the other direction. Sweat stuck my hair to my greasy shoulders. Oil dripped all over us from the busted pipe above our heads. The Silver Serpent was old, and if we didn't hurry, she was about to die.

"Yes!" we all cheered, as we felt the collision. With a groan, the Silver Serpent extended fifteen meters at the tail. Sighing, Kyber and I watched as the bright, multicolored liquid run through the tubes of the great metal beast, going to fuel the extension to the Silver Serpent.

"So, Pacifico," said Kyber. "How do you feel about absorbing the-" he checked the monitor. "About absorbing the Golden Scarab?"

I smiled. "Pretty good, as long as it gets to keep the Serpent going," I replied. We played this game after every Absorption, and I was grateful to my cousin for it. It made it easier to ignore the crew we had just devoured.

"Hey," said Gui, walking over. We raised our hands in greeting.

"Mess hall?" he asked. Gui knew very few words, so we just nodded. Poor Gui, I thought, just as I did every time I saw him. The poor bloke had been a Walker - one of the people who roamed, without a Beast in which to live. The Captain had found him one day and took pity on him, rather than using him for Biomeal.

Biomeal - the multicolored energy that powered the world of Slitherio (sle-there-ee-oh). In the old times, my mom said that other Slithers would steal the Biomeal from the rightful killer, which eventually led to the Great War.

After years of brutal combat, a few smart Captains decided that if you killed another Slither, you alone took all of the Biomeal.

"Pacifico, will I ever get you to wear white nail polish," said Kyber. I snorted. "Easy for you to say."

Kyber was very pale-skinned, and even though she was Indian through-and-through, just like me, I was quite a few shades darker than her. Therefore, my nail polish collection consisted of black, dark blue, and deep violet. That's it.

"Hey! Chill, I know I can't," said Kyber, slinging his arm around my shoulders. I smiled good-naturally and followed him to the mess hall.

~^~

"Up! Everyone up!" I scrambled out of my bunk, adrenaline coursing through my legs, propelling me to my station.

"We are about to hit the Wall!" Cold fear took hold of my body. The Wall, a great mass of energy that prevented any of the Slithers from leaving Slitherio, killed anyone who touched it. Oh, crap.

"Hurry! Hurry!" someone shouted. We all turned our wheels frantically, pushing with our whole body weight.

"Pacifico, I-" shouted Kyber. I shushed him.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "But our Biomeal will be fair game, at least," I said, trying to sound hopeful.

He shook his head sadly. "Oh, Pacifico. So optimistic."

Everyone had stopped turning their wheels. Sighing, I raised my fist. It didn't totally matter, because generally, we were respawned in a few weeks.

"Ga wancan gefen!" I shouted. Everyone raised their fists in unison.

"Ban kwana!" we roared together. 

We chanted as our bodies melted into rainbow liquid Biomeal.