The Astralaceaes

Chapter 26: Into the Void

"No-no-no-no-no—" Haledon panicked as he continued to flip.

He flailed his arms, unsure if he was trying to grab for the distant Astralaceaes or correct his trajectory from within the vacuum. Helplessly, he continued to spin out of control in the direction of a distant Megacolides.

"Self-regulate and accept feedback." He panted as he tried to think of ways to be rescued.

He muttered in Druidic and danced his fingers around his wrist. His body pulsed with a quick flash of bioluminescence. Like a firefly drifting through space, he would darken before flashing again, with the hope of signalling rescue.

"Now...someone, please see this. Nature, don't let this be the end of my ecosystem."

Haledon's body flashed again as he flipped, lighting towards his Astralaceaes. The thought of his disobedience of Sparrow crossed his mind, and instantly, he felt worse about his predicament. The feeling weighed down his chest momentarily before it was replaced by confusion.

"What—?" He mumbled as he tried to look through the hardened sap of his visor.

Coming from the Astralaceaes was a small white figure. It darted towards him at unnatural speeds, and by the second flip, it had already halved the distance. When the Astralaceaes came into view again, the figure had begun floating in tandem with Haledon. The pale humanoid figure of Birchbark listlessly drifted beside. Its head twitched in his direction, but it made no sound in the void of space.

"Haledon..." It spoke without moving its pale bark lips.

Unlike before, the voice did not echo or dig into his mind. In the airless void, it spoke clearly and calmly.

"Birchbark?" He muttered as he flipped over again.

"Yes, that is a name you've provided." It said and twitched again. "You appear to be in distress."

Birchbark raised a pale hand, and Haledon felt a sense of vertigo as his body was tugged by a sudden gravitational force. He was righted and turned to face Birchbark.

"You can talk?"

"Yes, and it is wonderful to speak with you in a way you can audibly comprehend," Birchbark spoke smoothly. "There is far too much phytofeedback within the hull for communication."

"What do you mean? What are you—who are you?"

Birchbark smiled and pointed back towards the ship.

"I am the Astralaceaes."

Haledon floated in silence, staring at the manifestation of his home. He felt his mind racing with reasons for this information to be false, but at that moment, he knew it to be true. It was as though there had always been that suspicion without needing to be spoken or thought.

The hallucination suddenly made sense to him. He knew he had felt something when he touched the tree in his Nexus, the locations most integrated with the Astralaceaes. It hadn't been a figment of his imagination, but instead, the consciousness of the ship reaching back to him.

"How?" He asked.

"The new supply of nutrients evolved a need for audio and visual communication instead of sensory pulses." Haledon's body flashed again, and Birchbark stared down at him. Reaching out, they touched his chest, and the barken plate of his SOIL transformed. The wood expanded outward, shedding its once dark brown bark for that of a white aspen exterior.

"There." Birchbark nodded and looked back up to Haledon. "You're now better equipped for the void."

"What did you do?" Haledon felt at his new SOIL chest piece.