"Androids?" everyone asked, surprised.
"Didn't you destroy all of them?" asked the youngling.
"Yes, all of the ones that were man-made androids were destroyed, but there was a beacon signal sent from this planet, and an armada of android ships has been detected following the coordinates of the beacon," said the alien, lifting his staff towards the sky. A bright light emanated from the staff and hit an object in the sky, revealing a giant cuttlefish ship descending towards them. "Everyone, say hello to..." said Kosmic, emitting a light pattern. "...he's going to be our spaceship today."
"Wait, are we actually going to space in that? Also, where did all the space androids come from?" asked the cyborg, taking some readings of the ship. "It seems alive."
"Yes," said the alien, changing colors and glowing into a pattern that repeated three times. After he finished, the cuttlefish did a pattern of colors, and its eyes seemed to show a smiling expression. "...he's very happy to meet you all. He is what some call a living ship. Some civilizations use them as a means of transport. But you need to establish a sort of connection with them through a very complex communication process that can take centuries. But the good thing is, once they trust you, it's very simple and satisfying to travel with them."
"Wait, that's how it communicates? Have you ever seen him do that before?" asked the cyborg to the youngling.
"Yeah, I've seen him do that before, but I didn't know it was a language. I just thought it was how he showed emotions and like a weird ability he has," said the youngling.
"Oh, sorry for not explaining what it is. This is a sort of sensory language that is, how do you say? Not spoken but expressed through ideas and intentions, so it's tied to emotions in a way but also to some other senses I don't think humans have... although some of your species are really good at pattern recognition. The important part isn't what you say or how you say it, but your intent of what you mean to communicate, if that makes any sense. I could teach you some things if you can produce light and at least infrared light," said the alien, smiling while glowing. The cuttlefish extended its tentacles towards them and shot out an attraction beam at the group, teleporting them inside. Everyone had different reactions to this.
"Quack, a little heads up next time. It's weird to see my body fade like that," said the duck with Rizz, fixing his cap.
The group was transported to what seemed to be a large room with windows in the shape of the cuttlefish's eyes. There were many computer-like machines and control panels that seemed out of a fiction movie. The alien walked towards an empty space of the room and repeated a pattern of color and light from his body, and the room got filled with darkness. Then, a stellar map filled the room; it looked like dense spider webs or a fine gauze stretching out all over the room. Kosmic began moving around, manipulating the map, zooming in and out, and adjusting what seemed to be coordinates.
"Why are you dancing, Kosmic?" asked the youngling.
"Oh, I'm just setting the course on the... um, what's the word humans use again?" said the alien, glitching in and out.
"A stellar map?" replied the cyborg.
"Exactly, thanks, setting the map course. Before going to the moon party, I would like to make some stops and collect some data about the androids that are headed here, if that is alright," said the alien.
"Fine by us," said the duck with Rizz and the youngling.
The cyborg seemed nervous but nodded. It was the first time she ventured into the cosmos with them, and now she had to face an android threat. "Why are the androids such a bad thing?" she asked herself.
"I would also like to know," said the alien, looking around for something. "But we need to be ready to stop them if we have to."
"Has anyone here ever traveled faster than light before?" asked the alien, taking out a couple of orbs and handing them out. All of them stood there confused, looking at the orbs. He gave one to each person there except to the youngling. "These will protect your bodies from the Hawking radiation that will surround us while bending what you all know as space. Don't worry, time will remain a constant, so all of us will be in the same timeline and universal time. All of the kitchen appliances will maintain their functionality, so feel free to make something to eat or a snack."
"How do we activate these?" asked the cyborg.
"It's very simple, just hold it in your hands until it gets absorbed by your skin. Your own body heat should be enough to activate it," said the youngling. "I already have mine."
The duck with Rizz held the orb to his face, and it absorbed into his feathers. As it did, he began glowing a bit and then stopped. "Rad," he said.
The cyborg took the orb in her hands and nervously wondered how to activate it. Her hands were both robot hands, so she worried it would not activate properly. She took the orb and held it close to her heart; the warmth of her torso activated the orb, and it absorbed into her body. She glowed for a moment and then stopped. She felt a sense of relief.
The alien put on some very weird goggles and waited while staring at them for a moment. Then both of them collapsed. The youngling got scared and tried to help them, but the alien stopped him. Giving the youngling a look, the alien directed his attention to the two on the floor as they began glowing and transformed back into their human forms. The duck with Rizz turned into a young man. The red deer cyborg turned into a woman but was still a cyborg. This surprised the alien, but he figured it made sense if she was already a cyborg before the event. Both woke up and saw themselves in the reflection of the ship's control panel.
"How is this possible? You had the power to change everyone back to normal and didn't tell us?" asked the cyborg in shock with a tone of anger, while the duck with Rizz, now the young man with Rizz, went "nice" as he flexed his muscles, admiring his reflection.
"I do not know why the suits make your species turn back to human form..." said the alien as the cyborg got closer with a menacing expression and pushed him back.
"We had to endure so much just to be fixed so easily; you could have done this before? Why didn't you make suits for everyone? Uhh..." she exclaimed.
"It's not that simple," said the alien, trying to figure out a way to explain the complex situation. The alien had thought about this possibility, but it did not work as planned. Many experiments had gone wrong, and the effects of the suits were not permanent. How could he help them understand he was doing everything in his power to help the planet?
*To be continued...*
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Testers
Short StoryWho would have thought that a planet level threat would bring together a very unlikely group capable of saving the universe. Yeah I know its a cliche, but its a fun one. The universe might feel cold, or it might seem dark, but I like to think that i...
