The strange thing that was stuck in the vent still hadn’t moved by the time TO had gotten closer to it. TO had hoped that as they approached, the thing would have taken off and fled. It had not. Now TO was just over a foot away from the strange creature which clutched to the vent of the ship.
“... what are you going to do?” DH’s voice came in over the communicator in TO’s helmet.
“Unsure.” TO said. The idea of shooting the thing popped into their head once more, but they disregarded it. Sure, it would be easier, but this creature had done nothing wrong. Sentience also came in many forms; what if this creature was sentient?
“You have to leave.” TO said as they turned on their translator. The words came out, altered and modulated by the translation system. TO couldn’t hear how it sounded, but as the words came out, the creature flinched.
“It’s ok.” TO said, hoping that the translation system could portray some kind of soothing tone, “You’re fine, I just need you off them ship.”
The papery surface seemed to shuffle, then tighten down. TO didn’t know if it was because of the noise, or because of what they said.
TO turned off their multi-gun, then used it to poke at the creature. It shuffled, the papery part lifting like the petals of a flower just long enough for TO to get a glimpse of six long, spindly legs underneath it. They yelped and let go of the ship. Panic flooded them for a moment as they drifted away, but then they realized a tether connected them to the ship, and also that they had their thruster.
“Are you ok? Your heart rate spiked and I saw you let go of the ship-“
“I’m fine.” TO said as they felt their ears burn within the helmet, “I’m fine, I just got startled. “
“Why?”
“It’s a bug of some sort.”
“DO you want me to take over?”
TO’s ears burned as they turned on the thruster and headed back to the ship. “No.” They finally said, “No, I’m fine. I’m a highly trained soldier of King Decon! I can manage a bug.” They eyed the creature as their ears pinned back. “It’s big, so it can’t really scurry away. Besides that, in space mode this armor is airtight. What’s it going to do? Crawl on me?”
“But you don’t like bugs.”
“I’m aware!” TO said, very grateful that DH couldn’t see their ears, or how horrified they really were. They took a deep breath and then said more to themself than to DH, “I’ve only ever seen them in simulations. Maybe they’re not so awful?” They crept back to the bug on the ship. No, no, they were lying; they knew the bug was just as awful as the ones in simulations. It had six legs, which made TO distinctly uncomfortable. Some bugs fed off rotting meat, which was disturbing. Some bugs could burrow into your skin and lay eggs in your living flesh.
Still. They had a job to do.
They got back to the vent and reached out once more with their multi-gun. They poked at the petal like things which once more lifted to reveal the body underneath; it was rounded and looked like it might be squishy. TO couldn’t see any eyes, or even a mouth. It was only after they saw the body that their eyes wandered up, and they could see the slightly purple tint, the shimmering iridescence to the underside of the creature’s feathery petals.
“Are you watching through my helmet?” TO asked.
“I am.” came DH’s response.
“Can you identify this thing?”
There was no response for several minutes. As TO waited, they watched the bug and noticed something odd; they weren’t clutching to the vent; they were clutching to a strange, bumpy substance. TO turned on the spotlight that was connected to their helmet and saw that the substance was some kind of crystallized stuff that had gotten stuck in the vent. It shimmered purple as the light caught it, giving off brief hints of red and blue in the places where the light didn’t hit directly.
Well, no wonder the various procedures for removing the blockage didn’t work; if it had just been the bug, then the flushing systems in the ship would have removed it.
“It’s called a Void Anemone.” DH finally said, “They drift in space, and make their home on anything they catch onto. They’re harmless though.”
“Are you certain?” TO asked.
“Positive.” DH said. “They’re listed as a pest because they can damage ships, but they feed off small amounts solar radiation, and passively absorb various gasses that they encounter. I don’t even think they have teeth.”
“That must account for the coloration.” TO said, “They have a purple underside to their wings, and there’s this crystal like substance in the vent that seems to be purple too. They must have come from the Geode Nebula.“
“Probably. You can just release it here; it should be safe. Make sure it gets some distance from the ship, though.”
TO looked over the creature, trying to decide how to ‘release it’. IT wasn’t as though TO had the creature caught; the bug was holding onto the crystals with their tiny, grasping legs. TO poked it with the tip of their multi-gun, but it only clung more tightly to the crystals under it.
After another moment of hesitation, to reached out with their armored hand and gently slid their fingers under the bug. They whimpered as their hand neared the creature.
”TO, your heart rate-”
” I’m fine.” TO said, even though their voice was a few octaves too high. “I can do this.” They reminded themself that the suit was airtight as their fingers touched the bug’s legs. The insect slowly released their grip on the crystal and grasped onto TO’s hand.
If they hadn’t had an airtight armored glove, TO knew that they’d be flailing to get the bug off. Well, if they hadn’t had an armored, airtight suit on, they knew they wouldn’t have put their hand out.
After a few minutes of gentle coaxing, the bug had moved away from the crystal entirely and was now clutching to TO’s hand. They let go of the side of the ship and let themself float away, kept safe by the tether that connected them to the ship. When they were a decent distance away from the ship they turned towards the emptiness of space, towards the center of the nebula that seemed so far away now, and gently shook their hand.
The bug didn’t want to let go at first, but finally it seemed to give up. All at once its legs retreated into its body, sucked in like retractable wires. its papery petals spread out and drifted into space, floating like a flower on water. The dim lights from the ship and nearby stars caught on the colored part of the petals to create a beautiful iridescent display of purples and greens as it slowly drifted away.
“... That was beautiful.” Came DH’s voice after they had watched the bug for several long minutes, “I regret not going out to see that; that was amazing!”
“It was!” TO said. IT had been beautiful, and it almost made up for having to touch it. Almost. Armored glove or no, TO planned to take a long shower when they finished their work.
“OK.” DH said, “GO back to the vent and clear out any blockages. Once you’re done, I’ll flush it out again and we’ll be good to go.”
TO watched the Void Anemone for another moment before they engaged the thrusters and headed back to the vent to finish the job. They wished they could have caught the bug to bring it inside for DH to see. However, they knew that doing that would involve actually touching the thing without the airtight suit.
They’d do it for DH. They’d hate it, but they’d have done it for DH. They wanted DH to see pleasant things up close.
They got back to the vent and at first tried to pry the crystallized substance off, but it wouldn’t budge. They wondered if they’d have to go back inside to get tools, but they turned their multi-gun on to a narrow laser setting and shot alongside the ship. The laser went through the crystals, shattering them and creating a mass of floating pieces that slowly wafted past TO as the ship continued on. A few more shots, and TO had nearly rid the vent of its blockage. Everything was so loose now that they could to pry off the last few bits that were hanging off the vent.
“Alright. Come back in.” DH said, “I’m switching to the maintenance mode again and running the flush. Get away from the vent.”
TO pulled themself back to the airlock by their tether, but something caught their eye. A larger piece of crystal was floating off into space just a little before them. They used their thruster to catch up to it and caught it in their hands.
They could bring this in to show DH, anyway. It was something. The Crystal had been beautiful, and TO was certain that it would look better in person than it did on a screen.
With the piece of crystal held in their hand, they pulled themself back to the airlock by the tether. They got inside, got doused with a cleansing agent, then had to suffer the strange sensation in their ears as the pressure in the airlock normalized once more and they could go inside the main part of the ship. As soon as they were safe and the door to the airlock was closed behind them, they deactivated their armor. They had been grateful for the armor when they were around the bug, but it was still uncomfortable.
They rushed to the elevator, waiting to go up to the living area so that they could show DH the little crystal they had right away. However, when they look at the crystal more closely in their palm, they stopped.
The clump of isometric crystals had been fascinating in the way they glittered and the slight iridescence that played off the surface, but their cubed shape was rather basic and boring. When TO had shot through the crystals, they had disrupted that nice, orderly shape and created a mess of differently shaped gems that had scattered into space. The gem in their hand had the rough approximation of a heart shape that seemed to be used across the galaxy for two things; A representation of the heart in medical fields, and of course to present to lovers. Civilians often gave such shapes as a gift for someone they loved romantically.
TO had an idea. They had an idea in their head and they knew it would work. They didn’t need to tell DH anything! All they had to do was give them the right information, to get them to associate heart-shaped gifts with expressions of romantic love!
They slipped the gem in their pocket; It had to be hidden for now. TO needed to find a place where DH wouldn’t find it, but where they could retrieve it quickly when needed. They kept it in their pocket until they got to the engine room, where they could hide it among the machinery.
There, the crystal heart would be safe until TO was ready to give it to DH.
