Project Sleepwalker

Posted on Tue May 29th, 2018 @ 12:09am by Captain Charybdis MacGregor

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Past Tense
Location: Sulamid, beneath the Dark Sea, Primordial Creche
Timeline: 2265
Tags: timetravel,Sleepwalker

Siivas and Andurean stood at the edge of the pool of dark viscous fluid, the apparatus they'd be entrusting their lives to deep in the pool glowing softly and eerily like phosphorescent deep-sea plant life. Around them, in what seemed a vast plain, similar pools kept inhabitants, the surfaces covered in ice while the rest in a leading edge stretching off in the other direction remained liquid. They were a mile beneath the crust of Sulmas, the homeworld of the Sulamid, inside a vast cavern space that in the primordial birth of their species had been their crche.

Each wore a small processing unit around their waist, Andurean's serpent was attached to his chest inside a membrane-like material that would insulate the creature from any harmful effects of the coming ordeal, the space they were in was so cold they dimpled with gooseflesh all over their bodies.

Siivas stared into Andurean's eyes and met sea-green with black-green. Andurean held up a hand and placed fingertips against Siivas' face, opening his thoughts to Siivas. The Deltan raised his hand and placed it against the back of Andurean's where it rested on his face, gently physically affirming his feelings as well.

Proot rolled up and waited, silently, two eyestalks emerging to watch them and the other three to inspect the area and the equipment, as two of them dipped into the fluid. Priit, in the fluid pool already, was checking the machinery and the connections, making sure everything was calibrated and adjusted as it should be. It wore dozens of tools and scanners of one type or another and used them to read one or another part of the machine, to check the settings. It flashed through colors and patterns in a highly technical strobing display as it reported to Proot.

"We are ready when you are my friends," Proot murmured softly, the color variations and patterns of its visual language muted. Andurean broke contacts with a slight jerk of his hand and nodded to Proot, Siivas however capture the hand and continued to hold it as he turned towards Proot.

"I'm going to miss the birth of your offspring," Siivas sighed wistfully.

"This time," Proot replied with a chuckle. "Sulamid have high infant mortality rates, thus we reproduce actively and in batches. Besides," it indicated the pool as pulled all five eyestalks to look at them and gestured with several tentacles to the pool, "After being in that for ten years, you'll have gotten more than enough Sulamid reproductive slime on you to last a lifetime, no?"

Siivas did cocked his head and made a drawn face as if considering, nodding slowly, "True. That's highly likely. Though as I understand it, the slime is very nourishing and good for the skin."

"It will take at least a decade off of that face," Proot replied deadpan.

"I can live with that," Siivas replied and then released Andurean's hand to advance on the Sulamid and raised his arms, embracing the wad of squirming tentacles.

Proot froze, completely, eyes watching the Deltan who was hugging it from many angles and then gently wrapped him in several of its tentacles, cradling him gently as its coloring deepened from pink to lavender. "I am saddened that my friend will not be with me," Proot murmured, muffled by Siivas' body against his vocalizer.

"Don't be," Siivas replied, releasing Proot and looking up at it's eyes, "you'll soon have plenty to keep you busy and then you'll have to teach us everything we've missed."

"As entertaining as that seems Siivas," Proot told him, "we would much rather that you were with us."

"I am always with you," Siivas told it and squeeze a tentacle gently.

"Certainly your odor is," Proot replied, "ugh."

Siivas laughed and turned and took Andurean's hand and together, they stepped off of the edge and plunged into the dark fluid with no splash and hardly any ripple. A few minutes later, Priit emerged from the liquid and twining tentacle with its mate Proot, touched a contact point with a tentacle-tip on one of the devices and all at once, the fluid hardened into ice, a faint fog forming across the top. It withdrew to tool and tentacle and they regarded one another in silence, soft gray and brown colors before slowly rolling away to wait for the future to come.

 

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