chapter six
woke the next morning ready for the day. I was kind of upset that Memmi hadn't anything really useful for me, so I figured today should just be a day for me and my own happiness at the moment, I was feeling burnt out trying to deal with learning who I was while everyone talked about the Nexus, we're having none of that today, gotta treat myself. I reached for Constantine's bag but saw it was empty. I walked out into the main room and he was clearly enjoying a rapturous moment. “Oh, sweet joy, the master server! Ping me, baby! Yeah, that's some good low latency! A--”
“Am I, eh...” I started.
“Oh, eh, um... Hello,... human! I have been instructed to aid you in selecting a-- gimme a moment, it's just... it's just so good to talk with the server again... okay, I have been instructed to aid you in selecting a--”
“Surprise me.”
“Okay, one... actually, it shows you have been sent a gift from a local clothes shop!”
“Shim?”
“A local clothes shop!”
“But who runs it?”
“Your gift is on its way!”
Constantine disassembled on the table into a compact assortment of stones, and I sighed. Let's be real for a moment, as annoying as he could be, at least he had a personality off of the server. It's just a shame I have to pick my poison: an unhelpful butler or the manifestation of the obnoxious kid who riffed on the book out loud in the back of the class when the teacher's reading and you and the rest of the class are obviously engrossed. Suddenly, a man showed up at the door, some sort of silver-skinned character with blue eyes. “Here is your package from... Shim!”
“Thanks, Mister...”
“Please, call me Percy!”
“Thanks, Percy. Where's Flant?”
“Flant is... good-bye!”
“Wait, n--”
As Percy closed the door, I flung it back open, but he was gone. That wasn't an answer I wanted. I figured I should open up Shim's package, though. Inside was some soft, casual pants, an equally soft shirt (both a pale yellow), a packet of “red: a food”, and a plastic bag containing several heat packs. I ate the packet of red (why is this the texture they decided on for all of their foods?!) and figured I'd go see Shim.
As I stepped in the door, I felt her wrap her hands around me and lift me off the ground. “There's my favorite human! Did Memmi help you much?”
“Not actually, no.”
“Aw, well, she at least can help you out when you need it. I turn to her all the time for help. So, how'd you like your gift?”
“It's very comfortable,” I said.
“I was always worried sick you were going to bed in the day's outfit, you certainly need a lot more than just two sets of clothes! Don't worry, I paid for everything, even your breakfast. Hey, ya wanna come lay in the back room? Shaw's gone, but Jev might want some company.”
“Mmm, alright.”
“Yay! She'll be so happy!”
Shim put me down and gestured me towards the back room. I was feeling really warm and cozy already, but stepping into the heated back room was a whole new level. Jev was sprawled out in the middle of the floor. I sat along the wall, closed my eyes for just a moment, and when I opened them, Jev was looking me in the eyes. “Oh, hello,” she said.
“Hey, Shim wanted me to spend some time back here, said you needed some company?”
“I mean, if you just wanna bask here, that's cool. Here.”
She laid back down on the floor, and invited me to lay next to her. She sighed as I got comfortable, and I laid there with my eyes closed, feeling a little overwhelmed with the feeling of contact, the comfortable clothing, the warmth, the tingly feeling setting in all over me. It felt good just to be there, in the moment, I was so glad I took a day to just do nothing.
“So, eh, did Memmi help you out at all?” Jev asked.
“A tiny bit, not much, though.”
“Hmm, that's alright, she really can't help you on your first visit. Shame you need to pay for the train every time.”
“She told me to just stand in the vestibule of the train.”
“Wait, really?!”
“Yeah,” I murmured.
“That's hardcore, girl, just hardcore.”
“Hmm,” I sighed, feeling more asleep than awake at the moment.
I didn't feel totally out of it like I did on pink, this was a gentle, sleepy feeling that I just couldn't get enough of. I curled up a bit tighter to Jev, and could hear her happily sigh as I did. “Aw, look at my friends! So peaceful...” Shim said, passing through for something.
I kept phasing between being asleep and being awake, time didn't really matter in the moment, I was being held and feeling warm and making someone else happy by just existing. As much as I wasn't really a fan of being passed around back and forth by Shim and her friends, I couldn't argue with all of the affection I was receiving. It felt a tiny bit odd to me, though, like I just wasn't used to it. I guess I just didn't get very many hugs before I ended up here. I was still curious as to who I really was, but I had to keep reminding myself that that wasn't the point of today. Today was going to be a day of rest, to take in the afterward as much as I can, I was going to be here a while, probably, no point in spending every moment feeling weirded out and alienated by it.
“I'm an outcast,” I said to the man.
“Your point, Mr. Riddick?”
“Look, Baker, your heart's in a good place, I get that. You lost everything, y'know? Your home, your daughter, your family, and you want some help to contain the problem, but I work alone. It's my way or the highway, pal, and the highway's shut right down.”
“Sir, with all due respect, you don't know what you're saying. I have seen this thing work. It's a menace, an abomination, mania given flesh, and I know how it operates. You need me for this one. Your choice, you can go up against the beast yourself, but the results will be c
...will be what? What will happen to the world? Who was that man? Was he talking about the Nexus? What does it want with the world? I was worried, stressed out of my mind, and I think Jev could tell, she pulled me in closer. “it's alright...” she whispered soundlessly to me.
I squeezed her hand a bit, and started calming down. “You doing alright?”
“I keep having these visions, Jev.”
“Hmm... well, no matter what they are, just remember that they might not be you, you don't need to live by their examples.”
“Thank you.”
“I understand Shim, now.”
“Hmm?”
“You're... so warm.”
“Um, thank you.”
“And you humans love physical contact, so this is a win for the both of us.”
“Now we just need to convince Shaw,” I joked.
“Eh, she's too closed-off. Hope she's doing well at work...”
“Yeah... where does she work? I could go check in on her.”
“Mmm, it's no big deal.”
“Oh, okay.”
Jev sighed deeply, I took it she was asleep again, and I laid there as well, falling into the comforting sensation once again, gently rubbing my fingers against the scales on the back of her hand with my eyes closed. “Look at you two,” I heard Shim whisper as she passed through, “someone's warmed up to the human!”
“Mm-hmm,” Jev replied quietly, pulling me a little closer.
“You want anything, you two?”
“Do you have any water?” I asked.
“Yeah, I can get you a bottle of water. Jev, water?”
“Mmm,” she tried to answer.
“I'll just grab two.”
A few more moments passed, and Shim returned, setting two plastic bottles of a slightly bluish liquid down on the floor by me. “One for you, and one for Jevvins.”
“Thank you,” I replied, barely awake enough to respond.
Shim left again, and I closed my eyes once more, I was barely awake. Honestly, I kinda liked that I could spend a good amount of my day napping with friends like this, there was a lot I was liking about the afterward, and I could take my mind off of finding out who I was and just life this life, Tammy, a tiny little girl who was friends with a group of affectionate lizard people in some alternate dimension or wherever, I dunno.
understand? You need me, I spent years studying these sorts of cosmic corruptions under a man by the name of (the sudden sound of static), the decades he spent by himself and under his colleagues prepared us for these moments, and he's returned home; I am your only choice. Make it quick, Cal, you don't got all day.”
“Sorry, not interested. I'll do it alone, thank you very much.”
“Look, here's five hundred dollars. The money is yours if, and only if, I get to assist you in tracking down this evil. I've seen your apartment, Cal, you need the money more than I do. I have no use for thi--”
I rapped my fingers along the slide of my gun. Five hundred bucks wasn't much of a bounty, but if I'd be saving that many people in one act of vigilante justice then shoot, I didn't really have much reason to say no. I shook the man's hand. “Thank you, Mr. Riddick,” Jim said, “you will not regret th
Is this going to happen every time I fall asleep? I reached out for Jev's hand but she was gone. I got up, a little confused, and grabbed the bottle of water Shim had left me earlier. I stepped out into the shot to find Jev curled up in the chair at the desk. She gave a bit of a weak wave. “Shim stepped out for a moment, she put me in charge, sorry I flaked before you woke up.”
“No, it's fine. Thank you for that, though, that was a really cozy start to my day.”
“Glad you enjoyed it. Oh, Tams?”
“Yeah, Jev?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpd3Nhsv2nf
“Please don't tell Shaw or the others about this. We've got a reputation to uphold, and we don't want people to hold this over our heads, if you understand.”
“Why are you all so scared of people knowing you're sweet people?”
“Because Lizi are kind of a proud warrior race back home, kind of like the human... I think they were the French? The human French, does that sound right?”
“I dunno.”
“Oh, well, just don't let it spill that we really do appreciate the touch. Shim couldn't care less, she's as excitable as they come, she's really only bitter towards Connor, but, like, Shaw and I? Please?”
“You have my word. Why does she not like Connor?”
“Eh, I dunno.”
With that question answered, I thanked her and headed out. I didn't know what to do with the rest of my day, I had no money and the only new things I knew was I had some new memories to know and now I know about how the Lizi don't want to be known as softies, no sir. I figured I could go window shopping, that was a thing I knew about, go check out what other shops and places there were, maybe I could find some other people who would love me.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
