November 3rd
Harry dragged me into the cockpit and opened up the galactic map. He fiddled around with it, making it zoom up on a planet covered in archipelagos. He then clicked on one of them, revealing some sort of laboratory. He pointed to it and explained, “This is where we need to go. Do you know what that is?”
I shrugged. “It could be any laboratory. What’s to say that it isn’t some kind of computer science lab?”
“I did my research,” he said before pressing some buttons to show pictures of its interior. “This is a high-tech biomechanical laboratory that studies how to best combine biological matter with machinery. They are the greatest chance I have for restoring biological functions to this mechanical body.” He pointed to himself.
“Is this truly what you want?” I asked as I started pacing around the cockpit, scratching the small beard that had grown on my chin. “Being purely mechanical seems to have some benefits. You’re more durable, have laser accuracy, and never need to eat, drink, or sleep. It seems like you’ve transcended the limits of biological function to be an immortal machine.”
He looked at me and asked, “What about your girlfriend? Her mutant form has some benefits, which makes her superior to baseline humans in many ways. However, she still wishes to become human again. Would you deny her the opportunity?”
“No,” I sighed. He was right. While being a cyborg sounded cool, only he would know what it was like. I couldn’t fault him on his decisions.
“Good. Because we’re landing there right now,” he said as he pressed one of the buttons on the ship. Immediately, the ship started falling fast. I was slammed into the ceiling as the ship accelerated. I immediately regretted not searching for extra seats and seatbelts during the junkyard excursion.
I closed my eyes and grabbed onto a piece of pipe in the ceiling. It was hot, but it would provide me with something to hang onto so I wouldn’t fall to the ground when we landed. And sure enough, the ship landed after a few seconds. The jolt almost dislocated my shoulder as gravity reasserted itself. Once I was confident in my chances, I let go of the pipe and fell to the floor, careful to bend my knees.
The impact was painful, but nothing was broken. I got up and walked to the door. Before I could open it, it opened to reveal a disheveled Scarlett. “For your information, please inform us if we’re going to land.” I walked up to her and smoothed out her fur to make her look more presentable. She smiled and said, “Thank you, Quentin.”
Harry passed by both of us. He glanced and said, “The rest of you can enjoy your time here to have a nice beach vacation. I, however, will be talking with the scientists in the lab.” He continued walking into the living room.
Scarlett shrugged. “Do you have any plans? We can swim in the ocean, but I don’t particularly care to swim in salt water filled with sea animal refuse.”
I shrugged back. “What about hiking? That way, we can bring Gruma and Malgorth with us.” She seemed a bit upset, but I didn’t see the need for the activity to be a date. We could have a date later.
We went to our rooms and got changed. I put on a tan pair of shorts along with a red T-shirt. My backpack had several water bottles in it as I put it on. I exited the room to find that Scarlet got dressed as well. She wore a light blue tank top and tan shorts. She wore the cowboy hat on her head, with pieces cut so her ears would stick out the top. The air smelt lovely, which I knew came from the perfume that she wore. She never smelt like a fox or a dog, but it didn’t mean that I didn’t appreciate the effort she put into hygiene.
I knocked on Gruma’s door and asked, “Care to join us for a hike?”
“Absolutely!” she shouted in joy as she opened the door.
“Aren’t you going to get ready?”
“I’m ready!”
“Fine by me.” I shrugged. She joined us as I walked to Malgorth’s door and asked, “Care to join us for a hike?”
There was a short pause before he said, “No thank you. I’d much rather rest after that wicked party.”
Scarlett squinted her eyes. “Malgorth, that party was three days ago. How are you tired from it?”
“Sorry, little fox girl, but I had a massive party with myself yesterday. It was, like, the most radical party in history!” he replied. I would never understand how he was able to party by himself, but I supposed it was good for him. The more he was happy, the less complaints I would get.
With the hiking group ready, we walked out of the ship and into the bright light above. There were two stars the planet revolved around. The main one was a bright blue star that cast everything with a blue hue. The smaller one was a yellow star, not unlike the Sun. However, it was much weaker. Together, they gave the planet a nice feeling. It wasn’t as hot as I expected it to be. Despite being a tropical environment, the humidity and heat weren’t oppressive. A cool breeze prevented that, making Scarlett smile at how nice it felt.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
We were standing in the middle of a parking lot with several other spaceships around. Unlike the other planets, there were only warm-blooded aliens walking around. Looking around, I could see that we had to have landed on some beach resort planet. There were several buildings around, with several in different size categories. There were hotels for human-sized, miniscule, and giant aliens along with everything in between. The beachfronts were absolutely packed with no way we would’ve been able to swim even if we wanted to.
“What a tacky planet,” Scarlett grumbled as she walked in front of us. She sniffed the air and said, “Smells like salt water and sweat. We need to get to the wilderness so we can hike.” She walked off, making the rest of us follow her.
After half an hour of weaving through the sidewalks, we came across a gate leading to a wilderness path. It wouldn’t be true wilderness, but it was better than being stuck in another crowd as we often were. We paid the fee to an odd-looking alien before entering.
There were several paths in front of us. It seemed based on height categories. Unfortunately, none of them included the metric system and I wasn’t stupid enough to believe they’d use the US system. Granted, the metric system itself was based on the circumference of the Earth, which meant that distance wouldn’t be the same. However, a good look at the paths confirmed where we would fit.
We walked through the center path for our height, walking on a paved trail before another fork in the road. I purposefully chose the unpaved trail and walked down it. As the poet Robert Frost said: “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” I definitely didn’t quote the poem mentally to justify a potentially bad decision.
Unlike the other paths, this one was more strenuous. The terrain was uneven. We were hiking up a hill, enjoying the cover of the trees that blocked the stars. I took a deep breath of the fresh air and said, “It’s nice to be in nature again. It’s refreshing.” I looked back and noticed Scarlett tearing up as she sniffed the air.
“Thank you,” she said as she wiped away her tears. She held her arms out and plopped down on the ground. She looked at the sky and said, “This reminds me of when I would venture into the woods behind my childhood home. The fresh air, birds chirping, and whistling wind are things that I’ve missed. I’ve been stuck indoors for most of my life, and then the wildernesses I entered on this journey were desolate wastelands. To be back in a forest is nostalgic.”
Gruma nodded. “I know what you mean. This place is similar to my homeland. The weather is a bit warmer back home, but the trees and birds look like the ones back on Besmen.” She looked at Scarlett and asked, “Does being part animal make it feel better?”
The vulpine scowled. “Gruma, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not part animal?”
“I don’t know the number, but probably a lot,” the Taraxian answered, seemingly clueless to the existence of rhetorical questions.
Scarlett sighed and facepalmed. After a moment to calm down, she said, “I like nature, but I’m not a part of it. My place is with humanity. It’s just like I said before, it’s nice to be in the woods again.” She frowned as she sniffed the air. “But let’s get going. I smell a large animal in the area.”
With the moment of rest over, we continued our hike. After a while, we reached the top of the hill. I pulled out my phone and took a group photo before allowing Scarlett to take her own photos with her SAD. Since we were at the top, we took another moment to rest. We let the tranquil sounds of nature wash over us. We wouldn’t have many of these opportunities until we returned home.
After some time there, we started heading back. It involved descending boulders, which would’ve been more difficult if this journey didn’t get us all in shape. Because of the training and exercise, we managed to leave the trail in decent time. It was a pleasant experience, but now it was time to enjoy the beach. Not to swim in it, but rather to do everything else there was to do there.
As we returned to the spaceship, we noticed that the beach wasn’t as crowded anymore. We got changed into our swimwear and went there.
As we entered the beach, I noticed that there were several sections based on height. We went to the one accepting those of human-like height. We found a nice spot to set up umbrellas and towels. Once they were set up, I took a pail and walked to the water. I scooped up the wet sand and walked back to the group. However, as I approached, I saw something that made me angry.
“Hello there, beautiful,” said some sort of foxlike alien as he looked at Scarlett. The alien was about half her height and was definitely an evolved vulpine-like creature rather than of human origin. Scarlett’s muzzle contorted to display disgust.
“Get lost!” she shouted. She grabbed sand in her hands before tossing it in his eyes. He screamed in pain, making everyone look at her.
I ran up to her and knelt down to hug her. She returned the hug, her face morphing into a smile. After a few seconds of it, I turned to face the alien and shouted, “Get away from my girlfriend!”
“Your girlfriend?” he mockingly said as he rubbed the sand out of his eyes. It was at that moment that I realized he was completely naked. Nothing was showing, but it was still uncomfortable to look at. He smirked and said, “You two aren’t the same species. Such romances are abominations. I’m not being a racist. It’s just that you two can never have children.”
Scarlett growled at his words. She jumped to her feet and stormed over to him. His head didn’t even reach her waist as she loomed over him, her shadow covering him in darkness. She crossed her arms under her breasts as she growled, “Listen closely, shorty! I’m not attracted to you. Not even the inkling that others like him give me.” She pointed at me. She crossed her arms again. “The reason is simple. I’m not one of you! I’m the same species as my boyfriend! Even if that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t be an abomination! The true abomination is that a mutt like you won’t leave me alone!”
The foxlike alien nervously chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re angry. So, when’s our next date?”
This time, it was Gruma who intervened. She grabbed the foxlike alien and carried him away from us. After a few minutes, she returned with a smile. “It seems that he finally got the message. All it took was threats to make him give up,” she explained, not caring to coat the words to make them sound better.
“Thank you, Gruma,” Scarlett said as she laid down on her towel and put on a pair of sunglasses. “Now then, I’m just going to enjoy some time under the suns. I hope I can get a few hours in while Harry’s at the place.”
I laid down next to her and asked hesitantly, “Scarlett, you do realize you can’t tan, right?” She lowered her sunglasses and laughed.
“What do you take me for? An idiot? Of course I know that! I wasn’t sunbathing with the intent of tanning,” she replied before she put her sunglasses back on.
After a few minutes of relaxing, I went back to building my sandcastle. I had a fortress to build and I hoped that I could do better than the last time I built one as a child.