She manages to sit up on her own power, fighting nausea the whole time, and as soon as she does she regrets it. There is a pounding ache on the left side of her head, a little above her ear. It feels like a very bad earache after swimming for too long, but entirely in her head. A camp has sprung up somehow, in the time she's been out. Well. Sort of a camp. There are no tents, but there are small piles of gear tossed all over the place. The Mountain Man had discarded his heavy fur cloak and some sort of waist pack nearby. The bright white light is coming from an assortment of small lamps that are littered over the space. They resemble giant marbles with a circular, solid button-looking area on them. Unfortunately, the light they provide perfectly illustrates all the different shaped individuals that are definitely not human.
Granted, some of them look close to human. But others? Not so much.
The walking mountain man has a friend. A slightly smaller mountain that, she's only seventy percent sure, is also a mountain-man. With an even more glittery beard than his friend. The small mountain’s beard looks like it’s made of pure gold, but his ears look larger and sharper than his friends, and his eyes were the same shade as his beard. The small horns that poked from his brow were faintly red at the tips.
The three-eyed woman also has a friend, taller than her but slightly more male looking. His skin is a smooth, even shade of fawn, his eyes a soft brown. He was equally as bald as the woman, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he was floating a small marble above his hand absently, the glint of metal a flash in the air that followed the wave of his hand.
Muscle woman did not appear to have a friend, but she also didn’t seem bothered by that.
Outside of those who had immediately made contact with her, there was a couple that had scales littered over their bodies, and limbs that seemed just too long and sharp to be human. Their eyes refracted the light of the orbs in a distinctly predatory way, the nearly concave look to their torso's giving Astrid the impression that their bodies got weirder than sharp elbows and mottled brown and red scales.
Beyond the couple with scales, almost but not quite on the fringes of the group, was a couple that were floating a few inches off the ground, wearing flowing, iridescent clothes in a rainbow of shades. There were weights strapped around their waists — or rather, Astrid assumed they were weights. They looked like weights — solid-looking pieces of a dumbbell, attached to a chain. Astrid can’t make heads or tails of why, but she suspects this is just her brains way of being funny. She’s absolutely positive they’re both female.
Last but certainly not least — Astrid glances at them and then away again, felt her heart kick in nervousness she didn’t quite understand.
On the edges of the group, in a space that had clearly and without lines been given to them by the others, was the last couple. They looked almost human. She shouldn’t have found anything about them terrifying. Except — except that their eyes, from sclera to iris, were night-sky dark, wide and watching. Their lips were parted into too-wide smiles that unnerved. Their skin almost seemed . . . translucent. Veiny and translucent and sickly looking. Their hair dripped down their heads like sheets of glass.
On the surface, human enough that she should have been less ill-at-ease.
In reality — she stole another quick glance, felt a lance of primal fear shoot down her spine when she met the eyes of the feminine looking one, something inside her screaming that she should run.
It hasn’t escaped Astrid’s notice that the others here — they avoided looking at them too.
“You seem to have recovered,” cooed the three-eyed woman.
Astrid blinked at her and shrugged.
“I don’t necessarily know why I’ve lost it, but I’m kinda hoping it ends soon.”
Muscle woman frowned at her over three-eyed woman's head, confusion paramount.
“What have you lost?”
Astrid waved the question away, observing the women carefully. They looked real. They felt real, when the three-eyed woman gently touched her forehead and frowned at her in what might be worry.
“Feels like everything,” she whispered, then louder, “what are — who are you?”
Slowly, the three-eyed woman’s head tilted, and then she slowly sat next to Astrid. The muscle woman crouched in front of them, observing Astrid back.
“I am Penelo Gildan. There is my deepest love, Belvar,” she motioned to the three-eyed man, who was loitering by one of the glowing orbs, speaking to several of the others.
“I am Udema Izbelot, the Widow.”
Udema offered her hand — Penelo didn’t, but Penelo’s hand was gently gripping Astrid’s left bicep, and since the three-eyed-woman had been fussing over Astrid since she sat up, she was going to give the woman a pass. Slowly Astrid gripped Udema’s hand, was almost startled when she met with warm, calloused skin instead of thin air. Udema chuckled and loosened their hands, then clasped their wrists instead, the woman’s free hand wrapping Astrid’s fingers around the other woman’s thick wrist.
The sensation of warmth remained even after Udema released her. Astrid didn’t know what to make of this.
“How do I understand you now?” she inquired softly, curious despite herself.
She knew realistically that there should be a perfectly plausible explanation, but this is the first mental break she’s ever experienced. Who knew what her brain would come up with?
Udema grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. Then she motioned to the side of her own head, her bronze cheeks darkening slightly.
“The fact you breathe here means your biology is not so different. It is unusual to find a species that hasn’t been Indexed or Coded, but all my . . .people carry a Aetheric Transmitter injection, just to be safe.”
Astrid stared. Udema stared back. Penelo gently pat-pated Astrid’s hand and said, in the tone of voice one might use on a child;
“Aetheric Transmitters are a certified medical device used primarily by the Thebehines Galactic Embassy, but anyone with the correct qualifications has access to them, including ambassadors to new planets or people. The devices assist in the translation and understanding of languages between the Thebehines Wider People.”
Astrid took her time thinking about this, brain rolling the word Galactic around her head like a ball of yarn, then slowly reached up to that aching, tender spot on her head.
Stolen story; please report.
“So you attacked me to force a transmitter in my head?” she asks, both ears ringing and confusion growing. This seemed like the beginning of a bad space opera. Or a moderately okay Space Opera? Hard to tell. There weren’t any little green imps spouting riddles yet.
Had she hit her head? When she fell into the cavern? Was that the cause of the mental break? Or was this all a dream? But no! She’d never felt the exact sensations she’s felt while walking when dreaming. Never even felt the exact burn of skin on skin contact while she dreamed. Perhaps her brains only way of making sense of the ache was this mental break?
But wouldn’t her head have hurt before she met with this apparently alien group?
Udema’s cheeks darkened some more, and she gave Astrid a deeply bland look.
“And how would you have had me ask, Tiny?”
Astrid scowled, both at the nickname and the tone, and Penelo moved to interject at the same time that the far wall flickered. It effectively ended the discussion, because the very next second, one of the very-creepy glass-haired people started gathering the globes of light, and everyone picked up their personal items, keeping an eye on the flickering wall.
“What’s happening?” Astird asked Penelo, letting herself be drug up by Udema and accepting her pack when the three-eyed woman shoved it into her hands.
“We’re finally going to find out why we’re here.”
That wasn’t ominous at all.
The same large face from before her assault and fainting spell appeared, and Astrid breathed slowly through it. The booming voice returned, but this time, she understood it.
“Is the Last awake? Ah — very good. Now that you are all assimilated, I shall explain why you have been selected.”
Glancing around, Astrid found that the expressions around her had become grim and serious. The alien on the wall, his skin mottled in shades of green and brown, resembling the terrain of distant planets, tilted his head down at them. The light of whatever was recording him refracted against the giant crystal on top of his head, sending out sharp gleams of starbursts. Something within the crystal pulsed with energy, and it vibrated as he started speaking, his head still bowed.
“Eons ago, the mountain you now stand in acted as the heart of my people. It was a center for commerce, communication, community, and life. In the Mountain we thrived. In the Mountain, all were safe. Until the turning of the Dothrinian age. A sickness spread. My brothers and sisters fell one by one, until all that was left was destitution and devastation,” his echoing voice held such a tone to it, Astrid felt tears prick her eyes and didn’t know why, except —
The mournful undertones spoke of extreme loss, a song that rang just under the words. She knew that tone. Had heard it often enough from her Therapy Group. From herself. From —
How dare you act as though you have any right to be sad! —
Breathe. Focus. Ground.
Astrid wobbled on her feet, found herself clutching Udema’s arm when she tilted too far. The ache in her head was rivaled by the clench of her heart and Penelo stepped away. The feeling vanished. When her vision cleared, she was able to focus on what the face was saying.
“ — outside help was needed. The small settlements that had been made in the surrounding mountain ranges were able to contain the spread, stop it from traveling. But more was needed. A seal was created, drilled into the heart of the mountain itself, meant to send the illness into slumber until a cure could be found. Those who assisted my people were given a genetic marker, that we might find them again should we need help — and this is where you come in.”
Astrid frowned in confusion. A eon for aliens meant what, exactly, for her? And she didn’t know what a genetic marker was, but she was positive it was just as invasive as the ‘translator’ idea. Besides — Her . . .people? Planet? Something! Would have barely been out of the stone age an eon ago, or not even fully formed? She’s fifty percent certain Earths history wasn’t that long. Maybe the Face was confused, and if she just pointed all this out to him, the mental breakdown she was having would shatter and she could go back to reality.
“Each of you —”
His words were interrupted by a shriek, which echoed from one of the tunnels, an echo that twisted through the space and sent a kick of fear through her heart. Silence. Another series of shrieks, still distant but more.
“You are out of time. Those of you who have personal SIBs will be receiving a map. Follow it and go! Quickly!”
Udema grabbed her arm and tugged, and suddenly they were running. Ahead of them, Penelo was leading the way through the winding tunnels, occasionally stopping to glance at her wrist, where a small device was located. It displayed a holographic map and a series of alien letters she couldn't read, but which seemed to make perfect sense to everyone else. The shrieking was still echoing behind them periodically. They came to a tunnel that sharply slanted up, but which also had an assortment of ledges and loosely connected walkways.
The two floating women moved forward and did something to their belts, then gripped the rock and started walking themselves up, only ‘climbing’ when they reached the top of the first ledge. The two creepy-glass-wide-eyed aliens moved forward like liquid and started climbing ridiculously fast. Astrid felt like she was at a disadvantage, being just a human and only ever moderately-to-mild active.
Should have started those rock climbing lessons at the civic center. She mused with a tinge of frantic thought.
“Can you climb?” Udema asked her urgently.
Another shriek echoed. Astrid didn’t even have time to appreciate the irony of trying to avoid climbing a bluff and then having a mental break that involved climbing — she just ran up to the nearest looking hand hold and started climbing. She didn’t want to know what else her brain felt was appropriate to hallucinate while she was trapped in a cavernous warren of tunnels underground, but she was positive she wouldn’t like it.
On the bright side; climbing gave her something to focus on. One hand up, one foot up. Find a grip. Test. Pull. It was repetitive, made her arms ache worst than her head, and as long as she was moving she felt like she was putting distance between herself and that awful noise. About halfway up the sharp series of ledges, she paused to catch her breath after she’d climbed over a slightly wider ledge. Both mountain men were waiting there, crouched like gargoyles and watching the area below intently, ears twitching.
She made the mistake of looking down too. The area they’d started was well lit. Someone had left one of those palm sized orbs of light at the bottom. It perfectly illustrated the thing that was making that awful noise.
It’s skin looked patchy. The hands it held loosely at its sides were tipped in claws. It had six long, spindly legs, was sort of human shaped, except that it was so terribly thin and insectoid looking. The empty hollows where it's eyes should have been looked mummified. There was an almost carapace-like structure growing from its back, swooping in front of its narrow chest to protectively sweep across it's abdomen. Those patches of gray might have been stone, because when it slowly looked up at them and shrieked, something cracked and fell off of it’s gaunt face. Several shadows moved behind it.
Astrid didn’t wait for the others to finish observing it.
She turned and started climbing frantically, followed shortly by Udema and the smaller mountain man. She reached the top of the ledges in record time, but was always perfectly aware of the shouts behind her, and the shrieks of fury that had multiplied. There was a door at the top that Penelo and her Belvar were frantically fiddling with the wiring of. The two floating women were clutching each other and looking over the ledges. The scary glass-haired-aliens were twirling silver blades and smiling at nothing. The scaled couple was just climbing over the edge when the door beeped.
It swooped open after several curses Astrid apparently didn’t get a translation for, and she was shoved into the metallic looking hallway by a large hand. She went willingly, stumbling to a halt with a fair distance between herself and the door and watching with fluttering hands as Penelo and Belvar got to work on this side of the door as well.
One by one the group of apparently-alien-people she was hallucinating all scrambled through the door. Just as a clawed, bloody hand clasped the top of the ledge, the door beeped again and swooped shut. Penelo took something out of a small bag at the small of her bag and proceeded to taze the fuck out of the wiring panel she’d just worked magic on.
They all stared at the closed door. Something started banging on it. Udema lifted her wrist and taped a small device on it, and a map flickered to holographic life. Astrid may have no idea what the words said, but she knew how to follow maps. She turns and started speed walking.
“This is the absolute worst mental break down in the history of ever and I’m going to have words to say to Margery when I get back to reality. Words!”