Maeka- Awaken

This was not how Captain Louis had expected to start his days on this planet he had expected something more along the lines of seeing a few new pieces of plant and animal life, perhaps making a strange discovery of landmarks and maybe artifacts. He wasn't expecting a sapient alien to come across him and suddenly collapse into the snow. And judging by everyone else's responses, neither were they. Fortunately, he wasn't all that far away from the ship yet, and hopefully he'd be able to make it back before the poor thing froze to death. He normally be wondering if perhaps maybe it was something else, but by how she felt (at least he thought it was a she), he was fairly certain that whatever her species and biological makeup, she wasn't fit to be wandering out here in such conditions. “Louis to all, got something interesting here. Might be better off saying someone. Made contact with an extraterrestrial life-form, they're in bad shape.”

“Come again?” came the voice of Rodrick. “You got a Sapient? Confirmed?”

“Unconfirmed, but extremely likely. I'm taking her back to the ship. Will get her warmed up in the airlock, and get a spare fully enclosed suit for her. That'll keep any potential dangerous pathogens from getting out of her until we can give her a full scan and see what we're dealing with. All clear?” he got a smattering of confirmations from the rest of his crew quickly enough, although Nancy had expressed concern. Understandable, but after waiving it off and telling them to continue with scanning, he had made the march back in good time. From there it had been a simple task to get her into the airlock, into an exosuit, and then into the medbay. And now here he was, waiting, watching, and wondering as the medical AI did its job.

With the kinds of injuries that they were at risk of in their line of work, fortunately, their medical AI was state-of-the-art. Going by the name EVE, Lewis wasn't afraid to say that the AI had a better bedside manner than most real doctors he had to deal with- Basil aside, but she was just as important being out there at the moment as well. Besides, from the looks of things she'd be back before their new guest woke up.

The preacher was still alive, thank goodness, and it slept soundly despite the whirring of the medical rings that surrounded it. A quick preliminary scan revealed that it had no particular pathogens that could be immediately construed as dangerous or contagious to humans, and so he saw fit to disrobe her once she was in the medbay- taboo though it might have been, he was willing to take some heat if it meant saving a life. Hopefully in the next few hours they would have a fairly complete breakdown of the alien’s biological functionality, as well as a general idea of what medicines would be suitable for such a creature. Not everyone could handle aspirin for a headache, after all.

As the captain kept an eye on the machines, he couldn't help but take another glance over the body of the strange being. She certainly didn't seem like she was made to be out in such weather. Her fur was scraggly and uneven, and even what was their seen thin and unsuitable towards cold weather. It's breathing was light and rapid, and on occasion it shivered and coughed, and Lewis found himself wishing that he could just cuddle the poor thing.

That only lasted for a few seconds before he caught himself, however; shaking himself out of his stupor and briefly wondering where that came from. A second look answered that well enough. “Kinda reminds me of a stray cat...poor thing.” follow perhaps that wasn't quite accurate. She wouldn't call it more cat than lady, to be certain. Especially as his eyes wondered more and more south… for an alien like this to have such human looking cute, human looking-

Apparently, it had been some time since its last dalliance if his mind was starting to go *there*, of all places, and he shook his head to clear his mind of those errant thoughts. “Nope. I refuse to be that kind of guy.” At his words, he was surprised to see it stir briefly, and Louis nearly leapt to his feet. However, it was only for the moment, and soon settled down again with another series of coughs in its sleep. Hopefully it wouldn't die before he could help it…

Taking his mind off those morbid thoughts, he finally stood up. He would be of no help here for now, not until the scanners finished their job and were able to tell them what was safe and what was not for certain. Resigning himself to the wait, he quietly left the medbay, intent on perhaps getting a bit of a snack himself. Along the way, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she would be able to eat processed and synthesized meats- or perhaps she was more amenable to fruits.

‘Maybe I should ask the crew to keep an eye out,’ he mused to himself along the way. ‘Couldn't hurt, right?’

He would at least have something to occupy his time, something that would allow him to put off his worries of the alien’s well-being for now.

Maeka simply slept, dreamless and in peace.

It could not last forever, although it certainly lasted for quite some time. When she awoke, it was not as one coming from a deep, gentle sleep. This was sudden, surprised, and alert in ways her body could not handle at length. The first thing that ran through her mind was surprise at waking at all. Her last memories were fuzzy, disjointed. She remembered the Moon, Lu-hin-Ra shining down on her in her last moments, and something else… something that she could not quite remember clearly. She wanted to think it a face, but the details she could not recall, save for...eyes. Very, very strange eyes. Haunting eyes…

Pangs in her gut brought her back to the present- although upon taking a look at her surroundings, she was no less confused and frightened. The scene was… something she could not put words to. Strange objects with strange images on them, strange glyphs and pictures that she could not understand. The entire area glowed with a soft, subtle light that she could not place- she could see no fire pit, nor could she see any glowing bugs in the vicinity. And the material… she was cold, but it was not the biting cold from before. It was a gentle, comforting coolness. Very strange instruments lay all around her, one or two which look like weapons, and others she could not place in her wildest dreams. The coloration was a stark, strange white, and this plus the soft glow reminded her of the Moon yet again, but at perhaps a much greater level, somehow. She didn't realize that she was on some sort of table, and bound by her arms and legs by some strange material until she looked up, and noticed a trio of large strange rings surrounding her, made out of a material that she had never seen before, and spinning under their own power somehow. She saw nothing attached to them, no individuals to push or pull, and even her intelligent mind was starting to fray at the seams as she struggled only lightly, her body and mind too disconnected to put her full effort, despite its inherent futility. “What...what is this?” She muttered to herself as she settled back down. “Have I died? Is this the realm of Lu-hin-Ra?”

Before she could think on any of these questions further, the very wall itself in front of her split open- causing her to gasp and rear back. It was then that her eyes met his once again, and her memory returned to her.

This was it. This was the creature that she had seen before darkness took her. The being that had shown up as she had felt that strange peace run through her. She was worried. And cautious. How could she not be? But there was little she could do. She was weak, and she doubted that of being that looked like that would need any particular effort to crush her if it so desired. As she took it in further, though…

It was not looking at her with fierce eyes, or even those of disdain. At least, not by her reckoning. No, from what she knew, that was a face of concern. Perhaps even sympathy. But for what reason? What could this thing do?

It opened its mouth, and yet more words poured out. At least, she presumed those were words. They were like nothing she had ever heard before, and she was at a loss at how to respond. It spoke again, the same sounds, in the same way. Perhaps… was it asking a question? “I don't understand you,” she said. It was a vain hope that perhaps this issue of communication was one way, but she could hope. Anything to quell the uncertain fear that was coiling in her gut. True, whatever it was, it had clearly done something to save her. But what? And was it being kind? Likely not. Not for very long.

Strangely enough, however, the things seemed to understand her on some level, as it closed its eyes briefly and nodded, it’s lips turned upward slightly. It spoke again, holding out a hand to her, and then spoke once more, though this time Maeka the feeling it wasn't speaking to her. At that, it turned around, and to her astonishment, the wall split open again, vanishing and reforming in seconds.

“Wha- wait! What was that?!” she tried to cry out, but it did not return, and she was left to stew in her own thoughts. Did it really want to do anything bad to her? She was less sure now, there was ample opportunity for it to do so. Unless it was saving for something later... Was it?

Strangely enough, she didn't really think so. Perhaps she was a bit too hopeful. Perhaps she had lost her mind. But for some reason, she had the feeling that whatever this creature was, it wouldn't hurt her. And so she stayed her hand, shut down her thoughts of escape (for what would she escape back to, were she freed?), and waited for it to come back.

"It's about as we figured," Louis said as he rounded the corner. "She doesn't understand English. Might take us a bit for her to understand what we're trying to do."

Basil, the crew member with the most medical knowledge out of everyone else onboard, nodded in understanding. "No surprise. If we wanted to get anything out of her, we would have to use the nanobots." The language Nanobots were the closest thing to a universal translator that humanity had managed to get- a small injection that had preset data in each one, attach to the spine, and slowly over the course of some days feed language data into that person's brain- what's more, they could also transmit when given a signal via a receptor outside of the body. This allowed for the nanobots to learn new languages via an extremely sophisticated vocal comparison and synaptic observational learning system, and back them up to a database where nanobot clusters would be able to properly update any nanobots in range with a signal; furthermore, then any new nanobot production would have the language installed as well. They actually weren't even humanity's own invention - they had been invented by the first alien race humanity had met, and humanity had basically begged them for the technology. Fortunately, the aliens were rather magnanimous, and for a number of biological research studies, and a few projects taken on their behalf into certain climates that they couldn't safely traverse themselves, they'd granted humanity the incredible gift. Now most humans could be polyglots with near contemptuous ease thanks to a simple injection that wasn't even permanent.

"We really want to blow that kind of money on this?" Even as Rodrick said it, he was smiling and shaking his head. "Fine, you're the captain. I took a look at that thing earlier; I won't deny that it looks kinda cool. I'd certainly like to know what it's saying."

"Question is if it's hostile," Nancy remarked with pursed lips. "It might be weak now, but if it regains its strength, that might be a problem." She gave everyone else present a critical eye. "You've all seen the scans. That thing's an ambush hunter if I ever saw one."

"I'd say that hurts your argument more than it helps, Nancy." This was spoken by Luke, a bigger fellow in the team, and one Louis valued for both his strength, and understanding. "If it's an ambush predator, means it doesn't have a whole lot of physical strength, right? It works best by getting the jump on you and hitting you before you can react, specifically 'cause it won't have the strength to keep up a fight."

"Fair enough," she concedes, "but I'm still going to be worried about those claws."

"Didja get a solid look at 'em?" Rodrick asks. "They're honestly in kinda bad shape."

Louis glanced back at the doorway briefly, before sighing. "Well, on the whole, Nancy's got the right idea, really. We don't know what she's capable of, and we really should exercise the utmost of caution."

The statement is met with a round of nods."So, then. How do we go about this?" Basil asks.

"Well, if my mom taught me anything?" And here, Louis grinned. "It's that the road to good friendships...starts with good food. And since now we know what is and isn’t lethal to her..."

Nancy folded her arms, wry smirk on her face. "THAT explains why you had us go searching for local fruits."

Maeka was unsure of how much time passed in that strange room; it seemed to be completely cut off from the outside world somehow. Before she could fret very long, however, the wall split open again, the being standing casually just beyond it. In his hand with a boat, and as she looked closely, she could see that what was inside it was actually familiar to her...

"What- where did you get those from?" The red, rigid fruits were remarkably rare this time of year (and only slightly less rare the rest of the year); to find a as many as that was great fortune as far as she knew; praises to Kal-lo-Rah often went up at the discovery of such an unexpected bounty. "How did you find so many?" The great being's lips quirked upwards again; instead of answering, it merely set the bowl down next to her right hand. "Do you taunt me?!" she ground out; her wrist was captured, and she could see no way to release it, much less force it out. Was this some type of torture?

That was answered incredibly quickly when the creature simply touched the side of the binding, and it moved. Before she could blink, her hand was free.

Maeka's jaw dropped in astonishment. 'How did he...? But, there was no knot to release! And it did not seem like a shattering blow...' She had a great many questions to ask, but as she opened her mouth, her stomach growled further, sending great pains throughout her body. Hearing such noise, the creature simply took a few steps back, a beatific smile on his face as he watched her. 'Does...are they truly for me?' she wondered. Her stomach growled again, and her vision swam briefly. That was enough to make her decision for her, and she grabbed towards the closest fruit she could.

Oh, how sweet it was to have food again! As much as she knew she should pace herself, she found herself gorging on the fruits, which she found more delicious than anything she had ever had. Starvation would indeed evoke such a response, she figured, but she did not dwell on it, instead choosing to stuff her face with more. It was not long before the entire bowl was emptied, with only cores to remain. The creature made of soft sound of that reminded her laughing, but she could not find it in her to be annoyed, or concerned. Her stomach was full for the first time in ages, and she found herself thanking her unknown savior despite her trepidation. "You...I owe you gratitude," she said, and despite the fact that she could not understand it, she got the feeling that its soft, short response was that of understanding.

Suddenly, the wall parted again, and this time he was not near it. To her surprise, another being similar to the one she knew stepped through. However, this one had a body shape that was slightly more like the females of her own kind. The face was similar, and the height was as well. Although a bit shorter than the one that she knew, this being still dwarfed her in height and size. It gave her a look of concern similar to the one that he had given her before turning, and it spoke to the first being, the one that had fed her, and he nodded. Turning to her, he gave her a small smile, and more words that she could not understand, before they both left through the hole in the wall that opened and closed at their command. Briefly, past it, she saw yet others similar in make. Just how many of them were there? And what purpose did they bring her food for?

She was both scared, and strangely curious. Beings that could part walls at will, bindings at a touch, and obtain rare foods with seemingly little trouble? In a place that seemed to be separated from the world? That could summon its own light with no fire? A part of her knew she should be frightened. Searching for a way to escape. Or perhaps praying for salvation from Kal-lo-Ran. However, to her mild surprise, she found no such desire bubbling up. Perhaps it was because they had just fed her, but the larger part of her was curious to see them again. And she knew that she would in due time.