They hit the ground running. Jr strides towards the bridge barking orders along the way. Everyone splits off to go through their pre-launch checklists. Gallifax heads down to 02 deck where the ship hospital is squashed up against the galley. It's cramped and grey, but extremely efficient space. She makes her way through the pre-op, post-op, and surgery suites to ensure everything's locked down before they leave the system. It's only when she bends down to lock the cupboard doors that she notices Legs scrunched under one of the beds.

"Gallifax Ren," xe says via the translator in xis suit. "Your material is intact."

"Likewise."

As with most alien species, Legs' appearance sets off conflicting responses in her brain. Xe's a six foot single cell covered in hair-like filaments that move, grow, and retract. Brakes pumped all the air out of an old EVA suit so xe can roam the ship, but it looks absurd. Legs has no face so xe floats about like a piece of lint, limbs flopping, helmet empty. In a well-lit room, it's amusing. In the dark, it's not.

She clicks the mic hooked on her belt. "02-H ready for jump."

"02-H ready," one of the comm rats replies. "Copy."

Gallifax stands up slowly and feels Thread adjust to her posture. "Why are you here?"

"You are unaware?" Legs' filaments scrape the inside of the suit, which propels xim out from under the bed. "I am considering the exchange."

"Of?"

"Materials. I am told it is appropriate to consult medical personnel."

"Oh," she says. "With whom?"

"Gunther Bell."

She screws her eyes shut and rubs her forehead. Contrary to the hysteria of previous centuries, nearly 90% of interspecies deaths are accidental. A careless touch can trigger anything from anaphylactic shock to radiation poisoning. They don't even know what Legs is. Giridese is simply a take off of the odd growl and huff xe made over their EVA comm upon first contact.

"Not my field. You need a xenobiologist to...reconcile your differences. You could hurt each other otherwise."

"That is undesirable?"

"Extremely." She crosses her arms. "It's meant to be pleasant and equal."

"Pleasant and equal." Legs rises up towards the ceiling, the EVA suit's arms and legs flopping. "I hope to mix materials in this fashion. We cannot exchange equal parts; we must take to have enough of ourselves."

Gallifax is acutely aware of the fractal scar near her bellybutton where Thread first wormed into her corpse. "Who put this thought into your head?"

Polite, uncomprehending silence.

"Did anyone tell you to do this?"

"No," Legs says, "it is curiosity."

Translation: one little piggy had an idea, it instantly permeated the whole species, and Legs was in a position to try it out.

She sighs. "We're going to launch soon. Let's buckle you up."