Song of the chapter: Lewis Blissett - Killing Butterflies

✖

It flared its nostrils like a predator, releasing out gas at various terminals. It was a living machine, prowling through the darkest reaches of space. It growled and squirmed, the living metal abiding by their masters' wishes. It glowed brightly in various eye-straining colours before dimming down, repeating this action at various intervals. It was breathing to a timeous rhythm, recycling the gas of the ship so its inhabitants could carry on without a care.

It was called the Parent Ship as it had a simple task: to care and nurture the creations that dwelled inside it. The creatures that inhabited it may not even have been remotely close to the species the ship was, but it had imprinted each of them as one of its own. That was how it knew that one of them was missing.

The throaty language was tossed around the ship at low decibels, adding along to the ship's natural groaning. The pale species roamed around in a mixture of distress and annoyance, their arched feet adding to their sprinting speed as they hurried along the ship.

It had been damaged.

The snowy creatures searched along the hull and interior for any small crevices of injuries they have missed, dragging their boney fingers down the wounds of their parent. The maximum damaged sustained was near the prison wing where prisoner 6395T had escaped from not too long ago. In the process of their escape, they had not only blown open their own cell but various surrounding ones as well.

The prisoners had swiftly taken care of the guards and surrounding ship personnel, but not quick enough to launch a full-frontal attack on the rest of the ship. They were now barricading themselves in the prison wing, knowing fully that a squadron of armed fighters was right outside the wing.

They knew they had been played for fools by the single one of their kind that had managed to escape, having all been used as decoys as they stole a ship and flew off deep into space. They had been an incredible strategist, fully predicting the actions the other prisoners would take and how Command would react to the riot. They were truly the cream of the crop from their generation of spores in that regard, but there was a madness to their logic that had brought them down to their homicidal tendencies.

They were truly a force that could drag the sane down to hell, that Dengr'Axnn.

Command did not know which situation was the more pressing one: the prisoners that had barricaded themselves from the rest of the ship, or Dengr'Axnn's escape. Instead, they split up the workforce and had the physically-able staff handle the prisoners and the intellectuals search for Dengr.

Both cases were not looking good.

"Favourite One," came the deep groaning of the pale species' language, deep from within their diaphragm and when released rippled through the air. "There has been development,"

"Oh?" the leader of the ship, they who sat on top of Command for many years now, looked curiously down at the fighter who had approached them.

"The prisoners are making demands," this was amusing to the Favourite One.

"And what makes them think they are able to make demands?" they sat their elbow onto the throne-like chair's armrest, their head resting comfortably on top of their own fist.

"It seems they have hacked into the ventilation system. They are threatening to alter the nitrogen levels," which was a pressing matter, as it was the main compound their bodies needed to survive. Having no digestive system, they had to gain energy from elsewhere and the acids able to form inside their bodies due to nitrogen was vital to this process.

Earth's atmosphere, in fact, was comprised of roughly 78% Nitrogen while Venus, as an example, only carried 3.5% thereof and Mars even less than that.

Mercury isn't even allowed to enter the same ring as the other inner planets when it came to atmospheres. Mercury was disqualified by default.

"What are their demands?"

"They wish to address you directly," the Favourite One flared their nostrils in frustration, swiftly rising from their chair in command and overtaking the soldier on the way to the prison wing. They head quickly, their bare feet barely touching the floor as they rushed over.

They were a species made for running and going at such speeds that the ground seemed to repel them into the air, sending them soaring. This instinctual need was what brought their species such great prosper on the front of spacetravel, but only at the hands of the Parent Ships. They were still clueless about advanced aerodynamics, not exactly having an animal kingdom that could bring their attention to the sky during their species' development.

Which was why the Avian Project was so important.

How dare they be outdone by the animal kingdom of other planets?

"Speak, prisoner," the Favourite One spoke outside the barricaded door, knowing their voice was carried through to the other side.

"Unless you want to start suffocating, I suggest you start treating us with respect," the muffled voice of a prisoner echoed through.

"You would commit suicide then? Go ahead. The prison wing's ventilation is attached to the rest of the ship. We would all die together, as this Parent Ship's sporelings," the Favourite One smiled to themself, a curious thought coming to them. "Would you be satisfied knowing that the legacy of our Parent Ship lies in the hands of Dengr'Axnn?" and this grab their attention, as they had expected.

"They have not been apprehended yet?"

"Oh no. Dengr'Axnn had stolen one of the Avian Project's research shuttles and flew off, we know not where as of yet. The shuttle had been destroyed and we cannot interact with it. We are under the assumption that they could possibly have headed towards the coordinates where we had gathered the avians from, but we are unsure. In all likeliness, Dengr'Axnn could roam free," they tried to play on the prisoners' newfound hatred for the sporeling that had betrayed them; ran off without so much as thinking of taking them along.

"Bring us Dengr'Axnn, and we will release this ship as hostage," the Favourite One smirked, a plan already developing within the catacombs of their vast mind.

"Very well," they headed away from the prison wing, some soldiers being ushering along.

"Favourite One, you did not even hear their demands?" one questioned.

"It would have been a waste. They would have requested freedom; freedom we cannot allow them. This way, we have time to find another way to deal with their threat without injuring the Parent Ship.

If we do not find a way before we have Dengr'Axnn, then we will hand them over to the prisoners and in the process, have an opening to take all of them out. We will be able to solve multiple problems at once," they explained, strolling luxuriously towards Command.

"So we should divert all attention to finding the escapee?" they asked affirmation.

"For now, yes,"

✖

"What is this place?" the Traveller questioned as we pulled up in front of building, the entire area dim with only the streetlamp and some lights from the inside peering through.

"A motel. You can rent out a room to stay there," I explained.

"And we can find data here?"

"Well, I'm sure they have wifi. It'll be good to lay low here also for a bit, considering the military is still searching everywhere for you," they hummed in thought at this, not really answering. I grabbed money from one of the campers' bags and exited the truck, the Traveller following me out and towards the reception. "Now if anyone asks about your skin and eyes, it's ­make-up and you're doing it for cosplay,"

"Cosplay?"

"I'll show you later," the Traveller pulled the beanie on their head lower to fully cover their ears and as much as their face as possible. In addition, they also pulled the hood from their jacket over and kept their head low.

We entered the main building. It was nearing three in the morning so I knew it was going to be difficult to get booked in but the sign outside had said 24/7, so I will definitely be testing that service. My pale companion seemed to keep their distance from the reception desk, probably trusting me to deal with my own species alone. Well, I say 'trusting' but I could still feel their eyes bore into my back.

There was a note on the front desk close to a buzzer button, indicating to press it after hours and to be patient. I did ring it, holding it in just to be sure it did go through. I then headed to sit down on one of the waiting stools, the Traveller sitting across from me with questioning eyes.

"It's late. They're coming. Just give it a bit of time," I tried to sound reassuring. The Traveller tapped their foot against the floor impatiently, eyes darting towards the desk every now and then. It took about ten minutes before the owner waddled in, curlers in her hair and a quick robe tossed over her pyjamas.

"Ah, sorry for the wait. I live right upstairs but it takes a bit with me old knees. Quite late you two show up, y'know?" she spoke quickly, retrieving the guest book from her desk. I stood up to speak with her, the Traveller happy to sink into their seat and disappear. "You seem like such happy campers. See, I heard on the forecast that they predict thunderstorms for today. Must've heard the same, eh? Good to come to Old Mama's Motel before yer struck by lightning, I say. We has had that meteor as well. Seems to me like the heavens' playing some sort of trick on us. Must be careful," she rambled on, searching in her book for a vacant room. She frowned and looked towards me in question.

"Will you two lovelies be needing a single bed?" I laughed at the awkwardness, whether from the compliment or her implication.

"Yeah, that will do," I answered anyway, not having seen the Traveller sleep or grow tired before. It would have been a waste to pay for an extra bed when it was unnecessary. The woman gave me a cheeky glance, grinning at me before looking over towards the Traveller.

"Under what name can I put the room for?"

"Davis. Riley Davis," I guess that I had hoped that my disappearance had been posted publically and that the woman would recognise the name, realise what sort of situation I was in, and call the authorities as soon as we left her sight. Unfortunately, no recollection seemed to come to her and I was left knowing that no one knew of my being missing.

The military kept that to themselves.

"Alright. Cash or card?"

"Cash," after sorting out all necessary details, including the retrieval of the wifi password, I was handed a key and pointed along towards the room. I headed over, the Traveller on my heels until we were inside the comfortably sized room.

"That human was incoherent," they seemed to decide to voice, dramatically investigating the interior of the room. It was simplistic, everything one expected there to be.

"She did have a weird accent. A little quirky, I think,"

"Is your entire species this feebleminded?"

"I think that's up to perspective, really," I sat onto the bed, grateful that it wasn't another tree I'd be sleeping against. I began to pull off my boots. "I mean, your species is probably thousands of years ahead of us. To you, we must look like ants really,"

"Ants?"

"Insects,"

"Ah. Your species is not like your insect life. I have seen your insect life; they work in harmony and are a commune," they spoke, taking a seat at the small dining table in the room, pulling off the beaning from their head. "Your species will never thrive if you remain as separated as you are now,"

"You don't think individuality is good?" I turned to look at them in question, removing my jacket and tossing it onto the bedside table.

"Your species struggles to see the goal that you are headed towards. You would be far more along in development if you all focused on a single attribute,"

"But then a lot of other things would not have been developed; things that help us express ourselves," I explained. "And what about you? Are you apart of such a great community then?" they hesitated at this and I quickly realised at their changing expression that I may have touched on a sensitive topic.

"I used to be," they answered, one hand slipping into their pocket to pull out the phone, still charged. "Access the data," they demanded, holding it out towards me. I leaned over the bed to take it from them, careful not to touch their skin. I entered the wifi password from the piece of paper handed to me, testing that the internet did work before handing it back to them.

"Are you just going to scour the internet for hours now?"

"Until I have formulated a plan," I hummed in slight confusion but wasn't going to press it. I was on thin ice with them as is, having held a relatively normal conversation as is so far. It must be because of the human environment. They had mentioned a few times before that humans held a rotten scent, hence how they discovered the campers and this town. Being surrounded by so many with such a sensitive nose is, as I can only imagine, like being in a room filled with the scent of paint and acetone. I nearly get sick from such places.

They could also just be getting tired or used to me. Perhaps the slight desperation of not being safe while on Earth was starting to affect their emotional state. Whatever the case, these past two days with them was quite enough for me and I couldn't wait to be back on that farm with my family.

I didn't have an extreme life, and now that I got a taste of something like it, I was completely sure that this wasn't what I wanted. Not everyone wanted to feel a rush every day.

The daring life just wasn't for me.

I was nearly naked, folding the clothes neatly and placing them on the table. I headed to the bathroom, the Traveller glued to the screen as the light reflected off their dark eyes. I took an amazing shower, the heat coaxing over my body like a blanket and I could finally wash off all mud and dirt from my scrapes and bruises. I could even wash my hair, feeling the soft locks within my fingers. I would have to cut it soon; it was getting too long for my liking.

I washed before I showered, wringing most of the water out before hanging it up during the shower. It was still damp afterwards but I pulled it on anyway, not exactly interested in asking the Traveller to fetch the other clothes form the campers' belongings in the truck. They wouldn't dare let me be alone for that long.

However, I was alone in the bathroom now, not that it helped. There was nothing for me to use to contact someone with. The brief sense of sanity I retained from being on my lonesome was very welcome. I managed to gain a sense of calm from the long shower, the reality of the past days barely on the edge of my consciousness as I felt myself drifting.

I wanted it to be a dream, truly, but I knew that even by some miracle if I survived this and the rest of Earth as well, then I would never be able to escape this.

This ordeal would become a part of me, for better or worse.