YSS Heartbreaker, Cabin 4
Edtoto sat in her new room, enjoying the darkness and warmth of the new accommodations. She was working hard trying to figure out solutions to every problem, mainly trying to keep her mind off of the danger her station was in. She had allowed herself to sleep some, and had woken up hungry, but she felt bad for her actions the "Night" before with the Taii of the ship. She cursed herself for not being able to compose herself more, but now she felt wholly more comfortable. She was curled up on one of the free bunks, using her thighs to hold up a datapad, sitting on her new electric blanket and typing away.
The door chimed and a voice called through the intercom, "Hello, Edtoto. It's Ingrid. I've brought some food for you."
Edtoto perked up at the door chime, looking over at it. She walked over and hit the door open, seeing Ingrid standing there. What did she expect though? "Morning Ingrid, I hope you are doing well" She said, stepping away from the door to allow Ingrid to come in. She was bound to her quarters, so for now she would stay in her quarters. "I apologise for the mess, I guess. Haven't had time to clean" She said, more out of a weird sense of common requirement from learning about Yamatai.
Ingrid looked around and shrugged. "I'll survive. At least you don't need wood chips to build a nest with. Here's breakfast: bacon and ham, lightly heated." She lifted the lid off the tray and sniffed at it approvingly. "Just make sure you get the dishes back to the galley." She passed off the meal and asked, "What are you doing today?"
Edtoto took the dish and looked it over. She found it interesting how the Yamataian's cut and prepped food in different ways. They had different types of meat, from different animals, which all had a different taste. She couldn't taste though, given what she ate would probably taste horrible given their reactions to it. That was her conclusion at least. "Thank you, this will actually be a great opportunity" She smiled, placing the dish down. She used her claws to tear off a bite-sized piece, and threw it into her muzzle which snapped down on it with a loud /snap/ before contorting her face a little.
She seemed to be struggling, tilting her head back. Ingrid could see how the muscles in her throat weakly flexed, before she dropped her head and shuddered. "Ok... We can swallow solid food... That's good. Will take practice, but we can do it" She said, taking the dish again, this time just tilting the contents back into her mouth and shutting her muzzle. Now she didn't do anything but sit, looking down at a datapad and writing on a datapad. Only having one arm, she still had an unnatural amount of drive to work. The occasional sound of Edtoto was swallowing the only sound she made. The smell would only get worse as a dark, almost black liquid seemed to trickle from the corner of her muzzle...
Ingrid watched from a place between horror and fascination as Edtoto ate. She fidgeted in the silence of the room, and suppressed a gag as a thin, foul smell began to drift into her nostrils. She struggled to find the balance between keeping her mouth politely closed and not breathing through her nose and slowly turned a bit red for her efforts. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead, whether from the heat of the room or the awkwardness of her situation, she didn't know. What she did know was that the room was slowly becoming more and more inhospitable to her.
"You will assist Officer Sivaro to the best of your abilities, Blesi-hei. I assume I don't need to expound on this too much," the words of Captain Tsukisaki echoed in Ingrid's head and the image of her looming, commanding presence flashed across her eyes.
I'm becoming delirious, she thought to herself. The Taii doesn't have three eyes. I need to get out of here.
Edtoto watched in her digestive silence as Ingrid start to panic. There was nothing she could really do now either. If she tried to talk, Ingrid would surely never come near her again. Talking with her muzzle fully was near impossible while keeping it shut as well. She could tell the Hei was suffering enough as it was, and was getting uncomfortably hot. She felt horrible as she made Ingrid sit there, completely oblivious as to what to do, before finally she was done.
"Get out Ingrid" She stated clearly, yet slightly muffled given her mouth was still clamped shut. "I'm not offended, you can leave whenever you get uncomfortable" She continued, reaching over with her one arm and grabbing her respirator.
,
Ingrid held up a finger to indicated "one moment" and squeaked out, "I'll be right back." She stiffly rose and left through the door, a loud gasp audible before the door completely closed after her.
Edtoto arched an eyebrow at the loud gasp, deflating a little. She didn't think she was that bad.
Ingrid returned a moment later wearing a respirator of her own. She tapped it and winked at Edtoto, saying, "It isn't fair for you to have to wear the respirator everywhere on the ship. In your room, we accommodate you. However, if you'll excuse me..." She unzipped the collar of her uniform and pulled it open so that she'd find the heat of the room less stifling.
Edtoto smiled, but shook her head. "I was actually going to ask you to escort me to the Science lab? I figured that if I were to get rid of the bacteria in my mouth, even temporarily, the rest of the bacteria in my system would be able to handle small chunks of food. That's why I ate that small piece first. You're better at Nanobites than I am, maybe we can solve the problem in a few hours?" She asked, standing up.
Ingrid mulled over Edtoto's proposal a moment. Anti-bacterial femtomachines were certainly available. Customizing hemosynth for Vekimen ... could it be done? Maybe something less powerful, but this was definitely doable. Between Edtoto, herself, Ochiko and about eight thousand scientists back home that would love to work with a new alien species they should be able to come up with a safe way to deploy biotechnology and suppress Edtoto's odorous breath.
"You know, I probably should have been looking at this myself, now that you mention it." Ingrid stood up nodded approvingly. "This is a good idea, Edtoto. Let's go to the lab and figure this out."
---------
5 Hours later
The door to cabin 4 opened and Edtoto and Ingrid returned, clearly excited.
"I'm happy we got that working so well," Ingrid enthused. "I didn't think that old anti-bacterial system was still useful. That was a good idea on your part. And that it doesn't trigger hemosynthetic immunity will allow us to use hemosynthesis to produce it, so it's going to be plenty easy to manufacture it for you." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her respirator. She frowned at it and put it back on, saying, "These things really are a pain. We'll get rid of them for you soon."
Edtoto nods. "I would appreciate not needed to wear them. I guess I should try to use it shouldn't I?" She asked, removing her own respirator. "Can I have the contents please?" She asked holding out her hand.
"Remember to go easy on these, okay?" Ingrid said and gave her a packet.
Edtoto nods, taking the mouthwash solution they made and the mints. She poured the fluid into her mouth, closing her muzzle and shaking it to coat her mouth. She didn't swallow it though, knowing it could have bad effects to her insides. When the solution dissolved, she popped two of the mints into her mouth, letting that take effect. "I hope this works..." She mentioned, looking at Ingrid.Her IR blended well with the background of the room. The smell from her meal a few hours ago had also been cycled out via the ship ventilation, so that was a bonus. "Well... I think this is the best we are going to get..." She muttered, dropping the pack on a table.
Ingrid held up her crossed fingers and waited a few seconds. She then pulled off the respirator and sniffed at the ambient smell of the room. She then leaned in towards Edtoto's face and took a tentative whiff. "Seems alright. Open your mouth and exhale," she said. "Away from my face. Please." Edtoto did as she was asked, opening her muzzle and softly exhaling out of her mouth. Ingrid wafted the air towards her and sniffed at it. She then leaned rudely into Edtoto's face and inhaled deeply. "Minty," she said approvingly.
Edtoto blinked, blinking softly with Ingrid's face so close to her mouth. Once Ingrid leaned back, Edtoto closed her mouth, looking a little confused "It... It worked?" She asked? looking at her hand, working her muzzle awkwardly. She had needed to wear a respirator on the ship, and most of all, it had been an issue between her and Ingrid. Without warning, Edtoto wrapped her arm around Ingrid and gave her an awkward, slightly impossible attempt at a kiss.
Ingrid completely locked up with an expression of severe stupefaction on her face as Edtoto's lips pressed up against hers. The kiss lingered awkwardly long. Without changing expression Ingrid pushed herself away from Edtoto, stiffly turned around and tottered out of the room. As she entered the hallway, Ochiko appeared beside her. Ingrid intercepted whatever she was going to say by holding up her hand and saying, "No. Don't." She turned and slinked down the hallway, blushing furiously.
Edtoto looked at Ingrid with what could be a blush, but it quickly vanishes into a hurt look as Ingrid turned and left. "Ingrid?" She asked, watching the Minkan leave the room. It took a moment for her to realise Ingrid was leaving, and Edtoto wasn't sure why. She looked hurt, and coupled with everything else that had happened last night she didn't want to lose Ingrid. She had already lost Sally and she had no one left!
"Ingrid wait!" She shouted, running down the hall, throwing herself to her knees and nearly falling over in the process.
Ingrid stopped in the hallway but didn't turn around to face Edtoto.
Edtoto immediately dropped her head and pressed it to the floor. "Ingrid I'm so sorry... I... I didn't... I could help myself" She stated, obviously upset. "I can't lose you too. Sally's gone, my family is dead, my station is under attack and I just don't know what I would do if I couldn't come to you at least as a friend... Please I am so sorry" She added, her fist curling. She had never had a worse day in her life, and it was clear it was finally starting to get to her fully.
Ingrid's posture softened and she said. "I'm still here, Edtoto. I'm more here than ever." She turned her head and threw a tiny smile over her shoulder. "I'll definitely talk to you tomorrow. I just have some uh, things to do." She resumed walking down the hallway, saying over her shoulder, "We fixed your bad breath today, Edtoto. Maybe you should find out just how many people you actually have here on the ship. You'll be surprised, I think."
Edtoto looks up at Ingrid, still walking away. She sits up, sitting on her feet with a obvious frown. Ingrid's words sounded sincere, there was nothing in her voice that would indicate deceit or anything else. She just kinda sat there, nodding softly. Once Ingrid had dispersed, Edtoto fought to stand up and head back to her room. She was confined to her quarters until she was deemed stable. Edtoto thought about the idea, curling up on her blanket and looking at a Data Pad. She sighed and looked at her arm with some small amount of anger.
"AI Ochiko..."
"Yes Toto'tan?" The MEGAMI asked, appearing in the room.
"Ask the Kitchen if they can spare a few days worth of food for me... I don't plan on leaving until my arm returns. Given how well it has been doing, I feel a few days of uninterrupted rest and plenty of food will do me wonders" She asked, still sounding upset. Get her arm back... That's what she should focus on now... Once she did that, she could work properly.
"On the way Toto'tan. Request has been granted, see you when you wake up" The AI smiled, vanishing.
Edtoto sat in silence for a moment. "Yes... When I wake up" She muttered more to herself than anything.
Edtoto sat in her new room, enjoying the darkness and warmth of the new accommodations. She was working hard trying to figure out solutions to every problem, mainly trying to keep her mind off of the danger her station was in. She had allowed herself to sleep some, and had woken up hungry, but she felt bad for her actions the "Night" before with the Taii of the ship. She cursed herself for not being able to compose herself more, but now she felt wholly more comfortable. She was curled up on one of the free bunks, using her thighs to hold up a datapad, sitting on her new electric blanket and typing away.
The door chimed and a voice called through the intercom, "Hello, Edtoto. It's Ingrid. I've brought some food for you."
Edtoto perked up at the door chime, looking over at it. She walked over and hit the door open, seeing Ingrid standing there. What did she expect though? "Morning Ingrid, I hope you are doing well" She said, stepping away from the door to allow Ingrid to come in. She was bound to her quarters, so for now she would stay in her quarters. "I apologise for the mess, I guess. Haven't had time to clean" She said, more out of a weird sense of common requirement from learning about Yamatai.
Ingrid looked around and shrugged. "I'll survive. At least you don't need wood chips to build a nest with. Here's breakfast: bacon and ham, lightly heated." She lifted the lid off the tray and sniffed at it approvingly. "Just make sure you get the dishes back to the galley." She passed off the meal and asked, "What are you doing today?"
Edtoto took the dish and looked it over. She found it interesting how the Yamataian's cut and prepped food in different ways. They had different types of meat, from different animals, which all had a different taste. She couldn't taste though, given what she ate would probably taste horrible given their reactions to it. That was her conclusion at least. "Thank you, this will actually be a great opportunity" She smiled, placing the dish down. She used her claws to tear off a bite-sized piece, and threw it into her muzzle which snapped down on it with a loud /snap/ before contorting her face a little.
She seemed to be struggling, tilting her head back. Ingrid could see how the muscles in her throat weakly flexed, before she dropped her head and shuddered. "Ok... We can swallow solid food... That's good. Will take practice, but we can do it" She said, taking the dish again, this time just tilting the contents back into her mouth and shutting her muzzle. Now she didn't do anything but sit, looking down at a datapad and writing on a datapad. Only having one arm, she still had an unnatural amount of drive to work. The occasional sound of Edtoto was swallowing the only sound she made. The smell would only get worse as a dark, almost black liquid seemed to trickle from the corner of her muzzle...
Ingrid watched from a place between horror and fascination as Edtoto ate. She fidgeted in the silence of the room, and suppressed a gag as a thin, foul smell began to drift into her nostrils. She struggled to find the balance between keeping her mouth politely closed and not breathing through her nose and slowly turned a bit red for her efforts. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead, whether from the heat of the room or the awkwardness of her situation, she didn't know. What she did know was that the room was slowly becoming more and more inhospitable to her.
"You will assist Officer Sivaro to the best of your abilities, Blesi-hei. I assume I don't need to expound on this too much," the words of Captain Tsukisaki echoed in Ingrid's head and the image of her looming, commanding presence flashed across her eyes.
I'm becoming delirious, she thought to herself. The Taii doesn't have three eyes. I need to get out of here.
Edtoto watched in her digestive silence as Ingrid start to panic. There was nothing she could really do now either. If she tried to talk, Ingrid would surely never come near her again. Talking with her muzzle fully was near impossible while keeping it shut as well. She could tell the Hei was suffering enough as it was, and was getting uncomfortably hot. She felt horrible as she made Ingrid sit there, completely oblivious as to what to do, before finally she was done.
"Get out Ingrid" She stated clearly, yet slightly muffled given her mouth was still clamped shut. "I'm not offended, you can leave whenever you get uncomfortable" She continued, reaching over with her one arm and grabbing her respirator.
,
Ingrid held up a finger to indicated "one moment" and squeaked out, "I'll be right back." She stiffly rose and left through the door, a loud gasp audible before the door completely closed after her.
Edtoto arched an eyebrow at the loud gasp, deflating a little. She didn't think she was that bad.
Ingrid returned a moment later wearing a respirator of her own. She tapped it and winked at Edtoto, saying, "It isn't fair for you to have to wear the respirator everywhere on the ship. In your room, we accommodate you. However, if you'll excuse me..." She unzipped the collar of her uniform and pulled it open so that she'd find the heat of the room less stifling.
Edtoto smiled, but shook her head. "I was actually going to ask you to escort me to the Science lab? I figured that if I were to get rid of the bacteria in my mouth, even temporarily, the rest of the bacteria in my system would be able to handle small chunks of food. That's why I ate that small piece first. You're better at Nanobites than I am, maybe we can solve the problem in a few hours?" She asked, standing up.
Ingrid mulled over Edtoto's proposal a moment. Anti-bacterial femtomachines were certainly available. Customizing hemosynth for Vekimen ... could it be done? Maybe something less powerful, but this was definitely doable. Between Edtoto, herself, Ochiko and about eight thousand scientists back home that would love to work with a new alien species they should be able to come up with a safe way to deploy biotechnology and suppress Edtoto's odorous breath.
"You know, I probably should have been looking at this myself, now that you mention it." Ingrid stood up nodded approvingly. "This is a good idea, Edtoto. Let's go to the lab and figure this out."
---------
5 Hours later
The door to cabin 4 opened and Edtoto and Ingrid returned, clearly excited.
"I'm happy we got that working so well," Ingrid enthused. "I didn't think that old anti-bacterial system was still useful. That was a good idea on your part. And that it doesn't trigger hemosynthetic immunity will allow us to use hemosynthesis to produce it, so it's going to be plenty easy to manufacture it for you." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her respirator. She frowned at it and put it back on, saying, "These things really are a pain. We'll get rid of them for you soon."
Edtoto nods. "I would appreciate not needed to wear them. I guess I should try to use it shouldn't I?" She asked, removing her own respirator. "Can I have the contents please?" She asked holding out her hand.
"Remember to go easy on these, okay?" Ingrid said and gave her a packet.
Edtoto nods, taking the mouthwash solution they made and the mints. She poured the fluid into her mouth, closing her muzzle and shaking it to coat her mouth. She didn't swallow it though, knowing it could have bad effects to her insides. When the solution dissolved, she popped two of the mints into her mouth, letting that take effect. "I hope this works..." She mentioned, looking at Ingrid.Her IR blended well with the background of the room. The smell from her meal a few hours ago had also been cycled out via the ship ventilation, so that was a bonus. "Well... I think this is the best we are going to get..." She muttered, dropping the pack on a table.
Ingrid held up her crossed fingers and waited a few seconds. She then pulled off the respirator and sniffed at the ambient smell of the room. She then leaned in towards Edtoto's face and took a tentative whiff. "Seems alright. Open your mouth and exhale," she said. "Away from my face. Please." Edtoto did as she was asked, opening her muzzle and softly exhaling out of her mouth. Ingrid wafted the air towards her and sniffed at it. She then leaned rudely into Edtoto's face and inhaled deeply. "Minty," she said approvingly.
Edtoto blinked, blinking softly with Ingrid's face so close to her mouth. Once Ingrid leaned back, Edtoto closed her mouth, looking a little confused "It... It worked?" She asked? looking at her hand, working her muzzle awkwardly. She had needed to wear a respirator on the ship, and most of all, it had been an issue between her and Ingrid. Without warning, Edtoto wrapped her arm around Ingrid and gave her an awkward, slightly impossible attempt at a kiss.
Ingrid completely locked up with an expression of severe stupefaction on her face as Edtoto's lips pressed up against hers. The kiss lingered awkwardly long. Without changing expression Ingrid pushed herself away from Edtoto, stiffly turned around and tottered out of the room. As she entered the hallway, Ochiko appeared beside her. Ingrid intercepted whatever she was going to say by holding up her hand and saying, "No. Don't." She turned and slinked down the hallway, blushing furiously.
Edtoto looked at Ingrid with what could be a blush, but it quickly vanishes into a hurt look as Ingrid turned and left. "Ingrid?" She asked, watching the Minkan leave the room. It took a moment for her to realise Ingrid was leaving, and Edtoto wasn't sure why. She looked hurt, and coupled with everything else that had happened last night she didn't want to lose Ingrid. She had already lost Sally and she had no one left!
"Ingrid wait!" She shouted, running down the hall, throwing herself to her knees and nearly falling over in the process.
Ingrid stopped in the hallway but didn't turn around to face Edtoto.
Edtoto immediately dropped her head and pressed it to the floor. "Ingrid I'm so sorry... I... I didn't... I could help myself" She stated, obviously upset. "I can't lose you too. Sally's gone, my family is dead, my station is under attack and I just don't know what I would do if I couldn't come to you at least as a friend... Please I am so sorry" She added, her fist curling. She had never had a worse day in her life, and it was clear it was finally starting to get to her fully.
Ingrid's posture softened and she said. "I'm still here, Edtoto. I'm more here than ever." She turned her head and threw a tiny smile over her shoulder. "I'll definitely talk to you tomorrow. I just have some uh, things to do." She resumed walking down the hallway, saying over her shoulder, "We fixed your bad breath today, Edtoto. Maybe you should find out just how many people you actually have here on the ship. You'll be surprised, I think."
Edtoto looks up at Ingrid, still walking away. She sits up, sitting on her feet with a obvious frown. Ingrid's words sounded sincere, there was nothing in her voice that would indicate deceit or anything else. She just kinda sat there, nodding softly. Once Ingrid had dispersed, Edtoto fought to stand up and head back to her room. She was confined to her quarters until she was deemed stable. Edtoto thought about the idea, curling up on her blanket and looking at a Data Pad. She sighed and looked at her arm with some small amount of anger.
"AI Ochiko..."
"Yes Toto'tan?" The MEGAMI asked, appearing in the room.
"Ask the Kitchen if they can spare a few days worth of food for me... I don't plan on leaving until my arm returns. Given how well it has been doing, I feel a few days of uninterrupted rest and plenty of food will do me wonders" She asked, still sounding upset. Get her arm back... That's what she should focus on now... Once she did that, she could work properly.
"On the way Toto'tan. Request has been granted, see you when you wake up" The AI smiled, vanishing.
Edtoto sat in silence for a moment. "Yes... When I wake up" She muttered more to herself than anything.
