armyinform 70. Go Kiss Your Girlfriend
70. Go Kiss Your Girlfriend
Blossom comments. It's called 'pacing' and it's a common method of human stress relief. I guess it might be called something different when I'm swimming in circles instead of walking in them, but still.
Of course it's not working! Why would I not be stressed right now? My girlfriend is getting her brains completely dissolved and reassembled. There is a small but extant chance that the process will simply kill her.
Chaos hums.
It's not a matter of faith, it's a matter of anxiety. I am fully aware that I am being irrational. I am trying to stop. It is just, as Blossom so kindly pointed out,
Wanderings chimes in.
I protest.
Gaaaaaaah. I need to distract myself with something else. Unfortunately there's not a lot to do right now, being a thousand feet underwater and all. I can tell the others are a bit bored as well, barring Anastasia, who is mostly just swimming around and passing close to various workers and warriors to see if they try to kill her or not (which, of course, they don't).
my Queen says gently.
I say.
she says.
I say.
I say.
Right, right. Always with the psychoanalysis. I guess that comes with the territory when dealing with people who are constantly reading my mind. Oh shit, is Maria still going to like me once she starts reading my mind? I mean, I know all the aliens did, but Maria isn't an alien. She's a human. She has all the cultural reasons to think I'm an asshole. I know Infrared didn't, but Infrared is kinda more alien than human anyway.
Blossom informs me.
I snap back.
That's sort of the entire reason it's a freak out, in fact! I can't really… ah. Ah. Those are a lot of calming thoughts. E-everyone, please, quiet down a bit. You'll overwhelm Infrared…
Infrared butts in.
Buh. Ugh. Fine. I… do my best to let the support flowing from my colony and Infrared drown out the fears. It feels unfair; Infrared should be getting just as reassured as I am, given the situation impacts her directly, but… agh okay okay okay I'll stop I promise I'm trying to stop! Thank you. Thank you all. Really. I… thank you.
I close my many eyes, let my body become amorphous, and just… float, taking in the love and reassurance. It'll be okay. No… it might be okay. But that's no reason not to hope. That's no reason to obsess over everything I can't do. It's all in the hands of someone I trust, and I trust them. Truly. So… I don't need to worry. I am here. I am loved. And so is Maria. Even if this doesn't work, we will find a way.
Twisting, flowing, and resting, I let time pass by, my colony slowly quieting down as I manage to keep myself calm. The fairy Marias wait nervously outside the biological reconstruction chamber housing their now-dissolved body, chatting quietly amongst themselves. I slowly make my way closer to them, not saying anything, just… being around. And eventually, we feel it. It's time.
The Divinity of Wonder says.
It makes sense. She is, right now, little more than a brain and the organs needed for network connection, floating disembodied within the Queen's organic slurry. It is doubtlessly disorienting.
my Queen answers calmly.
"Okay, Blue," I say out loud. "You need to head in there. She's awake."
"Oh boy," Blue says, taking a deep breath of water as if it were air. "I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest."
"Still… think… I… should go…" Infrared rasps.
"And still think we need you out here in case things go poorly with Blue. You're the only one of us that's like… that," Pink says, motioning vaguely at Infrared's entire body. "We can't afford to lose you."
"Tell her to let me in, Julietta," Blue says, steeling herself. "I'm ready."
I say, feeling somewhat mixed emotions about my Queen's complicated reaction to the nickname. The nature of the network means there's not any real for nicknames, as longer names don't actually take more time to say. The scents are all combined into a single package and delivered all at once, after all, so the entire idea is novel to aliens as a whole. It's actually difficult for most of them to use a nickname on purpose at all! But these are worshippers of Possibility, so novelty alone goes a long way. They think the whole idea is a hoot, even if they don't actually prefer the shortened version of their name.
Regardless, my Queen opens up the airlock-like entryway to the reconstruction chamber, and Blue heads inside. It isn't long before the scared and desperate thoughts of Maria's floating brain gain an extra, equally disoriented layer.
It all comes out as one jumbled, continuous chain of thought, as if one person were saying it all rather than multiple people having a dialogue. Which… arguably is what's happening, but arguably not.
The rest of the network is almost eerily silent, knowing that the Marias need all the time they can to get used to everything without us all shouting into their heads about everything we can think of. Pink and Yellow shoot me concerned looks, and I form a hand so I can return a thumbs-up.
"It's a little complicated, but they seem to be talking without any problems," I tell them. "Is memory reintegration normally pretty fast between you all?"
"Almost instant," Pink nods. "When we recombine, it's like we were always the same person from the start. I mean, we're still all but… yeah."
"Alright. It seems a little less fluid this time around, but I'm not hearing anything alarming," I say.
"Well, this is a way, bigger difference in memory compared to any other time we've done this," Yellow says. "It's not even close. So… yeah, probably not alarming by itself?"
"Cool," I nod, nervously flexing a few tentacles. "Okay, I'll keep you posted."
I promise the Maria conglomerate. And sure enough, I feel their relief on the matter shortly afterwards.
I confirm.
the Marias say.
I tell her.
Maria reports.
The Divinity of Wonder says.
I say.
Blue says.
I say.
Infrared confirms. The Divinity of Wonder acknowledges, and lets her inside.
With Infrared's inclusion, Maria's contributions to the network cease to be train-of-thought style conversations and take on a more raw, emotional tone, conveying concepts and feelings without any attempt at filtering for the comprehension of others. They relay the experience of being trapped in Maria's demonic body, the experience of having no way to consciously grasp at any particular thought before it flits away or drowns in the pain. Then, too, the memories of overcoming that. Of assembling what ultimately became Infrared by force, by raw stubbornness and refusal to be lost in the chaotic rapids of her own maddened thoughts. And now, suddenly, that unwavering will is like an invasive species, tearing through a drastically less dangerous environment completely unprepared to resist it: sanity.
There's a brief feeling of Blue being pushed to the side, shoved away into a safer corner of their shared mind before Infrared rips into the congealed mass of fragmented Marias that compose the rest of the brain. We is torn apart into I and me and you and her, pieces of one pulled out and rearranged with pieces of another until things slowly start to feel like they
It takes a long time, and at the end of it all I don't get the impression that everything is truly fixed. How could it be? The kind of trauma inflicted doesn't just go away in an afternoon. But what was once a chaotic amalgam is now a… much chaotic amalgam, one that Infrared herself returns to when she's done with her work, merging into the Maria gestalt with a feeling not unlike sinking into warm water.
Slowly, hesitantly, Blue joins them. Her far more alien sisters intimidate her at first, but at the end of the day, they're still her. Their experiences are her experiences, she just hasn't remembered them yet. And so after an ominously long period of silence… Maria sends a thought into the network. Not Demon Maria, not Blue or any other color… just Maria.
she says.
I ask.
Right, um, I can do that.
"Okay you two, things seem to be going well. Time to head into the giant sensory deprivation tank," I tell them.
"Awesome," Pink says nervously. "Well. Here goes."
"It's really working?" Yellow says softly. "It's getting fixed?"
"Yeah," I confirm. "Sorry it took me so long."
"Don't apologize," Yellow says. "Thank you."
They float on in, and soon their reactions are heard in the network instead of just out loud.
I instinctively send.
I ask.
Maria agrees.
I ask.
Maria answers.
I ask.
she answers.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
I remind her.
She quiets down and focuses, and sure enough, I feel her start to feel them. Their love and support. She might not be part of our colony, but she's important to me, and that's all that they need to care.
Maria says.
I admit.
The Divinity of Wonder chimes in.
I agree.
Maria says hesitantly.
Blossom chimes in.
The Divinity of Wonder chides.
Maria asks.
Blossom confirms.
Yeah, this… is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy. The fact that Maria almost certainly isn't the only one who had to suffer through this is harrowing enough without the knowledge that she's also likely the only one who survived. Plus, the war would probably be going better if we could just reliably hook whatever humans into the network that we want. Sharing language is just… good!
Maria asks.
The Divinity of Wonder confirms.
The Divinity of Wonder agrees.
I say.
The Divinity of Wonder disagrees.
I point out.
Maria says.
Does she really think it's going to be that easy? She said she wanted this because she said it was cute on but I don't want her to be making decisions about her body for my sake. I don't want to be responsible for her messing something up that she can't undo. I mean, I know she probably undo it, we just talked about that, but… gah.
Maria says.
I repeat.
I agree.
The Divinity of Wonder says.
Huh? Oh. She's asking if Maria wants to have the same face as before.
Maria confirms.
Maria says.
I hedge.
I answer, a bit caught off-guard at first, but… yeah, I'd enjoy that.
And so there's hardly anything left to do but wait. Every so often Maria asks me for advice on some body part or another, and I work together with my Queen to help model and test some of the suggested changes, but by and large… we've done it. It's over. We saved her. Maria is finally okay. of Maria is finally, okay. It's… a bit of an overwhelming feeling, to be honest.
I mean… god, it's been over a month now, and everything— has been for this. Defecting from the military, joining a colony, meeting my council, dragging an Angel every last bit of it has been in service of this one goal and now it's… here. It's here. She's going to be okay. She's really, actually going to be okay!
I just don't know what to do with this information! I feel giddy, I have so much energy, I just… oh my god, she's going to be okay! She's going to be I actually did it! I… calm down. Calm down. There are still bad things that can happen. The colony could be… attacked. Probably not by aliens because of the information we have regarding demons, sure, and probably not by humans because of being a thousand feet into the ocean but… something could happen! Potentially.
I freeze at an unexpected touch from behind, Blossom having tackled my back and letting out a wordless shout in my ear. I quickly shift between three different forms, flowing past and around her, only to find her hugging my back again once I settle into a humanoid form. Jesus fuck. Okay. Blossom, don't do that.
she insists.
Okay. Okay, fine. Yeah. It… really is good. It really is good. We did it. Thank you, Blossom.
"Human friends!" Blossom calls out. "Come here! Hug the Julietta!"
"Okay!" Anastasia agrees first, swimming over and tackling me from the front.
"We doin' a cuddlepile?" Christine says, doing a much lazier breaststroke over. "I'm game."
"You have mellowed out a I remark. "I think I've said it before, but… wow."
"Yup," she agrees. "Thanks. I owe a lot of it to you."
Gah. Um. Well, good I guess!
"I owe the rest of it to Anastasia, obviously, because she's the best," Christine continues.
"Yeah!" Anastasia agrees. "Wait, what did I do?"
Christine just swims right past me, peels Anastasia off of me, and takes a big hug all to herself.
"Julietta was a friend," she says. "But you made us a family. And having a family I love is pretty damn great, even if they're all a bunch of weirdos."
"Hey, don't call me a weirdo," Peter smirks, floating nearby.
"I am, actually, calling you a weirdo, Pete," Christine says. "Every family needs a creepy drunk uncle."
I am not creepy!" he protests dramatically. "I've been surrounded by naked ladies all trip, and I've barely even leered seven times!"
"An excellent counterpoint," Christine says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Truly, no one will think you're creepy
"Hey, given the circumstances, that is restraint!" Peter insists. "Besides, I've caught you stealing a look more than a few times too."
"I'm a Christine answers haughtily. "It's
"All I'm hearing is that you're a fellow member of the no bitches club," Peter smirks. "Why is it that out of all of us it's only that has all the game?"
"Hey, I have game," Emily says, sinking down to join the conversation. "I have loads of game. Hot rich girlfriend, remember?"
"Ah, but you couldn't secure the inheritance in time," Peter says. "Amateur blunder."
"Come on, dude, too soon," Christine says, wrinkling her nose. "And besides, the answer's obvious. As the most autistic out of all of us, Julietta gets the most bitches. It's simple math."
"Is… is that how that works?" Emily questions.
"I've never actually received an autism diagnosis, for the record," I say.
"Yeah hon, it shows," Christine responds. Which… wow! Rude!
"You guys are all doing too much talking and not enough hugging!" Anastasia protests, which causes all of us to immediately realize that she is correct and surround her in a giant cuddle pile.
It's nice. Just… having everyone here. Holding them. Christine is right; as weird and dysfunctional as we all are, we're a family. If only Blossom were here… although wasn't she the one who started this? Forming an eye on the back of my head I spot her, watching us all from a distance. She floated off because she doesn't belong in this particular hug, and both of us know it. I might know her well and care about her a lot, but she's essentially still a stranger to the others. Here, in my arms, I have my human family. Around us, in our Queen's domain, I have my alien family.
And Maria… Maria is now part of both. There really is something special about that.
The Divinity of Wonder reports.
"Oh! Maria's almost ready to come out!" I translate for the others.
"Uh, you're dating? We already knew she was gay," Peter says.
"I've gotta go," I say, ignoring him except for a roll of a few of my eyes. "I… love you all. Thanks for being my family, okay?"
"Aww!" Christine smiles. "You're welcome. Thanks for being mine when I didn't have anyone else."
"I love you too, Julietta!" Anastasia agrees wholeheartedly. "All this alien stuff is a little weird and scary, but… I trust you."
"For better or worse, I'm sure there are still going to be aliens we'll have to kill," I sigh. "But there are nice ones, too. They're just people, like anyone else."
"Then we'll beat up the mean ones and be nice to the nice ones!" Anastasia concludes succinctly. There's something about that Reciprocation-loved worldview that's fundamentally childish, but at the same time… there's a lot to respect about it. If only the world could actually be that simple.
"It's not going to be that simple," Emily says. "It's us against the world now. You guys get that, right? The military is against us. is against us. And there are still countless alien colonies that aren't going to be as nice as the ones we've been hanging out with lately. And, you know, just in case anyone forgot: the is still looming. We still don't even know what causes that other than a vague claim that it is somehow the thing in the moon."
The reminder about In-Joke causes me to scowl. There's problem to deal with, too. The 'Defenders of Nothing.' What do they know?
"At minimum, we have the support of my colony," I say. "We could probably find all of colonies as well, and… well, most of them would likely be willing to help for the same reasons mine was? If we can unite enough of the aliens to provide a coordinated front, it'll countries into acknowledging the chance of peace. Once the war is over, we can all work out a solution to the apocalypse together."
"No big deal then," Emily sighs. "Just end thirty years of genocidal combat and unite the entire world within two and a half years. Easy."
"We don't need a united world," I say. "Just one that's united enough to agree that the apocalypse is bad. If everything descends back into chaos we save the world, well… ultimately, that's a secondary concern."
"Callous," Peter comments. "I like it."
"It's certainly more doable if we think of it that way," Emily agrees. "Hmm. It… might work? I'm not sure what we'll once the world is united, no matter how tenuously, but I guess that's the point, right? We don't know how to stop the apocalypse ourselves, so we need help."
"Exactly," I nod. "Now I've gotta go greet Maria and help her get a handle on her new body. We'll talk more about our future plans when she's settled in, yeah?"
"Okay, okay," Emily sighs. "Go kiss your girlfriend."
Oh! Well, I hadn't been planning to, but… I guess I am now. I give her a smile and a nod of confirmation, then shift into a long, eel-like body and whip my tail to accelerate down to where Maria will be. The reconstruction chamber rests snugly in a bed of Wonder's own tentacles, like the Queen is hugging herself in congratulation of a job well done.
The Divinity of Wonder says.
Maria responds nervously.
I send back, because what more really needs to be said? The chamber opens, water floods in, and once the swirling rush of the ocean has settled… I see her. Maria.
True to her desires, she's very similar to the Maria I remember. Her face, her beautiful freckles, and overall her body as a whole are extremely reminiscent of what I remember. There have been a few touch-ups, certainly: a squeeze here, a stretch there, an inconsistency evened out, but she's first and foremost.
The color is all off, of course. It's all over the place, in fact, shifting, flushing, bleaching, rippling… she clearly doesn't have a good handle over her chromatophores, but she will. And likewise, the tentacles she has flowing down her back in place of hair are… gosh. I've never been a fan of long hair, and as such I've never really given a damn about the hair length regulations of the military. however, always preferred her hair long and just cut it short because she had to, and this preference is reflected in the relative length of our current 'hair' as well. While my tendrils usually only hit shoulder-length at most, significantly reducing the range to which they can unconsciously quest, Maria's hair now squirms halfway down her back, and as a consequence several bits of it are curiously wrapping themselves around her shoulders, arms, neck, and chest. They're also somewhat less chaotically colored, each tentacle instead keeping to a primary theme, such as yellow, blue, pink, white… and even one that's mostly green.
She awkwardly swims forward, closes her eyes for a moment, and then frilly fins suddenly pop out from her legs and forearms, wide and flowing like a betta fish. Waving her arms back and forth, she manages to scull her way forward, swimming toward me completely upright.
"Hey," she greets me.
"Hi," I manage back. "You look
"Do I?" she asks. "Um… could you show me?"
Oh! Well, if she's asking… I happily pass my domain through her and pick up her template, shifting myself to match her. My own tentacles are a bit more controlled, but I do my best to match her coloration in real-time, spreading my arms and smiling at her.
"See?" I say. "Absolutely gorgeous."
Her heartbeat quickens, her eyes looking me up and down as she nervously scrunches in on herself, though… I'm not sure it's an entirely bad kind of nervousness. Her entire body skin flowing like a lake disturbed by a thrown stone. A couple of her tentacles are already reaching towards me, moving slowly as if they could ambush me before I even notice.
"Gosh," she says. "I guess it turned out pretty good."
"Extremely," I agree. "So… where do you want to start first? You menti—mmph!"
Those very same tentacles in fact, whip out and grab me, pulling me in and pressing me up against her. Our lips lock as our hair intertwines, holding and tasting each other at a hundred points of contact. It's sudden, spontaneous, overwhelming, and wonderful. I can't help but make a disappointed noise after a moment, though, prompting her to break away.
"What?" she asks nervously. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes," I assure her. "I was just planning to do that first this time. I missed my chance."
"Oh! Um. We can… start over if you want," she says.
"Did you… want me to stay in your body?" I ask.
"Oh! Um, haha. W-whatever you want is fine! I mean, I design it this way because I thought it would be hot, but I—mmph!"
Gotcha. We embrace again, and this time I get to be on the attack, holding her tightly and wrapping my arms around her as we kiss. In the back of our heads, we both hear Blossom doing her best to explain our 'strange physical rituals,' but we ignore her. The colony can feel how happy we are, and that's all they really need to know.
"Welcome back, Maria," I say when we finally pull away again.
"Y-yeah!" she agrees. "It's good to be back, in whatever weird way I'm back in now. Although… well, there's one more thing I have to do, you know."
"Oh yeah?" I ask. "What?"
She just smiles and closes her eyes, focusing for a second.
"Alright, everyone…" she says softly, and then moments later the water just about explodes with light, a dozen different fairies all popping into being at once, a veritable kaleidoscope of each different in color and appearance. Pink and yellow still look fully human, barring the fairy wings, while Blue and—sure enough— take on a miniature version of the very body Maria wears now. Infrared alone retains the appearance of her demonic form, though countless other colors outside the standard visible spectrum join her, wearing the new Angelic body like Blue and Green. Joining them are Red, Purple, White, and even a few shades I haven't ever seen before. And then there's Maria's main body, a brilliant, shifting glow that moves from color to color, shade to shade, with wings as huge and bright as any of her smaller selves.
"We're back," the main body says, though just her voice alone sounds like an echo of countless voices speaking at once. "All of us. So, without further adieu…"
She points at me, her finger like a flashlight illuminating a target in the dark.
"Get her, girls!"
A dozen laughing Marias rush me all at once, surrounding me in an instant, hugging and pressing into me from all sides. A complete encirclement. A total rout. I have been summarily defeated on the field of battle. But with all of them so warm and happy against me, I could never in a million years call this a loss.