Unclothed One

Yuki dove in front of the ray, only to fall flat on the path with her head sticking over the cliff. Branches growing from rocky outcroppings offered a glimpse of the road across the valley. The hat caught on a branch out of reach. She scrunched herself into a ball before bouncing upright.

Orange rays not dissimilar from a grocery store scanner struck her face. Punching at them felt like a good idea at the time. It did nothing.

The disguised alien operating the scanner scowled, “Do you want you friend’s mineral casing dissolved evenly? Because if it doesn’t, she’ll die. Now please stand aside and let me finish the procession of her demineralization.”

Yuki’s slightly blue cheeks reddened. The glassy gem eye in the center of her forehead gazed upwards and to the left. She patted her horns, “Ah, sorry. Sorry. I thought you were doing something else.”

“With a demineralization scanner?”

“It looks like a gun!”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot that humans are exceptionally voluble creatures. Your culture is centered around volume and weapons. Probability of extinction by the next era, ninety-five percent.”

Yuki tilted her head; she didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘voluble’ but it didn’t seem like the one he intended. But she needed to focus on Asami.

Orange lines flickering over the stone caused it to crack and hiss with a release of steam. Flecks of stone broke from the statue. Clothing dissolved to nothing wherever the light touched, jacket, blouse, skirt, loafers, bra, panties, stockings, and garter belt vanished into the steam. Only the wire frame of Asami’s bra managed to resist visibly.

A scream echoed down the mountain. Asami crouched down shivering to cover herself. Her arms crossed her chest as she crouched down into folded legs. Bare skin shimmered with a healthy shine before becoming visibly flushed.

Yuki removed her loose jacket and gently placed it over Asami’s back before hugging her, “I thought I lost you for the next hundred years.”

Using Yuki’s jacket allowed Asami to stand with some minimal sense of decency, “Why am I naked all the sudden!?”

Hands waved, then pointed in the direction of the old man and the younger newcomer, “They turned you into stone and the only way to reverse it was… they used a ray gun but it blasted off your clothes too!”

“What!?” Asami glared at Yuki’s marbled horns.

Yuki glanced away, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Where’s your hat!?”

“Dropped it.”

Asami pushed her hands in the pockets of the jacket and pushed it down to keep herself decent, “What are we going to do now? I’m half naked and you’re shrinking!”

“These two said they would help us. But I have to go with them. I have to say goodbye to you. I’m there queen now, or something like that. And I have to give birth because I ate their stone.”

Gaze swung between the three beings. What used to be Yuki, or what was left of her, stood in front of her looking up with trembling lips and watery eyes.

The gemstone eye stared through her.

The disguise faded back to the blue skinned man she’d bumped against in the hall. Silver hair flowed around the base of grand horns and slid down his back, refusing to react to the wind. The bright green gem on his forehead manifested; Its eye focused on an obstacle, her. Sunlight redirected from many gems studded across his skin bothered her eyes. His arms folded across his chest while he frowned in her general direction, “I only demineralized you because our queen demanded it. You’re quite lucky to be the object of her subjection.”

To the right, the old man floated with his legs crossed and his hands resting in his lap. His skin shifted to a blue shade as well. The red gem in the center of his forehead flashed the pattern of a silver-colored eye before going blank. The old man’s horns appeared like jagged bramble bush twigs; they gradually became narrower as they shifted with harsh angular geometry. Red gemstones studded his chin like a goatee substitute. Heavy gems hung from fat ear lobes.

With the camouflage removed, he appeared ragged. The blue skin sagged at his cheeks. His hands, crusted with gems, were worn skin covering gnarled bone. The insane grin became a contemplative frown.

Asami twisted her bare feet into the path’s rocky soil and screamed at the older one. Tears ran down her cheeks, “I don’t care what you are or where you came from. You’re not taking Yuki from me!”

“This is most unfortunate,” the older alien put his head down, “We’ve interfered with a relationship.”

“May we remind you Captain, that she ate the Gribbeck stone when she had no reason. And for the record, these two humans are not biologically capable of forming offspring together.”

“What does that have to do with anything!” Yuki yelled.

Asami grabbed Yuki and pulled her against herself, her friend managed a frightened smile while she shrunk another inch. The loss wasn’t merely height, but width and depth, “I’m not letting you have Yuki. Change her back. You’re some kind of sophisticated alien race with super technology and advanced intelligence, right? Just reverse this and change her back to a normal human!”

The younger slapped his left horn, “We knew we should have left her mineralized.”

“It caused an undue burden on the new queen’s acidity. It couldn’t be helped. You have to consider the health of the offspring in what is already an insufficient host.”

Yuki turned her head while keeping her arms under the jacket in an embrace, “Instead of chasing and terrorizing us, perhaps you could explain who you are and what’s going on?”

“I thought we already explained it, are you deft?”

“What even are you things, some kind of silicon-based life forms?” Yuki asked, “Because that would be super groovy! Zeep zerp!”

“There’s no time for a lecture on Valerexixian biology, the next observational satellite will pass over this island in exactly twenty-five minutes. We require substantiated cover to obscure our chemical, heat, and gravitational distortion signatures. If we are caught, it could mean the end of our species.”

Asami walked with Yuki practically in her arms, “Fine, follow me to my dorm apartment. We’ll sort it out there. Come to think of it. Do you have a faster way to get there?”

“We can’t read the location you have on your mind. That would be unethical. Lead the way unclothed one. We shall fellow.”

“Follow.” Asami growled.

“Yes, fellow.”