Nekkau VS Inanimate Object

Nekkau’s room had been decided by process of elimination—Jack chose first, Taru chose to be far from Jack as possible, that left Nekkau with the room in between. It was just like all the other rooms. Cramped, decoration devoid, and in its corner crouched the unforgiving cot with a scratchy blanket and a suggestion of a pillow. On her way back from the doctor’s office, Nekkau had made sure that her teammates were busy and unlikely to interrupt her. There was something important she had to do. Nekkau laid back on the cot, stared at the ceiling, whose geometric carbon fiber weave made an acceptably bland background for turning one’s mind to overdue obligations.

Log 32df: Infiltration successful. Have identified and begun exploring several high-security zones of the interlopers’ outpost … no, scrap that.

Were it not for the angular triangular coal-and-yellow aesthetic of her armor, Nekkau would have looked like she had just crawled out of bed. Bored citrine eyes that glided right over people, an ambling walk that just begged for bunny slippers, and she had a fluff of ashy blonde bedhead, which shook as she dumped the log fragment to start from scratch.

A pulse of exhaustion washed through Nekkau and vanished quickly as it arrived. She needed to recharge, and soon.

Log 32df: Despite making clear that assistance was not required, the interlopers have placed me on one of their “teams.” A pointless move, unless the so-called teammates are meant to keep tabs on me, but both of them are new recruits. What’s the point? The motive … no, that’s not right either.

Nekkau shifted, squirmed, smacked the pillow for maximum puff, and settled with a sigh, only to swing her legs off the side and stand up. Looked around. That other corner, by the power socket, perhaps? She grabbed the cot’s frame and pulled. It groaned and strained and stayed firmly in its original place. After a few silent tugs she stopped and threw a bored stare at the cot.

“…”

It wasn’t very effective.

Down on all fours, Nekkau could see the cot’s legs and the problem: they had bolted the cot to the wall. Also, no convenient power outlets hiding in the cot’s shadow. She had to move it.

Log 32df: While this species presents itself friendlier than previous interlopers, I have already found they use duplicity and deceit, even against their own kind. I confirmed this by watching their doctor’s reaction when I showed him evidence that … gods of the markuria, did they weld this thing too?

The nut had not been welded to the bolt, but the subcontractors who installed it had really jammed it as far as it would go. Nekkau gripped and strained and braced herself against the wall and floor. She had the strength and the leverage, but her fingers kept slipping off that slippery tiny metal hexagon.

“Fine. I need a tool? I’ll get a tool.”

Nekkau went down to the gray markets on deck four and shopped for a wrench. Surprisingly hard to find among all the guns, secondhand surface radars, shield capacitors, and other field equipment on offer, but find some she did. When the shopkeeper asked if she wanted an adjustable or fixed-diameter wrench, Nekkau of course chose adjustable. Who knew how many other inconveniences she would have to solve like this? Returning with implement in hand, Nekkau knelt under the cot and got to work.

Log 32df: The interlopers willingly invited me aboard their outpost, for reasons I do not yet understand. It will be their undoing—spawnofakarshakspider! STOP. SLIPPING.

The nut crouched on its perch, up so high against the joins of the cot frame that the wrench couldn’t get its jaw around its prey.

“I am the hydranalog superior,” Nekkau muttered, citrine eyes glaring. “I am not going to be defeated by an inanimate object.”

Three minutes later, she sat on the floor by the power socket. Here, Nekkau extended her tail. It was thin, black, smooth, and had a three-pronged power connector on the end.

Log 32df: Writing logs takes more failed drafts each time. Anyways, at least the interlopers explained their power transmission to me. Very helpful. I might let some of them go after I have completed my threat assessment and … oh no. Oh no no no.

Nekkau’s tail bonked hopeless against the outlet. The outlet which she just now studied close enough to discover that it had holes for 5 prongs, not 3. Her expression stayed sleepy resolute, but in her head, Nekkau redrafted her log entry yet again.

Log 32df: I have walked into a most cunning trap. By deceit and guile I am stranded far from a suitable charging station, and I fear this will be my final report ….

While she searched for suitably dramatic final words, the door hissed open and in walked the wayfinder with the lavender-frame glasses carrying a small egg-shaped white thing that possibly, perhaps, might even have been an egg.

“Hey there,” Jack said with a smile that perhaps wasn’t winning, but definitely finishing somewhere on the podium. “How’s it going, Nekkau?”

Nekkau looked up from drafting her final message. “Fine, how are you?”

“So I found this thing in the markets and thought you might like it.” Jack crouched beside Nekkau and showed her the egg. “It’s one of those sunrise alarm clocks. Slowly brightens over half an hour before the time you set it to. You don’t even have to plug it in, draws power from the low-energy infusers in … is that your tail?”

Sitting this close together, it was impossible not for Jack to see the gentle lift on the lower hem of Nekkau’s shirt. What started as a peek at her waist curdled into shock when he followed the line of the tail under the fabric and, oh gods, the tail didn’t wasn’t stemming down near her hips like a tail should. Nekkau’s tail peeled off from her spine just below her shoulder blades.

“… yes, it is.”

“Oh. Um. Well.”

Jack shivered. Oh shit. What do I do? This might be her secret and I’ve just found out. Can’t say I didn’t see, she saw me look for like 3 whole seconds. Okay, 6 seconds. Wait … I found out her secret … this could be good.

“So, is the tail a thing you don’t want news of going around?”

“If you blackmail me—”

Jack waved panicky hands. “No! I would never—I meant, uh, I wanted to know if this was a secret. So I could help you keep it.”

“Why?”

Nekkau’s sleepy eyes stared him down, and Jack was confronted by all the slight errors. The whites of her eyes were too white, like porcelain. No smell unpleasant because she had no scent at all. Her proportions weren’t showy, but too perfectly balanced, like someone had gone into an advanced character creation engine and applied the golden ratio absolutely everywhere. She would have had the austere beauty of a nautilus’s shell, were it not for the bedhead and sleepy arc of her eyebrows—in Jack’s eyes, those two aspects were her saving graces.

“You’re not human, are you?” After a long split second, Jack remembered to answer her question. “But you’re on my team … and keeping each other’s secrets is a fun way to get to know each other.”

“I don’t need to get familiar with you. I don’t need anything from you, or anyone.”

“Sure?” Jack tapped the floor next to her tail. “I think you need a G13 to PGUt adapter.”

“… I guess.”

Jack kicked off the floor and shook the sleep out of his legs. “I know a gal for that. You just hang out here. Back in ten.”

“How will you afford it? I barely bought a single wrench with my funds.”

“I sorta found and picked up some ahem secondary objectives on my first/last mission and sold them.” Being in a truthful mood, Jack added, “I mighta also sold my grappling hook.”

“… very well. Off you go.”

Jack whooshed through the door, thinking as he went how unlucky he was to be put on a team with two attractive ladies, both of whom were tough to crack. At least Uranishi Taru steals glances at me, with this one I or any man might not have a chance. Heck, if I’m right and she’s a robot, she might see sex and romance as completely pointless. Does Nekkau think about me at all?

Nekkau wasn’t thinking about him, she was just happy to get a little peace and quiet, but it didn’t last. The door hissed open again, and this time it was Taru, beet red with embarrassment and panting like a steam engine. She grabbed Nekkau’s shoulders and completely ignored the tail as it slunk into the shadows.

“Sorry. I don’t remember your name, but you have to help me. My not-ex is on the station, and it’s all going horribly wrong.”