Though he had yet to appreciate the true gravity of the situation, Fwiffo knew there was something wrong from the moment he opened his eye. His room on the Starrunner (that is, the captain's room, which he had moved into at the earliest opportunity for what were perfectly justified security reasons -- after all, Pluto was right on the edge of the solar system, and you never knew what might decide to attack at a moment's notice --)was lined with the heaviest shielding known to Spathikind; in fact, it was so thick that a simple door could not suffice in matters pertaining to ingress and egress. A short tunnel pierced the probably impenetrable walls, capped on either end with doors made of similar material and also including state-of-the-art locking mechanisms. Or at any rate, they had been state of the art twenty-five years ago, when the Starrunner was commissioned...In fact, one of the things Fwiffo had been meaning to ask during his meeting with the Safe Ones was a nice battery of upgrades for his entire ship. It wasn't safe, flying around to who-knows-where with obsolete technology! Besides, the former captain had had horrible taste in colors. The swirling mix of fuchsia and puce coloring the ceiling and breaking up the monotony of the matte grey walls was no doubt meant to be calming -- otherwise, why would it be there? -- but it just wasn't to Fwiffo's taste. Some nice aqua, that was what was needed! But at any rate, the walls of his room on his ship was nothing like the plain white walls Fwiffo now found surrounding him.
He wasn't anywhere on the Starrunner, that much was obvious, nor was it likely that he was anywhere on Spathiwa or its moon. Could he have been kidnapped somehow? But no...surely not from the Safe One's very doorstep! Unless the Safe Ones themselves were behind it...perhaps they had not been quite so pleased with his leading the hunam captain right to them after all...though really they should have thanked him; how else would they have gotten rid of those absolutely terrifying Evil Ones?! Besides, surely his dear ally, the hunam captain, wouldn't break his promise of protection so early on their relationship? Perhaps the Safe Ones had tried to kidnap him, no doubt to do horrible, torturous things, and the captain had rescued him! Fwiffo had known he made the right choice in allying himself with him! That would explain the strange whiteness and unfamiliarity of his location, for the captain had no doubt whisked him straight away to the Vindicator's med-bay, which would also explain his bizarre position, lying supine on some strangely soft surface --
Wait. Supine?!
With a horrified squeak, Fwiffo immediately attempted to curl into a ball, the traditional sleeping posture of all sane-minded Spathi. While the leathery pseudo-shell that covered their back would offer only meager protection against all but the smallest and weakest monsters, it was still a far sight better than leaving their soft, tender underbelly exposed for the all the world to gorge on! Only it would seem Fwiffo's injuries were very severe indeed: his body moved sluggishly at his commands, and bent strangely. His lower end, rather drawing itself up towards the base of his eyestalk as it should have, seemed rather to bend towards his back, which rather defeated the whole point in a frankly petrifying way. He was only exposing himself further! And the bizarre white mass coating most of his body didn't help, either.
For a moment, Fwiffo panicked, convinced he had somehow been partially engulfed by some protoplasmic horror -- only to eventually realize that the object didn't seem to be trying to ingest him further. Oh, right. He remembered now. His hunam crew had brought many of these objects on board the Starrunner, all sorts of thicknesses and colors. The hunams called them "blan-chets," he vaguely recalled, and used them as sort of substitute shells while they slept. Another point in favor of the captain having rescued him!
Unfortunately, Fwiffo's newborn relief was doomed to be short-lived. No sooner had he begun to extricate himself from the blan-chet when he finally got a good look at just why his body had behaved so oddly. For a long moment, he was completely petrified, stunned past all reaction by the sight.
And then the flimsy door flew inward, and a stange hunam dressed all in white rushed in, bared her teeth at him, and began advancing, chirping something completely incomprehensible about the color white.
There was only one thing a poor Spathi could do in such a trying situation, and Fwiffo's nerves had already been stretched to the breaking point by the emotional calisthenics he had previously gone through as he tried to convince himself that he was in no danger. Being proved completely and utterly wrong at that point was too much for him, and there might even have been an audible sound to accompany his nerves shattering.
If there was, however, it was drowned out by his panicked shrieking.
The woman who had just been thinking out loud that perhaps another color besides a stark white might be less shocking to the new patients apparently had her point proven at that very moment, when Francis took that moment to sit up and scream.
"Mr. White!" The woman sighed heavily; it wasn't like he was the first patient to yell, but seriously, was it so necessary? Though given what she had read about this particular patient, perhaps it was. Poor thing had gotten so separated from reality, he'd made up a life where he was an entirely different species. It meant he might have screaming fits like this often, if he rediscovered his human body every now and then.
The nurse could only wish good luck to the doctor who had the task of making that discovery permanent truth in his mind.
"Mr. White," she said again, her voice soothing despite the headache already starting from the base of her skull. She'd hoped to make it at least until the shift after lunch before taking aspirin, but it seemed that wouldn't be happening. "Mr. White, everything is okay. I know it's a shock, but you're safe. You're in a hospital, so please calm down!"
Fwiffo's eye was wide enough to expose the whites all the way around, though of course he couldn't see that for himself. He choked repeatedly, then finally managed to suck in a lungful of air, only let it loose in a barrage of words that matched his earlier shriek in both shrillness and incomprehensibility.
"Don't come here me!" He pushed himself back into the corner, only panicked harder as he realized that he was trapped. Worse yet, his entire lower half was hopelessly tangled in the blan-chets. "Don't eat me!" he wailed, holding his tiny (hunam! howwhywhatwasgoingonhere?!) claws in front of his eye. Hot panic-tears started welling in his eye -- but Fwiffo didn't even know what tears were. Somehow, the hunam must have already struck him, even though he hadn't seen her move! He was bleeding! "No!" he shrieked, ineffectually flailing his arms to keep her from hitting him again. "Don't hurt me! No!"
The nurse again sighed. And it had been such a good morning too, with most of the patients being cooperative on waking. But there were always some, those in too deep denial, whose illusions were simply too strong.
Granted, most of those patients acted in anger. This one recoiled in fear, and that did make the woman feel sorry for him on some level.
But she still had her job to do, and it only took a moment to call in two orderlies. It was clear that this patient wasn't going to calm down so easily, and before he could hurt anyone, including himself, the nurse had the two men hold Francis down.
"Relax, Mr. White." It only took a moment to administer the sedative, just enough to help Francis regain control over his emotions. She even went so far as to calmly stroke the patient's cheek, hushing him while she waited for the drugs to take effect. "You're in a safe place. This is a hospital, Landel's Institute. And we're going to help make you better."
Struggling against the two hunams who entered next was an exercise in futility, but Fwiffo did his best anyway, shrieking at flailing at them with his thin arms. Of course they scarcely seemed to notice, overpowering him and easily holding him down. The sharp pain in his arm was almost a relief after that, and Fwiffo tried to brace himself for pain-filled oblivion...only to realize, after a few minutes, that he actually felt sort of...nice.
He immediately recognized the feeling of sedation. All recruits in the Spathi navy were given small sedatives during their first month in space, until they grew somewhat used to the empty void surrounding their ship of station. The only question was, why was he being sedated now? So the hunams could devour him more easily? They didn't seem to be preparing to eat him though...He flinched when the first hunam leaned close and touched what should have been the base of his eyestalk, but all she did was pet him and talk.
A safe place? Impossible. Safety was an illusion; all Spathi knew that. But it almost seemed as though these hunams, whatever their nefarious plans might be, did not intend to actually harm him at this very moment. Which was only to his advantage...maybe he could escape somehow...
At least Francis had calmed down; the sedatives always did the trick, though hopefully he wouldn't need them for long. That was the purpose of the hospital, after all. Helping poor people like Francis White, who had gotten confused about their lives.
And in time, she would explain that to him. But for now, she directed the orderlies to move Francis into a wheelchair. She knew he would need to get adjusted to realizing he had a human body again, though they would have to wean him off of the chair soon. Leaving him on it for too long would only further encourage the delusions.
"Now, I know you're still scared, Mr. White, but why don't we take you to get some lunch?" Moving behind the man, the nurse began to push him along. "You'll feel better once you've eaten, then I can explain everything to you later on."
He wasn't anywhere on the Starrunner, that much was obvious, nor was it likely that he was anywhere on Spathiwa or its moon. Could he have been kidnapped somehow? But no...surely not from the Safe One's very doorstep! Unless the Safe Ones themselves were behind it...perhaps they had not been quite so pleased with his leading the hunam captain right to them after all...though really they should have thanked him; how else would they have gotten rid of those absolutely terrifying Evil Ones?! Besides, surely his dear ally, the hunam captain, wouldn't break his promise of protection so early on their relationship? Perhaps the Safe Ones had tried to kidnap him, no doubt to do horrible, torturous things, and the captain had rescued him! Fwiffo had known he made the right choice in allying himself with him! That would explain the strange whiteness and unfamiliarity of his location, for the captain had no doubt whisked him straight away to the Vindicator's med-bay, which would also explain his bizarre position, lying supine on some strangely soft surface --
Wait. Supine?!
With a horrified squeak, Fwiffo immediately attempted to curl into a ball, the traditional sleeping posture of all sane-minded Spathi. While the leathery pseudo-shell that covered their back would offer only meager protection against all but the smallest and weakest monsters, it was still a far sight better than leaving their soft, tender underbelly exposed for the all the world to gorge on! Only it would seem Fwiffo's injuries were very severe indeed: his body moved sluggishly at his commands, and bent strangely. His lower end, rather drawing itself up towards the base of his eyestalk as it should have, seemed rather to bend towards his back, which rather defeated the whole point in a frankly petrifying way. He was only exposing himself further! And the bizarre white mass coating most of his body didn't help, either.
For a moment, Fwiffo panicked, convinced he had somehow been partially engulfed by some protoplasmic horror -- only to eventually realize that the object didn't seem to be trying to ingest him further. Oh, right. He remembered now. His hunam crew had brought many of these objects on board the Starrunner, all sorts of thicknesses and colors. The hunams called them "blan-chets," he vaguely recalled, and used them as sort of substitute shells while they slept. Another point in favor of the captain having rescued him!
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And then the flimsy door flew inward, and a stange hunam dressed all in white rushed in, bared her teeth at him, and began advancing, chirping something completely incomprehensible about the color white.
There was only one thing a poor Spathi could do in such a trying situation, and Fwiffo's nerves had already been stretched to the breaking point by the emotional calisthenics he had previously gone through as he tried to convince himself that he was in no danger. Being proved completely and utterly wrong at that point was too much for him, and there might even have been an audible sound to accompany his nerves shattering.
If there was, however, it was drowned out by his panicked shrieking.
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"Mr. White!" The woman sighed heavily; it wasn't like he was the first patient to yell, but seriously, was it so necessary? Though given what she had read about this particular patient, perhaps it was. Poor thing had gotten so separated from reality, he'd made up a life where he was an entirely different species. It meant he might have screaming fits like this often, if he rediscovered his human body every now and then.
The nurse could only wish good luck to the doctor who had the task of making that discovery permanent truth in his mind.
"Mr. White," she said again, her voice soothing despite the headache already starting from the base of her skull. She'd hoped to make it at least until the shift after lunch before taking aspirin, but it seemed that wouldn't be happening. "Mr. White, everything is okay. I know it's a shock, but you're safe. You're in a hospital, so please calm down!"
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"Don't come here me!" He pushed himself back into the corner, only panicked harder as he realized that he was trapped. Worse yet, his entire lower half was hopelessly tangled in the blan-chets. "Don't eat me!" he wailed, holding his tiny (hunam! howwhywhatwasgoingonhere?!) claws in front of his eye. Hot panic-tears started welling in his eye -- but Fwiffo didn't even know what tears were. Somehow, the hunam must have already struck him, even though he hadn't seen her move! He was bleeding! "No!" he shrieked, ineffectually flailing his arms to keep her from hitting him again. "Don't hurt me! No!"
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Granted, most of those patients acted in anger. This one recoiled in fear, and that did make the woman feel sorry for him on some level.
But she still had her job to do, and it only took a moment to call in two orderlies. It was clear that this patient wasn't going to calm down so easily, and before he could hurt anyone, including himself, the nurse had the two men hold Francis down.
"Relax, Mr. White." It only took a moment to administer the sedative, just enough to help Francis regain control over his emotions. She even went so far as to calmly stroke the patient's cheek, hushing him while she waited for the drugs to take effect. "You're in a safe place. This is a hospital, Landel's Institute. And we're going to help make you better."
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He immediately recognized the feeling of sedation. All recruits in the Spathi navy were given small sedatives during their first month in space, until they grew somewhat used to the empty void surrounding their ship of station. The only question was, why was he being sedated now? So the hunams could devour him more easily? They didn't seem to be preparing to eat him though...He flinched when the first hunam leaned close and touched what should have been the base of his eyestalk, but all she did was pet him and talk.
A safe place? Impossible. Safety was an illusion; all Spathi knew that. But it almost seemed as though these hunams, whatever their nefarious plans might be, did not intend to actually harm him at this very moment. Which was only to his advantage...maybe he could escape somehow...
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And in time, she would explain that to him. But for now, she directed the orderlies to move Francis into a wheelchair. She knew he would need to get adjusted to realizing he had a human body again, though they would have to wean him off of the chair soon. Leaving him on it for too long would only further encourage the delusions.
"Now, I know you're still scared, Mr. White, but why don't we take you to get some lunch?" Moving behind the man, the nurse began to push him along. "You'll feel better once you've eaten, then I can explain everything to you later on."
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