Dscoveries
( I have been reading through the comments all of you (fans and otherwise) have posted, and i am gnawed by a small problem. I know most of them seem like they are chapters in a larger story. Some of them are, but on the whole, i am unable to compleate them. I'm truly sorry for all those who are eagerly awaiting the next chapter, but i am unable to continue. I seem to be only able to come up with a base idea. I'm trying to fix that, but progress is so slow as to be unnoticeable. I'm truly sorry. Below is another work that has stalled beyond my ablity to revive it. I hope that someone out there will be able to pick this up and make it fly.)
One more has joined the thousand.
For my friend stopped running today.
This was the message hewn into the living rock of the entrance to the deeper caves. It was a mysterious place, full of dark waters and silent rivers. Even in the void of the cave, if one listened, one could hear things. It was different for every person who braved the depths. For one, it was the call of a long lost pet, another, a spouse. No two people ever heard the same thing, even when, on the rare occasion that it happened, more then one person was there at a time. It was the perfect place to hide. At least, that is what Geo hoped. Fleeing from his troubles, the young reptile delved deeper into the caves. Stopping, he waited, breathless, his auditory senses strained to their limit to detect pursuit. Hearing none, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Choosing a slightly double-humped rock, Geo sat, carefully folding his tail into a comfortable position. Leaning backwards over the rock, Geo marveled at how smooth the stone was, how pleasantly cool it felt against his scales. Closing his eyes brought back her face. Swearing silently, Geo opened them, trying to rid himself of her image. "Maybe she did need to dump me," he sobbed as he shifted position, "But she didn't have to do it in front of her friends!" he sobbed as he shifted position, laying on his stomach, letting the coolness of the stone sink into his chest; to ease the pain of his broken heart. Tears slowly leaked from his eyes. Crying was a very dangerous thing for one of his kind to do. Geo did not even try to stem the flow coming from his eyes. Gradually, his body became weaker, as the water and salt Geo was losing through his tears were more then his body could counter-balance. As the chemical imbalance grew more and more pronounced, Geo's body temperature climbed higher. But the young reptile was beyond caring, lost to the gentle darkness of a dreamless sleep. Slowly, figures clothed in cloth of shadow appeared. Tenderly, the shadow-cloaked figures took hold of Geo's form, pulling him deeper into their lair.
"Geo!!! Geo!! Where are you?!!" Lil's soft voice cracked and echoed in the gloom of the cave, her throat raw from all the shouting that she had been doing over the last hour. She was the first to notice that he was missing. Her worries began at school the previous day. She had searched for him (hampered somewhat in doing so by her new potential mate) in order to apologize to him for breaking up with him in front of her friends. Over and over she mentally rehearsed what she would say to him, the way she would hold his hand as she said it so that he could feel the depth of her sincerity. Then there would be no more ill-feeling between the two of them, she hoped. Over and over she saw his face in her mind, the look of sorrowed agony plain on his face, as she had told him of her moving on. She swore to herself that she would make amends, if she could only find him. It was the end of the day and worry had begun to gnaw at her heart, as she realized that he wasn't avoiding her, he wasn't there. Fleetly, she ran to his family's home. He had moved out over a month ago, but he had still checked in with them at night. Her jaw dropped as she heard that he had not called that previous night; that they assumed that he was with her. Jaws clenched and eyes narrowed as she revealed the break up with him to them. Without wasting any more time, the entire family began to search.
Geo slowly came awake. There was an incredibly bright light directly overhead; its radiance shone through the thin membranes of his eyelids. Rolling his head to one side, Geo opened his eyes. He was in a pristine, white room that smelled faintly of some powerful anti-septic. At first, Geo merely lay still, trying to collect his thoughts. Then, he tried to sit up. Immediately, the restraints binding him to the pedestal made themselves felt. After a few experimental tugs in different directions, Geo stopped moving entirely. Arching his back a bit, Geo moved his tail to a more comfortable position, sticking out from between his legs. Laying back on the soft surface of the pedestal, Geo waited for whatever would happen to happen. Time passed, as it has a habit of doing. Geo's only submission to boredom was to swing his tail back and forth across the surface of the pedestal. He had counted over a hundred complete pendulum swings before something happened. With a sharp hiss, a panel opened to reveal a strange creature. Geo did not know what it was. It was roughly Geo's size, if he was standing up. But it had no scales, little fur and definitely no feathers; at least, none that Geo could see. As it approached, Geo stopped moving his tail, his boredom gone. The creature then began to feel and prod Geo's body. 'It's examining me, I guess.' Starting with his chest and arms, the creature continued its work. "Who or what are you, and what is this place?" Geo asked calmly, his curiosity evident. At first the creature did not make a sound. It continued to stroke and palpitate Geo's body. 'It actually feels good.' Geo noted with a small measure of surprise. Geo repeated his question, and this time the creature responded. The creature stopped palpitating his stomach muscles, and spoke in fluent Nigileth. "I am a Human, and this is the Research division of S.T.A.R." Tipping his head to one side, Geo asked "What is a 'human' and what does S.T.A.R mean?" The Human continued to make an external examination, unceasing in his chore. Geo made a strangled noise as the human pushed his hand against his crotch. Geo gasped in pain as the researcher's hand forced its way into the protective pouch that held Geo's reproductive organ. "Please...Stop..." Geo cried out softly, in pain, as the Human quickly withdrew its hand. "I'm sorry." the Human apologized "Are you a female?" Despite the lingering pain, Geo could not help but hiss in good humor. The Human stepped back at the sound, alarmed. "Do not worry," assured Geo when he saw the Human's reaction "Your question amused me, and in answer, no, I am a male." The Human stepped back to the pedestal, a look of wonder on its face as he asked "Then what was that, I put my hand into?" Geo thought a bit before replying "It is our protective pouch. It holds and protects our reproductive organ from the heat of our home, as well as accidental injury." The Human, looked long and hard at the hand that had pushed its way into the pouch. Finally, it said "I am not supposed to talk to you," The Human said, shortly "If you continue to make noise; I will have to sedate you." Geo was silent as he pondered what the Human had said. 'He really sounds serious.' Geo thought 'but what is this 'sedate' he is talking about, and why is it frightening?' After a few moment of thought, Geo decided to give into his curiosity.
David was starting his examination on the creature's tail. 'Amazing physical construction!' He thought to himself. Then he heard the creature mimic something else. "'Sedate'? What is 'sedate'?" Calmly David turned to the small table beside the table where the creature and picked up a pre-prepared hypodermic syringe full of a quick acting sedative. "I warned you." He said, unnecessarily to the pinioned creature. Quickly and efficiently, he emptied the contents of the glass chamber into the cardiac artery in the creature's neck. While waiting for the creature to fall asleep, David put the syringe back on the table where he had gotten it. Machinery whirred and the syringe was sucked into the belly of the table where it was cleaned, sterilized and re-filled before being returned to the top. As he turned back to the table, David's mouth opened in horror as. Instead of going to sleep, the creature had begun to strain at the restraints, hissing loudly, threateningly.
Stepping away from the table, on the off chance that it broke free of the restraints, David waited for the internal sensors to register the problem and to deal with it. The creature's thrashing weakened and then stopped entirely, except for its limbs twitching occasionally. Time passed and the sensor protocol did not kick in. Moving forward, David began a cursory exam, making sure that the specimen had not damaged itself. Looking into the creature's eye, his confusion was evident. The pupils were contracted to pin points and its responses were non-existent. "What is going on?" David muttered to himself. "Please...make it...stop..." David almost didn't hear the creature's voice. "Stop what?" he demanded of the reptilian. He waited for awhile and, just as he was about to start the examination again, the creature moaned softly. David's blood froze as he heard the words, all but lost in the creature's voice. "...Pain...stop..." David was confused, and now, a little scared "Pain? What pain?" David demanded. Looking down at the medical sensors, David started to panic. "Oh my God! His heart rate is through the roof!" leaping over to the wall that housed the door, David pushed the panic button. The klaxon began ringing; David hurried back to the table. Unthinkingly, he deactivated the restraints. Immediately, the specimen curled into the fetal position, whimpering softly and rocking back and forth gently completely lost in its pain. The door hissed open and a security/med team rushed in. Helplessly, David pointed to the curled up reptile. "Get him to de-tox! He is showing an adverse reaction to the chemical compound of the sedative!" Calmly and efficiently, they hoisted the reptile onto a hover-stretcher and left the room, leaving a gilt-ridden David behind.
The pain was incredible; Geo had never felt anything like it before in his life. It had started with an uncomfortable, but tolerable burning sensation in his neck where the human had stuck something under his scales. But then it had spread, magnifying to even greater levels as it did so. Thrashing did no good, but Geo couldn't help it, he had to do something. His inability to move increased the torture even further. Without conscious thought, he told, begged, the 'human' to make it stop. Then, the restraints suddenly lifted. His body, by that time, was stuck somewhere into a place halfway between full alertness and unconsciousness, Geo curled into a ball and prayed that the pain would stop. The last thing that he felt before everything went dark was a massive trauma to the back of the head, throwing him into the comforting and peaceful black embrace of unconsciousness.
David paced up and down outside the door to the de-tox room. He started as he heard a noise. One of the doors leading into the room hissed open. Panting heavily, James, David's superior, dashed in. "David, I heard what happened! Damned lucky you are so sensitive to what the lower animals are feeling, or else the specimen would have been damaged!" David bit his lip and looked at the floor. "I'm very sorry sir, I should have checked to see if the formula of the sedative was dangerous to him." Gasping a bit, the supervisor waved a hand. "Not your fault, that was the Retrievers job, not yours," The supervisor's voice took on a hard edge as he continued "As soon as the specimen is out of danger, I am going to have a chat with them. This is the forth time this has happened in a week." David winced and asked "How many died?" The supervisor looked at David with a look of curiosity on his face as he said "Does it matter? They were just animals, like the specimen in there." David shook his head as he replied "Sir, I don't think he is just an animal. He told me he was in pain," Looking the supervisor in the eye David continued "He begged me to make it stop." The supervisor scoffed as he asked "He told you? No. More likely it's a mimic and what you heard was a random pairing of words." David looked at the floor, biting his lip, overwhelmed by his supervisor's voice. "Sometimes you read too much into a random event, David." The super scoffed, "Repeat this to yourself 'It is just an animal, nothing more' and you will be alright." Patting David on the back, the supervisor continued. "Keep up the good work, David. You are doing fine" the supervisor reassured David. Sighing, David turned to leave, but thought better of it. Instead of leaving, he went to visit the specimen in the infirmary.
When Geo woke up, his environment was completely different then before. He was in a soft blue colored room. The bed he was in smelled faintly of lemon and flowers. The sheet that covered him was crisp and clean. What was more, the pain was gone, without even a stinging to suggest it had existed. With a satisfied sigh, Geo snuggled his body deeper into the softness of the bed. There was a small pull at his arm, and he looked over to see a small tube attached to his four-limb with a piece of tape. Curiously, Geo stared at it, like it would explain itself if he stared long enough. "It is called an I.V." said a soft voice. Geo looked you to see the 'human' standing in the doorway. "Really? What is it for?" Geo asked. The 'human' smiled weakly and walked over to the chair by the side of the bed. "It allows us to put food and water into your body when you are unable to eat normally." Geo blinked a few times as he digested this information. "My name is David." Said David. Nodding, Geo replied "My name is Geo." David bit his lip a bit before saying "I'm...sorry." Geo blinked a bit before asking, "What are you sorry about?" David bit his lip and said "The thing I gave you? The sedative? It shouldn't have... it wasn't supposed to hurt you. It was just supposed to put you to sleep for awhile." Geo tipped his head to one side and said "Really?" The human nodded. Geo looked at the human. "Oh, Then, I accept your apology." David stared, spellbound at the prone reptile before he shook his head and muttered to himself "No, he is wrong..." Geo was totally mystified and told David so. "My super does not believe that you are sentient." Geo lay back in the bed. "Oh..." Geo said "What is 'Sentient'?" David favored the reptilian with a sad smile and said, "'Sentient' means that the organism is capable of intelligent thought, instead of just reacting, via instincts, to environmental stimuli." Geo nodded, and said "By that standard, I am sentient; although, I would wish it otherwise. I had the luxury to just react."
David tipped his head to one side and asked "Why is that?" Geo did not speak at first. He then opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he wanted to talk, but couldn't form the words. "If you don't want to tell me that is o.k." Said David. Looking up into David's face Geo said "No, it will do me good to talk about it." Geo took a deep breath before saying "My potential mate...dumped me. In front of all of her friends..." David stared, speechlessly at the now pensive reptile. "That...that's awful! How could she do that to you?!" Geo began to cry again "I don't know!" Feeling helpless, David just sat there and looked at the reptile. It was then that the young researcher noticed something that made his heart go out to the reptile. David sat and watched the reptile cry. Sensors began to beep wildly and a doctor rushed in. "What's wrong!?" David motioned for the medic to stand down. "He is...having some difficulties in his romance-life. He is only doing what needs to be done." The Tec looked startled. "He is only crying? Sensors indicate that his body chemistry is going haywire!" David looked quizzically at Geo. "Why is that happening? I mean you are only crying." Geo shook his head and replied, "Our bodies are made to keep water close. If we cry, we lose water and our body rebels." David was startled. "How can that be?" Geo opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he wanted to talk, but couldn't form the words. "It..." He was finally able to say, "It is the curse of my kind. We cannot cry, or else we will die. We live in the dessert of our world, so water is scarce and precious." David looked confused, "If it is dangerous, why are you doing it?" Geo did not respond, lost in his misery. Feeling helpless, David watched the reptile cry. David sat back in his chair, an amused expression on his face. Trying to get the Reptiles mind off his love life was difficult. "That is a bit inconvenient." Geo nodded. "You know," David mused, "We would have the same problem, if it weren't for the fact that 70% of our Homeworld's surface was covered by water." Geo was speechless as the researcher mused on. "Of course, not all of it is drinkable, most of it is salt." Geo found his voice. "Human? You are saying that your world has much water, some of it you can't use?" David shook his head, "No, we can use all of it. Just not directly. Why?" Geo merely shook his head and remained silent. Standing up abruptly the confused researcher said "I will leave now; I will be back later with some food." David moved out of sight and Geo heard the hissing noise again. Lying back in the bed, Geo closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again.