Instant Story

“It was rather like being surrounded by a mob of very curious puppies with no regard for one’s personal bubble. He/she stood very still lest he/she step on one and tried to resist the urge to pick one up for a cuddle”

There was also an urge to flee, shrieking, from the environment because the Trrt'krr -or ‘Jelly Dancers’- resembled nothing more than a sparkling cloud of very small jellyfish.

These were the lowest of known low-grav cogniscents. They could survive without atmosphere and found anything more than point three standard gravity[1] to be torturous. If not deadly. If they wished to operate in the heavier zones, then they needed a protective grav-bubble and a team of fussing Nae'hyn.

Small wonder, then, that the Trrt'krr much preferred telepresence and negotiations on their home turf.

Lesli wore skins against the lower pressure, with the mandatory breath mask of course, and an exosuit designed to restrain her musculature from causing any damage. She had to remember to use plural identifiers, not only for herself, but for the Ambassador.

Jelly Dancers tended to equate individuality with brain death.

And even then, communication was difficult. She had to use a light board to match the Jelly Dancers’ natural flashes.

We recognise the colony of Lesli, said the Ambassador, via the translation app. The swarm withdrew to what the Jelly Dancers considered a polite distance. Which meant that only five individuals at a time were investigating places that only cleansers would normally touch.

“We recognise the colony of Blup,” said Lesli in turn. “I understand there is a trade problem with the Consortium of Steam?”

They did promise chocolate before the mating season, complained Ambassador Blup. Mating season is almost upon us and they have sent soap.

Lesli scanned the regrettable example. Her own instruments could not tell her if it was very good soap or very bad chocolate[2]. “I shall investigate on your behalf. In the meantime, the Gyiik Union is offering replacement chocolate in order to make amends. I suspect a translation error somewhere along the line.”

Which would only be natural. The Consortium of Steam was well known to be… erratic. And not everyone had access to the really good translation apps.

[1] One standard gravity is equivalent to 10 m/s/s fall acceleration. By comparison, Earth is point nine seven eight standard gravity.
[2] I’ve encountered very bad chocolate that is too much like this.

[Muse food remaining: 53. Submit a prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories!]

If it’s stupid but it works, it’s not a stupid idea.

*post-plan*

I don’t care if it worked, that was still a stupid idea.

Ax'and'l glared at them. Taking up space. They had been taking up space in Hwell’s quarters, but everywhere they went… Hwell just had to trot a few out into the open and try to sell them off.

“When are we going to get rid of those horrendous–

*sigh* The latest Story Snippet just won’t leave my brain.

So I’ll inflict it back on the author. 

http://internutter.tumblr.com/post/75405951567/challenge-00396-a031-to-stop-human

Directly related to this, can we see either some from the human that snuck into the ship’s POV or Koq'riix’s waking up after they left the two items.

[AN: Heh. The OP need not be notified ;) ]

Koq'riix jolted into awareness as the airlock cycled shut. It had been the

2.

It was agreed by all that watching them come running out of the perfectly ordinary museums, occasionally while screeching or falling over (or more bizarrely a combination of the above and laughter) was most amusing. It seemed to happen more often around museums with audio assistance too…

[AN: Accessibility is a common thing in the Amalgam Universe. Grav-lifts in the middle of stair columns. Ramps wherever possible. Audio and visual assistance in a ‘take one if needed’ basket

1.

No-one was quite sure if the now-almost-constant presence of at least a couple of humans wandering around the Museum of Disturbing Things ooh-ing and aah-ing at the exhibits made things better or worse..

What made the Disturbing Things so disturbing was not only that they existed, but the history that went with them.

Unsurprisingly, the humans had an entire wing. Some were gruesome exhibits from old Terra, like the skull of a man who survived being pierced through it with an

(unfortunate real-life inspiration time!)

Considering how the aliens react to comparatively non-corrosive/hazardous materials, they must have either gone into DEFCON 1 or completely catatonic the first time a human vomited.

Other humans making sympathetic noises and cleaning up  (*gasp* without even a hazard suit, the horror) while the aliens panic are completely optional

(No wonder the humans are insane, they’re full of hydrochloric acid strong enough to melt their own internal organs)

“We have lost spin,” said

It took a surprisingly long time for the other cogniscients to realise how much /they/ scared the humans too.

Of course, some got the message more quickly than others

Lo-grav worlds are rarer than high-grav ones. For reasons that become quickly obvious the more one learns of physics and biology.

When low-gravity life evolves, it happens in artificial environments.

Which are also targets for scavengers.

The spider-people of H'nuf'ruf learned of humans through such expeditions. They never saw humans as dangerous, and

Everything was going swimmingly until someone pulled out a disco ball.

“The music’s nice and all, but there’s somethin’ missin’.”

“By now, I dare not ask,” deadpanned Rael. “Just accept that whatever it is is most definitely a bad idea and leave things alone for a change.”

“Aaaahh… What sort'a party would it be wi'out a disco ball?”

*

The answer to that question, especially with Meyahndans sharing

K'iiv and Del are adorable, how did they meet/begin their relationship?

K'iiv preened his plumage nervously. He hated meeting new people. All the good advice for conquering social anxiety never, ever worked. It was either completely wrong for the situation or just… completely wrong.

Nevertheless, he attempted to use them anyway.

Going into a situation without a plan was infinitely less preferable than going in with a bad one.

Today’s plan was, picture the stranger without their feathers