Loose Ends: Cal & Howie

Chapter 13: Summoned

Maxion moved down the hallway with Cam and Kipp after seeing the mouse run off like Cinderella the night she lost her shoe at a ball, running from the crowd. He wanted to know if he was alright, and it turned out Kipp was fiddling around in the maintenance tubes and decided to join them. The little one danced around the duo as they moved together. "I'm just worried about him, is all. He's very aggressive; I'm afraid he's going to hurt someone or himself." Cam was referring to Russell, "He doesn't want to go on missions with me anymore. But that's for the best. He spooks me." Cam shuttered, but he smiled back at Maxion. "Thanks for walking me back to medical... I know people don't really like me all that much because of what happened, so it's nice to have... individuals... who are unbiased."

Maxion was neutral; having worked in space among various crews, he learned to make friends and to adapt. His most impressive trait was the ability to give second chances. He wished he could say that every member of Gel-Squad had that unique ability. But Maxion could see the truth; his powers were accurate almost 75% of the time, and he could tell that Cam meant no harm. He wanted to help them and join the station's community. "Well? Time heals all wounds, and I wouldn't say you don't have fans... it's more like people are warming up to you. They know you were used. And I'm almost afraid to admit that people might understand the anger toward the Dynamic Patrol... but they could never do what Kieran did. That was just extreme." Maxion shuttered. He looked at Kipp as he did cartwheels down the corridor. It took him a while to adapt to station life, too; at first, he wasn't too eager to make friends with the other extrusions here; he was still quite insistent on sticking to the group that had come together two years ago. "They abandoned us, so they're not that popular with anyone today."

"Yeah. Do you ever wonder why they just abandoned us? After working so hard to induct us?"

"My best guess would be fear... maybe they thought that it was an outside source who committed the bombings and didn't want the same to happen to any of their facilities, or maybe they believed that Omeocoon had some outstanding debts to settle and the DP didn't want to inherit that baggage." Maxion shrugged.

Unlike the walk with Howie, Maxion was with the others and could, therefore, travel the more populated areas of the station; it was still early morning before the meeting, so there were few out and about. But it was nice to experience the quiet. They'd converted an area of the station into a promenade of sorts. When people could open shops and spend time together, they started as a high social race, and back home, there were places like this everywhere. They recreated the experience on a smaller scale. Everyone hung out here. It was better than the mess hall in the early days. "I see. I think we're better off alone anyway... if our first ally can't even back us in our first catastrophe, anyone else doesn't deserve to be allied with us."

"Hey... you don't mean that. We could use an ally." Before Cam could comment, Kipp gasped and took off down the hallway toward a stranger; the being in question reminded Maxion of Kori regarding the green shading. However, that quickly changed when he noticed orange and other clothing features. Kipp hugged the larger bunny's legs, which was cute because he couldn't reach any higher. Even the stranger seemed to be spooked by Kipp's appearance. Cam was confused and looked at Maxion, who also looked confused; the adults approached, and Maxion was prepared to apologize because it was definitely a mistake. But it wasn't; the stranger pet Kipp on the head gently, and the two talked for a moment, their tails moving with happiness. Maxion purred, his hands behind his back as he approached the bunny. "And who might this... attractive man be Kipp?" He asked coyly. He wasn't dating Russell, and he could fool around a little. And he had a soft spot for the bunny form. "This is Cal! The survivor we found!" Kipp introduced he bounced happily at meeting Cal again. "How did your meeting with Tommy go?"

"Fine," Cal responded; that was all he would say.

"That's good. Does that mean you're going to stay with us?"

"I mean... I did get quarters, so I guess I'll be here for a while. I want to see what I can do to help. I think I'm going to be building stuff for you guys." Cal announced he was excited about it. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Cal knew who these people were already; he could recognize them. Tommy was eager to pass along many memories during their merge, hoping it would hasten Cal's acclimation to station life. But that was no reason not to show interest in formal introductions.

"Yeah! This is Cameron, but he likes to be called Cam; he does all the medical stuff. And this is Maxion. He's a pirate."

Maxion interrupted as soon as Kipp said that nasty word. "I prefer the term scavenger." He chuckled awkwardly and shot a disapproving glare at Kipp, but the little one ignored him instead of focusing on Cal. "It's okay, and I know we all have to make money out here. I'm not a cop. I won't arrest you." Cal said to Maxion.

"What are you doing up so early?" Kipp inquired, with the time being currently 0600. "I have a meeting with the station's governing body."

Another gasp from Kipp, his eyes lighting up like a starry night sky. "We're the station's governing body! We're going there now. Wanna join us?" Cal nodded, and the trio became a quartet. "The station's governing body... gotta admit that's new." Maxion analyzed. "I've heard people call us different. Goo-Squad, some people have called me doc... but there is one that I do like the sound of."

"Well, don't keep it from us," Maxion replied as they nearly reached their destination. All eyes were on him as they waited for this so-called name.

"Gel-Squad," Cam said; he shrugged, awaiting the thoughts of the others. Maxion nodded in approval as if the decision to name the team was solely up to him. "That's fine, I suppose. We are basically like the cops around here, and we should have a superhero team name." Cal added his two cents, "Well, you are technically authorized to have one... Tommy was a member of the Dynamic Patrol; in fact, he still is. Legally, according to the Hero Subdivisional Accords regulation, he never resigned from his commission. If a planet is in a state of worldwide emergency, and a DP hero makes his presence known as the acting protector, they are allowed to select individual members of their protective force and cristen their team with a name. This would, in turn, make the heroes in question... members of the Dynamic Patrol. I can't remember which one specifically, but--"

Cam interrupted, tilting his head in confusion, "That's regulation 515-Alpha... but how do you know it?" Everyone paused in the corridor; no one could directly quote DP Hero Patrol's regulations because Tommy was the only one who knew them as a member himself; that was, of course, unless you merged with Tommy. Cal didn't know Cam was also subject to merge with the squirrel. Had he, he never would've revealed knowledge of DP procedure... he was curious if Tommy wanted people to know that their merge was more than just an investigation.

Cal could control his blushing via a specific shapeshifting technique, but the heart in his chest quickened in pace as he quickly realized he might've just accelerated the revelation of their relationship. "Oh yeah, Cal merged with Tommy as part of an investigation. How'd that go." Kipp didn't realize that he'd just saved Cal's dignity.

"Oh, right! It went... well. Nothing out of the ordinary." Cal laughed it off, but even he could tell by the sound of his voice that his laugh was forced. "A professional... totally unromantic... merge. I'm sure you have them all the time." Thankfully, that satisfied the group, and they continued forward, eventually reaching the briefing room.