Dynamic Patrol: Gel Squad! Episode II

Chapter 57: Command

Polly and Howie were left in command of the station. And because they were both relatively new to command, they'd been stumbling through the last 24 hours. Polly, a new station member and not even a part of this universe, made most of the security and logistical decisions. Howie insisted on the morale and supplies. He also took most of the glory and fame. Polly didn't think that he would miss his brother this much... but after days without Gauge, it felt like he was missing a part of himself— it was his letters brought him joy, but even those were starting to become sparse. Polly only took that as a sign that Gauge was getting closer to completing the mission. Polly's aptitude for strategy made the station run more efficiently than ever. But the population seemed... uneasy about them being in command.

"They'll be back soon," Polly told a girl who'd asked about Tommy, Russell, and the Chancellor. He sent her on her way just as Howie arrived on the promenade. "Yes, yes! It's me. No need to clap. It's my honor to watch over the station!" He boasted to a group of people wondering about the same thing Polly's little girl was worried about. Polly approached Howie, "You're a little self-absorbed, you know that, right?" Howie's flock of spectators floated away, and Howie smacked his lips in annoyance. "Don't you have something better to do? Like strategic operations?"

"That is what I'm doing. I can't exactly say the same for you. Didn't you get my message about the low reactor? That power core is already fluctuating as it is, if we run out of gas in the middle of trying to save everyone—" Howie shushed Polly, "I know what happens. I'm not an idiot. But I'm a computer engineer, not a... grease monkey; I don't know what you expect me to do about it." Howie replied smugly. Polly glared at him, "I wish you would've gone with Russell; you're out of control with him not around. And if you would've let me finish. I was going to say that we should send a message for trade."

"Isn't there still a blockade surrounding our planet? If I'm not mistaken, the message is. 'Warning, toxic planet, do not approach.' This might not be your universe or time or whatever, but I'm sure you know that it's programmed to force any ship trying to move through to a stop." Howie's comment, dripping with condescension, struck a nerve with Polly, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he took a deep breath, channeling his frustration into a calm response. "Yes, Howie, I know the blockade and the warning. I studied the database. But if you can turn off the message as a 'computer programmer,' we might survive until the shuttle returns. There have been people able to do it in the past, and we did it for the Eclectus. Briefly. You can just do it again and let one trade vessel in."

Howie's smug expression faltered, replaced by a begrudging acknowledgment. "But what about the Xalorians... wouldn't they be able to get past the field..?"

"What's a Xalorian?" Polly asked, raising an eyebrow. Different universe. Right. "Wait... you don't have Xalorians where you come from? They're like big ugly lizards that occupied our planet for, like, decades..?" Polly tilted his head in confusion, and Howie blinked in surprise. "Consider yourself lucky to have never met them."

"Okay. So no signal. Now what?" Polly inquired, shrugging as they walked down the hallway. "We just continue on our rounds. And hopefully not run into too much trouble. Tommy and Russell will be back soon. And that can be their problem. We've got other things to do." Howie said, stepping into the elevator. Polly followed, narrowly escaping the pinch of the doors. "We check on the special project." Howie pressed a button to take them to the lower levels. The lift moved down, rattling violently as if threatening to cease function at any moment.

The special project was just a fancy code name for Russell and Maxion's child. Polly knew all about that; he had a ballot about whether the child would identify as a boy or a girl. He took it a step further by asking people to submit names; it wasn't his place to do so, but he figured when Maxion returned, he'd want to look at the list and pick which one he liked the best. There were over 11,314 entries so far. More were coming in every day, which seemed to up morale just a little bit, as it brought the people some hope of thriving in the world that continued to get darker for the Omeocoon. "Do you still remember the access code?" Howie asked as they reached Russell's quarters. Polly entered it in the keypad. "Of course, I remember the code. It's all up here." Polly said, pointing to his head as the doors opened. They were immediately cast into pitch darkness, with the occasional flicker of a damaged light panel.

The room was destroyed, the couch was ripped to shreds, the entire room had a similar effect, and the equipment was damaged. Polly and Howie were starstruck, with no possible reasonable reaction. It was clear that someone had broken in... but the open cocoon in the corner of the room suggested otherwise. Howie settled in behind Polly, allowing him to enter the room first, coward. They entered the space, and the doors closed behind them. The flickering irritated Howie quite a bit, so he shuffled over to the control panel and pushed a few buttons. The lighting was partially restored in the form of red emergency illumination. It solved the problem, but now everything looked like a horror movie.

"Hello..?" Polly called out, but the only response he received was a fumbling of several heavy items. And then a running back and forth. Before something else tumbled over and shattered on the ground. "What the hell..?" Polly moved in that direction immediately. The level of fearlessness was quite noteworthy. The noise was coming from the bedroom, which was just as torn up as the rest of the room. But they'd found their culprit. A new extrusion, short, clueless, and mouthless. It was ripping into the pillows and throwing the fluff everywhere, especially floating in the air. It seemed to be having a good time as it raided and tossed the internals of the pillows without remorse.

The shorter being was still somewhat recognizable in the light. As expected with Omeocoon, this newborn was not an "infant"; instead, it was about the size of a child, aged ten or twelve years old. The new Omeocoon was a unique blend of its parents, seeming to take on the features of both its fathers. Its colors mimicked Maxion's teal and white but duplicated Russell's bunny-like features and green eyes. The pattern also combined the two; it seemed 'wilder' than just the average bunny, with rougher facial features and ears. Unlike Earthen children, Omeocoon did not have genders, which meant an extrusion started life as a blank slate until wise enough to choose the pronouns that align with it the best. "Aww, look!" Howie pointed out that the relaxation of his surliness was utterly unexpected. Howie made his way over to get to know the newest crew member. Polly observed and then concluded. "I'm calling Russell."