Illness Quarantine (Final Space, M)

[striderlicious]

AN: So I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while now, although I've been too afraid to post a story to the forum until now. I've absolutely fallen in love with the cartoon "Final Space," and I wanted to write a story about it. More specifically, a sickfic. If you haven't seen Final Space before, I definitely recommend it. It's a very hilarious and intense story, with well written characters and an absolutely brilliant plot. However, TLDR: It's about how a prisoner of a spaceship winds up making friends with an adorable planet destroyer, a bounty hunter looking for his son, and the girl who was the reason he wound up getting himself imprisoned in the first place (by pretending to be a pilot to impress her). Together they save the universe, hopefully. So without further ado, here it is. 

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Chapter 1

“Good morning, Gary. Day 1821.”

H.U.E. began the morning just as he did every morning, at precisely 0700. He awoke the most important, and only prisoner aboard the Galaxy One. Despite the fact that their original mission took an unexpected, and completely wild turn down the extraordinary, Gary was still a prisoner of the state. Which state, at this current time, H.U.E was not quite sure. However, he would still uphold his duty to protect and contain his prisoner as best as he could, up until Gary’s sentence ended.

However, unlike every morning, the response H.U.E. received was rather…unusual. The A.I. was used to unusual events, especially recently. However, this event seemed...different. Rather than the usual bitter (and often sarcastic) response that H.U.E. had been accustomed to from his prisoner upon waking up, Gary only replied with a weak groan, before curling up further upon the bed.

The floating lifeform, or “Mooncake,” as Gary called it, also seemed to sense something was off with their mutual companion. It gently nudged the human, a worried expression crossing its features. The nudging only elicited another groan, alongside a small sniffle.

Gary had never remained silent for this long of a time period, in all five years of his imprisonment. Despite the AI’s best efforts to remain impartial, HUE was concerned. He decided upon ignoring his initial programming (to shove Gary out of bed upon refusal to get up), in favor of a more cautious and gentle approach.

He turned on the lights within the room, hoping to gently encourage the human’s circadian rhythm to fully awaken him. His databanks stated that humans were often more alert in light rather than darkness, due to their internal clocks within their brains. HUE enjoyed this fact, due to the fact that he also had an internal clock (albeit a programmed one). It made him feel closer to the lifeforms he often resided with.

The lights seemed to do the trick, as Gary slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position, blearily looking around the room to find the source of what had disturbed him. HUE, upon noticing this, decided to begin his routine once more, as he was fairly certain that Gary hadn’t really heard him the first time. However, before he could begin once more in wishing the human a good morning, Gary pitched forward, eliciting a rather odd sound.

“Heh...hekchiew!”

The...expulsion, was followed by a deep, somewhat gurgling sniffle, as Gary rubbed at his nose with his sleeve. Upon searching through his databanks, HUE finally identified the noise as a sneeze. Upon further reading, he deciphered that humans sneezed for a variety of reasons, including allergies, illness, something irritating the sensitive passageways of the nostrils, and occasionally for no discernible reason at all.

Despite Gary’s behavior, HUE was still not completely certain on the source of the sneeze, and did not wish to jump to any conclusions until he had all of the facts. However, he had reason to believe that Gary might possibly be ill. He would not act on this theory, and instead decided to wait until he had further evidence. He began his greeting once more.

“Good morning Gary. Day 1821.”

Despite the new companions that were now currently aboard the Galaxy One alongside him, Gary did not feel that the current period was a good morning at all. In fact, it felt like a bad morning. A very bad, bordering on more than crappy morning. Ultra crappy, even. Every part of his body hurt, especially his head. His whole face felt like it was full of cotton, to the point that he was almost unable to breathe through his nose. And, not to mention, the room was absolutely freezing. A slight shiver escaped him before he could stop himself, along with another gurgling sniffle that did nothing to stop the almost flooding drip that seemed to leak from his nose.

If Gary were someone else, he may have realized that he was, indeed, sick. However, since he wasn’t anyone else, and instead was the most supreme, awesome, and amazing captain in the universe, he knew it was completely impossible. He, Gary, never got sick, despite the clear evidence to the contrary. It just wasn’t possible. His immune system was way too strong for some measly germs to get in undetected. They would destroy the invaders before they even got in, let alone take over. Take that, you stupid germs.

"Do you always have to wake be up so freakigg early, HUE?" Gary was surprised at just how congested he sounded, as well as just how much just talking burned his already inflamed throat. God he didn’t feel well. But he was definitely not sick. Not at all. It was absolutely impossible.

HUE felt somewhat relieved at the snarky response, as his concern had been steadily growing over the course of this morning. However, the way the human’s voice sounded did worry him slightly. He gave Gary the usual reply that he gave whenever Gary asked about the early hour at which he was awoken. “It is protocol for prisoners to be awoken at 0700 in order to perform all the necessary duties required of them.”

"Cool, cool. But here's the thigg. Amb I eved actually a prisoder adybore? I bead sindce the indfidity guard is corrupt add all...Plus I becambe the captaid when the crap hit the indterstellar fan. Rebembber?"

“You are still not the captain, Gary. If anybody is the captain, it would most likely be Quinn. You are still a prisoner, and you will complete your sentence with me until your time is up. Then, you may do as you please with your life.”

“Aw, it soudds like you’re afraid I’b godda leave you. Poor Hue. Dod’t worry. I would’t leave without sayig goodbye first.”

“You will not leave, because I will not allow that to happen until the remainder of your sentence is completed.”

“Jeeze, sombeonde’s a little cligy.” Gary punctuated this with another sniffle, as the mucus within his nose seemed to be attempting a daring escape. Unfortunately, this only tickled the sensitive lining within, setting off another, much wetter than before, sneeze. “Hekchiew! Hah...ah hah...hekchiew!” Make that two sneezes. He managed to catch it in his hands, however he grimaced at the sticky mess that it had left behind. He quickly wiped it on his sheets in the hopes that H.U.E. wouldn’t notice.

Unfortunately for Gary, the A.I. did indeed notice, and finally decided to comment on the situation at hand with the self-proclaimed “captain”. “Are you feeling well, Gary? Your voice indicates that you may possibly be ill.”

“I’b absolutely fide.”

In order to prove that he was “fide” (both to himself as well as HUE), Gary pulled himself out of the bed, shivering once more as his body longed for the warmth and comfort of the bed behind him. As he stood up, a wave of dizziness overcame him, and he swayed slightly before Mooncake flew up beside him, steadying him some. Despite the fact that he was totally completely fine, he appreciated the assist, and gave a small smile to the lifeform beside him. He had completely forgotten that Mooncake was in the room until that moment, and shook his head some to clear the fogginess from it.

“Thangs lil buddy. I appreciate it.”

Gary managed to straighten himself, standing up a bit taller than before as the dizziness finally faded. Even as he did this, he noticed that his floating friend still seemed to look deeply concerned for his wellbeing. He rubbed the other’s head gently, giving another smile to the being.

“I’b alright, Moodcake. Dod’t worry aba...abou…ah...ha...ah-hakchiew! HahCHIEW! Ugh. *snf* aboudt mbe.” Gary once more wiped his nose on his sleeve, ignoring the disgusting clear trail it left behind. He luckily had another outfit he could wear, although tissues would definitely be ideal for this situation, so as to not ruin that one as well. Not because he was sick, of course. Because he definitely wasn’t.

He stumbled towards the bathroom, ignoring his disheveled appearance in the mirror in front of him. After splashing some water on his face, he dug around in his closet for a spare change of clothes, before heading towards the shower room. He decided to forgo his morning exercise, instead heading straight for the shower in the hopes of cleaning himself up and looking more presentable for the day.

He stripped himself of his clothing, silently cursing how freezing the ship was today as he stumbled into the the steady stream of water. Despite the water being as hot as possible, Gary still felt a chill deep within his bones, and the steam seemed to make his head even foggier than before. He ignored it, however, in favor of the strong tickle burrowing in his nose as the congestion loosened. His face scrunched up, breath hitching and nose sniffling before bending forward into his cupped hands, letting lose a steady stream of sneezes.

“Hekchiew! Hah..hahahh...hahahhahah...HakCHIEW! Heh..heckchiew! Heckchiewchiewchiew! *Snf* HAKCHIEW!”

After the fit ended, Gary sniffled a bit more before continuing to wash himself off, ignoring the events that had just occurred. Luckily, nobody besides him (and HUE and Mooncake, although they couldn’t hear over the shower), was awake at the time in order to hear the strong, messy fit. Upon finishing his shower, Gary fumbled around for his towel, drying off and dressing himself once more.
 

 

[Reader]

Wow....I cannot believe you were nervous about this. This is spectacular! And so innovative! 

You articulated the thoughts and motions of an AI encountering a cold so well!!! Data banks with light and darkness...hue changing his normal morning settings, how he decides to implement an action and just his freakin thoughts in general! It’s just sooo accurate ya know? 

I haven’t seen the show but I understand each character you mentioned and their personality.

I love Mooncake so much! It’s so soft and caring. And you only used a few sentences to describe and talk about that character but its all I needed to understand Mooncake inside and out. Please call me Mooncake from now on. 

Forgetting the plot, characters, etc and going to the base of your work that’s just your style of writing.....I’m so envious!! It’s so natural and smooth! It flows so well together 😭😭I’m seeing this place and imagining the characters and their actions or thoughts through the whole scene. 

I love the interaction between Gary and Hue. Gary’s teasing the robot and he’s like “no this is my order” and Gary’s like “you love me!” That was soooo precious! 

I’m so happy I found this! I saw your name on the home page and I was like WUT! Clicked immediately.  You should have tagged me!!! I’m so hurt. I’ll still follow. 

[Seeker]

I love it! I started watching Final Space one evening when they happened to be reairing the first episode. I was hooked! I saw you post this and as soon as I got home I caught up to the episodes on the DVR so I could read without spoilers (whew!).

This is perfect. You did a GREAT job with the characters and the story is GOOD. Oh little Mooncake!! I love the name and if I get a cat I want to call him Captain Mooncake. Yep. Tangent! 

Can't wait for more!!

[striderlicious]

@Reader aaaaa im going to cry your reply is so sweet and kind and i really really do appreciate it! it makes me incredibly happy that you enjoy it, especially because i admire your work a lot. mooncake is honestly a great name i love it! its such a good alien i love him sm. honestly though im so flattered you think of my writing that way!!!  im incredibly glad i can do so well. and yeah its always really great and despite being an AI H.U.E. really does care for gary its great. im very happy you did too!! i would have but i wasnt sure if you had ever seen the show or wanted to read something about it. also im a shy awkward dweeb tbh. 

@ReidSeeker im so glad youve seen it honestly its such an incredible show and im surprised theres such a small fanbase around it! also thats super duper awesome that you did that im really flattered! (also the ending to episode six doesnt exist im pretending it never happened) im so very glad you think so! im always worried about characterizations whenever i write something. thank you so so much!!! also thats an amazing name for a cat i love that! perfect name. and i really appreciate tangents so thank you so much!! 

AN: (Yes I'm old-school; I still tag author notes.) I had a lot more written up so a next day post is possible! i just realized it was way too long even unfinished, and so I decided to break it up into chapters. And I didn't want to post more before seeing what others thought of it. Obviously I don't want to clog up the tags if nobody enjoys it. But here we go. Without further ado, chapter 2. 

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Chapter 2

 

He felt much better after the shower, despite the shivers that occasionally coursed through him. See? He wasn’t sick after all. He just needed a nice warm shower to feel ready for the day once more. He continued to convince himself that he was fine as he headed towards cafeteria to eat some breakfast.

As he sat down at a table, he swiped at his nose again, frowning slightly at the fact that he had no tissues whatsoever. Mooncake had followed him out, a concerned expression still plastered on his face despite Gary’s reassurances that he was indeed fine.

“So, what’s on the mbenu today, HUE?” Gary had hoped that the shower had cleared out all of the congestion, but it seemed to be returning at an alarming rate.

“Today we’re serving corn flakes, and perhaps, if you do not antagonize anyone, a cookie.”

After H.U.E. said this, KVN flew in, holding a bowl of corn flakes in milk, not paying any attention to the milk splashing out of the bowl as he flew over and set it down in front of Gary.

“Heeeyy Gary! How’s it goin, buddy? Havin a good morning? I sure am! I got five cookies already! I hope you enjoy your cornflakes. I made them specially for you! Because you are worth it.”

Upon the bot’s entering, the pounding in Gary’s head seemed to multiply tenfold. He groaned slightly, glaring down at the cornflakes in front of him. Why, oh why did KVN have to be here, talking to him, or even just existing? “I freakig hate you, Kevin…” Gary muttered, poking at his cornflakes some. Suddenly, he wasn’t very hungry, but he took a spoonful of the cereal anyway, shoving it into his mouth and eating it.

That was a mistake. The cereal felt like he had swallowed a spoonful of razors as it went down, and he almost cried at the pain it left behind. It also managed to elicit a harsh coughing fit that took several minutes to calm down, leaving Gary completely exhausted. He shoved the bowl further from him, burying his head into his arms on the table. Maybe he could take a quick nap here, and feel better. Yeah, that would help.

He tried to tune out the obnoxious singing that KVN was doing, something about cookies or whatever. Gary really didn’t care, and hoped that KVN would spontaneously combust. Perhaps if he thought about it hard enough, it would actually happen. Maybe he was secretly pyrokinetic. Unfortunately it didn’t work, and the singing just combined with the pounding in his head as he groaned pitifully.  

Mooncake gently nudged his friend, making his usual noises in a concerned tone of voice. “Chookity? Chookity dookity?” He continued this for several moments, until Gary finally lifted his head to look at the other.

“What’s wrondg, lil buddy?”

Before Mooncake could simulate some sort of reply to Gary’s question, Avacato stumbled in groggily, still wiping the sleepiness from his eyes. He glanced over at Gary, a brow raised at the pitiful state his friend seemed to be in. “You alright there, dude? You look like death warmed over. And then stepped on. And set on fire.”

“I’b fide! Why does everyonde keep askig mbe that?” Gary had perked up some upon the ventrexian’s entrance, but the exhaustion was evident in his face, as well as the dark circles under his eyes. Not to mention the irritated, runny nose that the human had to keep sniffling at every few moments.

Despite Avacato’s doubts, he nodded, as he didn’t really know much about human biology. For all he knew, Gary could be having some sort of weird hormone thing or something. “Alright dude. If you say so. You gonna eat that?” He gestured towards the unfinished bowl of cornflakes in front of Gary, as he didn’t really feel like digging around for his own.

Gary glanced at the bowl idly, before shaking his head, which aggravated his headache even more. “Nah dude. You cad have it.” He shoved it towards Avacato, before standing up. He began stumbling towards his room, before HUE stopped him.

HUE had been observing Gary’s behavior over the course of the morning, and was almost certain the human was sick. However, he wished to avoid activating quarantine protocol if he could help it, so he decided to gather legitimate evidence to prove that the human was, indeed, ill. If Gary had been alone on the ship, quarantine protocol wouldn’t even be necessary. As it was though, with Avacato, Mooncake, and Quinn aboard the Galaxy One, he had to be sure that he could maintain everyone’s health and safety.

“Oh, Gary.”

“...Yes HUE?” Gary replied with no small hint of annoyance in his voice, although it was undermined by the exhaustion it was clearly laced with.

“The outside of the ship needs repairs, as it was badly damaged during the quarrel with the Infinity Guard. As the resident prisoner aboard this ship, it is your duty to fix said damage.”

Any other day, Gary would have protested this act, despite having done it for five years of his life. Especially because he hadn’t even gotten to say hello to Quinn yet. He always said hello to her, every single day. Even during the past five years of his imprisonment, when he was completely isolated, he still sent her daily video logs just talking to her. He was wholeheartedly, absolutely in love with her. However, as he was totally not sick at all, and was determined to prove it to everyone, he just nodded. “Alright, I’ll get started ond that right a...ah….ahchIEW! Right away.” He sniffled once more, as he heard Avacato call a...bless you? Gary wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, from the room behind him.

The fact that Gary had seemingly forgotten H.U.E.’s promise of a possible cookie only strengthened the AI’s theory. But he had to be certain. There was no better way to prove a hypothesis than through a test, after all. Then he could gather the data, analyze it, and give an accurate conclusion. None of this assumption business. As humans say, to assume is to make an a-- out of u and me.

However, in all honesty, HUE was also doing this in order to procrastinate the almost inevitable conclusion to this situation. He knew that, if Gary was ill, he would have to enact the Quarantine Protocol. Despite being a computer, HUE still cared for Gary, and knew that the five years of isolation, with only robots to keep him company, hadn’t been kind to the man. So, if he could at all possible delay putting him into that environment again, he would do his best. Not that the computer would admit that to himself. Even AIs can be in denial, after all.

[Seeker]

I haven't seen the 6th episode...did you watch it on the app? I think it is available on the app but not on tv yet...unless I missed one 😬

Anyway! Love the update! I'm glad it's multi chapter and cannot wait for the next part!

 I went to sleep last night thinking of your first part, btw 

[Jelloicious]

I don't know this show at all, but I am enchanted by the characters you have portrayed here!  H.U.E. with his (it's?) focus on carrying out the assigned mission, while simultaneously aware of and concerned for the needs of his prisoner.  I love that you give him such a kind perspective!  And  Mooncake!  I don't know what Mooncake is but Mooncake is awesome!!  

KVN sloshing milk around...happily talking about five cookies! (hahahaha!)  At least five years of imprisonment can't be boring here.

Whatever this is, you've done a lovely job of painting the cast of characters and setting the scene!  Poor Gary!  Poor, miserable, in-denial, only prisoner Gary!   I will definitely be following to see what you do with this!   

[Reader]

I really should stop my envy. Not a good trait but it’s just things I notice in your work that i want to work on. you keep the symptoms present (at the forefront) throughout the scene. I never forgot he had a headache or that he continued to feel miserable even while all the other characters are introduced. Speaking of them, I really like these characters and I’m so impressed how you showed their personality through their speech. And the slow spread of contagion begins 

I was reading the part with Gary and Mooncake and the left side of my body lost all muscular function. Stop it. You stop it right now. Lol, seriously though I just loved how Gary was grumpy and wishing everyone would go away or die and then with Mooncake he’s so gentle. And I didn’t know about mooncake’s speech. Oh man. Too cute! 

“You alright there, dude? You look like death warmed over. And then stepped on. And set on fire.” I laughed out loud at this. Perfect comedic timing!

The way hue responded with the cookie was hilarious and his deductions in figuring out Derek has a cold but trying to slow down the protocol because of how much isolation Gary already went through hurt my heart! So beautiful!

 This leaves me wanting more....so so much more! 

 

[striderlicious]

Reply time!!

 Here's a grainy screenshot of Mooncake for those wondering about him. I love him so much. He's about the size of a person's head. 

I need to work on finishing up the third part and then I can post that!! I'm excited for all the people reading this honestly it makes me so happy!

@ReidSeeker Oh gosh I didn't know there was an app! That would honestly be better because I sadly don't have cable but I still wanna support the show. I found it on the internet I believe. Although it is probably on the app at this point in time. I've learned it tends to air on Mondays, perhaps the app is further ahead than television though. I'm sad the 7th one doesn't come out til sometime in April.  Thank you so very much for your continued comments because honestly they mean a lot to me and I really do appreciate them! I need to work on finishing up the next part as I only have half written currently. I'm honestly so glad this fic is memorable enough to thing about!!

@Jelloicious I honestly don't know HUE's pronouns either so I feel ya there. I also don't know Mooncake's. I think they're both he? Anyways though, the characters are honestly all so brilliantly designed and thought out and it makes me so happy. I was inspired by HUE's speech to Quinn about Gary, to make him much more emotional than many AIs tend to be. I believe HUE was inspired by Hal in A Space Odyssey, but it is very evident that he has a much larger capacity for emotion and kindness. And honestly Mooncake is amazing and I love him so much. He's a floating green round alien and I love him. Yeah though KVN is honestly hilarious. It definitely wouldn't be boring. KVN was supposed to be Gary's "companion" so that he wouldn't lose it from the isolation but it turned out he really really did not like KVN. Honestly that means so much to me!! I try my best to depict them well and I'm very glad I did them justice. And yes. Poor unfortunate Gary. I feel so bad for the guy but also I love making him suffer. 

@Reader Honestly I absolutely love your work!! I admire it very much. I have never been good at first person perspectives but you handle it so well! So I see things in your work too that I want to work on. But honestly thank you so so much! I really appreciate that you take the time to contemplate all the different aspects of my writing and provide such kind feedback!!  Gosh that's such a sweet thing to say!! I'm flattered you feel that way. Yeah Gary really does love his pal Mooncake. He doesn't mind being chased by an Overlord just to protect him. And he usually likes Avacato a lot too but today has just not been his day. He's always had this unexplained hatred of KVN though, so I absolutely loved working that into the scene, as being miserable usually doesn't help dislike of someone. I know Avacato tends to be more serious, but I've also noticed he has this dry wit about him that I wanted to incorporate into the story. I'm very glad that it came off well! Just imagine him saying that really chill and stuff and you have Avacato. And yeah, HUE really does care about poor Gary, and wants things to go well for him despite the fact that he's still technically a prisoner. Even AI's get attached to people. I'm  glad that even with not having watched the show, you can still enjoy it and have it elicit emotions. Thank you so much for your lovely replies as always. 

[striderlicious]

Chapter 3

Mooncake, meanwhile, was still floating worriedly after Gary, unsure how to help the human but determined to do so anyways. He followed Gary out on his spacewalk, as the human sluggishly began to repair the damage to the hull of the ship. He worked much slower than usual, pausing to sniffle or cough a few times, once lapsing into a coughing fit that lasted much longer than necessary, terrifying the small being hovering beside him.

A strong tickle in Gary’s nose started up again, just as he was working on the wiring within the ships outer hull. Of course, it would arrive at the worst possible time. Because that was just the way his life decided it liked to play it. If things were going his way, life would just double down. If he dropped the wires, he would lose them, not to mention his hand wouldn’t be able to cover it anyways with his head inside the helmet of the spacesuit. He sniffled a few times, hoping to scare away the itch, but it just seemed to make it stronger. He attempted to ignore it, before he couldn’t hold it back any longer, and a heavy, messy string of sneezes escaped.

“Heh...hahHACHIEW...hah hahahahhh...HAHCHIEW!ACHIEW! *SNFF* Hah….hah...hahahahahhh ah…hahchiewchiew! Exchghiew! Hahchiew Achiew! Heh...heh… hekchiew! Egchieww! Hekchiew hekchiew heh...heh...heh-hehKCHIEW!”

Gary finished the fit with a loud, long, gurgling sniffle that barely managed to remove some of the mess from his face. He groaned in misery as he noted the entire viewport of his helmet was covered in mucus, and he was pretty sure his face was in an even sorrier state. He sighed, before attempting to resume his work on the wiring, as Mooncake leaned gently against him and rubbed his side in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

Meanwhile, HUE’s reason for sending Gary out here was proving to be working spectacularly. The spacesuits for the Galaxy One were designed to help maintain the safety of the wearers when outside in open space. Therefore, it had several forms of sensors and health monitors transmitted directly to HUE in case he needed to assist in any way. These sensors also included the most important device for his plan, a thermometer.

Knowing the human’s normal behavioral patterns, he had arrived at the conclusion that Gary would most definitely not take his temperature of his own accord, nor would he willingly allow anyone else to do so. So HUE had to resort to other measures. Obviously, space is absolutely freezing, and a drop in the internal temperature in the suit could mean a faulty heating system, or a tear in the lining. That was the reason for the thermometer, but it would serve a different purpose today.

HUE scanned the reading, once, twice, three times over, getting the same result every time. 102.9 degrees Fahrenheit, or 39.4 degrees Celsius. It was certain. Gary was sick. If HUE’s databanks were correct (and they always were), Gary most likely had the flu, especially with a fever that high. Although Gary hadn’t actually said anything, HUE assumed that the other was probably feeling fairly miserable at this point, and one look at him and his sorry state definitely confirmed it. It wasn’t at all ideal, although it was understandable, given the circumstances. Being isolated from any form of organic contact, and then being introduced to a lot all at once tended to screw with humans’ immune systems in weird ways.

The AI had hoped to not let this happen, but it was inevitable at this point. He would have to engage quarantine protocol, and cut Gary off from the others until he was well again. With danger constantly lurking above their heads, it was absolutely necessary that as many as possible remain in good health. Thus, the protocol was made even more necessary just by the situation that the group had found themselves in. He decided to let Gary finish the wiring panel he was working on before providing the bad news.

There was also good news, in this situation, however. The AI felt that, given his initial scans of the specimen, “Mooncake” was highly unlikely to contract anything from the human, given the drastically differentiating genetic makeups between the two. Avacato was another story, as the study of flu viruses on ventrexians had not been yet studied. However, given that cross species viruses so far were rare, it was also unlikely that the other would contract it as well. However, he was not going to leave that up to chance. Rules were rules for a reason, after all. Not to mention, Quinn was still aboard, and as the only other human, as well as the commanding force aboard the Galaxy One, he had to make sure she was safe.

Speaking of Quinn, she had finally woken up from her own sleep, stretching and yawning before standing up from her bed. For a moment, she appeared to be confused as to where she was, before remembering the events of the past few days. Right. Everything she had believed in was a lie, and the job she had dedicated her entire life to had fallen out right from under her.

The Infinity Guard had turned out to be corrupt, and despite her initial denial, she knew there was no going back to them. She couldn’t. Not after learning what they were doing to the Earth, to the entire universe. Not to mention, she honestly couldn’t go back if she wanted to, as she was technically considered a fugitive now. She was a criminal. Just like Gary.

Although the concept of being like Gary was beginning to become a bit less repulsive, she still was attempting to distance herself from the man, and being stuck aboard this ship didn’t help matters. It also didn’t help that she was actually beginning to like him. She was starting to see more good in him than she had initially thought. However, after having her entire life pulled out from under her, she wasn’t quite ready to leave behind her cold attitude towards him.

That is, until H.U.E. decided to contact her.

“Good morning, Quinn.”

“Um...Hey there, H.U.E. What’s uh...what’s up?” She was fairly thrown off by the greeting, not used to having the AI greet her directly (or any AI for that matter).

“Well, the ceiling would be one thing. Although, since I am technically the entire ship, I guess space would be more accurate. And that is up, down, and around me.”

“That’s not um...actually what I meant.”

“I know. I was just ‘screwing with you’, as you humans say.”

“Oh...hahah good one. But really, what’s going on? You don’t usually say good morning to me.”

“There appears to be a situation.”

Upon hearing that, Quinn immediately began to think the worst. The Infinity Guard had found them, and were boarding as they speak. The Lord Commander had taken Mooncake and was now planning to destroy the entire universe. They were about to be ripped apart by a black hole. Several more worst case scenarios flashed through her mind before she realized HUE had began to speak again.

“It appears that I may have to initiate quarantine protocol.”

“Wait, what? Why? Did we pick up some prisoner or something? Did Avacato’s son show up dying of the plague?”

“No, it is a minor influenza virus, however it is procedure to initiate quarantine if there is anything more serious than a rhinovirus when there is more than one persons aboard the ship.”

“Oh, alright. It isn’t Avacato or Mooncake, right?”

“No, it is not. Gary is sick, and I advise that you keep your distance from him if at all possible, at least until I can enact the procedure.”

Despite her initial relief upon not having to deal with a possible alien flu, she couldn’t help the twist of worry deep in her gut. She quickly shoved it aside however, annoyed that her own emotions would betray her like this. Why, oh why did Gary have to be so goddamn sweet all the time? Why couldn’t he just be a total jerk like she initially thought he was? Why did this have to be so hard? She just wanted one thing in her life to stay the same. One single thing. And yet, the worry just continued to grow as she got ready for the day.

Calling this flu minor may have been an understatement, but H.U.E. felt it best not to alarm Quinn further. She had been through a great ordeal as well, and it seemed that she had been tense ever since returning from the encounter with the Infinity Guard. However, upon observing Gary, he realized he should probably convince the other to stop working, before his body decided upon that for him.

He was looking increasingly worse for wear, sniffling every few seconds at his overflowing, and increasingly reddening nose. Speaking of, it seemed that Gary’s sneezes had gotten no less messy while HUE had been distracted, as the inside of the helmet seemed to be coated in a translucent...substance. He probably should search through the inventory list to see if the ship had any tissues aboard. The shivers seemed to be increasing in frequency as well, despite the fact that the internal temperature of the suit was rising, not lowering. As another series of harsh coughs tore through the other, the AI decided he had seen (and heard) enough. He also didn’t like the sound Gary’s lungs seemed to be making as he breathed. HUE was hoping not to have Gary add pneumonia on top of his flu.

 

“Gary, you need to stop working now.”

"But I'b albost dode! Plus, we deed a workigg ship if we're godda sto…...stoah...ahhh...aHCHIEW! *SNFFF* If we’re godda stop the Lord Cobbadder.”

 

Gary was surprised at just how dizzy he had gotten from speaking that one sentence, but ignored it in favor of finishing (or trying to finish) his work. Unfortunately, it was getting increasingly difficult as his vision kept getting fuzzy, and the pounding in his head was making it hard to concentrate on even where his hands were, let alone what he was doing. Plus, why was it so hecking freezing? Was something wrong with the temperature control of his suit? He probably wouldn’t hurt so much either if it wasn’t so cold. Maybe he should ask H.U.E. about it. Speaking of HUE, he was so out of it he didn’t realize that the AI had been talking to him.

“Ub...sorry I kidda bissed all of that. Is there adyway you could say that all agaid? Just so we’re od the sabe page. Although sidce I’b the captaid, and kdow everythig, I doubt it’s actually decessary.”

“Gary, you are still not the captain,” H.U.E. began, although he wasn’t sure that Gary didn’t actually completely believe it at this point. Normally, it was obvious Gary only half believed it to be true, but with such a high fever, it was hard to tell. “And I am telling you to stop because you are sick, and rest is critical in your recovery. Working on repairs will not help you receive that rest.” The AI decided not to mention that Gary was nowhere near finished with the repairs, as he had stated. He also decided that he could wait to inform Gary of the Quarantine Protocol until he was in his room, and HUE was certain he would not keel over in exhaustion.

“Sick? As if! I'b id perfect health. The captaid dever gets sick. Especially dot the bost awesobe of captaids, Captaid Gary.” After he stated this, however, he broke out into yet another series of harsh, deepening coughs that left him gasping for breath afterwards, and had Mooncake zipping around him in worry. The small alien seemed unsure of what to do or how to help, but he knew that whatever was happening with his friend was not good.

“Gary, you need to listen to me. You are running a fever of over 102, and it is steadily rising. I fear that you may lose consciousness s-”

HUE paused in his monologue, the irony of the situation not lost on him as he realized that Gary had become unresponsive. It appeared that Mooncake had realized the same thing, and was incredibly quick to act as he grabbed onto Gary’s arm and began pulling him towards the hangar bay doors. Before HUE could even open them, Mooncake had crashed right into the cold, hard metal. As the AI opened the doors, the small alien yanked Gary inside, before laying him down and zipping off to go get help.

[Seeker]

Omg I love it! I love your spelling for sneezes and stuffy talk. I love the sneezing while trying to talk. I'm all for fever and passing out. The story is really good and completely in character. I'm so glad there is more!

[Seeker]

Just watched episode 6. 

[Reader]

I didn’t get a notification!!!! So I went to the home page and I was like oh strider commented on my story. So I went to look but got distracted by the Fanfiction because I saw someone commented and figured it was for your story. That’s how I found out you had a new update!  If I don’t respond, it means I’m dead or something’s up with my settings. Sixteen hours is way too long I’m so sorry.  Ok, I’ve only read halfway but I HAD to stop and start commenting because I was that excited! It’s not enough that you continue to spout all this technical jargon that makes hue such an interesting character (and my favorite character based off writing ability; mooncake of course is my favorite based off the caretaking) and show his thought processes but you’re also subtly adding in just a little taste of what could come, weaving small elements in the broader story, and I’m HOOKED.  And I don’t even care if this was planned all along, but in my head you added the part where hue decides Mooncake is different enough to stay with him for me. I love hue’s responsibility, deviousness, and I’m gonna enjoy it when his plans all go to crap. 

I stopped again. Hue’s answer about what is up....that paragraph and explanation was above and beyond anything I’ve seen Ai/robot related/human with no emotions type of thing where you take a concept that everyone knows and try to strip the emotion of it and fill it with logic. It was just sooooooo astronomically 😏 perfect!  My mind is blank. And I don’t know why, but I was strangely attracted to the line ‘but since I’m the whole ship’. Idk, I don’t want these feelings for a robot. Help!! And then Quinn just wanting one thing to stay the same even though she likes him. You’re crushing me. Ok hue AGAIN. Let me just say, HUE IS AMAZING AND you are amazing for writing him. I could quote this whole update. The suit temp rising but his shivers get worse. DUDE! I think it’s the fact that this is a new setting so there’s all these new fresh ideas that I just have never seen and I LOVE IT 😍 

GAR..clears throat..Gary’s confusion about why it’s so cold and thinking it’s because of his suit and then also the part where he’s acting pompous but talking congestedly......YAAAAAAAAS 🤩🤩😵That reduced me to slang and emojis. 

I forgot to add the part with sneezing into the helmet and the mucus being seen. It’s like sneezing on a cd but you changed it to story form! 

So this is clearly my favorite update and you already know how great this is because you wrote it but I had to say it. Also don’t gape at the length. I can’t help it. I love this so much! The pressure is on big time because this was a work of art. Ok I’m off to read your message now. 

P.S. I’m so selfishly happy you’re writing a story at the same time I am because it only makes me want to write better 😘

[AngelEyes]

I have not seen this show, but have meaning to, just because David Tennant... Anyway, I'm totally hooked now. Love this story!

[striderlicious]

Sorry for the delay in all this.Things haven't been the best for me these days. Also I've been working on a webcomic too. I learned it takes me like a week to do one page. So far I have...one page. Anyways though, I have returned. 

On 4/8/2018 at 6:29 AM, ReidSeeker said:

Omg I love it! I love your spelling for sneezes and stuffy talk. I love the sneezing while trying to talk. I'm all for fever and passing out. The story is really good and completely in character. I'm so glad there is more!

 

On 4/8/2018 at 8:25 PM, ReidSeeker said:

Just watched episode 6. 

Oh gosh thank you so much!!! I really am glad that you like it so much! I know this story is more story driven than most here, but I'm hoping it works out alright. Especially because these next two parts aren't going to have as much. Honestly I feel you on the fever thing, though. I'm also really glad it's so in character! I'm always worried about that. Also yeah. I'm ignoring the existence of that episode. 

@Reader I LOVE YOUR REPLY SO MUCH I'm so so happy you like it all so much I really do appreciate it. I love this show so much and any appreciation for the characters or anything is really great. I appreciate HUE so much. He's not too cold and calculating but still remains an AI despite his obvious care for the lifeforms he's with. And honestly I definitely relate though. HUE is such a great character in my opinion, and it's wild that he still cares so much while still being incredibly logical about it all. And honestly I want to be able to make Gary suffer without depriving him of companionship in some form. Although maybe I'll do that a bit too.  I don't know I love torturing characters but I also love fluff so I'll have to see where it goes. 

Also Gary is honestly so hilarious and yet so relateable and I love him a lot. He tries his best. And honestly mess is great in my opinion, although I definitely know its not for everyone. And its ironic cuz I'm a huge germaphobe in real life. For some reason fictional is just great though. Honestly I did kind of get the idea from your story, because I appreciate when someone else doesn't have to catch it so that the main person can get worse. Mwahahahah >:3c Also biology is always fascinating to me and the concept that different species have completely different biology is always a cool concept for me too. 

HUE is pretty devious, but it's a caring kind of devious. He does it because he cares. I honestly just appreciate him a lot though, and I feel he deserves more representation because he's such a great character. Not to mention he's just distant enough from the situation to be able to offer an outside perspective, while also caring enough to be involved. I always love the outside observer sort of thing. So I sort of used him as an impromptu narrator in order to help tell the story. He's right in the perfect range where it works. Although he's having to get more involved lately oops.  Thank you so much for your replies I appreciate them so much. Sorry I took so long by the way, but it's finally here! 

 

On 4/9/2018 at 7:13 PM, AngelEyes said:

I have not seen this show, but have meaning to, just because David Tennant... Anyway, I'm totally hooked now. Love this story!

Honestly you really should! It's super good. And David Tennant's voice acting skills are honestly incredible. I had no idea it was him until I was looking up the show later on. He was my favorite Doctor tbh. Also I'm very very glad you like it!! Thank you so much!
 

[striderlicious]

AN: This part is a bit shorter than the others, but I will probably have another not long after. Because I wrote more, but its too long for one chapter, so I had to break it up. Anyways, without further ado, here it is! This part is going to focus a lot more on the secondary characters, and probably will be much more story driven. Sorry it took so long to get out!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 4

As Mooncake flew along, trying and failing to keep calm, he wound up bumping right into Avacato. Despite the other calling him a “planet killer” at one point (not to say that wasn’t true, but still), Mooncake knew the ventrexian did care about Gary, and was also strong so would probably be better at lifting Gary. Not that Mooncake couldn’t, but he didn’t really have actual arms, and pulling Gary along with his nubby appendages probably wouldn’t do much to help the situation.

“Woah there, where’s the fire?”

Mooncake tried to explain the situation, but due not really having any form of understandable language, it didn’t go over very well. Rather than understanding, Avacato just stared at him in confusion as the alien grew more panicked. It was obvious he wasn’t going to get it unless he was shown, so Mooncake began to pull the other along towards where he had left Gary. Thankfully, Avacato at least seemed to understand that whatever the situation was, it was urgent, and willingly followed.

While Mooncake went to get help, H.U.E. decided to focus his attention on Gary’s vitals. Thankfully, the human still appeared to be breathing, although it seemed his temperature wasn’t lowering any. Despite what appeared to be a forced shutdown, Gary’s fever was slowly increasing. Sure it was slight, but it was still there, and that concerned the AI. The raspy quality of his breathing was also disconcerting, but it seemed to be the less urgent of the two issues. He could contact the robots around the ship, but they could be somewhat...inept at times. Not to mention, it appeared Mooncake was able to find someone much closer than any of the bots were.

As Mooncake stopped in the hangar bay, Avacato finally realized what had been so urgent. It appeared that someone was crumpled on the ground, and given what he knew so far, he was fairly certain he knew who it was. Of course that idiot would get himself into some kind of trouble. He always did.

“I’m guessing that’s Gary.”

“Chookity.” Mooncake nodded solemnly, before pushing Avacato over to the spacesuited form on the ground.

“Alright, alright I’m going.”

He knelt next to the human, shaking him some. “Hey Gary, buddy, wake up.”

“Gary is unconscious, Avacato.” H.U.E. decided to interject.

“Yeah, I got that now. What the hell happened?”

“It appears Gary has managed to contract an influenza virus. And unfortunately, he managed to overwork himself to the point of passing out. I attempted to reason with him, but unfortunately he wound up passing out before I was successful.”

“Probably didn’t help that you sent him out there in the first place.” Avacato wasn’t sure exactly what influenza was, but right now he wasn’t really concerned about that. He pulled off the helmet of the space suit, putting a hand on Gary’s cheek and studying him. The human seemed to be paler than usual. And a lot warmer, too. He was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing. Although to be fair, he didn’t know a lot about humans.

“No, it did not. However, I needed a way to confirm my suspicions, as well as check for a fever. From what I have observed from Gary, he can tend to be very stubborn. Therefore, it was highly unlikely he would allow me to check him over. The space suit has monitoring systems in order to maintain the safety of the wearer.”

“Alright, I guess that makes sense. So uh...what should I do? He seems pretty warm. And uh….sticky.” He made a face that the sticky substance that had been on Gary’s face when he touched it. And that continued to leak from his nose, it seemed.

“That would be mucus. Gary is not the most hygenic of individuals.”

“Gross.”

“Yes. I suggest you wash your hands after carrying him to the medical bay. Sooner would be preferable, as I would like to refrain from prolonging your exposure to him. I was about to enact quarantine protocols when he lost consciousness.”

“Wait, so you’re saying this influeppa or whatever is contagious?”

“Yes, however, as you are not of the same species, there is an extremely low probability that you will contract it. Especially with your ventrexian immune system.”

“How low?”

“0.0000000000001%”

“That’s a lot of zeros. Then why the quarantine.”

“It is better to be safe, than sorry, as they say. Not to mention, Quinn is aboard as well.”

“Right. Her.”

“Yes, her. Now, I suggest you take Gary to the medical bay. His temperature is still increasing, last I checked.”

“Oh, right. That’s what I was doing.”

Mooncake was still hovering nervously as Avacato lifted the human up, carrying him towards the medical bay. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to make it all the way there before he crossed paths with KVN.

“Hey there Avacato! Whatcha doing?”

“I’m taking Gary to sickbay. Now move.”

“Why? Is he hurt? Sick? Dying?”

“I said move it, before I shoot a hole in you bigger than that eyeball you have.”

“No you didn’t. You just said move.”

Before Avacato could even unholster his weapon, Mooncake was forcibly shoving KVN out of the way to let the other continue. It appeared that he was just as impatient as the ventrexian to finish their task. Luckily, Mooncake didn’t have to push him far before he got distracted by something else and flew off. The small alien then flew after Avacato quickly in order to catch up.
After Avacato set Gary down, he went to wash his hands in the sink as H.U.E. activated the medical systems and got to work attempting to remedy the situation. He quickly and efficiently changed the other into a medical gown, partly in the hopes it would lower Gary’s temperature slightly. The human began to shiver, even in his unconscious state.

“Is he supposed to do that?” Avacato asked, looking worriedly on.

“Yes, and no. His system is reacting to the difference between internal and external temperature inaccurately. Also, I will need you and Mooncake to leave so I can quarantine the area.”

“Alright. Just...take good care of him, alright?”

“I will do my best.”

Avacato tried to pull Mooncake from the room, as the other struggled against him. It seemed Mooncake didn’t really want to leave Gary, despite the necessary circumstances. Luckily, Avacato was stronger, and won the battle as H.U.E. put up a forcefield behind them. Just as that happened, Gary wound up sneezing himself awake.

“Ughhh….wh...where ab I?” He sat up slowly, wincing at how much everything hurt. He also felt incredibly dizzy, so that was a thing. He rubbed his nose on his arm, before looking down at himself. Huh. Dress. Alright then. Unfortunately, his nose decided leaking wasn’t enough as another volley of sneezes seemed to erupt from him. “Hexchiew! Hekchiew! EGXCHIEW! Hehchiew! Ha...hah...hachiew!” Ugh. Gross.

[AngelEyes]

Yay for team effort!

[Seeker]

I'm trying to quote things but my phone and I are having an argument and it refuses! So I will try to comment without them. 

Webcomic? Do share

Still keeping all well in character!

Love the climbing fever

Stupid KVN

 Love how Gart woke up and the spellings

 

[Reader]

Reply to last comment:

Strider, hahaha that confliction you have between torture and fluff is hurt and comfort! So the more building up of torture means that much greater of an impact when the fluff comes! Mess for me just shows how sick a person is, so I include a little in my story but I don't stop reading something because its really messy. 

I had to start a new paragraph because it was that important. I am the biggest germaphobe. In my story, I made a cameo appearance ok and that was Derek’s mother! So literally I understand the real life/imagination aspects of this fetish and which one I'm squarely in!!!

Your idea about the different species was genius and fit right with Hue’s speech and mindset. I have similar but slightly different preferences. I don’t like when a person is sick and then the other person catches it so soon that that person that caught it can’t take care of the other person. And then I like when the first person gets worse so the second person can continue to take care. The caretaking is a big part for me so I think stories end too soon but in reality most people just dont need the caretaking like i do. I read a bunch of stuff that doesnt have caretaking though because writing ability kinda shines through all of that. I love reading. The outside observer niche is really cool because there’s a detached quality to it. Just like you were explaining. You dont have to put too much emotion like you would with someone right in the action or a person being affected.

Reply to WEBCOMIC and LIFE: I’m so sad that things haven’t been going good for you. Hurry up and get validated so I can send you encouraging words and advice through pm as well as bask in “relating” camaraderie. Lol. Keep your wits about you and escape to this forum when you lose them! Thinking about you and hoping things get better.

I DID NOT KNOW YOU CAN WEBTOON!!! That’s a freakin separate category all together. Why am I always surrounded by talent? Have you seen my profile picture?! And the fact that it takes soooo much time. Oh my goodness. So the webtoon is for this forum or real life? That’s so awesome! Glad you returned! Now let me read this story. I have my laptop and phone out so Im basically going to reply as I go.

Chapter 4: I always get so “in the moment” when I read your work. Like getting more comfortable, bringing the phone closer to my face, and then just turning into an empath almost. Im a somewhat cold and heartless soul IRL so its awesome when I can imagine what the characters are doing and how they feel. Mooncake…...hahahahahahaha oh my goodness! I love him so much. He’s so cute and awkward and so wordy. I feel like im describing you in a way since you are writing his actions but he seems like he’s thinking all of these things as he’s racing to find someone. I love it! I want one! 

Oh man, Hue and mooncake’s viewpoints together is sooooo RICH and FULL. Such a complete picture (yin and yang)! Hue is amazing by himself and then when you add another viewpoint, its like dynamic. See that's why third person is the preferred method when you get a writer that can create separate and unique characters and show them so well! 

Forced shutdown, focusing on his breathing and telling symptoms while mentioning the inept robots…..perfect! It just goes with his whole "Im the whole ship" higher intellect persona. LUV IT! I died laughing when Mooncake said chookity in answer. He is sooooo cute I can’t stand it. Oh, i love avocato. Especially pointing out that hue sent him in the first place. I also imagine the sound of his voice and now I want to find it and listen to see if im right. That dry humor and sarcastic curl on the end of his words also comes right out. Oh my goodness, I love his no-nonsense slightly protective quality. I swear i get my caretaking fix in just the simplest of things.

KVN is the one we hate right? Such a weasel but also kinda hilarious. I do love a smartmouth. He kinda reminds me of the pete and repeat joke. Pete and repeat were on a boat. Pete fell off so who was left? I just imagine the voice would be a little grating and like typical nerd or alien voice like not exactly the green aliens in toy story but maybe similiar with that human twist. Let me know….Oh my goodness, I love hue explaining how a fever works. He is so out of the ordinary and distinct. Everything I say about the characters reflects back on you because you wrote them!!! So if i love how Hue talks, I really love how you talked through him! 

Such a tease! Gary in a force field and waking up….What happens next! I know my heart is going to melt with the next update! Thankyou!!! Eagerly but patiently waiting for this next update! (since im so slow myself)

 

[striderlicious]

10 hours ago, AngelEyes said:

Yay for team effort!

Heck yeah I love teamwork honestly. It's such a good quality in anything and even if they're not related they become sort of a family. 

7 hours ago, ReidSeeker said:

I'm trying to quote things but my phone and I are having an argument and it refuses! So I will try to comment without them. 

Webcomic? Do share

Still keeping all well in character!

Love the climbing fever

Stupid KVN

 Love how Gart woke up and the spellings

 

I hate when that happens honestly. Phones are stupid sometimes. Yeah though! I'm writing a webcomic about a guy who becomes friends with a ghost that's in his new apartment. Also his best friends are a witch and a vampire. I wasn't sure whether to post one page at a time to start or just post a bunch for the first time and then one page every week or so. And I'm very glad I can do well with the characters I'm honestly very thankful you mention this because I am always worried. And honestly I do too? It's incredibly entertaining. And yeah KVN is incredibly obnoxious sometimes. I guess he's a secondary antagonist here. Thank you so much again!!

@Reader I always love such thoughtful replies that I receive from you! But also it makes me feel like you deserve to be matched R.I.P. Anyways, though, I really do appreciate your thought process of this! I hadn't thought of that but you are very correct. More suffering means more need to worry and care. 

[striderlicious]

@Reader (cont) Heck I accidentally pressed enter wow. I hope I can get validated but so far I don't think I've posted enough. But you are very correct. More mess just means they're sicker and don't have the energy really to care. Also the fact that the body is producing more mucus to compensate for the overabundance of virus. Honestly though I definitely understand. I feel somewhat bad for Derek when relating to his mother, but I also honestly feel her so much because I really do not like germs at all. I also love your analysis of caretaking and outside observers. I can relate to that. It's not very fun when the other person is too sick and therefore the main character either has no help or cannot get worse. It's so much better when there is someone there. And I'm very glad you agree with the outside observer, and your analysis of it is brilliant! 

You are so very sweet and I really do appreciate all the kind words you give me. I hope I can get validated soon. Being  I love your profile picture! If that is your art it's so wonderful! I love the style you draw in. I understand though it takes me forever to draw and the only reason I get commissions done so fast is because I don't stop until I'm finished. It's for real life! I'm very excited to see how the story goes because I write as I go with really anything. Even I don't know what's going to happen in my own works! 

That's honestly very sweet and adorable! It's always nice to lay back and read a good story. And I definitely understand living emotions vicariously through characters. Life is tricky and being able to connect to people is hard. But with fiction you get absorbed into it and its nice to have emotions towards something, instead of being so cold. Also I'm so glad you like all the characters. Perhaps I can convince you to watch the show mwahahahahah.

Anyways though I didn't even notice I was doing that, but you're totally right! Conflicting perspectives that have a sort of cohesion that makes the story flow so much better. You have such brilliant analysis that I never even considered. Also I love when computers try to relate to humans, and wind up conveying things more similar to themselves. And I really aprecciate the broader perspective it allows me, with him being the entire ship. Also I bet you are very right. Avacato has such a dry wit, with such care behind it even though he tries to be harsh outside. 

He is indeed the one that nobody really likes, but all tolerate because he is there. I mean I get that honestly I love smartmouths too. You are almost exactly right! He's got this nerdish quality to his voice, although with a more humanesque tone. Also I never heard that joke but that's great! HUE is definitely something special. It's a completely different perspective than the norm. Also I am so flattered you think that! I really appreciate how much you like my writing style, and it makes me want to continue to improve. 

I definitely appreciate your reply, and I have the next update right here! 

[striderlicious]

AN: Sorry these two parts have been so short, but hopefully I can post a longer one next time! This chapter picks up immediately after the last one. I also apologize but the wait times between chapters may increase due to my brain being a heck. I try to separate the story from the actual replies, so that it doesn't get too confusing if people don't want to read them. I apologize for the wait for these! Anyways though, without further ado, here it is. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 5

“You are in the medical bay, Gary. You lost consciousness. Luckily, Mooncake was with you at the time and pulled you inside. Avacato then carried you here.”

“I kdew I could coudt on theb. I have such great frieds.”

“Yes, you do. Now lay back down. I need to get your fever down. You are running too hot, and are also likely suffering from dehydration.”

“What? Fever? I dod’t have a fever. I feel perfectly fi...fihh...ihchiew! Snf. Fide.” He snuffled slightly, somewhat annoyed at the fact that his nose was both stuffed up and running. How did that even work?

“Gary, we have already gone over this. You are not “fide,” as you state. You have influenza. Now lay down, so I can help you already.”

Rather than do what H.U.E. said, he decided to climb off the bed instead. He wound up leaning against it, anyways, though, as the room began to spin. “See? I’b fide. The captaid doesd’t get sigk.”

“Gary, please. This argument is pointless. We have been over both of these issues several times now. How often must I repeat myself? You are not the captain, and you are sick. Now get back on the bed, before I have to restrain you.”

While this argument was going on, Quinn was pacing on the bridge, debating what to do. Should she check on Gary? Did it matter? Why couldn’t she just focus on the real problem? There was a real threat out there and here she was worrying about some idiot she arrested five years ago. She finally relented, heading to Gary’s room in order to check on him.

After not finding him in his room, as she had hoped, she headed towards the medbay, and wound up coming across what seemed to be an argument between a very sick-looking Gary, and the AI of the ship. A very weird argument, punctuated by sniffles, sneezes, and a very long coughing fit. It also seemed that Gary was barely managing to stand, which was sort of worrying in and of itself. Why was he even arguing with H.U.E. at a time like this? Mooncake also appeared to be watching outside the forcefield, a worried expression on his face.

“See this badge? It beads I’b the freakig captaid!” Gary pointed at a random point on his chest, as he wasn’t actually wearing a badge at all.

H.U.E. wasn’t exactly sure why he was attempting to reason with Gary, as the man was clearly delirious at this point. Unfortunately though, here they were. “You are not wearing a badge, Gary. The only thing you are wearing is a hospital gown, as you are sick. Now please, I am only going to ask once more. Lay back down.”

Quinn sighed, shaking her head. Did she really have to do everything around here? “Gary, lay your ass back down and shut up! H.U.E. is TRYING to help you.”

“Quidd?” Gary was shocked out of the argument by the new voice, turning around and immediately regretting the action as he started to sway. Luckily, this distraction was enough for H.U.E. to use the robotic arms of the medbay to place Gary back on the bed. It was fairly easy, as well, as the human was too weak at this point to struggle much. Once on the bed, he realized just how exhausted he was, and flopped back tiredly, unable to resist it any longer.

“Yeah, Gary. It’s me. How you feeling?” She was hoping to use his feelings for her to their advantage, in order to get him to actually cooperate. So far it seemed to be working.

“I’b feelig...great.”

“You sure about that?”

“Ndo…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You look like crap.”

“Wow….thadks…” He actually seemed to tear up at that, and Quinn immediately realized her mistake.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant. I just meant you look...really sick is all. You really should let H.U.E. help you.” A part of her wanted to go in there and help herself, but protocols were there for a reason.

“I dod’t feel so good, Quidd.”

“Yeah, I know buddy.” He didn’t look so good either. Even through the forcefield, she could tell he was really pale, save for his nose, which was almost red at this point, and the high flush on his cheeks. Not to mention he apparently was ignoring the tissue box next to him, and instead smearing the snot from his face all over his arms. Although that may be partially due to the fever he was running.

“Gary, do you believe you can drink some water? You are most likely dehydrated.”

“I guess…” In reality, Gary really didn’t want to. His throat was burning, and the last time he tried to ingest something it felt like it was going to kill him. But since Quinn thought it was a good idea, maybe it was. He took the water offered to him, and took a small sip. Unlike the cereal from earlier, it felt cool on his throat, and he wound up greedily drinking the rest. Unfortunately it seemed to be too fast, or his chest just decided it was time for another coughing fit.

Quinn couldn’t help the pang of worry that shot through her at hearing the fit, but she tamped it down quickly before it could affect her too much. She trusted H.U.E. to take care of him, but that wouldn’t stop her from wishing she could do more to help. She decided she would go get a chair so she could stay with him without having to sit on the floor.

“H.U.E., cad I have a blanket, or sobethig? It’s freakig freezig id here.” As if to prove how cold he was, he sneezed again, still making a mess of himself.

“Gary, there are tissues right next to you. Please use them to clean yourself up. Also no, unfortunately you cannot. We need to lower your temperature to an acceptable range.”

“Oh...okay…” He watched as Quinn set up her chair, wondering why exactly she wasn’t coming in. He decided he might as well ask. “Why cad’t Quidd cobe id?”

“Quarantine protocol is in effect.”

“What? Why?”

“You are sick, Gary. You do not wish for Quinn to contract this as well, correct?”

“Ndo...Ndot really.”

“Then she must remain outside the forcefield until you are no longer contagious.”

Despite the logical answer Gary recieved, he still wished Quinn could be in here with him. She was actually being NICE to him for once, and it seemed she actually wanted him around. At least he was getting somewhere. He gave a small smile to her, and she returned it, although there was obvious worry mixed in. Aw, she really did care! “Hey Quidd, will you stay here with be?”

“Sure, Gary. Just get some rest, alright? I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Now that he thought about it, he was tired. Since she promised to be here when he woke up, he decided it would be okay to sleep for a little bit. Unless he was just imagining her. Although he really hoped that wasn’t the case. After a while, the sound of the med bay was filled with congested snores.

[AngelEyes]

14 hours ago, striderlicious said:

“See this badge? It beads I’b the freakig captaid!” Gary pointed at a random point on his chest, as he wasn’t actually wearing a badge at all.

LOL

Seriously stubborn man! Glad Quinn finally got through to him.

[Reader]

I feel like in every conversation we say, ‘I totally understand’ but.......I totally understand the feeling but I’m the one responding to your thousands of words in an update so in a sense...it’s flipped and I’m responding to you 😊 So write whatever you feel comfortable with and just know that I know you are super busy. Oh! My profile pic was drawn by Nval95. She drew scenes inspired by my story and they are AMAZING and I was literally taken aback when she asked to draw them. Such an honor! Then she drew me! It was pretty recent so you can see her black and white drawings in the artwork. Oh speaking of which, with the new changes happening on the 28th...people who are still validating but over 18 need to email or contact the staff if their birthdate isn’t on their profile. I was just reading it so check it out to make sure your account doesn’t suspend. (R.i.p....I don’t get it in the context you used. Can you explain?) COMMISIONS?! That’s so cool that it’s a job for you!! I do the exact same thing with trying to finish something before I eat or sleep. As far as the question you didn’t ask me but I want to answer...😈...I read online that with writing something professional (I was looking into Wattpad because I want to write a book in real life and that site lets ppl read weekly chapters and give feedback)....a person should keep whatever pace he decides consistent so the readers stick with that person. Also if you have a favorite webtoon, I’d follow that pattern. My favorite is Kubera! How can I watch the show? Can I just say it’ll probably be ruined for me since I’m so into the sick version hahaha! So you did get the joke? Ok good! Your comments are just as sweet and kind! Chat with you later! 

This chapter resonated with me so much!! It’s sooo tender! I feel so bad for Gary! He was like helplessly frustrated and wanting Quinn there, so confused, basically a puddle of emotions! I don’t know what to do. It’s a good feeling of bad though. Quinn arrested Gary!? Ok ok ok. Wow 😮. I guess I do need to watch the show! Her ignoring him makes sense now since he sent her recordings for five years. I fell for the fight until he pointed to nothing! That’s that sneaky fever progression you subtly put in. Hue wondering why he was explaining but still explaining was sooooooo him!!!! I liked quinn’s Struggle and the fact that she is still being tough. Im so attached to these characters! 

[Seeker]

9 hours ago, Reader said:

people who are still validating but over 18 need to email or contact the staff if their birthdate isn’t on their profile.

I tried emailing the staff and was told to read the informational post on being validated...I'm not sure where to go from there. It seems the more you post (actual stuff, not filler stuff), the more likely you'll reach validation. I think writing a story is helpful...maybe

 

Anyway, LOVE this story still. You have got these characters DOWN! Gary is so subtly sweet and you really show it. This story is making me love the show more and I wish they would add it as an episode!

[Reader]

19 minutes ago, ReidSeeker said:

I tried emailing the staff and was told to read the informational post on being validated..

Hey ReidSeeker, all you have to do to make sure your account is not suspended is just email the staff your date of birth so they know your age. Then everything stays the same. What I don’t quite understand is that you have 121 posts and you joined in nov and you’re still validating? You must be right about the story idea. I joined middle of February and posted a story to become validated and to practice writing and it was just a month basically. You don’t have to be validated by the 28th of April to stay on this forum so don’t worry about that, but yea post a story!! Strider and I will definitely tune in and give you feedback ~~