A special delivery (f) - One Prompt, # Authors

[Random Magic]

Hiya, this is my attempt for the One Prompt, # Authors, it's been a lot of fun being a part of it, and massive thanks to @Reader for organising! The prompt was Cashier, space station, allergies, and basket - I look these kinda literally, so needless to say, this is set on a space station.

So without further ado, please enjoy, and feel free to leave any feedback, I always love reading the comments! 

A special delivery

The circular habitable zone of the SS Liberty rotated around the massive propulsion unit at its centre at just the right rate to generate artificial gravity roughly equivalent to Earth.

Because of this people could walk around inside the space station just like Earth. However, unfortunately that was pretty much where the similarities ended, thought Layla as she hurried through the thronging crowds on one of the lower decks.

Layla moved lithely between the press of bodies on the ship. She worked a delivery operative, so she knew the routes across the ship well and was used to moving quickly around in the crowds. She was a slim 19 year old with long straight black hair, pale skin and heavy eye makeup. She wore tight black jeans, battered white trainers and a fitted black t-shirt, which sported the logo of the SS Liberty delivery crew.

The starship had been on active duty for over 200 years, and it showed. It had always been designed with functionality in mind, rather than looks, it was an awkward mess of hulking steel beams, vents, pipes and rivets, all gun-metal grey. And in amongst all that there also existed the detritus of human habitation, or what passed for it.

Over the last 200 years, the population had expanded past the presumed 5,000-person limited that the ship was designed to accommodate, and today roughly double that number was crammed onboard. The generous public spaces were now choked with people, and all the mess, smell, heat and noise that came with them.

Living quarters had long ago spilled out of the cabin spaces, and now the living quarters of the SS Liberty resembled a shanty town where men, women, children and animals jostled in an endless competition for space and resources. Vendors competed loudly for attention, adding to the chaotic nature of the ship.

Layla had read about the lost cities of Earth: the grand plazas of Rome, the tree-lined avenues of Paris, the waterways of Venice. Humanity at its peak resided in such relaxed and carefree luxury, thinking nothing of it.

‘And look at us now.’ she thought, as she pushed through the dense throng of people, all illuminated by cold strip lighting.

Her train of thought was interrupted as she was enveloped by a sickly sweet smelling scent from one of the street-side vendors, a large lady who was selling bottles of perfume from a nook in the walkway.

Layla had always been terribly allergic to a seemingly endless range of stimuli, from dust to animals to perfume and scents. The changing air pressure and air conditioning of the ship also played havoc with her sensitive sinuses. Sneezing was apparently a hereditary feature, her mother having been afflicted too, although not to the same degree as Layla.

“If this ship ever breaks down, we needn’t worry.” Layla’s father used to say, far too often. “We’ll just take your mum out to the back and one of her sneezes will get this thing moving at hyper-speed!” Before he collapsed into laughter. No matter how many times he told it, his own joke always used to make him laugh.

Layla had no time to prepare for the overwhelming fragrance that invaded her nostrils, and she was stopped dead in her tracks, barely having time to raise a fist to muffled a rapid and powerful fit.

She hated sneezing in public and tried her utmost to suppress the fit. Her eyes scrunched closed, and her head snapped forward as she successfully stifled a volley of quick sneezes.

“HNTCH…HNTCCHH…HNNCCK…HMPTCHOO..HMPTCHHOOO!” She looked up slightly dazed, the crowd continued to move around her, thankfully not noticing her. Layla forced herself to keep moving, despite the sneezes, only knowing that she needed to get out of the vicinity of the sickly scent.

She felt herself getting dizzy from the effort of stifling the sneezes, and allowed herself to release them softly into her hand. She cursed herself for not having a tissue on her - there was probably one in her bag somewhere, but it was a bit late for that now.

“Isshooo…Isshooo…Ish…Ishh…Ha-isshhooo! Oh god, can’t stop…Heh…Heh…fucking perfume…Isshooo…Isshhoo…Isshh…Issshhh…Ha-Issshooo!”

This was agony, these small sneezes just weren’t enough to rid herself of the tickle which remained stubbornly lodged at the back of her nose. Despite the public setting, Layla allowed herself one of her normal, massive sneeze, in an attempt to quell the itch. Then, maybe she would find some relief. She began one of her protracted build-ups, which usually heralded the beginning of one of her allergy fits. Of course, this quickly spiralled into a trademark fit.

EHH-HEEHHH! HEH! HEH! HAAHH! HAAAAHHHH….HAAATTCCCEEEEWWWW! HAATTTCCHHHHIIIEEEWWW! EEEYYYYAAATTTCCCHHHEEEWWWWW!”

That seemed to get it, finally the tickle had abated. Layla, breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her eyes blotting some of the makeup, which was now surely all over her face.

Privately, Layla loved a good sneeze, however she hated the attention they received then in public. One of the unfortunate effects of living in such cramped conditions, was that she rarely got a chance to indulge herself in a good sneezing fit.

She quickly pressed on, blending back into the crowd.

The concourses of the starship were mixed and ill-defined zones with people finding whatever space they could to eat, sleep and carry out any number of other activities.

It was always noisy, humid and usually chaotic. The majority of the residents accepted this fact, the starship was the only home they had ever known and they were accustomed to its sights, sounds and rhythms.

All this only applied to the lower decks, of course. The starship was divided into lower decks, which housed the vast majority of the crew and families, and the upper decks, which were reserved for higher-ranking officials, senior managers and various other important instruments of state, including trade envoys and political figures.

Rarely was anyone from the lower decks permitted to visit the upper levels, but their opulence was renowned. Residents were allocated spacious suites, rather than multi-occupancy lower cabins, and each had a full-height windows from which the owner could watch the vastness of deep space unfolding around them, an unfathomable and endless creation.

Layla pushed past a group of older ladies arguing outside of the starship’s chemist shop and entered beneath its neon green signage.

Fortunately there wasn’t a queue today. She approached the cashier, who was leaning against the counter, looking bored and chewing on gum while she inspected her nails.

Riley, the cashier, oozed cool. Her blonde hair cut in a shoulder-length bob with a heavy fringe, her nails were painted a bright pink, and her curvaceous figure was squeezed into white pharmaceutical uniform that Layla assumed she deliberately wore a size too small.

“Yes…what do you want?” the cashier said without looking up.

“Well Riley, a fucking smile would be nice, for a start.” said Layla. The cashier, looked up quickly and a grin spread across her face as she recognised her friend.

“That’s better.” said Layla. “And you know what I want…I need.”

“Is it that time already?” replied Riley in mock surprise. “How time does fly.”

Since she could remember, Layla had been coming her once a month to pick up her prescription for the heaviest duty anti-allergy medication available in the galaxy. Well, perhaps not the galaxy, but certainly in the fleet.

“Here you go babe,” said Riley, handing the large bag over the counter. “And don’t you go taking all those at once.”

“Ha ha.” Layla gave a sarcastic laugh. “Hey, are you going to make it to Mike’s later tonight in the Social Quarter. He’s back from working rotation on the mining class ships.”

“Nah, I’ve got something on, sorry.” said Riley casually.

“OK Miss Mystery, you do your thing. Just be safe, OK?” Layla turned quickly to exit the shop.

“Hey Layla,” Riley called, just before Layla left.

“Yes?”

“Watch out for Basket. He’s sitting out there somewhere.”

Basket belonged to Jim, and Jim belonged to the streets. In a ship of transient abodes, Jim and Basket were truly ephemeral. They moved from one part of the ship to the next, never settling anywhere in particular, but dropping by regularly. They both blended in with the streetscape so thoroughly that most people wouldn’t notice them at all, a couple of drifters among the litter. Therefore, seeing them was a rare and unpredictable treat. Even if Layla was horribly allergic to Basket.

Basket was a cat, so named after the eponymous basket Jim had found her in. He was a gloriously dishevelled rag doll cat, with a fuck you attitude and a heart of gold.

Layla assumed Jim was a human, although admittedly he did look like an animal. His long, straggly grey hair merged into an unkempt beard. He was heavily wrinkled around his eyes - the only visible part of his face, and he had only a few brown teeth left.

Jim was sitting on the floor playing with Basket. The sight of the rag doll cat made the roof of Layla’s mouth itch. She rubbed at her nose unconsciously.

“Hello Jim.” Jim looked up in alarm. His face softened as he recognised Layla. Basket lay on her back, with one paw raised in the air, in what looked like a lazy welcome.

“Aw, hullo sweetheart, how’s it going?” Jim flashed a warm and toothless smile at Layla.

“I can’t stay for long, not with that furball hanging around.” Layla waved vaguely in Basket’s direction. Basket meowed softly and rolled onto his stomach looking up at her.

Layla’’s psychosomatic itch had progressed into a genuine and ominous tickle, she could feel it deep within her sinuses.

“But Basket ain’t gonna hurt you, he don’t want nothing but to play.” Jim scratched Basket affectionately, and the cat nuzzled into his hand.

Layla fumbled in her shoulder bag for her tissues. They must be some in here somewhere, she never left home without them. She knew her nose better than that.

“I know Jim, but it’s my…heeehhh! My nose…I…hah! The ca-hahh…makes me…need to….heeehhhh!” Eventually Layla found a crumpled but unused tissue at the very bottom of her bag, she unfolded it, as she wound up for what was preparing to be a spectacular fit.

Unlike the previous sneezes which were hushed and rapid, Layla’s cat allergies tickled her mercilessly, torturing her sinuses, making her nose twitch and her breath hitch. The build-up twisted her features into a picture of pre-sneeze agony.

“Hehhh…heeehhh…I’m gonna…gonna HAH! HEEEHHHH…HEEESSCCHHEEWW! ITCH! ITCH! ISSHHOOO!! HA-ISHOOO!” Layla finally unleashed five enormous sneezes, which bent the slim girl at the waist.

She straightened, immediately realising she wasn’t done. Her head fell back, her mouth opened, she squinted at the neon strip lights, trying to coax the tickle out.

“Hahhh-ahhh! Come onnn…Hehhh…hehhhhh…” Her hands waved ineffectually before her nose, before her head pitched forward, jet black hair whipping across her face. Layla caught the next round of sneezes in her fast disintegrating tissue.

“Isshhooo…Issshoooo…Ha-ISH! ISSHH! HA-ISHOO! Ugh god…”

“I’m allergic to Basket.” Layla added, unnecessarily. She blew her nose wetly and dabbed at her eyes.

“I did warn you about him.” Layla turned to see Riley leaning against the door to the pharmacy.

“Yes Riley thank you, but just because I know about him doesn’t mean I can stop what he does to me. God, my allergies…I’m going to have to go home and shower or I’ll be stuffed up and sneezy all afternoon.”

“Well, you go home and take care of that nose sweetheart,” said Jim, grinning behind his thick beard.

“Thanks, catch you later.” said Layla as she turned to go. As she disappeared into the crowds again, her two friends could hear a parting volley of itchy, desperate sneezes, followed by a loud expletive.

“HA-ISSHH! ISSSHHOOO! ISSSHHOOO! ISSSHOOOEEYY! FUCK!”

———

Layla stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. On her level, the shower blocks were communal; you only got the luxury of a private shower in the upper levels. She slipped on a pair of flip-flops and padded over to a changing cubicle.

She sniffed, it felt good to wash the day’s grime from herself, along with any residual cat hair. She was looking forward to returning to her room, getting something to eat and binge-watching something terrible. At that moment her comms unit pinged.

Layla sighed, the delivery crew were short of staff once again, meaning the team were all having to pitch in and work overtime, to cover jobs. She glanced at the unit and read the message.

FOR DELIVERY: Special order / time-sensitive. Level 6.

REF #LT-719876

Contents: Unconfirmed.

Layla frowned, Level 6 was the highest level of the ship, with only the seriously wealthy permitted access. Layla would have been nosey enough to accept the job on that basis alone, but what really piqued her interest was that there was no description of the contents. Layla simply could not pass up the opportunity to poke around on Level Six while delivering a mysterious package.

Feeling more energised, she confirmed the job on the comms unit, slipped back into her delivery-branded t-shirt, jeans and trainers, and headed for the delivery depot, remembering to stuff a wad of tissues into her pocket on the way out.

———

Layla walked up to the counter of the delivery depot and flashed her ID to the operator.

“I have a delivery to collect, reference number LT-719876.” She was immediately buzzed through to the waiting area while someone went off to retrieve the package from the warehouse. She took a seat and kicked her heels, absent-mindedly, while she waited to be called.

Soon a member of the warehouse team called her name, and Layla jumped to her feet, approaching the desk.

A stout, older man met her, and scanned her ID.

His eyebrows raised in obvious surprise. “Not often we get nothing like this through here.” He said. “Someone must have paid a small fortune for these. Here ya go, better take care of this package.”

With a flourish he placed a large package on the counter. It was around two feet high and tastefully wrapped in light pink plastic. Layla cautiously peeled back the plastic wrapper and nearly knocked the package over in shock at the large bouquet of extravagant flowers that lay underneath.

Layla’s gasped in surprise, flowers were rare luxury on the spacecraft, indeed on any spacecraft, and to see a bouquet live and in the flesh, on this godforsaken vessel was nothing short of remarkable. Layla had seen flowers before, but only on video, and never in real life. They were beautiful and delicate, yet vibrantly coloured and in obviously in full bloom. They exuded a sweet scent that was quite different from any other artificial perfume or fragrance Layla had encountered. It was intoxicating and almost overpowering.

It dawned on her that there was nowhere on board where they could have been cultivated, which meant they must have been couriered in very carefully and at great expense from a neighbouring planets.

The other reason for her involuntary gasp was that, at that exact moment, Layla felt a tremendous tickle surge up within her nose. She felt her eyes begin to water and her nose begin to burn with a deep itch.

“Tha-hah-anks” she sniffed and wiped at her nose which had begun to run. She knew she had to get out of the cavernous warehouse before the tickle overwhelmed her and she began what felt like an epic fit. She grabbed the bouquet and spun on her heels, almost running out of the reception area.

On the concourse outside, she placed the flowers carefully down and retrieved one of the tissues from her pocket. She had to blow her nose before this tickle got out of hand, she fumbled to unfold the crumpled tissues in time.

“Uhhhh-huhhhh.” Her breath began to hitch and Layla knew it was already too late. Her familiar pre-sneeze build-ups began to overtake her as she laboured towards her fit. The tickle was building rapidly and in no time at all, the sneezes began barrelling out of her, each one more powerful than the last. She was bent almost double at the waist, the tissue ineffectually clamped over her seizing nose.

“Ehhh-hehhhh…Hehh…HEH! HEH-ISHHOOO! HEH-ISHHOO! ISHHOOO! SHOO! SHOO! EH-HISHHOOO! Uh god, gotta…gottaaahhh HA-ISHHOOO! HA-ISHOO! HEY-ISSHHH! EHSHOOOEY! SHOOO!

Layla paused and gasped in a huge breath. She had experienced plenty of fits, but nothing like this, her nose felt like it was on fire, she could barely draw breath between the explosions, as one followed immediately on from the next. She groaned as another wave of sneezes bent her at the waist, her long hair flying in her face as the sneezes rocked her back and forth, mercilessly.

“HARISSSHHHOOO! HAAYYISSHHHOOO! Uh-huh HUH-ISSHOOO! ISSHHOO! HEYISHHOOO! ISH! ISH! ISH! ISH!”

Layla was breathless and disorientated, and she was was forced to crouch down, clamping a fist over her exploding nose. Through the allergy-indued haze it dawned on her how ridiculous she must look, the ft was up to over 20 sneezes now, and showed no sign of stopping.

In her crouched position, Layla hunched over as another fit wracked her body. After a further 20 or so sneezes she was able to draw a shaky breath and open her eyes.

“Issshhooo….issshoooo…isshhooooo….Ha-ishhh.” The fit ended with a tired-sounding series of sneezes that left Layla breathless and trembling from the exertion.

Having never been exposed to flowers, Layla had no idea about the effects of pollen on her sensitive nasal membranes, she couldn’t have known. However she now eyed the luxurious blooms suspiciously.

The flowers looked exotic and peaceful amid the man-made chaos of the ship. The petals were a translucent white with bright orange stamen hanging heavily in their centre.  Layla could almost feel the scent invading her nose, making it itch ferociously. It made a wet noise as she scrubbed at it with her palm, in an attempt to hold the next irrepressible fit of sneezes at bay for a little while longer. The flowers, they had to be the culprit. She sniffed wetly.

Still in a crouching position, she backed away from the blooms, all the while pinching her nose. She considered her options. The only way to navigate the sprawling maze of corridors was on foot, and Layla calculated that if she hurried it would take around five minutes to reach the nearest service riser, the small goods lifts which connected different floors of the ship.

If she didn’t look at the flowers, didn’t think about them and under any condition avoided breathing their dreadful scent, she could probably make it there. Although she didn’t relish being trapped in the small metal lift with such a perilous cargo.

Careful to avoid damaging her precious delivery, Layla folded the plastic wrapping over the flowers and set off at a brisk pace.

Layla sneezed regularly as she darted between the crowds, but thankfully suffered nothing like the debilitating fits she had just experienced. Accustomed as she was to the heightened sensitivity  of her nose, she was able to function with a certain amount of sneeziness, and rather than the huge, body-shaking, knee-bending sneezes of before, these were lighter, high-pitched and altogether easier to deal with. She managed to catch each sneeze easily in a tissue without breaking her stride.

Soon, she spotted the black and grey doors, which signalled the entrance to the service lifts. She signed with relief. Placing the flowers on the floor at a safe distance she keyed in her access code and scanned her ID.

“Heh-choo! Well, that could have gone worse.” Layla wasn’t in the least bit interested in poking around Level 6 now, she just wanted to complete the delivery and get back to her cabin to take yet another shower. Her head pitched forward with another light sneeze.

“Eh-chooo!” she waited impatiently, hitting the lift button repeatedly. “Hah-chooo! Come on, why do these things alway  take so lo-hoh…Hehchooo! Isshooo!” She expertly blew her nose with one hand. She wasn’t quite so stuffy now and her blow was wet and satisfying.

“That doesn’t do any good you know.” said a familiar voice behind her.

“What?!” Layla spun around to see Riley standing behind her, holding a large bag and grinning.

“Just hitting the button over and over again. It doesn’t make a difference, the lift knows you’re here, it’s coming.”

Layla frowned back at her friend. “Yeah? Well it might not know how pissed off I am, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

“Whatcha got there anyway?” asked Riley, peering over Layla’s shoulder.

“Important stuff. None of your business.”

“So important you’re keeping it down there on the floor?”

“Yes!” said Layla, growing frustrated at the questions. ““Eh-heh-hehchooo! Where is this fucking lift?”

Before she could stop her, Riley had moved the corner of the plastic cover with her foot, she gave a squeal of delight.

“Oh my god, are those…flowers??”

“Yes” Layla hissed, “And you can’t tell anyone. It’s a special delivery.”

Finally, the lift pinged and the grey metal doors slid open, Layla carefully lifted the bouquet inside and stepped in afterwards.

“Eh-choo…Just gotta drop these off and I can get outta here. The damned things are making me suh…sneeheeeh…heh…hahhh…HECCHHHOOO! ESSSHHHOOO! ESSHHOOO!”

Layla groaned and issued another wet blow into the quickly disintegrating wad of tissues. Her eyes were beginning to stream again and she could feel her sinuses protesting against the masses of pollen in the enclosed space.

“What a surprise,” said Riley with a smile. “Another thing to add to the list, Ms Sneezy.” She hopped into the lift, alongside Layla.

“What are you doing?” Layla gasped “You know you don’t have access to be in here. If my bosses find out, they’ll fire me!”

Riley looked at her and winked “Oh come on, I’ve never seen real flowers before, I promise I won’t touch them, just look.”

Layla sighed, too tired and allergic to put up a fight. She shifted over to allow Riley some more space.

“Plus, something tells me you may need some help with these things, you look like you’re about to start sneezing your ass off.”

Riley wasn’t wrong, despite the tissues that she had kept pressed against her nose, Layla could feel the scent from the flowers playing in her nostrils, teasing her mercilessly.

“Hehhh…okay, just please be careful.” She rubbed her sensitive nose again, willing the tickle to abate. No such luck.

The lift doors slid silently closed and groaned and then whirred into action. Layla felt her breath beginning to heave again as she mentally cursed the glacially slow progress of the ancient machinery .

“Ehhh…hehe…I think the flowers are making me want to…need to…Hehh…Hih…hiiihhh…sneeze.”

Layla continued to pant as the lift trundled slowly upwards. Her eyes squeezed closed as her head tipped backwards and her shoulders began to shake with the oncoming sneezes. Riley continued chewing her gum, looking at Layla from beneath her fringe.

Pollen from the extravagant bouquet assailed her nose, made all the more potent by the close quarters of the lift, Layla stood no chance against its sickly onslaught. She hitched and gasped towards a remarkable sneezing fit.

“HIIHHH…HEEHHH…Watch ouhhh…out…gonna…gonna…sneeze.” Her voice rose to a high pitched squeak, before she pitched forward with a tremendous fit of sneezes, the noise rebounding off the steel walls at an almost deafening volume.

“HAAARRAASSSHHOOOO! ASSHHHOOO! HEYEESSSHOOOO! ISSHOOO! IISSHHOOO…Oh excuse me, I cahhahhhn’t heh…heh…help it….EEEESSSHHHOOO! EESSHOOO! ESSSHHOOO! ISSHHH! ISSHHH! ISSSHHHOOOEEEYY!”

She leant heavily against the wall to support herself as she continued to let out one sneeze after another, each of which bent her double, shaking her slim frame and making her long hair fly into her face.

The tissues were useless, had become more liquid than material. Layla continued to sneeze, spraying the walls of the lift, her uniform and more than a little bit onto Riley.

Riley, although she used to her friend’s sneezing fits was astonished by this display, and the magnificence of the display distracted her for a moment from the own tickle that was building in her nose.

As Layla found brief respite in a rare pause in her sneezing, she glanced over in embarrassment to see Riley obviously on the verge of her own sneezing fit, caused by the thick, pollen-suffused air.

The blonde girl had placed a finger under her nose, but was treating hard, her voluptuous body straining at her tight uniform. Her short skirt had risen up her thighs and her full breasts shuddered as she neared her inevitable release. Her nose twitched in response to her involuntary reaction, her heavy eye makeup had begun to smudge and run.

“Hihhh…hitch…hitch…hitch…hitch…hitcchhooo…” Riley’s sneezes were quick and quiet affairs compared with Layla’s own messy, ship-shaking eruptions.

“Hisshoo…hitchooo…hitch…hisshhooo…Itchooo…”

Never having been exposed to pollen before, the tiny grains had rendered both girls incapacitated by their allergic reactions. Layla would have laughed, had she been in the slightest bit in control of her reactions. As it was, she could only gear up or another round of intense sneezes.

Riley, confused her own reaction, looked her with urgent eyes.

“Lah-Layla…what’s going ooohhh…on?” Riley managed before dissolving into another round of suppressed sneezes.

“Hisshhoo…issshoooo…issshhhoo…isshhhooo…hmptchooo…”

Layla was valiantly to hold the her sneezes bay, she had fished another tissue from her pocket an held it under her nose.

“It’s the flow…flowers…” she gasped, her eyes continuing to stream. “They’re making us…HEEERRESSSHHHOOOO….ESSHHOOOO…EEYYEESSSHOOOO….ISSHOO…ISSHOOO…ISSSHOOO…sneeze.” she finished, flatly.

“Oh god,” said Riley, “I’m sorry for every time I laughed at your allergies, this is…is…Hitch…Ishhh…ishooo…Hah-ah-achoooo!”

“I know,” replied Layla with a snuffle. “I know I have a list of allergies as long as your arm, but this is the worst.

Just then, after what felt like an eternity the lift pinged: Level 6. Finally. The doors slid open, revealing a smartly-dressed porter, obviously waiting for them. If he was surprised at the sight of the two watery-eyed, gasping girls in the lift, he only showed it by a slight rise of a manicured eyebrow and twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Good afternoon ladies,” he said curtly. “I believe we are expecting a very precious delivery. So good of the service to send two of you to ensure such…efficient delivery.”

“For gods sake take them.” said Riley, through clenched teeth,

“Riley!” hissed Layla. “What my, erm associate means is…please sign here.Thank you.”

With that, the lift doors slid closed, leaving the porter, flowers nestled protectively in his arms, listening to a fresh round of desperate sneezes echoing up the lift shaft as the two girls slowly descended.

“What a delightful bouquet.” he said quietly to himself. “Let’s get you Ms Humphrey’s suite, she will be most excited to receive you.”

[Chanel_no5]

I love the descriptions of the sneezes (and maybe even moreso the itchiness)!   I don't read many sci-fi based fics myself but I'm impressed by how realistic your world-building is, I can really picture life on this space station turned space... city, I guess.   

Great fic! 

 

 

[SleepingPhlox]

LOVE your worldbuilding, omg.  I'm a big sci-fi fan so this was fun to read, with all the fun little futuristic details! Loved the creative interpretation of the word basket too!

[NoV]

Very much enjoyed reading this story - you have managed to get some superb sneezing tied to a fun situation. Sci fi is a neglected genre for sneeze fics, and yet has some amazing potential scenarios.