Twinkle
"Well." Kokichi said finally. "This looks like it's going to be so much fun." The crew had been staring out the cockpit window for fifteen minutes now, awaiting orders. Kaito had entertained thoughts of leaving without orders, but then the truth set in. He had no idea what to do.
"We're on a literal alien planet, and all we're doing is sitting around." Miu sighed, crossing her arms. "Someone give me something to do."
"Who want's to share their deep dark secret?" Kokichi asked innocently.
"Fuck off." Miu growled. Kokichi snickered.
A series of pings sounded from everyone's datapad. A file had been sent to everyone, labeled "Instructions." Somehow, this gave Kaito a sense of satisfaction. The woman wouldn't be speaking to them personally, it seemed.
"So...I guess we do these?" Maki asked slowly. Upon a closer investigation, Kaito saw that each person had been assigned a series of actions required to proceed with the mission. There was a timer above the instruction file. Thirty minutes.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Kokichi groaned. "I have to stay here again?"
"It seems reasonable. You're the only one of us able to handle technology like you can." Kirumi said peacefully.
"Don't be sad! Kiyo and I will be here too!" Angie said.
"Great."
Korekiyo however, was looking at his datapad. He looked a shade paler than normal.
"Hey, you good?" Kaito asked.
"They want me to create a complete cultural and social profile for the alien species as a whole. In thirty minutes. When I have a distinct lack of previous information."
"But you can do it, right?" Kaede asked. The silence she got in response sent a spike of anxiety through Kaito's stomach.
"Nyeh. I'm staying here too. What a pain." Himiko said. Kaito noted that she sounded happier than usual. He suspected she really didn't have any issues with staying where it was safe.
"I'll hang out with you then." Kaede said, shrugging apologetically. "I'm staying too."
"Great. They're leaving the useless junk here. And I'm a part of it." Kokichi grumbled. "I'm guessing it's you and me again Kii-boy."
"Actually, I'm going." Kiibo said, pointing to his name on the list. "I can be helpful."
"Fantastic!" Kokichi threw his hands up.
Kaito scanned the list quickly. At the bottom of the individual list of orders, each person had been assigned either "leave" or "stay." Kaito naturally would be leaving.
"Hey, I'm joining the useless junk club!" Tsmugi said, shrugging.
"Yay!" Angie cheered. "This will be fun!" Kokichi looked miserable.
So Maki, Rantaro, Kirumi, Tenko, Gonta, Rantaro, Shuichi, Kiibo, Miu and Kaito would be going, while Kokichi, Angie, Kiyo, Kaede, Himiko and Tsmugi stayed. It was a reasonable divide. Kaito was happy to keep as many people out of danger as possible.
"Someone has to babysit Blinky!" Gonta said suddenly. "Is very important!"
Kokichi groaned dramatically. Angie however, became even more delighted. "I will paint his shell!"
"Ok, everyone happy?" Kaito asked.
Kokichi glared at him. "Obviously not!"
Angie poked Kiyo in the shoulder, who hadn't moved. "I think he is dying." Kiyo was ghost white, eyes darting back and forth. He appeared to be thinking and panicking internally at the same time. Kaito could sympathize.
"Helloooo!" Angie waved her hand in front of his face. "There is nobody home, hm?"
"Gonta will get Blinky's things ready." Gonta said. He turned to Tsmugi. "Gonta have important mission for you. Blinky need nice blanket. He make one out of Gonta's shirt, but it not warm enough. Can Gonta trust you with this?"
"Uh, yeah! One bug blanket, coming up!" Tsmugi said.
"Himiko, are you sure you're gonna be ok on your own?" Tenko asked worriedly.
"Nyeh? But I'm not going to be alone."
"I hate everything! I hate everyone here! I hate space! I hate bugs! I hate the government! I hate spaceships!" Kokichi complained.
"EVERYONE CHILL!" Kaito yelled. "Uh, sorry, but we gotta stay focused. Everyone grab your stuff, suit up and get ready. Rantaro, you supervise that. Everyone who's staying here, uh...yeah you're ground crew now! Kaede, you're queen of the ground crew, go get everyone organized." Kaito said. That was some good leadership. He was nailing it. "Me and Kiibo gotta go do something."
Kiibo nodded. "Don't worry. It won't slow us down. I don't require a suit."
"Hey, so are you technically naked or something? All the time?" Kokichi asked.
"I-Huh?! No! I'm not-Why would you even-"
"Kokichi, go." Kaito sighed.
Kokichi scowled. "I hate ground crew. I hate astronauts. I hate robots." he slunk off in the direction of the rest of the ground crew.
"That's robophobic." Kiibo said softly.
Kaito clapped him on the shoulder, ignoring the metallic clang that sounded. "Ignore him, we got super cool secret stuff to do!"
"We're just going to a server room." Kiibo said. "It's nothing fancy."
"Well...I wanna make it fancy." Kaito said.
"That seems like a waste of effort. You'd just be disappointed."
"You know what, forget it." Kaito sighed. "Let's just go."
The server room housed the core of all technological additions to the ship. The amount of data being processed here maxed out at a number that was higher than Kaito could count. It was small, only the size of a closet, but it was still impressive.
"For the record, I'm not disappointed. I feel like a spy." Kaito said. "I've never really gone in server rooms before."
"That's because the training programs for server based jobs have been cut." Kiibo said. "Ideally everything will be machine run..." he trailed off. "But that's not a bad thing! I'm sure the machines will be friendly! Like me! I'm friendly! I think..."
Kaito laughed. "Yeah, you're awesome dude."
Kiibo pressed a panel on his arm, which retracted revealing a myriad of machine parts Kaito could never hope to understand. "Woah."
"Oh! Sorry, does that freak you out?" Kiibo asked, covering the open panel with his other hand.
"No way! That's awesome!" Kaito said. "Can I touch it?"
"Um..."
"Ok, that's a no then. My bad." Kaito laughed.
Kiibo plugged a wire from a server machine into his arm. "Sorry, this will take a minute."
"So what are you doing?" Kaito asked.
"Downloading some additional information stored." Kiibo said. His eyes were closed. "It was stored here before the launch. I was given orders to retrieve it at certain interviews. Ah, sorry! Intervals. Sorry, it's hard to have conversations while progressing, I mean processing!"
"You're good." Kaito said, leaning against a machine and shutting up. Computers and AI had always been some of his favorite topics to read about. He'd never thought that he'd meet a fully functioning robot. The human aspects of Kiibo astounded him.
"Ok, sorry, that took fourteen seconds longer than I thought." Kiibo said, unplugging the wire and closing the panel.
"You're good. So what did you learn?"
"I can't say." Kiibo said. "I can only reveal the instructions at the right time."
"Come on." Kaito teased. "You can trust me."
"My programming prevents me from going against orders." Kiibo said seriously. That drove a thought into Kaito's head like a spike.
Kiibo could easily be the traitor. He could be programmed to be the traitor. Shit.
Kaito shoved his hands in his pockets. "Alright, I'll wait then." He said, forcing another easy smile on his face. "Now what?"
"You should go suit up." Kiibo said. "We have twelve minutes remaining until our departure time."
"Ok." Kaito said. "But first I wanna swing by the ground crew room to make sure it hasn't exploded or something."
The ground control room had not exploded. Angie, Himiko, Kaede and Tsmugi were sitting in the middle of the room chatting. Blinky sat nearby, happily receiving attention from all four. Kaito noticed that Tsmugi had fabric for a blanket in her hands.
Kokichi had set himself up in a corner, still looking grumpy. He was angrily pressing keys on his datapad. When Kaito glanced over his shoulder, he saw it was a list titled "Things I hate" It was getting to be a long list.
"How are we looking in here?" Kaito asked, looking around. Kiyo had been pacing back and forth. "Hey, you got that profile done yet?"
"No!" Kiyo snapped. "It's impossible, I can't." he brought his hands up to his hair and pulled hard.
"Woah hey! Don't do that!" Kaito said, grabbing his hand. "Uh, sorry, physical contact." he said apologetically. "Look, I'm sure whatever you have is fine."
"It's all purely hypothetical." Korekiyo argued. He seemed too stressed to acknowledge Kaito grabbing him. "I can't conclude anything. It's all guesses."
"Well, what can I do to help?" Kaito asked.
"You? You hardly posses the skills, mentality or patience to do this kind of work." Kiyo said incredulously.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm an idiot." Kaito grumbled. "But what can I do to help out?"
"Oh, I didn't mean that you were an idiot. I meant that, never mind, never mind, you can't do anything. My failures confirmed that."
"Is everything alright?" Kirumi asked, knocking on the doorframe. "I was sent to look for you, Kaito."
"Shit, yeah, sorry." Kaito said.
"We have seven minutes." Kirumi added.
Kaito felt Kiyo jerk his hand towards his head, but Kaito held firm. "Come on, hey, it's ok. You gotta have something, right?"
"No. I'd have to see it for myself I'd have to..." Kaito felt him relax slightly. "I have to be there. Let me go with you."
"What?!" Kaito asked. "Why?!"
"I assure you, if I can gather data for myself, I can decipher their entire civilization." Kiyo said. "I have to see it. You have to let me see it. An entire race that shadows the human one, or do we shadow them? I need to see it Kaito."
"Ok, ok, uh, I think we could?" Kaito asked. "Jeez, I don't know." his elation at the lack of personal contact from the woman was fading. He was helpless without their instructions.
"I will trade places with you, if that is what you wish." Kirumi said. "I can remain here and takes notes as you would. I cannot promise they will be to your standards-"
"Excellent, perfect." Korekiyo's eyes lit up. "It doesn't matter, I'll be there in person. Just keep Angie on track."
"Is this a good idea?" Kiibo asked quietly. "I don't want to go against orders."
"I think it's ok." Kaito answered.
"How do you know?"
"A gut feeling." Kaito grinned. "This is the right choice."
"What?! You're basing this off of a gut feeling?" Kiibo asked. "I've run the statistics, and switching Kirumi out for Kiyo leaves us at a physical disadvantage...but if Kiyo could actually get the complete profile we'd gain a huge intellectual advantage which we could use to gain further advantages...Ohhhhh."
"You're a robot, how did you not realize that before me?" Kaito asked.
"Oh, um, I don't always think to look outside my programming." Kiibo said sheepishly.
That gave Kaito a cold feeling. Kiibo could be the traitor without even knowing.
"There you are!" Tenko exclaimed. "Hey! What's he doing here?!" She glared at Kiyo accusingly.
"Change of plans." Kaito said, fumbling with his gear. "We need Kiyo in the field with us. Kirumi's gonna hold down the fort here."
"So we traded in Kirumi for a degenerate male?!" Tenko protested. "What can he do that she can't?"
"Crack open alien secrets like a nut." Kaito said, clapping Kiyo on the shoulder, who flinched in response.
"Yes, something to that degree." he sighed.
"Ok. I trust Kaito's judgement." Maki said.
"Gonta will protect him!" Gonta said cheerfully. "No one will hurt friends if Gonta is around!"
"Alright then, let's get started. So, anyone have an idea of what we do now?"
"We board the shuttles and travel to a predetermined drop site on the alpha cluster." Kiibo responded automatically.
"Woah. You're like a gps." Kaito said.
"The fuck's an alpha cluster?" Miu asked, crossing her arms.
"The largest collection of rocks." Kiibo said. "And I'm not a gps! I can do so much more!"
"Alright. Who's driving?" Rantaro asked.
"ME!" Miu blurted. "And it's gonna go better this time."
"Maki and Miu are with me." Tenko said, grabbing the arms of the two females. "The rest of you degenerates can figure it out."
"I think we should have five in each shuttle. Balance it out." Shuichi said quietly.
"If it helps, I technically don't have a sex or gender. You're welcome to view me as a female if it makes you more comfortable." Kiibo offered.
Tenko's face reddened. "Uh, yeah, I'd like that."
"Awww." Rantaro said quietly. Kaito only felt sick. Could Kiibo really be the traitor? He seemed so pure."
"Well, which one of us is the most girly?" Ryoma joked. Kaito turned towards Kiyo.
The anthropologist raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Oh. You were joking." Kaito said awkwardly. "My bad."
"Eh. He'll work." Tenko said, crossing her arms. "Now let's get this space party started!"
Kaito looked over his shoulder at Rantaro, Ryoma, Shuichi and Gonta. "Should I get worried about the whole degenerate male thing?"
"What does degenerate mean?" Gonta asked. He was hunched over in the shuttle.
"She probably has a reason for it." Shuichi said. "I don't wanna push her."
"It might make teamwork harder though." Rantaro said. "I'd offer to talk to her, but I'm a degenerate male."
"I'll get Kaede to do it." Kaito said. "So none of us end up dead."
"Tenko is friend! Gonta not want to hurt friend." Gonta said.
"You might just be the sweetest person on the planet big guy." Ryoma said.
"But we not on planet. We in space." Gonta said, pointing out the shuttle window.
"In the galaxy then." Ryoma said.
"So, you guys ready to see some aliens?" Kaito asked.
"No." Rantaro said darkly. "But they'll be wishing they never saw me."
"Damn! That's aggressive!" Kaito said.
"Too much? Sorry." Rantaro laughed.
"It's ok if you really feel that way." Shuichi spoke up.
"Beg your pardon?" Rantaro asked, turning to face him.
Shuichi's face reddened. "Sorry! Um, that's an act. The laughing things off. You have some pretty strong feelings about all this, and um, you act like you're not bothered by it. I'm sorry."
"Damn, you've got me figured out too, huh?" Rantaro said. "Don't apologize. You gotta stand up for what you know as fact."
Shuichi kept his eyes on the ground.
"Hey, I'm not gonna attack you or anything." Rantaro said. "You're perfectly safe with me. Practice speaking your mind."
"Yeah bro! You got good things to say." Kaito added.
Shuichi's face reddened. "Thank you guys."
"No problem." Ryoma said. "And Rantaro, don't laugh it off. You don't have to."
Rantaro shrugged. "I'd rather worry about you guys than worry about me."
"Then Gonta will worry about you for you." Gonta said seriously. He squinted his eyes. "Gonta is worrying really hard right now."
"Aw stop." Rantaro said, shaking his head, smiling.
Kaito grinned. He was going to keep the mood light. "Who wants to sing a song!"
"No way." Ryoma said.
"Gonta will sing song with you." Gonta said excitedly.
"Great! The wheels on the bus go round and round-"
"But we are not on bus."
"Ok...The wheels on the space shuttle go round and ro-
"But shuttle no have wheels."
"Gonta, you're killing me man!" Kaito protested. "Fine. We'll sing a space song. Uh...Twinkle twinkle little star."
"How I wonder what you are." Gonta and Rantaro joined in on the next verse.
"Up above the world so high." Shuichi joined too.
"Yeah! Come on Ryoma!" Kaito cheered.
"No."
"Ryoma!"
"I said no dammit."
"RYOMA YOU'RE GONNA SING OR I'M TURNING THIS SHUTTLE AROUND!" Kaito yelled.
"Jesus, ok, don't hurt yourself." Ryoma said. He joined in at the last verse.
"That's what I'm talking about! Ok, again! All together!"
"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are." the crew chorused. Kaito could pick out Ryoma's deep bass voice easily. Gonta sang the loudest while Shuichi sang the quietest. Rantaro's voice wasn't bad at all.
"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky."
"Oh yeah! Feel it! Feel the music!" Kaito cheered.
"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are."
"One more time! Bring us home!" Kaito whooped.
"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky."
"Ok, ok, big finale." Kaito said, turning around in his seat to conduct with his hands. "Ryoma, stay where you are on base. Everyone else, you're tenor. I'm gonna go for soprano." Kaito said, waving his hands in time with the song. "Twinkle twinkle little star, ok, here we go, how I wonder what you AAAAAAAAARE!" Kaito screeched.
It was possibly the most ungodly sound known to human kind. The five were reduced to laughter.
"Wow, that was great guys." Kokichi said drily, applauding.
Kaito jumped. "Oh hey, sup?"
"Nice singing guys." Kaede laughed.
"Thank you." Gonta said cheerfully.
"Ok! You're almost there! You will land in that crater there! Atua loved the singing." Angie added.
"We never speak of this again." Ryoma grumbled.
"Did you see that? How was that for a mother fucking perfect landing!" Miu crowed. "You all can kiss my fucking ass."
"Good job Miu, nice landing." Rantaro said. Miu practically glowed.
"If singing is a requirement for riding with you, I'm never getting in another shuttle with you ever again." Maki said. Kaito jumped. He hadn't heard her approach.
"Aw come on! It's loads of fun-Wait, you guys heard that too?"
"I thought it was the scream of a pregnant alien." Miu said, rolling her eyes. "Don't join a choir Kaito."
Kaito laughed. "Are you sure? I think we sounded pretty good."
"Let's continue this discussion about your musical careers later." Kirumi spoke up.
"Yeah, ok." Kaito said, looking around. "Uh...Kiibo tell me what to do."
"ME?" Kiibo spluttered. "I'm not sure!"
"What?! You said you downloaded instructions!"
"I should make popcorn." Kaito heard Kokichi say.
"Ok, ok." Kaito said. "Well. I assume we head towards the biggest creepy building."
"Wow, great idea!" Kokichi said sarcastically.
"Well I'm going." Kaito said.
"There is a side entrance about fourteen kilometers ahead of us." Kiibo spoke up. "That's the best entry point."
"See? Called it." Kaito grinned. "Let's roll."
It turned out walking fourteen kilometers took a while. The ground made it even more difficult, they were walking across a craggy, hole riddled terrain. At this point Kaito was more concerned about broken ankles than aliens.
"Woah, careful!" Kaito said, grabbing Shuichi by the arm before he could stumble.
"Sorry!" Shuichi said quickly.
"Yeah, you're good-hey guys! What's the hold up!?" Kaito turned around to see Kiyo crouching down over a hole while Gonta stood beside him.
"Gonta protecting friend!" Gonta called cheerfully, waving.
"Don't tell me you've never seen a hole before." Miu said, rolling her eyes.
Kiyo slowly trailed his fingers over the rim of a larger hole. "Do you know what this is?"
"A hole?" Tenko asked.
"No. Well, yes. But it's more." Kiyo's eyes had taken on a strange light. "They're evenly spaced. Some of them have smaller rocks placed in perfect rings around them. The larger holes have more decorations. Do you know what this means?"
"That you need to get out more?" Tenko asked.
"It's a graveyard." Kiyo said. "We're walking amongst their dead."
"OH GOD!" Tenko yelled, looking disgusted.
"Are you serious?!" Kaito asked.
"Mhm. It's too perfect to be natural. I assume the larger ones are for those who were high in their society."
"Why do you even know that?! You into dead things or something?" Miu snapped.
"Does insulting me take away your fear?" Korekiyo stood up. Kaito could have sworn he was smiling under his mask. "Are you superstitious? What's wrong Miu? Does the thought of walking atop slowly decaying alien bodies disturb you?"
"Jesus Christ! You're a fucking freak!" Miu yelled, looking more nervous than she had a minute ago.
"Of course, I can't be certain that there are actually bodies here."
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Miu wailed.
"It could just be a sort of memorial wall."
"Gonta think they eat their dead." Gonta said.
"WHAT?!" Miu was getting paler by the minute.
"Some bugs not pass up good source of food." Gonta shrugged.
"How fascinating. They sate their human urges by creating graves, but fulfill their insect urges by consuming their dead." Kiyo said. "There is a way to be sure. I think you could fit down one Ryoma."
"Hell no." the tennis pro quickly turned away.
"I think I've finally found a use for Kokichi." Kiyo continued.
"WHAT?!" Kokichi yelled.
"No one's going in the bug grave!" Kaito yelled. "Jesus, this is fucked. Why would they send us in through a cemetery?"
"What better place is there? Everywhere else is, forgive the pun, swarming with activity. No one comes here. Perhaps they fear the dead just as humans do." Kiyo said.
"Actually, I don't think they knew it was a cemetery." Kiibo spoke up. "They just noticed the lack of activity."
"Gonta would go down hole if Gonta could fit." Gonta said sadly.
"WHY DO YOU TWO WANT TO GO DOWN THERE?!" Tenko yelled.
"Because it cool." Gonta said.
"Think about it." Kiyo said softly. "Do they have souls? Could they be walking among us right now? It certainly feels different here."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up." Miu said, shaking her head.
"Have we disturbed any of the graves? I wonder what they would think if we did..."
"GOD DAMMIT SHUT UP!" Miu yelled.
Kaito heard Kiyo make a strange rasping noise. It seemed to be laughter. In this strange landscape Kiyo appeared to be more comfortable than he had ever been on the ship. Kaito had a feeling he was actually teasing Miu.
"Hey! Gonta think you could fit down this one!" Gonta said. He had found an even larger hole. It was ringed with strange white items.
"That isn't a grave. Oh!" Kiyo seemed to shiver with excitement. "This is fascinating."
"What is?" Rantaro asked.
"This is a monument. An idol. They have gods. And they must fear this one."
"What's on the ground?" Kaito asked.
"Pieces of exoskeleton." Gonta said, the scientific words rolling off his tongue easily. "Bug body parts."
"So they eat their dead, and rip off body parts to make offerings?!" Tenko yelled.
"Blood sacrifices are always preferable." Kiyo mused.
"TO WHO?"
"These parts hurt." Gonta said. "To take off. This wing fragment. This part of carapace."
"Ok, bringing those two was a great idea." Rantaro said, elbowing Kaito.
Kaito grinned. "What did I tell you? They both seem so happy. Which is weird, considering where we are...but it's nice."
Rantaro nodded. "You're a good leader. Not everyone would appreciate their team's individual interests like this."
"Well, I like everyone here." Kaito shrugged. "And I envy their braincells."
Rantaro laughed. "So Gonta's got brains and brawn huh?"
"Guess so." Kaito shook his head. "Jeez, Kiyo looks like a completely different person."
"I kinda like him." Rantaro said. "We talked a bit earlier. If we get outta here in one piece, he's gonna come with me on my next trip."
"I don't know whether to laugh or be afraid." Kaito said. "I think he was teasing Miu, but who knows." And then he looked up. "WOAH HEY!"
It seemed that Kaito couldn't take his eyes off the crew for a minute. Gonta was carefully lowering a blank faced Ryoma into a grave.
"HEY! PUT THAT CRIMINAL DOWN! DOWN AS IN NOT IN THE GRAVE!" Kaito yelled.
"He agreed." Gonta said.
"What the hell, huh? Might as well be the first man to walk through an alien grave." Ryoma shrugged.
"Oh come on-" Kiyo threw an arm out in front of Kaito, preventing him from moving forward. "Ouch!" Kaito said in surprise. Kiyo was stronger than he looked.
Maki stood off to the side, looking interested. "This has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever witnessed.
"Ok, I'm on the ground." Ryoma called up. "I think it's about twelve feet down?"
"Do you see any corpses?" Kiyo asked.
"No thank go-well. Kinda? I see the shell thingies."
"Exoskeleton!" Gonta said cheerfully.
"They're all cracked. It's like when you eat lobster and you pull the shell off."
"It seems you were correct Gonta. They must eat the flesh and bury the rest." Kiyo said.
"EW!" Tenko yelled.
"Woah." Ryoma said suddenly. "Guys, there's writing down here."
"What does it say?" Kaito asked.
"I can't read alien."
"Oh, right." Kaito smacked his forehead. "Uh, can you get a picture?"
"Yeah. Angie, you see this?" Ryoma asked.
"It is a story." Angie said. "The cute little symbols write out a story."
"They have folklore!" Kiyo said. "This keeps getting better."
"How is this better?" Tenko moaned.
"Oh shit." Ryoma said quietly. "Guys, I got some company down here."
"Ghost?" Gonta asked.
"Nope. He looks pretty solid."
And then they heard the screech.