Bundle of Fireworks
"Hey, happy anniversary!
You really thought I forgot?
Ah, I thought I was the dumb one in our relationship. C'mon T, of course not! Well, I wasn't going to let a little alien death planet ruin our night. Right? Shh, just watch. Just watch. It's okay. Just watch. You'll love it - you really will. Then we can go home.
You can keep your eyes closed. Just listen. Ah - here it comes!
Bustling Fungus
//--AUTO-TRANSCRIPTION FROM UES [Redacted] --//
“You have a problem.”
“What? How? These are good for me, they…”
“Yeah, they help promote cell repair, carbon neutral, blah blah blah… I’ve heard that spiel a thousand times already. Whether they’re good for you or not, you can’t just have a diet consisting only of them. It’s basic dietary science!”
“So what?”
“So what? Eating only mushrooms isn’t healthy, just like eating only meat or vegetables isn’t healthy!
Captain
“A rescue mission?”
The old man leaned forward, scanning the document slid over his desk. His eyes paused on a collection of words near the bottom: UES Contact Light.
“Yes.”
He continued to read the document. The Safe Travels? For a rescue mission? As one of the few surviving captains of the old colony ships, he knew all the designations by memory – and the Safe Travels was not a rescue ship.
Cautious Slug
“One of the most crucial things to remember about having an animal companion is that your relationship is built on trust. Though humans are perceptive, we tend to be blinded by what we see – and we ignore the dangers that lurk beyond our vision. Animals, and other xenobiology, can sense things we can’t. So always remember: if your companion warns you of danger in the dark, you had better well listen.
Ceremonial Dagger
The smell of sulfur fills the air.
"Oh god, they're so close. They have Hitchcock. Oh god."
"Grab the - the dagger. From my backpack. Quick."
"I-I don't... I got it. What the hell? This isn't gonna work, Marion. What the hell am I supposed to do with this against those...? They blew him into pieces - oh god."
"You have to... you have to kill me - ah! Kill me.
Charged Perforator
Lab Dissection Analysis File
Subject: Charged Perforator
Technician: Dema "Dembones" Brown
Table Spec: GEC-4
Notes:
> Using GEC-4 due to electricity above safe levels.
> Removing charged enamel and placing aside for substance analysis. It’s solid, yet swimming.
> Upon structural investigation, found cavities and internal batteries
> Reduce lab electricity by 10 kilowatts
> Electron generating veins present - charge is being supplied to the tooth?
> Removed my lab coat, very staticky
> Electron generation is still occurring in the severed object
> Put some more ice in my drink WOW it's electric
> Timestamping for dance break
Chronobauble
Order: Chronobauble
Tracking Number: 99******
Estimated Delivery: 03/03/2066
Shipping Method: Priority
Shipping Address: 9042 Pvt. Drive, Yustik Plaza, Mercury
Shipping Details:
Weren't you just a kid? Summer break feels like it was just so recent - but it's been 10 years, hasn't it? Life moves faster and faster as you get older - less moments to remember, to cement you in time. I don't even remember being 25. How did I forget an entire year?
Clay Apothecary
"The Tar's history is unimportant. What well or crevice it first flowed from doesn't matter; only that the Tar flows.
And so it did. Through its vessels the Tar spread, consuming its homeworld entirely. But the Tar still hungered.
Riding down on a falling star, the Tar spread to the unsuspecting world of Aphelia.
The Tar offered its power to the dunepeople, promising them energy and sustenance. The dunepeople, hungry and battered from life in the harsh desert, accepted.
Clay Dunestrider
$ Transcribing audio... done.
$ Resolving... done.
$ Outputting text strings... done.
Complete!
<Click> There are no landmarks in site. I am surrounded by infinite desert. <Click>
<Click> I’ve run out of rations… and no one is responding to my transponder. I may be doomed if I don’t find a way out of these dunes. <Click>
<Click> I see something in the distance… some large creature. I may be in luck yet.
Clay Templar
Ducking behind a boulder, the survivor’s stomach sank as he heard the sounds of tar sloshing up the hill. From the sound of it, the Templar wasn’t alone – it had company.
He had left his shelter to scrounge for supplies – not that there was much to find in the desert – when he was assaulted by a new kind of monster. Resembling a man, the creature stood around seven to eight feet tall, with skin made of tar and elaborate accessories of clay decorating its body.