Error. Error. Error. Error.

Nomi woke up to the monotonic droning of his ship’s navigation computer. What . . . happened?

“Ugghh …”

Memories flashed through his head as the mental fog around him slowly cleared: Engine failure. Alarms. Heat. Frantically trying to control the ship. Impact. Being knocked against the wall . . .

Error. Error. Error.

Nomi looked down at his body. Ribbons of blood streaked across his skin, a deep, swelling ache rising from his temple. He could feel a trickle of blood oozing down between his eyes, dripping and mixing with the bloody puddle below. His right leg was visibly broken, a thick, dark bruise visible even beneath the feathers. Despite the injuries, he didn’t feel too much pain - his head was far too groggy to respond to his nerves’ desperate signals.

To try and distract himself from the steadily increasing aching sensation in his brain, Nomi swiveled his head, surveying his ship. It failed to paint a more reassuring picture.

Everything was in shambles.

The first thing Nomi noticed was the heat. He could feel it radiating thickly over his feathers, nearly searing his skin - the rear of the ship was entirely engulfed in roaring flames. Electrical sparks danced across the floor as fluid leaked from multiple broken pipes.

This wasn’t good - Avalis don’t do well with heat. In fact, it was downright deadly.

Error. Error. Error.

Suddenly, the AI implanted in his ship flickered to life, the main computer screen powering on in a burst of static.

Error. Abnormal heat levels detected. Atmosphere deemed unsuitable for habitation. Awaiting request to initiate emergency survival protocol Delta.

The avail let out a weak groan, weakly moving one of his arms. One of his legs was broken from the crash - he couldn’t walk, let alone crawl far enough away to escape the raging fire before it consumed the entire ship. Even if he did, he would have to deal with the scorching temperatures of this planet’s surface, heated to over 2000 degrees fahrenheit by the power of two massive stars situated too close for comfort. At least, that’s what the monitor had told him before he crashed. It was enough to kill the avali in mere minutes, boiling his blood and spending his last few seconds in unspeakable pain. Even now, without the pressurized atmospheric control system shielding him from the broiling heat, he could already feel his body overheating. He wouldn’t last much longer.

Awaiting request to initiate emergency survival protocol Delta.

Nomi’s head swirled towards the cracked computer monitor. Survival protocol delta? He didn’t recall standard avali ships being equipped with an additional survival protocol.

Then he remembered that he wasn’t exactly flying a standard avali ship. Some scientific lab was selling one of their used cargo ships, and he bought it at double the usual price because they claimed it was chock-full of new, experimental space flight tech not yet available on the mainstream market. In particular, a new AI far more complex than mainstream models as well as revolutionary safety features “guaranteed to keep the pilot alive in even the most disastrous of scenarios”.

What an idiot he was! They'd probably just scammed him into buying a failed experiment that was ready to crash the second he flew it. That would explain the mysterious explosion that sent him spiraling towards this cursed planet in the first place . . . and he paid double the price! DOUBLE!!!

Awaiting request to initiate emergency survival protocol Delta.

Nomi did have to give the lab some credit, the onboard AI was indeed far more durable than standard models. It was still churning out the same message over and over again despite clear, substantial damage to the system mainframe.

Awaiting request to initiate emergency survival protocol Delta.

“Protocol Delta? . . .” Nomi snickered to himself. Probably one of their fancy-schmancy “safety features” they added. Fat lot of good any of that did him …

What could it even do to possibly save him? The ship was totaled. He was stranded on a remote, hot planet where he would die in minutes if he escaped the wreckage alive.

Nevertheless, he may as well humor the AI before the heat overwhelmed him entirely. He could feel the heat intensifying off his back, singing the feathers on his wings. What was there to loose?

“Activate protocol Delta.”

His voice shook with the effort it took to utter the words.

Delta survival protocol activated. Beginning system transfer and environment scan to access optimal adaptations. Process - - 0%

Nomi was surprised by the response. He’d assumed the AI was stuck in some kind of feedback loop, with zero capability for action. The mainframe was destroyed - how could it function at this level? Were the ship designers more intelligent than he thought?

His mental questioning was cut off, however, as a thick black goop began leaking out of the ceiling, dumping right onto his head. It had an almost rubberlike quality, sliding down over his feathers and dripping onto his muzzle. It also felt absolutely freezing - like liquid ice!

Nomi yelped in shock, shaking his head in an attempt to knock the stuff off with little success. The goo simply continued on a downwards journey, clogging his ears and rendering him deaf. He could feel the slimy liquid squirming through his ear holes, seeping through the tissue, flesh, and into his veins. It felt thick and heavy - but seemed to be absorbing the heat from his body. Yet, something didn’t feel right …

Nomi cried again as the goo spread down over his eyes, coating them in pure black and leaving him blind. More gooey, black fluid began leaking from nearly every crevice on the ship, all flooding towards him as if driven by a mind of its own. The avali struggled as a thick, black puddle formed under him, his legs smothered by advancing layers of rubbery soup. What was happening?!?

Conversion at 25%. Environmental scan complete. Beginning necessary adaptations.

Despite the goo clogging all four of his ears, Nomi heard the AI loud and clear. The confused avali squirmed and struggled the best his injured body could - which wasn’t much. The liquid bubbled around his fractured right leg, engulfing it with a shiny, inky black coat of liquid before digging into his feathery skin. The avali could feel the rubber penetrating the tissues inside his body, granting itself access into his interior through the many open wounds seared across his flesh. With a loud, disturbing CRACK, his broken leg jerked forwards with a jolt as the rubber reset the bone - and then dissolved it.

Nomi stopped struggling. His mind was ablaze with a flood of confusing, conflicting feelings attacking his mind. This felt wrong and painful, yet oddly pleasurable. He was dying - no, he was simply adapting.

The gooey liquid surged into Nomi's open mouth, covering his gums with liquid goo. His teeth and tongue were caked in latex, gradually morphed and mixed together until everything in the mouth was composed of the rubbery material.

The avali wove in and out of consciousness, panicked, frantic reflections of his life flashing through his mind. Was he dying? Was this the end? He felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if in a fever.

With a sudden shudder, one flash of insight stuck out among the stampede of fleeing thoughts. Nomi realized the odd sensations inside of him were the work of some sort of nanobots - with the way they were eating his insides, replacing them, and sustaining him in their stead, it seemed the only logical solution - plus, it was the answer popping in his brain every time he asked the question.

Was it him - or the AI influencing his thoughts?

Conversion at 50%. Beginning host storage capacity updates and data transfer.

Nomi couldn’t tell if he was hearing the computer monitor - or if the pounding message was relaying directly inside his head. He tried to yell, but all that came out was a weak, rubber-filled gurgle as the shiny black fluid drooled out of his mouth. He felt a sharp, nauseating pain in his head as the nanobot-filled slime reached his brain, the gooey tech transforming it into a supercomputer far more powerful than his biological brain could ever be. Endless terabytes of data flooded into his head - information about his ship. Himself. The AI. Scanners, calculators, and measuring systems.

Nomi clutched his head with his paws, the gooey liquid immediately latching on. Like a wave, it slid down his arms and over his wings, sending a shiver up what remained of the avali’s spine. His wing feathers were delicately glazed with a thin, crystalline layer of rubber, keeping them thin and aerodynamic.

The heat felt further away now, beyond the thick, protective layers of the oozing rubber. Combined with the lack of senses, Nomi could almost imagine being anywhere else - even, perhaps, back on his homeworld of avalon. It almost felt like he was floating.

Conversion at 85%. Beginning vital function shutdown and substitution.

Nomi gasped as every last drop of air suddenly drained from his lungs, leaving him breathless. He gagged desperately as his brain filled with the instinct to take in air. None was coming in.

Breathe!

BREATHE!!!!

The avail flailed in a blind panic as things began to go fuzzy. He could feel the rubber inside him working furiously - attaching, connecting, flowing, constructing. Something clicking on.

Suddenly, the blind fear dropped as quickly as it had begun, draining from his head like water from a bathtub. The rubber was artificially sedating his brain, releasing relaxants that forced a calm, content sensation to ripple throughout his entire body.

Conversion at 95%. Vital function shutdown and substitution successful. Engaging final preparations.








Nomi felt . . . strange.

He lay splayed on the floor of the spaceship, collapsed in a giant puddle of rubbery fluid. The body he inhabited felt completely foreign, yet at the same time it felt the same as it had his whole life. Nomi pressed down on his belly and felt the small, rubber-coated claw slide delicately across the smooth surface. He felt the rubber itself as if it was his own skin, every slight vibration and pressure difference was noticed and reacted to instinctively.

Not a single feather could be felt.

Suddenly, he could see the gray, broken ceiling of the spaceship above as his eyes and senses kicked into gear.

He could still feel an intense heat behind him as flames licked at the corner of his vision. However, he felt no pain from the warmth at all, not even a mild discomfort. In fact, the sensation was mildly . . . pleasurable.

Nomi stood up, in a mix of wonder and panic. The monitor stood silent now, with only a glowing red ERROR message blinking on the screen. The flames were more intense now, reaching the very spot he was standing in and even licking against his skin. However, it felt like little more than a pleasant tickle against his smooth, shiny rubber skin.

He was covered in a sleek, black glaze of glistening, glossy rubber. A red and yellow stripe ran nearly the entire length of his body; snaking around his legs, over his wings, around his ears and muzzle in perfect tandem. A thicker, zigzagging stripe lay across his flat, smooth tail, bordered by two thin red lines. His inner belly, underarms, hands, feet, and the lower half of his face were a dark gray, slightly lighter than the inky black that covered the rest of him. As much as his original form being entirely replaced stressed Nomi out, he had to admit that he liked the new design!

Despite feeling no pain from the heat, it was probably best to leave the stricken ship regardless-
The hull shuddered, sending various parts flying. The ceiling threatened to collapse any second, and Nomi didn’t feel like testing the limits of this new body . . . yet.

He bolted out of the ship through one of the giant, gaping holes in the hull, his speed surprising even himself. He managed to skid to a stop and turn around, just in time to see his spaceship collapsing in on itself with a thunderous bang.

Nomi felt his heart drop. It was heartbreaking to see his prized ship end this way - and so soon too! He stared silently at the wreck for thirty minutes, mourning the loss of his craft.

However, a sudden thought came to him as he was standing there -

He’d been standing there.

For thirty minutes. In fact, for thirty minutes, twenty-three seconds according to the display that spontaneously appeared by his right eye. H-how? When did that appear and . . .

And he wasn’t dead.

Despite having been outside for extensive time in the full heat of twin suns, he hadn't melted into a puddle of slag.

In fact, once again he didn’t feel pain - in fact, it felt . . . enjoyable, like a warm summer day. His rubber skin in particular seemed to relish in the heat, sending a pleasant tingle throughout his entire body. His body was used to this. The rubber adapted to this kind of environment.

It seemed that the nanobots adapted themselves to rely on heat-based thermal energy, converting the heat into energy sufficient to sustain me while simultaneously allowing myself to thrive in this hot environment.

The thought seemed to spontaneously pop into his head. Somehow, his brain had detected his curiosity, and in nanoseconds found the answer within the terabytes of information stored in his new, improved mental memory. Detailed graphs, charts, and pages filled with scientific information about the nanobots flooded his mind as the brain pulled up everything about them - but Nomi dismissed them for now. He could always get into complexities later.

For now, he wanted to explore the basics of his new body!

The first thing he analyzed was his own eyes, which now had an ingrained, advanced data display orientation. It was as if he was wearing the latest interactive tech visor - but this was built into his own irises.

Weather conditions, atmospheric info, danger readings and more were on display, on request. Nomi realized he could mentally ‘swipe’ the info on his eyes like a touchscreen tablet, swapping from one interface to another.

Temperature: 2013.56 degrees Kelvin. Wind: 13 mph east. Status: safe - all systems normal. No threats detected.

Nomi spent nearly an hour playing with the various information that could be brought before his eyes. His eye display and brain worked in tandem, the brain pulling up relevant information from his brain databases the second the corresponding eye-display showed up.

Hello.

With a sudden start, Nomi jolted upwards, nearly losing his balance. That voice . . . while it appeared inside his head, it wasn’t his. Someone else was here?

Despite the voice sounding in his head, somehow he could tell it came from behind him. He whipped around, coming face to face with the last thing he’d thought he’d see:

Another avali.

This one was white, with a golden mark lining the entire body in a similar fashion to Nomi’s. It was . . . beautiful.

Who are you? Nomi asked in his mind, instinctively knowing the other avali could hear it.

My name is Izzi. I am . . . was … the ship’s AI system. After helping you “adapt” to this new place through an experimental nanobot-based adaptation system, I used the remaining nanobots to construct this form for myself. I then found my way over to you, so here we are.

Nomi was a bit stunned, even his larger brain took a minute to process the completely unexpected event. Maybe . . . those scientists weren’t lying after all about the AI? It was far more advanced than anything he had ever seen before …

My primary purpose is to protect you at any cost, as well as provide as much assistance as I can. I am at your service.

Okay …

Nomi thought for a second. All things considered, having another avali around - especially one who happens to be an AI specifically created to protect him - was clearly a plus.

With the surprise settling into a numb curiosity, Nomi considered his options. His ship was little more than a tangled wreck at this point. However, despite it being a desert planet, would it be feasible to construct a spaceshi --

Analysis complete. It is possible to construct a spaceship with our available materials plus the planet’s natural resources. The planet has sufficient materials to create nanobots, which are capable of rebuilding the basic components of a spaceship. Life support systems and additional features cannot be replicated, but due to our new anatomies this will not be an issue.

Izzi’s firm voice rang through Nomi’s mind, along with dozens of abstract plans and ideas created in mere seconds.

We can also use the nanobots to create more rubber, which can be used to introduce more individuals to these superior bodies.

At first, that seemed like an odd statement … but as Nomi actually fed the idea into his brain, it seemed to just naturally make sense. Of COURSE others should be introduced to this … absolutely wonderful substance! After all, avalis were confined to cold planets without costly, imperfect special equipment. If he wasn’t … blessed with this new body, he would’ve died just like any other weak avali! Poor creatures. They needed saving! It was already so much better being all rubbery!

It was a beautiful idea. Just imagining a race of rubber-clad creatures able to adapt to any environment made his entire body erupt in a burst of tingly bliss. And besides, the way the wind brushed and squealed against his squeaky rubber skin . . . it felt like euphoria.

Using his optical interface, a quick scan of the planet’s geography located several large deposits of the ore he needed, just below the surface and accessible by cave. Perfect!

Communicating instantaneously, the two agreed on their assigned roles and set out to do their work - while Nomi went to collect the ore, Izzi focused on salvaging what they could from the ship and doing the actual construction.

As Nomi neared the entrance of the first cave, a gaping cavern below a massive mesa, he thought about his situation. About how he was so close to death - but this rubber miracle enabled him to survive. To thrive. To give this gift to others.

Just an hour before, Nomi thought that this was the end. But in reality, it was just the opposite:

It was the beginning.


A commission and story for  balloonpup, featuring the avali Nomi crash-landing his ship on a planet too hot for his liking!

The searing temperatures are deadly for the avali species, who typically thrive in below-freezing temperatrues.

Luckily, his ship's A.I. has a plan to save his life - by using an experimental rubbery nanotech system to help him rapidly adapt to the climate! And it succeeded, at the expense of a few interesting side effects ...

Posted using PostyBirb