Ever since his mother took him on board of the Pioneer, the young boy Mi'oki has strolled around the ship, getting to know its crew. He was in awe of the sheer diversity of creatures that surrounded him, and it slowly made him realise he was the alien among them instead of the other way around. But despite that, people did treat him politely, even more so than his peers at home once the news broke out his uncle was a terrorist. The crew certainly didn't make him feel alone, some were even passionate to share what their work involved. But every once in a while, he'd come across someone who was even stranger than the others on the ship...

One of these days, he was running through the corridors of the ship, when he blindly ran into someone, but the impact felt much harder than usual. Almost like he had hit one of the metal walls. He fell over on the ground, hurt from the impact.
"Ooooow!" he moaned.
"Goodness, are you alright?" he heard a soft, feminine voice say. He looked up and saw a pink reptilian face staring at him, one he had seen before, and purple blushes appeared on his face.
"Doctor? Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to -"
"Shhh... let me see," she pulled a scanner out of her pocket, and scanned the boy for injuries. "Hmmmm... maybe just a few bruises, but nothing permanent."
"But it hurts. Your body felt so hard!"
The doctor kneeled down to the kid's eye level, and showed her hand to him.
"It's not an illusion. Here, feel it."
The boy touched her hand, and found although the surface was soft to the touch, underneath it was as solid as a rock. Not only that, but it didn't feel warm either.
"Are you a metal lady?" he asked, shocked about the realisation.
"Not quite. Here, let me show you."
She stood up and reached for her neck, and started to pull. Her neck lengthened, and lengthened, and it seemed like it didn't end. Her neck became like a rope that she pulled out from her torso, until it started to get thinner, until a tip of a tail came out. A tail? But the doctor's tail is at the -
He suddenly saw that the doctor's tail had also gone, leaving a hole at her back as well. But in her arms laid a long, noodly figure, with the doctor's head on one end facing him. His jaw dropped: he had never seen such a limbless creature ever before. He had so many questions about it. How do such beings even survive without arms or legs? How do they even move around? It was all so strange.
"Tadaa! This is the real me," she said to him. "And? How do you like it?"
"It's ... amazing!" was all Mi'oki could muster.

__________________________

Suzanne deserves some love. The Pioneer's snake doctor reveals her true form here, though she generally doesn't show it that often. She prefers to stay in her warm suit, as it helps her to be as able bodied as a biped is, and to perform her job as a doctor. Sometimes she seems to forget that the suit isn't originally part of her body. But in any case, pulling herself out of the suit is always a neat party trick!

Happy Snektember!

Illustrated by  cervelet
Colourised by  mandelsoft