Bestial Planet

Chapter 8: Regroup and Reassess

They sped the rest of the way, hopping along the curiously calm ocean with the soundtrack of the sea and the hum of the engines in Yora's ears. When they got within sight of the docks, Yora blew his horn and barely made out the reply beep from Lancieta.

"Finally." He said. "Land ahoy!"

After a few more minutes they drifted up to the dock. Yora walked towards the crane and pulled the Flying Fish aboard. It had been hanging off the side of the ship the entire time. He silently thanks the counter balance. As he examined it Lancieta climbed up the rope ladder.

"Well that took forever. What, did you do decide to hunt Dick the Whale?"

She looked around the deck of the ship which was covered in slime and ocean plants.

"I'm guessing it got away, huh?"

Yora stood up from the side of the Flying Fish.

"Not Moby but I'd say 3 of his closest friends, Hungry, Hungrier and Hungriest. Arrr, Tould can yah bring them images on-screen?"

Lancieta looked at Yora as though he'd lost his mind. He noticed her stare on his way to the laptop.

"Oh right, one moment lass. You'll see fer yaself."

After about 2 minutes Yora wrote a simple program. He then grabbed 5 wires he had soldered into the laptop, clicked them into his fingers and after a few rhythmic flashes from the wires, a face appeared on the laptop.

"Why hello captain Steegle. I hope I wasn't missed too much while on my forced leave. How has everyone been?"

Lancieta's face twisted into the definition of confusion. "ANOTHER ONE?"

"What's wrong captain, I can see signs of distress on your face." Tould was utilizing the high definition webcam Yora had installed to look at them.

"Tould, you're not going to believe this... or maybe you might."

Lancieta filled him in on what had been going on since this version of himself had propogated. Yora chimed in every now and again to try and put across the idea that Lancieta had become a little crazy because she was taking care of an unconscious Human panther. Sentiments which Lancieta answered with a light slap to the back of his head. When they were done, Tould's computerized face, showed he was calculating for a little bit.

"So would I be correct in saying that the planet was affected by the virus, as-well-as its inhabitants and a new type of 'plant' seems to have formed to keep them alive while they sleep? This is truly an amazing world."

"In a nut shell yeah. On a different note, for a second, let me ask you something. Judging from your personality changes, were you the second attempt Tould Prime made to download himself to the correct section?"

"This would be a correct assumption Captain, I have one failed attempt logged."

Not really caring if there were 15 Tould's Yora walked over to The Flying Fish and continued to scan it. While trying to escape the giant sea beasts it had gotten knocked about and was damaged from the swiping attempt of the Giant Christmas-tree squid. He decided that upgrades were in order, barely noticing Lancieta and Tould talking in the background.

"Well the second attempt Tould Prime made, as far as he's been able to recall until now, resulted in a partial success and your personality split again resulting in the creation of Vould. But there's a significant portion of your memory missing. So we don't really know what happened."

Tould had a contemplative look on his face.

"I think I understand, and it lines up with my own memory issues. But how did the third come to be known as Vould?"