Rice's bakery

When you spend your whole life living aboard a starship, your world is somehow both limited to the ship's chambers yet goes far beyond your comprehension. After reaching my 57th core rotation aboard the Star Glider Cosmos 7, it was time for me to set out and choose my name. With my rations and gear packed I headed out to the shuttle deck to meet my long time crew and family waiting to give me their goodbyes.

"I can't believe you're heading out so soon, Sci." Mitz exclaimed as I came on to the deck "There's no way it's been 57 core rotations"
"I know it seems like only yesterday you came back from your name search" I replied smiling fondly at him.
"Wow that was like 21core rotations since then" Mitz gave a soft chuckle." Be careful out there, ok?"

"I will." Mitz wrapped his arms around me giving a parting hug.

"You know if you name yourself Flinnik, you won't have to go" He joked.

"Mitz, I'm not naming myself Flinnik" a bittersweet laugh escaped my mouth.

"I know, I'm just going to miss you." Mitz broke away as Jun walked over to us.

" Star Sci, good luck on your name search" Jun came over with their arms open reaching in to give an embrace. Their tail wrapped around me in affection.

"Jun, you're crushing me" I wheezed out a laugh before they uncoiled from me.

"I got you something that will help on your journey" Jun took a small box out from their pocket and opened it to show me a fat squirming worm covered in a blue fluff.

"Thanks, Jun" I smiled at their gift "What is it?"

"It's a qouble worm, you lick this little guy and it'll form a psychic link with you." Jun explained excitedly "It'll help you translate languages."

"So do I lick it now or do I lick it later?" I took the box from them and looked down at the worm unsure of what to do with it.

"Best to do it later." Jun patted my shoulder.

"Gotcha." I nodded, putting the box into my pocket.

"Oh before you go, if you come across any Hytoth Devotees on your travels, don't be afraid to ask them for help, you know we don't mind giving out a hand."

"Damn it, Jun. Can you not bring up your blood cult on the kid's last day" Zaru interrupted the conversation as he entered the deck.

"I'm just giving them advice, encase they need some help" Jun defended themself "After all, not only is Sci the youngest but they're also the smallest out of all of us"

"You're right, they're barely a head shorter than Mitz." Zaru looked over at me "Think you'll get any taller while you're away?" He teased.

"Doubt it, pretty sure I finished up metamorphosis around 9 core rotations ago." I rolled my eyes at his jest. "Though I might find you a sense of humor while I'm out."

Zaru laughed, his tail swished about.
"God I'm going to miss that from you, Sci, but it will be much quieter while you're out"

"Don't get too used to it." I grinned up at him. "Have you seen Tsuhara around?"

"Yeah, I saw her putting some stuff in your shuttle" Zaru pointed to the left side of the deck, where my shuttle was stationed.

"Thanks Zaru." I gave him a hug before heading over to talk to Tsuhara.

I walked down the deck to go see Tsuhara, a heavy lump forming in my chest as I reached my shuttle.

"Tsuhara are you over here?" I called over to her.

"Yes, I'm just adding some things into your shuttle" she answered stepping out from the craft. "All packed up, Star Sci?"

"Yeah, I'm packed up." I smiled holding up my packs."I should probably load them in now."

"Hold on and cover your eyes, I have a surprise for you in the shuttle" Tsuhara stopped me from going into the shuttle.

I brought my hands to my eyes covering them up. "Got them covered!" I chimed as Tsuhara went to open the door.
"Don't peak." Tsuhara instructed before opening the door. "Ok, open!"

I uncovered my eyes to see the inside of the shuttle decorated with synthetic flowers. I was dazzled by the light blue they pulsated.
"Tsuhara…. They're beautiful…" I was at a lost for words "They're like the ones on Xianymph"

"I figured you'd like something to remind you of home when you're on your name search" Tsuhara smiled, her eyes tearing up.

"Tsuhara, don't cry." I went to comfort her. "I'll come back." My arms wrapped around her. "I won't be too long, I promise."

"I know… it's just that you've grown so much…" Tsuhara held back tears as she hugged me. "57 core rotations just went by so fast…."

Her arm wrapped around me tightly, as I held on back, the both of us reluctant to let go.
"Thank you Tsuhara, thank you for everything." I mumbled into her shoulder as I felt my cheeks become wet.

Tsuhara gave me a final squeeze before she let me go. “I have something else I want to give you, Star Sci” she reached into one of the shuttle’s compartments. “You were swaddled up in this when you were a larva.” She held up an orange piece of fabric.”I figured it would help you find what you need.”

I took the fabric from her hands examining the ruins embroidered on it, before stashing it away.
“ You were the smallest thing…” Tsuhara reminisced fondly on the memories that the cloth brought.
“I’m going to miss you alot Tsuhara”

We headed back to the rest of the group so I can give my final goodbyes to my crew, along with any final wishes for safe voyage. Jun even performed a spell that is supposed to provide protection and safe travel. After we gave our final farewells, I boarded the shuttle ready to set off to make my own identity.


One of the earliest memories I have of living on the Star Glider Cosmos 7 was my caregiver, Tsuhara, taking me up to the observation deck to see the wondrous galaxies that engulfed our comparably minuscule ship. She would hold me up in her arms and point to the constellations. Her voice was gentle as she recited each story behind them. Tsuhara had an excited glee when she would teach me about the different star systems going into detail about the planets and civilizations as I stared out in awe.


"Star Sci, you see that cluster over there?" Tsuhara's soft voice caught my attention as she pointed out to the stars ahead of us.
"Yeah, that little one?" I tried to pinpoint where she was gesturing out to.
"No, the blue one farther to the left of it" She gently guided me "Do you see it?"
I peered out at the blue spec, nodding once I found it.
"Yes I see it now" I nodded with my eyes fixed on the star.
"That there is the star Gaillou" her mouth twisted into a grin "It's the home to the planet Xainymph, that's where our starship came from."

"Really?!" My eyes widened as I leaned in closer to get a better look at that tiny blue star in the distance. "Did our ship really come from there?"

"Yes, along with me, Zaru, Jun, and Mitz" Tsuhara smiled looking out at the star with me "Xainymph is our home planet. It's a beautiful place filled with flowers, market places, festivals, and so much more!"
She went on to tell me as much as she could about her homeworld, filling my young imagination with longing to see the amazing planet my caregiver had come from.

"Do we get to go?!" My eyes looked up at her filled with hope and excitement to see Xainymph in all its glory.

"The ship is on course for its orbit" Tsuhara smiled down at me "We'll be able to take a shuttle down and look around on the surface, maybe even catch a festival."
"We really get to go?" I chirped up looking at Tsuhara in disbelief. Being only 15 core rotations old and never set foot onto a planet, the idea of going down onto Xainymph's surface was inconceivable and exciting.

"Yes, we really are going." Tsuhara reassured me "But you'll have to stay by me and you can not wander off."

"I won't, I promise!"
My mouth grew into a wide smile at the news of being able to go down to see Xainymph.
Though my moment of childish joy was soon interrupted by a simple question that came to mind as Tsuhara was setting me to rest in my hibernation pod.
"Hey, Tsuhara." I stalled her as she was about to close the pod door.

"Yes, Star Sci?" Tsuhara said in the patient tone she used when she knew I would try to stay up later.

"Did I come from Xainymph?" I asked.

Tsuhara clicked her teeth in hesitation, a habit she had whenever I'd try asking her stuff she couldn't or wouldn't be able to truthfully answer.

"It's rather late for me to tell you about that." She tried to dodge my question "I'll tell you about it some other time."

Hearing that answer filled me with disappointment at the lack of an answer.
"You promise? I won't hibernate if you don't promise."

"I promise."


Looking back Tsuhara only promised that to get me to go into my pod and to stop fussing. I tried asking her and the others of our crew later but they had always been hesitant about telling me about where I came from or brushed off my questions entirely. Of course, it didn't help my curiosity when I started to become aware of the physical differences between me and the rest of the crew. I would question the others on why my hands were different from theirs, pointing out my extra digits and wondering why I had a useless dewclaw and they didn't.
Then I would ask why I had a longer snout, why my auditory sensors didn't fold like theirs, why I had more colors in my eyes than them and why my eyes were so big, why I had random patches of trichobothria on me. Mitz would just tease me every time I mentioned these differences and jokingly tell me it's because I'm a flinnik. Jun would just tell me how useful they were with helping them fix the equipment around the ship and that my lack of tail made it easier for me to squeeze through spaces.
I annoyed the crew's medic, Zaru, the most with my questions. Any time I was hurt or wanted to ask something I would head down to the medical bay for his help. Most of the time he'd tell me why I might have gotten my appearance and the speculatory evolution behind my appearance. Other times he would just tell me to go away and send me out of the medical bay. I'm surprised he never sent me out of the airlock.


I remember being around 30 core rotations when I was running down to the medical bay eager to get answers for my existence.
"Zaru?" I called out as I walked into the medical bay, hoping to find him.
"Zaru are you in here? I need to ask you something!"
I could hear him give out a sigh from behind his desk where he had been napping.
"What is it?" Zaru answered as he groggily stretched. I remember feeling timid when his dark eyes looked sharply at me as I stepped closer to the desk.
"Why am I uglier than everyone else?" My question came out in a timid mumble.
Zaru looked down at me as he tried to process what I had asked him.
"I'm sorry what?"

"Why am I uglier than everyone else?" I repeated.

"We already have been through why you have those traits, Sci." He said tiredly. "I can give you another biology lesson tomorrow, but I'm busy right now."

"No, I mean why do I have these traits, but no one else from Xainymph, or like the other races from the other planets in the Giolo Quadrant we been to." I restarted my question " So I am just weirdly deformed, or something else"

Zaru gave a long sigh "Damn it Tsuhara, leaving me to deal with this shit" he swore under his breath.
"Kid, you're not deformed, just something different."

"But what, Zaru?" I replied "What exactly am I?"
I remember him taking a long moment to think before he spoke.

" Your kind is not from Giolo Quadrant, Sci" He gave me part of the truth. "That's all I'm going to tell you."
I took a second to think about the bit of information I was given. It made sense that I didn't come from the same planet, but it just left me wanting to know more.

"Zaru, where are my kind?" The question slipped out on its own.

"I'm sorry kid, I'm not going to tell you more, I shouldn't have told you that without asking Tsuhara." He replied as he got up from his seat to guide me out. "So if you want to know more about your kind, asked her."

"You know Tsuhara won't answer." I refused to budge.

"Kid, I won't answer anything else." His voice was stern as he tried to guide me out the door but I slipped away.
In that moment I felt the years of built up frustration turn into a rush of anger.

"Why Not?! Why do all of you never tell me anything about where I came from, or what the hell I
even am?!" I shouted at him.

" Sci, calm down." Zaru said firmly as his ears flared up sensing my growing hostility.

"No, Zaru!" I stood there, my face turning warm. "I want to know! You can't keep hiding this from me!"

"Sci No! Tsuhara says you're not old enough." His voice was raised as his patience was running low.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License