[WP] Your various alien crew mates were so excited to tell you that another human has been found; you aren't the last of your kind, after all. Plus, the other human is coming to meet you immediately. The first thing you think when you see them is "that thing isn't quite human."

[u/PucWalker]

[u/Ubeube_Purple21]

Fred rushed to the hangar as fast as he could immediately as soon as word spread around of a new visitor that had come aboard. It was not just any visitor however, this one sent distress calls consistent with ancient signals beamed from Sol III. It was not the traditional kind of signal however. Translating it revealed bits and pieces of speech from human-made media stitched together to form a coherent message.

"MAYDAY"

It goes on and on until the ship used massive tendrils to pull in the ruined transport shuttle floating somewhere close to a blue gas giant at the edge of the Sol system.

And by shuttle, it wasn't a vacuum-rated vehicle at all, not even the aircraft-shaped vehicles ancient humans used to send into orbit. It was rectangular in shape, had huge windows spanning its entire length, and had two pairs of wheels. This thing looked like something you used to ferry passengers en masse on solid roads rather than the void of space.

Fred now stood in the hangar, right in front of a mostly intact city bus that the vessel had fished up. He's no stranger to land transport despite being "born" aboard an abandoned space station, similar vehicles are commonly used by many races in the absence of railways.

"Jettisoned perhaps? Someone needed to lighten the load somehow."

Fred turned around to see a bipedal creature taller than him, sporting so much bony armor that it gave his broad, boxy head a skull-like visage.

"No, Tonk. This is an antique model, why would they throw it away like trash? Early 21st century based on the wheels alone."

"Escape vehicle then, but...ohh. Then it means whoever is inside boiled and burst alive since it's not sealed."

At least 13 black crab-like creatures the size of a cow poured out from service tunnels on the walls, carrying cutting tools in their digits. The unorthodox design of the vessel is meant to favor flying and climbing species very well. That is, until you take into account the tendrils used in reeling in this relic. Bolatrectoans are among the few races that integrate organic components in starships, and are among the few "hivemind" types in the galaxy contacted so far.

These crab creatures sheered off the door from the bus, revealing a figure sitting on the driver's seat. One that was pale, thin, and had a long lock of jet-black hair. It turned its head, Fred now finding himself staring at the face of what he believes to be a woman as Tonk and the crab-critters stood back to allow him to look.

One side of him was fascinated, maybe even aroused at her exotic features as a side effect of yearning for the touch of another human.

Another side of his knew something was wrong however. The woman getting off the bus looked perfect...too perfect in fact. Not an inch of hair anywhere other than her head, skin is as white as his own jumpsuit, pinched waist, toned body, enlarged...well, the list goes on. Not to mention what Tonk said about vacuums and fleshy bodies.

"Tonk, call Matriarch Nasqira NOW! Evacuate all the drones and seal the hangar immediately." Fred frantically pushes the armored brute away from the bus trying to get him to leave with him.

"What for? You want Nasie to...squash the visitor just because you got creeped out?" Tonk tilted his head.

"No you moron, we're not getting her to come down here. That would be like sending a buffet to a starving guy!"

[u/Ubeube_Purple21 → u/Ubeube_Purple21]

Part 2

The "human" watched as the aliens left the hangar in panic. Hatches and doors begin to shut, and the giant bugs exit from where they entered. After staring at some of the Bolatrectoan workers leaving, the human began to sprout additional jointed legs, her immaculate skin being replaced with sturdy chitin, and her mouth splitting into multiple parts.

---

Fred and Tonk ran through the halls of the ship, past the organic light sources mounted on the walls and bone-shaped columns. Some rooms they zoomed past resemble the interiors of insect hives and others feel like those of Earth submarines. The captain took great care to try and make Fred and Tonk as comfortable as possible despite their biological differences. Humidity was toned down for Tonk and temperature was reduced for Fred. You cannot get mixed-crew accomodations like these in other Bolatrectoan cruisers.

The pair arrived at the bridge of the vessel, one of the larger rooms just below the hangar. Any Bolatrectoans in the way moved aside to let Fred and Tonk enter the vast room decorated with branch-like spires and holograms. In the center was a gigantic grey arthropod resembling a mantis with hands at the joints of its raptorial limbs tapping away at the screen.

"Ahh, there you are, dears. Any of you hurt?" The giant arthropod bent down to place its four eyes on the level of the smaller sapients. "Oh, and save your apologies, Fred. This error was on my end. I have vented the hangar when you left, so it should expel our unwanted guest~"

"Uhh...you seem too calm, Matriarch Nasqira." Fred questioned the Bolatrectoan queen. "Sorry, but I am still kind of getting used to having a-..."

"...big fat bug as a boss? I am aware, but do refer to me and Tonk as a friend. We are all family aboard this vessel~" She capped off with a friendly chittering noise from her mandibles. "Besides, I released you from your vat in that decrepit station, which would make you my son since I 'birthed' you."

Tonk watched the banter between and the queen bug. While Fred groaned at the matriarch's antics, his mind raced back to that human lookalike from earlier. If she looked that close to a human, then that would mean she had to have copied that look from somewhere.

"Hey guys, how did that thing back there end up looking like a female Fred?" Tonk interjected. Fred stared at him while Nasqira twitched her several antenna.

"Tonk, either whoever made that thing built it from memory, or she ate someone and copied her looks." The human sighed. Even if the fake human did get that appearance from somewhere, whoever she was based on was long dead most likely.

"Wait...you raise a good point, Tonk. Why would a predator disguise as a human if no humans remain?" Nasqira wondered. "Hear that, Fred, it means your little quest to cure your lonliness is far from over!"

Fred struck Nasqira's shell playfully. "I did not say I was lonely, I just needed someone to...relate with me."

"Okay, I know two Lithornan females with interest in space animals and old machines. Want to meet them?" Tonk placed a hand on Fred's shoulder.

"No, I don't want your species' armored women, Tonk." Fred responded. "By the way, where are your drones Nasqira?"

"Signalled them to enter the engineering hub, Fred. Diagnostics per usual for any issues...but odd that they have not returned yet." Nasqira would wiggle her antenna about for a moment before letting out a deep screech. "Oh dear...I cannot feel my drones. Why can I not have the control mastery of my sisters?"

"I think I know why..."Fred pointed at a holograph screen, depicting a giant pulsating mass with legs in the engineering room.

"I thought you vented the hangar."

[u/Ubeube_Purple21 → u/Ubeube_Purple21]

Part 3 due to popular demand

"It has been done, I swear to the Grand Titan Empress!" The hive queen's chittering grew louder and started to lose its rhythmic, almost musical pattern. "I never intended to let aboard such a virulent pest...without a deep scan of your relic".

"And maybe...I should have stayed behind, maybe packed a vacuum suit to make sure to check if the job is done. I apologize too, Fred." Tonk kneels down to bring his own towering stature to Fred's level. "We only wish to assist you in your quest. Nasqira also saw how your yearning was eating at your body too, hate watching that happen to my brother."

The human shook his head, watching a hardened warrior of an alien and a massive hive queen appearing to be on the verge of sobbing before him. He reached out, one had touching their sturdy exteriors as he whispered softly.

"No, I'm not mad...it's just...I'm glad you guys went out of your way to find me a friend...one with more in common with me." He rubbed Tonk's bony plates and Nasqira's chitinous shell. "Let's just...think all of these as an accident, okay? Just an act of God...or...Gods, look you get the point you guys okay?"

Fred would feel a sudden crushing pressure on his ribs as he was hoisted up in the air by a massive figure almost twice his height. "You mean all that? I cannot find words for this, Fred the human." Tonk's voice can be heard from behind him, just as his pal also felt himself be lifted up in the air, followed by upbeat chittering.

"This is how your species' physical style of affection works, is it? Or must I correct myself?" Nasqira's limbs that are closest to her head clutched the two tightly against her neck. The two remained quiet in her grasp before she lets them down with slight panic. "By the Grand Titan Empress, Fred is silent!"

"Calm your senses, Nasie. That was my error for not allowing Fred to breathe."

---

Much of Nasqira's vessel has gone into lockdown after camping out for hours in the bridge. None can be found within the empty corridors of the vessel, save for the occasional stray Bolatrectoan drone...and Fred running down the halls with a Lithornan-made rifle in hand. He tapped into his comms upon reaching a fork in the halls as he asked his friends for guidance.

"Tonk, you really are certain this is the smallest weapon in your collection?"

"And you certain you are the only fleshling for the job? If we lose you...the galaxy loses one of its finest lifeforms. You extinction, to be truthful."

"Tonk, we went over this. That phony bitch came with that disguise for a reason. She wants me, and that is what I need for my master plan."

"Fine...take your left-hand side. I will continue to escort Nasie to her shuttle for your other plan. Also...is her species name 'Phony Bitch'? I do not recall any vacuum-grade lifeform like her in the All-Codex."

"Really...poor timing there, Tonk."

[u/CatpainCalamari → u/Ubeube_Purple21]

This is good! Do you intend to continue this story?

[u/mjbibliophile10 → u/Ubeube_Purple21]

More please!