"MAIN SCREEN, TURN ON!"
The front of the cockpit folded in on itself in a technicolor blur
around the small radar display. Shapes appeared, coming into focus
and merging around the object labeled "Semi-organic." It was about
the size of an ammunition box and beset with strange onyx orbs
nestled in loops of gold filigree, all reflecting the millions of
flecks of alien constellations.
Machines whirred to life throughout the ship as I began salvage
procedures. Cranium was halfway to the cargo hold before I could be
sure the airlock was resealed properly. Hex and I arrived just in
time to watch Mr Swarm disintegrate into an thousands of miniatures
of himself, climbing in and out of every crevice of the box. The
cargo-scanner showing no dangers on any of it's graphs, only a tiny
labyrinth of shades of gray.
"Looks like ancient aliens left us some Swiss cheese, doesn't it?"
Cranium chuckled to himself, "fancy wrapper, must be expensive."
Hex rolled her eyes.
"It appears to be bio-mechanical" Mr Swarms chorused, "some sort of
neural networked computer, maybe? I didn't recognize any of the
crystalline structures, but the biology is..." A cacophony filled
the hull with a deep throbbing vibration as Mr Swarm congealed into
a form a quarter of his original size.
"Turbulence! Turbulence!" blared over the ships loudspeaker.
"I'm not sure what I did, but it doesn't seem to have liked it!" a
nearly full-sized Mr Swarm shouted over the din, tiny echoes
trailing behind him.
"I'm sensing a strange aura - something old - something changing
like the sea" Hex said dreamily. We turned to look back at the
strange box, the noise slowly died away as we all stood in a
semicircle gawping in awe as it finished melting through the floor,
leaving at an iridescent black sheen.
gemini://cosmic.voyage/RSS Revenant/1623.txt