Free Radicals

After watching Osmosis Jones too late into the night, I had this absolutely... nutty... well, see for yourselves.


Milly belongs to French snack.




Free Radicals

[...]

Long since had the panic ended, her heartbeat slowing down to a crawl she couldn't even tell anymore. She knew she wasn't breathing. She suspected, she was all but sure she was dead. She could barely recall how, or why, or relate that last acid reek she remembered to the last part of the world she had known. She thought, at first, that she was floating- then even thinking became too much.

Her dulled senses wouldn't speak of warmth, of cold, of contact. She smelled nothing, tasted nothing, she heard not even her own heartbeat in this silence. She saw nothing in this... blindness. Even darkness seemed to be beyond her. What was worse, what was more conspicuous, though, was her mind's eye- dulled as much as those senses. She couldn't tell the time, and she couldn't tell why she was not worried about this. Oblivion had embraced her, and she had mindlessly embraced it back.

But now something crawled up the back of her mind, and for the first time in forever, she felt something. A quickening, both within and without, as her own pulse returned to her body- and the world around her sped up.

The world around her flowed, quickly at first, caressing with its cold texture her exposed skin, now that she felt it anew. She rolled over, in the- liquid, which seemed to slow down around her, but something inside her skull told her it was she that was matching its speed. She was flowing together with it, faster, and faster.

The channel widened, and she found herself suddenly moving too fast inside the nearly stilled liquid. She gasped- and much to her surprise, she didn't choke. The liquid that carried her was breathable... opening her eyes, she saw it to be yellow. There were some dark shapes inside the yellow, probably orange, she thought- no, red.

And then someone grabbed her arm. She felt herself pulled... upwards, probably, through the surface of the liquid. Much to her surprise, she escaped the liquid rather dry- sticky as that substance had felt while inside it, it did not make any effort to cling to her skin.

To her surprise again, she realized she could see once more. The world around her was cavernous, made of red and round shapes, with frequent yellow dashes of color. Turning around, she saw, over her own pale skin, clearly defined despite the lack of any obvious light source, that the yellow fluid she had been pulled from had coalesced into something of a surface, sealing itself back.

Meanwhile, looking at the person who'd dragged her out...

"You...!?" she gasped.

"You're out of uniform."

"But... you are..."

"No, no. It's not what it looks like, I swear." she smiled, sheepishly. "I know you're probably really mad right now, but I'm serious- get in uniform."

"In uniform? What do you mean!?" she cried.

"I mean... oh, it's easier if I show you. Can you stand up? What am I saying... of course you can." she smirked, pulling her up unceremoniously. Stumbling to her feet, the woman that had been pulled out of the fluid slowly felt her reasoning come back to her.

She remembered... that acid reek. It had came from a stomach. She was in that stomach because she had been eaten.

Eaten by the woman before her, who had just opened a drawer (!?) on the reddish wall, pulling out a couple cloth objects, not stopping as she kept insisting it wasn't what it looked like.

Her train of thought got cut off when these cloths were touched to her back. She recoiled- but they didn't fall off. As a matter of fact, they crawled around her, provided a modicum of cover around her chest and hips.

"Ack! What are those things!?" she spat.

"The uniform." she raised her eyebrows.

"What do you mean I was out of uniform?" she looked down at her own mocha skin. "I wasn't wear-...?"

...mocha skin?

"I'm brown?"

"Now you're in uniform!" the woman before her beamed.

"In uniform...!" she spat. "Last I remember was you eating me!"

"Well... yes, and no." she said. "I'm not her. But we both are."

This took a moment to swallow.

"What do you mean?!"

"That's as far as you're getting from me." she shrugged, walking up to the yellow liquid again. "I have things to do."

"But... but what about me!?" she yelled.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out, it's not that hard. But first..." she reached her hand into a dark spot inside the liquid again. "...things first."

Once more, she forcefully pulled out a form from the... what was that liquid?

"Is that... chyme?"

"More or... no, I don't know. Ah!" the local managed to pull a man out of the chyme, his dark skin and black hair a minor contrast to her own combination of browns. He was naked, and looked dazed, but he didn't gasp, or stumble, or anything one would expect of a man who had been for who knows how long underwater.

"Ah! Thanks..."

"You're welcome! And you're polite... unlike other people." she shot a glance at the visitor from her brown eyes. "I think I'll have you stay out of uniform for a little longer..." she grinned, looking him up and down.

He blinked, looking at the woman that had pulled him out of the water- and then at the visitor.

"Are you twins?" he asked. The visitor gasped.

"Heh! No." the host said. "Let me expl- ohhh, that's a big one!" she looked at another shape in the chyme. "Give me a minute, this is going to take some time!"

This time approaching the liquid more eagerly, she put both of her hands into it, and started pulling- the form, however, started splashing in the liquid. Her two guests suddenly became startled as what she had been pulling became more evident. "She must've been really hungry this morning!" she chimed, as the creature's long face peeked out of the liquid. The horse wasn't cooperating with her- and with a sudden swing, she was thrown into the chyme herself.

"Oh my god!"

"We have to help her...!"

"No, I'm fine!" she cried, peeking out of the liquid. "Don't worry, I've got experience!"

The two of them watched her wrestle with a horse on the surface, but swiftly enough, the fighting dived underneath, leaving the newly minted woman and her naked companion to watch the ripples from the fight.

"Will she be okay?"

"I don't know..." she replied. "I'd better..."

Completing the sentence was too much for her. She didn't know what she'd better. All she knew was that she wanted to take a look around... exert some measure of control over this fleshy cavern- which she was, much to her own chagrin, starting to find pretty cozy.

"What colour are my eyes?"

"Brown. You look exactly like her." he pointed at the aquatic (chymatic?) horse-wrestler. Clicking his tongue, he pointed up. "And her."

"What do you mean by 'her'?" she mimicked his gesture.

"I mean... we are in... aren't we?"

Looking away for a moment, she shrugged and turned around. Barely dressed. And mocha. She hadn't taken too many steps away from the liquid, the man following blankly behind her, when something slid quickly in front of her.

It was the same woman as before, only dressed in white, with a round, white cap.

"You're out of uniform." the one in white said, turning to the man. "Don't go any further."

"What... do you mean by out of uniform?"

"She should've told you about the uniforms." she said. "Why didn't you?" it asked, turning to her.

"But I just got here myself!" she protested.

"Is that so?" the one in white asked, advancing menacingly. "You're already in uniform!"

"It's okay!" someone yelled from the surface of the liquid. "I showed her to the uniform, but I didn't have time for him. You can show her around!" she cried, before being pulled back down by the horse.

She seemed to pause for a moment.

"OK, I will do that. Miss, follow me."

She turned around for a moment to look at the man. He followed her a few steps- then fell backwards as the one in white zoomed at him.

"I said go no further!"

"Then what am I supposed to do!?"

"If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion... you may be a gentleman and help her with the horse."

"Uh... alright." he went towards the river, leaving their sight.

"Now if you'd follow me... I think we've got the right place for you."

"Mind explaining what this is all about, first!? I think I have..."

"I think it'd be best if you saw for yourself..."

======

The cadence of her own steps disoriented her. She felt almost weightless, quickly striding down the long, round, winding hallway, at a pace that, judging by her surroundings, she found feverish. The woman in white next to her wasn't showing any surprise- but before she could ask, they reached their destination.

It was quite surprising to notice all the ruckus around this part, and realize she hadn't heard anything on the way. She had just arrived at a very, very large, vaulted hall, where a pervasive thump-thump-thump came from the walls- was the ground rumbling?

-Weird.- she thought. -This place kinda reminds me of a heart, except...- she rolled her eyes.- Oh, right. I am in a heart.-

From top to bottom, the place was as crowded as an airport, full of mocha-skinned women, the murmur of chatter barely audible over the thumping all around them. She managed to catch separate words, and maybe short phrases, but none of it told her anything. She tried to approach them- they all gave her a wide berth, though smiling- she could only assume it was because of the woman in white behind her. She slowed down as she went through the crowd- then she felt someone grabbing her by her shoulders. Looking back, she saw the woman in white holding her, pushing her forward.

"Excuse me, excuse me..." she said, cutting through the mob. "Almost there... watch your step!"

Pushed forward by her shoulders, she went down a small flight of steps, similar to those of an amphitheatre, into a narrow strip of lower ground. The noise got stronger and faster the closer she approached the wall, where several round doors led to tubelike extrusions. Many of the women in white guarded these doors.

"Hello there!" her guide exclaimed, over the noise.

"Oh, it's you! Hi!" one of them replied. Releasing her shoulders, she approached that one.

"Say, she's new here..." she was pointed at. "Can you find her a shorthanded area quick? Somewhere they can explain her the whole concept?"

"Funny you say that! Yeah, tell her to walk right in there." she stepped aside, showing her the door.

"Hey!"

She approached, more out of reflex than anything else.

"Hello..." she mouthed. "I was wondering..."

"Everything will be explained. Just hop right in."

"But..."

"Hop right in, c'mon!"

"Just one question... you're not angels, right?" she asked the women in white.

They looked at each other. One of them shrugged.

"We're lymphocites." the other one said. "Where do you keep getting all those weird ideas?"

"Lymphocites! I knew it!" she smiled.

"You talk too much. Go in!" the lymphocites exclaimed, pushing her into the door.

"Wait- but I don't wanT-"

She was cut off as the tube she was standing inside, past the door, sucked her away from the door, forcing her through an endless series of tubes at breakneck speed. Dizzying, bizarre, unpredictable turns shoved her in every direction, until she hit her destination. Unlike the lightlessness of the earlier environment, here she could see the light come from a particular direction- straight down. Straight down, extremely diffuse, and colored a blood red that turned an extremely dark orange in the distance.

"What is this place?"

"This is the skin of the shoulder." someone called out. The same woman from before- no, another one? Her clothes were black, rather than white, or red, and she carried a small stick. "That down there's the sun." she said, pointing at the ground. "And you'll be working here with me." she said with a grin.

"What?" she exploded, outraged.

"Oh, come on, it's not so bad." she replied. "Look down at your feet..."

"No! I'm not..." the newly minted one continued to rant as her identical twin approached her calmly. "...why would I want to do anything here, anyway?!"

Her identical twin crouched for a moment, lodging the stick on a raised corner sticking out of the ground. Using some leverage, she pulled it up, and offered it to her.

"Here, hold this..." Much to her own amazement, she did. Looking down at the object in her hands, she realized it was... a strip of floor?

"Okay, now walk along with me..." she continued, taking another corner, pulling the strip sidewards, leaving a clearer, thinner patch of floor. Her host then put the floor back in its place, only flipped upside down, leaving behind a rectangular area that was darker than the others.

"That's nice. Now we just have to keep on doing that. Flip the dermis, and make sure they are all getting the same amount of sun on both sides. We don't want a sunburn here!" she grinned.

"But why would I do such a thing!?" the newly minted one exclaimed.

"Hmm?" her host blinked.

"If I've understood right, she..." she swung her arm around, mostly pointing up. "...she ate me! Now I'm supposed to make sure she gets an even tan!? Why would I do that!? I don't want to take care of her skin, I want to kill her!"

"Well... you have a point there." she said. "The answer is..." she tilted her head. "Well, will you look down for a minute?"

She looked down.

"See that patch we just flipped?" she added. "Take a bite."

Reluctantly, she bent down to grab a handful of sun-baked skin.

"You mean take a bite of this?"

"Yeah."

With a little hesitation, she brought it to her mouth. In complete silence, she chewed the spongy material, frowning from time to time.

"It's like chocolate spongecake." she declared.

"Yeah."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"And this is your whole point as to why should I do this...?" she asked, blankly.

"Yeah?" the host replied.

The newly minted part looked away for a minute.

"Well..." she hesitated. "I do love chocolate spongecake..."

"That's great-!"

"But there's no way I'm going to work here forever for the chocolate spongecake!" she cried. "I just died, and now..."

"Well, that wasn't really all that bad, was it?"

"Dying?"

"Yeah."

"Not so bad? I choked, my eyes burnt, I was manhandled by a viscera, and all this happened in complete darkness after being passed through the mouth of a monstrously gigantic...! ...!"

"But you're okay now, aren't you?"

"That's...-!" she gasped. "Don't...! Don't you...!"

Her words failing her, she flailed her arms in frustration, turning around to let out an aargh. Then she kicked the corner of one of the blocks on the ground, tilting it off, looking around...

"Come on, just try doing a little of this." she said, offering her the stick. She quickly grabbed the stick, lifting it over her knee-

"Hey don't-!"

"Argh!"

To her embarassment, the stick was harder than she thought, and she only managed to hurt her knee.

"STUPID ST-"

"Give it back!"

Pursing her lips, she ran off towards the hole she had come out of, and shoved the lever right into it. It was quickly sucked up by the current inside, before the disbelieving eyes of the woman who had handed her the tool.

"Well done." the woman said, sarcastically. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

"Oh, I am."


======


Taking in a deep breath, Milly's eyes lazily fluttered open in the afternoon air. She got off the grass, and stretching her arms, there was a disquieting sensation on her left shoulder. Reaching for it with her right hand, she realized the skin felt different there. Though the rest of her felt smooth as always, now there was a patch that was cracked, parched, uncomfortably hot, and it hurt to touch it.

The cool breeze provided her with only a tiny relief. She let out a grimace, turning back towards her house. It'd be dark soon, and it was best to navigate the forest when there was still light. Speaking of light, she noticed that the shade she had slept on had been drifting... that probably explained the sensation on her shoulder. How careless of her. She could probably think of a lot of humans, people, some would insist, who would have hurt her. They didn't have a chance today- and now she had been careless enough to sunburn herself- for what felt like the first time since she left home. She had probably grown too careless.

Felarya had a way of dealing with lesions, however, and this would pass overnight.

Well, you know what I think of it! How do you come up with these things? Poor Milly would be highly disturbed if she had any idea these things were going on inside her.

Not bad, but... lymphocytes

Your off the wall ideas and short stories continue to both amaze and amuse Stabs. I have to say though I wasn't expecting it to be played so straight. Up until the end I was expecting some transition with a punchline of ;"And that's probably what happens to you after I eat you. Can you stop worrying now?" but nope this is all real. I'm left wondering though if this all there is to it. It seems over but the fact it isn't in the short stories thread makes me think it isn't done just yet.

parameciumkid wrote:

Not bad, but... lymphocytes

Yes, lymphocites. Problem, biology?

Frenchsnack wrote:

How do you come up with these things?

Come to think of it, it wasn't by watching Osmosis Jones. It was by... ah, right. Sides being the morbous loon everyone knows me to be, I think I had been going over some of the vore clichés, such as "being a part of X forever". Then, IIRC, it was Zalzas who said one of her characters thought everyone she ate went to live in a city made of goo inside her tummy. Throw in some Loony Toons logic, and... well, me brain can only relate so many things before it spontaneously generates an idea :B .

Frenchsnack wrote:

Poor Milly would be highly disturbed if she had any idea these things were going on inside her.

Yeah, she'd cut back on eating horses . To be fair, the things going on inside her are highly disturbing to a lot of people.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

Your off the wall ideas and short stories continue to both amaze and amuse Stabs. I have to say though I wasn't expecting it to be played so straight. Up until the end I was expecting some transition with a punchline of ;"And that's probably what happens to you after I eat you. Can you stop worrying now?" but nope this is all real.

Or is it? Frankly, I don't think about it being real or not- seems like a nonissue.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

I'm left wondering though if this all there is to it. It seems over but the fact it isn't in the short stories thread makes me think it isn't done just yet.

Wouldn't fit the criteria: <1000 words, and this is 17 kb, or roughly 3400 words- to post it there would've been an abuse.
I had more material, but... well, I trusted more to the novelty (Novelty? What novelty?) of the concept than to the storytelling here, and that made it kinda pointless to run off with it.

No I was correcting your spelling. xD

I quite liked this story's extension of the vore concept, quite a differate take for an felarya story

Well, this was quite interesting ^^

...why after reading this am I picturing cancer cells in predators being nothing more then rioting people they've eaten? XD

Darth_Nergal wrote:

...why after reading this am I picturing cancer cells in predators being nothing more then rioting people they've eaten? XD

Eating people causes cancer! Humans need to find out about this, and spread the message to predators. :p

(I'm still wondering what they plan to do with the horse...)

Well it shouldn't be too hard, just find a pred who's dying of cancer. And unless I'm getting the soil's healing properties wrong, it would not heal cancer.

As for the horse, I'm sure they can always use transport.

That's probably the most unique Felaryan story I have ever read XD