Mooternity 27 - Interlude

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Still a bit startled by the recent happenings, you check the book you magically picked up. No scratches, still in one piece. You open the book Vev so persistently wanted you to read. It's as thick as a book but not as fancy. At most, it looks like a worn notebook. This one has to be.

"Vev…? Do you hear me?" You whisper to the air, in hopes of the tall Cowoski listening to you. "I got it, Vev."
'Fi… nally.' You smile on your success. 'I'll buy y-you some time.'
"W-what?"
'Good luck… Yuu…'

Vev's voice stops. You can't feel her speaking to you anymore. Instead, your ears get a hold of a number of muffled moos from outside the room. Is that Vev? Is she finally giving birth? Is this her way of buying you time?

"Wait a second…" You feel a familiar breeze surrounding you body, a sugary scent running on the airflow and wrapping the area around your feet. "…Thanks, Vev."

Your vision grays out, the purple haze from your eye dimly colouring your sight. You look at the clock on the wall, its pace has slowed down dramatically. Just like last time.

Time…

You take a deep breath, focusing your mind in the task at hand. You have time. After all, this is 'the bubble'. And whatever happens, outside or within you, will decrease its tempo, as long as you keep the focus.

You resume checking the notebook. It's quite heavy with a bunch of sticky notes on the sides and loose papers between sheets. Besides its worn state, it also looks fairly old. How long has Vev been writing on this thing?

You turn the book to its front side. There's a light green label on close to the top right corner. You squint at it. Is this Vev's handwriting? You have heard of doctor handwriting. Vev should be a hospital director. It's so messy. Maybe you're being too hard? Maybe it's another language instead of messy calligraphy?

You try to really focus on the characters. The glow over your eye oscillates while you focus. Bit by bit, the 'glyphs' on the label form into words.

"Moo? Wait…"

A sudden link forms in your mind. While part of your mind tells you the glyphs only show 'moo', another pushes you to keep reading.

And yes, they make sense. As clear as day.

"Huh…"

'Vev S. Cowoski's Goo-kin Research'

"It was another language!" You keep reading, excited about understanding the language and guilty about mocking Vev's handwriting. "And it says…"

'by Vev S. Cowoski'

"No shit."

You shake your head at the redundancy but figure out it must've been Vev's early attempts at writing. At least you hope. You open up the notebook, still surprised about how you came to understand it. There were written moo's. But how did you understand the letters? Were they… goo-kin?

You flip to the first page. There's a message at the bottom. The letters and words translate without a problem in your mind.

"Let's see…"

'If you are reading this, it is because unrelated events through a variable of time have come to interpolate in a specific way leading to this day. You are not that clever.'

"…Well fuck you too…" You mumble to nobody. Vev's attitude is even imprinted in her words.

You flip the page. The scribbly handwriting welcomes you. You skim through the page, reading over whatever catches your attention. Why exactly did Vev want you to read it?

"Alright, let's start with…"

What are the goo-kin?
For a while, I've tried to pinpoint the origin of the species. From the records I've gathered, far from an accidental mutation (like us, humanized), the goo-kin have been even before the humans. I'd even say, their origin is closely related to the primordial soup. There's nothing similar to this day, such a simple but incredible chemical _{^{composition holding them together...}}

"…What does this even mean? So they are related to soup?" You raise a brow and put a hand over your belly. "Ramen babies?" You must be getting it wrong, but there's no much you can do about it. You flip the page. It continues but you don't have time for it. There must be something else.

There, some history!

History of the goo-kin:
(Side note: I'm leaving this with as many simple and short words as I can. You can thank me later.)

The task of finding the origin of this wonderful species has been anything but easy. With only one current testimony serving as proof of my findings, the chances of having a more insightful research are cut short. Truthfully, I can only blame the humans. But in any case, I trust my source, with my life.

From what I've gathered, the goo-kin (or candy slimes) have been a species that never migrated from its birthplace: a series of underground tunnels over the Krasnoyarsk region. Such a non-nomadic resolve led the race into not only thriving with the resource they had aboveground, but to also be the biggest survivors of the meteoroid that struck the land back some 100 years ago. I still can't process how the only research over this place was postponed TWENTY years after the incident, driven not by knowledge but humanity's mere greed for resources.

So yes, instead of travelling for a new home after the land was ravaged, their desire for not leaving their home drove them into a forced evolutionary process. Their bodies had to adapt quickly into better shapes to gather resources. Such an admirable and incredible feat for a species that, by those years, was still (with all due respect) nothing but a blob. Only achieved once more by both their amazing organism structure and the sheer will to remain in their homes. Humans, with their 'rustic' multicellular structure and more years of evolutionary advantage, would've taken at least an impressively longer time to do the same.

Of course, later down the road, this fear for the outside dissipated and, in its stead, a more sinister drive _{^{push them onto society...}}

You rub the back of your head. Vev sure can write a lot. You flip another page filled with round, bubbly glyphs. She took registering the goo-kin history quite seriously. At least, now you know where they come from. But how did they arrive to Pripyat? It's a long way from Siberia. How was that no one noticed them? Or even made mention of candy slimes?

"At least I know they are not like the humanized folk. Though that still doesn't explain why she wanted me to read this thing." You turn the pages. A new section pops up. "Huh… This is gonna be hard."

Besides some paragraphs, a bunch of polygons with arrows are drawn. Is this chemistry stuff?

"This better give me some more answers. And less sassiness…"

Physiology and Structure:

It's difficult, for me at least, to make an objective summary of the impressive structure that bonds the goo-kin together. But at least I'll try.

Goo-kin, even now with their humanoid appearance, have not always been (compared to the extent of humans) a multicellular being. Far from it, they were merely a cell. And it's from this single cell, and the evolutionary development they went through, that they came to achieve such an outstanding and complex structure.

At first glance, one whould think the goo-kin are nothing more than just one big cell (their core) covered in slime (their body). One couldn't be more wrong. This core is actually their body, organs and such reside within it. What's even more impressive is how such a system could be so flexible: even with the goo-kin reshaping their form, the core always comes back to their default state. Such a complex system, to be able to get back unscathed after heavy morphing?

Yes, completely possible. Their composition is the key behind their amazing shape shifting abilities. I'm still not sure of the basics of it all but I can safely say, they're in another range from the state of the matter we know. My first thought was a complete control over solid and liquid states, an affinity to non-newtonian fluids. They certainily do show those traits. But they also possess an uncanny ability: Superfluidity.

How is it possible that a non-helium entity, let alone a complex one, could've achieved superfluidity without extreme temperatures or even retaining their viscosity? What are they made of? Could this have been a side effect of their exposure to the meteoroid? I've tried to make logic of their structure. Here are some of my theories, as you can _{^{see in graphic A...}}

You throw quick glances at the polygons.

"I'm not touching that…"

They'd look really cute in those colouring books with patterns. Besides that, you have no idea what they mean. But there's must be something.

"I mean, I know some of these words." Non-newtonian comes to mind. You remember a video about a blob made of corn starch jumping on a speaker. Close enough to one of the babies you've seen on the photos Vev showed you. "Still, doesn't tell me much. What about this? Diet."

Diet:

Contrary to what the imaginary collective thinks, goo-kin don't absorb water.
Or at least not water by itself.

The goo-kin have their diet based not on specific foods but mostly on absorbing resources they need from the food. Proteins, vitamins, etc. They just absorb it. Though my source points out that, in recent years, they have mimicked chewing like other species more evolved and sophisticated, like cats and cows. This comes with an audible sound akin to 'nom' (/nɑm/) that I can only describe as adorable. It's good to mention that younger goo-kins do try to imitate this kind of behavior, but in their inexperience (since it's learnt and not instinctive) they click their mouth while chewing, a sound very similar to what most humans do while they eat. Which is considered bad manners by all other species.

"Hey, that's not true!"

Of course, this amazing species doesn't have the nickname of candy slimes for naught. If there's one thing that deviates from their regular behavior, that is their love for sugar, glucose and most of its variants. I could say with certainty that sugar is a key component in the everyday diet of a goo-kin. The incredible energy output made from so little sugar, how do their bodies handle this conversion? Amazing.

"So that's how they get jumpy? But what about the swelling?" You ask to the air remembering Liiv's words. Was she wrong? Won't be the first time but you can't blame her. Her knowledge of the goo-kin came from experience.

Vev on the other hand, the amount of research you see flipping through the pages tells you about her own dedication. A bit confusing for you, but still impressive. You keep passing the pages.

"Oh."

Your sights rest on a new section. This one riddle with a number of formulas, weird letter E's and numbers. You recognize a number of blurred spots over the ink. Water?

You bring the notebook closer to you and start reading it.

Lifespan:

As an almost extinct species, it is my utmost duty to cover this research as much as I've done, for something so incredible should not be lost. I can't---

Part of the paragraph is scratched, strong strokes from a pen don't let you read what's next. What did she scrap? You flip the page, there's a paragraph of a new section, written with different coloured ink. You proceed to read it but a grave, creepy murmur invades the room.

"What the---?!" You look to your sides and behind you, trying to find the source of the vibrations. You feel a gust over your gigantic belly. Is it coming from the outside?

*OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

A ghostly howls startles you. What the hell is happening? Are these the goo-kin? Is Vev giving birth to them finally? You brace the notebook while clutching your overly fertile womb with the other hand.

*FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF*

What? Oof?
Oh.
It's only Yuzi. In slo-mo.

"Yuuuuziiii maaaade a greaaaaaaaaaaat!"

You can hear his voice with a low and funny accent. The kitten sounds really funny in a slowed-down speed. He's talking about the 'glasses cow hooman'. His magic wand must've charged up to teleport Minna. No Liiv yet.

What about Vev? You haven't heard of her. Was she actually giving birth? The bubble hasn't popped but your gut is almost literally saying it to you. You feel the baby slime within you moving slowly. At a regular speed, this would be a light quake over your womb. Are they celebrating?

"But then… she only took me into the bubble?"
Not the babies, not the voice.
Only Yuu.

You nod to yourself. She wanted you to read this for something. And you're not gonna let that opportunity go to waste. You open the notebook, ready for whatever you might find.

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