"We're on a spaceship?"

"Yeah, as far as we can tell."

With a cry of disgust, Ava pulls away from Darius. "What took you guys so long? Seriously, I was alone for hours. The least you could've done was come looking for me," she whines, folding her arms across her chest. The room she'd been deposited into looks like some sort of engine room, complete with complicated and periodically noisy machinery that none of them can really begin to understand. Unlike the sterile white light of the rest of the ship, this room has a light blue, soothing color.

"We did. We were just as lost as you were until we found each other and started looking around," Sophia says, leaning against a valve. A hissing noise nearby from one of the machines quickly corrects her, making her push away from it back to a full stand again. "Did you try and look for us?"

"No. I couldn't find the door. Everything looked the same and—"

"How about we just go have this conversation somewhere else?" Sarah interjects. "We haven't explored the rest of the ship, maybe there's some sort of crew quarters we can sleep in."

"Or hot showers," Darius chimes in, looking between everyone. "I still got dirt in my shoes."

"Anything to be out of here." Ava whines, moving in closer to follow Darius and the others out of the engine room. Back out into the hallway, the door slides shut quietly behind them.

Each room in the hall seems to handle some sort of machinery and the ones that don't simply hold empty translucent tanks. Only one of the tanks has any sort of substance inside of it. Gaseous, a sort of gross mixture of violet and purple colors, and clearly meant to be released somewhere, it only further defies the group's ability to find anything familiar on the ship.

Passing by many of these, the most promising room of them all appears to be a storage room, with boxes latched firmly to the wall.

"Hey, Darius," Nicholas stops and calls over to his friend, who steps over, attentive. "What do you say we get one of these things off the wall and get it open. Maybe it'll have food, or something."

With a nod, Darius moves closer to the boxes and, in conjunction with Nicholas, begins to attempt to pull, push, and even lift, to remove the box. It holds firmly in place no matter how they attempt to jostle it, and it doesn't take long for the two to give up completely.

"Have you tried asking it nicely?" Sophia teases the two, her position suggesting that she's staying out of range of a swipe or other playful retaliatory measure.

"Sure. Why not." Nicholas turns to the box. "Would you be so kind as to detach yourself from the wall so we can see what's inside you?"

There's an audible, mechanical whir and hum, and the box separates from the wall, detaching. Everyone immediately steps back, startled, and so with no-one there to catch it, it falls to the floor with a noisy metallic clatter. While initially completely solid, with no obvious way to open it, once away from the wall it splits suddenly down the middle, lengthwise, and opens with a gentle hiss, as if a seal had been broken.

Cautiously, Nicholas moves closer to inspect the insides, spotting several devices inside the box. "Well, it's not food or water." He carefully reaches inside to pick up one of the devices, holding it up so everyone can see. It looks much like a bracelet, made of some strange, dull metallic silver that seems like it should reflect light, but doesn't. "But if you're in the market for futuristic wrist-wear, this is your box."

The rest of the group reach in to acquire one of the bracelets. Ava, careless of the potential danger the unknown device holds, immediately slips it on over her wrist. "It's pretty. A bit big, though."

Seeing nothing happen when Ava wears the bracelet, the rest of them try it on as well. "I just noticed something," Sarah speaks up. "These... don't feel like metal. They're kind of squishy." She presses against the bracelet a few times, which immediately tightens firmly around her wrist. She lets out a cry and tries to remove it, but she can't seem to get a grip on the thing. "Ow! What the hell?"

Nicholas moves in to try to help her, but he suddenly feels his tighten as well.

"Is everyone seeing this?" Darius turns his attention to everyone's wrists, holding up his own to show his, too, had found its host, tightly gripping his wrist. "Okay, let's just agree not to mess around with anything else in this weird place unless we absolutely need to, okay?"

"Shhh! I think I hear something!" Sarah speaks up, the rest of the group quieting as an audible hum starts to build. Refusing to move, just listening to the gradual increase, a sudden burst of blue light engulfs them from out of nowhere, completely unexpected. Very much like the first time they'd encountered the ship, the energy grips at Nicholas's body and he feels his feet lose contact with the floor.

Just as quickly as the energy had taken hold of them, they are soon outside. While last time Nicholas couldn't catch himself, this time, he has the presence of mind to land on his feet from the drop. Ava, Sarah, and Darius aren't so lucky, collapsing to the ground. Hovering several feet overhead, the ship seems to wait for them to stand before slowly rising, lifting off. The noise its engines make sound like the jet engines of an airliner, though there are no visible turbines. It ascends until it breaches the clouds, disappearing from view.

Dust flies into the air where the teenagers have been deposited. They cover their eyes as they get hit by the whirlwind left behind by the ship. When it passes, and they are finally able to see, the group stare at the cloudless sky with concerned looks on their faces.

"Great. We've been abandoned." Ava groans, slowly pushing her way to a stand. "I swear, I have never fallen so many times in my life. Where on Earth are we now?"

"I don't think we're on Earth," Nicholas states, slowly turning to get an idea for the lay of the land. They have been set atop a tall red dirt hill overlooking a cusp of trees that stretch further on as far as the eye can see. Though, they seem less like trees in the traditional sense and more like plastic, complete with enormous fronds and something that looks like a pulsating green fruit growing underneath them. The actual bark of the tree isn't the usual brown, instead, a light orange, perhaps because of the red dirt they were planted in.

From out of the trees rises several tall quadrupedal machines that step carefully between the plants as they move, metallic tendrils reaching down to acquire the pulsating green fruit from the trees with surprising care. Each machine places the fruit gently into a metallic basket on its underbelly before searching for another.

Off in the distance lies a brilliant blue sparkling ocean, barely visible on the horizon. Opposite the trees directly down the slope of the hill is where a town resides, clearly developing. Trails have been blazed by some sort of vehicle leading to and from the tree line, suggesting that the town probably conducts business in the fruit they harvest. The buildings are made of old carved stone, in shades of red, buried into the ground instead of built on a foundation, and just on the edge of town rests a number of tall, silo-like buildings, made of some kind of brassy material, with those same varying shades of red. Had they not reflected the sun, the town's structures might have blended in with the red soil.

"I think we should go there, ask for help," Darius suggests, looking around at the others. "I'm still starving. Maybe they have food for us."

"Is it really wise for us to be leaving the area? What if the ship comes back and we're not here?" Sarah inquires, not necessarily panicking at the thought of being left on a strange alien world, but notably concerned at the idea.

"Okay, first, do we really want to talk to aliens?" Ava says. "I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"Why don't we have a few people stay here, and the rest of us go down there?" Sophia suggests, though judging by the look on her face, she's willing to throw caution to the wind to make first contact if it means getting some food. They all look somewhat malnourished.

Nicholas shakes his head. "If we're going to that place, we should all go together. Safety in numbers." He turns his attention back toward town. "We'll go, check it out, and see if we can get food at the very least. If it doesn't work out, we'll come back out here and wait to see if the ship comes back, then we'll go from there. Sound like a plan?"

With a mix of eager and weary nods, the group agree to follow Nick's approach, and make their way downhill, toward the town.

Even before they manage to get close, it is clear that the place is bustling with people. Loud and noisy with stalls extending from the very buildings themselves. Every stall is staffed by autonomous robots of varying quality; the largest and most notable stalls have several humanoid versions of these machines, different AI that hawk wares, explaining them to any customer that stop by to browse.

Though perhaps most important is that most of the people in town are short red creatures. At least two heads shorter than even Sophia, their bodies covered in what looks like spikes. Each of them have three eyes: two set in a manner similar to humans, with another settled in the middle, an inch or two higher than the other two. Their eyes shine like a prism, constantly changing colors depending on the angle the light hits them. Most of the creatures don't seem to be wearing any sort of clothing. Only the ones that seem to be on guard duty have any kind of clothing on, though it appears to be more like armor.

There's a moment of silence as the five teenagers enter the marketplace proper, the attention going to the newcomers for a few moments, many of the aliens visibly intrigued. Then, activity begins anew.

"Well, at least we don't look that strange to them..." Ava whispers, stepping ahead of everyone to move further into the market, in awe, but no longer afraid. The items for sale are nothing any of them can recognize; either created for creatures beyond their fathoming, or forms of produce that only seem edible on the surface, yet strangely noxious on the inside. Many of the alien customers pick and choose between the harvested pile and some even try eating them.

In the distance, the low whine of a klaxon splits the air. Loud enough that it reaches the town. It triggers many other klaxons around the city, which begin to play an alarming sound. Every single creature turns their attention skyward, then they look at each other with frightened faces.

"What is going on?" Darius says, witnessing the aliens stop whatever they are doing.

A tense moment passes, before they all begin to head toward the nearest building for cover. The stalls built into the walls retract back into them, and the buildings themselves begin to descend into the ground. Off in the distance, visible now as buildings begin to lower, an enormous bird-like creature soars over the distant mountains. Even this far away, it's easy to tell that such a thing is gargantuan.

"Do you have a death wish? Get over here!"

One of the few buildings still standing has a tall grey humanoid settled in the doorway leading into it. The five merely glance at each other and decide wordlessly whether the risk of such an invitation beat being sitting ducks to a bird that could swallow them whole, and they quickly run into the building. Once safely inside, the grey alien takes one last quick glance outside to ensure no-one else needs shelter, and he presses a button near the door. It slides shut and, with a gentle rumble, begins to descend.

The inside of the building makes it obvious that it is a home, similar to an apartment in terms of space. The circular interior holds several moderately recognizable comforts: piles of cushions sit in the middle of the room atop a fancy crimson-black rug, while nearby sits something akin to a stove. A strange item, a helix of metal, sits atop the stove with a gentle plume of steam pouring out of the top. It seems to be heating something below it.

A small cube is set on top of a triangular table in the middle of the house, projecting a hologram into the air, showing what is happening up top, the enormous bird having set down near the strange trees they'd encountered upon their arrival. It leans down and unleashes tendrils from something that could barely be described as a mouth, clutching fruit from the trees in much the same way the gathering robots from earlier had. Though, it's most notable that the fruit collecting machines seem to have mysteriously disappeared, likely hiding underground as well.

"Well, I have to say, it's been quite some time since the last time I saw Humans here. Might as well get comfortable, because we're going to be down here a while. Etzshuan are very aggressive omnivores." The grey alien draws their attention again as he digs around underneath the stove, producing a pot. He fits the description of 'greys' back home: tall, with longer, lankier arms and legs than one might expect from a humanoid. His grey skin shines in the dull yellow light of the apartment, and his eyes are an inky black, devoid of irises and pupils, that seem endless in depth and very disturbing. His face lacks a nose, and his mouth is a thin line that separates strangely as he speaks.

His outfit, a one piece uniform with no visible zipper, is colored red. It's topped out with white shoulder, elbow, and knee pads built into it, but otherwise, the uniform stays the same color throughout. "You five seem like you've been through a lot. Do you need a moment to rest or...?" He inquires, setting the pot onto the stove. A device over it whirs to life and deposits various kinds of what looks like meats and vegetables into the pot, before pouring already boiling water into it.

It's at this point that Nicholas finally speaks up, the group still dumbfounded by the alien. "You speak English?"

"Yes," the grey alien says, his slit of a mouth barely moving. "I speak thirty-six languages. Yours wasn't too difficult to learn. No offense."

Nicholas settles onto the cushions with the rest of the group. "I'm Nick." He turns to motion toward each of the stunned teenagers in turn. "This is Sophia, that's Darius... She's Sarah, and over there is Ava."

The rest of the group offer weak smiles in response.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is impossible to speak in your human language, but it translates roughly to Tah-Kuell, so you can just call me that. We don't get a whole lot of humans out in these parts." Tah-Kuell lifts his long, spindly fingers up to scratch at his lips gently. "Hmm.. Interesting." He lets out a delightful chuckle. "Sorry, it's been a few hundred years since I've seen anyone from the Verse."

The five glance at each other, then back to the alien.

He smiles, turning back toward the pot. "You guys have not heard of that term before, have you? No, you wouldn't have." He scratches his head. "The Verse is what your people would call 'deep space', it is every region that has been charted by the civilizations of the galaxy. Of course, you wouldn't know about this since your people have not gone through The Welcoming yet."

Though it seems like it doesn't need his attention, as it stirs itself, Tah-Kuell checks the pot now and then as it cooks the meal. "So how exactly did a bunch of kids like you wind up in a place like this?"