#plasm

uhmm a short story regarding the queen in OITT and plasm... little drabble :]

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Given the other options, the Queen had thought she had made a great decision; bringing another king around- a mimic, no less! A king that could finally squash those pesky animals' trust in one another, a master manipulator who could tear the Alphas apart from the inside out!

What she hadn't considered, though, was just how bothersome this young king would be.

Sure, she thought. They've all started a bit... uncertain. Weird, even. Chloro, with her ever-growing disdain towards other phantoms. Golgi, with their awkward, geeky demeanor. But those two had- mostly- grown away from those traits as they aged.

And so she expected that to play out the same way with this new king, Plasm. She waited for them to find their place within the hive.

And waited.

And waited.

And yet, here she stood. Carefully observing each and every phantom in her most hardened, battle-ready battalion. Her gaze fixed carefully on each troop for at least a few fretful minutes, before shifting over to the next tense phantom in line. 

Plasm hadn't been seen around the hive for a few days. That never happens- it couldn't! 

They always had to show themselves at least once a day, be it by scaring the soul out of some poor ground soldier by taking the form of an armed animal, or awkwardly informing the queen that they- in their foolish, reckless stupor- had broken yet another vital cog in the fortress.

They had to be up to something. And the Queen wasn't stupid! Busy? Yes. Frustrated and about to snap? Absolutely. But not stupid. She knows her kings, like the back of her tentacle!

Wait.

She blinks back over to the heavy soldier she'd just examined. A deep orange heavy, whose name is Sludge, if she recalls correctly- a loyal soldier, with scars to show it!

...But this heavy had no scars. The color was right, the size, the behavior. But it seemed to lack Sludge's battle-worn demeanor.

With a quick, sudden movement that gained shouts of terror from her soldiers surrounding her target, she scooped the heavy up before it even noticed her suspicious once-over. 

" Young King! " She chided, her singular eye narrowed in a specific kind of certainty many residents of the Hive knew all too well. The previous terror covering the faces of the surrounding soldiers melted into amusement.

" Do you think this is appropriate? " 

A pause from the faux-heavy, then a plea;

" Your Highness- I, uh, don't- " 

The Queen cut them off, quickly, and firmly,

" Plasm. I know it's you. Don't try to act coy with me. "

The heavy stiffened a bit. Shit. They had been caught.

With a childish, frustrated groan. The form of the large phantom simply seemed to dissolve. First into goo, and then slowly but surely, into a much- much larger form. Their previous burgundy color changing to a much more vibrant, ombre violet.

"Mom! I was having fun- it was harmless- Sludge allo- " They were cut off, yet again.

" No excuses! I don't have time to hear it, you know the hives have been especially busy these past few weeks with the planned invasion! Right now is not the time for your shenanigans! " The Queen snapped, hoisting the king up with one tentacle.

Sometimes, just sometimes, she wonders if she made the right decision with hand-raising each and every unique king. This one was certainly testing her patience. A constant thorn in her side that never seemed to-

She blinked.

" ...What did you say, dear? "

" I said Sludge allowed it! He's off with his buddies somewhere in the fortress! " Plasm blurted, defensively. Their defiant leer never faltering.  

Her one eye narrowed further, somehow. Into genuine, unfiltered rage.

Plasm could wait. She thinks maybe, just maybe.

“He sank his feeding tube into the ground.” Funny sentence that made me happy, rereading it about..53 years later. That remembered moment in this short story made me want to find it again for years. Finally figured out I had read it in this anthology. Including the very memorable story Cold Equations.

Just guessing, I bet Jim Shooter read it (Plasm), Joe Dante (Innerspace) read it, Whoever did Fantastic Voyage and Osmosis Jones read it. Woody Allen probably was thinking of it in Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex.

Shortsen arrives to Zone 1, as he was about walk into the building, he spots something peculiar. In front of him was what looked like a humanoid figure, smaller than an average Elsen but taller than him. It appeared doll-like as it stands still, seemingly waiting for someone. Then, a fellow Elsen arrives, “So sorry I kept you waiting, PlaSm!!” Shortsen jumps a bit when the figure starts to move, without blinking or even moving its mouth, a voice came from the figure, “It’s okay, Dad!” the doll and the Elsen hugged each other as if they were a family. The Elsen then notices Shortsen, what made this Elsen different was his tie: it has an arrow symbol that resembled a star sign. “Oh my! Hello! I’ve never seen you around here before. Who are you?” The figure looked into the Elsen’s direction and waved at Shortsen. It had a permanent smile but it gave a genuine smile to Shortsen.

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Title: Saaji and PlaSm waves at you.

These guys are my OFF OCs: Sagittarius Elsen(nicknamed Saaji) and PlaSm SuMeMe (or their title, The Element, doesn’t have a gender). Their story is that Saaji created PlaSm with the important elements of the OFF universe in hopes of defeating the spectors at the mines, but ended up being the Geppetto to the curious [and headstrong] Pinocchio.

If you want to roleplay with these characters, you can. Be my guest. :)

-Giftbox.

Saaji and PlaSm are adorable! Thanks for introducing your interesting characters to me. I would love to see future stories about them. Also I lack the skill to rp, but I bet other rp blogs would love to interact!