Glimpse of Hope

Jackson and the Mimic moved in a tight formation, inching closer to their "Mother" with palpable apprehension. As they rounded a corner, they confronted a monstrous creature with gaping holes and jagged teeth making Jackson's stomach churn. He slowed down, overwhelmed by the sight, but the Mimic noticed and inquired.

"Lanky creature? Are you all right?" asked the Mimic, casting a sidelong glance while ensuring they didn't disrupt the flow of the procession.

Trying to compose himself, Jackson stammered, "Y-Yeah... just never seen... "THAT" before," which elicited a quizzical expression from the Mimic, and Jackson felt chastened. "O-Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" he hastily added, but S.T.E.V.E. interjected with a lighthearted remark.

"That's one way to insult someone's mother, I guess! Well, I don't think that's its—" S.T.E.V.E. started before Jackson brushed his fingers against his USB stick threateningly. "O-OK! I'LL BE QUIET!" S.T.E.V.E. relented.

Relieved, Jackson sighed and addressed the Mimic, "I didn't mean to sound disrespectful towards your mother. I meant that in a good way—"

"Uhm, that's not Mother," the Mimic interjected, puzzled. "That is Father... Mother waits for us all to gather before blessing us with her presence." The Mimic gestured towards a manmade opening in a cavern, adorned with intricate curtains and quilts bearing enigmatic symbols and patterns mimicking human quilting traditions.

"Wow, so that's your father," Jackson marveled at the immense figure and unique appearance. "If your father is like this, what is your mother like?"

The Mimic seized Jackson's arm and guided him to join the other creatures, kneeling before their imposing father. With a low growl, their father signaled some mimics to part the curtains, making way for their mother. Jackson followed suit, kneeling alongside the mimics, fixated on the impending revelation from the cavern's depths.

Jackson was surprised to see a humanoid figure walking out draped in unknown fabrics, concealing their features. The figure made its way to Father, who gently caressed the figure with its tentacle before letting her sit on top of its head. "Uh, Mimic, who's that?" Jackson inquired.

"Shush, lanky creature!" the Mimic said sternly, trying not to draw attention, but to no avail. Mother spotted Jackson and the Mimic, tilting its head to discern what had happened to one of her children. Father roared, causing the other creatures to disperse, leaving just the two kneeling before them. Mother stared at them with a curious gaze, emitting a high-pitched screech that made Jackson instinctively reach for his ears, forgetting he was wearing his space suit. Surprisingly, the Mimic did the same, prompting Jackson to urge S.T.E.V.E. to scan it.

"It seems the Mimic has evolved due to your blood, Mr. Reeves," S.T.E.V.E. said calmly, with a hint of curiosity. "This so-called "Mother" can't seem to determine why she senses your DNA in the Mimic, but in lighter news, congratulations, it appears you have a baby boy-"

Jackson instinctively moved to unplug S.T.E.V.E.'s USB chip, panting, careful not to seem threatening or threatened by the display of authority Mother seemed to exhibit. "I mean no harm," Jackson hastily explained, surrendering his arms to prove he had no ill intent towards the planet and its inhabitants. "I've crash-landed here. My name is Jackson Reeves, and I am, or was, a Space Marine stationed onboard the SS Vagabond. However, my ship entered a Wormhole, and I-"

His attempt to plead his case fell on deaf ears, appearing to anger Mother further. She screeched, leading Father to scoop Jackson up with its tentacle, pulling him to face Mother. She stared into his eyes, seemingly trying to determine both what he was and his purpose.

The mimic had climbed Father's tentacle standing on Jackson's helmet waving at his Mother to get her attention. She looks at him with a curious gaze reaching out to touch him only to hesitate realizing he's wearing an unknown suit. Mimic then lets out a high-pitched chirp seemingly communicating with her, Jackson slightly regretting unplugging S.T.E.V.E. to tune out the chirps. After some time, Mother looks back at Jackson, chirping at Father, causing him to bring them into her cavern for more privacy.

As Father placed them inside, Jackson's eyes began scanning seemingly shocked to find semi-human artifacts: quilts, hats, tools, flashlights, and even what looked to be sketches of a space shuttle. Upon closer examination, Jackson sees a familiar logo on the wing labels, "SS Vagabond."

"Have you seen my space shuttle?" Jackson asks excitedly, hoping to get off this planet and return home as soon as possible. He approaches Mother and grabs her shoulders, shaking her gently. "Where have you seen it? Is it here? Where is it?" 

"She can't understand you, lanky creature," Mimic says bluntly as Mother stares into Jackson's eyes, tilting her head. "Maybe we'll need her to taste you as I did?"

Jackson recoils at the fact that another creature has to bite him. He looks up at her, sighing, before holding out his hand. She stares at his hand, trying to determine what he's asking, and raises her hand to him, letting out a small chirp. This causes Mimic to let out a small chirp, seemingly chuckling, before communicating with her and telling her to bite him. She stared back at his hand sniffing it before bitting down on a finger drawing blood, causing Jackson to wince, making her back up chirping seemingly trying to apologize but midway her chirps started to sound more humanlike as her body went through subtle changes making her features more human but still having pinkish skin. "S-Sorry Creature! I didn't want to hurt you-" she stops herself, hearing the now-known language of English.

"There we go," Jackson says, holding his finger to gauge the damage. "Now we can understand each other, correct?" She nods, looking at him with curious eyes. "The ship in this painting. Where have you seen this?" Jackson asks, pointing to the sketch of the "SS Vagabond".

"It landed here," Mother says timidly, trying to get used to the new language. "We thought it was the Conquerors... yet they had already fallen-"

"Fallen?" Jackson interjects, grabbing her shoulders tighter, causing her to yelp. "What do you mean, fallen? There were almost 300 men onboard! There's no way they could've all been killed-" Mimic grabs his arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes, seemingly wanting him to let go of his mother, which he does.

"I didn't say they were killed," she says in a frightened tone, as she distances herself from Jackson, seemingly scared of him. "They had fallen from the sky... the ship is too big for us to bring down here. We can show you-"

"Please do!" Jackson pleads, dropping to his knees, not caring how he looks at the moment, causing her to blush, seemingly embarrassed, waving her hands and trying to get him to stop.

"O-Okay! We will!" She exclaims, kneeling, patting his shoulder soothingly, and helping him up to his feet. "F-Follow them," she says as she lets out a commanding chirp, making Father lift a hunk of metal, revealing a staircase to the sandy dunes outside. Jackson and the Mimic hurriedly followed the creatures leading them to it, but Jackson looked back at her curiously. "What is your name?

"N-Name? Uh..." She looks around, blushing before looking back at him. "Terra. You can call me Terra."

"I see," Jackson replies softly. "It was nice meeting you, Terra." Jackson then went up the stairs, feeling a bit of confidence from the moment, only to have it broken by Mimic stepping on his foot, causing him to yelp. "W-What was that for?"

"1. Making fun of Father, 2. touching Mother without permission, and 3. not asking my name," Mimic says, visibly pouting.

Jackson sighs, shaking his head and smiling slightly. "Fine... I'm sorry. What's your name then, Mimic?" Jackson says with a genuinely curious tone.

"Hmm... M-Mirage sounds better than Mimic," he exclaims proudly, crossing his arms and nodding, causing Jackson to laugh.

"Mirage it is then," Jackson says, patting the top of Mirage's helmet before facing the sandy dunes. "You ready for this, Mirage?" Jackson asks causing Mirage to nod as they both take cautious steps into the sand, turning back one last time and seeing Terra wave them goodbye.