Humans are Weird - Contextual
Second Sister stepped lightly into the mechanics bay and ducked as a massive fleshy hand, pockmarked with several new lacerations she noted with a sense of tired frustration, swung at her and nearly struck her head. The human it was attached to, First Mechanic, a mid-sized male with depressing medical habits was energetically talking to the wall mounted comm unit. As usually he seemed to have forgotten that the device was more than advanced enough to accommodate multiple species and was bent nearly double to address it.
“-in the south bay-frag! Sorry Sis! Didn’t hit you did I? No? Yeah it’s gotta be there, that’s where all the flame producing tools go since the incident with the magnesium… try under the bench?”
“You did not make contact with me. Stand. Up.” Second Sister snapped out.
First Mechanic shot her a distracted grin as he unfurled his body like some very strange seed pod ripening.
“You need to take care of that bizarre internal skeleton of yours!” Second Sister scolded him. “Just because you can’t see the joints doesn’t mean that you can ignore them.”
“No!” First Mechanic snapped, his eyes flicking back to the comm, “I told you I haven’t touched it in months! It should be there.”
Second Sister drew in a deliberately loud sigh over her lung and walked over to the workbench with the dense fabric repair tools. She chose the awl she needed and spread out the strap she had brought in for alterations. Before she could begin however the bench suddenly shifted and a cheerful voice called out.
“Do you need help with something?”
Second Sister started and drew back as Third Mechanic scrambled out from a tub on a lower shelf. The Shatar flicked her proboscis out and licked at at eye to calm herself.
“Thank you but no,” she said firmly. “I need to do this myself.”
“Do you mind if I observe?” the Undulate asked as he scrambled up and displaced several loose tools to make a place for himself at the far end of the bench.
“So long as you do not touch my work,” Second Sister said firmly as she spread the strap out again and lifted the awl.
Behind her the human continued to flail his thick arms about and contort his hands, to her side the Undulate was clearly angling half his appendages to watch her work and half to observe the human. Second Sister drew in a deep breath and set down the tool.
“Third Mechanic,” she said, carefully to not sound judgmental, “is First Mechanic carrying on two conversations at once?”
The Undulate spread his appendages in surprise and gave a thoughtful hum.
“Not so far as I can tell,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“It seems that he is talking to the person on the other side of the comm with his voice and gesturing to you at the same time,” Second Sister explained. “However I was not aware that humans could thus divide their attention safely, and he is in the workshop where attention should be carefully directed.”
The Undulate gave a rumble of amusement and came forward to pat her hand gently.
“You Shatar are so cautious about such things,” Third Mechanic said in a fond tone and Second Sister tried not to bristle at the tone. “No, no, he is not talking to me and he is fully focused on his conversation with Human Biologist George. The gestures are simply Human Friend Bruce communicating the exact location of, and how to get full access the tool they are discussing.”
“Please remove yourself from my workspace,” Second Sister said as she mulled over that.
She raised the hammer and placed the first few necessary holes in the strap before responding.
“The wall mounted comm unit does not have a functional video system,” she finally observed.
“Yes, yes,” the Undulate murmured. “It busted as the humans say some weeks ago-”
Third Mechanic’s voice cut off and his appendages all curled down into what the humans called a ‘thinking loaf’ as he mulled over that.
“I sound your confusion,” he finally said, “but perhaps this is simply a habit of good communication?”
“Did First Mechanic usually use the video feature when it was active?” Second Sister asked as she tested the flexibility of the strap.
“No,” the Undulate admitted, before taking a long ‘thinking loaf’ pause, and then tossing the majority of his mass up to wave at First Mechanic, incidentally throwing off the placement of the next hole and nearly ruining the strap. “Human Friend Bruce! Why are you speaking in gestures if Human Biologist George can’t see you?”
“Just a tic,” First Mechanic said into the comms and turned to blink slowly at them.
Second Sister hoped that the set of her antenna was enough evidence that she was not responsible for this very rude interruption.
“I’m not using speech gestures,” he said after a long look at his hands. “I think, moving my hands like this, like I was there looking for it myself, helps me find the right memory?”
The human turned back to the comm.
“Yeah, sorry, think I was freaking out Cuddlesalot,” he said to presumably the human on the line.
“Not freaked out, just confused,” the Undulate assured him. “How about that? I didn’t know that humans could physically stimulate memory!”
Second Sister reached out and firmly pushed the Undulate out of her workspace. He went cheerfully, still chattering about the mysteries of human memory and communication.
“-in the south bay-frag! Sorry Sis! Didn’t hit you did I? No? Yeah it’s gotta be there, that’s where all the flame producing tools go since the incident with the magnesium… try under the bench?”
“You did not make contact with me. Stand. Up.” Second Sister snapped out.
First Mechanic shot her a distracted grin as he unfurled his body like some very strange seed pod ripening.
“You need to take care of that bizarre internal skeleton of yours!” Second Sister scolded him. “Just because you can’t see the joints doesn’t mean that you can ignore them.”
“No!” First Mechanic snapped, his eyes flicking back to the comm, “I told you I haven’t touched it in months! It should be there.”
Second Sister drew in a deliberately loud sigh over her lung and walked over to the workbench with the dense fabric repair tools. She chose the awl she needed and spread out the strap she had brought in for alterations. Before she could begin however the bench suddenly shifted and a cheerful voice called out.
“Do you need help with something?”
Second Sister started and drew back as Third Mechanic scrambled out from a tub on a lower shelf. The Shatar flicked her proboscis out and licked at at eye to calm herself.
“Thank you but no,” she said firmly. “I need to do this myself.”
“Do you mind if I observe?” the Undulate asked as he scrambled up and displaced several loose tools to make a place for himself at the far end of the bench.
“So long as you do not touch my work,” Second Sister said firmly as she spread the strap out again and lifted the awl.
Behind her the human continued to flail his thick arms about and contort his hands, to her side the Undulate was clearly angling half his appendages to watch her work and half to observe the human. Second Sister drew in a deep breath and set down the tool.
“Third Mechanic,” she said, carefully to not sound judgmental, “is First Mechanic carrying on two conversations at once?”
The Undulate spread his appendages in surprise and gave a thoughtful hum.
“Not so far as I can tell,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“It seems that he is talking to the person on the other side of the comm with his voice and gesturing to you at the same time,” Second Sister explained. “However I was not aware that humans could thus divide their attention safely, and he is in the workshop where attention should be carefully directed.”
The Undulate gave a rumble of amusement and came forward to pat her hand gently.
“You Shatar are so cautious about such things,” Third Mechanic said in a fond tone and Second Sister tried not to bristle at the tone. “No, no, he is not talking to me and he is fully focused on his conversation with Human Biologist George. The gestures are simply Human Friend Bruce communicating the exact location of, and how to get full access the tool they are discussing.”
“Please remove yourself from my workspace,” Second Sister said as she mulled over that.
She raised the hammer and placed the first few necessary holes in the strap before responding.
“The wall mounted comm unit does not have a functional video system,” she finally observed.
“Yes, yes,” the Undulate murmured. “It busted as the humans say some weeks ago-”
Third Mechanic’s voice cut off and his appendages all curled down into what the humans called a ‘thinking loaf’ as he mulled over that.
“I sound your confusion,” he finally said, “but perhaps this is simply a habit of good communication?”
“Did First Mechanic usually use the video feature when it was active?” Second Sister asked as she tested the flexibility of the strap.
“No,” the Undulate admitted, before taking a long ‘thinking loaf’ pause, and then tossing the majority of his mass up to wave at First Mechanic, incidentally throwing off the placement of the next hole and nearly ruining the strap. “Human Friend Bruce! Why are you speaking in gestures if Human Biologist George can’t see you?”
“Just a tic,” First Mechanic said into the comms and turned to blink slowly at them.
Second Sister hoped that the set of her antenna was enough evidence that she was not responsible for this very rude interruption.
“I’m not using speech gestures,” he said after a long look at his hands. “I think, moving my hands like this, like I was there looking for it myself, helps me find the right memory?”
The human turned back to the comm.
“Yeah, sorry, think I was freaking out Cuddlesalot,” he said to presumably the human on the line.
“Not freaked out, just confused,” the Undulate assured him. “How about that? I didn’t know that humans could physically stimulate memory!”
Second Sister reached out and firmly pushed the Undulate out of her workspace. He went cheerfully, still chattering about the mysteries of human memory and communication.
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