Humans are Weird - Hot
Second Sister drew in deep breath and pulled her attention away from the display that showed the human’s slowly cooling skin. The enzyme mix was following the lowering temperatures down and eating the coating of melted polymers off of the thermal damaged tissue. From the lack of movement it appeared that the painkillers were working and the human had finally fallen asleep. She leaned back on her hind legs and tilted her triangular head to address her attention to the healthy human who was shifting back and forth on his feet far more than was normal, even for the notoriously unstable bipeds.
“Your friend is stable,” Second Sister said. “He is in no pain and appears to have fallen asleep.”
The other human started and then flashed a smile at her. She wasn’t the best at reading fleshy human expressions but the smile seemed strained. Which made sense.
“Can you tell me exactly what happened?” she asked.
The human bobbed his head up and down so fast it seemed like it might fall off his thick neck, or at least concuss his brain against his bony skull.
“Sure, sure,” the human said. “I didn’t see everything, but I think I got it figured out, mostly.”
“Proceed,” Second Sister said with a wave of her hand.
“So Hae, he was going to dance Pele at the festival later tonight.”
The human’s concerned expression rippled and his voice trembled a bit. Second Sister again mused that she was not especially skilled in reading human emotional cues but that did sound far more like amusement than concern.
“Anyway,” the human went on after getting his reaction under control. “Irony aside he wanted a good costume for the dance but we were all pulling time and a half shifts because of, you know-”
The human waved a hand out the window, presumably indicating the clouds of visible volcanic ash, and invisible toxic fumed that the local geology had been spewing for some time now. The mechanic crews had been forced to preform far more effort per individual than had been expected when their numbers had been assigned to counter the damage to systems. Second Sister deliberately ‘nodded’ her head, hearing a worrying popping sound from her neck at the unnatural movement.
“And none of the good cloth was in the right colors and as great as uniform grade cloth is it is impossible to dye,” the human went on, “so Hae went to the printers and just fed in an old cloth type he knew would work. He wasn’t thinking about thermal safety at the time.”
The human stopped speaking again and this time she was sure he was fighting back laughter.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said. “The irony, it’s just the irony.”
Second Sister was unsure what was ‘ironic’ about the situation but her grasp of the concept was weak in general.
“Hae didn’t really have time to finish he costume till today and the festival is tonight,” the human went on. “The rest of us went down for a nap after shift so we could party all night but he spent the time sewing and stuff but the cloth had gotten all wrinkly by the time he was done. So he rigged up an iron out of some old thermal couples to smooth it out, but there was no way to make a regulator so it got way hotter than he expected, and the only flat, clean surface he had to work out the wrinkles on was the bed. Just when he was about to get started on the cloth one of his alarms went off across the room where is comm was and we all, I started cussing, ah, yelling at him to turn it off. So he ran across the room to do that and left the iron on the bed. Then he ran back, but he must have forgotten exactly where he sat the iron down because he sat down on on the -”
The human burst into giggles again and had to gather his composure for several seconds.
Second Sister mentally considered the story so far. That would explain the odd location of the burns.
“He sat down on the iron he had made and it was hot.” The human burst out in several profanities which still sounded more amused than anything else. “Never heard a scream like that. I jumped out of my bunk and he was curled up on the floor. Obadiah figured out what had happened first and then I said we should get him to the bathroom and run cold water over him while they brought you in.”
Second Sister nodded again with another pop from her neck.
“Then you sent the medical floater and it brought him here,” the human said, and then fell silent, his small eyes angled expectantly at her as if he was done.
“And how did the burn become coated in the polymer?” She asked, tapping the screen that showed where the enzymes were eating away at the remaining mass that had fused to the human’s skin.
“The costume for the Pele dance,” the human said fighting back a grin. “He had already put the under layer loin cloth on and it got stuck between the iron and his skin. Turns out the materials melting point was way lower than how hot the iron had got.”
“I see,” Second Sister said curling down an antenna thoughtfully. “Such a mistake would seem to be very unusual for a human of his age and skill level.”
“Sleep deprivation,” the human in front of her said, his shoulders bobbing up and down in a ‘shrug’. “Heck of a drug.”
The human was staring at her expectantly again, as if that was a sufficient explanation. Which, it might very well be Second Sister admitted to herself.
“Thank you for your information,” she said. “Do you wish to remain with your friend or leave for the festival?”
“Is he going to wake up?” the human asked, glancing at the screen. “He’s not actually drugged up right?”
“It is rather unlikely,” Second Sister confirmed. “He is not under a general anesthetic. This does simply seem to be his body demanding rest.”
“Let him sleep then,” the other human said. “I’m going to go to the festival. If he wakes up tell him I said he’s an idiot.”
Second Sister watched the uninjured human leave and then turned her attention back to the sleeping human. Why this particular sever injury qualified as more ‘funny’ than ‘serious’ she did not know any more than she could read human facial expressions, but clearly it did. Perhaps her actual patient could explain once he woke up.
“Your friend is stable,” Second Sister said. “He is in no pain and appears to have fallen asleep.”
The other human started and then flashed a smile at her. She wasn’t the best at reading fleshy human expressions but the smile seemed strained. Which made sense.
“Can you tell me exactly what happened?” she asked.
The human bobbed his head up and down so fast it seemed like it might fall off his thick neck, or at least concuss his brain against his bony skull.
“Sure, sure,” the human said. “I didn’t see everything, but I think I got it figured out, mostly.”
“Proceed,” Second Sister said with a wave of her hand.
“So Hae, he was going to dance Pele at the festival later tonight.”
The human’s concerned expression rippled and his voice trembled a bit. Second Sister again mused that she was not especially skilled in reading human emotional cues but that did sound far more like amusement than concern.
“Anyway,” the human went on after getting his reaction under control. “Irony aside he wanted a good costume for the dance but we were all pulling time and a half shifts because of, you know-”
The human waved a hand out the window, presumably indicating the clouds of visible volcanic ash, and invisible toxic fumed that the local geology had been spewing for some time now. The mechanic crews had been forced to preform far more effort per individual than had been expected when their numbers had been assigned to counter the damage to systems. Second Sister deliberately ‘nodded’ her head, hearing a worrying popping sound from her neck at the unnatural movement.
“And none of the good cloth was in the right colors and as great as uniform grade cloth is it is impossible to dye,” the human went on, “so Hae went to the printers and just fed in an old cloth type he knew would work. He wasn’t thinking about thermal safety at the time.”
The human stopped speaking again and this time she was sure he was fighting back laughter.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said. “The irony, it’s just the irony.”
Second Sister was unsure what was ‘ironic’ about the situation but her grasp of the concept was weak in general.
“Hae didn’t really have time to finish he costume till today and the festival is tonight,” the human went on. “The rest of us went down for a nap after shift so we could party all night but he spent the time sewing and stuff but the cloth had gotten all wrinkly by the time he was done. So he rigged up an iron out of some old thermal couples to smooth it out, but there was no way to make a regulator so it got way hotter than he expected, and the only flat, clean surface he had to work out the wrinkles on was the bed. Just when he was about to get started on the cloth one of his alarms went off across the room where is comm was and we all, I started cussing, ah, yelling at him to turn it off. So he ran across the room to do that and left the iron on the bed. Then he ran back, but he must have forgotten exactly where he sat the iron down because he sat down on on the -”
The human burst into giggles again and had to gather his composure for several seconds.
Second Sister mentally considered the story so far. That would explain the odd location of the burns.
“He sat down on the iron he had made and it was hot.” The human burst out in several profanities which still sounded more amused than anything else. “Never heard a scream like that. I jumped out of my bunk and he was curled up on the floor. Obadiah figured out what had happened first and then I said we should get him to the bathroom and run cold water over him while they brought you in.”
Second Sister nodded again with another pop from her neck.
“Then you sent the medical floater and it brought him here,” the human said, and then fell silent, his small eyes angled expectantly at her as if he was done.
“And how did the burn become coated in the polymer?” She asked, tapping the screen that showed where the enzymes were eating away at the remaining mass that had fused to the human’s skin.
“The costume for the Pele dance,” the human said fighting back a grin. “He had already put the under layer loin cloth on and it got stuck between the iron and his skin. Turns out the materials melting point was way lower than how hot the iron had got.”
“I see,” Second Sister said curling down an antenna thoughtfully. “Such a mistake would seem to be very unusual for a human of his age and skill level.”
“Sleep deprivation,” the human in front of her said, his shoulders bobbing up and down in a ‘shrug’. “Heck of a drug.”
The human was staring at her expectantly again, as if that was a sufficient explanation. Which, it might very well be Second Sister admitted to herself.
“Thank you for your information,” she said. “Do you wish to remain with your friend or leave for the festival?”
“Is he going to wake up?” the human asked, glancing at the screen. “He’s not actually drugged up right?”
“It is rather unlikely,” Second Sister confirmed. “He is not under a general anesthetic. This does simply seem to be his body demanding rest.”
“Let him sleep then,” the other human said. “I’m going to go to the festival. If he wakes up tell him I said he’s an idiot.”
Second Sister watched the uninjured human leave and then turned her attention back to the sleeping human. Why this particular sever injury qualified as more ‘funny’ than ‘serious’ she did not know any more than she could read human facial expressions, but clearly it did. Perhaps her actual patient could explain once he woke up.
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