System Overclocked 2 -ch 16- (Patreon)

Wrench had discovered that Tickaht was incredibly chatty.

No sooner than they could have basic conversations, then the translation game they’d been playing had become almost secondary to talking.

Though to be fair, Wrench couldn’t deny that the conversations were providing them with all the inbetween words.

Words that didn’t have easy to share and translate.

Like and, in, an, a, the, it, of, as examples.

“—then Sccsccc said you just dirty animal,” Tickaht growled out, with a swat of her hand and an expression he’d come to recognize. Sccsccc was another Grae in the Hab that really didn’t get along with Tickaht. “You not dirty animal. You different. Tickaht like Wrench. So Tickaht punch, kick, strangle Sccsccc. Sccsccc no longer bad talk Wrench.”

Tickaht had said many words he didn’t catch in the middle of course. A great many of them. Only the words he understood were translated so it just made her sound somewhat tribal in a way.

That or the implant was trying to fill blanks and translate as best as it can, even if somewhat crudely.

He imagined his own way of speaking sounded the same way to her.

“Don’t do that, Tickaht,” admonished Wrench. He reached out and put his hand on Tickaht’s knee and squeezed it. “Don’t. Don’t hurt Sccsccc. She just doesn’t know any better. Bring her back here so I can heal her. We have someone who can heal her. Okay? Don’t hurt her.

“You’re a better Grae than her, so it’s your job to help her understand. I mean, didn’t you think I was a dirty animal at first?”

“Ah,” Tickaht breathed out, her mouth hanging open thoughtfully. She put her hand atop his hand squeezed it. He’d found out very quickly that Tickaht liked to touch. A lot. Almost more so than even School Hume did. “Okay. Bring Sccscc for Wrench to fix. Right. Tickaht will be better. Sorry, Wrench.

“I never thought you were dirty animal. Thought you were odd. Wanted to know more. You didn’t run from me.”

Then Tickaht laughed and leaned her head back.

“You stared at my breasts, too!” she accused, her cheeks blushing. “Also stare at privates earlier.”

He’d also discovered Tickaht was not a prudish woman. She was, in fact, flirty, provocative, and had a mind deeper in the gutter than Seventh.

Seventh was just horny.

Tickaht had a dirty mind.

He was starting to suspect that what he thought was her blushing, was something else entirely.

“I mean, you were spread open in front of me Tickaht, it would’ve been hard not to stare,” Wrench said defensively.

“Wrench stared at privates. Stares at breasts. Wrench doesn’t look at Hume like that,” accused Tickaht, her hand roaming up his forearm.

Which was his cue to pull his arm back otherwise she’d start feeling all over his shoulders and chest.

Again.

He had no idea if Grae were naturally like this, or if Tickaht was different.

“Wrench can look. I don’t mind. Wrench can look as much as he wants,” Tickaht allowed, giving him another Grae-smile. Then she stretched her shoulders and back out and leaned her head back. She’d taken to making movements and gestures. Ones that clearly strained to get him to look at her chest. “Mmmm, there. You look? Good. Look more.”

“Are you just… unique? Are all Grae like you? They want to be looked at?” Wrench asked.

“Mmm, no. Grae prefer to hide. I’m… different. All Grae have said I’m different,” admitted Tickaht with a small shrug of her shoulders. “Not interested in male Grae. They look wrong. Hume look weird, but not in a bad way.

“That and you lot nicer than male Grae. They just aggressive and hostile. Mean.”

“You’ve met male Grae?” Wrench asked surprised. He hadn’t considered that, but it made sense. Grae would have to grow up in a place no different than how Hume grew up. “Oh, where you grew up?”

“Yes. My father was a disgusting pig. Mother took me into the canopy and kept me there. Other males were monsters to me. Mother took a few other Grae men for partners. They were… okay.

“I stayed in the canopy. Didn’t want to deal with any of that. No reason to. Rather be alone. Then went to a Hume Hab. They were interesting but weren’t nice.

“Then came here. Found you, Wrench. You’re interesting and nice.

“You also look at me. I like it. I like you looking at me. Look at me more. You should look at Tickaht a lot more.”

Blinking, Wrench then let out a slow breath.

“You’re asking me to look at you. This isn’t a bad translation, right? You understand what you’re asking?” Wrench tried.

“Of course! You should look at me. Look at me as a Grae woman. It’s fun to be looked at. You look at me and admire me.”

Wrench didn’t miss the fact that the more they kept talking, the better and better the translation was going. Things were always getting clearer.

Admittedly they’d been chatting for what felt like hours but it was still surprising.

She’s certainly not short on her own ego. Seventh is proud when complimented, but isn’t quite as egocentric as this.

“What? I’m good to look at. Even among Grae I’m good looking,” argued Tickaht. “Look at me. I’m beautiful. Admire me. Gaze at me. Long for me.”

Oooookay that’s not quite the same thing there.

“That last one isn’t-it’s not-ahhh… yeah,” tried Wrench.

“Yes, yes, I know. I know what I said,” Tickaht dismissed, lifting a foot up and sticking it in Wrench’s lap. “I didn’t say let’s mate. I said long for me. Different things. I’m flattered you immediately thought of that though. We only just met and could start talking.

“That’s too fast. Maybe not too fast for Hume, but too fast for Grae. Not even considering we’re not the same race.”

“Yeah,” Wrench agreed, feeling better, but also, somehow disappointed. He grabbed Tickaht’s foot and peered at it. It was mostly similar to a Hume’s, though the ankle looked much greater range of movement.

Tickaht flexed her foot and curled it up onto itself as if it were more of a hand.

“Oh? Are you going to rub my lower-hand? I’d like that,” Tickaht teased further. “Don’t look so disappointed at not mating with me. I didn’t say I wasn’t interested, just not ready. I’d like to explore a relationship first.

“Besides, I’m not sure a Hume and a Grae could mate. Do you even have male Grae anatomy? Oh, you should show me it. Show me yours, I showed you mine.”

Clicking his teeth together, Wrench prodded at Tickaht’s foot and then began to actually rub it. This pace was way beyond him at this point.

Even with Seventh and Stripe he felt like he was able to guide things to a degree. Tickaht was just bulldozing him over.

“It’s in the same place, isn’t it? Show me,” Tickaht prompted, her foot turning over and casually grabbing at his crotch.

Sitting there, he barely moved even as he watched her foot fondle at his groin as if it were an elongated hand.

“I-what? What? It really is very similar to a male Grae isn’t it? Just bigger. Much bigger. Hm. Show me, Wrench,” pleaded Tickaht, followed by a low toned honking-laugh. Her cheeks flushed a dark color once again.

Okay. Yeah.

Not blushing.

That’s a Grae being horny, isn’t it.

What the hell.

“Later,” Wrench begged off. “And the only reason you showed me yours is you don’t wear clothes.”

“Clothes get in the way when climbing and hanging around. Clothes are for when you’re pregnant or with family on the ground. Or male,” stated Tickaht. “Would you like to see me in clothes? Would you gaze at me more if I dressed like a Hume?”

“Uh,” offered Wrench helpfully.

“Thats the answer then,” Tickaht continued after a single beat beyond his eloquent rejoinder. “I’ll join your Hume and teach the other Grae your language at the same time, though later. It won’t take long.

“I’ll make sure to bring Sccsccc for treatment tonight. But don’t look at her like you do me. You should only look at me like that. At Tickaht.”

Tickaht groped at his crotch for a few more seconds, before she bounced up to her feet. Then she grabbed him and hauled him up to his feet.

“Let’s go get clothes. Then you can begin introducing me to the others,” Tickaht. “The lights will turn on very soon. It would be better for us to be in the Hume area before the rest of the Grae wake up. They’ll become too curious if we stay.”

Tickaht began pulling him to the door, hopping lightly as she went at the same time.

“Tickaht, does it sound like to you that I speak your language perfectly now? At first it sounded a bit… ah… stupid, but now it’s good?” he asked.

“Somewhat. Sometimes you still talk like a child but it’s improving quickly,” Tickaht said and then patted Wrench and pushed him toward the door. “Much more now that we’re having a full on conversation.

“You should have listened to me sooner. Talking was best. Not learning singular words. Listen to me. Look at me.”

The tall Grae stepped up behind him and he realized she was just as tall as he was.

“Long for me,” she purred her mouth hovering near his ear. Then she moved closer “Is your ear ticklish? It’s much larger than mine. Must be sensitive.”

“Ooooh shit you frickin’ temptress,” blurted out Wrench and jerked the door open, moving away from her.

“Temptress? Temptress. That means I’m tempting you.

“You can’t say temptress without it having an effect. Temptress… I like that,” laughed Tickaht following him inside and then slammed the door shut behind herself. “I like that a lot.”

***

Sitting in the cafeteria next to the new immaculately dressed, smiling and chittering Tickaht, Wrench had no idea how to properly introduce her to Seventh and Stripe.

So far, Jitter, Duchess, Sparkle, Pistol, Popsicle, and Gadget had arrived. They’d all greeted him eagerly, listened briefly to an explanation about Tickaht, then went to their breakfast.

They all wanted to talk to him and know more, but they were making room for new arrivals as they came.

Gadget had sat down at his table though and was actively talking to Tickaht.

Wrench was providing the ongoing translation, which was short-circuiting Gadget’s implant. As well as everyone else’s nearby.

“Wrench,” whispered a voice behind him.

He turned in his seat to find Dusky and the rest of the Schools standing there. Then they were rushing toward him.

Standing up he stepped away from his table and then was drowned in hands, hugs, kisses, and a lot of greetings.

Then he was standing in front of Dusky.

The green-eyed, black haired, beautiful woman with light-brown skin was gazing up at him. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks that just made her all the more lovely.

Smiling at him, she hugged him. Hugged him hard and roughly. Hanging onto him in fact.

“Wrench!” she gushed, rocking back and forth. “I’m so glad you’re back. We were all so nervous.”

“Yeah, Goodie found me last night. I wasn’t tired so I got to work on the Hab. It looks like like it did, but it’s got a lot more features. Kind of surprising.”

“Isn’t it?” Swifty asked, passing by with a hand-wave. He went straight to Gadget and sat down next to her.

“I’m rather happy about it,” said Spook, or as he’d been renamed, Spooky. “The Admin terminals are much faster now. My family alone can handle all the work at the moment.”

His partner Coffee and their two children came along behind him. They were all smiles and waved at him.

“Good morning, Wrench-Head,” offered Coffee as they went.

“I’m so glad,” Dusky moaned against him, her whole body pressed to him. “I wish you’d come to our bed last night. It was hard to sleep without knowing where you were.”

Uh… huh.

That’s not the greeting I was honestly expecting.

Not at all.

Maybe it wouldn’t be hard to approach Dusky about making something work out after all.

“Hi, I’m Tickaht,” Tickaht announced herself. “You must be Wrench’s mate. You look like you’re attractive for a Hume, but Wrench should look at me more. My breasts, both upper and lower ones, are bigger than yours.”

The honking laugh that followed was undeniably a happy-go-lucky type of thing.

“Ah, I’m just teasing. Yours are bigger, but I’ve got more? Maybe we equal out,” Tickaht finished. “We should compare sometime. We can both walk naked in front of Wrench and see who he is attracted to more. Maybe he’ll show me his genatalia at that point.”

Gadget choked on her food at that, and Pistol and Popsicle, the beautiful duo he’d taken from another Hab, also looked up and now firmly interested in the conversation.

The entirety of the School that’d come with Dusky were all staring at the Grae who hadn’t gotten up at all.

“Everyone, this is Tickaht. Tickaht is one of the Grae in the Aerial-Hab. It’s pretty much like I said. The Grae… they’re just like us,” Wrench explained, turning to the side and holding a hand out toward Tickaht.

The beautiful and alien looking Grae was dressed in a dress he’d fashioned after a style he’d seen in his past life. It fit her quite well, and even managed to show that she had two pairs of breasts without making her look odd, or showing off too much skin.

She waved a clawed hand at the School with a flat-grimace for them and her eyes full and round. Then she turned back to her meal of freshly cooked protein she deftly picked up the knife and fork and began pulling it into slices again.

Surprisingly, she’d only had to watch someone else do it for a few seconds before she figured it out herself.

“Ah… what did she say?” Dusky asked.

Wrench sighed, laughed, and then translated it all for them. Seventh and Stripe had joined them at some point and were listening in from the dispenser.

Both of them looked curious and interested as they got their breakfast.

Dusky looked amused, as well as mildly curious at the translated statement from Tickaht. There was no offense taken at all, it seemed.

“Wrench?” called Goodie from outside. “Oh, there you all are. How are you all my precious Hume!”

Tickaht grunted, then groaned. She was never happy when Goodie showed up.

“Goodie!” and “Good morning!” came from every Hume. All of them greeting the Tongsta warmly.

“My Hume! My babies! Did you all sleep well? I see you’re all happy to see Wrench is home,” Goodie said.

Wrench could see her through the cafeteria windows. She was at the glass.

“I told you. I promised you. I’d find Wrench, Seventh, and Stripe if it was the last thing I did,” teased Goodie good naturedly.

To which all the Hume laughed, some apologized, but one and all were amused.

“Oooh, you save those sweet apologies for later with hugs. I demand hugs from you all. Especially you Pistol. My little firebrand. You were ever so angry at me for not finding him faster. A big hug from you, sweetie,” Goodie directed.

Pistol groaned, then laughed. She held up a hand.

“Yes, Goodie. I’m sorry. You were right. I’ll give you a big hug and a kiss,” Pistol relented.

“It’s okay. I know you were just worried. Mommy loves you, Pistol.”

Pistol looked down, blinked several times and cleared her throat.

“Love you too, Mommy,” Pistol said loudly.

“My little firebrand. Popsicle, no teasing her today. You be nice. Okay?” Goodie demanded.

“Yes, Mommy.”

Ooookay.

Everyone is calling her mommy.

Now I don’t feel as awkward calling her that.

“Oh, is that… is that Tickaht? You’re with the Hume today?” Goodie asked.

Tickaht, for her part, was staring at the Tongsta in a shocked and incredulous way now. As the exchange had occurred, Gadget had been translating aloud.

The constant translation and repetition of everyone back and forth was leveling out everyone’s Tongsta understanding constantly.

It apparently worked on Tickaht, too.

“I… yes. It is Tickaht,” murmured Tickaht.

“Ahhhh, my special boy was right. You’re sentient, aren’t you, Tickaht?” Goodie proclaimed. “Did he teach you how to understand me like he did for everyone else?”

“I-yes. I am. Yes? He did? You… what? What?” Tickaht asked, clearly not sure how to respond any further.

“You just stay with Wrench and he’ll teach you everything, Tickaht,” ordered Goodie. “Stay with Wrench, okay Tickaht? Listen to mommy. He’ll be good for you.”

“Okay,” whimpered Tickaht, clearly no longer able to process the situation. She was now staring at her plate, her hands pressed between her legs, and holding perfectly still.

“Good girl. Thank you, Tickaht. Wrench, can we get the rest of the Grae educated in the same way? I’d love to be able to talk to them,” Goodie pleaded. “I think I should try to save the Grae, too.

“Do you think they’d want mother Goodie to try and save them? I feel like they would but… I wouldn’t want to force that on them?”

“Yes, mommy!” and “Yes Goodie!” came the chorused reply.

“I should then? Okay. I’ll do my best! Mommy is doing all she can for her babies. I even took over every Shelter on that stupid clan spssss. We’ll have to help them understand but I don’t think it’ll be too hard,” Goodie continued. “My special babies that you are can teach them all!

“Now… I’m sorry sweet hearts, can I borrow Wrench? I’d like to catch up with him and hug him a lot. I missed him, too, you know. I didn’t want to wake any of you up last night when I brought him back though.”

Once more was a chorus of yes’s and okay’s.

Dusky gave him a tight hug, kissed him once, and gave his cheek a pat.

“Go talk to mommy. Then come back and let’s talk ourselves, okay?” Dusky asked, staring into his face.

He nodded stupidly.

Dusky smiled, patted him again, then went over to the dispenser.

Picking up the oat-bar from his tray, he left everything there and headed for the exit. Taking a bite as he went, he wondered what Goodie wanted to talk about.

Seventh, Stripe, and surprisingly, Tickaht joined him.

The three women all catching up to him and looking at one another.

“Hi, I’m Tickaht,” said the Grae.

“I’m Seventh.”

“My name is Stripe.”

“You have great breasts Stripe,” Tickaht complimented her. “Much bigger than anyone else’s, in fact. You shouldn’t hide them.

“Seventh, I like your muscles. You’re as lean as I am. We should wrestle later. It would be best without clothes.

“You both look like Wrench would look at you. Do not feel bad when he looks at and longs for me. I am Grae. I am new and exotic to him. I won’t steal his attention forever and will turn it back your way later.”

Seventh guffawed at that, then grinned.

“I like you, Tickaht. I definitely want to wrestle. Can you fist-fight too?” asked the Brawler.

Tickaht hesitated for a moment, then the confusion in her eyes cleared up.

“Ah! Fist-fight. Grae use claws. Though we can try?” Tickaht offered, holding up a clawed hand. Her other hand had a large helping of protein on it. “Wrestling first though.”

She paused for a moment.

“Was it wrong to ask you about your lovely breasts Stripe? You shouldn’t hide them. They’re big! It would be better to display them for your mate, wouldn’t it?” Tickaht asked sounding nervous. “I wasn’t trying to be rude. I was complimenting you? Maybe it’s different for a Hume.”

“It isn’t. She just’s self conscious about how big they are,” Seventh excused politely. She’d crossed over Wrench and was now walking beside Tickaht. “Do you use any type of weapons?”

“Yes! I used to play with staffs and bladed weapons,” Tickaht said with a flat-grimace and a honking laugh. “We should play with those, too!”

I-okay then.

Wrench stopped at his Goodie rock and looked up.

Goodie was there, waiting for him.

The long stretching green scar running across her body.

“My special Hume,” she purred, leaning in close to them. “Though, I’m surprised you came, too, Tickaht. You must be fond of Wrench already.

“I can’t blame you though. He’s my special boy, you know.”

Stripe was translating aloud though somewhat quietly.

Tickaht was staring up at Goodie again in shock.

“Okay sweeties. Come on over to the airlock. We’re going to go for a walk. I changed the environment for the entire clan spssss. Hume and Grae can go anywhere now,” explained Goodie. “I also bought lots and lots of suits for you all so you don’t just float around aimlessly. Give me a few more spssss and you can go anywhere at any time.

“Though it’s still probably safer for you in your Hab, but I’m working on it. Mommy is doing all she can.”

Mommy.

Mother Goodie.

Patron Mother of the Hume.

And Grae, I suppose.

Someone who threatened to ‘jump’ people into a star.