Daily Free-Write August 8, 2020

Another free-write that turned into more of a story than I intended. This is a science fiction idea, I'd like to explore further at some point. The concept of landing on a planet of larger beings and being babied is not a new one, but it's definitely one of my faves! Like my other free-writes, this will be up for a vote at the end of a month if anyone wants to see what happens next!

Write about anything, write about space, write about that tricycle, about the sun setting in the back yard and the blue, purple, yellow twilit sky. Combine words like crepuscular reminiscence and then go from there.

I used to like to look up at the stars from my back yard at night. I would sneak out of my bedroom, down the stairs and out the back door and sit on the porch and stare. Insomniac. Dreamer. I would just star at the constellations and wonder what was there. 

Did you know that the nearest star is trillion 26 trillion kilometers away? 

When I was a kid, things were easy to imagine. Make-believe came easy, but now all I see is what's in front of me. Because now it's all real. 

And now we are hurtling toward that nearest star, almost there. No, I mean really, I became a flight engineer in the space program. We're literally in a space ship hurtling toward a nearby system where a suitable M-class planet was found. They call it a super earth because it's much larger than our planet, but conditions appear to be nearly the same. 

Nearly, I thought, looking out the pod window. Because as I saw it, this alien planet would never be the home we left. And maybe that's a good thing. No more interspecies conflict. A place where we can all just be earthlings away from home. 

*Initial report commencing...8.8.2220*

A beautiful blue planet out there. All analyses are green. Even the atmoshpere looks breathable, a little more oxygen than we're used to but should be good. We're going to send down team Alpha to take a look around. Out.

*report sent*

Commander A. Eagle set down the speaker. He was too cautious to say we found our mark, but his smile told me he was pretty certain already. 

Upon closer inspection, it looked as if there were signs of habitation on the planet. Large structures...light... roads... all on a scale that dwarfed our own. We had trained for this possibility. It was protocol 27 for extra terrestrial contact with an advanced society. 

"We will first try to establish contact. If possible we will secure permission to send down a landing party."

Soon, we got a response. Onto our video screen popped the image of a wide-eyed otter, looking surprisingly normal, if surprised. 

"Greetings, from planet regressia. We are a peaceful civilization. What are your intentions in contacting us?"

"We come in peace! We are looking for a new home for our people, and this was the nearest suitable planet. We did not expect to find advanced life here."

"I...I see. Please hold for response..." 

After about 20 minutes, we were granted access to begin preparations to visit the planet, and discuss our situation. We made our report, and sent it to Earth. It would be some time before we heard back, but the Commander had clearance to represent earth in such a situation, and I would accompany him as his right hand man.

When it was time to make landfall, we suited up, just to be cautious. We wore our space suits, and all of the gear we would wear on a planet with a hostile atmosphere. But when we landed, our analysis showed the air was okay. No detectable poisons, or allergens in the air. The door opened, the Commander met my eyes and nodded, and we walked forward, visors down. 

We were greeted by an official greeting party and assigned a 'caretaker', a fox like myself, who told us we would have to change our outfits before an official meeting. They did indeed look like regular furs, but they were really big! We were about knee height if I were to guess. They looked about as surprised as us to see the obvious difference in physical form, but the Commander didn't seem phased for long. Shaking off his initial surprise, he looked down at what he was wearing and looked back at the caretaker.

"Outfits? Be we didn't bring any outfits."

"Not to worry, my diminutive friends," The flambouyant fox replied. "We have our fabricators to take care of this. If you'll just follow me we will get you taken care of.  

We were led into a large marble building (they were all large buildings really) and taken to what looked like a dressing room with booths. "step into the box right here, the computer will analyze your measurements."

We stepped into our separate boxes and our caretaker dialed in the settings.

"Public outfit. Formal."

A light enveloped me and I felt my suit dissolving to be replaced by something else, spreading my legs wide...I stepped out of the box and looked down to find...a diaper and a onesie with cute baby bunnies dancing across the front. I looked over to the captain who was having the same reaction.

"What the heck? Why am I dressed like a baby?" I complained.

"Whatever do you mean?" Said the fox, blinking in surprise.

"A onesie...and...diapers?"

"According to the readout, you were wearing diapers when you came here!"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Are you saying that you didn't need the diapers?" He asked, squatting down with his hands on his knees to get closer to eye level. 

"Well, no, I need them but-"

"So you DO need diapers." I felt like I was being talked down to like a small child and the heat rose to my cheeks.

"Only because we can't always make it to the bathroom right away..."

"So you need diapers, and the computer selected the most appropriate clothing for someone of your size who wears diapers!"

"But why are they so THICK?"

"That's normal size around here. I don't know how you got by with the flimsy things you were wearing."

"The last about 12 hours..."

"These last at least 16, which is how long you should be able to hold it if you really don't need diapers like you claim."

"There's no way I could hold it that long..."

"Calm down, squeaks." the captain said, calling me by my diminutive nickname, "We should be making a good first impression, and as they say, when in Rome..."

"Well, then. I guess we're ready." Said the caretaker. 

"Oh, all right. I said, "I just need to let the crew know how we're doing..." I reached for my radio, and realized it wasn't there. "It...it's not here. It must have been dissolved by the computer."

"Oh dear, well. Let's get you to where you need to go and we'll see about delivering a message to your companions."

The diapers really were quite thick, enough that the idea of pants was out of the question. My bare feet seemed to slip across the stone floor and my waddle hampered my movement to the point where the caretaker grew impatient and scooped me up.

"It'll be faster this way."

I got the distinct impression the furs of this planet didn't see me as an equal, but nevertheless, I had to make a good first impression so I stayed silent...

(to be continued?)