Bus Driver
The bus to the second city in the undersea colony was always on time. The bus driver, Macalas Magoo, ran a tight ship. He had been genetically engineered for the purpose. He had fully developed fins and lungs just like all of the inhabitants of the undersea worlds. But in addition, because his bus was so often going up and down to the outside world. He had special adjustments to deal with the pressure. He looked a bit more gelatinous than most humanoids and he took about four times as much space. He was actually built into the bus, the lower half of his body was wired to the plumbing system of the bus, so he never needed to take a toilet break. All of his waste was automatically taken out and dumped outside.
The trips for the more humanoid travellers were incredibly slow, allowing them to slowly depressurise and huge fans blew air on the skin and mouths as the water seeped out of the bus, in an effort to get their lungs working. When their lungs kicked they gasped like newborn babies, or the way newborn babies uses to gasp. They would often cry as well, the air always felt unpleasant compared to the home world under the sea.
Mr Malalas McGoo never commented on it. He never breathed air either, his gills were located near the engine of the bus and that section of the bus was always filled with aerated water. He was in every way tethered to his bus.
There were other such genetically engineered bus drivers and he of course knew all of their names. One of them was a woman, Seandy who was just his age. When they were young they had a passionate romance. He wrote her many poems and songs and would sing them to her in the bus depot. She liked him back for a while but then one day there was competition, another bus.
The new bus driver, Ocotovus wasn’t more conventionally handsome but he did have an iridescence quality to him, a rare biolmununscence that swirled around his gelatinous body. And he had a head for business, marketed his bus for more upscale travellers. He even owned the rights to several other humanoid driven busses, in other regions which might have been considered slavery, but he did offer health insurance.
It didn’t escape Mr Malasas attention that he had exactly one shot at love, and exactly one competitor and he lost.
He didn’t feel particularly bothered to be so tethered to bus though. To him it seemed that the humanoids who came and went were very weak, both of body and mind. There wails when they got to the surface were pathetic, although he would never mention it of course. He wasn’t cruel.
— 7Roses
The bus to the second city in the undersea colony was always on time. The bus driver, Macalas Magoo, ran a tight ship. He had been genetically engineered for the purpose. He had fully developed fins and lungs just like all of the inhabitants of the undersea worlds. But in addition, because his bus was so often going up and down to the outside world. He had special adjustments to deal with the pressure. He looked a bit more gelatinous than most humanoids and he took about four times as much space. He was actually built into the bus, the lower half of his body was wired to the plumbing system of the bus, so he never needed to take a toilet break. All of his waste was automatically taken out and dumped outside.
The trips for the more humanoid travellers were incredibly slow, allowing them to slowly depressurise and huge fans blew air on the skin and mouths as the water seeped out of the bus, in an effort to get their lungs working. When their lungs kicked they gasped like newborn babies, or the way newborn babies uses to gasp. They would often cry as well, the air always felt unpleasant compared to the home world under the sea.
Mr Malalas McGoo never commented on it. He never breathed air either, his gills were located near the engine of the bus and that section of the bus was always filled with aerated water. He was in every way tethered to his bus.
There were other such genetically engineered bus drivers and he of course knew all of their names. One of them was a woman, Seandy who was just his age. When they were young they had a passionate romance. He wrote her many poems and songs and would sing them to her in the bus depot. She liked him back for a while but then one day there was competition, another bus.
The new bus driver, Ocotovus wasn’t more conventionally handsome but he did have an iridescence quality to him, a rare biolmununscence that swirled around his gelatinous body. And he had a head for business, marketed his bus for more upscale travellers. He even owned the rights to several other humanoid driven busses, in other regions which might have been considered slavery, but he did offer health insurance.
It didn’t escape Mr Malasas attention that he had exactly one shot at love, and exactly one competitor and he lost.
He didn’t feel particularly bothered to be so tethered to bus though. To him it seemed that the humanoids who came and went were very weak, both of body and mind. There wails when they got to the surface were pathetic, although he would never mention it of course. He wasn’t cruel.
— 7Roses
This creature has managed to find contentment in the weirdest circumstances! ---Macoff
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