SOMBROUS: Hi there, partner! It's nice to meet you. Our name is Sombrous. Would you like a hug?

TENOR: It's very nice to meet you, Sombrous! You are rather large so I think I would prefer if you wouldn't hug me, if that's alright.

SOMBROUS: Perfectly understandable. Well, if there's anything you want us to make or teach you, let us know! We want to build a big home for you and Alto and your future friends.

Tenor nods but they seem distracted.

SOMBROUS: Is something wrong?

TENOR: Alto seems to be trying to get our attention. Apparently there's something happening? I'm going to take the cap off now so we can get a better scope of what's going on.

Tenor whips off the sleeping cap before you can respond and your focus returns to the Starbound Haunt. Alto is standing beside Tenor and tugging on their arm. A loud ringing sound echoes through the station.

Alto creeps over to check the viewing screen, gripping Tenor's paw tightly.

You can't see anything that could be the source of the noise. The sound is pretty echo-y so maybe it's coming from further away...?

At your request, Tenor moves over to the nearest console and starts flipping through surveillance feeds. Alto stays by the door, stating that if anyone wants to come in and hurt her new friends, they'll have to get through her first.

 

You run through your plan with Alto and Tenor. You want them to stay together and pick up the phone. It's a bit hard to tell how far away it is so you've made them something to help them travel across the station quickly. You're going to teach them how to use it now.

TEACH both: Scooter operation

Alto hops onto the scooter and fastens her helmet with a click. Tenor does the same, sliding on behind Alto. There is then a pause during which you all realize that the door is still closed. Tenor gets off the scooter and holds the door open for Alto to drive the scooter through. Once successfully outside, they sit back down behind Alto and she floors it.

Alto handles the scooter confidently, letting out a squeak of joy as they cruise down the station walkway. Tenor holds onto her tightly, but you can tell that they are enjoying the high speeds too. Too quickly, the pair arrives at their destination. 

The bike screeches to a stop and the TCPs dismount. Alto pops the case open with ease and pulls out the ringing device!

On the communicator's screen, some text is flashing.

MOLL is calling, pick up? Y/N

SOMBROUS: Yes, I am Sombrous, and we are indeed a new collective.

MOLL: WOW! I really guessed correctly right away, huh? My intuition must be even better than I thought!

MOLL: Hehe, so many questions! You must be really curious. Limestone is another collective I know! They're pretty great, I'm sure you'd get along.

MOLL: Ménage is the pantheon I belong to, and Reticy is our neighboring pantheon. Hope that clears things up!

SOMBROUS: So, Froggy, what sort of team are you running?

MOLL: I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours! It's only fair, Nightgown.

MOLL: Huh, I have to admit, I'm not too knowledgeable on these "grouping" types you mentioned? Is that something I should know about?

MOLL: Thanks for leaving me a slot, though! 

MOLL: I was able to spawn a very cute marimo type with it! Its' name is Gumby and I looooove it so much! I'm feeling really good about this session so far.

SOMBROUS: Huh, you made a marimo type too? That's interesting.

SOMBROUS: To answer your question, TCPs that are based off of collective nouns tend to be extremely social, so ours was very stressed out until we gave her a peer.

SOMBROUS: And yeah, sure, you can come over. You seem pretty cool. We'll let our TCPs know you're coming.

MOLL: Oh goodie!!! I'm so excited to meet your kitties!

MOLL: Though, if it's alright with you, I'm gonna go now! I want to get back to Gumby and fill it in on what's happening, hehe.

SOMBROUS: Sure! See you soon.

MOLL: Seeya!

Alto teeters precariously as she balances on one foot atop Tenor's helmet. Sensing your attention on them, she hops off and asks what you've been up to. They'd gotten pretty bored waiting so Tenor was timing long she could balance. Tenor shrugs and nods. So what were you doing?

Is there anything else you want to do before Moll arrives?

Tenor is pleased with how the pillows turned out, but they are more curious about your own creation. Alto and Tenor take turns flipping between songs until they find one they both agree on.

After a few minutes, Moll pipes up from your communicator.

MOLL: We're here!

SOMBROUS: Okay, great! Where are you exactly?

MOLL: I'm not sure, we seem to have docked somewhere towards the underside of the station. You might have to send your TCPs to find the docking bay and come let us in?

You realize you should be able to remotely unlock the entrance to the docking bay using the control consoles you created earlier. You pass this along and Tenor pokes around a bit on the monitor before saying that they think they figured it out and it should be open now.

CREATE: Gift bags
A couple of empty gift bags appear on the floor. Is this what you hoped to accomplish?

TEACH Alto: Hosting

Alto makes a terrible squeaking noise, quite frankly scaring the hell out of you. Frantically you look around for danger but spotting none, you realize with a sinking feelings that you forgot to warn her before using a TEACH command. Alto bolts for her room but Tenor intercepts her path and places her weighted blanket in her paws, gently squishing something in a tone too low for you to hear. Alto sighs and nods, folding the blanket around herself.

Tenor says quietly that they think it would be best if they went to go get Gumby alone. They know Alto is going to want to meet it but she'll need some time to recover first. You agree and Tenor slips out the door on foot, mentioning that they thought they had seen a staircase leading to the lower levels somewhere on their earlier joyride. They locate it quickly and start down the steps.

The two of them had had a chance to talk while you were on call with Moll, Tenor tells you. Alto had said she finds TEACH commands very overwhelming. If she doesn't have time to prepare herself for them, she can't fight down the wave of panic that rises up in her as the knowledge fills her head. They don't like to see their friend in distress, not at all. So maybe in the future, if you have something to teach them, you could TEACH Tenor first, instead of Alto? They don't find it nearly as upsetting as she does, and they feel confident that they can pass along a decent enough summary of most subjects so long as they aren't too complicated. What do you think?

 

CREATE: Post-it note (in godspace)



There. That's much better. Can't forget about what's right in front of you!

You thank Tenor for their suggestion, telling them that it's a great idea. You wonder if there's anything they'd like to know about right now but they say they would rather not keep Gumby waiting. They think they're almost there! Tenor does think learning to teach would be useful though, so you TEACH them as they enter the docking bay.



The two marimo type TCPs greet each other enthusiastically! Tenor expresses their admiration for Gumby's cape, while Gumby marvels over the roominess of the station. They begin to make their way back up the staircase to Alto, chatting excitedly all the while.

Moll chimes in on your call.



MOLL: THEY'RE SO CUTE AAAAA!!!!!
MOLL: There's two of them!!!!!!!!!!
MOLL: I bet Alto's really cute too, I can't wait to meet her!