Chapter One

[mech_and_mutt]

Who: Red Savarin and special guest, you!
Broadcast: Live, coast to coast
Action: The grand entrance of a new cast member on the Marsiva
When: Half past April 28th

"Come onnn...!"

Oddly-hurried footsteps followed the frustrated muttering on the video feed; those who glanced up as the sounds grew louder might have caught a moment of that bipedal canine- one fairly well dressed for piloting work, at that- jogging right through and past the frame before those sounds of movement hesitated.

"There's gotta be-- ah, maybe...?"

A soft, dull mechanical noise came through the speakers... followed by a wet, sopping plop. To those more familiarized ears, it sounded a bit like one of the food dispensers issuing out some of its--

"Ughhh!!"

Oh yeah. It was a food dispenser. And soon, it was Red rushing past the camera once again, his expression looking all the more frustrated on the second pass.

"Where're they keepin' the real food?!"

Comments

[this_loser]

[So... not dog food.]

Oh. Well, I haven't found anything like that around here, unless they have a very well hidden pantry with the good stuff.

[mech_and_mutt]

Great.

[Well, if this guy hasn't found anything either...]

So have you tried it yet? S'it as bad as it looks?

[this_loser]

It's... I mean, it's edible?

[He had grown rather accustomed to Ignis' cooking. Everything paled in comparison.]

[mech_and_mutt]

Really? That's surprising.

[He gave a prod to one such congealed cubic mass with a fingertip and watched flat-faced as it gave an unappetizing wiggle.

Maybe if he drowned in sauce or something... but that was probably made of the same stuff.]

Well, I'll probably have to get used to it sooner or later. ...So what did it taste like?

[this_loser]

It's food. Kind of.

[It wouldn't do any good if it weren't edible.]

It was like vanilla, I guess. But luke warm. It might be okay if it were cold. You could almost pretend it's pudding.

1/2

[mech_and_mutt]

Pudding? ...Huh. Now that you mention it...

[It DID look a little bit like custard or something when it took the shape of those more dense, congealed-looking blocks. And if it was meant to be something like that, then maybe the delivery method was throwing him off a little bit.

Well. Had to try it sooner or later. That All-Purpose Concave Protein Consumption Utensil took a small scoop out from the gelatinous cube and he tried a bite...]

2/2

[mech_and_mutt]

[...Aaaand he almost chokes on it. It may have been a pale yellowish-tan color, but...]

...I think that was supposed to be chicken.

I think.

[this_loser]

Ew, really?

[He ... kinda wants to try it now, just to see what it's like. But also, he doesn't want to. Chicken flavor is only good as actual chicken and the flavored powder that comes with Cup Noodles.]

Think I'll stick with the vanilla.

Wonder if he'll keep the Cup Noodle sponsorship here too

[mech_and_mutt]

Maybe you could water this stuff down and pretend it's some kinda stock. ...Really bland stock. Still wouldn't have anythin' to put in it, though...

[Having long since lost his appetite, he just shoves the entire plate aside.]

There any of that vanilla left?

If only

[this_loser]

Maybe there's spices on the ships.

[It's a thought, though he knows nothing at all about the ships they're supposed to be sorted onto.]

Oh, yeah. Plenty. [He hands over a plate full of the stuff.] Knock yourself out.

[mech_and_mutt]

Hope someone's carrying the stuff. [Lucky ones, he thought to himself as he took one last bite. They'd probably make a killing selling it if the food was this--

huh... Actually, the Vanilla wasn't too bad...]

I wish I knew about this before I lost my appetite...

[Oh well.]

So you're new here, too? You're takin' this well.

[this_loser]

I'm sure you'll get plenty more chances to have more.

[It seemed to be their main source of food here. And wasn't that great?]

Yeah. I'm new, same as you. [Look, if you're not hungry, he'll just take some of that back.] I've talked to a few people already. A couple of my friends are here. It's not, y'know, ideal, but it's not the end of the world.

[mech_and_mutt]

Well that goes without sayin'. [He saw what the end of the world looked like. Not a big fan.]

Haven't seen anyone I know or even anyone else like me around here. I'm still gettin' used to seeing so many humans walking around.

I'm used to flyin', though, so at least that won't be too rough.

[this_loser]

So there's humans where you're from? Er, I mean, no offense, just ... we don't have anyone like you where I'm from. Outside of cartoons and stuff.

[And honest to Shiva, if Kenny Crow were an actual thing, he'd probably need new pants every time they encountered one.]

You're a pilot?

[mech_and_mutt]

It's... kinda complicated. There used to be more, but all the ones I saw were... [Unusual? Tailor-made? Trouble?] ...a bit different.

[But the last bit of that brought him into a grin.]

Trust me, there's nobody else like me where I come from either. But I'm not the only Caninu if that's what'cha mean. Did a lot of mecha piloting back home, too, but... those are a bit smaller than spaceships.

[this_loser]

Used to be. Like, something happened to them?

[That's unsettling. What does he mean by "a bit different"? Considering his own background, though, he's afraid to ask.]

Mecha. That's like a big robot, right? [He watches cartoons. He knows what's up.]

[mech_and_mutt]

They... uh. They called it quits.

[Hopefully he could leave it at that. Besides, a better topic just came up. Time to brag for the cameras a bit.]

Well, mine was a little on the small side, but it was enough to get me the title of arena champ.

[this_loser]

[He knows better than to press, and takes up the other topic readily.]

You competed with it? What did you have to do?