Assisted Self Repair

<div align=right><Analysis of self repair system complete>
<Extensive damage to majority of ships systems>
<Estimated time to complete repairs: 257 years>
<Assistance required to expedite repairs></div>

The vessel had been analyzing the damage it had taken on its descent to the surface of this new world, this planet called Earth and had found that the errors caused by the damage it had sustained had compounded, glitches, deformations had been caused already by its self repair system running amok, malformations in its hull were slowly becoming more and more evident!

Thankfully however the Ry'leh's scans of the island had turned up a large concentration of what it could only call 'Anomalous energy signatures' From the research it had already performed it had begun to classify the anomalous energy forms, detecting variations in how the energy formed patterns and the effects those energies held.

<div align=right><Performing search>
<Energy subset R-010 detected>
<Anomalous Lifeform detected>
<Beginning Transport></div>

Within the home of the lovely Dryad Açaí energy began to dance, as it always did the ship had attempted to isolate a period of night when it suspected its target would be at rest, where with any luck its target would even be asleep, lulled to a state of rest and peace.

<div align=right><Transport underway>
<Error, Deterioration of targeting parameters>
<Recalibrating targeting sensors>
<Error, Deterioration of pattern integrity in Transit>
<Initiating backup targeting sensors>
<Error, anomalous energy pattern detected in scanning Gel>
<Draining and restoring Containment cell>
<Transport complete></div>

If indeed Açaí was in the grip of her dreams, if she was safe and secure under her covers then the next time her eyes opened it would be to a sight of a most alien nature! But if Açaí was still awake, if the Dryad was conscious and aware she would have a most interesting experience indeed! A soft light would begin to shine from the Dryad's body, a strange, almost virulent green in color. For just a few moments Açaí would have the strangest sensation that she was in two places at the exact same time! She was in the comfort of her own home, but at the same time, for just a few instants she would be feeling warmer, surrounded by something that felt... Gelatinous!

<div align=right><Scanning of test subject underway>
<Scan results collating>
<Subject is an Aquatic Reptile that contains Electro-conductive muscular tissue beneath upper layers of epidermis>
<Error, Scan results conflict with observations and initial targeting sensor results, re-initializing scanning gel></div>

If she hadn't woken during transit Açaí would surely wake from the sensations running through her body in the next few seconds! As the gelatinous material was re-energized small flickers of a green light passed across Açaí's skin, it teased, it tickled and it passed through her body, each time the light flickered more data was added to the Ry'leh's archives on Açaí's body, on her powers, on her very genetic makeup, as each spark of light passed through her body information on her internal organs was gathered, the ship it seemed was determined to study just what made Açaí Açaí!

But even if the sparkling, tingling light that danced across her skin was not enough to awaken the Dryad the movement of the gel that surrounded her was certain to do the job! It contracted about her, expanding in some places, gently squeezing in others, it was sending those little sparks around the entirety of Açaí's body, with every breath she took, with every squirm of her body that gel filled lungs, it entered her stomach, pulled in by her own body, but it too allowed her to breathe, it did not impede the way her body functioned, if anything when Açaí was released she was going to feel fresher, more cleansed than anything she had ever felt before!

In that one single night Açaí had gone from her safe, warm home and had been pulled through the very fabric of spacetime atom by atom! She had been deposited in a holding tank of sorts, a transparent tube capped both above and below with that same, strange black metal that the ship about her was crafted from.

She floated now, suspended in that strange, gelatinous substance that was tickling her skin, that filled her and analyzed her as though she were a specimen in a jar!

<div align=right><Error processing scan results>
<Collate completed scans, file partial scans for later analysis>
<Collating>
<Subject designate: R-010/1>
<Name: Unknown>
<Species: Error, unknown species, Biochemistry is similar to humans, genetic analysis however is inconclusive>
<Analysis of Anomalous energy signature>
<Analysis Error: Subject contains energy of a form currently unknown, energy levels and wavelengths conform to known classification R-010, repair of organic structures but inability to repair self>
<Additional Errors found>
<Error in containment system, releasing containment seals>
<Please notify Captain... Oh></div>

The Ry'leh had a moment of concern as it felt its containment gel thickening slightly, the program that governed the movement and function of the scanning gel was suffering from cascading failures after being exposed to the anomalous energy contained within the specimen and those errors were continuing to spread, in a final act of concern for the lifeform it was studying the vessel disengaged its containment seals.

A soft hiss came from above Açaí's head and the cylindrical container that had surrounded her began to withdraw into the floor beneath her, the gel remarkably traveled with it, never spilling over the top, never escaping its confines, as it freed her head her vision would come into clear focus, as her lungs took in air she would likely be surprised at the odd 'tang' that the air contained, almost a citrus like quality but it was remarkably fresh, as though some natural process generated the air within this artificial structure!

As her eyes cleared and her lungs filled with air once more though Açaí would know she wasn't on Manta Carlos any more, the room she was in was filled with a number of containment cylinders much like the one she had been contained in, but empty, even the gel wasn't present in the other tubes, affixed to the outside of each one was a thin membrane in a rectangular shape, approximately at head height.

As Açaí was released, whether she crumpled to her knees, or immediately tried to flee, as soon as she had cleared the tube it would rise from the floor once more, unlike the others however the thin membrane attached to this one held a number "R-010/1" And an image of her face, her face however seemed to be suffering from glitches, static that danced across the image, wherever she was... This wasn't home.

The rest of the room was as alien as the tube that had held her, it was remarkably dark, not just the lack of lighting except that which came from small, embedded lights above and below each tube that shone with only the dimmest white lights, but as Açaí would soon see the metal that made up the room was a dark, almost black itself, a strange looking triangular stool sat beside what looked like the door out of the room, a door that was currently closed, and that stool sat before what looked like a computer, this computer however was dark, two keyboards sat before what she would likely be able to identify as the 'monitor' and each keyboard was placed where one of a humans hands would be if they spread their hands before the monitor, offering two, discrete input points. The symbols on the keyboards however were most definitely not human.

As Açaí was released a soft hum began to come from deeper into whatever strange nightmare had taken her and the lights about the pods were soon joined by a growing yellowish light that shone from above, the room was large, so large in fact that it was almost impossible to see the source of the light, if Açaí had to guess she would likely think the light came from the entire ceiling, but it stopped when it reached a level that was comfortable for her eyes, that allowed her to see, but did not blind her.

"Forgive the state of this vessel, this vessel has been damaged and as such containment protocols and maintenance have been sorely lacking, this vessel is known as the Ry'leh, commissioned by the Makosian Dominion as a science and exploration vessel, however... This vessel now requires your assistance, please proceed through the door and into the corridor beyond, follow the lights and this vessel will respond to any queries you may have"

The monitor of the computer in the specimen containment chamber flickered to life briefly as the disembodied, female voice addressed Açaí in flawless, if slightly unusually phrased English, the rounded door that she had seen earlier would iris open after the voice had spoken, revealing a corridor that proceeded both left and right the right hand path was illuminated, but the left hand path remained dark.

If Açaí chose to follow the path that was lit she would be led from the containment chamber through a long, winding corridor, every few meters along the corridor she would notice another round door, some were closer to one another than others, and each had a sign somewhere nearby that likely told the reader what the room was for, but with the signs written as they were in an alien language, they would be indecipherable to most.

Finally Açaí would reach a door that was illuminated and if she were to approach it the Dryad would likely find her breath taken away yet again, but this time not by a green goop! As the door irised open Açaí would enter one of the larger rooms on the vessel, a garden of sorts that stretched out in all directions as far as her eyes could see, there were flowers here, fruit trees, non fruit bearing trees, bushes and creeping vines, there were many different kinds of plants here that even she would not be able to identify... And most remarkably, not a single one of them was from Earth.

But this was not her destination, a strip on the floor took over from the overhead lighting, Açaí would be led still through this amazing feat of technology that brought he plants of another world all the way to Earth, a technology that could care for these living things without a crew!

But if Açaí ever touched the vessel, ever sought to explore it with senses more than the five that humans shared she would almost certainly be able to sense a pain to the construct about her, if she paid a great deal of attention to it she would find that pain soon to be unbearable, but if she didn't worry about it, if she chose to avert her senses the pain would fade, the ship was containing, was managing its own pain, but perhaps if Açaí thought to stretch out her senses towards the trap that had ensnared her she may be able to make some assumptions as to why she had been chosen!

The Ry'leh's sensors had already begun to pick up the quickening heartbeat, the signs of fright that the Dryad displayed and the tone of her voice, from its review of countless Youtube videos seemed to reinforce its impression of the young woman. So when it spoke next there was a softer tone to the feminine voice that seemed to emanate from the empty air about the unwilling guest.

"You are safe here, this vessel does not intend you any harm"

After attempting to reassure the guest just that little bit the vessel opened the door it had illuminated for Açaí, the circular doorway irising open to reveal the greenhouse contained within, while like the rest of the rooms and corridors that Açaí had already seen this one was crafted of that same strange, dark metallic substance a light high above her head shone down a reddish light, that bathed the many plants that adorned this garden like room. Living things that Açaí could not recognise, trees, bushes, creeping vines, fruit trees and berry laden bushes were growing in soil beds in this large room, under the reddish light the plants seemed to be thriving!

But unlike human gardens the plants here seemed to be running wild, without people to tend them nature seemed to be running rampant in this section of the ship, but only in the soil laden beds, not one root or branch stretched out to impede Açaí's travel, although tree branches did reach overhead.

"This vessel has been severely damaged as was stated earlier, during scans of your island this vessel identified a number of individuals possessing Anomalous energy form categorised as R - 010, the ability to heal others from injury, but the inability to heal yourself or inorganic substances. This ability may be able to assist in this vessels repairs and regeneration, you are the first to set foot upon this vessel in over one hundred years"

Of course it wasn't counting those it had abducted and experimented on before attempting its landing, they had never managed to escape their containment units after all.

"This vessel will return you to your home once it has completed its analysis of you, however the Specimen containment unit you were contained in earlier has suffered damage and you needed to be released before complete scans could be made, while a good profile of your genetic structure is now archived your unique anomalous energy signature has not been completely recorded. If on the other hand you believe you would be able to heal this vessel without further analysis your assistance would be welcome."

The task would have been enormous, and what the ship couldn't yet know was that Açaí took on the pain and the injuries from the things she healed, as such trying to heal something as big and as damaged as the Ry'leh would certainly kill her, if it was even possible at all! For the moment the illumination persisted, a strip of white light ran the length of the floor in the 'Gardens' and proceeded through the enormous chamber to yet another door but for now the ship suspected that speaking with an organic being in an organic setting might help calm the specimens nerves, if Açaí after all was too frightened the ship would have to resort to measures it hoped it would not have to take!

For the time being it was also compiling information on Açaí, watching her actions, observing her behaviour and the tone of her voice, the more information it could compile on the Dryad after all the more information it would have access to when it needed to interact with either Açaí or another of her kind in the future!

The vessel analyzed Açaí's reactions to the natural scenery that surrounded her as she touched the plants, the vessel detected the flickers of anomalous energy once again and it began to categorize and store the readings it was taking, as Açaí touched the plant and her energy and the alien energy of the plant began to flow into one another the plant relayed impressions, scenes and alien vistas that swept through the Dryads mind.

Scenes of a red sun, scenes of life, love and peace with alien form of life, but the images were fuzzy, indistinct and lacking definition, these were not after all the minds of sentient beings, nor even impressions from animals, these were the impressions of plants, their limited images still conveyed a good deal though about the alien world they had come from!

Still the vessel wondered, if this sentient being was having difficulty with English, perhaps another language would serve it better! The ship spoke again, this time cycling through a number of different earth based languages. Russian, Japanese, Chinese, it worked with the languages it found most likely, hoping that Açaí would get the idea.

'Please speak in your native tongue, this vessel will attempt to adapt'

It waited, it listened, it had of course tried in English first, just in case it couldn't find Açaí's language in time. But if the young woman didn't speak any human languages the ship would continue working, trying to adapt to any language the girl spoke, the more she spoke, no matter what she said the more the ship would be able to build a translation system.

If the ship was able to isolate and analyze Açaí's language it would speak to her then in her native tongue. But if not, if Açaí didn't quite grasp what the ship had been attempting to do it would continue in English.

"Do you find it comfortable here?

If you do will you let this vessel look at you? This vessel would like to learn about your... Power"

If she agreed or if she still was confused about what the ship wanted the ship would retrieve one of its more portable scanners, a smaller device that was a little more specified, constructed out of scavenged components the vessel had devised a scanner for analyzing anomalous energy forms directly. The ship levitated the scanner through the hallways, carrying it aloft on a field of simple magnetic energy, it was a bit of a drain on the 'batteries' so to speak but if it could analyze Açaí's energies and utilize them then it would be worth it.

But in the meantime it would allow the Dryad to relax in the gardens, surrounded by the living things she seemed to be the most at peace with, here she seemed to relax a lot more than the lab she had been taken to, than the lab where she had been analyzed so intrusively!

"This vessel is glad that you have found a place on board where you feel a little more at peace. This vessel is sorry for the errors that resulted in you waking up and finding yourself in such an unusual place"

It was true of course, the vessel had never intended for the Dryad to wake up, it had never intended for her to be aware of what had happened to her, it had intended to simply scan her, catalog her abilities and return her to her bed, it had never intended for her to wake and find herself in such unusual surroundings. Even if she had awoken it never wanted to have her escape, it wanted to let her think that it was all a dream, but now that chance was lost.

"This vessel is glad too that you find the plants here pleasing, they are the last remaining life from the planet Makosia, they are the last plants of their kind, this vessel is their guardian"

Perhaps that too would help allay any of Açaí's lingering fears, here at least she could listen to the voices of the plants, here she could enjoy their scents and the flavor on the air, here she could hopefully find herself at peace while she waited.

There were more plants here however, and not all of them were of the kinder kind, Açaí would be able to sense a more predatory plant among the tangle of unusual alien plants, at first it would doubtless seem like an analog of the insect trapping 'pitcher plants' of Earth, but the Vines hidden in the tangle of plants were a little on the larger side. With any luck though Açaí would never discover the dangers that plant posed, or with any luck as a Dryad Açaí would be able to greet it with peace, she would be able to avoid it even if she found it.