Of Men and Spiders

Lacy and Charlotte watched as Scott and Alice got to work on the garden. Which mainly consisted of Scott trying to focus Alice's attention and energy for more than five seconds to get anything done. It reminded her of an old Earth saying about herding cats. For her part, Alice seemed to be trying to help but kept getting distracted by each new thing Scott turned his attention to. "Whatcha makin'?"

Scott visibly resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he banged a new piece of metal into a serviceable shape. "I'm making a new hoe."

Alice was quiet for a moment while he worked before speaking up again. "But I thought you already had a hoe? Back in your room?"

Scott took a break for a moment to look up and sigh. "Yes, a hoe made from logs and sticks held together by a twine I made out of plants. It would be harder to use and wear out quicker than something with a metal head. Now that we got all the metal we can use, that old thing is obsolete!"

Alice was leaning this way and that, trying to get a good look at the tool from over Scott's shoulders while he did his best to finish up his new improvised tool. Seeing the two siblings behave the same way they always had was sweet and endearing, which only made Lacy feel more ashamed.

The ex-pirate looked down at her own inhuman hand. It was effective as a hand and stronger than her old one. It performed just as well for delicate work as for brute force. She did have some tactile sensation from it, but it was weird, almost muted, and when she tapped her fingers together, it sounded odd, like she was clanking something ceramic or plastic. It was easy to think of it as a glove rather than an alien-grown piece of biology, but looking up at Alice, she couldn't help but think that her little girl wasn't so easy to lie to herself about.

It hadn't taken long to convert some outfits they found onboard the ship to give her top half a "dress." Not that she needed it for modesty. The carapace body she now had almost made it look like she was wearing a suit of armor. Rather, it helped humanize her a little more. However, Lacy wasn't sure how she felt about that. Or how she felt about any of this, really. As time passed, it felt more and more like she was the one on the outside, with Scott, Alice, and the Alien spider hive mind named Charlotte bonding all the more over everything that happened.

Not that Lacy blamed Charlotte or anyone, really, other than herself and Cooper...long may he rot. It certainly wasn't her kids' fault she was a failed mom with such a sordid past, but it hurt how Alice would obviously go out of her way to include Lacy in what they were doing, almost as much as Lacy's hesitations probably hurt her daughter. Why couldn't she just smile and accept Alice as she was the way Scott seemed able to? Why did she resent Charlotte for getting closer to Lacy's children after saving their lives? Why did it hurt so much when Scott stayed in the back with the other two while riding up to the ship?

While Scott took a few test swings with his new hoe, Charlotte interrupted Lacy's brooding. "I don't have many frames of reference to speak from, but it seems to me you raised your children well."

Lacy shook her head. "However they ended up, I don't know if I can take any credit for it. In many ways, they're already better than I ever was. They certainly deserve better parents than they got..."

Charlotte turned her head to look at Lacy directly. Looking into those inscrutable alien eyes, Lacy couldn't help but wonder what was happening behind them. Could Lacy even comprehend it if she knew?

Finally, Charlotte spoke again. "But that's the point of offspring, isn't it?"

That only confused Lacy more. "What do you mean? Do you think I'm supposed to be a bad parent? If so, you really do need more frames of reference!"

Charlotte shook her head, swaying a little in this less human body to make the gesture happen. "No. Among the She, we eventually sire offspring because we hit a limit in our capacity, so we raise our offspring to be better, more advanced than ourselves."

The alien looked back at the children. Alice also took a test swing and broke off the new tip by using too much strength. She then returned the broken hoe to Scott, who was shaking his head in bemusement when Charlotte finished her thought. "Whatever faults you possess, you raised your children to surpass them. Among the She, your undertaking would be hailed a great success."

In her time as a pirate queen, Lacy had been the target of a lot of praise in the form of attempts to earn her favor, but this strange alien mind seemed to cut right through all the protections she'd put in place. But she kept her best poker face in play while pretending she hadn't just been cut to the bone in a way she didn't fully understand. "Do you have any...offspring of your own?"

Charlotte shook her head. "As of now, I am the most advanced member of my line. However, I hope to learn enough from this exchange to make some advancement worthwhile."

That got Lacy's attention. "Advancement from us huh? Are you thinking about incorporating non-organic guns or armor? Because I'm not going to lie, that would only make you an even more frightening opponent."

Charlotte shook her head. "No, as I've already proven, I'm capable of doing that as is, though I'm sorry if you found that display frightening. If anything, I hope to learn from your independence and individual ways of thinking, though I'm unsure how to incorporate that into the She as of yet..."

Thinking back to her relationship with her father, in which he would have obviously preferred a little less independence or individuality, Lacy laughed. "Well, if you ever figure it out, it'll probably be the hardest thing you've ever dealt with!" Then, looking at Scott as he patiently showed Alice how to use the tools without breaking them, she smiled. "But it might also be the most rewarding thing too..."

-

They'd had a nice dinner together, or at least as nice as Charlotte's weird, gooey "nutrients" could be made. Then Lucy had listened to Scott and Alice tell stories about some of the earlier days they'd spent on the planet after they'd left the camp, with Charlotte occasionally offering an interesting third-party perspective on things and giving insight into some of her earlier misunderstandings. Scott didn't think the fact she'd assumed he was female for so long nearly as funny as Alice and Lacy thought it was.

After a while, it was clear Scott was getting drowsy, and while Alice was harder to read, she eventually confessed to needing to rest as well. After seeing them off for the night, Lacy decided it was time. She was already packed and ready to go, and this way, there wouldn't be any awkward goodbyes.

She entered her room and grabbed her bag, only to turn around and fight the urge to scream when Charlotte was right behind her. After catching her breath, Lacy smiled to cover up her startlement.

Charlotte seemed to look at the bag, then at Lacy. "Is it time to go?"

Lacy nodded. "Yeah. I figure there's no reason to put this off any longer. I don't know what kind of trouble John is in, but it's probably long past time we got him out of it."

After a moment, Charlotte nodded. "Very well. Shall I load up the pre-agreed on appendages to aid you should you need them?"

Lacy hesitated but nodded. "Yes, but hopefully, I won't need them. This is just a little information gathering at the moment. It's been too long since I dipped my toes into this world, and I need to catch up on things quickly."

Charlotte nodded. "Very well, they shall be in place before you arrive." She then stepped out of the way so Lacy could get past.

As Lacy rounded the corner to get onto the transport, she was met by Scott and Alice, who had evidently been waiting for her. Suddenly, that awkward goodbye she'd been hoping to avoid was upon her.

Unsure of what to say, Lacy smiled clumsily. "Um, hi, kids... I was just heading out for a little information gathering. Nothing to worry about this time..."

Alice rushed forward, pulling her mom into an embrace, while Scott only shook his head as he spoke. "Yeah, no more surprise goodbyes, okay? We already had enough of that down on the planet."

Alice squeezed a little tighter, though Lacy was well aware the girl was still holding back as the young girl's voice wavered. "Be careful, momma! Don't let the bad guys get you!"

Lacy smiled more genuinely and returned her daughter's hug before holding out one hand to Scott, who accepted the invitation with only a slight show of teenage reluctance. "I'll be careful, kids. I intend to be a better mom from here on out, and I can't do that if I get caught. Besides, if anything goes wrong, I'll have Charlotte there to back me up!"

Scott nodded mid-hug. "You'd better! I don't want to lose you a second time!"

-

As she started up the ship's engine, Lacy looked over at the smaller "appendage" Charlotte was sending with her. There were more in the back, but they were all in a hibernation state to reduce their nutritional requirements. This one was a combination of her listening and speaking selves and thankfully lacked the creepy mouths some of the others had possessed. Lacy wasn't sure how this one spoke, but so long as she didn't have to look at the nightmare fuel of a giant spider with a human mouth, she wouldn't ask too many questions.

However, there was one thing on her mind. "That was you back there, wasn't it? You told Scott and Alice I was leaving?"

Charlotte looked up at the human. "Back before you returned to their lives, Scott mentioned one of the worst parts about your assumed death was that he didn't get to say goodbye. I wanted to make sure they both got to speak with you before you left, just in case."

Lacy rolled her eyes. "So that's a yes then?"

Charlotte didn't hesitate. "That is a yes."

They rode on in silence for a moment before Lacy spoke again. "Oh, and Charlotte, while we're on this mission, call me Lucy."

Charlotte looked back at her again for a moment before returning her attention to the front. "Yes, Lucy."