An unexpected and prolonged visit [Izzy]

Kaela blinked as Mo mentioned watching her form change. Well, it's not a lot to work with still. I take forms that I like, even this one. She gestured to herself, a form that was still very much humanoid in appearance with the exception of the shape of the skull and lack of hair or eyebrows. In all honesty, it's fine. I just want to make sure that you're going to be safe and taken care of. She floated to one side of the ship, staring at the engine. Yeah...she didn't even kind of know what she would be messing with here. Best to leave it be.

How long have I been here? She repeated the question, narrowing her eyes in thought and confusion. Her thoughts involuntarily wandered to her time in testing, and her upbringing. Erm...30 local years, if I'm remembering right. It's a rough estimate. I only ever really got updates through TV. Oh, and it's pronounced Earth. Short E, silent A, Th sound.

Mo "mentally" blinked at the spelling her computer had given her, making it reboot- not because she didn't trust Kaela. But there was clearly an error or malfunction that needed dealt with as the monitor came back on with the proper spelling. Well, that was embarrassing. "Shapeshifting probably helps alot- Kaela doesn't have to look her age!" Mo giggled, mentally pinging a service drone to bring her some tools. Somewhere else in the ship, a mechaical chirp would go off, followed by a faint and soft hum as a small sphere shaped machine floated up to Mo; a very sci-fi looing toolbox attched to its underside. "Not that Mo or her people are much different. Well, some choose to mimic age but we don't have to. So what does Kaela do in her spare time on this planet?" Mo asked curiously as the drone chirped and floated off on a little errand

Mo was hell bent on getting her computer in working order! If nothing else, it'd probably be a good idea to avoid any further malfunctions- but really she just wanted to help Kaela. The little drone would return with another chirp, carrying a small tray on its "head" with an obvious cup of something Kaela woud like. Mo was up her waist in some of the innerworkings of her ship's computer, her legs poking out as she fiddled with things. Seemed like most of it was just reconnecting this or that, and things had just fallen out of place from the crash.

Kaela phased back into the ship as Mo moved to reboot the ship's computer, watching as the spelling fixed itself. Well, okay, as long as that was taken care of. She smiled and waved it off as Mo mentioned her shapeshifting. "Well, I don't think it's a huge issue. My real form has looked exactly the same for the past...eh..10 years or so?" She awkwardly watched behind her, trying to understand all the information zipping by on the computer, as the little droid brought her a small beverage to drink. "Awwww, thanks little buddy..." She said, taking a courtesy sip or two.

"Fun...Fun...Well, honestly, I watch a lot of television. It's this cute little thing they have here where they play recorded images on this little box, and you can watch them whenever you want!" She rocked back and forth on her heels for a bit while she waited for the computer to load. "What about you? It must have been a long ride to get here."

"Oh, Mo hadn't really planned on actually stopping here- but yes it was! Mo was doing surveys and scanning planets for resources like she said, but sometimes Mo gets distracted with the sights. Like, Mo managed to cath a star burning out; was kinda sad actually but it was a rare sight. But keeping the ship running has kept Mo pretty busy... but it was pretty lonely until now," Mo replied, sharing a few other less exciting or fascinating experiences she had while cruising ship. All of it would be different planets, stars and the odd asteroids. Was also a ship here and there. "One of the things Mo had to keep in mind was not to bother people unless she had to- parents say space while amazing and wonderous, can also be scary and to be extra careful," Mo added to explain the lonely part of her journey.

Mo had everything back in place, pulling herself out and mentally flicking a switch so to speak as computers hummed back to life. "Right, so... what is Kaela's real form if she doesn't mind Mo asking?" Mo wondered if it was much different from the one she saw earlier, or if it was vastly different.

Kaela nodded excitedly as Mo talked about the star burning out. She'd heard a few things like that, but she had obviously never encountered something along those lines before. She'd never even been off world, in all honesty. "Space can be scary, I think. My parents found that out the hard way. Your parents sound very smart, Mo." She nodded solemnly to herself and then her ears perked as Mo inquired about her natural form.

"Well uhm...I could show you? I guess? But...truth be told, a lot of people think it's kinda scary, I guess? She was fidgeting with the little jacket she'd made for herself with her shapeshifting, clearly very nervous about something.

"Very smart, Mo's parents are very good roboticists- make Sparky for example!" Mo replied happily, referring to the little robot that gave Kaela her drink. Even without the telepathy, Mo would definitely be able to pick up on ther nervousness. People thought it looked scary? Well, a few people thought her people in all of their gooey glory were scary looking- probably for much different reasons but that wasn't the point. "But Mo knows Kaela isn't scary. But would Mo showing Kaela her true form help?" Mo offered thoughtfully, not wanting to push her into doing something she didn't want to do. Mo was obviously less concerned with her own appearance, and while she didn't understand why Kaela was, she would accept whatever she decided. It'd just make finding anything on her computer more difficult. But how many shapeshifting races were there really? Probably more than she was giving the galaxy credit for but how many of those would be known about by her own people?

Kaela patted Sparky on the head, seemingly using the little droid as some form of support animal. "Well...OK, I would be okay with that." She sighed deeply and nodded. "I'll go first. It's fine." She inhaled deeply and gave her cup back to Sparky before her form began to shift. Her clothing return to her body, leaving her completely white and featureless. Slowly her figure grew, becoming more imposing by the second. Her skull shifted in shape, growing an immense, powerful jaw, with razor sharp teeth. Her eyes began to glow a darker, crimson red, and she grew an entire second set of arms.

By the end of the transformation, the 8' tall war-like alien that stood in Mo's ship looked like it had no place with the timid stance it held. Her hands clasped together awkwardly and its jaw did not move. It seemed Kaela could only speak telepathically in this form. So...yeah. This is me. She projected quietly.

Mo gave Kaela her undivided support and attention as she gave her as much time as she wanted. Maybe it was her people's xenophile-like nature, or maybe it was that Mo had already been talking to her for awhile and had already taken a liking to her, but Mo was probably less scared than she ought to be. But she definitely could see why some people would be. It was still slightly jarring, but how timid Kaela was acting while in it made it harder to stay that way. "Kaela looks strong like this~" Mo complimented Kaela's musculature- was that the right word? "Mo would probably still not be as scared of Kaela than normal, even if she didn't know better," Mo assured her as she reached for her helmet.

Mo was less apprehensive about her appearance, and if not for the fact there was a suppy of water all around them, would be more concerned about dehydrating. But with a mental command and a twist, Mo's suit let off a slight hiss and popped off to reveal... blueish goo. Maybe because of the suit itself, but the form had taken the shape of the helmet and it was only when the helmet came off that it started to move and shift slightly. Mo did not have any visible facial features, not even eyes. "This is Mo! But Mo and her people can mimic some things of other species like this..." Mo explained as the shapeless, shifting goo stopped shifting and seemed to take a more defined shape. Now Mo had green "head tentacles" for hair with yellow tips, and green eyes. She also had something like a nose and a mouth. For some reason Mo looked slightly more embarrassed looking like this than she did in her actual form, or maybe because this one had the features to show that. "But it's hard to maintain for too long..." she finished quietly, the only reason she could right now was because the suit was giving her body a shape already.

Well, maybe a little bit. A lot of it is just my Telekinesis. I don't really try to lift many things while I'm like this. Mo tried her best to console Kaela about her true form, and she gave what looked like an attempt at a smile. Which was honestly hard to read, given that her true form had her entire jawline exposed. OK, your turn.

Kaela tilted her head as Mo shifted into her true form. Just...goo? She giggled awkwardly before her entire form collapsed in on itself, turning into another pile of blue goop, and reshaping just as Mo had. "Tada! Mo is Mo!" She giggled both telepathically and for real, before shifting back to her 'human' form. "I could see how that could be hard. I had to practice for years to get this much control. Have you tried reinforcing it with telekinesis?"

Mo was happy that Kaela felt better about herself, and was even happier hen she mimicked Mo's appearance. Mo giggled verbally. It was an unusually high pitched one, but given what she was doing to make the noise in the first place, that was understandable. Then when she suggested using telekinesis, Mo's uppermost head tentacle curved and coincidentally almost mimicked a question mark; it was more akin to a cat curling its tail but that wasn't the point. "Mo doesn't know how many have tried that, but it's as much the actual shape as it is certain features- like eyes," Mo replied thoughtfully, trying to explain it the best way that she personally understood it. Her head tentacles already seemed to be trying to recede. "Oop, there it goes," Mo's head tentacles vibrated for a brief moment as Mo willed them back into shape. "Mo thinks Kaela would like her people- AH! The computer, Mo got so excited to see Kaela's real form she almost forgot," Mo said with realization, mentally feeding the computer with what she had learned. Everything seemed to be actually working now as Sparky floated around and watched with a curious chirp.

There eventually would be an entry, not a 100% accurate or detailed one but definitely one from Mo's people's prior dealings with Kaela's people.

Kaela nodded as Mo explained the limits of her telekinesis. "Maybe my people are more focused in that aspect, while yours are more focused on computers and machines?" She didn't want to sound insulting, but she knew she had enough control over her telekinesis to managed something along those lines. But now Mo was excited again, and that meant it was the moment of truth.

Kaela let out a deep breath as she watched the computer work, until the image finally came up. "Hey, that one looks like me!" She said, before a large red text appeared above the image, marking the race as hostile.

"Oh...uhm...what all does it say?" She asked awkwardly, not really wanted to read into it too far. The file went into some detail on the civil war of Mars, as well as the genocidal nature of the war. But at least they had a name to the face, Kaela was a White Martian.

Mo was distracted with the computer to respond, waiting expectantly when the red flashing symbol written in her people's language appeared on her screen. Oh no... that wasn't- that couldn't be right. "That's... bad," Mo replied making the warning symbol shrink down and move to somewhere less obnoxious. They were THAT bad? The fact that an Amorphean database would label any species as "hostile" wasn't unheard of, particularly when making first contact with warlike species. But eventually the label gets taken off after enough time and interactions, it was... quite unheard of for a species to actually STILL be labeled as hostile and Mo was wondering how up to date this information was. "Kaela is a White Martian... and judging by this flashing text and what Mo is reading here... it's not pleasant," Mo used her telepathy to help her understand what was actually on the file. "But it looks like Kaela is one of the exceptions!" Mo pointed out trying to lighten the blow. She wasn't going to keep it from her, or try to lie about it.

Kaela sat and stared at the information scrolling by on the screen. Civil war? Extinction?! There were White Martians?! She could feel her head spinning and she crossed her arms tightly. "Yeah, no kidding it's bad..." She said quietly, following along with the information as Mo read through. Something about a severe weakness to fire, which Kaela hadn't personally experienced, but good to know. Powerful telepathic mind, but she knew that going in.

"Does it say how many are supposed to be left...? Not a lot, right?" She sighed and fidgeted with her fingers. If her people were this dangerous, maybe it was good that she was one of the only ones left?

"Let's see..." Mo mentally murmured as she willed the comuputer to check. Kaela's hunch would be correct, White Martians were very rare and it seemed like she was the only on on Earth at the very least. There was other mentions that seemed to allude to domestic servitude- which brought up the question of why they were still considered hostile when it didn't sound like they were a threat to anyone any more. But maybe Mo was just overslimplifying that notion. "Well... Mo wishes she had better news for Kaela..." Mo said sincerely, actually upset that it'd gone the way it did.

Kaela sighed as she watched Mo's expression sink. "It's fine. It's not your fault, I was the one who asked you to look." She looked through the brief summary and her face sank. Well, there went her idea of maybe talking to the Manhunter or Miss Martian. If they were green, they probably wouldn't take kindly to meeting her. "I think I'll just keep the human form for now then." She said calmly, nodding to herself. "I was already using it to hide, so it's probably a good idea to just pretend this never happened."