Survivors of Alterna: Best for Last

Chapter 3: Nakji

But he figured it was better overcooked than undercooked. Besides, he hadn't eaten in twelve thousand years. He would not complain about overcooked but edible food. It was rather delicious anyway- if only a little weird tasting.

After finishing the last bit of meat could cut off, he looked over to his side.

Laid there in the sand, wrapped in the same rope they previously tied Akikta in, was the unconscious Nakji.

He had brought her off the ship prior to cooking his meal, hoping he could convince her he wasn't an enemy.

Akikta walked over to Nakji and crouched down next to her. Now that nothing else was actively trying to mess him up, he could get a better look at her.

Around her neck was a spiky collar of some sort. A type of accessory, maybe?

She wore a black sleeveless suit of light armor with a gray belt wrapped around her diagonally.

Below her waist were skin-tight short black leggings that left her ankles exposed.

Further below were Nakji's feet, which didn't have any shoes or armored boots to match her attire. Instead, purple and green toeless striped socks covered her feet. They appeared to be made of some cloth-like fabric.

Akikta found it hard to believe she wasn't human. After all, she had a similar build to him, only being a foot shorter, slightly more bottom-heavy, and lighter in skin tone. The markings around her eyes could be explained away as tattoos.

The only real dead giveaway was her smooth purple hair that had suction cups around the large horizontal tentacle in the middle. Even her eyebrows were smooth and purple.

What was she, exactly?

He stood up and placed a hand on his chin, closing his eyes as he became lost in thought.

Miraculously, an idea popped into his head.

Akikta unstrapped the radio from his belt and held it to his face. "Orca, you there?"

Static crackled through the radio before O.R.C.A's iconic symbol appeared on the radio's screen. "Yes. Is there anything you need?"

Akikta turned the radio to face Nakji. "Can you tell me what she is?"

There was a moment of silence. "Commencing biometric scan. Please hold." The sounds of a printer overtook the whistles of the wind. "Scan complete. It appears this specimen is of the Octarian species, part of the Octoling variant."

"Octarian? Octoling? Orca, have you forgotten how to speak English, bro?"

"Apologies, allow me to clarify. Octarians are the evolved descendants of octopodes. Octolings are a subspecies of Octarians." O.R.C.A explained.

Visuals appeared on the screen as the AI clarified his response, not that they helped Akikta understand any better.

Akikta was still unaware of what an Octarian was exactly, but he understood the gist of what O.R.C.A was saying: Nakji is an octopus.

Why she had a humanoid appearance continued to elude Akikta. But at least he knew what she was now. "Huh, I knew downloading you was a good idea." He said before reattaching the radio to his belt.

The clicking noise of him reattaching the radio must've alerted Nakji, for she started awakening from her unconscious state.

She softly groaned, which caused Akikta to jump. The sudden movement caught her attention, and she woke up faster.

Once fully awake, it took only a few moments for Nakji to register what was going on.

Before Akikta could say anything, Nakji transformed into what appeared to be an octopus, though it didn't look like any octopus he's ever seen.