"The Kink starts soon I promise it's not kinky unless you meet 200 aliens first" Current Route: 1-X-1. X denotes routes that reunite or are otherwise "common"; meaning you can end up on the chapter you're reading by picking multiple different options. [First Part](https://cohost.org/Punyverse-CYOA/post/3447682-super-small-stardust) [Previous Part](https://cohost.org/Punyverse-CYOA/post/3748101-super-small-stardust) I had to split this chapter into two segments cuz it's quite long. As usual, please let me know if you spot any typos or formatting errors. It's even more important this time, since this chapter uses more Cohost css/html. --- "Let's go meet the crew, I guess! I oughta know the folks who are letting me be their captain." You say. Jynx and Bitwise exchange a nervous glance. "Oh, uh, am I gonna have to be carried over there?" "Sure! The Lovelander (and all cruisers built for multiple species accommodation) have walkways for humans installed, and we were working on that on Academy Station, too, but I like carrying you around, you know!" Jynx smirks and thuds a paw near you on the table. You sigh. Off you go again... --- Eighteen minutes later, Jynx drops you off in front of a podium. It's not quite your size, so you hop up on top of it with a little bit of climbing and sit on the top of it. The mic from this position is basically at your level, now. You're aware there are plenty of "smaller" species in the Collective - like some that are a bit smaller than earth mice - but this seems more like someone got the units wrong on a podium that was meant for humans. The podium is at the top of a ramp, giving you a very good view of the crowd in front of you at the bottom of the ramp. Jynx, to your side, has adjusted a holographic screen and camera so that your image is projected onto the side of the immense metal wall behind you. Which, you suppose, must be the side of the Rampant Lovelander, the ship you're meant to be the captain of. You can't even really fathom the scale of it. Even the crowd at the bottom of the ramp seems far away. It's easy to feel lonely at this size. The crowd consists of so many various species of alien you struggle to really process their appearances as a whole unit. Nevertheless, you do get good vibes from them on the whole. You know that might just be a symptom of mere exposure, but you decided to be optimistic.

Footnote: As a reminder

One of the cosmic coincidences frequently observed in interstellar society acts as an extension of the "Mere Exposure" effect. That is, Intelligent aliens of differing body types tend to perceive each other to be “cute”, and develop positive feelings towards them very rapidly when meeting face to face. This recurs and increases in potency when exposed to many individuals at the same time. In other words, it would be rather unusual if Captain Justine *didn't* like the crew. To put it another way: Welcome to space, prepare to develop a crush on every alien species you meet.

"Hi everybody! I'm Justine Skylor, and I'll be your new captain! I know it might be a little surprising to see your new Captain's a human, but I hope we all get along! I might be a small gal, but I'll still work super hard to keep things in tip-top shape! Let's all do our best!" You give a friendly wave. About half of the crowd returns the wave back. You turn to your other side, where your co-captain is standing at attention, doing his best not to look embarrassed about taking orders from a speck. "Lieutenant Mads Bitwise here will be our co-captain! Please be nice to him, okay? He's got more experience than I do, so don't be afraid to turn to him if you need anything! Lieutenant, if you wouldn't mind briefing the crew on our mission?" "Oh! Uh, right." Lt. Bitwise begins re-iterating the speech detailing the mission you'd heard in the conference room. In the meantime, you take a moment to check out the ship's dossier, as well as its crew listing and the short file on your assignment.

About the Ship

You decide to glance over the ship's dossier first. ![The Rampant Lovelander. It's a little beat up and lame, actually.](https://file.garden/ZlT7qjBYblwbIg6x/Screenshot_20231209-211803.png) It appears this is a non-combat cruiser. It's got two big interchangeable canisters on the sides, which are changed out when the ship's mission requires more storage or higher firepower, or more crewmate dorms, or whatever else it needs. This is a cross-galactic non-combat mission, so currently it looks like the cans are both basically just storage and crewmate dorms. You resist the temptation to look at the map for now. Huh, this dossier even has the ship's flag in it. It's a frogman of some sort wearing socks and loafers in a gallivanting pose on a field of azure. Oh no, did you get assigned to a joke vessel -

Well, you stop looking at the ship's documentation. You have all the time in the world to look at it later, and Mads is like, halfway through the mission briefing. Let's see here...

Crew Manifest

You look at the crew manifest. You decide not to look at the names or species data for right now, and just look down the list of roles. How many crewmates do you have on this ship, anyway? 20? 30? maybe even 40? ![Oh sweet cornish christ look at this huge fucking list](https://file.garden/ZlT7qjBYblwbIg6x/image.png)

NOPE!!! Your eyes slide off this enormous list of unmemorizable nonsense almost immediately. You barely make it to your crew number - 4 - before you can't even bring yourself to stare at this intimidating and horrible document any longer. 232 crewmates! That's unreasonable. Maybe you'll get Jynx to help you pick out just the most important ones later.

Okay, let's just glance at the mission briefing again.

![Wow, it's way more digestible this way.](https://file.garden/ZlT7qjBYblwbIg6x/Screenshot_20231209-215701.png) Wow, it's way more digestible this way. Still no explanations for why all of these things are called that, though.

Okay, okay. You tune back in just in time for Mads to get done with his briefing. You turn towards the crowd again, pleased that their attention no longer seems to be solely on you. They're all looking off to the side instead - at - oh no wait that's where the screen where you are is. They're ALL looking at the close-up cam of you sitting on the podium. When did they all start paying so much attention to you?? Was it while Mads was giving his briefing? Were they bored...or fascinated-? "Ahem! Would the head officers join me and Jynx aboard the top deck? Mads, can you handle organized boarding for the remaining crew? There's like, well over a hundred of all you folks, so I've gotta get acquainted in a more controlled space, I think." "R-Right, of course, Captain!" Bitwise replies. Jynx picks you up and sits you on her hat brim this time as she boards the ship. --- You love the atmosphere on here. The Lovelander has a really rustic, authentic feel. A lot of space stations can feel a bit sterile, but you appreciate how lived-in this space feels. It's spacious, too - and not just in the way that every place is spacious for someone at your size. Jynx takes a few detours, it feels like - wandering through halls and offices before making a turn into a huge atrium space and getting on a big elevator to the Navigation Deck. There, you're acquainted with the Captain's chair. Rather than a cushion, the entire thing is elevated to a pretty dignified chamber-space. You suppose that, since you'll be spending a bunch of time on the bridge, without the ability to hop out of your chair and head back downstairs to the same capacity as others, you instead have everything you could need provided here. There's a human-scale captain's chair, a pantry, a table and office cubicle, a sofa and a pretty modern 3d-display TV-thing, and a private room with a shower, plus a walk-in closet and a bunch of other amenities. Plus, it's not exposed, only the front room with the you-sized captain's chair and the desk is. So you do have some degree of privacy in certain parts of it. ![It's you.](https://file.garden/ZlT7qjBYblwbIg6x/Screenshot_20231209-224446.png) Oh yeah. It's all coming together now. [All right, who do you wanna call up first?](https://cohost.org/Punyverse-CYOA/post/3899332-super-small-stardust)

Fef

@giantessfeferi

Gigantic Aquatic Goddess