This is Part 6 of my First Contact series. Contains strong language and suggestive/sexual situations.

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Eliot removed the vidgoggles from the dazed crewman and checked his vital signs one last time and continued the instructions: "Remember, Hayden, your training and the training you provide to others are perfectly normal and beneficial to our mission. You are happy to follow all of the orders given to you by the Mascots, in addition to your superior officers. You will never notice anything unusual or strange about following these commands. Repeat those instructions back to me."

As Hayden monotonously recited the instructions, Eliot again found his attention drifting. It seemed like no matter how many times he delivered the training, he just could not bring himself to give it his full attention. He sometimes worried that Dr. Monroe would notice his inattentiveness and pull him off the research project, but so far she still seemed very pleased with his work. He knew he should really be giving the research his all, but he found the entire procedure so mind-numbing and tedious that he just seemed to be doing things on autopilot.

As Eliot ruminated, he realized that Hayden had finished reciting his instructions. He touched Hayden gently on his shoulder and told him, "You have excelled at your Training, and I am so happy you are joining our team. You love being part of our team, don't you?"

Hayden gave a small shudder and quietly answered, "Yes, Eliot. I love being part of our team."

Fortunately, he had memorized the next part of the procedure by heart, even if it bored him to tears: "Very good, Hayden. In a moment, I am going to say the command that will take you out of your training mode. When you wake, you will feel happy and motivated. You will not remember any of the details of the training you just completed, but will clearly remember that it was very helpful, and that you are very excited to be helping with our important mission. Acknowledge."

Hayden took a deep breath, then quietly muttered, "Acknowledged." Eliot checked a box on his data pad and absentmindedly gave the next command shown on the pad, feeling mildly surprised that the training was already finished when it seemingly just started a moment ago.

Hayden's posture suddenly became less relaxed and more alert as he took a sharp intake of breath, smiled happily and thanked Eliot for his help. "Wow, thanks, Eliot. I'm glad I agreed to do the training! I think it will really help us all work better as a team!"

Eliot nodded solicitously and carefully helped Hayden shakily stand up, but was startled when his fellow medtech Ted burst into the cryo chamber and barked out, "Hey assholes! Finally finished with the training session? Some of us have lunch dates to get to! Chop chop!"

Eliot grimaced, but was pleased to see Hayden smiling and taking Ted's outburst in stride. Hayden reached out to shake Ted's hand, and chuckled, "I have zero sympathy, dude. I bet a million credits that you've eaten more recently than I have!"

Ted gave a hearty laugh in response. "Ah, looks like we've got a live one, here... I can see why the bridge crew wanted you defrosted ASAP, Hayden! Gambling problems and poor hygiene aside, you seem to be a sharp one!"

Hayden and Eliot both laughed. Eliot gently chided Ted by saying, "Hayden is sharp, but he's been out of commission for more than a decade, Ted. He'll need a bit more help before he reports for duty. A lot of things about the mission have changed, after all!"

Ted grunted and muttered, "You don't know the half of it, kids!" Then Ted laughed and said, "Well, speaking of changing, let's get Hayden here into some fresh clothes and pass him off to the orientation squad. And then when they've got him set up maybe he can still join us for lunch in the mess hall. Eliot, are you still up for lunch?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Eliot said as he finished shutting down and stowing the cryopod equipment.

Hayden finished putting on his shoes and asked, "How long does the orientation squad take? All kidding aside, I'm starving!"

Ted nodded sympathetically as the three of them exited the pod bay and started down the corridor. "Well, I do know the person heading up the orientation program. If I slip him a little something, I'm sure..."

"Jesus...WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Hayden interrupted with a panicked shriek as he staggered backward in shock. Eliot grabbed his arm to steady him and followed his unnerved gaze down the corridor to figure out what had set Hayden off. All he could see from his angle were Ren and the Mascot, but maybe the Mascot's bulk was blocking something sinister? Eliot kept trying to soothe and restrain Hayden, whose panic seemed to only be increasing as Ren and the Mascot walked toward them.

"Dammit, not again!" Ted yelled angrily, followed by something else Eliot didn't catch due to ringing in his ears and a sudden bout of dizziness. When Eliot finally regained his equilibrium and opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that Hayden was suddenly completely calm, if a bit dazed-looking. Ren had caught up with them, but Eliot was sad to see that there was no sign of the Mascot: he had wanted to thank the Mascot for all it was doing to help them work better as a team. He was about to ask Ren where the Mascot had gone, but Ren gently grabbed Hayden's arm and said, "Hi Hayden, I'm Ren. I help out with the cryosleep systems around here. Let's get you over to orientation so they can clear you and get some food in you. I think you might be having some adverse effects from your cryosleep."

As Ren led Hayden down the hall, Eliot shook his head as if it clear away the cobwebs, and then said wearily to Ted, "Speaking of adverse cryo effects, ever since you all defrosted me I feel like I'm just off... like I'm always spacing out and a beat behind on everything. But it's been way too long for this to be cryo fog, hasn't it?"

Ted snorted and started pulling Eliot briskly toward the mess hall. "Ah, no worries, dude. We're fucking surrounded by empty space, so spacing out occasionally is situationally appropriate. And remember that even back in training, you were always a step behind me, so it's par for the course!"

Eliot chuckled, and replied, "Ah, but who would have known back then that Ted the Randy Medic would be destined for power and greatness. I never, ever thought you'd outrank me, but I guess life has a way of surprising you."

Ted laughed and said, "Well, that's what happens when I get an extra 16 years of seniority while the rest of you lazy bastards were sleeping 24/7/365. Somebody had to step up and be responsible while the rest of you lardasses were playing hooky."

Eliot shook his head dubiously and replied, "Wait, didn't Ren say something at lunch the other day about you spending all of your solo maintenance shifts concocting elaborate, pointless pranks in some sort of weird competition?

Ted grimaced, nodded, and said, "Yeah, the Prank War. But Ren is only bringing that up because he won the competition. He knows that still bugs me, and that little fucker does like riling me up."

Eliot nodded, but then seemed deep in thought as they continued walking. Every few steps he kept looking nervously over at Ted.

"All right! What what what?" Ted barked. "Out with it. What's eating you, Eliot?"

Eliot seemed embarrassed, but looked around awkwardly and stepped closer to Ted. "It's awkward and personal, but something has been bugging me..." he said hesitantly.

Ted looked concerned and looked intently at Eliot, but then said brusquely, "Eh, I'm an open book. Ren likes to say I'm shameless, but he only thinks that because I lack the capacity to feel shame! What's your question?"

Eliot nodded and proceeded cautiously. "It's actually about you and Ren. I know that you're a couple now..."

Ted nodded and interjected, "You are correct, sir! Is your question physiological in nature, because if so I would be delighted to provide a series of schematics and animations about how the process of human copulation works..."

Eliot gave an exasperated groan and smacked Ted's shoulder. "No, you idiot! Don't interrupt, since this is already awkward enough. I'm just a little confused about how that happened."

Ted waggled his eyebrows and whispered conspiratorially, "Again, I'd be happy to provide you with any visual aids you would like detailing how exactly we do...."

"Gaaah just shut up for a minute, Ted!" Eliot yelled as he waved his arms in exasperation. Ted smugly pantomimed locking his mouth with an invisible key and then crossed his arms expectantly. "THANK you. Now my extremely awkward and embarrassing question--how you and Ren happened--is because back during training, you seemed 100% straight. I know you and he were friends and you were always talking about him, but you and I hung out enough back then for me to have seen what--or rather who--had your interest. I was watching you pretty carefully and you never showed even a tiny bit of interest in men... even handsome, alluring medtechs who kept dropping literally thousands of hints and signals." Eliot finished, turning beet red.

Ted laughed, then tried to stifle it to minimize Eliot's embarrassment. "Jesus, Eliot... is that what this is about? You're right that what I wanted then is a lot different than what--or who--I want now. Part of that is because Past Ted was a dumbass..."

Eliot laughed and nodded, saying, "No question. That was pretty obvious even then..."

Ted cut him off, interjecting with mock sternness, "Speaking of dumbasses, I'm still your superior officer for the time being, so unless you want to be reassigned to peeling potatoes, I suggest you go back to vigorously stroking Ted's ego!"

Eliot nodded with exaggerated enthusiasm, obsequiously calling out, "Of course Past Ted is only a dumbass when compared to the unparalleled wisdom of the nearly omniscient Present Ted!"

Ted nodded approvingly and continued as he steered Eliot back into the corridor toward the mess hall, "There you go! Much better. Anyway, you're not far off in that I had a lot of time to think about life during those solo maintenance shifts. And God help me, one of the things I missed and looked forward to most was hanging out with that little fucker. To be honest, I still wasn't looking for anything physical with him, but the persistent, sneaky little bastard eventually figured out a way to change my mind!"

Eliot nodded, but still looked confused. "Right, but I guess I'm asking how..." Eliot trailed off as they entered the mess hall and and got into the line for food. Ted looked over toward their regular table and waved to their friend Anastasia, who was already eating.

Ted turned back to Eliot and continued, "Well, like I said I'm an open book: The epic tale of how young Ren entranced and beguiled the noble Ted is a saga filled with intrigue, unexpected twists and turns, fierce competition and deception, and ultimately a couple surprisingly intense hands-free..."

"Jesus! Forget I asked," Eliot said while rolling his eyes as he picked up his lunch platter.

Ted grabbed his own tray. "Wait, I thought you wanted to know the details..." Ted called out as he hurried to catch up to the fleeing Eliot.

As Eliot sat down at the table, he sighed in exasperation and plaintively asked Anastasia, "You've been out of cryo and hanging out with these guys a lot longer than I have. What's the deal with Ted and Ren?"

Anastasia rolled her eyes as she continued eating. "You mean RenTed? Please tell me you didn't ask Ted for any details about their exploits..."

Ted interrupted her by abruptly dropping into the seat next to her, loudly asking, "So what are we talking about? More sexy time stuff? Because let me tell you..."

Anastasia waved her arms frantically in an attempt to cut off Ted's monologue. "No no no. Do NOT get started again on your twisted catalogue of pranks or sex acts or sex pranks or whatever weird combination you've cooked up this time. No one wants to hear it, Ted!"

"ACTUALLY, Anastasia, I'll have you know that young Eliot here was just probing for some of the juicier details a moment ago," Ted crowed triumphantly.

Eliot looked mortified as Anastasia shot him an accusatory glance. "Did you seriously just ask Ted for more information about something sex-related? Talk about inviting a vampire into your house!" she complained, shaking and holding her head.

Eliot was surprised as Ren suddenly appeared next to him and sat down with his lunch tray. "Wait, why is Anastasia going on about vampires? Did someone get Ted going again?" Ren asked incredulously. "What madness would possess any member of this crew to subject themselves to that?"

Ted beamed happily as he basked in Eliot's embarrassed discomfort and Ren and Anastasia's exasperation.

"I am the blameless, innocent victim here," Ted asserted. "I'll have you know, Ren, it was Eliot here who was just asking how the two of us ended up together."

Ren looked surprised, then amused. "Simple," he said decisively. "I won his heart fair and square."

"Yeah, Ted here is a total prize!" Anastasia said, mockingly gesturing at Ted. "If the winner gets Ted, what would second place get? Maybe TWO Teds?" she chortled.

Ren continued merrily, "That's right, losers! You've all been naughty, so there will be extra rations of Ted for everyone!"

Eliot snorted and nearly choked on his drink. "Forget I asked!" he said. "Nobody deserves that fate..." he laughed.

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Later that evening, Eliot finished watching the very helpful daily update video Dr. Monroe had sent him. He always felt especially reinvigorated and committed to the mission after watching her videos, so he thought he'd put that energy to good use sending Ted a note with some suggestions about how to improve the medbay supply rotation.

To his surprise, Ted responded almost immediately after he hit "send" saying he thought it was a great idea and suggesting they could discuss an implementation strategy now... in person. Apparently if there was any lingering awkwardness after their earlier conversation, either Ted didn't sense it or didn't care, which made Eliot feel better. He packed up the data pad with his notes and headed over to meet with Ted before it got too late.

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As Eliot rounded the corner by Ted and Ren's quarters, he saw Hayden and Ren engaged in an intense conversation just inside the hatch. When Hayden saw Eliot, his eyes bugged out and his body stiffened. Ren called out into their quarters, "Hey Ted, Eliot is here to see you!" Eliot continued to sense a weird vibe from Hayden as he awkwardly waited for Ted to arrive. Eliot tried to put Hayden more at ease by asking how he was adapting to life on the bridge.

Hayden seemed irritated, but said, "I wanted to get up to speed on the comm traffic with Earth since we restarted mission operations, but they won't even let me near those systems. In fact, all of the Earth-facing antennae are off-limits to me... you know, THE COMM GUY. And no one will tell me what they're doing with the forward-facing array, either. So basically it's been hovering somewhere between useless and completely fucking counterproductive!" he spat out angrily, shocking Ren and Eliot with his venom.

"Wait, who is being useless and counterproductive?" Ted barked loudly as he joined the group. "Does it start with a T and end in 'ed'?" he continued merrily, before gradually sensing the tension that permeated the group. "Tough crowd," he murmured.

"Hayden and I were just leaving," Ren announced. "Dr. Monroe wanted to talk with both of us about some potential glitches with the ERSO project," he said, tugging on Hayden's elbow and steering him down the corridor.

Eliot's head snapped toward Ren in shock. "Wait, what glitches? She hasn't mentioned anything to me about that to me?" he said with concern.

Ren said, "I'm sure it'll all be fine, Eliot," while continuing to walk away with Hayden. "No worries!"

As the two of them walked further down the corridor, Eliot could see Hayden continuing to shoot suspicious glances back at him over his shoulder as he furtively whispered to Ren. Eliot couldn't quite make the whole thing out, but he distinctly thought he heard Hayden hiss, "taking over the ship" and "he's part of this!"

"Hey eager beaver!" Ted barked in Eliot's ear, startling him. "I thought you wanted to pitch some changes to the medbay inventory procedures? Or was that just an excuse to stop by our quarters to extend the awkward conversation from lunch?" Ted asked suggestively.

Eliot again turned beet red. "Agh! I though we were past talking about all that! Anastasia is right: you are like a conversational vampire!"

Ted laughed and affected an Eastern European accent, saying, "Ah Ted vants to suck..."

"AaaAAAAAaagh!" Eliot yelled, covering up his ears. "I brought up the inventory suggestion to avoid the earlier conversation, not to wallow in it! Besides, isn't it totally against regulations for us to be talking about this stuff? You're still my superior officer!"

Ted shook his head absently and looked at his chrono. "Actually, as of around 40 minutes ago, that's no longer true. Ren and I have been demoted back down to being thumb-sucking grunts just like you. We were just waiting for the full bridge crew to come back online before we stepped down," he continued. "We happened to be the ones on duty when our new orders came in, but the plan was always to step aside once those folks were all defrosted. We're going to announce it to the crew at the ceremony."

Eliot continued to feel off-balance in the conversation. "What ceremony? Everyone keeps...Wait, is that why you wanted me to come by? To let me know you're no longer my superior officer?"

Ted laughed heartily and shook his head. "Nah, that's not it. No, I just wanted to let you know that Ren and I talked after lunch and he thought it was important for me to apologize for being such a pest and making you so uncomfortable earlier. So I'm sorry for that. I can come on a little strong, I've been told. Repeatedly." he said contritely.

Eliot nodded gratefully, saying, "I appreciate that a lot, Ted. For my part, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or pry into your and Ren's private lives. I apologize, too."

Ted nodded and surprised Eliot by drawing him into a bear hug, then released. "You're a good egg, Eliot. I appreciated that when we were back in training, and I appreciate it even more now. But speaking of my and Ren's private lives, he and I discussed that. We both were hoping you would be interested in getting more involved in that, too."

Eliot stared at Ted blankly for several seconds, and then his jaw dropped in shock. "Wait..." Eliot started cautiously, "are you actually suggesting that we all..."

Ted looked scandalized for a second, huffing, "I was suggesting that we could all spend more time together and get to know one another better, Eliot!"

Eliot looked mortified, then a little relieved. "Oh because from the way you were talking and from our conversation earlier, I'd thought you might be implying..."

"Sex stuff?" Ted asked loudly as Eliot cringed. "Well yes, that, too! But that can probably wait until after Ren gets back so we don't appear rude," Ted explained reasonably. "So in the meantime, let's work out this new inventory system for the medbay," Ted said as he walked into his quarters. After a few steps, he paused and turned back to Eliot, who was standing dumbfounded in the corridor. "Well, are you coming?"

Eliot's face cycled rapidly between confusion, disbelief, and excitement.

Eventually, Eliot nodded, smiled and said, "Ahhhh, sure...I guess I'd love to!" and followed Ted into his quarters. "So I think the medbay supplies should be relocated now that we're increasing the number of crew who..."

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The next morning, Eliot had even more difficulty concentrating on his work. For someone who regarded himself as pretty calm and even-tempered, Eliot felt overwhelmed by his swirling, chaotic thoughts and feelings. It seemed like his entire existence since leaving cryo had been surreal and dream-like. When he was frozen, he had no idea that he'd be awakened 30 years earlier than planned. He had no idea that he would be helping the crew with their important new training. He had no idea that the Mascots would be helping them work as a team. Before cryo, he knew that Ted was 100% unattainable, but now Ted and Ren had welcomed him into their bed... and was there someone else? Eliot's eyes fluttered momentarily as he tried to pierce the azure-tinted fog that swirled over those intense memories.

Eliot sighed. That was another big change: Since defrosting, Eliot seemed to be having more and more trouble remembering things. The blank spots were becoming frequent enough that he thought about asking Ted to run a dementia scan on him (or maybe running a scan himself to avoid awkward questions). "Ugh," Eliot thought to himself. "I'm almost done training this crew member and I don't really remember a single moment of it. What if I made a mistake? And speaking of mistakes, what had Hayden meant when he said that I was a 'part of this'? Part of what? And why had Ren been told about problems with the training by Dr. Monroe, but not me?"

Thinking about the training made Eliot realize that the crew member was ready for the next set of instructions. "I. Am. Losing it." he thought to himself.

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After handing off the crew member for her orientation, Eliot headed to the mess hall for lunch. As he got in line, he was surprised to see Hayden just ahead of him smiling and laughing. Awkwardly avoiding eye contact, Eliot was startled as Hayden grabbed his arm and called out "Eliot!" happily. Eliot looked at Hayden's face and was amazed at the transformation. "Hayden, you look like you're feeling a lot better?" Eliot said tentatively.

Hayden smiled and said, "You could say that! Ren took me to see Dr. Monroe and we talked for a while. We decided that it would be best if I pulled out of the study for the time being, so she had me talk with the Mascot and that was really what helped bring me fully onboard."

Eliot was confused. "The Mascot? I know the Mascot helps us work better as a team, but if the training we were provided wasn't working right, how..."

Hayden nodded and cut Eliot off. "The training is wonderful and important, Eliot, but Dr. Monroe agreed it just wasn't a great fit for me. But the Mascot fixed everything. We are all devoted to the Mascots, after all!" Hayden continued reverently.

Eliot felt something shift in his head as he felt himself saying, "Yes, the Mascots deserve our devotion."

Hayden smiled broadly, said, "Yes they do!" and slapped Eliot on his back, which seemed to bring Eliot's focus back. Hayden grabbed a to-go pack and shook Eliot's hand. "I've got to head to the bridge to start transmitting the docking instructions. Hopefully I'll see you at the ceremony tomorrow if not sooner?"

Despite his confusion, Eliot nodded. "What is going on around here?" he thought. "Maybe I'm losing it. Or Maybe I'm still frozen in my pod and this is all a cryo-hallucination."

He was still deep in thought as he put his tray on the table next to Anastasia and sat down. "Hey Eliot...you look distracted. Are you still coming down from last night's tag-team match with Ren and Ted?" she asked.

Eliot's eyes bugged out a bit in surprise as he stared wordlessly in shock.

"Yeah, you just missed Ren and Ted. They apparently had some sort of maintenance team reunion to get to, but before they left they both filled me in about you...well... getting filled in last night. Was it everything you dreamed it would be?" she asked jovially.

Eliot gave an exasperated sigh. "Sure, sure. NOW you want to hear one of Ted's sex stories? What happened to treating him like a vampire?"

Anastasia waved her hand impatiently, "Ah, that's because I've already heard all of Ted's old stories a thousand times. The vampire gets invited inside when there's some fresh blood. Now dish, my friend. I want to hear all the juicy details before I have to go run our final docking drills."

"Wait, I thought you said Ted had already dished the juicy details? Isn't he supposed to be the one who's the open book around here?" Eliot said, clearly flustered by the conversation's explicit turn.

"Yeah, he was fine on the big picture, but Ren didn't get a chance to say very much and Ted's stories all tend to have a certain Ted-centrality to them, if you know what I mean. And what did you think of the Mascot?" Anastasia asked.

"The Mascot? What do you mean? The Mascot helps us work better as a team, and deserves our devotion," Eliot intoned reverently.

"Ah, that's one way of putting it!" Anastasia chortled. "But don't worry. I think all of the crew--myself included--have shown their devotion to the Mascot, so now you're fully part of the team. Welcome to Team Blue!" she laughed.

"Anastasia... I really...I don't understand..." Eliot said haltingly as he rubbed his head in confusion, but when he looked up, she was already on her feet and picking up her tray.

"Ugh, gotta go. We really don't want to screw up the docking sequence and there's not much time to transmit the protocols!" she said over her shoulder as she bustled off.

As she disappeared from view, Eliot just sat staring into space. The mess hall buzzed with an almost palpable energy and excitement around him, but as Eliot sat pondering, he realized that he had never felt so adrift. "What the Hell is going on?" he muttered to himself.

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This is Part 6 of my First Contact series.

Special thanks to @TotemStorms for helpful suggestions on this series and this chapter!