In no time at all close to five hundred humans would be swarming the place, with ten times more arriving in the weeks to come.
The dining area was massive like a highschool cafeteria.
"So where will we be staying?" Hope asked Viper.
Hope paused as she realized how quickly she'd gotten used to the idea of shacking up with Viper.
"The prime household for Anguis Minor is just inside the city." Hyla stated.
"Oh."
Hope hadn't realized she wouldn't be close to her people or her friends. Viper saw her concern and shook his head at his mother.
"No, there is a smaller pod near central command that we will occupy, so I can oversee everything."
"Eventually you will be expected to return to Anguis Prime." Hyla argued. "I expect you to settle down now." She looked from Viper to Hope with an expectant expression.
It was amusing how Anguis females seemed more docile and meek on the surface, but in Hyla's case it was a bit of a ruse. The woman was opinionated especially where Viper was concerned. Hope couldn't blame her even if she was bearing the brunt of her angst. Hope was doing her best to not take it personal. She couldn't get a bead on the woman. Hope didn't know if Hyla felt like she was losing Viper to an alien or if she was pleased at the prospect Viper might have a reason to stay closer to home.
"Well my filius, I'm going to get your mother settled in town and then we'll return for dinner." Adder nodded to Viper as he led Hyla out.
"Let's go see how you like out pod." Viper led Hope through the recreation building towards the opposite side.
Hope glanced through a set of doors and smiled as she noticed Tara and JP touring the clinic, both of them chattering happily. She was glad her friends had this to occupy their minds. It kept all of them from dwelling on their loss.
Viper walked past a few pods then stopped in front of a little pale blue one.
"It reminded me of your eyes." Viper smiled at her.
Hope glanced at the symbol by the door, it was three wavy lines. She lived in the blue house with three wavy lines near the community center. That was easy enough.
"Your friends and family can stay next door."
"Thank you."
Hope walked in and noted it wasn't much different from the others but someone had already put up their pictures from the ship and brought their belongings in.
"It's not much." Viper said as he pulled her into his arms.
"No it's great." She smiled.
"I need to get up to speed and check in with security. Do you want to settle in here or join me?"
"I might go find Tara and JP, or whoever you think can help me with getting everyone organized once we start waking folks up."
"Sounds good."
12 Superstar
Hope
Hope spent the next several days getting to know the Anguis that worked in the colony and preparing for the challenging task ahead. Then the slow process of reviving her fellow humans commenced, in groups of several dozen at a time. Everyone was finally awake and had been divided into three categories, disturbed, panic stricken, and freaking the fuck out. Tara gave the stages a clinical name, but that pretty much summed it up.
That later category exhibited itself in one of two ways either the person attempted to run screaming into the night or sat catatonic. This made getting their name and vital information for the database Hope created a little difficult.
Hope spent the first week after revival helping families and friends find one another and transition into the temporary housing or rearranging to live with each other. There were many public meetings where Hope, Tara, and JP spoke to large groups about what happened on Earth. Hope retold her story about the meteor strike till she was blue in the face. But she felt it was important, she didn't want her fellow humans freaking out that this was some insane plot against humanity, spouting nonsense like they'd all end up in a cooking pot or something. Hope sheepishly had to admit that had been a fear of hers in the beginning.
The native Anguis led excursions into the city nearby or out into the wild landscape showing and teaching the humans anything from the basics of the public transportation system and the market, to what animals were benign or dangerous. They attempted to give them a crash course in all the things they would need to survive though most of it could've probably been explained by an Anguis kindergartner. Hope laughed at the thought when one Anguis was doing a lesson with various foods. This fruit is edible, but it looks like this one that you might find in the wild which is poisonous.
"Note to self no eating wild plums, or anything in the wild."
It wasn't a hard concept. Hope never went out picking wild berries and chowing down back home.
The Anguis were kind, hospitable and very patient. Hope was glad that a large number of people were sane enough to be able to go on the field trips and attend the lessons. Sadly poor Tara and JP were stuck much of the time assisting the head cases. Hope didn't get out of the pod city herself, but at least she wasn't surrounded constantly by the morose or violently frightened individuals that couldn't come to terms with what had happened.