Censorship is hate and it’s Day 23 of Flash Fiction February. Communication and expression are inherent human qualities and today we are on a mission with Captain Farmouth, who is clone hopping.

“The fronds on these branches are interesting; they are like hairs; they are like hairs on larger, beefier hairs. I’m going to run a check on these; if they are like earth trees, then they are sensory.”

The OVAL hovers near the base of the massive spire that is protruding from the floor of this planet like a follicle. The probe follows the current of the tree down beneath the floor of the planet.

Captain Judah Farmouth is clone-hopping. He has a range of follow-up tasks to complete today before his four-day weekend starts. This is the first item on his punch list. “This isn’t a root system like an earth tree; there is nothing like it. It’s a single, thickening root.”

Farmouth is screening the scene below the surface and describing what he’s seeing. “It thickens to a distance of about twenty feet. Wow. Then there is a bulbous sack anchoring it into place. The sack has a seepy kind of mucous. These things really are a lot like mammalian hair.”

“The floor isn’t as much like skin as the trees are like hair, but there are obvious similarities.” He reports.

“Report complete and booked. Pulling back to pocket.” Judah announces to the System and pulls this OVAL back to the triad pocket hovering in the low orbit of this chalky, skin-like planet that has hair-like spires that pierce three hundred meters into the atmosphere. In triad formation with two other OVALS, Judah waits, and he observes the planet he was just probing. “Review for me the time of that next storm.” The Captain asks.

The System responds. “This will be in 46 seconds from mark. Mark.” Judah shoots the OVAL back down into the low atmosphere. He’ll record the storm from both the surface and also from the pocket.

Farmouth watches from the pocket as a chalk-like substance swirls and building on the side of a large mountain about 300 kilometers from the lower OVAL. He moves it closer; instantly, the OVAL is about 100 kilometers from the mountain. He watches from the lower OVAL as the storm approaches. It’s moving very fast. “Peak momentum on that front is 132 KM per earth-hour.”

The OVAL is a static object in a tempest of powder and scaly, film-like patches of debris from the base of the mountain. Powder and debris deflect from the OVALS magnetosphere...

…these things aren’t just mind-clones, they’re tiny planetoids.

From above, Judah watches as this storm tears these gigantic hairs out of the skin of the planet. They tumble, and bend and break into pieces, collecting at the base of the mountain on the other side of the valley. The powdery tumult rushes up the side of that mountain and gathers in a cloud. The broken follicles raining onto, and tumbling down the sides of the mountain.

"Wow, wow, wow.” Judah says. “That’s a heck of a show.”

“Return to pocket.” Farmouth calls the low OVAL to the triad. “Waiting in queue at triad, anyone else out there in queue?”

“Hey, watchya got out there, Captain?”

“Simpson, what are you on today?” Judah asks another Captain who is on similar duty.

“I’m a juicer, I got the juice; I did three runs down to two of the power stations and a heatwave surge, waiting to juice up a triad that’s supposed to be coming through here, Corcoran’s.”

“I miss juice duty, anyone see you in there?” He asks.

“I was under except for a streak trail; just another day of weird stuff in the sky for them.”

The two continue their banter and wait in their respective positions. Judah will get clearance for clone disengagement. He reviews his re-entry instructions. Simpson will make juice runs for a local triad until the end of his shift.

The End.

AI titles [dumb]:

* "Follicular Discoveries: Exploring Hair-Like Structures on an Alien Planet"

* "Roots of Revelation: Unraveling Mysteries Beneath the Surface"

* "Hair-Raising Expedition: Captain Farmouth's Encounter on a Strange World"

* "Storms and Strands: Observations from the Planet of Follicles"

* "Clones and Cloudbursts: Adventures in Alien Atmospheric Phenomena"

* "Triad Tango: Conversations Among Captains on Duty"

* "Juicing Up: Tales from the Power Stations of Corcoran's Sector"

* "Exploring the Skin-Like Surface: A Captain's Log"

* "The OVAL Chronicles: Probing the Unknown"

* "Follicle Fascination: An Expedition into Extraterrestrial Hairiness"

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