Chapter Text
The shroud of night is often when Derek completes most of his work. He had a separate desk attached to his main one in which he would tinker with various circuits and motors while creating commissioned pieces. The yellow lamp light was the strongest beacon to guide his hands on the desk while he soldered away. Occasionally, he would wheel himself over to his computer desk, where his monitors sat open with idle code. A mess of tabs was open while he worked away, listening to some random jazz playlist.
It was nights like these he found most peaceful. In his cramped apartment, the roar of the street below was quieter and the honking much less frequent in the early hours of the morning. Rarely did the compact street he lived on ever speak above a whisper between the hours of one and four in the morning. His tea had long gotten cold as it had been moved aside to make way for more wires to be hapazardly moved.
He was truly in the zone for the last thirty minutes, letting the jazz music occupy any stray thought he had outside of strictly working on his current project. But without warning, the video playlist suddenly paused. He noticed it immediately but did not move to correct it as he was focused on connecting a very delicate wire to another equally tricky one.
Moments passed, and he finally glanced up from his yellow-hued workspace, rolling back over to the blinding white of his monitors. His lips pursed in confusion, noticing how neither screen was no longer on. How had he not noticed that both turned off somehow?
Then panic set in, as he had forgotten to save any of the code he had been typing out. He scrambled to turn his monitors back on, thinking his computer had simply gone into idle mode. When neither responded, he bent over uncomfortably in his chair, searching his computer tower below his desk for the answer to the issue.
Nothing had been unplugged. In fact, the light that signaled the power in his computer was still pulsing through was on. The only thing indicating something was wrong was that all of a sudden, the light began blinking rapidly and changing between green, yellow, and red. Nothing in the manual of the computer had any information on this. And Derek would know if it did, after all, he read through the whole thing as he usually does for all his electronics. He liked being in the know.
The room was now much darker, with only his other desk lamp on. Frustration kicked in as Derek realized he’d just have to hope that at least some of the code that was a work in progress was saved.
He clumsily pulled himself out from under his computer desk, hitting his head on the way out. Only to then feel around in the now darkened area for where he left his phone.
Once the device was in his hands, he intended to check the time, only for his phone to suddenly shut itself off.
Now, Derek did not believe in anything supernatural. He was not some small kid who was afraid of the dark. However he knew statistically it was very unlikely that suddenly all electronics went out at one thirty in the morning unless it was a power outage. But that did not at all explain why his phone had decided to shut down as well.
Just as he recollected himself and assured himself it was probably some fluke, his last beacon of warm light went out. His desk lamp flickered until the bulb gave out–even though it had been replaced just last week.
Derek was scared. He didn’t want to admit that to himself, though. So instead, he reasoned. Perhaps it was just a big coincidence that all the electronics in his apartments suddenly turned off. He had heard of devices that people made that could do just that, causing any computer or device to either reset or turn off.
But that definitely didn’t explain how his battery-powered lamp had just flickered off and encased him in darkness.
It definitely wasn’t some city-wide blackout either. He rushed towards the only source of light in his room, which was the window in his room to the street below. He practically yanked back the curtain. It allowed for the obscured moonlight to pour in alongside the apartments and stores across the street that had lights still on. Lamps and traffic lights also helped illuminate the street below.
That fact comforted him a lot more. Enough so that he released the grip on his lungs that his brain was subconsciously holding. So it was just him without electronics, it seemed.
His feelings morphed from paranoid to irritation. How come it had to be him just as he was in the midst of working? Turning on his heel away from the window, Derek marched to the bedroom door to go search for a working flashlight he knew was probably somewhere in his small kitchenette’s junk drawer.
Just as his hands met the cold faux metal doorknob, there was suddenly a blinding green light that encased the entirety of the room.
Derek wasn’t the type to scream, per se, but he definitely made some sort of noise of surprise. He immediately turned back around, spine to the door, his eyes still adjusting to what had suddenly been an onslaught of the green strobe light.
What he saw before him, right beside his bed, was unfathomable. Impossibile. Fantastical?
It was some sort of creature- or thing- that wiggles with a slight green glow, almost like a glow stick. But it was a completely transparent mass of green. Like jello. But it was moving. Clearly on its own accord. It was scarily taller than him.
Derek’s gut lurched at the sight of it. His stomach and chest were full of confusion, apprehension, and fear.
It wasn’t scary in the traditional sense. Mostly because Derek rubbed his eyes several times, thinking he was dreaming or hallucinating. Perhaps he had been staying up much too late these last couple of days.
Before he could even finish processing what was going on, suddenly his computers shone with light as they powered on again. The jazz music resumed, and the creature was then highlighted by both the warmth of his work desk’s light and the pure shine of his monitors.
With shaky hands and an assumption that the power was now suddenly working Derek reached for the light switch, flicking it on quickly.
The overhead light turned on, and the creature stilled for a moment. Then it just continued to subtly wiggle in place. Derek thought perhaps he had died somehow because there was just no way any of this was reality.
Before he could continue to internally panic, the giant glob of slime began to make noise. Almost like it was trying to speak to Derek. It was just a garbled symphony of slushy-like noises. Gross.
Derek was stuck just frozen in place out of fear he would never admit, as his heart continued to pulse so much it was almost climbing out of his chest.
“Hello?” The only idea Derek had at the moment was just to make noise back at the strange creature. It wiggled in response. Maybe that was good?
It then made a combination of slushing and gurgling noises before inching closer to where Derek was pinned against the door. That was not good.
He noted how as it moved, it did not leave any of its slimy body behind. Moving as one mass across his carpeted bedroom. Somewhere in Derek's mind he was very grateful for that because that meant he could still get his deposit back. He did not want to piss his landlord off.
Then he went back to focusing on the larger issue at hand: the giant green slime was approaching him, albeit very, very, slowly.
Now, most people might’ve called the police or screamed for help by now. Obviously, Derek was not most people. Instead, he just decided to open his bedroom door and walk himself down the hall to the living room. Just trying to act as causally as possible.
The fear that had initially settled into his gut had dissipated into pure curiosity as he finally got away from the strange being that was suddenly in his apartment.
Alas, his fatal flaw is his addiction to learning new things. His heart stopped pounding so severely, and his brain switched out of survival mode.
He began to note down the characteristics of the thing that suddenly appeared in his apartment as if he were in a nature documentary. If Derek was anything, it was observant.
He turned on all the lights he could in his living room and connected kitchen. He then simply sat on his old beaten-up couch and watched as the green blob significantly picked up the pace and slimed(?) itself down the hallway, still heading straight towards him.
First he noted that the thing that had suddenly invaded his apartment was clearly not a threat. Or atleast not one if he kept some distance. It didn’t give off the vibe that it wanted to harm him at the very least. It wasn’t destroying anything in its path either, so that was also nice.
It obviously wasn’t particularly fast. Moving still slowly down the now-lit hallway, still heading straight for Derek, where he resided on the couch.
“Hello?”
The sound of his own voice repeating back at him felt like a cold bucket of water was tossed over Derek’s head. His confidence and curiosity went out the window as he startled.
The slime had mimicked his voice. Almost like a parrot or crow would. That was jarring, and clearly not normal. Well, nothing about the situation at hand was normal but this particular detail was much more unsettling.
It still moved forward, going back to making its incoherent, garbled noises.
Derek thought for a moment, unnerved. He decided to confirm this wasn’t some sort of mental hallucination- but obviously did not want to touch the creature.
Instead, he chose to sacrifice one of his couch throw pillows and tossed it right in front of the path the giant slime was heading.
Shockingly, the thing just crawled (?) over it. Leaving the surface of the pillow on the floor a bit damp. So clearly it was real, and Derek hadn’t gone crazy and definitely wasn’t hearing things.
He decided to test something else, now scooching to the end of the couch as the slime had gotten through the hallway and had entered the living area.
“Can you repeat this?” Derek spoke hesitantly, licking his lips after he spoke.
In response, the creature sloshed back before in perfect mimicry repeated him. “Can you repeat this? Hello?”
So clearly, the thing was able to combine things it heard and replay the sound right back. It was obviously real and could move and avoid objects in its path. It also could clearly see if it had made it this far just following Derek. The confusing part was where could its eyes possibly be if all Derek saw was just a transparent green mass?
The slime was now at the other end of his couch. But Derek wasn’t as nervous about proximity as he was before. Instead, he reached for the remote on the end table beside him, turning on his TV and opening YouTube.
He just selected the first video that appeared on his recommendations. It was some sort of robotic competition that had been live-streamed and turned into a video from one of his favorite creators.
Then he watched to see what the creature would do next. It paused for a moment, no doubt looking at the device that had suddenly turned on. Strangely it wiggled its way onto the other end of the couch and sat(?). It was more like it recoiled and squished itself to be somewhat on top of the cushions.
For about twenty minutes Derek just stared at the random gelatin-esque thing that sat just about two and a half feet away from him. Curiosity finally won the battle in his mind and he reached out to poke it.
It was cold and slimy, as one might expect. Shockingly the creature did not move away, it just jiggled and did the strange wiggling motion again. If Derek weren’t still so confused, he would say that when it wiggled around when responding to stimuli, it was kind of cute in a strange way.
He retracted his hand quickly and continued to stare at the thing. Well, it was definitely not violent.
“Like. Subscribe.” The slime suddenly parroted the intro to the video in a perfect rendition of how the YouTuber spoke.
Derek couldn’t help but let out a huff that was as close to laughter as he was going to get at the moment. The whole ordeal was overwhelming, but at least not as dire as it appeared to be before.
Hours went by until the sun rose in the sky, and Derek had shut the curtains completely at the first beam of sunlight.
The thing appeared to be content. Derek had signed out of his own YouTube by now, as he didn’t want to ruin his algorithm. Instead, he just put the account on a guest and allowed the auto-play guide the Slime through YouTube’s trending and recommendations.
Every so often, the thing would repeat back a phrase or audio from a video. Derek would acknowledge it by simply humming. It seemed to enjoy that as it lightly wobbled around each time he did.
He was trapped in this odd limbo of not really knowing what to do about the current intruder besides just watching it.
It had been midday at this point, and Derek was getting tired. He had been up all night, of course, and it was past his usual time being awake. He had drifted around the living room the whole time while the Slime was glued to the TV.
Derek had done various things to try and occupy himself, like play on his phone or bring his laptop out to code throughout the last couple of hours, while the creature simply stayed stationary. He didn’t really want to leave the thing alone for very long.
His body was starting to ache from sitting down for hours. It was similar to how his back does every time he spends way too much time at his desk for extended gaming sessions. Not to mention his stomach, instead of being full with fear and uncertainty, it was starting to grow hungry.
So reluctantly, he moved his laptop to the coffee table in front of him and wandered to the kitchen. Like all the other times he got up, he just felt the creature observing him. It was a strange feeling, especially since there was no indication that it was actually looking at him. It had no eyes, obviously.
But just as he did before, he ignored it and opened his somewhat barren fridge to gather things to make himself a ham and cheese sandwich with some mayonnaise on the side.
It was a relatively quick process, and Derek moved through the motions with ease. Up until it was time to get the last bit of mayonnaise out of the squeeze container. He was running low and as most plastic bottles do when forcing out condiments, it made a wet squelching noise.
Derek should’ve seen this coming, but after one loud squeeze, the slime responded to the sound with its own odd language of gurgles.
Derek hummed in confirmation as he had gotten used to doing. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, it’s just mayonnaise.”
For a few moments, Derek thought the Slime had just gone back to watching the current video that was playing, but he was sorely mistaken.
“Mayonnaise. I’m Mayonnaise.” In a completely new voice, the Slime had constructed its first simple sentence that was not just mimicking another sound.
Derek dropped his completed sandwich back onto the plate right in the middle of his first bite.
He was shocked. The Slime was clearly more intelligent than Derek initially assumed. Somehow, while watching videos for hours on end, it somehow grasped English enough. But to confirm his thoughts and to ensure this wasn’t just some fluke, Derek opted to try to have a real human conversation with it.
“Mayo? You want to be called Mayo?” Derek once again nervously licked his lips after speaking.
The Slime wiggled in place on the couch. “Yes. I’m Mayo. You are…” The creature was struggling to find the words.
“Oh. I’m Derek.” Many more questions that before were swirling in his sleep-deprived brain. The thing was alive as it clearly had always been. Except it had the capacity to actually speak back to him in simple English. On top of that, it had created its own voice. Where did the sound even originate from? It had no structure outside of just being a large, see-through blob of jello.
“Hello, Derek. I’m Mayo. Like and subscribe.” It seemed limited to simple phrases for the time being.
Derek was torn between trying to question it now or later. He was still quite hungry, and at least wanted to finish his sandwich before he figured out what exactly was coinhabiting his apartment for now. Honestly, he also wanted to get some shut-eye just to see if perhaps this was all some sort of feverish dream as well.
So after a lot of debate, Derek decided to just finish his sandwich and then take a short nap in the living room. Surely the Slime- or Mayo would be able to remain entertained for at least two more hours watching videos.
Derek scarfed down his sandwich before shutting the doors to his bedroom and bathroom, respectively. He was not fond of the idea of Mayo accidentally or intentionally wandering into them while he slept.
The next thing Derek did was ensure his front door was locked. As an extra measure, he pushed one of his small tables to block the front of the door. Derek figured that Mayo could probably figure out a way to slime his way out somehow if it really wanted to anyway. But he did his best with what he had.
The last thing Derek did was ensure that the windows in the living room were shut tightly and deployed blackout curtains he had for bad migraine days. He didn’t like the idea of someone noticing a weird green slime mass just chilling on his couch through the window.
With all the preparations he could think of made, Derek settled uncomfortably into his smaller armchair that was beside the couch with a thin blanket. He didn’t intend to sleep long anyway, just enough to get some rest. He didn’t exactly trust Mayo enough just yet. All he could do was hope that Mayo didn’t try to absorb him into the green slimy mass that it is while he slept.
Although it felt pointless to do so, Derek attempted to explain what he was doing to Mayo.
“I’m going to nap. Please stay right where you are. Don’t touch anything but the remote. Also, don’t eat me.” Derek was being as sincere as he possibly could as he requested these things of Mayo.
“Ok. Mayo here. Like and subscribe.” The response was good enough for Derek to settle in and immediately pass out into sleep.