Hitch-hiker. (Or the part where grammar goes out the airlock)

(It)

It didn't know where it was. It almost never knew where it was. The light was dark and the dark was everywhere. It knew what it was. It wasn't that. It was never that. But it liked being around that. It liked riding on that. But not this. This was nothing. It was riding on nothing. On this.

But it couldn't see that. So it had to ride on this. For now. It knew that eventually, it would find that. Somewhere. It always did. But thankfully, it had those. Those weren't this. This was nothing. Those were something. Those were there and here and far and close and bright. Those were always so bright.

Sometimes too bright. It knew that if it came close to those, it wouldn't like those. Those would hurt it. Would burn it like those did burn them. It missed them. It liked them. But them liked those. Them liked those too much and got too close to those and burned. It tried to warn them but them couldn't hear. Not in this.

It continued, riding through this. It could see those in other parts of this. But it wanted to ride on that. That was fun. But it didn't know where that was. But it would find that. It knew it would. It just had to keep looking.

It could see that. That was riding through this with these. It thought these were strange. These helped that ride through this. Without these, this would hurt that. So, it wanted to ride on these because it knew that was in these. So, it moved through this, grabbing onto one of these.

These were also fun. These rode through this very quickly. So quickly, it couldn't follow. Those passed by very quickly. Quicker than it could see. But these weren't going so fast now. But it wanted to be in these. So, it climbed. It knew, if it kept climbing, it would find a way into these. So it climbed.

It eventually found a way into these. It could feel that that was here. It could smell. It couldn't smell in this but it could in these. That needed the smell in these to live. It didn't need to smell but it could. That had not yet seen it. But that never saw it. It was too small. So it climbed on that and rode that. That was fun. It could also hear that now.

"How far are we from Olkarion?" One of that asked another that.

"I don't know. Last I checked, a movement or two." The other that respond. It listened as that talked. It couldn't talk to that. Only them. But them didn't listen. So it listened to that. It didn't know of the things that meant. But it still listened. It liked listening.

It heard something else. It heard others of that. It could smell fear. It wasn't afraid, but that was. That was afraid of the other that. It didn't know why.

"What's going on?!" The scared that screamed.

«Attention vessel. You have entered restricted space. Prepare to be boarded.» A thing spoke. It knew the thing wasn't that. The thing sounded different than that.

"Restricted space?! Restricted by what?!" One of that screamed.

"Oh no. It's The Fire Of Purification!" Another that screamed. These shook. It didn't know why. These kept shaking before these stopped. The thing came.

"Attention alien species. You have trespassed in true Galran space. Your punishment is death." The thing said. The thing made the light that hurts. The light hurt that. Hurt all of that. It was sad. It liked that. The thing was leaving. It decided to follow the thing. The thing could lead it to more of that.

It saw more of the thing and more of that. That was talking to the thing.

"Search the entire ship. Send anything valuable to the Souleater. Dispose of the bodies then eject everything else into the foundry." That said. That sounded strange. Like the thing. But also, not like the thing. That didn't smell like the thing either so it still thought that was that and not the thing. It landed on that that wasn't the thing but sounded like the thing.

The that moved through these turning this way and that. It didn't know where that was going but it would find out. It knew these were big. Not as big as this or those but big for that. Bigger than it. It kept riding the that until the that stopped. The that looked at a part of these. The part shone like those but it wasn't pretty. The part became the thing.

«State your name, rank and intention.» The thing said. It heard the that speak but it wasn't listening.

"…m seeking an audience with his Eminence, lord Sendak. I am here with a report on the progress of the foundry." The that spoke.

«Name, rank and intention recognised. Password?» The thing spoke.

""Zarkon was a fool, the true emperor is Sendak. Long live the true Galra emperor."" The that spoke, sounding even more like the thing.

«Password recognised. You shall now be transferred to the true emperor.» The thing spoke before it became the part again. The part became the thing again.

«Report.» The thing spoke, sounding like that.

"My emperor. The foundry is operating at 100% efficiency. Seven alien ships have been detained and converted. The construction should be finished soon."

«Good work, commander. Continue as you have. Is the foundry prepared for movement?» The thing asked. It didn't know what the foundry was but it didn't like the foundry.

"As you command, your Eminence. The foundry will move in exactly three quintants."

«Good. That will be all.» The thing said before it became the part of these again. The that turned and began moving through these again, turning again and again and again. It eventually stopped.

"Contaminant detected. Beginning decontamination." The thing spoke, sounding different from before again. Something fell on it. It burned. It was not near those but it burned.

It would soon join them again.