After a few days, Garwa tells you exactly what the berries are and what they do

(This chapter originally by "MightyHalberd")

The tedium of the job kept you busy for a couple days after Garwa was told about the berries, almost to the point where the entire ordeal slipped your mind. You were concerned about Brianna of course, but given she was a lot more knowledgeable about this science stuff then you were, you reassured yourself that she would figure this out well before she was in any danger.

To that end, you were having a well-deserved day off, re-reading one of your favorite graphic novels when you heard a sharp knock. Stretching out your back for a moment, you stood up and went to the door, rubbing the sleep from your eyes and elbowing the open button.

"Mr. Zambac," Garwa announced coolly.

"H-hello?" you asked, wondering if you were seeing double since there appeared to be two of her standing there.

"Salutations!" the other Garwa said brightly, bouncing on her heels in a very un-Garwa way.

"Pardon," the original said. "This is my twin sister, Gunna. Do you have a moment?"

"Uh, sure I'm not doing much," you remark slowly. "Come in, I guess..."

The two Selanians followed you into your room, Garwa as stoic as ever while Gunna seemed utterly fascinated by the contents of your rather spartan living quarters. Other then their demeanor, they were entirely, almost unsettlingly identical, right down to the style of their breathing apparatus. Still mostly confused, you tapped a few buttons on the console next to your bed and two compact chairs appeared and unfolded in front of your bed as the three of you sat down.

"So, what's the occasion?" you ask.

"Well, the berries of course," the two Selanians said at once.

"The ones that Brianna ate? What about them?" you ask, suddenly interested.

"My sister has a theory about them," Garwa said, gesturing to the very similar Selanian next to her. "Are you familiar with the Epicans?"

"Not particularly," you admit.

"They're an ancient civilization by your standards," Gunna said quickly, pausing to adjust her own mask. "Achieved space travel and established an intergalactic empire thousands of years before either of our species evolved sapience, had a tremendous impact on dozens of species' technological and cultural development, extremely important civilization to ancient xenoarcheologists like myself."

"You haven't even graduated yet,' Gurwa pointed out.

"I'm only two years away!" Gunna insisted in a shrill tone you weren't used to hearing from this species.

"Okay, okay," you say quickly, trying to stop an argument from happening. "What does this have to do with the berries, though?"

"Well this is mostly speculation on my part," Gunna said, pulling out a datapad from her satchel. "But I'd bet my fins that these are not naturally evolved plants. You're familiar with stasis vessels, correct?"

"Yeah, that's basic pre-FTL tech," you realize, remembering the term from back in middle school. "We called them Sleeper Ships, put a bunch of colonists in stasis and fire the ship at the destination to do what they have to do."

"You were right Gerwy, he is really smart."

"Gunna, focus!" Gurwa said sharply, a slight tinge appearing on her face.

"Right!" Gunna replied quickly. "So, we know the Epicans primarily traveled the stars via stasis vessels. Problem is, their tech for putting living beings in stasis was not as advanced as ours. To put it succinctly, it was mostly effective but only slowed metabolic functions instead of stopping them, so you'd starve to **** well before you arrived there. That's where the berries come in!"

"Based on what happened to your human friend," Gurwa continued. "We think those berries might have been what the Epicans used to keep themselves alive during their journeys, Genetically engineered to replace the fat deposits and nutrients lost when in stasis."

You get to your feet, a sense of relief washing over you. "So Brianna is going to be okay?"

The sisters share an uneasy glance. "Yeah, about that..." Gunna said cautiously.