![shamee-alsab-S-oxvi0G-Yg-unsplash.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/internutter/23w2BKXVwecyCPPn6XezmXSQAYBuTosvbm1FknGyfGbBwz8BMBRLSyH1QttfmcytJAdsi.jpg)

> How did the human toy collector scare the wet out of several pirates and have them begging for mercy without firing a single shot?
> Three words - Lots of Furbies! -- The New Guy

Specific and unnerving hobbies are not _merely_ a Human thing. Obsessions can overwhelm _anyone_, though exposure to Humans has been correlated with those who _do_ have odd obsessions. One statistical outlier on that imaginary chart is Navigator Nor of the Mass Transit Vessel, _Evergreen_.

_Hir_ hobby was a collection of Cursed Human Toys. Not in the supernatural sense of cursed, but in the, "this is deeply disturbing, why are you like this?" sense of cursed. Not just of toys with an infamous reputation, but toys with that reputation that had been altered to make it even worse. Havenworlders had to be protected from seeing Nor's collection in its entirety.

So when the Pynzaans Pirates attempted to waylay the _Evergreen_ and appropriate the cargo, Nor left hir post and went scrambling for hir habitat. Not to protect hir collection, but to _activate_ it.

_All_ of it.

For those sensitive souls unprepared for Human insanity, Nor collected mutated Furbies. The 'base' or 'normal' Furby is a round, fuzzy-skinned robot made for children. It 'speaks' a nonsense language and has some programming in regards to imitation. Being roughly the size and shape of a child's ball, it's _supposed_ to be harmless.

Humans have been turning them into worse monsters for centuries. Long ones, centipede-modelled ones, ones made to resemble dragons, demons, and other horrors. _Then_ they added _more_ robotics to the already-horrifying anatomy. So _these_ nightmares were capable of independent movement. Nor set them to "seek and befriend" before rushing off to get the rest of the crew into the on board safety bunker.

Rarely before has the chorus of, "Nah... he he he..." been a portent of doom.

It took the pirates three minutes to start screaming.

It took Nor three hours to clean up the resulting effluvium after the pirates vacated their bowels at the sight of centipede-dragon Furbies crawling along the walls and ceilings to meet them.

[Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@alsabshaa?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Shamee Alsab</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/an-abstract-photo-of-a-blue-and-orange-tunnel-S-oxvi0G-Yg?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>]

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