"Attention passengers. Our next stop is Hoboken Terminus. This will be the final stop of this train."
Two girls looked outside of their window as the urban landscape rolled by. But these weren't an ordinary pair of girls. One of them, an otter, seemed to lack an upper body altogether, her head not far above her pelvis. The other, a jaguar, seemed to carry an extra upper body on her back. Their shared oddities were what drew these two girls in the first place. The Maglev hybrid train they were on made their trip from the Terran Starfleet Academy in Yorktown to Manhattan only two hours long, short enough for making a weekend visit a practical possibility. The otter girl could barely hold her excitement, climbing up onto the shoulders of the "spare" upper torso of her friend.
"Oh boy, I've never been to Manhattan, Nyota," she said to her friend. "Here's where many ships of immigrants used to arrive, right?"
"Yeah, this was their main port, Emma," Nyota answered, "But we're not getting close to the Ellis Island Museum. At least, not today."
"Aww. Can't you ask your parents to take us there?"
"Oh, mom wouldn't object to a swim but I'm afraid it's a bit out of our route to Queens. But I'll take you there someday, I promise."
"Your mom? Swimming?"
"Ummm…"
Nyota blushed. She had never told Emma who her parents were, even though she would meet them for the first time. She pondered what kept her from telling. Afraid that they were too weird for her? No, that's ridiculous! If that were a problem, they never would've become friends in the first place. Though, she guessed she couldn't shake the thought from the back of her mind...
"They are coming to pick us up from the station, aren't they?"
"Oh, ummm, yes, dad told me over text. We'll take the ferry together to Brooklyn and hop on the train to Jamaica. They said they'd love to meet you."
"Oh, I can't wait!"

The train slowed down as it rolled into the station. Emma looked outside of the window, looking for people who looked like they could be Nyota's parents, even though she had no idea how they looked like. But Nyota knew her parents would stand out, very much. But she didn't see them standing on the platform, but they were at the back of the train. She grabbed her saddlebags, which served as suitcases for them both, and followed Emma out of the train. She looked to the left to the terminal hall building, and there she saw them standing on the platform, waving towards her. And Emma had noticed them too.
"Are those two really your parents?" she asked.
"Yeah, I know, they look a bit weird," Nyota blushed.
They were indeed an odd couple. Her father looked like a mink, but his head was on a long neck placed between his legs. Her mother was a jaguar like Nyota was, but instead of legs she had a large orange fish tail, with the same spots as she had on her upper body. She was riding a wheelchair, rolling towards them.
"I didn't expect one of your parents to be an Eduani… I thought your weird head placement was some kind of magical freak accident."
"No, it's really because of my dad."
"Your… dad? I thought all Eduani were women."
"Well, umm -"
But Nyota's parents had already approached them.
"Nyota! Good to see you again! How's the academy?" her dad asked.
"It's going well, but it's still a challenge," Nyota replied. "Mom, dad, this is my bestie on the Academy, Emma."
"Pleased to meet you, Emma," Nyota's father said, instinctively reaching out with his hand, but quickly got confused about Emma's halfcut physiology. But Emma reached out with her foot to shake his hand.
"Happy to meet you, mister Van Ness."
"Please, call me Sasha."
"Excuse me, I've never met a Eduani man before," Emma blushed.
"Oh well, I've been kinda pioneering that… There's a reason he came to Earth…"
"So… you weren't born as one?"
"No, but I hope someday in the future there will be some. They don't know what they're missing."
"I didn't know he was an alien when we met," his wife said, "but he's always been a sweetheart to me, ain't you, honey?"
"Always, my dear. And your lovely voice enchants me every day."
"Oh, ummm, pleased to meet you, Mrs van Ness," Emma quickly greeted the mer-jaguar.
"You can call me Amber, girl," she winked.
"Say, ummm … I'm a bit confused about something … well … If you're a mer … why isn't Nyota one?"
Amber snickered. "Oh, I get that a lot lately. I wasn't born a mer. You know, I was in Amsterdam on K-day. There was a massive earthquake, but the mages created a shield around the city that saved us. But all around us the water level rose. The earthquake had destroyed the barriers, and it was threat'nin' to flood us, and we were trapped inside the shield. We would all drown if they would lower it, so the mages came up with a plan. They would turn everyone in the city into mers, as it was the only way to save everyone. And since that day, I have this tail," she waved her tail. "The price we had to pay to survive…"
"Oh no, I didn't know there was such a sad story behind it," she blushed, a little embarassed. "It must be tough living this way."
"On land, yes. But under water… a whole new world opened for me. Me and the band were suddenly getting gigs in underwater cities. We played in venues we never dreamed of ever playin'!"
"You're an artist?"
"Girl, soul is in my soul! And I gotta tell you, when people call us sirens, they aren't wrong, really," she winked. "But how about you? We ain't seein' that many halfcuts around these parts. So, does it run in ya family?"
"Yeah, kinda," Emma said. "My mom is a normal otter anthro, but my dad is a halfcut. So, when my sister and I were born … I got the halfcut genes, it seems…"
"And how's it to live like that? Is it hard?"
"A bit. Some kids tried to bully me at school, and being short isn't that easy either, but I can get around. And it didn't stop me from getting into the Academy."
"Just like my tail didn't stop me from what I love to do. You'll fit right in here."
"Yeah, it's nice to meet someone at my eye level again," Sasha joked. "Come, let's go to the ferry terminal. If we stand around here, we might miss the boat."
"Hardly a problem, I'll just swim across the bay," Amber teased.
"Mom!" Nyota snapped back.
"I kid. Of course I wouldn't leave without y'all," she scratched Nyota's cheek.
The four of them left the station platform on their way to the ferry boats. And although they were a company of odd people, at least they were not ashamed of it.

---

Another nice scene of some of the Pioneer's side characters. All weird, all wholesome.

Illustration drawn by  Cervelet as a Patreon reward.
Digital colouring by  MandelSoft