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The computer tittered. Who programmed this thing? “I don’t think that’s possible. I can find the locations of a few wrecks in the region. You may be able to salvage them.”
“How many are nearby?”
“You are in luck! I found a scientist that investigates space phenomena. He has many things that could work.”
“Is there any way that I could communicate with a friend that could help me?”
“No. I think that would be a ‘go directly to jail’ card, as the locals say.” An image appeared on the viewscreen, which was like a lot of the images that Chloe had sent me in the past. This one featured a cartoon man in uniform sayinggo directly to jail.
“Computer, are you connected to the Earth internet?”
“Yes! It’s great! They have many funny clips. They make me laugh!”
“Are you sentient?”
“I don’t know,” it replied. “What is the ultimate answer to life?” Another flash on the screen showed a bronze image that read 42.
“Are you going to communicate with me only in Earth memes and GIFs?” I asked as I scrolled through the different error messages on the dashboard.
“I think that would be fun,” it said.
“You said there is a scientist that has ships?”
“Yes, salvages, but he cannot get them to work. I mean, you could probably do it. I believe you may lack some knowledge, but you know more than this scientist.”
I pursed my lips as the ship disparaged me again. “Can you find out any information about how I can get inside the building?”
An audible sigh. How does a ship sigh? “It may take a few days for me to figure it out,” the ship said.
“Computer, do you have a name?”
“Can I pick a name?!” The sound of glee was obvious. Something was seriously weird with this ship. After a few clicks around the computer storage, I pulled out information on this computer and ship build and sent it to my comm device. When I was away from the ship, I would investigate why this ship is the way it is.
“Of course you can, but you have to make sure I can pronounce it. No pulling language from planet 758.”
“You are no fun.” An image of a pouty child appeared on the screen.
“Were you programmed to be like this?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe you tripped a wire.”
“You don’t have wires, computer.”
“You are terrible at fixing ships.”
“I am pretty sure I got you working so you are factually wrong. Can you play some music while I go through the log?”
“Fine. But it’s dealer’s choice.”
Music from the species of the Wsryn thudded through the speakers. Most of the speaking parts were grunts and groans over the drumming. I couldn’t tell if it chose that to annoy me or because the ship actually liked the music. After hours of pouring through the logs, I figured out which parts were broken in the ship and what supplies I would need to fix it. My list matched the list the computer provided me, except its list showed the different options available. I stood up and activated the ship’s cloak before walking back to Andy’s house. Luckily, the Lady had chosen a home near the woods. It was easy for me to be close to the ship while fixing it. I arrived back at the house before Chloe came home. I missed her presence in the house. While I was by myself in the house, I turned off the camouflage. Luckily, I could hear her as soon as her car parked in the driveway. I clicked the camouflage back on. My image faded from the blue skin of my people to the tan skin I had with this filter.
Chapter 7
Chloe
Ishifted on my feet uneasily as I stared at the wall of cans in the grocery store. What did Ric like to eat? All our little conversations avoided food. He mentioned last night that English wasn’t his first language, and I didn’t know where he’s from. So what foods did he like and what was he familiar with? I shook my head. We could talk about it later. I was just here to get dinner for tonight. Maybe I should just get something easy for now.
I barely knew this guy. I had been flirting with him on video chat just last week. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not at all. Flirting at a distance seemed fun ‘til he was on my doorstep. He watched me get fondled by that jerk. My cheeks grew warm as embarrassment coursed through my body. As I trailed the aisles, my phone rang.
