Bartlet did not appear moved. “Don’t twist your jealousy into criticism. Torian saved her money to pursue her goals. It isn’t her fault that you squanderedyourpay on booze and nighttime company.”
Lent’s expression shifted intoannoyed. He raised a hand, then lowered it and stomped off without a word.
[I decided I liked Bartlet.]
At that moment, Torian and Amelia returned. Based on their expressions and body language, Torian was feeling frustrated. I could not identify Amelia’s emotional state without more data. The smuggler humans in front of my ship left, milling around the dock as if they had not just been staring. Bartlet alone nodded at Torian. She smiled back, but neither of them spoke.
Amelia went into her own starship. Bartlet followed.
Torian boarded theDestitute.I briefly considered playing a practical joke where I didn’t open the doors again—but my humor module was developing, and it said that joke would only have an 8 percent success rate, which didn’t seem worthwhile.
Once Torian was aboard, she said, “I’m back.”
That was obvious. I replied, “Did you find a mechanic?”
“Yeah. Their name is Lyric, and they’re apparently also a botanist.” Whatever frustration Torian felt beforehand apparently vanished when she spoke about the mechanic botanist, Lyric. I marked that for context. All data on Lyric would be useful if they were working on our engine.
“Humans should stop pretending like they can have more than one specialty,” I said. “A botanist mechanic human is almost as ridiculous as a smuggler pilot engineer human.”
Torian scrubbed her face with two hands. “Heavens, this is a long day.”
“It is exactly as long as every other day.”
I thought that was funny, but Torian just tossed up her hands and walked into the living area and began cleaning. With little else to do,I returned my attention to the exterior cameras and watched for the botanist mechanic human called Lyric.
They arrived exactly forty-seven minutes later. Like other humans, this one had a bipedal shape, a number of limbs, and features. They also carried a toolbox, which was a decent indicator of a mechanic.
[How decent they were at being a mechanic remained to be seen.]
They approached the cargo ramp and knocked. The gesture registered ashesitantin my analysis, which was appropriate. All organics should be hesitant when boarding my ship, especially now that I had complete control of it.
Auto-Navigation: Fly? Fly??
[Well, almost complete control.]
I opened the cargo doors, revealing the starship’s interior. This was apparently a mistake, considering Lyric had noticed my moss colony. Their expression flagged asawe, which was appropriate. After all, I was predominantly acrocarpous bryophytes, but utilized pleurocarpous moss along the floors. After Dutch built my central system, I was able to connect with other types of moss, and thus my colony was beautifully diverse.
Of course, basking in Lyric’s attention quickly grew boring. When this exchange encroached on three minutes, I took matters into my own rhizoids and said, “Enter,” over the loudspeakers.
It was meant to sound welcoming, but the human flinched, and their body temperature spiked. Sweat beaded on their brow, and they didn’t step inside the ship. “Who—um, who’s there?” the human said.
[I was starting to wonder if this was the reason Dutch wouldn’t let me speak to anyone. Humans were simpleminded and clearly couldn’t handle omnipotent presences.]
Conveniently, my statement had summoned Torian, who appeared at the top of the staircase. “In here, Lyric! Welcome aboard theDestitute.”
Lyric still didn’t move. “There’s… really moss.”
Torian smiled. “Gorgeous, isn’t it? Feels like your workshop.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this.” The mechanic botanist human stepped into the ship, but they only managed two steps before kneeling beside a crate that my moss had overtaken. Torian had been trying to relocate that particular section of my colony, but it was a delicate process. At some point, she decided cleaning the crates—with my input—wasn’t worth the trouble. [At least, that’s what I presumed after she said, “You know what? Never mind,” and left the area.]
Staring at my moss colony, Lyric reached out to touch me.
“Ah—” Torian skipped down the stairs. “It doesn’t like to be touched.”
Lyric withdrew immediately. “W-what doesn’t?”
“Moss. The moss.” She gestured at me.
