It had been three days since the arrival of the Guul diplomats, the android and the scientists making themselves busy. They had begun to work together in the workshop. Isobel had approached Aurelia a day earlier, asking to work as an assistant, and the scientist bounced in excitement, immediately agreeing.
Since Aurelia had finished her life long project with Isobels final activation, she moved on to one of the many things she had been working on during her life. She decided to dust off her doctorate in biogenetic engineering to work on a genome that if introduced to most carbon based crops, would significantly reduce water consumption and increase crop yield.
Isobel had made herself useful hauling heavy loads around the facility that Addison’s drones would otherwise have trouble lifting throughout the facility. She could get done in one trip that a drone would take several. The aluminium frames couldn’t compare to the titanium alloy skeleton the advanced android used.
“Okay Izzy, place it on the table over there. I’ll clear a space for it.”
Isobel waited patiently as the scientist haphazardly pushed papers and pencils aside. She gave the android a nod, and stepped aside as Isobel gently placed the large apparatus down.
“How do you feel after carrying so much today?” Aurelia asked the android, but her attention was clearly on connecting the device to a power socket.
“My arms and legs ache, and I feel pretty tired, but It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Isobel said meekly. She sat down on a nearby chair and sighed. She could really feel the dull ache in her synthetic muscles, but it almost gave her a sense of satisfaction for all the hard work she helped with today. She felt useful.
“Mhm, good. It means your blood will start repairing any damage from today. Your muscles work much like a humans does, but you won’t ever get stronger through it, unless we specifically program it to.” Aurelia said plainly, giving herself a nod of approval and stepping away from the machine.
“That being said, I have a large stock of pills for you to take regularly. You can get most of what you need from food, but you wont get silicon, or some heavier metals from them. As long as you supply yourself with materials, you should have a healthy stick in your storage capsules. Your body, in theory, should be immortal. Unlike this old coot, eh?” Aurelia chuckled to herself, grabbing her cane and motioning for Isobel to follow.
“It’s been a long day, why don’t we let Addison cook us a meal and have dinner in the dining room together?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking. Would it be okay if I cooked for us? It’s something I’ve been wanting to try and I found a simple recipe video on Vozzel that I would like to try.” Isobel's violet eyes lit up with anticipation.
Aurelia’s eyes lit up with delight. Shaking her free hand excitedly.
“Yes yes! What a splendid idea! There’s a food printer you can use to get whatever ingredients you need, Addison can help you with anything. I can’t wait to see what you cook up! I might go take a nap for a few minutes, good luck.”
Isobel parted ways with the scientist and made her way to the facility kitchen. She found the size of the kitchen to be overwhelming, it being equipped with more than she could ever need to use. Despite only having one person living in this colossal bastion of science, the kitchen looked like it was made to support dozens and dozens of occupants.
She snapped her thoughts back to her task at hand, scrounging through the cupboards for the utensils she needed.
——————————————————————————————
Aurelia waited patiently on the station dock, a colossal capital ship lay before her with massive cargo ramps docked to the massive space stations deck. Much to her dismay, it was to be Aurelia’s home for the next three months. There were Guul drones and soldiers scuttling about, loading and unloading cargo to and from the ship. She stood for well over an hour, scanning the faces of various humans, Raxth and Ssithra, hurrying or scuttling across the deck. She searched for well over an hour, until she saw the crocodilian face she was looking for. A Raxth woman, almost ten feet tall, covered her glittering purple scales were silken robes of gold, a sign of high status in the Guul hierarchy. She clearly was used to the level of authority she was granted, barking orders to the navy soldiers on deck, urging them to hurry
The scientist sighed, she lacked the energy to deal with those types. The ones who were on top and made sure everyone else knew it. She hobbled her way over to the figure, had her back to the frail, lithe human. The commander turned around, scanning the station deck,until she saw Aurelia slowly making her way over to her. Her long tongue slid past her razor sharp maw, and licked her snout. She scowled at Aurelia, baring her teeth menacingly. If Aurelia was intimidated by this, she didn’t show any signs of it.
“I suppose you are the civilian I have been ordered to escort on the Grixxitluk III.”
Aurelia nodded tiredly. “Mhm.” It was all she could really muster, exhausted from standing for too long. She thought someone would have offered her a seat by this stage, but the Guul Imperium were not well known to look after the disabled.
“That’s Grand Commander Jezka to you. You will address me as such while you are on my ship. Now you will stand up straight when you speak to me, understood?” Her figure shadowed Aurelia, and she puffed up her chest to seem even bigger.
Aurelia pinched her brow in frustration and sighed. “This is why I hate dealing with Guul higher ups. I can’t stand straight without great pain, hence my cane to help me walk” she said in a monotone voice, clearly wishing to be anywhere but there.
Commander Jezka leaned down to the scientist, her face mere inches away from the human.
“I will not suffer any insubordination on my ship. If you wish to survive these few months, you will do exactly as you are ordered. You are not on a vacation, you are on a military vessel that no other civilian has been allowed to board.”
Aurelia cocked an eyebrow, and pulled a small piece of paper from her jacket. The edges were lined with opalescent material, a sign that this was from the Immortal EMpress herself. She held the note out to the commander, who snatched it up in her big, powerful claws.
The commander read the note carefully, her scales shifting to a lighter purple and here eyes going wide with worry.. She looked up at Aurelia in panic, then back down at the missive.
“I-I’m sorry for my rudeness.” She stammered, bending down to one knee. Even now she was still taller than the human scientist. She bowed her head and closed her slit-like eyes. “Punish me as you see fit, acting Grand Commander.”
Commander Jezka bowed her head and waited for a response. She flinched when she felt the soft, human hand on her crocodilian nose.
“Yeah, not really interested in the Guul way of doing things, but I’m hired to do something, and I best do it. Your punishment will be to carry me onto the ship because my back is killing me.” Aurelia playfully flicked the Raxths nose, and stood back.
“That is.. It?” Jezka asked skeptically .
“Uh huh, and the part of me being the new Grand Commander, ignore that for now. I really do not have the energy to do it, so you will more or less have full control. I only need to oversee the usage of my Heaven Piercer.”
“Of course. Well, I will do my best to make your stay as hospitable on my ship.”
“Good, oh, but one more thing. I am taking the best bed on the ship, and I do not care who I share it with. My back sucks and I am not sleeping on a slab of metal..”
The Grand Commander hissed, entertained by this tiny soft human, who if she wanted to could exercise more power than anyone else in the Guul Imperium, barring the Empress herself..
“I think that can be arranged.”
——————————————————————————————
Addison groaned as she rolled over to her side, rubbing her eyes before opening them. She managed to muster the will to sit up, and yawned.
“Addison, how much longer til Izzy is done with cooking?” Aurelia said sleepily.
“Let me ask, the young miss, young miss.” Addison’s voice suddenly became robotic and mechanical. “Ha. Ha. Ha.”
“Are you okay?” Aurelia asked suspiciously. She grabbed her cane off the bed beside where she was sleeping, and shakily stood herself up.
“Yes miss, I was just laughing at my own joke.” Addison's voice chipper and cheerful once more.
“Uhuh, it wasn’t funny.” Aurelia taunted and cracked a smile.
“I apologise young miss, it seems you have a damaged humour module.”
“Oh you are the worst. Isobel still cooking?”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot. Your distinct lack of humour distracted me. Yes she is done and has been waiting for you for twenty minutes in the dining room.
“Fuck okay. Tell Izzy I’m on my way.”
Aurelia hobbled into the Dining room, where Isobel was l waiting idly, her elbow on the steelglass table, her chin resting in her palm. She was browsing through the GalNet on a holoscreen. Sitting in front of her were various vegetables and several meaty patties. She looked up and to see an exhausted Aurelia, and smiled nervously.
“R-Rell! I made burgers. I didn’t know what you liked, so I prepared a bunch of fillings.”
Aurelia offered a haggard smile and sat down opposite of the android. She hastily constructed the burger and began to dig in with reckless abandon. She looked up once she was half way through, to find Isobel was staring at her expectantly.
“The patty is a little overcooked for my tastes, but it's seasoned perfectly. For a first effort, this is incredible!” Aurelia grinned with a mouthful of food, then dug back into it.
Isobel made her burger, and ate with Aurelia.
The frail, lithe woman ate three times as much by the time the android felt full.
Comments (0)
See all