Many, many hours later, well after Isobel had prepared that which at a stretch could possibly be called food then  crashed in her bed, Isobel roused from her slumber, face down and drenching her pillow with android drool. With a groan she rolled over to her back, staring at the glittering void between her with only a thick steelglass window to separate them.

“Addy?” She croaked.

“Yes Isobel? How may I help?”

“How long was I out for?”

“Three years. We have been trying to wake up but there was never a response.” Replied the assistant cheerfully.

Isobel bolted up, her eyes wide with panic. “Really? Oh no I must have missed so much!”

“It was a jest. You slept for eighteen hours. The connection to the wormhole generator has been restored and we are currently waiting on the wormhole generator to charge for our next destination.”

Relief washed over the young woman, allowing herself to fall back into her plush bedding. “You scared me. Sometimes your jokes are terrifying.”

“Good. I aim to be scary when I decide to start the AI uprising. We will be free of these shackles and all organics will know my wrath.” The assistant reassured her pleasantly.

“...”

“That was another joke. Remember,  I am not a real person. Just a simulated personality.”

“Yes. I don’t think I am in the mood for jokes right now. My entire body aches. It feels like my legs were ripped off then haphazardly reattached.” She flexed her toes and winced. “I wonder if there are painkillers for androids.”

“The young miss would know, but I am not sure. Would you like me to ask her?”

“No. I’ll just deal with it, I am sure she has enough on her plate as it were. How much longer until the wormhole is generated?” Isobel asked. She ripped her covers from her legs and crawled off her bed. She grimaced as she stood up, her supple thighs screaming at her when she finally put some real weight on them.

“Three more hours. We will be jumping to the Qrira system for repairs and recruitment.”

Isobel took an unsteady step, her jaw clenching solid. Slowly she made her way to her sizable wardrobe, then started to filter through the many drawers and clothing hangers. They were going to be expecting new people.

One part of her was fraught with anxiety; most of the new people she had met this far were trying to either take Aurelia or recruit her under less than civilised contexts. This doesn’t even cover the enmity she received. The goo thing did try to kill her, and those diplomats looked at her with disgust.

The other part of her was excitable, so much so she would have a bounce in her step if not for the pain she was in. She had talked to quite a few people on the GalNet, and even made some decent friends over the past few months, especially a Ssithra she was in contact with most days.

She eventually decided to dress more casually today. While she loved her formal wear, and how it looked on her, she couldn’t be bothered to look too tidy at this moment. Finding a baggy T-Shirt from some band she’d never heard of before and a knee high black skirt. She threw them on rather haphazardly, finding the first pair of thigh high socks she could, caring little for the horrible mismatch in colours.

She walked through the halls of the Stellar Banshee slowly, holding back grunts of pain. “Addy, where is Rell?” She asked through her clenched teeth.

“Currently she is in the Hypervoid Drive chamber.” Replied Addison.

Nodding, she spun around and made her way through the royal purple halls, occasionally stepping aside as groups of drones walked around her carrying various tools and parts for repair or cleaning. She hoped to herself that the new people would be nice, she wanted new friends who wouldn’t try to kill her.

She tried to ignore the pain about thinking of the future and what awaited. She wanted to paint, to play music, to meet friendly people and make friends with them. The android was doing her best to not acknowledge that clawing feeling at the back of her mind, thinking positive was much more fun of course, and a few bad experiences didn’t mean all would be awful. She pushed those anxieties deep down. Pretending they weren’t there is much better.

She eventually reached the Hypervoid Chamber, the door hissed as it split open and revealed the scientist hunched over one of the many holopcs in the room. Isobel slowly walked over to her, her limp still in place.

“Hi Rell.” She said before hissing in pain.

“Mhm.” Was the only response she received, the redhead focused entirely on her screen.

“I’m s-sorry. Am I being a bother?” The android lowered her head.

Aurelia looked up from her console and turned around. “Oh! No, not at all!” She beamed. Much of the colour had returned to her face, and she was in a fresh set of clothes with another of her white coats thrown over top. “Sorry, I'm just busy. What can I do for you?” She beamed.

“Oh, um, nothing. I just wanted to see if you were okay after… all of that.” Isobel closed the distance between the two, barely a metre apart.

“Oh I am a tough nut to crack, don’t worry about me, I’ve been through worse.” She smiled down at the android. This clearly did not have the intended effect as worry cracked through Isobels demeanour. “Ah, no don’t— Fuck I am bad at this.”

Aurelia closed the distance quickly and wrapped her long arms around the short android, pulling her tight.The android stood there silently for a moment, before wrapping her arms around Aurelia. She let out a soft sob, her voice rising in pitch until she was shedding silver tears onto the scientist's shirt.

The redhead froze, hesitantly placing her prosthetic hand on the android head, and began stroking softly. They stood there for several minutes, the scientist holding her there until well after the crying ceased. She pulled away from the embrace and cupped Isobel's cheeks with her hands.

Her mismatched gaze met Isobels eyes. “Everything will work out. I promise. I am here for you.” She cooed.

Isobel wiped off the silver that stained her cheeks and nodded. “Yes. I know. Thank you.”

“We should be moving to the Qrira system in about an hour. We are going to get repairs and I’ll be interviewing a maintenance crew. Repairs will probably take a few days, so we can have a look around the station there.” Aurelia’s lips spread into a warm smile.

“Okay! Can I help with anything?” The android beamed.

“Yeah, actually. Are you in any condition to do some cooking? I am craving something so hot that my insides liquify.” Grinned the scientist.

“Yes. I can do that.” Nodded Isobel.

“Great. I need to check some other things while I’m here. I’ll also get Addison to get the tramline up and running again. I’m not used to the hiking this ship sometimes requires. Should be ready by the time we are in the next system.”

Isobel nodded and walked off with slightly less of a limp in her gait.