[Free Time - Aoi]

I found Aoi sitting in the library next to the fake fireplace, wearing that big fuzzy sweater (which I was incredibly jealous of) and curled up in a chair with a copy of… 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Timaeus

That’s awfully thematic of you, isn’t it?

Aoi

Hehe. I’m not really a big fan of Clarke, he likes the sound of his own voice a bit too much. But it’s been a while, and, you know, MONO-9000.

Timaeus

Yeah… I keep waiting for it to say, “I’m sorry, Tim, I can’t do that!”

Aoi

Shh, you’ll give it ideas! What if it opens the airlock on us too?

Timaeus

…That’s a valid concern, actually.

They closed their book and tapped it against their chin thoughtfully.

Aoi

…You know, I wonder where it came from. MONO-9000, I mean. It says it’s not from Earth, but how else would it know all that slang?

Timaeus

Huh… It does sound a little too human, I guess.

Aoi

All those references to Earth pop culture, too… And I mean, it can’t possibly be scripted, given how naturally it’s responding to our conversations…

Aoi

Someone must be controlling it, right?

Timaeus

I mean, I guess?? B-but I don’t see how that makes much of a difference…

Aoi

Well, it would mean there’s a human behind this whole thing… I wonder what they actually want.

Timaeus

I-I thought MONO-9000 was pretty clear about that…

Aoi

Well yeah, but if they really just wanted us dead, why would they launch us into space instead of just killing us on Earth? That’s an awful lot of work and money… if we’re actually in space at all. Weird stuff.

Timaeus

Y-yeah, I have no idea what to make of any of this, really… I’m just trying to not think about it too hard right now.

Aoi

That’s fair.

Aoi turned back to their book as if they’d just been chatting about the weather… Weren’t they scared, too? Between their monotonous voice and the strange visor covering half their face, it was hard to get a read on how they actually felt.

They’d brought up some interesting points, but I needed a subject change for the sake of my own sanity.

Timaeus

Ah, I almost forgot what I came here for! I wanted to say thanks again for um, patching Ishi up like that.

Aoi

Oh, um, no problem? I’m glad she’s okay too. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just have some basic first aid training.

Timaeus

H-huh?! But I thought your talent–

Aoi

Well, I do research and lab work and stuff, but it’s not like being a nurse or GP. I don’t work directly with patients– uh, not when they’re alive, anyway– and the last project I remember had to do with lymphoma…

Timaeus

…Wait, you work with dead bodies?!

Aoi

Yeah? Not all the time, but it’s pretty hard to study any field of pathology and not see them.

Timaeus

Yipes…

Well, that explains how they’re handling everything so calmly, I guess…

Aoi

I’m not trying to like, freak you out, I’m just being realistic here. She needs to be more careful! Everyone does, until we find a clinic or sick bay, and even then…