What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Posted on Mon Jun 26, 2023 @ 11:58pm by Lieutenant Commander Zachary Addams
624 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
We Will Take Care of You
Location: Penny's Quarters
Penny had read that standing on one’s head was conducive to better mental clarity and focus. She’d been upside down for the better part of two hours, but hadn’t noticed any measurable improvement in her faculties.
Of course, she mused, it might have something to do with the fact that she had no actual blood flow, nor an oxygen-dependent brain.
When the chime went off, she was happy for the excuse to get right-side up again and quickly tucked, dropped and rolled onto her feet. She bounced to the door, curious who was visiting, but assumed it was either Markus to invite her to another poker game, or Walker was going to try to talk to her.
When the doors opened, her baby blue eyes widened. “Zach!” she said, shocked.
Zach was wearing a similar look of surprise, mostly because, for some reason, it hadn’t occurred to him she’d be out of uniform. *She doesn’t just stand in a corner during her off hours, idiot,* his brain reminded him.
He cleared his throat and tried to offer a smile and a disarming shrug. “Hey, Penny,” he said. “Could, um…could we talk a bit?”
Penny tilted her head, considering him, then nodded and stepped aside. “Sure, come in,” she said.
He stepped past her and looked around her quarters. He wasn’t quite sure where to look first, but after a sweep of the room he had two theories: Either Orion pirates had secretly invaded the ship and ransacked every inch her quarters, searching for a priceless treasure that Penny had stolen from them and hidden somewhere in her bureau, or Penny was somehow…a slob.
“Sorry it’s a bit messy,” she said, quickly clearing off her couch. “I’ve been…reorganizing.”
Zach nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.” He sat down on the couch and made himself comfortable as Penny sat across from him. “So…” he said after a moment.
“So…” Penny said back. She couldn’t quite look him in the eye, but wasn’t sure why. When no response was forthcoming from him, she finally looked up. She wasn’t all that good at reading human emotions, but she thought he looked confused, almost curious. *Maybe he isn’t mad,* she thought. “I suppose…you have some questions.”
“Holy shit, like a million!” he half shouted, taking her by surprise. He quickly reigned himself back in. “Sorry,” he said. “But, I mean, how could no one know? Eating? Sleeping? Bed head? How did you slip past all the human things that you wouldn’t have to worry about if you didn’t know you were an android? How did you even get there? Were you living on your own? How did you make it into Starfleet? Why is your last name Naroot? Did you pick the name Penelope? How did you find out you were an android? Why did you not know? How--” He stopped as he ran out of air and took a large breath.
“All…valid questions,” Penny said. “And, for what it’s worth, my former shipmates asked them too when they found out.”
“And how did you answer?” Zach said.
“I pretty much learned the answers when they did,” Penny said. “The hard part was explaining it to my parents.”
“Wait, you have parents?” Zach said.
“I was adopted after I was found on the beach,” Penny explained.
“Found?” Zach said. He sat back and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know where to start with all this.”
“Well…I do, if you want to hear,” Penny said.
Zach leaned against the back of the couch and got comfortable. “All right,” he said. “Go.”
(TBC)
RSS Feed