Terraner

I'm mainly here to look at the impressive amount of fan art.

I even wrote an exposé of my own about how things might continue in the MD universe, and if I can manage it, I'll post the story in installments on AO3. I'll try to stick to the lore as far as I know it.

If anyone wants to help with that, please let me know.

In the bunker’s entrance area, V is hooking a saddlebag over Sparky’s back and patting him on the head.

“Is this okay with you?” she asks him, and he nods in agreement.

Just then, Lizzy comes in, dragging a large suitcase behind her. V looks at her skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

“You do realize we’re not using a vehicle for the trip, right?”

“I thought we were riding Sparky?” Lizzy replies, confused.

“Sparky isn’t a mount, and judging by your suitcase, he’s certainly no heavy-duty transporter!” V responds, placing her hands on her hips.

“But you’ve ridden him plenty of times before. And what about the saddle bag you hung on him?” Lizzy doesn’t let up.

V leans toward Lizzy and flashes a playful smile. She’d expected her best friend to overpack, and arguing with her is usually pretty fun, but turning Sparky into a pack mule is out of the question for her. Just to be safe, she’s brought a backpack for Lizzy too, so she can pack what she really needs, and as for the saddlebag, she’d also thought that at least her friend could ride Sparky from time to time—but if she doesn’t put Lizzy in her place now, she’ll want to sit on Sparky the whole way.

“Listen up, Princess. For one thing, I only ride him when it’s necessary—like when I saved your sweet little butt from J—and for another, he volunteered to carry some general supplies for us on the trip. I have my backpack over there, which I’ll be carrying MYSELF.”

Lizzy blushes slightly at V’s words. Partly because V is standing so close to her, and partly because she’s now a little embarrassed that she dismissed Sparky so easily as just a means of transportation.

“I figured you’d go a bit overboard with your luggage, so I brought you a backpack you’ll like,” V continues gently.

Sparky, who has stepped aside a bit, tosses a backpack to V. V catches it skillfully and presents it to Lizzy.

“Am I supposed to fit all my stuff in there?” Lizzy asks skeptically, though she really likes the design and colors.

“Just the essentials! We’ll be out in the middle of nowhere most of the time. How often do you think you’ll need to redecorate yourself out there?” V jokes, realizing from Lizzy’s look that she actually already likes the backpack itself.

“I have to make a good impression if we find someone at another settlement! What if there’s a festival or something going on when we arrive? I have to have something for every occasion!”

“You do. Namely, me!” V sneers with a crooked smile and a provocative pose.

“Fine, you old Grumpy Cat!” Lizzy concedes, shooting V a slightly sour look.

“Where’d you even get that saddle bag for Sparky?” Lizzy changes the subject as she takes the backpack from V.

V blushes a little and rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

“Um, I made it myself.”

“You can sew?” Lizzy reacts with surprise and steps closer to Sparky to take a closer look at the bags.

“Well, what can I say? It’s probably a skill I’ve kept from my past life.”

“They turned out really well! And they fit perfectly, too. GIRL, when we get back, you absolutely have to help me with a fashion project!” Lizzy had known for a while that her Besti was more than just a psychopathic killer. She also has a creative streak. One thing Lizzy will miss over the next few days, for example, is eavesdropping on V singing in the shower. But she really hadn’t expected V to be able to sew.

“Uh, okay, sure.”

V was actually a little embarrassed that she’d mastered something so domestic and thought Lizzy would laugh at it, but seeing her friend so enthusiastic about it gives V a warm feeling in her chest.

Lizzy opens her suitcase to pack the essentials into her backpack and first pulls out a small package to give to V. As she does so, the edge of her screen glows slightly.

“Here. I was actually going to give this to you on the way. I didn’t want everyone to notice right away, but it’ll take up too much space in my backpack.”

“What is it?”

“A present! Usually you open something like this to see what it is, not ask, you silly goose.”

V is a little confused. She opens it slowly and carefully while Lizzy fidgets nervously and watches V closely. Inside are both a pair of orange-tinted ski goggles and a stylish pair of glasses with round, also tinted lenses, resting on a red scarf. V stares at the items, speechless. She hasn’t received a gift in a very long time. There was a stone N gave her five years ago because it was shaped like a heart. Back then, she threw it straight into the air right in front of him, shot it down, and laughed at the little target practice. All to keep N from thinking about the past.

V carefully takes the glasses out of the box and puts them on. They fit perfectly, and the prescription seems just right, too.

“Wow! Um, thanks. How did I earn this honor, and how did you know I actually need glasses?” V says, deeply touched by the gift.

“I just wanted to make you happy, and girl, we live together! Do you think I wouldn’t have noticed that you always hold your books right up to your face when you read? I think you look even sharper with glasses, too. The other pair is for flying and has the same prescription. Now Sparky can do his flashy thing without catching you in the glare.”

“And the scarf?”

“Every woman needs a fashion accessory, and you don’t seem like the handbag type to me, so I got you a scarf that goes with your everyday outfit. ”

“Thanks again, Lizzy!” V leans forward and hugs her best friend.

“Hey, Veebee. I hope we’re not interrupting you!” Uzi pipes up, having just come out from inside along with N, Kahn, and Nori, who’s sitting on Uzi’s shoulder.

“Hi, you two. Wow, those glasses look great on you, V!” N greets her with a wave.

“Hey, shorty, what are you guys doing out here?” V teases, turning to Uzi.

I've finished the beginning of my longer story in a first draft.

I had revised the “Comin' Home” short story and uploaded it to AO3, but I completely forgot to share it here.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

J opens her eyes as she sits in her armchair in the kitchen. She’s been brooding. Ever since she and Tessa confessed their love to each other a year, three months, and 12 days ago, everything had been going well for quite some time. When the news eventually reported that several drones were demanding a free and equal life, many people laughed it off. Tessa was one of those who took it seriously and supported the cause. Because of this, she had gotten into trouble with her parents more often again. Then came the peaceful “Drone Lives Matter” protests, in which some humans also participated. When these were violently crushed, Tessa was devastated. There was criticism of the government’s actions, but only because of the five people killed in the process. Hardly anyone cared about the “piles of scrap” from the drones.

Tessa has often made trips to one of the nearby “let's call them what they are: mass graves!” She has retrieved a few surviving drones from there. Most of them have long-term damage to their systems. Tessa has given them a place in the Manor’s library. Her parents don’t use it anyway. Then she found a drone there. Tessa had told J the story. J has no idea how this drone could still be alive with such severe damage. Tessa did what she could; she even used a newer version of the nano-repair gel that had saved her life years ago, and at first it seemed as though everything had gone well. The drone, which Tessa had named Cyn since she didn’t even know her serial number anymore, had been behaving normally. She preferred to work in the garden; she wanted to plant a mango tree there. After a short time, however, her system began to break down. She did things and couldn’t remember how she had gotten there. When Louisa eventually gave her orders and Cyn didn’t carry them out, J had to intervene. She was in a hurry, but she had convinced Tessa that Cyn had to be hidden, at least when Louisa was in the house. It broke Tessa’s heart. She never wanted to do anything to anyone the way her parents had done to her, but Cyn had become unpredictable. For her own protection, they had to lock her in the basement, at least for a while.

“Should I take over for you? I can make dinner tonight. Tessa’s been in her workshop all morning. You could bring her something, since I don’t think she’ll be home before sunset,” her friend V asked kindly. “You probably want to keep reading that romance novel you left on the armrest of the recliner, don’t you?” J asked with a smile, making V blush a little. “It’s okay. Just kidding. Thanks!” J stands up, pats V on the shoulder, and grabs a bag in which she’d already packed something for Tessa. She’d suspected her girlfriend wouldn’t rest until she’d at least figured out the reason behind Cyn’s current behavior. As J stepped through the rickety wooden door into the former mine, she immediately heard Tessa’s stomach growl. “The way you’re greeting me, it must have been high time I stopped by,” J jokes. Tessa blushes a little because she certainly didn’t want to greet her beloved J with a growl. “Jaybird! I guess I lost track of time a bit. Sorry I didn’t check in.” “It’s okay. I know how important what you’re doing right now is. But please don’t forget to eat everynow and then,” J replies as she places her hands in Tessa’s and leans in for a gentle kiss. “That’s exactly the greeting I was hoping for. Since I figured you might forget to come home for dinner, I brought you something.” J pulls a thermos filled with pizza soup with vegan ground meat and mushrooms, along with two pretzel sticks topped with vegan salmon and guacamole, out of her bag.

“Have you made any progress with Cyn’s problems?” “No, unfortunately not. I just don’t understand why her system is breaking down and where these glitches are coming from.” Tessa replies, frustrated, and takes one of the pretzel sticks—at the sight of which her stomach growls once again. “Then I’ll have to lock her in the basement again tomorrow so your parents don’t see her like that,” J says regretfully. “I hate having to do this to her every time,” Tessa replies with a face as if she’d bitten into a lemon. Just then, the computer beeps, signaling a new message. Both look at the message, which reads: “Dear Ms. Steph Crothers. We have reviewed your recruitment test. You are the only one to score 100%. You clearly possess impressive abilities. We would be delighted if you decided to join our team. Sincerely, the JC Jenson Robotics Research Department at Copper 9.” “What’s that?” J asks, blinking in confusion.

“Um, I came across this research facility—which has since become a colony—on JC Jenson’s network, and I took their test under a fake name just for fun. I didn’t think they’d actually respond.” Tessa, surprised herself that she’d received a reply, reacted somewhat nervously. “Oh, if only we could go there. I’m sure they could finally help Cyn properly.” She said with resignation. “Am I getting this right, Boss? You applied under a false name to the company that’s 51% owned by your parents?” “If I’d applied using the name Elliott, they’d want to give me any position just because of my name, and my parents would flip out if they found out their daughter was applying for a job that’s ‘not befitting her status’. I actually just wanted to see how I’d do on the test.”

Tessa looks around her workshop with resignation before her expression turns defiant. “Why not, actually?” “Why not what?” asks J, getting a bad feeling from the sparkle in Tessa’s eyes. “Next month is my 20th birthday. Since my parents don’t care about it anyway and just give me money, I could say I’m treating myself to a three-day trip to Mars, to Bradbury, to see the Tharsis Montes. If we sell the stuff here, it should be enough for the trip from Mars to Copper 9.” “Have you lost your mind?” J blurts out, shocked. “J! This might be our last chance.” Tessa looks at her. “My parents are putting more and more pressure on me to finally marry one of the guys they consider a ‘suitable match for the families.’ J! I’m really scared now that they’ll just pick one and we’ll be separated forever!” J looks Tessa in the eyes, takes a deep breath, and thinks it over.

“Agreed! I’m with you. No matter what happens, we’ll see this through together! But we can’t take all the drones from the library with us. That would be too conspicuous and way too expensive. V told me about a farm on Mornington Island. The owner is an advocate for drone rights. We can take the others you rescued there. Otherwise, your parents would probably have them scrapped right away. You can tell your parents that you’ll decide who to marry during the trip. On Mars, we’ll stage an accident during an outing, and then Steph Crothers will travel from Mars to her new job on Copper 9, accompanied by two drones.” “Let’s ask N and V if they want to travel with us or go to the farm with the others.” “Phew, agreed. But we’ll only let them know right before we leave! Otherwise, N will just blab everything.” J does have her issues with N, but if he comes along, V will come too, which would be nice, and for Tessa’s smile, J would be willing to put up with a lot more. “After your parents’ gala next week, I’ll take care of finding buyers for the workshop equipment.” “But we’re taking the VR helmet I developed with us.” “Of course!”

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

J lies in the grass, watching the clouds drift above the trees, before glancing over at Tessa, who is lying to her left. It’s been exactly six years today since they first met; since then, the girl who was no taller than a drone has grown into a wonderful young woman. And whether on good days or bad, Tessa always had at least one warm smile for J every day. That alone makes it all worth it. What could she possibly cook for Tessa on their anniversary? If she asked her, the answer would be, “1 kg of that ice cream you made back then.” “Make a simple soup, then we can spend more time outside,” says Tessa as she looks at J with a smile on her sun-kissed face that could melt the entire North Pole. “Jaybird. You’re an open book to me. You’ve been thinking all day about how we can celebrate the fact that we’ve known each other for exactly six years today.” Tessa giggles, a glow in her unmistakable emerald-green eyes, where the red ring around the pupil now seems to burn like fire in the sunlight. J feels like she’s drowning in those eyes and burning in them at the same time before she returns the smile. “You’re easy to read too, you know that?” she says, her right hand groping for something in the grass beside her.

“Oh, really? Did you see THAT coming, then?” As she swings the wooden sword lying just to her left at J, fully aware that J will react in time. J blocks the blow with her own wooden sword, rolls away a bit, and gets back up. “Your emotions betray you. I could see it in your eyes,” J replies as Tessa also jumps to her feet. “Give up, you don’t stand a chance, I’ve got the high ground,” replies the taller Tessa with a smirk on her lips as the swords clang together. After a few quick strikes, the two separate again. Tessa slides the toe of her shoe under a tricorn hat she had with her, which was still lying in the grass, tosses it up to catch it, and sits down.

“Haha, no one can defeat Space Pirate Tessa!” she calls out cheerfully. J assumes Form 3, waving her hand defiantly and smiling. And then Tessa attacks again. J parries and prepares to strike. She deliberately pushes the sword past Tessa so as not to hurt her. But J jabs Tessa in the stomach with the hilt of her sword so that Tessa loses her balance. Tessa then drops her wooden sword, grabs J, and pulls her down onto the soft forest floor. After rolling a short distance while laughing, J ends up on top of Tessa.

She feels Tessa’s heart beating faster and faster beneath her, feels her warm breath on her face, and looks deep into her mesmerizing green eyes. J leans forward slightly until their lips are almost touching. Then she jumps back, startled by her own behavior. “B-Boss! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...! I shouldn’t have...! What an idiot I am!” J stammers as she runs her fingers through her hair, pacing frantically in circles, her cheeks flushing bright red. Tessa sits up and tries to calm her friend down. Her cheeks are flushed too. “Jaybird! Please calm down. J, I have to confess something to you!” J doesn’t react, so Tessa grabs her arm to get her attention. “Tessa, it’s just that. I’ve had these feelings for a while now. I know it’s stupid, but... but.” J says, her voice momentarily shrill. “I love you!” they both say at the same time, so quickly that the words don’t have a chance to change their minds. This makes them both pause briefly. J stands still as a statue, trying to process both what she herself has said and what she’s just heard from Tessa, while Tessa has to laugh at the fact that they said it at the same time. “Should we maybe try that kiss thing again, mate?” Tessa asks shyly, still blushing. “But I’m just a drone and you’re a human. How is that supposed to work?” asks J, who was lost in thought and barely listening.

“Well, you’ve got a mouth with lips, and so do I,” Tessa jokes. “Tessa. I mean, how is this going to work between the two of us?” “You said you love me, and I love you! We’ll find a way. We always have. Do we want to talk about it? Come sit down next to me again,” Tessa replies in a soft voice. J sits down next to Tessa, now calmed, and the two talk.

Later, as the sun approaches the horizon, the two of them sit leaning against each other on a rock that’s still warm. They’ve talked about a lot of things. Among other things, it’s clear to both of them that they mustn’t let on about any of this while inside Menor’s. That’s not quite as hard as it sounds; after all, the two of them have already spent every free minute together up until now. “We have to head back soon. I still have to make dinner,” J breaks the pleasant silence. “Let’s watch the sunset first. Ay? You handed the kitchen over to V just for today. Our Miss Whitlow will manage just fine,” Tessa replies with a soft chuckle. Oh yeah, V! With everything that’s happened today, J completely forgot that she’d left the kitchen to her friend so she wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. That was a crazy day back then, too! Tessa was supposed to accompany her parents to an art auction and officially brought J along as her maid. By chance, or rather because of Tessa’s curiosity, we ended up stumbling into a household clearance sale in another auction room. There were a few items there that actually piqued Tessa’s interest a little. She even bought two occult books, and then a drone was demonstrated. Tessa was about to leave again because she didn’t want anything to do with an auction like that. That’s when J spotted her former boss bidding on the drone. Tessa had looked at J’s face, went back into the room, and bought the drone at auction. Back at the Manor, she made the drone the same offer J had made years ago. She was free to decide whether she wanted to stay with us, have Tessa find her a job elsewhere, or simply leave. The drone, V, decided to stay. She does have a malfunction in her optical sensors that Tessa couldn’t fix, but a pair of glasses easily compensates for it. She is shy but has a keen eye for order and detail. That’s why she immediately became the head housekeeper, and Tessa gave her the nickname Miss Whitlow. J gets along well with her. “What do you actually dream about? What else would you like to do in your life?” Tessa interrupts J’s thoughts. “Other than sitting here with you?” She thinks for a moment. “Please don’t laugh. I’d love to be in command of my own spaceship and travel out there among the stars.” “That’s a great dream, Captain J. Why would anyone laugh at that?” “Well, I’m just a drone; no one will ever entrust me with the responsibility of a ship.” “I don’t care what you are. To me, you’re J, and I’m sure you’ll be a great captain one day.” “What about you? What do you dream of?” Tessa takes a deep breath and sighs. “I’d love to be free from all the aristocratic pretensions of my family. But unfortunately, my name will haunt me my whole life. I’ll always be an Elliott.” She leans her head against J and looks up at the starry sky. “Oh, a falling star! Quick, close your eyes and make a wish,” Tessa calls out. “I wish for Tessa to be freed from her chains,” J thinks, squinting her eyes as tightly as she can. “I wish for J to be given command of her own spaceship,” is Tessa’s wish. Without looking, they interlock their small fingers and each wish: “And that I can be with her forever.” They open their eyes again, look at each other, and smile.

“Shall we try kissing again?” J asks this time, blushing slightly. As the sun disappears below the horizon, the two close their eyes and kiss.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

J wakes up from a short nap in her armchair. She goes to the oven where she’s finishing up baking the little vegetable pies for Tessa. She’d set aside some extra time for this, after all, tomorrow, or rather today, is her 16th birthday. The sweet ones with fruit or chocolate filling are already done. J has been here for four years now, and during that time she’s learned two things: first, that she has to keep Tessa out of the kitchen when she’s making anything with chocolate, because otherwise half the ingredients magically disappear; and second, that unlike her parents, Tessa likes hearty, sometimes hearty home cooking. Still, Tessa has a pretty athletic figure. How could it be any other way? After all, her boss and best friend is also a lot more active than her parents. Whether it’s the somewhat unconventional dance lessons that others might call fencing lessons, or her excursions into nature. Tessa always seemed to be buzzing with energy. Whenever work allows, J loves to accompany Tessa on her outings. Today they wanted to have a little picnic in a clearing in the nearby forest to celebrate Tessa’s birthday with tea and pastries. “Hi, mate! Ready for our hike today? Mmm, that smells good again. Can I have one of those right away?” Tessa came into the kitchen, cheerful and full of energy, her hair still quite tousled. “They’re still too hot. How about starting the day with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice?”

Tessa blows a few strands of hair out of her face. “It’s my birthday! Why not have cake for breakfast?” “Because a young lady who’s still growing should eat a balanced and healthy breakfast! “Killjoy!” J sets Tessa’s tray on a serving cart. Next to a small bowl of granola and a glass of orange juice was a plate with a medium-sized ciabatta baguette topped with vegan chicken, arugula, tomato, vegan mozzarella, and a large pretzel. Alongside it was a small porcelain pot with two vegan white sausages floating in it, a little bowl of sweet mustard, and a cup of hot water with a tea ball next to it. Of course, J had also placed a small cake with a candle on top.

“Happy birthday, Tessa! Should I have it brought to your room, or would you like to have breakfast somewhere else?” J said with a big smile. “You’re the best, as always, J! But what about my parents? I’m sure they want me to have breakfast with them.” “Ohh, they both left very early today for an important meeting. I packed them something to take with them. They’ll be back around 19:00” J replied with a touch of sympathy. Tessa did have her issues with her parents, but on her birthday, she probably would have liked to have breakfast with them. “Ohh,” Tessa replied, looking upset and sad, before taking a deep breath.

“All right, then I’d love to have breakfast in the orchid garden. Can you have N bring it over in 30 minutes? I’ll just quickly do my hair.” Tessa said, with more joy on her lips than on the rest of her face. J wanted to comfort her friend, but couldn’t think of anything better to do than give her a slightly crooked smile. At least Tessa was able to have breakfast surrounded by colorful plants and butterflies, with the pleasant sound of a waterfall in the background. “I’ll do it. Shall we meet at 10:00 at the garden entrance for the hike?” “Yep, see you later, mate.” On her way out of the kitchen, Tessa grabbed half of the ciabatta baguette sandwich to eat right away. Oh, couldn’t anyone else have brought the tablet? J just couldn’t get along with that eternally smiling joker N. He’s always goofing around and doesn’t seem to take anything seriously, yet he always seems to land on his feet. Whatever. Right on time at 9:55, J was waiting at the garden entrance with two backpacks containing the picnic supplies. If she had just taken one backpack for herself to carry everything, Tessa would have taken it from her and carried it herself. The weather is beautiful; the two women are happily hiking and chatting as they go. By early afternoon, they’ve reached the spot where they plan to have their picnic. They joke and tease each other about some of the guys Tessa is supposed to meet. A few of the jokes land pretty well, which makes Tessa laugh. “Hey, mate, how do you manage to keep the onions crisp in those vegetable pies?” Tessa asks with her mouth full.

“Company secret!” “I’m your boss. You can’t have Company secret from me!” Tessa jokes as she takes another one of the small pies. Since they all looked the same on the outside, the first bite was always a surprise. Suddenly, a cassowary (a flightless bird native to Australia) burst out of the forest and charged toward the two women, screeching. Tessa was still completely shaken, but J stood up, hoping the bird would back off if it saw someone taller. But the bird simply shoved her aside with its bulk and lunged at Tessa, who was still sitting on the blanket. By now, Tessa had had enough time to react and rolled to the side so that the sharp claws only tore at the blanket. As the bird tried to attack Tessa again, J came running with a sturdy branch to fend it off. She held it off long enough for Tessa to get up and take a few steps away. Now that Tessa was out of harm’s way, J struck at the bird. She didn’t want to kill it, just scare it away, so she didn’t strike with full force and aimed for the chest instead of the head. The cassowary wasn’t fazed, however, and continued to attack J with its beak and sharp claws. A beak strike against her display caused it to shatter. J had no other choice. Her vision was already getting worse. If the bird managed to get around her, Tessa would be in danger again, and she had neither a metal shell nor the mechanical power of a drone. She swung to deliver a solid blow to the animal’s skull. She hoped to stun it just enough so it would finally run off, not to kill, but if Tessa's life was in danger, she would accept the bird's death. The two opponents hit each other at the same time. J struck the cassowary's skull with her branch, breaking the branch and causing the bird to stagger, while the cassowary struck J's soft stomach with a claw. J saw the bird running away, staggering and screaming. Then she noticed that Tessa was screaming too. As she tried to turn toward her, her legs gave way. Now she noticed the warning message: “Low oil pressure.” The last thing J registered was Tessa bending over her, a pressure in her stomach, and the words, “Stay still, mate! I’ve got you.” When J woke up, the first things she noticed were that she could almost see normally again and a cave ceiling she hadn’t seen from this angle in four years. Tessa must have brought her to her workshop. As she tried to sit up, she realized she was strapped down and couldn’t feel her legs. Her hands are free, and when she places a hand on the spot on her display where the bird had hit her before, she feels that there are still tiny cracks there, and she hears Tessa’s reassuring voice. “Hey, you’re awake, Jaybird.” Tessa leans over J to get into her line of sight and smiles with relief. She takes J’s hand off the display and squeezes it gently.

“Jaybird? What’s going on? Why am I tied up, and why can’t I feel my legs?” “You sure have a lot of questions for the few hours you were out of it. Don’t worry. I used a new nano-repair gel from the JC Labs to patch you up. You just need to lie still for a few hours. That’s why I restrained you and temporarily paralyzed you from the chest down. So the healing process isn’t disrupted. And Jaybird is now my new nickname for my brave heroine.” Tessa replies with an oil-smeared, smiling face and gives J a gentle kiss on the forehead. J can now read Tessa’s face like an open book, and she realizes it must have been a damn close call. Why else would Tessa test an experimental gel on her that she somehow picked up during a visit with her parents to the company headquarters? In those wonderful green eyes with their fascinating red ring around the pupil, now looking down at her, there is so much warmth, kindness, and the lingering concern that J’s life was hanging by a thread. “I had to protect you, Tessa,” J manages to say with a slightly weakened smile as she strokes Tessa’s cheek. “When can I get up again?” “In two hours at the earliest. Don’t worry, we’ll be back inside before my parents arrive.” “Ugh, two hours of just lying around doing nothing.”

Tessa giggles because she knows her friend so well. That’s why she had to be so strict and keep her still. Keeping J still for two hours isn’t easy. “I’ve got something else we can test.” Tessa lifts up a helmet, and J looks at her in amazement. “Is that the VR helmet you’ve been tinkering with?” “Yes, it should work now. If you want, we can connect through it and play together in a virtual world. Theoretically, I might even be able to upload my entire mind into a drone with it,” Tessa replies proudly. “Tessa, I’m not a tech genius like you, but I’ve looked over your shoulder often enough to know that an attempt like that would require so much energy it would probably burn your brain to ashes long before you’re even halfway uploaded. That would be suicide!” Tessa looks down, distraught. “Tessa! I know your parents are terrible. But suicide isn’t the answer! Not even if it’s an ‘accident’ while testing your device! Please! Promise me you won’t pursue ideas like that anymore. I wouldn’t know how to get by without you. I’m always here for you.” Meanwhile, J has taken Tessa’s hand again and is squeezing it gently. “I promise! I’m sorry I scared you, J,” Tessa returns the gentle squeeze. “Thanks! Do you want to play a round in your VR world now?” J asks again with a smile.

“Okay, close your eyes. I'll plug you in and get comfortable with the hood in the corner of the pillow.”

Chapter 5

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

On their way to the kitchen, the two pass several other drones. Some are dressed as maids, and some in butler uniforms. J notices that none of them have hair. Judging by their behavior, they’re just ordinary workers. After the two leave the living area and enter the servants’ quarters, J glances at Tessa beside her. Now she also notices the reddened spot on Tessa’s wrist. J bites her lower lip. Tessa helped me without even knowing me; she fixed me up, gave me courage, and even snagged me a new job. By all the gods of the stars, I have to pull off this banquet flawlessly for her. “J, I’m sorry you got dragged into this. Sometimes I feel like I’m always causing trouble.” J looks straight at Tessa, blinks, and—because she isn’t paying attention to where she’s walking—crashes into a serving cart standing to the side. “Oh, J! Are you okay? What was that?” J snorts briefly and shakes her head as she straightens up and stands in front of Tessa. “Are you serious, or is that sarcasm again that I don’t get?” “What do you mean?” “Tessa, in the 3 hours and 12 minutes we’ve actually spent together so far, I’ve lived more than I have in the last few years. Goodness! I’m actually looking forward to working in your kitchen. Do you know what I’m worried about right now? That you’ll get punished for it if I make a mistake! You’re a lot of things to me, but you’re definitely not a trouble.“

J’s words finally bring a happy expression back to Tessa’s face. Seeing Tessa happy makes J smile too. “Thanks, mate! I believe in you and trust that you can pull off the banquet.” J’s core feels warm all of a sudden and more energized than ever. “Well then, let’s get going. After all, I still have a banquet to prepare, and you need to get ready too,” says J with a cheerful bounce in her voice. Upon arriving in the kitchen, J looks around in awe at the well-equipped space she had expected. The main room measures 60 square meters (645 square feet), features an entire wall lined with the highest-quality ovens J can imagine, 4 large cooking islands for countless pots and pans, 2 pressure-capable 30-liter (8-gallon) cooking kettles with integrated stirring systems, and 6 spice carts stocked with the finest spices, not to mention numerous smaller kitchen appliances. In addition, there is a resting room where, for example, dough can be allowed to rise in individual compartments at a constant temperature or a delicate soufflé can be stored until serving. A room maintained at a constant 10°C (50°F), housing four of the finest Italian commercial ice cream machines and even a table-top cutter for sausage meat. Then, of course, there are the two cold storage rooms, the smokehouse, the wine cellar, and the cheese chamber.

The first thing J does is grab one of the tablet computers hanging in a holder next to the door and go through the list of items in the pantries. “How’s it looking? Do you have everything you need here?” Tessa asks, sounding a little nervous. “Tessa, with this kitchen, I can cook you any dish in the world and easily serve over 100 people. I’m just checking… yes, you’ve got Salmon in the fridge too. So everything’s here.” Tessa grimaces when J mentions that there’s going to be Salmon. “Don’t you like fish?” J asks when she sees Tessa’s sour expression. “I was hoping for something vegan.” “It’s no problem to serve you something else. The extra effort for one person is negligible. A serving of Cambodian pumpkin and chickpea curry or chestnut and mushroom ragout with garlic beans, perhaps? Or something fruitier, like a Green Goddess salad with kiwi?”

“Wow, that all sounds delicious, but I can’t sit at the table next to my parents with something completely different at this gathering.” “I’m sorry. But I’ll be happy to add some alternatives to the shopping list for the future.” “That would be great! The old chef always yelled at his staff so grumpily that I never dared to talk to him.” J blinks, glances around the kitchen.

“Oh crap! The kitchen is completely set up for adults. He had human staff, and they all bailed on him,” says J, realizing the situation. “Tessa, I can’t handle this on my own. I definitely need four more drones. Let’s say five, because hardly anyone here will have any special prior knowledge. And a few two-step ladders.” “That’s no problem. I’ll send you backup right away. Do you need anything else?” “No, uh, try to send well-rested drones. It’s going to be a long day, and a shift change in the middle could cause problems.” Tessa hugs J one more time, and this time J returns the hug immediately. “You’re the best, J. See you later.”

After Tessa leaves, J grabs a chef’s hat, after all, that’s her job now, and besides, she can use it to protect her new hair from sauce splatters. “Let’s see what we’ve got.” J picks up the tablet again and starts dividing the tasks among the six of them, making sure to keep enough space for herself so she doesn’t lose track of everything. At the same time, she takes on the more complicated tasks, since she’s the only one with kitchen experience. As she goes through what’s already been prepared, she notices that the chef left a small stash of his own supplies for himself and his crew. Among them is a vegan salmon-style fillet. J can hardly believe her luck. She can make Tessa’s salmon fillet Wellington vegan after all. The piece is just enough for two servings; she can set one aside in case Tessa wants some more the next day. An active young girl will surely have enough of an appetite so that the portion isn’t wasted.

A short time later, five drones dressed in maid uniforms enter the kitchen. Each of them is carrying a two-step ladder, except for the last one, who is carrying two. They line up next to each other and wait for instructions. J sizes them up for a moment. Until yesterday, she had never worked with other drones, and now she’s directly in charge of five of them while she has to shine so that Tessa doesn’t get in trouble. The drones standing before her all seem to be orderly, efficient, and disciplined workers. Did Tessa specifically select them and send them to J? It would certainly be something the bright girl would do. “Does any of you have experience in cooking?” J asks, putting a serious tone in her voice. As she expected, all five shake their heads. She’s listened to team leaders’ speeches often enough in the past to have their lines firmly stored in her memory, and now seems to be the moment to deliver such a speech. J puts her hands behind her back, stands up straight, and looks at each of the drones in front of her once more.

“All right. A quick introduction. I’m J, and I’m your supervisor here today. Our task is clear. We’re supposed to cook a 13-course banquet for the Elliott family and 27 guests. Don’t worry if you don’t have any cooking experience. I’ve prepared the most important instructions for you on these Taplets. If you’re ever unsure how one of the appliances works, take the time to consult the user manual attached to the task. It’s better to check once than to cook something wrong. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to ask me. I know we’ve never worked together before, and our first task together is quite a trial by fire, but I’m confident we’ll pass it together.” She goes down the line, and as she hands a Taplet to each drone, she says: “Entremetière” “Kaltmamsell” “Poissonnière” “Rôtisseuse” “Patissière” “I myself will take on the role of Saucier. I’ll handle the amuse-gueule myself.”

The five drones briefly glance at their respective tablets and get to work. The lady of the house hasn’t given any specific instructions for the amuse-bouche; the head chef is free to serve whatever she likes. J decides on fresh figs with vegan cream cheese, topped with walnut slivers and agave syrup.

She wants to transform the fig into a light foam, shape it around a core of spherified cream cheese, and top it with a thin layer of gelled agave syrup. Although she has never tried her hand at molecular cuisine before, if she wants to impress Tessa’s pedantic mother, she has to pull out all the stops. For the next few hours, the kitchen is a nonstop whirl of cooking, frying, baking, chilling, and arranging, all coordinated by J. She gives instructions, supervises, explains, answers questions, refines the dishes, and in the meantime prepares various sauces and begins plating the Amuse-Gueule. Glancing at the clock hanging above the door, she startles for a moment. Not because time is running out. She’s well on schedule. At the bottom of her field of vision, the hairstyle of the previous owner suddenly appeared. It took her a moment to realize that the hairstyle belonged to a drone in a butler’s uniform. For one irrational second, J thought her old boss was here and would take her away again. Just then, the drone waved at her with a broad smile on his lips.

“Hi, I’m N. Tessa told me you’re new here. J, right? I wanted to ask if you need help with anything.” “Yes, J is my name. At this point, reassigning tasks and training someone new would take up more time than the time you’d save by doing it yourself. Your help isn’t needed here.” J said calmly but with a clearly busy tone of voice, while she was in the middle of preparing a mustard-cream sauce for the salmon Wellington. “Uh, okay,” N responded slowly as he parsed J’s complicated answer in his head down to a simple “No, thanks, I’ve got this.” That’s when he notices the first appetizers J had prepared in advance. “Wow, those look great! Uh, do I need to place any specific cutlery on the tables for them?” he asks as he cautiously touches one, which then collapses. “Oops, sorry about that.” J sighs, not angry but still a little annoyed by the incident. “It’s okay. I’ve set some aside as spares. They still need the agave syrup gel topping to stabilize them completely. No extra cutlery will be needed for them. They’ll be served directly on a spoon.”

“All right, then I’ll see you later when I pick up the dishes. Goodbye,” says N, who is still embarrassed and remembers the previous, somewhat gruff chef, feeling a bit nervous.

“So that’s N? He’s kind of a strange guy,” J thinks to herself, shaking her head slightly. Two hours later, the time has come. J goes to Tessa to tell her that everything is ready and that she has a vegan portion of salmon Wellington for her. When she reaches Tessa’s room, she knocks politely and waits for a reply. “Who’s there?” “Um, J.” The door opens and Tessa stands before her. She grabs J’s hand, pulls her into the room, and closes the door before J even realizes what’s happening. “Sorry, but that show-off boy is already here, and I don’t feel like running into him.” “What do you mean?” J is confused. “Oh, one of the invited families is here with their child. A boy! And he’s just so pushy and always wants to talk about our families’ money. It’s bad enough that my mom expects me to sit at the same table as him at the banquet and then have to dance with him afterward, so I told her I still had to do my hair.” Tessa sighs before looking more closely at J and asking: “How do I look, Head Chef?” J first raises an eyebrow in surprise on her screen. Then she notices that she is still wearing her chef’s hat. “Oh, right!” She takes it off and sizes Tessa up from head to toe. “Very good! Just move the ring to a different finger, unless it’s an engagement ring.” Tessa blushes a little. “Oops.”

“I just wanted to let you know that everything’s all set, Boss. And we still had some vegan salmon-style fillets in the freezer. So I made you a vegan salmon Wellington.” “Wow, that’s great! Thanks a lot, mate!” Tessa exclaims joyfully. Tessa’s cheerful smile and the fact that she’s thanking her so effusively for such a small thing give J a sense of self-worth she’s never felt before. “What are those dark pink foam things you made?” Tessa asks curiously, hoping to get something out of her new friend. “The Amuse-Gueule is supposed to be a surprise. Did this N guy tell you about it?” Tessa giggles. “Yeah, he also said you apparently run a pretty tight ship but aren’t as grumpy as the old chef. You’re a real bossy boots, aren’t you?” J blushes a little at the edge of her screen. “I do my best to run the kitchen efficiently,” J replies, a bit sheepishly. Tessa giggles again. “So, are you going to tell me what it is?” “I’ll just tell you that it’s vegan. You’ll find out the rest, just like everyone else, when it’s served.” Tessa hugs J to thank her for being the first to notice something like that. “Hey, be careful, don’t let anything from my apron rub off on your dress!”

As the moment approaches when the first course leaves the kitchen, J’s nerves start to rise. As the fig mousse, with a vegan cream cheese sphere at its core, an agave syrup gel coating, and walnut slivers, which she considers a success, leaves the kitchen, she follows the serving carts to the waitstaff entrance of the ballroom to see if she’s made a good first impression.

The dish needs to be served to the guests at their tables relatively quickly because J has flash-frozen the fig mousse so it can support the firmer center; if serving takes too long, there’s a risk that some of them will collapse. As she watches from the doorway, seeing that N seems to be making a game out of placing the spoons of amuse-gueule as dramatically as possible at the Elliott family’s table, her inner self freezes for a moment. Only when the portions are in front of Tessa, Louisa, and James Elliott does she dare to breathe again. Beads of sweat appear on her display, and she hopes everything has remained stable. When N reaches her, she reaches out her arm to stop him. “Were you told how sensitive this creation is?” she whispers in a serious voice, glancing at Louisa Elliott. “I was told they’re a little fragile, so I made sure they didn’t break.” J sighs resignedly. “Let’s hope they aren’t broken on the inside.” “Why’s that?” “Because Tessa gets blamed for everything I cook! Or to put it another way, every serving on the table in front of Missis Elliott has to be perfect.” “Oh my God,” N blurts out. “Shh, keep going. There’s nothing we can do about it now anyway.” J watches the guests, and especially Missis Elliott. Visually, everyone seems to find it interesting so far. As Louisa brings the spoon to her mouth and her eyes widen briefly, J holds her breath. It’s only for a fraction of a second that she glances in J’s direction before looking back at her daughter sitting next to her. J can’t hear what she’s saying to Tessa, but since she’s nodding slightly, it probably wasn’t anything negative. J can tell from Tessa’s face that she, too, was extremely tense. J’s own tension eases the moment she observes Tessa’s reaction. When Tessa then reaches for the spoon herself and eats the Amuse-Gueule, the look she gives J afterward feels like a warm fireplace in a snow-covered mountain cabin. She then heads back into the kitchen. “All right, everyone! We’ve won the first round; we can’t let up now. There are 12 more to go. Keep it up!” Those are the words she uses as she enters the kitchen. Although she prepared this first appetizer mostly on her own and is quite proud of it, J knows from her time at the GCC that it’s helpful to phrase it as if everyone were involved. There’s still plenty to do all the time. J is mainly in a supervisory role now, aside from the sauces, but she has to lend a hand to the others a few times. She’s clearly having a blast here. Leading, coordinating, and always having something to do, that’s exactly her world.

Then comes the newly added ninth course: salmon Wellington. J is still secretly pleased that she was able to make a vegan version for Tessa when N returns with a serving. “J? You made one portion too many—where should this go?” J looks at him in surprise, then at the spot where she’d set down the two vegan plates labeled Miss (young, unmarried woman) Elliott. “N? Do you have one of the plates marked ‘Miss Elliott’ over there?” J asks, even though the odds were 29 to 2 against it. “No. Why?” J takes a deep breath. “Because Tessa’s portion is vegan, and I wanted to save the rest for her tomorrow. Please tell me that you at least gave Tessa the right portion!” she says, clutching her forehead. This N is going to be the end of her. “I did! I know that for sure. I personally served the portions with the cross-shaped cutouts to the two Miz (neutral form of address for women) Elliott. I was wondering why only those two got the prettier pattern,” N replies proudly. This N is going to be the death of me! He seriously served the second vegan portion to Louisa Elliott. Calm down, J! Calm down! You’re a good cook; Louisa definitely won’t notice anything’s different. Another waiter walks into the kitchen. “Uh, I’m looking for J.” “That’s me,” J replies in a controlled voice.

“Miz Elliott wants to speak with you in the ballroom.” J glances at N who says, “If I somehow survive this, you won’t!” She snorts and stomps past the waiter who delivered the bad news, heading toward the ballroom. After taking a few steps, her anger subsides and is replaced by worry, less for herself and much more for Tessa. Upon reaching the entrance to the ballroom, she is surprised to find not Louisa but Tessa standing there. “Is everything okay?” J blurts out before Tessa can get a word in. “Yes, the vegan salmon Wellington was very good. Your appetizers were great, too. My mom said it was enjoyable. “How can I help you, then?” J asks, relieved that Louisa apparently didn’t notice anything. She doesn’t want to ask Tessa about it directly so that she doesn’t have any more worries for the rest of the evening. “Mate, you’re pretty much in ‘business mode’ again, aren’t you? Can’t you imagine that I just want to talk to you?” “Sorry, Tessa, there’s a lot going on in the kitchen, so I guess I’m just really focused on workflows right now,” J replies, blushing. “How’s the banquet going for you?” J then asks. “Ugh, annoying. The guy sitting across from me is even more annoying than I thought, and I have to dance with him later. Just because it was his birthday the day before yesterday! Ugh! Well, it’s always the same, but at least the food tastes really good.”

“Thanks, Boss, um, Tessa. I’m really enjoying working in your kitchen, too,” J replies with a smile. “Say?” Tessa asks slowly, drawing out the word. J sees the red ring around Tessa’s pupil flash again and immediately knows she’s up to something.

“Can you bring the birthday boy a sundae to finish off the meal? As the host, it’s only proper to do something like that, isn’t it?” “I can handle that, and as the host, a gesture like that is perfectly acceptable. What do you have in mind?” “Can you make the sundae so that the guy can’t dance afterward?” “Hmm, I can make something a bit heavy, but I won’t serve a minor alcohol or anything else harmful. How about ice cream made with a mascarpone cream base? A mix of various nuts and chocolate cream. Normally, I’d lighten it up with lighter sorbets, but you want a calorie bomb.” She glances briefly toward the table where Tessa’s parents, the boy, and his parents are sitting. He doesn’t look like it’ll take much before he just wants to sleep. “Oh yeah, go ahead and make some and please make a little extra. That sounds delicious. I want some of that later, too.” “Okay, I will. But I have to get back to the kitchen now. See you later.” Back in the kitchen, N is still standing nervously to the side. “So? Was my mistake really that bad?” he asks, nervously twisting a towel back and forth between his hands. “It was Tessa who wanted to talk to me, not her mother. I’m assuming she didn’t notice. I didn’t tell Tessa anything about it, and I’d prefer it if you didn’t tell anyone either! Tessa doesn’t need to be burdened with this.” J replies seriously.

N nods quickly several times. “Then get back to work, chief waiter.” J doesn’t know why, but she feels better when N isn’t running around in her kitchen. Maybe because she’s afraid the klutz will blow something up. Did she just refer to her kitchen in her thoughts? N bows and heads outside. Meanwhile, J goes into the room with the ice cream machines. Only one of the four machines is needed for the official banquet courses. Since J doesn’t have to serve all 30 people, she can easily produce six different ice cream flavors in the remaining time: peanut butter, almond cream, hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, macadamia cream, and dark chocolate. However, the large machines have a minimum production quantity of 1 kg (2.2 lbs). That doesn’t worry J. Tessa wanted some later anyway, and ice cream doesn’t lose quality in the cold storage room. She can use some for dessert every now and then over the next few weeks. After the main roast course, there are only the cheese bites and two dessert courses left. So J doesn’t have much left to do after that. Now an advantage she has over a human chef becomes apparent. In freezing temperatures, wearing only sanitary gloves, she carefully layers the different ice cream flavors, always alternating thin layers of peppermint syrup and caramel in between. From a mixture that would make about four scoops at an Italian gelateria, she forms a spiral that winds upward, held together only by a few Mikado sticks. For the other serving she’s preparing for Tessa, she uses only half as much of each ice cream flavor and shapes all six into individual spirals, which she then refines with a bit of peppermint syrup and caramel. This time, she makes a clearer message on Tessa’s serving: “This serving is prepared especially for Tessa and only for Tessa!” Then she places these, along with the 6 boxes of different ice cream flavors, into the roll-away freezer with a glass door. When N finally comes to pick up the ice cream for the birthday boy while the last plates are being put away, J takes a deep breath. Until just now, she hadn’t really realized that all of this had taken a bit of energy after all. Still, it didn’t feel bad at all. Now all that’s left is to clean everything up and make the first preparations for breakfast tomorrow. Two hours later, N and Tessa, now dressed in something more comfortable, cheerfully enter the kitchen.

“Hey, mate, how’s it going? I just wanted to thank you again for everything you did for me yesterday. By the way, the ice cream sundae thing worked out great. My mom didn’t say a word, and the boy almost fell asleep at the table afterward until the event was over.” “Yesterday?” J glances at his watch. “Oh, it’s already past midnight. Thanks a lot, Tessa. I was happy to help. We’ll clean up here, and then I’ll start getting breakfast ready.” “J, I think you should take a break. We have plenty of drones here in the house that can handle the cleanup, and I can take care of breakfast. You should go lie down for a bit.” N chimes in helpfully. “Lying down would be really great right now.” J says, her voice growing even quieter as she realizes how sleepy she’s getting. N and Tessa exchange a glance after watching J lean against one of the cooking islands following her last words and slide sleepily to the floor. Then they both rush over to her. As always, Tessa has a sticky sensor probe with her and simply places it right in the center of J’s display. After connecting it to her Taplet, she breathes a sigh of relief. J is just completely exhausted, and now that the tension has left her, her body is getting the rest it needs. “She really is something special. She’s only been here a day, and she’s already taken over the kitchen, impressed your mother, and worked herself to exhaustion. Just like you said. This J is different from everyone else here. But the only thing that matters to me is that she makes you smile. Should I put her up in one of the maids’ rooms?” N says in a gentle voice. Tessa looks at J. Then an idea occurs to her. “Do you remember that big, ancient armchair in our attic?" When J wakes up, the first thing she notices is that she’s quite comfortable. The second thing she notices is that Tessa is sitting next to her, asleep. She looks around. The kitchen has now fallen into a soft twilight. Everything seems clean. Only one of the ovens is running. Judging by the smell, it’s baking fresh rolls. “Ah, you’re awake. Don’t worry, breakfast is almost ready,” says N quietly so as not to wake Tessa as he comes out of the warming room. “Tessa thought you probably wouldn’t voluntarily leave your workplace for something as trivial as sleep anyway. That’s why she decided to bring you a chance to rest right at your workstation. And a throne won’t hurt my bossy boots either. That’s what she said.” N tells J as she slowly wakes up. She looks at the freezer and frowns. Through the glass door, she can see that portions have been taken from all the containers. Then she notices the large soup bowl in Tessa’s lap, which clearly has traces of ice cream on it. “How much did she eat?” “Hmm, about 1 kg total, I guess. She supervised the cleanup of the kitchen and ate it while doing so. Isn’t 6 kg of ice cream a bit much for Tessa alone?” N replies with a smile. J sighs. “The note referred to the single prepared portion, not all the ice cream in the freezer.” “Ohhhhh,” N realizes. “She convinced you to believe it was all for her, didn’t she?” J leans back resignedly and closes her eyes. The possibility that Tessa might wake up if she gets up now gives her a good excuse to doze off for a little while longer.

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Tessa was on her way to her workshop to check on the drone she’d found alive among the trash cans just two days ago. The memory made her angry. How could anyone do something like that? The poor drone had several broken struts, a pretty weak battery, and quite a few minor damages from lack of maintenance. What on earth happened to her, and why did someone condemn her to death instead of helping her? She has to admit to herself that she also feels guilty because she couldn’t come back yesterday to check on the drone. Her parents simply wouldn’t let her leave the house, just because of a couple of snobby snobs who were visiting and she was supposed to play the good little daughter. That worked out great, as usual! Her wrists still hurt, but with all this stupid chatter, she just can’t keep her mouth shut. Finally arriving at the cave, Tessa opens the wooden door to her workshop and is surprised that it didn’t squeak at all. After plugging in the power cell for the light, she sets down the bag she’s carrying and looks over at the table in the middle of the room, where she’d left the drone to charge and update. The table was empty. Has the drone woken up and simply flown back to the person who threw it in the trash? “Damn it.” She had actually wanted to offer to let her come stay at her parents’ house; it would probably be far less dangerous for the drone there than in its previous life, considering how badly worn it was. The drone was just as old as N and herself, even if humans aren’t the best basis for comparison. But this drone seemed even more worn out than the oldest models from the Manor. When the last lamp in the workshop came on and illuminated a niche in the back corner, Tessa jumped out of her skin, nearly hitting the ceiling in fright. “For heaven’s sake, you scared me!” Tessa gasped, clutching her chest. The drone was crouching in the corner; the display slowly began to glow, and it looked directly at Tessa. "Apologies! It wasn't my intention to frighten you!" the drone replied timidly. Was Tessa imagining things, or did the drone flinch? “It’s okay, buddy. When I didn’t see you on the table anymore, I just thought you’d gone back to your boss.” “Do you expect me to do that now, ma’am? I’m afraid, though, that he won’t pay for the cost of my repairs. After all, I’m just a worthless drone who’s always making mistakes.” The drone stands up as it says this, moving far more smoothly than she had been used to for a long time. All her systems were back to 100%. Ever since she had woken up here the day before, after recharging and updating, she had felt absolutely great. The girl in front of her hadn’t given her any instructions on what to do after waking up, so she started with simple, straightforward tasks that simply had to be done. She tidied up, cleaned, and did things like oiling the door that had creaked when she first arrived. Hopefully, she had at least completed these tasks satisfactorily. She would have liked to do more, but without an assignment, she didn’t know what to do, so she found a spot where she would be as unobtrusive as possible and waited for the girl to return and give her instructions. It took longer than expected, but that didn’t matter—she would wait here. After all, this was an instruction she couldn’t mess up so easily. Tessa looks at the drone for a moment and considers where to start. “First of all, you’re not worthless! No one is worthless because life is priceless, whether biological or synthetic. I didn’t help you because I wanted to be paid by someone, but because you needed help. I’d rather give the person who treated you so badly a good smack than take money from him.”

The drone looked at the girl in amazement. It had never heard a human speak like that before. To this girl, it sounded as if it made no difference whether you were a human or a drone. The most astonishing thing was that she believed it to be true without hesitation. And then, toward the end, when the girl seemed to get angry about her lack of maintenance, that red ring inside her fascinating emerald-green eyes somehow began to glow naturally, as if a fire were burning behind it. Tessa looks at the drone, which stands silently before her, just staring at her and not moving. “Are you okay? Did I do something wrong during your repair?” “No, um, yes. Everything’s fine on my end. Thanks to your repairs, I’m back to 100% operational capacity. I’d like to thank you very much for that, and I’d be happy to work off the costs if you’d like!”

Tessa grimaces briefly as the drone addresses her so formally again. “I’d really prefer it if you spoke to me more casually. Every time you address me so formally, I feel like I’m 40 years old. By the way, my name is Tessa, what’s your name?” Tessa smiles and extends her hand to the drone.

The drone flinches back slightly before reaching out and taking the girl’s hand. Her hand feels pleasantly soft, gentle, and warm. “My serial number is J-10x111001, ma’am, uh, Tessa.” “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to call you J. That’s exactly how I handle it with N.”

J is puzzled. She hadn't noticed any other drones the day before, but maybe this N doesn't actually work here. “With such a small number of drones, ‘J’ sounds like an efficient solution to save time.” Tessa rolls her eyes. “But my question was whether you’d be okay with me calling you ‘J,’ not whether it’s efficient.” J pauses for a second. To be honest, when Tessa says “J,” it actually feels really good and right. “Yes, J sounds good to me. Sorry, Tessa. It’s unusual for me to answer questions like this, so there may be some delays in processing them.” Tessa laughs out loud. “Mate, could it be that you’re in some kind of business mode? You don’t have to talk like you’re at corporate headquarters.” “Sorry, that’s my default setting. I was originally deployed to optimize management processes.” “You wouldn’t notice, though.” Tessa replies, somewhat sarcastically. J looks at her, confused by the contradiction. Is Tessa okay? Just a moment ago she said I sounded business-like, and now she’s saying you wouldn’t notice. Her mental health can’t be that impaired; after all, at the age of 12, she managed to get a worn-out, scrap-ready drone back in top shape within a few hours. “Tessa? Are you okay? Your contradictory statements about my behavior are worrying me.” Tessa has to laugh again.

“When I said you didn’t notice, I was being sarcastic. It was a joke! You’re really funny, J, and so completely different from all the drones at my parents’ house. I like you.” J lowers her head and blushes slightly, partly because she’s made another mistake and partly because no one has ever been so nice to her. “Thanks, it’s very kind of you to like me despite my misinterpretation of your words.” “Oh, J, it’s not your fault that you didn’t get my joke right away. But never mind. I wanted to ask if you’d like to move into my parents’ house with me. We have a big house, with lots of other drones. My parents wouldn’t even notice one more.” “Of course, only if you want it.” J looks at Tessa. She would love to move in with this nice girl; there are even other drones there. She’s never interacted with other drones before. “I’d really love to stay with you, Tessa. Unfortunately, though, I’m bound by my company’s policies, and that means I have to go back to my boss,” J replies, a deep longing in her voice. “What kind of company do you actually work for? After all, I found you on private property.” “I was with the General Cosmic Company, GCC for short.” “Hey, I know that one. It was a smaller subcontractor of JCJenson. But wasn’t it swallowed up by JCJenson?”

“That’s correct! I played a major role in boosting their efficiency,” J boasts about her work back then. “But the acquisition was two years ago. If I remember correctly, it happened after the owner had an accident. What have you been doing all these years?” Tessa replies thoughtfully. “Your information is correct there, too! The company CEO was Allan D. Mercant. He brought me on board back then as an investment in the future. He told me that himself. I started in the logistics department and worked my way through the various departments until I was responsible for, among other things, scheduling for the executives. I recouped the investment in me after just 1.5 years and generated profits for the company from then on. People always addressed me as ‘Drone,’ but they did so in a friendly tone, and I was always well taken care of and kept up to date.” J seems to grow a little as she speaks, and she looks truly happy. Tessa smiles and sits down in the chair in front of her computer to listen to J with eager anticipation. “Then, unfortunately, I started making mistakes. I think my first mistake was also my most serious one.” J sighs, and Tessa can see the joy fade from J’s screen.

“At the time, I was planning Mr. Mercant’s flight to a meeting at the Titan Shipyards. I decided he should use a new shuttle from the parent company JC, since it had 8.3% lower fuel consumption than the older company-owned model, and despite the rental costs, it would save $0.003 and 7 minutes. However, the shuttle crashed, costing Mr. Mercant and his wife their lives. A week later, their son Richard Mercant sold the entire company to JCJenson. The only thing he kept was me. With the money, he had the house built where you found me. From then on, I was employed as a housekeeper. I organized everything in his household as best I could, but it was never good enough. I kept making mistakes for which I was punished. Until I made such a big mistake again that I was thrown out like trash.” J sounded quite meek by now; she had her arms wrapped around herself, rubbing her left arm, and looked as if she were a whole lot smaller. “Tessa, when I really think about it, maybe it’s better that I can’t move in with you. I don’t want to be responsible for mistakes that hurt you.” “BULLSHIT,” Tessa shouted the word so loudly that J flinched. She clenched her hands into fists on her lap so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and she trembled slightly with rage. “I’m so sorry, J!” Tessa took a deep breath in and out.

“You helped optimize a multimillion-dollar corporation to the point where JCJenson wanted to take it over completely, and now you’re telling me you can’t manage a modern one-person household? J, I saw some things during your repair that make me furious just thinking about them. Even if you really did make mistakes. NOTHING and I mean absolutely nothing excuses treating you this way! As for your previous boss’s misfortune. J! It was an accident. You didn’t do anything wrong.” J sees the red ring in Tessa’s eyes literally glowing as she speaks. Tessa’s last words carry a warmth that J has never radiated in this way before. J sighs. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that I have to leave, even though I’d love to stay.” Tessa rubs her chin with one hand and thinks for a moment while she eyes J in her old, trash-stained clothes. Then she flashes J a smile that clearly signals she has something up her sleeve. “J,” Tessa asks, drawing out the word. “Would you let me read your system status?”

J is getting a little skeptical. The current sparkle in Tessa’s eyes and the tiny red glint at their center are different. It gives J a strange feeling deep in her chest. It’s definitely not a bad feeling. J decides to trust Tessa; besides, she’s the first person who’s ever asked before doing something like this. “Yeah, sure. But I don’t know what good that’ll do.” “Please lie down on the table again. If you want, you can grab a pillow from my cozy corner to make yourself more comfortable. I have a hunch and need a few minutes.” J looks over at the corner with the pillows. She grabs a small pillow shaped like a wall and places it under her neck as she lies down again on the table where she woke up the day before. Tessa attaches a reading probe to the corner of the display and gently strokes the edge of it once more, which gives J that new, warm feeling of security in her chest again. Tessa sits back down at her computer and goes through J’s data. “YES! I knew that guy would have been too lazy to do that!” Tessa exclaims happily after 10 minutes. “What’s going on?” J asks, lifting her head slightly and looking in Tessa’s direction. “You, my dear, are officially the property of JCJenson. That Richard never changed the owner setting. It still says GCC, and that now belongs to JCJenson.”

“Does that mean I have to report for duty to the next JCJenson employee instead of my last boss?” she asks curiously as she gets up from the table and unplugs the probe from the display. Tessa grins so widely that J is almost worried. “I haven’t even told you my last name yet. Have I?” “Uh, no. You did say, though, that your family owns a large portion of JCJenson stock. That narrows it down.” Tessa grins even wider, it seems. “If I may introduce myself properly,” Tessa begins as she stands up from the computer and gives a ladylike curtsy. “Allow me to introduce myself? Tessa James Elliott! Daughter of James and Louisa Elliott! Future heir to the Elliott fortune, which, quite coincidentally, includes 51% of the JCJenson shares. So you could say you’re already standing before the highest authority at JCJenson,” Tessa concludes her introduction so cheerfully that this time even her parents would probably have been proud of her. J mimics Tessa’s gesture with her hand on her chin and thinks, a loading circle appearing in the upper right corner of her display. That’s a pretty broad interpretation when Tessa claims she’s the highest authority at JC. However, she will be someday, and until then, her parents would be exactly that. From my perspective, working for the Elliott family means working for JCJenson, which would give her a reason to stay with this nice girl.

Meanwhile, Tessa notices that J is copying her gesture. This makes her chuckle to herself. This J is really funny. J strikes a completely serious pose and raises her right hand to her forehead, but she’s still holding the little wall-shaped pillow, which makes the whole gesture look a bit odd. “Serial Designation J-10X111001 reporting for duty. Your interpretation of the legal precedent—that working for the Elliott family means working for the management of JCJenson—falls within acceptable parameters. What are my duties, Boss?” Tessa stands rooted to the spot for a brief moment, staring directly at J’s display. Then she doubles over with laughter. It’s such a bell-like, utterly joyful laugh that J feels that pleasant warm sensation in her chest again, and a broad smile spreads across her lips as well. “Mate, you’re the best. It’s wonderful that you can pull this off so coolly!” Tessa takes a deep breath in and out to calm herself. Once she’s settled down, she wipes a tear of joy from the corner of her eye and holds her left side, as her diaphragm is still twitching a little there. She looks directly at J again, who is still standing there exactly as before, only now with a smile on her lips. The urge to laugh is welling up in Tessa’s chest again, but this time she holds it back.

“Phew, okay, listen up! Your first task is to answer me honestly. DO YOU WANT to work for us? You don’t have to. If you want, you can just leave. I’ll give you some supplies, and you can go wherever you want.” J lowers his hand and returns to a normal posture. “Boss, I’m sure. I want to stay with YOU. No one has ever been so kind to me. I can’t imagine anything better than being allowed to work for you.” Tessa smiles when J addresses her as “Boss” again. Overjoyed, she hugs J. At first, though, J feels pretty stiff. For a second, J had a bad memory when Tessa jumped on her so unexpectedly. But with her, it was clearly different. Tessa’s touch felt like security, so J cautiously returned the hug. “But I prefer Tessa, even if ‘Boss’ sounds kind of cool,” she says quietly next to J. Tessa slowly breaks away from the hug. Then she looks directly at J. “Then I have something for you.” Tessa grabs the bag she’d set down near the entrance and pulls out two bundles of clothes. “Do you prefer boys’ or girls’ stuff? I know you’re wearing a girls’ uniform right now, but I guess no one’s ever asked you what you’d prefer.” “Men are stupid.” J covers her mouth with her hands, and her cheeks flush.

“Definitely a girl!” Tessa giggles and hands J the bundle containing the maid’s uniform. J takes it carefully. It’s a maid’s uniform again, but this time she chose it herself. A new role she was also free to choose, and all of this thanks to Tessa, that kind girl with hazelnut-brown hair and the most wonderful eyes, who rescued her from the trash. To J, the handover feels like a solemn ceremony. “Do you want to put it on right away?” Tessa asks cheerfully. J nods and takes off her old, dirty, and torn uniform. As she puts on the new one, she unconsciously turns around. Tessa looks at J’s back and bites her lip. She couldn’t remove all the traces of the violence. Some will probably remain forever. After J is done, she turns back around, and the headband slips over her display. “Sorry, it won’t stay up easily. How do I look?” J asks as she pushes the headband back up. “You look great, J!” Tessa says with a happy smile, making J blush slightly. “I have a solution for the headband.” Tessa beams at J as she reaches into the bag she brought once more. This time, she pulls out a human skull covered in hair. “May I introduce Lady Margolotta from Überwald. One of my ancestors and today’s hair donor.”

J looks at Tessa in shock. Apparently, it really was too good to be true. Has she ended up with a crazy killer after all? “Boss? I’m not sure I really want to know, but where did you get that skull?” “I picked it up from the family crypt on my way here. After all, the people in there haven’t needed their hair for a long time. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to. I just thought it would look good on you.” Meanwhile, Tessa holds the skull so that, from her perspective, it sits on J’s shoulders. J sighs with relief and thinks it over. Her with hair? Why not, actually? She runs her fingers through the hair hanging from the skull. It feels incredibly soft and silky, completely different from what J would have expected. As she slowly begins to nod, she can see the growing joy on Tessa’s face. It’s so contagious that J starts smiling happily too. “I’d be very happy to wear the hair of your ancestors. But how do you plan to transplant it from the skull onto my metal head?” Tessa takes the hair from the skull, sets the skull aside, and grins at J, pointing to the underside of the wig. “It’s a family quirk of mine. When someone is laid to rest in the family crypt, their hair is preserved, made into a wig, and displayed on their skull in the crypt.“I’d just stick them on your head if you don’t mind?” Meanwhile, Tessa reaches into a bowl where she keeps various screws and a bottle of superglue and suddenly realizes the bowl is empty. She frowns. “I could swear I put the glue right here,” she mutters. “Oh, I tidied up and cleaned yesterday because you didn’t give me any tasks besides waiting, Boss, I mean, Tessa. The glue is in the blue toolbox, second compartment on the right.” Only now does Tessa notice that everything here is much cleaner and that things are neatly arranged on the shelf. Until now, she’d only been paying attention to J. That also explains why the door didn’t squeak. J must have oiled it. Then she frowns again and looks at J. “I have a blue toolbox? You have what?” J walks around the table and picks up an old metal toolbox, opening it on the table. And sure enough, it’s blue in some places. Tessa had found the box in the cave. However, it was so rusted that it wouldn’t even open. J must have spent several hours getting the box working again. Now she proudly hands her the tube of glue. Tessa looks at J and shakes her head slightly. “Did I do something wrong?” J asks, now disappointed.

“Mate, you're crazy. How long did it take you to get that rusty hunk of metal working again?” Tessa asks, fascinated and amazed. “5 hours and 23 minutes. I had to replace some of the screws. Was that wrong?” “No, absolutely not. Thank you so much, J! You’re amazing. Finally, I can store my tools properly.” J beams with joy at Tessa’s words. It’s been a long time since she’s been praised like that. “Okay, now sit down in the chair so I can put your hair on!” After Tessa has glued the wig onto J’s head, she hands J a mirror. “So, how would the lady like her hairstyle?” Tessa jokes. “I don’t know? What would you recommend, my lady?” J responds, smiling into the mirror. “I always think braids look chic.” Tessa forms two braids at the back of J’s head, slightly to the side, and holds them up so J can see them in the mirror. “They look really great, I’d love to have those.” Tessa takes two bows out of her own hair and uses them to secure J’s braids.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 1

Tessa is showing J her room. But J stops at the door. “What’s wrong, J? Why aren’t you coming in?” J bites her lower lip, and her cheeks flush slightly. “I’ve gotten into the habit of only cleaning my boss’s bedroom when he’s not there.” “Mate, you’re not supposed to clean here either; I just want to show you my room. Besides, I hereby grant you permission to enter my room at any time, regardless of where I am.” J comes in and looks around. The first thing J notices is that the bookshelf seems to be the only tidy and clean spot in the room. Various pieces of clothing are strewn over two chairs, some of which look like pretty expensive clothes. On one side stands a large pump house that apparently hasn’t been played with in a while. The vanity table is at least 1.5 meters wide, with many drawers and decorative elements. However, there are only a few makeup items on it. Most of the space is taken up by various vials containing liquids that can’t be identified at first glance and some smaller components that might belong to drones. And then, of course, there’s this huge four-poster bed—and, naturally, as one might expect, it’s unmade. J finds it extremely interesting that all the areas in this huge house intended for the residents look as if there were hardly any technology in the house. Starting with the entrance hall, through the ballroom, the smoking lounge, the library with real paper books, the bar, and now even Tessa’s room. She would have thought that, for someone so tech-savvy, the whole room would be brimming with technology. J has to admit, though, that this room looks pretty cozy. As she looks around and silences the part of herself that wants to clean up here, she notices something by the bed. She furrows her brow. “What’s installed here for?” J asks as she picks up a chain attached to the bed frame. The fact that her new friend—because that’s how Tessa wants J to see her—notices the chain of all things makes her blush. “My parents had it put there. It’s there for when I cause them trouble again or do something stupid,” she replies meekly; the cheerfulness J had heard in Tessa’s voice just a moment ago vanishes in an instant. “Oh, Tessa, that…” J begins gently. Then another voice, accustomed to giving orders, rings out. “Tessa James Elliott!” A woman storms toward Tessa’s room. J notices Tessa flinch and cast a panicked glance at J even as her name is being called. Tessa signals to J with her hands to stay near the bed while she goes to meet the woman, most likely her mother. “Yes, Mother?” J hears the tremor in Tessa’s voice.

“Tessa, you need to stop running around outside like a little kid. I told you hours ago that you should finally pick out a dress for the ball tonight! What are you doing instead? Going for a walk in the woods! I’m warning you! If you behave just as badly tonight as you did at brunch yesterday, there will be consequences. I’m talking girls’ boarding school!” The woman hisses the words like a dragon. “Yes, Mother.” J hears Tessa’s voice only very faintly. Then more footsteps approach, and a rather agitated male voice rings out. “Ms. Elliott! I just received your latest instructions for tonight’s banquet…” J thinks to herself, the voice is obviously confronting Tessa’s mother about another matter. Anyone who has worked at a corporate headquarters for 10 years immediately recognizes the opportunity. She looks at the chairs with the dresses. Tessa is obviously supposed to choose something from them. Let’s see. It’s a ball with a banquet. Clearly, only guests from the upper classes. Tessa is obviously supposed to be present, clearly recognizable as this woman’s daughter, but without pushing herself into the spotlight. Unfortunately, the occasion is unknown, so I have to guess at random.

J picks up a green, slim-fitting yet modest dress and quickly smooths it out with all her strength. Luckily, it had been loosely draped over the chair, so there aren’t any real creases in it. At the vanity, she briefly looks for jewelry. Tessa herself probably wouldn’t wear it, but her mother would want something to show off a little. There, a silver ring with a Mexican fire opal. Expensive, contrasting with the dress, not too big to draw too much attention to Tessa. “Ms. Elliott? Would you like to perform the prepared composition for your mother now?” J stepped up with a stern expression toward Tessa, who begins to sweat at J’s appearance and casts anxious glances at her. J briefly flashes the words “escape forward” on her display in the corner, hoping Tessa will seize the opportunity. Tessa’s mother briefly ignores the unknown complainant and shoots J a look that would have vaporized anyone who wasn’t made of metal. Tessa swallows hard, but after J’s bizarre entrance, she now has no other choice. What on earth was that drone thinking? “Oh, screw it, there’s only one way to go now!” “Yes, Mother! I had the drone clean this dress and the ring again because I intend to wear them tonight, if that’s all right with you, Mother?” Tessa gushes submissively, even as she’s dying a thousand deaths inside and already feels as if she’s back at the girls’ boarding school.

“Hold up your dress! Ring!” her mother’s voice booms, accustomed to giving orders. J does as she’s told, holding the dress so it can be examined and positioning the ring slightly in front of the dress on the right side to show the contrast. Tessa’s mother raises an eyebrow as she glances at the selected items. Her gaze shifts to Tessa, still with that raised eyebrow. “The combination is. . . good.” Tessa exhales, seemingly for the first time since her mother’s voice rang out. She’s just about to turn to J when she sees another word flash across J’s display. “Wait,” J signals. She’s already met several executives, and the man Tessa’s mother belongs to is well known to her. She needs to prove her authority, and if—as J correctly surmises—she scolds the head chef of the house in front of her daughter, she’ll be satisfied and leave Tessa alone, at least until the ball. So both of them remain as submissively quiet as possible while Tessa’s mother turns her attention back to the other person. “Mr. Ugoljew! Just do what I told you to do. What’s so hard about preparing a few more appetizers?”

“No, Ms. Elliott! That’s it! I’m quitting! For one thing, this isn’t just a few appetizers—it’s a whole damn banquet course for 30 people—and for another, they’re always throwing everything out the window right before their events! I’m a top chef, and that’s why they hired me in the first place! But under these circumstances, I’m not going to keep working. No matter what they pay, I’M OUT!” J curses inwardly! This has gone completely off the rails. Unlike drones, humans can just quit. Now Tessa is back in the spotlight. As the man stomps off and Tessa’s mother shoots him angry glances, the written instructions the chef tossed aside float calmly to J’s feet. As Ms. Elliott turns back to her daughter and shrugs her shoulders while her gaze brushes past J, J looks at the task before her. Since she’s been preparing three meals a day for someone for two years, she has a pretty good idea of the effort required for the requested dish. It’s definitely doable if all the ingredients are there. So far, she’s only seen the kitchen as a drawing in the fire emergency plans. But a house like this, especially one with a top chef, would certainly have a well-equipped kitchen.

“Did you put a wig on one of those things again and treat it like a human being? Kid, what am I supposed to do with you? I’m a very patient person, but I’m slowly getting fed up with your crazy ideas!” Tessa’s mother snaps at her daughter while pointing her fan at J. “It’s doable,” J says quietly, but loud enough for Ms. Elliott to hear. Her 10,000-watt stare literally drills into J. Unlike her daughter’s eyes, hers have no warmth whatsoever. They’re more reminiscent of hard-boiled eggs. At the same time, she catches Tessa’s fearful gaze. But she had to do it—for Tessa. “What?” Ms. Elliott’s voice booms. “This assignment is doable. I regret to inform you that I am not aware of whether all the ingredients are on site. However, if that is the case, this assignment is doable,” J replies in a subdued voice. “And how do you, THING, get the idea that you can judge that?” “My first assignment was in optimizing logistics processes, and I also have two years of cooking experience.” Tessa’s mother wrinkles her nose. She pauses for a moment while fanning herself with her fan. “Do it!” Ms. Elliott turns to Tessa. “You’re responsible for whatever this thing does.” Then she rushes off. Tessa looks at J, speechless. J looks back, embarrassed.

“Mate? You just saved my ass so much!” Tessa begins slowly. “I would never have picked out this dress and this bling!” she continues, pointing to pieces of evidence A and B. “I’m sorry, Tessa. I just realized you were about to get in trouble, and I had to do something—after all, you were out there because of me.” “Are you crazy?” Tessa almost shouts. The words hurt J. “I’ve never heard a single ‘good’ comment from my mom about my clothes my whole life! I have no idea what kind of unholy magic you’ve allied yourself with that you managed to get my mom to back off after someone stood up to her right in front of me.” “Does that mean I made the right decisions?” “1000% mate! 1000% But now I guess it’s time I show you the kitchen in our house.”

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Uzi sends a video conference request marked “urgent” to Nori, J, and V. J is the first to accept. She’s at home right now, sitting in her reading chair wearing a casual pantsuit, with a tumbler filled with thick oil beside her. Nori’s video feed appears a second later. She has just arrived home and is still wearing her long lab coat open over her black dress. After Nori excitedly asks what’s going on, V joins the call as well. She looks sleepily at her phone from under the covers. “What’s up, gremlin? Did you blow something up, or are you planning to blow something up?” she asks without hesitation. J raises an eyebrow, since it’s not like V to go to bed this early. “N and I have a problem,” Uzi says, somewhat hesitantly. “I’ll tear that weirdo apart with my own two hands if he’s done anything to you!” Nori snaps immediately. “If you don’t want him anymore? I’ve got room,” V jokes. “NO! Not that kind of problem. Besides, Mom, leave my husband alone! And V, which one of us was that remark aimed at?” Uzi retorts. V just replies with a smile that could mean anything or nothing. “OK, here’s the thing. N and I want a kid, and we made our first attempt at using an UNN. And what can I say?” Uzi begins to explain. “It worked! We’re parents!” N, beaming with joy, squeezes in next to Uzi in the camera’s frame. “Ohhhh! Congratulations. What’s the little one’s name?” Tessa happily squeezes in next to J in the frame. “Is the baby okay?” Nori asks, sounding a bit tense. She knows that complications can arise due to what Uzi inherited from her, combined with the peculiarities of a DD. “Hopefully your child hasn’t immediately become a threat to the entire planet?” J asks bluntly, earning a nudge and a serious “J” from Tessa beside her. “No. Don’t panic! Everything’s fine so far,” Uzi reassures the others. “We didn’t expect it to work right away, though. And we haven’t been able to agree on a name yet. We need help urgently now,” N sums it up. “Is that why you’re calling an emergency convergence? Isn’t that a bit over the top?” J scolds. “Oh, not at all. After all, these two aren’t just anyone. They’re the most famous couple on Copper 9. Their child’s name is incredibly important. Imagine if they named their child Sieglinde or Bob. What impact would that have on our society?” Lizzy pushes her way into the frame next to V. “You? Wait! Are you two back together? And the thing is, the UNN doesn’t actually start until a name is entered,” Uzi replies, surprised. “Hey, Bob is number 3 on my list,” N says quietly.

“We’re not together. We just wanted to celebrate selling the first 10,000 copies of my book,” V replies. “Do what we did. Flip through a few magazines. Your mom found your name in a gun manufacturer’s catalog back then.” Khan slides into the frame next to Nori with two cups and hands her one of them. “Khan! I never actually wanted to tell her that!” Nori complains. But then she takes the cup and is somewhat appeased by it. “You should definitely give the child a double name,” J explains, completely serious. There is a moment of silence until Nori asks curiously. “Why?” “If your child misbehaves—and they will, since they’re YOUR child—you can call them by their full name to make it clear that you mean business. Why do you think Tessa’s middle name is James?” J explains dryly. “J!” protests Tessa beside her. “I don’t believe you. You can’t be serious,” Uzi responds skeptically. “Tessa! James! Elliott!” J pronounces each name clearly and with emphasis. And even though she clearly said it in fun, everyone can see a slight jolt run through Tessa, and something inside her wants to adopt the posture of a guilty child. “If I’d known that, I would’ve insisted on a middle name for Uzi too. Maybe Dee? Uzi D. Doorman actually sounds pretty good,” Nori muses aloud.

Uzi, N, V, and Sparky are talking to Rex in the Hangar of the Spaceship Lotus when they hear J announce over the loudspeaker: “Jump in 30 minutes. Everyone to their stations.”

They say goodbye and go to the Dragons. These 15-meter-long, 6-meter-wide, and 4-meter-high flying tanks on 8 wheels with a wedge-shaped front, the thermal gun (The way it works is vaguely comparable to that of a laser. However, the thermal emitter is not based on light rays in the visible spectrum, but uses infrared rays that leave the barrel as an ultra-hot beam. In addition, a small amount of normal light is emitted to make the beam shots visible to the observer, as with tracer ammunition), rocket launchers, and their own shield generator are one of the latest developments for the Union fleet.

As they look to see which dragon they are supposed to board, a man with a mustache that would make Uzi's father jealous waves to them: “Mr. and Ms. Doorman, Ms. V. I am First Lieutenant Brandis. My job is to escort you safely to the Facility.”

He points to the open tailgate in front of him and says: “Please follow me. Once everyone is seated, I can give you a briefing on the vehicle. And don't worry about Sparky. Dragons have a place for Sentinel on the tailgate.” As she puts one foot on the tailgate, Uzi jokes, “After you, Ms. V.” She plays along and struts past Uzi. After the three of them have taken their seats on the side walls and the seats have automatically wrapped around them, two more drones and a man with a red crew cut get in. Finally, Sparky gets in, the tailgate closes, and Sparky sits down in the Sentinel seat, where he is also automatically secured by straps.

Brandis, who is sitting facing the direction of travel, points to the seat next to him as he turns to Uzi, N, and V and says, "This is our gunner, Anna Fong. (She raises her hand in greeting). Perry, our pilot, is sitting in the front driver's compartment. Next to Ms. V is Soldier Clyde Callamon (he nods briefly), next to Mister N is Soldier Ustria (they/them also nods briefly and glances furtively at V), and the man in the back is our squad leader Sergeant Reginald Bull. Bull, with a somewhat grumpy-sounding voice: “You can call me Reg, after all, we're sitting in the belly of the same dragon.” (He grins a little.) Uzi: “Nice to meet you. I'm Uzi. This is N and V.” (N waves briefly with a smile and V greets us with two fingers.) Brandis explains: “If you want, you can follow the descent on the screen in front of you. I've set it up so that it shows the same image as mine. But you can also display the map or other external images.” Uzi just nods and N curiously cycles through all the views. Reg asks Uzi, “Nervous?” Uzi: “I prefer to be active myself. I don't like having to sit still while others are risking so much.” Reg smiles: “I know the feeling. However, I also share the commander's assessment that our opponent may be able to measure your forces and block their access to the facility.” Brandis: “Close your helmets, we're depressurizing.”

Uzi looks a little confused, but follows the instructions and lets the helmet unfold from the back of her neck over her head. Then she hears Reg over the helmet radio: “We're doing this so that there won't be explosive decompression in case of a hit.” When the Lotus jumped, Uzi felt the hum of the reactors even inside the Dragon. J probably had the Lotus jump as close to the target area as possible, and now they have to slow down from 50% light speed before they fly past the target. On the screen, Uzi watches as the hangar doors open and the discus dinghies launch first, closely followed by the first Hummingbird space fighters. Then her Dragon sets off with over 100 others. The remaining Hummingbirds launch directly after them. After ejecting, they accelerate toward the Planet's surface. Uzi sees Hummingbirds, Dragons, Rockets, and thermo-rays racing toward the planet in the eerie silence of space, and she is right in the middle of it. The space disks are already out of sight. The next moment, defensive fire comes their way. At the last moment, she notices several Rockets racing directly toward their Vehicle. Her pilot makes a last-minute evasive roll to the right, pushing the pressure absorbers to their limits and causing such strong G-forces that she would have been thrown from her seat if she hadn't been strapped in. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her Dragon destroy two of the rockets with his thermal weapon. Two more hit the Dragon behind them. Its protective shield flickers and collapses. To avoid burning up during the further descent, it positions itself directly behind their own Dragon, which extends its shield around the other. As the camera is currently facing backwards, Uzi observes how thick thermobaric pulses are regularly fired towards the planet in complete silence from the super-heavy twin thermobaric cannon at the bow of the Lotus. Brandis turns his camera back to the front and zooms in on their landing zone and the last remaining defensive position there. Shortly thereafter, it is struck by precisely such impulses. The first two impacts simply burst the shield of the position, and the next two transform it into molten lava. Uzi's gaze becomes somewhat pale at the whole thing. N grabs her hand and squeezes it. She senses that he wants to calm not only her but also himself. Then Uzi looks at V, who is grinning broadly and seems to be having the time of her life. When V notices her gaze, she says, “You know I like it a little wilder sometimes.” Since she said this on the open helmet radio, everyone in the vehicle could hear her. Uzi can see Anna Fong's shoulders shaking with laughter, while Clyde Callamon's eyes widen and Ustria blushes slightly. Then Reg, who seemed to be dozing until just now, lets out a puffing laugh and says, “I like you, V.”

J stands in front of the Mirror in her white, red, and gold uniform, adjusts the half-cape on her right shoulder, checks that her braids are neat and even, and straightens her jacket once more.

Tessa lies behind her on the bed, rests her chin on her hands, and smiles. She rolls onto her back and lets her head hang over the edge of the bed.

“Could it be that you're nervous?” Tessa asks with a giggle.

J sighs and replies, “Yes, and I thought I had overcome my self-doubt.”

Tessa gets up, steps directly behind J, gently wraps her arms around J's waist, looks over J's shoulder, and gazes at their shared reflection in the Mirror with a smile.

Tessa: “Jay Bird, it's normal to be nervous before a day like this. Just look at yourself. You've been through so much, and none of it could break you. And look at everything you've achieved. You're strong, J, and you know it.”

J gently places her hand on Tessa's, leans her head against Tessa's, and smiles.

J straightens up a little, looks into Tessa's eyes in the mirror and thinks to herself: “You've been through just as much, and yet your smile and your eyes still shine as gently as they did the day you rescued me from the trash.”

She says: “Thank you. For everything. I don't know where I'd be without you.”

J takes a deep breath in and out before continuing, “That N asked me of all people to be his maid of honor.”

Tessa: “He trusts you. Plus, he knows you always take your responsibilities seriously.”

J: “Sometimes I envy him for going through life so easily and innocently. Probably not even his own wedding makes him nervous.”

Tessa giggled as she said, “Let's hope so. If he gets cold feet, you'll have to marry Uzi as the maid of honor. That's the rule.”

J burst out laughing.

J: “Before that, I'd chase N to the edge of the universe and drag him back to the altar.”

Tessa: “Hmm, maybe that's exactly why he asked you. No matter what happens, you'll make sure he shows up at the altar.”

J takes a deep breath. Her expression becomes slightly sad as she takes two steps forward, breaking out of the embrace and turning to face Tessa.

J: “Tessa, there's one thing I can't give you because I don't have it. That's why I want to ask...”

Meanwhile, J reaches into her jacket pocket with her right hand, sinks down on her right knee, and holds out a box to Tessa.

“Tessa James Elliott, will you marry me and give me your family name?”

Tessa is frozen. She looks at J, who is kneeling in front of her as if performing a knighting ceremony, holding a small box in her Hand containing a delicate gold ring set with a black opal that seems to shimmer like a galaxy.