Jeff was pleasantly surprised, Nibs turned out to be bubbly, polite and kind, willing to help people in the most peaceful way possible, but also willing to put up a bit of a fight. Jeff decided to put her in for a trial run, which turned into a full time job.

Nibs was a good worker. She became firm friends with John, helping him keep an eye on things, keeping an eye on him too. They found that more than one set of eyes overlooking the rescues helped them, and on the thankfully rare occasions that there was more than one major rescue, then those extra pair of eyes became very handy indeed.

Jeff was sure it was also helping John’s health, especially now that he could come home from time to time, sharing shifts with another trusted Astronaut. Whenever they swapped shifts, the rest of the Island were given strict instructions to leave them alone for a day or two, so they could accumulate back to Earth’s gravity, it being slightly different to the artificial gravity on Five. It didn’t seem to have a huge impact on the Astronauts, but it was better to be safe than sorry. They were monitored almost all the time, Brains recording their body’s reaction to their environments, things such as radiation and different stimulus.

At first John, felt the stresses of work. It started to seem that even when he had a non-working conversation with his dad, it shifted into work especially if a disaster decided it wanted their attention. Speaking with his brothers seemed to go along the same route, they would end up talking excitedly about the last rescue they had been on, or reminisce about old ones. Sometimes Alan would talk to him about his school work, sometimes they would be able to talk about space, or other hobbies they shared.

That’s why he thought talking to a complete stranger like Nibenhu Cas would be just about work mostly. To be honest he had no idea what to expect. The first time it happened, he was thrown a complete curve ball as the saying goes.

“So…” Nibs gave a slight smile “What’s the weather like up there?”

John looked up from the monitor, the puzzlement evident on his face, making Nibs smile all the more. “I’m sorry..did you just ask me what I think you asked me?”

“Depends on what you think I asked you,” Nibs leaned forward, a full grin on her face now, leaning a cheek on one hand, elbow on desk.

John couldn’t help but smile himself, there was something contagious about it, even through a screen. “Well...it’s dry at least.”