I prodded at the brick of grey in front of me. It was smooth, odourless, and squishy. The surface would bend under my fork but the aluminum prongs refused to pierce it. Frustrated, I pushed into it with quite a bit of force, breaking a mouthful away from the monstrosity of nutrients.

“Do we have any ketchup?” I asked, twirling the fork in the air and inspecting my morsel. It was as unappetizing as the hundred I’d had before.

Elliot’s lights dimmed. “Ran out three days ago.”

“Soya sauce?”

“Four days ago.”

“Pepper?”

“Yesterday.”

“Salt?”

There was a rumble from a nearby cabinet as it popped open and a single packet of salt floated before me. I grabbed it and tore it open, spreading the particles into the air. I then grabbed the brick and dragged it through these airborne particles. Thankfully, its texture was wet enough that the salt just clung to it without hassle.

Elliot then sighed. “And that just ran out today.”

“Well thankfully our rescue is just a few hours out,” I commented.

I bit into the brick, wincing at the slimy texture that settled upon my tongue. It was like tofu but made purposefully unpalatable.

“This sucks,” I grumbled through the food in my mouth, forcing myself to chew it and swallow. This had been all I’d had to eat for a week now. “Why didn’t you warn me that the rations were running low?”

“I did,” Elliot commented, “repeatedly. But every time I said anything, you would merely respond that you were going to be well fed when you died.”

“That isn’t technically untrue,” I said, offering a wide grin. “I could very well go out in a food binge thirty or fifty years from now.”

I wrinkled my nose and forced myself to take another bite of the brick. I chewed through it slowly, trying to focus on the little crystals of salt. It was hard, but doable, as I forced it down my throat, one agonizing bite at a time.

“At least Matt Damon had potatoes,” I grumbled.

Elliot snorted. “He was also playing a fictional character who was a world-class botanist. Maybe it’s about time that you learned how to do a little bit of gardening?”

“I actually used to have a few houseplants back at my pod,” I said. “But it turns out that they don’t last for long when you’re out doing flights for several months at a time.”

“Could have a few in your next ship,” Elliot suggested.

I laughed. “After the severance package I’ll be getting from the Europan Trade Company? I doubt I’ll ever have to fly another day in my life.”

“Do you honestly think they’ll pay you out?” Elliot asked, their light dimming. “I’m sure their contracts are just as dickish as their maintenance policy.”

I nodded along as I finished the last mouthful of protein bar. “We’ll see.”

This bar would hopefully be the last I ever had the misfortune of consuming. I grumbled a few choice words as I crammed the packaging into a nearby garbage receptacle.

The chute was already overflowing, just begging to burst open. Another thing that had been pushed beyond the point of failure on this ship.

I unbuckled myself from the pilot’s chair, pushing my way towards the back of the ship. It was strange how adept I had become to a zero-gravity environment, having never really been in one before. I was already dreading what it would be like when I was aboard Sappho’s Shuttle and returned to a full gravity of acceleration.

That was for future me to worry about however.

I moved towards the rear of the ship, taking a mental checklist of everything that remained. I had packed up my few meagre personal possessions, shunting them away into a couple of bags which now remained near the airlock. A couple changes of clothes – all of which were in a desperate need of washing, an entertainment tablet, and a few assorted photos and trinkets.

There was only one last item that I needed to take care of before the Sappho arrived.

I moved all the way to the rear of the ship and into the maintenance section. While I had grown used to no gravity, the silence of this cabin still made me nervous. Normally it would be whirling with machinery but with the reactor offline it was just dead.

“Elliot do you mind putting me in contact with Sappho?” I asked.

The lights brightened for a moment before dimming.

There was a crackle between our two ships as a connection was reached. Though from within this chamber I was kept only to an audio feed.

“Is something the matter, Sekai?” Sara asked.

She sounded tired, though that should be expected. They’d been burning pretty hard for the last two weeks. I’d honestly need to find some way to make it up to her and her crew.

I floated towards a section of paneling, reaching into my tool belt and pulling out a space screwdriver. It was like a regular screwdriver but in space.

“Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be disconnecting my AI system in a moment,” I said. “I wanted to make sure I could establish a stable connection before I did so.”

There was an amused snort from the other side. By this point, I knew it belonged to Selena.

“You really going to save that core?” she asked.

I nodded. Though I quickly realized that there was no way they could actually see me do so.

“They saved my life, so it’s only fair that I do the same,” I said, running my finger over the edge of the paneling that I wanted to remove. “No way I’m letting them rot on this ship.”

Elliot dimmed the lights, pondering.

“Well as long as it isn’t very big,” Selena said.

“Hardly bigger than a bowling ball,” Elliot replied, offering their voice into this conversation.

Selena snorted. “Never even heard of bowling before. How big is that in…” She loudly snapped her fingers. “Cricket balls.”

There was a pause and Elliot’s lights flickered in that manner that told me they were roving their database for an answer.

“About 8.13 times bigger,” Elliot said.

Selena chuckled. “Then that sounds like something we could handle.”

I could hear the smirk in Sara’s voice as she spoke. “We’ll mute comms on our end until we approach. Do you mind muting yours until then as well?”

“Roger, I’ll have Elliot unmute me before I remove them from the ship.”

And just like that I was brought back to the silence, just floating listlessly in the emptiness of space.

I went to work immediately, opening the panel before me with my space screwdriver. I had already done this before, during a practice run leading up to this. It might not seem like such a hard thing to do but I had soon realized that I was essentially doing brain surgery. This core was Elliot’s brain and I should treat it as nicely as I’d treat my own.

That thought made me pause as I remembered my affinity for partying and narcotic binges.

With that in mind, it may have been more pertinent to say that I’d treat it like my mother’s brain. No one would ever want to mishandle their own mother’s grey matter.

This was a weird train of thought to be on.

When the last screw came loose, I let them float away, along with the paneling. Inside was all manner of circuits and wires, all colour coded though their meaning was unknown to me.

Thankfully, I had help.

“Green, then blue, then red, then black,” Elliot said. “Remove them one at a time.”

I nodded and carefully grasped the green wire. With great care, I unplugged it.

“You still with me, Elliot?” I asked, glancing around the cabin.

Their light was still on upon the nearest interface.

I’d never made it this far before. Elliot had told me that once these wires were removed there would be no going back.

There was no verbal response though their light brightened and then dimmed.

“Was that your vocals?” I asked.

Another mark of confirmation.

“I wonder what I’ll do when I finally get back to safer shores,” I said, fondling with the blue wire. “How do you feel about a retirement home hovering over Venus. I hear that the view is fantastic from way above the surface. Only place that’s better is Earth.”

Obviously, they didn’t respond.

I snorted and shook my head. “Though I honestly doubt that I could afford something like that, even if I do get a settlement. Which let’s be real here.” I pointed the screwdriver towards the panel. “That’s a huge if at this point.” I sighed. “Maybe I’ll see if Sara is offering a job. Doubt it but her crew seems pretty fucking rad.”

I pulled out the blue wire. “Also makes me feel very thankful to be a lesbian…”

“What does?” Sara asked.

I blinked, then went beet red. “Oh fuck… did you hear that?”

Sara snickered. “Part of it. I’m guessing that Elliot turned on your mic when you started unplugging them?”

“Can we pretend that you didn’t hear that?” I whispered.

“Oh, I can pretend but that shit eating grin that I see on Taylor’s face is telling a much different story.” She chuckled. “No offense kid but I think you’re doomed once you board this ship.”

“Alas, doomed if I do, doomed if I don’t,” I replied.

I plucked out the red wire and finally the black. With them out of the way, I removed a large steel box from within the ship’s hull. I started to unscrew it right away, sending little pieces of shrapnel in every direction.

When I was finished, I lifted the lid. Inside was a metallic orb with a band of glass around the centre. It was currently dark, though I could tell that it had once bore life. Hopefully, when I rebooted it, Elliot would retain their personality.

If not… then I would just have to remind them of who they were.

I placed the orb within a cushioned container, bringing it towards the airlock.

“We’re going to get out of this one, Elliot,” I whispered, trying to avoid having my voice pick up on any of the nearby microphones. “And I couldn’t have done it without you.”

I tenderly stroked the lid of the box, offering it a tight smile before placing it down with my other stuff.

“Are you ready for us to save your sorry ass?” Sara asked, bringing me back to the moment.

I nodded. “I am.”

“Then better make your way to the cockpit,” she said. “You’re going to want to strap in for this one.”

I obeyed, floating away from the airlock and my slumbering companion.

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