The next morning, I sat up with a groan and tried to convince my muscles to work. Not only did my arms and legs feel like lead weights, but they were also stiff from yesterday's crash landing.

"We're never doing that again," I muttered as I tried to figure out how to escape the mound of blankets on my bed.

"I agree," Toby replied. "Good morning, by the way."

"Uh huh." I blinked several times, trying to focus enough to figure out how the blankets had wound around themselves so thoroughly, although it didn't help that I was still half asleep.

"Boy, you sure get a lot of emails about medical breakthroughs."

"The subject fascinates me," I grumbled. Just as much as the idea of throttling the chatty AI at this hour of the morning.

"I still think an improvement in your diet would help. Those mush bars may have the nutrition, but they're still lacking certain macro and micro nutrients."

"The bars cost less than a quarter of what a bag of groceries would and they don't go bad..." There was an edge to my voice that would warn him that he was stepping onto dangerous ground. I finally freed my legs and was glad the fuzzy pajamas protected my warm skin from the cool air.

"Would you agree to eat fruits or veggies at most meals if I nab a few petty criminals every night to cover the costs?" he pleaded. I could almost picture big, brown puppy eyes gazing at me as if I was holding the last treat in existence.

Extra money and the ability to eat real food instead of nutrient bars? Even my cranky morning pre-caffa mindset was no match against such an offer. My mouth watered in anticipation of the first real food it would actually get to taste in years.

"I think I can agree to that," I replied, trying not to sound too excited.

"Awesome! I'll start some scripts to pick out the easy ones!"

It was even enough of a motivator for me to stagger out of bed, only to stare at the full caffa pot and belatedly realize the smell filled the air.

"Uh, did you do that?" I asked, uneasily glancing around. The remote starting and programming options had broken years ago.

"Yep! I used the remote access to check the coding and found a countdown timer in the programming to make it fail. Probably so people would buy new caffa makers or have to suffer and get out of bed to push the button manually."

Suffering was definitely an apt term if one had to wait for caffa first thing in the morning, but I was too busy filling a mug to focus on that. The first long sip was like heaven. I might have to keep Toby around permanently, if only to brew my caffa for me.

"Have you ever considered cutting back?" Toby asked tentatively.

"Not a chance," I replied firmly.

He sounded puzzled as he said, "You've read enough health articles to know that your body actually doesn't feel the effects of the simulants after using them so consistently and for so long. Your body builds up a tolerance."

"Remind me to think about it in four months or so." Would he take the hint?

"Sure! Reminder set!"

Of course not... I took another long drink before reluctantly setting the mug down on the counter—even I wasn't about to take it into the bathroom.

"I'm going to have a shower. Turn the implant link off until I activate it on my bracelet."

"Shutting down the link!"

I set the bracelet on the charger and wandered into the bathroom with a yawn. It didn't take me long to shower and rub some salve onto the two larger bruises. Once dressed and presentable enough in case Toby had the webcam on for some reason, I emerged to reclaim my cup of caffa and tapped the bracelet screen.

I meandered over to my computer desk, actually feeling halfway excited for the day ahead. There had been caffa ready before I got up and a promise of a real meal later that wouldn't negatively impact my savings account. This was probably one of the best mornings I'd had in years.

"Just wait until you open your inbox!"

Usually I never touched my computer until I'd finished my first cup of caffa, but curiosity had me reaching for the mouse. A dozen job completion emails had been forwarded to me, including another one from an official-looking Enforcement email.

Even as I opened it, Toby said, "The data and videos from the casino were enough! The Enforcement Tips agency even doubled the reward because of how they tossed you out! Although they did insist that we simply submit vague tips and let them take the risks in the future. They said they'd flag the user ID as trustworthy."

"That'll come in handy. Wait, are you submitting everything under the same username?"

"Nope! I have six! One I made last night just to track petty criminals and shoplifters."

I sighed in relief and took another sip of caffa. At least he had taken the appropriate precautions. I skimmed through the other jobs. One was coding and done under my profile. Two murderers, a rapist, several car thieves, although the rest were all fairly minor.

The rewards added up to more than I usually made in a week. I closed my eyes, wondering if I dared to hope once again.

"I even found you a few cute cat memes!" Toby exclaimed, apparently unable to hear my quiet thoughts without at least two cups of caffa.

A folder opened on the computer to reveal over a thousand images sitting innocently inside.

"What's your definition of a few?" I murmured, taking another sip of caffa as he started displaying them, proof that Toby had once again missed the train called moderation.

"In this case, by percentage! I skimmed through half a million or so."

Of course. Just half a million or so.

Another thought occurred to me, and I went to my website, which proclaimed my coding skills, showed some examples, and listed my rather low rates for tech help. It was mostly a place for people to check if I sent an offer in response to their job posting and they wanted to see more details about me.

At the top, a new silver tab proclaimed "Inspirational Artwork". I clicked it and discovered hundreds of digital art pieces for sale. From leaves dancing through the sky for just a couple of astrogold to complex and detailed abstract paintings that cost a small fortune. There was something mesmerizing about those paintings, almost like timelapse images of water drops mid-splash, but deeper.

"Did you make those?" I asked, trying to figure out what they were supposed to be.

"Yep! They're neuro signals translated into color! No, they're not yours. I didn't think you'd like that. I found files of neuro readings online."

"Huh. Interesting." I yawned and took another swig of caffa as I tried to wake up. "Any news on those two from the deviant group? What were their names? Pete and Alabaster?"

"Pete and Alavaster. And no, not a trace of them on this planet."

"Did you tell the other Starship AIs about them?"

"Er, I'd rather not disturb them. They don't know about me, and well, they're...different." I could almost feel him squirm as he replied.

I recognized the feeling. He didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't like I was the only one who was allowed to have boundaries and things I didn't want to discuss, so I let the subject drop. It also made me realize that I didn't know much about this unusual AI.

Two cups of caffa later, I felt more like a human being than roadkill. I brushed my short hair into a semblance of order.

"What are our plans for today?" It felt so strange to ask someone else instead of creating my own desperate schedule, mostly revolving around skimming online jobs and putting in offers, but Toby was doing most of the digital ferreting around. If there was any physical legwork required, that was where I seemed to come in, and I had plenty of incentive.

"What do you want to do?" he asked excitedly. "I've got scripts and a few bots running, but all the things I'm tracking are off-planet since I figured you needed a few days to rest before helping me hack into networks."

A day off? Like a vacation day? I'd never had one of those unless I was too sick to get out of bed, but I knew exactly how to fill it.

I went directly to my rather empty closet and pulled out a swimsuit. "Let's head to the pool for a few hours, grab some groceries, then come back, and watch a couple of movies."

"I like that idea! Can I pick a movie?"

"Only if it doesn't have any romance or stupid drama." There was no way I was going to sit and watch people kiss for minutes on end and whisper their love to each other. Those kinds of happily ever-afters weren't something I'd ever see, and they just stabbed into my heart like a knife as they reminded me of that fact. And if I wanted drama, all I had to do was go on social media for some brain rot.

After a notable silence, Toby replied, "These filmmakers clearly do not understand the needs of some of the population. What do people watch if they recently had a breakup and don't want romance?"

"Horror, murder mystery, some comedy." Documentaries too, but I didn't feel like a documentary today. This was my first day off, and I wanted to just relax and enjoy it.

"I think finding good cat memes was easier," he muttered as his voice faded out, possibly dedicating more of his processing powers into locating an acceptable movie instead of maintaining the conversation.

I actually laughed at his reply. Laughed. Me. Such a sound was a rarity between these walls. Smiling, I grabbed a towel and packed my bag for a trip to the pool.