Chapter 20: Oops

Back aboard MOM, I furnished my pet Mermaid with an aquarium. Practice makes perfect and former practice with Pipsqueak is transferable. Soon we are chatting away. I enjoy talking with her. Her name is Oops. Spelled “bubble bubble or Oo pip pip.” Ooh plural pips. Pronounced Oops.

To improve our relationship, I suggest and Oops, in a show of trust agrees, to have her implanted with a non-sentient AI chip. What a difference that makes for our communications.

Re-linking up JoAnn, in an attempt to aid us in adapting to each other’s alien minds, turned out to be another fortuitous decision.

JoAnn introduced us to the virtual reality program Mark Hest played with. Oops is portrayed as a virtual conventional Earth mythology style Mermaid. That is easier for me to relate to. I figure Oops must see me as something similar to her own species, but she assures me she sees what I see. She likes her caricature and primps her abundant wavy red hair frequently. Sneaking a reality check look, she is actually smoothing and caressing her rosy tentacles. Okay by me. In reality and in the virtual world both, she has the same deep mysterious look in her large round saucer eyes. Very beautiful eyes I think.