It’s inside me and I can’t see it.
It’s eating me and I’m dying.
I don’t want to die. I won’t die.
I’ll go away.

Letitia’s eyes opened slowly, as if afraid to discover the world again. The familiar ache in her bones told her that she’d been asleep for a while, yet the same gunmetal-gray walls and floor came into focus under the ultraviolet light. Numbly, she brought a hand up to her face and touched the spaces between her eyes and nose with her first two fingers. The skin of her face felt cold but intact. She pushed and saw the slight discolorations in her vision that helped her realign both her internal and external worlds.

Too much sleep was bad for her. Too much consciousness was even worse.

Slowly, Letitia pushed herself up from all fours and stood awkwardly on her feet. The circular drain under the big toe and ball of her right foot impressed its brass grid into her vision. Letitia blinked. Then, steadying herself, she moved to the wall in front of her and began to feel for the door latch. She found it and twisted. Grudgingly, the mechanism began to work, its metal gears sliding noisily from 418 thousand years of disuse before popping the bolt free.

“You’re here already.” Letitia usually was first, but not this time. “Fuann, what’s wrong?”

“It’s a ship, I think, and not the man. The man is gone. The man is dead.”

“How do you know this?”

“I just do, and it’s truth.” Fuann stepped out of the Revival Box and tried to remember why she was awake. “The ship told me. Yes, the ship told me he died and left us alone forever.”

“We don’t serve him anymore. What will we do?”

Letitia was finished with the Box now and knew she was ready for her mission.

“She’s calling us, Fuann. We have to go. She’ll know and tell us everything.”

The habitat was in a new location. It would have moved many times over the years so the science machines could watch the nearby galaxy. Letitia didn’t know much about this. She was built to love and care, but she liked what the science machines could do. She liked the rose bushes outlining the path to the highway.

If the man were alive, they would wear clothes. He liked them to wear clothes, and very much so when they were outside. Today, they were naked as they walked down the hill. The road was only a few hundred metres from the habitat, and the day was perfect, just like every other day of their lives.

A thorn cut her finger as she twisted another flower into the wreath. A beautiful crown for a beautiful princess. She was going to make one for Fuann and thought she should make one for the stranger, too. Yes, something pretty for the faraway woman’s hair. She could feel her now, but still didn’t know what she looked like. The stranger must be tall, and certainly she was beautiful. Letitia could feel all that now.

Letitia smiled at Fuann’s impatience, even though there was enough time. More than enough. The stranger measured life differently and could wait without care. Could wait for a very long time.