Traveling for a few days, he finally reached the unmistakable chaos of bodies, vehicles, and tax evasion known as civilization. Waking up to his ship complaining about traffic, he looked outside and saw a massive traffic jam just outside the Galaxy Oasis shopping center. All ships within a few hundred thousand kilometers stood still with passengers shouting at each other. Apparently, the jam was caused by a very angry wife whose husband had cheated on her with a figment of her imagination.

  Girry, looking around at the ships, shrugged and went down to check on his precious cargo while the ship creaked and groaned. He passed Billy, who eyed him and then followed him downstairs. At the bottom, inside a smallish pen in the cargo container, sat both lizirds.

  While Girry grabbed some food for them, the lizirds watched cautiously as Billy waddled around, sniffed them for a bit, then promptly jumped up onto a nearby shelf and went to sleep. Girry, the female lizird, and the male lizird looked at him, blinked, then ignored him completely and went back to their business of feeding and eating. While the lizirds ate some algae, Girry ate some of the leftover soup.

  While all of them ate, they listened to different individuals screaming in their ships. One such person, a mother, was busy shouting at her children. Apparently, the boy had set himself on fire and then ran through the ship, setting everything else on fire before diving into a bath. He then blamed his sister, who blamed her younger twin, who then turned around and blamed the pot plant. The potted plant is now grounded.

  Girry would tilt his oval, droopy ears every now and then to try and hear more interesting things. It’s one of his habits. Eavesdropping. He nurtured it in his younger years while listening out for potential ingredients.

  Luckily for him, the universe is filled with all sorts of juicy entertainment. So, he listened some more. As the family with the grounded pot plant moved forward in the queue, a couple took their place. These two were in the middle of, well, I don’t quite know, to be honest. Both of them are Ploogs and have a very strange language that involves humming, clicking, and whistling.

  The ploog are a very odd species. Born in acid, they have incredibly tough skin and multiple appendages. It is also impossible for them to mate with a different species. All of that aside. They are considered the best nannies in the universe.

  Confused by their odd language, Girry tilted his other ear and listened for something different but was interrupted by his ship. “Whenever you finish eavesdropping, I’d like to plot a course for the nearest refueling satellite.” She exhaled. “I’d also like to know when you plan on updating me. My systems are more than ten years old.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Standing up, Girry put his bowl in a sink. “Update? What for?” He went upstairs. “Don’ fix what ain’t broke.”

  Sighing. “Fine. Then at least give me a name.”

  Girry thought about it for a long while.

  “Is it really that difficult to come up with a name?” She said, clicking her sound-generated tongue.

  “Ya put me on the spot—” His eyes went wide. “What about Computa? Pretty good, right?” he grinned.

  A long moment of silence followed, long enough for Girry’s grin to fade and become a frown. Then it was broken—with even her speech circuits sounding as disappointed as the AI itself. “You have got to be joking.”

  “Don’ like it? Uh, alright.” He looked outside at a planet and grinned. “What about Aura?”

  There was another silence, longer this time, as the ship and computer hummed and clanked. A few beeps later, both from inside and outside, she finally responded.

  “Plotting a course for the nearest fueling satellite.”

  Sitting down, Girry looked at the monitor. “Oh? Ya like that name, do ya?” he smirked. “Right, Aura. Let’s get out of this jam as fast as possible.”

  Giving a single beep, the ship edged slowly forward until she cleared the jam and joined the other ships as they sped into space towards the refueling satellite, Yimmre.

  Speeding through space, the ship rattled, the cargo clamps groaned, and Aura hummed to herself. Realizing that Girry was awake, she clicked her tongue and switched herself off. Smiling at the screen, Girry leaned back and stared out into the void.

  On their way to get fuel, he watched some asteroids go past, a few inedible space jellyfish, and a solar system the size of a very large plate. It didn’t take too long for the refueling satellite to come into view.

  A massive moon-sized station orbited a pitch-black world. A very special world with the highest concentrated oil source in the universe. Drones constantly leave the satellite and descend to the planet to harvest the oil. Once back on the station, it gets refined into ship fuel. However, due to the price of this high-quality fuel, Girry just uses diesel.

  Once docked, Girry tapped the screen. “Aura, ya awake? We’re here.”

  After a long sigh. “Considering the fact that the ship is me, and I was just docked, I think it’s fair to assume that I’m well aware of the fact that we’ve arrived.”

  Girry chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. I know ya enjoyed getting called by your new name.”

  Computer fans whirled to life for a moment, hard drives clicked, and the screen flickered slightly. “Refueling is now fifty percent complete. Estimated cost is two million bolts.”

  “Ouch, it went up again.” He looked at the different individuals on the platform. “I wonder how much they make?” he muttered.

  “More than you,” said Aura, staring at him through the cockpit camera.

  Rubbing his chin. “Ya think so? Maybe I should ask for a job.”

  The screen flashed red. "No. Without cooking, you’re nothing.”

  “Fair enough.” He shrugged.

  A moment later, Aura broke the silence. “Refueling complete. Payment processing.” She paused. “Payment cleared, clamps unlocked. Undocking and setting a new course for, The Food Stall.”

  Stretching and grunting. “Thanks, Aura. Wake me when we get there.”

  The screen dimmed to a soft blue. “Fine. Sleep well.”

  Climbing onto his bunk, Girry drifted into a deep sleep as Aura shut off her screen.