He nodded. "Yes. Unless you have a Repairman aboard, though considering what you said about expenses, I doubt it." He replied, finishing with his hand and starting to work on the ship again. He was silent as he worked, not even blinking.
She shrugged, cursing again as she accidentally smacked her head against the panel, “Everything is expensive now. It’s really just the cost versus the actual need of the object that helps me decide. A repairman wasn’t something I needed, so it’s not something I got.” A proud smile crossed her face when she got one wire free and she connected it back up, moving onto the next of many wires and connectors and everything else needed to run the ship.
Zev nodded. "I see." He replied, continuing to work. "So has inflation risen? And is it caused by the ongoing war, or by something else?" He asked, curious. He would have to ask if he could plug into her datastream later and receive news of recent events that had happened, within the last thirty years.
“The war, duh.” She sighed and sat up straight, rolling her shoulders before going back to work. With the war going on, prices had been jacked so they could afford to keep fighting, though it was making it hard for most citizens to survive. There were talks of revolts on both sides, but no one had the money or supplies to start, so people kept to their expensive buying and working non stop to support families.
Zev nodded thoughtfully. "Both sides are too evenly matched." He said slowly. It was true. The two sides of the war were too evenly matched for either side to gain a distinct advantage over the other, and so they were simply locked in conflict.
Thesa nodded. “They are, which is not making it easy to survive when you need food to live and parts for ships.” She yanked another wire free and reattached it to where it belonged with another tiny smile. Her eyes scanned for another wire as she continued, jokingly asking Zev, “Are you still working? Otherwise you’re not getting a ride.”
Zev glanced at her. "Unlike humans, I can divide my attentions and still succeed at both jobs." He replied calmly, still working. He stopped for a moment, eyes flicking from side to side as if he were reading something, and then kept working quickly.
(I just realized that Zev is a lot like Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation XD)
(XD I’ve saddly never watched Star Trek, but I believe you)
“Now you’re just rubbing in your supposed superiority,” She said with a face that said she was joking. She had no clue if he understood joking, or sarcasm, or any other human thing like that, but it was fun to joke even if they didn’t get it. It was really probably quite obvious, but she didn’t get too much human interaction besides things to transport.
(XD you should, its amazing XD)
Zev blinked, frowning slightly, then his expression cleared. "Oh. That was a joke." He said, with a soft sound that could almost be called a laugh. Then he kept working. It was obvious just from his behavior that there was something…different, about him. That he possessed something other androids did not. Some spark.
Stabby whirred back into the room for a minute, bumping into walls and almost escaping into Zev’s ship before turning around and heading back into her ship. “You have a lot to learn young android,” She replied, a tiny grin on her face as she went back to work. Wire after wire, repair after repair, and replacing thing after thing that was broken.
"Young?" He protested. "I am 37!" He said, glancing at her. "I am designed to appear to be in my 20s. But I am 37." He looked back down at the wiring and kept working on the controls and wiring.
“Ah, but young android, how many of those years have been spent on a ship with no contact to the outside world?” She countered with another grin and a sparkle in her eye, “Hm? You’re still young and inexperienced.” His age didn’t surprise her, androids could be hundreds of years old and they wouldn’t look like they’ve aged a day. She kept the information in her mind though, incase they needed to know it so he could get repairs.
Zev shook his head. "I am not young. I was…how old are you?" He asked suddenly, still working on the wiring. Something was different. He knew that. He could feel it just in the way he spoke to her. Not the way he used to speak to Alexi, or any of the other humans. It sounded…more like the banter that flowed between two humans, rather than speech between human and android.
Thesa shrugged, “Twenty, but with much more experience in this world than you have.” She yanked out a very rusty and corroded wire from the panel and sighed, chucking it to the side and grabbing a different wire to replace it. “I think you’re nickname is going to be Little Android now, it fits you.” With a little bit of work, she got the new wire into place and decided to take a tiny break so she could talk to her new company.
"I was seventeen when you were born. I may not have as much experience, but I have impeccable memory, and i only have to be taught something once. I also contain the knowledge of all the other 25 Shokov models." He replied. "Don't call me Little Android."
“I’m calling you little android,” She replied, “And sometimes knowledge isn’t the same as experience.” With a sigh, she leaned back against the controls so she could talk. For some reason, it felt natural for her to be talking to him, even though most of the time she was with an android, she addressed them as if they were no more than any other robots. She was talking to Zev like she would someone she knew well though.
Zev shrugged. "Can I use your dataport later to catch up with the news and stuff?" He asked, still working. "I would like to know more about what changes have or havent happened. Also, with your permission, i would like to message fath-Alexi." He said, not looking up. "It would be relief to him to know I am alive."
Thesa thought for a minute and nodded, “Sure, though with the message to Alexi, I’d like to warn you, he’s not as young and as lively as he was in the video.” Eventually, she got back to work and messed with the wires some more. It was clear she wasn’t really working though, mostly messing around.
Zev nodded. "I am aware. He would be in his sixties by now." He said. Alexi Shokov had been a prodigy, producing all those androids and building up his business while in his twenties and thirties. Of course, it had been thirty years since then.
“And he doesn’t really answer fans when they message or contact him, I may know from experience.” Thesa was a huge fan of his work, and speaking and working with him was one of her dreams. He didn’t really communicate with fans though, and had slipped into the shadows to enjoy the rest of his life by himself. She understood his decision though.
"I understand. I can…i have my ways." He had a specific code to put as the header for his message so that Alexi would pay attention and see it. He brushed his hair back from his face. He hadn't seen his creator in…so, so long. It felt like forever. Though in reality, it was only thirty years.
“Ok,” Was her reply, her attention already drifting as she played with the wire and sighed. She stood up suddenly and stretched, wandering around the cockpit, “I’m bored. I might call it a day for the work, it’s probably already night on Grinter.” Her eyes flicked to his and she explained quickly, “My home planet, I’m still on its schedule.”
He nodded. "Agriculture. That explains some things." He replied, straightening up. "Can you show my to a dataport, then, before you sleep?" He asked her, looking over st her.
She nodded and motioned for him to follow. “What does it explain?” She asked, leading him into the all in one, living, sleeping, and kitchen area. Gesturing to the data port on the back wall, she shrugged and went over to the little bed inlaid into the wall, “Tell me if you mess with any of the settings, try not to though.” There was a set of clothes strewn all over and she scooped up the ones she needed, heading through a small door into the bathroom to change.
Zev shrugged. "A couple things." He replied. He sat by the dataport. "Alright. Thank you." He turned to the dataport, and reached to the back of his neck. He tugged, and pulled out a silvery, thin cord, plugging it into the dataport so that he could interface with it directly. His eyes were still open, but they flickered about as if he were reading things that weren't actually there.