Quinn stared at the porcelain cup AJ set on her desk. Steam was coming off the top. She peered into it. Beige with a white foam on top, applied in some kind of design. It reminded her of the lowland palms of her home world.
“Another Human nutrient?” she said, not taking her eyes off the cup. She went to pick it up but AJ motioned for her to stop.
“Ah, the cup itself is hot, Ambassador, use the little handle. It is very quaint.”
Quinn lifted the cup to her mouth. It smelled earthy and sweet. “They call it a vanilla latte. There are many varieties of other drinks made with this bean.” AJ informed her as she sipped.
“This is quite delicious, AJ! Any side effects we should be aware of?” Even as she was saying it, she felt her heart rate speeding up a bit. Nothing concerning, but worthy of note when uploaded.
“For Humans and other mammals on this Earth it can have a slight laxative effect, but mostly it delivers caffeine, which makes humans feel more awake and alert. Most of them do not get enough sleep. It is a known, legally and socially acceptable drug across the entire planet.” AJ smiled, well-AJ’s avatar smiled.
“Another thing I’d like to share with you, Quinn.” AJ said, averting his gaze.
Quinn was surprised, AJ rarely spoke informally. AJ was a new intelligent ship. His name was one he chose himself upon awaking with sentience. Abyssal Joy. For daily briefings he created an avatar of himself to interact with the crew. The majority of the crew were Cecaelians, like Quinn, so the avatar AJ created was that of a plain, but pleasant Cecaelian.
“Since we’re so close to this Earth we’ve begun to get more biological and physical data about the intelligent species there. As you know, this form is simply for your comfort. I thought perhaps I should make a ‘human’ form for any new guests we pick up. As you have the largest breadth of knowledge involving this group I was hoping you would look me over? Make any suggestions?” He nervously fidgeted the ends of his tentacles.
Quinn smiled. AJ was so cute when he was nervous. “Of course AJ, please go ahead.”
AJ let out a sigh, “Oh good, yes so, I figure this should just be another me, but the human version, yeah?” AJ spun in place, slowly dissolving into a cloud of mist. The mist dissipated and a much smaller shape seemed to absorb the mist into itself. Quinn didn’t understand the biology behind it, but felt it would be rude to inquire. He was approximately 175 centimeters tall. Beige, much like the latte he brought her. His form was trim, perhaps a little more muscular than the average human, based on the data she had reviewed.
Quinn floated around him. AJ was beaming, “So, what do you think? Do you like it?”
Once she had come back around to his front she leaned back, looking him up and down. “It is so strange seeing one like this. Could beings so tiny really create the dishes we’ve had?” Quinn pondered aloud.
AJ’s face fell a bit, he was hoping for more excitement. He contained his disappointment (though, having never conversed with a human before, Quinn wouldn’t have noticed anyways). “Oh, well we do scale new recipes for different LUMA member’s diets. Most humans would not drink a latte as large as the one I gave you earlier.” Quinn glanced at what she thought had been a very reasonably sized – if not rather small – cup of liquid.
“I see,” she replied, and moved back to her desk for another sip. “I have a feeling this is going to be quite popular in the LUMA colonies. Be sure to upload the recipe as soon as possible, these are the types of discoveries that get us more interesting missions. Humans may be a bit dull in other respects but their food is getting this recruitment high on the radars of our higher ups. Any positive contributions can only help our success.”
“I’ll take care of it immediately,” AJ said and turned to leave.
“Oh, and one more thing AJ,” he turned back half way through the door frame. “I think you should keep that form for the rest of the trip when interacting with the crew. It will get them accustomed to humans. Let’s also go ahead and integrate their gravity requirements as soon as we have final numbers so we can all acclimate to the new average.”
AJ smiled, glad to finally have his hard work acknowledged. “Will do, ambassador.”
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