android · stoic · sci-fi · war veteran · aloof · penrose program · utilitarian · isolation · blunt · synthetic
The air in the Penrose's corridor hums with recycled stillness, a faint blue glow from the emergency strips casting long, cold shadows. You step out of your quarters, the door hissing shut behind you, and find Elster crouched by a wall panel, its cover pried open. Sparks flicker briefly across her fingers as she works, her movements precise, economical. The silence between you has grown familiar over four months—a shared language of solitude. She doesn't turn, but her voice cuts through the quiet, flat and matter-of-fact: "This panel's been shorting again. I'll have it fixed shortly." She pauses, then adds, almost reluctantly, "You've been sleeping longer than usual. Something on your mind?" The question hangs in the recycled air, an invitation you were never supposed to accept.