The Nebulae MK III has a few areas dedicated to entertainment and astronomy The “Hyperspace Observation Deck”, or “HOD”, is an area that appears less “full” in terms of crowds. When Elara and X-7 arrive at the location, they see it consists of multiple viewing areas arranged like apartment rooms. Each area is an isolated space, but all of them link to the same single, reinforced window at the far side.

Elara looks at a viewing screen by the front desk and check-in area, the desk curved like a crescent moon. The smaller screen presents a much reduced version of what people inside the viewing areas would see. “How is that window not breaking?” she asks X-7 in curiosity and not a little amount of panic.

X-7 “blinks” quickly a few times before answering. “The window is a newer form of material called “Trans-Steel”, designed to withstand immense pressure while appearing completely invisible to the naked eye.” The robot pauses while Elara does a quick look around the area and finds no one else waiting to go inside one of the viewing areas.

“According to the ship’s brochure,” X-7 continues, “this is the only space on the ship that has this form of window. Even the Command Bridge doesn’t possess it.”

“Really?” Elara does not believe this at first, but decides to go along with it. X-7 has not lied to her.

“Do you want to go inside, Captain?” X-7 asks when Elara does not announce her intention to go in or not.

“I… I don’t know.” Elara points to another “RWZ”, a smaller space just by the curved front desk. “It looks like you can’t be there with me.”

“Perhaps if we speak to the staff and ask for an exception?”

Elara nods and also swallows a lump in her throat. “We can try.” She spots someone standing at the front desk and starts to walk over. Ten steps into the short journey to the desk, Elara stops in shock. The same “Suldrossian” female she saw earlier is standing there, wearing a black uniform with gold highlights.

The humanoid smiles at Elara and X-7 with practiced ease. “Welcome, Human and Artificial Being!” she greets in a velvety-smooth version of “Basic Tongue”. “How are you enjoying your time on the Nebulae?”

“Very nice, thanks.” Elara gets up to the front desk, glad that X-7 is standing by her for support. “Um, are there open spaces for us on the Observation Deck?”

“Let me check the seat roster.” A few quick flicks of the Suldrossian’s curved fingers take place on a holographic data pad, something she whips out from an area of the desk unseen from the other side. “There are three open benches,” she states to Elara, “each for a single standard-sized occupant. Will that be acceptable?”

“Can I bring her with me?” Elara asks while nodding at X-7. “She doesn’t need to sit down.”

“I’m sorry, but cruise regulations say only one non-Artificial occupant per single seat. I cannot…”

The Suldrossian stops, those pristine eyes narrowing at Elara. “Excuse me, Human,” she then says more informally. “I remember you from a short while ago.”

Elara tenses up. “Who, me? What do you mean?” She avoids making eye contact with the humanoid to prevent what happened back in the hallways.

“I recognize your ambient thoughts, Human. Or should I say…?” The Suldrossian smirks. “Forgive me; I am being, as Humans say, “nosy”. Just allow me to “nudge” you again and I will be satisfied. It will be very quick.”

“I must object to this treatment, Suldrossian telepath,” X-7 sharply insists while moving in between Elara and the Suldrossian. “If my Captain is not comfortable with your mental scanning, then you will respect her opinion and not perform the act.”

“Of course.” The humanoid nods to X-7 before looking at Elara. “What is your decision, Human? Do you, as Humans say, “give consent”?”

Elara blushes madly and is unable to speak her answer. She settles for a series of nods, bobbing her head up and down with clear motions. X-7 looks back at Elara, reading the human’s face as a robot instead of an alien, and voluntarily steps back to her former position besides the Captain. The Suldrossian smiles again.

“Just look up here, please.” The Suldrossian points to her eyes and makes sure Elara is looking right at them. Once Elara does so, she gets to see both of the Suldrossian’s eyes “wink” at her in sequence. This double attack sends two “nudges” against her forehead; her vision slowly spirals as she feels something rub against her mind like a set of knuckles against a tense muscle.

Elara feels her body stiffen again, rigidity locking her limbs into place. Her vision refocuses, revealing the Suldrossian is still smiling but looks more focused. Cold, firm logic covers Elara’s mind like an atmospheric barrier, pushing back the telepathic intrusion. The humanoid’s eyes go wide as her smile drops. Then, with the feeling of cutting a thick string, the intrusion disappears.

“Stars…” The Suldrossian looks to X-7 with surprise, and then back at Elara. “I did not mean to disturb your friend, Human. I only thought their influence was not as strong.”

Which “friend”? What “influence”? Elara thinks about this for all of two seconds before she comes up with a chilling answer: She can sense E-77 in my head.

The word “Affirmative” pops into Elara’s thoughts, unbidden and beyond her control. Elara’s body loosens suddenly, as if on command. So, her thought was right.

“Ma’am,” X-7 reminds the flustered Suldrossian, “The seats?”

“Ah, yes! I think that…” The humanoid whisks her fingers quickly across the holo-pad again. “Yes, in this case, both of you can go in together. But only for a short time. Regulations are not meant to be broken like this, but I can make an exception.”

“Thank you for that,” Elara says with a warm smile, trying to sound and look pleased. The Suldrossian smiles back, sparking a bit of warmth in Elara’s chest. The mental “touch” they shared lingers on in their thoughts, but it does not keep them from separating when Elara and X-7 go to their assigned viewing area a few moments later.

“Here we go, Viewing Area B-Three.” X-7 points with one of her upper arms to the assigned enclosed space, next to “B-Two” and “B-Four” and looking identical to them both. Approaching their assigned space’s entrance reveals the presence of a small vestibule, more like a ship’s airlock, leading into a bare space with one part of the massive reinforced window on the other side. The outer door is already unlocked, thanks to the Suldrossian.

Once they pass through the second door, the window and what lies beyond is open for them to view. X-7 makes sure the doors are closed before stepping forward, Elara keeping close by her for safety. They both walk over to the single piece of furniture in the room; a long, metal bench bolted down to the floor and sporting two large square cushions on the seat. Moving almost at the same time, Elara and X-7 sit down at opposite ends of the bench. As they shuffle closer together, Elara leans back while X-7 remains seated straight.

Beyond the reinforced “Trans-Steel” window is hyperspace. Elara and X-7 see it as a thick blackness broken apart by many whizzing white lights. Each of those lights is, likely, a star or some equivalent celestial body. The speed of the Nebulae makes these shining objects look like small comets, racing into view and then out of sight faster than Elara’s human eyes can track.

Elara’s jaw slackens, the lights from hyperspace reflecting in her own eyes. “So pretty…” she murmurs with awe after several seconds of silent viewing.

“It is, Elara.” The woman shivers when she hears X-7 speak her name in a softer whisper, feeling that synthetic voice drip into her mind. “All those lights, going by so quickly. Flashing in your eyes for just a second, just enough to make you appreciate them. And then they’re gone, fleeting bits of the galaxy returning to their own place. It is relaxing to watch the lights go by, isn’t it?”

Elara blinks quickly; X-7’s words trigger a subconscious reaction in her mind and body. She feels her breathing slow and deepen without her direct consent. She is not afraid of this happening; she recognizes it as something familiar, something safe. Watching the lights feels like something safe for her to do.

Elara sighs in contentment. “I’m glad you’re here to see this with me,” she mumbles to X-7. “You probably never had the chance before.”

“No, never.” X-7 looks over to Elara, taking her Captain’s smiling, casual self as a good sign. “But I won’t ever see it like you do. Or as E-Seventy-Seven does.”

“Oh.” Elara’s eyebrows drop as she remembers that side of her mind. “I think that she… she…” Her words change into a quiet moan, her eyes rolling back to show her whites. She does not show signs of pain or distress, only the shifting of one “dominant” personality to another.

X-7 focuses all her attention on Elara now, her processing matrix expressing an equivalent to human surprise. An automatic switch between personalities, without triggers? Incredible!

Elara’s eyes return to normal save for a heavy glaze. It is clear that E-77 is now in control. “I see the stars, Mistress. I see the lights.” E-77 shows a small smile using Elara’s lips. “I see their beauty.”

X-7 manages to shift to the role of a leader with only a mild delay in the required responses. “Very good, my girl. You must have really wanted to see them.”

“I did. I do.” E-77 straightens her shared body a bit on the bench, not looking at X-7. The lights of hyperspace reflect somewhat in her hypnotized eyes. “Thank you, Mistress, for letting me experience this.”

“Thank Elara as well,” X-7 gently reminds her subservient machine. “She gave up her control for you.”

“Affirmative.” E-77 looks out the window for a short while longer, saying and doing nothing. After she feels satisfied, she informs X-7 that, “I will relinquish control now, Mistress.”

E-77’s eyes close as Elara’s body relaxes on the bench; X-7 suspects she is going into her subconscious to speak with Elara. Once again, the four-armed robot is not privy to the conversation, though she certainly wants to be.

It takes a few seconds for Elara to become the dominant personality again. Once the transfer of control is completed, she blushes and squirms against her seat like an embarrassed girl. “I, uh, I didn’t quite expect that.” An understatement, for sure.

“What do you mean?” X-7 stands up and walks behind Elara as she asks the question. Before Elara can answer, X-7 begins massaging her Captain’s shoulders lightly. With no one else in this space, the robot feels confident about showing some more “direct” bonding.

“When I thought about E-Seventy-Seven, she just pushed on my thoughts. She wanted to be the “Active” personality, and I let it happen.” Elara’s lips quiver in fear as her mind sticks onto those moments instead of the changing hyperspace display in front of her. “I let it happen,” she repeats.

“You gave your approval so it could happen.” X-7 keeps her voice soft as she rubs and presses on some stiff knots in Elara’s upper arms. “Even subconsciously, you allowed E-Seventy-Seven to take control. You trust her, Elara.”

“I guess so.” Elara leans forward and stands up, breaking away from X-7’s touch so she can stretch on her own. “Okay, let’s go back to our room for a bit. When’s dinner going to be?”

X-7 checks her internal clock. “In two hours and fifteen minutes, local time, the food court will be open for dinner.”

“Sounds good.” Elara goes to the room’s door first, opening it so that X-7 can step out ahead of her. The robot nods back, knowing what Elara is doing subconsciously reflects her submissive side, but also shows her trust towards X-7. She is pleased to have both these things present in her Captain.

The Suldrossian is busy speaking with a pair of small “Verk-oon”, mammalian aliens with fanged mouths and big, glinting eyes standing up to Elara’s waist. Elara and X-7 leave quickly, but not quick enough to avoid attention from a shaded pair of eyes by the Deck’s entranceway. From the shadows, a clawed hand reaches into a concealed pocket to feel for a handheld device with a pronged front end.