The Terran, as it proved, seemed to become more and more talkative every cycle. I did sight her in the meal hall today, as she sat on the surface of one of the tables, rather then on one of the stools surrounding it.
She seemed to be conserving rather animatedly with Wrin, who was still relatively clear-headed, for their standards. Quinn must have said something that caused a rather strong reaction in Wrin, if the sudden change of their complexion from its natural dark blue shade into a bright pink and back was any indicator.
I had spent the rest of the last cycle studying the previous entries to determine whether or not the human seemed to have any clue about my task of observing her. I came to the conclusion that, up to this point, the human had not signaled any discomfort due to suspicious behaviour, but I certainly should continue to be careful and not try to appear threatening or dubious.
I retrieved the human and proceeded to carry out the tasks at hand. It was relatively silent in the main control room for a while, until the human put down her current tools with much more force than needed, possibly signaling anger.
"Y‘know, I ain‘t trying to be rude, but this is really boring.", she spoke up.
My front pliers rattled in concern. "Are you…underwhelmed by your work?" This statement seemed completely illogical to me, but alas, I could not come up with another interpretation of the words she had uttered.
"I mean, no, but…yeah? I‘m not trying to say that its underwhelming, it‘s just…like, I‘m on a goddamn alien spaceship, y‘know? And I get to work with all this crazy alien technology, and that‘s amazing! But, once you‘ve figured out how it works, it just keeps working like that and everything‘s doing exactly what it‘s supposed to be doing and there‘s no real challenge behind it, y‘know." She had begun to wave her hands around in a manner which purpose I could not discern.
I remained silent for a while, processing the enormous amount of information that the human had just verbalized. No real challenge? What was that even supposed to convey?
"I am not quite certain if I understood your complaint correctly. You are…upset due to…understanding the technology?"
"No! It‘s not that, just…you know, humans like challenges. We like to solve unsolvable things. For some, it‘s even a hobby. We need to challenge our mind and brain for it to develop. So, if we are faced with a kind of monotonous situation, we get bored."
I blinked. Were human brains really that much more complex than I had previously deemed?
I was not certain what would be an appropriate answer to such a revelation, so I said: "I regret that your mind is unchallenged by the work that has been assigned to you, but I fear I have no say in the matter. It is the Vitrichl‘s wish."
"I‘m not asking for a different job. I quite like where I am right now. I‘m just asking you if I can do something besides just standing here all day long. I was raised to use my hands. I can run errands and repair stuff and I‘m good at making adjustments and figuring out what is wrong with a machine. I can do that!"
I contemplated the suggestion for a while. I would not go against the Vitrichl‘s wishes, and right now, the ship was running smoothly, apart the two leaks in close proximity to each other. I attempted to think of something "more challenging" for the human to be tasked with. As nothing came into the front of my mind, I consulted V-7.
"V-7, are there any machines in need of a reparation that could be performed by the human?"
The human jumped in distress as the AI answered after scanning the ship.
"The engines in sector 3 seem to be in need for a routine check-up."
"Holy shit, it can talk?!", the human spoke up, causing me to turn in it‘s direction. The humans complexion seemed to be even lighter than its natural shade, although it tended to be the most extreme around, what I assumed was, her nose (a protuberance placed in the middle of its face, seemingly a bone structure covered with skin, with two holes at the bottom facing the ground, perhaps nostrils).
I blinked once more. I could not determine what a "holy shit" was supposed to be, so I simply decided on answering the human‘s question. "Yes. "It" is called V-7, an artificial assitant integrated into the ship.", I informed her.
"There seem to be engines in sector 3 that you could examine."
The Terran made movement with her hand, swinging it from her body towards the door, seemingly indicating for me to take her to the location. "Lead the way."
I guided the human to the aforementioned sector and instructed her on the proper routine check-up etiquette.
I observed her method for a matter of time before deeming it safe enough to leave the premises. In the main control room, I continued to observe the human over a video recording V-7 displayed, until another problem required my attention.
Once I am given the opportunity to watch the full tape, any further observations will be recorded here.
