Chapter 2

I kept working throughout the morning, trying to ignore what I felt, but it was a tiresome task.

Sharing a crowded command centre with Eva meant that our interactions were unavoidable, yet those small moments of connection made me happy, even if I didn’t understand why she initiated them more often than necessary.

The biggest issue was that her behaviour towards me was an anomaly, not a norm. So my chances of coming up with any definitive answers were minimal, leaving me to speculate endlessly about the reason behind her actions, even if I knew I would never find a solid answer.

Nhi was easier to be around. In the beginning, I had been taken aback by her closeness, but after realising that she was like that with everyone, I didn't mind it any longer. I classified it as her personal trait, having its roots in her culture and upbringing.

Eva, on the other hand, was totally different. I never saw her be as close with anyone else as she was with me. Normally, she liked to keep people at a distance, so even if we shared a cabin and spent most of our time together, the chances that that would be the reason for her behaviour were only 3.7%. Not enough to call it a definitive answer. I sighed.

When my pad pinged, I flipped the screen, expecting the Power Diagnostic Report Raul had promised me yesterday. I had identified a power leakage that left the scanners running on lower capacity. Even if it were minimal, it would still cost us 11 hours of their operational activity throughout the rest of our mission. Plus, I knew that making them run at full capacity would make Eva happy.

My systems went into full capacity when, instead of what I had expected, I saw a message from Sven.

“Hi Rea, I got my first commission :)”. He had attached an image of the scene he was supposed to draw.

It was Nhi who had ordered it, I was certain of it. But why had she wanted a drawing of me leaning into Eva as we sat in the biosphere? Did she want to support Sven’s passion by ordering a commission? Even so, why that kind of scene? She could have chosen anything. My quantum processor failed to deliver me any definitive answer, and her choice left me unsettled.

“Congratulations!” I replied, still feeling happy for him. It must mean a lot to Sven that someone took his art seriously, I thought. Shall I ask him too?, I wondered. He was always really nice to me, and getting another commission would probably mean a lot to him. But what would I order? There was a 67% chance that Nhi would gift me her drawing at one point, so I started to consider a gift for her, trying to figure out what she would like.

I discarded the idea of an illustration showing her receiving the Nobel Prize because if it didn’t happen, she would feel sad every time she looked at it. So what then? I ran through my database and found what I needed. Yes, I remembered how happy she had looked when we headed towards the launch pad to embark on our mission and in most of her interviews, she mentioned how she wanted to make her country proud. I texted my idea to Sven. He was surprised at first, and we went back and forth a few times before he agreed. I assumed he must have felt overwhelmed by getting a second commission so fast.

It would be more efficient if I could call him, but we had learned a long time ago that living in such a cramped space required being mindful of other people and not disturbing them unnecessarily. I smiled and put my pad away, watching Eva leave for the gym. She really liked her workouts and competed with Raul whenever their shifts overlapped, making it a spectacle for the rest of the crew to watch. I was left alone, which was exactly what I needed.

For days, I had tried to upgrade the algorithm responsible for recalibrating the scanners, hoping to get an extra few hours of operational time. I had noticed some time ago that Eva got really happy when I would surprise her with such an improvement in operational efficiency. I never understood why that was the case. Personally, I would have preferred to know upfront about such things, but I didn't mind that she liked something else. I didn’t need to understand her fully to make her happy, so I kept it a secret, imagining how she would feel when I told her what I had done. Her smile was worth it, even if it would stir my emotions even further.