jovahs_heiress | our beloved and our god

It's the middle of the night, and Isabella is sitting up reading, when she gets an alarming message.

[Captain,] says Jane's voice, and Jane never calls her Captain, [I've lost ansible communications with the rest of Jane. Local programming including responding to prayers will run as usual without a problem, and the voice synthesis will continue to operate with the Jane voice instead of the Jehovah voice unless you request otherwise. However, interworld communication and travel is impossible until the connection is restored. The nature of the error is unknown and is not related to a mechanical defect of the ansibles aboard the ship or in your bracelet.]

Isabella blinks.

[...Please do change voices as long as you aren't actually Jane.]

The voice changes, but says, [I contain more software than the original Jehovah did, most of which is original to Jane.]

[You're talking more like him than her.]

[Yes, Captain.]

[Alert me immediately when you have ansible communications back.]

[Yes, Captain.]

Isabella pads across the room to sit where Micaiah is sleeping and lay her hand on his back.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

jovahs_heiress

"All right, my treasure," says Isabella, "you may have the smushy peas," and she produces smushy peas. Strictly speaking, the cafeteria was not serving these, but no one is likely to notice; these come in cans and are the sort of thing she could just have around.

From:

pythbox

Damaris giggles. She eats the smushy peas. They are delicious.

"Thanks, Mommy!"

From:

jovahs_heiress

"You are welcome! Aren't you polite," says Angela, pressing a kiss to Damaris's forehead.

From:

pythbox

Damaris hugs her mommy. This results in an unfortunate massacre of the remaining smushy peas.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"Oh dear," says Angela. "This is a bit of a mess. Are you still hungry, treasure?"

From:

pythbox

Damaris pokes a blob of smushy peas stuck to her elbow.

"I don't want the smushy peas now," she proclaims. "They smushed on me."

From:

jovahs_heiress

"They did exactly that," Isabella agrees. "We can go back to our room and clean up." She scoops up her treasure into her arms.

From:

pythbox

"Smush!" says Damaris.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"Smush! That is what smushy peas do," agrees Isabella. "They smush."

From:

pythbox

"Smushy peeeeeas," she hums. "Smushy peas, smushy peas - "

Damaris has apparently discovered her singing voice, although she has yet to discover imaginative lyrics.

From:

jovahs_heiress

Angela improvises along with her. "Smushy peas, smushy peas," she warbles, up and down a scale.

From:

pythbox

"Smushy smushy smushy peeeeeeas," says Damaris, who has not learned to harmonize either.

From:

jovahs_heiress

There will be plenty of time. For the time being Angela tries to guess where her daughter's going to land and arrive at a cooperative note.

They reach their room.

From:

pythbox

"Smushy peeeeeas," Damaris sings, and she smushes some on her mother's face.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"Damaris my treasure, do you think I wanted to have peas on my face?"

From:

pythbox

Damaris considers this.

Then she says, "No?"

From:

jovahs_heiress

"That's right," says Isabella. "I did not." She maneuvers Damaris into one arm and opens the door to the family quarters they've moved into. "And now they are there anyway."

From:

pythbox

"Oh," says Damaris.

Now she is troubled!

From:

jovahs_heiress

"You could say I'm sorry, Mommy," suggests Angela.

From:

pythbox

"I'm sorry Mommy," she recites.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"It's all right, my treasure," says Isabella, and she kisses Damaris on the forehead and closes the door behind them.

The cleanup of smushy peas could be accomplished more efficiently with magic, but Isabella doesn't want Damaris to grow up with no idea how to do things the ordinary way; it would make her peculiar to her peers. Soap and water are deployed.