A notification bubble popped into focus and started floating about the holographic display that Astrid was working on. She tried to ignore it, focusing instead on manipulating the design she had spent the last several hours editing, but the distraction kept appearing and disappearing from her field of view, and more and more randomly as she rotated the hologram's field of view on its three-dimensional access. Astrid had programmed the bubble to do exactly as it was, knowing full well that if it was any less irritating, she would continue to ignore it and find herself having to deal with any one or more of the crew members. Better to figure out why they were bothering her without actually having to be forced into face-to-face interaction. Not that some of them would let that detail stop them. It only took a few more minutes before she rolled her eyes, succumbed to pacifying her annoyance, and poked the cute, little bouncing-exclamation-mark-filled bubble.

The bubble burst, and from it scrolled a list of planetary information. She heaved a sigh, put her hand right through the screen, and fervently swiped the report away. [i]Like I care,[/i] were the first words that came to mind. She stretched her arms down, holding herself up from her hands on the console that projected the holograms, her neck completely relaxed and her head slumped down, chin to her chest. Astrid stayed there for a moment, trying to simply erase her irritation from her mind. The woman gave another sigh to the empty room, pushed off of the surface and spun around, long, dirty blonde hair flowing around her face. Her office was tidy, much cleaner than any office she had before, but then she had greatly enjoyed programming some adorable little robots that would come out and periodically remove waste from the floors and shelves or sort and organize various equipment that she left laying about. There was a flat surface extruding from one wall with a wheeled-chair by it that she sat in. On the table was a container of water that she absent-mindedly grabbed and put to her lips, only to find it empty. She sighed again, much more quietly and calmly this time, replaced the container, though keeping her hand daintily wrapped around it. She placed her opposite elbow softly on the table and set her head in her outstretched hand. Astrid's mind started to wander...

[center]A few months earlier...[/center]

[b]"Ms. Avila, please come to my office."[/b] The voiced chimed in and out of the speakers implanted so irritatingly over her work station. She had managed to get an entire office to herself, to finally be allowed to work in private, and they had to put the speaker right in front of her face. She knew that one of these days, she'd rip it right from the wall. She was tempted to sit there, not respond, and see if Mr. Bernard would just forget, but she knew better. Astrid rose, shifted her clothing, shook her head to allow her long hair to float more freely about, and swayed out of the room.

[b]"Mr. Bernard will see you now,"[/b] the secretary said with a curt, nasal tone as Astrid arrived to her boss' office.

Astrid gracefully threw the secretary a glance out of the corner of her eye, dropping her head ever-so-slightly to more clearly view the woman seated behind the desk. [b]"Thank you, dear."[/b] Astrid responded with the smoothest tone she could muster. Astrid never halted her pace to receive any sort of response from the secretary. Her long legs continued to carry her forward. She appeared to move slowly, but her strides were lengthy and she managed to cover distances quite quickly, even in high heels. She said nothing as the see-through door slid aside and Astrid slipped through the entrance.

Mr. Bernard stood looking out at an impressive vista, an entire cityscape sprawled beneath him. As general stereotypes went, Astrid found there were two types of men in relation to her: predators and prey. Prey were simple, nervous, and easy to handle and persuade. Predators were confident, dominant, and often gifted with a literal position of power over her. Mr. Bernard was a predator. His physique was impeccable, his eyes were piercing, and if she hadn't grown beyond the ability to feel in such a way for someone, she might have considered himself attractive. He was also the reason why she had been recently promoted, and she knew quite well what her additional "duties" might entail. [b]"Ms. Avila, welcome."[/b]

[center]Present day...[/center]

Astrid blinked her eyes a few times, distracting herself away from her daydream. She shook her head ever-so-slightly. Closing her eyes for a moment, she opened them again, looking at her empty drink. She stared at it for a moment but, not desiring to fall back into her memories again, stood up from her seat, leaving the container on the table. She went to one of the consoles and input a few commands.

Within moments, another one of her mechanical creations came skirting around a corner. The squat robot leaped up onto the table with precision, grabbed the bottle and leaped back off. [b]"Make sure to get something a little stronger than water this time,"[/b] she called provocatively back at the little machine. It stopped for a moment, made some sort of whistle to register that it had received her statement, and shot off again around the corner and out of her lab.