“The big Tindrel-adjacent in the rec area? Got it.” Ruk made a mental note. At some point she would have to leave these quarters; Chekeri simply couldn’t sit still for that long. But thankfully there were thousands of tiny nooks and crannies to rediscover on this ship. Ruk would simply slow down her movements and appreciate the little things in life until they were on dry land again.

“Well, I won’t be doing much of the research. From the parts of Seraphim’s spec sheet that weren’t redacted, she seems more than capable of solving this crisis on her own.” Ruk lowered her voice at the end, so as not to attract the attention of the extravagant Chekeri bot, but to no avail. Seraphim raised her head and looked as though she had given her the first compliment of her entire existence.

“Aw, I’m glad you think so! I was designed for a scenario fitting many of the parameters of this mission. But I’m sure we can find some way for you to contribute as well.”

The little orb drone suddenly detached from its docking station and whizzed from the room. Presumably someone was doing something unclean somewhere on the ship.

“Well, thank you Seraphim. But my main role is to look after you. Make sure you’ve got everything you need…and such. Can you tell us anymore about what to expect down there?” Ruk asked. Seraphim cocked her head at them.

“I have a limited corpus of information to work from right now, but the so-called ‘Holophage’ doesn’t match any previously documented vector-borne diseases. That makes it one of the most valuable research opportunities in the cosmos.”