Cherry

“When you are not fed love on a silver spoon, you learn to lick it off knives.”
― Lauren Eden, Lioness Awakens

“☹️ -Gregorovich”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

“Now they made all secure in the fast black ship,
and, setting out the wine bowls all a-brim,
they made libation to the gods,
the undying, the ever-new,
most of all to the grey-eyed daughter of Zeus.
And the prow sheared through the night into the dawn.

(Translation by Robert Fitzgerald 1961)”
― Homer, The Odyssey

“A light was flashing on the desktop display when Kira entered. Another message. With a sense of trepidation, she pulled it up.

I am the spark in the center of the void. I am the widdershin scream that cleaves the night. I am your eschatological nightmare. I am the one and the word and the fullness of the light.
Would you like to play a game? Y/N
-Gregorovitch

As a rule, ship minds tended to be eccentric, and the larger they were, the more eccentricities they displayed. Gregorovich was on the outer tail of that bell curve, though. She couldn’t tell if it was just his personality or if his behavior was the result of too much isolation.
Surely, Falconi isn’t crazy enough to fly around with an unstable ship mind… Right?

Either way, best to play it safe:

No. -Kira

An instant later, a reply popped up:

☹️ -Gregorovich”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars