She had to find an old docking bay: there, she could call her ship to escape. The pirates would probably detect the call, but by the time they deciphered her position, she would be far away.

Running through the deserted corridors with peeling paint, a Zcarbb against her shoulder occupying her left hand and a large pistol ready to fire in her right hand, she told herself that this was not how she thought she would spend her vacation…

“I’m hungry[1],” growled the little Zcarbb, “give me something to eat!”

“Didn’t the pirates feed you?”

“The bad peoples? Yes, they gave me food… a standard hour ago, as you say. But it wasn’t good and I’m still hungry!”

As if to emphasize her point, a growl of a hungry stomach ran through the little princess’s body, which made her tremble slightly.

“I don’t have anything here, but I could synthesize something for you when we’re on board my ship.”

“But I’m hungry now!”

“Well, I can’t help it.”

“But you can: what parts of your body aren’t used? I’ll eat a piece of it.”

Without waiting, the little Zcarbb began to try to bite the armor, in vain. She then turned her gaze towards Sava's unprotected face, eyeing the earlobes in particular...

“Hey! What're you doing?”

Guessing her intention, the Ham let go of the princess, or rather threw her on the ground. The small mandibles clicked in vain in the void, then the little one landed on her abdomen and sprawled on the ground. She immediately straightened up, throwing a furious look at Sava:

“Bad! You're a meanie actually! A bad meanie! I just wanted to eat a piece!”

“What, are you nuts? Don't eat pieces of people, even if you're starving!”

“Mmm... It's true that it would be better with some spices... maybe heated. Can you cut yourself and cook yourself?”

Was she serious? The Ham was starting to reconsider her decision: wasn't she more of a monster than a child after all? Were the Zcarbbs ready to cut themselves into pieces to feed a starving princess? Probably in case of a lack of food... Was the little girl that hungry? How much food had she been served?

“I said: don't eat people! And that's even true with spices!”

“Even with salt?”

“Uh... yes, that's even true with salt... and besides, salt is a condiment, not a spice.”

The princess looked surprised. Sava wondered what point of her argument was causing so much bewilderment. Was it the fact of refusing to be eaten, that people are not to be eaten, even with salt, or that salt is not a spice? Thinking back, it was also possible that it was a translation problem, like a lack of difference between the notions of condiment and spice among the Zcarbbs.

“But, I'm still hungry!”

“Wait a little: we're almost there... I suppose...”

“But I want to eat!”

“When we get there, you can eat whatever you want... well, not people, but for the rest there will be no problem. You can even have salt or spices.”

“Yes! And sugar?”

“Well... yes, also sugar.”

“Hurry up then!”

Sava sighed. The little girl was annoying her. She didn’t know if this was normal behavior for a child, having never had to deal with one before. From what she’d read on the subject, most of this annoying behavior was probably normal.

Abruptly, her right arm tensed up and pulled the trigger of her weapon even as her body spun around. Two pirates who had come into the hallway were thrown back by the power of her weapon’s concentrated shockwaves. But even as they flew through the air, their arms came to life and pointed their own weapons at her to fire. One of them pressed the trigger button, but his weapon didn’t respond, its circuits controlled by Sava’s assault software. The other managed to counter them and a beam of light hit the Ham full on, dissipating on the energy shield that imperceptibly surrounded her just before impact.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The scene hadn’t lasted a Tik and was already over. None of the participants knew what had happened yet.

Sava, out of breath, looked at the inanimate pirates lying, almost out of sight. Her weapon had taken control of her nervous system in order to retaliate to the attack detected by her defense software. Likewise, the pirates’ weapons had reacted in their place to eliminate the intruder…

Still trembling at the thought that her equipment could have been less responsive than that of her enemies, the agent took the princess back in her arms and started running at full speed. Even with her software dismantling those of the defeated pirates, it was almost certain that their defeat had given away her position.

As if to confirm it, her AI. informed her of multiple teleports detected in the area. The pirates must have controlled all the passages where she could pass. Changing tactics, she aimed her weapon at the outer wall and mentally transmitted her strategy to the AI. of her bracelet. Immediately, she took over.

The weapon's settings changed and a powerful shot disintegrated the wall, opening a chasm on the void that greedily swallowed the air of the corridor and everything that was there. Projected outside, the two fugitives were protected from the vacuum of space by the energy sphere of Sava's personal shield, expanded to encompass them both. Breathable air and heat were thus preserved.

Before they drifted within range of the base's cannons, the ship, called by the AI, teleported nearby, in order to avoid any interference, and teleported the girls to safety. The ship then fled with all the power of its engines, before slowing down to regain its stealth. Changing direction regularly, it quickly distanced the pursuit drones automatically launched by the enemy defenses.

Catching her breath with difficulty, the agent let the robots remove the most cumbersome equipment and set the little Zcarbb on the ground. She really should get back to sports: even if the light exoskeletons integrated into the suits amplified her abilities beyond any training, she was short of breath and felt exhausted.

“Where's the food?”

And it wasn't over! She rolled her eyes, then lowered them to the little girl who was looking at her impatiently.

“Okay, follow me.”

They went to the food synthesizer in a corner of her living room. In passing, she told the ship not to attack the princess and wrote a “visitor” access authorization for the “common areas”. The Zcarbbs were recognized as enemies, there was a small risk that the Z.I.A. would take an unfortunate initiative, so Sava preferred to prevent such an event.

The Ham turned on the screen of the synthesizer and faced to the little girl who was looking at the machine with suspicion:

“So, what do you want to eat Ilenaya?”

“It's Ilenayana!” she shouted, annoyed. “Why are you disrespecting me? You're mean! Bad! If you don't call me Ilenayana, I'll call you Sava-Do instead of Sava-Domeria!”

The threat seemed serious... But only from the little girl's point of view. There were probably some cultural points here that Sava was unaware of.

“Sorry Ilenayana, I didn't mean to do it...”

“Okay. But I want to eat!”

“Yes, and... so, what do you want to eat?”

“Something good?”

“But what?”

“Um, well... Something good?”

All expression deserted Sava's face as she tried to keep calm. Come on: she was just a child... What could she possibly like? Meat, probably. Did Zcarbbs also eat plants? She had no idea and the information on that subject was secure. She could access it, but it would take time to validate her authorizations...

Well, meatballs... cow meat, let's say... And then some crushed worm puree, with a tomato sauce... There, that should be fine. Hot dish option, added a little more salt than the initial setting, a few small spices that weren't too spicy... If she didn't like it, she could always synthesize something else.

Once the setting was complete, the synthesizer drawer opened and a floating plate came out, automatically heading towards the table in the center of the room. As if hypnotized, the little girl followed the dish and watched in wonder as it landed on the table... before throwing herself on it frantically.

She didn't use the spoon that came with the plate, but, digging into the dish with both hands, she began to greedily devour it.

Sava looked with disgust at the bits of food that fell on her couch or carpet. The cleaning drones would easily repair this damage, but it still bothered her. A few drops of saliva drooled by Ilenayana just before her rush, however, had left a hole in the carpet, proof of saliva's extremely acidic properties. The hole would also be repairable, but Sava considered with horror that she would have to avoid separating from her armor near the creature's mouth.

The little girl looked downright hungry and the food seemed to her taste: she looked like she was in heaven, her mouth swollen because it was as full as possible.

“So, is it good? It was worth the wait, right?”

The little girl opened her mouth and spit out a few sentences that the universal translator had a hard time understanding:

“With[2] wood... Mut ma worm we wave weal wood what has wawy miwed, woot wowewe babablabe bof babere bike boat wit wawine bowuce.”

The agent hesitated to tell her that you don't talk with your mouth full, then gave up. She quickly explained how the synthesizer worked and asked her to stay in the room while she found the location of her colony to bring her back there.

The little girl nodded before rushing, her eyes shining, towards the synthesizer. She also said something, but the universal translator completely abandoned the task.

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[1] There was a game concept called “Hungry Zcarbb” where you would shoot hungry Zcarbbs at buildings with a slingshot to destroy them and devour the inhabitants. Despite the educational interest of the concept, it never passed the censors and therefore never saw the light of day.

[2] It's good... But at home we have real food that has really lived, not grotesque assemblages of matter like what this machine produces.