“So Springlit, where did you come from anyway,” I asked the voice in my head I was pretty sure was coming from my potted plants.

“Harris, I have been around for a long time. I think that my seeds had been dormant for centuries at least. It is hard to say exactly, but I was SO HAPPY when you came! Before you, I didn’t have what I needed to grow, but now look at me go. I am growing so fast.”

“What exactly do I give you that lets you grow?” I responded. This was an odd development and I wanted to understand Springlit’s situation and intentions. I understood previously that some of the fae could read minds in a limited way. That seemed more akin to picking up on impressions than what Springlit was doing.

“Love maybe?” Springlit teased. “Just kidding, Harris. Probably. It is for sure magic. I don’t think that the others can feel it, but you are generating some magic particles at a specific … a particular frequency in enough volume to help me grow. They felt really good to me when I felt them and I convinced one of those golems to drop me off at the source and I got to growing.”

“So you can control the ship’s service units?” I asked with some trepidation. It seemed like a foothold type situation maybe. I didn’t actually have any training as the sole Technician aboard the Esperanto. In general that suited me just fine, but I wasn’t really sure what my responsibilities in this type of situation really were. Geeq and I had only ever talked about work related guidelines once.

When he and I were first talking about the plan he said, “The vending machines are your province aboard the Esperanto. This is actually a big responsibility. People depend on them for snacks and those vending machines aren’t going to fix themselves, are they? Well most of them actually can fix themselves. The only ones that can’t are older models and pretty fiddly, so I would leave those to the service units. Anyway, I am counting on your Harris.”

It wasn’t really a comprehensive job description, but I had been diligently sticking to it thus far. Anyhow, it didn’t help me with Springlit. The answer that the voice gave me didn’t allay my fears much either, “At the time I first visited you I was very weak, so I could only control one golem and only when it was relatively close. Now I can control many of the golems and many other parts of the ship. My spiritual roots grew so much thanks to you Harris. The only ones that I can talk directly to right now are you and big sis Queakers. I think that she understands plants better than you, so we get along great, but you help me grow the MOST. I love it here Harris! Let’s go on some adventures soon!”

“So what type of adventures did you want to have, Springlit? Also, when you say that you can control other parts of the ship, what do you mean?” I asked my new friend. I figured there was probably no reason to panic. Then all of the lights went out and the gravity-like force holding me to the floor disappeared.

The lights flashed back on the gravity was restored an instant later. Geeq came over the loudspeaker and informed the crew of the Esperanto, “We suffered a momentary disruption in our environmental and life support system. All systems are functioning normally. We are performing a full diagnostic, but there is no cause for alarm. Thank you.”

“You saw what I did there, didn’t you Harris? Impressed? I can control all of the systems attached to the main computer or the water lines, but right now Geeq can take control back very quickly. I wonder how that will work after I have grown some more. As for adventures, I woke up when you entered the tutorial and I watched every minute of your adventure there. I would love to have some adventures like those sometime. We could go with big sis once we get to Oberous. That seems like a fun planet,” responded the voice in my head.

“You watched all of my adventures. Like every single minute? Can you read my mind, Springlit? I think that some adventures sound fun, but I need some boundaries and I also need to know that we can trust each other. Also, are you a ghost in the machine or are you really a plant?” I said in a panicked voice that I pushed to sound as calm as possible. This was going down a bad road quickly.

“Me read your mind Harris? That is funny. I am probably a thousand years too early for something like that. It is more likely that you can read my mind. Can you read my mind Harris? If you could, you would know that you can always trust your good friend Springlit. I might be a ghost in your machine and I am definitely a real plant. I am super real. Just look,” said Springlit as pale green glowing plant matter began to pour out of my shower floor. It didn’t go down the drain. Instead, it rapidly coalesced into the form of a woman with extremely pale skin with an extremely slight green glow.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Check me out Harris. The plants in your room are like my antennae, but most of me lives in the water system. It's like algae, but I don’t need any light. You are my sun Harris!” Springlit explained enthusiastically as moved to open the shower door.

“Springlit, if you want me to ‘check you out,’ you better have made some magic algae clothes to go with that magic algae body. Also, can other people see you? Does Geeq know that you are living in the water system? Is it even safe for everyone to have you growing in there?” I was a little scared and a little exhausted at this point. I hadn’t talked much over the past two weeks on the Esperanto and this Springlit had me working overtime.

As she stepped out of the shower stall, I could see that she had her very own Technician’s jumpsuit, complete with the silly hat. Her skin and hair had a greenish tinge, but she looked pretty well like a normal woman perhaps a few years my junior. “Can other people see you Harris? Not unless you want them too, right? It is the same with me. Geeq doesn’t know that I am on the ship at all. I fine tuned the water system to keep my areas separate from those needed for life support, so it is totally safe. If my water were to mingle with the crew’s water they would be completely safe. The only difference would be a very slight minty fresh scent. Don’t I smell good Harris?” Springlit said chipper enthusiasm.

She did smell good. Minty fresh even, but I had another much more pressing question, “How did you pick what you’d look like Springlit?

“I carefully observed all of your physiological reactions and speech patterns during the tutorial and while you watched the CCTV system after you left the tutorial. I correlated all of the results and designed the best vessel for us to go adventuring. Why? Is there a problem Harris?” answered Springlit.

“You should look however you want Springlit. You shouldn’t change yourself to make anyone else happy. That isn’t right and I wouldn’t ask a friend to do that for me. I do notice that you look a fair amount like some people I know, like Kelly and Delirin for example. That could create some … awkward questions for me, but the important thing is that you are happy. Be yourself,” I replied to the sentient plant standing in the sitting area of my room. It was a very after school special response, but I believed it then and I still feel that way now.

I was also rolling the dice on Springlit actually wanting to make some changes that would make her look less like people in my life and perhaps blend in a bit better. The assumptions that my friends would make … even just the embarrassment if she explained how she came up with her look … I could see the looks on their faces and hear the questions. I was not looking forward to Springlit meeting the my friends as things stood.

“Thanks Harris. I appreciate what you just said. I think that I would like to make some changes,” replied Springlit. Thank goodness. Springlit briefly flashed with green light. My eyes refocused and it was a … critical failure! Springlit’s lustrous hair was now a beautiful shade of emerald green and her deep green eyes sparkled to match. The cut of her jumpsuit was also more tailored and a bit more revealing. She had a striking appearance that would attract attention anywhere and everywhere that she went. Just peachy.

I did not comment on the changes. Like I said it wasn’t really my place. I simply stated, “When I said we need some boundaries, I meant it. You can’t constantly observe me, Springlit. I need a measure of privacy and I don’t want to feel like I'm constantly being watched.”

“I understand. Thank you for telling me how you feel. I will stop watching you while you sleep. Is that a good start Harris?” Springlit responded.

“Sure. That sounds like a good start. Like a really important and good start. In fact, I was going to turn in now. Let’s talk some more tomorrow, Springlit,” I told the sentient plant before starting my nightly routine. This had been a weird day. Things with Springlit had been unexpected, but I very much got a feeling from her that she was genuine and she was certainly different. Springlit was able to communicate with me and remember me while my full stealth skill was running, which was novel in my experience to that point. After two weeks in largely self-imposed solitary, I had realized that ten months alone with only the occasional visit from Geeq wasn’t going to work. Not if I wanted to stay sane.

As I started to drift off to sleep I heard Springlit’s voice in my mind, “Good Night Harris. I have a few errands to run. I will be back tomorrow morning and I will bring you a FUN surprise.” Great. Probably no way that was going to go wrong. I made sure that I had my energy armor, including my gear for low oxygen and noxious gasses, running before I drifted off to sleep. You know, just in case Springlit’s fun surprise was oxygen related. Oxygen is key.