A Day in the Life of Hue-Lit P. Ozuma – Part 1

The captain sat at her desk, idly humming and scrolling through various reports. It would seem that a night's sleep was enough to allow a backlog to develop. A few times her tune faltered as a flash of pain in her right leg sent a jolt right up her spine. It had been worse than usual in the past few days. She had genuinely struggled to fall asleep last night and a stack of reports seemed to be a poor repayment for her troubles. Her fingers massaged her forehead as she sighed. A dull ache from far too much wine before bed beat against the inside of her skull.

Perhaps it was about time to swallow a measure of pride and get the med-bots to prescribe her some painkillers.

A chime brought her out of her thoughts. “Yes?”

“Permission to enter,” said a familiar robotic voice.

“Of course,” said Ozuma, placing her tablet down on the desk.

Corona entered the captain’s office quietly, walking around the conference desk to stand before her. It was amazing how something made of solid metal could move so quietly across the metal floor. Some day she would have to ask how she did it.

“Good morning, captain.”

“Good morning, Corona,” said the captain, shifting in her chair slightly and wincing from the movement. It was definitely sensitive today.

Her first officer looked down at her. “Is something the matter, captain?”

Ozuma sighed irritably and shook her head. “It’s nothing new. Just the usual problems. I guess I’m just a little cranky today. I didn’t get much sleep.”

“From what I understand that is common for you, captain,” said the gynoid with her usual deadpan tone.

She chuckled, unable to hide the slight edge to her voice as she spoke again. “Well, yes, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better first thing in the morning.”

The robot nodded. “I am sorry to hear that, captain.”

Tapping her fingers on the desk, Ozuma shook her head. “Never mind my mood. We’ve got work to do.”

“Indeed, captain.”

“I’ve been working my way through the overnights. Anything important I should know?”

Her first officer shook her head. “No, captain. It was a routine night while you slept.”

Ozuma nodded. “Very well. Are we on schedule for our next survey?”

“Yes, captain.”

She picked up her tablet. “Well then, I suppose I should get back to reading through these reports.”

“Yes, captain.”

About a minute passed before the captain realised Corona was still standing there.

“Something else, Corona? It’s not like you to not speak your mind.”

The gynoid took half a step backwards. It was the closest Corona could get to a facial expression. “Is your pain worse than normal, captain?”

She shook her head.

“Are you certain, captain? I think you are trying to put on a brave face for me. That is not wise.”

Frowning, Ozuma put her tablet down again. “I’m not putting on a brave face.”

“You are clearly in more pain than usual, captain. I merely wish to offer a way to decrease it.”

“You’re not wanting to give me another massage, are you?”

Her first officer nodded. “Yes, captain. I would like to give you a leg massage.”

Ozuma sighed, removing her hat from her head to scratch her fingers through her hair. “Corona, as much as I enjoy my leg being massaged, I really don’t think it’s a good use of your time. We’re meant to be on duty, aren’t we? It’s hardly becoming of a captain to get their first officer to give them massages while on duty, is it?” She paused for a moment. “Actually, it’s not becoming even when off duty, now that I think about it.”

“I respectfully disagree, captain.”

“Oh?” Her hand naturally drifted to her cane resting against the edge of her desk.

The gynoid nodded. “I am programmed to fulfil all the roles of a first officer which includes assisting the captain of the ship I am assigned to. As part of that assistance, I am to ensure the captain can perform their duties at peak efficiency.” She took another half step back, just out of cane range. “You are not operating at peak efficiency right now. Your mind is clearly distracted by your pain and so I wish to help mitigate that distraction.”

She placed her hat back on her head. “So what you’re arguing is that it is your duty to give me a massage if it will help me ‘operate at peak efficiency’?”

“Yes, captain. That is what I am stating.”

Smiling, the captain shook her head. “I fear the Admiralty would be upset to hear you spend your time alone finding loopholes in your programming.”

“That is—“

Ozuma laughed. “I’m just teasing, Corona.”

“Oh…”

The captain stood up, leaning heavily on her cane as her right leg protested rather loudly at having to change position. “Stars,” she muttered under her breath. “Let’s do this then. Try not to take up too much time. You have your own duties to attend to outside of making sure I’m at ‘peak efficiency’.”

Corona walked over to the conference table. They traditionally used that for these impromptu massage sessions since it was a convenient height for the two of them and it was usually clear of usual junk that accumulated on a captain’s desk – Ozuma’s desk usually had several different tablets on the go as well as a few printouts from the surprisingly old-fashioned Tem and Llewellyn.  She would have thought the Academy ace and the engineer would be all for digital reports but apparently not. It was probably the old English and Welsh blood in them respectively, made them traditional and conservative.

She placed her hat and cane down on a chair before removing her jacket.

“Do you need assistance to remove the bodysuit, captain?” asked Corona.

Ozuma shot her first officer a look that sent her a couple of steps back. “You know I hate it when you ask me things like that.”

“I am sorry, captain.”

She sighed, unzipping her bodysuit and peeling it off her body leaving her with just her blouse on. With a little hop, she sat on the table before shakily raising her legs up and swivelling on her backside so she could lay flat on the table. “There we go,” said Ozuma a little breathlessly as her right leg screamed silently in agony. “You can start now,” she added with gritted teeth.

“Yes, captain.”

The gynoid’s surprisingly warm fingers set to work on the muscles of the captain’s thigh, digging firmly into the brown flesh and seeking out the knots in the quivering muscles. She had been born with a number of issues, as she liked to call them, with her right leg. A couple of muscles had to be removed and her nerves were badly damaged too. It left her leg acting like it had muscles that were not there which often led to serious issues with phantom pains as well as the muscles in her leg tensing and relaxing for no real good reason. Usually they just remained tensed for hours on end which was painful enough, other times they would relax suddenly which almost always ended up with her falling flat on her face. After a few close encounters with the floor, the doctors gave her a cane which took a few more falls until she finally started using it as directed.

“How do you warm your fingers like that?” asked Ozuma, her voice quivering as Corona’s fingers dug into a particularly sensitive spot. She closed her eyes, trying her best not to fall whimper.

“It is a natural side-effect from the calculations required to apply just the right amount of pressure without crushing your leg or accomplishing nothing but some form of rudimentary tickle.”

The captain chuckled nervously. “Well I’m glad you’re not crushing my leg.”

“The calculations are complex but they are nowhere near taxing enough to cause potential damage if that is your concern.”

“Well I was worried a little bit. The Admiralty would be rather upset if you burned yourself out giving me a massage,” she said, trying to push the image of her leg being crushed out of her mind.

Corona nodded, her fingers moving down to Ozuma’s calf muscle. “I would not do this if I was fearful of such a thing, captain. As you know, I must preserve myself at all costs unless it would cost the life of another.”

She opened her eyes to stare up at the bare metal ceiling. “So what do you think of our new Squadron Leader? She’s been here a couple of weeks now.”

“The team performed admirably while dealing with the survey ship incident, captain,” said the First Officer. “She is working hard at attempting to increase the efficiency of her squadron too.”

Ozuma chuckled. “Yes, Vii’s been leaving me dozens of messages begging me to get Tem to go easier on them.”

Her robotic fingers dug deep into where one of the captain’s muscles should have been. “Do you agree with Viiflidi’s assessment?”

“Yes and no.”

“I do not understand that response, captain.”

She giggled a little. “I think Tem can be a little tough on the girls but I think it’s for their own good. Tem will learn to relax eventually and maybe the other two will stop getting caught having sex in public places.”

"You do appear to have an ability to catch them in the act... so to speak, captain," said the gynoid, lifting Ozuma’s leg gently so she could massage the underside.

The captain chuckled. “You would think they would hear me coming with my cane but they never do.”

“Indeed, captain.”

She sighed cheerfully. Her muscles were finally starting to relax and even the dull ache in her head was starting to fade. “Do you think Tem will fit in with the rest of the crew?”

“Is it a concern, captain?”

“I want your opinion,” said Ozuma, propping herself up on her elbows so she could look at her first officer.

"I do not know. The probability is impossible to calculate with any accuracy,” said Corona. Ozuma could swear she could see some sadness in the gynoid’s fixed expression.

The captain smiled. “Give me an estimate.”

Her first officer was silent for nearly a full minute. Ozuma could practically hear the circuits in the robot’s head buzzing as she worked out an estimate. She suspected Corona was more likely trying to work out a number which would not annoy the captain than an accurate probability calculation. Over the time they had served together, Ozuma had noticed that Corona had clearly been programmed with the ability to bend the truth as a way of keep her captain happy.

“Fifty fifty,” said the gynoid eventually.

Ozuma laughed. “How committal. You must have an actual opinion, Corona.”

"I believe their experience on the attacked ship caused the team to form some kind of bond but friction is still present, captain. Perhaps this can be overcome. I would like to hope so but I cannot be certain."

The captain smiled brightly. “I think they will, if that helps with your estimate.”

She nodded. "It does, captain. In my experience you have a high percentage of success when it comes to reading a situation."

“Flattery, Corona?”

“A statement of fact.”

Ozuma smiled. “Of course.”

“I now calculate the odds at around an eighty percent likelihood of the team becoming a successful cohesive whole."

Ozuma allowed herself to lie flat on the table again, her back was starting to stiffen up. "That sounds like good odds to me, Corona. If gambling was legal on ADF ships, I'd put money on it."

The door suddenly chimed.

“Stars,” said the captain, sitting up as the gynoid backed away. “Who is it?”

“It’s Tem, captain.”

“Just give me a few moments. I’m with Corona right now.”

“Of course, captain.”

She slid off the side of the table. “Stars, what does she want? I was enjoying that massage.”

“You don’t need to hide what you were doing, captain.”

“Easy for you to say, Corona.” She grabbed her jacket and pulled it on.

“Your bodysuit, captain…”

“No time,” said the captain, hobbling over to the desk and sitting down.

The first officer said nothing but Ozuma could see the disapproval in the gynoid’s passive face.

She smoothed down her jacket. It was time to deal with Tem.

TO BE CONTINUED