Private Lost in the Circuits

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra had received stranger repair requests.

Not many, admittedly, but enough that a message from a pilot droid asking someone to come inspect its ship hadn't immediately set off any alarms. The transmission had been frustratingly sparse on useful information. No detailed diagnostic report, no convenient list of malfunctioning systems, and certainly nothing explaining why the droid apparently wanted someone to come aboard rather than simply transmitting the relevant data. There had been a location on Commenor, a request for mechanical assistance, and just enough information about the vessel itself to make Lyra curious.

Curiosity had always been one of her weaknesses.

Fortunately, she hadn't needed to travel far. Commenor was home, and Lyra knew the local ports, repair yards, and landing fields well enough that reaching the coordinates had been easy. She arrived dressed more for work than introductions, wearing an old shirt beneath a utility jacket, durable trousers, boots, and a tool belt that had accumulated enough scratches and grease stains to qualify as an archaeological record of her career. A compact diagnostic kit rested against one hip as she crossed the landing area toward the ship that had apparently decided it needed her attention.

The moment she got a proper look at the vessel, Lyra slowed.

"Oh..."

That was interesting.

Her attention traveled along the unusual contours of the corvette, mechanic and pilot immediately competing for control of her thoughts. She had seen thousands of ships, worked on more than she could count, and spent enough of her childhood around freighters to recognize broad families of design philosophies even when she didn't know a particular model. This one demanded a second look. There was something almost organic about its shape, enough that she found herself circling partway around it before remembering that somebody had actually called her here for a reason.

"You couldn't have mentioned you were attached to something this interesting?" she called toward the ship, apparently addressing the droid that had contacted her whether it could presently hear her or not.

Lyra adjusted the diagnostic kit against her hip and approached more carefully, resisting the powerful temptation to start examining the hull before she had permission. Whatever was wrong with it, she wasn't about to start pulling panels from somebody else's ship simply because she wanted to know what was underneath them.

"Hello?" she called once she was close enough to reasonably expect an answer. "I'm Lyra Ventor. Your pilot contacted me about taking a look at the ship."

She waited a moment, listening for movement from within before adding with an amused little smile, "It neglected to tell me what I'm supposed to be looking at, though, so I'm hoping somebody aboard has the rest of that conversation."

One hand settled casually against her tool belt as she looked toward the entrance. She had left home expecting a troublesome engine, an unreliable hyperdrive, or perhaps a navigation system with an attitude problem. Instead, standing beneath the strange vessel on the familiar soil of Commenor, Lyra found herself increasingly curious about both the ship and whoever had arrived aboard it.

For now, though, she remained outside and waited to be invited in.

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

Tapping at the holomap, despite the fact his finger went right through the projection, Starlin let out a frustrated little huff. ​

​

"He said not to stop until we were beyond this territory" boy reminded droid, "What are you doing? Why won't you listen to me?"​

​

In the days since leaving Kytrand, having found himself urged from Sith Space to someplace safer, Starlin had grown increasingly impatient with Pluto. The pilot droid just would not listen to him, would not answer, it was as though he was programmed to dismiss him and it was getting old. He had heard the conversation between PL-TO3 and ground control, of course, though the lady on the other end seemed to have nearly as much trouble as the boy did when it came to receiving information from it.​

​

If he had known how to fly the thing himself, he might have taken over control of the cockpit. Alas, this dusty old bucket of bolts was the only hope he had of finding home again.​

​

The ship had been landed for all of five minutes before the sound of another vessel nearing reached his ears. Starlin ducked out of sight from the viewing port, half hiding in the doorway of the cockpit so he could observe and listen without drawing attention to himself.​

​

"This is a bad idea" he hissed at the droid, "A very bad idea."​

​

And yet, even so, Pluto saw fit to lower the boarding ramp. It was enough to coax Starlin back into the cockpit fully, and the boy ran a hand up through his hair to offset his frustration and his nerves. There was nowhere to hide, little space between the hallway which held the ramp and the cockpit itself.​

​

<Gree-tings Ly-ra Ven-tor> the droid began, further fueling Starlin's building frustration. He was left feeling like a ghost, unseen and unheard by the droid. <Onboard, please. Cock-pit.>​

​

Starlin wanted to put his foot down, not onboard, not cockpit, but instead he pressed further back into the shadows of the cockpit to watch and listen. With any luck this would be over quickly and they could move on.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

The invitation was not exactly reassuring.

Lyra stood at the foot of the lowered ramp for a moment, looking up into the unfamiliar ship as the pilot droid's clipped voice reached her. She had expected someone to come out and meet her, or at least for the droid to explain what needed attention before inviting a complete stranger aboard. Instead, she had gotten two words of direction and an open door.

"Cockpit. Right," she murmured, adjusting the diagnostic kit against her hip before starting up the ramp. "You're certainly not much for conversation, are you?"

Curiosity quickly took over as she entered. Her attention moved over the interior almost automatically, noting the construction, the age of various components, and anything that might explain why she'd been summoned in the first place. She resisted the temptation to stop and investigate anything along the way. Someone else's ship meant someone else's rules, and until she knew what was actually wrong, she was only a guest with a toolbox.

It wasn't until she reached the cockpit that Lyra realized the droid wasn't alone.

She stopped just inside, surprise briefly crossing her features when she spotted the young man lingering farther back. That explained at least part of the mystery, although the way he had positioned himself certainly didn't suggest he'd been eagerly awaiting the mechanic Pluto had called. If anything, there was a wariness about him that made her wonder whether inviting her aboard had actually been his idea in the first place.

Lyra offered him an easy smile and deliberately remained near the entrance rather than moving farther into his space.

"Hi. I'm Lyra," she introduced herself, gesturing lightly toward herself before her thumb hooked toward the pilot droid. "I'm guessing you already heard that part. Your friend here contacted me and asked me to take a look at the ship, but apparently explaining why was considered optional."

Her eyes flicked toward Pluto before returning to Starlin, amusement creeping into her expression.

"So before I start poking around where I don't belong, maybe you can help me out. What's wrong with her?"

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

Footsteps clacked against the ship's interior, goading Starlin into pressing back against the wall. He had been raised in a quiet, almost isolated conditions, his Uncles were not much for the limelight despite the positions they held, and their wariness had rubbed off on him over the years he had spent in their care.​

​

The woman - Lyra - introduced herself anew, and remembering the good manners Darien had insisted on Starlin dipped his head into a polite bow in response.​

​

"Hello" he said, voice quiet as he fought down his nerves. "I don't know" he admitted, "It won't talk to me." Starlin glanced at the droid, a deep furrow forming within his brow.​

​

Yet even as he said it, PL half turned to acknowledge Lyra's presence.​

​

<Gree-tings Ly-ra Ven-tor> the droid said, just as choppy as it had sounded through comms. <Ship is func-tio-nal.> ​

​

A pause, during which time Starlin groaned in embarrassment and wiped his hand down his face. "I'm sorry, it--"​

​

<I am no lon-ger func-tio-nal> PL went on to add, <Please, over-ride syst-em. Re-move child-lock.>​

​

In the aftermath, Starlin could only stare.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

For several seconds, Lyra could only stare right along with Starlin. Then her eyes slowly shifted toward PL. "Oh." The diagnostic kit suddenly made considerably more sense.

Lyra's surprise gave way to interest as she stepped farther into the cockpit, though she still didn't immediately reach for the droid. Instead, she crouched slightly to get a better look at PL without touching anything, her attention moving over the older chassis as she tried to reconcile what she'd just heard. The ship wasn't malfunctioning at all. The pilot was. Or at least, it thought it was, and apparently it had been resourceful enough to find a mechanic when its current restrictions prevented it from fixing the problem itself.

"Well, that explains why you were so vague." There was a note of amusement in her voice now as she glanced toward Starlin. His expression made it abundantly clear that the request to remove a child-lock was news to him too, and something about that gave Lyra pause.

She straightened rather than immediately reaching for her tools.

"Okay. Before I override anything..." Her attention returned to PL. "What exactly does this child-lock prevent you from doing, and why do you want it removed?"

Only then did she look back toward Starlin, offering him a small, reassuring smile. "And I'm not changing anything until we know what it actually changes." She tipped her head toward the droid. "Especially since I'm getting the impression you didn't ask it to call me."

Lyra rested a hand against the diagnostic kit at her hip and gave PL an expectant look.

"All right, Pluto. Your turn. Explain."

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

Starlin could make very little sense of any of it, so when she said she wasn't going to do anything until she understood it better the lad just sort of shrugged. "Alright." A pause, then a shake of his head. "Didn't ask for it, no, but it has been unresponsive... To me at least."​

​

PL trilled idly for a moment, before turning his head toward Lyra.​

​

<Mas-ter Arcturus did not want chil-dren altering flight paths> the droid explained, <Mas-ter forgot to o-ver-ride childlock pro-to-cols when lea-ving ship to Star-lin. Poor o-ver-sight on Mas-ter's part. Please, Ly-ra, fix it.>​

​

"What?" Starlin balked, taking half a step closer, "All this time, you've heard what I've been saying?"​

​

True to form, PL did not answer him.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra's eyebrows climbed as Pluto finally explained the problem, and for a moment she simply looked between the droid and Starlin. A child-lock preventing alterations to the flight path was considerably less alarming than some broad restriction buried throughout the ship's systems. More importantly, it explained why Pluto had been willing to communicate with her while apparently refusing to cooperate with the person actually aboard the ship.

Starlin's realization drew a sympathetic wince from her. Being ignored was irritating enough. Discovering that Pluto had apparently been listening the entire time and simply refusing to acknowledge him was something else entirely.

"Okay, that's a little rude," Lyra informed the droid, although amusement tugged at the corner of her mouth. "There's a difference between preventing someone from changing a flight path and pretending they don't exist."

Her attention shifted back to Starlin as something else Pluto had said settled into place. "He said the ship was left to you," she pointed out gently. "If that's true, then I don't see much reason for a child-lock to still be controlling where you can go." She paused, glancing between him and Pluto once more. "But it's your ship, not mine. If you want me to remove it, I will. If you don't, Pluto is going to have to live with being disappointed."

Lyra rested a hand against the diagnostic kit at her hip, leaving the decision entirely with him rather than reaching for her tools. A small smile appeared as she tipped her head toward the droid.

"So, what do you say?" she asked. "Want to finally be able to tell your own ship where you're going?"

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"Yes" the boy said, emphatically and without hesitation, "Oh, yes, please. You don't know how awful it's been the past I-don't-know-how-long, stuck in this metal box talking to a wall."​

​

The idea that he wouldn't have to go it alone anymore? That Pluto might actually converse with him and help him make sense of everything? Yeah, he'd give anything for that.​

​

"How do you fix it?" he asked, taking a timid step closer to woman and droid without crowding them. "Is there a switch or something? I didn't see one in the user manual, but... that thing is a lot."​

​

He bounced up on his toes, excited and looking to offset a little anxiety.​

​

"Oh, erm, I'm Starlin by the way."​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

His enthusiasm pulled an immediate smile from Lyra, particularly when he described Pluto as a wall. Considering the droid had apparently been listening to him the entire time, she couldn't exactly disagree. "Starlin," she repeated with a nod. "Nice to properly meet you. And yes, I think we can rescue you from having one-sided conversations with your own pilot."

At his question, she crouched beside Pluto and finally opened her diagnostic kit. "Unfortunately, no convenient switch. That would be too easy." She selected a diagnostic lead and connected it to the droid's maintenance interface, bringing up its active protocols on the small display. "A child-lock like this is usually buried in the authorization hierarchy. Your father's command is still sitting above yours, so Pluto isn't deciding to ignore you. He's following an instruction he hasn't been given permission to stop following."

She shifted the display so Starlin could see rather than simply doing the work for him. "See this?" Lyra indicated the authorization tree, tracing it down until she found Starlin's identity beneath Arcturus. "That's you, but right now you're classified as a protected passenger. We don't want to delete your father's authorization in case you ever need it, so instead..." Her fingers moved across the controls, opening the restriction and changing Starlin's status. "...we remove the dependent flag, promote your profile to owner-level access, and tell Pluto that the flight restriction no longer applies to you."

She paused before confirming anything and looked up at Starlin. "This is the important part. Never let somebody tell you an override is harmless just because they know which buttons to press. Always find out what permissions they're changing first." Only after giving him the chance to watch did she confirm the alteration, waiting while the new authorization propagated through Pluto's systems.

Lyra disconnected the lead and tucked it back into her kit before rising. "There. Assuming your father didn't bury another restriction underneath that one, Pluto should recognize you as the person giving the orders now." A mischievous smile appeared as she stepped aside and gestured toward the droid, deliberately giving Starlin the floor.

"Go ahead. Tell your wall something."

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

Starlin nodded along as he listened to Lyra's explanation, while understanding maybe 10% of what she was saying. There were the occasional backchannel responses, a "hmm" here, and an "oh" there to show engagement, but for the most part he watched, he listened, and he learned.​

​

"You know," he said, looking over at the droid during a brief lull in activity, "You could have still spoken to me, Pluto. Kind of a jerk move, really... Uncle Darien would say you were rude."​

​

Pluto still didn't respond, not while Lyra was working on him. It had been a very long time since Pluto's memory had been wiped, there was a level of sentience in there that was not standard for such models, but with that also came... issues. His poor circuits were overworked, there was software and hardware both that needed upgrades, and he had clearly been alone for most of that time.​

​

If talking to a wall for a few weeks had driven Starlin close to madness, imagine years of it.​

​

"How do I know if they're changing what they say they are?" he asked, of future mechanics doing overrides.​

​

Then he turned back to Pluto and cleared his throat.​

​

"Hello, Pluto; reply to me."​

​

<Hello, Mas-ter Star-lin.>​

​

"Finally!" The exhale of relief was palpable.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Starlin's sheer relief brought a grin to Lyra's face. After however long he'd spent talking to a droid that refused to acknowledge him, she could hardly blame him for looking as though someone had just handed him the keys to freedom. At least Pluto's immediate response confirmed the change had taken properly.

His earlier question was a good one, though, and Lyra wasn't going to leave it unanswered. "You make them show you," she explained. "If someone needs to change an authorization, ask them to show you what they're changing before they confirm it. You don't have to understand every line of code. Look at the permissions before and after, ask what each one controls, and make sure what they tell you matches what actually changes."

She gave him a small smile. "And if somebody gets annoyed because you're asking questions about your own ship, that's a good reason to find another mechanic." Lyra tapped lightly against her diagnostic kit. "You don't have to know more than the person doing the work. You just shouldn't be afraid to make them explain what they're doing."

With the child-lock dealt with, Lyra turned her attention back to Pluto. Something about the droid still bothered the mechanic in her. The restriction explained why he hadn't obeyed Starlin's attempts to alter their course, but it didn't necessarily explain everything else. Pluto was old, and she'd already connected her equipment to him. There was little reason not to make certain Starlin wasn't about to trust his newly cooperative pilot to systems that were barely holding together.

"Now, before we celebrate too much..." Lyra crouched beside Pluto again and reconnected the diagnostic lead. "You called me because you weren't functional. We fixed the problem you knew about. That doesn't mean it's the only one." She started a broader diagnostic this time, checking the droid's hardware status, memory integrity, power regulation, processors and whatever fault logs the old pilot had accumulated. "You've apparently been taking care of this ship for quite a while, Pluto. Let's see who's been taking care of you."

Her attention shifted briefly toward Starlin as the diagnostic began returning information. "Might as well give him a proper checkup while I'm here. If Pluto is going to be helping you fly this thing, I'd rather find anything else that's wrong while we're safely on the ground."

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"Alright" he said, with a firm nod of his head, "I'll make sure I'm asking questions and watching what is done. Thanks, I honestly wouldn't have even though about that myself."​

​

Lyra was doing far more than helping in the present, she was giving Starlin a future through the droid and further understanding of how this technologically advanced Galaxy of theirs worked best.​

​

"How long have you been doing this?" he asked. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."​

​

While Lyra ran further diagnostics, Starlin took a few steps toward the door of the cockpit.​

​

"I recently discovered a machine in the galley that makes this killer drink" he said, "leaves me feeling alert and good. Would you like some?" He was, of course, talking about caf', but Starlin didn't know that. What he did know was that he didn't really enjoy the bitterness, but the perks outweighed that.​

​

Mostly the lad didn't wish to be in her way, or to simply stand over her staring as she worked.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

"That's all I'm asking," Lyra replied with a smile. "You don't have to become a mechanic overnight. Just learn enough that nobody can convince you something is normal when it isn't." His question about her experience made her pause while the diagnostic continued running. "Pretty much my entire life. My dad hauled cargo, my mom was a pilot, so I grew up around ships. I was learning what different engine noises meant before I was old enough to understand half the words people used to explain them."

A warning appeared on her diagnostic display, followed by another, and Lyra leaned closer to inspect the results. Nothing looked catastrophic, thankfully. Pluto's hardware was remarkably functional considering his age, although a couple of vibration alerts sent her reaching for a hydrospanner. "Well, Pluto, you're doing better than I expected." She found the first loose fastener beneath one of his access panels and tightened it before checking another. "Couple of loose bolts. Nothing exciting, but I'd rather tighten them now than wait for you to start rattling."

The software was another matter. Lyra frowned slightly as she worked through the version information and compatibility reports. "Your hardware isn't the problem. Your software is ancient." She glanced toward Starlin with an amused smile. "Not broken, just very overdue for an update. I'll make a backup of what he has now before touching anything, though. Pluto's been running long enough that I don't want an update accidentally wiping out something important." Given the personality the droid had already demonstrated, she certainly didn't want to accidentally replace him with some pristine factory version that happened to occupy the same chassis.

Then Starlin offered her a drink, and Lyra's attention shifted away from the diagnostic screen. His description made her eyebrows rise before recognition slowly dawned. "A machine in the galley that makes a bitter drink and leaves you feeling more awake?" Her smile widened. "Starlin...have you discovered caf?"

She laughed softly and returned to Pluto's open panel, giving Starlin plenty of room to escape the cockpit while she worked. "Yes, please. I'd love some." After a moment, she called after him, unable to resist adding, "And don't worry, I won't completely rebuild Pluto while you're gone. I think he'd complain."

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

He looked at her in awe as she explained her upbringing, it was so very different from his own. Starlin was very grateful for the way he had been raised, he knew he was beyond privileged, but that did not mean he could not imagine what it would have been like to live another's life too. ​

​

His was one of leisure and learning, his Uncles had doted upon him, ensured he had all he could ever need, but there had been a lot of expectations placed upon his shoulders too. The right way to act, to dress, to eat, to speak. Sometimes he wondered what it would have been like to have more bodily freedoms, though he knew that would come with a trade off. One could not have the standing in society his family did and be given a loose leash.​

​

"I don't know the first thing about any of this" he admitted, "Where I come from, this, erm, technology isn't a thing. It's been eye-opening to be sure, and incredibly overwhelming, so thank you for making it a little easier. I hope I can pick up enough to get by out here, right now Pluto has been doing the heavy lifting, even if he wasn't acknowledging me."​

​

Starlin quite enjoyed the way in which Lyra spoke to the droid, she was not talking to him through her conversation with Star, she was addressing him directly. The boy could only smile at that. When the conversation did turn his way he tried to make sense of it and mostly nodded along again.​

​

"Okay" he said, already trusting the woman with his droid and ship. She hadn't given him cause to be wary, quite the opposite. "A backup will... save it?"​

​

As for the matter of caf', Starlin sheepishly smiled. "Maybe? If that's what it's called. I don't think I like the taste very much, but it does help keep me awake on these long and lonely days. Nights? I don't know what's what when we're in space."​

​

With her promise in the air, Starlin hurried down to the galley to put the machine to good use. He rummaged the cupboards and found some shelf stable milk and biscuits to accompany it. His Uncle Darien almost always had biscuits alongside his tea when he was having guests over. Caf' was not tea, but he hoped the same sentiment applied.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra's hands paused over Pluto's open access panel when Starlin admitted that technology like this simply did not exist where he came from. That explained quite a bit. His uncertainty hadn't come from disinterest or an unwillingness to learn. He had been dropped into a galaxy filled with ships, droids, computers, and countless other systems everyone around him probably assumed were ordinary. "Then don't worry about learning all of it at once," she told him, glancing up from her work with an encouraging smile. "Nobody knows all of this. Learn what you need first. How to tell Pluto where you want to go, basic controls in case something happens to him, how to call for help, and which warning lights mean you should stop touching things immediately. The rest can come later."

His question about the backup earned a nod as she returned her attention to the droid. "Basically, yes. Before I update his software, I'll copy everything important that's already there. His configuration, memory, personality data, anything unique to Pluto that we don't want to lose. If the update goes wrong, I have something to restore instead of leaving you with a very expensive metal statue." Her smile returned as she addressed the droid directly. "No offense, Pluto." She finished tightening another loose fastener before beginning the backup, careful not to change anything until she knew the existing data had been safely preserved.

Starlin's description of losing track of day and night in space made her laugh softly. "That's caf, all right. Most people don't start because they love the taste. You can always add in cream, milk, and sugar to alter the taste." She watched him disappear toward the galley before adding loudly enough to carry after him, "And trust me, losing track of time in space doesn't go away just because you learn how everything works!" She'd spent enough hours in cockpits to know how easily one day could bleed into another when the stars outside offered no sunrise or sunset to measure them by.

With Starlin gone, Lyra returned her full attention to Pluto. She let the backup complete before beginning the software update, monitoring each stage rather than simply allowing the process to run unattended. The old droid had clearly been doing his job for a very long time, and she wasn't interested in rewarding that service by accidentally wiping away the personality he'd developed along the way. "Don't worry," she murmured to him while she worked. "I'm not turning you into somebody else. Just bringing you a little closer to the century the rest of us are living in."

By the time Starlin returned, Lyra had closed the access panel again and was sitting near Pluto with her diagnostic unit still connected, watching the last stages of the update. The sight of milk and biscuits accompanying the caf caught her by surprise, and her expression immediately brightened. "Oh, you brought snacks too?" She accepted the offered caf with both hands, pleasantly surprised by the gesture. "Now you're making me feel underprepared. Usually people just glare at me until their ship works again."

She took an appreciative sip before nodding toward Pluto. "Backup's safe, loose hardware is tightened, and his software is updating now. Once that's finished, we'll run another diagnostic and make sure everything agrees with everything else." Her attention returned to Starlin, curiosity creeping into her expression now that his earlier admission had given her an entirely different understanding of him. "But you can't casually tell a mechanic you come from somewhere without technology and expect her not to have questions." Her smile took any pressure out of the statement. "Where exactly did you come from?"

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

"I think the most important thing is knowing where it is I'm even needing to go" he mumbled, with an awkward rub to the back of his neck. "I only got this far because of what he was already planning to do, from here? Well... I don't know. I guess the Other-Starlin had set a route up for him, to bring me somewhere safe, so there's that. But after that?" He shrugged.​

​

"Do you think you can give me a crash course in the controls before you leave?" He looked between Lyra and Pluto, then hastily shook his head, "I don't mean to keep you any longer than necessary, I'm sure I can figure it out."​

​

He was very much relieved to hear that she would be working hard to keep the droid's personality in check, not that Starlin had personally experienced it for himself yet. There was a small glimmer of hope that the droid would remember his Father, and if he remembered his Father then maybe he'd know a way back home. Or how to find him. Or... something.​

​

"Cream, milk, sugar... like tea? Uncle Darien loves his tea, and Uncle Theryn loves to bring him all of the different bits for it."​

​

He was left with her final words ringing in his ears as he worked on the caf' and its accompanying tray. Following her mention of sugar, he made sure to bring some of that too. Leviathan was well stocked for a family of nine, all shelf stable products, so there were items on hand even he hadn't realized.​

​

Such as the biscuits.​

​

His cheeks burned when she called him out on the snacks. "Uncle Darien always makes sure guests have biscuits with their tea," he said, as he offered the tray down to her. "How would you like yours?" he asked, before she simply took the cup as it was. "Oh, I can... erm..." He let her spruce up her own in the end, of course, though part of him worried it was unbecoming of him.​

​

As she asked her questions, Starlin added a little milk and sugar to his own. It was a good suggestion, and he found it much more palatable when he took his first sip.​

​

"I dunno the planet name" he said, "We never referred to it that way. But I was raised in a City called Mercuitie, in the Ámathosi Desert. It's wonderful, an oasis hidden between sandstone rocks, on the edge of a river." He smiled, but it was filled with melancholy; Starlin missed home.​

​

Lyra Ventor ​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra caught the way he immediately tried to withdraw his request and smiled around the rim of her caf. "Starlin, showing you how to fly your own ship isn't keeping me." She lowered the cup and nodded toward the cockpit controls. "Once Pluto's finished updating, I'll give you a crash course. Nothing fancy. Basic flight controls, navigation, communications, how to read the important instruments, and what to do if something goes wrong. Enough that if Pluto ever decides to become a wall again, you aren't completely dependent on him." A hint of amusement entered her expression. "After that, practice. Preferably somewhere with lots of empty space and very few things to hit."

His comparison of caf to tea earned an immediate nod. "Exactly like that. Everyone eventually figures out how they like it." When Starlin explained the biscuits, her smile softened. There was something sweet about the fact that, stranded somewhere completely unfamiliar, he was still following the rules of hospitality he'd learned at home. "Then your Uncle Darien has excellent manners, and I appreciate the biscuits." She added a little cream and sugar to her own caf before taking another sip, perfectly content to handle it herself rather than leave Starlin worrying about getting it right.

Mercuitie, however, meant nothing to her.

Lyra reached for the nearest navigational terminal almost instinctively, entering the name while Starlin described sandstone cliffs, a desert, and the river running beside the city. She tried Mercuitie first, then Ámathosi, varying the spellings when neither produced anything useful. Her brow gradually furrowed as she searched the available planetary and navigational records, but there was no recognition from her and nothing on the charts that matched what he'd given her. Eventually she leaned back with a small shake of her head. "I'm not finding it."

She turned toward him, careful not to make that sound more frightening than it needed to. "That doesn't mean it isn't out there. There are worlds missing from charts, isolated settlements, places known by different names, and plenty of records that aren't complete." She glanced back at Pluto as another possibility occurred to her. "And we have something better than a name. You got here somehow. If Pluto has records of where this journey began, hyperspace coordinates, previous navigation data, anything like that, we might be able to work backward."

The melancholy in his smile hadn't escaped her, and Lyra's voice softened. "Mercuitie sounds beautiful." She took another sip of caf before giving him a small smile of her own. "So we'll start with learning how to fly. Then, once you know where you're supposed to be going now, you can decide what comes after that. You don't have to figure out the whole galaxy today."

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

In the wake of Lyra's revelation, Starlin stood there in the cockpit a little... dumbfounded.​

​

I'm not finding it.​

​

It had made sense that other-Starlin could not find it, as the boy had not given him much to go on, but the woman before him seemed to be a mastermind of technology, and she was effectively looking into the ship's brain as she inspected Pluto, yet... nothing. No world to trace back to through the names he had provided, and even if she went digging in Pluto's memory there would be no return address.​

​

Just a hangar in a hollowed out asteroid drifting somewhere in the Trilon Sector.​

​

"I'll find my way back there" he eventually stated, as he exhaled through that initial shock and tried to quieten his frantic mind. "I know I will." Then, a wry smile formed. "It is" he said, "It is so beautiful, with the towering ziggurat and tropical trees, there's fountains everywhere and..." He sighed wistfully, then dipped his gaze. "And it's home, you know?"​

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He looked back up at her, then smiled.​

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"Okay" he said, "Learning to fly first." A brief pause, then he sipped his caf'. "Thank you, Lyra."​

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra understood that much, at least. She might not know Mercuitie, or even what world it was on, but she knew what it was to have somewhere that was unmistakably home. The way Starlin spoke about the ziggurat, the trees, and the fountains made it easy to imagine how badly he wanted to see them again. "You'll find it," she said, not because she had any evidence that promised he would, but because she wasn't about to argue with his determination. "And when you do, you're going to have to show me what all these fountains are about. You've mentioned enough of them now that I'm expecting something spectacular."

His thanks earned a warm smile before Lyra finished her caf and set the cup somewhere safely away from the controls. "You're welcome. Now come on. If you're going to find your way home eventually, knowing how to fly the ship that's carrying you seems like a good place to start." She moved into the pilot's position and gestured for Starlin to come closer rather than simply taking the controls herself. There was no sense in teaching him from across the cockpit when he needed to become comfortable sitting where the decisions were actually made.

"First rule, don't try to learn every switch in here today." Lyra indicated the primary flight controls. "This is what matters most. Your control yoke handles your basic movement. Pitch brings your nose up and down, roll rotates the ship, and yaw turns you left and right. Your throttle controls how much power you're giving the engines. More power means more speed; less power means less speed. Simple enough until gravity, momentum, and other pilots start making your life difficult." She demonstrated each movement without actually sending the corvette anywhere, letting the controls respond just enough for him to see what she meant.

From there she moved to the instruments immediately surrounding the pilot's station. "These are the ones I want you watching before all the others. Speed, heading, altitude when you're in atmosphere, engine output, shields, and power levels. You don't need to stare at them constantly. You need to get used to checking them." She pointed out each display as she named it, then tapped the warning indicators. "Green is generally your friend. Yellow means pay attention. Red means stop assuming everything is fine and figure out why your ship is unhappy."

Navigation came next. Lyra brought up the star charts and showed him how to search for a known system, select a destination, and review a plotted course without actually committing the ship to it. "Never jump to hyperspace just because the computer gives you coordinates. Check the route first. Pluto can calculate it for you, and most of the time he'll be right, but you should still verify it. You especially make sure there's nothing directly in front of you before you jump." She gave Pluto a brief glance. "That isn't an insult. Pilots check computers, computers check pilots. Everyone stays alive."

Communications were easier. She showed Starlin how to open the comm system, select local channels, transmit directly to another ship or station, and locate the emergency frequencies. "If you remember nothing else about communications, remember this." She tapped the emergency control. "Distress beacon. If you're stranded, damaged, lost, or something happens that you can't handle, activate it. Pride is considerably cheaper to repair than a ship."

Only after going over the essentials did Lyra step away from the controls and gesture toward the pilot's seat. "Your turn." Her smile widened at whatever apprehension might accompany those words. "We're not going anywhere yet. Sit down, get comfortable, and show me which controls you'd use to turn the ship, change speed, check your engine status, contact another ship, and send a distress signal." She folded her arms comfortably, clearly settling in rather than preparing to leave. "Once you can find those without me pointing, we'll move on to actually flying."

Starlin Dinn

 

[Starlin Dinn]

A slight smirk played over the boy's lips at her incessance. "Deal" he said, reaching out a hand to shake hers and make it set in stone, so to speak, "You'll get a first class tour of Mercuitie, I promise."​

​

The next while was a whirlwind of instructions, guides, and ultimately a crash course in flight. There was a lot to learn and remember, his eyes danced across the controls, watching Lyra's hands as she pointed out switches and toggles, yoke and buttons, as well as monitors to keep track of all of the key information. He felt a panic rising in his chest, but he breathed through it and by the time he was being urged into the pilot's seat he felt marginally better.​

​

"Woah, woah" he laughed, voice a little tight with fright as she led with a thousand tests, "One at a time, please." Tense laughter became a softer chuckle, before he drew a deeper breath. "Okay... Controls for turning would be... The yoke?" He reached out to touch it, though he didn't move it any which way he simply pointed it out. "Then I check the speed... here?" He gestured to one of the indicator on the display, before chewing his lower lip, "And I alter the speed, erm..."​

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His eyes scanned a second time, longer now as he took in all of the chaos of the dashboard.​

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"Here? The throttle?" It had taken him a minute to find it, but he knew it when he saw it.​

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Lyra Ventor ​