Companion (concerned): Human, why are you on the floor?
Human (commando crawling down the hall): My com's busted, my back gave out, and I can't walk, so I'm making my way to medical. Help? -- Escla
It's always a good idea for a Companion to keep track of their assigned Human. Like an ocean or a Starting Education Facility[1], one does not gain good results from turning away from a force of chaos.
Case in point. Human Ham was slowly making their way through hallway 79B. Elevation... 2.5 centidus[2]. Something had to be wrong, there.
Companion Fox made all due speed to hallway 79B, and there found Human Ham on their belly. Pushing themself forward by their elbows. It was much like an imitation of a primitive ancestor making its way up a distant shore.
"Ham? Is this a game?"
"No games," Ham's voice was more than a little strained. "Threw my back out getting up and my comm's on the fritz, so... Can you roll me onto a lev pallet?"
"Stay still while I go get one?" Fox pulled every trick to get to a lev pallet faster than they had arrived to Ham's position. It was bad enough that Ham had an independent streak. The worse part was that Ham was most likely going to fix the comms system first and their back second.
They would get a lecture all the way to the medical bay. Then get a lecture again from Medik Goore. Along the way, Fox sent and urgent memo for Maintenance to check the comms system.
"Did you check that your communicator was turned on?" wondered Fox.
Ham raised a hand to their ear, fumbling for a switch. "Oh for flakk's sake!"
[1] Like a kindergarten, but more focused on how to be kind to others. Reading and writing happen later.
[2] The Standard Distance Unit [SDU, pronounced "sid-oo"] is roughly equivalent to a Terran meter, and sub-divided further into hundredths [centidus] and thousandths [millidus]
[Image by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash]
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