05. Negotiations with strange program?

"Hey wake up."

Sound of someone speaking and trying to wake her up made her eyes to pop open.

It was as it seems already evening. The coldness of the floor seeped through her bones and as she stood up she almost groans as her head ached like crazy.

Hearing again growls she slowly entered her hallway, locked the door to the balcony and then went to her apartment. As she tried to make as little sounds as possible, she chooses to take a short shower and go to bed.

Luckily she bought painkillers so she ate a piece of bread before swallowing it with a bunch of water. As she was in her bed her pain eased slowly and so she snuggled deeper into her bedding and fell asleep.

"Good morning, sunshine."

That voice again. As she opened her eyes she remembered she forgot to close curtains night before. That is dangerous.

"I must remember it as this can get dangerous..." She mumbled as she slowly went to the kitchen to prepare some food.

Looking at the seeds of fruits that she just set as side she sighed. Her grandparents were quite fond of gardening and so she was when she was younger but after the war, she just had neither time or space to try that again.

"Well, you could plant or on the balcony or inside your space." That voice again spoke making her almost choke on food she was just eating.

"Ups, sorry. Are you OK?"

Maria looked back and forth but couldn't find anyone.

"Am I getting crazy? I hear voices now..."

"Well, of course you do, and no you are not crazy. I'm just your friend and partner Zero."

"Zero? Where are you? Wait don't tell me this place is full of cams?"

She looked around as she thought the past owner or someone else wired the whole place.

A chuckle could be heard.

"Well I am wired... but not to the place than to you."

Maria held her head and suddenly saw something on her hand. "Huh?"

"Yep, that's it. You got yourself rare piece of intergalactic intelligence. Me, myself and I."

Maria stared at her wrist where strange watch like bracelet was perfectly on her wrist.

She poked the bracelet and realized it was that strange material she was trying to get off.

"So, you are the reason I almost broke my neck? Couldn't you find another person? Maybe someone smarter and better suited?"

A sigh could be heard.

"Do I have hands and feet? I'm made from nanotechnology but doe the impact in your Planet I lost quite an energy and can't move freely as I want."

"So you can move?"

"Only in the vastness of space. Not on places with air, magnetic field and living creatures. Well, there are other living creatures as in space as well, but planets like yours I am able to leave when the host help me out."

Maria rolled her eyes. "If there was some other time I would have tried to find a way yo put you onto one of the space rockets, but now..."

The voice started laughing. "Please, those things are so shaky I would get motion sickness just driving with them. No, thank you..."

Maria shrugged. "I have no other ideas, maybe putting up a balloon that will take you to higher ground..."

"Stupid idea"

"Plane?"

"No..."

"Bird?"

"What bird flies to space?"

"Then to the first idea, rocket..."

"No."

Maria rolled her eyes.

"Look, I told you I have no idea. What about finding later someone smarter to send you to space?" She gave up her ideas while trying yo get it off.

"Why can't I get it off?"

"Because you hit your head and your blood connected to my nano cells and now we are bound, for a lifetime."

"What?"

She didn't even what to get married because she hated the idea to be bound to anyone.

"I'm not marrying you. If you help me raise my powers again I will be able to disconnect from you and go back to space."

"How do you know so much about our planet?"

At first, there was no answer but then he sighed. "Actually, I was quite perplexed and curious about your life form. The satellites that are swirling around your planet are filled with all kind of information about life forms on this planet. The most interesting programs for me was your history and programs about your and other life forms living here."

"So what do you think about our planet so far?"

"It was doomed to self-destruction. This... virus... will help planet reconstruct again."

His honest answer made her think about how much humans destroyed for their own greed.

"You are right. Then you know that this virus makes people eat other people. So tell me, what idea do you have so I can send you out to your safety. "

His living place is outer space after all.

"Luckily not all humans are destructive. I am actually something you can call a program. How I started existing is a long story. Short cut, I was a piece of program or maybe program itself, that they chose to destruct with their own hands. From my whole being, only this fracture was left. But even with this fracture, I can help you with many things."

Maria was not a science fiction fan so she had no idea what to say or to ask. She just wanted to hear the creature's suggestion.

"So, what can YOU do for me? " She felt that question herself is ridiculous. But what happened next was something she never though it was possible...