Small Step, Giant Leap

Jake wasn't alarmed by the blaring siren. It woke him from weeks of sleep, but that was its job. Over the dozens of expeditions he'd volunteered for, he'd come to almost think of it as his friend, eager to point out things he might otherwise miss. If nothing else, it was good to hear a sound other than his own voice aboard the lonely exploration ship.
         He raised a fist to his mouth, despite never yawning after waking from deepsleep; force of habit that even the strict training of the Truscott Space Corps hadn't drilled out of him. The other arm grabbed at the ceiling handles to keep him steady as he threaded his way across the chamber to the flickering monitor.
         Seemed that it had come to life the same time as Jake. Start-up phrases skittered past his eyes briefly before the update hit. The ship was a triangle at the centre of the screen, a circle above it the destination planet. Not too far left to go; perfect timing once again.
         Again, right on cue, the coffee dispenser chimed, and Jake scooped up the mug before walking into the cockpit.
         If the main body of the ship was cramped - serving as storage and living area, with boxes of supplies butting up against exercise equipment - the cockpit could definitely be called poky. Jake knew that spacecraft did not require the same aerodynamics as an atmospheric vehicle, but back when they were first being developed the designers had had trouble adjusting. Practicality had won out for the majority of the structure, but the cockpit was something a twentieth-century fighter pilot would have been right at home in.
         It jutted four metres out from the bulk of the vessel, tapered to a point. Mercifully, there was no glass windscreen, so as Jake slid into the seat he flicked the switches to activate the external cameras. Reliable, analogue interface brought the main screen to life, and he observed the planet. Visually, it appeared Earth-like, all green and blue with wisps of cloud. It showed promise.
         Words flashed over the screen strobing in yellow and black. WARNING, they read, EXTREME GRAVITY. Jake strapped himself in.
         The turbulence hit viciously, shaking the ship as it descended into the planet's upper atmosphere, the screen glowing red almost in imitation of the warning lights.
         This time, the blaring siren did alarm Jake.

***

He blinked awake, flailing out with an arm to slap open his crash harness. The sirens had quieted, and the flashing lights had been replaced with sparking computer consoles. One screen still functioned, valiantly informing him that the vessel's current altitude was zero: he had landed.
         It was a crash landing, but a landing none the less. Jake could walk away from this, and he did. He had the tools and experience to repair whatever the damage was, but before he got started he'd have to secure the area.
         The gun locker opened easily, and he grabbed an electric rifle. With its charge full, and suit helmet secured, he opened the hatch and stepped outside.
         It was day, but his surroundings were shielded from most of the sunlight by what appeared to be humungous trees. They stretched to incredible heights, skyscraper-like in all dimensions. It was a miracle the vessel hadn't collided with one of the trunks; that would have been the end.
         Yet not all the plantlife was to such a scale; grass similar to Earth standard carpeted the slopes. Slightly more blue, perhaps, but familiar enough. Jake stooped to brush a hand through the grass, scanning the horizon with his eyes. At the bottom of the hillside was the reason for such well-shorn grass: a small herd of cow-like beasts, munching away placidly. They didn't look like a threat, but he had to be certain before he began repairs, before he left himself vulnerable.
         It was a gentle jog downhill, and the beasts ignored his approach. Docile, probably unused to any creature like Jake. That suggested a world devoid of sentient life, perfect for colonisation. Still, he needed to be sure they were no threat...
         One cow-thing turned to consider him, chewing a mouthful over and over as he pointed the gun at it. The charge built, and it remained unfazed, a chain of tiny eyes blinking at him from beneath a heavy, horn-less brow.
         He let it have a half-charge. The crackling blue electricity dropped it instantly, twitching as its body shut down. Its friends hooted in distress and began to skitter away on their weirdly-jointed legs, and Jake let them. If they got hostile, he could take them down, and they preferred flight to fight. Good news all round.
         As he considered the body before him, Jake wondered if it would be worth hauling it back to the vessel. It had been an age since he had eaten real food, and surely discovering what was edible on a new planet was a vital part of exploration too?
         His intercom chimed, coinciding with the blink of a green icon on his faceplate. Air was good! Smiling, he pulled off the helmet, taking a deep breath of real atmosphere. It smelt slightly of beetroot, but that was much better than a planet being made of acid.
         Then the quakes began, and the pattern was far too regular to be natural. Leaving the body, he dashed uphill, panting from exertion. Normally, he'd have time to do a little exercise to build himself up before planetfall, but whatever that gravitic anomaly was, it had moved his timetable up.
         So, as Jake drew level with the scorched trail burned by the vessel, he slumped against a massive tree trunk to catch his breath. When he looked up to see what had caused the quakes, he ducked further out of sight, peeking out at the impossible vision.
         It was bipedal, each of its footsteps causing the jarring motions. Encased entirely in glossy white material, it boasted a clearly humanoid form as it stepped up to the vessel.
         It towered over his home, bending its knees to lower itself, arms reaching out to grasp the vessel. Each massive motion was something to be in awe of, so Jake had to concentrate to look up to what sat atop the shoulders. A featureless sphere of that same white material where the head should be. Even though it lacked eyes, the arms effortlessly lifted the crashed vessel upward, turning it side to side in examination while rising to stand again.
         Seemingly satisfied, the vessel was slipped neatly under an armpit, the towering form turning to stride back the way it came, once again rumbling the ground.
         Jake let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He'd never seen a mech that big! And for one of that scale, it was astounding that it held such a perfectly human shape, rather than a squatter, boxier form to carry that extra weight. Whatever had built it - maybe was piloting it? - their tech was seriously advanced. Probably not native, maybe a visitor like himself.
         Without the vessel, he was stranded. He'd have to get it back, effect repairs and get away to inform the corps of this new threat. The gun in his hand would do nothing against a machine like that, but if he played things carefully, he could get in and out without having to resort to combat.
         He jogged after the departing form - clealry visible against the horizon - and had to make a detour around its footprints. In length, each was over three times his height, and the sheer depth that the heel and toes had dug into the helpless ground, it must weigh countless tonnes! Leaving aside whatever weaponry the mech may carry, if it were to so much as step on him he'd be annihilated.
         Thus he adopted stealth, keeping trees between him and his target as he trailed it, at times ducking amidst herds of the harmless cow-beasts. Where the mech stepped, it scattered the animals without a care, and it was somewhat encouraging that it wasn't taking the time to senselessly kill them - the pilot wasn't a psychopath, which was something.
         It walked slowly, but each step was equal to so many of Jake's. It was increasing the distance step by step, but its sheer size prevented him from fearing losing it. It stopped atop another rise, one clear of trees for the most part, solhouetted against the white clouds and orange sky. Then a hole opened in the cloud, and it disappeared.
         Jake blinked, re-donning his helmet and turning up the visual magnification. How had it done that? But as he zoomed in on its last known location, he saw the truth; that was no cloud, but another, even greater machine.
         Made of the same white material again, it blended almost seamlessly with the clouds in the sky. Its roughly dome-like shape added to the illusion, but now he knew where it was he could define its edges clearly. It was even bigger than the mech, and just as featureless. The size of a small settlement, perhaps it formed a barrier wall to protect whatever colony or expedition commanded the mech?
         Minutes of trekking took Jake to the base of the structure, a perfectly smooth outer shell that curved upwards to a height of some one hundred metres, twice that of his quarry. No sign of how the mech had passed through; whatever door it had accessed, it sealed up perfectly.
         He stomped across the side for a while, his mind now whirling with curiosity as much as worry. He had volunteered for space exploration to satisfy his craving for discovery and new experiences, and as scary as the mech was, the secrets behind its base were irresistable.
         Out of that same curiosity, he stepped back and raised the gun, subjecting the surface to a blast of electricity. As expected, it disippated with no effect, but as he watched the crackling energy play over the wall, he noticed a shadow.
         The lightning displayed a line, a crack in the otherwise featureless. Snagging it with his fingertips, he ran them up and across, discovering an open panel. It extruded only a centimetre or two, but that was enough to get a grip, work his weight to spring it open. It clanged to the ground, revealed as hard metal. In its place, a cavern entrance five metres square. The searchlights on Jake's suits revealed a maze of cables and wiring dangling like jungle vines.
         Stepping inside, he brushed past the tangle, noting how thick most of the wires were, many with a diameter greater than his torso! Several were cut through, and in the walls were large junction boxes and consoles, burnt out or without functioning lights. The technology running through this corridor was damaged, and while its function was beyond him, Jake was sure he could puzzle it out with enough time.
         That would be for later. For the present, he had to press on, locate his vessel and escape alive. This treasure trove could wait!
         Seemed like he was in the inner workings that ran between the walls. It didn't run through the entirety of the structure that he had seen from outside, but if this was a maintenance corridor, then it should have some form of access to the inside? Luckily, from this side there was no white coating, and the panel was obvious. Once again, it was massive, far larger than necessary just to allow an engineer access. Ventilation ducts big enough to allow spies to crawl through were a joke, but a mass of saboteurs could just march through these tunnels! Quite a design flaw.
         Still, the panel was thick and heavy, and his shoulder was smarting by the time his third charge finally wobbled it in place for a moment, before it toppled down and away.
         Bright white light blinded him for a second, intensified by the area beyond being coated once again in the white material, reflecting the ambience onward to infinity.
         Jake waited a minute to see if anyone came to investigate the disturbance before he crawled out. The corridor he transitioned to was immense, built high and wide enough for the mech he had pursued to walk down easily. What doorways he could see were simialrly proportioned, with no accommodation made for human-sized personnel. Perhaps that was why the access panels were so big, for a mech pilot to access?
         There was silence within, breathable air and - helmet off again - a faint, soapy scent drifting to his nostrils from the left end of the corridor. With nothing else to determine a direction, he set off, caution once again tinging his curiosity, as this white expanse presented no hiding spot should he stumble across a guard. Keeping tight to the wall was the best he could manage. At least that way he would avoid being caught by a mech stomping down the corridor with its giant feet.
         Those giant feet were waiting for him around the bend of the corridor, where he just prevented himself from bumping into them. Absolutely still, side-by -side, one stood upright while the other lay on its side.
         The rest of the body was not attached. Jake edged around the great sole, even on its side taller than him, caked with the detritus of the outside, grass and dirt and who knew what else.
         Had it removed its own feet? If it had, how had it moved away? Maybe there were vehicles here that could transport the chassis, running up and down these tunnels fully laden.
         But as he reached the terminus of the shin, where he would expect the mech's connectors to be located, he found the truth. Rather than complex mechanics, pistons and levers and pipes, there was simply a dark, gaping hole. From within wafted a sour stench, familiar to anyone: the stale scent of sweaty feet.
         These were not disassembled mech feet, but simple boots that had been removed from the feet of a living creature! Jake's head span with the implications. What could be so large? Surely it wasn't him that had shrunk; that would be impossible!
         To distract himself, he examined the boot's material, finding the exterior to be constructed of flexible yet tough material, ringing metallic when he rapped against it with the gun barrel. Not too far-fetched to have seen it as a mech.
         He moved onward, leaving the towering footwear behind and more wary than ever. He followed the soapy, flowery aroma, and soon he became aware of noise as well. The silence of the building - even his own steps swallowed by the gleaming floor - was stolen by machine buzz from up ahead. Was he nearing the work centre of this place?
         A doorway lay up ahead, to his right, toward the interior of this place. To call it a doorway was being generous, since it was more like an archway for gods, dozens of metres before its top. Given the subtle nature of the closed portals, invisible to the naked eye, who knew how many others Jake had passed by, unknowing?
         Sound and smell intensified as he crept around the doorframe, beholding a vast chamber bedecked, once again, all in white.
         He appeared to have entered from what he could consider the room's right, with another exit far on the opposite wall. This room had corners, and more than that furniture. Jake could not see the upper surfaces of it, but from their dimensions and positions he guessed at one being a desk or workbench, and the other a low bed. Such a familiar arrangement, to see it at such a grotesque new scale made him light-headed.
         For all the cleanliness of the stark surfaces, the flooring was a mess. A scattering of technical debris, which could well be a mix of tools and spare parts, and a few lumpen heaps of cloth. Jake crinkled his nose at the lack of discipline, but on the other hand it meant that this living space was probably not shared. Perhaps this entire facility was inhabited by a single member of personnel? Alone and with no oversight, why keep anything tidy?
         Jake of course kept himself and his vessel rigorously organised, as a matter of principle, but he could see how others might fail to meet his high standards. He glanced upwards as he pondered this, and found what had happened to the mech.
         Hanging from a hook on the wall, its true nature was obvious, merely a cloth environment suit, hollow and sagging with the helmet adjacent. The material still shimmered, and he'd give anything to know what it was constructed from.
         Even through the sound-deadening effect of the floor, Jake could sense the tremor of approaching footsteps. They were slapping down with less force than the booted behemoth outside, but they still belonged to a being he did not want to see him!
         Ducking down behind the slumped metal form of a broken mech - one three times his bulk - he peered over to see the a giant's entrance.
         Twin bare feet stepped in, pausing in the doorway. Water dripped from the toes, having run down pale, bare and slim legs which led up to a white towel wrapped from knee to armpit. The arms were occupied rubbing a smaller towel - still large enough to cover a house! - to dry the hair. Short blue hair hung in lank strands, the tips of ears peeking out. The face was eerily human, with a mouth, a nose and two eyes, although the irises were a vibrant red. Young and androgynous, this newcomer stood some forty metres tall.
         "Damn, that feels refreshing," the giant said, in a deep voice that still hit a higher modulation than Jake would have expected.
         In repsonse, the background machine hum ceased, and a metallic voice replied, emanating from the walls themselves. "Organic units do function optimally with regular ablution."
         "Yes, I see that I still have some work to do if I'm going to get anything approaching normal conversation from you."
         "Does not compute."
         "I didn't think it would. How about something that you can? Computer, did you finish the analysis of the unidentified object while I was in the shower?"
         "Affirmative."
         A sigh. "And? Conclusions?"
         "Object is a space-faring vessel."
         "Vessel? As in a spaceship, that carries people? Not a missile?"
         "A space-faring vessel, of miniscule scale."
         "Huh. Funny shape for a spaceship. All boxy and pointy."
         Jake ducked at a sudden movement, but recovered when he saw it was merely the giant tossing down the smaller towel. It joined the rest of the mess. The giant reached over to the workbench, and Jake's heart leapt as massive hands lifted up the vessel, handling it as lightly as if it were made of cardboard. The giant was proportionately slim, with modestly developed muscle, but must still have possessed incredible strength!
         Hands turned the vessel over to examine it from more angles, while feet stepped over to the bed structure. Footprints of water spread across the floor. "But what sort of creature could fit inside a ship this small?"
         "Speculation impossible."
         "Figured. Still, they'd be tiny, and they'd be alone. I know how that feels."
         "Organic units do funtion optimally in groups."
         "Dangerously close to small talk, computer! Well done! Doesn't make me feel less lonely, though." The giant ceased revolving the vessel, focussing on the protruding cockpit. "I may not know what fits inside this, but I know what it can fit inside of."
         The giant dropped the larger towel, revealing their full naked glory. Jake gulped at seeing his first nude woman in years. Scale aside, it was a human body, slim and athletic. Modest breasts, and between her legs a confirmation that her hair colour must be natural.
         Still holding the vessel, she climbed onto the second piece of furniture - bed confirmed! Jake thought - and laid back. Her legs spread, opening up a truly fearsome vagina, and Jake just stared as his vessel was forcibly docked there.
         The giant's hands worked the cockpit in and out, while her legs bent out to the sides, feet holding on to the sides of the vessel's main body. Low moans came from her, but all Jake could do was hope that she didn't break his ride.
         While she was distracted, he had to act. Obviously, he couldn't retrieve the vessel at the moment, but he could get into position to execute a plan. He stepped out from hiding.
         "Intruder detected," the computer stated.
         The giant gasped in frsutration, and Jake froze as her eyes locked right onto his. Letting go of the vessel, she brushed hair from her eyes.
         Escape and survive, those were Jake's only directives now. He turned from her, dashing for the doorway. He couldn't outrun her, but he could try to hide.
         "Computer, close door."
         The exit vanished, sheer white wall replacing it in a second, with no evidence of any seam. Jake slammed his fists against it as the giant stood up from bed. Her fists settled on her hips, and she just pondered him.
         Jake rushed away, looking for somewhere - anywhere - to hide. This was pure panic, a human confronting the primal terror of an obviously superior predator. The smaller towel wasn't too far...
         "I don't believe it," the giant said. "How can you be so small? No way an advanced brain could fit into such a small head."
         "Have you taken a look at yourself recently?" he countered, babbling in his terror. "Square-cube law tells us that there's no way a human shape works at that size!"
         Her foot stepped down on the towel, cutting off that angle. While the room was gargantuan to him, to the giant it was a small space that she could cross in a couple of steps. What sort of hope did he have here? Maybe to build some rapport through conversation?
         "How do you even speak English?" he asked, back-pedalling and jogging toward the broken mech.
         "What? Do your ships not come with translators as standard?"
         Such advanced technology! So much to be learned from these people if he could just survive! Now that his thoughts were clearing, he had to admit that he had no idea how he could achieve that! "They do not! And certainly nothing like this mighty mech!"
         A mistake, to mention the item he was hoping to hide by. The giant outflanked him again, one foot either side of the mech. Jake goggled at the solidity of the heels before turning and running for the workbench.
         The giant stooped and lifted the mech in one hand, smiling as she examined it. "A mighty mech? Heh, Enno would be very happy to be called that! He's just a little repair droid, getting in all those hard-to-reach places. If he wasn't all busted up, I wouldn't be stranded here." She turned her smile on Jake. "We'd never have met."
         "Cute," Jake said, feeling safer under the lower ceiling that the workbench provided. "Enno the droid. What's your name, lady?"
         "Oh yes," she replied, dropping down to her hands and knees before the workbench. Her looming face was clearer now, and Jake would have pegged her as being somewhere in her twenties, had she been human. The way things were going, she'd probably turn out to be centuries old, or something!
         "The name's Aafarin," she said simply, moving no closer, but utterly blocking his exit with her bulk. "And you are..?"
         Jake had never imagined that he'd ever be standing with a naked woman before him, on her hands and knees, and be filled with such fear. "Jake."
         "Well, Jake, I assume you're a fellow explorer?"
         "That's right. I'm not going to give away any information about my organisation to you, though."
         "Wouldn't dream of asking. I'm not interested in the group you work for, Jake. I'm interested in you. What was it that made you want to explore the stars? Was it like me? Did you see yourself as a speck in an infinite cosmos, and want to see it all?" A snort. "Of course, you're already pretty close to a speck without dragging the whole universe into things!"
         Backed against the wall, Jake hit on one final plan. A slim chance, but it was his only hope. Stepping toward Aafarin, he hoped that he gave off the appearance of having been mollified. He needed her relaxed. "I'll ignore the joke at my expense. Yes, I did want to explore just to get beyond the confines of my life. And I've not regretted it, seeing all these wonders I could never have imagined."
         "No regrets? Not even at this lonely life? Not feeling the touch of another?" Aafarin gently moved her hand forward, a single, gigantic finger extending toward Jake. The digit dominated his world, itself packing more mass than his entire form, the short-trimmed nail catchng the light with a gleam.
         He stepped up to it, but rather than gracing her offering with his own embrace, he levelled the gun, subjecting the giant to a full-power blast, draining the charge in the hope of having some effect.
         "Ouch!" Aafarin said, withdrawing and shaking her hand. "That tickles! I don't think I should let you keep that, mister!"
         The giant's other hand swept in, and a simple flick of a finger smashed the gun from Jake's grip. The sheer force of the gesture spun him around and he fell over. Vulnerable, there was nothing he could do to prevent fingers settling around him, lifting him upward even as Aafarin stood to her full height. He was encased in the warmth of her skin, but that was little cushion from the vertigo his rapid ascent assaulted him with.
         "Alone for so long," she whispered to him, massive lips forming around words that didn't match those his ears heard, " you've clearly lost all sense of social norms. Or is your culture so odious that only the women go naked?"
         Jake wished he could have fought her off, but on his best day there would have been nothing he could do. Her thumb alone could probably crush every bone in his body, so as her hands applied themselves to removing his spacesuit he did his best to help them. Shrugging out of it of his own free will, maybe it would stay intact, and he could get it back later.
         He was still battered, every gentle motion that Aafarin made wrenching some part or other of his anatomy. Finally he sat in her palm, watching a great blush pass over her cheeks as she examined him. "Mmm," she purred, a warm breeze passing over him. "I'll bet it's even longer since you had any sort of... sexual contact, yes?"
         Her hand settled around him as a prison, and in his shame he felt his penis responding to the enclosing mass of flesh. The giant stooped, lowering herself and him again. In his journey, the hand paused before the strip of blue hair leading to her genitals. Over the soapy smell from the shower, he was almost choking on the smell of her arousal fluid, built up by her interrupted masturbation. Surely she couldn't mean to use him to finish? To plunge him into that feminine darkness?
         "No," she said, as if reading his mind, " I don't think I can be delicate enough with you yet to have you down there. Leave her to me, while I get you another playmate. One better suited to your stature."
         Aafarin squatted now, and Jake watched her free hand settle down witihin her vagina while she placed him on the floor. As he stood, she sat on her ass, impact wobbling her tits all the way above him. The distration cost him, as he had no chance to move before her foot bore him to the ground. Still damp, it rested gently above him while the giant put her full weight through her behind. As her fingers got to work on herself, so her toes did with him.
         His legs were pinned beneath the ball of her foot, but his dick was free to the air, sandwiched between the two toes that covered his arms. Their skin formed a valley that his head was trapped between, where all he could breathe was the residue of her soap. With subtle motions she clenched and unclenched her toes, massaging his limbs beneath them and squeezing at his penis. She began to moan, but all he could do was scream. There was pleasure, his dick reacting against his will to the unstoppable force working at its shaft, but there was violation here, and pain despite the giant's best intentions.
         Aafarin intensified as she neared climax herself, and Jake felt as if it might be his whole body that burst in response. He came before she did, a fountain streaking upward before his gaze, pathetic in comparison to the wall of the toes either side. Maybe now she would stop, but moments after his own orgasm she must have had hers, since her growl of pleasure passed to him through her flesh and bone, and she clenched her toes instnctively. Impossibly, he felt himself squirting a second time in response, relenting to the erotic avalanche before the intense pressure crushed his consciousness.

***

Jake tore his eyes open only with the greatest effort. His body ached all over, but it was covered by something soft. Turning his head, he made out the pillow upon which his head rested, and the duvet laid over him. It was a comfortable bed all right, even if his feet jutted over the end. It was just a little too short.
         He was naked, but as he got out of the bed, flexing his limbs, he noticed his spacesuit, spread out neatly on the floor.
         As he dressed, he pondered his surroundings. It had been so long since he'd visited Earth, but this room certainly could have fit into any home he'd stayed at. All sized for him, furniture and door and ceiling and lights. The curtains were drawn over the window, but that was easily sorted.
         Where was he? Had those events all been a fevered dream? Gasping at a twinge as he spread his arms to the curtains, he stumbled back at what he saw outside.
         An immense eye looked directly at him, pupil shrinking inside a red iris. Aafarin was no dream!
         "Jake," she said, breath misting the window, "I know that men tend to go straight into a deep sleep after sex, but this is ridiculous!"
         He turned from her to the doorway opposite. He could escape from her, he knew it! But the floor began to rumble, and then the ceiling was pulled away. Aafarin looked down through the new hole, holding the removable roof of the building in one immense hand. The angle at which she loomed over the tiny dwelling meant she had to be standing over it while it was on the floor of her own room.
         No longer was the giant naked, and the relatively normal style of her garb added a whole new level of oddness to the size disparity. Jake's mind told him that a giant space woman should be dressed in a spacesuit, not this pair of cut-off shorts and black sports bra, but there she was.
         "Like it?" she asked, gesturing to the house. "Three-dee printing for the win, am I right? I couldn't quite get your measurements exact, but close enough, yeah?"
         She crouched over Jake, smiling as he hopped from foot to foot, unsure of which way to run. "It's nice," he shouted up to the giant, "but I won't be staying long! Could you please return my vessel to me?"
         "Oh?" Aafarin said, a tilt of her head drawing Jake's eyes to the window again. Now she no longer stood there, when he looked through he could see his vessel, lying beside the house in pristine condition.
         Aafarin's giant bare foot stomped down violently on the rear section, mangling and punching through metal designed to survive the hostile environment of space. She ground her heel into it, shredding and mangling it further.
         "No!" Jake shouted, helplessly.
         "You won't need it," Aafarin said. "Way too small. I wouldn't keep a pet splaq'nuq in that! No, this house will suit you better. Although..."
         The giant reached down to the wreck of the ship, and tore the cockpit section away with ease. Holding it up, she smiled at Jake. "This could still come in useful. With a little modification, maybe you could even get to ride it inside of me?"
         Jake gagged. "Is that it? You're just going to keep me here as a sex toy for the rest of my life?"
         Her giant face fell, losing its smile and furrowing her brow. "No! It's so much more than that! We can explore the galaxy together, Jake! You can fix the problems with the ship - fitting into those little spaces where Enno used to. Don't worry, I did save all your tools and belongings from your vessel before I destroyed it. You can live here with me."
         Jake gritted his teeth. Did he have much choice? And could he say no to a face so close to tears? "Okay," he said, shrugging. "Maybe it would be nice to share the discoveries with a partner. I don't even have a computer to talk to."
         "Hurray! You won't regret this, Jake. Oh, the sights we'll see! The planets we'll visit! Oh, and don't think you won't get to serve as a sex toy sometimes, still."
         Aafarin leaned in over the house and reached for Jake, the fingers of her hand splaying to block out the light like the darkness of space.