Chips' Curiosity

Jessie had a bad feeling about that smile. It was the same smile one of the kids she watched over when she was a teen, and it was a smile that could spell disaster at the drop of a hat. It was also a smile that could hide loneliness.

Jessie got up and grabbed Chip in a hug and pulled her into her chair while Chip was struggling to get out.

"What are you doing! Let go!" Chip yelled as she tried to twist out of the bear hug. "Just sit still" Jessie said calmly. She had dealt with children who's parents have died before and a hug is the best way. Eventually Chip gave up on escaping and calmed down enough to be still. Jessie realized that this was the first time she had actually touched a holographic construct, it was interesting, she was warm which was unexpected but made sense since the air would heat from the energy fields and she felt like she was almost ninety degrees, hot enough to be hot to the touch but not uncomfortable. Chip also vibrated ever so slightly, it reminded Jessie of when cats purr silently. And she was perfectly smooth with a bit of resistance all around, she had no bones though so places like elbows and ribs felt the same, something Jessie would compare it to would be the feeling of a thigh. That was the weirdest bit. As Jessie was hugging Chip, she blushed a bit as she realized that Chip felt very naked.

'I'll need to make her wear clothes, at least a shirt or something so I don't feel awkward' Thought Jessie. 'I do like how she feels though, like a cat but with really long head hair, and no body hair. I'll also try to avoid the topic of her creator, it seems like that's a hard point'

Chip on the other hand was thinking of something else entirely.

Chip gave Jessie a mischievous smile one that she had seen a human woman make before undoing a bunch of her wires and laughing as her friends screamed at her about how much time it would take to put them back. She did get sad when she thought about her creator and the first year of her life, but that was almost two hundred years ago and she can handle it now. Then, Jessie grabbed her

'I know what you're doing! I am not a child! I will not say I'm not a child! I will NOT!' Chip thought as she just silently struggled, then she remembered that she can make more than one of herself and the same mischievous smile crept up her lips. If Jessie could have seen the smile she would have known something was up but she buried Chips' head in her bosom and most certainly could not. Chip made another construct in the kitchen to continue her taste test. She didn't like any of the things in the bottles and tubes except the mustard, she liked its spicy tanginess and that it had an interesting crunchy texture, which she could crunch if she reinforced her teeth, it took too much focus to reinforce an entire skeletal structure so she didn't bother. Next, she opened a box, inside was stir fry and it smelled spicy like the mustard but different, so she just grabbed some with her free hand and shoved it in her mouth. It was the most amazing taste yet and she completely forgot about keeping quiet with her other body.

"Mmmmmmmmm stir fry" Chip said happily with both bodies, with a smile on her faces to boot.

Jessie was holding Chip thinking she was comforting Chip or at least that she was helping. When she heard Chip practically moan "Mmmmmmmmm stir fry" she realized her mistake, thinking Chip was like a human but really her body is the ship this little girl form is a representation of her mind or a created image, and she could make more than one.

'Oh no you didn't' thought Jessie

But she knew Chip most certainly did, so she did what her older sister did to her when she wasn't paying attention.

Jessie bonked Chip right on the top of her neon blue head.

Chip was not expecting that and shouted in surprise and reached up to grab her head instinctually, with both bodies. Unfortunately for her she was holding an open box of stir fry in one of her hands and dumped the full contents onto her head. She groaned at this making sure it was only with the body she had in the kitchen. 'It's way too much effort to have multiple bodies, just one for normal stuff from now on. I'll only make other bodies if I need to.' She sighed again as Jessie threw her other body over her shoulder and stormed out heading straight for the kitchen. Through one of the cameras in the hallway she saw that the look Jessie had would easily fit with a comical angry hash on her forehead. Chip sighed again and waited the dozen seconds it took for Jessie to get there. 'She's gonna be angry'

Jessie was a bit angry at Chip for slipping away but she was smiling a little on the inside at her antics, until she turned the corner and saw the mess. She stoped for a second and looked at the carnage of the kitchen, now she was mad. Her kitchen was always clean and organized just like everything else of hers, now it was a mess with food strewn about and a cute little girl standing in the middle of it all covered in oil and flakes of chili and a comical broccoli on the top of her head.

She burst out laughing at it all. It was a hearty laugh that took effort to stop after a few seconds unbridled. When she opened her eyes after laughing Chip was staring in shock, which was even funnier to Jessie.

Jessie decided that this mess deserved two bonks on on each of her heads.

'Gotta set this one down first though' she thought

She then plonked down Chip number one right next the oil covered Chip number two, moved her long hair from her face, that had an incredulous look by the way, and then bonked them both at the same time one with each hand. The reaction of yelling out and grabbing the top of her head was perfectly synchronized, and Jessie chuckled at that reaction.

Chip was not expecting to be hit on both her heads at the same time. It was difficult holding her form together to withstand the impact, especially since she was stretched thin piloting the ship and maintaining two constructs.

'I need to get rid of one' she thought but realized that she had food inside both of them, making it awkward if she turned one off and all the contents spilled everywhere. 'Jessie would be mad wouldn't she, I ate almost the entire bottle of mustard.'

'Aha I can merge them' so she did she deconstructed most of the first as she walked it into her other self and passed along the pocket containing mostly mustard along.

Jessie expected a retort immediately but was instead met with Chip squishing into herself back into one. Which was strange to see.

Chip figured she needed to make amends for the mess Before Jessie found out that the mustard was gone.

"Sorry about making a mess" and she gave a tentative smile while making sad cat eyes to seal the deal. She knew Jessie was soft hearted. Jessie talked to herself a lot, there have been many soliloquies.

Jessie sighed.

"That's alright, just don't go messing with my stuff or I'll bonk ya again ya hear" she said in a stern stern tone with her fists almost comically on her hips.

"Let's get you cleaned up and dressed, can't have you covered in oily sauce and nude like that"

"Like I've said before, I've never worn clothes before, I'm not gonna start now" Chip retorted

"You're painted, I know cause I've paid for it, it's the same"

"No it is not! It's like skin!" Chip replied.

"What about your name and number, it's not like that's your skin, now is it." Jessie shot back.

Chip puffed up her cheeks.

"I guess not" she said in reluctance.

"Good. Now come on so I can rinse you off, and don't let your oily hair drip everywhere." Jessie exclaimed.

Chip sighed and started to pick her hair up from the ground. Jessie watched her do this and soon realized that the sheer amount of hair Chip had made the process difficult for just one person, so she walked over to help.

"Here, I'll help get it"

Chip ended up carrying it while Jessie made sure it didn't go anywhere or touch anything on the way to Jessie's bathroom. Once there Jessie had Chip step into the stand up shower and turned the water on. The water was set to Jessie's ideal shower temperature and as soon as there was water, that's what it was, ideal. The shower head could be infinitely configurable due to it being made of electrically manipulable plastic, and could conveniently be changed through a holographic screen in the shower wall.

After a few minutes of rinsing Chip off Jessie realized that she wasn't getting clean as fast as she figured.

"Why is it so hard to clean you?" Jessie quizzically asked.

"Electrostatic charge in the fields, humans wouldn't be able to notice, but liquids and dust stick quite well" Chip paused for a moment "well any liquid that conducts electricity."

"Makes sense, then why wasn't there anything about cleaning holo-constructs?" Jessie asked.

"Normally we get clean by turning off, and the cleaner bots will pick up the dust from the floor"

"Then Why don't you just turn off now then?! Instead of rinsing you off!" Jessie loudly exclaimed.

"I kinda wanted to experience a shower for the first time, I've never experienced something like it before" Chip smiled and held her hands up to the water for emphasis. She would never tell Jessie it was mostly because she had almost and entire bottle of mustard in her stomach that would splatter everywhere if she did turn the construct off.

At this time, Chip realized one of the dumb systems on the ship was notifying her that she reached the adequate velocity to activate the alcubierre drive, but she decided to wait the few more minutes until she was clean.

To the distilled water that was produced for consumption Chip's body was completely hydrophobic and when Jessie turned the water off, Chip was already dry.

Chip stepped out of the shower.

"The alcubierre drive is ready, come on" Chip said.

'Maybe she'll forget about the whole clothes thing if I get her back in the pilot seat' she thought.

"Oh no no no, not yet we still have to find you something to wear." Jessie said, shattering Chip's hope.

Jessie spent several minutes looking at her shirts and decided on an orange one that matched the blue of Chip's hair. Of course the shirt fell down to her knees and looked almost like a dress with the comparatively large neck opening and excess amount of fabric.

"Looks great!" Jessie enthusiastically chuckled and gave Chip a thumbs up, who, by the way, had an obvious dissatisfied look plastered on her face.

Jessie chuckled all the way to the bridge and sat down. Her face became serious as she set to work checking data and calling the system control station for clearance.

Chip got bored quickly from all the random chatter and her mind wandered to other things. Just before she started her calculations for interstellar travel she noticed that one of the science containers twisted unnaturally. She compensated for the force of the twist on the container, canceling it out, in less than a millisecond, but it made her curious about what was inside.