Girl’s Best Friend

"From what I have been able to understand from the limited data that we retrieved from your planet when the Sisalik took you, oxygen is comprised of two molecules (O2), and while you breathe in other molecules such as 78% nitrogen and other minute ones, nitrogen, and oxygen are the primary ones. Since the air you breathe is only 21% oxygen, and nitrogen is the most common molecule for all species in the universe to breathe, the helmet would remove the carbon and one oxygen molecule from the air you exhale, pull nitrogen from the environment around you and give you the appropriate elements you need."

I was able to understand what Jun Li was saying, but I was still somewhat skeptical about it all.

"Oh, and air that is 100% oxygen is completely fine for you," added Jun Li as an afterthought.

"No, it's not," I contradicted. "100% oxygen can cause acute oxygen poisoning which would lead to many complications. It is really only used to treat conditions like the bends and carbon monoxide poisoning."

"That is correct," replied Jun Li sounding smug. I raised an eyebrow as I looked through the other passive weapon cases in the room. "However, that is at normal pressure. If you breathe in 100% oxygen at a reduced pressure then you would be just fine. I have a note here that astronauts are able to breathe 100% oxygen at reduced pressure for more than 2 weeks. If you are ever lost in space, I would be able to find you in under 48 Earth hours, let alone 2 weeks."

"You can find me that easily?" I asked. I was not as concerned about him being able to track me down no matter where I was as I would have been about a human being able to do the same thing. Instead, there was something almost reassuring about it.

"Mmmhm," he hummed. "And if I add a tracker to your earpiece then I could find you even faster," he reassured me.

"Can you make a specific earpiece that would allow communication just between us with a tracker, and prevent any other species out here from being able to find it?" If an earpiece would be able to save my life, I didn't want anyone to be able to find it and take it away, nor did I want someone to be able to hack into the frequency and listen to our conversations.

"Yes, however, instead of an earpiece, may I suggest an implant right behind your ear where the middle ear is located? If it is placed near the eardrum, malleus, incus, and stapes, then there should be no problem with you being able to hear me while preventing others from knowing about it."

"And if it is located there, you could also be able to pick up on my speech," I added. I think I liked this option the best than a 'typical' Earth earpiece that would be inserted into the ear and thus easily taken out.

"Exactly, I can also add a universal translator to it so that you can understand all 16,357 languages spoken in this sector of the galaxy," said Jun Li, and I could hear that he was becoming distracted with the new project.

"Please." That would make life so much easier if I could understand what other species were saying. "Would it also allow my words to be translated back?"

"It would. The technology itself is extremely common and it is considered to be a standard implant at birth for every species. However, it is normally placed towards the back of the head, depending on where the language aspect of the brain was located. In your case, it would be the Wernicke's area which is in the posterior superior temporal lobe."

"Wow, you really collected obscure information from Earth before you left," I said with a smile as I picked up a complicated-looking web of delicate metal links. It looked like hand jewelry from Earth. Nice to know some styles were universal. Literally.

While I was thinking about my latest find, I didn't notice that Jun Li had become silent.

"Jun Li?" I asked looking up at the camera in the room.

"I didn't get all that information from Earth," said Jun Li hesitantly after a few seconds.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that was part of the information collected by the Sisalik from you."

Now it was my turn to pause. It was one thing to know that they were conducting experiments on my body, opening and closing my chest like it was nothing, however, it was a completely different thing to know they were also going through my brain at the same time.

I swallowed back the bile that was threatening to rise at that thought and pushed it all out of my head. It was over, it was done with, I would move on.

"If you could create the implant sooner rather than later I would be happy," I said as I stood straighter. At least I now knew that Jun Li understood enough about me to ensure the implant's success. "Now, what is this?" I asked changing the subject. No use crying over spilled milk and all that.

"No idea," admitted Jun Li. "According to the record, this came from a different planet from the first two passive weapons. S94872 is a matriarchal planet that is divided into four classes. These classes are royal, noble, peasant, and slave. This particular item came from the head of the royal class. We have several other items from the same place in this room."

I put the jewelry on. There was a thin gold ring that fit over my middle finger and had 5 delicate chains coming from it and connecting with another thin strand of chain that attached to my wrist like a bracelet. It was a beautiful silver color and looked very gothic. I love it.

I turned my hand over to look at my palm and noticed that the chains were growing and lengthening to completely encompass my palm as well. There was a flexible ring of metal that rested against my palm and had two chains coming out of it and connecting to the ring on my middle finger and then another three chains at my wrist connecting to the bracelet.