Compromise

"Hey, wake up, sleepyhead."

Davy felt a soft tap on his cheek and a shake on his shoulder. He groaned and felt the pain on the back of his neck and the discomfort in his jaw. He tried to speak and stop whoever was trying to wake him up to his rather discomfiting sleep, but when he couldn't move his body, and his voice came out incomprehensible, his eyes opened wide as he raised his head abruptly, which caused the collision to someone's chin.

"Oh, shit!" Valdis grouched as she held her chin and moved a few steps back because of how painful it might be. She glared at him, the kind of glare that would be enough to make him shiver because of how sharp and deathly those eyes were. "Are you stupid? You know I was there!"

"Hmmrymlmigow"

He tried to apologize and explain, but the handkerchief in his mouth wasn't allowing him to be intelligible. Thankfully, Valdis showed mercy to him, and with only two fingers and an obviously disgusted face, she took the handkerchief off his mouth and moved away again as if he had some sort of disgusting germs. 

"Thank you," he said when he could finally say a word. "I'm sorry about that. It was late to register to me that I was held captive… in my own aircraft. Anyway, before anything else, first thing first, can you hand me a single pack of food from the food that I stole, that's if your chubby friend hasn't devoured everything? I'm so hungry I think I'm dying."

Valdis stared at him for a few seconds before sighing and rolling her eyes, completely so done with him. She went to the bag at the side and rummaged through all the food that he had taken on a whim. The rustling sound of plastic came to his ears, and just by that, his stomach once again growled, even without knowing what kind of food Valdis would give. 

"I don't know why you've chosen this one of all the planets. Look at all that you stole. These look disgusting. Even Maddox wouldn't eat this," she said, throwing all the plastic of disgusting jello that xinusian had eaten regularly and the bags of small chips that almost looked like dog treats. 

Davy frowned. He didn't know that this was what it looked like on the inside. He didn't think while taking everything. If it was tasty wasn't even on his mind while in a rush. As long as it was stomach-filling, he took it. But it was actually a wrong move because he obviously couldn't eat most of them. They looked like someone's puke waste. 

Valdis opened a pack of bread and opened it for him, stuffing it in his mouth immediately, though a little harshly. Davy had a hard time munching on it, but even with a full mouth, he thanked her.

"I woke you up because your aircraft seems to be misbehaving."

His eyes widened as he looked around in concern. "Huh? What happened? What kind of misbehaving? Luisa, is Luminus 415 alright?"

"I'm not detecting anything wrong, captain," Luisa replied quickly. He let out a relieved sigh. He couldn't afford to have anything wrong with Luminus 415, or else he would have to have a quick mechanic run to other planets so that it could be resolved. He didn't have anything to be protective about but this last and only aircraft.

"I don't mean physically wrong." Valdis rolled her eyes. "We're going off the route. This is not the original track we should be taking. We're supposed to be heading to the planet Peoria near Exoshelm. What's happening?" 

Davy hummed, tilting his head up and pretending as if he was thinking. He badly wanted to be freed from this tight tie up with the chair. Imagine sleeping while sitting instead of his comfortable bed in the aircraft.

He didn't deserve to be treated like this in his own aircraft! So, he shrugged and replied casually, "How would I know? I'm stuck here. I wouldn't be able to see what's wrong."

"Ask that robot, then." Valdis crossed her arm, silently telling him that she wouldn't be swayed by what he was trying to plan. "I'm going to throw you out of your own aircraft and break all the breakable things in this place until it's dysfunctional anymore if we wouldn't be able to get to where we're supposed to be."

"Gods, you're raised brutally, aren't you?" He grimaced.

He really couldn't trick these people. They are smarter, and they were probably taught about people as tricksters and anyone who could stab them in their backs so that they weren't easily fooled. 

"What's happening here?" Piotr went out from the storage room and asked. His eyes went from him to Valdis, analyzing the situation, but since he only had woken up, he couldn't grasp what situation they might be in. 

"This man probably ordered his aircraft to another route. We're diverting from the original route from what I saw last night," Valdis replied grimly, glaring at Davy, who was clueless at the accusation. "I told you, he can't be trusted. We should have thrown him out when we had the chance."

"What!? I couldn't even talk last night because of the gag in my mouth. I can't stand up because… look at me, you basically glued my skin in this seat. How would I be able to make your accusation?" He defended himself.

Seriously, this woman was like someone who thought everyone was suspicious and couldn't be trusted. Her claim was baseless. Didn't she think of that?

"Then how will you explain the change of course? What, this aircraft just decided for itself?" She scoffed, putting her hands on her waist. "Don't think of us as a fool-"

"Yes." Davy looked up at her and met her eyes, earning a more irritated look from this beast. "Yes, Luminus 415 has that ability to re-route when there's something wrong with the current route. Also, it's not set to any destination. I only set my next planet stop when I needed to refill my fuel or I had to buy necessities. To prove to you that I didn't do anything last night… Luisa, where are we heading?"

"We're heading to Planet Gelos. I changed the route from Peoria to Gelos. We were alerted that there are checkpoints ahead in that route, and based on the previous re-route activities, you are avoiding all of them. I warned you last night, but you didn't answer, so it's automatically granted."

Davy smiled proudly at that. His father's AI was much more advanced than the one invented so far, and probably until now. If Luisa were to be examined, it was nothing the same as any other. He knew, even before, that his father was a genius, but he had just discovered the extent when he was gone. 

"Good decision, Luisa." He faced the two and smiled at them with confidence that he had proved her wrong. "See? I wouldn't do anything rash knowing that I'm… a hostage in my own comfort zone. Luisa is my co-pilot. She knows better decision than I, and since I originally don't have any destination, we're alright to take any route as long as we're not off to dangerous planets."

"Good morning!"

A loud yawn and a few bones cracking interrupted the talk when Maddox and Zarah also came out of the storage room. It was the only room that was open and didn't need his fingerprint. The rest were inaccessible. 

Zarah looked at the three of them. Like Piotr, she also studied what was happening. "What's with the atmosphere? What are you guys talking about? Are you planning something without us? Why? Are we not part of the group now? After everything we've been through? I thought we were brothers and sisters with one goal, then why-"

"Shut up, Zarah," Piotr pointedly cut her drama off. "This isn't the time for your usual out-of-situation overdramatic lines. We're off-route, heading to Gelos. Where's our map? We should find a route heading to Exoshelm. This man proves to be useless, it seems."

Davy squinted his eyes at Piotr. What else would he have to do to prove that he was not worthy of being thrown out? And what was it with them and being cruel to the owner who took them in? Gods. It had been so long since he encountered and interacted with people, not aliens, or… should he consider them aliens? If he would base it according to its English meaning, then they were aliens, too. 

Anyway, he felt excited and thrilled having them with him in his aircraft for some reason. But it meant that he had to deal with their brutality and different personalities.

"Excuse me, you all seemed very unaware of how advanced my aircraft is and how I can actually throw you out with one word instead of you doing it to me." He faced them with his chin high, trying to take dominance. "But I'm not doing it, you should be thankful, so I guess you should at least consider not throwing me out of here as well. Anyway, going back to your concern, I can simply ask Luisa to locate another route to where you are going. So, tell me, where are you headed?"

"Weren't you headed to the same planet?" Valdis asked, crossing her arms on her chest. Her stance was like a mean girl bullying her classmate; actually, with his body tied to the chair, it was the best metaphor. "Aren't you just pretending right now? There's no way no one knows about that planet."

"What planet? The Exo-something you've been talking about since yesterday? This is my first time hearing of that planet. Actually, I don't know any planets until I encounter them all, or Luisa will inform me about it. So, yeah, I'm not pretending right now. I'm not heading there. I don't even know what's waiting for me there."

"What's your goal here then? What are you doing here in this vast universe instead of settling on your planet?" Piotr asked. He picked up one silver pack of food, probably of hunger, but when he opened it, a jelly poured out of it and dripped on the floor. His face formed into a disgusted look as he totally disposed of it to the nearest trash can. Couldn't blame him.

"I told you, I'm just here to roam around the universe. I can't go back to Earth now. Aside from the fact that it was too far away now, I was wanted there. It's not like I wanted to go back there anyway. They would salivate over my father's aircraft and make my life complicated, so instead of going back, I would continuously live here in my aircraft with Luisa."

He had already decided about what he was going to do in his life from the start. If his father didn't die, he might probably already be working now as a pilot. But since his father died, the trajectory of his life had drastically changed as well, even his future. So, he had to decide on another plan for himself, and this was what he chose. 

He thought at first that this would be hard—having no father in a vast universe—but everything was provided, and Luisa was there as a guide that resembled his father. It was bearable. So, he decided that it was alright to live in the universe as long as he would take care of the aircraft and Luisa would function correctly. That was the new course he took for his life. 

"So, he's not in search of the stone," Maddox blurted out, and mysteriously he received multiple glares coming from the other three. What are they talking about? "Oops, sorry."

"What stone?" he asked. Now that they were on this topic, he was curious about their goal and what they wanted to achieve along with their families. "What is your purpose in this universe? Why did your ancestors sacrifice their lives living here outside of a planet's comfort?"

"I don't think it's for you to hear," Valdis said before the others, especially Zarah or Maddox, could say something that she didn't want out. This woman was really tight and secretive. Could it be that the people from Kepler 452b were the assassinators parallel to the Earthlings? Heh. Ridiculous thought.

"Then, I wouldn't be able to help you. Luisa would remain on this track farther away from the planet you are aiming to go to. Why go to the more complicated side when you could just share with me where you are going? It's not like I will jeopardize your plans. If anything, I could even be your pilot to that planet. It's a great deal if you will ask me."

He watched them talk through their eyes in front of him. Until they couldn't take it anymore and needed to discuss it with words, Valdis called them back to the storage room to discuss his proposal.

He could already feel what their answers would be. After all, it was a win-win situation. After he dropped them off to wherever planet they would be going, he would continue his journey. He had no plans to overlap. Wherever he went, it was fine. 

They went out after a while, and obviously, by Valdis' annoyed expression, she bore good news. "We decided after a majority vote that we should accept your offer. But we have rules."

He grinned. "Thought so."