Dove was exhausted. Tired. Probably a little hungry, but she didn't need to know. With the server resting on a tarp nearby, Dove was laying staring at the stars. It was sometimes easy to forget how bright the stars seemed in the dead of night. He definitely didn't notice when the lights were still on.

"Hey Penny?"

"Yes Dove?"

"What did you two talk about? You seemed to have a good time with him?"

Dove could hear her smugness. He wasn't aware that computers could be smug. "Why do you ask? Are you feeling jealous?"

"No, I'm not feeling jealous." Yawned Dove. "I just want to know about what happened."

"Am I allowed to ask what happened during your excursion?"

"Yeah. I killed a guy." Deadpanned Dove.

Penny paused. "Is that all?"

"Pretty much."

"Oh." Penny remained silent for a bit. "Mr. Skink gave me some advice."

"Like what?"

"How to maintain relationships with give and take, and things of the sort. Told me that there is not a point in being unhappy."

"Is that why he's so damn smiley all the time?"

"That might be brain damage." Replied Penny. "I am not sure how much of his behavior is deliberate or is because of physical brain trauma."

"Makes sense." Mused Dove. "Anything else?"

"He showed me the prisoners. One of them has a daughter."

"Ah jeez. What is he doing to them? Keeping them strapped up in stables?"

"The cells are much more akin to the chambers in a sanitorium." Informed Penny. "Not that most of them need it."

"You say this like there's a lot there."

"It is the male counterpart to the type of prison this is."

"So, there's one of just females? Is this a prison or…?"

"It is more akin to a vault of semblances that are useful. POW camps, essentially."

"Makes sense." Nodded Dove. "How was the daughter treated?"

"Quite well, surprisingly. She seemed to be very attached to both Mr. Skink and her father, as debilitated as he was."

"How debilitated are we talking about?"

"Enough so that the prisoners can be more easily classified as rucksacks rather than humans." Winced Penny.

"Oh wow. Damn. Mr. Skink's doing?"

"No. He claims their previous owners did the damage to them."

"Weird." Dove really wasn't sure how to feel about this other than uncomfortable. "So how many were there?"

"Three."

"So how many females per male?"

"I did not ask. But I am glad that you apparently have the time to think of such fantasies."

"C'mon, Penny." Groaned Dove. "I'm a healthy young man. What's the matter with thinking about the fairer sex from time to time?"

"How old are you?"

"Think like 26, 28? You lose track of the years without a calendar and shifting between seasonal cycles."

"You are nearly a middle-aged man. Is it really proper of you to be thinking in this manner?"

"One, I'm definitely past middle-aged," corrected Dove. "Average life-span has dropped like a rock. And two, when have I been proper?"

"I am concerned and upset that I find no flaws in your argument."

"Welcome to living with me!"

"Go to sleep Dove."

"You can't make me."

"No, I don't think I can make you." Penny sighed. "However, I can ask you to please take care of yourself."

"What makes you think that's going to work?"

"Because you're too selfish to do otherwise."

"I. Uh." Dove was at a loss for words. "Darn."

"Pleasant dreams Dove."

"Electric sheep, Penny."