The transport had just touched down when the Nexus had jumped out of the system. Garrett didn't feel anything when the little ship placed itself on the floor oddly enough. The door opened and he walked out, unarmored. He made his way up to the bridge for the second time, and was greeted by a very cheerful Ilana. "I'm so happy that you came back! Now you don't have to worry about following those orders from your superiors! I…" She stopped when she saw how depressed he looked. "I… I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you unhappy. I-I'm just glad you came back. I mis… I-I mean the ship was empty without your life signs." She blushed slightly for a moment as she caught her mistake. He didn't seem to notice. "Huh? Oh yah. Good to be here too. Is… is there someplace I can take a nap and get a bite to eat? Everything that's happened has taken a lot out of me. And I also need to be able to monitor some communications around the UNSC."
Ilana's face looked a bit unhappy that he still connecting himself to his old life… what she thought was his old life and a new beginning now. "Um… yes. O-of course. I'll show you to some quarters. Y-you can, if you want, choose one that suites you." She had him follow her off the bridge to the crew quarters and the captain's quarters, which were obviously, unoccupied. "Hmm. I like this place. It seems… bigger than what I got on the Resilience. Which room is this?" He asked as he looked through each sub room in the place. "This is supposed to be the captain's quarters, and it seems since you had a rank of captain, this would be alright." She stood at the entrance to the huge place, watching Garrett move from room to room as he checked the place out. He rubbed his back somewhat, obviously pain. He checked even the ceiling, drawers on desks and a clothing chest, and checked a few terminals nearby to use.
"What is this?" He asked as he rapped a knuckle against a large box like opening in the wall. "That is the replication system. You should be able to create any food you might want, as well as anything else capable of fitting inside the opening." He poked at it for a few seconds, looking for a button. "How do you work the thing?" He asked, looking at her. "W-well, you ask for something that you would want to eat. Um, try asking for your favorite meal?" She said. "Uh, okay, I'd like a Ganymede Proschilitono Pasta, with Portobello mushrooms, buttered garlic bread, and a Pepsi." He was testing the damn thing to see if it would do what she said it would.
Sure enough, the meal came out, a white alfredo sauce covering the pasta with sun dried tomatoes and chicken and shrimp. There were other things in it too, but he couldn't name them. Everything else also came out. "How…?" He tried to ask, but she anticipated the next question. "I-I scanned data on multiple human colonies. Y-your people have quite an interesting history. They, they have a diverse culture and ways of expressing themselves. But the wars…" He turned his attention to the food sitting there, and pulled it out of the opening, and set it on the dining table nearby. "Better than an instant-chef dispenser in the mess." He sat down and started to eat, and talk to her at the same time, in between mouthfuls and swallowing, of course. "I keep wondering if that was the reason the covenant want to kill us off. Maybe it's because of us having such a bloody history and taking for granted what we had in the past. Now, we just try and survive. Man, this stuff tastes just like it did on Ganymede!" She smiled and sat down as well. "I-I've looked at the fantasy stories and novels that your people have made. Some of them have what they call 'elves' in them. Um, they look, they look similar to me." She brought her right hand up to her right pointy ear, touching a finger to it lightly. He stopped eating, and looked up at her. "I've been wondering about that. You have the ears, and we've written about them. I wonder if we've met your creators in the past." She slightly blushed when their eyes met, Sapphire to Emerald, and she averted her eyes. "I, I don't know. As I've said before, I don't have the data on my creators. B-but it might be that they made me in their image." Garrett looked at the ceiling for a second, lighting streaming down from multiple fixtures. He continued eating his meal.
"Well, from the stories I'VE read, elves were suppose to be beautiful creatures that lived a crap load longer than humans, though they didn't have the muscle that we did, though they excelled at archery. In some cases, some of the books were suppose to be romance between an elf and a human, or culture differences. Others were a fight between the two, or alliances against a greater evil." She looked back at him, a slight sparkle in her eye that he didn't notice as he inhaled the food. "Can I have another Pepsi?" He asked the replicator. The machine materialized another, and he gratefully chugged it. "Humans fell in love with elves?" She asked. "That was what I read, and you probably did too. Though it was usually shunned by both sides." She tried to hide a smile, but couldn't hold it back. He didn't notice yet again, too interested in finishing the garlic bread and Portabellas. A small silence had arisen for a minute, then Garrett finished his meal and put the plate in the opening again. "I hope this thing takes away the plate right?" He asked. She snapped back to her senses, somewhat daydreaming. "Uh, yes. Yes it does." The machine dematerialized the plate and utensils and cups, and Garrett pulled his hand quickly away, his eyes going wide. "Hey if the elves were real, does that mean orcs and the little guys, what were they, dwarves, were they real too? And dragons and trolls?" He asked. Ilana stifled a giggle. "I don't know, perhaps." He turned and walked by her, moving toward the bathroom. "Gee. I hope not. They were usually the bad guys. And they sure as hell were ugly." She laughed after he said that, and he reached the bathroom. He closed the door and looked around. Ilana waited nearby the door. "Um, where are the towels? And toilet paper?" He asked. "What? Oh, yes, the towels are not used. There are spatial cleaning systems for the bathroom. Nanites will do the job." She blushed at the thought of him being in there, taking a shower. "What? You mean to tell me the little machines are gonna crawl on my body to clean me? What happens if they try to eat or disassemble something that ISN'T suppose to have it happen?" He asked, a bit worried. "They won't. Please, trust me."
He looked at the shower again, and reached a decision. "Nope. No thank you. I would like a flushing toilet with water and a shower that pours semi-hot water. I need a towel and toilet paper. I NEED TP. No nanites crawling on my body." He looked around another second. "Does that replication thingy make clothes too?" He asked through the door. "Y-yes, it does. Do you need some?" She asked. "Yep. Combat fatigues would be good. 35% cotton, 35% polyester, 20% duramesh plastic and 10% Kevlar please. Matt Black, with HEAT control fiber weaved under. It ain't the normal fatigues marines wear, but I always wanted to keep the stuff spec ops had me wear. Damned comfortable if you ask me." She had the replicator make the clothing as told, and Garrett opened the door to receive them. "How about the shower and toilet?" He asked. "One second." The shower system altered itself to suit what she knew from the data base. "How the hell…" He started. "Molecular re-bonding control. It's a fairly simple advancement. I, I wonder why your people don't have it, I mean, since their a space faring race…" He looked at the toilet as well, which had also changed. He tested the flush, and it worked like he wanted it. "Good. I never thought I'd be grateful for having a flushing toilet." He had also gained a towel, white, from the replicator with his clothing. "Alright. I'm gonna take a shower, then get some sleep. Can you let me know if anything happens while I catch some Zs?" He asked. "Oh, yes, of course. Then I'll leave and wait on the bridge." He turned and closed the door. "Thanks. Goodnight." She turned and walked to the door, hearing the shower turn on, and took a glance back. "Goodnight, Garrett." And with that, she smiled and walked out of the room, heavily blushing. For the rest of the night, he slept peacefully without any problems, and as he slept, he was watched over by a pair of Sapphire eyes.