Chapter 13: A Sudden Shift in POV
Reuben sighed as he went through the computer's files. Humans always complained about paperwork – they had no idea how annoying the digital equivalent could really be. Having another passenger on the ship meant recalculating the amount of power they used, the food rationing, how effective the ship could be with the extra weight – and, with the crew member whose job it was to take care of this stuff sick in the infirmary, Reuben had to make sense of this technical mumbo-jumbo.
That blubber-butt Gantu is darn lucky I actually understand all of this, Reuben thought to himself as he ran through the files, editing numbers and recalculating fuel usage, 'Cuz if I didn't, we'd all be in trouble. He hit the ENTER button on one of the controls, and watched as the computer interpreted the three hours' worth of work he'd just typed, changed, and calculated, before giving him the message DATA SAVED and a smiley emoticon. A smiley? Honestly, whatever 12-year-old is hacking this computer has got to come up with more creative pranks…
Reuben sighed, and turned to one of the smaller computers, tapping one of the icons to run a security check. While the jokes he'd seen from the computer thus far had been relatively cute and harmless, he didn't want to risk any important files being tampered with, or worse, leaked to just about anyone in the galaxy. As he watched the computer scan each of the files, his communicator rang.
Who in the world…? Reuben answered the cellular video-phone device. "Hello?"
"Aloha! Ahaha!" The blue koala-alien he called cousin appeared on the screen, accompanied by a Hawaiian ten-year-old holding a green voodoo-doll and grinning.
"Hi, Reuben!" Lilo said, with her typical perkiness. Five years, and hardly anything had changed…
Reuben sighed. "What're you guys calling me for?"
"We heard about the new girl from Pleakley! He wouldn't tell us anything besides that she'd be staying on the ship, though. So…" the two stared at him with dual puppy-eyes and wide grins.
"That's classified information. You know I can't just tell you about this stuff!"
"What's her name?" Lilo asked, smiling wider, batting her eyelashes. She had to be taking lessons on this stuff from Nani, Reuben was sure of it.
Reuben sighed. "Amy."
"Ooooh…" Uh-oh, Stitch was getting that mischievous look again… "Issa boojiboo?"
"Wh-what?" Reuben sputtered, arching his eyebrow. "No, she is not my "boo-ji-boo", thank you! I barely know the girl!"
Stitch laughed. "Issa boo-ji-boo! Cousin tay boo-ji - "
"Stop that!" Reuben yelled. "You shouldn't even be talking to me on this contact? How did you get my number?"
"I found it in the main computer," Lilo responded. "Didja like the smiley face?"
"Lilo!" Nani called from downstairs. "Come here!"
"Uh-oh, she found the lawn chair. Gotta go!" Lilo said.
"No, wait! You were the ones who - " Reuben stopped as she screen went black. " – Hacked the ship's computer. Ah, blitznak. … And she's not my girlfriend!"