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Chapter 8 by TurinTurambar TurinTurambar

What's next?

Let her sleep and stay nearby

You decide you don't need to literally watch her the entire time, so you leave her in peace and go to your own room. You read a bit in your current book - Hans Hermann Hoppe's classic The Economics and Ethics of Private Property, but quickly notice you're not focussed enough for such heavy literature, so you watch a movie instead. After a toilet break, you check in on River who is still fast asleep. You finish the movie, have a snack and go to her room again. She's awake now, sitting on the bed, her skirt sprawled around her, looking into nothingness. As you open the door and glance inside, she refocusses and looks at you with mild interest.

"You're okay?", you ask.
She tilts her head and furrows her brow. "It doesn't make sense."
You stop for a moment, confused, then enter the room and close the door behind you. "What doesn't make sense?"
She just continues looking with some slight disdain in her expression, like she's not approving with how something is done. "Important number. Group dynamic, cohesion, job specialization. Does Inara count? Do I?"
You sit next to her on the bed. "What are you talking about?"
She gives you the most chilling look, one that somehow disturbs you immensely. You feel like she looks into your soul. "Are you here to stay?"
You catch your composure and respond "Well, I was hoping to stay here for a while..."
"One goes in, one goes out...", she says mysteriously. Then she looks at you again. "Are you going to hurt me?"
"Of course not", you exclaim. "River, why... I will never hurt you." You try to sound as trustworthy and reassuring as possible.
She shows a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

Apart from that weird conversation, nothing much happens that day, and eventually the others return and the ship flies into the black once again.

What's next?

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