Highstrung Robot

Chapter Four: Dangling by a String

"Sure." She walked through the port and sat down in the driver's seat, clicking open the overhead compartment for her glasses and putting them on.

He got in after her, closing the door and sitting in the passenger seat. "This trip actually won't take as long going through this way." He said, showing her the paper and tracing his finger along a path. "Maybe an hour at the very most."

"Well that's good." She started up the side port's engine, undocking from the rest of the ship and turning it to the West, speeding off in that direction.

Jake relaxed against the seat, folding up the paper and putting it in his lap. "When did we get invited to this thing anyways? And when did I ever actually agree on going?" He asked, looking over at Addie accusingly, mostly joking.

"Yesterday. And I knew I had to tell you last minute or you wouldn't even consider going." She answered him, tilting the port a bit south.

"Smart girl." He said, looking out in front of them. "Turn right here."

She stopped the port and shifted it all the way to the other side, putting it back into hyperspeed in the same direction.

"How long are we going to have to be here? I can only pretend to tolerate other people for so long." He drummed his fingers against the seat, his leg bouncing repeatedly in it's spot. "And it's pretty much a waste of time if they don't listen to what we have to say."

"Well there's the banquet first, it's a big mix of everyone so more ideas will be presented to the table. Then, the women will go off for tea and the men will go off for cigars and alcohol, I can do the most action over there. Lastly, there's dancing, which means people will be free to leave at anytime from there." She explained to him, still focused on the space in front of her. "So, roughly 4 hours at least."

Slowly, Jake turned his head towards her, a cold glare on his face. "What did you get me into? This is so formal sounding, I want to throw up. Cigars and alcohol? Really?" He said, his voice annoyed.

"You could come with me to drink tea with the women..." She offered with a smirk. "But then all of the men are gonna think you're a wimp and all of the women will ask how long we've been together and if we're ever gonna get married."

"That's cute." He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Then I will ask them how long they all plan to spend their lives lonely and pathetically." He grumbled to himself.

"Oh, they all have husbands besides the older ones." She turned the port around in the other direction. "But you're right on the pathetic part."

"Fine! I'll go with the guys who think they're so amazing because they look fancy all of the time and smoke cigars and drink alcohol just for stereotypical reasons." He said irritated, putting his elbow on the armrest and dropping his chin on his fist. "I don't understand it."

"Neither do I, neither do I." She sighed, speeding up the port a bit. "Just be thankful you won't get judged all night for how much you eat or how you're still single."

"What? Is that what women comment about to each other?" He asked, a hint of disgust in his voice.

"That's all they talk about. 'Oh, Becky has a new boyfriend! Who are you with?', 'Oh, why didn't you eat food? That's rude.', 'Oh, why did you eat so much food? You pig!'." She mocked the ladies that were gonna be at the party, groaning a bit after she did. "It's just the cherry on top of the sundae."

"Sounds amazing." He deadpanned, sighing. "We are almost there, just go a bit farther and then turn left. You'll see it."

"Yay..." She cheered unenthusiastically, driving a little ways and then making a left.