LF Friends, Will Travel

Humans make the worst babysitters

Jessica focused on planting the crops, enjoying the solitude and simple repetitive motions. Farming like this was rarely done anymore, with the advent of synthesisers actually growing full crops was generally left to those who wanted to sell 'real food' to the weird minority who stated they could tell the difference between something that was molecularly identical.

No, the days of orchards and scores of labourers as hard and weathered as the earth itself was long gone. Most farms were run by one person or AI, who would use scores of automated drones to maintain vast plots of a single easy to grow crop. This could then be ground up and deposited as an organic sludge into any synthesiser, to provide 99% of Terrans food needs.

But this entire operation had been a quickly put together humanitarian mission to a species who hadn't developed the same biological replication technology. The automated machines and logistics would come later, but for now this was having to be done by hand.

Jessica took a moment to look around her, a strange alien sunset creating a striking pink sky, highlighting the alien architecture of entrances to burrows and the various tiny underground tunnels the natives used to travel around with. The Quoxxett are a species of brown bipedal furred rodents that reach up to 2ft tall. They also were a monotropic species, requiring the special nutrition of the Jwangu nut to survive. A food source that had quickly been infected by a fungal plague.

The Terran Conclave had stood aside at first, not wanting to start another confrontation. They were the only species to create an AI that didn't go Xenocidal, and this had caused the rest of the galaxy to fear them. The Terran's first attempted contact with another species had turned into a war with the Hatil, and the second had been an accidental invasion of a Ritilian's colony.

But it quickly became apparent to the Terrans that the large universe filled with life wasn't going to do anything to help. The Federation that all species were part of was useless; the act of having too many voices caused the grandly named organisation to be nothing more than a glorified translator service and neutral place to hold meetings.

There were also suggestions that the infection was a purpose made attack; the vicious Estorian Empire were constantly looking to expand their territory, and the suspicious speed of all Quoxxett systems being infected with the fungal growths at the same time raised some eyebrows.

So once it became apparent that nobody else was coming to help them, Terrans had set to work. Quickly they found a replacement for their food source, then loaded up every ship they could spare with every Brazil nut they could synthesise or grab.

Which is why Jessica was here, planting food so the adorable little hamster-beavers would have a sustainable crop to later feed themselves with. Well... the actual reason Jessica had been demoted to simple labour was far more embarrassing.

Upon seeing the objectively adorable Quoxxett, Jessica had tried to contact her friend on another vessel, to exclaim her excitement over the potential meeting with a living plushy. Tried being the operative word, as instead she'd accidentally broadcasted her message of adoration to literally anyone who could listen. Including every single Terran on this humanitarian mission. And the Quoxxett leadership.

It wasn't my fault it was so easy to fat finger the emergency broadcast button..

Thanks to this Jessica was now known as the "I want to hug one lady", especially since someone had leaked the embarrassing audio. There was even an autotuned remix of her outburst with half a billion views...

"What you doing?"

The little voice sounded out to Jessica's left, causing her to stop what she was doing and look up. One of the Quoxxett stood in front of Jessica, the flat beaver-like tail and different swirling patterns of light and brown coloured fur creating something that looked more like a fluff filled toy than a real life alien.