Sure, Patricia had spent quite some time down there, and he wasn't at all surprised even a machine would consider her pleasant. She was. His brain finally started working, telling him computers didn't chat just for the fun of it. "Are you trying to tell me something?" The short silence was as close to a meaningful pause as a ship's computer could come, and then it answered simply, "Yes." He wanted to yell at it to tell him already, and he wanted to throw or hit something to release the frustration damming up in him, but he forced himself to be patient. "And what is that?" The computer answered innocently, probably without meaning to sound as cheeky as it did, "What is what?" Travis took a deep breath and told himself he was not going to crush the ship's brain between his fingers, and that he must endure this conversation, and tried again. "What are you trying to tell me?" The computer tested his tolerance level when it answered, "Tell you about what?" Getting up from the chair, he kicked the machine.
