Had to give up, on making it making sense :)
We'll see?

And yes, another short one.
(a little longer now.)
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.

The planet actually moved, at a sedate pace, from bubble to bubble. So, from no means could it be described as stationary, although its sun following it faithfully. Eons ago, or maybe just seconds? Someone, something, had decided that they needed a 'place'. A place from where they could oversee all other 'places'. The universe as we know it is defined from borders, and what lies outside those is mere food for speculation. But to those creating the planet? I can’t really say, maybe to them our SpaceTime was just one, amongst many, just one of the places from where intelligence, love, strife and imagination might spring in a eternal dance. We could, possibly, consider them some sort of gardeners? Maybe with an interest in cultivating life, all sorts of life. Or just as possible, as mad scientists of a, hopefully so, benevolent kind, whatever the reason the planet was there.

We have to remember that life, as such, can't be said to be easy. From a statistical point of view you might want to argue that as ‘civilizations’ develop, they present us with higher ethics and more humane guidelines, but, from a personal point of view your life still can be a total disaster, and in some cases, a veritable nightmare. In fact, there is a cleft as big as hell between what those statistics may tell you and the individual.
==

The next day, at least Jeff assumed it was the next day, as he woke up he found Janelle by his side, still sleeping. Snugly and ever so enchantingly snoring, her arm wrapped around him. The snoring really helped, it made him see her as she was. Not as some high sprung, delicate flower, but as a human no better or worse than himself.

“Janelle.”

She mumbled something, seemingly unwilling to wake up just yet.

“Janelle, don’t you want to explore.”

Now, whether it was her mothers teaching, or herself? Exploring was what Janelle was made for, well, if you had asked her at least.

“What?”

As she realized where she was she disentangled herself from Jeff, blushing ever so slightly, Jeff now finding her more beautiful than ever. As she sat up, trying to shake of the last of her sleep, she called her suit.

“Royal, everything good?”

The reply took it so long that she almost started to worry.

“Yes, everything seems to fit human parameters, so far. But we are experiencing continuity discrepancies, which I can not account for. Also the gravity seems to be fluctuating.”

As she stood she found out for herself what he meant. Yesterday, as they had arrived, they had almost bounced while walking . Jeff’s suit patiently explaining it to Jeff as a unavoidable effect of the planet being larger, but of lower density than what he was used too. A little, if I might paraphrase someone I know, as if they were on a very high mountain, at Janelle’s own Earth. But today there was no bounce, if anything she felt heavier than normal.

“Yes, you’re right.” She said aloud. Most of the conversation she had with the royal was sub-vocal, learnt from her childhood, but her surprise made her forget this time.

“Jeff, do you feel it?” She asked.

“What?” he answered, smiling at her, still lost in fond memories of her snoring.

“The gravity, it’s changed?”

As he stood up he had to admit to her being right, still it was probably something to do with, what was it now again? Density?

“has the density changed?” he asked.

“I don’t know? Royal?”

“I’m sorry Ma’am, we’re trying to compute it ourselves. So far without success.”

Jeff, who knew which suit was the real smart one, called on his own.

“Suit, do you have a idea?”

“Suit?”

“I’m sorry Jeff, he’s rebooting.”

“What?”

“We’ve experienced several implausible events, unsettling to logic. I’m lucky enough to have my probability acceptor set high, your suit unfortunately hadn’t. It started to malfunction under the pressure, so I closed it down, for its own safety. Please let him cogitate in peace, he will need several second’s as we reboot him.”

“The gravity?”

“Amongst other improbabilities, yes.”

“Does that mean that we’re in survival mode again?”

The suit became silent. Jeff looked at Janelle, who looked back as bewildered as he. She shook her head.

“Royal.” She subvocalized. “Are we in danger?”

“I don’t know My Lady, but I would prefer us to move slowly here.”

“I don’t think Jeff will take kindly to that.”

“He will have to adapt.” The royal somewhat stuffily declared. “He’s staff.”

“Yes, but we will still need to get out at some point. Is the area secure?”

“Yes Ma’am, as secure as we could make it. The perimeters are clearly marked, and lasers deployed.”

“Then Royal, at least allow us to go out. We’ll stay inside the perimeter.”

At last the Royal answered, now speaking out loud.

“I will allow you to go outside Jeff, as long as you stay inside the borders we have marked. But I’m unable to allow My Lady. My security protocol forbids it, terribly sorry My Lady.”

Jeff who felt a wild jubilation for a second, found it as fast disappearing as he looked at Janelle.

“I’m sorry.” Was all he could find to say.

Janelle nodded graciously as she answered.

“Nothing to be sorry about Jeff. I’m glad one of us can get out and have a look. If I connect to your Tri-D I’ll see much the same as you anyway.”

In fact she preferred it this way, she wasn’t too sure it had been a good thing, falling asleep by his side. She had been trained for command, one of its simplest principles, never get too closely involved with your subordinates. It would get in the way when clear thinking was needed, and all said and done, Jeff was only the Cooks apprentice, not even real staff. But against it, there was this undeniable feeling of completeness she got as soon as he was near, all in all she found it most confusing.
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The planet had noticed them, but so far it wasn’t unduly concerned. It was new life, and its parameters embraced all life. But it had also a good pragmatic knowledge of the unsuitability of some types of life, and so, it waited. On old Earth there had been a theory from where some had speculated that simple cellular organisms as microbes , even viruses, also might have a ‘intelligence’ , a ‘hive mind’ of sorts, maybe even forming us ‘higher life forms’ to their needs. And when it came to the planet, well, that was a pretty good estimate. In some ways it was all one organism, not in that it felt each individual, but on a cognitive plane. If we assume that complexity is a key to self-awareness, that and some mode of communication, then the planet indeed was self-aware, even if at a somewhat disassociate level from its ‘limbs’.

But its tendrils were already there, ever so carefully beginning to analyze.
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