I stared at my reflection in the clean glass surface of the counter and moved on to the windows. While spraying the lemon-scented cleaner on the glass, I saw a spaceship through the dripping liquid, not so far away. The ship was shaped like a fork with two prongs, and orange neon lights on it shined in between the twinkling stars. Whenever there was space traffic, the view from the windows was splendid. It was one of the reasons why I admired running this café and gas station in the middle of space. After putting back my cleaning supplies, I took a few steps back to appreciate the cleanliness sparkling through the café. “That should do it for now,” I thought to myself.
Beri and I had designed the café ourselves from scratch. At first, it felt like an impossible mission but we were determined to survive and make a living for ourselves. Beri worked on more of the scientific calculations while I planned the architectural side. The café was like a small box but had three floors in total. Both upper floors were where we spent most of our time off work. It was our home in space.
“Beri!” I called out while poking out my head through the front door of the café. Both the café and the gas station were located opposite of each other connected to the main space highway 64. These two structures were like best friends together in the middle of nowhere. This highway was mostly used to travel between planets. Most customers that came along have had long rides and space sickness.
Beri walked in with his curly hair messily tied up on his head as usual. He had grease all over his face and hair. “What’s up? I am still working on my hoverbike,” he replied while taking off his leather gloves and hanging the pair on his belt.
“Saw a ship heading north. Might stop by, keep an eye out, ok?” I asked while serving him iced water.
“Got it. Hope they stop by; it’s been a minute since we had a new one huh” Beri replied trying to spot the ship from the window.
“You think everyone is shifting to the water-powered ones? Saw the ad the other day.”
“Don’t think so. Old timers are gonna stick with the regular good old gas you know,” Beri replied as he gulped down the last drop of water. “Heading out.”
I nodded at him in response.
I walked back to the counter and placed the menu on the corner. A tinge of excitement entered my belly at the thought of the arrival of new guests. The best part of being a barista was to discover the unique lives of different visitors. Not that I ever thought I would meet any humans out here but the slight hope was still present somewhere deep inside my heart. It’s nice I have Beri with me otherwise I would have forgotten how it feels to be human. It feels like I just met him yesterday but it has been a long time. I am 22 already and managing the café on my own. I never even imagined life would change so drastically one day.
I walked inside the kitchen and started working on baking some fresh delights. Baking was like a form of art to me. Every ingredient so essential like every chosen colour in a painting. Whenever I had been struggling with adjusting to space, Beri helped me learn a new recipe to bake. At one point, it gave me a reason to live.
Half an hour later, my curious eyes glanced at the ship through the window which appeared much larger than before. The outer surface of the ship had white panels made of aluminium-like material with neon lights on the border. The two prong-like parts had a wide glass in front which reflected a million stars. Our small handmade island where both the gas station and the café stood was oxygen-heavy because only Beri and I lived out here. Most species were unaffected by it, while some would be confused by the replicated Earth’s gravity. The tablet screen beside the front door buzzed with a notification, “Beri: They are almost here”. I quickly looked at one of the mirrored pillars of my café to make sure I appeared presentable.
The ship came closer and slowed down in speed, entering the island’s road. They are stopping! Another tinge of excitement went down my throat as I texted Beri to guide them to the parking lot beside the gas station. After seeing the ship up close, I could tell it was one of the new ones. Although we had been slightly afraid of losing business due to gas being used less than usual, we knew that we would adapt and find a solution.
Ding! The bells faintly went off as Beri and two roboids entered the café. They were a type of robot species that lived on the planet Tethys. I learned about them while reading an edition of the magazine “Know Your Species” last year. It was a surprise to stand with them face to face for the first time. Their heads were round shaped embedded inside a square with a thick cylindrical neck connected to their body. Roboids usually had a variety of body shapes but those two had a basic rectangular one with three wheels on the bottom. Their eyes and mouth were made of lights and changed pattern every few seconds depending on the current emotion. Emotion was a recognized language that most species understood. This much is all that I knew about them.
“Welcome to A Sip of Space! How can I help you today,” I spoke in a friendly voice with a smile on my face.
“Hello fellow human, I would like to convey, we are highly impressed by the tactical beauty of this place. We have just arrived from your original planet Earth and were immensely disappointed with their latest architectural structures,” the left roboid spoke in a voice that felt too high-pitched compared to their exteriors.
Hearing about Earth always made me uncomfortable but I kept it hidden in front of the new customers. “I am sorry to hear that. It used to be a… better in the olden days; but I couldn’t handle the chaos anymore and left early,” I replied with a bit of hesitation as I was always afraid of sharing the actual truth.
“We understand. Seeing the number of wasteful objects and distorted structures on that planet was mind-boggling to us. No wonder they are on the brink of extinction. Only your languages were fun to vocalize. No offense,” the roboids replied while picking up the menu from the counter.
I had been somewhat aware of the current state of Earth but hearing “extinction” made me feel an emotion I couldn’t describe. Beri walked closer and came to my side of the counter.
“What would you like?” He immediately asked the roboids again, changing the topic of discussion.
“We have discovered this menu to be somewhat flawed. The drinks lack emotional description and taste profile details. Although we are aware of the limit of capabilities humans are built with, we were expecting that perhaps the drinks would be created by professional species of taste. But we haven’t detected any other signs of life except the two of you here,” the roboid who had been speaking this whole time turned to his partner and continued, “What do you think SMOG?”
Beri took a deep breath and started speaking before SMOG could say a word. “Seriously? SMOG? That’s your name?”
“Indeed, it is and oh I am overjoyed by your admiration for my name, greatest gratitudes,” SMOG spoke in a much heavier voice than the first roboid. “In fact, you would be thrilled to know my partner here is registered as ACID. We both have acquired these identities through the inspiration collected on Earth. Your great leader mentioned these words a total of 34 times during our travel.”
Beri and I stood there like statues for a few minutes trying to take in the info dump.
“Great Leader? What are you talking about?” I asked bubbling with curiosity.