Humans can experience something called 'sickness'. I'm not quite sure exactly what it does, but it does appear to hurt them. What if they were to die?

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Everything seemed normal. Like any other day, everyone was busy with their jobs, working to keep the ship in tip-top shape.

Xylion was currently working on the checkup. He had already gone through all the mechanisms, medical wing, kitchen, dormitories, and main console. All that was left was to check on the crew. After all, a good ship cannot run without its crew being in perfect shape.

"Line up in the break room for a checkup. I repeat, line up in the break room for a checkup." Xylion said through the announcement system.

When Xylion arrived, everyone was already lined up. Dattalion stood away from them, and when Xylion walked in, he nodded and walked up by him. They then began to check everyone for any injuries and asked them about whether or not they were in pain.

"No, I haven't done anything that would cause injury, sir." Sil'keen babbled, pressing her paws together.

"Nope. Other than the bump on the head I got this morning from dropping my wrench on my head, nothing." Grudge said, knocking the side of his head.

"Nothing that I can think of, no. My job isn't exactly dangerous. I'm just the janitor." Tilorian said, his whole body seeming to shrink into itself.

"I mean, I accidentally cut myself yesterday, but Quinn patched me up. Besides, cuts are ordinary for any chef." Micheele said, adjusting her hat.

"I'm the Captain. I don't do much other than sit in my chair and steer the ship. But even that's only about an hour each day. We do have autopilot, after all." Zellnor said, chuckling slightly at the end of his sentence.

"Nothing I can think of, Xylion." Human Isaac said, his face smeared with grease.

"If I was hurt, I would've patched myself up." Human Quinn said, her green hair falling in front of her eyes

All Human Mason did was shake his head.

"No. I haven't done any experimenting recently, so it'd be pretty hard for me to get injured." Human Fredrick said, adjusting his glasses.

And then they got to Human Jenny.

Xylion immediately noted she looked different. Her skin was paler and he could clearly see dark circles under her eyes. Her nose was red and slightly swollen, and beads of sweat seemed to trickle down her face. She looked exhausted.

"Are you okay, Human Jenny?" Xylion asked, eyeing her up and down.

Human Jenny nodded slowly, her eyes barely focusing on him. "I'm..." her voice seemed to vanish for a second, "-pletely fine."

Dattalion frowned. "Are you sure?"

Human Jenny nodded, but halfway through she began to cough violently. Xylion's eyes widened and he immediately looked to Dattalion for help. He quickly moved to her and began to pat her body, obviously looking for any injuries. However, when Dattalion got lower, Human Jenny froze and then furiously whacked him on the head.

Human Quinn rolled her eyes at the alien and then pressed the back of her hand to Human Jenny's forehead. Human Quinn nodded. "You feel like you have a temperature, Jenny. How did you get sick?"

"I'm not-" violent coughing "-sick!"

However, Human Quinn didn't take no for an answer and forced Human Jenny to go to the clinic.

Xylion was forbidden to go in there. Dattalion didn't know if the disease she had was dangerous to aliens, so they decided to quarantine the area.

Xylion had no idea why, but he was scared. He was scared for Human Jenny. What if this disease was fatal? What if she never recovered?

He couldn't have a crewmember die on him.

That's what he kept telling himself.

Xylion was currently sitting right outside the clinic, waiting for any news. It had felt like ages, just waiting for something. He didn't know how long it had been when Human Fredrick and Human Isaac came over.

"What's wrong, man?" Human Isaac asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm just worried for Human Jenny, that's all." Xylion said, looking down at his gloved tentacles.

Human Fredrick chuckled. "You look more worried than you're letting on, Xylion."

Xylion was confused. "What do you mean? I am just worried about my fellow crewmember."

Human Isaac threw his head back and laughed. "I don't have a degree in psychology, and I certainly am not smart, but even I can tell you're being a bit too worried. She just has a cold. Should be better in like, a day or two."

Xylion felt his nerves settle. But why though? He certainly didn't feel this nervous about other crewmembers. Unless-

"Well, it looks like Grudge is gonna need some help fixing up the plumbing." Human Isaac said, looking down at a communication device.

Human Fredrick nodded. "I should go and analyze this ore we picked up off of Planet 559."

"See you, Xylion!" Human Isaac said as the two walked off.

Xylion blinked, and then sunk even deeper into his chair. Before he could sink an deeper into his mind, the door opened. Dattalion stood there with a stupid grin on his face. "You can see her now, lover boy."

Xylion began to secrete mucus.

However, he calmed himself and walked in. Human Quinn nodded at him as she walked out. Xylion glanced over at Human Jenny. She looked at him. "What were you doing waiting out there?" Her voice was hoarse, and he could barely hear her.

"I needed to make sure my crewmember was alright." He whispered, sitting down on the chair next to her.

Human Jenny sat up, laughing as best she could. "I just have the flu, don't worry about me."

"I worry about all my crewmembers."

Her smile seemed to fade. "Right."

Xylion frowned. "Are you alright, Human Jenny?"

She nodded, looking away from him. "Of course! Just a...peachy."

Xylion didn't know what that meant. "Are you sure?"

Human Jenny looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "I promise I am okay, Xylion."

He nodded. The two descended into silence.

Human Jenny coughed a few times while Xylion felt the mucus begin to secrete even faster. He tugged his sleeves further down until they touched his gloves, prohibiting her from seeing any of it. Why did he care about what she saw? Why did he care about what she thought of him?

Xylion sighed. "I'm going to go, Human Jenny. I hope you get better soon."

As he was standing up, his arm was suddenly grabbed. He frowned as he looked at her. "Human Jenny-"

Xylion was cut off. HIs eyes widened at her action. He felt the mucus begin to secrete even faster than before. His heart was beating quickly. How would he respond to this? How did one respond when their whole body was frozen? Xylion couldn't move as he was rooted to the floor.

She had just kissed him.

On the cheek.

Human Jenny pulled away, her cheeks flushed red. "Thank you, Xylion. Thank you for checking on me."

"Of- of- of-" Xylion couldn't say anything, so he just nodded.

Human Jenny blushed even more before she sat back down. Xylion let out a breath and looked down at her as she laid down and pulled the covers over her face. Xylion sighed before stepping back and walking towards the door.

As it opened, he stole one last look at her before walking out.