An alien named Bezzem sits down with a 90-year-old man named Tem Chesko. Chesko points outside the cantina's window at his ship, and tells Bezzem that he just landed here this morning after a 71-year-long syntonium crystal haul from Cirus II. Bezzem queries as to how it could take that long, and Tem goes into a flashback.
A 22-year-old Tem Chesko speaks with the mine operator on Cirus II, who tells him that he should arrive back on his home planet within two weeks. Tem gets onto the ship, takes off and relaxes, when suddenly it's hit by an asteroid. The collision takes out the ship's hyperdrive and comlink, preventing Tem from contacting anyone. He calculates the distance to the nearest planet as ten parsecs, meaning he wouldn't arrive there in anything under 60 years. Tem lived on the ship for 8 years, becoming more insane with each passing day, when suddenly he discovered a pane of glass to be broken in case of emergency. The drunken Tem threw his bottle at the glass, revealing a feminine, green service droid. The droid, who Tem named Millie, took care of Tem and the ship for several years, until she spotted a planet on the view screen.
It was uninhabited, but Tem decided to land there, if only for some fresh air. Soon after landing, Tem was attacked by a massive, green plant-like monster, which was quickly shot down by Millie. More and more years went by, Tem reminiscing about his old girlfriend Maia, whom he surmised was likely a grandmother by now. One morning, Tem woke up and noticed that the ship had landed somewhere again, and he soon found Millie in a nearby pond, looking to short-circuit herself out of jealousy for Maia. Tem talked her out of it, and as he grew old and weak she continued to take care of him. At the age of 86, laying in his bed, Tem asked Millie to kill him, and handed her his laser knife; Tem tells Bezzem that that was the hardest day of his life. Bezzem asks how he could still be here and what happened to Millie, and Tem answers both questions by revealing Millie's inner workings transplanted into his chest.
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