After getting in touch with the "weathered Kelly" from another timeline and helping her as much as she could, the Orville returned to a large military space station somewhere in the Solar System without waiting for a reply. There, it underwent upgrades and modifications to its engines, hull, power supply, shield arrays, and more.
Of course, there were also matters to attend to like receiving the Planetary Union's new generation of shuttles and testing small, space-based fighter craft that looked almost exactly like the Orville.
So, there was no doubt about it: for the next little while, almost everyone aboard the Orville, from the captain on down, would be very, very busy. Things might not improve until the upgrade work was finished.
But no matter how busy everyone else was, Annie was an exception!
See?
"Hmm-hmm-hmm, hm~?"
??(′?｀?)???
For Annie, today was yet another boring day with nothing to do. Having eaten so much that she was feeling a little uncomfortable, she hummed a little tune as she wandered aimlessly through the Orville's corridors, walking off her meal.
(...)
(●￣?￣●)
"?!"
Σ(°△°|||)︴
Then, as she passed the captain's office, someone came out. She casually glanced inside and happened to see a certain someone sitting there with his forehead propped against his hand, looking anxious and frustrated. Curious, Annie naturally stopped and went over to the open hatch.
"Uncle Ed?"
|?˙?˙)
She lingered by the hatch for a while, confirming that he really did seem to be in a bad mood. Just as she was wondering whether she should make things worse for him and put him in an even worse mood, he noticed the hatch hadn't closed automatically. He glanced over without thinking and spotted her.
Annie decided not to hide. She walked right in, bold as brass, and asked