Story Time

The man didn't respond. He looked up at Alex and tried to get up, obviously quite terrified. However, he couldn't move.

Alex looked down, and noticed the man attempting to move, but to no avail.
"Here, I'll help you" Alex replied, and dropped down to one knee, got his right arm underneath the man's shoulders, and used both arms to help him back onto his feet.
"No need to be afraid" he then commented, supporting him against himself.

The man was about two inches taller than Alex but very very light. As Alex's hand passed over the man's back, he felt millions of scars, layer upon layer, under his touch. The man winced slightly, but still said nothing.

"Cripes..." Alex commented as he noticed the scars. "I'll have to take you to sit down somewhere safer than here"
With that, Alex began helping the man back up to the higher floors of the ship, where accommodation and facilities were located.

As they traveled up to the higher floors, Alex noticed that the man's hair was at least three times the length of himself - it seemed matted and coarse, as if it hadn't ever been looked after.

The man looked at Alex with a look so sad, yet so curious. A look that said "Why?"

Alex noticed the look in the man's eyes.
"No need to worry, sir" he replied, reassuringly. "Once we get you up to the higher quarters, I'm quite sure that I can help you"

The man nodded, still not saying anything. He had no idea where he was, that was quite obvious... and it was also clear that, wherever he'd come from, he'd come from a long life of abuse and possibly slavery.

Before long, the two had arrived within one of the ship's Rec Rooms. Alex escorted the man over to one of the sofa arrangements, around a coffee table, and helped him to sit down on one of the sofas, before sitting next to him.
"So you might be wondering who I am..." Alex began, talking to the man. "I am Alex, and this is my newly-built space cruiser"

The man sat down obediently and nodded. He thought for a few minutes, his brow furrowing increasingly deeper. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was a warbling sound, rather like the tune of a songbird. He looked down at his scarred hands sadly.

Alex noticed that the man did not possess the power of speech.
"I've got an idea" he commented, taking out of his pocket a notebook and a pencil. "Can you write your name on this paper?"
With that, he showed the man how to use them, before offering him the pencil.

The man's hand was incredibly shaky, and that made his writing hard to read. However, after a while he passed the notebook back to Alex.

It read:

I have no name.

"No name...?" Alex asked to the man. "I haven't heard of that before...would you like one?"

The man nodded. Though his expression didn't change, his eyes seemed to light up slightly.

"OK then..." Alex commented, noticing the change in the man's eyes. "Did you have any in mind?"

The man shook his head sadly, looking down at his hands once more.

"OK then..." Alex replied once more. "I might have an idea"
With that, he reached into the drawer of the coffee table, and found a book of names.
"Thought this would come in handy some day" Alex commented, opening the book and showing it to the man. "Feel free to choose one that you like"

The man flicked through the book incredibly fast, reading all of the names in turn. He eventually found one and showed it to Alex.

Umino

"Umino..." Alex replied, thinking to himself. "I think that's a good name, too"

The man opened his mouth and repeated the name slowly.

'U~ mi~ no~' he said, his tone flat but very broken, 'Umino.'

He nodded.

"Yes...you're getting the hang of speaking, too" Alex commented, noticing the man's sudden speech. "So it's settled then...from now on, we'll call you Umino"

Umino suddenly had an idea. He pointed to Alex and his eyes lit up slightly.

'A~ lex~' he said, 'Alex.'

He then pointed to himself.

'Umino.'

He cocked his head to one side, as if asking for confirmation.

"Yes" Alex replied encouragingly. "I can see that you're getting better. Shall I help you learn speech?"

Vladimir takes another load of metal into the hold. On his way out he passes the room with Alex and Umino in it. He doesn't look inside, thinking no one was in there.

Umino nodded, before looking down at himself in a slightly scared way. It was if he was waiting for something bad to happen.

Through the end of the tunnel I see two people in a bed, one being a girl with purple hair, the other being a man with black hair. They look up, but obviously don't see the tunnel, obviously looking past me. As I materialise in the room, I instantly hear a gunshot and feel a large pain in the lower left side of my back. You CUNT! I yell at whoever just fired. My eyes change, un-noticeably as I pivot 180 degrees anti-clockwise, extending my clenched right fist straight at the person's face. Whoever he was flies backwards, slamming the back of his head on the nearby wall, and slumping, unconscious. Stupid git. I say, paying no attention to the two naked people who had decided to continue with what they had previously been doing before they were interrupted.