"I'm so sorry, sir! I had no idea you were there!" Naomi said, prying the micronaut out from between her cheeks.

She lifted him into her lap, fawning over him as one might a doll. The 'sir' did more in her favour than the apology itself. It had been a while since anyone had referred to him as 'sir'.

"No harm done. They engineer us tough," he wheezed gallantly, clutching a rib. "Nice to make your, um, acquaintance."

"Well, that's certainly one introduction," the Administrator said ruefully. "Naomi is our off-world liaison. 'Colonial governor' had a little too much historical baggage. She'll be allocating resources to establish our first base. We're hoping that you'll work alongside her as an advocate for the other micronauts."

It was hard to focus with her petting his hair. "Here, on Earth?" he scoffed. "Distributing grain and packed lunches to distant worlds? I'm meant to be out there, making a difference."

Naomi shook her head, and he found himself along for the ride as her body sloshed.

"The choices we make now will be the most important mankind will ever make," she said. "We've been tasked with crafting worlds. The first species we transplant, the planets we make... they'll last long beyond us, perhaps longer than the Earth itself. We don't have to be there in person to be important."

"Sounds like you enjoy playing god," he muttered.

"Oh, we're not playing at anything. We're quite serious," she smiled. He found himself picked up, doll-like. "If you like, I'll show you the shipping infrastructure we've been putting together."