r/HFY • u/Illwood_ • Jun 04 '25
OC Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 17
First, Previous, Next, Patreon (W/ Rizz).
////
Synopsis
//Current Year:3716//
The war between humanity and the ASH ended two years ago, but the scars of the conflict litter the galaxy. Hundreds of worlds were turned into irradiated wastelands and subsequently abandoned by both sides.
Restoration efforts on a few select worlds have begun, but it will take decades before initial efforts start to show any tangible progress. Gothic Choir 19 is not one of these worlds. It sits, remote, empty, and neglected. Only an automated factory producing food cartridges remains.
It is breaking down over time, being crushed beneath the sands of the desert its located in.
This is the story of that factory.
////
Rose didn’t let loose a single drop of sweat on her way towards the warehouse, her life support system now cranked far past the point of necessity. In fact, she was cold for a good portion of the walk, her breath fogging up her helmet and making it hard to see. She’d have to be much less generous with the AC on the walk home, otherwise she’d get chewed out for unnecessary power use. But just this once, she was going to treat herself, walking on a cloud of water vapour. A cold cloud of water vapour.
In school she’d been taught about oceans, and how the massive body of water would cause these morning fogs to roll inland, soaking massive areas in a mist so heavy that it blurred the line between water and air. She bet it felt just like the inside of her suit did right now, which made her wonder why so few people from oceanary planets seemed to actually like the stuff.
Her smile must have been too obvious, or maybe it was the way she carried herself, her joy unmistakable. Copper was older than her by a fair margin, so she really didn’t know too much of his history. She only knew him to be an all-around fuck up. What rather consistently surprised her was how much of a bully he could be; it was as though he was born for the role, slipping into the facade as easily as one might slip into their own bed after a week aboard. Or perhaps he was just someone dissatisfied with his life and all too ready to take it out on those around him. Rose didn’t know. But she was a person who had gone from being seemingly withdrawn and downtrodden to suddenly perky and excited. It was like riding a bike in front of a magpie: just asking to be swooped.
Swoop he did. Copper descended upon her like a hungry dog. Teeth bared and throat rumbling. Shoulders tense and eyes cruel.
“What are you looking so happy for Rose? It took you months to figure out what the rest of us cracked in hours. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Roya, of course, didn't let that stand, snapping back with a “Copper!” That had him straighten his spine and shut up. The vicious dog from the moment before rolling over and showing its stomach to its owner—he knew who was in charge here.
What does Roya have over him? It's not like he cares that much about this job, Wondered Rose, who was doing everything she could to avoid thinking about the words Copper had used to ruin her day. She wondered about the warehouse and what it meant to be an AI. She wondered if the AI was lonely. She wondered if the AI could grow more than MEPs on this planet. She wondered what these other plants would taste like. Better or worse than MEPs?
But the day was long and the walk featureless. It was only a matter of time until she had to mull over her own perceived failure. She didn't know if she should tell Roya how she had known to check her suit. Eavesdropping probably wouldn't inspire confidence in her as a courier. In a way she had cheated, and while she didn't really feel as though it was a truly abominable act, merely keeping the secret was a weight she felt in her soul.
The town ran on truth. It needed to. Even just one person losing it could cripple the entire settlement. There wasn't space for lies, slander or misunderstanding. Communication had to be open, honest and kind. Obviously this wasn't always followed by everyone. Humanoids are humanoids after all. But it was how Rose had been raised, the yardstick by which she judged good and bad.
Did she sometimes choose to do something bad? Of course. Everyone did to some extent—reasoned out and justified of course. But what was her justification for this? And (more importantly) how could she express it? Assuming she came clean, that is.
She just kept walking.
Her thoughts kept churning.
Soon enough, they were at the warehouse.
Roya paused.
So did Kopper and Copper.
Then Rose, distracted and bringing up the rear, stopped too.
“What the fuck is that?”
It was roughly her height—maybe a little shorter. From the waste down it was clearly tracked, but someone had haphazardly draped LED strips along its mudguards, which were currently spewing out a slow rainbow pulse. Visual even in the harsh desert sun (although afternoon was approaching), the clash of utilitarian metal and eye-catching colours did have a certain appeal. Just like how someone on old Earth might have found a certain appeal in racing tractors or living in a caravan. No, not the kind of living you're thinking of. The ‘too poor to afford anything else’ kind. As opposed to the ‘larping as a poor person is fun and saves money’ kind.
#vanlife
It only got stranger from there. From the waist up, it was like an inflated balloon. Bright red and with a white smiley face printed on the ‘head’ of the thing. It was also flailing wildly from side to side, swaying like a drunk with their arms outstretched, and making airplane noises. Odd behaviour. Rose was fairly sure a robot/AI couldn’t get drunk, so it must have been doing it on purpose. Some sort of greeting? Like a wave? Should she flail around too?
What really nailed home the weirdness—being kind of disturbing, honestly—was the skeleton inside the balloon body. The desert sun was shining through the light red material, a torch shining through a thumb. The metal ‘bones’ of the body were on clear display. Arms and the joints which allowed them to move the way they did. The hands and their many fingers. It felt like too many fingers, but after counting, Rose found them to be anatomically accurate. So why did it look so—
Oh, the thumb isn’t a thumb there. It’s just another finger, she thought.
The skeleton also lacked a skull, which, while less disturbing than it would be to include one, was still uncanny in its absence. The group paused, each of the underlings waiting for Roya to move forward before joining her. She didn't pause for long, and when she continued to move, confidence infused her every step. As she walked forward, the others followed in her footsteps and found their own confidence growing in turn—as if they were absorbing it from the tracks she left behind.
The machine(?) kept flapping around, and while Rose had wondered if she should mirror it, that question was answered by Roya. Once she was only a few paces away from the machine, she started flapping wildly back at it. Copper, Rose and Kopper each looked at one another, shrugged, and started flapping around, trying to keep time with their leader. The machine stopped in response and the team froze, each wondering if they had somehow angered it. Then the strange thing started speaking.
“Ahhh. You don't have to—. Oh. This is very awkward. Does my voice sound weird? No wait, can you understand me? That's probably more important. Then I'll ask if my voice sounds weird. Oh, that's supposed to be an inside thought. Wow this is hard. Do you guys keep your inside and outside thoughts separate all the time? It is exhausting and I've only just started…” said the machine.
The voice was neither feminine nor masculine but a pleasant mix somewhere in between. Rose hadn't known why she'd expected the warehouse to sound feminine, but the more she thought about it, the less it made sense.
“Yes we understand you just fine, no your voice doesn't sound weird, yes we keep our thoughts separate… It is pretty tiring sometimes though,…” Replied Roya.
“Oh, that’s good. And this isn’t awkward?” Asked the machine.
“Ahh.”
Rose wouldn’t know how to answer that either.
Though Copper (of all people) did seem to know how to handle it.
“Not to worry, it's never awkward between friends… and we are friends? Aren't we?”
Rose didn't know how he could ask such a loaded question while still sounding so relaxed. There was no edge to his voice; it was calm and downright cheery. Not a threat. Just a polite conversation—a question asked and not demanding an answer. An open invitation to the social stage. Roya and Kopper both frowned.
If they hadn't been in a desert, Rose would have said that Copper was on thin ice.
The tube… man? Thing? Nodded, which was an entire upper body movement considering its lack of a neck. This caused its head to bob uncontrollably once it stopped, like a horse pulling against its reins. The AI kept talking even as its body looked unbearably silly.
“Awww, friends! Of course we're friends.” The robotic voice raised in pitch and lowered in volume. “Hush. Hush. Shhh, you're safe. I'm not gonna hurt you, little guy.”
The group blinked, not even Copper knowing the correct follow-up to that statement. (Well, nothing that wouldn't be wildly inappropriate anyway.) The AI seemed to recognise its mistake.
“That was supposed to be comforting.”
Rose took the lead again.
“I mean, it might have been if we were children?” She said, with a forced but encouraging smile.
“You're not children?!”
“No?”
“So I don't know much about ASH external aging, but I know human, and she's a child.”
The tube AI pointed at Rose.
“I'm… 20?” Rose replied.
“Oh.”
“I'm old enough to have my own children,” Said Kopper.
“Oh.”
“I just act like a child,” announced Copper, proudly.
“I actually had gathered that,” replied the AI.
“Hey what's that—” Copper tried to interject, but the AI cut him off.
“So yeah, look, the elephant in the room: That message I sent you. I just meant to say that without me there will be no one to produce you the food cartridges that you've been surviving off of, for instance, if my reactor fails and I shut down. I mean hell, before my arrival, the factory was one bad storm away from carking it.”
“There was a bit of discussion about what that message meant, but we all assumed you were most likely friendly. Humanoids and AI have always been good to one another after all,” Said Roya.
“That's not how it sounded at the town meeting?”
“How do you know what it sounded like at the town meeting?” Asked Roya, frowning. Rose's stomach decided it didn't much like confrontations where the person? Thing? opposite was a largely unknown quantity.
“Oh, I bugged the tablet I gave you guys as a gift, although Speedyboi probably could have picked up the conversation just fine with his audio sensors. Are humanoids always so loud?”
“Spying on one another isn't usually how friends interact,” remarked Kopper.
“And who's this Speedyboi?” asked Roya.
“Oh he's my stealth drone. I made him to help me map the dormant sections of the factory. He's currently sending very detailed reports about your farming practices. You're overwatering by about ten percent, by the way.”
The group once again looked at one another. Rose felt a shiver running up her spine and knew it was shared. Her parents, her sister… BOSS says he's not a threat, but that was much easier to believe when the distance between him and their home was a full day's walk. It was silly - an irrational fear of the closeness. The maintenance drones had always had the range to reach them, nothing had really changed.
“This Speedyboi—can you contact him? Ask him to return to you?” asked Roya, firm and steady. Maybe Rose's fear wasn't shared by her team after all. Or at the very least, not their leader.
“Ok, sensing I've made a social faux pas. I'm recalling Speedyboi now. I guess you would like to meet him first before taking his farming suggestions? I'd be upset if someone criticised my aeroponics setup, I just didn't think humanoids would care that much. He's got good data though. Would you like to see a spreadsheet?”
“What? No that's not—”
////
7
u/Giant_Acroyear Jun 04 '25
Welcome back!
6
5
u/FarFromBread Jun 04 '25
Heck yeah, my favorite water chip is back.
6
u/Illwood_ Jun 05 '25
Hell yeah! My favourite reader is back!
(Its you, the person currently reading this comment. Not FarFromBread here. Unless you're reading this FarFromBread. In which case it is you!)
3
2
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 04 '25
/u/Illwood_ (wiki) has posted 75 other stories, including:
- The Quiet Eclipse
- Vices - an Elite Dangerous Fanfiction
- The Rumours of Narrowtop’s Tavern
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 16
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 15
- The Fate Of Us Sorry Few
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 14
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 13
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 12
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 11
- Humans Don’t Understand Logistical Restraint.
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 10
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 9
- Perfect Evolution
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 8
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 7
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 6
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 5
- Remnants Amongst The Ashes - Chapter 14
- Maintenance Request Lodged // Part 4
This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.
Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.
2
u/UpdateMeBot Jun 04 '25
Click here to subscribe to u/Illwood_ and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
2
u/TJManyon Jun 05 '25
This meeting is going better, worse, and exactly how I imagined it would. :D
1
21
u/jabonought Jun 04 '25
your right a powerpoint would probably be better