Alright, before I begin, there are a few things that I want to say about this story.
This was the first fanfiction I have EVER written. I wrote it back when I was 14 and a member of the Wall-E Fanbase (a Wall-E site started by a friend of mine), and since then the story has been re-written three times. This is the third and final revision of my story.
I am a suspense/thriller writer, so this story may be highly disturbing. On FF.net, it has a T rating. Reader discretion is advised.
I will take this opportunity to thank the friend who had picked Memories apart and helped me revise it, gothicorca1895 (as she’s known on FF.net and DeviantArt), and the same girl who helped me figure out some parts to the story behind this one.
And now, with my rambling over and done with, please enjoy the first installment of Memories!
Prologue
[i]The human mind is a complicated place.
It is a realm never lit by the light of modern knowledge; a dark, dangerous corridor riddled with dead ends, unending turns, and unmarked tangents. As often as we discover the solution to one of the mind’s puzzling mysteries, hundreds of other erratic behaviors open up in its stead, snatching away our only sense of security. There seems to be no such thing as a complete understanding of human ethics and morals.
A robot’s thinking is much clearer. The corruptibility of the mind and the many places we have yet to find in it’s labyrinth leave too much to risk on the basis of caring for these citizens who are about to embark on this journey of a lifetime. That is why, here at Buy N Large, we have automated our starliner crew with over a thousand different types of specialized robots, ready to accommodate to every passenger’s needs. We care about you, so it is all but expected of us to give you our very best; we will give you workers who will never let you bake under the UV lamps, never let a kitchen accident delay your mealtime, and best of all…never go against a superior’s orders. This is their job, their directive…without you, they are nothing. So welcome your crew with open arms, and guarantee yourselves a pleasant stay with BnL’s best. [/i]
Shelby Forthright, Buy N Large Global CEO
Axiom Send-off Speech (the Robot Appraisal)
June 28th, 2101
You know the way that things go…when what you fight for starts to fall…
And so began the voyage of the famed “jewel-in-the-crown” of the BnL Delta fleet: the Axiom. For 5 years, any and all inhabitants of Earth pay a small price to be pampered while specialized cleanup robots pack and put away the heaps of trash that they had so carelessly left behind. It seemed like a pretty good deal to these ignorant humans, and along with the Axiom several other starliners were soon lifted into orbit for their own 5-year-cruises: The Vulcan, The Sanctus, The Postulate. All fleets from Alpha to Echo carted off a grand total of 3 million dumb, happy people who were completely unaware of the deteriorating state that the planet below was in. After all, it wasn’t their problem. They were simply here to enjoy a well-deserved vacation, and they would be back home when half a decade had passed.
However, those 5 years went by quickly.
The humans who had escaped in the starliners were the lucky ones. Those who had decided to stay on Earth and wait out the growing calamity suffered a terrible fate in the end. Many died from carbon monoxide poisoning and suffocation from various other gases that had accumulated from vehicle and incinerator smoke over the centuries. Others died in miniature wars that were fought over what was left of the basic necessities of life, or seared by the intense UV rays bombarding Earth through multiple ozone holes. Shelby had made a grave mistake, and it was in these last few days of humanity that he broadcasted a frantic message to all starliner autopilots…a message that contained the order known to day as Code A-113. Without the passengers or the captain’s knowledge, each BnL starliner was overtaken by the autopilots themselves, thus beginning a new era of permanent residence in space.
100 years passed, and life on the Axiom was still sweet as ever. Despite the fact that the ships had been in orbit for over a century, it didn’t seem to be a problem for the former citizens of Earth. The main focus at that moment was the development of a new security robot; a robot that could tap into the minds and memories of others and-for the first time-empathize with humans. As the passengers awaited this breakthrough technology, the ships’ staff began activating their EVE probes, ready to begin the second phase of Shelby’s cleanup plan that had been canceled so long ago.
And in that fuzzy picture…the writing stands out on the wall…so clearly on the wall…
Another century passed, and the first of many small disturbances were recorded on all the ships as the passengers seemed to finally become somewhat aware of their situation. However, anything that got too out of hand was quickly subdued by the new force of long-awaited security robots; the Citizen’s Order and Defense Interrogators. The EVE program also continued without a hitch, with rotations of pods being sent out annually to each of the six previously inhabited colonies: Mars, Luna, Europa, Titan, Creed; and of course, Earth.
Send out the signal…deep and loud…
200 years later, things in space and Earth began to worsen. The Wall-Es, BnL’s dedicated cleanup crew, were finally starting to shut down from the sheer size of their workload; and without humans or specialized robots to repair them, the 3-foot, track-shoed garbage robots’ numbers started to dwindle, leaving the mounds of human trash hardly disturbed. The final straw had broken the camel’s back, and now it was assured the vision of Shelby Forthright’s “new again” Earth would never happen. The human’s former home became a dusty, windy wasteland, a toxic sphere void of any sign of life.
Conditions on the starliners weren’t much better. The Sanctus had been intercepted by an alien race and the Postulate caught in a supernova, causing the already small population of surviving humans to decline. The Vulcan was obliterated when a group of mutineers unwittingly piloted the ship into a black hole, and the Axiom had also fallen to an uprising that caused the captivity of every person aboard, until the ship’s autopilot finally fought back and freed the humans from their bondage. The peace was short-lasting, and soon after another 2-year war raged, this time among the robots themselves.
Turn up the signal, wipe out the noise…
200 years since, and the Axiom was finally released from its space exile. Due to the heroic acts of a stowaway Wall-E Unit and EVE Probe 1 of the Delta pod, the Axiom touched down in its home port in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on June 28th, 2801…exactly 700 years since its send-off. The 60,000 humans aboard the ship at the time were the only known survivors of the ultimate display of ignorance, the largest unintentional holocaust to ever be recorded in history. It was not going to be an easy recovery, but by no means was it impossible. And even today, 7 years later…the passengers of the Axiom live on…
Turn up the signal, wipe out the noise…
Do post me a link to the fanfic, I’m a fan of her works.