It’s only a matter of time before a fic similar to this one comes up on the internet somewhere, but I was dying to show off my love of writing, and I haven’t really written a WALL-E fic yet. So this is my first one so far. I’ve written a Ratatouille one, but that one amounts to nearly 400 pages and will not be showing up on the net anytime soon due to the fact that it contains many original ideas.
Please take your time reading it; don’t feel like you have to rush through it. There is a lot to read here and my writing can get very in-depth - you wouldn’t want to miss a detail. Enjoy everyone! Please feel free to comment.
Author’s Note:
Ideas like this don’t come by me very often. My brain is constantly swimming with thousands of possible story ideas, but this one is one out of an elite few that actually impact me in ways unexplainable. All of the characters in this story - whether already copywrighted or made up by myself - mean something to me; I can relate to them all in one way or another. In this chapter, you’ll see me in the character of EVE.
Although I am living a pretty good life overall, sometimes I feel like there’s more than what I know - how do I obtain it? How do I excell, how do I climb higher, how do I reach that higher standard that I believe exists? I get frustrated in not knowing how to acheive what I strive for, and EVE undergoes a struggle similar to this in the first chapter. Hopefully, you’ll be able to get into my mind a little bit in reading about this amazing character.
Chapter One
The bright summer sun beat down on Brandon McCrea's already strained back as he knelt in the dirt, pressing seeds into the ground. He loved every second of his work, no matter how difficult or trying it may be. Ever since he learned the definition of "farming", he knew it was what he was meant to do; and he never looked back to wish he were still the captain of the [i]Axiom[/i]. To see these tiny seeds push up out of the soil and burst into leaves was a miracle he never ceased to stand in awe of. After only two years back on Earth, plant life flourished; and most credited it to Former Captain of the [i]Axiom[/i], Brandon L. McCrea, and his love of farming.
As he wiped his sweaty brow and leaned over to take a sip of water, he heard a gentle humming noise beside him, followed by the whirr of a noisy engine. Turning his eyes up, he smiled to see two of his favorite friends standing at his side.
"Hey, WALL•E," he excitedly said, standing to his feet, "you think you can help me water these seeds? It's a big stretch of land, and it'll probably take me an hour or more to do it myself."
WALL•E's hydraulic eyebrows bounced up in excitement, and with enthusiasm he took a hose into his metal hands. McCrea turned a knob, and out of the hose flowed fresh water from the river just outside where WALL•E's truck still stood. As the two walked along the rows of freshly-planted seeds, EVE contently looked on to watch them. She giggled and smiled as WALL•E lost control of the hose, and it sprayed water everywhere as it lay on the ground. The little robot wheeled backwards, frightened, and McCrea laughed at the sight.
That rusty little robot seemed so content here - maybe that's only because he had lived here on Earth all his life. The humans had adapted quickly as well and loved this forgotten world that they now worked together to resucitate. Why was it taking EVE so long to adjust?
"Hey, EVE," McCrea said, jolting the probe out of her daze. "You okay?"
EVE blinked, and her eyes snapped to the sight of McCrea and WALL•E standing in front of her.
"Eeeva?" WALL•E softly wondered, as if in conjunction with McCrea's question. He clasped his hands together and sadly stared up at her. For a moment, she simply stared at the two blankly. Then she shook her head and turned away, hoping to keep them from asking any more questions.
[i]I'm okay, really.[/i]
"Maybe she feels left out," McCrea finally reasoned, mostly to himself. He pointed toward a small house nearby. "You could go see if Mary could use your help with the kids. You know how much they love you being there."
EVE couldn't argue with that; she loved those rosy-cheeked toddlers as much as they loved her. On any given occasion, the children would crowd around the sleek robot and beg her to sing a gentle tune in that crystalline robotic voice of hers. They loved the way she would tenderly run her magnetic fingers through their thick hair, and they were eased to sleep by the soft humming of the magnetic currents running through her body. Without hesitation, she took McCrea's advice and flew swiftly through the air until she reached the home of John and Mary Newman - the first couple to be wed on Earth after the [i]Axiom[/i] returned them home - and their five small children.
The smallest one, a dark-haired, blue-eyed two year-old named Haley, ran to the door after hearing EVE ring the doorbell.
"Mommy!" she cried. "EVE's here!"
At the mention of their favorite robot companion, the other four raced into the entryway to greet her. Mary laughed at the children's reaction as she opened the door for EVE to come in.
"Are you gonna come play catch with us?" a dark-skinned boy named Lewis asked EVE.
"Yeah, we gots a new ball for our birthdays!" cried another boy named Daley. EVE laughed in amusement with their excitement, and she immediately led them back outside to play a game of catch. Mary peeked out the window to see the kids having a blast together with EVE.
"Who needs to pay a babysitter when you've got her?" she giggled to herself, turning around to finish the dishes. "She would have made such an excellent mother if she were a human."
“If only you were human…”
EVE reviewed what Mary had told her earlier over and over as she hovered alone beside the abandoned supership. When it had been said, EVE only took it as simply a sweet comment. But now that she was alone with her thoughts, those words were having a new effect on her.
Being a human was never anything she had wanted before; after all, she was a robot - built to scan for favorable conditions on Earth so the humans could return from space and come home again. That had been her directive. But now that her directive had been completed, what was left for her to do aside from providing company for WALL•E, McCrea, and M-O and babysitting Mary’s children?
Of course, she offered extensive help to the humans in their rebuilding processes; so did many of the other robots who were out of service. However, those other bots seemed fine with the fact that they were no longer doing what they were built for. EVE, on the other hand, was slowly becoming frustrated without a clear directive.
At the same time, there were so many advantages of being a robot. She was water- and bullet-proof, ran on a high-capacity lithium battery powered by solar rays, and she could zoom through the air with top speeds peaking at almost 2,000 MPH. Plus, she had captured the litte robot heart of WALL•E - and he would never be able to imagine his world without “Eva” in it.
McCrea had noticed her from a distance and now slowly approached her. She never seemed to notice the sound of his feet shuffling through the grass.
“You sure you’re okay?” he softly asked, taking a seat beside the discouraged probe. EVE gave a low hum.
Not really.
McCrea twiddled his fingers. “There’s… not really any way you can tell me what’s up, huh?”
EVE wanted to scream at the words. If only I were human…! At least I could communicate!
In her frustration, she broke into a frenzy of distressed blips and screeches, waving her arms as she frantically zipped back and forth. How else was she supposed to express that feeling of anger and discontent that welled up in her whenever she thought about not being a human? At least they could express their emotions in a way that others understood!
“Whoa, whoa!” McCrea exclaimed, taking a hold of her glass arm to stop her. “Settle down, there! It’s okay!”
EVE’s eyes drooped. No, it’s not! You don’t understand!
“Look, I want to help you, all right?” he continued, lifting her head to look her in the eye. EVE closed her eyes, just wanting to break into a lake of tears. “We can work this out - whatever you’re going through.”
Slowly, EVE turned away, gently pushing McCrea’s loving hand aside.
Thanks for your help… but it’s not enough.
McCrea wasn’t sure what to say. There wasn’t any other way to get to the root of the problem besides communication. He wondered why EVE was experiencing such deep emotions in the first place. Wasn’t she just a robot?
That’s exactly what he had thought of WALL•E the first time he met the garbage bot. But he soon realized that there was so much more depth to that robot than he had first imagined. Maybe WALL•E had somehow “taught” EVE these human-like emotions, but her computer couldn’t quite handle them in the same way that WALL•E’s could. After all, she was a robot without a heart or soul. A mere computer processor couldn’t correctly compute human emotions, although she had imagined it would be able to.
He brought himself out of thought when he noticed EVE hovering away, her head hung and her arms low at her sides.
“EVE!” he called, but she never turned around. “Wha… where are you going?!”
She ignored him as she glided over the ground. I won’t suffer these horrible feelings any longer, she decided, stopping just outside of WALL•E’s truck; knowing well that he was not in it.
With one last glance at the sun setting on the horizon, she placed herself at the door of the truck and began punching in a code on her keypad.
“EVE, what are you doing?!” McCrea frantically cried, running up the road towards the truck. He stopped and stood still, not quite sure why she was doing this. “Stop that! You could re-program yourself for all we know, and I don’t know how to fix you!”
EVE paused, looking up to glare at him. She let out a sharp beep. Shut up! Leave me alone!
“EVE, please!” McCrea pleaded, stumbling towards her. “Don’t do this!”
But it was too late. Before his eyes, the frightened man watched EVE Probe1 as she egged up and shut down, landing solidly on the ground with a loud clank.
For several horrific moments, he could only stand still and hold his breath, hoping that he was only dreaming.
No, no, no! he thought with panic. He waved his hand in front of her blank screen, gulping down the lumps in his throat.
“EVE…?” he cautiously said. He pushed her, but instead of her automatic magnetic system keeping her suspended in the air, she began to tip over. McCrea was quick to catch her before her glass body hit the ground, even though she weighed well over 180 pounds. “No, please don’t be dead!”
Thoughts began racing through his mind. How do I turn her back on? Is it even possible? Maybe AUTO would know how to do it…
He rethought that. Wait. AUTO has been relieved of duty and shut off for almost two years. Maybe… just maybe… I might be able to get him working again…
It was worth a shot, anyways. And it was McCrea’s last hope.