I’m not sure if I want to post this on FF.net yet, and if I do, it would be more than one chapter. I just wanted to test the idea.
The Engineer woke to another day, the synthetic light coming into her cabin below deck. Stretching her arms, her robots brushed her cherry blond waves and her teeth, as well as putting on a bit of makeup. The young woman didn’t know why, however, because her only companions were the robots she built and the robots that served her. Whenever one Engineer was to old, a baby is slipped away from the nursery and raised on one directive: To build the robots. The baby was raised to be well fit and intelligent, to figure out what robots the Axiom needed and how to build them. It was almost a robot itself- they never saw another human, never spoke to another, and barley left their cabin. They were not given a name, no, only “The Engineer” was referred to them. Above deck, the Engineer was a myth, a rumor. The robots were built before the cruise left, they claim, no one builds them now. Even the captain believed this. But no, only some of them were built then, the rest are blueprints, ideas, made when the Axiom lifted, left to the Engineer to build them all these years later.
“Engineer, new blue print for today.” the computer said.
“Bring it in.” She replied, her spandex black suit stretching with her legs as she stood and walked to her desk. Looking at the screen, its showed a design for a high-speed movement detector, to quickly spot when supplies were the least bit out of place. “No name for this one?” She asked solemnly.
“Negative.”
The Engineer sighed. She wasn’t good at making up names. She wish she was still working on EVE. Just a few years before, she had built a brand of robots that were really special. She got so in to that one, giving it free will, intelligence, and a beautiful chrome shape. There had been others similar before, for the same job, but she didn’t care. Recording the voice herself, the robot seemed so real… like a real friend, not just a hollow metal block who talked to her. What was it like, above deck? To have other thinking, feeling creatures around you? In all the colors swirling past, the time to relax and really… live?
But how would she ever find out? She could never leave her cabin, bound to a lonely existence serving people she had never even seen or met. These lifeless, soulless robots were the only things keeping her from going insane from loneliness. They weren’t much, but better then nothing. Sitting at her desk, she studied the print.
“Somehow it has to be able to keep an extremely detailed eye on every part of the ship. That is going to be difficult, especially since I’ve never seen the ship to tell how big it is…”
“Focus, Engineer.” The robots said in chorus, as they were programmed to the moment she went off track.
“Yes, sorry, I-” All of a sudden, the cabin started to jerk vigorously. Then it warped, making all the robots around her nothing but a blur. “W-what i-is g-going o-on!?” She cried, holding on the the desk. Just as soon as it started, it stopped, and with one last jerk, everything stood still. Catching her breath, the Engineer stood, her legs shaking.
“The emergency door!” She exclaimed, wobbling over to the door that lead outside, the door that was only for EXTREME circumstances, for it lead out into space. Vast, dangerous space. Putting on an oxygen helmet, she stepped outside. Her eyes were greeted by bright warm light, almost blinding them at once. In a few minutes, though, she was able to see clearly, and was amazed by what she saw. Hundreds of people, HUGE people, all wobbling around, looking as surprised as she was.
