Ficathon: One Step At A Time
Another ficathon entry from me, with one more to go. :D
Title: One Step At A Time
Author: Gojira007
Written For: chobit001
Characters: Captain MacRea, John, Mary, WALL-E
Word Count: 750
Summary: OK, so he WOULDN’T get to grow Pizza Plants…
Author Notes: Spoilers for the movie
Life onboard the Axiom had been the definition of comfort.
Life on Earth, however, was really, REALLY hard.
Captain Macrea was learning that the hard way. It had been one week since the Axiom had made its journey home, and making the change between those two lifestyles was proving very difficult for everyone. As the Captain, it was proving particularly difficult for Macrea, because his own personal problems were compounded by everyone else’s. The deep disappointment he felt, for example, of not having seen a single ounce of growth in the place he’d buried a slice of pizza a few days ago was worsened by news that many people were having difficulties starting crops of their own. Some simply did not know what to do, others were not getting results, and still others felt uncomfortable about getting down and dirty to get the work done.
Fortunately, the people of the Axiom were not without help. WALL-E, the little robot who had become something of a folk hero for his part in bringing the ship back to Earth, knew the lay of the land quite well. EVE too was knowledgeable in many useful ways, and was just as revered as her robotic boyfriend. Indeed, ALL the robots of the Axiom seemed more capable of adapting to this new situation than any of the humans. Their help was an incredible boon. Yet Captain Macrea knew it could turn poisonous if he and the others did not find a way to lift their own (admittedly sizeable) weight. It wasn’t that any of the robots meant harm to the people; quite the opposite. It was the people who could all too easily choose to rely on their robotic friends’ aid rather than work on their own to fix the problem. It would be just like life on the Axiom: nothing to actually DO, survival without real life. That wasn’t going to happen, not again. Not on Macrea’s watch.
Thus, on this particularly sunny day, the Captain made a point to go to one of the local gardens that had popped up around the city in various places since the Axiom’s arrival. Finding himself at his destination, he saw a relatively average brown-haired man tending to one of the only green growing plants in the place. “Um…it’s John, right?” the Captain greeted with a humility that belayed his position.
“Yeah, that’s me.” The man replied, not looking away from the plant. “Mary’d be here too but she’s out getting s’more water for the plant. What can I do for youAAAH!!!”
As he spoke, John had turned around and practically flew into the air when he saw who he was talking to. Within seconds, WALL-E wheeled in at top speed from a nearby trench, a packet of seeds hitched to his back. The robot calmed when he saw the Captain. “Oo-ay-oo.” He chirped in greeting.
“Hey there, WALL-E,” Macrea replied jovially, then said to John, “Oh, uh, sorry for scaring you like that.”
John, still a little unnerved, nevertheless found the strength to say, “It’s…no problem, sir.”
“Directive?” WALL-E squeaked curiously.
Macrea smiled. He hadn’t quite nailed it, but he was getting the hang of deciphering WALL-E’s limited vocabulary. “Directive” often meant “what do you want?” or something close to that effect. “I’d heard good things about this garden,” he answered, “and wanted to get John’s help on a little project of mine.”
The next day, a meeting was organized in front of the Axiom. Everyone gathered there noticed a particularly striking detail: there were no robots. Anywhere. Just as that observation sank in, a large vid-screen projected itself from the Axiom’s doors. Captain Macrea’s face was displayed across the screen, an amused smile on his face. “Good morning, everybody.” The Captain said. “As you’ve probably noticed, the robots are gone. They’re taking a little vacation, y’see.”
Gasps of horror and surprise echoed across the crowd. “That vacation ends,” the Captain explained, “when we learn to take care of ourselves a bit better.”
Two other figures appeared next to the Captain on the screen. “These two outstanding citizens are named John and Mary, and they’re going to be teaching you all they know about gardening. Take it away, you two.”
Inside the Axiom, John and Mary, hands held proudly together, walked up to the camera and began to speak. “Today’s lesson is ‘The Seed: What it can do for you’!” Mary said giddily.
Macrea grinned. It was a good first step. The first of many.
END