For archival purposes
Now that the first contest over at
walle_ficontest is over I thought I'd post my fic over here!
Title: Surviving versus living
Rating: PG (just to be safe, nothing offensive but some ideas might sound a bit like political angst)
Characters: Captain McCrea, Ship's Computer, AUTO
Warnings: Haven't seen the movie best not to read.
Summary: Aboard the Axiom the human race has anything it could ever want. Except this doesn't hold true for the ship's Captain. (Basically a POV from the Captain up until before he makes his decision)
Note: Went ahead and edited a few things to keep in line with the actual dialog (seeing the movie 5 times will do that to ya)
"Seriously AUTO, announcements are the ONLY thing I get to do on this ship…" a plump man in his mid 40s stated. For the first time in a long while he was in a scramble to do something that he would normally wake up on-time for: the daily announcements.
He thought to himself how he would've given ANYTHING for a change of pace; however waking up late wasn’t one of them. After pressing a few buttons on a console, he cleared his throat and began his announcements, greeting the thousands upon thousands of humans living aboard the Axiom, their "home away from home."
As far as Captain McCrea was concerned, the Axiom WAS home. Ever since he was a little pudgy baby he was taught the wonders and glories of the Axiom; A stood for Axiom, B stood for BnL: his "very best friend"….
Growing up he never questioned the propaganda. How can anyone question propaganda when it has been ingrained into your brain from an early age? Propaganda was truth aboard the Axiom: at the click of a button on the hover chair he could change the color of his clothes without ever having to get off the hover chair; travel aboard the Axiom was easy without ever having to move; everything he thought he ever needed was handed to him in a plastic cup.
"Don't forget that today marks our 700-year anniversary since our forefathers took their 5 year cruise through space. Now, I'm sure they would be glad to know that we were all doing the same thing…700 years from now…"
Truth was the Axiom’s propaganda was cleverly crafted lies. Sometimes it was easier to believe a lie when the truth hurt, but now he didn't believe in so-called “truth” anymore. He only hoped that the cynicism of his last comment would be lost amongst the other obese-unthinking blobs. Then again, it wasn’t like anyone stood up to question the authority of BnL or the Captain. Not even the Captain could stop espousing the half truths to Axiom’s citizens.
Deep down he wanted something more than lies and happy meals served in a cup; even more than what a robot or his hover chair could give him. That's why he trained to become the next captain of the Axiom. He surely thought freedom and excitement were privileges only befitting of a Captain. Growing up he listened to the Captain’s announcements and often thought how fun that would be to do the same. He even thought he would get to pilot the ship…
But that was such crock…no one told him this ship was piloted by AUTO, another self-service robot. He had tried numerous times to relinquish duties from AUTO so that he could learn how to fly the ship. And while he learned standard flying, there was never a need to actually do it when the time came around: real flying was reserved for the return trip to Earth.
At first Captain McCrea didn't understand why it was important to head back home to earth. He figured it was another BnL lie and that it probably wasn’t worth losing sleep over. AUTO further downplayed its value by explaining to him the process of the EVE probe robots and how every 100 years they would search planet earth for signs of plant life. If they were able to retrieve a specimen then, and only then, could they return to earth.
But like AUTO told Captain McCrea on his inauguration day, the probes have always come back negative, leading him to believe that this so-called Earth would never be habitable again.
Still he would often wonder what would happen if he could go back to Earth, given the chance. Assuming the chance wasn’t another lie and that there was some truth to the story, yet those chances weren't handed to him in a cup…
“And don’t forget to get your Septuacentennial Cupcake in a cup! Heh! How about that!” the captain mused. Before he got further into his announcements he noticed a green light bleeping on his control panel.
“Hey AUTO, what’s that blinking?”
He quickly cut off communications with the rest of the Axiom. He had never seen that button glow before. In fact, he hardly noticed it was there till he saw it glowing. It had one simple design on the button and he couldn’t recall the name for it.
“Sir, Probe One has returned positive.” AUTO stated in his monotone voice, finally able to capture the Captain’s attention.
Eve was turned on and she quickly saluted the Captain. The Captain scratched his head as if there was a misunderstanding.Could it really be true? A probe had returned positive?
"None of the probes have ever returned...positive before..."
Thinking that the glowing button had something to do with it, he pushed down on it.
Suddenly the former BnL corporation president of centuries ago blared on the screen, congratulating him for finding the plant sample. He proceeded to explain the process of the return trip to Earth and how most of the information he needed would be in the manual. And while the corporate mogul’s speech whizzed past him without a beat for the Captain to digest the information, he knew one thing for sure…something magnificently different was about to happen.
That difference was all it took for a complete change in the Captain’s demeanor. He became childlike with excitement and wonder. Finally, a task that even AUTO could not do without the captain…
Or so he thought…
After consulting the operation manual they were able to pry EVE open. But he was confused to find nothing inside of her.
“Where’s the thingy?” he asked with a hint of disappointment.
"Plant..." Auto corrected.
"Yeah, right, where's the plant?"
Perhaps they had missed a step...surely...EVE probe 1 couldn't have come this far to have "missed" a step. But just to be sure the Captain had AUTO scan her thoroughly.
“Specimen contains no plant. Probe's memory is faulty.” AUTO merely responded.
He couldn’t believe it…it was too good to be true and he was suckered with another lie. They weren’t returning to “Earth” and the Captain could not bask in the glory of doing so. There was NOTHING new to accomplish. He quickly sent the probe off to be repaired, along with another trash-heap of a robot that appeared out of nowhere. That robot had shaken his hand, almost as if he were human…
It certainly left his hand dirty and with an interesting thing he’d never seen before.
“Computer, analyze this.” Captain McCrea ordered as he held up the specimen. He didn’t think he was doing anything out of the ordinary, but as soon as she responded that it was dirt, he wanted to know more about dirt.
And she said it could also be defined as earth….
“Hmm…define Earth…”
“Earth…the surface of the world as distinct from the sky and sea.”
The Captain blinked his eyes in astonishment, no one told him their home planet was like this…his curiosity was tapped, and though wary that it could be more propaganda, he proceeded to ask the computer more questions.
“Define sea…”
Whatever he had started he knew he could not stop. Before he knew it he was swept up into a massive array of definitions: sights and sounds from the old days of earth. He was amazed, nearly stupefied, and his bouncy body jiggled with delight. This couldn’t be propaganda!
So even as the day progressed and as he continued to become engrossed in the Computer’s storytelling, he couldn’t help but think of the EVE probe…
“It’s too bad she was defective…”
fin
walle_ficontest is over I thought I'd post my fic over here!
Title: Surviving versus living
Rating: PG (just to be safe, nothing offensive but some ideas might sound a bit like political angst)
Characters: Captain McCrea, Ship's Computer, AUTO
Warnings: Haven't seen the movie best not to read.
Summary: Aboard the Axiom the human race has anything it could ever want. Except this doesn't hold true for the ship's Captain. (Basically a POV from the Captain up until before he makes his decision)
Note: Went ahead and edited a few things to keep in line with the actual dialog (seeing the movie 5 times will do that to ya)
"Seriously AUTO, announcements are the ONLY thing I get to do on this ship…" a plump man in his mid 40s stated. For the first time in a long while he was in a scramble to do something that he would normally wake up on-time for: the daily announcements.
He thought to himself how he would've given ANYTHING for a change of pace; however waking up late wasn’t one of them. After pressing a few buttons on a console, he cleared his throat and began his announcements, greeting the thousands upon thousands of humans living aboard the Axiom, their "home away from home."
As far as Captain McCrea was concerned, the Axiom WAS home. Ever since he was a little pudgy baby he was taught the wonders and glories of the Axiom; A stood for Axiom, B stood for BnL: his "very best friend"….
Growing up he never questioned the propaganda. How can anyone question propaganda when it has been ingrained into your brain from an early age? Propaganda was truth aboard the Axiom: at the click of a button on the hover chair he could change the color of his clothes without ever having to get off the hover chair; travel aboard the Axiom was easy without ever having to move; everything he thought he ever needed was handed to him in a plastic cup.
"Don't forget that today marks our 700-year anniversary since our forefathers took their 5 year cruise through space. Now, I'm sure they would be glad to know that we were all doing the same thing…700 years from now…"
Truth was the Axiom’s propaganda was cleverly crafted lies. Sometimes it was easier to believe a lie when the truth hurt, but now he didn't believe in so-called “truth” anymore. He only hoped that the cynicism of his last comment would be lost amongst the other obese-unthinking blobs. Then again, it wasn’t like anyone stood up to question the authority of BnL or the Captain. Not even the Captain could stop espousing the half truths to Axiom’s citizens.
Deep down he wanted something more than lies and happy meals served in a cup; even more than what a robot or his hover chair could give him. That's why he trained to become the next captain of the Axiom. He surely thought freedom and excitement were privileges only befitting of a Captain. Growing up he listened to the Captain’s announcements and often thought how fun that would be to do the same. He even thought he would get to pilot the ship…
But that was such crock…no one told him this ship was piloted by AUTO, another self-service robot. He had tried numerous times to relinquish duties from AUTO so that he could learn how to fly the ship. And while he learned standard flying, there was never a need to actually do it when the time came around: real flying was reserved for the return trip to Earth.
At first Captain McCrea didn't understand why it was important to head back home to earth. He figured it was another BnL lie and that it probably wasn’t worth losing sleep over. AUTO further downplayed its value by explaining to him the process of the EVE probe robots and how every 100 years they would search planet earth for signs of plant life. If they were able to retrieve a specimen then, and only then, could they return to earth.
But like AUTO told Captain McCrea on his inauguration day, the probes have always come back negative, leading him to believe that this so-called Earth would never be habitable again.
Still he would often wonder what would happen if he could go back to Earth, given the chance. Assuming the chance wasn’t another lie and that there was some truth to the story, yet those chances weren't handed to him in a cup…
“And don’t forget to get your Septuacentennial Cupcake in a cup! Heh! How about that!” the captain mused. Before he got further into his announcements he noticed a green light bleeping on his control panel.
“Hey AUTO, what’s that blinking?”
He quickly cut off communications with the rest of the Axiom. He had never seen that button glow before. In fact, he hardly noticed it was there till he saw it glowing. It had one simple design on the button and he couldn’t recall the name for it.
“Sir, Probe One has returned positive.” AUTO stated in his monotone voice, finally able to capture the Captain’s attention.
Eve was turned on and she quickly saluted the Captain. The Captain scratched his head as if there was a misunderstanding.Could it really be true? A probe had returned positive?
"None of the probes have ever returned...positive before..."
Thinking that the glowing button had something to do with it, he pushed down on it.
Suddenly the former BnL corporation president of centuries ago blared on the screen, congratulating him for finding the plant sample. He proceeded to explain the process of the return trip to Earth and how most of the information he needed would be in the manual. And while the corporate mogul’s speech whizzed past him without a beat for the Captain to digest the information, he knew one thing for sure…something magnificently different was about to happen.
That difference was all it took for a complete change in the Captain’s demeanor. He became childlike with excitement and wonder. Finally, a task that even AUTO could not do without the captain…
Or so he thought…
After consulting the operation manual they were able to pry EVE open. But he was confused to find nothing inside of her.
“Where’s the thingy?” he asked with a hint of disappointment.
"Plant..." Auto corrected.
"Yeah, right, where's the plant?"
Perhaps they had missed a step...surely...EVE probe 1 couldn't have come this far to have "missed" a step. But just to be sure the Captain had AUTO scan her thoroughly.
“Specimen contains no plant. Probe's memory is faulty.” AUTO merely responded.
He couldn’t believe it…it was too good to be true and he was suckered with another lie. They weren’t returning to “Earth” and the Captain could not bask in the glory of doing so. There was NOTHING new to accomplish. He quickly sent the probe off to be repaired, along with another trash-heap of a robot that appeared out of nowhere. That robot had shaken his hand, almost as if he were human…
It certainly left his hand dirty and with an interesting thing he’d never seen before.
“Computer, analyze this.” Captain McCrea ordered as he held up the specimen. He didn’t think he was doing anything out of the ordinary, but as soon as she responded that it was dirt, he wanted to know more about dirt.
And she said it could also be defined as earth….
“Hmm…define Earth…”
“Earth…the surface of the world as distinct from the sky and sea.”
The Captain blinked his eyes in astonishment, no one told him their home planet was like this…his curiosity was tapped, and though wary that it could be more propaganda, he proceeded to ask the computer more questions.
“Define sea…”
Whatever he had started he knew he could not stop. Before he knew it he was swept up into a massive array of definitions: sights and sounds from the old days of earth. He was amazed, nearly stupefied, and his bouncy body jiggled with delight. This couldn’t be propaganda!
So even as the day progressed and as he continued to become engrossed in the Computer’s storytelling, he couldn’t help but think of the EVE probe…
“It’s too bad she was defective…”
fin