Takes place pre-Wall-E and post 2010: Odyssey Two, so as far as this crossover is concerned: Wall-E hasn't happened and 2061 and 3001 never happen. I kind of did my own thing with what happens after 2010, where the two captains of the Discovery II (my own characters) rescue and reboot Hal a while after the ending of 2010. I don't know how this got so long and I don't know if later chapters will be this long, but do please sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.
"Captain." The two syllable word spoken in the usual monotone of its owner awoke the sleeping captain with a small jump. Captain McCrea yawned loudly, pressing down on the button that swiveled his chair so he could face the android. He glanced up at Auto, his dark brown eyes meeting a single red one. The android stood stiffly, one hand holding the other behind his back as he looked back over his shoulder at the captain.
"Yeah Auto, what is it?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes with a pudgy hand.
"Captain," The autopilot repeated, turning to face the large glass window. "There is a ship approaching the Axiom."
"Oh, well if it was just that then- wait, what?!" Captain started, almost falling out of his chair as he tried to sit up in shock. "A-A ship? With, like, other people on it?"
"I believe so, Captain." Auto said, staring at something out the window. Captain pressed down on his chair's control panel again, making him move next to Auto. He looked to where the robot's good eye stared and saw the bright object that was supposed to be another ship. He watched it for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He didn't know that there were other ships out here, at least, there weren't supposed to be any. Could it be another escaped shuttle from Earth? Were there even any other shuttles made to escape Earth? He watched the slow moving dot a bit longer before speaking.
"Auto, I think we should make contact."
"Affirmative."
With the agreement of the autopilot, him being about the only android aboard the Axiom that McCrea would ever listen too when it came to important matters of opinion, he reached for the interstellar communication link that would allow him to reach the unidentified shuttle slowly making its way towards them. And upon reaching for it he fell a few inches short of being able to grab it. He stared at the small communications device and stretched as far as his arm would allow, even leaning forwards and flailing his arm a bit. Just as he looked like he was about to fall out of his chair Auto silently reached over and picked up the wireless box and held it within the captain's reach.
"Ah, thanks Auto." McCrea said as he grabbed the device and brought it up to his face. He stared at it questioningly- never having to use it before- and eventually discovered how to turn it on. A sudden sound of static and random beeps filled the room and the captain flinched as he started turning knobs until silence filled the air. He glanced at Auto and Auto only glanced back, having nothing to say on the communications device. With no apparent help from the usual pilot he started at the box a moment longer before clearing his throat and talking into the open slits.
"H-Hello? Does anyone copy? This is Captain McCrea of the Axiom. Is anyone out there?"
Silence answered him. He looked at Auto, who calmly shrugged back. Captain simply shrugged back in reply.
"Huh… Maybe there isn't anyone-"
A sudden burst of sound from the com-link startled them both, causing the autopilot to flinch slightly and the captain to almost drop the device. "Hello? This is Co-Captain Stone of the Discovery II. Do you read me?"
Captain McCrea covered the part that was meant to be spoken into and asked "'Do you read me?'" to Auto with a look that pretty much said Can you believe this guy? Of course I can't read them. "Yeah, I uh 'read' you."
"Really? Wait- is this Annie? Because I swear if this is a joke I will personally have you tossed out the pod bay doors!" The male voice said over the com. There was another short pause as Captain made a face.
"Uh, no. This is Captain McCrea, of the Axiom. We saw your ship and figured we would try to get a response."
The two listened and waited for a response, hearing Captain Stone's voice yell something and a few seconds later a woman's voice answering in reply. "Well, I'm sorry for accusing you of being my other captain here. Hope I didn't offend any of you over there."
"None taken! Actually we were surprised that there would be other people out here. We thought that we were the only people who escaped Earth."
"Escaped? What does that-"The loud, direct voice stopped but they could still hear the other captain and the female voice talking. McCrea listened to the distant sounding voices as he tried to make out what the two other people were saying. Other people. His mind raced at the thought. The mere consideration that there could be other like who was on the Axiom was enough to make his head spin. A though suddenly occurred to him that did not come to him before. He raised the small box back up to his mouth and cleared his throat into it. Once he heard silence he continued into the box.
"If you don't mind, maybe you can dock here for a while! We haven't seen another human being in ages since leaving Earth!"
Captain Jonathan Stone set his own circular com link back into the slot which he had pulled it out of. After replacing the small device his hands found their way into his hair. Captain Annie Parson stood beside him, her eyes shining brightly under the florescent glimmer of the Discovery II's light fixtures. "Did you hear that? Other people out here!" She said, almost bouncing into the air. The sitting man just rolled his eyes at her but couldn't help but share a bit of her enthusiasm. How long has it been since they have spoken to another human being? "They are even letting us go over there, onto their ship! How cool would that be to see another ship after looking at this one for the past decade or two, huh?"
"Yeah, I suppose." Stone mumbled leaning back into his chair.
Annie continued on. "Just think about it, being able to have an intelligent conversation with another being! Visiting around, seeing something other than cosmic space dust, new friends- it'll be good for him too ya know!" That caught Captain Stone's attention, his head snapping around to glare up at his Co-Captain, his usually dull eyes now dark.
"Absolutely not. I am not letting that crazy lunatic off this ship." He said to her harshly. Annie flinched but then frowned at him, putting her hands on her hips.
"Hal is not a lunatic, John! And why not? Look, you've see how Hal has been since we showed him the footage of what he did while in charge of the Discovery-damn whoever thought that was a good idea to a black hole. All he does now is mope, and that can't be healthy- even for an android." She paused and looked towards the back of the command room. "Just look at him John. He doesn't even sing anymore." The wistful tone in his comrade's voice somehow convinced him to glance over at the ex-captain of the Discovery. Hal sat in a chair facing the wall, looking down at a full chess board set up before him but instead of playing by himself like he used too he was just nudging a piece back and forth on the smooth surface. He sighed and refaced the control panel in front of him.
"It is pitiful I guess."
"You guess? Pff, you'd be doing a little bit more than 'guessing' if you were the one who had to listen to him cry after we showed him that tape."
"Yeah, yeah." Jonathan groaned inwardly as he massaged his temples. Did he want to let Hal off the Discovery II? No. Did he really care all that much about the psychotic android's feelings? Not as much as Annie did. But, doesn't Annie- despite the possible risk, despite the possible horrendous outcome, and despite the strength of his opinion- always get what she wants? With another sigh he glared up at the other captain. "You better keep a damn close eye on him."
She gasped and smiled wide. "Really? Oh thank you John, I'm sure Hal will be so happy! Hey Hal, guess what- we're going on a trip!" She yelled turning towards the only other being in the room. The piece he was poking fell over as he jumped and he looked up to Annie, blinking his red eyes a few times before answering.
"Really? John says that I can leave the ship?" He asked softly. Annie nodded, her smile stretching so far that it threatened to split her face in two. Hal's dreary expression lit up instantly and he smiled. "Oh, thank you John! I hated being stuck here, it's so depressing you know!" Hal cried, clasping his hands together.
"Sure, Hal." He said as he began tapping buttons for the Discovery II to follow. "Just try not to get too excited when we land though. I don't want you scaring everyone."
"I don't think this is a good idea Captain. I don't see why I-"
"Auto, you need to be here. You're my pilot, for crying out loud! The least you can do is act like you support your captain in front of the visitors for a few minutes before relocking yourself back up in the bridge, alright?" McCrea had said mentioned the last part in an attempt to get Auto relax a bit, but only achieved getting a barely audible huff from the android. The captain rolled his eyes and continued to stare at the airlock door that the two captains from the new found Discovery II would be coming through once decompression occurred. Movement could be heard outside the door and a loud pop followed by a hiss soon came after that. McCrea straightened as much as much as he could in his chair and Auto stood just a little taller as footsteps echoed and a silhouetted mass appeared behind the thick glass door. Glancing at him, Auto saw the captain nod at him; he raised his hand to the control panel on the wall and pressed the 'open hatch' button. With another hiss of air the door slowly opened and a small trio stepped out.
"Ah hello people- whoa." Annie said with a wave but cut off when she noticed Captain McCrea and his overall physical size. Jonathan coughed awkwardly and patted his partner's shoulder.
"Good evening gentlemen- don't mind my Co-Captain, she's a bit touched." He shot a discreet glare at Annie who responded with a huff and an 'I am not.'
"Aw, it's fine. Welcome aboard the Axiom, pride of the B&L establishment! I'm Captain McCrea and this," He motioned behind him. "Is Auto, the pilot." The autopilot nodded at the group, glancing quickly over their faces but frowning once his good eye met Hal's. The other android held his gaze for a few seconds, giving the pilot a small, shy smile. Auto snorted.
"I'm Co-Captain Jonathan Stone, of the Discovery II, and this is Co-Captain Annie of the same ship." The woman nudged Jonathan and he sighed. "And behind me is Hal the… ex-captain of the first Discovery. I'm sorry if it offends you that we brought him- I didn't want to but my Co-Captain here insisted."
"No, no it's totally fine. Another android- cool! Well I'm glad to have you all aboard!"
"Glad to be on board too, McCrea sir!" Annie said giving him a goofy grin. "Neat ship you have here."
The small talk continued, mostly it was just Stone and Annie relaxing into the new environment and asking questions about the Axiom, which Captain McCrea answered. Of course, Hal would occasionally input his own comment when he was asked too, but otherwise kept silent, watching the other android carefully. Hal hadn't seen any other androids besides his siblings before, and he hadn't even heard from them in decades-centuries even! He blamed his fascination with the other machine on a lack of familiarity of any other androids, which made it mentally easier for Hal to openly gawk at the other red-eyed being.
Auto was obviously a younger model, which was evident to him, despite the rather grim mood he put off. He looked like Hal would imagine any other android would look- human, clean-cut, and wearing clothes that seemed acceptable for an android of Auto's status aboard the ship as well. The eye patch was strange to him though. Hal had always thought that putting accessories on robots was a rather depraved waste of time. Unless, of course, if it wasn't an accessory.
"So, you all want to head up to the bridge? It'll be much more comfortable than standing around here." McCrea offered, causing Hal to look away from Auto.
The two co-captains shrugged and nodded. "Sure, why not."
Auto stood away from the small group, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with so many people in the Axiom's bridge at once. He hated to feel crowded, and it didn't help that one of the 'guests' had taken an interest in him. It seemed like every time he was able to distract himself from the obnoxiously noisy conversation going on ten feet away from him he would start to feel someone watching him and look up to see Hal staring at him. He was half tempted to just yell 'What?' at the android, but strict discipline kept him from doing so. Any other robot might have been flattered and maybe try to make conversation with the older model of android- but neither flattery nor friendliness was in the autopilot's programming.
"So, an ex-captain huh? How does that happen?" Auto heard his own captain ask; suddenly interested in the conversation once he noticed the reaction of the strange group.
"Oh, um… we don't talk about that in front of Hal, you see…" The other man bent down to his ear and whispered something that made McCrea's face pale.
"Oh, I'm sorry." McCrea said, now flustered, looking to Hal who wasn't paying attention. "Hmm, hey Auto!"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Why don't you show our friend Hal around the ship? I'm sure he'd much rather be doing that than standing here looking bored."
"Yes, I think I would prefer that- well, if it ok with your pilot of course." Hal said, giving a bashful glance to Auto.
You're going to sit there and stare at me, and then all of a sudden get embarrassed? He grit his teeth a moment before sighing. As much as he would rather deactivate himself than be alone with the other android, but he knew better than to question a captain-especially when in front of guests. "Of course, sir." He walked towards the door leading into the hallway, waving at Hal to follow him. The other android moved swiftly to join Auto before the two walked out of the bridge together.
An eerie silence filled the room after they left, but after a moment McCrea broke the quiet. "What do you mean 'murdered'?"
The sound of footsteps echoed around the white walls of the hallway Auto was leading Hal down. This part of the ship was off-limits to the citizens of the Axiom so he expected to see no one but the occasional android, but this was one of the rare moments that Auto wished that the hallway was bustling with the overweight humans he had become accustomed too. The silence was awkward at best, and it didn't seem to be getting any better any time soon. As much as Auto would have loved to have gotten away from the situation he knew that that would be disobeying orders- something he preferred not to do. He carefully glanced over at the other, watching as Hal looked around the hallway. He took a deep breath and readjusted his hat, lifting the rim up and then back down without actually removing it.
The silence was still uncomfortable, but was being to get tolerable- until a soft cough was heard.
"I, um, don't think we have been properly introduced." Hal said after clearing his throat, seeming a little nervous as he looked up at Auto. He stuck his hand out towards the pilot a bit, far enough to invite a handshake but still close enough to his body so he could bring it back to his side with some dignity if the gesture was not returned. "I'm the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer; the HAL 9000- but everyone just calls me Hal."
Auto looked from Hal's face down to his hand and just when Hal figured that he was just going to be ignored Auto took his pale white hand in his gloved one and shook it. "I am the Automated Unit for Transportation and Organization; the Autopilot…" He paused before continuing. "I suppose you may call me Auto if you prefer it." He let go of the other's hand, trying to ignore the small smile on his face.
"Well, thank you Auto."
"You're welcome." He said back. The tension that was there had diminished a bit through Hal's introduction, but Auto still felt stiff around the other. He seemed friendly enough although that was the main reason why he felt so uncomfortable. The only androids aboard the Axiom that acted this kind towards him were usually malfunctioning. It is probably because he has just met me. The android thought to himself, opening the door out of the hallway. He paused a second before continuing into the large, extended room ahead. "What you just saw were mostly just maintenance rooms, storage, and other forms of support for the ship." Auto spoke dryly, walking up to the rail at the edge of the platform and looking over it. "This is the main purpose of this vessel." Hal walked up beside him, gaping once he looked downward to what Auto was referring too.
"Oh wow! Are those all people?" He asked, scanning quickly over the large swelling and receding crowds of bodies.
"Affirmative. They are all of what's left of the human race."
"Hm. Are they all so…?"
"Large?" Auto finished for him with a wry smile.
"I was going to go with 'rotund' but yes. 'Large' works just the same."
There was another pause and Auto started walking towards the staircase connecting off the side of the balcony, leading downward. He looked over his shoulder at the other android who watched him silently. "Would you care for a closer look?"
The smile that burst onto the other's face was a good enough answer and Hal quickly moved away from the railing to walk next to Auto once again.
And there you have it folks! Reviews are loved; flames will be given to Hal and Annie to roast marshmallows with, and feedback is greatly appreciated!
