EVE's Perspective
I moved in front of the scanner, listening for the tell-tale click that indicated the scan was over. I watched my sister Probes slide into their containment chambers just as I got inside and joined them in my own, letting my thoughts take over until the time I'd be shut off for the night.
I didn't understand why all the humans had to leave us behind, but nothing seemed quite right anymore. Ever since they left, none of the robots could get along. It was like they took something important with them, leaving a shell of a broken society behind. I found it all pointless of course, because I was programmed to think of my directive and nothing else, but I couldn't help but feel that separating the old robots from the new ones was a tad ridiculous. Maybe the humans left some stigma behind as well, though it was hard to tell for sure exactly what kind of influence they ever had on us without getting lost in painful memories.
I was completely sleek and white, reflective. I didn't have a speck of dirt on me because of all the regulations in place. I supposed that was for the better, even though there were no more humans left to get sick. Still, old habits die hard, and a lot of us like to live in denial that they're really gone.
Finally, my eyes blinked off. Time to sleep.
WALL-E's Perspective
I clicked the light on in the old run-down building, humming softly under my breath. I was the only one left in this unit, everyone else either ran out of power or couldn't get replacement parts in time. I guess it was pretty lonely, but I was used to it by now, and nothing was more important than my directive.
If you go to the top floor of my building and looked over the hastily-constructed stone wall between the sectors, you could just see one tall, white tower over it. It used to be a safe haven for humans before they left, but it's been so long since I've seen any humans that I honestly couldn't care less. I'm a bit younger than a lot of the other robots in the run-down area, so I only have a vague idea of what they look like.
Still. What did it look like over that wall? Was it all as clean and white as the tower? I know I shouldn't care, but deep down...maybe I was getting a little lonely. None of the other robots around me seemed to feel the same, but I rarely saw them anymore.
I don't know. Something about that tower was hopeful to me.
Deciding I should retire for now, I returned to my cubby and tucked myself in before rocking the squeaky shelf back and forth to lull me into a calm, restless sleep.
EVE's Perspective
REBOOT
I blinked in the early morning sun, the capsule hissing as it let me out. Me and my sisters always woke up at exactly 7 am every day, going through the morning routine together. It was different for every robot, but for us, it required a check on self-security, senses, reflex, cleanliness, et cetera. I was in a haze as the routine woke up my internal systems and I became aware of my surroundings. We did the check-up in order, from EVE #1 (me) to my sister EVE #5. I looked backwards as Two entered the scanner after me, giggling through the probing arms before joining me.
So, what's the verdict? Two asked once she'd finished.
I tilted my head slightly, Huh?
Oh, come on! Two gave me a gentle nudge, You aren't going to spend our only day off cooped up in here, are you?
I checked my internal calendar as Three finished her scan as well; Sunday. Our only day off.
Oh... I sheepishly touched my chin, I, uh...forgot about that, to be honest...
Again? Four stood perplexed on the other side of the scanner, This is the 3rd week in a row!
I let out a sigh as Three came through the scanner, Sure, but I'm determined to fulfill my directive.
You know, EVE... Three rubbed her forehead, the other hand on her arm, There's more to this isolated life than just our base programming. she made a shrugging motion, What are you going to do once the directive is fulfilled?
I tried to speak but no words came to me, Um... I made a vague gesture with my arms, I could...well...I'll figure it out later.
Four came through the other side of the scanner and touched my arm, It's okay. You've got time. But today might be a good day to explore your options.
I frowned. I wasn't willing to admit this to Four in particular, but I really didn't care about anything that didn't relate to my directive. It was like an itch I could never satisfy, and searching for a plant helped to ease that itch.
If I found a plant, I could put it in the holo-detector in the city plaza. All the humans would come back and rebuild since life had sprung up again, and what was left could be restored. I don't know why I cared so much, it was just...it felt right.
You're probably right. I finally admitted, I'll see what I can do.
Yes! Four gave me a pat on the back just as the scanner ejected Five, I'll be in the library if you need me!
Me too! Two excitedly followed after her.
I was left with Three and Five.
Um...I'll be in the garden... Five quickly left.
Three glanced out the window, seeming agitated, but she didn't tell me right away what was bothering her.
I tried to catch her eye and read her expression, Three?
You lied.
I winced.
What do you even find joy in? Three gave me a calculative stare, I've never seen you do anything besides look for plants.
I hovered backwards a little bit. Three was always the most straight-forward of the group besides myself.
I tried to act inconspicuous, I have hobbies.
Three waved her hand at me, Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll be at the shooting range.
I watched her go with growing sadness. I usually spent the day off alone by myself in our room of the massive skyscraper. Two had collected plenty of lost books over the years the humans had been gone, and a lot of them were good enough to binge-read on the massive couch under the window, but besides that, I hadn't found much real joy the way my sisters were pursuing.
I decided I should spend some time outside, so I pressed my hand to the door switch and went down the elevator to take in the bright morning sunshine.
It was relaxing in its own right. The warmth against the sheen of my metal almost made me drowsy, and all the bustle around the main square made me feel a little more upbeat. I thought it was nice that there were so many robots enjoying their day off, then fell sad again once I remembered how easy it was to lose myself in countless numbers and logic. I was almost lost in my drowsiness when I heard a scream that got me in a state of alertness immediately.
A scream I recognized.
I searched with the scope in my HUD, sweeping my eyes over the crowd that was now about as alert as I was, trying to find the source of the scream. I finally found him wheeling fast enough to kick up dust had there been any, so I intersected his path and held him close to me.
Hush... I beeped to M-O in my quietest voice, It's okay. You're safe now.
The tiny robot in my arms was shaking violently, apparently having overheated and falling into a panic attack. I was the only one who happened to be around with that particular protocol downloaded. He stuttered so badly I couldn't make out his words for awhile, but with my constant shushing and soft words in his ear, he eventually calmed enough that he stopped shaking. I relaxed my grip on him and tried to make out his words.
Wh-wh-what h-happened...? the tiny robot jumped down and swayed a little bit as he settled on his one wheel.
It's okay, you're safe now. I reassured him, straightening up, What did you see that caused you to panic like that?
M-O paused, looking around with his yellow eyes, It...it was...dirt!
A few disturbed beeps rang out.
I was almost afraid to ask, How much?
His eyes shrunk a little bit.
That was all the indication I needed. I got really close to him, Show me.
M-O's stutter came back, Th-th-that way! he pointed with his brush, not daring to look in that direction.
I narrowed my giant blue orbs as I looked in that direction.
"One." Five suddenly appeared and grabbed my arm as I was about to fly away, "Don't. Let the authorities handle it."
I looked around, not seeing any security-bots or any shouts of "Halt!" anywhere nearby.
I voiced my following thoughts to Two, I don't trust those robots. I gently brushed her hand off my arm, This isn't a big deal, I don't mind dirt. I'll handle it myself.
Two made a beep of uncertainty, Please be careful.
Yeah. I gave my sister a quick hug before flying off in the direction M-O had shown me. I couldn't see him anymore, so he was likely running off to the scanner to get himself cleaned up.
I froze. The wall.
I bolted towards the stone wall, hoping I wasn't seeing what I was actually seeing.
I panicked when I realized I was correct. I stopped in my tracks right in front of it. The wall had a large hole broken out of it, covered in dirt and dead plants. It made my metal skin crawl, an odd sensation I'd never felt before.
If the authorities discovered this...
I darted my eyes back and forth, making sure there were no security measures out this far, before I forced myself to calm down and assess the situation with a cool head. This is the point where I began to grow curious. What was beyond this wall besides filth and outdated technology?
"Halt!"
I figuratively jumped out of my skin, whipping my head around to see all the security robots that had suddenly popped out of nowhere (possibly behind the big plastic plants obscuring most of the wall from normal view). I suppose I could have just flown over them, but they weren't as stupid as many made them out to be. Resisting them was a serious crime, but I'd never been caught breaking a law before, and though it wasn't my fault, I was at the threshold of panicking, and in that state of mind, even the most advanced AI has trouble making rational cognitive decisions. So, I did the only thing I could think of.
I flew through the hole in the wall.
WALL-E's Perspective
I had a rude awakening that morning. I hadn't realized I'd overslept on the one day a week I needed to wake up early; the mandatory BnL Checkup. The ringing throughout the air nearly gave me a splitting-headache, Okay, okay...I'm up... I thought, begrudgingly rolling off the shelf. I supposed I should get a morning charge in before I left, so I moved in the direction of the roof, accidently slamming the front of my optics on a low shelf as I went.
I ran into about 100 other WALL-E-bots on my way out the front door, all in a mass group to get to the BnL Checkup on time. I kept hearing the old voice saying, "All WALL-E-bots must report to the main plaza for a mandatory check up." I'd already heard it enough times that at this point it had become background noise, but it was a cruel reminder that the humans had left the old robots to die so early after our creation.
It was really starting to grate on my nerves.
The checkup itself isn't so bad though, just a few scans and hand-eye coordination tests. It's just inconvenient that it's so early in the morning after I'd gotten used to waking up later.
I came out of the test feeling more tired than ever. Maybe our sentience was a curse brought on by the humans to dig the knife of betrayal deeper into the gaping wound, or maybe it was a mistake brought on by their lack of competence. I wasn't really thinking about any of this, but it did feel like a passing shadow over my mind. I just really wanted to crawl back onto my shelf and sleep forever.
I heard something oddly new just then; the sound of a hovering mechanism. I started, growing anxious at the sound. No robot around here could hover.
Then that meant...
I dodged into a corner and looked around for the source of the sound, but I couldn't see anything besides the dull brown of the crumpled buildings and other WALL-E-bots. They didn't seem at all concerned with the sound, even though I was sure they could hear it too. Did they just not care?
"Halt!"
"AH!" I shrunk into my box-form.
"Halt!" "Halt!" "Halt!" one after another, strange futuristic robots whizzed past. They were covering a lot of ground, making me wonder if they were looking for something. I watched something white streak across the sky, ducking into a corner for safety.
This was bad. I had to get home. I tried to find an opening back into the crowd, but by now the other WALL-Es had caught on and were now running away in panic. I had to wait for it to thin out before I could get down the road. Finally, I found my opening-!
"Halt!"
I jumped backwards in surprise. There were no other WALL-Es around by now, and I was cornered by four of those hovering robots. They swept a scanner over me before deciding I was unimportant, and so they tried to leave.
I heard harsh beeping behind me, and suddenly the white streak had returned and begun to fight back, apparently sick of running away. The streak turned out to be a very sleek white robot with a black screen for a face. Her right arm had turned into a laser gun, which she was using to shoot the other robots with. Whenever her gun was intercepted by a red laser from the other robots, she would use her left arm cleverly, either to hit the robot hard enough that it stumbled, giving her a window for victory, or grabbing another robot to hit the one that was trapping her. I could see her moving very quickly, so I could barely see her at all, but by the time the dust cleared and the robots had been destroyed, she was slightly moving up and down, like she was out of breath.
We locked eyes for a second.
More robots suddenly cropped up and she decided they were more of a threat than me, so it gave me an opportunity to slip away unscathed.
The encounter gave me a lot to think about.
