(Theatrical: several slow-moving shots of the Axiom's interior. Everything is cold and dark, the ship has been sitting, dead, for five years. Most of the bots themselves have even moved out. Eventually, the view closes in on the interior of the captain's room)
Inside the hull of a once-magnificent starliner, a massive videoscreen came to life. Inside the dead interior of the Axiom, in the captain's long-abandoned room, the giant screen flashed a message. A distress call from the Darrix. The scrolling blue letters were accompanied by the voice of Darrix's captain. He had a heavy middle-eastern accent about him.
"Axiom, come in. Axiom, report! This is the Darrix, we require immediate assistance. We've lost our primary engines. We appear to be in no imminent danger, but our energy supplies are failing. Our regenerative food supply is holding for now, but we are uncertain that the backup generators will hold. Please, come to our aid. Axiom, do you read me? Axiom!"
A spindly wheel slowly descended from the ceiling above, the red circle in its center flickering to life.
"Acknowledged." Came the voice of the newly reactivated AUTO-9000. There was a sigh from the screen.
"How soon can we expect you to arrive?" Came the relieved voice.
"Denied." Said Auto. The screen returned to black.
(Theatrical: A bright, somewhat grassy hill is shown. The sun is shining beautifully, and plants sway in the breeze.) The captain of the axiom is sitting there, waiting for something. Eve appears.)
"Thank you Eve!" Exclaimed Captain McCrea, picking up his cap and placing it over the white probe. "The Asian ship's just landed safely. Project re-recolonize is starting there too!" He all but jumped in his happiness. The captain was now much slimmer, having been named president of the New Earth Republic, he'd had to lose all of that weight. He was still a large man, but could easily travel on his own. Perhaps his second greatest achievement was the ability to wear the jacket as intended, rather than an unbecoming cape.
Trailing along behind the captain, WALL-E did a 360 with his arms in the air, letting out a joyous mechanical "whee!" Floating up to the small robot, Eve leaned forward and a momentary spark was shared between the two.
Unexpectedly, Eve gave a jolt. The captain and WALL-E looked first at each other, then turned to face Eve. From the side of her head, a small projector popped out, and began projecting the same message from the Axiom.
"Axiom, Axiom come in!..."
Wall-e clapped his metallic hands to his lower face, leaving Eve to confer with the Captain.
"Well, we gotta help them, don't we? They're stranded out there, they probably don't even know
"Well, we gotta help them, don't we? They're stranded out there, they probably don't even know Earth is safe again!" Eve nodded.
"Eve." Commanded the Captain, "Return this message." Eve gripped one of the rungs of the large tower beside her, and nodded for the captain to resume.
"Darrix, we will send help immediately. We can arrive in two weeks, given preparation times and travel. We will send our best robots to repair your engines and take you home." He said. They waited for a few seconds. The projector came to life once more.
"Axiom? Is this you? Your Auto pilot just denied our request for help. What has changed?" Eve's eyes narrowed immediately. Auto. Even Wall-e gave a slight growl. The captain raised his hand to calm them.
"This is not the Axiom. This is Earth Tower One. We will launch a ship in one week to rescue you." He said calmly.
"Thank you, Earth Tower, thank you! Does this mean we may return to Earth?" Asked the pleading voice of the Darrix.
"Yes. Earth is safe. Spread the message, Earth is to be re-recolonized!"
"Auto's been reactivated. It's a failsafe in the system. If there's a distress signal, the ship's Auto Pilot should activate and jump to the closest coordinates. Eve, summon the other probes, we've got six days to design and build a brand new ship. It's got to be big enough to transport you, Wall-e, and any other bots you need. It's also got to carry the repair bots and supplies, as well as an emergency generator for the Darrix. We've got to make it fast."
(Theatrical: Sweeping glances of the slowly reforming Earth, starting with the plant Wall-e saved, now growing into a strong oak. We see meadows of grass beginning to grow over the landfills. Most of the trash towers have been removed, and a gleaming city has begun to form. In the outskirts, part of the land that was just beginning to reform, Eve hovers alone by a tall radio tower.)
"Thank you Eve!" Exclaimed the captain, picking up his cap and placing it over the white probe. "The Asian ship's just landed safely. Project re-recolonize is starting there too!" He all but jumped in his happiness. The captain was now much slimmer, having been named president of the New Earth Republic, he'd had to lose all of that weight. He was still a large man, but could easily travel on his own. Perhaps his second greatest achievement was the ability to wear the jacket as intended, rather than an unbecoming cape.
Trailing along behind the captain, WALL-E did a 360 with his arms in the air, letting out a joyous mechanical "whee!" Floating up to the small robot, Eve leaned forward and a momentary spark was shared between the two. Eve giggled at the robot's stunned reaction. It had been nearly five years since their return to earth. Every day for the past five years, Eve had been sending out a signal, calling for all starliners to return to Earth. A great number of the smaller ships had landed, but there were eight primary ships. Asia's ship, fifth of the eight primaries, had just landed.
Unexpectedly, Eve gave a jolt. The captain and WALL-E looked first at each other, then turned to face Eve. From the side of her head, a small projector popped out, and began projecting the same message from the Axiom.
"Axiom, Axiom come in!..."
Wall-e clapped his metallic hands to his lower face, leaving Eve to confer with the Captain.
"Well, we gotta help them, don't we? They're stranded out there, they probably don't even know Earth is safe again!" Eve nodded.
"Eve." Commanded the Captain, "Return this message." Eve gripped one of the rungs of the large tower beside her, and nodded for the captain to resume.
"Darrix, we will send help immediately. We can arrive in two weeks, given preparation times and travel. We will send our best robots to repair your engines and take you home." He said. They waited for a few seconds. The projector came to life once more.
"Axiom? Is this you? Your Auto pilot just denied our request for help. What has changed?" Eve's eyes narrowed immediately. Auto. Even Wall-e gave a slight growl. The captain raised his hand to calm them.
"This is not the Axiom. This is Earth Tower One. We will launch a ship in one week to rescue you." He said calmly.
"Thank you, Earth Tower, thank you! Does this mean we may return to Earth?" Asked the pleading voice of the Darrix.
"Yes. Earth is safe. Spread the message, Earth is to be re-recolonized!" The transmission died out, and Eve retracted the projector.
"Auto's been reactivated. It's a failsafe in the system. If there's a distress signal, the ship's Auto Pilot should activate and jump to the closest coordinates. Eve, summon the other probes, we've got six days to design and build a brand new ship. It's got to be big enough to transport you, Wall-e, and any other bots you need. It's also got to carry the repair bots and supplies, as well as an emergency generator for the Darrix. We've got to make it fast."
Eve saluted and raced off towards the center of the new Axiom City. In the very heart of the city, the other five vegetation probes were kept as elite workers. Her next stop was the creative board, previously in charge of the new city's layout. Before long, she had gathered a committee in a large warehouse, the one in which the Axiom had been built some 700 years ago.
Wall-e was rattling nervously in the pod. This would be his first traditional ride into space, and the safety of at all made him a touch edgy. He jumped as Eve touched down softly next to him.
"WALL-E, Eve, do you copy?" The voice of the captain buzzed into wall-e's brain. Eva rpelied with a short "Hm."
"Good, now don't be afraid. I'll be with you every step of the way. Or rotation. Or floating step thing..." The Captain had begun to babble. Eve stopped him with a swift cough.
Coming out of the hyperjump, Wall-e and eve pressed their sensors against the window of the ship. The air of the Darrix was much different than that of the Axiom. The Axiom had been a grandiose, beautiful executive starliner. The Darrix, on the other hand, looked smaller, and possibly more utilitarian than sleek and beautiful. It was approximately 2/3 the size of the massive axiom to the receptors (Eve's database confirmed it to be exactly 26593/41300 the size).
"Eve, Wall-e, are you through the hyperjump?" Buzzed the Captain, loud as possible.
"Yes." Replied Eve, who had begun searching the Darrix's blueprints for a proper entryway. It appeared as though there was a large docking bay, not unlike that of the Axiom, on the lower side of the massive ship.
"Great!" He cheered. "Okay, put me through to the Darrix, Eve." Eve pressed a small button on her Com, and on-screen, a new image appeared, the new link with the Darrix.
"Darrix, is this you? Come in, Darrix." McCrea spoke calmly. The equalizer on the Darrix's end remained unmoved for a moment, then sparked to life, to the relief of both Eve and McCrea.
"This is Darrix. We have lost all power, we are running on emergency supplies. When is your assistance arriving, Axiom?" There was an edge of fear in his voice.
"Darrix, our ship has just come out of the hyperjump and is approaching your location, but it needs a place to land." A sigh from the Darrix.
"Thank you, Axiom, thank you. There is a large bay on the side of the ship. If we can manage to get that open, you should find the space more than fitting."
"Acknowledged." Said Eve, before turning to the command console. She tapped a very lengthy sequence of buttons and levers before grabbing hold of the yoke and pushing the ship forward. It took little more than a moment of searching to find the cargo bay door of the Darrix; in a ship made more for utility than beauty, some things tend to stick out.
"Eve did her best to navigate the ship until they were parallel to the bay doors. All they'd have to do was wait for the captain to get those doors open for them, and they'd be free.
"Okay, Wall-e, once those doors open, it's a straight run to the Lido Deck, throw that plant in the Holo-Detector and Jump straight home!" Boomed McCrea. "Darrix, any luck with those doors?"
"We're working on it Axiom, believe me. It is not as easy as we would have hoped, our Auto pilot is not functioning very well on such low power. I've sent three men to open it manually, they will be there in moments."
Three dreadfully long minutes passed, Wall-e and Eve sat in complete silence. Finally, the giant metal doors began to silently slide open, the bay behind lighting up. Eve nudged the yoke forward to get the ship into position. Wall-e was gripping the seat bottom in anticipation. Twenty yards... Ten yards... Five yards... and SLAM! The doors were suddenly shut with massive speed and force. Taken by surprise, Eve was unable to stop a collision between the ship and the Darrix, leaving a nasty looking scrape in the paint of both ships.
Wall-e and Eve glanced at each other, visual receptors slightly worried. Eve checked the main section of the ship to make sure none of the bots had been damaged. Thankfully, all of the other EVE probes were intact and still in hibernation, as were MO and Burn-e. All the required repair parts were intact as well. Annoyed but intact.
Returning to the cockpit, Eve arrived just in time to see the doors open once more. She waited for half a minute before beginning the approach again. The bay doors remained open, the lights remained on. Had it been possible for a robot to hold his breath, Wall-e would have done just that, for he sat on the edge of his seat until the ship was gripped by the large mechanical arms. The ship gave a lurch as the artificial gravity kicked on, and there was a slight thud from the back of the ship, followed by an "OW!" from MO.
The metal gangplank extended from the ship to meet the Darrix's platform. Wall-e raced along it, fearful of any more weird happenings, as Eve floated behind him. MO and Burn-e followed, the latter bearing a small cart neatly filled with repair mechanisms. Finally, another mechanical arm extended to retrieve the EVEs.
In all, there were 6 EVEs: 5 Probes and Eve herself. Each one had been designated with a colored line down the arm for identification. Eve's was the similar blue of the axiom. The arm clutched the first EVE and set it down next to the group. An orange band. The machine went for another, this one with a green band. Next came red and then purple. The arm reached for the final EVE, the one with a black marking, but halted inches away.
The metal grips on the ship began to tighten. They were starting to crush the ship. It was like a tin can in Wall-e's compactor. In moments, the arms had torn through the metal hull altogether, and the ship was crushed. There was a chance that EVE probe was still intact. The arm moved forward once more, adjusting its angle to try and reach the probe bay, now hidden from sight. The grips holding the broken ship stationary finally released it, and the hunk of metal began sinking, taking the probe arm with it.
Wall-e watched the crushed ship fall to the depths below, with the last EVE probe on it. It could just as easily have been Eve in their. He remained by the edge for several long moments before the captain cut in.
"Wall-e, it was just a probe. We have four more, plus Eve. Get back to work, the Darrix's emergency power only lasts so long." Eve floated up behind Wall-e and placed a mechanical hand on his boxed shoulder.
"Directive." She quietly reminded him.
