And Walter did. Walter woke me up more than once. He woke me up so he wouldn't feel lonely anymore. And I was glad I could provide Walter with some company.
Walter has woken me a total of 9 times, in a length of 5 years. The longest I stayed awake was more than 3 weeks. And we didn't got bored one moment of it.
We spend our time doing various things. Watching movies, reading books together, walking around the ship, doing check-ups and playing games like basketball. That was a game Walter seemed to enjoy very much. I, very much, did not. I just couldn't get the ball through the basket and got very frustrated when Walter threw it without any effort. It always would be a perfect shot. I would throw the ball down and would sit myself on the ground next to it, pouting, very much like a little child.
"Stupid game. Stupid ball. Stupid basket." I sat on the floor with my arms crossed. The ball rolled passed me and I scooped it up in my hands. "Are you laughing at me, now?" I looked at Walter, who stood a few meters away from me. He had a small grin on his face.
"Oh no, Sarah, I wouldn't dare." He held his hand up in mock defense. An amused smile appeared on my face. So the android could be sarcastic too, nice.
I laughed. "So mean!" I threw the ball that was in my hands at Walter. It was aimed at his face but I knew it would do no harm. His reflexes were way too fast and the ball was caught in his hands.
"I would say throwing a ball at someone is considered to be mean." He was spinning the ball on top of two fingers.
"Touché."
What I enjoyed very much, was watching movies. I couldn't recall how many movies we have watched already, but that would be a high number. We chose the movie we were going to watch in turn. It was really interesting what kind of movie Walter would choose. Mostly they were classic's. He said he wanted to learn more about history.
The way we read books was interesting. We didn't choose books for ourselves to read, but we chose them for each other. I could say I feel so much more smarter than I felt before. While I chose my all favorite books which contained adventure and romance stories, Walter chose informative books. In theory, I now knew everything about the USCSS Covenant.
Walter was made to learn and wanted to learn as much as possible. But I never thought he would learn from my sappy books. He wanted to know everything he didn't understand. So he asked me questions about actions, words and emotions from the characters of the books he read. At first I didn't think he would get all of it, he would look very confused when I tried to explain to him why the character would feel that way. But after a while, it seemed like he understood. As if he learned new emotions.
At this moment we were sitting in my compartment, both reading a book. Walter was sitting on the couch, posture forever perfect. I sat next to him, slouching, with my legs draped over his lap. He didn't seem to mind.
"To be fond of dancing was a certain step to falling in love." Walter said in his smooth voice. I looked up at him and the book he was currently reading: Pride and Prejudice. One of my most favorite books. "I don't think I quite understand this line."
I thought about it and how I could best explain it to Walter.
"Well-." I started. "Put yourself in the shoes of a Victorian lady. The only time she can really be close to a man is when dancing." As I talked, Walter listened intently. "When a lady enjoyed dancing, she would spend time with a gentleman. Spending time in close quarters with a gentlemen, when both people are dressed up and at their most attractive, can certainly lead to feelings."
Walter gazed into my eyes and asked: "Are you fond of dancing?".
"Yes," I smiled. "I am."
"Walter, we have a problem." The voice of Mother said. I stiffened and waited for Mother to tell us what was wrong. "A neutrino burst was detected in sector 106. This could trigger a destructive event. Report to the bridge immediately." Walters face hardened.
"On my way Mother."
I jumped off the couch and said to Walter: "I'll go check on the crew." He nodded and turned to walk out of the door, me following close behind. We parted ways when he took a turn that would lead to the bridge, and I continued towards the section that held the pods of the crew.
I got thrown against the wall of the ship when it shook violently. An alarm started blaring and red light flashed.
"Warning: Power surge detected."
I hissed in pain when I was thrown to the other side and my shoulder hit the wall not too softly.
"Emergency. Threat level: critical."
I ran, or more stumbled, the rest of the way to the crew section. After I made it through the door I noticed some of the crew were already up (Walter must have initiated an emergency crew revival) and were in the progress of getting the rest of the crew out. People were yelling and machines were beeping. Some that just came out of their pod threw up, unable to do something with their weak body at the moment.
"Evacuate the cryo-chamber immediately."
I ran towards a closed pod, right next to mine that was long empty. It was still closed and so where the eyes of Daniels who laid in it. Tennessee stood next to me, trying to speed up the progress of waking Daniels.
"Daniels!" Tennessee tapped at the glass of the pod. A stain of blood was smeared on it where Daniels hit her nose against. "You have to wake up darling! We're waking up early!"
"Override the SSP!" I yelled at the pod, rapidly pushing buttons. "Breach the chamber, NOW!"
With a hiss, the pod opened. "Hey, hey, come on up. C'mon." Together with Tennessee, we dragged Daniels out of her pod. She groaned as she slowly came to consciousness.
"BRANSON! BRANSON WAKE UP!" Oran shouted at the last pod still closed. Tennessee ran over to help and I was left supporting Daniels.
"Jake.. Jake!" Daniels shouted. She sputtered against my grip and stumbled towards her husband's pod. Together with Upworth, we tried to get her away from it. Oram and Tennessee tried to break open the pod.
"Get it open! Get it open!" Daniels screamed.
The pod flashed so many warning lights that I've never even seen in my life. I saw sparkles flying from the pod as it malfunctioned.
Daniels got away from our hands again and climbed over the pod towards the glass. Smoke was seen rising inside of the pod and my heart sank.
A spark set of a sea of flames inside of the pod.
"NO!" Daniels screamed. The sound of it broke my heart.
I dragged her of the pod and she broke down in my arms. She fell down like a rag doll and I couldn't hold her weight, so we collapsed to the ground. She screamed, cried and wailed. Tears leaked from my eyes as the pain she felt hit me. I did not know what to say or what to do. I just held her.