Leah connected herself to the emergency charger, trying to ease her headache. All the noise in the Axiom was making her upset, but she couldn't leave the repair ward because of the strain on her system.
Eight years ago, nearly to the day, Leah tried to commit suicide. She had connected a rubber pump to her heart and had begun to chug water into her body. She had almost gotten to three pints of fluid before she felt herself being choked, spilling the water from her stasis chamber. In her mostly blurred vision, she could barely make out a pair of frantic blue eyes, screaming at her and trying to keep her from slipping away.
Since then, she still had permanent scarring in her inner chamber and around her casing. When she was hurt or under stress, it stung her scars and confused her motherboard, hence the headache. She would just have to deal with it until her cloudy mind could make sense again.
She felt a gentle tug on her hand, and she looked down into the eyes of Chibi-Robo.
Leah? Are you stressing again?
"Oh, Chibi..." Leah scooped him up, "I was in pain, but then you came and messed it all up!"
Are we gonna start that again?
"If you want to!" Leah bent to kiss him.
Mmm...
"Sweet as ever..." she giggled, switching off her emergency charger, "Okay, I need a little help with something..."
What is it, Love?
Was that a kiss?
Not now, Giga!
"Heheh...well, there's something that's been bothering me for a while, but I don't know why..."
What was that spark?
It was a kiss, okay? Am I allowed to do that?"
"Chibi!"
What?
"Listen up! I was researching and filing code, and something keeps nagging at me!"
What's nagging at you?
"That's what I can't figure out!" Leah groaned, sliding down onto her back.
Why don't you tell us the story from the beginning? Giga suggested, In chronological order. It might help sort your thoughts out.
"That's a good idea." Leah looked at him, "You're wise, huh?"
Eh. You could call me that.
"Okay...well...where to start...? Okay, Shannon was born premature to Noella and Kirk White. Noella died of malnourishment - suspected eating disorder - when Shannon was two, and was taken in by Shelby soon after. She grew up with him and became very fond of him, so once he died...she...they..." she paused to think again, "...um...she promised to..."
She sat up, "Wait, why did she promise to keep humanity on the starliners? Why did she begin to kill us when we refused to follow her plan?"
Is that what you were confused about? Giga wondered.
"I...I don't know...my mind is still foggy..." Leah watched Chibi for a moment, "Chibi? What's that?"
It's my tamagotchi! Chibi exclaimed proudly, Giga saved it for me! Wasn't that nice of him?
"What's a, 'tomogatchi'?"
It's like a little creature you take care of! Actually, Giga left it in the basement for me to find, and I ended up giving it to Dad, but he rarely played with it. I did, and I grew attached to it.
"So it's a toy?"
I prefer the term, "virtual pet", thank you very much.
They went out of style centuries ago. Giga added.
"Oo. Cool." Leah closed her eyes, the distraction clearing her aching head a bit, "Wait! I got it!"
What did you get? Chibi asked while getting a few Happy Points from his little device.
"The detail that's been bothering me!" Leah tapped a few times into the machine, "I need to talk to the others about this!" she finished typing, "You two wait here. I'll be right back!"
REBOOT.
"Ugh..." EVE brought her systems to life, slowly hovering into the air, "Ouch..."
"You're awake! Great!" Leah chimed, "Come on you guys, let's get up! I have to talk to you about something important!"
"Can it wait?" Rose asked.
"It could, but it shouldn't! Come on! You guys are going to like this! Get up!"
"I'll get up when my distress signal stops beeping in my ears!" Rio rolled over, "Until then, leave me alone!"
"Fine. I'll just tell you now." Leah rolled her eyes, "I know where to find Forthright's backed-up consciousness!"
"What!?" EVE sat up, "Tell me!"
"See? Now you're interested!" Leah teased, "listen. I need you guys to get better soon so we can go after it. Giga and Chibi? I'll need your help. In the meantime, make sure Aya and Ruby know. Got it?"
"Yeah yeah, just get out already..." Rio went back to sleep.
What are we doing? Chibi asked.
"Just come with me." Leah said, picking him up, "Let's go."
Giga opened his eyes in the dark. His eyelids were heavy from rust and decay, the same thing that was weighing his limbs down. His head was fuzzy, blurred from inactivity. He couldn't remember anything at first, not even his own name.
"Well well...what do we have here?"
Let me go, leave me alone, who are you, what do you want... he was thinking profusely. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
"What kind of model are you?" came the strange voice, "What's your name?"
He couldn't speak. Did he know how to speak?
"Let's run a little experiment, shall we?"
He still couldn't comprehend the sharp pain that tore through his side. The sound of metal on metal filled the room, the grinding almost unbearable. What happened? Why did it hurt so much?
Was he going to die?
"Giga?"
He was abruptly pulled from his memory, Huh? Did you say something?
"I was just asking if you knew these people?" Leah said, "You had a pained look on your face."
Giga shook his head, trying to forget what he was remembering, I do know them...
"Did they hurt you?"
I don't want to talk about it. Is that okay?
Leah frowned concernedly, "Okay. I was just saying that these people were roboticists on Forthright's team. They've been working since long before the Axiom landed, and they're known for performing grotesque experiments on robots and humans alike. They were the ones who discovered how to keep themselves alive even after their organic bodies gave out." she clasped her hands together, fingers laced, "I was just wondering if you have information on them. It might be helpful."
Giga sat down, crossing his legs, I...I don't remember much to be honest...it was dark and dreary, and I couldn't remember anything at first...the...the pain was so unbearable that I couldn't make sense of anything...I've never been so confused and scared in my life...
"Oh my..."
I'm so sorry... Chibi said.
I don't know much more than that, so let it drop.
The silence was tense to say the least.
"I shouldn't have asked..." Leah breathed, "I didn't mean to bring up painful memories..."
It's not your fault, just let it drop.
Leah decided to change the subject, as the quiet was getting to her.
"Well, in any case, they're the ones who are in charge of the computers that hold the memories of not only the scientists, but of Forthright too. They're constantly updating wirelessly, and when one of them dies, the others begin work on a replacement body. Essentially, with the power of great technology, they have the ability to return after death."
So...where's that computer? Chibi asked.
"Well, you remember Shelby Forthright's ship? A7-B2-Cas? Well, there was a larger ship that was a close affiliate of them. A ship with such great technology that they found this ability to become immortal. A ship with incredible minds on its team and great subjects which they studied."
Which ship is that? Giga asked.
"The starliner to infinity and beyond itself..." Leah replied;
"The Index."
