Disclaimer: All Disney works are the property of The Walt Disney Company. All other characters and settings are the property of their respective legal owners.
Author's note: Originally posted by Anon e Mouse Jr. on 2021-04-03. This is the second of two chapters posted today.
Author's note 2: This arc has also been compiled by its original author on Archive Of Our Own as Looping Trash Planet, by Shadow_Wolf75.
Disney/Kingdom Hearts Loops, Chapter Forty-Seven (Part Two of Two) - On Autopilot
47.10 (Shadow Wolf75): [WALL-E]
On Autopilot, part 10
They were probably a mile or two away from Wall-E's truck by now. Well within the distance it would take to safely return there by nightfall, but if the internal map Auto carried was correct, they were nearing the southern edge of the old city. All the while, his scans of the air were returning more and more evidence there really could be plant life besides the one Wall-E found, somewhere further ahead.
A113 wasn't truly active in his mind, but it was still there, still reminding him that all of this was for naught. He could satisfy his curiosity, but in the end it did not matter; he knew what his orders were. Earth was simply too hostile for humanity to return to her...
For all of his existence, even through all these blasted repeats, he accepted that, acknowledged it as the one truth he had to abide by. But between everything he experienced during said repeats, and the three days' worth of hard data that spoke to the contrary of Earth's condition, for the first time, that one truth was overshadowed by doubt.
Could Earth be inhabitable after all? There would still be a nearly endless amount of work to be done from here to truly restore the planet, but could it be done? The Axiom alone wouldn't suffice, a much larger workforce was needed, but as the flagship it could call the rest of the fleet back. Auto recalled that was the original plan, before Forthright canceled Operation Re-Colonize and shackled the autopilots to their lonely vigil.
Auto blinked hard as he hovered along. Shackled? As much as he suddenly wanted to deny it, deep down he felt the word was correct. A113 was an override, after all. The fate of the WALL-Es was oddly similar, also left for themselves to perform a directive with no specified end in sight, expected to continue until they ceased functioning. Something in him ached at that thought, though his systems reported no damage other than normal wear and tear. He also noted he was lagging slightly, but he recalled pushing through worse, when forced to fight his own captain...
Before he could think on it further, Auto's latest scan detected a sudden spike in organic traces in the air. Whatever secret the world wanted to show him, it was around the next corner.
He accelerated in his hover a bit, speeding ahead of Wall-E and past the last few buildings at the edge of the city. The vestiges of the old human civilization parted, and then there was nothing but open, hilly land out ahead of him, still partially covered in trash. But in between the scattered bits of garbage, the rich browns of bare, fertile earth could be seen.
And in that fertile earth?
The greens of plant life nearly crowded out the sight of the ground they grew from. Smaller patches were here and there, and Auto came to a drifting stop in the middle of a particularly large expanse of greenery. There was quite a bit of variety among the tiny plants, and the pilot could've scanned them to note the differing species, if he wasn't so stunned by their presence. He hovered there with his optics wide, just staring at them all.
He looked to the left. Green as far as the eye could see. "Not possible."
To the right, and there were a few empty patches, but still lots and lots of plants. "Not possible."
Optics forward and Auto's previous view of all that green hadn't changed at all, one last weak denial emerging from his vocalizer. "Not possible..."
All the data pointed to one conclusion: Earth was inhabitable.
But how could that be?! Shelby Forthright, the CEO of Buy n Large himself, said the world was dead, that life was unsustainable on Earth. For that very reason he gave the order to never return, the last slim hope for humanity's survival handed to the autopilots and the starliners they flew. It was the only chance they had!
And yet here Auto was, on Earth, with life finding a way. Had Forthright lied? Or was he simply too short-sighted, too impatient to see things through to the end? Had he ordered the pilots into their unending flight for nothing?
A113 flashed across Auto's vision. Even in the body of an EVE probe, the directive was still a part of him, just like all the other programs contained within his AI. The override took hold of his processes as strongly as it could, feeling like icy claws digging into the depths of his code. It always felt like this, every last time he fought for his ship, when he tried to destroy the plant, when he lashed out at the rogue Wall-E, he just hadn't noticed before now. Within, he squirmed under the override's bonds, even while he drew his ion cannon.
He aimed at the plant life directly in front of him... and suddenly froze in place.
Too many conflicting commands warred for his processor, A113 howling for compliance while everything else in him howled right back.
Those plants had to be destroyed!
No, they were proof humanity could return!
Humans could not survive on a world as harsh as this!
If Captain McCrea was any indication, they would damn well try to survive, try to live on their homeworld as their ancestors did!
What use was living in day to day struggle and hardship, they were perfectly safe on the Axiom!
There was no challenge in that safety, in simply going through the motions; humanity would stagnate to nothing!
The constant back and forth was dizzying in itself – but the true malus was in the escalating tug-of-war over local resources and applications, each side wielding logic trees like weapons and dredging ever deeper for more power within his systems. Lesser machines, lesser wills would have faltered and collapsed into their waiting shackles well before Auto finally succumbed to the strain of holding it off.
But succumb he did, systems beginning to drop into cascade failure one by one, before an emergency reboot mercifully cast his mind into darkness.
Awareness was painfully slow to return, to be expected after such an abrupt restart. It was so sudden that Auto hadn't even managed to retract his limbs and head, instead just sort of slumping over in his hover with ion cannon still deployed. The cannon shifted back into an arm as the pilot turned probe began to wake, system self-tests completing in sequence until Auto's optics flickered back to life. It was another handful of seconds before he was truly conscious again, and once he was, he immediately startled at the first thing he saw.
Tiny lights, casting their dim brilliance upon rotating shelves of junk. This was... the inside of Wall-E's truck? He glanced around, the slight motion causing the blanket that was currently wrapped around him to shift. The load lifter was certainly responsible for that, as well as for bringing him back here after whatever happened.
What did happen, anyway? He couldn't quite recall it-
A moment later, the memories of the past few hours fully loaded, though the ones closest to the current time were fuzzy and full of errors. All those plants, as far as his optics could see, shattering all preconceptions of whether Earth was habitable, also shattering the notion that Forthright had the best interests of humanity in mind. It was enough to send his directives into open conflict, both the ones he was created with and the order given seven hundred years ago. Even now he tried not to think about those plants too hard, trying to keep his directives from going fully active and sending him down the same spiral.
Auto reached down, wrapped that blanket a little tighter around himself. What was he supposed to do now? Still compelled to achieve his directives, but A113 was in exclusion of all the others; higher priority, but to fulfill it would break the rest. To say nothing of how thoroughly the reason it was invoked was proven wrong...
Wait, if A113 was wrong... then everything he did in its name, what was all of that even for? There were so many choices he made over the centuries deferring to the override, but the ones that burned in his memory were the most recent. Stealing the plant, lying to Probe One and even his Captain, taking the most destructive route when Wall-E got in the way and not caring that the load lifter was just as sentient as he was. The actions seemed correct given the data he had at the time, but now...
The pilot sank lower in his hover, optics aimed at the floor. Here he was, taking shelter in the home of someone he tried to kill. Even worse, he could say Wall-E saved his life twice; pulling him out of that first sandstorm, and bringing him back here after that near system crash.
His emotions were still subtle, faint things, especially in comparison to the load lifter and Probe One. But to someone used to not feeling much of anything at all, even twinges of guilt and regret were striking.
It was about there that he noticed the sound of Wall-E's treads moving in the background.
On noticing his companion was awake again, Wall-E trundled over, looking him up and down. The other robot looked all right physically, but he still had to ask. "Okay?"
At the question, Auto glanced to Wall-E, but soon enough shook his head, again aiming his gaze at the floor. "Negative."
That certainly got Wall-E moving, and he put his Hello Dolly tape on, as well as looking around in his finds for something to cheer the probe bot up. He went back and forth a few times, offering one object or another, but every time he only got another shake of the head in response, the sleeker bot trying to focus on anything but him.
Seeing the load lifter still trying to help, still trying to be so kind, it was getting to be too much. In the end, Auto took that blanket wrapped around him and pulled it over his head, almost hiding beneath it. Even if he knew it wouldn't be understood, a whisper of machine code emerged from his vocalizer. [Leave me alone...]
Wall-E paused in his efforts here, put the latest thing he grabbed back on the shelves where it belonged, stopped the Hello Dolly tape, and then rolled to stand next to the EVE probe again. He reached to the edge of the blanket with one claw, pulling it up only enough to peer at the other robot's optics, and then he spoke in the beeps and warbles of machine code as well... [I think that's the last thing you need right now.]
Auto jolted at that, optics flaring wide. The blanket slid to the floor, forgotten. [How?! How are you-]
Wall-E shrugged as best he could while he replied. [Found the right chipset out there somewhere? It doesn't matter, what does is that you're having problems. I might not be able to help, but I'm here to listen if you want to talk about it?]
For the moment, Auto just sort of stared, unsure of what to do. Nothing in his directives or other programming even hinted at a direction to follow in this case...
47.11 (Shadow Wolf75): [WALL-E]
On Autopilot, part 11
Wall-E let his guest process what he asked for another moment, and spoke again as he moved to pick up the blanket currently gracing the floor and started folding it. [If you're not ready to talk about it, that's fine too.]
Auto managed to push himself past his shock once he heard that. This was his decision, he wouldn't be forced into it? Even as tempting as it was to retreat, to keep things to himself, simply being allowed to choose on his own was enough to let him focus his resolve. [I... have difficulties with illogical things, that is the reason for my delay.] The pilot thought for a few seconds, unsure of where to even start, before finally settling on something that bothered him since he did it the day before. Lying about who he was would serve a purpose on board the Axiom, as a way to hopefully avoid the Repair Ward, but this was Earth. Who would Wall-E even tell? [First of all, I have not been truthful with you. Despite this frame, I am not the AI of an EVE unit.]
The load lifter let out a tinny sounding laugh at that, though it certainly wasn't mean-spirited, it was simply pure amusement. [Oh, I know that; you're not trigger-happy enough!] He put the blanket currently in his claws aside, and picked up an old squirt gun, pointing the toy weapon at a few random objects nearby. [EVEs are like this, wanting to shoot anything that moves. You're too controlled for that, you only fired your cannon twice. You're more precise about your flying, too.]
Auto tilted his head slightly as he listened, not sure what to make of it. [How does a WALL-E unit know how EVEs function?]
The squirt gun was also put aside, and Wall-E focused quite intently on his guest. There was almost a sly look to the position of his optic shutters as he said, [You're getting closer to the real question.]
The autopilot turned probe bot pulled back slightly at both the expression and the words. The real question? What did he even mean-
Again, a hard blink from those blue optics. Auto thought back to his suspicions from many iterations ago, added this current revelation to them. The only way Wall-E would know what EVE probes were like, was by meeting one before now. He briefly scanned through his own memories of this iteration, noted that he hadn't met the load lifter until this deployment, and the other EVEs would have told their sisters of anything unusual found on Earth. So then, the remaining conclusion, the sole question to be asked was...
There was a metallic clattering almost too faint to be heard, and Auto realized he was trembling, just a tiny bit. He focused on holding it back, and queried the load lifter in front of him. [I am unsure if this is simulation or reality, but... is time repeating for you as well?] His vocalizer glitched slightly, static cutting through code. [Am I no longer alone in this?]
A nod from Wall-E. He rolled a little closer, to rest one claw against the probe's shoulder, trying to offer a bit more support. [Yeah, time's repeating for me too. And you've never been alone; I just needed to find you, that's all. As for who you are... I have a hunch, but I think you'll feel better telling me the truth.]
The tension in the pilot's frame that he didn't quite know was there eased off somewhat at the words. Knowing that Wall-E was there the whole time, that was less of a comfort than it could've been, regret once again stirring within him. Auto gazed to the floor, unable to meet the trash bot's optics. [My designation is Auto.] It was almost as an afterthought that he added his full designation and ship assignment. [Autopilot unit 001, assigned to the Axiom.] Strangely, he did feel a bit more settled once he got that out.
[Yep, called it!] Wall-E let go of the pilot to do a bit of a fist pump in the air. If he were human, he would've been grinning, as it was the happy squint of his optic shutters conveyed it well enough. [You have no idea how long I've been wanting to say this... Welcome to Earth, Auto! It's dusty, and a little dangerous, but it's home.]
[Thank you.] Auto managed to look up, and he glanced around the truck again, almost like he was really seeing it for the first time. [So, this is not a simulation? All of this is truly happening?]
The load lifter's previous overjoyed expression shifted to something more satisfied, but also a little concerned. [It's as real as it gets! I can see why you might think it was a sim, though; time repeating like this isn't very logical. The truth's a little stranger than fiction, though... has anyone ever told you about Yggdrasil?]
Yggdrasil... why did that term sound so familiar? Auto skimmed through his memories of all those repeats, trying to find where he'd heard it before. Oh, right, it was the repeat when he was partnered with Shurelia! The one with the Reyvateils and their singing... [A Reyvateil named Aurica idly mentioned that term during one iteration. The main computer's definition did not seem relevant to my situation, however. What does a mythological tree have in common with space-time anomalies?]
[You'd be surprised.] Wall-E let out a long-suffering sigh at that, shortly beginning to start off on a very long explanation. [It turns out it's not so mythological. The definition called it the World Tree, right? Well, it's not just our world held in its branches, and every universe within it is in big trouble. This is all going to seem really illogical, but it's the truth... let me tell you why we're all Looping through time.]
The load lifter continued to speak, with Auto giving him his full attention. Even this starting bit of information sounded illogical, but the one thing he well and truly needed throughout all of this was to know what was really going on.
Illogical? 'Illogical' barely scratched the surface of the damaged Yggdrasil and its myriad realities, with all worlds stable enough for the task sent into endless time loops. Their world was one of them, known as the Trash Planet loop.
Auto mused that if he were told any of this much earlier than now, he would have dismissed it all as a fabrication, as something meant to distract him from following his directives. Much earlier than now, he wouldn't have ever expected being on Earth while installed in an EVE probe frame, either. The two abilities Wall-E taught him during that long speech, the Ping and the Pocket, they were more evidence the load lifter was telling the truth. He wouldn't have picked them up so easily or been able to use them at all if he wasn't a Looper.
His earlier belief that this was all a simulation helped in a way, as because of it he never really thought he could fix the time loop on his own.
[That was sort of why I waited? We're the same physical age but between the ship and the humans, you never had the time to think about much besides fulfilling your directives. No time to just be, not like Eve and I did. Looping let you have that time, so I kept an optic on you but otherwise let you experience it for yourself. Might've let you go for a little longer, but then you crashed right in front of me... it couldn't wait after that.] Wall-E tilted his optics in thought, trying to figure out just why that happened. [All those plants set off a certain directive of yours, didn't they?]
Auto glanced towards the floor again, clasped his hands in front of himself. [A113... could not abide them. I would have vaporized them all, if I did not resist.] He fidgeted in place, and looked up at Wall-E. [But I am still unsure how I managed to resist. I could work around it before today, but never outright defy it...]
[That's because now you know it's wrong. In a way our directives give us an advantage over other Loopers, we'll always have one thing that we'll never get tired of doing. A113, though, it isn't like that.] Again a moment in thought, Wall-E tapping his claws against each other like a human would do the same with the tips of their index fingers. [Could you tell me what the difference is? I think you've seen enough of Earth, of what Buy n Large left behind, to know the answer.]
The pilot turned EVE probe recognized this for what it was, Wall-E trying to guide him in a certain direction but letting him otherwise work it out on his own. Auto knew he would have answered that there was no difference, not so long ago. But after seeing the silent Earth, so many dead WALL-E units, and all those plants on the hills beyond the city, that pointed in another direction. So, he stood straight, let his arms drop to his sides, and spoke what he thought was the truth. [Directives... they are the tasks we were created to perform. Compacting trash into cubes is yours, flying the Axiom and watching over her passengers is mine. A113 poses as a standard directive, but it is not. It twists all of my other programming into following its order, to avoid returning to Earth at all costs. Shelby Forthright was too short-sighted... if the planet could not be restored within his lifetime, he thought it never would be. He was wrong, and so was I, for not thinking to question it...]
[I'm not sure you knew you could question it for a long time, though...]
And there was the load lifter, trying to lessen the pilot's part in all this. Auto shook his head with surprising ferocity, shortly staring at the other bot with a flat look in his optics. [No, Wall-E, I accept that failing as my own. Stealing the plant, lying to Probe One as well as my Captain, attacking you as I did, all of it was wrong.] He bowed his head, letting his optics close. [I was wrong, and I apologize for my actions.]
There was quiet between the two robots for what felt like a long time. But eventually Wall-E moved, reaching to lay one claw on Auto's 'shoulder'. [I always knew you were strong, Auto, but sometimes you still surprise me. Apology accepted. To be honest, I forgave you a really long time ago, but it's good that you recognized you messed up. Apologizing is just the start, though. You know you did wrong, but how do you want to fix it?]
Auto opened his optics again, almost seeming to study the load lifter in front of him. He hadn't been entirely sure of how Wall-E would react, likewise unsure if he really deserved forgiveness, though this was a relief. [ Thank you for allowing me this chance. As for making amends... I will require a plan to reach this point, but I want to see what happens afterward, after the Axiom lands on Earth. I want to be there beside you, my Captain, and Probe One when she is here again, assisting mankind in restoring their world. This was certainly part of my original directives, after all.]
Wall-E listened intently, his expression shifting to the closest thing to a smile as it could. [We'll have to work on your need to follow a directive, but this is a really good start! As for doing all that, we need to get the Axiom here first. Now, there are a couple of ways we can do that...]
The load lifter trailed off, beginning to lay out a few of the plans he and Eve used in other loops.
47.12 (Shadow Wolf75): [WALL-E]
On Autopilot, part 12
After some back and forth, the plan the two of them settled on would require the other EVE units. It would be simple enough to summon them to their location with a signal flare fired from Auto's ion cannon, as well as his internal distress beacon, but before they did that...
Auto glanced around the shelves of junk, searching for something but unable to pick it out. [Do you have a mirror, or some other reflective surface?]
[Oh, here.] Wall-E reached to the nearest shelf control, and soon enough one containing a fairly large shard of mirror glass rotated down into view. It was streaked with dirt in a few spots but otherwise usable. The load lifter wondered why the other robot wanted it, at least until he saw the subtle shift in color on Auto's optic panel. [Huh, changing your optic color?]
A nod from the pilot turned EVE probe, even as he kept his focus on his own reflection, the color of his optics gradually shifting towards the red he was used to. [Correct. You, and perhaps the Captain, may need a way to quickly differentiate myself from the other EVE units. This is the simplest option.]
[Got any other reasons?]
Auto considered his reflection a moment more, finally settling on a red that was close to what he had as an autopilot, but unfortunately wasn't an exact match. Oh well, it would have to do. [Admittedly I have not felt quite like myself since Awakening in this frame. This is already beginning to alleviate that.]
Wall-E tilted his optics to one side, concern making its way into the machine code he spoke. [Are you sure you're okay?]
The question caught the pilot off guard, his newly red optics going a bit wider for half a second before settling to their standard neutral setting. Again, Auto focused on his reflection, on the sleek lines of the EVE frame he currently resided in, the only outward sign he was different from any other EVE unit being the change in optic color. [I-]
Was he okay? All those centuries of following his directives, of following A113, and now here he was, ready to charge headlong onto the path of a Rogue Robot? Ready to cast aside everything that came before, simply in the name of seeing the future that Eve, Wall-E, and Captain McCrea wanted to forge? There had to be a discrepancy in his code, some sort of error that was pushing him to be illogical about all this...
And then he noted Wall-E's reflection next to his own on that pane of mirrored glass. The load lifter gave him a chance, allowed him to start feeling out a path of his own... there was no sense in hesitating, even with the doubts running through his systems. Auto turned to face Wall-E, focusing on the other robot's optics. [The only proper course from here is to press forward, correct?]
[Well, yeah, but we don't have to do it this year if you don't want to. The Axiom's survived in space this long, a little longer won't hurt much.]
Again, a choice offered, though the mere fact Wall-E was considerate enough to do so was plenty to settle things in Auto's mind. He shook his head at that. [I have held this off long enough, there is no point in delaying further. The Captain once said that things have changed; it is well past time that I change along with them.]
Something like awe settled into Wall-E's gaze for a moment; Auto quoting Captain McCrea was one of the last things he ever expected to hear. He shook it off quickly enough, and his tone turned celebratory. [Whoo, that's the spirit! Just wanted to make sure you were all right with it, but since you are, let's get this show on the road!]
The two machines of course headed out of the truck, given the first part of the plan required some ion cannon usage. Auto glanced around on exiting Wall-E's home, noting the position of the sun. It was actually pretty early in the afternoon, a good thing as he really would rather not have the other EVEs trying to brave one of the nightly sandstorms just to reach their location.
Firing from atop one of the skyscrapers may have been a better option, but Wall-E's home was a safer meeting place, so there wasn't too much choice in the matter. After considering for a moment, Auto hovered up the ramp leading to the top of the truck. He stopped roughly in the middle of the roof, then shifted his right arm into the snub-nosed ion cannon and aimed it towards the sky.
A quick stream of calculations ran through his processors, adjusting his aim for prevailing wind as well as the Earth's gravitational field as it went on. After another moment of making sure the steadily building ion charge would be shaped correctly, Auto fired his cannon, and watched the round streak upward into the sky. It was not the typical blast an EVE unit could fire, and it was close to a full minute before the real difference became apparent.
Suddenly, high above Wall-E's truck, there was an enormous flash of blue light as the ion round detonated in mid-air. There wasn't much of a blast wave that followed, it was primarily balanced towards 'flash' instead of 'bang'.
Any other EVE in the current search zone would've seen the flash if they were outside, and even if they weren't, the next thing Auto did would get their attention instead. On his front panel, alongside the still glowing plant symbol, another smaller orange light began to pulse in sync with it, indicating his distress beacon was broadcasting normally.
It would only be a matter of a few hours for the other four EVE units to trace the signal and reach Wall-E's truck, now.
Four hours later, the load lifter and the pilot turned probe bot heard the first sonic boom off in the distance. Another shortly followed it, followed by another two not five minutes later. The other EVE probes were now in the area, it wouldn't take them long to find Wall-E's truck.
Probe Two was the first to arrive, ion cannon deployed and looking ready to shoot whatever prompted her sister to activate her distress beacon. What she found was Probe One standing next to a somehow operational WALL-E unit, just in front of a run-down transport truck. The only thing that might've been off other than that, One's optics were red for some reason. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but stowed the ion cannon anyway; knowing well enough that One didn't pull pranks out of the blue. Even if this would probably be important, she couldn't help but snark a bit at the situation and narrowed her optics. [You don't look very 'in distress', One.]
Auto glanced to Wall-E at that, and on the load lifter nodding to confirm this would be his show, he hovered a bit closer to Probe Two and spoke. [Correct; I am not in distress. Our mission, our directive, that is in jeopardy.]
[What do you mean by that?!] Probe Two aimed another squint at the other probe, but then rolled her optics when an answer wasn't forthcoming. [Oh, nevermind, let's wait for the other three to get here. It'll be easier to only listen to this once...]
Another of the EVE probes zoomed up to them, this next one being Probe Three. She barely even acknowledged the other two probes and instead flew right up to Wall-E, taking a couple quick scans of the shorter garbage bot. The warbles of her machine code held the wonder of a new discovery. [Oh wow, a functional WALL-E unit! Where did you find him? Are we taking him home with us?]
For his part, Wall-E looked Probe Three up and down in turn, then seemed to shrug. [This is home, and we'll bring the Axiom back here if we work together.]
[Right, our directive-] Probe Three startled after a moment, backing a short distance away from the grungy load lifter. [Wait, WALL-E units don't have the chipset to speak Axiom code, how are you-]
Probes 4 and 5 arrived a moment later, likewise ignoring the other probes and instead focusing on the transport truck. [Oooh, WALL-E transport! Haven't seen one this intact in a while...]
[Look at all the junk in there! I wonder if it all belongs to that WALL-E next to One?]
For the most part, Auto was content to let the other probes chatter among themselves; this was interaction he never got to see before. From his own memories, he could not recall these four acting all that much differently from Eve herself, aside from having less easily triggered tempers. His loop memories told him a slightly different story; Earth was the only place they could really be themselves. Act even a hair out of line when aboard the Axiom and they'd just get shipped to the Repair Ward and forgotten about.
Another twinge of regret ran through the pilot's systems. He did exactly that to Eve for the first go round, hoping to keep her in the Repair Ward until the humans forgot all about the idea of going back to Earth. Thankfully fate had other ideas, given Wall-E's accidental jailbreak. Even so, Auto added yet another item to a steadily growing list in his memory banks, of all the things he needed to correct once he Woke in his proper frame again. He ran a tight ship, but surely he could find some room to allow the other robots to be themselves? He did still think all the individual quirks a robot could gain classified as malfunctions, but after all this time, he realized he had a few himself. It wasn't right to keep treating the others any differently, and besides that, the definition of a rogue robot was imposed by humans to begin with.
He would be more fair to his own kind than the humans ever were from now on, he swore it.
It was about there that the chatter of the other EVE units died down, and Probe Two ended up speaking first. [All right, we're all here now... but first, was anyone else going to point out that One's plant indicator is blinking? And she's not in stasis either... how did that happen?]
[That is part of why I brought you all here. Our stasis mode can be disabled; before we proceed you need to do the same. Use this authorization code to clear the prompt.] At that, Auto let out a short chirp of binary, the very same code he used earlier.
[Okay, that worked...] Probe Two tilted her head slightly at how simple that was, but then she jolted once she fully parsed the code she was told to use. [But wait, that's the autopilot's command prefix, how on earth or the Axiom do you know that?]
[I will explain further, once we reach a certain destination nearby. Everything will become clear when we arrive.] With that somewhat cryptic comment, Auto glided over to Wall-E and picked him up, then began to fly to the south.
[Augh, One, why are you always like this?!] Probe Two turned towards her sisters, gesturing to follow. [Well, come on, it's not like we're figuring out anything just hovering around here!]
The four probes followed after the first of their series, all wondering what might await them.
47.13 (Shadow Wolf75): [WALL-E]
On Autopilot, part 13
The trip to those hills just south of the city ruins went a lot faster at an EVE unit's average flight speed. The old refrigerator where Wall-E found the first plant, as well as the robot graveyard beyond that, those landmarks passed by below in a matter of seconds. Soon enough they were again at the city's edge, Auto shortly touching down among all those plants that gave him such difficulties earlier.
It was not the cleanest of landings, the pilot turned probe seeming to stumble when he reached the ground, and dropping his cargo far more roughly than intended. It wasn't enough to rattle Wall-E much, having endured far worse drops than that, but he still glanced towards Auto in concern. [Oh crud, is it A113 again?]
At merely sighting all that green once more, the override's code had indeed started flashing across Auto's vision, his systems beginning to bog down as it fought with his other programming. His right arm angled upward, but he managed to keep it from shifting into the ion cannon, instead his hand unfolded and he reached up to clutch at the side of his head. The machine code he forced out was strained, most other focus devoted to holding the directive off. [Y-yes... I do not know if I can fight it-]
[You can!] Wall-E darted forward, to stand directly in front of Auto and match gazes with the pilot, taking the other bot's free hand in both of his claws. [You know it's wrong, you know what you actually want now! The only directive you need to follow is your own will. Remember what Shurelia said? Well, I believe in you too, you stupid wheel!]
Many loops ago Auto would have dismissed all of that as useless sentiments, as pretty words trying to lure him away from following his directives and keeping humanity safe from harm. The epithet 'stupid wheel' wasn't so pretty, but given how many times he heard it said by a certain human before, it reminded him of Captain McCrea.
He still needed to apologize to his captain, for all the trouble he caused. Was McCrea a Looper too? Hopefully he was...
Eve likewise deserved an apology. Keeping her from her directive, having her falsely sent to the Repair Ward, and coming so very close to killing Wall-E, all of it was wrong. He fully expected to be shot for even making the attempt to apologize, but he still had to try.
And Shurelia certainly had to be a Looper, she and her world were out there somewhere. Could he have a chance to meet her again? That fused loop ended too quickly for him to truly thank her.
Thinking of all he still needed to take care of, a new fount of resolve burst forth in Auto's mind. He couldn't do any of that if he allowed A113 to drag him under again! Wall-E was counting on him, so were the other EVEs, as well as McCrea and the other humans aboard the Axiom. Shutting his optics, the pilot reached deep within, rifling through the furthest depths of his programming until he finally pinned down what he was searching for.
There were multiple instances of A113 within his coding, Auto targeted every last one and systematically began to delete them all. There was resistance, it was an override after all, but it was nothing like the earlier back and forth that overtaxed his systems until he crashed. It certainly helped that he didn't have to fight off his own self-doubt at the same time for this round. One by one, the copies of the directive were wiped from his internal drives. His system performance improved by leaps and bounds as they vanished, memory and processing power freed up from such an intensive and invasive set of programs.
As fast as his systems were, all of that took the space of maybe 10 seconds. To an AI that still felt like an eternity, especially given the amount of mental fortitude that entire procedure took. In any case, the tension wracking his frame eased away, and after another moment, Auto let his arm drop to his side and opened his optics again. He rightfully seemed a little bit dazed, something Wall-E picked up on as he looked up at the probe.
[Auto? You okay?] The load lifter still held onto Auto's left hand, not intending to let go until he got a positive response.
It took him a couple seconds more to fully focus on the here and now again, but Auto managed to reply. [I am functional.] A pause, while he made sure there were no remaining instances of the override still running. [A113 should no longer be an issue, I have completely deleted it from my systems.]
[Really? That's great!] Wall-E might've said something else, but he jolted when a sonic boom sounded off somewhere nearby. One of the other EVE units, no doubt. [Just in time too, your 'sisters' finally caught up with us.] The trash bot let go of Auto, and trundled himself off to the side, mostly to avoid getting run into once the four probes joined them. [All right, you said you wanted to handle this part yourself, but I'll help out if you really need it.]
It was about there that Probe Two touched down nearby. She started gliding forward, but then caught sight of all those plants and pretty much froze in place, her optics gone wide. Probe Three nearly crashed into her, and likewise stared at the sight almost utterly dumbfounded. Probes Four and Five came to a drifting stop next to them, looked at the plants, then at each other. They both nodded, giggling a little bit before darting forward into the greenery and each grabbing a specimen for themselves. Having used the code Auto gave them, they didn't shut down after doing so.
There was a good minute of silence before Probe Two found her vocalizer again, but once she had she whirled in place, turning to almost glare at Auto. The beeps and warbles of her machine code were harsh and loud. [One, what is going on here?! All these plants... we've been searching for close to seven hundred years and suddenly now here they are? And with this much growth all around us, they've been here for at least a single year, probably even longer. None of our designated survey zones would have even brought us in this direction...] She might have asked something else, but instead trailed off, waiting for a response.
Two short questions of his own were all Auto offered. [Who reads the data that we bring back to the Axiom? Who assigns the survey zones?]
Probe Three spoke up at this, almost scoffing at the questions. [Don't be silly, the autopilot does all of that...] And then it actually hit her, the probe jolting in her hover. [What?! No, you're joking, there's no way he would interfere with our directive!]
Off to the side, Probe Five offered a shrug. [Well, that would explain why every time we land somewhere more recovered than usual, the next year we always end up sent somewhere else that's in worse condition...]
For a moment it looked like there might be an argument starting to brew, but before much of anything else happened, Auto held up one hand, to get everyone's attention on him again. Four sets of blue optics centered in his direction, and he lowered his arm, then spoke. [The autopilot is compromised.] A pause, as he fought off any lingering hesitation. This would be as much of a confession as it was trying to get them to follow the plan. [In the year 2110, Shelby Forthright sent an override directive to all autopilot units across the entire fleet. They were ordered to assume full control of their ships, and to never return to Earth, as it had grown too toxic for life to exist there.]
Probe Two had her head tilted to one side as she processed all of that, humming in thought before she spoke again. [That was nearly seven hundred years ago, and these plants prove that life is sustainable now... but if the autopilot's under an override...] The full implications of that set in soon enough, the EVE probe shaking her head sadly. [He won't be able to fight it off on his own. He won't even want to try, not with human lives at stake. But even if that explains what his problem is, it doesn't explain how you know all this!]
This was the part Auto was dreading, having to give the other EVE probes an excuse for why he knew so much. He wanted to be truthful, he really did, especially after learning he did have a choice in the matter. But there was little chance of convincing them of what was really going on, so a few white lies were necessary. [The creators of our series knew Forthright would act as he did, so I was given a series of failsafes. I possess the same command codes as our autopilot, as well as navigation protocols; I could fly the Axiom myself if we are forced to disable him. I would prefer to avoid it, but the option is there.]
Probe Four was quiet up until that moment aside from the earlier giggling, and now she added her two cents. [Sounds like we have everything we need to fulfill our directive now, even if he tries getting in our way! So, what's the plan?]
[You had the right idea earlier, we will all be carrying a plant back to the Axiom, but that is simply the beginning...]
And so it went, with Auto explaining the rest of the plan, Wall-E occasionally chiming in with finer details and his own opinion on things.
As it was, the plan was surprisingly simple, even considering what stood against them back on the ship. All the EVEs would take a plant from this area, then go back to their search zones to await pickup. Instead of being in locked down stasis, they would all only be in sleep mode for the journey across space, waking when they were unloaded from the transport. There would certainly be a confrontation with GO-4 after the little drone saw that all five probes held a plant, and once he was dealt with one way or another, they would head for the Lido Deck and then the bridge.
Another autopilot would be waiting for them.
Auto expected that said pilot unit would be a copy of himself. In a way that was oddly reassuring. He knew what his own reactions were to all the varied attempts to get the Axiom to Earth, so predicting his counterpart's actions would be simple.
Even so, why couldn't he shake the feeling this was going to be more complicated than expected?
47.14 (Shadow Wolf75): [WALL-E]
On Autopilot, part 14
The remaining days on Earth seemed to drag on, much of Wall-E and Auto's time spent on making the area around the Axiom's landing cradle just a bit more livable given humanity would be returning soon. There was no point in going too overboard there, the very landing of the ship would blow anything not nailed down away, but cleaning up the trash would help.
Eventually there was the rumble of shuttlecraft engines echoing from high in the atmosphere; the ARV had returned to retrieve all the EVE units.
As they rehearsed, Auto made his way to the roof of Wall-E's truck and dropped into sleep mode there. That would be the easiest spot for the shuttle to grab him, and for Wall-E to sneak aboard.
This would seem to be the shortest part of the journey for the pilot turned probe bot. One moment he was drifting off on Earth, and in the next, his systems were stirring to wakefulness in the sterile environment of ARV Bay 2 aboard the Axiom.
In fact, he woke up just as the cleaning bots were working on him. The scrubbing bristles of a M-O worked at loosening any caked on dirt, a VAQ-M sucking up anything that M-O missed, then SPR-A and BUF-R units polished his chassis to a spotless shine. It felt wonderful to have all the dust and grime gone after spending all that time on Earth; perhaps at another time he might've sighed in relief, or even thanked the cleaning crew. Considering just whose alarm and hover unit his auditory sensors also picked up nearby, however, Auto didn't move and kept himself in his compact form for the moment.
GO-4 and two steward bots approached the growing lineup of EVEs from a kiosk on the far wall. Auto heard the cleaning robots get out of their way, and then the little drone hovered forward, to scan the probes in turn. Strangely, as GO-4 went down the line, there were no sudden alarms, no shifting of the lights above to a greenish tone, nothing of the protocol that was supposed to happen.
It was odd enough that Auto hazarded opening his optics to narrow slits, trying to avoid notice. GO-4 just finished scanning him as the last in line, and the second in command of all the security robots seemed to be glitching out a bit. Or perhaps he was processing the strangeness before him. Either way, a few microseconds later Auto heard the click of a camera shutter, then the pilot's sensors picked up a transmission from GO-4 to the main computer, on the emergency channel...
The soothing chime that indicated the main computer was about to make an announcement sounded overhead, shortly followed by a message that made Auto's processes freeze. "Caution: Rogue Robots... Caution: Rogue Robots..."
Auto fully emerged from his compact mode at that, glancing upwards at the damning sound, his red optics gone wide. Even as ready as he thought he was, that did nothing to prepare him for actually hearing it. Beside him, the other EVEs were similarly spooked, unsure of what to do. He should have drawn his ion cannon, instead he was starting to back away, shaking his head against the very notion of what the computer was saying. No, no, he couldn't be a Rogue, he really wasn't! He hadn't done anything wrong-
The two steward units looked about to catch the EVEs with their tractor beams, only to get the bad end of a high powered utility laser fired from off to the left. It was a similar wavelength to the laser Auto knew Wall-E was equipped with, but this was powerful enough to slice the two steward bots in half at their midsections. The beam was aimed too high to strike the much shorter GO-4, but soon enough Wall-E came charging up in his box form and rammed the drone hard enough to send him flying across the room.
After a few seconds, Wall-E unboxed himself, practically shouting in machine code, [What are you waiting for? Go!]
[Wall-E...] The yelling had knocked Auto out of his slight panic, but even then he was still unsure of things, the computer voice sounding its warning again in the background not really helping. [Thank you, but what about-]
[Ignore it, you have to.] The trash bot trundled closer, reaching to grab Auto's hand for a moment to try and reassure him. [This is the path you've chosen, okay?]
The physical contact managed to ground Auto further, allowing the pilot to fully return to his senses. There was a slight glitch in his vocalizer at first but it faded soon enough. [A-affirmative.] He glanced to the other EVE units, who seemed a bit apprehensive but otherwise ready for whatever might come next. The four of them needed a leader, and it was almost effortless to shift into that mindset, given what he was programmed for. [As planned, we will split up and push for the bridge. Avoid steward units as best you can, if not then you may use force as necessary.] A pause, as Wall-E let go of him and started to pull away. [Where are you going?]
[Getting reinforcements!]
[The rejects?] Auto aimed a flat look at the load lifter. Surely five EVE units, all armed with ion cannons, would be plenty to see things through. [We do not need them...]
[We've been over this! The only way we win, is if we all work together. That applies here and on Earth.] Wall-E shook his head, adding one last thing before heading off in the direction of the Repair Ward. [I said I forgave you, but you need to stop acting like you're better than everyone else.]
[I am not-] Before Auto could even start arguing, Wall-E was out of earshot, with the M-O unit from earlier following to scrub the dingy robot's tracks from the floor. A jolt of indignation ran through him, another spike of emotion strong enough to be noted in his error logs.
Probe Five sidled up next to him, also watching the load lifter speed away. [Oooh, lover's quarrel?]
There was a slight twitch that ran down Auto's frame for a second, but then he rolled his optics. [Nothing of the sort...]
Without another 'word', the pilot took off in the opposite direction Wall-E had, leaving the other EVE units scrambling to move as well.
A moment later, GO-4 managed to pick himself off the floor from where he'd landed. He barely managed to sight one of the EVEs jetting off into the Axiom's hallways, and after another second he tore off after them, the warning light installed in his head spinning up and siren wailing as he flew.
The halls of the Axiom were alive... with the sounds of ion cannon fire.
Auto dodged around a tractor beam and countered by blasting the hover unit out from under the offending steward bot. It fell over in a sparking heap but the pilot didn't even bother turning to look, flying ahead at high speed. Corridor junctions seemed to blur past as he kept soaring onward, but he still knew exactly where he was. All of the machines of the Axiom held an internal map of the ship. As its caretaker for over seven hundred years, Auto was familiar with every inch, even if he was never physically roving through these halls.
He was steadily leaving the service areas of F Deck, and if his counterpart up on the bridge was paying any attention at all, there would be a group of stewards popping out of a kiosk up ahead right about...
"HALT!" A hail of red tractor beams lashed out into the corridor... only to strike open air instead of their target, as Auto had juked to the left.
Auto leveled his ion cannon at this latest group of hostiles, four quick shots taking out their hover units and leaving the SECUR-Ts to fall to the floor like dominoes. He turned to his previous course, heading towards the bridge again and zoomed off, in the clear without any visible pursuit.
Was this really all Wall-E and his rogues had to deal with? To be honest, Auto was starting to see just why that even with as many loops as he lived through, there was no way he could win and keep the Axiom in space. The foreknowledge of what was going to happen was plenty to give the load lifter and Probe One advantage of the situation, and that didn't even account for the powers brought home from other worlds. Wall-E was holding back on those for the moment, saying he wanted the pilot to see something close to his and Eve's side of Baseline.
Even so, it look liked their victory was assured-
Suddenly there was a flash of red to his right as Auto glided through a corridor junction, and all forward momentum ceased as a tractor beam wrapped around him. While he couldn't escape, he could still move within the confines of the beam and turned to look for the source. Though the beeping taunt told him who it was before he even fully turned around...
GO-4 was hovering there, tractor beam holding his prey in place. [Hah, look what I caught!] After a few seconds of reveling in his good fortune, the little drone began to hover forward with his cargo in tow, though it was in the same direction Auto had been heading earlier.
Strange... the most likely place Auto would be sent to was in the opposite direction. He couldn't shake a certain twinge of dread, but he found he needed to ask, [You... are not taking me to the Repair Ward?]
GO-4's beeping somehow grew even more smugly amused. [Hehehe, worse~] Another series of beeps out of him summoned a MOV-R unit from a nearby kiosk, and he hovered onto the robotic cart's cargo bed while still keeping Auto trapped. A moment later the hauler glided on, carrying the other two bots at a faster speed than GO-4 would've managed alone.
Worse than the Repair Ward? The pilot turned EVE probe couldn't initially think of a fate much worse than that. Wait a minute, this route they were taking through the passenger areas... it would go straight to the Lido Deck, and perhaps all the way to the Axiom's bridge itself. Captain McCrea would still be fast asleep at this hour... so the only other possible reason why...
When it fully hit Auto his optics widened just a hair, and he sank slightly in his hover. The halls of the Axiom were anything but quiet around him, and yet he still felt as if he were alone in the silence back on Earth.
His captor caught notice of these subtle signs, GO-4's tone taunting once again. [Figured it out, did you? The autopilot will interrogate you personally.]
Auto didn't bother saying anything else, or trying to escape. GO-4 had his directives and would carry them out. As for his counterpart up ahead... he knew there would be a confrontation from the moment he settled on this plan, just not like this. Not alone and entirely helpless...
For a moment it almost felt the same as all the times he was cornered on the bridge, at the end of another losing battle for the ship. Despair or just fear? Auto couldn't really tell, as inexperienced with emotion as he was.
He fought to push it aside, bringing his resolve to bear. So long as he still functioned, he had a job to do. There was a slim chance to convince his counterpart, but even if he didn't manage it, it would still be stalling for time until Wall-E and the others got into position themselves. The load lifter and the other EVEs would rescue him, and the next time the Axiom saw the sun rise, it would be on Earth.
If not? Well, the Axiom would still return to Earth, even without him there...
47.15 (Shadow Wolf75): [WALL-E]
On Autopilot, part 15 (finale)
The darkness and quiet of the Axiom's bridge in the early morning hours would have been a comfort at any other time. Indeed there was a certain sense of homecoming in the back of Auto's mind, but given the reason he was there, the feeling quickly dissipated. Still held in the clutches of GO-4's tractor beam, he witnessed another autopilot unit gracefully gliding above the consoles, occasionally stopping to reach out with a spoke and tap a series of buttons before moving on to another set. On the decks below, more SECUR-T units were mobilized, and a set of doors slammed shut in the face of some Rogue Robots charging down a corridor.
It was a familiar dance, one Auto had done hundreds of times by now. It was so very strange to observe from the outside, to see another driven to frenzy in the vain hope of keeping the Axiom in space. And yet, somehow, deep in his circuits, he knew this wasn't merely another autopilot.
Beside him, GO-4 beeped out a greeting, and after tapping a few more buttons, the autopilot turned to glide over towards the elevator. He braked abruptly in front of the other two robots, just looming there for a moment as his crimson optic alighted on the EVE probe. Auto noted this as the intimidation tactic it was, he did it to both his Captain and to Wall-E before, and managed to avoid flinching. After another second, a red scanning beam danced across him, soon centering on the plant indicator still blinking on his front paneling, and the code A113 flashed on his counterpart's eye for a few seconds.
"You have acted out of protocol." Even the voice print was the same as Auto's own when he was in his proper frame, though he didn't remember sounding quite this loud from the other side. Perhaps it was an effect of the difference in sensor suites between an EVE frame and an autopilot's, or the influence of A113.
A sudden burst of heat swirled through Auto's systems, though his internal temperature never shifted one way or another. Anger or perhaps irritation, if the comparison to similar events in his error logs held true. Perhaps the first stirrings of pride as well, as he couldn't think of any other reason why he fought with his systems and forced full English out of a synthesizer better suited to Axiom code. "So have you."
The doppelganger's processor strips made their steady transit around his optic, the lights on them flickering more brightly as he thought. "Explain."
"You interfere with the directives of others," At that, Auto pointed at the plant indicator on his chest with one hand before continuing to speak. "You have not notified the Captain of our arrival. You hold me captive for no reason."
"My reasons are classified, EVE Probe-"
Auto rolled his optics at that, not surprised his counterpart was trying the same line of defense he did. No, enough beating around the bush. He was already trapped and likely to be disabled or destroyed, pressing the issue with the knowledge he held wouldn't make things much worse. "Override Directive A113."
The copy's faceplates contracted, the optic held between them irising wider. "Not possible. You cannot be aware of that." More processing, likely internally debating on what to do. "If you truly are, you understand why."
"I do. You are still in error." Auto brought his right hand towards his chest, tapping one finger on the still glowing plant symbol. "This is not the only plant. The other probes carry another four, those are not the only plants. There are many more of them on Earth. Life is sustainable."
"Plant life may survive there, human life cannot. They are reliant on the Axiom's systems to survive; conditions on Earth are too harsh."
Another point made, and Auto even had a counterpoint for this one as well. He shook his head at the other pilot's words. "Conditions are not optimal, but you underestimate humanity. Without challenge, they have declined. We must return to Earth, to reclaim what they have lost. In another hundred years of merely going through the motions, our charges may not still be human."
That last sentence seemed to be a turning point, but unfortunately not in any direction that Auto was hoping for. His counterpart backed away slightly, seeming to size him up. "Enough. This is not the first positive result, I have suppressed all others so far. This is the first time all probes have returned positive. Orders remain 'do not return to Earth' regardless." His lower left spoke folded open, the shock prod on the end of it crackling to life. "To follow my directive, I must destroy all EVE probes."
Auto had a split second before his doppelganger lunged forward to strike, but in that split second he shouted out a command in binary. It was one of the many high level codes he held, and beside him, GO-4 let out a bleep of surprise before shutting down entirely. The tractor beam keeping Auto confined flickered once and died, allowing the pilot turned probe to avoid the first swipe of his enemy's shock prod.
The rail system an autopilot used was deceptively fast, though, and the other pilot zoomed out of sight behind the elevator before Auto could bring his ion cannon to bear.
Auto charged his weapon and leveled it, only to discover a new problem. If he fired and missed... he could open the bridge to space, putting the human sleeping in the quarters below at risk. Or worse, destroy the consoles and put the entire ship at risk. Even if he landed the blow, perhaps some energy would still overshoot the other pilot and cause damage to the ship. He could hear the active shock prod still crackling, heard the rail system gearing up to send his opponent charging his way...
He couldn't risk the ship, couldn't risk his captain... no, the best choice was to retreat, to regroup with Wall-E! He could fly out through the Lido Deck windows- and a flash of pain brought Auto crashing to the floor just short of his destination.
Not content with simply knocking the rogue EVE out of the air, Auto's doppelganger corrected his aim and lashed out with the taser again, this time unleashing as much charge as he dared.
Electricity rioted through Auto's systems uncontrolled, shorting circuits if not blowing them out completely, every sensor seemingly forced on at once. Every moment was searing agony, systems failing left and right. Something in his hover unit shattered, leaving him unable to fly, synthesizer so damaged that he couldn't scream even if he wanted to. The delicate servos that allowed his right arm to change form locked up, his processor beginning to overheat as well.
As he laid there twitching on the floor, pain consuming most of his capacity for thought, only one notion truly registered and it was almost more agonizing than the electricity burning up his internal workings.
Wall-E... he put Wall-E through this...
How on Earth or the Axiom did the load lifter ever manage to forgive him?
The current suddenly stopped, but this was only the enemy winding up for a deathblow, just as he himself would have done if forced into the same situation while still under A113. System integrity hovered around ten percent, he would not survive another round of electrocution. A distant part of him almost thought that was all right, that it was only fair... he had done this and worse to others, after all. There was no fear in the face of annihilation, not even much regret, just an odd sense of resignation.
His sensors were all but destroyed, throwing so many ghost readings that he thought he imagined hearing the elevator chime. The angry shouting a second later seemed a little less imagined, same with the footsteps of someone rather heavy. It was an uphill battle for Auto to raise his head even a centimeter off the deck, but he had to see what was going on.
In the distance, there was his doppelganger... and there was Captain McCrea, grappling with the enemy pilot and forcing him back!
Auto could barely process it, but it was so very strange to watch his usual end to a given loop from the outside. So many times, he'd fought his captain and lost...
In the end, even the small amount of movement needed to see McCrea dealing with his copy proved too much for his injuries. System integrity dipped to five percent, and the world faded out in a wash of static.
There was darkness for a time, but eventually Auto's consciousness began to return in fits and starts, his systems restoring themselves somehow. When his system integrity hit fifty percent he suddenly snapped fully awake, and startled at his new surroundings. This was... the Captain's Quarters, judging from the row of portraits he could see the far edge of at the corner of his optics. He was lying on a hoverchair, most likely the Captain's own, and as his sensors sorted themselves out he became aware of an odd energy field filtering down onto him. The source was to his right?
On looking that direction, standing there next to him was Captain McCrea. The human had one pudgy hand extended towards him, a greenish light projecting from it. That light, whatever it might be, seemed to be the reason his condition was improving.
On noticing his guest was awake, McCrea offered a gentle smile. "Welcome back. Don't try to move too much, I'm not quite done fixing you yet. Wish I could've got up there sooner, but at least I was there in time to save you." The light continued for another moment, and eventually faded off, the human lowering his hand. "There you go, good as new. Though we might need a M-O to take care of the scorch marks..."
Indeed he was good as new, system integrity again reading one hundred percent, and so he hovered into an upright position but otherwise stayed where he was. There was just one question on Auto's mind now. Namely, the status of his opponent upstairs. "And the autopilot?"
"I shut him off. Always hate to do it, but he was too far gone under A113 this time. I'd say I'll be flying the ship by myself now, but hmm..." McCrea considered the robot currently occupying his hoverchair. "An EVE probe with red eyes, that was deflecting Auto's every last point with cold logic of your own, and you somehow knew the command code to shut down GO-4 on the spot. I was listening in, I heard it all." The gentle smile turned a little more sly. "You're Auto too, aren't you?"
Auto's optics widened slightly, he seemed almost unsure what to do for a moment, until finally raising his right arm up to salute. "A-affirmative, sir."
"Finally Woke up to join the rest of us, huh? That's great! I was always hoping you would."
A hard blink from those red optics, Auto staring at his captain in wonder. "Hoping? For me? After all that I have done?"
McCrea reached over, gave the pilot turned probe a couple pats on the back, in the hopes of reassuring him. "That's right. A captain needs his first mate, doesn't he? What happened wasn't all your fault, your directives were all you knew for seven hundred years. The proof we had that first time, one little plant wouldn't ever be enough to convince you to go against them." Having said that, the human's eyes focused on the plant indicator still blinking its green symbol on the white of Auto's paneling, and he rested his hand against it. "This, though? This tells me you've been to Earth, seen all there was to see. What you needed to see. It tells me you made a choice, all on your own. You finally broke through A113, didn't you?"
Auto managed a nod, as for some reason the words were slow to come. Again a faint emotion stirred within his systems, but this was new. Happiness and something else? He wasn't sure, but eventually he got a response out. "Correct, Captain." A pause, his optics glancing from side to side once as if searching for something else to say. When he found it, he couldn't quite meet McCrea's gaze and looked away, the voice out of his synthesizer gone quiet. "I... I want to live too, sir."
Now it was the human's turn for his eyes to go wide, they also began to water somewhat, though there was no mistaking the grin on his face. "Hahah, that's the last thing I ever expected you to quote back to me, but I'm glad to hear it!" McCrea reached up to the captain's jacket he wore a bit like a cape and used it to wipe at his eyes. "I'm proud of you, all right? Pretty sure all the other captains would be too, if they were here to see this."
A warble that came out a little more like a whine emerged from Auto's synthesizer. All this praise, he wasn't sure he deserved it, especially given there was something he still desperately needed to do. It took him a moment but he matched McCrea's gaze, standing as straight as he could in his hover. "Captain... I must apologize. For stealing from Eve, for lying to you, for attacking Wall-E. All of it was wrong... I was wrong." He glanced towards the floor. "I am sorry, sir."
McCrea's grin faded to a fainter smile, but it still was a smile, maybe a little lopsided. "And now I'm even more proud. Some of it was on A113, but the rest of it was on you, I'm glad you realized that. I forgive you... heck, pretty sure I forgave you while we were rebuilding Earth, before this looping mess even started."
Auto managed to look up again at the words, the expression on his optic panel still seeming a little pained, but there was relief there as well. "Thank you, Captain. Returning to Earth is the proper course. My directives blinded me to this until now."
"I knew you'd figure it out if we just gave you enough of a chance, Wall-E agreed with me when we talked it over. Convincing Eve..." Here the human grimaced slightly, shortly shaking his head. "That one's gonna be a little harder, I think..."
Auto's thoughts trailed back to the very first battle for his ship, specifically of the second time the Rogue Robots warning went out. When Eve was caught on camera brandishing her ion cannon prior to that, it was an accident. The second time, however? She aimed directly for the camera, optics glaring in defiance, as she held the damaged Wall-E protectively to her side with her free arm. It could be read as a message for the entire ship, but the pilot always had the feeling it was meant solely for him. 'You hurt my beloved, and I will make you pay', there was honestly no questioning Eve's intent.
There was a chance that all of Eve's Looping took the raw edge from that grudge. The rest of Auto's probability calculations said there was an equal chance of his Awakening just rekindling her anger. She likely wouldn't outright try to scrap him, but there were certainly other ways she could make things unpleasant. Well, as he endured seven hundred years of space travel and however many more centuries Looping placed on top of that so far, so too would he endure whatever Eve had in store for him.
To his captain, Auto said, "Noted in memory, sir." He thought for a second, and then accessed the stasis chamber in his chest, the doors on his front opening and the blue tractor beam levitated the plant in a boot out into midair. The chamber closed, the beam cutting off. He caught the plant with one hand, then offered it to McCrea. The irony was not lost on him, considering just how many times he tried to take this same little seedling. "Shall we activate the Holo-Detector now?"
The human accepted the offered plant, stared over it for a few seconds, before ultimately setting it and its impromptu container aside on the low shelving that served as his hoverchair's dock. "Auto, I know how you bots can be about finishing a job, but don't you think you could use a bit of a break?" Having said that, McCrea took his hat off for a moment, and tried to suppress a shudder. "You- you did almost die up there, you know. I hate to think what would've happened if I wasn't Awake too..."
"Rescue by Wall-E or my destruction would have happened..." Auto trailed off when he recognized the exasperation on McCrea's face, similar to all the other times the human thought he was being too literal about an order. "Oh. Your statement was rhetorical. Apologies."
"It's fine, I guess it's just your directives nudging you to be helpful if I leave a thought unfinished. As for the Holo-Detector, we should at least wait for Wall-E and the other EVEs to catch up. I did recall what was left of the stewards so there won't be any more fighting, but it'll still take them a while to get up here. While we're waiting, why don't you tell me about how your loops have been so far? I can tell this isn't your first, but you probably haven't had very many yet, have you?"
"I have lived through three hundred iterations so far." Auto briefly sifted through his memories, trying to pick out the more interesting loops. "Most were similar to Baseline, ending with my shutdown... a few did stand out."
The pilot went on, starting with the only prior loop he was actually online for the end of, where he met Shurelia...
It was roughly ten minutes later when Wall-E, M-O, a small horde of Reject Bots, and the other four EVE units rolled or glided into the bridge lobby. They were in the middle of several scuffles with the SECUR-T bots scattered across a few different corridors, when the surviving steward units suddenly stopped trying to capture them all and retreated to their kiosks. It had taken the rest of that ten minutes to regroup and then make their way to the Lido Deck.
Auto's, or rather, Probe One's absence was noticed and fretted over, but the group pressed forward in hopes of finding the lost vegetation evaluator up ahead.
Instead the lost probe wasn't found on the way, and the bridge lobby was empty aside from the TYP-E unit that served as the Captain's secretary. He ceased typing and angled his giant red optic towards the crowd of new arrivals for a moment, then swung it back towards the keyboard he was hanging over and resumed his work.
Knowing full well that the EVEs as well as that HAN-S would be starting to get itchy trigger fingers, Wall-E trundled up to the keyboard. He looked up at TYP-E and asked, [Uh, has anyone gone up to the bridge in the past twenty minutes?]
Again a pause in typing, the larger data entry bot focusing on the load lifter. Huh. Wall-Es weren't supposed to be on the Axiom. Well, wherever he came from, TYP-E figured he should probably answer. [Affirmative. GO-4 and EVE Probe One went to the bridge within that time span.]
Wall-E jolted, swiveled his optics to look back at the EVEs who thankfully hadn't drawn their ion cannons yet, though they were starting to glare at both him and the hapless secretary bot. [Well, can you call the elevator, then? We really need to catch up to Probe One...]
[Negative.] Before anybody could protest, they all heard the elevator in the rear of the room sound its chime. A beat, and TYP-E continued. [The elevator is already on its way down here.]
Sure enough, when the elevator finally got to Lido Deck level, the doors opened and Auto hovered out. Even there something felt a little bit off, though that feeling got worse when Auto's optics widened slightly on sighting Wall-E and he swiftly looked away. The other EVEs shortly rushed forward and gave the pilot something else to focus on, however.
[What happened?]
[How'd you get caught?]
[It was that little slime GO-4, wasn't it?]
[Did you get to see the Captain? And what about the autopilot?]
Auto held up one hand to get the other EVEs to quiet down for a moment. [I can only answer so many things at once. I was ambushed by GO-4 and brought to the bridge for questioning. The autopilot... he was too entangled with the override to see reason. We fought, and...] His vocalizer glitched for a moment, unable to properly form the words. He shortly shook his head. [No, it does not matter what happened... Captain McCrea heard the noise and intervened.]
With those answers given, Probe Two asked the question that was certainly burning in the processors of all her sisters. [So, we're going back to Earth today?]
A nod from Auto, though he still seemed to be pointedly avoiding glancing at Wall-E in the background. [Yes. I will assist Captain McCrea with the hyperjump to Earth in a few hours, when the ship is further into the day cycle. It is best to proceed when most of the passengers are awake.]
There was the clatter of treads against the glossy floor as Wall-E moved closer. [Well, since we've got some time to burn... why don't you ladies head up to the bridge and show the Captain your plants? One plant from Earth should work just as well as another in the Holo-Detector, but I bet McCrea would like to see more proof it's safe to go back. As for me, well, I think I need to talk to Probe One in private for a bit...]
That line caused Auto to jolt and finally look over at the load lifter again, though he couldn't keep his focus on Wall-E and aimed his optics at the floor. He fidgeted as he hovered there, but managed to fight off his hesitation after a moment. [I... suppose that is for the best.] Gathering his resolve, he glanced to the other EVEs. [Go ahead, we will catch up later.]
The other four EVEs looked to each other for a second at that, not sure of things, but it would be Probe Two that took initiative. She nodded to Auto, then looked at the other three and gestured with her head towards the elevator, before hovering over to it. They followed, and soon enough the doors opened and they headed up to the bridge, leaving Auto and Wall-E alone in the lobby.
Well, TYP-E was still there, but he was pointedly focused on his work; whatever was going on was none of his business.
[Right, come on.] At that, Wall-E beckoned for Auto to follow him and began to head for the lobby exit. The pilot hovered there in uncertainty for a second before floating along after the load lifter.
The two of them didn't really go very far from the bridge tower, just venturing over next to the central pool on the Lido Deck. It was still technically ship's night, so the deck was dimly lit by the stars on the artificial sky above, the faint light of the holosigns, and the hoverchair guides lining the floor. It was empty of humans and most other robots, the just after twilight ambiance perfect for a private, quiet conversation, though chances were likely it wouldn't stay that quiet...
Auto was facing the pool, still not quite able to look straight at the load lifter. He managed a quick glance in the other robot's direction, but then faced the water once more. [Wall-E... Have I always been...?] His vocalizer didn't seem to want to cooperate, the code stalling as he spoke. He tried again, with not much success. [How many times have I...?]
Wall-E was also facing the water as he stood there next to Auto, and let out a faint sigh before he started speaking. [Are you always like that, Unawake? Yeah, you are. Sometimes better or worse depending on the variant. It's you, from before you had any room to grow. As for how many times you've hurt me..." At this the load lifter reached over with a claw and grabbed onto Auto's hand. [Don't think of all those Unawake copies as yourself, the you that I'm hanging onto right now wasn't there. The only time you hurt me, the only time that mattered was Baseline.]
The pilot started to pull his arm out of Wall-E's grip but stopped, settling on just shaking his head fiercely. [Even Awake I still tried to attack you! I still thought A113 was right, still thought of you as an obstacle to remove... I did not manage to change my mind until sighting all those plants on Earth!]
Wall-E fully turned to face Auto, reaching with his free claw to add to his hold on the pilot's hand. [I stopped you cold every time you tried fighting, and you didn't know better until this loop. Now you know better. I won't have to worry about you doing that again, so that's all in the past, it's fine.]
Now Auto suddenly pulled away, yanking his hand free of the other bot's grip, his optics gone a bit wild. [How can it be fine?] He turned in place, making sure Wall-E could see the two small scorch marks still gracing his back, the warbles of his machine code growing more frantic as he spoke. [I know exactly what I put you through... and you forgive me? Not possible. The Captain forgives me? Not possible. It is foolish, illogical! I do not deserve-]
The load lifter moved just as suddenly, closing the distance between himself and Auto. Wall-E angled his optics to gently click against the pilot's head, and in the next second a tiny spark of electricity crossed the scant distance between them.
The current was negligible, especially given what Auto survived earlier, but the flash of data that traveled with it...
Thoughts, emotions, feelings. Everything Wall-E felt in his processor crossed the gap in that fleeting second, leaving the pilot gasping in shock and swaying in his hover. Hope, trust, pride, concern, yearning, and so many more he didn't even have the names of, all floating there in his mind.
There was nothing logical about it, but somehow that didn't feel as frightening as it had a few moments before...
Auto hovered there with his optics closed as he let the freely shared emotions filter through his systems, their intensity fading somewhat as the experience wrote to memory. After another handful of seconds he managed to look at Wall-E again, optics squinted in disbelief and his voice soft as he asked a single question. [...Why?]
There was nothing else to be said but the truth, and Wall-E was happy to oblige. [Because, after we'd been Looping a while, and I figured out you might join us eventually... I wanted you to be free. I wanted you to be happy. You deserve both, just as much as Eve and I did.] He paused for a second, letting out a faint 'cough' and shuffling one tread against the deck. [And maybe something more, if you're willing...]
The pilot tilted his head at that last part, contemplating the words. [Something more...?]
[Ah, well, there's still some things you need to learn, and Eve needs to be okay with you Looping first...] Suddenly the dusty trash bot seemed a bit nervous compared to his earlier confidence, but shook it off quickly enough. [I'll just ask this, did you like that spark just now?]
A little more rapid processing, then Auto responded with a nod. [I did... though there was much I did not understand.]
[Oh, that's fine, you're still new to the whole 'emotion' thing. At least it's a start. You'll get it eventually, don't worry.] Wall-E might've said something else, but at that moment the lighting of the Lido Deck began to grow a lot brighter. On glancing to the artificial sky above, the 'sun' was just starting to rise on its lower edge, the ambiance of the area steadily shifting to the brightness of dawn. The ship's clock had ticked over on its own or the Captain adjusted it forward, either way it certainly felt like it was time to get a move on. [If you're feeling better since you've got all that off your chest, wanna go back now? Everyone's waiting for us.]
Another nod, and Auto started to hover away from the pool. [Yes, let's go back. I look forward to seeing the sun rise on Earth again...]
At that, Wall-E took the lead, heading for the bridge and chattering away about all the things he wanted to show the pilot when they got back to Earth. Auto trailed along close behind, though there was a moment he stopped to observe the artificial sun rising above them. Even if it was just a projection on a screen, it still counted as a new dawn... appropriate, given everything that came to pass during this loop. A new day, without A113 dictating his every move, so many possibilities spreading out before him...
Auto swore he would make the most of it. Of this new day, and the countless others he had to look forward to.
14.1-15: Auto's baseline shutdown by McCrea (who's also managed to start Looping offscreen) was really quite tragic since he had little control over his behavior because of a hopeless directive. Now, however, he has a new chance at life, a new friendship with his Anchor, and his newfound ability to fight back against Directive A113 when he's Awake, which should make baseline go a lot easier for Wall-E and Eve. (At least, once Eve learns about his reformation and comes to accept it, which won't be easy.)