PASSENGERS (2016)

Chapter Two

Elizabeth tries to live a normal life on board the sleeper ship Avalon, difficult to do when you're all alone. One other "person" makes things bearable. But when does normal begin to feel abnormal, and should it really matter?

I do not own any part or character of this film, just my OC.

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Almost 8 months had passed since she had been awakened prematurely. Elizabeth decided after a time that it was better she not go to the lounge every single day. She checked the ship out further, just to see what else she could find. One morning, she went from pod room to pod room, looking inside each unit to examine the faces of the sleepers. She would compliment the ones she thought were pretty or handsome, knowing they could not hear her. She might say something conversationally just to be talking to them, then she spent five minutes laughing at herself. By the end of the week, she admitted to herself she missed Arthur. Her experiment had failed. Over those few months, she had talked with the android, enjoying his stories, sampling an array of never-ending beverages, and learning about the ship, at least to the capacity that he was aware of from his programming.

Entering the lounge, Elizabeth refused to "dress up" anymore for the android. That was just plain silly of her. She kept it casual today, dressed only in jeans and a t-shirt. "Greetings from the only person on Avalon! Awake, anyway," she called out, taking a seat at the bar. The artificial bartender activated by her presence, rolled over to the counter, his usual smile absent. "Elizabeth, where have you been?"

His question surprised her. Elizabeth didn't think he would be aware of the passage of time. "Hello to you too, Arthur. Why do you ask?"

Arthur peered at the human who never missed a day to visit, talk, and try out his alcoholic offerings, and yet, she had been absent all week. "You haven't been around much lately, Elizabeth. Is everything alright?" He picked up his bar rag and a glass that he proceeded to slowly polish.

"I'm fine, Arthur. I just didn't want to constantly be bothering you. So I roamed the ship seeing what I might have missed. I'm shocked, frankly, that you noticed. Can I just have a fruit juice blend please?" She leaned her elbow on the counter, propping her chin on her open palm.

Arthur felt...what was it he was feeling. He was so used to planning various concoctions to share with his constant customer, but today, she declined anything new. "Of course, Elizabeth. Right away."

For some reason, she felt out of sorts, and didn't want alcohol. It was as if she knew her growing affection for this artificial person was silly. She decided she would treat him as the servant he was. Still, why did it seem her extended absence had bothered him. Maybe it was a programmed function to remember repeat guests, so that they could be greeted with the proper enthusiasm.

This was not normal, Arthur thought. The human female was not herself, and it concerned him. "Elizabeth, you're not being honest with me. There must be something wrong."

"Me! What about you! No smile for your best customer today? It was as if you weren't happy to see me or something."

"Nonsense. I was worried." He tilted his head when he saw her behavior, but slid over and placed her blended juice drink in front of her. Instead of continuing with his work, he waited.

Elizabeth's arms were folded on the counter, and she let her head fall on them. Oh god oh god, she thought. I am such an idiot. When she looked up at the still android, the ubiquitous smile having returned, she admitted, "I'm lonely, Arthur. I don't think I can go on like this for one year, let alone fifty."

He had tried to entertain the human as best as his programming allowed. "Perhaps you could wake up another passenger," he suggested.

Appalled at the idea, Elizabeth rose from her seat, and stared at the android. "Arthur, that's...that's terrible. We were supposed to sleep through this trip and wake up four months to Homestead II. To be awake now means everything I worked for was for nothing. I can't do that to another person! You're an android, for god's sake! Don't you have a moral compass?" She backed away from the bar, turned and fled the room.

Arthur watched her go, confused as to why she had so vehemently refused his suggestion. Even within the parameters of his programming, he would never understand humans. His only function was to serve them. And to be there for her.

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The next day, Elizabeth rose from the bed, showered and dressed. She had behaved horribly, not feeling like herself. Her situation, as bad as it could be, was at least more enjoyable before. She wanted that back. No more overthinking something she could not change. After brushing her hair, she pulled it up in a high ponytail and left her quarters to find breakfast.

The food dispenser gave her sausage links with eggs in its usual speedy fashion. The coffee was good and hot, so she filled a second cup and placed it on her tray. Then she set out to find Arthur to apologise to him for her behavior.

On arrival at the lounge, Elizabeth placed her tray on the counter. Arthur swiveled around to see her sitting on a stool. His smile beamed brightly at her. "Good morning, Elizabeth. I am pleased to see you."

"After how I behaved yesterday?" She sat on a stool in front of the ever-busy bartender. She placed her hand on his, and squeezed, "I am sorry, Arthur. Can we be friends again?"

The smiling android looked down at their joined hands, then up into her face. "Of course, Elizabeth. We never were not friends."

She beamed at him. "Thank you," she said, releasing his hand. It had felt warm, probably due to the machinery within his artificial body.

"Then you are feeling better today?" He set a mimosa in front of her, unasked for, to go with her breakfast.

She nodded and smiled. "Yes, I am. I can look out the window in the observation room, and see what's out there. Everyone else is missing it, but I'm not. I wish you could see it. It's absolutely beautiful."

"it's too bad this lounge has no windows. Then I could see it with you as well."

Elizabeth smiled at the bartender, and began to eat her meal. She saw the mimosa and grinned. "Thank you, Arthur. You take good care of me." She kept her eyes on his smiling face a moment longer than she should, she felt. Then her cheeks felt warm, so she went back to eating.

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"Arthur! Look at what I found!" Elizabeth came into the lounge carrying boxes, which she sat on the counter. "Look, games! Chess, checkers and a deck of cards. I found a play room with lots of these old fashioned board games. Do you know any of them?"

Arthur's expression fell. "I'm afraid I'm not programmed to play games." When he saw Elizabeth's bright smile go away, he piped up. "I can learn though. Teach me," he said, giving her a friendly smile.

"Alright. Now chess is the hardest game here. Checkers, anyone can learn to play. And the cards are good for games like Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy Eights and...poker. Poker is my favourite," she said with a grin. "Sorry, I don't know all the rules, just the ones most people bother with. Is that alright?"

"You're the teacher. I'll just follow along," he replied.

"Ok, well, let me explain chess to you." She picked up a piece. "Now this is the queen. She's the strongest piece, the one you want to protect because she can do everything. She moves this way, this way, and diagonally as well." She showed Arthur the moves for each piece and then set up the board. "Got all that?"

"I believe so. Shall we begin?" He actually felt something akin to eagerness. He had never played a game before.

"You won't let me win, will you?" Elizabeth asked teasingly. "I mean, I can imagine your memory being what it is, you'll learn quickly and win quite often. But that's ok. Don't let me win just to be kind." She gave him a stern look.

Giving her a look of mock disapproval, he replied, "I will do no such thing. If you win, it's because you deserved to win."

They played chess for awhile, talking and in silence. While Elizabeth was studying the board, she pushed her empty glass toward Arthur, who silently filled it and slid it back toward her, then his attention returned to the board. After twenty minutes, he hated doing it, but he moved his queen to a square that, paired with his rook, won the game for him. "Checkmate, " he declared, looking at the female.

She raised an eyebrow when she looked back at him. "Arthur...congratulations." She shook her head, accepting that she was playing against an artificial brain, capable of remembering everything he saw and heard. But while they played, she forgot he wasn't human.

She leaned up and over the bar, and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Next game is mine," she said laughing. "I'm going for a swim. See you later?"

"Enjoy yourself, Elizabeth." The experience was different for him. But he found he was enjoying the variety. Not just mixing drinks, but more interaction. He thought about how pleasant it had been, before he returned to his station and shut down once more.

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Two more months had passed, and things had settled into a comfortable routine. Elizabeth was looking over her cards, her forehead wrinkled into a frown of concentration. She had taught Arthur how to play poker, but she was pretty good at poker, so wasn't too worried. It was her best game. Arthur had even brought out a bowl of green olives and a bowl of maraschino cherries to use as wagering money.

Elizabeth suggested they share the pot since it was all in fun. She looked over her hand, putting down two cards, upon which the android gave her two more. She looked at her cards, then peered up at him over the top of her hand. "Ok, I'll see your three olives, and raise you three cherries."

"Three cherries. I see. Now we're playing for the big credits. You must have a pretty good set of cards." He rubbed his free hand over his chin while studying his own cards. Then he dropped three cherries on the counter. "I'll just keep these."

"Are you sure? No discards? Not one? You may be looking at a problem, my friend."

"It's only a gambling problem when I lose." Arthur set down his cards, showing four Jacks.

Elizabeth looked up at him when she saw she had lost again, laughing when he had cracked a joke, causing her to almost snort her soda. "Stop making me laugh, android! It's a serious game, thus the term "poker face".

Seeing her expression, Arthur dropped a cherry into her cola.

"You think that's going to make up for it?" she asked.

He dropped another cherry into the bubbling caramel-coloured liquid, smiling when she laughed. He enjoyed hearing her laughter.

"Put down the cards and come around the bar, Elizabeth. I want to show you how to make something special that I hope will become your favourite drink."

She walked around the far end of the bar and came up to Arthur. Placing her hands on the counter, she stood next to him, watching as he arranged the ingredients in order of usage.

"Now, here is the glass, and yes, it is rather large. I don't think you'll be sorry."

Elizabeth almost lost it when he said that. Tilting her head to look up at him, she chuckled. "No, I agree with you there. What's next?"

The android reached around her body to grab a bottle of grenadine, a little more slowly than Elizabeth felt warranted. She stepped a smidge away from him, trying to make it seem unintentional.

"Now watch what I do," he said while he picked his mixes and measured them into the glass. He narrowed the distance between them, his arm brushing up against hers. "Now you pour in the alcohol." He stood behind Elizabeth, using the pretext of watching her actions. She felt him behind her, too close, but it wasn't unwelcome to her. She liked the closeness. She turned her head and asked him, "Like this?" She looked up into his eyes, so crystal clear and completely lacking in guile. Or was it simply a lack of emotion?

He looked at her face, so beautiful, so endearing, so human. "Yes, just like that." He wanted to reach up to touch her cheek, but didn't.

She set the bottle down on the counter, and turned to face the mechanical bartender, something she was sure to remind herself of every day, because he was that, after all. But in this moment, she didn't care. "Arthur..." She placed her hands on his shoulders and examined his expression, the shape of his lips, the few wrinkles on his face that had the slightest bit of scruff. Whoever designed him was very careful to avoid him appearing flawless. They intentionally made him look human. She moved into his half-body and pressed her lips tentatively on his. He didn't move. She pulled back and looked at him again, this time nodding imperceptibly. He bent his head down to her and allowed her to kiss him again, this time with his help. Her hands slid around his neck as she pressed herself as close as she could get. It was easy for her to disregard the hardware that replaced his legs.

When they parted, Elizabeth stood quietly, noticing only his blue eyes and smile. "I wish that..."

"Don't wish for something you can't control and can't change, Elizabeth," he said quietly.

"Is that for me, Arthur, or is that for you?"

When he looked at her, his eyes suddenly appearing despondent, she leaned in and just held him.

A/N : ah the emotions of artificial people. I wonder if we will ever actually have to deal with this, should mankind create androids.