Day 4
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Nejiten Month 2021
'I love incorporating instrumental tracks onto albums. I think it just is a nice way to help a record breathe. It's some sort of reversed keyboard loop. The weird little bleeps are sounds I made with an OP-1. I wanted it to sound like two satellites talking. They kind of remind me of Wall-E.'
- Michelle Zauner on Planetary Ambience
Her lights blinked red and blue as she hurriedly zoomed around the spaceship in search for her best friend, SAKURA 12X-E.
She had been tasked with grouping together a small group of robots to gather metal scraps around the KONOHA X20, the ship that she had been serving on for the last three decades. Over the years she had seen and befriended her fair share of shinobi and kunoichi, and the same thing applied to the robots on board.
''Bee boop!'' her chest squealed excitedly with each meter she flew, excited at the prospect of aiding the human ninjas in such an important task. The weapon missions were her favourite and, as a result, she was often tasked with these retrieval 'missions' of her own. It made her feel more human.
''Bee boop!'' she squeaked again, confused as she entered the empty cafeteria hall. She swore she saw SAKURA in here just twenty minutes ago assisting a small child in carrying plates.
Not wanting to waste another minute and desperate to prove that she was the most capable for these kind of missions, her head lit up - literally - with an idea. She quickly dashed down the spirally stairs and narrow corridors, beeping and booping at familiar faces (KiiBA and CHOU-G to name a few) and finds herself outside a big grey door. Knocking on the metal frame with a loud knock, she waited patiently for an answer.
Silence.
She knocked again, this time calling out ''EEE-NO?''
Still, silence.
How odd. Her other friend, INO, was supposed to be manning the controls room all day today.
Hyperaware of the fact that she had a deadline to meet, TEN10 nudged open the door with a metal arm and poked her head around in caution.
Empty.
''EEE-NO?'' she called out again and lets herself float freely into the room filled with odd looking buttons and strange controls. She had never been into the control room before, and she was pretty sure she wasn't allowed inside without permission.
TEN10 gently hovered past all the flashing lights and strange numbers and brought herself to the main switchboard. There, she saw a combination of CCTV screens covering all aspects on the spaceship (except for bedrooms and bathrooms, of course), random numbers which she assumed was the temperature control on board the KONOHA X20 and a space map to show where they were heading.
Her electric eyes gazed up at the sight of colours and lights - as though they were the bustling nightlife of a metropolis city and she was a small town tourist - and she smiled.
''EEE-NO?'' a deeper robot voice breaks her out of her thoughts.
She glances around rapidly in fear. No one or robot in sight.
''N-NO EEE-NO,'' she bleeps quickly, ''ME TEN-TEN.''
A pause.
''TEN-TEN?'' the voice said, still out of seemingly nowhere.
She beeps in confirmation, still looking around in confusion. ''TEN-TEN.''
A telephone ring broke her out of her panic and she saw a screen flash in front of her.
CALLING...NEJ-E FROM KONOHA X45.
She blinks in hesitation.
KONOHA X45...
She vaguely remembers the older shinobi talking about KONOHA X45 - namely Kurenai. It was where some of the other ninja from Konoha, Earth were based and she knew that someone called 'Asuma' lived on that spaceship. Apart from that, it was completely foreign to her.
With little hesitation, she booped ACCEPT on the screen.
TEN10 wasn't prepared for the bright flash that came with accepting a spaceship call but, once the brightness adjusted, she found herself staring back at an impossibly pristine and well-sculpted robot looking right at her.
Even his eyes were programmed to be a different colour.
He seemed to acknowledge her with a slow blink of his eyes and he started the impromptu conversation with ''TENTEN?''
Coming to her senses and tearing her gaze away from how amazingly sculpted he - literally - seemed, she nodded hastily. ''BLEEP. TENTEN.''
Time seemed to slow as she admired the way the little silvery squares swirled around his eyes, his expecting gaze creating a flurry in her mechanical chest that she had never felt before. She shifted uneasily as the cogs in her lower region seemed to contract without warning and she could feel her cold metallic cheeks overheating slightly.
''TEN...'' the voice called from the other side, as though he was testing the sound out on his programmed soundwaves.
She lowered her head quickly. ''BLEEP...'' she softly murmured and she stared at the buttons as though her life depended on it. Raising her eyes back up after a few seconds of silence passed, he cocked his head to the side and she admired the way he moved so effortlessly - a stark contrast from her clunky and heavy movements zooming around her own Konoha vessel.
''EEE-NO?'' He asked.
She shrugged and blooped in response. ''NO EEE-NO.''
He stared at her with an unreadable expression and she wonders if he was programmed with a mechanism to hold other robots with his intense gaze. A robot specifically designed to serve as a celebrity, perhaps?
She was hyperaware of the fact that a full fifteen seconds had passed since she told him that she didn't know where her friend was and yet, he was still on the line - staring at her as though she was some sort of enigma he couldn't figure out.
With a small sigh, she calls out, ''BLEEP?''
Do you need INO for something, NEJ-E?
It takes him three whole seconds before answering: ''BOOP BOOP.''
Yes. I need her to transfer me over last week's reports on KONOHA X20.
Her lights fluttered slightly at the sound of his noises - pink and blue once again splaying over the controls, adding to the neon city pop aesthetic of the small room - and she nods.
''EE BOOP.''
I don't know where she is. She's supposed to be here, but...
His electric brow raised in mild surprise. ''BLOO?''
And may I ask what you're doing here? I haven't seen you in the control room before.
''BLEEP.''
I'm not actually supposed to be in here...I came to find INO to see if she could locate some other robots for me.
''BOOP BOO?''
I see. What for?
''BEE!'' Her eyes lit up with a ferocity so intense, NEJ-E flinched a little.
I was tasked with a scrap retrieval mission to help make weapons.
A small smile graced his expression and she felt those silly cogs turning again. ''BEEP?''
And I take it you like these sort of missions?
Her little metallic arms clap in joy and she did a little spin around the room. ''EEEE!''
They're my favourite! Anything involving weapons is a dream come true for me. I always think I was meant to be a kunoichi in another life. Maybe if I was reborn as a human, you know? I'd wear the cutest twin buns and take down anyone who got in my way.
She's a little dizzy from the twirling but the small smile still gracing his lips indicated he was in no rush to hang up. Slowly calming the whirring inside her shell, she puts her little metal paws on the counter and leans in to take a better look at his ivory eyes.
''...Bleep?'' she said in a softer tone this time.
And your story?
His eyes suddenly went downcast. In a sudden panic, she wondered if maybe she had said or asked something she wasn't meant to? After all, she didn't even know this robot. Surely INO would've mentioned something about him? He was too attractive to not catch INO's attention. Besides, she wasn't even meant to be in here, so-
''Bloop.'' Came a small reply.
My duty here is to serve. I am exceptionally good at what I do and that's all that matters.
She blinks. She didn't expect him to be so...curt.
Well, do you have any friends on your ship? There's a shinobi called Asuma there, correct?
No. No friends. And yes, Asuma is a shinobi here. How do you know?
Because his wife Kurenai is here! She's super pretty and nice. I wish you could come visit our ship one day - I would happily be friends with you.
An expression that could only be described as longing passed his electronic features and, once again, she panicked she said something out of line.
That would be nice.
Relief washed over her like a ton of bricks. ''Beep!''
Great. You could ask to be transferred? Let me check with IN-
The sound of the large metal door opening threw her off mid-sentence. Swirling around quickly and expecting a stern lecture from one of the more senior control robots, she found INO wandering in with various sparkly bangles around her metal wrists.
''TENTEN?'' she called in surprise as she finally looked up from her arms, ''boop?''
What are you doing here?
TEN10 shook her head to signal there was no time for questions.
''BLOOP BLOOP!''
INO! We have to get NEJ-E transferred from KONOHA X45. He just told me he had no friends on there, and-
Her head spun back quickly to point at the large screen in front of them, but all that greeted her was pitch blackness.
''B..bleep?'' TEN10 whispered in confusion.
''TEN10,'' INO called out once more, now floating directly behind her. ''OK?''
TEN10 jumped up and down erratically. ''EEE-NO!''
A robot called NEJ-E just called from the other Konoha vessel. Silver eyes, calm demeanor? He said he wanted to be transferred to us!
The taller robot cocked her head to the side.
Who?
NEJ-E! He's in charge of controls on KONOHA X45.
Hmmm...not heard of him. Also, KONOHA X45 runs on a special system that's different to here.
Different system?
INO nods.
They have more robots than us so they work on a rotational plan.
TEN10 felt her shoulders sag a little upon hearing INO's nonchalant bleeps.
Rotational...plan?
Yeah, so they have about 500 different robots manning the control decks.
5..500!
TEN10 blinked rapidly in surprise. For as long as she could remember (which was quite long - she had been serving on this ship for the last few decades), the total number of robots who manned the control rooms had never exceeded the number of fingers on a shinobi's hand (which TEN10 swore was five).
Her shoulders sagged even further in apprehension.
INO, how often is it you see the same robot twice?
INO thought carefully as she resumed her seat in front of the fancy buttons.
Not often. Although, I did see someone last week that I saw twelve years ago. I remembered the dent in her right arm. Surprised they haven't fixed that for her yet.
As INO's hands clacked away at the random buttons and the sound of her bangles clinking together filled the small room, TEN10 floated towards the door in defeat. Why were the cogs in her tummy still doing somersaults? Why were her cold cheeks still burning fire red? Why were pictures of his silvery orbs still replaying in her head as though her robot life depended on it?
With a small sigh, she pushed the door open. Channeling the fire and passion she would've been blessed with if she were a human kunoichi, the cogs in her chest whirred loudly and confidently.
As soon as this mission was over, she was going to run to Ino and demand NEJ-E be transferred over immediately.
A/N: I thought the play on NEJ-E / WALL-E was hilarious. I hope everyone can listen to the specific song as they read these fics - Planetary Ambience is a short and soft instrumental piece of music that really captures the 'sweetness' of interstellar love with its cute 'bleeps' and 'bloops'. Hope you all enjoyed!