It's a little unconventional for an Eve to come bursting out of the trash shoot. But Hiyori stepped out proudly, showing the plant to the occupants of the room. Captain Tenjin stared with wide eyes, jaw dropping a little more every second. Beside him, a Pr-T dressed in pink with short black hair asked what the meaning of the rude disturbance was. Tenjin waved at the other woman, a beautiful cyborg with the ends of her long hair tied at the waist. She leaned forward to hear his words.
"Tsuyu, take Mayu and leave. Not a word of this." Tenjin look at Mayu as well. Both woman nodded in compliance, quickly taking their leave. Once the door slid shut behind them, the captain drifted forward.
"You found it." Tenjin leaned forward to take it from Hiyori, holding it in his hands like a poor man who was just given gold.
"Yes sir, but there's something I have to tell you. I think-"
"-What was it like?" Tenjin questioned. Hiyori blinked, thrown off her train of thought.
"What was what-?"
"The planet. What was Earth like? The 'skyscrapers'? What of the libraries? The 'Gothic Architecture' and art?" Tenjin got louder with his inquiries, sounding like a king making declarations. He hovered away from the Eve, trading the plant in either hand as he flung his arms up towards the sky. Hiyori stepped forward, hands out and ready to dive to catch the glass bottle.
The captain came back to stop where he was before, in front of the halo-screen of his computer. Now, Hiyori could see why the room was dimmed. The computer showed overlapping pictures of agriculture under a blue sky, thin humans in old clothing dancing in a line, and framed smudgy images. Tenjin grew quiet. Hiyori choose to stay silent, somberness settling in the room.
"We lost so much," Tenjin looked at the plant, "We ran away from the responsibility of care, in favor of being softened by comfort." The captain of Heaven's Sun turned to look at Hiyori with a truly mournful expression.
"It's not the same, is it?" Tenjin drove his chair back towards Hiyori, eyes downcast. In his other hand, he held a stick-like device. A helmet projector. He held it to her, barley noticing when she took it and plugged it into the side of her helmet.
Tenjin took a sharp breath at the first couple seconds of the flat, brown landscape. His lips pressed together as her camera pointed down when she scanned the ground, the pieces of glass and plastic clear as stars. Tenjin saw the ship leave the dull blanket of pollution clouds through the hole it first made, before the camera turned to the skeleton outline of the city. He turned away, gazing out the window at the stars
Hiyori looked sadly after her captain, feeling the slightest guilt at having to be the one to show him the reality of her mission. Hiyori looked meekly back at the recording, smiling slightly at the part where she was introduced to Nora. Next came the movie night, to Hiyori's embarrassment, in which the opening song started to play.
"I recognize that tune," Tenjin said from behind the chair, "it's from that cartoon franchise?" He leaned heavily on the arm of the chair, rubbing his face and eyes. The captain then looked at the baby cherry blossom and smiled.
"I should probably get you some water." Tenjin said, making his way to the sink in the corner. At this point, the recording showed her stepping into the pod, laying down as the glass door shut over her. Smoke filled her screen, then the recording went black.
Hiyori looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together. Earth wasn't so bad. Not much different than the other dessert planets the ship passed. At the very least, she thought with a smile, Yato was very fond of Earth. He said he had things he wanted to do with her.
Hiyori looked back up to the screen, the words 'Syncing Pod Security Camera' printed bold over a loading wheel. The screen was then split into six sections 'Front', 'Rear', 'Left', 'Right', 'Top', and 'Bottom'. Yato was gazing down from the top, first curious and nervous, then sad. He placed a hand lightly on the glass top, holding it there for a bit before sitting down on the ground. His hand left a mark, something she often chastised him for.
The right camera focused on him sitting criss-cross with the side of his head resting gently against the side. The footage didn't sense any more movement, so it skipped ahead to later that evening. Yato was still in the same spot on the ground, but looking up. Her audio caught rumbling in the distance and Yato got up and left the screen. Just as it had started to pour, Yato came back with an umbrella which he held over the pod. Hiyori watched as she was pushed inside his home, and her pod was wiped dry by the scarf Yato wore around his neck.
"There we go, all clean!" Yato looked down with a small smile. She had spent enough time with him by now to know it was forced. Her pod took up most of the space, so the bottom camera recorded him army crawling under her to get to his bed in the corner. Yato tossed the blanket over her again, fixing it so her face wasn't covered, then curled up on the mattress.
Movement wasn't caught again until morning, when he took off the blanket and brought her back outside. He sat back down in his usual spot with a stick to doodle in the ground with. Then, he talked. The Wall-E talked to her, asked her questions she would never answer, told her his dreams, his experience, what he liked and didn't like. Among other things.
"I know you told me not to move you," Yato's voice came from her speaker, "But I wanted to show you so many things. I wanted to take you to Capybara land- you like the movie right- and show you mountains. If you liked watching the fire, there's an oil spill we can light up. I wanted to show you the view from the tallest tower while having a picnic. Show you all my favorite books in the library, I told you I read them all four times didn't I? And take you treasure hunting!" Yato stopped drawing and pulled his knees to his chin.
"Would you even like that? Do humans find that fun?" He buried his face in his knees.
"What's it like being human, on that ship? I read that loneliness can kill creatures but," he looked back up with glazed eyes, "I'm still here. Functioning just as I always have." He went silent again. Hiyori felt her hands squeeze, the back of her eyes going hot.
"Want to hear a secret?" the audio asked. Hiyori barley nodded. There was some shuffling, and Hiyori looked back to the feed to see Yato scooting close to her, leaning in to share.
"I was the prototype for the Auto pilot for Heaven's Sun." Yato said looking directly at the camera. He smile grew a bit as he looked over his shoulder then back at her.
"It's kinda a huge top-secret thing. But my biological father was the man who successfully merged human and tech. He was known as-"
"The Crafter." Hiyori breathed in shock.
"Once he became head and over-saw production of the other cyborgs, plans for the Auto became apparent. I was the first test for that form of cyborg, something that my father himself designed and worked on. No one else. Even better, I was successful. It was a rocky start- of course I'm still a Wall-E, obviously- but our overall design and systems are the same. Different from all the other cyborgs out there, since we were made by him alone. Everyone else was made by his underlings." Yato rolled his eyes at that part, then grew serious once more.
"Father had us train together under his careful watch. Me and Kouto. We had to be strong, 'broken in', in order to handle the old fashioned surgery. He never did like the fact I could beat him. He was a prissy rich boy while I was often left alone. Ran with the wrong crowd and all that. And being a street-rat puts you in a lot of fights," He smiled and thumbed to himself, "So I often came out on top." Yato went back to his criss-cross position. Hiyori crept even closer, her mouth was quivering and she didn't know why. Her cheeks felt warm and she felt her eyes crinkle at the corners. She squeezed her hands together even tighter over over beating heart.
"But, dad wanted me to stay away from the rest of humanity. Clean up a human-free world." He finished. Tenjin came back in the room, watching Yato show Hiyori how to play Tic-Tac-Toe. He smiled at Hiyori though the screen.
"Auto? Can you come in here?" Tenjin spoke to the arm of his chair. The Eve jumped, words clogging her throat. She never got to tell him! It wasn't just a theory or speculation anymore, the Auto might really have it out for Yato. When did she start trusting him over her own Copilot? Her mouth was open when Kouto's door slid open behind her.
He wore the same pristine white and black suit he always did, both arms folded neatly behind his back. He scanned the room with a blank expression, eye brow raising at the sight of Hiyori, but he didn't look surprised in the least. Hiyori quickly unplugged the projector and hid it behind her back.
"Captain?" Kouto cocked his head at Tenjin as he made his way across the room. His eyes locked on the plant, his strides became more urgent, powerful. The Auto stopped directly in front of Captain Tenjin, who seemed to have a new resolve.
"Auto, Miss Iki found the plant again. Start the protocol." Tenjin gave the order and began driving away. Kouto stepped in front of him again with an out-stretched hand.
"Of course Captain. Give it to me, I'll see to it immediately." Kouto bowed a little with a smile. Hiyori stepped forward a bit, not wanting to defile her protocol but caring less and less at this point.
"Captain." They both looked to her, Tenjin a little impatient but confused. The Auto gave her the same look of contempt he gave Yato, eyes flashing a deep blood red. More machine than man.
"Eve," Kouto addressed Hiyori, "Your loyalty to Heaven's Sun is admirable, but your service here is no longer necessary. Please return to your commander." Kouto didn't look twice at her, turning back to Captain Tenjin.
"Now. Sir. The plant." He moved his hand closer. Tenjin looked at it, then at Hiyori as she stepped closer, then back at his co-pilot.
"Auto, I feel compelled to do it myself. As the captain of Heaven's Sun."
"That isn't necessary, sir. I promise you will receive full credit and I will be more than happy to take care of this matter myself."
"This isn't a matter of credit, Auto. People have become far too reliant on the luxury of having things done for them. I for one will no longer stand for it," Tenjin pushed past Kuoto again, "If we want to change things for the better, it's best to start with the change of mind." Tenjin asserted. Hiyori breathed a sigh of relief, feeling pride and gratefulness for her captain.
For a moment, Kouto remained still, eyes overcast as his back returned to being ram-rod straight. His arm then quickly stuck out, hand gripping the top of the captain's chair in a vice. Tenjin lurched backwards, chair rearing back dangerously. This time Hiyori did come forward, watching as the chair fought for a moment before sinking back to in front of the Auto. She caught Tenjin's shocked expression before he was spun around. Kouto kept a hand by the captain's head, other hand still outstretched.
"Captain, please, I insist. Hand over the plant to me." Kouto said. Hiyori came to the side of her captain, fixing Kouto with a glare as she put a hand in her gun.
"Kouto, what is the meaning of this? Explain yourself," Tenjin pressed at Kouto's silence, "That's an order." Tenjin brushed off his hand as Kouto straightend back up. The Auto stared down at his Captain, watching the plant get tucked away under Tenjin's coat.
"Aye, Aye Captain. This way, please." Kouto marched across the room to his own computer, typing in his password. He then pulled out an old key from under his uniform, hanging from a chain. Flipping up a plastic square cover, Kouto stuck the key into the motherboard. The computer went black, then the text 'A113' flashed in white letters. The screen went dark again until a dark red cartoon eye opened up on the screen.
"Subject 2. Access granted." said a voice that seemed to jump octaves. A video began playing. Front and center was a large man dressed in a long white lab coat with a black shirt underneath. He had scraggly, almost unkempt black hair that swept over his eyes. He sat as a desk, it's contents hard to make out due to the overall darkness of the room. The light that flicked from behind him, casted a glow over his upturned lips.
Hiyori and Tenjin sucked in a breath. Even with the poor lighting, they knew exactly who this was. A controversial man who's face and alias was in almost every text book.
"The Crafter." Hiyori let out a hushed whisper.
"Hello Heaven's Sun," The Crafter began, "I imagine if you're viewing this, a significant time has past since your departure from this lovely planet you destroyed." The Crafter sat back in his chair, letting it sway to the side, humorless grin still in place.
"The fact of the matter is, this planet is no longer capable of supporting human life. I realize the politicians told the public my creations- my army- would be able to clean up after us in five years. This was, is, a lie. In fact no creation on Earth can erase what we have done to this planet. So, just a few hours ago, before the grand departure, my closest confidants and I have issued 'A1-13'. The command that the ships will be cruising indefinitely."
"'Indefinitely'?" Tenjin cried in outrage. Kouto's attention did not waver from the man projected in front of them. The Crafter still stayed staring off somewhere above the camera, he brought his legs up on the table and crossed them at the ankles. He checked his watch then crossed his arms.
"All ships have been equipped to run for eternity. So long as all cyborgs do their job, humanity will be able to live happy, carefree lives on the ships forever," he waved his hands in fake cheer, "By now, all the space cruisers have left. Making me the last man on Earth," his smile finally disappeared as he mumbled, "Subject 1 should be leading out the other cleaners right at this very moment." The Crafter went silent. He then sat up at his desk, folding his arms one over the other.
"All of this has been set in motion. In correspondence to A1-13, 'Operation: Recolonized' is dismissed. No human shall return to this tarnished planet. Ever," he smiled again and stood up, "This is the last human on Earth, 'The Crafter', signing off." Yato's father said his goodbyes and his smile cut out from the screen, the blood-red eye symbol showing in his place. Kouto took out the key, placing it back around his neck and under his collar, then turned to the Captain.
"As you can see, Captain, our superiors have ordered us to remain in space. That plant is no longer necessary," The Auto held out his hand in a more exasperated fashion, "Now if you would just give it to me, I will properly dispose of it and everything can go back to locating the stowaway." Kouto stated. Tenjin moved backwards with suspicious eyes.
"No, wait a second. If he sent that out the day we departed, than that information is nearly 700 years old. Clearly he was wrong!" Tenjin waved the plant at the Auto. Red eyes flared up with a raging fire, but Kouto's face remained neutral.
"The Crafter was not wrong. You saw the video, those Wall-Es failed to clean up the planet, even after all this time. One measly vine does not mean an entire population can be sustained." Kouto's voice was heated as he kept his tight position. Tenjin was shocked by the demeanor his co-pilot emitted, backing up an inch more.
To both the men's surprise, Hiyori stepped between them. She took care not to fully block the Captain, but she fixed Kouto with a look of absolute fury.
"If The Crafter was the last human, the last man of great power on Earth, than that must be the last transmission to be sent out to any ship." Hiyori gouged the Auto's expression. His went wide for a moment, before shifting to a more puzzled look.
"Yes. That is correct. None of the cleaners had access to the motherboard." Kouto started to look a bit amused when this information riled up Hiyori even more. The captain called her name in question when she took a step towards Kouto, fist balled up at her side.
"Then how would knowledge of the Wall-Es dying off even reach the ship in the first place!" Hiyori raged. She never raised her voice, taught otherwise, but she never felt such anger before. Never felt like this before. In the short time she's known Yato, she's felt more emotions than she's ever felt in her entire life on this cushioned ship. All of them, real and strong. Alive. Just like Yato.
Hiyori continued to seethe, arms shaking at her side. She bared her teeth, waiting for the Co-pilot's denial that never came. Beside her, Tenjin moved forward, his face of equal outrage.
"The only way for that information to carry over was for it be pre-meditated. Auto, explain yourself! Was the Wall-Es' deaths your doing?" Tenjin roared. After a beat of silence, Kouto let out a sigh, a ghost of a smile coming across his face.
"Now captain, that is just ludicrous. I can assure you I had nothing to do with the deaths of the Wall-Es."
"But you knew about it." Hiyori demanded. Stepping forward again.
"Irrelevant. Operation: Clean-Up has failed," The Auto narrowed his eyes at the Eve, "We must follow directive."
"Now you listen here, Kouto," Tenjin came forward again, "If my research of our records is to be trusted, that planet is capable of holding thousands of magnificent species. Most of which cannot survive without our help. Our ancestors made this mess, but we have the power and the technology to help. Turning our backs for the sake of luxury is not a liable answer. It's an excuse," Tenjin glared up at Kouto, "We have to go back. As the 27th Captain of Heaven's Sun I order you to open up the hallow detector."
Captain Tenjin heaved a breath, eyes never wavering from his Co-pilot's. Hiyori looked at her captain once more, wanting to smile but too angry to do so. Kouto stared at Tenjin for what felt like centuries. Letting out another sigh, Kouto dispersed all the tension in the room.
"Very well," Kouto reached up to tap his own ear-piece, "Go-4 get in here." Hiyori let a breath of relief, holding her hand over her pounding heart. She was worried for nothing. Just because Yato didn't like the co-pilot, did not make him evil. After all, they were trained under the same man. Kouto was just doing his job.
"Miss Hiyori." Tenjin hissed urgently next to her. Hiyori looked over in question. Her captain gripped the arms of his chair tightly, teeth grinding together as his eyes flicked to the elevator door. Hiyori's heart jumped in her throat, the Go-4's sketchy aura and face creeped into her mind. Just as fear laced itself in her system, the elevator doors opened, and Kuguha stepped through. He approached the captain without prompt.
"This is mutiny!" Tenjin backed away with the plant but was too slow to hide it. Kuguha whipped out a hand from under his pancho, a red beam of light coming from a black dot at the center of his palm. The plant was tugged into a sphere of the red light and harshly yanked back to Kuguha.
"Eve, arrest them." Tenjin turned his eyes to Hiyori who nodded.
"Right." Hiyori equipped her blaster, pointing it at Kuguha, wiping off his smug grin.
"Go-4, surrender the plant," Hiyori held out her palm, "now." Kuguha's eyes locked into the gun and his one hand came up in peace. He took a step forward, awkward smile crawling back onto his face.
"All right, Miss Hiyori, there's no need for violence. A pretty young thing like you can't handle-" Once Kuguha got close enough, he tossed the plant over the Eve's shoulder. At the distraction, Hiyori couldn't react fast enough. Her arm below the gun was grabbed and a shot was fired up into the ceiling. Hiyori was whirled around, arm held between her shoulder blades, her back was pressed against his chest. She struggled against his hold, glaring up at the tanned cyborg then at the co-pilot. Kouto looked at her with a corrupt smile, eyes mocking her while she fought, he reached up to tap his ear piece again.
"Wall-H when's the next scheduled trash evacuation? Perfect," Kouto walked the plant over to the trash can, "No, no, everything is fine. I'm sending something down to be added to the next removal." The Auto thanked the worker, violently kicking the captain's chair away when he made a lunge for it, and let the bottle fall down the shoot. Hiyori let out a shout as the plant tumbled into darkness.