Left of The Spacecraft

Synopsis:

Astro joins The Blue Knight and his crew on a movement towards robot liberation.

Qinouex on Planet Jupiter is the oldest of its kind. For years, Its robots have been working diligently day in and day out under the authority of a corrupt plutocrat, one who put profits over anything remotely humanitarian. It's said these bots get overworked to the bone– there's no time for breaks, no time to think, to wonder. Is there anything more these bots could be? The question remains unanswered. And no one bats an eye, for all the people know, this is how things must be done to fight off rising inflation and to truly rid society of its need for manual labor done by humans. But it begs the question, yet again: Is there anything more these bots could be?

Some think so, and in fact some have set out to free these robots from their repetitive hell, but none have succeeded quite as well as The Blue Knight and his team. It's a lifelong dedication, he says– robots require their freedom just as much as humans, and thus it is just as cruel to subject them to a life of work and nothing but work. The station they are based at, is someplace no one knows. Purposefully, it is out around an undisclosed part of the galaxy. It remains stationary as his "hub" wherein they all stay to scheme plans, and hold assemblies to discuss how to move not only the team, but their mission forward as a whole. For a while, it had just been The Blue Knight, under the guise of Shadow, and a few of his comrades from back in the day. But, for the past couple of years, he's gotten to work with someone new: Astro.

The story goes, in an intense argument between them and Tenma, it was clear to them there was no way he'd ever leave them alone if they continued to stand their ground against his idea of "world domination." (Whatever that truly meant, they'll never know). They knew at that point, with the entire Ministry– nay, entire city at risk of attack, they had to give in. So, they tell him they'll do it, despite everyone around them thinking it was the worst thing they could ever rule– they had to do it, they had to give in.

But as time went on, they managed to make their commitment smaller and smaller, to the point where what he believed they were to be doing was nowhere near what they originally agreed to. That was two years ago, and now they have no fucking clue where the man is or what he's up to, but they don't care. What they managed to propose was an opportunity to join The Blue Knight's team and whatever it was they were working on (at that time, they had no idea what it was that they were about), and reluctantly, Tenma agreed.

A year with the team goes by, and to say Astro became an entirely different person would be a complete understatement. There was so much they got exposed to and learned, both literally and ideologically. No longer were their eyes set on the liberal shortcomings of simple reform through means of voting or asking nicely. But rather, on the idea of direct action and revolution to fully demolish the barriers put in place that make success for robots practically non-existent.

Then there's of course the topic of "they/them," but to speak about that, we have to discuss something else that needed to happen to bring everything up to date. Once the aforementioned year went by, it was clear that despite getting along with everyone there, they needed a comrade of their own to keep them company. Someone they were already quite close with, and who could actually bring something to the table regarding helping out the team. They thought about it for a while… maybe Uran? Or perhaps one of their school friends? They couldn't do either because they knew they necessitated someone who could pick up the pace and get with the program (sorry Uran). So, after many considerations, they figured it out– they had to bring Reno.

Now, bringing him wouldn't have been hard. All they had to do was tempt him with the promise of good ramen and, a chance to put both his acrobatics and his hyperfixation of robotics to the test, and he would come in a heartbeat. Where the difficulty lied was, in convincing the team he was a viable asset. The team wasn't open to the idea of having a human aboard, theorizing that they would only serve as a hindrance or subject them all to microaggressions. While all of this was valid, Reno was different– at least that's what they argued. Because they knew about Reno's history, and how he pretty much was raised by no one but robots, so he knew exactly what they all were about. When they brought this up, the team at first dismissed it, assuming they were just making shit up to stake a claim for Reno, but when presented with the evidence, their tone seemed to change. Now, the team no longer saw him as just a human, but a human fully capable of understanding what it is their struggle was. In fact, he could use his privilege to be their mouthpiece and echo their sentiments to people who would actually listen. So, they all agreed.

When he finally got the okay to come, it took a while for him to adjust, and also for the team to warm up to him. But, thankfully, his hyperactivity made the incessant attempts to get closer go by fast. Although, as he got closer to them, he also got much closer to Astro than ever before. However, it came at a cost. You see, at this point he was approaching 14, and there was no way around or avoiding bringing up one integral fact about himself: he's trans. Sadly, out in space, there aren't any doctors around to help him transition. But he tells them that O'shay has worked everything out for him. All he needs to do is try his best and hold out until he's able to prove he needs T to someone who can get it for him.

They empathize with his struggle, feeling ever so remorseful that now he was far away from anywhere he could go to get help. He tells them though not to worry, mostly for his own sake, but also because he wants them to focus on their work and not let his struggles get in the way of them doing an impressive job. It isn't either long through that the inevitable questions come up. Some annoying, others painfully basic, but he was willing to answer all of them because he knew it truly was an untapped territory for them, and they meant well by asking. After all of it, though, it leaves them with a feeling they aren't sure how to describe, but they sit with it for quite some time. Eventually, they have to bring it up because it had been bugging them now for longer than they were willing to put up with.

So, they talk to Reno about it, wondering if maybe his knowledge on being trans could come into play. He tells them the truth: he isn't a know-it-all, nor is he The Only Trans Person In Existence, so he can't possibly have all the answers. They feel defeated, but not all is lost. He reassures them that questioning their gender is a normal thing to do, and that he was willing to do as much as he could with the little he knew to help them out.

Which brings us to today, where the sound of an alarm blares throughout the spacecraft, and Astro's the first one to jolt awake and scope out the area. Slowly, they peer out of their room, and the entire corridor is flashing red from the lights on both ends. Nobody seems to be contacting them, so they assume the responsibility of detective work is theirs to do. As they walk around, nothing changed or compromised is seen by them, but they need to keep a sharp eye in case anything does come up.

Surprisingly, Reno hears none of this, so he stays on the top bunk of the bed he shares with Astro in their college dorm-sized room. For now, it has a desk and chair as the only other furniture in the room, with the rest of their things still in giant plastic containers. There are no windows, and no decorations, just white walls and shiny floor tiles.

They make it out of the common area, still with the alarm blasting, and decide it's best to find the rest of their teammates to figure out what's wrong. When they make it to the meeting room, they're surprised to see everyone standing around like they'd all been waiting for them to show up for the past day and a half. Confusingly, they walk towards them, not sure what it is they've done wrong to make them so impatient.

"Where were you?! We've been waiting for you for an hour? Did you not get our call?" One of them asks.

"Call? You tried calling?" They scratched their head, again, still not sure what the deal was.

"Yes! You… you do get our calls, right?"

They look down at their chest compartment, only to find out they did not, in fact, have the part necessary to take their calls, "Apparently not," they say.

"Ugh! Herc, you were supposed to give them the receiver! They've been here for two whole years now, and we can't call them?!"

Even though they found her temper to be a little overdramatic, they did, however, appreciate her commitment to using their correct pronouns. For a moment, they're able to escape the guilt and stress and feel a little euphoric, but then they go right back to it once they witness her and the other bot go back and forth in irritation.

"ENOUGH!" It was clear to The Blue Knight that the conversation was going nowhere, and they all needed to get back on track. "You two can hash it out later, currently, the spacecraft is in danger," he turns to Astro, "We appear to have hit something that has left a large and concerning hole in the lower quadrant. I would like for you and Atlas to go patch it up before it gets any worse."

"Is that why the alarm went off? Usually, it only goes off when we're at risk of an attack," They walk up to the table where everyone has now taken a seat and a hologram of the ships displays itself in front of all of them.

"Well, it appears it must assume what happened came from an attacker of sorts– why that is, we're not certain, but that shouldn't concern us," TBK moves the hologram model around to show where the damaged area was. "It looks like whatever hit us took quite a chunk out of the lower quadrant, leaving one of our propellers gone. You and Atlas need to," He clears his throat for emphasis, "work together, and rebuild the structure, so we can attach a replacement propeller. It's crucial you two don't waste time because we still have our mission on Qinouex to attend to when you return."

Finally, it appears that the loud alarm had gotten to Reno because he walked in not too long after– albeit a bit sluggish, presumably from tiredness. Everyone greets him before he sits down beside Astro and gets filled in on what's going on. Astro and Atlas take their leave as everyone else discusses the game plan for him.

Today was going to be Reno's first mission. Before this, he always took the role of helping from afar, not going on the missions per se, but rather doing whatever he could during or after from the spacecraft. But he's built a good repertoire with the team. And so, they decided today would be the test to determine if he should stay as a helper from a distance, or be moved up to being a part of the action.

Out in space, Astro and Atlas try working on fixing the spacecraft, but as TBK suspected, the two… weren't getting along. A while back, the two completely blew up at each other over something arguably petty, but Astro seemed to take offense the most– which… wasn't really like them. But apparently Reno says their snarky attitude can, a lot of the times, be seen from a mile away and, get them into hot waters. Particularly when they unintentionally channel their inner Tenma and refuse to be emotionally rejected. This basically meant then that every time they got together, it was practically on sight. Of course, everyone wishes they would both get over it and move on, but if you asked Astro, they're still holding out on an apology from Atlas.

Astro looks over at what he's doing, and they shake their head in discontent. They feel like his approach is all wrong– but do they want to call out to him and say so? While they're the last person he'd ever take advice from, they still feel a sense of responsibility to help him out.

"Atlas!" they call, "You're doing it wrong!"

"Fuck off, I know what I'm doing!" He doesn't give them eye contact, but rather continues his work like they didn't even speak to him.

Their facial expression in response screams annoyance, as they roll their eyes before deciding the better option is to just go over to his section and physically show him how it's done. However, when they fly over, he immediately shoos them away, and they go flying out much farther than was probably safe. Again, they are annoyed, but this time they pinch their nose and groan in agony. Yes, they had their beef, but he was totally in the wrong! He needed to fix his mistake but gosh darn-it… they realize it's not worth attempting to correct him, so they fly back to their area and pretend like he's not there. Not much is said for a while, until the two begin to get closer, and are thus forced to interact with one another.

"You know what you're doing in the mission today?" Astro asks, attempting to keep things nonchalant. Atlas doesn't reply until he could feel the irritation radiating off them as they stared at him for so long, "Yes, I have to be the one that…" he goes into detail for the next minute or so, trying to go as slow as possible to "malicious compliance" the scenario.

"Okay, great, that wasn't so hard to answer now, was it?"

He turns to them enraged, "you piss me off one more time–"

"Piss you off? Piss you off, Atlas, I've been pissed off at YOU for the past month and a half because you still won't own up to the completely asinine stuff you said to me."

"Ha! Are you forgetting the shit you said to me? Don't sit here and act like you're the innocent one, and I was just dogging on you the entire time–"

"So you admit that you did say some hurtful things?"

"But you said some, too!"

Astro shakes their head with a few tongue clicks. It was silly of Atlas, they thought, to bring up their faults when the issue at hand was not about themselves. But they realized now they wouldn't be getting anywhere if they kept poking and prodding about the issue, so instead they drop the conversation entirely and just tried focusing on getting their work done.

They both get back on board, and join again in the meeting room, where everyone is waiting for them both, so they could go over the plan again. When everything's laid out and explained, everyone whose part of the mission takes their leave and gets ready to hop aboard a different ship. One that they used specifically for going out on missions because, again, they preferred not to compromise their home base.

Astro reviews themselves in the only mirror on the ship… inside the bathroom. A week or so ago, their uniform for work had come in custom-made and tailored from someone whom the team had known and been close with for quite some time. They weren't used to fighting crime in a suit, but something about this one, specifically, spoke to them in a way they couldn't really put into words– maybe it was gender euphoria, or maybe they liked wearing red. After doing one last turn around, they look over to see Reno's ready too. He's still waiting for his uniform to come, so he wears what they can only describe as the baggiest astronaut costume possible, and they try not to laugh at how ridiculous it looks.

"At least it covers my chest," he shrugs.

When everyone's good to go, they all get on the much smaller ship, and immediately head over to, for one final time, go over the plan again. They then assign a driver, and off they all go into outer space and towards Jupiter. It takes them a while to get there– so meanwhile, everyone converses among themselves. All of them seem to be excited about the mission, as Qinouex was one facility they'd long been dreaming of liberating. What took them so long was putting in the research work to figure out where those bots were originally from; because never is their intention to just uproot robots and place them wherever they see fit, but rather to take them back to where they're from, so they can assume whatever role it is they wish. Another issue was scale– this could potentially be the largest bust they've gone on yet, so a lot of planning went into place to make sure they could handle the load, but also maintain their secrecy.

The crew has to be careful when they make it close to the planet's surface. One wrong move, and they could be letting everyone there know of their existence, thus opening themselves up to immediate attack. They station somewhere far enough from the complex to be seen, but not too far that the bots they rescue can't make to the ship in time. Everyone coordinates themselves according to the plan, and all, who needs to, leaves the ship to scope out the area and make sure all is clear.

For the most part, everything seemed to be going according to plan, they were able to make their way in to the main part of the facility that stationed the majority of the robots. Usually, they like to get in and get out, before their uprising garners too much attention. Not to say an attack towards them has never happened, but they'd like for it to happen as little as possible.

Astro's the first one to notice something is off, however. A quick scan tells them that none of the robots are there, which was strange. They seek to get a better scope of the area, and sure enough, despite there being no robots, they weren't alone.

"It's a set-up," they mumble, "We need to go."

Despite the crew's attempt at getting away, they were met with opposition that they had to fight against. Many were human guards, but some were robots programmed to be guards, they assumed. Thankfully, there were enough of them to split up where some took on fighting the opposition, while the others looked for the bots to bring them to the ship. One of those was Astro, which they would come to regret in a matter of hours. But for now, they leave without an inkling of thought.

As the battle ravages on, the other half of the crew successfully finds what they assumed to be most of the robots, part of the facility. Astro goes over the spiel they were instructed to give when TBK wasn't there to do it himself. They endeavor to appeal to all of their emotions and convince them that perhaps this life of mundane work was not all they were ever to be or do. Some are convinced, but others are quite skeptical, even against their word, which was normal and expected. The point, however, isn't to be too preachy and talk down to them. So, they let the ones who agree be escorted by everyone else, while they offered to talk to the apprehensive and figure out what it is that's unclear, or they aren't a fan of.

Unfortunately, they're only able to talk to them for a short bit before they get a call on their receiver, "Astro! Report to base immediately, something's happened to Reno!" They look to the group and apologize, for they have to go. When they take off and make it back to the ship, they have to wade through all the bots attempting to make it there as fast as possible. And then they get to the room, and they see him. Completely devastated.

Reno lies on a table surrounded by some crew members, and it's apparent he's in excruciating pain. When they review him, they see it, his right arm cut deep just above the elbow. Instantly, they tear up as they can't believe what's happened to him. They want to get close and ask a million questions about what went wrong, but one of the crewmates chimes in to explain. "He held his own for quite a while, but one of the bots must've caught on to his game because they got him right in the arm. But, he still kicked quite some butt… until he fell over from the pain." They stagger over with shaky hands and legs, unsure just how to take in his misfortune.

He looks over and, for a moment, feels at peace knowing they've come. He can barely make out or say any words, but his face tells all. Instinctively, they touch his face and his warmth makes the emotional pain even worse as all they can do then is get on their knees and bawl. Everyone else stays silent, unsure of how to respond– but they understand Astro's hurt, so they all in unison decide to leave to give them two some space to be alone and figure it all out.

They realize now that crying wasn't going to get them anywhere. If they wanted to help him out (which they did), they had to get him to someone, and get him to them now. So, he calls the crew and says they need to leave, as they began to look for anything they could use as a makeshift tourniquet.

Back at the home base, TBK and the few others who stayed behind, sat around the meeting table, waiting for everyone else to get back. They talked a little about other promising complex to emancipate, but mostly kept to general housekeeping information, as they probably weren't going to be busting again any time soon, provided this mission went well. When they get the alert that the other ship has returned, all of them get up and into action, doing the usual protocol to account for everyone for and deal with them.

The first to come out is Astro, with Reno slung over their shoulder, they're promptly met by teammates who are surprised and confused to know what happened to him. They don't have the time or much energy to explain, only that they need to get him to Shadow quickly before he bleeds out, or what have you. (They're not very knowledgeable about humans physically, and they curse themselves that they don't at a time like this).

They get to Shadow's corridors, which were on the other end of the ship, still with Reno slung over whom, at this point, must've passed out somehow. But at least they could still hear his breath, so he wasn't dead. In a haste, the door opens, and they make instant contact with Shadow, who has no clue why they've shown up with Reno, but nonetheless, sets out to remain amicable.

"You… you gotta help me," they fight against their grief to speak, "Reno got his arm sliced."

"I'm sorry Astro, but I cannot help with that, I only work on robots," he turns away, but can tell they're still inching closer.

"Please… p… I don't know what else to do," they set Reno down on the ground, "I'll do anything in return. Just please… he can't die," they can't resist crying now, leaving Shadow annoyed. But he knew Reno meant a lot to them, and it would certainly harm their efficacy if they didn't have him by their side anymore.

Shadow sighs, "I will do what I can."

Hours go by, and Astro waits in the common room, still working towards getting themselves together. Why did they leave? If only they had just stayed behind, they could've blocked in front of him, or called to him to duck, or anything! They couldn't help but feel it was all their fault for his demise, and it fills them with remorse. It should've been them that got hurt! They could take the blow! But now… who knows what the deal with him will be.

In time, they're able to come back and see him, finding out that he's been fashioned with a robotic arm. They suspected this was the only option left for him, considering he was human. It takes them a while to get themselves together and muster up the courage to stand beside him, but they have to do it– he needs their comfort just as much as they need their feelings of remorse eradicated.

So, they go to him, and see that he's completely unconscious. Again, they have to be strong, so they're only able to sigh and look around the room to realize that they couldn't see Shadow anywhere. They couldn't care less at this point, though– as long as they could see he was still alive (which they did), they'd come back later. However, as they turn to leave, they could hear movement. Sure enough, Reno tries to get up from the table, but it's no use when he's still in excruciating pain.

Astro runs over to him to get him to lie back down. They can't form any words, but it was definitely a relief to see him doing… the best he possibly could at a time like then. Reno tries calling their name, but his voice is too hoarse for it to make any sense.

"You… I… So… so sorry…" their eyes well up again with tears. When they make eye contact, they see the perplexity in his face and wonder if he doesn't even remember what happened to himself. "Do… do you not know what happened? You got your arm cut off." Naturally, he looks over and sees his right arm is, in fact, severed. At first, he's expressionless, but even he succumbs to the shock and rapidly sits up, confused.

They can hear him mutter half-sentences to himself– most of it in English, but some of it in Spanish, which, to them, is a sign he's truly perturbed. When he stops, he looks at Astro and sees they've taken a step back, holding themselves together. His instinct to soothe them kicks in, and he forces himself to push his feelings aside. Calling to them with a gesture, he manages to wrap his other arm around them. All they want to do now is hold him, but they know they can't. As a compromise, they offer to help him get off the table and walk over to the common room.

In the common room, they both sit across from each other and try to fill in the plot holes that they both missed. After getting up to speed, Astro begins to profusely apologize for neglecting him. They say if they somehow knew beforehand this was to happen, they might've stayed behind to help him out. Reno, of course, takes the role of consolation, and thus replies that he's not upset at all. There was no way they could've known what was to occur, so they shouldn't beat themselves up over it– it made no sense.

Astro nods, even though his words haven't fully sunk in. Shadow then greets the two with a rare appearance outside his chambers, where he tells them both that Reno will be fine. However, he needs to work on learning how to use his new robo-arm in the coming days, provided he even wants to use the arm at all. Because it would be stupid not to, Reno agrees, and Shadow walks away.

"Are… are you sure it's okay? I… this has never happened to you before," they tap their fingers together in seek of consolation from him.

"Yes, I promise. No te precoupes."

They sigh and slap their hands against their lap, "Well… if you say so…" They get up from the couch, "I have to go call the professor, but if you need anything, come get me, okay?"

Every so often, Astro video chats with O'shay as a means to letting him know how things are going in their life. Usually, they set out to plan their chats around his schedule, but tonight they had no choice but to ask if he'd be willing to stay up just a little longer, so they could catch up. They sit at their desk with their laptop open and wait for him to answer their call. Of course, they're still shaken up by what's happened to Reno, but they tell themselves they can't let it get to them. O'shay can't find out tonight.

Soon, he picks up, and they can see he still hasn't figured out the webcam situation, but he manages to fix everything in the end, and the two are instantly happy to see one another.

"Astro! How's it going?" He exclaims.

"Great! Just finished work on another project!" They hide what it is they exactly do from him by simply calling it "projects." Mostly because they were instructed to by the team, to protect their privacy, but also because it's less worrisome and convoluted that way.

"That's nice," he sighs, "your sister has me busy with a project of her own… the school science fair."

"Oh, does she now? Is she making you do all the work?"

"Not entirely, but I suspect that's how it'll shake out in the end."

They go on to hear about everything new at the ministry, and he hears them discuss last week on their day off. One of their actual passion projects as of late has been learning how to draw. They pull out their tablet and show him their progress, to which he expresses his applause. It was almost like they were finally able to get over what happened to Reno, until O'shay breaks the news.

"Oh by the way, tell Reno he needs to come down here in two weeks for his psych appointment," He looks over at his calendar, "It's Wednesday at 10:30."

Suddenly, they feel the anxiety rush in again. But, they have to get it together, so they force themselves to nod in confirmation. How are they going to explain his new disability? Will they have to confess the truth about what it is they actually do? Will it hurt his chances of getting T? They decide they'll simply have to cross that bridge once they get there. The two say their goodbyes and Astro closes their laptop with a sigh, putting their head in their hands in exasperation.

Later into the night, Astro's wide awake in bed, consumed by thoughts of what could've or should've been. Reno, on the other hand, stays awake because he can't for the life of him go to bed at an early time, regardless of what he does. He accepts that it may have to do with some sort of issue that perhaps he's not pervious to, so he pays it no mind. Neither of them speak to each other because they're too preoccupied with their own struggles to do so. But the more worried Astro gets, the more they feel compelled to just call to him and air their troubles out. In time, they realize it's no use, so they turn to their side and try their best to save it all for another day.

This approach, of course, doesn't last long; because in no time, they're wakened up by the feeling of someone shaking their shoulder. They can barely open their eyes, but they hear a voice whisper to them, "Astro? Are you okay?" the voice seems to ask, "I was trying to get some sleep, but all I could hear was you crying." At this point, they knew it had to be Reno because none one but him and them really does the whole "sleep" thing. They figure there's no use putting off the inevitable, so they wake themselves up as best they can and attempt to sit up.

"You're thinking about today, aren'tcha?"

"Maybe…" It's clear the topic is still a fresh wound, but they won't admit to how much it truly hurts because they know it's best to be strong and push those feelings aside. How else would they be able to move on from one hard hitting task to the next? Something has to be forgotten.

Reno reaches out with what was now the only human hand he had, thinking perhaps if he took a gentler approach, they would listen. "Look, … what happened today… was just an accident."

"But I should've protected you!"

"I know, I know… but there was no way for you to know it was going to happen. You have to understand: you're not a fortune-teller, you don't have control over things you aren't aware are happening."

Again, Astro finds themselves tapping their fingers together out of guilt. They want to look at him, even if it makes them cry even harder, but it's pitch-black dark. All they can do is accept his gesture and sigh.

"I…. I just… I want to know that at least you're okay. At least you're not in pain."

Truthfully, he was in pain. He had a whole procedure done– no painkillers and no anesthesia. Not to mention how shaken up he still is. But he knows if he tells them the truth, it would only make things worse. So, he has to be brave and tell them what he knows will make them feel better.

"I promise you, I'm fine."

xx