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"How many are here?" Leah asked.
"I don't know. Flowers or bushes?" Rose replied.
"Flowers."
"Um...a hundred and thirty?"
EVE Probes #4 and #5 were in the rose garden, which was taken care of by 5 or "Rose". 4 "Leah" had joined her sister to try and relax after their last endeavor. Rose smiled into one particular blossom, her eyelids curving down slightly.
"Awww...don't worry, you'll grow up healthy and strong, just like everyone else..."
"You're sweet, Rose." Leah told her, "I love the connection you have with your roses."
"They're mine." she replied simply, "I grew them, I love them."
"Yeah..." Leah felt the petals of another flower head, "They're so healthy!"
Rose reached beside her, and her fingers wrapped around the handle of her watering can, "I love seeing healthy flowers..." she said softly as the water from the can sprinkled over the leaves and the dirt below the bush.
"You're so gentle..." Leah replied, not knowing what else to say.
"I have to be. Roses are delicate." she set the can down and brushed her hands over the blossom again, "That's better..."
"Um..." Leah felt the box in her stasis chamber jostle, a reminder, "Can I show you something, Rose?"
Rose let her hands fall to her sides, "Sure, what is it?"
Leah opened her bio stasis chamber, "Look." she took the box out and brushed it off out of habit. She opened it, "See?"
"Whoa..." Rose placed her hands on either side of the box. There were two robots inside, one was 4 inches tall and the other was about an inch and a half. The larger one was silver, with arms ending in small claws. The top of his head was flat, and his small eyes were closed. The other robot was orange and silver, with small propellers and tiny stub arms. Both were covered in rust and years of decay.
"That's..." Rose felt herself frown, "Are they still alive?"
"I don't know, I can't tell." Leah let her thumb trail along the larger old robot's cheek, "I can't even identify what company they're from."
"Cool..." Rose looked up at her sister, "Where did you get this?"
"I found it near the outskirts of the encampment area. Apparently, this box was packed in San Francisco! Can you believe that?"
"Amazing..." Rose took the box and closed it back up, "Well, I'm done caring for my roses, so why don't we bring these two back to the Axiom and see if we can learn more about them?"
"Okay."
So they took the box to the Axiom's computer in the Captain's Cabin. Since AUTO was no longer there, it felt neglected and empty. Other robots kept up maintenance, but it still didn't feel the same without him.
Rose Opened the box again and laid both robots down on the scanner. Their joints didn't move from all the rust, "Analyze."
"Analyses: Chibi-Robo and Telly Vision, trademark of Citrusoft." What followed was a diagram of both robots, including chips and circuit boards.
"Oh my..." Leah let her eyes glaze over the scan, "They're design is so complex!"
"Define Citrusoft." Rose said.
"Citrusoft: A robotics company dealing with making life easier. Their biggest successes are Giga-Robo and Chibi-Robo."
"Amazing." Leah said.
"Yeah." Rose replied, turning back to the computer, "Are they still alive?"
"Pardon?"
Leah stepped up, "Scan for brain activity."
A buzzing sound could be heard, "Scan complete. Subtle brain activity found."
Leah gasped, "They're alive!"
"Wow..." Rose took them off the scan, "Let's see if we can wake them up."
"Really?" Leah took the larger robot in her hands, "How much oil will we need to loosen their joints?"
"Only one way to find out!" Rose replied, already applying oil to the smaller robot's arms.
Leah took another can of oil and began to rub it into the robot in her hands. She wondered what his story was. How old was he? What was his directive? How long was he asleep? By the time all the joints on the little robot were free, Leah was eager to talk to him.
"Done?" Rose asked.
"I think so. His joints are still squeaky, but they're loose enough to move around." Leah replied, looking up from her handiwork, "This one has a cord with two prongs on the end."
"What?" Rose looked at the cord attached to the cylindrical abdomen of the robot, "Oh wow. This kind of charger hasn't been used since before Wall-E was built!"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah! This robot is ancient!"
"That's so cool! So, uh...how do we charge him?"
"Let's see..." Rose turned back to the computer, "Do you have an outlet?"
The computer whirred in response, spitting out a rectangle with two openings, three holes in each. Leah marveled that they almost looked like surprised faces. Rose took the tail charger of the smaller robot and plugged him in, turning her attention to the other robot, "How about an automatic ion charger? That would work for this little guy."
Once both robots were charging, Leah watched the larger of the two stir. His metal eyelids fluttered open. He was still for quite awhile.
He didn't seem to want to get up.
