"No, don't put that th-"
*Boom!*
"There." I finish as the backfire of the engine left P13 covered from head to toe in black soot and oil.
When he opened his eyes and looked at me, only a pair of shiny reddish yellow eyes were showing. I couldn't help but laugh, he was too cute. "Come here." I giggle as I take a towel and clean his face.
"It go boom." He expresses with his hands.
"It sure did." I chuckle as I clean the rest of him off. "Come here, I'll show you why." I get on the ground with him and show him the mess and where it went wrong. "See this was connected to this but you left this exposed. It needed to be braided through and wired to this before you put the other piece there."
"Ohhh." He says in awe and understanding as he watched me. "Sorry." He apologizes with his ears down.
"That's okay. Mistakes happen. Learn from them." I advise as I help him fix the mess. "See? Good as new."
"We try again?" he asks hopefully.
"In a moment. Let's finish these areas first then turn it on."
"Okay." He smiles then starts working with me again.
We work together in a peaceful flow and it puts me at ease. I couldn't remember how long it'd been since I'd felt so content. Like I had a purpose and was finally using it. I wouldn't have in my wildest dreams thought I'd find it while working with a raccoon.
"214?" P13 jolts me out of my thoughts as he says my name.
"Hmm?" I hum as I keep my eyes focused on what's in front of me.
"Am I a monster?" he asks out of the blue.
I pause and immediately look at him outraged. He looks troubled as he fumbles around with a tool nervously in his hands. "Of course not." I reply as I set my tools down. "Why on earth would you say that?"
He scratches his arm as he looks away. "That's what Mr. Theel says all the time."
"Theel doesn't know the difference between his ass and his forehead." I reply angrily and poor P13 looks confused. I sigh as I wipe my hands the grab his. "Look at me. You are not a monster. You're the furthest thing from it. You're an incredible, intelligent, and kindhearted being who has a purpose, and no one can take that away from you. Not me. Not Theel. Not even Sire." I offer a sad smile as I pet his head softly. "Ain't no one like 'cept you. Understand?"
He looks at me a long time before finally offering a weak smile and nodding. "Yes, ma'am." He replies softly.
I smile then hand him another tool. "Back to work, shall we?"
He smiles back then takes the tool and quietly begins working with me again. As I watch him, I'm lost in thoughts again. How much I wanted to fight Theel and give him a piece of my mind. I knew it was unavoidable but I hated to hear the cruel comments that made him doubt himself and question his worth. I wanted nothing more than to scoop him up and hold him close but deep down I knew I couldn't protect him from those painful moments. He had to feel it. But I had a plan. One that included what we were working on.
Within the hour, we finished the engine and I stood back and admired P13's work. "Not bad, P13. Not bad at all. She looks brand new. Perhaps if they need ever need a spare they can use this one." I compliment with wink, earning a big grin from him.
"We do another one?" he asks curiously.
"Not today. I have something else for us to work on. But first, we need a bath." I ruffle his dirty and oily fur, my hands coming back black.
So I take him to the washing station. I lather him up with soap and laugh as he makes different shapes out of the bubbles and plays in the water. As I turn my back to grab something, I feel a stream of water spray up my back.
I gasp loudly and whip around to see P13 the who's laughing proudly at himself as he's holding on a hose that still dripping with wwater. "You little shit." I grumble as I wring the water out from my shirt, which makes him laugh harder. "Hey!" I shout as he sprays me again. "Alright, that's it!" I grab the other hose and spray him back.
That was the beginning of the messiest water fight. We screamed, laughed, and slid on the soapy floors. I truly don't remember the last time I'd laughed so hard or had as much fun. Our laughter echoed throughout the halls until it was interrupted by a loud voice.
"What is going on here?!" Vim demands in an outraged voice that stops me and P13 in our tracks.
"Recorder Vim…hello." I greet innocently.
"Well?!" she practically shouts with her hands on her hips.
"Oh, we were just getting…washed up." I swallow a laugh creeping up then clear my throat. "Things got a little messy when dealing with the engine."
"I see." She eyes me suspiciously. "Clean up this mess. NOW." I see P13 cringe.
"Yes, ma'am." I reply quietly.
With that, she turns on her heel and walks away while shaking her head. I look at P13 and notice that he's tensed up. He looks up at me nervously. "Did you want to spray her as much as I did?" I ask jokingly.
P13 breaks into a huge grin as he laughs and nods 'yes'. I chuckle softly then nudge him. "Come on, let's get this mess cleaned up and get you dried off. We still have one more thing to do today."
We get the mops and get to cleaning the messy wash station. We make it fun and make sure the place is spotless all the same. I grab a towel and dry P13, tickling him affectionately as rub the towel up and down until he's mostly dry. I give him another towel and let him play as he dries my hair. When he takes the towel off my head, my hair sticks out in every direction, making P13 laugh.
"Oh my." I smirk as I run my hair through the wild mess.
"It go 'poof!'" P13 says in amazement as he plays with it.
"No kiddin'. Looks like I stuck my finger in a light socket." I joke, earning another bought of giggles from P13.
I do my best to run my fingers through my long hair and end up braiding it to the side.
"Pretty." He compliments genuinely as he admires my braid.
"Thank you." I reply as I scratch behind his ear. Looking around, I determined that we've done our job cleaning up the wash area. "Think that should do it." I smile at P13 and offer my hand. "Come on."
He happily takes my hand and I take him to the room I'd been looking forward to all week. The simulation room.
This room was big. It held different replicas of spacecrafts and the next room over was an infirmary. I watched with excitement as I saw P13's face light up. "Whoa. What is that?"
"That is a spaceship." I reply.
"Spaceship." He repeats then points to it. "It big."
"It is."
"What do?" he asks curiously.
"A lot of stuff. It flies through space and are used for many different things. The engine we were working on," I nod to the spaceship. "belongs to this ship right here."
His eyes widen as he looks at me. "Really?"
"Yes." I chuckle. "And you're going to learn how to fly it."
"What? How? Room too small." he asks confused.
I laugh. "This is only a simulator. A fake spaceship used to safely learn how they work." I explain. "You were programmed with the ability and knowledge on how to fly these. Now it's just time to put it into practice."
P13's smile falls a bit. "It hard?" he asks nervously.
I shrug. "It's not easy. Complicated but not impossible. That's why we have these simulators. And for you, it should come naturally." He still looks unsure so I place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll take our time. Today I'll take you on a test run for fun. See what you think."
His face softens and he gives me trusting smile. "Okay." He says softly then takes my hand without any prompting.
I smile back then pick him, put him on my shoulders earning a happy giggle, then lead him to the ship. I show him how to board safely then take him to the cockpit. Immediately his eyes light up again when I place him in my lap in the pilot's seat. "Alright, let's get this beauty fired up." I say as I begin pressing different buttons and screens. P13 watched fascinated as the screens came to life and the whole room turned into an illusion of a bright blue beautiful sky.
"Wow." He gasps as he turns around excited. "What is that?"
"That's the sky. It goes on and on into forever." I point to it then point up. "Beyond the sky, is space. It is what we're going to be exploring today." I explain.
"How?" He asks curiously.
I smirk then take control of the ship and make it thrust forward. "Like this."
And just like that, we're flying speedily through the beautiful blue sky. It always amazed how real it felt and it was times like these that I'd let go and feel free. Flying was always natural to me and it felt good to share it with someone. P13 held on tight as we raced through the sky and turned this way and that way. We went through fluffy clouds and towards a beautiful sunset.
P13 was loving every moment. He cheered, shouted, and laughed which brought a huge smile to my face. After a while of me flying, I steadied the controls and said to P13, "you want to try?"
He looked back at me with a bright smile. "Really?"
"You can do it. I'm right here." I assure him then take his paws and put them on the controls. He carefully takes and after a few moment of getting him used to it, he finally brings it to a steady pace. "That's it…easy does it. You're doing great, P13." I encourage him as he navigates the spacecraft. I could see the concentration and content smile on his face as he continued to fly with ease. I began to relax and then decided to switch it up. "Pull up." I instruct and we begin to go straight up.
I press a few things on the screen and the ship jolts ever so slightly, making P13 jump. "It's alright, it's normal. Keep going." He follows my instructions and soon enough, we're in space. "Now we're in space." I inform him.
"Space." He repeats in wonder. "It feels different."
"It's very much different." I reply then begin to explain the differences and show him different controls. He soaks in the knowledge like a sponge and applies it brilliantly.
He points to bright lights all around us surround. "Shiny."
"Those are stars. The universe is full of them." I explain.
"Stars…pretty." He says in wonder.
"Yes, they are." I agree then steer us in another direction and change the screen. Colors bursts all around creating a beautiful sight.
"Wow." He whispers as he leans into me.
"What we are used to, the world around us, could never compare to what is truly around us. There's so much to explore, so much to see. It's much bigger than what we could ever imagine." I say softly as I gently stroke his fur.
"It's real?" he asks surprised.
"Yes, it is. And I believe you'll be able to see it one day." I turn him around to face me. "Someday you're gonna make great machines that fly. And you and your friends are going to go flying together in the forever and beautiful sky. That's why we're doing what we do now." I cup his cheek in my hand. "It won't always be this way."
P13 smiles then nuzzles his face into my side as he hugs me. I hug him back firmly, feeling protective as I place a gentle kiss on top of his head. It felt dangerous and almost cruel to make such beyond reach promises. But I vowed to myself in that moment that I would do everything that I could to keep my promise. Whatever the cost.