Fear. David supposed there was a few definitions and variations of fear; from a fear of something, to just sheer dread of a moment. He wasn't too sure where he stood at the moment on the scale of relaxed, and not fearing at all, to resisting the urge to go into full on panic mode. David presumed he was more near the latter than the first, all because of one thing; Minerva wasn't waking up.

He had resisted waking her up for so long, that actually, he had decided to wake her up a few days early. He honestly didn't see the harm in it. She was always going to need to be woken first, that was a given. A couple of days earlier doesn't matter, or at least he didn't think it mattered, but her not waking up mattered hugely. He stood looking down at her, she was plugged into machinery, machinery which was effectively going to help her reboot back up, and wake up. Only, she seemed to have other ideas. Any other time, David would find that amusing. It would typically be her, out of everyone else, that would want to be different and refuse waking.

If she was human, it wouldn't be too much of a problem. David had long since learned that humans are rather robust creatures. He may not have known Minerva the human, but if she was as resilient as her dad when she was unwell, then he guessed most humans refused to go down without a fight. But, no matter what is thrown at them and the ability to bounce back may vary, it doesn't solve the fact that this Minerva wasn't human. He couldn't just use the MedPod. Yes, he may have calibrated it to be used on males, mainly Weyland, but it wouldn't be hard to change. Even more so considering he knew all the passwords to bypass the security measures he had put in place. That piece of technology would have zero trouble assessing the problem, and furthermore dealing with it. David couldn't do that with Minerva. The MedPod wouldn't register her the same way as a human, that's if it registered her at all.

He could run diagnostics, which he had done several times already, to find out the problem, but the tablet beside him on the wheeled table wasn't flagging anything up. David was all for the experiment of seeing if synthetics could go into hypersleep, being incognito was probably going to be needed he guessed for certain missions. But at the price of losing her? No. To David there was really nothing which was worth that. Reaching down, David made sure the wires feeding into her were properly attached before picking the tablet back up. He stood tinkering with different outputs, he was running out of ideas to be honest. He guessed that her body, seeing as how it was a ten year old and then some system, couldn't deal with being shut down for so long. Mechanics within probably had seized up and just ceased to work. David always thought upgrading the hardware in her was ridiculous considering the synthetic body her AI consciousness lived in was so dated. But, Weyland wouldn't want to change that, clearly he had grown used to how she was and didn't want to mess around with a new housing for her mind.

David didn't want to admit it, but right now, she technically was dead. He could feel himself slightly panicking more, not that he showed it as he stood calm faced and looking around the room for inspiration. If something like this happened to a human, then he guessed the MedPod would defibrillate them, get the heart going, if it was the heart that was the problem. Frowning he turned and walked off, Minerva was technology. To restart technology if the battery died, all it would need is electricity, right? There were many small tools on the ship which had the capability of using electricity as a concentrated beam, for different jobs. He returned with one of these in his hands. Disconnecting one of the wires, he pushed gently against her neck to find one of the ports before rather unceremoniously shoving the sparking tool against her skin and into her system.

There was a definite jolt, so much so that David had to place his spare hand against her stomach to push her back down. Picking up the tablet, David pushed more output signals and waited. It was a gradual thing, despite having breathing, blinking, talking, and moving all turned up to the maximum, it was actually slow going. Her eyelids flickered, and her chest began to slowly rise before her fingers twitched. David leaned more against the pod as her eyes slowly opened. He smiled, relief instantly flooded through him. Placing a hand to her cheek, he got her attention. She was staring blankly up at the ceiling. Feeling him, she blinked and slid her eyes to look at him. His smile grew more, he didn't want a repeat of this. He didn't like feeling powerless, even more so considering no one even seemed to think that this was likely to happen. That was something to put in the report back to the technology buffs on Earth, David guessed.

"There's a pain in my neck," Minerva's voice crackled and sounded like it was being fed through a synth-effect as she tried to get used to using her voice again.

"You're still rigged up," David explained while looking at the implements in her neck. Minerva blinked and tilted her head a little, David smiled and brushed her hair before disconnecting her from the tablet. He removed them from her gently, a lot gentler than what he put them in with before making sure the synthetic skin was still in place. Placing everything on the table, he looked back at her. She just laid looking at him, David leaned his arms against the side of the pod. "Would you like to try sitting up?"

"In a moment, I'm still trying to move my legs."

David frowned and looked to her limbs. He could see her feet twitching as her system was fully starting to work up and wake up. "Would you like help?" He asked instead, Minerva smiled and nodded. Her arms seemed to be okay as she lifted them up and wiggled her fingers at him. David smiled, hooking his hands under her arms he easily lifted her up. "There we go, up and at them, Minnie." She just laughed as she sat up in the pod, she put her hands in her lap and smiled. "Any better?"

"Everything is...fuzzy, like static. I can hear you, but you sound distant. Speaking feels weird...everything feels weird, David." Minerva said with a small frown while clicking her fingers near her ears as she shook her head gently.

"You have been asleep for a long time."

"I wouldn't call it sleeping, would you?" She questioned with a sigh as she hung her head.

David was half tempted to tell her about her near death experience, but chose not to. What use would it do her to know she was almost shut down permanently? Instead, he plastered on a wide smile and shook his head, "I suppose not, but I am not sure what our version of sleeping would be."

"Powered down?"

"On standby?"

Minerva looked thoughtful before humming, she was clearly struggling to think of another possibility before shrugging. "Is everyone else waking today?"

David shook his head and stood up straight. "No, I am afraid not. They're all programmed to wake in a couple of days." He said, she turned and looked at him curiously. David smiled, "If you didn't come out of sleep well, then you would need a few extra days to return to normal. Or as normal as can be."

"Hey!" Minerva exclaimed and hit him on the shoulder, David just grinned. He had missed teasing her, to be honest. He knew it wasn't really polite to joke at someone's expense, but they always did it in an endearing way where what was said, was never too serious or hurtful.

"It seems as though these extra days shall be used with you trying to walk." He frowned, "I am uncertain why you are struggling there." He didn't get it, not one bit. Her feet could twitch, not bend and flex, and her knees would try and bend too. But nothing would happen. "I may need to take a look if movement is still hard, or hasn't fully returned to you later." He said seriously while looking up at her and away from her legs.

"Does everyone else have a few days to recover too?" She asked curiously, David tilted his head and moved away from her side. He reached out and gently took her legs in his hands, lifting them over the lip of the pod he slowly lowered them before standing back up. He looked at her as she just sat looking at him patiently waiting for an answer.

"No."

"That's a little unfair, isn't it?"

David raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder before taking her hands in his and helping her shuffle towards the edge of the pod. "They will most likely be unwell feeling, but they will get over it. All they will need is some fluids in their system. I have done daily checks on them all, nothing has gone wrong."

"Doctor David," Minerva sniggered, he smiled at her and lifted her out the pod. He had to keep his hands under her arms, her legs gave out as soon as her feet touched the floor. He had hoped that moving her would get them working, but apparently not. Her body was old, but with a new system within, David presumed they were just combating it out and struggling to get working in tandem again.

"I am anything anyone wants me to be."

"Maybe they should've used that for a tagline with the other David's back home." Minerva said, David scrunched his nose up and leaned down and hooked his arm under her legs. In one swoop he had managed to lift her into his arms. "But then, someone's always going to abuse that."

David looked at her as she traced the emblem on his grey t-shirt, his uniform shirt being ditched again for the time being. She seemed to nod though, agreeing with him as she peeked up through her eyelashes. "What would you like to do, Minnie?"

"Get some clothes on." She said it so frankly that he double took and then let out a quiet laugh. Minerva grinned, "Just saying!" She held her hands up as he walked down the corridor.

"Would you require help?"

Minerva laughed again as he turned into her room. "No!" She shook her head and buried her face in her hands. Totally embarrassed by his suggestion as he looked at her with a smirk before placing her on the bed. He stood back and tucked his hands behind his back. Minerva looked around before frowning, "Okay, I lie, maybe I do need help..."

Raising an eyebrow, David simply turned and went to where her clothes resided. She just sat and watched him as he took it as a cue to get her clothes. He didn't mind, after all she was perhaps one of the few people he'd freely offer help to. Collecting her clean clothes, he placed them beside her on the bed before stepping back. "If you need me, I shall be outside."

"Thank you, David." Minerva smiled up at him, he inclined his head before turning on his heels and walking away. "David?" He paused in the doorway and looked back at her. Minerva fidgeted a little on the bed, she glanced at the pile of clothes and then back at him. "I have missed you."

"I have missed you too. Get dressed, Minerva, then we can find something else to do, yes?"

"Okay!" She replied cheerily as he nodded and left the room, the door quietly sliding shut behind him. She sighed and looked around her bedroom. She forgot how simple it all was in here. But comfortable, it wasn't like she needed anything really was it? Shedding herself of the binding underwear they provided to sleep in, she managed to wiggle into actual underwear before pulling a white vest on. Picking up the comfortable looking khaki trousers, she struggled to pull them on, but did it anyway before patting her knees. She didn't understand what was happening there, but she was sure David would probably figure it out. "David?" She called out, he came in with a smile. "Can I go see my father?" Minerva asked, David frowned a little, his eyes dimmed yet he soon smiled again and nodded. "Then afterwards, can we try and figure out my leg problem? Maybe I could ask father? He may know, right? If anyone would have a possible answer, it surely must be the man who made me, hm?"

——

Edited: 15/June/2021)