Archive Log: 27

Being left in charge of a ship like the Covenant might've been daunting for anyone else; after all it was specially made and equipped with both technology and equipment designed for this mission. A lot could go wrong, if the pilot wasn't attentive. Walter was more than attentive. He did several rounds a day, constantly checking on things. Sometimes he doubly checked before backtracking off elsewhere.

He didn't particularly mind being the only conscious thing onboard at the moment, but the silence was dull and boring. He had got steadily fed up with that after a day of being alone. Only because he was having another bout of boredom, didn't mean Walter slacked on his tasks at hand.

It had been rather early in the planning stages of finding a new planet that could sustain life really, that Walter found himself being woken up and whisked away as the onboard synthetic for this mission. It was strange to think about that time really. It seemed so long ago. Walter supposed it was really. It had taken years of planning, and searching for that matter. Not to mention the time it took to run checks on Origae-6.

Sure, he had helped where he could in the beginning of planning before the crew were searched for and interviewed. He let out a sigh at that. Through all the different characters and the small times a disagreement might have arisen, he did miss being surrounded by them all. They were curious to watch. His ability to fully comprehend the emotions which humans distributed was taken away, but that didn't mean he couldn't sit and analyse and learn in his head. Of course, he was plugged as the best android model to date, but even he had room to learn and improve on what was already given to him.

Sitting in the bridge, Walter leaned back in the chair, the hood was pulled up on his jumper and his eyes were just staring at the screen before him. His long legs were stretched out under the desk which the system was built onto. For safety purposes, the shields were currently down. A part of their journey involved having to traverse through space where as yet, no one else had been. It was a trepidation which everyone understand and was willing to take. It was dangerous, yes. But the ship was built to take a lot of punishment, and by that it could function even if part of it had been slightly blown apart; not that Walter was expecting that to happen.

A few dents here and there were likely, yes. Like the ship wasn't going to get a little damaged to get to their new home. But, Walter was pretty much part of the ship. The built in AI and his own were coupled in agreement over how to run and keep this whole thing going smoothly. Inhaling deeply, Walter blinked slowly. He was currently keeping an eye on the shields. They were fragile, golden in colour and rigged to expand outside the ship to help charge it. There were still asteroids lurking around this area of space, and if something punctured through one of the shields, it would hinder things greatly. Walter on his own wouldn't be able to fix it, it took two to use the outside control systems.

"All seems to be well." Walter's eyes looked upwards. The only real company Walter had was Mother, and her conversations were few and far between. Yes, they were both civil and polite towards each other, but there was never really a flowing conversation. She'd crop up if something needed doing, as if she presumed Walter would've forgotten; his memory was solid, he couldn't forget something even if he tried. But other than that, both remained silent. Walter didn't really have anything to say to the onboard AI, and it seemed unless there was a reason, Mother didn't talk to him either.

Walter looked downwards to the screen, he just watched the charge levels with a blank expression. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled in the chair to sit up a bit more. He kept his hood up, for no other reason than he found himself quite comfortable like this. "It has been rather smooth sailing so far." Not that Walter wanted something to break up the monotony. He actually found himself not minding the monotony. Yes, there was boredom niggling, but really in comparison, why would he want something bad to happen?

Something bad happening put a risk to not just himself, though that was minor to him, but to the ship; not just the ship, but the people within; that included the sleeping crew members, and those which had been shortlisted to being the new occupants to a new home. There were children, well, the embryos which would soon be children and adults; there had been some loses here already, yet for the most part the majority still stayed in their own specially designed containment unit. Walter didn't wish for something bad to happen, because that may mean losing more than what they had already.

There was niggling sadness, he supposed that's what it was, over the embryos that had perished already. Sure, they were never truly alive and conscious to know what was happening; but Walter found that wasn't really the point, they were meant to all set out to reach a new home, but they would never see it. And that made him frown a little, even as he retracted a hand from his pocket to cease the shields activity and bring them back in. To not see what they had set out to do made him feel sad, it was a pity.

Walter wasn't so ignorant that he didn't think there wouldn't be loses. He was rather sure everyone was aware to this danger, yet no one openly bought it up. Deep space, plus hypersleep, it wasn't exactly a winning combination, no matter how much technology had advanced.

"Charge sequence has finished, Walter. It is time for crew checks."

Walter wheeled back in the chair before standing and shutting the system down in front of him. Ever diligent was Mother, especially with reminding him to do things he already knew he had to do. But regardless, he made his way down the silent corridors. Because it was him, and only him here, the ship had gone into low power mode for the time being. There was no need for bright lights, especially with his vision.

Turning into the crew room, he looked over the pods all lined up together either side of the room before pushing his hood down and making his way to the first one. Jakob. Walter looked down at their Captain and read the outputs which the pod was giving him. There was nothing untoward, the man inside was blissfully asleep and well. Beside him Daniels laid, Walter went down this aisle, and then turned and went down the other. Everyone was well, thankfully. His earlier thoughts of something bad rose up in his mind again, only to be pushed aside when he looked down at Onora sleeping soundly. Yes, admittedly, he missed her above all others seems they spent the most time together, understatement of the century. It wasn't like he had forgotten what the sound of her voice was, or their last conversation. He could recall all of that very well. But the thing is, if anything, remembering it made his earlier sadness reappear too. Walter frowned as he turned away from the sleeping crew. He had got himself in a slump, he wasn't designed to be dependant on socialising, but after being surrounded by people for so long, he found himself feeling rather lonely. He presumed this was loneliness...picking up a small plastic carrier, he moved off to another room.

The doors quietly opened before him and he looked in at the plants and flowers which were here. Walter sighed and stepped inside, he placed the carrier down and reached inside to pick up sheers, underneath the artificial lighting and with the constant water supply, things continued to grow. And to let them continue to grow, they needed to be tended too, looked after, and checked on regularly. This was a part of the job that Walter didn't mind at all. Because it was perhaps the one place, other than her room, where he felt truly close to Onora again; because she truly loved these plants, and by extension her love for them had rubbed off on him. He didn't find it a chore to tend to the plants. He tentatively brushed his fingertips over the petals of one of the flowers, blinking and examining the petals, Walter picked up more details within it. He felt himself smile slowly, it was surprising how such a small thing could lift his mood so easily.

Fidgeting so he was kneeling in front of the small pod like capsule which housed a small number of flowers, Walter placed his hand back in his lap and whistled. There wasn't much to the tune which he was whistling but he did it regardless. Even as he turned and prepared to clip off dead leaves and withered buds, he still continued to whistle.

"It is a myth that music helps plants to grow." Mother's voice echoed out quietly over the intercom into the room.

Walter's hands paused, he stopped clipping at the flowers and rolled his eyes upwards. "The effects of music and the growth of plant life, isn't so much about the music. It's more the vibrations created by the sound waves. The vibrations produce movement in plant cells, which stimulates the plant to produce more nutrients." Walter responded in kind while pushing soil away gently so he could check on the small water pumps which were connected into the pod. He needed to make sure there was no damage, no blockage and that it was genuinely still working fully. Seeing as how Mother had gone silent again, Walter looked tentatively upwards one more time before looking back down and picking up the sheers again. Inhaling simply, he snipped away at another stem while commencing whistling again. For the first time in a while, music and sound other than machinery was heard echoing in the room, and down into the corridor beyond the door.

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(A/N: I am sorry, so sorry, for the delay in updating this. I've been busy with work, and had little to no motivation. But, I had already had it in mind to try and update before Christmas. I am not sure whether I'll update this again before Christmas, so I shall say I hope everyone has a good one, and if anyone does not celebrate it, I hope you have a good day anyway!)

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