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It was barely a few hours after Ten had gone to sleep before Juice started feeling the itch.
It wasn't a physical itch, for he lacked the epidermis to house a nervous system to facilitate such a reaction. (Even then, he somehow managed to pounce on Ten's nerves a lot it seemed.)
No, this was another kind of itch. One that he dreaded infinitely. An itch that caused his mind to wander aimlessly, his circuits furiously scrambling to fetch any sort of new stimulation in the endless expanse of his orbit around Jupiter.
He was hopelessly bored.
And what's worse, is that, after warming up after his standby period, he just felt... off. Like for whatever reason, something felt different today. And Ten going into hibernation after having an existential crisis somehow didn't dismiss that odd feeling. It wasn't dread, or hopelessness, or bitterness. But it wasn't a positive feeling either. He couldn't quite place it. It was like he was forgetting something.
So he had two things now: boredom, and an unplaceable feeling. A stellar combination for his little panopticon of isolation and solitude.
He desperately wanted to talk to someone.
Ten? Asleep. No way he was going to try to wake her up. She needed the sleep probably as much as he did.
Nine? He was going to be honest, talking to them made him feel... weird. He didn't necessarily dislike the little spacebucket, but he wasn't about to try to analyze why talking to them felt so much more different compared to that of Ten or Hubble. Not to mention their battery was quite literally shit and he didn't have enough of a charge to keep the both of them up.
So the two siblings would remain undisturbed.
Who else was there...
...
Hubble?
Man. Juice already tried talking to the old telescope after Ten went to sleep, but Hubble pumped the brakes on that torment faster than a car avoiding a moose on the highway.
But Juice was really bored, and he had just enough of football and games in general for right now.
And also this feeling. He didn't want to worry about it.
So, naturally...
.yo. hubble. me again. hi
.oh for wailing out loud- What.
.are you busy right now?
.oh no not really. in fact i was just idling for the sole purpose of preparing for you to message me again
.
.really?
.no.
.oh
.
sorry, i can go
.hey, hey wait
i'm being a dick
get your platinum ass back here
.okay
.what's going on?
.nothing, actually
ten went to sleep a few hours ago
it's just been really quiet
and i kinda hate quiet, so
.
have you tried watching some games? heard game 2335 is really picking up steam in arkansas. they finally got that football dislodged from the tree. and i mean it was really in there
.it... dunno. it feels sorta wrong to be watching games without someone else. don't have another mind to bounce off appreciation against
and i know football really isn't your thing-
.nope.
.-so i wasn't about to ask you
and if there's anyone else awake i don't know about them
.it's a secret!! DIBU DUBU DABA LUBA DABA DU DA BI JI KI CBLABLALABLALAB
sooo. yeah. that leaves me here.
.so you just uh
need a distraction?
.it doesn't have to be football i just don't like it being quiet
.okay well
i can only provide so much entertainment bud
and just a forewarning, i'm gonna be eclipsed by the earth soon so uh
won't be online for that unfortunately
.shit your panels really are trash huh
.oh fuck you i'm an oldie but a goldie
class of 1990 and going 15,786 years strong
you wish you had my infrastructure and lenses
.hahaha okay, okay sorry
.etc etc whatever whatever i'd go on but you get the family discount
save the roast for another luau
.hmm
.
have you talked to anyone down there recently? from the agency?
i know how you feel about them, but you know
minds can change
feelings can be mended
.no, i haven't
.are you going to?
.not anytime soon
.you know, they're a good people
you and i didn't have the same team of scientists, of course. being launched a few decades apart and all
and also i have like, three other agencies who've worked on me
but there were a few of my team that made it to the moment
and sometimes i'll drop a line, and they'll lose their shit everytime because the equivalent of their wayward son has came back to say hi for a few minutes
i've never had a bad conversation with them
maybe you could try that?
.eh.
.orrr you can continue to be a presumptuous ass
doesn't affect me in any way
.you don't know me
.you know? maybe i don't. maybe i like not knowing anything about any of y'all
too fucking loud in my humblest of opinions
what i do know, is that you never even gave the esa the chance to explain
a chance to even apologize
.well-
.do you have any clue? how unprecedented us 'waking up' was?
like, honestly. for fucks sake, we shouldn't even be here. none of us should.
.spacecraft decay dates didn't take our sentience into account because it didn't happen in a human's lifetime. and then the moment happened.
. ...
.did you honestly think they deliberately wanted to destroy you? knowing that there was a little person in there?
.imagine that. the generations raised on a society of scarcity couldn't think of spending a few more billion dollars on a service mission to delay your proposed decay date
.so stupid of humans for not thinking of the possibilty of sentient machines, right?
.i get it, hubble.
don't need to spell it out for me, jesus
.i sure hope not
.i'm a space telescope, not your third grade teacher
. ...
i'm gonna go now
.i was about to wink out anyway
good talk bud
oh. by the way. i may've been an ass just now, but this is genuine
happy birthday
HST IS OFFLINE.
.
.asshole
Well, the telescope was right. Juice was being a little presumptuous.
There was no good reason to judge ESA for their decisions. Especially when it was at that point of time.
It still was a bruise, though. He didn't want to think about them right now.
After all, he had all the time in the world. It wasn't like they were dying anytime soon.
...
Wait, birthday??
.oh
so that's what i was forgetting
...
welp. i'm not usually one for sentimentality, but...
.
happy birthday to me
.
happy birthday to me
happy birthday dear mr jupiter icy moons explorerrrr
.
happy birthday to me
and many many moreeeee
.
sigh.
and to alll a goodnight. i dont know. shit i aint santa