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“The new guy isn't very funny.”
GPC hushed Crow, her eye watching as the “new guy” flipped over in his bunk, facing the wall.
“He just got here, Crow,” she said softly. “It must be a lot to end up on a ship in space, especially when that wasn’t in your plans.”
“How could he have planned it?” Tom asked, floating so that he was level with GPC’s head. “Kinga kinda kidnapped him, didn’t she?”
“Fully kidnapped him, I believe,” Crow corrected, glancing back at GPC and Tom before turning his gaze once more to the new guy- Jonah, his name was Jonah.
“Why’s he still in bed? It’s almost noon.” Tom paused, then quickly added, “Not that time means much here, but still. He’s been lying there for hours.”
“Since 9PM, actually,” GPC replied. Jonah shifted again, still facing the wall. GPC glanced back at Crow. “Do you think he can hear us?”
“Oh, who cares?” Crow snapped, turning on his heel. “I’m bored and hungry. Who else wants a sandwich?”
“Make mine ham and ketchup!” Tom said, following after.
GPC remained, watching Jonah carefully. He didn’t seem to be taking this that well. GPC felt that she was equipped to handle a great deal of things to ensure that the ship maintained its course and that they didn’t crash and burn, but this was new. She was unprepared to care for a human that didn’t seem to want to explain what was even making him so upset.
He’d been on board for a week, and in that time, he’d barely spoken to them. Well, except for that first day, when he was trying to figure out where he was and what was going on, but once Kinga had spoken to him and he’d had time alone with the ship and GPC, Crow, and Tom, he’d very quickly quieted, requesting that he have some time to himself to think everything over.
And that had been a week ago. Still he remained thinking things over. GPC didn’t think all this thinking was helping him particularly much.
GPC frowned. Kinga had plans to start the first experiment in two days, but Jonah didn’t seem up for it.
“Won’t that skew your results?” GPC had asked Kinga yesterday when Kinga alerted them that the movies would start up on Monday- specifically them being the ‘bots sans Jonah, since he was taking one of his two-hour-long showers where he just stood there doing nothing but staring at the tile.
Kinga had cocked her head to the side, her nose wrinkling. “What do you mean?”
“He’s already upset,” GPC had replied. “How do you know if the experiment is working or if it’s something else?”
Kinga had huffed, tapping her foot impatiently as she mulled this over. “Look,” she’d said finally, sighing. “Let’s just see how he’s doing come Monday. I’ll change things if I have to, but I don’t really want to. Rescheduling is hell.”
From down the hall, GPC could hear Crow and Tom getting into the fridge. Hopefully they wouldn’t completely trash the kitchen again. Jonah needed to eat something, too, and GPC wasn’t sure he’d like to find a messy kitchen when he finally had the energy again to get up. Then again, she didn’t really know him. She didn’t have any way of knowing how he’d react to that sort of thing.
From his bunk, Jonah shifted again, flipping over onto his back. She watched as he side-eyed her before turning his head to face her, his brow furrowing.
“Why are you watching me?” he said, voice raw from lack of use. “Don’t you have something else to do? Ship duties or something?”
GPC turned, heading towards the kitchen. The fact of the matter was that she did have duties to attend to, and she had wasted too much time watching over him, but at the top of her long list of duties was to keep the persons on board safe and healthy, and she was unsure if Jonah was meeting either of those. It bothered her to no end that she had no idea how to help him. This was her biggest job, and she was struggling to do it. She wasn’t even sure if Jonah was eating.
She’d ask Crow to make Jonah a sandwich, too. Even if Jonah couldn’t find the energy to get out of bed, he still needed something in his stomach. Maybe offering him a sandwich would help push him towards feeling better. Whatever it was that was making Jonah feel down, GPC was going to get to the bottom of it and make him feel better.
She wasn’t sure what other choice she had.
-----
GPC returned to Jonah’s room an hour later to retrieve his plate, hopeful that he’d eaten what she’d offered him: a ham sandwich with a side of saltines. Tom had eaten all of the potato chips, so she’d figured that saltines would have to do, but when she returned to the bedroom, she found that he’d barely touched his plate. At least a few of the saltines were missing.
As she entered the room, he turned to face her, looking perplexed by her presence in the room once more. He stared at her for a long, silent moment, then sat up with a groan. “Why do you keep checking on me? Is that something you’re programmed to do?”
“Maybe,” GPC answered, because she didn’t really know. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You haven’t really been eating.”
He narrowed her eyes at her, opening his mouth to dispute before closing it again. He looked away. “How do you know that?”
“Tom and Crow don’t really pay attention, but I do. You’ve been keeping to yourself. I’ve been watching you, and you haven’t been eating. Really, you haven’t been doing much of anything. I’m worried about you, Jonah.”
Jonah scoffed. “That’s some impressive programming,” he said, adjusting his glasses before looking her over. “Why are you even here?”
GPC blinked at him. She’d thought this was obvious. “To keep you alive.”
“What makes you think I need someone to keep me alive?” Jonah retorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’ve lived on my own before. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Is that right?” GPC said calmly. “Because from where I’m standing, you aren’t taking care of yourself at all. Sounds like needing a babysitter to me.”
Jonah recoiled, staring at her with wide eyes. He blinked then, eyeing her cautiously. “Were you… programmed to craft perfect retorts?”
“Maybe,” she said again, because again she didn’t really know. “I don’t really know what I was programmed for, besides ensuring that you’re kept alive and sane. I guess I was programmed to care.”
Something shifted in his gaze, like a switch flipped. He stared at her in wonder, leaning in to get a closer look at her. To GPC’s relief, he- perhaps without even realizing- reached over and picked up the remaining saltines, munching on them as he stood, walking around her.
“You seem so human,” he said finally. “I mean, it’s like you really have a personality.”
“Ouch,” GPC joked, hoping he could tell that she wasn’t actually hurt. “I do have a personality. Although perhaps not as strong as Tom and Crow’s. They’re a real riot. They’re gonna drive you crazy, once you get to know them better, but in a good way.”
Jonah smiled- he smiled!- and to GPC’s excitement, he even snorted. “No, I just mean that it’s interesting. You’re not just a hunk of metal. You actually have a personality.”
“This surprises you?”
“It’s just… not what I was expecting,” Jonah said after a short pause. “I guess I was expecting robots as they tend to be. Y’know, limited vocabulary, flat in tone, if they speak at all.”
“You meet a lot of robots?” GPC joked, and Jonah smiled again.
“No, I suppose not.”
“You can’t take everything you see on TV as truth, you know.”
Jonah smiled wider. “No, I guess you’re right.”
He finished eating the saltines, wiping his hands on his jumpsuit. “How long do you think she- uh, what’s her name?”
“Kinga?”
“Yeah, Kinga. How long do you think she’s going to keep me here?”
GPC hesitated. “Do you… want the honest answer?”
Jonah nodded. She wasn’t sure that it was something that would be good for him to hear, but she didn’t like lying. GPC sighed, shaking her head. “Months. A few years, maybe.”
Jonah’s shoulders fell slack, and his expression blanked, eyes distant. “Oh.”
He stood there for a long moment. Then, he looked back up at GPC. “Is there beer on the ship?”
“In the fridge,” GPC said, nodding, “but I don’t know if you should be drinking considering you haven’t been eating and you’re upset and-”
Jonah had already left the room. GPC frowned. “And you’re gone,” she murmured to herself.
Maybe he needed a little more alone time. At least he seemed like he was in a better mood. Sorta.
Well, he seemed to trust her more. That seemed to be a step in the right direction. Although, GPC had to admit, him looking for the beer worried her.
GPC sighed. This couldn’t end well.
-----
GPC checked that everything was running correctly before going off in search of Jonah, hoping that he hadn’t gotten himself too severely messed up in the thirty minutes it had been since she’d let him run off in search of beer. She’d meant to only be gone for five minutes before he could do something too destructive, but then she got distracted. She figured that he had to still be in the kitchen, so she made her way down the halls of the ship, passing Tom and Crow in the process.
“He’s not looking so good,” Tom said as she passed. “You upset him somehow?”
GPC frowned. “I wasn’t trying to… Is he still in the kitchen?”
“Nope,” Crow replied. “I don’t know where he is, but he’s definitely not there. That’s where we’re coming from.”
“Again?” GPC groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t make another mess.”
“No,” Tom said slowly, “but I think the new guy might’ve.”
“I’ve gotta go find him,” GPC said, already turning. “I need you both to clean up the kitchen for me. I think Jonah’s… not adjusting well.”
She left them there before they could respond to her request. As she moved through the halls of the ship, peeking into each room, her anxiety grew as Jonah remained out of sight. She turned down each hall, even going as far as checking the laundry room.
She eventually ended up in one of the larger rooms of the ship, one of the few that had a larger window that looked out into the vastness of space. There, Jonah was slumped against the wall, eyes trained out the window, holding in his hand a can of beer. At his feet was a half-drank six pack. As she entered the room, Jonah glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, staying silent. He looked out the window once more, draining the rest of his beer.
“It’s not so bad up here,” GPC said softly. “I know months and years sounds like a while, but-”
Jonah scoffed. He dropped the can onto the floor then reached down and removed another beer from the plastic rings. “Is that right?”
He opened the pull-tab and immediately took a long drink, his nose wrinkling from the sour taste. GPC watched him for a long moment: he glanced at her, then looked back out the window, then glanced at her again.
Unnerved, he huffed. “Stop staring at me like that! It’s creeping me out!”
“I don’t see why you’ve gotta get drunk. I don’t see how that’s helping your situation.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Jonah grumbled.
“Then explain it to me,” GPC replied, moving a step closer to him. “I’d like to understand.”
Jonah sighed. He took another sip from his beer, a small sip this time, looking back out the window. “Y’know, space isn’t new to me. I like space. I liked working for Gizmonic Institute. The space part doesn’t scare me.”
Jonah paused, his lips twitching. He took another sip, distracting himself. His cheeks were ruddy from the alcohol, and he closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself. When he opened his eyes again, he stared down at his feet. “It’s just the isolation of it all. I can’t stand being alone.”
“You won’t exactly be alone,” GPC began, but from the look he sent her, she quieted. That didn’t seem to be what he wanted to hear. “You know, we were made to keep you company. It’s our job to keep you from losing your mind completely.”
He looked up at her again, his brow furrowed. “That’s… nice, I guess,” Jonah said slowly. “But I just mean that I’m going to miss my family. My friends. I appreciate that you guys are here, but that doesn’t fix the fact that I’m away from all the people I care about. I’m stuck up here with no way down. So, that’s what I mean by ‘alone.’ I have no way of seeing them again.”
GPC had nothing to say to that. She sighed, looking out the window, at the stars and the Earth, an Earth that she’d yet to have the luck of visiting herself. Maybe someday. “It sucks, doesn’t it?”
Jonah stared at her, as if the admission surprised him. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, it does.”
He went back to looking out the window. After a moment’s silence, he asked, “Do you want a beer?”
GPC snorted. “No, thank you. But I think we’re cutting you off, Jonah. That’s your last one.”
Jonah nodded, frowning down at the can. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. Things are starting to feel a bit wobbly.”
He was quiet for a moment, then looked at her again. “Uh, thanks, I guess. For looking out for me.”
“It’s no problem, Jonah,” GPC replied, although a smug sense of pride warmed her, the sense that she’d stuck with her sensibilities and done something right.
“I, uh, I don’t think I know your names,” Jonah said, looking ashamed. “I mean, I remember you telling them to me, but…”
“I’m GPC,” she said. She wasn’t offended, considering the week he’d had. “Tom’s the red one, and Crow’s the gold one. Try to remember their names, at least- they’re more likely to tease you for getting them wrong.”
Jonah nodded, but he was frowning again, his lip sticking out and quivering, the threat of tears dampening his eyes. “I- I’m not so sure I can do this, GPC.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine. We’ve got each other’s backs, you know?” and GPC was relieved to see Jonah nod again, looking calmed by her words. “Now go to bed, Jonah. Try not to wallow so much in the bitterness. It won’t help you much.”
Jonah started walking away, then returned, gathering up his beer cans in one arm and the unfinished six pack in his other. “I’m gonna feel so gross tomorrow,” he said aloud.
“Maybe next time, you should stick to less secretive drinking. At least I would have made sure you stayed hydrated.”
A laugh escaped Jonah’s chest, and GPC beamed. He dropped the cans in a trash can in the corner of the room, turning with the pack of beers. “Here,” GPC said, opening her mouth wide. “I can carry them back to the kitchen for you.”
He seemed hesitant to place them in her maw but did as she requested. She walked him back to his room. He turned and looked back at her. “I’m fine now. Or I will be. Thank you, GPC. Seriously.”
“I’m glad,” GPC said around the beers. “Don’t be scared to ask for help, Jonah.”
Jonah smiled, nodding. “Night, GPC. Maybe check in on me in the morning? Who knows how I’ll be feeling then.”
“Of course, Jonah.”
With that, GPC made her way towards the kitchen, glancing back to make sure that Jonah had switched off his light and shut the doors to his room before turning the corner down the hall leading directly to the kitchen.
GPC was confident that Jonah would get better. The situation wasn’t one that anyone would be comfortable being stuck in, but GPC felt that she had at least helped in some way and that Jonah would be doing better soon.
GPC turned on the light to the kitchen, freezing at the sight of the mess. There was flour everywhere . There was no way this mess was Jonah’s fault. “Tom! Crow!” GPC yelled out, “Come clean your mess!”
It was only after she’d yelled that she’d remembered that she’d just put Jonah to bed.
Crow and Tom popped up almost immediately. “It was the new guy,” they said in unison.
“Then wouldn’t the ‘new guy’ be the one covered in flour? Nice try. Get to cleaning.”
Crow looked down at his arms, dusted with flour. He sighed. “And to think, Tom. We almost got away with it.”
“No you didn’t,” GPC snapped back. “Get to cleaning. I’ve gotta go back to running the ship.”
GPC left them to clean, sure that this time they would actually do as she asked based off of how Crow was muttering under his breath about needing to find a broom.
She’d check to make sure everything was running smoothly before settling down for the night. She’d had a long day, but a good one. She hoped that the coming days would remain just as good, better even. Jonah would get better. It might take a while, but he would, and GPC looked forward to witnessing that.