Work Text:
I don’t hate work.
Why should I? Rarely anyone needs attention medically, and our dwindled numbers only further that. If we had more hands, the chances of my services being required would increase drastically.
More people to work, more people to get unlucky. Or just make mistakes.
That leaves me as more of a housemaid. Not nearly as much as Charlie, though the most they do is clean. They hardly obsess over the wellbeing of those around them. In fact, it’s quite the opposite from what I’ve seen so far.
I can make coffee. Bringing breakfast around isn’t in my job description, but it keeps me busy. And I think I like that, despite the protests from our Captain.
He doesn’t eat much. If there were any vitals to fuss over on this sheet of metal, it would be his, I think. He drinks a decent amount of water, at least. I struggle with that myself, so I’m glad he manages there. It would be hypocritical.
I’m not a therapist. I’m not licensed in psychiatric health by any means. I’m here to take care of people, treat the occasional first degree burn in electrical and move on with my day. But I find myself wanting to do more for these individuals.
VITA says there isn’t anything I /can/ do. General tasks around the ship are given to Arun—curious, considering they’re single-minded—and nobody else. Maybe Charlie, but.. they still just handle the dust.
Nothing? I ask VITA, but it wouldn’t say something it didn’t know was true.
VITA has no need for caffeine, however. Which brings me back to coffee.
Sometimes I wonder if he gets tired of seeing my face, or if he always looks that unhappy. In the scarce times when I do catch a glimpse of his face, it’s always painted with a frown.
I think it would be nice to change that. It’s not something I’m going to devote myself to or anything, but I’ve no other commitments.
The third morning in a row with a tray held in hands, VITA stopped me and relayed that he didn’t want me to make this a routine. Why, I ask?
He couldn’t give me an answer.
The coffee was given just as usual. And it did become routine, if I’m being honest. But that was the first and only time he’d ever requested not to be.. pampered?
I’m not pampering or babying him, I don’t think. I know just as well as he does that he can’t lead us if he’s not taking care of himself.
There’s a small shake in his hands whenever he reaches for the cup, I notice. Should I stop giving him caffeine? Is it even caffeine induced tremoring?
I can’t bring myself to ask.
On the sixth day, he stops me before I leave.
I almost didn’t hear him, despite his clear tone most of the time. He sounded delicate today.
Why?
You look tired, I reply. The way he carries himself is a coin flip. The Captain is either well put together, or pieces of paper shreds with an unspoken plea to be put back together.
A tape dispenser somewhere in the room is staring at me. ’Pick up his pieces.’
Still, he says nothing, and waves me out.
I’ve started adding cereal to the tray. He’s started eating it. A wordless compromise that so long as he eats, I won’t press him about his health.
I’m not favoring him, either. Everyone gets a delivery. It’s a nice contrast to see Arun clawing at the door and waiting for when I bring them some. Of course, theirs is in moderation. With the amount of coffee that bolt bucket already consumes, I can’t be the reason they slump over one day. It’s strictly against what I work for, actually.
They sneak apples onto my desk sometimes. I appreciate the sentiment… and the idiom.
I don’t see Charlie much, but they somehow know exactly what room I’ve just delivered to whenever I /do/ bump into them. They claim that they eat enough and fetch their own treats. I can’t be bothered to press them further on it, especially if they’re telling the truth.
Tatina has a kinder gait than the Captain, but she’s just as wordless when she’s burnt out. She never downs what I bring her, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop anytime soon. I wish she would open up more.
There’s nothing to keep me from boredom outside of bringing food and checkups. There’s paperwork, obviously, but that’s only when Arun nearly slices off a finger or two. Even then, I find myself mowing through it within a few hours.
Playing chess against VITA is intriguing, but it gets old when they beat you for the ninth time in sequence.
On day twenty one I started hearing things. That was enough for me to be curious, interested. It was only during resting hours
I mean obviously in horror movies they tell you not to investigate, to mind your own business. But I’ve learned a lot about these people so far, in particular their sleeping patterns.
Arun has to be hauled off to bed. The second they’re in their dorm, VITA has to keep the door shut to prevent them from working overnight. Eventually they’ll run out of things to work on, and then the Captain will have another crew member to babysit.
Not that he babysits me in the first place. I manage just fine on my own.
Which leads me to admitting that sometimes I do stay up, just to watch and wait. Quiet conversations with VITA help to pass the time, and I feel a little bad for them during our scheduled sleep hours. It easily gets lonely. I don’t think I could do what they do.
The Captain stirs often, he’s up and down all night. This supports his tired demeanor. I don’t think he has a sleeping disorder or anything, some nights he can get away with a sound sleep. I’m still trying to figure him out.
Tatina is probably the sanest sleeper of us all. She mops the floor with everyone else when it comes to that—The woman loves a nap, and I can’t say I blame her. It’s good to know she has one of her health boxes checked at least.
Charlie is hard to read. I never see them go to bed or wake up. I hear the occasional thump, which I can only assume is because they move around a lot. Maybe I’ll ask someday.
Day thirty came and went. It had officially been a month aboard, and nothing was really new.
I took up Cardistry, if that’s anything. I’m not very good at it right now, but I think having steady hands will definitely give me a boost if I keep at it.
I’ve learned two sleight of hand tricks. Only one of them was shown off to Arun, and they won’t stop bothering me until I teach it to them.
I promise them to do so when we have free time. Or rather.. when /they/ have free time.
I’m still incredibly bored. I should have brought more books aboard, I think.
On day thirty five, there was a hand on my arm just as I was leaving cockpit. He hadn’t spoken a word, just held me silently. It caught me off guard at first.
Is there something else you need? I ask him. It’s the first time I can see his eyes.
He’s frantic, his pupils are dilated, and he opens his mouth to say something. Nothing comes out.
His grip falters, softening, before eventually he lets go. You’re dismissed, I hear him murmur, and I take the cue to leave.
I’m worried about him.
On day thirty eight, Arun gets a cold. I’m too occupied with their condition to bring him his coffee. I think it made him sad.
Do you ever visit him? I ask.
Who, William? Arun doesn’t shy away from his first name, but they nearly hack up a lung before I’m pressing water to their mouth.
Yes. My reply is delayed, but I continue. Do you talk to him during the day?
He doesn’t like when I come in ‘n say hi, Arun clears their throat. Much less fix things in there fer a while. I’m in ‘n out, otherwise he gets weird.
Oh. I frown, walking over to the freezer and exchanging a lukewarm rag for a colder one. Arun hums, making a noise of contentment when I put it on their forehead. How often is that?
Maybe once or.. er.. Twice? A week. They settle back in, not before taking another sip of water.
Try to lie down and sleep some more, I tell them, and sit back down at my own desk. I’ll be here.
It’s not a lot of social interaction that the Captain is getting. It’s not a lot of interaction that /any/ of us are getting with this small of a crew, but at least I have VITA to talk to.
..Technically we all have VITA to talk to, but it told me I don’t ask it redundant questions. I couldn’t tell at the time whether that was a complaint or not, but in hindsight I like to believe it was more of an indirect thanks.
On day—night—forty, The white rook previously in my hand clattered to the floor. I’d almost pissed myself, quite frankly.
I’d just looked up from playing chess to see the Captain standing in the doorway. I hadn’t heard the door open, nor had VITA been aware of his presence on the way here.
Had he asked it to pay less attention to him? Was that even allowed, or possible in the first place? It’s pretty easy to ignore someone entirely around here, but not for VITA.
Am I interrupting? He asks, voice clear. His hand doesn’t tremble when he pushes the button to close the door again.
No, I blurt, and shoot VITA a surprised glance. They’d usually tell me before someone showed up, but the silence was deafening now. I didn’t think an A.I. could be flabbergasted.
He doesn’t say anything else. The Captain reset our ongoing game—I wasn’t winning, anyway. The results were predictable—and sat across from me.
He watches me, and despite the usual cold air in here, it’s suddenly very warm. I’m fucked.
Taking his silence as an invitation, I start the game.
White pawn to e4.
He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t make any expression. The harsh fluorescent light overhead casts a shadow on his face. He was usually obscured, but now it was a little scary? I’m not backing out, anyhow.
Black pawn to d6.
I know little about chess. VITA knows I know little about chess. But the Captain doesn’t yet, so maybe I can bluff it.
White pawn to d3.
Black pawn to g6.
White bishop to g5. I try something a little offensive, because it’s all I’d ever done with VITA. The definition of insanity is very widely known, doing the same thing over and over until it works. I am insane.
Black pawn to f6. White bishop to h4, and Black pawn to e5.
He opened up his queen, and I set my mind on trying to nab it if he moves.
White knight to f3. Black pawn to g5. White bishop to g3.
There’s a lot of action on the right side of the board right now, which is typical for chess, but I’m starting to wonder how long we’re going to have before either of us takes a piece.
White pawn to h4. Black pawn to g4. I should probably move my knight.
White knight to h2..?
Black pawn to f5. He’s moving up a little bit, which is leaving a lot open on the backline. I don’t have any opportunities to take regarding it unfortunately.
I was told once that the white pawn at f2 should never be moved unless absolutely necessary, or maybe that was just made up. I’m gonna leave it there.
White knight to c3.
Black pawn to f4.
I really hate these pawns. He’s only moved a knight so far and I already feel closed in.
My bishop is baked. I can’t really move it /or/ my knight on the right side.
I can sacrifice my bishop and use the other one to put him in check.
White pawn to d4.
…..Black pawn to h5? My bishop is ignored entirely.
White bishop to b5. I go for the check anyway, I still can’t move on the right side.
Black pawn to c6. Time to jet, I fear.
White bishop to a4.
Black pawn to g3. He takes my trapped bishop.
White pawn to g3. Black bishop to g7.
I should ask him to play VITA next. That would be a fun match.
White pawn to d5. I can try and take him by surprise.
He 'castles', as VITA calls it, and moves his rook to f8. The king is moved to g8.
White pawn to c6, I take a pawn.
Black knight to c6, he takes my pawn back.
Bishop to c6. I take his knight, thinking maybe he’ll back off.
Black pawn to c6, he takes my bishop.
White queen to d3, I need to pull something really good off at this point if I want to bring us even again.
Black bishop to h6.
White pawn to a4. I want to try and open my rook up to play.
Black queen to b6, AKA.. do you mind??
White knight to b2, I’m getting it out of there.
Black pawn to d5.
White pawn to d5.
Black bishop to a6.
White queen to c3.
Black queen to f2. I really don’t have an easy way of taking that, but I can try and set something up regardless.
I should get out of check, first. White king to D1.
Black bishop to e2.
Checkmate, VITA announces. I’m not surprised, but I was hoping the game would last a little longer.
I stare at the board and scratch my head, finally looking up. There’s a small second-long window where I catch him smiling.
He enjoyed that. I’m not sure whether ’that’ was kicking my ass, or just playing the game.
The clock reads 03:25, and he stands up to extend a hand. Good game, he says.
Uh, yeah. Thanks for beating me. I smile back, shaking his hand.
There’s a moment where neither of us let go, until he finally decides he’s held on too long and turns to leave.
Wait a second, I say, face morphing into a frown. Aren’t you going to play VITA?
He stops, pausing.
No.
Goodnight.
The door closes with a hiss, and he’s gone. All I can do is look down at the set board and think.
VITA,
Can you take a picture of this?
On day forty one, I wake up a little later than usual. The first thing I notice are things only done by human hands, and certainly not A.I.
The set from last night was back in its box in the extra cabinet. I wasn’t surprised at that, He’d likely come in to erase evidence of his ass kicking. How humble.
The second thing I notice is that the coffee machine is in the medical bay now.
This isn’t a new machine. This is the same one from the common room, which confuses me.
I can’t hog the coffee machine, I tell VITA, standing and staring at it. I rub at my eyes.
He wants to keep it here. Says he’ll get his own coffee from now on. VITA says very matter-of-factly. Though everything they said was a matter of fact, this felt more like a quip.
I piece it together soon enough, deducing that he’s probably going to come in here to get it himself and visit. My performance during the game was enough to encourage him to do so, apparently.
Is it weird to think of him like an animal? A scared one, the type you hold your hand out for and stop breathing altogether when it takes the invite. You don’t want to scare it off.
I assume this means I’ll be visited by Charlie at the very least. Maybe I can finally talk to them a little more. As for Arun and Tatina, I’m not sure how that’ll go yet.
VITA, reading my mind, speaks again. The rest of the crew will also be getting their own refreshments from now on.
And if they don’t? I ask, a little disappointed that I’ve less to do.
They will. VITA leaves it there.
On day forty two, they appear to be correct, as always. The medbay isn’t as quiet as it normally is. Arun and Tatina come and go, I’m able to lay eyes on Charlie and confirm they’re still /breathing/, and the Captain seems a big fan of the extra cabinet contents.
He sets his cup down on the other end of my desk, producing a deck of cards.
I’m stunned for a moment, before realizing I can show him my tricks. This is anything but boring, especially if this is every day.
I smile.
I don’t hate work.