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“... She's just as grungy as she was back when I first met her.” Alma’s voice echoes, somberly. “Time ages things, makes them rust… but some things always stay the same.”
Bliss turns to look at Alma, who was floating across the room, watching the engine of her ship as it shrilled and whined. The mechanic floated towards her slowly, noticing her glassy eyes, gently reflecting the flickers of digital lights from the old engine room. The old lady lowers her head briefly.
“...I’ve been with her since I was young, maybe about your age.” Alma smirks as she looks at Bliss. “I was a captain back then, had a rebellious crew, even younger than I was. Buncha’ kids playing pirates, didn't know what we were doin’. But we were a family, even if a really weird one.”
“We were scoundrels, outcasts… not particularly good at anything, not even fixing a damn pipe! Of course, I didn't trust any of em’ to be messing around the ship, so I took everything in my own hands. Judge me all you want, mechanic, but if she is still standin’, that's because of me.”
Bliss sympathetically smiles “So you've been the one maintaining the Rig ever since you got her?”
“Of course. Was already bold luck that I got her in the first place, I wasn't gonna let anyone with their muddy hands have that.” She sighs.
Alma looks away, upon the many layers of poorly welded plating on the walls “I wasn't a good engineer… neither a good captain.” She mumbles. “You won't see all you have to lose until you actually do. See it happening in front of your eyes, but only realize when there's no one left to tell you that you were wrong.”
Bliss shifts around, feeling a hint of empathy and curiosity for that woman's story. They delicately approach the old captain, listening to her words.
“I underestimated my crew. I saw brokenness in everything, but was too proud of myself. Anger, greed, disdain… all of it made me lose each of em’. Even when the last member left, I still thought I was in the right… until I found myself floating off with a pile of scrap and an empty, whiny ship.”
Alma raised her head, her gaze fixed on the ceiling as she relived her lonesome memories. “In the end, I was left with my own brokenness. I didn't appreciate people back then as I appreciated my ship, even if they were equally broken and flawed. Loved a home more than who lived in it.”
She looks back at Bliss, a rough expression on her face, a glance still held steady despite her wet eyes.
“She is all that I have left. I can't fix on what's been broken… but I can't lose the only thing that has kept me safe after I lost everything else.”
“She ain't perfect, just like I'm not. I built her like this. You can spit at her, curse, kick her down when she ain't being helpful… cause no one will understand her better than me.” She closes her eyes and lets out a shaky breath. “...And she’s the only one that understands me. She's all I have to keep going.”
Bliss opens their mouth, but no sound comes out. Their lip trembles a bit, and they press it shut. The only thing they manage to do is gently reach out their hand to hold Alma's. She raises her eyes to look at Bliss in astonishment, her pain being acknowledged by the patient engineer. Then Alma floats closer and embraces them, and Bliss warmly returns the gesture.
“...Thank you...” She whispers over Bliss’s shoulder, giving them a tender hug that she hasn't given to someone in years “...Thank you, for giving her a chance.”
“...Of course.” They reply with a sniff, feeling their eyes cloud up with emotion under their glasses.
The moment doesn't last longer than a few seconds, and the two eventually pull away from that warm embrace. Bliss nodded respectfully at Alma before Sleeper had started to approach her. As Bliss headed to the doorway, they looked around one last time at the cluttered and heavily improvised engine room.
It was a place where history was painted all over. It told a story in a language that not everyone could understand or comprehend.
And you can only know so much, Bliss knows that well. They think about Alma… how much has she lost in her adventures? How much of her crew, her ship or herself? What has she lost due to weariness of time, or from inevitable human mistakes?
It's not something that matters now, since all that matters to Alma is to keep the little that she has left with her. That little sliver of home… convoluted, confusing. It takes more than patience to deal with something like this.
And for Bliss, it is worth it in the end if that means you’ll ease the pain of someone who's had it rough, even if they were brought down by their own mistakes and selfishness. People aren't perfect.
And in that imperfection, there's humanity. There's reconciliation, and there's hope. Hope that can only grow if given a chance, even for those in their darkest moments.
“This place reminded me of why I do what I do. Why I fix things. There's beauty in it.” Bliss said to Sleeper on their way out, leaving them to ponder inside the room for a little while.
It's not an easy job for everyone, but it sure is a self-fulfilling one.