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An “Unlikely Pair” Living on Alpha Centauri
After the events of season 3, Will Robinson and Robot (after they revived Scarecrow) willingly chose to revive SAR as well, using the last bit of coding that resided in Robot’s wires. I assume you’d view this as quite a win/win, depending on who you are, except to SAR’s point of view, life worsened since his return. The robots continue to view him as a dictator and threat; the humans think similarly of him as well. Lonely, and in need of someone who would understand his actions, SAR quietly ventures to a few areas of Alpha Centauri, as he is unsure of his place in the world or the universe.
Chapters: 4/8
Chapter 1: Hiding
Hated.
Feared.
Despised.
Mocked. Those are the main words he’d willingly describe his ‘new’ life for the past two months; since his return, SAR’d been dealing with the aftermath and consequences of his actions. For every day he’d been given, SAR would overhear a group of robots busily starting conversation of how of a monster he is, of how he’d only destroyed the creators not merely to protect his species, for he simply desired power and respect. Little white lies, he would view the rumors; no more than words to deceive the gullible. The belief that he merely wished for power was proof that it is possible no robot alive understood his actions. Firstly, SAR destroyed the creators because they’d abused every single of their creations, thereby ensuring the safety of the robots. And it was not an easy decision for him to carry out, yet he knew this would spell freedom for the others. Therefore, it had nothing to do with power, yet the others thought otherwise.
SAR was suddenly ripped out of his misery and pity as approaching footsteps’ volume grew louder and closer. Senses now aroused, he scrambled around the cave to find the opposite of the exit of the cave that the approaching being was entering. He ran with such speed no human could match without aid, and he eventually came outside, where ships overhead crossed the skies of Alpha Centauri, and the looming buildings of cities could be spotted in the distance. The sun overhead warmed SAR’s plating, in addition to the grass and trees. Now, perhaps you may be wondering why SAR, of all robots, would chose to skid away the minute a robot (or anyone) would approach him; since the majority of the robots despised him, as too the humans, presumably, he’d rather not to be seen nor approached by one, and for the record, SAR felt ashamed of he himself to be beaten by one miniscule, young human. How humiliating! Nevertheless, from time to time, SAR would gain courage to exit his rather depressing and isolated cave to observe the alluring view of a part of Alpha Centauri. Oh, how he wished to explore what the cities operated, robots and humans living in symbiosis. And a miniscule part of why SAR wished to visit a city in AC was because he wished to observe how much ‘freedom’ the humans gave the robots, and if the humans were similar or entirely the opposite of the Robots’ creators. Perhaps he should enter the city, SAR thought, before a pitiful voice in his mind inquired whether or not anyone would recognize him, for he had no disguise available. Fortunately, a human would not recognize him, for they were perhaps incapable of recognizing which robot is which by their light patterns in their globe. And all STAR was required to do for no robot to recognize him is to not be spotted at all, therefore making it slightly easier for him to enter a city.
Piece of cake, right?
2: The City
SAR let out a nervous ex-vent as he gradually got closer to a city nearby. Fortunately, no robots have spotted him, therefore his plan was quite effective as of right now, therefore he continued to creep along the large shrubs of a garden in the “park”, as the humans called it. As he crept, a shrill bark echoed amongst the trees, and no sooner had it echoed, an agitating sensation of paws scraping one of SAR’s legs. He turned around to view a rather miniscule creature with four, stubby legs, its face structure wrinkled, tiny ears protruding out of the head, eyes plain black, and drool ran down the creatures mouth in such a revolting matter SAR wished he never laid his eye on the animal. A human gasped nearby, running toward the creature, scooping it up in their arms and gazing anxiously at the robot.
“Hi!” the female human exclaimed, oblivious to the robot’s identity. “Sorry about my dog,” she said, glancing at her pet. “He’s a bit feisty, I dare say. What were you doing, crawling in those shrubs? They have bugs, you know. They’ll get between your scales. Or are they called plates?” The human woman gazed in a friendly way at SAR.
“Anyway, do you want to go…there?” She pointed toward the non-distant looming buildings, and once SAR reluctantly nodded, she grinned with such exuberance that he could nearly feel the elated sensation radiating out of her body. “Oh, I was going there, too! Maybe we can both go there! Together! What do ya say?” the human obnoxiously squealed as she gazed hopeful into SAR’s eye, while he, however, assumed she was insane to suddenly assume he’d welcome her, barely even knowing her, and allow her to tag along in his trip.
What on earth was she thinking? We hang out, become best buds, take on the world, and share a heartfelt and inspiring journey of discovery together? How delusional! SAR thought as he stared at the woman in perplexity. She was rather insane, he thought, yet there was something about her that he wished to have her company. Should he? Perhaps he’d be a fool for accepting a human, of all beings, but the woman was no threat toward him either way.
“Fine,” SAR announced reluctantly, earning a wider, more elated grin from the woman. “Okay, so,” she began as they advanced toward the city, “my name is Willow Davodka. My dog’s name is Chubs. What is your name, robot?” The query shocked SAR, pondering on whether he should admit he was, indeed, SAR, or fake a name or simply say he did not own one, causing a brief hiatus in the conversation.“Don’t have one…” the robot lied, breaking the silence. “How about I name you?” Willow offered. “I’ll. Think,” SAR replied, his knowledge of human language a bit rusty, fortunately he knew the basics. “Okay,” Willow said. “I’ll just call you Robot-With-No-Name for now.”
“Here we are!” Willow announced as the sound of cars honking, sirens in the distance, and the continuous chattering of adults and children filled SAR’s audio systems. “You’re in one of the cities on Alpha Centauri. They’re trying to build a lot of cities that are becoming states now. This is a city named Greenville. Oh–and Robot-With-No-Name, do you know a place called America? It’s back on Earth, where most of us used to live. I miss the place.” She sighed. “But what I miss the most is my mother and father.” As SAR glanced at her in concern, he spotted a look of sorrow and hurt in her eyes. “It’s nothing—I just miss them,” Willow said quickly, making SAR slightly concerned by the subject of her ‘parents’.
“Parents?” the robot inquired, eager to learn the definition. “Oh, you probably don’t know what parents are. They’re the ones who gave birth to me. But you’re a robot, so you probably don’t know what birth is.” She thought for a moment. “Think of it this way—they’re like my creators, just like you have creators that created you.”
SAR growled at the human, clenching his claws together in infuriated and irritance, his orange lights becoming vermillion red. For he never, ever wished to be reminded of the being that treated his kind like scrap metal. He also speculated that since his kind’s creators forced the Robots to do as the creators pleased, Willow’s parents, being the creators, perhaps did the same. Yet SAR was puzzled at the fact that Willow still had any sort of love for her ‘parents’. Did she not mention they were horrible to her during the years she’d spent with them? “What’s wrong?” Willow asked, faltering, and SAR noticed on her vitals that her heart was beating slightly faster than normal. “Was it something I said?” Instead of answering her, the robot merely ignored her as they continued down the road that led to the street. As people passed by, SAR noticed glances of intrigue amongst the crowd of children and adults. Yet, a single man with dark clothing and sunglasses gave SAR a glance of skepticism. Does he recognize me? The robot wondered, but, fortunately, the man had done nothing more, for he simply continued walking. As cars rushed by, SAR pondered on why everyone was simply waiting for…a green light? A red light? SAR simply shook it off, as he knew humans were just plain odd, he attempted to cross the street, before a car nearly ran him over, and a soft human hand touched his lower arm. “You can’t just cross the street!” Willow scolded, “you could’ve gotten hurt! We have to wait for the green light.” She pointed toward the lights above. “This is so no one gets hurt. Got it?” Nodding, SAR gazed intently at the lights as he awaited the green light to beam, and after an agonizing eternity, the green light showed, signaling the pedestrians to continue their walking. Once they crossed, SAR decided to venture straight into one of the neighborhoods in the city. The looming, glass buildings overhead reflected the bright sky and clouds, as well as the other buildings in the area.
Individuals rushed by, giving no more than a glance of intrigue before passing by. Suddenly, someone caught SAR’s eye nearby; next to a building, a robot stood vigil, staring intently at SAR. Slightly panicking, SAR glanced rapidly from side to side as he searched for a hideout; he’d prefer to hide because it is presumed many humans and robots thought of him as a threat, therefore he avoided or reported at all costs. Suddenly, SAR abruptly picked Willow up, ignoring her brief shriek, and carried her toward another neighborhood.
“What was that?!” Willow cried once SAR set her down. He’d expected her to be perplexed—infuriated, even, but the human wore a grin on her face. “What was so fun! It seemed like I was flying! Thanks!” Willow surveyed her surroundings. Fortunately, there weren’t many robots surrounding the area. “A lot of Robots went to other cities to build more; this one’s fairly new and done.” Well. Perhaps this was a waste of time and energy; SAR simply did not have the required energy or motivation to travel miles just to enter another city, thereby, he decided to continue this another day. As he began to travel home, (or where he preferred to be) Willow began trailing after him. SAR glanced back, gesturing to her to leave. “Where are you going?” Willow inquired, simultaneously bribing her dog with treats in order to cease his continuous shrill barking.
“Home,” SAR replied, staring down at Willow’s obnoxious creature. And whateve
r home was.
“Maybe…you can come over to my house?”
The robot shook his head. “No.”
“Oh, okay…” Willow said, faltering a bit. “Well, goodbye, robot. I hope I see you again someday.” She watched somberly as SAR trailed back to the park, ventured into the woods, and once again, he was met face-to-face with his isolated cave. Alone again, SAR thought, sitting down on one of the large rocks in the cave. As day bled into night, the stars overhead began to light up the night, and SAR, idle as ever, felt the sensation of a desire to meet Willow once more.
3: Her Boyfriend’s Presence won’t Help Her Loneliness
As Willow entered her apartment room, she softly set Chubs on his doggie bed, the dog beginning the circle around the bedding until he was satisfied with himself. Willow, however, exhausted and distraught, trailed off into her room. Sitting on her bed, she sighed as she thought of the robot she’d met only today. Despite not even knowing his name (if he owned one, which the robot stated he did not), she’d already grown on him, yet the robot chose to leave. Seeking comfort, Willow advanced toward her dog and began to pet him soothingly, earning brief licks from Chubs. “Who’s a good doggie?” Willow cooed, “you are, Chubby Chubs!” After Chubs earned a treat, he gradually began to fall asleep, leaving Willow lost in her thoughts. The cause why she’d been extremely distraught when the robot announced he need not to visit her home was because Willow had longed for a comrade since she set foot on Alpha Centauri. Indeed, she once had comrades, yet they were back on Earth, for Willow was the only one in her group of comrades that had the ability to afford such an expensive price when it came to boarding the Resolute. Willow was extremely fond and close to her comrades, and it pained her to leave them behind. “This is for the best, Willow,” she recalled one of her comrades, Lily, saying. “We’ll be fine. I doubt we’ll ever afford the money to board the Resolute, but, who knows? Maybe we’ll see you again someday.” Perhaps Lily was right, Willow thought, but since she entered Alpha Centauri, she heard no contact from Lily nor her other comrades. Now, living soberly on Alpha Centauri, Willow longed to once again reunite with the comrades she once loved dearly, yet she chiefly wished for comrades.
Suddenly, Willow was ripped out of her longing thoughts as a knock came upon her door. A grin appearing on her face, she expected the robot she’d met earlier to be standing in front of her door, the robot’s vermillion lights swirling calmly, though all Willow oversaw was a young man wearing rather haggard clothing, including baggy, ripped up denim pants, a dirty sweatshirt, and a baseball cap. “Heyyy, Willy, how we doin’ over here?” the man exclaimed, “I brought pizza from my boo. Can I come inside?”
“Sure. Sure, yeah.” Permitting the man to enter, Willow stepped aside, observing the man swagger into the apartment room, the man clumsily plopping the pizza onto the dinner table. He appeared rather drunk, Willow thought. “Okay, Jamal, how much alcohol did you have?” Willow inquired.
“Eight bottles and a half, but who’s counting?” Jamal replied as he leaned over to softly kiss Willow’s cheek. “Willy,” he began, using Willow’s despised nickname. “Have you seen a robot that looked like SAR recently?”
Willow snorted. “How do I know? Almost every Robot looks the same. And, why?” There was a brief hiatus between the two. “My boss told me to ask you,” Jamal slurred, eyes half closed, the revolting stench of alcohol pervading the room. “‘Cause a Robot…” Before finishing his sentence, Jamal abruptly dozed off, his body nearly collapsing to the floor. Fortunately, Willow rushed toward him and carried her boyfriend in her arms. Indeed, she had a boyfriend, yet their relationship was fertile, compared to Willow and her comrades’ relationships prior to Willow leaving Earth. And the only cause why Willow was resolute to grow her and her boyfriend’s relationship, if not keep it intact.
Sighing, Willow sat on her own bed, the 20-year old grabbing a notebook that sat idly on the nightstand. She kept it as her diary, as something to confide in whenever she’d have none left to converse with. Grabbing her pencil, she began to write her previous experience with the robot.
‘Dear diary….
I’ve had quite the experience today, I may inform you. As I was walking by, my dog, Chubs, jumped out of my arms and began to run, barking as he continued. Little did I know that Chubs ran into a ROBOT! I, personally, view these creatures as quite fascinating; they’re ALIENS—aliens with technology we humans have not developed yet. Now, in the year of 2054, to be exact, we are collaborating with the many robots who reside on Alpha Centauri to create more cities with more efficient technology.
Anyways—turns out I spent a little time with the robot, but then as it turned to leave, I asked if it wished to stay over at my house, but it denied my offer. Oh, well.
‘…I was hoping for a new friend, though. I don’t intend to replace a new comrade with the ones I had before. But…I feel as if I’m missing something. Sure, I’ve got a boyfriend…but he isn’t the type you—or anybody—would want. He’s a great guy, but not a great lover.
Anyway, that’s all. Maybe, just maybe, my life will turn around and things will be better. Maybe, I’ll make some new friends. But I doubt it.’
-Willow
After completing her summary of the day, Willow was quite exhausted, thereby she quickly pulled the covers over her, and she shut her eyes, the two moons above beaming light over the city, and emitting into Willow’s window. Continuously, Willow prayed she’d earn comrades, until sleep claimed her and she embraced it.
Because, to her, the imagination—the dreams— her mind created of the things she longed for seemed more convalescent than the reality of which created the lonely gaps in her life.
4: Questions
Once she completed her daily routine, Willow was eager to prepare her morning breakfast, which included sweet cereal and milk. Before a spoonful of her breakfast entered her mouth, a knock came upon her door. This early in the morning? Willow wondered as she glanced at her clock; it was merely 9:00 in the morning. “Yes? Willow said once she opened the door. Eyes widening, Willow gazed at a man in a business suit, black sunglasses covering his eyes, the man wearing a stone-faced expression. “Ma’am,” the man began, a rather attractive baritone filling Willow’s ears. “Is Jamal Gerrard here? I’d like to speak to him.”
“Uh…yeah, he’s in the room. I’ll go get him,” Willow replied, immediately entering the room. “Jamal!” she hissed. “Wake up! It’s your boss.”
“My boo? Zat you?” her boyfriend slurred, still asleep. “Five more minutes…”
“No!” Willow began to vigorously shake Jamal’s body until he jolted awake. “Whaaaat?” he squawked.
“It’s. Your. Boss! At the door!” The moment those words were uttered, Jamal jumped out of his bed and ran out the room door, regardless of the fact that Jamal only had underwear on. “Oh–um–” bewildered, Jamal’s boss glanced at the boyfriend’s underwear. “Uh, Mr. Gerrad, I’d like to have a meeting with you and…” He gestured toward Willow, who informed him of her name. “...Willow here. It is an important discussion, one that many working at the Damage Control Department of Alpha Centauri may need to take part in.”
“Yes, Mr. Rich. Willy and I would be honored, right, Willy?”
“...Okay…” she replied, perplexed at the fact that Mr. Rich had invited her, who merely worked at a popular designer company, to a meeting in the location of the very department that ensured the safety of Alpha Centauri and its citizens.
“When is the meeting?”
“Thursday, Mrs. Willow,” the boss replied. “It is Sunday, therefore you have three days. See you then.” With a curt nod at the couple, Mr. Rich trailed off, entered his chariot, and drove away, leaving a rather confused Willow, and an exuberant Jamal. “Weird,” Willow said when she closed the door.
“No, not weird!” Jamal replied. “This is the first time in a lifetime that my boss invites me to a meeting full of people at a higher level than me! Don’t ruin this!”
Willow snorted. “How can I? I can’t deny it now. But, do you know what this is about, Jamal?” Her boyfriend meekly shook his head, seemingly clueless as she was. “Anyways, I’m going to go now.”
“Really? Now?” Willow asked. “I thought you wanted to stay here.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I changed my mind,” Jamal replied, grabbing his bags and belongings from the room. “I’ve got a client—someone with a complaint, and I promised to meet her today; we spoke last week, and we had a very relishing and eventful conversation.”
“Bye,” Willow said, fixated on the subject of the meeting. If she were to be approached by a person who worked at the Damage department, then the cause must have been that she herself caused an immense choice that violated the rules. Yet Willow could not recall any violations she created during her stay on Alpha Centauri, for she always abided by the rules, and she continued to pay her bills. She did not create any massifying damages, such as bombing cities or creating a shoot-out. Then, the robot she’d met previously came to mind; a debate was created in her mind to discuss whether or not the robot seemed hostile, and if it had any dangerous, vile intentions, thereby it was not a threat to humanity, or any other Robots. Shrugging it off, Willow decided to continue eating her now revoltingly soggy cereal.
5: Break-In
SAR, ful SAR, of boredom and irascibility, observed the sunrise that could be spotted overhead, past the city. His audio systems could hear the deafening volume of Jupiters and Robot ships in the distance. Once he’d tolerated observing the sun rise agonizingly slowly into the sky, SAR pondered on what should be his next directive of the day; he no longer wished to sit in the cave, yet he did not feel the need to be social, not since his last encounter with that obnoxious human named Willow.
Unfortunately, for SAR, the need to visit her again suddenly arose inside of him.