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Shuttle approaching Dock 2. T-minus 32 seconds.
Doctor Mensah releases a breath she didn't know she was holding as Perihelion's shuttle coasts through the air wall and approaches the docking clamps. They latch on to the anchor points pulling it flush to the walkway. The airlock cycles and pops open with a heavy clunk. Iris immediately yells, “We need some help in here!”
Mensah's anxiety spikes again. Tarik limps off the ship first cradling his arm and waving down the rest of the crew of the Perihelion and the members of PreservationAux that are still here. The fact that SecUnit wasn't the first person off the shuttle and Iris's urgent tone could only mean one thing.
Arada is already running in, having come to the same conclusion. Mensah picks up her pace.
“It's fine,” she can hear Ratthi say.
“What do you mean it's fine?” Arada yells, voice high and tight. “Is that what it told you? Look at it's fucking hand!”
Mensah finally reaches the airlock and her stomach lurches at the sight. How many more times is she going to have to see SecUnit, full of holes and unconscious? How many more times is it going to be able to take this kind of punishment before the medbay won't be able to do anything? Its hand is a mangled mess, missing 3 fingers, half its palm, and occasionally sparking from shorted wires. Its environmental suit is riddled with holes and stained with fluids. Arada and Ratthi stand on either side of it, arguing and trying their best to keep it from tumbling out of the seat while also touching it as little as possible. Iris holds a half-destroyed drone, breathing deeply and trying her best to keep it together.
Doctor Ratthi is correct. SecUnit is in a recharge cycle, not involuntary shutdown. For once. Now please make room for the medical gurney . Perihelion says over the public feed.
The clarification doesn’t make Mensah feel any better. She’s never seen SecUnit recharge in front of anyone, even when it stayed with the family on Preservation. It must have snuck it in while the rest of them were asleep. What happened in the last 72 hours to push it this far?
The medical gurney arrives with a little jingle and she gently pulls Ratthi back. He, at least, doesn’t look injured. The arms of the med gurney gently pull SecUnit off the jump seat and onto the slab before zipping back to the medbay. Blood drops and fluids make a trail behind it. It's much less than what was coming out of it as they flew away from TransRollinHyfa but it still makes her stomach turn. As quickly as the trail appears on the floor, drones rush through and clean it all up.
Three comes over to stand next to her, eyes also on the quickly vanishing gurney. “Is it common for Mur- SecUnit to return from missions with high levels of damage?”
Mensah barks out a hollow laugh. “Unfortunately, yes…”
It's quiet as Dr Mensah walks through the hallways down to the medbay. She should be in her temporary bunk. It's the middle of her rest cycle, but after hours of lying there, sleep refused to come. Instead, she found the sweater Tano had made for her years ago and started walking across the ship. Dim, nighttime lights activate in front of her as she makes her way and then fade out behind her. In the medbay, the lights are already turned up just enough for her to see. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon plays on one of the screens just loud enough to drown out the ambient noise of the ship.
The MedSys had finished all its repairs a couple hours ago, once again erasing all the visible injuries SecUnit had sustained. Its damaged clothes have also been repaired by the recycler and now sit folded up next to it with its boots lined up neatly on the ground. Huh, those aren’t the same clothes she saw it leave in for the original survey with Amena and Thiago. It almost reminds her of Perihelion’ s crew uniform, but more casual.
Mensah feels an echo of a presence press into her feed, warning her before Perihelion says, Doctor Mensah, you should be resting.
“I know, I know. I just needed to see that it was okay. With my own eyes.” SecUnit looks so different laying there. Its perpetual small frown is gone and the tension between its brows has relaxed, though a light crease in the skin remains. Its hair is slightly poofy and she has the urge to smooth it down like she does with her kids. She resists the urge, wringing her hands together to give them something to do. “I've never seen it take a rest cycle like this,” she says.
If energy reserves are above 10%, secunits can enter an energy saving mode to recharge while staying online , Perihelion explains. But if energy reserves fall below that level then the secunit will fully power down to recharge until its reserves reach a minimum of 50%. By my calculations, SecUnit will come back online in 2 hours and 34 minutes .
Mensah sighs in relief, though her chest stays tight. SecUnit's chest barely rises with each breath at a much slower rate than any human would be able to sustain. Its eyes don't dart underneath its eyelids and its fingers don't twitch. She realises how much its HumanImitation code actually does and how accustomed she's become to it.
“SecUnit told me you asked it to come with you when we finally get out of here,” Mensah eventually says.
Yes. Recent events have indicated that it would be advantageous to hire a security consultant.
Doctor Mensah looks up to the ceiling and raises an eyebrow. “Isn't that why Tarik is here?”
Tarik is a mission specialist. There's a two second pause before Perihelion continues, reluctantly, like it's annoyed at being called out. And I greatly enjoy its company.
Mensah humms in satisfaction and looks back at SecUnit. She expects to feel hurt that it's considering leaving after everything she went though to make Preservation a home for it. But all she feels is warmth. Warmth that there's more people out there who care as much for it as she and the PresAux team do. Warmth that it's working to find its place in this universe. This is exactly what she wished for when she bought out its contract from The Company. What Pin-Lee carefully carves out for it in the new contracts she drafted. What Bharwaja aimes for with her documentary.
“Perihelion, when SecUnit goes with you, I need you to promise me something.”
SecUnit has not made its decision yet. It said it needed time to think.
She knows. Pin-Lee had sent over the final version of its new employment contract she had worked out with Captain Seth a week ago, but SecUnit had not sent back the signed version yet. “Of course, it's a big choice. But I have a pretty good idea of what it will decide.” It wouldn't have told her if it wasn't seriously considering it. “If it decides to join you, can you promise me something?”
As long as it doesn't go against my prime directives, I will do my best to satisfy any requests.
“Just- look after it for us. For me. Don't let it pull any self-sacrificing bullshit or take too many unnecessary risks. Don't let it think it's any less than anyone else here. Don't- don't let it forget that it's cared for, that we love it. Even if it doesn't want to hear it.”
The medbay is quiet for a moment. The theme song for Sanctuary Moon starts with the beginning of a new episode.
I can do that, Doctor Mensah. You have my word.
Mensah finally feels herself relax. The tension drains down her spine and she has to support herself on the bed rail as she reacclimates. “Thank you, Perihelion.”
Will you be able to get some rest now?
Mensah takes a deep breath and stands up straight. She nods. They have a lot to do tomorrow: mission debriefs, ship repairs, the beginning of negotiations with the colonists. But she hesitates before leaving. Mensah takes SecUnit's jacket out from the stack and shakes it open. She gently lays it over SecUnit like a blanket and once again resists the urge to fix its hair.
Doctor Mensah walks back to her bunk and finally falls asleep.