Planet Bound

by R. A. Mejia

  An image of a giant talking and singing plant flash through my mind. Maybe I should have named it Audrey? I shake my head to dispel the image. “You learn anything else?”

  “That’s about it, but I will continue to study the scans I took of the alien creatures.”

  “So, what’s next on our agenda?”

  “What do you mean, John?”

  “You know, our goals. My big goal is to get off the planet. I know that you’ve expressed a similar wish, but what about till then? Right now, we have all the materials we need to survive. Sure, the oxygen will run out eventually, but we found a new source to replace it. I’m good for food and water as long as we can make ration bars, we’ve taken care of the electricity issue with the solar cells, and now that we have a supply of oxygen, we can make more. So, we have survival taken care of. What’s next?”

  “I see what you mean. Now that the issue of living is taken care of, you want more quests to keep you busy. Well, you could continue to gather resources and stock supplies. Additionally, you could do more exploring with the expanded capacity of your suit. Beyond that, I can have you work towards specific projects that will make the ship run more efficiently and with greater capacity. The same can be done for your suit. I have a few personal projects to work on that you could also gather resources for.”

  “Personal projects?”

  “Yes. I’m a bit tired of being confined to the ship or just seeing the world through your suit’s sensors. I’m only in the design phase, so I won’t give details, but if you could start stockpiling resources, it would help when I start the test phase of the project.”

  I consider the request. SAI has been an amazing assistant in my own goals and helped me survive. Heck, if it wasn’t for her, I’d have suffocated after the ship crashed.

  “Sure, SAI. You just tell me what I need to get and we can start to work on gathering the resources.” A display on the wall near me lights up and test flows across the screen.

  Quest: Gather materials - 112 kg Iron, 34 kg Silicon,

  Reward: Gratitude of SAI and a surprise reward

  Reading the quest reward, I find I’m intrigued. “What is the surprise reward, SAI?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”

  I guess she’s right. Not knowing what I will get will make things more exciting. Besides, it’s not like I have a lot of other items on my schedule right now. I get up, replace the oxygen pods on the recharged suit, and put it on.

  The easiest place to get iron is the crystal forest. Every 10 kg of Annite can be broken down into almost 6 kg of iron and 2.5 kg of oxygen. While there is also a minor amount of silicon in the Annite, a much better supply is found in the sand around our base. I there, taking along the large collection bag and a shovel. The work is very tedious, and I ask SAI if she has any music in the ship’s library that she can play over the speakers in the suit.

  “I’m sorry, John. That portion of the central database was damaged, but I have the crew’s personal music and audiobook collections. Would you like to listen to something from that?”

  “Sure.”

  What followed was a series of songs and stories that revealed the personalities of many of the crew members. Some rather intimately. Crewman Yoe, the kind woman that helped save me from my damaged cryopod, was apparently a huge fan of Turian Death Metal and romance novels. She had an extensive collection of audiobook files of stories about galactic harems, alien shifters, historical romance set in old 20th-century Earth, and the fantasy romance collections of Scottie Futch XXII. Other crewmen had audio files that were a little more towards my own taste. I liked crewman Dean’s collection of old Earth musicals and crewman Krout’s stories about sentient dungeons.

  Crewman Joseph seems to have made a journal of sorts. At first, I’m hesitant to listen, but I remember that the man was one of the people that came back for me, even if he was a little surly. He was jettisoned into space with Crewman Yoe when the ship was attacked, and I may be the only person that will ever get to hear his thoughts again. So, I listen. The man complained a lot about life, especially how unfair the captain was towards him, tacking on extra duties for small infractions. But he also loved his family, especially his mother. He made sure to send her money whenever he got paid and called her once a week. He had had a few girlfriends, but none of them stayed around long. He also seemed to like to gamble and was wildly excited the few times he ‘won big,’ as he put it. From later entries, however, it seems like the money he won never lasted long. He also seemed to have a crush on Crewman Yoe, yet he never worked up the courage to tell her. His last entry in his journal indicated that he’d finally struck it rich, and after this last trip, he would be leaving the ship for greener pastures. It’s kind of sad that he never got his chance.

  After gathering the requested resources from the stone forest, SAI is finally ready to unveil the results of her personal project. She has me wait in front of the fabricator as it finishes working, and when I finally open the door, there, sitting in the middle of the fabricator, is what can best be described as a palm-sized robotic spider. It has eight mechanical legs covered in white plastic attached to a central body that has a single red lens facing me. I’m so surprised to see the thing that I take a step back when it starts to awkwardly skitter towards me.

  “You don’t like it?” SAI asks.

  I continue to stare at the small mechanical spider and without thinking and say, “No.” Then, realizing what SAI asked, I quickly correct myself. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t like it. I’m just not sure what it is.”

  “It’s me.”

  “What?”

  “I told you that I was tired of just passively watching the world through your suit, so I designed a robot based on the resources available on the planet, that I could use to explore and interact with the world.” The little spider robot lifts one leg and waves at me as SAI continues, “See, I’m waving hello.”

  I wave back at the thing. “If this is your new body, then why is it so small? I can’t imagine that it’ll be very useful.”

  “You’d be surprised at how useful a small robot like this could be. But, you are correct: this is only one of several designs I plan to test. I don’t want to devote too many resources to anything larger until I’ve decided which I want to use as my main body. I may still keep the other designs around and repurpose them as simple droids, but it’ll take some time to test things.”

  “Oh, so you’ll be making more of these?”

  “That’s correct.”

  Visions of hundreds or even thousands of these tiny robotic spiders crawling all over the ship race through my mind, and I involuntarily shutter. But not wanting to be unsupportive, I say, “Well, I’m glad you’ll have your own body soon.”

  “Thank you. But since you’ve technically gathered the resources I need, you’ve completed the quest I assigned.” A familiar song plays through the ship, and the words CONGRATULATIONS YOU’VE COMPLETED YOUR QUEST appear on the screens around me.

  I laugh when I read them. It never ceases to surprise me how much effort SAI goes through to keep up the quest mechanic she’s using. But, I’ll admit, the little rewards and notifications do something for me. I always feel a bit better when I get a ‘quest complete’ notification.

  “Since I completed my quest SAI, what about that secret reward you promised me?”

  “Of course, John. I always keep my promises. If you’ll just close the door to the fabricator, I’ll make your reward.”

  I close and seal the door and look at the display next to the fabricator, but SAI insists I turn around so that I can’t see what she is making. I comply with an exaggerated sigh, but I’m secretly enjoying the theatrics. I think half the fun of a surprise lies in the mystery surrounding it. While SAI fabricates, my mind ponders the possibilities of what she could be making. Could it be a new space suit? No, we don’t have enough iron for that. Maybe a new tool for me to use? Or maybe new clothes? I just hope it’
s not socks. My tía Maria always got me wool socks for Christmas when I was a kid, even though my family lived near the beach, and I always wore sandals. I’d have to wear those itchy socks all day with my sandals and suffer with sweaty feet.

  A ding sounds over the speakers and drags me away from my thoughts, and I excitedly turn around and open the fabricator. There, sitting on a large ceramic plate, is one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. A thick, sizzling-hot T-bone steak next to a big pile of mashed potatoes with gravy. The T-bone is beautifully caramelized on the outside, and the mashed potatoes look fluffy enough to sleep on. I carefully pick up the plate and notice the utensils next to it and grab those too. I take my time smelling the food as I sit on the floor and just stare at the dish.

  Then, before it starts to get cold, I take the knife and fork and cut into the steak. My knife cuts into the meat like it was butter, and pink juice runs out onto the plate. My mouth waters as I put the slice of meat in my mouth, and it practically melts there. My taste buds explode with delight, and I moan and roll my eyes back into my head as I chew. The mashed potatoes are almost as good, and the pure starch and gravy mixture sends shivers through me with my first bite.

  Around a mouthful of food, I say, “I haven’t had a good steak in ages. The last planet I was on didn’t even have cows, much less steak. Even on Luna, importing it costs too much for it to be a regular staple. The last time I had it was when I took my wife out for dinner on our 5th anniversary last year. SAI, how did you ever come up with this? I looked through the fabricator schematics before, and there were no patterns for any food items, just the basic rations.”

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying your special reward, John. The truth is that I had to create the schematics myself. I researched organic structures from our medical database and combined that with top-of-the-line food descriptions. I recall you mentioning that you wished you had a good steak the first time you ate one of the ration bars and thought that this would be a good reward for helping me to get the resources I needed to make a body for myself.”

  I cut another piece of steak and mix it with the mashed potatoes this time before eating it. “Oh, god, this is good. If I can get this again, I’ll gather enough resources for you to make a hundred robot bodies.”

  “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. I could use your help testing the prototypes, though.”

  I’m still marveling at the perfection of this beautiful steak with its many flavor notes. “Anything! Just make me more of this.”

  “Well, I’m afraid we can’t do this as an everyday meal. It costs as much as making a week’s worth of rations, but as an occasional reward, it’s possible.”

  SAI is silent for the rest of the meal, and I enjoy every bite of meat, every ounce of juice, and every bite of the mashed potato and gravy. I actually lick my plate clean. After all, who is here judge?

  I go to bed that night, fully satisfied in both body and spirit. I dream of small anthropomorphic T-bone steaks and fluffy mashed potatoes swimming and playing in a gravy lake.

  —————

  It only takes a couple of days to test the various robots SAI has designed while I continue to gather resources, restore the solar cells I salvaged, and improve the ship. First to get tested is the little spider robot, and while it’s a bit awkward to coordinate all eight legs at first, SAI whips up a custom program that coordinates the limbs while moving. Add in tiny versions of my magnetic boots at the end of four of the legs, and the spider robot proves to be great inside the ship. The little bugger can walk up the walls and crawl through the ship to get to areas I could never reach. With the little guy’s help, I’m able to repair several areas of the inside of the ship and improve electrical efficiency by 5%. Its tiny spider arms even helped me secure some of the smaller connectors for the replaced solar panels. Unfortunately, the robot just doesn’t do as well outside. There’s something about the various ways the robot’s legs sink into the sand that just makes it unable to move well. Additionally, its low-steel frame makes it easy to damage, and SAI has to replace the spider bot several times before she gives up on it for her main body.

  A humanoid design turns out to be even harder to coordinate. SAI describes trying to walk in the robot like perfectly coordinating a series of falls forward and openly wonders how humans are able to accomplish anything with such a design. I laugh and tell her we had several hundred thousand years to work the kinks out.

  SAI tries to surprise me with a combination design of a spider robot with extra human arms, but the moment I see it, I instinctively smash the small creepy thing with my boot. SAI doesn’t even get mad, she just checks it off as not being viable because of its incompatibility with the fragile human psyche.

  Two designs that work well get full-sized versions to test: a small helicopter drone SAI pulled from some archive and a rolling ball. The helicopter works perfectly as an aerial scout, and since we haven’t seen any flying creatures on the planet, it’s perfectly safe in the sky. The only drawback is that the battery has limited range and isn’t powerful enough to do anything else besides scout.

  The rolling ball design is about the size of a beach ball and comes up to my thigh when I’m standing next to it. It is actually several layers of carbon plating that looks like a gyroscope and provides the rolling bot balance and a movement system. It’s a tough and powerful robot that followed me to the stone forest where it not only helped me harvest more oxygen- and iron-rich Annite, but even carried a larger chunk than I could. Sure, it was dragging the rock behind it, but wasn’t slowed by any terrain we encountered. Not only did the rolling bot work great as a carrier, but it was a good assistant too. It actually has a core inside that can house various tools.

  What I’m especially impressed by is SAI’s ability to coordinate several of these robots at once. Within a local range around the ship, she can simultaneously control up to four robots, letting her complete tasks no one robot could do alone.

  I’m under the ship, trying to repair a faulty pipeline SAI thinks are affecting efficiency in the environmental systems. I’m using the sonic tools on my suit to loosen a bolt on a pipe so that I can remove it, deconstruct it, and fabricate a replacement, but the moment the bolt comes of, something shifts above and the pipe comes crashing down. I only hear the screech of breaking metal and catch a flash of movement as something falls, and everything goes black. I wake up in a strange bed covered by a thin blanket.

  “Please remain still, John. You’ve been in an accident.”

  My head hurts, I feel groggy, and my speech comes out a bit slurred when I try to speak. It takes a couple of tries, but I finally ask, “Where am I? What happened?”

  “You’re in the medical bay. You’re still coming out of anesthesia, so you’ll find it hard to talk for a few minutes. You were in an accident. Do you remember trying to repair the ancillary vapor reclamation pipe under the ship?”

  “The what?”

  “It doesn’t matter if you remember what the pipe did. It turns out that pipe was the only thing supporting the weight of a very heavy and very large motor that had broken free of its housing during the crash. When my robots found you, your right arm was completely pinned under the engine, your suit was compromised, and you were bleeding profusely.”

  Her description of the event doesn’t make sense. If it was that bad, how am I here now? Shouldn’t I be dead? “I feel fine though.” I raise my hands and arms in emphasis to prove that I feel fine, only to see that my right arm isn’t my right arm. At least, it’s not the one I was born with. From the shoulder down is a matte-black artificial arm. I stare at it as I curl and uncurl my fingers. Part of me is amazed at how all the visible micro-motors on the surface move so smoothly, and yet another part is just in shock at seeing my normal arm gone.

  SAI continues her account while I stare at my new limb. “My robots had to sever your right arm and seal your suit because you risked suffocating from loss of oxygen. They then pulled your unconscious body to the
elevator and then to the medical bay. Once there, I took control of the auto-medic system and scanned your body for injuries. You had multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, cranial fractures, and you were bleeding internally. I cut away your suit and sealed off the severed veins and cauterized the lost appendage. You went through several surgeries, but you were brought in quickly enough that I was able to save you. Nanites are still mending your bones, and I suggest that you take it easy for the next couple of days. The nanites will be flushed from your system once their tasks are completed.”

  I wave my new right arm in the air and ask, “The arm? How did I get this?”

  “Well, the ship does not have the capacity to regrow your arm. The best that I could do was use the fabricator to make you an artificial one based on the designs I’d come up with for my humanoid robot. I used the auto medic to remove the small part of your upper right arm and surgically add the nervous system connectors that allow you to control the arm just like you do normally.”