Mission Zero

--A Problem--

Anubis was sitting in front of the giant window on the main deck- they weren’t in the form of a dog anymore though; that appearance was specifically tailored to Aaron’s preferences. However, such appearance made it hard for Anubis to get around and physically interact with things. So, instead, they now appeared as a feminine figure with dark skin, long brown hair with highlights, and golden eyes. They wore a very old-fashioned black and white dress- similar to a maid’s- for what reason, who knew?

They were monitoring the mapping center before they heard a noise behind them.

“Are we there yet?” Questioned Sora. She shouldn’t have been awake-

There were others, too- Rue, Maxi, Mabon, Allestor, Blake, and Josh. They came into the clearing of the main deck, just as confused.

“And who are you?” Sora questioned with an odd perk of excitement.

“Oh nonono-'' Anubis suddenly spun around, as if just assessing the situation. “What happened? None of you are supposed to be awake-” They looked amongst the others, who were changing out from their haulsuits.

“We have a whole ‘nother two months to go before we reach a planet!” Anubis was in panic mode, not knowing what to do.

The ship had an automatic system that made the tranquilizer and kept everyone asleep- Anubis had no access to that system. However, they realized that everyone who was currently awake came from only one quadrant.

“Holdonholdon- Alright; so all of you came from the corner section right?’ Anubis questioned aloud and only received ‘yeah’ as an answer from Mabon and Blake- both whom made themselves comfortable on couches with the others.

Sora was pacing around the pole, thinking.

“It appears that there’s been a malfunction of sorts then.” She noted a soft mumble arising through the rest of the group.

“And who are you?” She asked again, finally getting Anubis’s attention.

“Uuuh- Rightright- calm down..” Anubis was talking to themself. “I am Anubis! The Monarch Explorer’s tangible hologram AI!” They reintroduced themself, taking a pleasant bow with a flourish of their skirt.

“No dog?? Where’d nunu go??” Josh and Sora almost spoke together- though the nickname was entirely Sora’s fault.

“That form isn’t easy for me to get around in- this form is my personal preference. The dog is what Aaron likes, and as captain, I do what he wants first.” They explained briefly. “Anyhow, I suppose the newly-awakened can introduce themselves?” Anubis offered and Rue stood up from a plush chair.

“Me first!” She smiled. She had short, curly hair that was a reddish brown color. She wore a poofy shirt with a pink bow around the neck and a black corset overtop that matched a lacy black skirt. She had a light Scottish accent as she spoke. “I am Rue, I am here as an astronomer.” She greeted, though seemed to get shy as she looked down at the floor and sat back down. “That is all..” She ended, mumbling slightly.

Blake stood up next, giving a casual wave as he tiredly looked around the room. He had tanned skin and black hair that was pulled back into a bun. He wore a deep brown button-up shirt with a loose yellow tie and black pants. “Here I go-” He muttered to himself, as if preparing. “I’m Blake- I’m just a general scientist, sort of like the team’s datakeeper and researcher. I’m here for my daughter first and foremost.” He stated plainly, though his expression softened at the mention of his daughter. He sat down promptly, leading to silence as the others looked at each other for confirmation on who would go next.

Allestor sighed deeply, standing up slowly from their comfortable spot on a beanbag chair. They had a feminine figure with short, slicked back hair that was black and had a red accent in the front. They wore red and black makeup as well- though moderate and only applied to the eyes and lips. They wore a baggy red shirt with a long-sleeved fishnet underneath and black ripped jeans. Not to mention their piercings- they had an unusual amount compared to some others- with spider bites and at least five ear piercings.

“I’m Allestor- Just your average techie.. Don’t bother me unless you HAVE to- I’m not paid enough to deal with bullshit.” And with that they plopped back down.

Mabon was the final one to rise. He was a dark man who had short, spiky black hair with yellow accents. He also wore makeup which was black, yellow and gold around his eyes in a typical, old Egyptian style. He wore a black sleeveless turtleneck with a golden pentacle design on the back and black cargo pants that had some golden accents as well. He gave off an air of confidence as he spoke with a deep voice.

“I’m Mabon- I’m the crew’s climatologist.. My field of study looks at the pattern of weather over time. I’m not sure how long we’ll be on each planet, but I’m sure I’ll be helpful in our expeditions.” He finished, though remained standing as Anubis redirected their attention.

“Okay.. so, It’s two months. There’d be no point in me putting you all back to sleep, even if I was able to. The ship makes new tranquilizer two weeks before we’re supposed to land because that’s how long it takes for the ship to produce it by itself- I can’t override the system to make it happen any sooner.. So, I guess you can all just help me around the ship. There’s not much else to do- though, food’s sort of important for you guys now, huh.” Anubis sort of splurged, still sort of trying to get a hold of the situation and come together with a concrete plan.

“I’ll have the food covered.” Maxi volunteered- thankfully, considering they were one of the people who were supposed to deal with rations in the first place.

“Okay.. And just to make it known, I don’t need food. That aside, the only thing that you guys can really do around here is help me with maintenance.. So, I guess just get comfortable and prepare to be bored.” Anubis finally joked, feeling a little more at ease now.

Everything seemed to go relatively smoothly, until Maxi approached Anubis with yet another problem.

“Alright.. So you know how part of my job is to ration? Yeah.. even if we ate like once every other day, there wouldn’t be enough food for the seven of us to last the entire 2 months- I expect about a month and a half at best with meanger rationing.”

And that sent Anubis straight into panic mode.

“What do you mean there’s not enough? Don’t we have cloned meats and the garden?” Anubis looked at them incredulously.

“You can come look with me if you don’t believe it, and I can give you all my math on it. But, I’m just warning you. I might be able to pull a miracle out of my ass, but there’s a fat chance of it. And, the cloning system works like how you described the tranq system- it doesn’t really function while we’re in haul-mode. So.. Unless you can override it..?”

“Of course I can’t..” Anubis said dreadfully, looking in the direction of the rest of the crew- who were playing odd games with one another on the main deck. “There has to be something? Maybe there’s some unused tubes that’ll activate-” Anubis whimpered, but to no avail. They knew that there were only 24 tubes- from how many times they had walked into that room to feel a little less lonely. “I’m just an AI to monitor the ship and take care of failures… which is odd, considering this is a major failure and I can’t access anything to fix it.”

“That’s just the fault of the people who designed the systems then. If there’s nothing you or I can do about it, then I guess just try not to worry about it. There’s no use in making everyone else panic.” Maxi started to walk away, but looked back and gave Anubis a wink. “That’d just create some crazies~”

Anubis tried not to let that comment bother them, but couldn’t help but feel like there was something off- maybe an ulterior motive. However, they let it go.

‘There’s no point in worrying yourself to death.. Being this emotional will only lead to rash decisions.’ Anubis thought to themself before going to join the group once more.

“So.. since I can’t put you back in your tubes, I’ll open some rooms for you all to stay in.”

“Mind if I just stay out here? I’d rather not make myself comfortable in a room before I was supposed to.” Mabon spoke up, having humble intentions.

“Sure.. I can understand- and that means I only have to open three rooms. It’ll save energy.. Energy; oh hell I forgot about that too-” Anubis gasped, rushing over to the comms center. They touched the screen in a couple places, getting it to display general levels in the ship. Energy was where you’d expect it to be under normal circumstances- though with people being awake, that’d mean it’d drain faster. “Oh jeez- we need to be as conservative as possible, otherwise the ship will just die out here and we’ll all be left to float in no direction.” Anubis stated sternly, making it clear how dire the situation was.