The Chosen Outsiders

Diane's POV Chapter 4

           

There was a low rumble that reverberated through my inner metal structure. It suddenly felt like the whole world fell underneath me. Red warning lights flashed in my lens and once again there was that strange feeling referred to as fear. I scanned the walls to make sure that they weren't closing in around me. They was a plain white color that illuminated the room. The lights casted a sickly glow on everyone's faces. The rumbling grew louder and I felt as if I were about to fall to pieces. I tugged at my hoodie strings again. I continued my inspection of the room. The area wasn't very large considering that it could barely fit the four cots and toilet. The toilet didn't even have walls or a door for privacy. The only barrier between it and everything else was a thin curtain. I glanced over to see Wolfy holding her ears as if in pain. Trying my best concerned voice, I asked her what the matter was. All I got in response was a low groan. She crumpled up the now empty bag of chips that was next to her. I snatched the tablet off her lap before it fell. I placed it in my backpack for safekeeping. My motor started to whir as I began going through the possible causes of her pain and in the end I settled on it being from the air pressure. We had just left earth's atmosphere meaning that it would hurt less in a couple of minutes. Although, her ears where heightened due to her body modifications which worried me. Worry was practical for me. It led to the wellbeing of those I cared for, even if it wasn't intentionally placed there. I rubbed her back hoping to give her some comfort. I watched as Rain crawled out and plopped onto the cot across from us. She covered her face with a pillow. I called out for her to come over. She sighed and sat up, then immediately notice Wolfy's condition. She rushed over. We both sat next to her. I was on the right and Rain on the left. Wolfy looked up to see both our worried faces. I noticed that she'd probably hate all the attention. I got to my feet feeling the fake gravity pull at me. I expected the glare from her eyes, and looked down at my shoes. I walked over clumsily to my backpack and unzipped it. My spare hoodie and jeans were neatly rolled up at the bottom. On top of them was my cleaning rag. Every robot made particularly from metal had one. Then there were both of our tablets. I handed back hers cautiously. She yanked it from me greedily. I zipped up my backpack again and dragged it over to the cot left of the door panel. I stared at the backpack for a couple minutes, not knowing what else to do. Suddenly the door opened and a guard stepped in. The look on her face was full of disgust. Did she know what we were? She cleared her throat and in a very aggravated voice she informed us that there would be a meeting in the commons area at noon. Before we could ask where that was, she abruptly turned and closed the door, her fancy coat tail swishing behind her. Rain seemed the most shaken by the guard's behavior and let out an annoyed huff. I took out my tablet and began searching the tabs for a map. I blocked out the noise around me while I searched. According to my mental clock it took about three minutes. Apparently the commons was right beneath us. I found it interesting that the ship had four levels. This lead me to believe that this ship was meant to hold a lot more people than we'd previously seen at the NASA building. I turned off the tablet and informed the others about what I'd found.

-Roughly 45 minutes later-

"Hey. It's time for us to get going." I stated. Wolfy looked up from the game she was playing, and pinned her ears back. I stared back at her this time. She let out a sigh and set down her device. Rain was already by the door. We all began walking down the hallway. The color was the same as in the room. Blank white. It wasn't very wide either. Two people could walk shoulder to shoulder but nothing more. Rain and I where walking in the front and Wolfy in the back like usual. I looked back making sure she was still there. She noticed this and I went back to focusing on the path in front of me. The echo our footsteps made was soon drowned out by chattering people. The chatter grew louder as we approached the latch in the floor. I assumed it led into the commons. I twisted the handle and pulled it open. I hesitated a minute to glance at my friend's faces. They both seemed to be full of anxiety. I returned my attention to the latch. Before giving myself time to reconsider being in a crowd of discriminatory humans, I climbed down the rungs of the ladder. I looked around the much larger than expected commons area. Rain came down then Wolfy. We all gawked at the insane number of people swarming around us. It was easily twice as many people than in the building. Wolfy automatically found a secluded spot to stand. Rain followed her and I decided to further investigate what the meeting was about. I also decided to pull up my facial recognition in case I stumbled across the guard from earlier. As I searched the crowds I saw a man in a plaid shirt and cargo shorts. I walked a little closer. He looked at me for a brief second and looked back down at his tablet. He looked up again as I continued walking towards him, he seemed annoyed by my intrusion, "What do you want, girl," he snapped. I calculated the proper response in my head and proceeded to say, "What exactly is this gathering for?" He scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. "No clue. They're late though. It was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago." I thanked him and began making my way back to the others, having to shove past a few people who were too preoccupied on their tablets. Once I finally reached them, the lights started to dim and everyone fell silent. A woman in a fancy suit walked on the makeshift stage. She spoke in a dreadfully monotone voice.  "Good evening. You all must be confused as to what this meeting will be about. If you could all please direct your attention to the screen, the captain has a message." Slowly, a large glass screen descended from the ceiling. The woman stepped down and the screen shimmered to life. As I began to process what was presented before me, my programming faltered. The humans had all frozen in place. Our feeling must have been mutual.

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Quick little note: Hey! I am so sorry it took me so long to upload my chapter. Thank you dear readers, and have a wonderful day!

-SeafarerAD