#user: scriptedstories | engineer

[gunsblazin]

Continued from here | @scriptedstories

With a gravely serious nod, Mark takes the screwdriver and approaches the small dog. He sits, crosslegged, and carefully picks up the little friend to look it over. This is serious ! Not the kind of serious he’d been expecting, but saving a little robot dog friend ? Definitely serious.

There are some pieces that have been bent and banged up, but it’s nothing he can’t fix !

“ Where did you find this little guy ? ” he asks, airing a question to fill the silence. Not that he needed it . . . In fact, he’d grown to prefer working in silence. An eternity can do that to someone.

Even by simply turning the android around for a look over, Mark has a plan in mind. There aren’t that many issues that actually need fixing. Those, plus a few minor tweaks to make sure the dog will run comfortably, won’t take too long !

Some of the remaining tension in their shoulders leaks away when he gets to work. Mark seems confident in what he's doing, completely in his own element, and they trust him to get the job done. The Captain sits down across from him and attentively watches as he does his look-over.

They rub their neck in embarrassment, however, when he asks his question. "It was during one of the loops. I'm not sure what planet I was on. He was in a dump heap."

They had seen the banged up robot sitting gloomily among scraps of metal. What were they supposed to do? Not bring him with them? Ridiculous.

"Couldn't just leave him there. I've been calling him Rover, sometimes Apollo 18."

[gunsblazin]

❛ i can’t do this without you. ❜

[ - @scriptedstories , engineer ! ]

@scriptedstories

-

When Mark finds them, they're hunched over in a barely lit room and occasionally emitting a garbled curse. A screwdriver is gripped in their hand, but their large gloves make activities with fine motor skills difficult, to say the least.

They don't notice at first that they're not alone. When they do finally look up, their reaction is immediate. Relief.

"I'm glad you're here. It's been hours and I haven't found the solution." The Captain stands to face him, offering the screwdriver to the air between them. "Please. I can't do this without you."

For how grave and serious they sound, one might think they were speaking of another life or death situation. This is not the case. On the floor is a small robotic dog, clearly broken down and deactivated, rescued from a dump heap on a random planet.

With Mark here now, they're hopeful that they can get it fixed up. He's the Head Engineer! They wouldn't have studied unknown alien technology in the engineering program, of course, but it was worth a shot.

[gunsblazin]

Continued from here | @scriptedstories

Arms propped up nearly to his chest and his arms draped across them, Mark's head leans back until it rests against the wall behind them. He looks up, maybe to avoid looking at the Captain, or maybe to will tears from falling. Maybe both.

As their words are delivered, his eyes fall shut. It's okay to feel like this.

Is it, really ?

Hands hovering without purpose, he folds them together, unable to go long without feeling as though he should be doing something. After an eternity of constant work, sitting and resting felt . . . wrong.

The Captain is there now ! Everything can be fixed !

So why does he still feel so horrible ?

You don't have to wait anymore.

" I thought I was fixing everything. That's my job. In the end, though . . . I trapped us both here. There isn't a ' pushing myself too much ' . "

And it was my job to get everyone through safely. The Captain follows his gaze upwards. At least he's talking to them.

How long have they gone in relative silence, interrupted by the nonsense scripts of other universes?

How long has he gone in silence?

"I don't blame you, you know," the Captain says as quietly as their helmet will allow. They won't admit they're scared that if they talk too loud this place might break and send them both somewhere else.

Their voice turns more firm, however, when they add, "There is a 'pushing yourself too much'. If you run yourself ragged, you'll only get hurt."

They aren't taking their own advice.

"We'll fix this, and when it's over, you should take some time to relax, okay? Captain's orders." The last part is only mostly a joke.

[gunsblazin]

❛ can you forgive me? ❜

[ - @scriptedstories , engineer ! ]

@scriptedstories

-

I spent an eternity in hell rebuilding this stupid machine, and you threw it all away!

They rub their palm where the warp crystal had been ripped out, and stop just as quickly. Mark doesn't need to see that. They don't want him to feel worse.

I don't know if you're evil or just stupid!

"Yes." It isn't verbose, but the Captain means it. He did everything he did because he thought it was right, that it would fix things, putting a bandage over the cracks in the multiverse and hoping it would stick.

They don't think they would have done much differently if their situations were reversed.

"I forgive you." The Captain smiles, even if Mark can't see it. "I hope you can forgive me too," they say. For not being able to protect the colonists and crew. Or him. "For getting here so late."

[gunsblazin]

❛ i didn’t want you to see me like this. ❜

[ - @scriptedstories , engineer ! ]

@scriptedstories

-

The Captain turns their head towards him from where they have quietly situated themself in a sitting position on the floor, and have since refused to budge. If they squint, they could possibly see tear tracks on his face, but they don't need to in order to know something is wrong.

"It's okay to feel like this," they answer. It's okay to take a break. "You don't have to hide it from me."

Machinery thrums quietly around them, all working with absolute efficiency. The engineering team has been hard at work. Or, rather, the Engineer has been hard at work.

"You've been pushing yourself too much." The Captain settles more comfortably against the wall, and squeezes his shoulder if he lets them. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I'm here if you do."