Onward, Into Darkness

[cyan_maid]

[Around dinnertime, when everyone has gone to their rooms and had their time to think about the day, a note is slipped underneath your door. It reads:

I've made soup for everyone tonight.
It would be a kindness if you were to come to the cafeteria and partake.
- Jane

And, true to the letter, when you enter the cafeteria, you're hit with the distinct smell of pumpkin. There's a large covered pot on one of the tables filled to the brim with a sweet pumpkin soup full of carrots and sweet potatoes, a ladle beside the pot, and a stack of bowls and spoons. There's even enough cutlery for Bolton and Jamie to come, if they want to show up - Jane is, if anything, an excellent host. Please help yourself! There's plenty more! is on a folded bit of paper beside the pot, but where is Jane?

Well, the kitchen door is propped open, and she's very diligently working on scraping out the remains of a huge, tasty pumpkin and setting the seeds aside. She sniffs every once in a while, and her face is a blotchy mess, but she's still going. Having something to do seems to keep her from diving too deeply into despair.

Just...don't let her, or yourselves, be distracted forever.]

Comments

[ratherdoweddings]

You hadn't developed commercial space travel either, right?

[refusedtoleave]

No, my husband was looking forward to it. I don't think we'll have that for a while though.

[ratherdoweddings]

You must miss home, with how different this is. Margulis-san told me once that he suspected that most of the people here had never been to space because they picked people who would get homesick.

[refusedtoleave]

I think he said the same to me. The whole thing sounded so unbelievable, but here we are. And I've gained a robot.

The Doctor says he might be able to get some information by taking them apart but I don't know if he's tried.

[ratherdoweddings]

You mean the robot vacuum cleaners?

[refusedtoleave]

... Yes. They act strange...

[ratherdoweddings]

They seem normal to me, but they are supposed to clean what they're programmed to.

[refusedtoleave]

They seem normal? They crash into everything... And spin around if you touch them.

[ratherdoweddings]

Oh, that's because they're just made to clean! So they'll go according to the pattern set or until they run into something.

[refusedtoleave]

If that's the case. Then why have them serve the food? Or my one?... Neither seem very good at cleaning.

[ratherdoweddings]

I'm not sure about yours. It just seems to be made to protect you.

[refusedtoleave]

I know... If I tell it to stay, it doesn't move at all. If it tell it to follow and sit down, it goes under the chair.

[ratherdoweddings]

That just seems normal to me.

[refusedtoleave]

Compared to the others? I've only seen it bump into something once, and thats because I put books in front of it.

[ratherdoweddings]

But it's programmed to protect you instead of clean. It's like... think of a real dog. Some are bred and trained to protect a house, or sheep or something, and some are just supposed to be in your purse.

[refusedtoleave]

That makes sense... There might be more types we haven't seen yet. [You're continuing Ricky's legacy of making Natsuhi think more of the roombas. Congratulations?]

[ratherdoweddings]

I wonder if they can program them to do anything?

[refusedtoleave]

I think these computers are capable of doing anything at this point.