Beep

Chapter Seven

"Stuff like this doesn't just happen for no reason!" I told Raymond as we all stood in the main room.
"I know, I know. But so far we haven't been able to find the reason, for any of this."
"I've found it. It's an evil computer named ISAC!" I shrieked, unable to contain my emotions any longer.
"Andy, Andy honey, you have to calm down." Iris said, grabbing my arms to hold me in place.
"Calm down? Are any of you even listening to me?"
"Andromeda, please." ISAC begged.
"Oh no, don't go playing the nice guy now, it's too late!"
"Okay that's it, you're out of here." With that, Iris singlehandedly dragged me out of the room. Only when we got to my room did she let me go. "I'm muting ISAC so he can't talk to you and you can't talk to him." She explained, her tone harsh. Then she sighed. "I understand, Andy. I really do. It's not easy to torn away from someone you love. I'm also not so sure about ISAC's innocence. But you have to stay level headed, okay? This isn't helping anyone." I opened my mouth to say something, but she was already out the door. Yes, she was right and I knew that. Yes, I was hurting more than I was helping. Yes, yes, yes, yes... yes. I let out a groan and then collapsed onto my bed. With another groan I grabbed the nearest pillow, covered my face and let out all my aggression; it was surprisingly effective. Finally I decided that what I needed was sleep, real sleep. So I did.

I woke up barely even sure what year it was. As I stumbled out of bed, I struggled to remember what had led my current situation. Nevertheless, I opened my closet, for the moment pretending everything was normal and that I knew what was going on. "What do you think ISAC, silver, silver or si-" Then, all at once, it came flooding back. All the anger from yesterday had left me though, so what I really wanted was to see if the communications were fixed yet. Forgetting about putting on new clothes for a moment, I headed towards the door. It took only one push for me to tell that I was locked in. "What?" I asked aloud. "I didn't even know that was possible!" That was real smart of them, lock the girl who was already pissed off inside her room. I knocked for until my knuckles hurt, but no one came. With a sigh I looked around my room for anything that could help me. That's when I remembered the few pieces of paper I kept in my night stand in case of... well, I guess in case of something like this. I used a sheet to write a, uh, strongly worded letter and then slid it under the door. Now all I could do was wait and hope one of them noticed it.

My hope drained and patience drained after about an hour and a half, until I heard rustling coming from outside. I perked up instantly as the door opened, and I have to be honest, Turner was the last person I expected to see walk into the room. "You got my note?" I inquired.
"Yeah, Iris said I shouldn't let you out, but I'm a rebel."
"Does she think I'm some kind of wild animal or something?" I questioned, half joking and half concerned it was true.
"Of course not, we just haven't solved the problem yet and she doesn't want you freaking out again."
"Well, it's nice to hear she has no faith in me." I remarked sarcastically.
"Do you wanna maybe... come out and join us?"
"Will her royal highness be okay with that?"
"She'll have to be." I smiled at that and followed him out into the hallway.

He led me to the main room, where Raymond was hunched over the mainframe computer and Iris was sitting next to him, looking hopeless. When she noticed me her eyes popped open. "Don't worry, you don't have to call the zoo keeper." I told her.
"Hey, if you're talking about-"
"Listen, it doesn't really matter, okay? Let's just get this fixed."
"Believe me, I've been trying to do that all morning." Raymond put in, sounding exhausted.
"And all night." Iris added.
"It must be an exterior thing, there is absolutely no interior damage." He concluded. "So I'll go out and check." Turner volunteered.
"Ha ha, right. Sorry Turner, but I think I'm better suited for this one." Iris said.
"Neither of you will be going, I will." Raymond told them.
"I-I can't let you do that."
"Iris, you know I am perfectly capable."
"Please Raymond, don't make this harder than it needs to be."
"You're the one making it harder."
"I only want to protect you, okay?"
"How is this protecting me at all?"
"Raymond..."
"Say it."
"No."
"Say it."
"Come on, Ray."
"Say it!" He demanded.
"I don't want you to go out there and have a panic attack in the middle of space, all right?! We both know you'll do it too." Now he just stared at her with nothing but fury.
"I'm going, end of discussion." The sheer fire in his voice really did shut her up. "I'm heading down to the airlock, make sure you have the security camera footage up on the mainframe computer to keep an eye on me, wouldn't want me having a panic attack or anything." He remarked bitterly just before leaving. I released the breath I'd been holding through that entire fight. Even though Raymond was out of the room, you could still cut the tension with a knife.
"I'll uh, I'll pull up the security footage." I said, awkwardly making my way to the computer and pulling up the footage. Iris turned away from the screen, arms crossed. After a minute or so, Raymond appeared on the camera, looking angry but determined. He pulled on one of the eight available space suits- one for each of us and an extra for each of us- and I had to admit, he looked pretty badass. The suit was sleek and white, and way less bulky than the previous models. My mind began to wander as I wondered what Evans would look like in a suit like that, but I quickly pulled myself back to reality. He allowed the airlock to depressurize and then prepared to open the hatch and walk out into space. I was simultaneously nervous and jealous. None of us had ever been outside the ship before, one because we never needed to and two because space is not a playground. Turner and I watched the hatch slowly open as Raymond took his first steps off the ship. We couldn't see too far outside the ship from the camera, which I didn't like at all. "Do we have an exterior camera?" I asked.
"Probably." Turner responded. "ISAC, you on that?"
"Yes, but it's going to take a little while to active." I waited impatiently as the camera booted up. When the image appeared on the screen, I was instantly amazed. It was just so big and black, empty but full. Of course this wasn't the first time I'd seen the outside, but when there was a man who looked so tiny in comparison floating out there, it was a brand new view. Speaking of that tiny man, he was freaking out right now. Not in the way Iris expected, but in unbelievable joy. God, I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like out there. He floated his way to the antenna on the top of the ship, enjoying every movement. Even as what he did became mundane- inspecting the antenna and stuff- my eyes were still glued to the screen. But soon, the inevitable bad news hit. I could tell that he wasn't happy, because nothing was wrong (which, admittedly, sounds pretty odd). His trip back to the ship was a lot less fun and magical than the trip to the antenna, but there was nothing to be happy about now. I took a long, deep breath before speaking my careful words. "So it's not an interior problem and it's not an exterior problem either. Now, I'm not going to point any fingers, but there are only so many possibilities as to what this could be." I was doing extremely well at keeping my aggression at the very least passive.
"Andromeda, I've told you plenty times that I'm innocent." His tone was just as calmly strained as mine.
"Fine, that's fine. But-" I'm not sure what caused it, but in that moment I broke in a different sort of way. I fell to my knees and started balling. "I don't want to blame you, but I also don't want to loose Evans. I don't want to be angry with you, but I can't let you get away with this. I don't want to believe it, but I know you're lying to me. So go ahead, lie. But please, if not for me, for you conscious-if you have one- bring him back." It was a begging, pleading attempt at persuasion. When he didn't respond, I forced myself to my feet; weak, but not quite broken. Before storming away, I said, "Screw you, you heartless machine."