I Am XIAO: An Inktober Story

DataLog007_ENCHANTED.txt⁣

"How do you know that?"⁣
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"Isn't it obvious?" He shows me the emblem on his jumpsuit. "I work for NASA too."⁣
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"I came from NASA? Then maybe...maybe I WAS sent here for you. If that's true then I'm sorry.⁣
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I...I failed my mission."⁣
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I can't even look Major Chang in the eye.⁣
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"Maybe not," he says. "Once I finish fixing this spacesuit of yours, we can find out more about what you're capable of. If anything, it'll give us a few clues about your actual mission."⁣
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"How much longer do you think it'll take?"⁣
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"I'm not sure. It's usually easy to calibrate an activity suit to a human, but to an android? Let's just say I'm learning as I go. Robotics was always Julia's thing, not mine."⁣
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I'm not sure what else to say, so we just sit in silence for a while. The only sound is of the tools clicking against the delicate wiring in the suit.⁣
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"Hey...do you want to listen to some music or something?"⁣
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"Music? I know what it is in theory, but there are no samples in my default database." I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know anything about it. There's so much I don't know.⁣
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"Well, if I'm gonna be the one to introduce you to music, I might as well start with 'classical'..."⁣
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He presses a few buttons on the main control panel on the ship's dashboard. Immediately a string of melodious sounds flows into the area.⁣
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🎵 Ground control to Major Tom⁣
Ground control to Major Tom⁣
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on...⁣ 🎵
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I close my eyes and just listen, enchanted by the song and its lyrics.⁣
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This song...it's about us! Or rather, it's about someone like us. Fascinating...⁣
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🎵 ...Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong⁣
Can you hear me Major Tom?⁣
Can you hear...⁣ 🎵
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["...CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! PLEASE HELP!!"]⁣
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Huh?⁣
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"What...what was that??" Did I really just hear someone screaming for help?!⁣
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[[TO BE CONTINUED]]