Fly Far, Fly Fast

2275- Adams Airforce Base

“Looks like the initialization sequence is complete” a voice behind me exclaims.

I scan my surroundings, assessing the organic beings and buzzing electronics around the room. Two humans in long white coats bustle about, checking a series of terminals and dials. The female strides over to me with a smug expression on her face. The woman has hair that is neither brown nor grey but a muddled combination of the two. “We're going to have some fun with you,” she mutters to herself in a low voice. Something about the way she's eyeing me makes me very uneasy. Pushing up her thick glasses she surveys me closely, writes a quick note on a clipboard, and moves on to the next Eyebot in line.

Surveying the lab around me I see two large screens on the front wall flashing various colours and showing bits of information about each of the Eyebots they have just awakened. Scanning the list for myself I see: ED-A (active) ED-B (active) ED-C (active) ED-D (active) ED-E (active) ED-F (processing)

ED-E, that’s me! All of my systems are functioning within normal parameters. It doesn’t look like all of my brothers are awake yet. ED-F to ED-J are still inactive or processing their initialization sequence. To the left and right of the screens sit two tables, each filled with beakers of brightly coloured liquids and bubbling chemical solutions. Along the left wall, I see a bank of 10 recharging bays that must be for us. The right side of the lab is filled with desks and bookshelves. On each desk sits a terminal, although some appear to be broken or disassembled for spare parts.

A younger-looking human stumbles into the room, spilling the pile of books she carried onto the floor. A large book glides to a stop in front of me. The cover reads Big Book Of Science. The girl rushes over, hastily gathering her scattered books and note pages. The tag on her white coat states that she is Junior Lab Assistant Tara Kennedy.

“I’m so sorry about the mess Doctor, I was just a bit… over-enthused. I rushed over as soon as I got the memo that the project was up and running!”

Looking over his shoulder distractedly the male scientist says, “It's fine Tara just grab your notebook and make sure you get as many detailed notes on the project as you can.” He seems to be the one in charge here.

Glancing up from a nearby terminal the older woman announces, “The Eyebot Duraframe Series is officially active now doctor, all systems are fully functioning. We are ready to proceed on your order”.

“Haha! Alright, Dr. Grant. Thank you for your assistance” he says turning toward our small army of Eyebots now hovering in a uniform line. “Well class, my name is Dr. Whitley. Let’s get to work!”

The first month of the project flies by in a blur of testing and adjusting our combat tactics and override efficiency. Hacking into the easy terminals is fun. Whitley always looks so proud of us. We work hard to improve our speeds and keep him happy as our tests become more complex. Dr. Grant never seems to be happy, she’s only interested in improving performance and no marked improvement is ever enough for her.

The days that Grant is out of the lab are always more fun for everyone. Sometimes Dr. Whitley even plays training games with us instead of running our usual tests. He taught us a stealth training game that the humans call hide and seek. First, we have to locate a sufficiently hidden place to avoid detection and if we are all caught then the humans will hide from us and we must practice our tracking techniques to locate them. Tara and Dr. Whitley always seem to have great fun in these exercises. They laugh and run when we find them singing some old rhyme about a gingerbread man. Those days are few and far between, but I sometimes wonder if that is what it would be like to live with a real family.

After a few months, our test panels have reached military-grade encryption levels. Those are… less fun. Pushing ourselves to the limit nearly causes a critical overload of our key systems. I almost lost several brothers to a combustive fate during these trials. If Dr. Whitley hadn’t intervened and shut down the tests I may have been rubble myself. I'm sure if Grant were in charge we would have been blown to pieces under the pressure to increase our performance. Dr. Whitley seems to understand the pain we feel pushing our systems to the limits. He empathizes with us. Grant only sees what she wants to see, unfeeling machines for her to toy with. She is a cold woman, utterly determined to prove herself at anyone's expense.

In stark contrast to Grant, Jr. Lab Assistant Tara has been a friend to me. She often stays late in the lab working on her notes and studying the big stack of books she keeps on her desk. I’m supposed to shut down fully to recharge at night but I sometimes stay awake to watch her work. Humans are such fascinating creatures.

One night she worked so late that she was the only one awake in our entire sector. I got curious about where the humans go when they leave at night so I snuck off behind her when she finally left her desk. The corridors were dark except for a few dim lights every 30 feet or so. Tara checked over her shoulder and slipped into a room I had never seen before. Hovering in the shadows outside the door I observed Tara’s strange new behaviour. She was fiddling with an old projector screen in the corner. Suddenly the projector sprang to life and bright coloured images danced across the screen. I recognized the image immediately. It was an EYEBOT! I watched in awe as the screen began to display moving images and a voice rang out from the speaker "RALPHIE, hurry! If mean old General Winters catches you, you'll never make it home! No! RALPHIE, fly far! Fly fast!"

I drifted closer to the screen trying to get a better look. In my distraction, I bumped right into the door frame producing a metallic clang. Tara nearly jumped out of her skin! Whipping around to see who the spy is she falls out of her chair and lands with a thud. Jerking her gaze upward Tara’s eyes blaze with a moment of confused anger. Taking in my shuddering form cowering in the shadows her eyes soften. “Now who do we have here?” she says coming over to check my series code. “ED-E huh? What are you doing out of your bay so late little buddy?”

I gesture toward the large screen by pointing my canon and beep excitedly, hoping she will understand.

“Ooh, you like Ralphie do you? Me to” she smiles at me “come on over here and I’ll show you how the projector works. Your systems should be able to connect to it so you can playback any episode you like. I stored every episode I could get my hands on in this projector's memory bank. It wasn’t easy but I’ve been collecting them for years and I almost have every episode now! This has to be our little secret though, alright ED-E? I probably shouldn’t be encouraging you to disobey your standard shut down commands but… I think your special little friend.”

Tara taught me how the projector worked and then settled into a chair a few feet back from the large screen in the center of the room. “You can join me for this episode ED-E but then it's back to your recharge bay alright?” She pulls a red and black box out of her pocket and pops it open. Reaching into the box she grabs a small round object and tosses it into her mouth making a loud crunch. Looking closer at the box it reads Spring Valley Potato Crisps. Another one of their strange human customs I suppose. I hovered quietly beside Tara, watching the episode as she had called it. When it ended and the screen went black once more Tara turned to me and chuckled. “Time for bed mister,” she said smiling as she rose to her feet and headed to the door. “Remember this is our little secret okay?

After that night I snuck out of my bay often at night to watch those old episodes. Ralphie is a brave eyebot on a grand adventure. His greatest foe, General Winters tries to stand in his way but Ralphie faces him with bravery. The evil General reminds me of Grant, always doing whatever they want with no regard for anyone else. I wish I could be a brave adventurer like Ralphie someday.

One night Dr. Whitley can’t sleep and came back down to the lab for some late night work. Noticing the light seeping through the door he leans into the dark room. My sensors pick him up immediately and I duck down in front of the chair. I think perhaps if I stay very still he won't notice me. I was always pretty good at hide and seek. He watches me in amusement for a minute or two before loudly clearing his throat. Oh no, I’m busted! I thought I was in big trouble, but as he surveys the scene before him a smile spreads across his face.

“ED-E what are you doing in here all alone, and who left these old videos playing? Come on let's get you into your recharge bay. We've got a big day tomorrow.”

END EPISODE 1

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This series is fan fiction based on characters and events created for the Fallout video game series owned by Bethesda.