Presenting: Alice

[Cairath]

~I was bored and all these people with their synthetic apps made me write this. Not exactly the finest piece of writing, but I felt like it was worth posting~

With the silent ‘woosh’ of an airlock opening, two men garbed in brown from head to toe pushed a tall crate out of their docked ship and onto the unloading platform in the requisitions department. These two cargo technicians gazed at the peculiar crate. “Yo, Kailey, come here, did you order this?” One of them uttered, calling out for someone from across the room, his hand cupped lightly and planted against his cheek to form a makeshift funnel for his voice.

From around the corner stepped out a person dressed nearly the same as the two technicians that dragged the crate off the ship, albeit a tad more formal, her hair clamped behind her in a low hanging ponytail. Presented with such a crate, the woman lifted her clipboard from her chest and checked through the many requisition forms, unable to find one that matched the crate. “Not sure about this one guys, could be a mistake. Or maybe something worse?” The requisition officer pondered, her free hand scratching an itch that appeared behind one of her ears.

“I would like some MPs to the Requisition bay please. I’ve got a suspicious crate here.” She said soon enough over the security channel, the two technicians next to her now examining said crate and scanning it, seeking any kind of indication as to what it might contain or why it was there.

It was the warrant officer’s voice that flared up on the security channel soon enough, an all too excited response coming through as “On my way, Ensign!” It wasn’t too long before the warrant officer was indeed in the requisition office, with two members of the military police in toe. Clad in black and red and with a devilish smile plastered on her face, the chief of military police rested her right hand upon her security belt, raising her eyebrows and pointing towards the crate with her other hand.

Taking this as some form of confirmation that it was safe to open it, the two cargo technicians attempted to pop the side open using crowbars, but failed miserable. A magnetic lock bearing the Weyland-Yutani logo prevented any form of tampering or opening of the crate. Seeing as the two were unable to pop it open, the requisition officer decided to place her trust in two other members of the crew, calling out for them on the command channel “Corporate Liaison, Chief Engineer, could you please make your way to the requisition bay?”

After a few more attempts to open the crate and a few less than funny jokes from the warrant officer went by, the chief engineer and Weyland-Yutani representative entered the room. A more vibrant contrast could not exist. Chief engineer Phil Mc’Alistair was a tremendous man with a matching beard, his suit stained with oil and sweat and his webbing overflowing with tools. Corporate liaison Conrad James was a clean cut, lean individual with a stainless suit and a briefcase in hand, adjusting his tie in an all too snobby fashion once inside the bay.

Before the chief engineer could get to work unlocking the crate, Conrad stepped in front of it and uttered “It does appear that Weyland-Yutani’s latest contribution to this corp of yours has arrived. Pleases stash those tools away, Lieutenant Commander Phil, I shall unlock this crate.” And that he did, a quick swipe of his ID turning the red light on the lock green and releasing the crate’s locking mechanisms with an audible ‘click’.

The door swung open and white packing peanuts fell in a mound before them, the contents of it prompting quite the reactions from those present. A slender woman clad in a white and greysuit was present there, her milky skin and platinum hair almost unmatched while her figure could be misconstrued with that of a feminine man due to the lack of curves. “So W-Y’s shipping their corpses here now?” The warrant officer remarked in a snarky manner, her gloved hand raised to hide her mouth as she laughed.

Dismissing the chief’s joke with a shake of his head, the corporate liaison said “This, my beloved crew members, is one of Weyland-Yutani’s synthetic assistants, yet another gift from our most benevolent company to this world. Hello, Alice.” Conrad walked around in front of the crate while talking, turning towards it at his last words.

These words solicited a response, the robot’s eyes flitting open to reveal two baby blue eyes. Her thin lips parted to utter “Hello, Conrad.” in a peaceful, calm voice, her eyes moving their focus slowly around to take in everyone’s reaction. Not that most of the talked or had any reaction beyond amazement and bewilderment to such a fact.

The chief engineer’s gruff voice was heard soon enough “So this is a robot? What can she do?” the man shifting around in his place, a bit uneasy with the display of life from a machine.

The response did not come from the liaison, but from Alice herself, the woman turning her head to respond “I can do almost anything that can be possible asked of me, I can carry objects that humans might find too heavy, I can work in areas too dangerous for mankind to tread, I can set up a fusion engine, I can perform surgery and so much more, you need but ask, Chief Engineer Phil Mc’Alistair.” The woman gestured around upon uttering these things, her hands mimicking very rough representations of the actions she described.

“Is she safe?” The warrant officer asked, stepping forward to the point where her face was an inch or two away from Alice’s face, her hands behind her back at this point, her smile coiling up into a grin, expecting an answer.

“Warrant Officer Victoria Vile, I assure you, I am bound to Marine Law and would never harm a human.” She replied, her eyes latching on to Victoria’s gaze and staring into her bloodshot orbits.

“Alice will, from now on, work aboard the Almayer and aid our crew in every way we need. I have already discussed with the Commander about this and I am sure we’ll make good use of her. For now however, we had best allow her to boot up, her personality core might not have fully kicked in yet.” The liaison remarked, stepping away and motioning the cargo technicians to take the crate away when Alice followed him.

The last words Alice spoke before she stepped out of the bay with the liaison were “You all belong to me, and your safety is my prime concern.”, a few words that made the requisition officer uneasy and the chief engineer chuckle.

[Boltersam]

Just like Alice, we're down the rabbit hole my friend.

[Butterrobber202]

Jokes on you, I'm panicking about my synth app and this is not helping my low self esteem

[Mook476]

This is pretty hot I like it.

[Chuckachu]

Love it!