Chapter Text
They thought Robotofu would be their safe haven. They thought their rescue was secured when they started helping Sheila.
But then she went missing, and that's when they realised their mistake. They meddled in affairs that were never to be meddled in, and they paid the price for their actions.
And the punishment? Banishment. Their shuttle was confiscated for parts, and they were launched into the cosmos inside of a small, uncomfortable capsule.
The worst part? There is no set destination in mind for them.
Roughly sixty days ago - or two months ago - their orbital ship was blown up, and they were blown sixty parsecs away from Earth. They thought they were doomed.
Well, they were right after all. Robotofu was supposed to be their new home, but they made the grave mistake of meddling, and now they're doomed to roam the cosmos forever, eventually starving to death, or being driven insane. Or both.
But then again... Maybe it's Emmet's, Baby's, and April's fault they're in this position. They willingly chose to do what they did, despite knowing that the planet had very specific rules in place.
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Emmet is sat with his legs crossed. April is staring out of the glass towards the emptiness of space. Baby is sitting with his knees huddled up against his chest.
They can't exactly say this is the best position they've ever found themselves in. Even being in the escape shuttle was better than this. It's a shame that it was taken apart, and it's an even further shame that they likely won't be able to get back to it.
April's voice breaks the silence that's been filling this cramped area for a while now.
"Do you think we're gonna land on a new planet?" she asks, trying to be optimistic about their future.
However, all of them find it hard to stay optimistic when they've been shoved into a small box and sent off into the cosmos. Not many people would be hopeful in this position.
"I'm not sure... They didn't tell us they had a specific destination in mind for us," Emmet explains, letting out a loud sigh. Baby Bronco nods in agreement. He may not be a bright man, but he knows that they're absolutely screwed with a capital S.
"You're right, actually. I'm not sure how we could get out of this one," April says, still sadly staring into the darkness of space occasionally littered with distant stars.
Baby Bronco and Emmet both glance out of the window, seeing the world they were banished from, Robotofu. That was the planet they were sure would make a new, safe home for them.
But now, it's a world that kicked them off for interfering in things they were never, ever supposed to involve themselves in. They knew the risks, and yet they did it anyways. Whatever happens to them next, it's entirely on them.
They glance around the cramped space they're in. It's very bland, which was probably the entire point. The only thing that's in here is a shelf with ONE soup can, and three masks that look like the one from their escape shuttle. At least they got the bare minimum...
It's not that great, but at least they can survive for a few more days with the soup. Maybe they'll come across a new planet where they can try to start again. Have a shot at a second chance. That's if the planet they end up landing on is habitable enough for humans.
And that's if they ever land on a planet. They might just drift through the void eternally. That's not a very comforting thought, is it? Dying in a cramped space in the middle of nowhere - literally.
Emmet shoves his hand into his suit's pocket, and pulls out a singular marker pen that he forgot he had on him the entire time. Something tells him it could've been useful for SOMETHING during the initial sixty days, but he doesn't know what for.
So, this thing is just totally useless to him. The only thing he can think to do is write on the wall, which won't necessarily be useful to any of them.
Though, it could make for mild entertainment... For a few seconds, anyways. There's really not much they can do in the name of entertainment.
Baby Bronco has his teddy bear.
April Angelle has her beloved screwdriver.
Emmet Ellis has his marker pen.
None of these could be combined to make something even remotely interesting.
Oh, and there's the spoon they've been so graciously provided to eat their singular can of tomato soup with. Then, an idea strikes Captain Ellis.
He grabs the spoon, and takes the lid off of his pen with his teeth, before drawing a simple smiley face on it.
"Hey, guys. Check this out," he announces, making April and Baby look at him. He then proceeds to show them the spoon, which now has a face on it.
"... What?" April audibly mutters in confusion. Baby also seems to be unsure of what Emmet might be planning with this.
"This is... Mr. Spoon," Emmet declares, with a deliberate dramatic edge to his voice.
Both his crewmates just stare at him in mild awe, and also in possible judgement. Obviously, this isn't the worst thing Emmet has done. He's done other things.
... Like deliberately break the rules of a society on purpose, knowing that there could possibly be consequences for doing such a thing. Then again, they're all technically responsible for this, it was a collective choice that they all agreed on.
All of them are at fault, so it's not like they have the room to judge anybody else.
"Are you serious?" Baby asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I am. We've gotta make sure we don't die of boredom somehow," Emmet replies, smirking very slightly.
"I know that, but... With a Spoon? Come on Emmet, you can do better than that, can't you?" April asks, clearly skeptical.
"Look, April. We haven't got much to work with here, unless you wanna talk to the soup."
Silence.
"He makes a good point," Baby comments.
"... I suppose you do, then," April finally says, conceding.
Well, isn't this exciting?
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Several hours have passed, and both Emmet and Baby managed to create a small story with Mr. Spoon and Baby's teddy bear. It was short - as they have limited options for what to do - but they've been left greatly entertained.
The only thing keeping them from being completely satisfied is the fact that they have absolutely zero personal space in here. When this place is cramped, that means it's TOTALLY CRAMPED.
There's only a few square feet for them to work with, meaning that they can barely move, and are constantly pressed against one another. They can't even stand or stretch in here, making it just that little bit worse.
Now, it's just silent, and they're all staring out at the empty void of space.
It's really all they can do at this point. They ate their respective soup rations yesterday in their escape shuttle, so they're not feeling too hungry at the moment. That means they may be able to last a while in this tiny area, and share the can of soup when they need to.
Though they're now out of ways to entertain themselves, and any sort of conversation that they could have, they've exhausted it all by now.
This really does feel like a severe punishment... Though they're lucky that the robots are pacifists.
If not, then they'd certainly have been subjected to a much, much different fate. That makes them think: they'd much rather prefer this over what could've happened if the robots weren't pacifists.
This is just depressing. This was their punishment, to be sent off into space with no set destination, doomed to die in an uncomfortable, cramped capsule that barely fits the three of them.
When you really think about it, it's not really the way you'd want to perish, is it? There are far more glamorous and comfortable ways to die, like being blown up in an epic battle.
This is not an epic battle, this is just them slowly rotting inside of what is essentially a box that's been tossed into space.
They'd be lucky to be driven to insanity before perishing in here. At least then, they wouldn't be in the correct state of mind to worry about their imminent demise. All of this is just wishful thinking, though they absolutely could be driven insane inside of this thing.
That's almost a complete guarantee.
Emmet is just thinking to himself, and he's thinking deeply. Likely about things that he shouldn't be thinking, given the current circumstances the three find themselves in.
Two months ago they departed from their lives as ordinary Astro-citizens, and blasted off into the cosmos with absolutely zero clue where they were headed, and what was going to happen to them.
It's ironic that it's happened to them twice, isn't it?
First time, they departed from the Icarus-13 space station orbiting Earth, because it was about to be nuked alongside the entire Earth.
Second time, they departed from the planet/moon Robotofu because they were banished for tampering in societal affairs they weren't supposed to.
This thought crosses Emmet's mind briefly, but it comes back to the forefront of his mind a few seconds later.
"You know... This isn't the first time we've been launched into space with no way to know where we're going, and if we're going to land anywhere," he says, catching both April's and Baby's attention.
"What do you mean, Cap?" Baby asks, still looking as nervous as he did the moment the verdict for their punishment was settled.
A few seconds of silence, and then realisation washes over the two individuals - they understand now what Emmet is talking about, and he makes a pretty good point.
Emmet continues to speak, now with mild excitement in his tone, and expression.
"Maybe we're not completely screwed. If we managed to land on a planet once in a ship aimlessly wandering through the galaxy, maybe it can happen again!"
April glances downwards momentarily, with a clear frown on her face.
"I dunno about that one... Back then, we had a bigger area to work with, a lot more stuff, and we had the shuttle's A.I. to help us. What we've got right now is a complete joke."
She... Actually makes a fair point.
Although the prospect of them finding a new planet is still up in the air, even if it seems hopeless right now. Maybe Emmet's just being too optimistic, and they're all going to die in a week from insanity and/or starvation and dehydration.
The fact they're all in a cramped space with barely any room to even move a few inches really doesn't improve the morale in here. Maybe they'll all suffocate to death long before insanity or starvation gets to them.
There's a lot of ways they can die in here, and it's far from comforting.
"You guys got any interesting stories to talk about?" Baby asks, clearly trying to improve the mood in what is likely going to be their shared coffin.
"Well, I... Once managed to jerry-rig a car to function for a few hours during a road trip, with a bunch of torn wires and duct tape," Emmet explains, quickly catching onto what Baby Bronco is trying to do here.
April chuckles, clearly trying to think about something other than dying in something the size of a closet.
"You know... I did something similar once, except it was with a bus. And I'm pretty sure it broke down an hour later."
Emmet and Baby both laugh for a few moments at the story. Any sort of entertainment or distraction from their impending demise is good enough for them.
They're doomed, so they might as well make the best of it.
April continues to talk, recounting more details of the story of hers involving that bus.
"It was a school trip to somewhere, can't remember where. When the bus broke down an hour after I fixed it, people began yelling at eachother, and a few argued with me and berated me for not doing a good enough job."
April stops talking, and smirks, clearly wanting to burst out laughing. She doesn't though.
"What is it?" Emmet asks, staring at her expectantly, and with a grin on his face.
"It turned out the bus had ran out of fuel, so my shoddy and improvised repair had nothing to do with the bus stopping."
Both Baby and Emmet chuckle at the plot twist. They really need to have a laugh to distract from the crushing feeling that is the knowledge that they will possibly die soon, and that there's nothing they can do about it.
Well, they could punch the glass until it smashes open, but that would just launch them into the dark void of space and kill them near instantly... Which honestly sounds better than festering in here and being driven to insanity - and then eventually death.
Each of them has already thought about this method of ending their misery, at least once or twice so far. Survival doesn't seem to have a point when it's inside of a space only slightly bigger than the boot of a car.
Things are looking bleak for what is possibly the last human crew in the cosmos.
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It's been five days. They've spent five days in this uncomfortable, cramped space. They've tried starting conversation, but now it doesn't last any longer than four minutes.
They've also eaten the entire can of soup, too. Their bellies are full, but this isn't going to last forever. Eventually, they are going to starve to death in here.
Right now, Baby and Emmet have their eyes closed, trying to get even a moment of rest in this place. Not much luck. The most they've gotten is five minute naps every few hours, which isn't really a great way to live.
April is staring out into the dark void of space littered with distant stars, and that's when she notices something in the near distance.
"Hey, guys, open your eyes," she says, bringing the two back to reality.
"What is it?" Baby asks, staring at her.
"Look, there's something out there."
The men both adjust themselves, moving their heads to look outside, and there it is - a planet nearby. They swore they saw a blue dot somewhere in the distance a few days ago, but they didn't think they were going anywhere near it.
It's definitely not Earth, as they couldn't have travelled sixty parsecs in this small box in a matter of five days.
What they see outside is a planet, that looks a lot like pre-war Earth, except... It's completely covered in water, and surrounded by rings like Saturn's. They can see only a few tiny marks on the planet, signifying the existence of small islands across the vast oceans of this planet.
The three of them are in awe. The sight of this planet is a nice one, and it almost makes them all forget that they're trapped in the smallest prison in the universe.
"Do you think we're getting closer to it?" Baby asks.
April proceeds to shrug her shoulders.
"I don't see that being likely, personally. The chances of us being able to land on a new planet are pretty dang low," Emmet explains, staring longingly out towards the planet. He wants for them to land on this new world, but he's certain that they won't, and that they'll just drift through the universe for eternity.
The small capsule lurches to the side, and a loud slamming echoes through the miniscule space. They have just been hit by a small asteroid. Not enough to cause any significant damage to their small, metal tomb, but enough to be a minor inconvenience to them.
Emmet slams his head on the glass next to him.
"Ow! Urgh..."
"Shit. You good?" April asks, immediately turning to Emmet.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Emmet replies while rubbing the side of his head.
Then, their gazes fall upon the oceanic planet in the distance, the one they know they're not going to land upon.
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They're landing upon the planet.
After another hour of drifting through the darkness of space, they've all watched as they slowly approached the planet. Right now, they're above the planet's atmosphere, and they're about to fall at high speeds towards the planet.
Then, the small capsule bursts into flames as it enters the planet's atmosphere, and everything around them begins shaking violently. The three of them grab onto whatever they can, which is either eachother or the lone shelf.
They have no idea what's in store for them on this planet. All they know is that they were wrong in assuming they were going to die floating throughout space eternally.
They might just die in a week, but at least they won't die in this tiny space. That's a mild relief, even though they're still likely dying either way. But who knows? They survived two months after being blasted into space, so maybe they can somehow manage to survive this one, too.
The violent shaking only keeps on going as they descend towards the planet at an incredibly fast speed. They're definitely going to have a rough landing on this planet, wherever they land.
There's no way this tiny capsule was fitted with a parachute of any kind, since it wasn't planned for them to even land anywhere. Then again, the landing could kill them before they get to do anything, so this might just be a massive disappointment.
Eventually, the flames vanish, but the three are too busy trying to hold on to something to look at where they currently are.
And as suddenly as they entered the planet's atmosphere, they crash down. Luckily enough, in a tall tree. They don't stop entirely, but they are thrashed around even further as the small capsule falls through the leaves and branches of the tree.
This keeps on going for several seconds, but then they finally land softly, with the glass luckily facing the sky. All they can see is a bright blue sky, very few clouds, and the planet's star in the sky.
"Is... Ow, is everyone good?" April asks, rubbing her head. No part of that, in any way, was fun at all.
"I think I'm okay..." Baby mumbles.
"Just fine," Emmet says, his neck cracking slightly.
They all stare out the glass, which is now cracked. They all know what they need to do, without saying anything to eachother. And then, they begin to slam their fists and feet into the glass with what limited space they have.
This window is pretty damn solid, so it's going to take a lot of effort from the three of them to break out of this tin can.
It takes a solid two minutes and the three Astro-citizens exerting as much force as they can, until one punch from Baby Bronco makes the glass crack even further, and then a final hit from April to smash it open.
The glass quickly crumbles apart around them, and they immediately feel a gust of cold air, and then realise - they didn't actually take into consideration whether or not the atmosphere was breathable to humans.
In a swift motion, each one of them reaches for a mask, putting it onto their faces within seconds. The atmosphere might just be perfect for these humans, but they're not taking any chances. That's how you die.
Then again, they've all taken a few chances ever since the bombs exploded, so maybe they're just lucky. Or not.
First, Emmet climbs out, followed by April, and then, Baby emerges from the wrecked capsule last, stumbling onto the solid ground.
What they see first below their feet is sand. They're on a beach of some sorts, and it looks a lot like any beach you'd see on Earth. It feels strange, to be standing upon ground that looks very much like the ground you'd see back on Earth, but it most definitely isn't.
They turn around, and see a small forest. They're on a small island, which seems to be large enough for them to be able to live on for a while.
It's still unknown whether or not this planet has a breathable atmosphere, so there's the issue of eating and drinking, and whether they'll be able to do it or not.
Emmet glances at the trees nearby. While clearly alien, they're green. Maybe...
He reaches for his mask, and takes it off, before taking a deep breath in.
...
And he's not suffocating. The Captain turns to the others.
"Hey, guys. The air's breathable here, we should be fine without the masks."
Upon hearing this, both April and Baby take off their masks, although slightly hesitantly. Emmet's right, they can breathe the air on this planet. What a relief!
They all stare into the small area of trees. Making a shelter for themselves is priority number one. If they want to not freeze in the night, then that's pretty damn important.
Emmet begins to walk towards the trees, and he's quickly followed by his two crewmates - well, they're more friends than simply crewmates now. More than sixty days of surviving together is bound to do that.
As soon as they enter the small forest, they glance around, wondering where to start. What can they even do in their position? It's not like they've got many tools laying around to start on building something for them to stay in.
Even a small shack would suffice. It's a shame they're not too equipped to take on this task.
As Baby looks around, he spots something stashed next to a tree, almost fully concealed by the leaves and the grass around it.
Emmet and April look over, and immediately see what Baby has spotted amongst the foliage. Then they all walk closer, curious but also concerned at the same time.
They're on an entirely unfamiliar world, so being careful is also a priority of theirs. Not like that stopped them when they screwed around on Robotofu for multiple weeks.
Captain Ellis gets onto one knee, and clears away the leaves and grass - amongst other unknown plants - in the way. It appears to be a small box, about the size of a guitar case but slightly smaller.
All the other two can do is watch in confusion. What is this box doing here? It's clearly been left behind by someone or someTHING, as boxes aren't usually natural formations, unless boxes are a natural growth on this planet.
But then he notices something on the top of the box as he puts his hands on it to take the top off. The Astro-citizen logo.
"Woah, is that..." April starts, leaning in even closer.
"Yeah, it is. But... How?" Emmet mutters, glancing back at April and Baby for a moment.
He might as well check what's inside the box. It's highly unlikely that the contents will be a bomb. Or a stink bomb. Or a steaming pile of shit. Or a stink bomb filled with a steaming pile of shit.
None of those would be too particularly great.
With one last glance at his surroundings, Emmet yanks the top of the box off, revealing the contents within. What they see surprises them all.
It's four cans of soup, a spoon, and a small axe below these items. There's also a sticky note on one of the cans.
Emmet grabs the sticky note from this can of soup, and the other two lean in to read what it says.
"SPANK ME TEDDY"
...
w h a t.
"That must've been put in there by accident," Emmet states, before crumpling the note up in his hands and tossing it aside. April and Baby nod in agreement.
They don't know who this "Teddy" character is, they don't know who wrote this, and they don't know why they want to be spanked by said Teddy. All they're going to do is ignore the existence of this note, and pretend they never even once saw it.
This box must one of those boxes sent into space as a peace offering for whoever finds it, whether they be alien or human. Soup is a delicacy across the entire universe, apparently.
When they existed in that space shuttle, it was one entire soup can per person, and with four soup cans here and three people... This won't do. They'll have to cut down on the rations each of them gets every few days.
This'll ensure the soup lasts for a while.
April grabs the cans of soup and the spoon, and Emmet grabs the axe. It's small, but it can definitely work to chop down trees and maybe even be used as a weapon.
It's time to get to work on building a small hut. Or at least something that'll keep them warm when the inevitable sunset happens and it gets dark. There doesn't appear to be any creatures on this particular island, so all they have to worry about is the cold.
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Multiple hours have passed, and the three haven't exactly built an entire small shack... But they've certainly put a lot of effort into trying, so there's that.
All they've built is three walls and a ceiling, tied together with leaves and other stuff they've scrounged up on this island, along with seats... If you can call them that. It's just a bunch of logs, but it counts.
Right now, they're sat underneath the shelter they've built, with a small campfire built nearby, which is keeping them warm. This should keep burning for the next several hours, so they don't have to worry about freezing right now.
Even in the daytime, it's cold out.
Baby is holding his teddy bear tightly against his chest. No matter what situation he's in, it brings him comfort, whether he be in an escape shuttle, in a robot courtroom, or a planet mostly covered by water.
April is fiddling with a few stones she found somewhere amongst the alien grass, and Emmet is staring up at the sky. The sky on this planet reminds him of Earth's sky.
There also appears to be a moon in the distance, just south of the planet's star. They're lucky to have fallen upon a planet that's so friendly to humans, and life. There's a high probability that sentient life exists on this planet, what with the vast oceans and plant life.
But there's something he hasn't thought about yet, that suddenly comes to him - gravity. What's this planet's gravity? Emmet was never the heaviest or brawniest guy around, but he feels lighter here.
He glances at the other two, who appear to not have noticed anything off with the gravity.
"Hey, doesn't the gravity here feel... You know, less strong than it is on Earth?"
April and Baby turn to him, staying silent for a few seconds.
"Now that you mention it... Yeah, I do kinda feel lighter here," April mutters, turning to stare at the rocks in her hands.
Baby nose, having noticed that he also feels lighter here.
"Give me one of those," Emmet demands, before taking one of the rocks from April's hands. This prompts a slight glare from her, but it doesn't last for very long.
Emmet positions the rock on his index finger and thumb like how you'd flip a coin, and then lifts his thumb, the rock being flung upwards.
And, instead of falling back down quickly like you'd see on Earth, it takes a few more seconds for the rock to land back in Emmet's hand.
"Hm, interesting..." he mutters to himself. He's not quite sure how this is going to help them, but it could definitely give him a thing or two to do, like do a bunch of mathematical equations to properly measure the planet's precise gravity.
He could definitely do something like that with his intellect. After all, he used to be a chemistry teacher.
He pockets the rock, and runs over to where they found the axe and the soup, and he picks up the lid of the box, before sitting down and pulling out his marker pen. Seems like he's gonna do some writing on there.
This is their first day on the new planet, and things are looking... Neutral so far. Time will tell whether or not they'll actually survive long enough to learn more about this oceanic planet.
As he writes, a distant rumbling is heard. Emmet, April, and Baby look around at their surroundings, but they don't spot the source of this distant rumbling. When they don't see it anywhere on their small island, they decide to look elsewhere.
The sky, more specifically, and that's when they spot what is very likely the source of the unknown sound.
It's a glowing object, and it looks like it's descending towards the planet at a fast speed. It must be an asteroid... Or a spaceship crashing down. Either is likely, and it's gonna be a spectacle either way.
After several seconds, what the object is becomes obvious - it's a spaceship, or a small shuttle. It seems to look that way, and it looks... Oddly familiar.
But they can't make out why, before it passes over their heads and crashes into the ocean nearby. It lands in a shallow part of the water, just several meters off the edge of the island.
Emmet puts the box lid-turned-equation-sheet, and stands up from where he's sitting, pocketing his pen and taking the axe from his belt. Glancing at the other two, he begins to walk over. Baby and April follow his lead.
As they emerge from the trees, they see the shuttle resting in the shallow area of the water around the island, and there's smoke billowing out of one of the engines.
They all stay still, with Emmet standing with the axe in front of April and Baby. They hear the distinct sound of muffled, angry shouts inside of the shuttle, followed by a loud slam, and then something shattering. A strong of curses follows the shattering.
The three just stand there in equal parts awe and confusion, and a little amusement at the sounds heard inside of the shuttle. This must be a human, because they all recognise the swear words. What a way to discern what's in there.
The hatch facing the sky bursts open, and someone climbs out, before making a wrong step and falling into the shallow water. This all happens before any of them can make out who it is.
They all take a few steps back as the individual crawls closer through the shallow water, unable to get onto their feet and falling over multiple times in the process.
The person is moving too fast for them to make out who it is, but they see blonde hair. That's about it, really. Just blonde hair.
Good to know that they're human, but then they run the risk of this person being a Soviet. If it is, they'll just... Sort that out real quick.
But when the person finally makes it to shore, all of them are shook to their very cores.
Deedee?!
How is she alive?! When Emmet was rushing through the orbital station, he didn't have the time to grab a fourth person, and so the three that were left behind, died. Or so they thought. Because Deedee is very much here, and very much alive... Unless they're all having a collective hallucination.
That could also be true.
The faint scent of coffee manages to make them realise that, no - this isn't a hallucination. Deedee Dawkins is alive, and she's here... Albeit looking a bit shaken up.
"How... How did you survive?" April asks, stepping closer in clear awe.
Deedee manages to climb to her feet, brushing off the sand from her cyan spacesuit. She doesn't exactly look too... Happy, for some reason.
"There was another escape shuttle in the station."
The three look confused.
What?" Baby asks, being the most confused out of the three.
Deedee raises her eyebrow at this response.
"... You guys didn't know it was there, did you?"
They admittedly didn't realise there was a second escape shuttle in the station. That, or they just forgot in the panic of a nuclear war going on.
It's definitely the latter.
"Is it... Just you?" Emmet asks hesitantly.
"Yup. Just me."
That's not exactly the best, but at least one other person survived the station's explosion. That brings the three a small level of comfort, even if it's just a small amount.
Now, it's the four of them. Deedee sure does have a lot of catching up to do, doesn't she?