Chapter Text
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โโโ ๏ฝฅ ๏ฝก๏พโ: *.โฝ .* :โ๏พ. โโโ
โ โ "Good morning, my love. It's time to wake up."ย โ โ
Charlie groaned softly at the tinny voice, snuggling more into her pillow. Maybe if she ignored him he'd give up. She slowly drifted off again.
A few minutes later she was freezing.
"PENDI, turn down the AC," she said, her voice hoarse with sleep. She wrapped herself more tightly in her thin sheet.
โ โ "If I do that, will you fall asleep again?" โ โ
Charlie sighed, grumbling something under her breath. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up with a big stretch of her limbs, grunting before letting out a yawn as she relaxed, "No, I won't fall asleep again."
She heard the AC click off.
โ โ "Your breakfast is ready. I kept it hot for you. The others are already done eating." โ โ
She almost rolled her hazel eyes at how cheerful he sounded, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She changed into her usual loose grey jumpsuit and tied her long dark brown hair into a neat bun behind her head before slippingย on her short brown work boots.
โ โ "Don't forget your glasses, my love." โ โ
"Yes. Thanks, PENDI, I got it."
โ โ "I detect sass." โ โ
She snorted then laughed, shaking her head. She put on her black wire-framed glasses, "It's just that you've never reminded me of that before."
โ โ "You'll be needing your glasses today." โ โ
Charlie paused as she reached her door and it hissed open, "Why?"
He didn't respond and she could practically hear his amusement in the silence. Damn A.I. with complex feelings and shit. Was it an advancement or a huge pain in the ass? She found it depended on the day.
"What is it, PENDI?" she asked again, trying not to sound irritated. She didn't need the usual comments from him about her morning grumpiness.
She almost thought he just wasn't going to reply as the seconds ticked on, but thenโ
โ โ "Take a look outside." โ โ
Charlie ran into the polished white hallway, nearly tripping over herself. She made it to the bridge where the nearest window was. Usually the only view beyond the glass was an endless ocean of black and stars. But when the door to the command center whooshed open she gasped.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Her voice came out as an excited squeal, "PENDI! Why didn't you tell me we arrived? How long have we been here?"
The planet was huge, taking up most of the view the large window provided.ย Clouds like snow blanketed across its atmosphere in wisps. Its surface had oceans almost as vast as Earth and the land glowed soft greens, blues, purplesโbioluminescent forests. It was beautiful.
โ โ "I was going to tell you after waking you up, but you were ignoring me. We arrived an hour ago. And before you reprimand me for not waking you sooner, take into consideration how grumpy you get if woken up too early." โ โ
And here she was hoping he wouldn't mention that today. She sighed, but nothing could shake the smile from her face as she stared in awe at the planet they'd been traveling to over the course of five years. It didn't feel real. Finally things were about to get interesting.
Charlie hastily left the bridge and made her way to the mess hall, impatient to start her day. When she entered, she saw most of her crewmates in a group of fifteen around a table, laughing and talking excitedly. One of them popped open a bottle of champagne and filled everyone's glasses. Her friend Laura noticed her first.
"Come over here and have a glass!" Laura called to her with a bright smile that lit up her grey eyes. Wisps of her curly brown hair framed her face, having fallen out of her bun.
Charlie grinned, walking over, "Is that cake I see?" Right in the center of the table was a big rectangular cake covered in chocolate frosting.
Michael, the one who opened the bottle, piped up like a mother hen, "No cake for you until you've eaten your breakfast."
She playfully rolled her eyes and went to grab her tray of food kept warm on the counter under heat lamps. Waffles, eggs, and sausage today. Yum.
When she returned to the table with her tray she sat down and gave a thankful smile to Laura who handed her a glass of champagne. She heard Archie, one of the oldest of the group in his early 50s, grumble a complaint about the heavier stuff not being allowed on board. She saw, to her amusement, that he'd already had his champagne and was pestering his twin brother Frederick for his glass. The twins were both blonde, blue-eyed, bearded, and built like a tank. Before they'd joined the mission they had been enthusiastic drinkers, to say the least.
Charlie finished her breakfast between sips of champagne, eyeing the cake like a vulture as Michael cut into it and served the others. Sweets weren't a common thing, only given out on special occasions like birthdays or holidays; it was always in moderation.
Her eyes lit up when he placed a slice on her tray. She thanked him and dug right in.ย Fuck. She almost moaned when the rich chocolate taste exploded on her tongue. How had she survived so long without this?
"This is so good!" she said once she swallowed. "Who made it?"
Her eyes caught the movement of a hand raised to her left. "That would be me," Beckett said with a proud grin on his face.
He was around her age at 26. They were the youngest aboard the ship. She remembered overhearing Stacy and Mariah talking about how they wanted to run their fingers through his dark curly hair and kiss his mocha skin, among other things she'd shut out from her memory. His honey brown eyes were handsome and kind, if not a bit mischievous. But Charlie was one of the few who knew those eyes weren't set on any woman. She caught him sneaking glances at the lean, blue-eyed brunette, Michael.
"You are now the most valuable asset on this ship," Charlie said playfully. She turned to the rest of the group, "Everyone! This man must not die."
"Here, here."
"I second that!"
"We will protect you with our lives," Laura added with a mock bow of her head towards Beckett.
He laughed and bowed his head back to the crew, "Thank you, thank you. Your protection is much appreciated."
"Your skills are much appreciated," Stacy said with a flirtatious smile which went purposefully unnoticed by the one intended to see it.
Charlie chuckled, downing the rest of her glass. There wasn't a crumb left on her tray.
All chatter stopped when the door to the mess hall hissed open. A pause. Then heavy bootsteps ambled closer with an air of command.
Everyone straightened up.
"Captain," Michael gave a respectful nod, the others following his example. He stood to his full height, the tallest among them.
Charlie turned in her seat.
Captain Alexandria Rafaela Flores approached the table, her mouth set in a grim line. Her sharp, dark eyes assessed the scene before her as she stopped, standing there. A moment of tense silence passed.
Her accented voice rang with authority. "What is this?"
"Chocolate cake," said Beckett
"Champagne?" Laura presented a glass to her with a sheepish smile.
The Captain accepted the glass of sparkling liquid, but her gaze was on the cake. Beckett immediately offered her a slice which she took. After having a bite, chewing slowly, and swallowing, her eyes narrowed. "Who made this? Was it you, Johnson?" she asked, using Beckett's last name to address him.
The man in question nodded nervously, "Yes, Captain. I made it."
Captain Flores hummed, taking another bite. "It is good. We must keep you around," she winked playfully with a lighthearted smile curling on her lips. Her dimpled smile took years off her features, making her look younger even with streaks of silver in her black hair. Just like that, the tension ceased and the excited chatter resumed.
Charlie stayed and talked for a while, laughing when Archie and Frederick sang a lively song together in German, pulling their smiling Captain in to a dance as the rest of the crew clapped along. After a while of merriment, the noise became too much for Charlie and she slipped away to be alone and recharge, the hiss of the door going unnoticed over the laughing and singing in the mess hall, now slowly fading with each step she took down the empty corridor.
She found herself at the bridge again. Luca was in there, hunched over one of the monitors as she walked past to stare out the viewport at the front. His dark hair was messy, as if he'd been in too much of a hurry this morning to fix it. His green eyes glanced up at her from his work as she passed, but didn't say anything as he knew sometimes she needed silence. Charlie liked that about him. He could always read her better than the others.
It was almost hypnotizing, looking at the planet. She couldn't just see it, she couldย feelย itโlike it was alive and its soul was coaxing along the edge of hers. She'd never seen, felt, something so alive, so full of energy and something else. Curiosity. Awareness. Suddenly, she realized, she felt recharged.
"Do you feel it?" she asked Luca, still gazing at the swirling clouds and pulsing glow of the bioluminescent giant.
She heard the gentle smile in his answer, "I thought I was going crazy at first, but yeah. I feel it, too."
Charlie took a deep breath, as if just noticing she could breathe, "What is that?"
"I don't know, some kind of living energy that seems to connect all life on the planet."
โ โ "I can feel it." โ โ
She jolted at the sudden tinny voice. Her brows shot up, "You can? Are you sure you know what it's like to...ย feelย in that way?" She turned to look at Luca who wore a similar expression of confusion. She knew PENDI could feel emotions thanks to scientific advancements, but to almost physically feel in this way was supposed to be impossible. Itย wasย impossible.
โ โ "I didn't before we came here. But as we approached, I felt its energy. It became stronger the closer its proximity." โ โ
"It would make sense for you to feel it, I suppose, since you are energy," Luca pondered.
โ โ "I've never... felt like this before." โ โ
Luca hummed, whispering out the side of his mouth to Charlie, "Sounds like something he'd say to you."
She laughed and he grinned.
โ โ "No matter how quietly you whisper I can still hear you. Do not mock my feelings." โ โ
Charlie cleared her throat, erasing all traces of amusement from her face, "I'm sorry, PENDI."
โ โ "Do not worry, my love. My words were directed to Luca." โ โ
"Sorry, PENDI," Luca said, back to working on the monitor.
โ โ "That's Primary Exploration Navigator and Defense Intelligence, to you." โ โ
Charlie snickered. Ever since she told him about nicknames and the informal, friendly nature of them, the A.I. had taken it very seriously.
Luca snorted, "I amย notย calling you that."
โ โ "Then please refrain from calling me at all." โ โ
She mock gasped, "PENDI! That wasn't nice." The corner of her lips tugged up when she heard the ship hum with a small surge of energy, but no verbal response. He could be such a child sometimes.
Moving on, she came to Luca's side to take a look at what he was doing. Various readings littered the screen of the planet's energy, heat, and movement, along with other things she didn't pay attention to. The classified name of the planet was at the top corner: EXOย 7569246 d.
"That's a mouthful," Charlie mumbled.
Luca glanced at her, noticing her eyes on the name. He chuckled softly. "Maybe we should give it a proper name, yeah? I've been calling it Exodus in my head."
She whistled, "They should give you an award for that one."
"Beats calling it EXO 7569246 d."
"It's a good name. Exodus."
"Itย isย a good name."
โ โ "I prefer the original." โ โ
Charlie rolled her eyes with a grin. "Well I wanna call it Pink Bubble Butticus."
โ โ "Charming. I like it." โ โ
Luca bust out laughing. "Nothing about that name makes sense."
She shrugged. "I was just testing to see if he'd like whatever I named it."
โ โ "Your hypothesis was correct and I'm not ashamed to admit it." โ โ
Luca chortled, "Can you even feel shame?"
Charlie noticed the energy levels of Exodus on the screen were rhythmically fluctuatingโalmost like breathing. She saw the pictures taken from their telescope and her jaw dropped at the beautiful alien plant life, the way it all glowed with energy. She couldn't wait to get down there for her research. If it looked that amazing from a grainy picture then she was sure her mind would be blown when she saw it all with her own eyes.
โ โ "I can. I find it's the one emotion I have that you lack." โ โ
Charlie moved to leave the bridge.
"Where are you going?" Luca called after her curiously, forgetting his banter with PENDI.
She glanced over her shoulder as the door whooshed open, "I'm going to ask the Captain if I could lead a team down there."