“It’s joking.” Ratthi managed to sound like he completely believed that. “That’s how it looks when it’s joking.” He sent me on the feed, Stop joking. Gurathin sighed and rubbed his face and looked off into the distance, like he regretted all his life choices that had led to him standing here right now.
[ID: a drawing in soft orange, yellow and green, showing three people. Dr Gurathin is closest to the viewer, facepalming, burying his entire face in his hand. He wears a button up shirt. Right in front of his right elbow is a drone that seems to be looking at him. In the middle is Murderbot, staring blankly ahead, standing around kind of awkwardly. It wears a hoodie and has a drone floating right beside its head. To its left and most in the background is Dr Ratthi, gesticulating strongly with a forced smile on his face. There’s another drone hovering just above his left hand. He wears a tunic with embroidery on the collar. They are in a corridor on Preservation Station. Behind them on the wall are three potted plants - a huge monstera (behind Ratthi, quite fancy looking), a cactus (behind Murderbot, rather tall and straight, but with the tiniest blossoms crowning the top) and a cypress (behind Gurathin, neat but fuzzy). /end ID]
2.
To the humans, I said, “I’m going after the others, just stay here—” I felt a hard thump from behind. It was low and to one side, where a fairly important part would be, if I was human. I turned. Human One had the armored hostile’s weapon, the one I had taken away and dropped down into the module. And she had shot me with it.
[ID: a drawing in bright pinkish-red, white and gray. We see over the heads of five refugees huddled together in the back of the room. They all wear worn down worker’s clothes. A scrawny child with short fluffy hair sits on the floor, someone young kneels beside them. Their hair is braided loosely and their worker overalls are slipping down their shoulder. Three adults stand protectively around them. In the middle of the room, in front of the group, Human One has a weapon still smoking from discharging aimed at Murderbot. Murderbot is standing with its back to the group, a fresh wound in its lower back, looking over its shoulder to Human One. Its face is not visible. A bright white light comes from the hatch of the room. /end ID]
She glared at me. “You left.” Somehow I hadn’t expected that. I said, “Mensah said I could learn to do anything I wanted. I learned to leave.” “You could have told her what you wanted. We—she—we were worried, okay.”
[ID: a drawing in digital greens and blues. The camera looks down over Murderbot’s shoulder at Pin-Lee in a translucent transport bubble floating above an illuminated station (signified by glowing squares in the distance). The bubble as a circular bench as a sating area and consists of a light turquoise field indicated with hexagons. Murderbot is evading Pin-Lee’s stare and frowning, it wears a hoodie and pants with many pockets. Pin-Lee wears elegant clothes, a cropped blazer, tight pants, and heels. Her hair is tied in an elaborate bun, and she leans towards MB with a glare. /end ID]
2.
On the company ship, it wouldn’t be a MedSystem, it would be a cubicle. “It absolutely cannot wait,” I told him. Ratthi dropped to the deck beside me and yelled for Gurathin to bring the shuttle’s emergency kit.
[ID: a digital drawing in purple, yellow and grey. Murderbot is lying on the floor of a shuttle. In front of it, Dr Ratthi, sleeves rolled up and holding an emergency kit, is starting to work on extracting shrapnel from Murderbot’s knee. His torso blocks the view on most of Murderbot’s body, but the broken knee is clearly visible. Dr Ratthi wears tight pants and boots, a button up shirt, and has several small pouches attached to his belt, his hair is curly and he has a slight beard. Behind them, Dr Gurathin also leans down to help. He wears a casual suit with a turtleneck shirt beneath, hair combed back, and an augment visible in thin lines around his right eye. Dr. Mensah and Pin-Lee are visible in the background, standing in the shuttle’s cockpit. Pin-Lee is fully in the frame, looking towards the shuttle’s front, Dr Mensah is peeking over her shoulder at the scene. /end ID]
[ID: the Tintin meme with “Captain it’s Wednesday” - but it is Doctor Mensah, leaning over a table looking done with life. She wears a purple tunic, has brown skin and short, fluffy pink hair. She is saying “What a week, huh?” To Ratthi, beside her, in a green shirt, looking concerned. Ratthi has curly brown hair and slightly lighter brown skin. He replies “Dr Mensah, it’s Wednesday”. On the right floats a gray drone that looks mildly surprised. /end ID]
“SecUnit—” Arada started at the same time as Ratthi said, “I don’t think—”
ART interrupted, SecUnit’s earlier statement that I “lie a lot” was untrue. I obviously cannot reveal information against the interests of my crew unless circumstances warrant.
Arada nodded. “Right. We understand. I think SecUnit is looking out for our interests—”
i’ve been wanting to draw this scene since i first read ne and finally got around to it HSDJKS
