The Machine

PART III: You do what you can

Waking up was a slow process. Jax felt safe until his dreams began to fell apart. First he felt the ground. Even though it had body temperature, it was still harder steel and that was a strange mix. Then he realized the lack of a blanket. Before he opened his eyes he already knew what to expect. Still it was dark except some green and red glow. His eyes had adapted up to a level where he was able to recognize a few schemes and the dimensions of his cell. It wasn't a dog cage - it was a grave!

How long did he sleep? It must have been some hours since he felt better than before. Long enough for the drugs to stop working. He recalled last night's events and finally came to a conclusion: He definitively had made only one mistake and that was to enter this cursed ship and with his right mind he wouldn't have done that. He was such a fool!

The damn collar was pressing against his Adam's apple. That thing was nasty! Jax rolled over on his side. The cell wasn't high enough so he could sit but now the weight was resting on another spot. Carefully he felt the collar and nothing happened. Of course he didn't expect it to just jump open, but the machine had been very clear with its warning. It would kill him if he tried to remove it. He didn't want to find out what counted as an attempt. As the collar had obviously no intention to unlock or kill him, Jax could lift it a bit to get some relief. It was two fingers wide and almost one finger thick. The edges were a little rounded, but that didn't help much because of its weight. Except that he wasn't able to make out anything else: No gap, no hinge, no lock. It felt like it was forged around his neck.

Suddenly the lights went on and moments later the door of his cell slid open. He turned his head to find the robot waiting outside right in front of him.

"Come out, dog!" the machine commanded and Jax obeyed. He crawled out of the cell and the door closed just behind him. His guard looked down on him.

"Did dog get some rest?"

"Woof!" Jax replied.

"Will dog keep the rules now?"

This question came as a bit of a surprise. He hesitated, but decided to better confirm.

"Woof!"

"Punishment mode disabled. Stand!"

That was even more unexpected, but Jax struggled to the top and enjoyed being able to stand and stretch. The robot eyed him and Jax felt embarrassed about it. Without panties, his dig hung freely and his hands tried to hide it. The room was a bit colder than his cell and his guard noticed.

"Follow me, dog!" it said and stared to walk towards the door.

Come on? No leash this time? He couldn't neighther supress that thought nor a little smile. That was actually a good sign: he was sane again. That would definitely help! If there were ways to escape, he would now find them and he would use them!

They went down the corridor and into another room at the opposite side. It was evidently some kind of storage room. All sorts of devices were attached to the walls. Mechanical parts, tools, cables neatly wound up behind grids. Nothing looked familiar.

Something he saw further back made him wince. There were two human outlines hanging on the wall and something that looked like a bear was standing right between them. He took a closer look and found that the former were some kinds of space suits or armour. And the bear was actually a gigantic dog made of steel. It looked a lot like the robot, but Jax was glad that this thing made no move - at least at the moment. Teeth like knives that he didn't want to have a date with.

The robot pointed to the wall and said:

"Second shelf from above. Get your suit, dog!"

Jax was confused. Of course he had noticed his guard still calling him 'dog' although the 'punishment' was actually over? Jax didn't want to be forced back on all fours again and some clothing was actually a good option right now, so he took it.

The suit was orange and one piece. It felt reasonably good, even if he wasn't familiar with such a material.

"Can you carry out repairs, dog?"

That was even more unexpected now. Was it some kind of... joke? Jax didn't have any idea on how to answer that.

"Woof?" he carefully tried.

"You're allowed to speak, dog!" the robot replied.

"Ahm, dunnow... I can try?!"

"Ship needs repair." the robot explained. "It will show you what to do. You will carry out work. Do you understand that, dog?"

"Yes... guard?!" was the right confirmation.

They went back into the corridor and all of a sudden the gate to the front exit opened. Beams of sunlight fell inside. It had to be almost noon already. The robot went ahead and both stepped outside.

The sunlight on Jax's skin felt like never before. It was warm and friendly. The air smelled so good from plants and soil. He considered running away and the robot must had expected that:

"You cannot run away, dog. Understood?"

That instantly ended this little moment of happiness.

"Yes, guard!" Jax replied sadly.

They went around the ship. Now at daylight Jax was able to recognize its full dimensions. It must had been close to the size of his own house, maybe a bit more. The upper part seemed to shimmer in the sun, so that it appeared transparent here and there. Was it some kind of camouflage shield? Hopefully a bad one so that somebody could find him. But what that 'somebody' do then? What would the police do? Or the army? Maybe he should better hope for a good shield he thought.

The robot pointed to some stepping edges embedded into the ship's wall and Jax climbed to the top. The machine followed with a few jumps, used its claw-like hands to hold on and with it reminded more of a predator.

"Ship is damaged and dog will repair it!" it said. And indeed: there were burn marks, holes and other damage to the outer shell. That supported Jax's emergency landing theory. It wasn't that much actually, but Jax guessed that size didn't matter in space. A hologram of a tool and other images appeared just above the greatest hole. There was no text, but Jax would have been surprised if he could have read it.

"Ship will guide you, dog! Start now!" his guard commanded and jumped back down to the ground where it waited in a few steps distance from the ship. Jax was now well above the corn and felt like on display. The weight of the control collar on his collarbone reminded him that he had no choice anyway and so he got to work.

It was damn exhausting. The tools were heavy and the walkways to the storage and back were getting longer and longer. After short time, Jax was completely sweaty. But the instructions the ship gave him were good and so he was actually able to repair the worst damage to the hull. He was almost finished when he heard something that didn't seem to belong here. At first it was only a faint hum quiet enough to ignore, but then it caught his attention. He turned and squinnied. There were 3 black dots in the distance and they were getting closer. Helicopters? Despite the heat, it ran freezing down his spine. Now he really was in some kind of military operation - and most probably on the wrong side.