Mary Ellen

I slightly tugged at my sheets, bringing the far 2 corners in line with the bed. I set my hands firmly down on the bed, and ran it all through the sheets, smoothing out any creases.

I stepped back, admiring my work. 

As perfect as I could make it.

My eyes drifted through the rest of the room. The binders containing the rules and regulations of the Galactus were dusted, color-coded, and tucked safely away.

I looked at my table and found my computer all folded up and plugged into the charging port. My lamp was turned on and was illuminating the geometric shapes that canvassed the desk. 

I slowly moved the lamp until it illuminated the center of the desk. The lamp illuminated the wisps of hot air coming from the coffee.

I pressed the faded red button above the lamp and said “Mary Ellen. Please report to my office please.”

A synthetic female voice echoed throughout my room. “Will do, Mary Ellen.”

I stopped pressing the button, and I shivered. Sharing a name with an A.I assistant gave me chills down my spine. 

Anyone who was anyone knew how Mary Ellens became so popular. The economy was at a standstill until TERRA NOVA, a big brand that had absorbed all the big name companies like Amazon and Google in the early 2030’s, built Mary Ellen. They single handedly rebuilt the economy.

Or rather, what was left of it.

My mind ran through the events of the day. What happened on Agerbathia?

It was sort of silly when you think about it. Galactus was a state of the art expedition vessel, with one of the fastest command module’s in the universe, along with some very useful noise cancelling doors. And underneath the table, which has the capabilities to produce a hologram, was a simple dry erase board.

I pulled it out as the marker clattered to the floor. I reached down, my fingers briefly touching the cold unforgiving floor.

I picked the black marker up and unclipped it. Then, I started to draw.

 I was a very visual person who liked to have all the information directly in front of me.

I drew a sphere and labeled it “Agerbathia”. I drew a sack and labeled it “Menenger”. 

My mind brought forth the moment when me and my crew set foot on Agerbathia. Apart from the 3 - 4 domes that our Deliverance crew were in for 10 months, there was nothing. I was even able to see the curvature of the planet. 

The soil there was red. I didn’t realize that I was standing on the Menenger.

Next, I drew a curtain with slashes through it, representing the state we found the dome in. 

The crew’s I.D tags showed them at the center of the planet, which made no sense. The airlock blasted red alerts everywhere. The only thing even remotely accessible was their Mary Ellen and the ship’s logs. 

The Mary Ellen only made a big fast swiping motion, so that was useless. However, we had more luck with the ship’s logs.

I drew a rectangle and named it “Logs”.

I heard a swish and I was instantly treated to the hum of the ship's engine.

A synthetic voice reached my ears. “May Ellen #308, reporting for duty.”

“Hey.” I muttered, nonchalantly. Me and the rest of the crew were nervous at first about Mary Ellen joining me at first. But we gradually got more accustomed to it. You could even say that we bonded. That wasn’t to say that we would invite it into our homes.

“Are the crew asleep?” I asked.

I heard a whir. “Stone dead.”

I grunted “Well, since nobody’s gonna whine about me having more privileges, do you mind making me a hot shower? It’s been ages.”

“Certainly. But it is well past 10 on Earth. Would you like me to draw a bath tomorrow morning?” He asked.

No. It.

It asked.

“No. I’m not that sleepy. I'm just trying to make sense of what happened today.” I explained, twirling the marker in my hand like a baton.

“I see.” Mary Ellen said. I heard it’s joints whir as it opened the thick door and walked inside the bathroom. I heard the bathtub’s cover unzip and the Mary Ellen punching in the access code.

Why a bathtub needed an access code, I had no idea.

I heard a mechanical grinding noise. I sighed, the water always took a long time to come.

It walked back outside and said “Done.”

“Good. You’re relieved from duty, Mary Ellen.” I stated, stopping the marker from twirling any further.

“Noted.” It informed me.

I immediately started drawing as my mind started churning out explanations to the recent events. 

I drew a couple of more figures, discarding the fact that my mind was commenting on my lack of details.

Once I was satisfied with my work, I started connecting the figures with lines. 

I laid it gently on my desk once I was finished and looked at it. The lines crossed each other, forming a web that only I could make sense of.

To make sure that I was on the right track, I started reciting what that web meant. “Menenger has the capacity to kickstart the economy, once it’s made edible. However, somebody doesn’t want that to happen. So they killed the crew and threw them down the mine that the Deliverance crew used to harvest the Menenger near the core. That can only be-”

My mind stopped blurting out words. Out of shock, out of surprise.

Out of fear.

If what I assumed was true, it could be the end of Earth.

I trudged ahead through my explanation. “TERRA NOVA. They’ve controlled the economy like a dictatorship. They don’t want to release their hold. The only way they killed the Deliverance crew, is through-”

I almost fell, this time, primarily out of shock.

“The Mary Ellen.”

Then I realized 4 things:

One is that I needed to send a transmission to Earth.

Two is that I needed to alert the crew.

Three is that I needed to isolate our Mary Ellen.

Four is that my room’s door didn’t close.

Wait.

I heard a whir. It felt faster, more urgent. Using reflexes that had been stashed away since my army days, I ducked. 

I looked up just in time to see the Mary Ellen’s fist where I was a few seconds ago.

I twirled and kicked it’s right knee. It buckled forward, about to fall on me. 

I used my legs and wrapped it around the table’s leg. I pulled, and I got dragged forward, as the Mary Ellen fell behind me.

I got up as fast as I could. 

But the Mary Ellen was faster.

It turned around and thrust it’s knee towards mine, similar to what I did to it.

It jerked back violently, but the adrenaline stopped me from feeling it.

I punched it in the face, which seemed to hurt me more than it. However, it seemed fazed. I took that opportunity and hobbled into the bathroom. I closed the heavy door behind me, locked it, and waited. 

The only company was the sound of my erratic breathing and the light from the stars sneaking in through the window.

Then came a scrape. I looked at the door, and through the small window at the top, saw the Mary Ellen staring at me. I saw it’s shoulders go back, and come forward at blinding speed.

A big thud rang out. I assessed the door’s stability.

It was gonna give in with a few more robotic punches.

I looked to my right and saw the flare gun. It had the capability to send a flare on any planet, or even in space. It also sent an electronic distress signal to any nearby ships.

It was a long shot.

But it still was a shot.

I dragged myself to the protective casing and opened it. The gun clattered out and into my desperate hands. I surveyed the room, planning where I needed to be for the plan to be effective. 

I settled on the bathtub.

I got inside, and held the gun up at the Mary Ellen’s eye. Taking a peak at the door’s condition, I realized that the chances of me not getting killed were abysmally low. 

The door blew off its hinges.

With a huge cluck, it fell on the floor. The shadow of the Mary Ellen seemed to make the moment even scarier.

With blinding speed it took 3 huge steps towards me. It slapped the flare gun out of my hands. It clattered to the floor of the bathtub. I tried to reach it, but the Mary Ellen pushed me down. My head slammed into the flare gun, blurring my vision.

“Stay here.” It said, it’s voice modulator busted so that it sounded like a teenage Darth Vader.

The next thing I heard was the cover for the bathtub being zipped back closed. My vision turned a pinkish beige.

There was a cluttering noise coming from the other room.

I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t just lay here while a homicidal robot went around the ship.

I pushed against the ground, my head spinning as I sat up.

A gurgling sound stopped me in my tracks.

I jerked my hand back as I came into contact with the first drops of water. Although it was just a few drops, the temperature seemed unbearable.

I looked at the temperature gauge. It showed 70 degrees.

I ran my fingers alongside the bathtub cover, looking for any openings. 

A thought tugged at my mind. I looked back at the temperature gauge. It did show 70 degrees.

70 degrees Celsius.

I ran the math in my head. The math said that 70 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit is 158 degrees.

The human body couldn’t tolerate that hot water. Much less a body which had been in space for 4 months.

Then the water came in torrents. Within 5 seconds the entire floor was coated in water. 

The water stung at my skin. It wet my clothes, making it much harder to move.

Suddenly, the stinging seemed to get sharper. I took a peak at the temperature gauge. It now read 80 degrees Celsius.

My knees locked up and my head refused to move. The stinging was mind-blowingly hot. I pounded desperately at the cover, throwing logic and reason out of my mind.

My vision blurred, and my hands succumbed to the pain. 

I heard thuds outside. I forced myself to grab the flare gun. I grasped it and pointed it upwards, ready to shoot anything that opened the cover, whether it be the Mary Ellen or one of the crew.

The Mary Ellen opened and threw the cover away. Clutched in it’s right hand was my logs. On it was a picture, it’s timestamp an hour ago. 

It showed the crew’s bedrooms. All of them were laid on their beds, a red stain on their backs.

Stone dead.

Oh. My. God.

I struggled to hold back a whimper as the Mary Ellen grabbed my wrist. I took a look at it and found it’s color a sickly shade of pink.

I let out a ferocious yell as I tried to pry its hand from my wrist. I had no impact. The other hand backhand my face, knocking the wind out of me.

“WHERE IS NOVA?!” It yelled, still in a teenage - Darth Vader voice.

I searched my memories for the word Nova, but nothing came to.

It slapped me again. My head flew back, spraining my neck. “WHERE IS IT?!”

“I, uh, I don’t know.” I admitted.

The Mary Ellen then stopped, and stayed perfectly still. I thought that maybe something had happened to it.

I kicked it’s shin. No luck. I tried again. Nothing. I started giving a barrage of kicks, each harder than the last.

Nothing.

I looked at it’s eyes for any hint of recognition. But instead, I saw something else. A series of blue frames passing through its eyes.

A transmission.

They moved at a speed that was impossible for me to decipher. 

But my mind could make out one of them. 

No. Not him. Anybody but him.

“You are relieved from duty, Mary Ellen.” I heard as the Mary Ellen dug something out of it’s mandatory satchel. A syringe of some sorts. It stabbed it on my arm. A euphoric feeling filled me. 

That was the last thing I felt before my vision turned midnight dark.