Esso-teric: soylentOrange's Fanfic Thread

[on:]

***952 day edit***

I've decided to convert all of the fics that I've done over the years into pdf files so that they're easier to read.  I've also gone back and done a little bit of a rewrite to everything, especially to The Leelazarus Effect and Green Storm Rising.   I'll post links to each story as I finish tweaking them.

1: Talora

2: Short Stories

3: The Leelazarus Effect

4: Disillusionment

5: Green Storm Rising

The original version of Disillusionment starts below:

Show spoiler

______________________________________________________________________

Good news, everyone!  Quite a while ago I began working on my next fanfiction, and I wanted to share the first chapter with you.  The end of The Cryonic Woman has always bugged me, what with Fry being dropped out of the bottom of the ship and all, so I thought I'd take a swing at writing about it.  Just as a warning, there is some serious anti-ship buried in the pages that will follow.  

_____________________________ _____________

Part 1
Chapter 1

Disillusionment [working title]
By Soylent Orange

_____________________________ _______________

Part One: 200 feet above the Hudson River, April 26th, 3002

*   *   *   *   *   *  *  *  *  *  *

Fry stared out the bridge’s forward window as the sparkling lights of New New York, glided by below him.  Over and over again he replayed the past few days in his head, trying to figure out what he could have done differently.  There had to be something that he’d missed; something that would have kept Michelle from leaving.  Maybe if he’d built her a better shelter out in the desert, or if he’d been less visibly shaken by the weird mixture of civilization and post-apocalyptic wasteland that was Los Angeles…  There had to be something.  But there wasn’t.  

Fry’s self-pity abruptly turned to frustration.  “That's it. I've had it with women.” He declared aloud. “From now on, I'm concentrating on my career.”  Fry turned to face Professor Farnsworth, who was sitting next to Bender on the bridge couch.  “Can I have my old job back?” He pleaded.
 
Farnsworth scratched his chin.  “Why, I've forgotten why I even fired you.” He said at last
 
That’s when Bender cut in.  “'Cause he destroyed your business, your home and all your possessions.”  He said, matter-of-factly.

“Oh, that's right.” The Professor said amicably.  He paused for a moment.  Suddenly anger flashed in the old scientist’s eyes.  He reached for a lever next to the couch.  “Get lost!” he growled.  

The professor pulled back on the lever and the deck under Fry’s feet dropped out from under him.  Suddenly he was engulfed in roaring darkness, lit only by the glaring blue fire of the PE ship’s hastily retreating dark-matter engines and the soft yellow glow of the distant buildings.  The turbulence from the Planet Express Ship’s passing tossed him around like a rag doll.  He began to tumble, and the lights of New New York’s skyscrapers spun crazily with the blue flare of the receding spaceship.  There was the whoosh of air as the ground rushed up to meet him.
_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________

“Oh God, my head.”

Fry moaned and sat up.  Wave upon wave of nausea washed through him and he quickly lay down again.  

“W- where am I?” He mumbled, rolling onto his side.  Wherever he was, it was dark.  All he could make out were a few lumpy, anonymous shapes nearby.  In the distance there were a few skyscrapers, which Fry recognized by their tiny lights.  As he watched, the lights moved slowly by from left to right.  

Fry forced himself to sit up again.  His head swam and he almost passed out, but by gritting his teeth he was able to hold on until his head cleared.

For a few minutes Fry just sat still, letting the pounding in his skull dissipate a little.  When he was relatively sure that he wasn’t going to fall over, he cautiously forced himself to stand.  Again he looked around.  In the few minutes that he had been conscious, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and from his new vantage point he could see enough to bring his surroundings into focus.  He was standing on some kind of elastic fabric, almost like rubber.  The fabric was covering a pile of some anonymous material with the consistency of foam, which Fry had landed on top of.  Beyond the pile was a short drop-off with water at the bottom.  The water glowed faintly silver where starlight and the dim illumination from the distant buildings reflected off its surface, and seemed to be flowing.

Curious, Fry clambered down the small elastic-covered mountain that he had landed on.  It was hard work, as his feet kept sinking into whatever it was that he was climbing on, as though he were walking on a giant cotton ball.  He soon reached the base of the pile and found himself on a riveted metal floor.  

“No, not a floor.” He realized.  “A deck.”  Now he remembered that The Planet Express Ship had been flying over the Hudson River when it had dropped him.  Somehow he’d been lucky enough to land on a barge that was making its way downriver.  

Fry walked the couple of paces to the handrail that girdled the huge watercraft and looked down into the water.  Farnsworth had ejected him from high enough up in the air that the river would have been as soft and yielding as asphalt.  

“What the heck was the Professor thinking?” Fry asked himself as the anger built inside him.  “That coulda killed me!  Even though I pretty much blew up the Planet Express building, he had no reason to drop me out of the ship!”

And then there was Bender.

“That traitor.” Fry growled, knowing that Farnsworth would have given him his job back if the robot hadn’t spoken up.  “With a best friend like that, who needs enemies?  And anyway, it’s not like I blew up Planet Express all by myself.”  

Actually, now that he thought about it, he had taken a lot more of the punishment than was really fair.  The whole thing had been Bender’s idea.  The robot had been the one to suggest they steal the ship’s keys, and he’d also been the one to actually do the physical stealing of the ship.  Fry had just gone along for the ride, and had gotten caught up in things.  “Bender should have been the one that the Professor dumped overboard, not me.” Fry muttered.  I’ll bet that jerk even gets his job back at Planet Express.  The thought made him furious.

For a full five minutes Fry just stood and fumed at the silent cityscape as it slowly slid by.  The whole life that he had been constructing for himself in the future had unraveled in less than a week.  He had lost his job, his girlfriend had deserted him, and his best friend had sold him out.  Abruptly he came to a decision.  

“Well, screw them.” Fry said aloud, his voice full of emotion.  “When I came to the future I got a second chance.  I promised myself that this time I wouldn’t be a total loser.  Well now’s the time for me to prove it.”

Fry propelled himself over the railing, and after somehow getting a shoelace tangled up in it, dropped into the frigid waters of the Hudson with a splash.  When his head emerged he turned himself to face the dark bulk of the barge.  For a few seconds he treaded water, watching the silent hulk fade into the distance while the Hudson’s Spring chill steadily drained the heat from his body.  When the barge had disappeared into the blackness, Fry rolled onto his stomach and began to swim, moving his arms and legs in the rhythm that Leela had taught him after he’d nearly drowned at the Wormulon Slurm Factory.  

The shore was a lot farther away than Fry had thought.  By the time his feet touched the bottom he was exhausted.  His lungs heaving, he climbed a low barrier wall and collapsed on a nearby bench.  He sat there shivering silently for a full ten minutes. thoroughly exhausted.  Finally, having regained his wind and his resolve, Fry stood and began to walk confidently in the direction of his apartment.
_____________________________ _____________________________ ______________

By the time Fry made it back to the Robot Arms apartments, his clothes had mostly dried except for his shoes, which made soft, squishing noises as his feet moved inside them.  

Bender wasn’t home, as Fry had expected.  He had no way to know how long he’d lain unconscious on the barge, but if Fry had been asked to guess he would have said less than an hour.  He thought that he’d been dropped out of the Planet Express Ship around nine o’clock, and it had taken him just under an hour to swim to shore, hike to the nearest transport tube, and tube home.  That made the time just slightly before eleven.  By now Fry’s robotic roommate would have had plenty of time to leave Planet Express, come home to pick up some beer and some cash, and head out again for a night on the town.  

“Hopefully he only took his money this time.” Fry muttered darkly.  No matter how well he hid it, the bending robot managed to find any cash that Fry kept in the apartment.  Normally it didn’t matter all that much to him.  Ever since his brush with wealth a few months after he’d been defrosted, Fry hadn’t been too concerned with money.  He’d witnessed firsthand what wealth could do to a person.  What it had done to him.   Since then the meager salary he made at Planet Express, and more recently at Applied Cryogenics, had been more than enough for him to be content.   But if Fry was going to pull off the plan that was slowly unfolding in his mind he was going to need every spare penny that he could salvage.

Fry stepped through the small space that was Bender’s half of the apartment into the giant walk-in closet that served as his home.  Turning on the light he gave it a long, silent look, remembering the good times that he had had there.  Then, starting at the corner into which his bed had been shoved and working his way clockwise around the room, the ex-delivery boy began to sort through the piles of trash and half-eaten food for things that he wanted to take with him, placing everything to be salvaged on top of his unkempt bed.  When he was finished he had built up a small pile: a few pairs of rarely-worn extra clothes, the holophoner he’d recently purchased on a whim (and as yet been unable to play even remotely well), a few miscellaneous items for hygiene, cooking, cleaning, and such, and a single framed picture of himself posing with Leela and Bender in front of the Planet Express Building.  Fry picked up the picture and gazed at it.  He felt a sharp pang of regret.  As angry and frustrated as he was at the moment with Bender, Farnsworth, and the whole future in general, he was going to miss the life he was leaving behind.

Besides, he thought, if I do this, I’ll be leaving behind all the people who didn’t turn their backs on me too.  Like Leela.

If there was one person who had really been treated unfairly recently, it had been Leela.  Farnsworth had held her just as responsible for the destruction of the Planet Express building as her two shipmates, since she’d inadvertently left the keys in the starship’s ignition.  Even after the stupid comments that he and Bender had made to her, when Hermes had made it clear that she was also being dismissed, Leela had been more than gracious.  She’d helped Fry get a job, and even managed to stay civil after the career chips had gotten mixed up and she’d had to settle for a menial pizza delivery job while Fry had gotten her old job at Applied Cryogenics.  She’d even organized a search when Fry and his girlfriend Michelle had gone missing.  

Fry carefully put the picture down.  Leaving Leela was going to be hard.  She’d been there for him when no one else was, and he’d come to cherish her company.  Fry walked over to his closet and dragged out his small suitcase.  In a few moments everything that he owned was stashed inside the bag.  Taking one last look around the apartment, Fry turned off the light, walked through his roommate’s tiny living space, and set off down the hallway.  As he was about to press the elevator call button he hesitated, thinking that maybe he should have left his roommate a note.  

“Nah.” He told himself at length.  “Bender’ll get the message.”

_____________________________ _______________

Oh, and by the way, has anybody seen spaceCase?  This fic desperately needs to be beta'd, but Spacey seems to have vanished off the face of the planet.  If anyone else would be willing to take a go at beta-ing for me, let me know.  I'll pay you five times what I pay spaceCase!
[\spoiler]

[Reply #1 on:]

This is cool. Clever idea, tying up that loose end from Cryonic Woman. Can't wait to see more.

[Reply #2 on:]

Good to see you back, SO.  The Cryonic Woman ending (along with War is the H-word) always jarred me a bit too.  If noone else volunteers I can try beta-ting.

[Reply #3 on:]

Oh, cool. It'll be good to read more from you, soylent. The Leelazarus Effect was excellent. Good start to this one so far. (Love the thread title too).

[Reply #4 on:]

SO, I've sent an e-mail to Spacey that you're looking for him/her, whatever.

Spacey was running ethernet cable through the house last week so Spacey may be having some connectivity issues.

 

Just as a warning, there is some serious anti-ship buried in the pages that will follow.

Good.  Something that I will enjoy.

[Reply #5 on:]

I am sceptical yet intrigued.

Cannot look away...

Aww, I've lost it! Heaven knows when I'll find another lenticular cover to stare at!

Ooo, a soylentOrange fic with serious anti-ship!

I am sceptical yet intrigued.

[Reply #6 on:]

 

Clever idea, tying up that loose end from Cryonic Woman. Can't wait to see more.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that I stole the idea from somebody else...  Sorry about that, whoever you are   

@justNibblin': Glad to be back.  Thanks for volunteering to beta for me.  I'll let you know if I don't hear from spacey by the time I'm done with my next update.

@km73: I'm glad to hear you like this so far.  It's going to be a bit different than my other fics.  Unfortunately, it will also most likely be my last fanfiction.


@Ralph: I actually havent heard from spacey since like November.  Thanks for giving her(?) a heads up that I'm looking for her.

@Xanfor: Heh, yeah I know, I know...  soylentOrange + anti-ship = /undefined/.  But still, I'm going to try.   

[Reply #7 on:]

Heh.. I have but one thing to say:
What took you so long? 

[Reply #8 on:]

Looking good so far. I have to admit that the very first time I saw that episode, I was a little worried at the end; what would Fry do if he didn't end up back at PE? Now I get to find out.

And anti-ship, eh? Not usually my cup of tea, but what the hey, I'll give it a try! 

[Reply #9 on:]

A good start indeed and the idea is great too. Anti-ship, thats a word I thought I'd never hear on this site. But I welcome the change.

You have my attention SoylentOrange. 

[Reply #10 on:]

I'd always wondered what happened to Fry after the end of that ep.

[Reply #11 on:]

 

Originally posted by soylentOrange:
... has anybody seen spaceCase?

[SpaceCase pokes nose out from under a rock]

*Sknorf!*

[SC crawls out from under said rock]

[Shakes head - makes clattering sound]
That stripped some bolts.

[*Stretches*]

[*Scratches*]

[*Smacks lips*]

*Yawn*
I had such a terrible nightmare:
Internet scammers infected Bender with a virus, took over PlanEx, scammed all of Earth’s money, made Bender use time-travel to steal all history’s treasures, Leela got engaged to some jerkwad named Lyle Larry Lars Meh, whatever; it was just a bad dream...

[SC realizes everyone is staring]

What? 

Originally posted by soylentOrange:
... Spacey seems to have vanished off the face of the planet.

Howzat?
It’s only-
[SC looks at watch]
Uh...
[*Tap*] [*Tap*]
Huh. Stopped.
[SC looks at thread date]

OH PRUNELLA! IT’S ALMOST A QUARTER-OF-FEBRUARY? 
I must remember to be shocked by all this once the shock wears off...

Originally posted by soylentOrange:
... This fic desperately needs to be beta'd...

Oh my stars...
Soylent O actually wants my humble talents?

[Adoringly looks S.O. up and down] 

Aww, Soylent O... you really must be desperate! 

Originally posted by soylentOrange:
... If anyone else would be willing to take a go at beta-ing for me, let me know. I'll pay you five times what I pay spaceCase!

HEY! 

[*Ahem*]

Oka-a-a-ay, just cuz’ it’s you, and there’s a writer’s strike, I’ll do it for, um... 4½!

Lessee... four-and-a-half times our agreed upon rate would be...
[SC counts on fingers]
Carry the nine...

Exactly, uh... bupkis. 

I’m all over it.
Keep an eye on your mailbox. 

[Reply #12 on:]

@Corvus:  What took me so long?  Well, there's a perfectly reasonable and logical answer to that.  And that answer is, uhh... Hold on a sec, I'll get it.  No, you won't buy that excuse...  Umm... Hey look over there! *points* It's a kitten playing a piano!  *Runs away in opposite direction*

@THM: Anti-ship isn't usually my cup of tea either.  I haven't worked out all of the plot elements in my head yet.  I guess we'll see if I can keep myself from putting in some shippiness.  I may have to rescind that anti-ship comment I made earlier...

@RDR: Everyone seems so intrigued by the idea of antishipiness.  Must... resist urge. Must not add ship to story...

@Spacey: Hey!  Good to hear from you again!  I sent you my next update, so get ready with that metaphorical red marker of yours.  You'll be needing it.

@justNibblin': Thanks again for volunteering to beta for me in Spacey's absence.  Check your inbox when you get a chance. 

[Reply #13 on:]

Whahoo, I'm finally done with chapter 2!  Thanks SpaceCase and JustNibblin' for your invaluable help. 

_____________________________ ____________________

Part 1
Chapter 2

When Fry finally made to work in the morning he was thoroughly drenched.  A large storm system had worked its way out of the Ohio River Valley and blanketed New New York in a cold, driving rain.  He’d stayed in a cheap hotel for the night, and he’d gotten what he’d paid for.  At about 4:00 in the morning a rivulet of water sprang from the ceiling and hit him square in the face.  In hindsight, maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to choose a hotel claiming to have the oldest colony of mildew within five parsecs.

Applied Cryogenics was even quieter than usual for a Thursday morning.  Fry walked to the elevator and hit the button for the 64th floor.  The elevator climbed twenty-five stories (the other thirty-nine floors were now under ground level, having become the basement when the streets of New New York had been constructed over the ruins of the old city) and stopped abruptly.  Fry left the elevator car and headed toward his office, carefully tiptoeing his way past the open office door of his boss, Ipgee, who was busily typing away at his computer.  The last thing Fry wanted was for Ipgee to discover that he was fifteen minutes late for work.  Using every bit of criminal sneaking he ever learned from watching Bender, Fry stealthily crept past the door to his boss’s offi-

“Ah, Fry.  There you are.”

Fry cringed.  Resigning himself to the inevitable lecture, he turned and walked into his boss’s office.  Ipgee motioned for him to close the door behind him, which made Fry gulp involuntarily.

Ipgee clasped his hands and leaned back in his office chair.  “Come over here, Fry.  We have something which we need to discuss.”

Nervously, Fry approached his boss.  “Uhh, Mr Ipgee, Sir, about where I’ve been the past two days-”

Ipgee interrupted with a wave of the hand.  “It is no problem.  You’re friend Leela called yesterday to tell me what happened.  These things happen all the time.  You’re lucky you were only frozen for two days.  Why. just last month we found a summer intern who had accidentally fallen into one of the tubes while she was cleaning it.  She was stuck in there for thirty-two years.  Sometimes people get frozen and wake up in a whole different century, but you already know that.” 

Fry nodded grimly.  When he’d woken up after falling into the freezer tube in 1999, ten centuries had passed.

Ipgee sat forward in his chair.  “But I did not call you in here to ask about where you have been since Monday afternoon.  I just got a call from Prime Minister Bender.  It seems he has been called back to his country to deal with some kind of big crisis, so he will not be able to continue working here.”

More like Professor Farnsworth gave him his old job back and he couldn’t resist playing his Prime Minister of Norway routine one last time. Fry thought.  Still, that was good news.  It meant that Fry wouldn’t have to deal with his ex-roommate at work.  Avoiding the bending robot, who was no doubt still oblivious to the harm he’d caused his best friend, would have been all but impossible in the confines of Applied Cryogenics.

“Anyway, like I was saying,” Ipgee continued.  “Bender will no longer be here, that will make you the only employee we have to council defrostees.  You will have to run the whole department.”

Fry stared at his boss, mouth agape.  “Wait, are you saying that I’m being promoted?!”

There was a moment’s hesitation before Ipgee replied.  “Yes, I suppose in a way it is a promotion, but really it is more of-”

Fry threw his hands up over his head.  “Whahoo! I’m being promot- Hey wait a minute.” He said, interrupting himself.  “If I’m being promoted now that Bender’s gone, does that mean that Bender used to outrank me?”

“Well, yes of course.  Technically the Prime Minister of Norway even outranks me.  But again, ‘promotion’ probably isn’t the best word to use-”

“That jerk even outranks me here.” Fry muttered darkly.  Then he had a sudden thought and his face brightened.  “Wait.  If I’m getting promoted, does that mean I’m getting a raise?” He asked hopefully.  A bit of extra cash would definitely come in handy now that he was looking for a new apartment.

Ipgee sat deeper into his chair.  “No, absolutely not.”

“Oh.  Then what about a new office?”

Ipgee sighed.  “No.”

“Do I get anything?”

Ipgee just shook his head.

It took a few seconds for Fry to mull this over.  “So,” he finally began, “now I have to do all the work that I usually do, plus everything that Bender had to do, and I don’t get a raise or a bigger office or anything?”

“That is correct.”

There was a moment of silence.  Then Fry flung his hands over his head again.

“Whahoo!  I’m being promoted!” He hollered.
_____________________________ _____________________________ ______________

There had been two people on the defrosting list.  The first had been an old man from the late 23rd century who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  He had frozen himself in the hope that a cure would be found during the long time he was in hibernation.  It was a common theme.  The man, Fry had forgotten his name, had been rude and impatient to leave.  Fry wasn’t sure what the guy’s problem had been, although in retrospect he admitted, it might have had something to do with the fact that, upon awakening, he had been confronted by Fry, clothes askew and tongue lolling, claiming to be a brain-hungry space zombie. 

The other defrostee had been a young Asian woman about Fry’s age from the early 21st century.  Upon walking out of her tube, her eyes had immediately fixed on the futuristic scene outside the room’s large window.  At the sight of the hovercars whizzing by the window, the color had drained from her face and she had turned to Fry, eyes wide. 

“W-who are you?” She had demanded.

“My name’s Fry.” He had responded, the ‘space plague’ prank he had been planning evaporating at the sight of the girl’s distress.  “I’m a Cryogenics Councilor. Welc-“

On cue, Terry ducked his head in the doorway.  “Welcome to the world of Tomorrow!” He announced dramatically, cutting Fry off mid-sentence.  His job finished, Terry leaned back into the hall, the door closing behind him.

“So this is the future?” She’d asked when Terry had been gone for a few moments..  “It really worked?”

“Yep.  It’s April 27th, 3002.  What year are you from?”

“2012- Wait, what?!”  She looked at Fry as though he’d hit her.  “Did you say 3002?!”  I was only supposed to be frozen for five years!”

Fry froze.  His mouth worked, but nothing intelligible came out.  Finally he managed to force out a simple, “Huh?”

“Five years.  I thought the war would be over by then.  They said I’d be frozen for five years!”  There was panic in the young woman’s voice.  Tears started to well in the corners of her eyes as she began to realize the full implications of her displacement in time.

Not knowing what else to do, Fry put an arm around the distraught woman and gently guided her to the desk that sat in the far corner of the room.  The woman sagged into the wooden chair facing Fry’s desk. As Fry took his place in the leather chair on the other side of the desk, he realized that he didn’t even know her name yet.

Fry fumbled for something to say, but couldn’t come up with anything.  He was suddenly intensely angry at himself.  Here he was, probably the single most qualified person in the universe to help a person in her situation and he was too tongue-tied to say anything intelligible. 

“What’s your name?” He asked at length, having come up with nothing else.

“W-what?” She asked between sobs.

“What’s your name?” Fry repeated gently.

“C-Chelsea.”  Her eyes rose to meet his.

“Well Chelsea, it’s not as bad as you think.  I’m from the 20th century.  I was a delivery boy for a pizza place in the city and on New Years Eve of 1999 I got sent on a delivery to Applied Cryogenics…”  For the next ten minutes Fry narrated the series of events that had catapulted him into the future.  Chelsea seemed bewildered, and a little frightened, by Fry’s description of robots and aliens.  Her eyes went wide when he told her of his discovery of the decaying ruins of the old city that lay beneath the streets.

“When I saw the place I used to take my girlfriend skating, it really hit me that everyone and everything I knew was gone forever.”  Fry remembered the overwhelming feeling of loss that had fallen on him like a cloud.  He shuddered.  “The only two people I knew were a drunk robot and a crazy cyclops that kept trying to jab me.”  Fry fell silent.

Chelsea spoke up a few moments later.  “What did you do?” She asked, softly.

“I accepted it.”  Fry said.  “I realized that Leela was only trying to help me and I let her stick me.  Only she didn’t stick me…”  He explained how Leela had been unable to go through with the chip implantation and how the two of them, along with Bender, had ended up getting jobs at Planet Express.

“But what about your friends and family from the 20th century?”

Fry shrugged, a little sadly.  “I miss them.  I always will.”

When Fry didn’t say anything else, Chelsea’s shoulders slumped.  She’d been hoping for something more encouraging, but Fry wasn’t about to lie to her.  He still missed his old life, and even though the pain was less every day, it never went completely away.

Neither of them said anything for a full minute.  Finally it was Chelsea who broke the silence.  “So what do I do now?” She asked.

Fry smiled.  “Well, remember those career chips I told you about?”
_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________

“This heres is out cheapest unit.”  The landlord said, leading Fry into a tiny, one-room apartment.  It was smaller than Bender’s closet, but, as Fry immediately noticed, it was furnished.  His interest was immediately piqued.   

Hoping to give the impression that he actually knew what he was doing, Fry gave the apartment a close inspection.  “Uh.  Does this building have an owl problem?” He asked, having noticed a small hole at the base of a wall.

“The owls come withs the apartment.  Free ofs charge.”  After a moment’s hesitation, the landlord, whose name Fry had already forgotten, added “Owl poison will costs yous extra.”

Fry tried to make himself stop for a moment.  Alright, Fry.  Think this through.  He commanded himself.  This is your chance to show that you're not a screw-up.  Now think.  What questions would Leela ask if she was here?  “Uhh, why is the apartment furnished already?”  He hoped it was a smart question.

“The guy who lived heres left one day and never came back.”  The landlord shrugged.  “He left alls of his stuff.”

“And nobody knows what happened to him?” Fry asked, curious. 

“Hells if I knows.” The landlord replied, dismissively.  “Probably nobody knows he’s gone.”

Fry was incredulous.  “You didn’t file a police report?”

“What do I looks like, a guy who’s not lazy?”  The landlord replied, somewhat irritated.  “Now do yous want this apartment, or nots?”

Fry gave his surrounding one last look and came do a decision.  “Yes.”  He said.  “I do.”
_____________________________ ______________


Dropping his belongings in a corner, Fry sank into the soft cushions of his new couch.  For the first time in as long as he could recall, he was actually fairly pleased with himself.  After he’d left work, Fry had gone to a nearby cybercafé to look for an apartment on the Internet.  It hadn’t been long before he had come across an ad for the Quantum Estates apartment building.  The ad’s proclamation that Quantum Estates was designed for people ‘who know where they are in life, but not where they are going, or how fast they will get there.’ had resonated with his own situation, and so he had decided to investigate.  Just two hours later he signed a lease.

The apartment was small, just one room, but it was better than living in a closet.  And besides, it was his.  Smiling at the thought, Fry lay back on the couch and closed his eyes.  In a matter of minutes the gentle patter of rain on the apartment’s window had lulled him into a deep sleep.

Hours later, Fry woke with a start.  Someone was pounding on his door.  Grumbling to himself and only half awake, Fry forced himself to stand up and shuffle to the door.  Stifling a yawn, he pressed a small button on the door’s control panel.  It immediately swished open, revealing an extremely disgruntled cyclops.

“Fry!” Leela exclaimed and then burst into the room.  “Why didn’t you tell me you were OK?!” She demanded.  “I thought you were dead!” 

Fry, startled to suddenly find Leela’s face only a few inches from his own, took an involuntary step backward.  “Umm, wha?”  He managed, his brain not having had time to fully decipher what was going on.

Leela crossed her arms and glared at him.  “After the Professor dumped you out of the ship you never bothered to let anybody know you were ok.  I only found out that you were even alive when I called Ipgee to tell him what had happened and he said you’d just left work fifteen minutes earlier!”

Fry started to respond, then sighed.  “Maybe we should sit down.”  He said, gesturing to the couch.  Leela, having expected some stupid excuse, was caught off guard.  Unnerved, she walked over to the worn sofa and sat down.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call or anything.” Fry said at length.  “I didn’t mean to scare you… It’s just, well, I was angry.”

“At me?”  Leela asked, surprised.

Fry’s eyes went wide.  “No, not at you!” He blurted.  “At Bender, and the Professor.  Bender for once again stabbing me in the back, and the Professor for dropping me out of a spaceship.”

“Ah.  Speaking of which, how did you manage to survive the fall?”

“Well, first of all, I landed on a barge loaded with some kind of weird foam…”  Fry filled Leela in on the last 24 hours.  Leela listened intently, and when Fry had finished she sat quietly for a few moments, and asked one simple question:

“So when’re you coming back?”

Fry blinked a couple of times, confused.  “What do you mean?”

“You know,” Leela said, “When are you coming back to Planet Express?”

Fry regarded her for a moment, wondering how much of his story she’d actually listened to.  “But Leela” He said softly.  “That’s the point.  I’m not coming back.”  It took a little more effort to get the words out than Fry had been expecting.  Somehow, it felt like telling Leela goodbye. 

Leela didn’t notice the strain in the redhead’s voice.  She just stared at him.  “I don’t understand.  All you have to do is wait a few days and the Professor will forget why he fired you all over again.”

Fry sighed again.  “Leela.”  He hesitated for a moment, not quite sure how to put his thoughts into words.  “Do you remember what I said to you the day I was unfrozen?  You know, right before your computer told us that my permanent career assignment was going to be ‘delivery boy’?”

Leela thought for a moment.  “You told me that you had been given another chance, and that this time you weren’t going to be a total loser.”  She frowned.  “But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“It has everything to do with anything!” Fry said, jumping up from his seat, agitated.  He began to pace back and forth in front of the couch.  “When I got to the future I told myself that I was going to turn my life around.  Back in the 20th century I was miserable.   My life was going nowhere.   Then I got a chance to start all over again, and do you know what I realized yesterday, after I landed on that barge?  My life still isn’t going anywhere!  I’ve been here for almost a year and what have I done for myself?  I’ve been living in a robot’s closet, working a dead end job, and women still either ignore me or treat me like dirt.”  Leela stirred a little, as if to interrupt his tirade, but thought better of it.  “Well not anymore!”  Fry continued.  “I’ve got a job that I’m good at, I have my own apartment, and I can finally say that my life isn’t pointless!”

Fry’s words stung.  Hadn’t their friendship been worth something to him?  “But what about your friends?” Leela asked quietly.

Fry stopped his pacing.  “Friends?” He echoed, and then laughed.  “What friends?  Bender sells me up the river any chance he gets, and everybody else I know either doesn’t like me or just wants to take advantage of me.”

“Well, I like you.  And I don’t take advantage of you.”

Fry caught the hurt look in Leela’s eye and stopped waving his arms.  “I didn’t mean you, Leela.” He said gently, sitting down beside her.  “You’ve always been there for me.  Even after Bender and I got you fired you tried to help, and you didn’t sell me out to get your job back from the Professor like Bender did.”

Leela cringed, remembering guiltily how she’d done just that.  The thought that she’d so casually taken her friend for granted left an unpleasant taste in her mouth.  Fry continuted to speak, unaware of the turmoil in Leela’s mind.

“I just hope that jerk robot feels bad about what he did to me.”  Fry paused, having thought of something.  “Hey, how did you find me anyway?  I didn’t tell anybody I was moving in here.”

“It wasn’t easy.” Leela admitted.  It took me a few moments to realize that the Professor had thrown you overboard.  There wasn’t much I could do; there weren’t any places to land the ship nearby, and I couldn’t see well enough in the dark to search for you from the air.  As soon as I got back to Planet Express I went looking for you, but I had no idea where you’d fallen.  A few hours ago I called Ipgee to tell him that you were missing again and he told me that, not only had you been in to work today, but that you were out searching for an apartment.  I knew you’d probably get pressured into agreeing to the first contract you came across, so I asked Hermes to access the Central Bureaucracy’s database.  He looked through all of the leases that were signed today, and your name finally came up.”  A moment later she added “And give Bender a break.  Sure, he’s a jerk, but he’s your best friend.  He doesn’t mean to be such a pain in the ass, he just is.  Besides, he’ll be really shook up when I tell him that you’re not coming back.”

Fry nodded.  “I know he doesn’t mean it.  I just can’t take it anymore.  I mean, come on.  We both know it was really his idea to steal the ship, and then instead of taking responsibility for what he did, he let us all take the fall.  And then, when he was sure the Professor had forgotten why he’d fired us he asked for his old job back, and got it!  But instead of helping me out when I asked for my job back, he told the Professor that I was responsible for destroying his business and all of his possessions.  As if Bender wasn’t just as responsible as I was!”

“Oh come on, Fry.  Bender couldn’t exactly have helped you get your job back.  The Professor only gave us our jobs back after you disappeared.  The first time we asked him for our jobs back he didn’t even- oh shatner.”  Leela clamped her mouth shut before she could say any more, but it was too late.

“And then, when we were flying back-” He hesitated.  Something that Leela had just said was important.  A glimmer of a thought appeared.  “What do you mean, ‘the first time?’” Fry asked, more confused than suspicious. 

“Umm, never mind.  I meant- uhh- nothing.  Yeah, that’s it, nothing.”  Leela smiled weakly.

The rusting gears in Fry’s head, creaking in protest against the unfamiliar strain, finally ground into motion.  Fry’s eyes narrowed.  “You asked Farnsworth for your job back before I disappeared, didn’t you?”  He correctly interpreted Leela’s uncomfortable silence as a yes.  “Why didn’t you want to tell me?” He asked, confused.

Leela fumbled for an answer.  “Well, you know.  I thought you liked your job at Applied Cryogenics, and I didn’t want you to think you had to leave and come back to Planet Express just because Bender and I did.”

Fry crossed his arms.  “If you thought I enjoyed Applied Cryogenics so much, then why did you just ask me when I was coming back to Planet Express?”

Leela’s mouth worked, but no sound came out.  Pieces slowly began to click into place in Fry’s brain.

“You tried to do it behind my back, didn’t you?  You didn’t want me to know that you were working for the Professor again.”  Fry stood, walked a few paces and whirled around.  Pointing accusingly, he said  “You and Bender tried to secretly get your jobs back without telling me.  And now you come looking for me, trying to convince me to come back to Planet Express.  Why?  Do you need a scapegoat again?  Is that it?!”

Leela stared at her friend, mouth agape.  She had never seen him this angry before, especially at her.  Slowly the cyclops got to her feet.  “That’s not how it was.” She said coolly.  “Bender and I went to the Professor and asked him to give us our jobs back.  He told us that he had a new crew and that, with you fired, he didn’t have to worry about his jigsaw puzzles getting eaten.  We figured that he’d still rehire us without you, but when he didn’t, I decided not to tell you about it so that what we’d done wouldn’t hurt your feelings.”

“Uh-huh.  I’ll bet my feelings were the first thing on your mind.” Fry said, his voice dripping sarcasm.  “Some friend you are.”

“Hey, now hold on a min-.” Leela started

Fry made a slashing motion with his hand, cutting Leela off.  “Get out.” He said.

“What?”

“Get out.”  Fry repeated, pointing to the door.

“Fry, please…” Leela begged, but the hard look in Fry’s eyes told her that it was pointless.

“I said leave!”

“Alright, fine.”  Leela snapped suddenly, surprising herself.  “If you want things to be this way, then that’s ok with me.  Just don’t come crying to me when you finally realize that you’ve screwed up and lost all of your friends!”   With that she turned and stomped out of the apartment.  Fry, who had his back to her, didn’t even turn to watch her leave.

[Reply #14 on:]

Yessss!

Fry with backbone. 

Fry telling Leela to get out!

The self-centered purple-haired wench actually having a guilty feeling.

I like it!  VERY MUCH!

[Reply #15 on:]

haha, yeah, after reading your scathing criticism of Bender's Big Score, I had a feeling that you would like this.     

[Reply #16 on:]

 

Quantum Estates was designed for people 'who know where they are in life, but not where they are going, or how fast they will get there.'

 

Until the scene with Leela, your slightly darker version of Fry reminded me of his attitude in Fishful of Dollars, sitting in the dark listening to 'classical music', but it seems pretty out of character for him to tell Leela to leave like that.
I suppose that's some portent of the anti-ship.

Love 'Prime Minister Bender' and the cameo by Terry too.

[Reply #17 on:]

 

Originally posted by soylentOrange:

haha, yeah, after reading your scathing criticism of Bender's Big Score, I had a feeling that you would like this.     

Keep up this fic, SO.  I rather like it.

ALL YOUR FICS ROCK!

Do you get a chance to mention the planet Urectum in this fic?  I remember busting a gut laughing so hard reading that in your previous fic.  Urectum!

Take care and don't let college wear you down.

[Reply #18 on:]

Ahhh, this is why I love fanfic. It explores all those scary little bits of continuity that the show never addressed. 

Ralph, just out of curiosity what would it take to rebuild this here 'ship in your mind?

If the answer is "A shotgun" then don't answer... 

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Ralph, just out of curiosity what would it take to rebuild this here 'ship in your mind?

I don't know if it can be salvaged in my eyes.  It would require an almost re-write of Leela's character.  I don't mean take away her quick temper or ass-kicking ways, but the way she treats other around her.  She can be almost kind one moment then turn into a mean-spirited harpy the next.  It would also mean her stop parading her relationships in Fry's face yet running to him for emotional support when they crash.

Sorry, I've known too many real life women who act the exact same way and it's not funny, it's pathetic.

 

If the answer is "A shotgun" then don't answer... 

Not my style...

[Reply #20 on:]

 

I don't mean take away her quick temper or ass-kicking ways, but the way she treats other around her. 

Agreed.  The writers keep giving Leela relationships and then destroying them so as to maintain the status quo.  It was a good way to give Fry a chance to show his feelings for Leela, and for Leela to recognize her own feelings for Fry.  The first two times.  At this point, she's had so many flings with so many guys that it just doesn't work anymore.  By having Leela seemingly forget the feelings for Fry that she discovers in episodes like Jurrasic Bark, The Sting, and The Devil's Hands, the writers make her come off as superficial and cruel.  And then Fry comes of as a complete loser for continuing to chase her.

[Reply #21 on:]

Damn writers...

Anyhoo, I like where you're going with this, though I guess the status quo will have to re-assert at some point. Unless you go off in a wild direction. 

[Reply #22 on:]

Hi soylentOrange,

As I said before, I like your style and your story.  It was fun to beta for you, and I'm impressed with the additional apartment leasing scene you added.  I agree with Archonix that fanfic is useful for patching up continuity holes.
I really don't see how this is 'anti-ship'--the best shippy stories always have Fry/Leela conflict.

There seems to be a lot of 'post-BBS syndrome' going around.  This is probably a good thing in that it will reduce the really sappy Fry/Leela fanfics.  When I first saw BBS at the premeire, the shallowness of Leela, the passiveness of Fry, the casual way the Nibblonian plotline was tossed out--all bothered me.  Telling DXC that to his face wasn't really appropriate, given the venue.

But upon reflection I think these are hiccups.  If someone rises from the dead and tries to perform a tap dance and sing, I'll forgive a couple of trips and some false notes.  In some sense F/L is a victim of the show's erratic schedule.  The 'creators' never knew if the show would end next week or continue for multiple years, so of course they had problems with how to develop the relationship.  With the imminent cancellation of the show in Season 4 they accelerated the relationship, and now with the possibility of a multiple-season future they've decided they need to reset things a bit, setting off these emotional shock waves.

The Fry/Leela relationship is a fundamental importance to the writers and the concept of the show, and at the BBS premiere you could tell that DXC, Groening, and the actors very much want the thing to succeed.  I trust them.  We're only 1/4 the way through what they envisioned as a complete season.   

OK, sorry for venting onto your thread, SO.  Good story ;-).

[Reply #23 on:]

Awesome stuff.. go Fry! 

You know.. when I read stuff this good, a small voice in my head starts to point out how bad my own writing is.. sigh.. never mind.    

[Reply #24 on:]

Corvus, you are now officially banned from self-deprication.  On pain of, uhh, virtual chastisement.  Yeah.

[Reply #25 on:]

Yeah Corvus - quit putting yourself down.  You started one fic with Leela having a teenaged duaghter that had a lot of promise.  What i saw was well-written and built the characters well.  I'm just sorry that you felt that you couldn't continue it.

[Reply #26 on:]

 

Originally posted by soylentOrange:
Corvus, you are now officially banned from self-deprication.  On pain of, uhh, virtual chastisement.  Yeah.

Originally posted by Ralph Snart:
Yeah Corvus - quit putting yourself down.  You started one fic with Leela having a teenaged duaghter that had a lot of promise.  What i saw was well-written and built the characters well.  I'm just sorry that you felt that you couldn't continue it.

I'm sorry if I sound so self-deprecation all the time.. if you had met me 5-6 years ago I was brimming with self confidence. I felt that there was nothing I couldn't do and I generally had a positive 'can-do' attitude.

Then I had my confidence in my own abilities severely crushed. I don't trust myself nor my abilities after that.. I don't want you to feel sorry for me or anything.. I just want to explain myself and my constant self beating.

As for the fic you mention Ralph, it's kinda hanging in the air right now.. not sure what I want to do with it. I might continue it or I might not. We'll see.

[Reply #27 on:]

 

Then I had my confidence in my own abilities severely crushed. I don't trust myself nor my abilities after that.. I don't want you to feel sorry for me or anything.. I just want to explain myself and my constant self beating.
 

What was her name?  Only a woman can make a man's self-confidence take such a plunge.

No sorrow to be given here but maybe a word of advice:  If this lackof self-confidence is crippling you in real life, seek professional help and guidance.  Depression and lack of self-worth can limit your abiltity to have a happy and healthy life.

Take care, bro. 

[Reply #28 on:]

 

Originally posted by Ralph Snart:
 What was her name?  Only a woman can make a man's self-confidence take such a plunge.

No woman.. My skills with the ladies are as good as Fry's.   

No, it was something I firmly believed that I could do and failed. Big time.

 

Originally posted by Ralph Snart:
No sorrow to be given here but maybe a word of advice:  If this lackof self-confidence is crippling you in real life, seek professional help and guidance.  Depression and lack of self-worth can limit your abiltity to have a happy and healthy life.

Take care, bro. 

Not crippling.. just don't trust myself much. I have my ups and downs. I get by so don't worry. Thanks for the advice though. I appreciate it.

[Reply #29 on:]

 

Originally posted by Corvus:
 Not crippling.. just don't trust myself much. I have my ups and downs. I get by so don't worry. Thanks for the advice though. I appreciate it.

Hi Corvus, glad you are coping.  From my own personal experience, failure is just another word for "learning".  If you screwed up something big time, it just means you were ambitious enough to try.

By the way, writing is a great way to get self-confidence back   

[Reply #30 on:]

A little late to the party, but here goes.

I liked this part; Fry's reasoning about the new direction in his life makes a lot of sense - he isn't a total idiot, so you'd think that he'd have had these thoughts at some point in his time in the future. (Though I guess, if only subconciously, he might see a relationship with Leela as an achievement that offsets the fact that the rest of his life hasn't improved that much in a thousand years.) I can't wait to see what happens next!

On another topic...kinda disquieting, but you have to note (as evidenced here, and in BBS) the fact that when Fry puts his obsession with Leela on a back-burner, he does tend to improve his situation... :/

[Reply #31 on:]

 

you have to note (as evidenced here, and in BBS) the fact that when Fry puts his obsession with Leela on a back-burner, he does tend to improve his situation

Yeah, unfortunately you're absolutely right.  This fic is going to explore that a little bit.  Well, eventually.  After a brief interlude where certain people do certain things that make the storyline much darker.

[Reply #32 on:]

Hmmm...sounds interesting... 

[Reply #33 on:]

Part Two: Deep Space, June 5th, 3002

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   

“… and that’s why I changed from pink fingernail polish to yellow fingernail polish.” 

“Uh-huh.” Leela just kept staring out the front viewport, completely lost in her thoughts.  Amy got up from her seat at navigation and waved a hand in front of the cyclops’ face to make sure she was even awake.

“Uhh, Leela?  Are you ok?”

Leela reacted as though she’d been shocked.  “Huh, what?  What’s going on?  Is something wrong?”

Amy cocked her head.  “Uhh, no, but I was starting to get a little worried.  I just told a fifteen-minute story about fingernail polish and you didn’t even roll your eye once.  I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”  Leela said, forcing a weak smile.  “I was just thinking.  I guess I kinda got lost in my head.”

“You were thinking about Fry again, weren’t you?” Amy asked as she sat back down in her seat by the communications gear.

“Yeah.” Leela admitted.  “I mean, I know it’s not a coincidence that Planet Express has been three times as profitable since he got fired a month ago, but for some reason I just don’t like my job anymore, even with the raise that Hermes gave us.”

“You like him, don’t you?” The intern asked, smirking slightly.

“W-what?” Leela stammered.  “No!  What on Space Earth gave you that idea?”

Surprised by her Captain’s outburst, Amy said, “Well you know, you two spent so much time together, I just figured…” She shrugged. 

Leela shook her head.  “No, it was never like that.  I mean, we had a couple of moments.  Like on the Titanic right before it got sucked into that black hole, but nothing serious.  Besides, I don’t think it matters much anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

Leela hesitated.  She had told her coworkers that Fry wasn’t going to be coming back to Planet Express, but she hadn’t mentioned the fight that she had had with the delivery boy.  She hadn’t even explained why Fry hadn’t contacted anyone but her after he had been tossed overboard, or even told anyone that she knew where he was.  Her coworkers suspected that she knew more than she was telling, but as yet none of them had pushed her on the subject.  After storming out of Fry’s apartment she had had a long walk home in the rain in which to cool off.  By the time she’d gotten back to her apartment her anger had subsided somewhat, and she’d even felt a pang of regret.  But then her mental defenses, honed by years of continuous emotional bombardment from society’s cruel prejudices, snapped firmly into place against the pain that Fry had caused her.  From that point onward she attempted to think of the delivery boy as little as possible.

“Well…” Leela began, reluctantly deciding that Amy had the right to know, regardless of how uncomfortable it was to talk about. 

Amy waited expectantly while Leela gathered her thoughts, the autopilot beeping softly in the background.

“I talked to Fry after he disappeared.  Face-to-face, I mean.”  Leela managed at last.

Amy looked surprised.  “But you said he just left a note at your apartment saying he wasn’t coming back.”

“I know.  I don’t know why I lied.  I think it just hurt too much to talk about it.  Fry and I had a fight.  A big one.  I found out where he was living and went to have a talk with him.  He got so angry with me that he told me to leave, and I don’t think he’ll ever speak to me again.”

“What?!”  The intern was shocked.  “Fry threw you out of his apartment?!  That’s so out of character for him!  He must have been really angry at you.”

Leela gave the intern a pained expression.  “He found out that Bender and I secretly tried to get our jobs back without him.  We knew we had a better shot at getting Farnsworth to rehire us if Fry wasn’t around, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.  Now he thinks that everyone stabbed him in the back, like we all just wanted to take advantage of him.”

“Oh.” Amy said.  “well that’s too ba-“

But Leela wasn’t finished.  Her eye narrowed, and her grip tightened on the steering wheel.  “I tried to explain that I was just trying to keep from hurting him, but would he listen?  No.  But then, he never does, does he?  Everything he does is so… reckless!  Drinking that Trisolarian Emperor, locking himself in a freezer tube with that crazy ex-girlfriend of his, trying to sell his lungs, and now this!  Instead of listening to me, he decides to abandon everyone that cares about him and start over.” 

Hesitantly, Amy tried to offer a few words in Fry’s defense.  “Spleesh, Leela.  He’s not that bad.  He means well.  And anyway, if he wasn’t so reckless he wouldn’t have come to the future at all, and you’d still be stuck in that job that you always say you hated so much.” 

The harsh look on Leela’s face softened slightly.

“Besides,” Amy added cautiously, “doesn’t he have a point?  We did kinda take him for granted.  Remember how on each delivery we used to fly a quarter mile farther away from the place where Fry had to deliver the package, just to see how far he’d walk before he started to catch on?  We haven’t exactly been very nice to him, especially Bender.  And then you went and did something that made him feel betrayed-“

“Betrayed?!”  Leela growled, real anger flashing in her eye.  “What right does he have to feel betrayed?  It’s because of him that I lost my job in the first place.  Farnsworth fired me because Bender and Fry stole the ship.  I mean, what the hell?  How can I get canned for someone else’s blunder?  But did Fry stand up for me? No.  He let me take the fall with him, as if it was all a big joke.  I mean, I expect that kind of crap from Bender, but I thought Fry and I were friends.  Fry betrayed me, not the other way around!”

Amy’s response was a tiny, intimidated squeak.  “Oh.” She said.  The bridge fell into silence, a silence that the intern was too scared to break until the ship reached its destination.
_____________________________ _____________________________ ______________

Two tense hours later, the Planet Express Ship glided into the atmosphere of a small terrestrial world.  The planet was smaller and less massive than Earth, but what it lacked in stature it made up for in sheer beauty.  The brilliant blue light from the nearby star shone down on clouds of carbon dioxide and water vapor.  Oceans covered nearly half of the planet’s surface, with all of the dry land contained in a single gigantic continent.  At the landmass’s center was a bleak, wind-swept desert, but the continent’s edge was tintet green and purple by what looked like vegetation.  Leela brought the ship in low through a valley between two snow-capped mountain ranges.  The peaks, able to grow to dizzying heights in the weak gravity, easily reached 40,000 feet.

After a few minutes, the valley began to widen, and the mountains became rolling hills.  The Planet Express Ship was soon flying over a flat, featureless plain.  Leela set the ship down near the coordinates that she had been given and removed the keys from the ignition.  As the ship’s engines powered down, Bender came walking in through the hatch, holding the package under one arm. 

“Hey chumps.  Are we there yet?” Asked the robot.

Leela glanced at the robot and then out the viewport.  The PE Ship was resting in the middle of a sprawling plain.  Rather than grass, the ground was covered in something that looked like purple moss.  The tops of distant mountains could just be seen, their bases hidden by the curve of the planet.  There was no sign of civilization anywhere.  She frowned.  “Yeah, we’re here alright, wherever here is.  The Professor was pretty cryptic about this mission; all he gave me was a set of galactic coordinates for the planet and a latitude and longitude to land at.  He wouldn’t even tell me what’s in the package that we’re delivering.”

“Did he at least tell you where we’re supposed to deliver it once we landed?” Amy asked.

Leela shook her head.  “No.  I figured that it would be obvious once we landed.  But I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t see anybody around.”

“Maybe we’re in the wrong place?” Bender offered.  “No offense, but you know what they say about human drivers.”

The two humans ignored him.  “Should we call the Professor, you know, to make sure he gave us the right coordinates?” Amy asked.

After thinking for a second, Leela took the package from Bender.  She showed  the intern the shipping label, which had the coordinates of its destination marked on it in clear black ink.  Hermes’ red stamp sat squarely in the middle of the label.  Everyone present knew that no shipping label, pay stub, or miscellaneous document bearing the Jamaican’s seal of approval would contain an error capable of being overlooked by his zealous bureaucratic scrutiny.

Amy was obviously a bit perplexed.  “Huh.  Well then what do we do now?”

“Well, since Hermes probably didn’t give us bad information, we can probably assume that there’s people around here somewhere.  We just can’t see them from here for some reason.  Maybe they live underground like on Subterra IV.  I think the best thing to do is to head outside and look around.  Maybe we’ll find something that will tell us which way we should go.”
_____________________________ _____________________________ ______________

Amy, Bender, and Leela stood at the airlock.  The Martian intern had the package, since she was technically the new delivery girl.  Leela pressed the button that would open the inner hatch, and the three of them squeezed into the uncomfortably small space.  When Bender hit the button that would cycle the lock, a red light began to flash and a buzzer sounded three times.  Surprised, and a little irritated, Leela pushed Bender’s hand out of the way and pressed the button.  Again there was a red light followed by the buzzer.

“Hey guys?” Bender and Leela awkwardly turned to face the intern in the cramped compartment.  “There’s a message on this screen thingy over here.” Amy continued.  “It says that the atmosphere is toxic.  The ship won’t let us outside unless we have suits on.”

“What, really?”  Leela asked, genuinely surprised.  “We’ve never delivered to a planet with an non-breathable atmosphere before.    Why wouldn’t Hermes have mentioned that?”  Not that it really mattered.  Besides, she thought, it shouldn’t be a surprise.  Not every planet in the universe has been terraformed to human standards.

The two humans and the robot clambered out of the airlock, and as Bender waited impatiently, Leela went and fetched two spacesuits.  In a matter of moments the three of them were back in the airlock.  This time, when Leela pressed the ‘cycle’ button there was the hiss of the airlock’s atmosphere being drawn into the ship, and another hiss as air from outside was allowed in.  When the interior and exterior pressures reached equilibrium the outer hatch swung open, and the trio walked down the ramp to the planet’s surface.   

The purple ground under Leela’s feet felt soft and spongy.  Curious, the PE Captain bent down and grabbed a handful of the mossy purple stuff that coated the ground as far as the eye could see. It came free of the ground with a soft sucking noise that was barely audible through Leela’s helmet.  She held the moss up to her face and looked closely at it.  It was only a shade or two darker than her hair and looked like the foam that was stuffed into cheap mattresses.  After a few moments, the stuff started to squirm in Leela’s gloved hand.  The PE Captain dropped it, grossed out more than she cared to admit.

When Leela looked up, Bender and Amy were a few dozen meters ahead.  When they realized that she had fallen behind they stopped and waited for her to catch up.

“Everything ok?” Amy asked.

“Yeah, fine.” Leela replied, and motioned for her two friends to keep walking.
_____________________________ _____________________________ ______________

 For what seemed like hours Leela and her two companions searched the countryside for some clue that there was sentient life nearby.  Leela led the way while Amy, who was not used to long distance hiking, fought doggedly to keep up.  Bender took up the rear, caught between a need to whine about being forced to work so hard and a desire to flout his robotic superiority.  The going was rough.  Walking on the moss was like walking through deep snow.  Leela kept sinking into the stuff up to her shins, and she had a hard time keeping her balance.  Worst of all, every time she lifted her feet the moss seemed to pull at her spacesuit’s boot as if there was some kind of suction.  Eventually, Leela was too tired and frustrated to continue.

“That’s it.” She said between panting intakes of breath.  Bender and Amy stopped beside their Captain, glad for the rest.  “There’s nobody here.  Let’s get back to the ship.  Maybe if we fly around for awhile we’ll see something.  If not, then screw it.  We’ll go home and Hermes can deliver the package himself.”

Amy nodded, too exhausted for words.  The intern, panting hard, handed the package to bender and sat down on the soft ground.  Bender stuffed the small box in his chest cabinet and then turned away.  He froze.

“Umm, meatbags?” Bender asked with uncharacteristic alarm.

Leela turned to face him.  “Yes, Bender?”

“Uhh, what color was our spaceship when we left?”

Leela gave the robot an odd look.  “Umm.  Green?  The color that it’s always been?”

Bender pointed off in the direction of the ship.  It was a lot farther away than Leela had realized.  Distance was hard to measure on the flat, featureless plain, but it looked they had wandered a mile at least from the ship.  Even at this distance she could clearly see what had caught the bending robot’s attention.  The once-green spaceship was now a dark purple, the same color as the moss.

Amy let in a sharp intake of breath, and Leela felt her heart skip a beat.  “The ship must be covered with this purple moss stuff!”  Amy exclaimed.

“Come on, back to the ship!” Leela ordered, and she began to fight her way through the moss.  A moment later there was a loud scream.  Leela whirled to face the sound, laser pistol drawn.  There was no alien monster, just Bender standing idly with his arms crossed and Amy sitting cross-legged in the moss.  There was a look of panic on the intern’s face.

“Leela, it’s got me!” She cried.  As Leela watched, horrified, Amy tried unsuccessfully to dislodge herself from the purple moss.  A thin film of the stuff was starting to crawl its way up the sides of her spacesuit. 

“Bender, help me get her free!” Leela yelled.  Bender, obviously reluctant to do any more work than was absolutely necessary, only budged when the PE Captain shot him her most dangerous glare.  Leela grabbed Amy’s left arm while Bender grabbed her right. 

“Ok, on the count of three, pull!  One.  Two… Three!”  Amy’s bottom came free of the moss with a loud pop.  Unfortunately, Bender had pulled a little too hard, and Amy’s suited figure went sailing through the air.  She hit Bender square in the chest and knocked the robot backward.  The two of them landed in a heap.  Leela, who was still gripping Amy’s arm, lost her balance and felt her feet leave the ground.  Suddenly she was also lying flat out on the ground.  The PE Captain tried to get up, but something held her in place.  A thin sheet of purple started to climb the edge of her helmet.

“Damn.  I can’t move.  The moss is holding me down.  Are you guys alright?”

Amy and Bender both assured her that they were.  Unfortunately, they were also both stuck.
_____________________________ _____________________________ ___________

The moss began to creep its way up Leela’s helmet, until she was completely encased in it.  All she could see was a dull purple glow.  Whether she was seeing dim sunlight or whether the moss was somehow weakly fluorescent, the PE Captain had no idea.  Amy and Bender were silent.  Leela had tried to keep up a conversation with them so as to keep up morale, but she’d quickly run out of encouraging things to say.  She also knew that they expected her to be the one that got them out of this, and so she had spent the last few minutes thinking.  She went over their situation one more time, trying to find anything that they could use to their advantage.

“Let’s see.  I could probably reach the autopilot on communicator, but the ship might be just as stuck as we are.   Besides, even if the ship lands two feet away it won’t do us any good if we can’t move.  She’d already asked Bender if he had something that could cut or burn its way through the moss.  The robot listed off at least half a dozen different tools that he had that might do the trick.  Unfortunately they were all in his chest cabinet, which the moss was currently preventing him from opening.  Leela had a knife strapped to her leg and the laser pistol at her waist, but she wasn’t even able to move her hand enough to reach them.  For the tenth time she cursed herself for holstering her weapon before helping Amy, and not reacting quickly enough to grab the gun when she had first fallen.

As far as the PE Captain could discern, they had no options.  But that was unacceptable.  There had to be some way out of this.  She was damned well not going to die at the hands of some stupid alien plant.  She had to think of a way out of this, and she had to do it fast.  The layer of moss collecting around her was growing thicker by the minute.  Every minute she delayed was one minute closer to the moment when the suit would become her tomb.

[Reply #34 on:]

Awesome as a ever.. and exciting! How will they get out of that "sticky" situation?? Oh.. the pun.      

[Reply #35 on:]

@Corvus: Ah, well, you know me.  No 'sticky' situation can ever be solved without wanton acts of violence.

[Reply #36 on:]

Fry to the rescue? 

[Reply #37 on:]

erm, no.  Not exactly... :P

[Reply #38 on:]

Ahh, somehow I'm not surprised. 

[Reply #39 on:]

 

Originally posted by soylentOrange:
 After a brief interlude where certain people do certain things that make the storyline much darker.

Nixon: Fry, I am your father!
Fry: Meh.
Nixon:  And Leela is your sister!
Fry: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Hopefully not *that* dark.  It's great to see a good old space exploration story hit the rounds once again, and now I'm curious how the storylines will tie together.