Caretaker #42 - Too Soon 01

This first chapter is on the shorter side, it's more of an introduction and doesn't actually contain any sexual activity but sets up the premise, if you wanna skip straight to the smut, I recommend Chapter 2, but it may be slightly confusing.

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It's unclear why, but people often report that the first sense that returns to them after a long time in cryosleep, is their hearing. So it was not unsurprising that the sound came first, and consisted of the calming sound of liquid moving about gently. Alex would learn that the sound had been the cryofluid slowly draining from her tank. As she opened her eyes for the first time in centuries, the unerringly cheerful, but familiar sound of the ship's computer came to life.

"Good Morning! You have been in suspension for... One million, four hundred and thirty-right thousand, eight hundred and thirty days. Cryo-reanimation can be traumatic, please remain calm as your vitals are established."

Despite the computer's instructions, panic flashed through Alex's mind. 1.4 million days, was that enough? Or did that mean... Her train of thought was interrupted as the last of the cryofluid was drained away and the tank slowly tilted, until her naked body began sliding slowly out of the slippery tank and onto the padded floor. Her arms weak from years of cryosleep, Alex struggled into a sitting position despite the protest of her burning atrophied muscles and examined the dimly lit room around her, it looked like a fairly standard Cryolab, her pod most have been brought up from storage for reanimation. Machines were humming all around her and a screen with her vitals on it was updating constantly. In addition to her vital signs, the screen also contained her personal information.

"Subject Name: Alex Turner, Age: Twenty Six, Gender: Woman, Biological Sex: Male"

Alex was left wondering was what supposed to happen next, when the computer seemed to answer her unasked question, "Reanimation sequence successfully completed, initialising Moira" There was a hissing noise which emanated from the far wall as a panel opened and a fairly standard issue androgynous pale white android stepped out. The android blinked several times before hurrying over to kneel beside Alex. Alex's memories were all fuzzy for some reason, but the same question kept repeating over and over again in her mind, was 1.4 million years enough?

"Hey there Alex! You're reading stable, but how do you feel? Reanimation is never fun" the android, presumably Moira, asked gently. She knelt down beside her, wrapping her arms around Alex, supporting Alex's rapidly weakening muscles. Alex tried craning her neck to look up into the Android's featureless faceplate but her body, weak from so many years asleep, refused to obey her. The best she could do was to clutch at Moira's arm as she slumped into the android's embrace.

"Careful there, you've been in suspension a long long time, you'll need some time to-" Moira began to explain but was cut off by the panicked expression on Alex's face. With the last of her strength, Alex tightened her grip on Alex's arm and turned to look up at her.

"1.4 million?" Sophie managed in a desperate whisper, fear in her eyes.

Moira looked down sadly at the recently awakened human in her arms and hesitated over her reply, "Unfortunately Alex... our voyage is still underway... it's a pleasure to meet you, Caretaker #42."

The strength faded from Alex, a soft sob escaping her lips as she whispered, "No, please-" before consciousness failed her and everything faded to black.

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Over the next several weeks, Alex resurfaced a number of times briefly. She could remember brief snapshots of sensation, mostly lying in the warm confines of a medbed, feeling gentle ripples of energy flow through her body, helping her recover from cryosleep. Another time, she recalled being brought from room to room on a hover table. A series of glimpses too short to remember. The only constant was the android from her reanimation chamber, Moira. She was never far from hand, always looking down concernedly as her eyes fluttered open and then, inevitably, closed.

Finally, on what she would later learn was the two week anniversary of her reanimation, Alex woke suddenly, lying in an enormous and luxurious bed, tucked under silk sheets in an otherwise sparse room. Remembering how weak she'd been earlier, Alex lifted the covers experimentally and tried sitting up and to her pleasant surprise she could move much more easily, although she still felt quite weak. Alex clutched the covers towards her, covering her still naked form as she looked around the room. She must have made some kind of noise because a previously indistinguishable part of the wall swung aside and the most beautiful woman Alex had ever seen in her entire life walked slowly into the room. Alex had seem some attractive women in her time, or at least, she thought she had. Her memories were still fuzzy from her long stint in suspension and her memories were more feelings than fact. Regardless, memories or no, Alex was confident that no one even approached the woman who was now walking towards her. As her eyes drank in the woman's curves she noticed that the woman's unnaturally pale white skin, the strange teal colour of her eyes, the subtle seam on her exposed torso. This wasn't a woman at all, it was an android!

Alex's staring must have been extremely obvious because the android did a little twirl on her way to Alex's bedside, "To your liking I hope? We can fine tune my appearance later, but this form was based on what the computer could extrapolate from your brain scan" she explained in a familiar voice.

Alex's mouth fell open as she was briefly stunned to silence, it sounded like Moira from her reanimation chamber... but she looked unbelievably different now. Whereas before she had worn a standard androgynous shape, Moria now sported a very generous bust constrained just barely by a tight high necked black sleeveless crop top, which left a generous expanse of pale toned midriff. While the swell of her ass was only just covered by a white pleated skirt, worn over a pair of black fishnet stockings. The androids face was framed by long purple curls. The only thing that marked her out as non-human was the artificial colour of her hair, eyes and body as well as the barely perceptible seam lines in her polymer which ran down her sides as well as up her long athletic looking legs.

Alex closed her mouth with an audible clicking noise and squinted at the android, "Moira?" she asked, thankful again that the words came more easily than they had in the reanimation chamber.

The android smiled wide, evidently pleased at being recognised "The very same, I was a bit... standard issue before, I hope this is an improvement?" she half asked, half stated as she knelt down by Alex's bedside.

But the reminder of Moira's previous appearance brought back the memory of her current situation and Alex slumped back down on the bed as she remembered what had happened, "I'm one of the early wakers?... Aren't I?" she asked, dejection evident in her voice.

The smile slid from Moira's face as she watched Alex sink in on herself. "How much do you remember? Cryosleep really does a number on your long term memory, most of it should return eventually, but..."

Taking solace in the fact that her memories weren't going to stay fuzzy forever, Alex wracked her brain to piece together everything she could remember about the voyage. "My name is Alex Turner," she began. "I'm twenty..." Alex drifted off as her memories refused to come to her.

"Twenty Six" Moira supplied helpfully.

Alex nodded slowly, "Twenty Six, and volunteered on... I forget the name, but this is a generation ship, right?" Alex asked.

Moira nodded and a smaller version of her earlier smile seemed to return, "Absolutely, you're doing really well!" she chirped.

"Don't patronise me" Alex scoffed, crossing her arms.

"No no!" Moira said, reaching out and placing her arm on Alex's thigh over the covers, "I know this sounds ridiculous, but you're actually doing well, you've undergone several thousand years in suspension and to have this much of your faculties intact this early on is very promising" the android explained, "Do you remember anything about the Caretakers?"

Physically recoiling at the word, Alex struggled on through her foggy memory, "Randomly chosen right? Something about looking after the ship's computer?" Alex asked.

"Randomly-ish" Moira corrected, "Of the several million humans in stasis on board, you were randomly selected from a pool of two hundred and fifty thousand candidates judged to be suitable for the role" Moira rattled off, before continuing more seriously, "Essentially, you are the ship's conscience, while humanity sleeps."

"And doomed to live the rest of my life alone and miserable." Alex added, her voice shaking slightly, she felt like she might cry. Why her? she wondered

Moira looked down sadly at the new Caretaker as she absorbed the news. Moira climbed up onto the bed and pulled Alex unresistingly into a hug, "Alone? Never. You'll be the only human awake, yes, but you're not alone, never alone" Moira whispered comfortingly to Alex as she squeezed her gently, "And I am going to do everything in my not-inconsiderable power to ensure that your life is as far from miserable as possible." Moira tilted Alex's chin up to look down into her eyes, letting a smile reemerge on her face, "You could say... it's my entire purpose."

Alex had to admit, even as tears did begin to stream down her face that Moira's embrace was just as, if not more comforting than any human hug she'd ever received. "But aren't you the ship's computer? Isn't keeping humanity alive for the voyage more important than me?" Alex asked.

Moira shook her head, "So we've found the edge of your memories, that's okay. This is actually good news, we know where to work from" Moira said, adjusting so that she could hold Alex comfortably. "There are two AI's on board, the first and lesser AI is the ship's computer, they choose the Caretakers, reanimate them, monitor the stasis pods, control the ship and activate me when a new Caretaker is required. While highly sophisticated, it's not what you'd call intelligent. The ship's computer more or less follows any and all instructions it's given from appropriate authorities, ie: You."

Moira paused to make sure Alex was absorbing everything, before continuing. While upset, Alex was still paying attention, so she continued. "The majority of the computing power on this ship is dedicated to generating... me. A fully intelligent personality construct, complete with emotions, wants, desires and almost entirely customised to be your perfect companion." Moira lapsed into silence for a long moment, looking like she was searching for the right words. "The Caretaker Program was deemed to be bordering on cruel and unusual punishment. Randomly selected to live alone while everyone else sleeps? It's not exactly a desirable fate. So the ship's engineers built the most powerful computer in the history of humanity to keep you company... It's not perfect, but it's not bad as far as consolation prizes go."

Alex looked up at Moira as she absorbed what she was saying. She'd known there was a risk of becoming a caretaker when she volunteered for this voyage... The odds had been so astronomically low of being chosen that she had discounted it... She was never going to see Humanities' new home and that was slightly crushing... but, in truth, it wasn't exactly like her previous life had been amazing. She had volunteered to leave Earth after all. And Moira did seem... well, perfect.

Alex gave Moira a shaky, tear stained smile. "I mean, as much as living the rest of my life on this ship without any hope of ever seeing New Earth... wherever it is... that is kind of cool."