On the first day out, the Orbiter did not reminisce on its time spent on the planet, as nothing of note had occurred. Daily checkups were nothing but tasks to wait through, and the results were always the same; nothing was wrong with its machinery, and it would last a very long time. However, if there was one thing, one person of note, it would be Miss Nielsen. She was not a very interesting person, nor was she particularly smart, but her endless, bland ramblings about topics that quite frankly did not interest the Orbiter, had an odd appeal to them.
It was mostly because she treated it like a person more than a machine; as if its cold wires were warm blood. Nielsen spoke about the humid weather and the prices of groceries, as if the Orbiter was any regular worker at the facility. It should not be considered a soft spot, as such feeling was not a possibility, considering how it was wired, but something akin to it, that much was true. A change of pace was refreshing to its monotone reality.
Exactly as the Orbiter had expected, it did not miss Nielsen’s presence when the launch finally occurred. It did not ponder her whereabouts nor did it wonder how she felt seeing the shuttle soar through the atmosphere. The only emotion stirring its processors was the worry it was coded to feel during takeoff. From the isolated windows, it could see the landscape, and eventually the entire planet, grow smaller and vaguer. If the Orbiter had eyes, they would not widen in wonder.
There was nothing for it to do up in the vast emptiness. All practical systems it possessed, it itself could not access as they were only designed for the use of scientists scurrying about every possible grain of data they could gobble down into their fleshy minds. It was alright, though, the Orbiter did not have programming that allowed it to feel bored and gray. Most of its time consisted of staring at the stars that shifted as its own position changed, and doing routine maintenance. The first few days, Nielsen would chat to it over the intercom, but that was quickly shut down as the calls were revealed to interfere with the signals needed for the observations.
Time passed. The Orbiter didn’t know how much time, only that it passed. At some point, the water cooling down its machinery had leaked, and the shuttle was sent back down to the earth for emergency maintenance. The Orbiter didn’t land back at the facility it came from, but the tracker built into it meant that it wouldn’t be long before they would come to retrieve it. When waiting to be picked up, it gazed across the mark of golden wheat as it thought it recognized something within the field. The excited shrieks were indeed familiar, and the Orbiter would always remember the curly blonde locks that bounced whenever Nielsen ran to see it.
“Orbiter, Orbiter! It’s me, do you remember me?” Nielsen spoke, smile audible in her words. “Yes.” was all the Orbiter responded, there was no need for small talk. Nielsen spoke about the procedure of picking it up, and about how the scientists had sent her here to do that, and how she had been roaming the wheat fields for hours trying to find the makeshift landing site. Eventually, the workers came to reclaim the Orbiter, and every second back to the institute was filled with Nielsen’s endless chatter.
All flaws in the system were patched up, and the leaking was fixed as well. When the last thorough safety check on the Orbiter had been finished, Nielsen was, of course, there to see it off again. The launch was the same as it had been last time, engineers were talking about how risky flight would be, but it was as gray as the last time. Since the last incident had not been foreseen, the institute scheduled maintenance once every so often. The Orbiter did not know, nor did it care, what year that was or how far in the future.
The next time it descended, the landing spot had been upgraded significantly. If not for its coordinate tracker, it would never have guessed that it was on the same spot. The golden wheat field had been mowed down, and was replaced by a wide stretch of empty land, with machinery dwelling in the horizon. Nielsen was quick to get there with her blocky vehicle. She spouted her meaningless chatter while doing a quick search for any damage from the touchdown.
“It looks great now, don’t you think?”
“I’ve really been looking forward to this!”
“You inspire my own kids!”
Nielsen’s words were static noise. She once again waved excitedly when the Orbiter returned to the heights of the atmosphere and beyond.
The next time it returned to the planet, Nielsen’s uniquely boring chatter was replaced by the common, but just as boring, talks as the rest of the scientists. Not that it actually cared. She still spoke a lot, of course she did, she would not be Nielsen without that. The Orbiter was once again ready to launch
After its return at a later time, the Orbiter was hit by something an organic lifeform would call doubt. Nielsen was there again as she always was, but despite the years, she somehow looked younger than last time. Her stature was more slumped and the Orbiter wondered if she had caught a kind of virus. Next rendezvous, she undoubtedly changes again. Her facial features were sharper and due to the Orbiter’s scanning and recollection features, it could never be wrong about such details.
It didn’t ask, however, because it did not care. Requesting the maintenance be focused on its memory storage was purely practical. It didn’t fear being shut down due to issues, but that was only because it was not programmed to be afraid. After the survey and no issues whatsoever were found, Nielsen took it upon herself to guide the Orbiter out of the sleek new building. The Orbiter could recognize the fact that it looked like rusty junk next to the structure.
“It’s really been a pleasure to meet you! Such beautiful machinery you have.” Gushed Nielsen.
“See you later.” The Orbiter responded with a dull tone.
“Oh, I hope so for sure! It’s basically what my family is known for, even if I don’t get this chance again, I hope my daughter will take great care of you!”