Re-entry [WIP]

Mel grumbled as she stared at her PDA, the moon shuttle was packed. Between the chatty pilot, grumbling scientists and screaming tourists she was struggling to focus on her work.
"...and if you look out the port side windows you'll be able to see Earth!" the overly chatty pilot continued, triggering a rush over to the windows on the left of the cabin as the blue marble came gliding into view. Mel remained seated, quietly scrolling through files and news. It was just Earth, she'd seen it plenty of times.

"OK folks, we're preparing for re-entry, please make sure all harnesses are fastened, all luggage is stowed, and that window blinds are closed. Thank you!" there was a soft click and the pilot stopped talking, finally.
Mel locked her harness in place and glanced over at the passenger in the seat next to her, they seemed to be having some trouble, but it was quickly solved by a passing attendant.
"You sure did fasten that up quickly! Not your first flight?" the passenger chuckled, looking over at Mel. A large man, wolf of some kind, the harness stretched out over his belly, but he had a soft face and a soft smile.
"I have a fair bit of experience." she responded, not letting much on.
"Glad to hear it! What's re-entry like?" he asked, craning his neck to look around the cabin.
"Ever been in an aeroplane landing in a cross wind during a thunderstorm?" she queried, glancing over at him as he settled in his seat.
"Once or twice, it's not nice..." he blinked a few times, like he was trying to process just how bad this could be.
"Re-entry is worse, it's always worse," she seemed to chuckle as she said it, "Don't worry though, it's over as quickly as it begins."
Mel didn't actually mind re-entry, sure it was rough, and could get a bit hot, and the world around you felt like it could fall apart at any second. But it meant she was going home. Real gravity, real sunlight, real food. The bumpy ride was just the sign that she would soon be stepping out onto good old Terra firma.

It was actually a surprisingly smooth re-entry, at least by her standards. The orbital tether caught them and decelerated them to entry speeds and there wasn't much turbulence on the way down. Not missing the tether, or getting sick from g-shift because the grav-mesh malfunctioned... or having another passenger vomit on her put it in her top 10.
"I see what you meant..." the wolf next to her slowly withdrew his claws from the armrests.
Mel was already unbuckling her harness, her eyes darted across to the wolf and back, "Believe it or not, that was the smoothest re-entry I've ever experienced." 
"I don't think space travel is for me then!" a bit of humour returned to the wolf's tone. 
"Be proud of yourself, you didn't throw up on me!" Mel returned the humorous tone.
The wolf smiled and unbuckled his own harness, carefully rising from his seat he seemed to fully relax the instant he realized he was under the effect of full earth gravity.

Disembarking from a space flight was not unlike disembarking from a terrestrial flight, security, border control, customs. Mel rolled her eyes as the queue slowly advanced forward, slipping her PDA out her pocket she lined up a taxi booking for when she got through security.
"Next at window... 4... please..." a synthetic voice chimed, Mel glanced up from her PDA. The queue had been moving quicker than she thought. The wolf from her flight was standing at window 3 and seemed to be having a great time with the border agent.
The agent on window 4 looked like she didn't want to be there. A lop-eared rabbit, long and dark hair, and wearing one of the more surly expressions a person could.
Mel walked over and pulled her paperwork out of her bag.
"Passport and travel papers." the agent grunted.
Mel handed them over in silence, if the agent wasn't chatty, she wouldn't be either. The gold lettering on her otherwise white passport caught the light as she slid it under the plexiglass window towards the agent.
The agent raised an eyebrow as they scanned it, Mel's information appeared on the display, an older photo certainly. The agent then opened the passport itself and looked it over. It was like they were being intentionally slow. Mel rolled her eyes and grumbled.
"Is there a problem?" she finally grunted, the agent's eyes had been flitting between the passport, the screen and Mel for close to a minute.
"When was this picture last updated?" the agent seemed to snarl, a smirk curling across their face.
"It was updated the last time I was planet side, so... three years ago?" had it really been three years, her face scrunched a little trying to remember specific dates.
"You ISA types, not getting your documents updated when things change." a bone to pick with ISA employees perhaps?
"We don't have passport printing equipment on the Lunar bases." Mel was starting to get a bit snippy.
A few more flicks, eyes up, eyes down, eyes up, eyes down. The agent then seemed to decide that continuing to be awkward wasn't worth their time, tapping a few commands into the keyboard in front of them and sliding Mel's documents back towards her. "Get your papers updated whilst you're down here visiting us mere mortals, huh?"
Mel wordlessly stuffed her papers back into her back and strode away from the window without another word. She hoped that the gate staff at the airport would be less of an issue. 

It turned out they were, same procedure crossing the vast nation of the EU as returning from space. Amazing how many shortcuts places will take when there's already similar systems in place, even if they aren't fully compatible. Fortunately, domestic travel by a citizen of the International Space Agency doesn't raise too many eyebrows, either that or the gate staff were bored stiff and didn't care. Either way, she was now standing, bag in hand, at the taxi stance in New Bright City Airport.
Opening up the BrightRide app she glared at the estimated time for a taxi. Automated or not, they were still unreliable. She pondered a moment as to why she was even here. Last she knew of her sister she was in the Western Republic fighting in that stupid civil war. Any communications she sent either weren't delivered or bounced. At least her flat was still shown as occupied, it was worth a shot. Perhaps whoever lived there now could point her in the right direction at the very least.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the cab pulling up and opening its door and luggage compartment.
"Welcome to BrightRide! We apologize for the delay, we are experiencing unexpectedly high passenger numbers at this time." the driver bot chimed from the front seat. For some reason fully automated pods had shown to be off-putting for passengers, people wanted to see a driver up front. Mel found the "drivers" more off-putting. Very obviously artificial, very basic artificial intelligence, and sickly sweet. It had a basic understanding of the world around it thanks to a data-link and could make small talk, but beyond that they were all very similar. This one was emulating a cat of some kind, one of the ears on its head was just barely hanging on with a few strings of glue and the faux fur coating on its body was looking very ratty. That didn't dampen it's overly cheerful mood. She was fine with AI, she just disliked the uncanny valley. The robots on lunar base were very clearly, robotic. She liked them.
"Would you like to stop anywhere on the way to your destination?" it queried, worn out servos and motors whining as it twisted round to look at Mel in the back seat. Its face was a picture, and not a pretty one. The fur was worn through in several spots and it looked like it had taken a drunken punch or two in its service life. Mel stopped just short of feeling sorry for it, its lifeless eyes feeling like they were boring a hole through her.
"No. Thank you. Just my destination please." Mel responded shortly, usually that was enough to make sure these autocabs didn't try and converse too much...
"Okie dokie!" the driver chimed, turning back round in its seat. A click and the car's power plant energized, the motors whining to life as they pulled away and off onto the road.

The sights and sounds of New Bright City rushed past them Mel ignored it all, tapping away at her PDA trying to plan her next course of action, where to go if her sister wasn't at her old flat. She fired off a message to the asset procurement department on lunar base, perhaps they could book her into a hotel in the city. A few minutes later she got a response from the AI controlling that department.
"The International Space Agency has access to several properties in your destination city. You have been assigned a penthouse suite in building 1182, Buchanan Road. I believe it is within 15 minutes walk of your target. I hope your return journey to the planet was a pleasant one and that you enjoy your stay. ~APD Management System-13."
She opened her mapping app and punched in the address, a good central location and yes, within a few minutes of her sister's flat. Tapping a few more times she got a look inside the place and her jaw dropped. It was colossal, the whole top floor, private elevator access and 24-hour service. Easily more expensive than an executive suite at a five-star hotel, but the ISA had money to burn these days, and they liked looking after their staff. She also had a good rapport with the AI on lunar base, that probably helped too.
"Driver, could you please change the destination address to 1182 Buchanan Road?" Mel queried, glancing up from her PDA, the city rushed past them at highway speeds, she couldn't make anything specific out.
"Not a problem at all! Your fare will be updated on the BrightRide app! Please confirm the update now." the driver responded, unmoving. Mel confirmed the change on her PDA, the fare was effectively unchanged. "Confirmation received! Would you like to stop anywhere on the way to your new destination?"
"No. Thank you."
"Okie dokie!"

The remainder of the journey passed in near silence. Not a single word from the autocab driver, just the hum of the electric motors and the rumble of the tires on the road. The autocab pulled in to the side of the road and stopped, the hum of the powerplant died down and the drivers servos whined as it turned in its seat.
"We've arrived at your destination, thank you for choosing BrightRide!" a forced smile painted across its face.
Mel slid out of the taxi and hoisted her bag over her shoulder and walked into the grand entrance hall of the apartment block. She quickly realised why the penthouse had been offered to her so readily. The whole building was owned by the ISA.
The expansive and grand front desk was anachronistic to the organisation, as were the wood panelled walls and gold trimmed fixtures. The ISA preferred function over form, in all cases, the building was probably a recent acquisition, or perhaps it was listed and they couldn't change the décor.
"Greetings Employee 183-T2218," Mel's eyes were drawn quickly to the robot behind the front desk, now it was definitely of ISA design, "Your booking for the penthouse has been confirmed and your staff ID will allow you to use the lift at the end of the hall to gain access." The red tinted glass covering the robots optic sensors appeared to flicker as its myriad of arms handled paperwork and interfaced with terminals. Gunmetal grey with light grey armour plating along its core and extremities, a small status display on its chest was blank, a thick bundle of cables trailed out the back of what would have been its neck and connected to terminals around it.
"Thank you, it's been a long trip." Mel responded, she was quite relaxed around this kind of robot, their AI was complex and engaging, whilst they were clearly inorganic. No uncanny valley here.
"I hope that it was a pleasant trip," ok maybe a little uncanny valley, a platitude being spoken from a harsh speech synthesizer was a little off-putting, "I am Concierge 312A, if you have any issues with your accommodations or require any resources please inform me."

The lift was similarly ostentatious to the lobby. Wooden panelling, gold trim on the control panel, the back wall entirely glass. The New Bright City skyline rapidly shrank away as the lift rocketed upwards at an unnerving pace, numbers on the dated looking red LCD panel climbed higher and higher. Then she felt it slowing, the numbers climbed slower and slower, finally there was a gentle thump as the parking brakes engaged. The LCD panel showing "PH", presumably the best it could do for "Penthouse" with the ancient display technology. Mel briefly wondered how old the building was as the lift chime sounded and snapped her back to reality. The doors slid open and she stepped into the penthouse suite. 
A completely diffrent beast to the lobby and the lift that preceeded it, a very minimalist affair with white painted walls and a hardwood floor. Her footsteps echoed off the bare walls as she strode into the living area where she was met with a soft carpet and a group of very comfortable looking sofas surrounding a large fire pit. The brushed steel extractor dissapeared into the ceiling.
Clearly some of the fixtures had been too complicated to remove or replace, so the ISA had made do. Whatever it looked cosy.
Her visual assessment was quickly proven to be accurate as she threw herself onto one of the sofas and practically sank into it.
It smelled brand new, like it had only been removed from the wrapper a few hours ago.
Rolling over she pulled her PDA out of her pocket and stared at the slowly animating lock screen. Briefly mesmerised by it she was brought back to reality with a thump as it slipped out her hand, bounced off her muzzle and landed on the floor with a soft thump. Cursing quietly she picked it up off the floor and unlocked it, no new messages. A moment or so passed again as flicked through various apps achieving pretty much nothing before landing on her to-do app.
Scrolling through it she ticked off the obvious; Get back to earth, transport to New Bright, find a place to stay.
She paused, her thumb hovering over two of the items on the list; Find my sister, take meds.
Shit, meds. Hauling herself out of the sofa she picked her bag up and unzipped it. Digging around in the mess of cables and assorted crap for a moment she found what she was looking for. The small pink disc had survived the trip intact and hadn't spilled its contents all over her bag.
Taking the disc in hand she hauled herself out the sofa and wandered through to the kitchen.
It was very large, and very modern. Dark granite surfaces, black matte facings, steel trimmed fittings, and a huge breakfast bar right in the middle. Someone could host a small party in this space alone and it wouldn't be that cramped.
Picking through the cupboards she found a tall glass and turned to the fridge, although it looked more like the monolith. A small recess in one of the doors clearly marked as an ice and water dispenser.
She pressed the glass into the recess and a moment later a stream of chilled, crystal clear water streamed into the glass. Examining it for a moment she took a sip. Filtered, only a tiny hint of water treatment chemicals and not a whiff of limescale, very good.
Sitting the glass on one of the granite worktops for a moment she clicked the wheel on the disc round and popped out one of the pills, tiny little thing, deceptively hard to swallow.
Into her mouth it went followed by a quick swig of the water. She spluttered a bit but it had gone over.
Padding back through to the living area she sank back into the sofa, her glass of water finding a home on the wide edge of the fire pit. Pulling her bag up onto her lap she started fishing through it again, extracting things of use. Her portable terminal, power cables... she paused, then dug deeper. "Damn, forgot my toothbrush."
She reached for her PDA to ping the concierge, but decided against it. Probably better to get the lay of the land, and perhaps pick up some snacks as well. The selection on Lunar Base was limited.

The lift chimed once more and Mel stepped out into the lobby, a few people in ISA outfits were milling about, chatting or relaxing on chairs. Presumably they'd been assigned this building as their residence as well.
"Good evening Miss, getting settled in ok?" the concierge bot seemed to sense her approach to the desk.
"Yes, fine thank you. Where's the nearest convenience store to here? I appear to have forgotten my toothbrush back on Lunar Base." Mel queried as she walked around to the front of the desk, the many arms of the concierge robot performing an hypnotic dance as it continued to process its workload.
"There was no need to come down, I can get whatever you need delivered to the suite." despite its artificial tone, it was still friendly.
"I need to stretch my legs anyway, that and I like to browse. It's been a few years since I was in a planetside store." Mel smiled as her eyes scanned the lobby some more.
"Understood. The nearest convenience store to this location is the local 24Mart. Turn left after leaving this building and walk up the street. It will be on your left and you can not miss it." the concierge seemed to be softening its tone. Possibly a live patch. The whole place still screamed 'incomplete'.
Mel turned to leave then paused, "Out of curiosity, how long has this facility been active?"
"We formally opened this morning under order from Asset Procurement System 13, it appeared to be urgent. We have held this facility for a month." the concierge replied, almost cheery this time.
"Opened just for me, huh? I had no idea I had that much pull." Mel quietly mused.
"You don't treat us like robots Miss, we like to reward that. Have a pleasant evening." Mel felt that if the robot could smile it would have, she wasn't sure how to process this new information but decided to take it in stride.
"Thank you, hopefully I won't be long." Mel smiled 'back' and was met with an acknowledging but silent nod from the robot.

It was a warm evening, not that you could tell what time it was at street level a lot of the time, bright lights from stores, offices and residences practically blotted out the sky. Mel dialled down the sensitivity of her optics, way too bright. 
People milled about the street dipping in and out of stores, groups of people in suits hanging around sandwich shops, her eyes darted about taking it all in. She did notice a disparity in the clothing, given how warm it was there were still some people wrapped up in hoodies, she chalked it up to personal preference and filed it away. The street clearly wasn't as busy as it could be, but it was busier than she was used to. She picked up the pace.