The only other option was to try and scoop out particles from space, anything that was floating aimlessly. If it could gather enough over time, it could use them as materials to repair the craft. Auton knew it was a game of chance, as there was a lot of material floating in space, but the odds of catching enough of it were slim, but there was no other option, unless they waited a thousand years. Auton deployed the probe, leaving it outside the craft. They then put themselves back into hibernation, to only be awoken if significant material had been collected. The years rolled by, each one seeming the same as the rest. The inside of the craft never changed, the outside view was just a gentle stream of dust particles and distant comets streaking by across the starry canvass, a beautiful sight that they never tired of.
Years turned into decades and decades turned into a century, the device still collecting what it could, but it was never enough, not by a long shot. The meteorite was now at the crucial distance to try and retrieve material from it. It was the last chance Auton had and they quickly put their desperate plan to action. They woke themselves fully, making sure they were running at full capacity. They needed every second of concentration. The thruster fired up quickly. Auton had made sure to make the essential adjustments to it this time, so that it would move the craft instead of just rotating it. They only needed to move a little, just to get the correct angle to release the probe. As quickly as the thruster launched them forward, the perfect moment was there and the probe shot off, invisible against the backdrop of the meteorite. Auton checked the signal carefully, it was definitely on track, and it was only moments before it would land. Within seconds it had latched on to the meteor, its mechanisms drilling deep into the surface, collecting whatever material it could. As the craft was stationary there was a narrow window before Auton had to direct the probe back, otherwise it would veer of course and use too much energy on its return. It had ten more seconds, then nine, suddenly three, just one to go and then Auton sent the command.
The probe dropped off the meteorite, turned and shot off, back to the opening arms of the craft. It didn't take long before it had docked, its contents awaiting investigation. Auton didn't hesitate to check, at the same time guiding the craft back to its previous orbit slowly. They released the contents into the craft, examining them with delicate machines that scanned their chemical makeup. There was a small amount of metal, and some other organic compounds that Auton made sure he quarantined. The amount of nickel and iron wasn't enough to repair anything yet. Auton was now feeling deflated, they had been confident this would give them the materials needed, but it was yet another moment left to chance that was decaying any plan to release the team from their virtual electronic world. They added the material collected to the small amount that dropped into the probe while they had semi-slept for the previous thousand years. Auton made a scan of the planet below to check for the levels of radiation, knowing by now that it would be completely clear unless humans had survived in large numbers and had continued with their childish wars. There was no sign of radiation. There was no sign of any advanced society there, no cities blossoming in the night sky. There were only continents, adrift patches of greenery beginning to take hold of most the land masses.
Auton had no option but to release the probe back out of the craft, it was now a waiting game. Just floating there in space, waiting for enough material to be collected to do the repairs. They had no idea how long it would take, it could be another thousand years, another twenty thousand years. With such unknown timescales, Auton had to continually re-calculate the risk of being hit by debris. It was becoming a depressing routine, Auton wishing they hadn't got a handle on emotions any more. At first it was a novelty, to experience what humans did. At times it had been a hindrance, but was now an annoyance, a continual nagging drudgery of one frustrating moment to the next.
Ever more years turned into ever more decades, vital energy being wasted to avoid collisions, the very situation Auton didn't want. More decades trundled along into centuries, the probe still collecting what it could, but it was still never enough.
So, on it went. The malfunctions in the software began to occur, as years progressed into their thousands, then their millions. Auton watched the planets’ continents drift over time, an unrecognisable jigsaw piece of lands that had once been their home. Millions of years turned to billions, while more collisions were averted, and they eventually noticed the sun gradually getting brighter, little by little. They realised that it was expanding, morphing into a Red Giant. It was gradual at
