One day, EVE, a sleek (and dangerous) reconnaissance robot, is sent to Earth to find proof that life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with EVE. WALL-E rescues EVE from a dust storm and shows her a living plant he found amongst the rubble. Consistent with her "directive", EVE takes the plant and automatically enters a deactivated state except for a blinking green beacon. WALL-E, doesn't understand what has happened to his new friend, but, true to his love, he protects her from wind, rain, and lightning, even as she is unresponsive. One day a massive ship comes to reclaim EVE, but WALL-E, ... Written by Anonymous
The original plan called for a mere five year trip, but the video instructions about the return to Earth show the same level of bone loss as the actual 700 year stay in space. Worse yet, such a short trip doesn't justify sending EVE probes at all, because, as we find out later, some people (including the president) have remained on Earth for these five years (the ship left in 2105 and the last message was sent in 2110). Evidently, the EVE program and the corresponding video were made in case the trip lasts indefinitely, possibly after it became clear that operation "Clean-up" is failing, but before it failed completely (or perhaps even afterward, but they forgot to cancel the previous order of not returning to Earth).
CONGRATULATIONS TO D.L. Anubis and wolfsprirt55 for the FTF. Only about an hour between posting and FTF!