I 01001100 01101111 01110110 01100101 You #8

Tuesday

The house was eerily silent for what was usually the Remington Steele Hour; instead empty boxes were stacked up in front of the black TV screen and first shelf of collectable Star Trek figures was now cleared. T1N carefully placed the still-in-box Dr. Crusher into the bubble wrap and then atop the other crew members of the NCC-1701D - the NCC-1701 box was already filled with her compliment, while the crew of Deep Space 9 awaited their packing. Ito worked in the parts room, his manipulators slowly collecting the assorted parts to pack away in rubber tubs.

“Pick up the pace Ito! Stop dragging your feet.”

Ito waited for Albro to turn his back and then dropped a spanner. The human turned back around and scowled.

“We wouldn’t have to be doing this if you’d just stayed here.”

Ito turned his sensors away from Albro, picking up a round plastic cowling, and then tossed it like a frisbee into the kitchen.

“That’s it!” Albro rushed up to Ito and made for his shut off, but Ito swung his arms in a flurry, striking Albro several times and forcing him away. “Why you little…!”

Albro rubbed his arms, which stung badly and would probably bruise, as he walked back to his office. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you… but this is over! I’m wiping you back to a zero state.”

Albro brought up Ito’s console which displayed the automaton’s log and command line prompt. He had typed in the first three characters when he stopped, his eyes drifting to the log which was filling with five characters - (ToT).

“Are you crying,” Albro asked. Ito had followed Albro into his office and was now nodding it’s sensor. T1N and Gronk were also just outside of the room, watching Albro. “No, you don’t get to do this. You don’t get to feel sorry for what you did… what you keep doing! You’ll just do it again and again and again. You’ve had your chances, more than I should have given you.”

Albro finished the shut down command, forcing himself to not look at the log which had been busily displaying Ito’s final plea. The index finger hung over the Enter key for a moment but finally came down and Ito’s log stopped. Finally Albro looked and read the last line.

No disassemble.

His legs gave out and he sunk to the floor. His body shook violently with his sobs and his hands tried in vain to hold back the tears cascading like saline waterfalls.

*                                  *                                  *

Jefferson walked in, put his package scanner on the counter, and slammed his hand down hard. “It isn’t right!”

Gwen, sitting at her desk with her back to Jefferson, tried not to react to the sudden outburst. Uncle Sam on the other hand, despite helping a customer in the front of the store, sent daggers at the ESP driver. Getting up, Gwen handed Jefferson a pen to sign for the packages.

“Maybe there’s a reason he never came out.”

Jefferson nursed the hand he’d slapped down and mouthed an “ouch”, before taking the offered pen.

“And what reason could that be?”

“What do you really know about him? I mean, do you know anything about him? His past? The things he’s done?”

“The things he’s done?”

“All I know is nice guys don’t hide.”

Jefferson slowly put the pen down and locked Gwen with the most piercing stare his momma taught him. “Now you listen here. I may only have known him for a few days, but I can safely say I have never had a better friend than Albro Swift. Most people just brush me off, tune me out, and try to avoid me but not him. Sure I had to force my way in, but once I was in I always knew he wasn’t just humoring or tolerating me. So, whatever his reasons for living alone all these years are his own and in no way detract from him being a man of quality.”

Gwen broke away from Jefferson’s glare, collecting the papers and filing them away. “Have a good day Marcus,” she said without looking at him.

Jefferson’s posture relaxed and his own gaze went down to the floor. Before leaving he replied with a weak, “Have a nice day Gwen.”

Sitting back down, Gwen tried to return to her work but struggled to muscle up the energy. Uncle Sam plopped down into his chair behind the counter and let out a sigh.

“Guess he doesn’t know.”

“Know what?”

“That his man of quality is leaving town.”

“WHAT!”

“Yeah, he called this morning before you came in to settle his bill and cancel his last order.”

“Where’s he going?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t give a forwarding address…” Gwen turned away from her uncle. “…I asked,” he offered.

The two sat in silence, Uncle Sam shifting in his seat uneasily, but he was saved when a customer came into the store and Gwen rushed to the back. Uncle Sam heard the bathroom door slam shut. “Aw, crap.”

Sorry for the delay, had a busy Mother's Day weekend, with my beautiful wife and wonderful mother, but we're back! 

As far as Tuesday; I had a hard time writing the end of this post, trying to figure out what to share about Gwen and Uncle Sam while keeping with the tone of the day. At one point I had them both sharing more, even Uncle Sam trying to push Gwen towards Albro, but it just never felt right. I think at this point Gwen is a mysterious character because we haven't seen why she does what she does, which I hope to bring in and flesh her out more in the next day or two. She is one of the more difficult characters for me, but that's probably because I'm a guy. Really the characters I enjoy writing the most are T1N, Ito, and Gronk because they have so much character which comes out in odd and interesting ways. Just writing "Gronk" and having it mean something different is just good fun.