Wednesday
Albro was in
the middle of his bed frame, clutching an allen wrench, and scratching his head
when he heard the knock at the door. He rolled his eyes at the thought that it
was Jefferson returning for a second time that morning. He had disabled the
EyeSpy at the door, but still instinctually looked at where the monitor on the
wall would have been had it not been packed away already.
Gronk. Gronk.
He went back
to work disassembling the frame when he heard the door again.
Gronk. Gronk. Gronk.
Things had
been quiet since Ito had been shut off and put in the garage, so Gronk’s sudden
fervency caused Albro to pause. He listened as silence once again settled over
the house. Then he heard T1N’s quiet steps and the latches securing the door
being moved aside.
“T1N!” Albro
started towards the front door. What has
gotten into them, he wanted to scream, but instead braced himself for the
difficult task of telling Jefferson they were moving. He rounded the corner and
then stopped. Gwen stood framed in the daylight.
Albro
flushed and then became acutely aware of his appearance. His “Han Shot First”
tee shirt was stained at the pits and the pair of jeans he was wearing was a
work pair with gaping holes throughout. “I… I… I need to go change.”
He rushed
off back to his room, tore the first box he saw open, and threw clothes out
onto the floor.
Gwen
followed T1N quietly into the empty living room. Gronk rocked from side to side,
saying its name over and over again until she patted him on the head. A puff of
smoke came out of him and he became instantly silent and still, causing Gwen to
wonder if she had overloaded him.
“He probably
blew a capacitor.” Albro was back, in a clean ThunderCats tee shirt and intact
jeans.
“Does that
happen often?”
“Just when
he gets excited or at the end of Serenity
when Wash dies.”
The two fell
silent and then each looked away from the other. T1N stood in the middle, his
head moving back and forth between them, and then he went over to Gronk, picked
him up, and took him to the front of the house. Albro and Gwen were now alone.
“So… you’re
moving.”
“Yeah.”
“Any
particular reason?”
Albro looked
down at the floor and then seemed to start talking but then stopping himself
before even a syllable could come out. Finally, “With the neighbors… I’m just
stirring up trouble if we stay.”
“So you’re
just running away again.”
“Again?”
“Oh, I know
all about it.” Gwen’s voice suddenly became hard and she spoke briskly. “After
you ran off at the movie a friend of yours introduced himself. He told me all
about your college days. I just wish I’d known all this before…”
“Who…” Albro
started to fidget, his eyes swept the room frantically, and he took small steps
back towards the bedroom. T1N, sensing his anxiousness moved himself between
Albro and Gwen.
The hard
mask slipped a little from Gwen’s face and she hesitated before continuing,
“Your old roommate, Calvin Rueben Hanson.”
T1N locked
his sensors on Gwen and his relaxed posture was replaced by a more ready one;
legs spread and arms held up at the waist.
“No… no…
no…” Albro muttered as he backed into the wall, his legs gave out, and he slid
down it.
Gwen’s face
fully dropped its harshness and at once became concerned, even reaching out a
hand towards the pathetic figure now curled up into a ball. “What’s going on?”
T1N looked
from his master to Gwen and then back again. He then motioned for Gwen to
follow, walking back towards the entrance. Gwen followed slowly, watching Albro
with one eye and tracking T1N with the other.
T1N went
into the office just off the entrance, went to the desk, and then motioned
towards the one black screen streaming green text. Gwen peered past the white
automaton to read the emerald words, which had slowed so she could read them.
Stopping now and again to silently question T1N, who would nod his accent, Gwen
read in amazement.
“Oh, no. I’m
so, sorry. I told him where he lives. I’m so sorry.” Gwen raced around the
corner, tears started in the corners of her eyes. She knelt down in front of
Albro and delicately put a hand on his shoulder. Albro was perfectly still and
made no indication he noticed being touched.
“I’m so
sorry, Albro. I told him where you live. He’s coming here today to challenge you
to some stupid robot duel.”
Albro looked
up, his eyes haunted and bloodshot; he seemed small and fragile, like a child. “Why,”
he whispered, not trusting his own voice.
Gwen
struggled herself to speak, her face passing from happy to sad and back again. “I
wasn’t going to be hurt again. I felt so stupid for going to that movie…
meeting someone I’ve never really met. Then you’re gone and this guy starts
talking to me about you… I just didn’t want to get hurt again.”
“I’d never
hurt you,” he whispered again.
“Jason
wouldn’t have intended to hurt me either.”
Albro, for
the first time looked Gwen in the eyes.
“You don’t
know me either, Tin Man.” Gwen laughed lightly. “I was engaged once. His name
was Jason. He’d joined the Marines right after highschool. He said, ’After this
tour I’ll marry you before someone else snatches you up.’ But he never came
back.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I didn't leave my house for months. Luckily I worked for my uncle, so I had a job
waiting for me. At some point, sitting in a dark house, alone, I promised
myself I’d never be hurt again. And here I am, back in a dark house.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
The two
jumped when there was a forceful knock at the door.
“It’s him. I’ll
take care of it,” Gwen said before getting up. Albro stayed on the floor,
shrinking back a little.
Gwen opened the door, to reveal a very surprised
Calvin Rueben Hansen.
“Gwen… what
an unexpected surprise.”
“Mr. Hansen,
Albro is busy at the moment but I am authorized to inform you that he accepts
your challenge.”
Hansen
suddenly looked like a drowning man. “You… you told him?”
“Oh, yes. In
fact he got right to work; it’s what he’s doing right now.”
“I was under
the impression he was running away again.”
“No. The
U-Haul there,” Gwen motioned to the truck sitting in the driveway,”…has his
spare parts and extra supplies. It’s like he’d been planning for a day like
this for a long time.”
“Has he now.
I’d like to speak with him.”
“I’m afraid
he’s far too busy, something about delicate wiring or some such.”
“Well then,
if you could hand him this.” Hansen produced a thick binder labeled DUEL of the
ROBOTECH MASTERS. “The rules for the event and his consent form. If he could
fax that to my lawyer by tomorrow afternoon there will be no delay in our “business”.
“Robotech?”
“It’s what I’m
calling this endeavor. Albro Swift is the first of the Robotech Masters who I
will challenge and fight to the delight and marvel of a global internet audience.”
“Isn’t Robotech
from something?”
“No, it’s an
original idea.”
“OK. I’ll
make sure he gets this.” Gwen began to close the door and then stopped. “There
is one more thing. He’s going to kick your butt.”
Gwen then
slammed the door. Hansen stood comfortably, looking up and down the length of
the neighborhood, and then muttered, “Well that was unexpected.”
* * *
“Thanks for
coming.”
“It’s worse
than I thought.”
“I think he
really needs you.”
Jefferson
made no indication he heard Gwen, he simply stared at Albro still huddled on
the floor.
“Albro.”
“Jefferson.”
Jefferson
took something from T1N and then knelt down next to his friend.
“Your finger
would remember their old strength better… if they grasped your soldering iron.”
Jefferson said as he slide the iron into Albro’s hand. Albro looked at the iron
in his hand, then at Jefferson, Gwen, and T1N.
“Where is
Ito?” Albro looked around the room. “We have a duel to win.”
An evil grin
crossed Jefferson’s face and he let out a wild, “Yeeessss!”
You've just read 1,394 words, of which 1000 I struggled over and still struggle with. Part of me didn't want Gwen to be the one in this scene, but the other half of me knew she needed to be more involved. How does this day work for you guys? Too much? Too little? Not enough robots fighting? Oh we'll solve that one.
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