literature

Taishka Part 8

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The three of us sat in the waiting room for what might have been an hour. Fintan remained on my lap. She had cried about leaving her fiance. That he had been so relieved to hear she was staying for a few more years at least. Branis had regained their composure. They comforted Fintan with me. I was thankful for the support. Nobody had ever broken down like that in front of me before. After the room had gone silent again, my device sent out a tone, letting me know I had received a message. Fintan took herself off of me and sat on the floor so I could read it.

It was from Zingel. She wanted to let me know where we would be meeting. I put the device down and looked at my friends.

“It's my girlfriend,” I said. They both looked at me. Their expression let me know that they understood my situation. I got up and walked out of the room to reply. I had very little energy. I remembered what Fintan had been saying about her fiance and thought of how he cared for her. Zingel was similar.

In the middle of typing a response, I turned back around.

“Um,” I started. I wasn't sure if it was my place to ask them my question, but I had nobody else to give me opinions. “We aren't allowed to talk about that part where there are more signals being fired into space, but um, what about us leaving?” I honestly wasn't sure of how to handle the situation and was still on shock, to top it off.

“You can't keep something like that from her,” Branis said.

“I know it's hard, but...” Fintan started to fight back more tears. “I don't know how I will tell Darell either. I don't know if I can. I...” she trailed off.

I stood in the doorway looking at my device. I had written that I was on my way, but hadn't sent it. The idea of seeing her right then was a bit overwhelming. I wouldn't be able to comfort her with this news. There wasn't a way to sugar coat it. I hated seeing her upset.

Branis stood up and helped Fintan to her feet. She seemed shakier than I was. “It's okay. You will be okay. You both will.” They looked at me sternly. Their brutish character was present again. “I don't think we can help each other on this one, but, we could maybe...” They seemed to be already regretting their idea, but finished their thought anyway. “I could be there with you, if you need me,” they said quickly. “After all, we are a team, right?”

Fintan let go of the hunter and straightened herself up. She coughed a bit and wiped her face. “I don't know. Shouldn't I tell him myself? It's... it's a personal thing.”

“A personal thing we are all going through together,” Branis pointed out. “It's up to you. I just don't want you to be scared.”

“Branis... thank you,” Fintan said. She seemed to be a bit in disbelief.

I looked at my device again.

“You should be with us too. We can tell both of your lovers together. Maybe they will like having someone else there who understands?” Branis suggested. They noticed I had yet to respond to my girlfriend.

“Are you a psychologist now?” I asked, halfheartedly joking.

“Not exactly,” they sighed. “You should respond to your lady friend.”

We decided to tell them that night. We would go to Branis' pod. It wasn't very big, but according to them it was a good idea. If nothing else, it was a neutral territory. Everyone would be equally uncomfortable there. I was going to spend the rest of the day with Zingel before meeting the others and left my comrades on their own.

I walked through the entertainment section where they were playing some form of MMO on the tables. Zingel's voice rang across the room when she spotted me. Her smile was visible in the distance. We kissed our greeting as usual and she wrapped her arm around me as we walked.  

“I don't think you've seen this one yet,” she chimed. “It's really old. Like, black and white and no sounds, old. How crazy is that?”

“How are we supposed to watch a movie without sounds?” I asked.

“They have these little text cards between scenes. Like, subtitles. Actually, I think they may have changed the format for this showing. I don't know! I am just excited!”

I smiled. She picked up on my odd mindset and asked if something happened.

“I'm just worried about Brennan,” I admitted. It was a half truth. The rest would surface later that night.

“Oh, honey,” she frowned and hugged me close. I closed my eyes and took note of her warmness and how lovely her perfume smelled. I already missed her. “He's tough, you know. Nothing could stop that monster of a human.”

Her calling him a monster brought a genuine chuckle out of me. It made her smile again and we continued walking into the theater.

I enjoyed seeing movies with her. That time was different. It was possibly the last time I would get to have the experience. The last time we could sit that closely in the dark, watching images unfold in front of us. Sharing a moment while enjoying another person's art. I wondered if the robots on earth had invented their own entertainment. They didn't need to, I thought to myself.

The movie was in black and white, like she had promised. The text cards were being used just like they had been designed for, only instead of interrupting the film, they were put to the side, making it a double screened movie. It was about a robot in an incredibly unrealistic future on earth. Slavery and shady politics were involved. I found it oddly interesting. It was far more entertaining than many of the later movies that had been created if only for the bizarre nature of the film itself and how different it was.

After the film was over I followed Zingel into her favorite restaurant. The most elaborately decorated eating quarters in the entire space station. It wasn't exactly my favorite place, but it was my last week on the ship. My last week of what I could call civilization. Or at least, human civilization. Robots wouldn't make fancy restaurants. I kept imagining how a robot would design an restaurant that had metal or batteries as the delicacies. The absurdity of it made me grin.

“What's that grin for?” Zingel asked. She was sitting across from me at our small table. The tablecloth covered everything below our stomachs. I was used to the glass tables in the commons area. It was always strange to me that people would still use fancy tablecloths with our limited resources. I couldn't argue that it didn't look pretty, though.

“I just had a ridiculous thought about a robot restaurant. I mean, what would they even eat?” I said.

She grinned, but was obviously not the most comfortable with discussing sentient robots. “That would be silly to see. Maybe the robot from that movie would go there, haha.”

We laughed at each other and were given drinks. I was taking my time picking out a meal for myself, but the waiter was patient. For a moment I forgot about leaving and felt at home. Then Zingel took something out of her pocket and placed it on the table, near my hand.

My heart sank. It was a key card. She cleared her throat to try and keep her excitement under control. She spoke with an overly official voice. “I told you that if you wanted to stay a night or two at my place, that you were more than welcome. I also told you I didn't want you to move out of your tiny little pod place, but...” she shrugged. “I guess what I'm saying is that, well, I want you to think about maybe moving in with me. And if not entirely, at least you will have a way to come home without needing me to let you in.”

I took a deep breath as she waited for my answer. She started getting nervous.

“I uh, I think that's a nice idea,” I said. “I'll take the card and think about the rest of that stuff later!” I smiled. She seemed to be expecting a bit of a different reaction from me. It was obvious the gesture had unsettled me. She didn't ask me what was bothering me, though.

We ate our meal and had more conversation about the movie. I brought up that we were invited to Brennan's place. That it was actually kind of important and I needed her to go with me. It was related to my job and Fintan and her fiance would be there too. Zingel didn't ask what it was about, but I could tell it made her uneasy.

We didn't talk about much until we found Branis' home. The others were already there, waiting for us. Fintan's love seemed irritated that he had to wait for us. We all were told to sit at the table Branis had. There were only four chairs, which seemed convenient. I wouldn't have put it past them to have borrowed the furniture for the evening.

“Okay you guys. We have some news,” Branis said. “Which one of us should explain?”

“Whoever does it should hurry up. I don't like being kept in the dark like this,” the man said. He was holding Fintan's hand on the table. He was equal parts worried and upset.

“Well... It's been an entire week since the commanders were sent on their mission,” I said. “We were supposed to get some signals from their machinery by now.”

The two hearing this for the first time perked up. I couldn't tell what they were thinking.

“Several things could have happened,” I continued, “but it's very possible that whatever went wrong has rendered their mission a failure.” Finding the right words were difficult. I wish I didn't sound so clinical.

“So, all three of them are... you think they're dead?” Zingel asked. She looked sympathetic.

The hunter added, “That's what the people in charge of this whole thing are thinking.”

“Wait, what? What the hell? What are you actually saying, Fin?” the fiance asked, suddenly afraid. He was looking at her intently.

Fintan started getting teary eyed again. She looked so tired.

“What that means...” I said. “We are the next team to be sent to earth. It means we will be leaving. At the end of the week.”

I continued to feel numb about the situation. I knew it was real, but my emotions wouldn't respond properly. Fintan kept trying not to cry, Brennan kept a strained, but tear free face, and the other two were shocked.

Our meeting was much shorter than I imagined it would be. Fintan's fiance hugged her and asked for a beverage. Brennan quickly fetched a bottled water for him. Zingel didn't accept the water suggestion and seemed to be similarly numb to the situation as I was. Before long she asked to leave and walked out of the room.

I remained at the table, looking at my scarred up arms.

“She just needs time,” Brennan said, softly.

“There isn't much time left,” I said. The reality of the situation finally descended into my stomach. I choked back the reaction and excused myself. Nobody stopped me from walking out.

Once I reached my pod, I ran through the door and pushed it shut with my back. The feelings I had repressed all day were clawing their way out. I suddenly realized the worries had been piling up since I had taken that bizarre test. When Brennan didn't tell me anything or try to help me figure it out. He did that because he knew I was his replacement and needed to give me a taste of what his bosses were going to make me do.

I stepped toward the bed and curled up on it, putting my back against the wall. I looked at the mural of branches and birds. If the birds and trees on earth were still alive, it wouldn't be long until I got to see the real thing.
words 2,094

Everyone is a goddamn crybaby. i swear it gets better from here. or at least, after they finally get to earth. oh my god. ONE MORE PART OF THIS NONESENSE
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