Servo 6:3
Hi folks, it's a short one today. On to Ch 7 next week.
Supper was delicious. Grandma made some sort of beef roast that had all kinds of vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and something she called celery. Rory and I again destroyed our plates of food and begged for more. Suz picked at hers and finally asked to be excused from the table. I can’t recall ever seeing my sister so depressed. She seriously hated this place.After helping with the dishes, I decided to engage Grandpa in order to gain his approval for us to work on the bot. Even if we never got it to work, it would still give us something to do. Rory and I were bored out of our minds. Back home we were always tinkering with something Dad would bring home. We loved it, we loved working with Dad and helping him. How I miss him.I went down the hall and stood at the library door. It was closed, as it customarily was. Putting my head close, I could hear movement inside. Nerves throughout my body were twitching. I took in a deep breath to try and steady them. That did little to help. And then I had to stop and wonder; why was I so nervous about asking him? The worst he could say was no. Why did I fear that answer? Raising my hand to shoulder height, I made a fist and knocked on the door. There was no reply from the other side. I wondered if he hadn’t heard me. As I prepared to knock again, the door opened and I was face to face with Grandpa.“Hello, Jonah,” he said in a kind voice. “Here to get more books?”“Um, well, I haven’t finished the ones you gave me yet.”“Why not? I figure you’d have digested them in a matter of days.”“Oh, I’m reading them, but it’s taking me a while.”“So what do you need?”I slid past him and went to the middle of the room. There was a fascination I had with the musty smell of the room. It reeked of knowledge. And in our society, knowledge was power. Those with the greatest minds were revered as some of the most powerful in the Inner States. People worshipped them like gods. “Grandpa…” I said softly.“Yes?”“Rory and I were wondering—”“About the bot in the barn?” He sat down in the overstuffed leather chair and picked up the book he was reading. “Yes, I noticed the dust had been cleaned off it and some parts have gone missing.”“I—”“You want to make it work again, don’t you?”“Um, yeah, maybe…But not to be a service bot. Rory and I just want to work on it to give us something to do.”The old man was silent for several minutes. It appeared as if he was ignoring me in favor of reading the book. Finally he said, “It’s an old bot, I doubt you’ll ever get it running again…And don’t you say a word of this to your grandmother, you hear?”I opened my mouth to thank him, but the words refused to come out. My throat felt like it was choked off. I couldn’t breathe.
“Run along,” he said, “and be in by dark.”
Supper was delicious. Grandma made some sort of beef roast that had all kinds of vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and something she called celery. Rory and I again destroyed our plates of food and begged for more. Suz picked at hers and finally asked to be excused from the table. I can’t recall ever seeing my sister so depressed. She seriously hated this place.After helping with the dishes, I decided to engage Grandpa in order to gain his approval for us to work on the bot. Even if we never got it to work, it would still give us something to do. Rory and I were bored out of our minds. Back home we were always tinkering with something Dad would bring home. We loved it, we loved working with Dad and helping him. How I miss him.I went down the hall and stood at the library door. It was closed, as it customarily was. Putting my head close, I could hear movement inside. Nerves throughout my body were twitching. I took in a deep breath to try and steady them. That did little to help. And then I had to stop and wonder; why was I so nervous about asking him? The worst he could say was no. Why did I fear that answer? Raising my hand to shoulder height, I made a fist and knocked on the door. There was no reply from the other side. I wondered if he hadn’t heard me. As I prepared to knock again, the door opened and I was face to face with Grandpa.“Hello, Jonah,” he said in a kind voice. “Here to get more books?”“Um, well, I haven’t finished the ones you gave me yet.”“Why not? I figure you’d have digested them in a matter of days.”“Oh, I’m reading them, but it’s taking me a while.”“So what do you need?”I slid past him and went to the middle of the room. There was a fascination I had with the musty smell of the room. It reeked of knowledge. And in our society, knowledge was power. Those with the greatest minds were revered as some of the most powerful in the Inner States. People worshipped them like gods. “Grandpa…” I said softly.“Yes?”“Rory and I were wondering—”“About the bot in the barn?” He sat down in the overstuffed leather chair and picked up the book he was reading. “Yes, I noticed the dust had been cleaned off it and some parts have gone missing.”“I—”“You want to make it work again, don’t you?”“Um, yeah, maybe…But not to be a service bot. Rory and I just want to work on it to give us something to do.”The old man was silent for several minutes. It appeared as if he was ignoring me in favor of reading the book. Finally he said, “It’s an old bot, I doubt you’ll ever get it running again…And don’t you say a word of this to your grandmother, you hear?”I opened my mouth to thank him, but the words refused to come out. My throat felt like it was choked off. I couldn’t breathe.
“Run along,” he said, “and be in by dark.”
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