Servo 14:2
Servo 14:2
I wasn’t wrong in my ascertainment of the weather. The wind threatened to blow us clean off our feet as we struggled to cross the open gap between house and barn. I have no idea of the temperature, but it was biting cold. My nostrils immediately froze and I felt my boogers freezing as well. Oh, what an awful sensation! I pulled the thick scarf farther up until the only things that remained to be seen were my eyes. Snowflakes ripped through the air searing any bare flesh they touched. How I longed for the warmth of spring.We reached the barn and hurried inside. Snow was piled high against one part of the door that had a crack in it. Nature was trying to invade any structure it could. The sun might be shining, but we couldn’t see it through the dense mat of clouds that continued dumping snow. It was late afternoon and I knew Grandma would have dinner promptly at 6 p.m.I flicked on the lights. “I don’t know how long we’ll be able to work, it’s freezing in here,” I said, going to the workbench and removing the tarp from the bot. “Is this the only part we’re missing?” Rory put his arms on the bench to watch me.“Well, if I want to try and turn the bot into Dad, I’ll need another memory core, junction interface, and more wiring.”“Can Otto get that?”“Some. But for the wiring, I think we can visit Jimmy.”“Maybe his bot’s memory core will be intact.”“I doubt it.” I removed the bot’s faceplate and dove in.We worked for nearly an hour. Even with numb fingers I carefully installed the junction interface and connected it to the memory core. The bot’s batteries had been checked and charged weeks ago. All that remained was to flip the switch. I stood back and admired our work. The bot was complete. Granted there were still some areas on the bot’s external housing that were tarnished, but overall, it was ready to live again.“Rory? Will you do the honors?” I said, pointing to the bot’s neck.“It’s ready?”“Sure. We’ve checked everything two or three times. It should work.”“Gosh!” Rory said, rubbing his mittened hands together. “You want me to throw the switch?”“Why not? You worked just as hard as me.”He shook his head. “No, no, you were the one who made friends to get parts. You should do it.”I stared at the lifeless golden bot and prayed that when I flipped the switch it would come to life. Why wouldn’t it? Everything had been rewired, the mice evicted, and it boasted a new junction interface. The memory core had every line of code scrutinized and verified before making any changes. There was nothing that should keep the bot from functioning. “Are you sure?”“Yes, you did most of the work, you should have the honors.”“It doesn’t really matter to me,” I said, pretty much fabricating a lie.Rory folded his arms. “Nope, it’s all yours.”“Fine.” Slipping off my glove, I reached behind the bot’s neck and found the switch. “Here’s to all the months of work.” An audible click could be heard as I threw the switch. Rory and I watched. Nothing. We watched longer. Nothing. I flicked the switch on and off a few times. Nothing. “Batteries are okay?” he said.“Yup. And I checked all the wiring again the other day. Why isn’t he working?”“He?”“Well, it’s going to be Dad, so that makes this bot a he.”“Mmm, guess you’re right.” Rory inspected the bot. “But what’s keeping him from functioning?”“I dunno…We might want to call it a day; I can’t feel my fingers, toes, or nose anymore.”“Me neither. Should we plug him back in to charge more?”I grabbed the charging cable. “Can’t hurt I guess.” Rory helped sit the bot up so I could plug the cable into its back. “We’ll leave that go another night.” I said. “Come on, let’s get back to the house and thaw out.”We covered the bot, left the barn in haste, and tore across to the house. As the front door closed behind us, we began rapidly stripping out of our snow gear. A delicious aroma permeated through the house. Pot roast, I believe, one of my favorite meals. I looked at the clock on the wall of the entryway. It was close to 6 p.m. I was confident Suz wasn’t home, and she probably hadn’t bothered to tell Grandma where she was going. She’d been gone over four hours. A part of me was worried. Going into the kitchen, I bellied up to the sink and washed my hands. Rory stood behind waiting his turn. Grandma was humming a lively tune as she stirred something on the stovetop. “Jonah?”“Yes?”“Have you seen Suzette lately?”“She went out with Otto.”Grandma ceased her humming and stirring. She turned to me. “Out with Otto?”“Umm, yeah.”“Well, this is a surprise.” She returned to her culinary endeavors. “A surprise.”“I don’t know where she is,” I said, not exactly trying to cover for her.Just then I heard the front door open. And there was giggling. Giggling. Girlish giggling. It was a sound that I thought would be absent from my ears the rest of my life. Was my dear, sour-hearted sister actually happy? What on earth had gone on between her and Otto? Whatever it was, it shocked me. I poked my head out of the kitchen to see Suz and Otto standing in the entryway. It was obvious she was gooey for him. The last time I saw her like this was about three months before our father died. She was falling all over herself for Robbie Banks who was two grades higher than she was. I didn’t like the guy, he seemed more self-centered than Suz—which I now find hard to believe. But here she was, standing in the hall, swaying back and forth, and hanging on his every word. Oh, I wanted to barf! This was myfriend. How could she? I was the one who took the time to foster his friendship, and now she was stealing him from me. I couldn’t let that happen. “Otto!” I said, bursting onto the scene.“Oh, hey, Jonah.”“Hey, uh, I installed that junction interface, and nothing!”“Nothing?”“Nope. Not even a spark.”“Batteries charged?”“Yup, but we’re charging again. And we checked them, so we know they work.”Otto rubbed his chin. “Hmm, not sure what it could be.”“Do you have time to look at it?”“Getting kind of late. Can I come over tomorrow?”“Sure, sure. Thanks.”He looked at his watch. “Well, I better get going. I’ll see you later.”“Okay.”Otto leaned a little closer to Suz. “I’ll see you tomorrow, too.”She giggled. The sound was like fingers on a chalkboard to me. I felt my nerves twitch. This wasn’t Suz; this was a fake someone switched in the middle of the night.
I wasn’t wrong in my ascertainment of the weather. The wind threatened to blow us clean off our feet as we struggled to cross the open gap between house and barn. I have no idea of the temperature, but it was biting cold. My nostrils immediately froze and I felt my boogers freezing as well. Oh, what an awful sensation! I pulled the thick scarf farther up until the only things that remained to be seen were my eyes. Snowflakes ripped through the air searing any bare flesh they touched. How I longed for the warmth of spring.We reached the barn and hurried inside. Snow was piled high against one part of the door that had a crack in it. Nature was trying to invade any structure it could. The sun might be shining, but we couldn’t see it through the dense mat of clouds that continued dumping snow. It was late afternoon and I knew Grandma would have dinner promptly at 6 p.m.I flicked on the lights. “I don’t know how long we’ll be able to work, it’s freezing in here,” I said, going to the workbench and removing the tarp from the bot. “Is this the only part we’re missing?” Rory put his arms on the bench to watch me.“Well, if I want to try and turn the bot into Dad, I’ll need another memory core, junction interface, and more wiring.”“Can Otto get that?”“Some. But for the wiring, I think we can visit Jimmy.”“Maybe his bot’s memory core will be intact.”“I doubt it.” I removed the bot’s faceplate and dove in.We worked for nearly an hour. Even with numb fingers I carefully installed the junction interface and connected it to the memory core. The bot’s batteries had been checked and charged weeks ago. All that remained was to flip the switch. I stood back and admired our work. The bot was complete. Granted there were still some areas on the bot’s external housing that were tarnished, but overall, it was ready to live again.“Rory? Will you do the honors?” I said, pointing to the bot’s neck.“It’s ready?”“Sure. We’ve checked everything two or three times. It should work.”“Gosh!” Rory said, rubbing his mittened hands together. “You want me to throw the switch?”“Why not? You worked just as hard as me.”He shook his head. “No, no, you were the one who made friends to get parts. You should do it.”I stared at the lifeless golden bot and prayed that when I flipped the switch it would come to life. Why wouldn’t it? Everything had been rewired, the mice evicted, and it boasted a new junction interface. The memory core had every line of code scrutinized and verified before making any changes. There was nothing that should keep the bot from functioning. “Are you sure?”“Yes, you did most of the work, you should have the honors.”“It doesn’t really matter to me,” I said, pretty much fabricating a lie.Rory folded his arms. “Nope, it’s all yours.”“Fine.” Slipping off my glove, I reached behind the bot’s neck and found the switch. “Here’s to all the months of work.” An audible click could be heard as I threw the switch. Rory and I watched. Nothing. We watched longer. Nothing. I flicked the switch on and off a few times. Nothing. “Batteries are okay?” he said.“Yup. And I checked all the wiring again the other day. Why isn’t he working?”“He?”“Well, it’s going to be Dad, so that makes this bot a he.”“Mmm, guess you’re right.” Rory inspected the bot. “But what’s keeping him from functioning?”“I dunno…We might want to call it a day; I can’t feel my fingers, toes, or nose anymore.”“Me neither. Should we plug him back in to charge more?”I grabbed the charging cable. “Can’t hurt I guess.” Rory helped sit the bot up so I could plug the cable into its back. “We’ll leave that go another night.” I said. “Come on, let’s get back to the house and thaw out.”We covered the bot, left the barn in haste, and tore across to the house. As the front door closed behind us, we began rapidly stripping out of our snow gear. A delicious aroma permeated through the house. Pot roast, I believe, one of my favorite meals. I looked at the clock on the wall of the entryway. It was close to 6 p.m. I was confident Suz wasn’t home, and she probably hadn’t bothered to tell Grandma where she was going. She’d been gone over four hours. A part of me was worried. Going into the kitchen, I bellied up to the sink and washed my hands. Rory stood behind waiting his turn. Grandma was humming a lively tune as she stirred something on the stovetop. “Jonah?”“Yes?”“Have you seen Suzette lately?”“She went out with Otto.”Grandma ceased her humming and stirring. She turned to me. “Out with Otto?”“Umm, yeah.”“Well, this is a surprise.” She returned to her culinary endeavors. “A surprise.”“I don’t know where she is,” I said, not exactly trying to cover for her.Just then I heard the front door open. And there was giggling. Giggling. Girlish giggling. It was a sound that I thought would be absent from my ears the rest of my life. Was my dear, sour-hearted sister actually happy? What on earth had gone on between her and Otto? Whatever it was, it shocked me. I poked my head out of the kitchen to see Suz and Otto standing in the entryway. It was obvious she was gooey for him. The last time I saw her like this was about three months before our father died. She was falling all over herself for Robbie Banks who was two grades higher than she was. I didn’t like the guy, he seemed more self-centered than Suz—which I now find hard to believe. But here she was, standing in the hall, swaying back and forth, and hanging on his every word. Oh, I wanted to barf! This was myfriend. How could she? I was the one who took the time to foster his friendship, and now she was stealing him from me. I couldn’t let that happen. “Otto!” I said, bursting onto the scene.“Oh, hey, Jonah.”“Hey, uh, I installed that junction interface, and nothing!”“Nothing?”“Nope. Not even a spark.”“Batteries charged?”“Yup, but we’re charging again. And we checked them, so we know they work.”Otto rubbed his chin. “Hmm, not sure what it could be.”“Do you have time to look at it?”“Getting kind of late. Can I come over tomorrow?”“Sure, sure. Thanks.”He looked at his watch. “Well, I better get going. I’ll see you later.”“Okay.”Otto leaned a little closer to Suz. “I’ll see you tomorrow, too.”She giggled. The sound was like fingers on a chalkboard to me. I felt my nerves twitch. This wasn’t Suz; this was a fake someone switched in the middle of the night.
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