Servo 23:2
Servo 23:2
That evening after dinner, we met in my room to show Dad the clothes we’d bought. He’d done his best to stay away from Grandma, knowing she’d only grow more distant. Deep down inside I wished she could see past his metal exterior and realize he was the same son-in-law that had married her daughter. Except now everything had changed. I unzipped one backpack and pulled out two pairs of jeans. “I hope these fit, the lady at the store was asking a lot of questions, and we had to do some creative lying to get what we needed.”“You lied?” Dad replied.“Well, it’s not like it was hurting anyone. We just didn’t want to raise any suspicion.”“Mmm, I suppose not.” He took the jeans and held them up. “I’m going to need some assistance putting these on.”Rory took the pants, sat down on the floor, and bunched them up. “Okay, Dad, can you put one leg in?”Dad lifted a leg and did his best to aim for the leg hole. Rory had to help him. When one foot was through, they repeated the process. I jumped in to help pull the pants all the way up and then button and zip them. I thought it was a pretty good fit. “What do you think?” I said, digging through another bag, producing a shirt.He looked down. “You boys did a fine job. Thank you.”I unfolded the dark gray long-sleeved shirt and helped him into it. There was no way he could do up the buttons, so I made quick work of them. Rory and I tucked in the shirt. Dad went over and opened the door to my wardrobe. He gazed in the mirror. “Not exactly the kind of clothes I’d wear, but they’re a good fit…Did you find any shoes?”Rory removed a pair of tennis shoes. “I think these’ll fit.” He put them on the floor and assisted Dad into them. “At least they hide my golden toes.”I went to the window and opened it. A light breeze seeped in, gently moving the white lacy curtains. “We watched a freight train today, but it was going the wrong direction.”Rory sat on the bed. “Dad? Do you have super hearing?”He was silent for a moment. “In this model, they’d made some advances in the auditory perception system. But it’s not like the bots of today.”“I didn’t think it was,” I replied, “But have you ever heard the trains going through town?”“Oh, yes, I hear them quite well.”“Good, then keep your ears peeled and let us know.”“Sometimes they go through in the dead of night.”“I don’t care; just wake me up so we can write down the time.”“Why? I can do that. There’s no need to awaken you.”He was right. My metal-bodied father was not totally helpless. He was a service bot, and they were made to help around the house or in businesses. Dad possessed all the basic skills required to function in a home environment. He could manage on his own.I went to the nightstand and opened a drawer, removing pen and paper. “Here, so you can keep a log.”“Thank you. I’m not sure how neat my writing will be, but at least one of us can read it,” he said with a tinny chuckle.Oh, how that terrible voice modulator grated on my nerves! I couldn’t wait to build a better body for Dad and fix his voice.“How long are we going to wait?”He looked at the blank page. “The sooner the better.”“Dad? Can you hear well enough to know which direction the train is coming from?” asked Rory.“I’ll have to see tonight when it’s calm and quiet.”“Dagwood said we can probably get as far as Chicago, but he didn’t know how long it would take,” I said, shoving one backpack under my bed.“My best guess is a couple of days. So you’ll need to find and stash enough food and water for several days just in case it takes longer than expected.”“There’s some bottled water in the pantry,” Rory replied, “I can probably get some when Grandma isn’t in the kitchen.”“Can you get some canned goods too?” Dad asked, “And something to open them with.”“We’ll see.”“You’ll probably be eating them cold, so find things that easy to eat.”I walked around the room, stopping once again at the open window. “Once we get to Chicago, then what? We don’t have any money.”“There’s still plenty in your trust fund, right?”“I guess so. Grandpa only buys what we need.”“We can make it work. I can access the account and get some money.”“How?” I turned from the window.“I created the account; I know all the information about it. All we need to do is get to a money machine and I can remedy that problem.”Rory hopped off the bed. “After that, we can take a plane to New Philadelphia.”“Correct,” said Dad, “the last time I checked it was perfectly acceptable to have a service bot accompany you on a flight.”“Don’t they make you ride in the cargo hold?” I replied. “Yes, but that won’t bother me. I want to get back there and make sure Suz is all right.”
That evening after dinner, we met in my room to show Dad the clothes we’d bought. He’d done his best to stay away from Grandma, knowing she’d only grow more distant. Deep down inside I wished she could see past his metal exterior and realize he was the same son-in-law that had married her daughter. Except now everything had changed. I unzipped one backpack and pulled out two pairs of jeans. “I hope these fit, the lady at the store was asking a lot of questions, and we had to do some creative lying to get what we needed.”“You lied?” Dad replied.“Well, it’s not like it was hurting anyone. We just didn’t want to raise any suspicion.”“Mmm, I suppose not.” He took the jeans and held them up. “I’m going to need some assistance putting these on.”Rory took the pants, sat down on the floor, and bunched them up. “Okay, Dad, can you put one leg in?”Dad lifted a leg and did his best to aim for the leg hole. Rory had to help him. When one foot was through, they repeated the process. I jumped in to help pull the pants all the way up and then button and zip them. I thought it was a pretty good fit. “What do you think?” I said, digging through another bag, producing a shirt.He looked down. “You boys did a fine job. Thank you.”I unfolded the dark gray long-sleeved shirt and helped him into it. There was no way he could do up the buttons, so I made quick work of them. Rory and I tucked in the shirt. Dad went over and opened the door to my wardrobe. He gazed in the mirror. “Not exactly the kind of clothes I’d wear, but they’re a good fit…Did you find any shoes?”Rory removed a pair of tennis shoes. “I think these’ll fit.” He put them on the floor and assisted Dad into them. “At least they hide my golden toes.”I went to the window and opened it. A light breeze seeped in, gently moving the white lacy curtains. “We watched a freight train today, but it was going the wrong direction.”Rory sat on the bed. “Dad? Do you have super hearing?”He was silent for a moment. “In this model, they’d made some advances in the auditory perception system. But it’s not like the bots of today.”“I didn’t think it was,” I replied, “But have you ever heard the trains going through town?”“Oh, yes, I hear them quite well.”“Good, then keep your ears peeled and let us know.”“Sometimes they go through in the dead of night.”“I don’t care; just wake me up so we can write down the time.”“Why? I can do that. There’s no need to awaken you.”He was right. My metal-bodied father was not totally helpless. He was a service bot, and they were made to help around the house or in businesses. Dad possessed all the basic skills required to function in a home environment. He could manage on his own.I went to the nightstand and opened a drawer, removing pen and paper. “Here, so you can keep a log.”“Thank you. I’m not sure how neat my writing will be, but at least one of us can read it,” he said with a tinny chuckle.Oh, how that terrible voice modulator grated on my nerves! I couldn’t wait to build a better body for Dad and fix his voice.“How long are we going to wait?”He looked at the blank page. “The sooner the better.”“Dad? Can you hear well enough to know which direction the train is coming from?” asked Rory.“I’ll have to see tonight when it’s calm and quiet.”“Dagwood said we can probably get as far as Chicago, but he didn’t know how long it would take,” I said, shoving one backpack under my bed.“My best guess is a couple of days. So you’ll need to find and stash enough food and water for several days just in case it takes longer than expected.”“There’s some bottled water in the pantry,” Rory replied, “I can probably get some when Grandma isn’t in the kitchen.”“Can you get some canned goods too?” Dad asked, “And something to open them with.”“We’ll see.”“You’ll probably be eating them cold, so find things that easy to eat.”I walked around the room, stopping once again at the open window. “Once we get to Chicago, then what? We don’t have any money.”“There’s still plenty in your trust fund, right?”“I guess so. Grandpa only buys what we need.”“We can make it work. I can access the account and get some money.”“How?” I turned from the window.“I created the account; I know all the information about it. All we need to do is get to a money machine and I can remedy that problem.”Rory hopped off the bed. “After that, we can take a plane to New Philadelphia.”“Correct,” said Dad, “the last time I checked it was perfectly acceptable to have a service bot accompany you on a flight.”“Don’t they make you ride in the cargo hold?” I replied. “Yes, but that won’t bother me. I want to get back there and make sure Suz is all right.”
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