Gyro helped Marillion off the floor, then took a step back as Marillion dusted himself off and adjusted his tee shirt and sweatpants.
"Now, can we take this from the top?"
"Kita attacked me for no reason!"
Gyro turned to Kita, puzzled.
"Wait a minute here! He attacked me!"
Gyro looked straight into Marillion’s eyes. For a moment Marillion wondered if the Base Commander could read minds. Gyro turned away for a second, and the confusion suddenly vanished from his face.
"How long have you been a robot?"
"Four and a half months."
"That’s what I thought. Kita, how many times have I told you not to mess with new transfers?"
"I was just trying to be friendly."
"Aw, c’mon. You know better than that. Don’t you remember how hard things were when you first became a robot?"
"Yeah, but I couldn’t-"
"You told me you could pick out a new transfer just from the way he stood."
"I’m sorry."
"For feeding me a line of BS or for what you did to Marillion?"
"Kita don’t BS."
"Then apologize to him."
Kita slowly strolled over, head lowered.
"Hey, look, I’m really sorry. I never meant any harm. I was just trying to be friendly. I do that to everybody. Even G-man here. Just ask him."
Gyro approximated a grunt.
Kita held out his hand once again. Marillion ever so cautiously took it, and held it tightly, using his free hand to smack Kita on the side of the head.
"Yow! Oh, I get it. We even."
"Even."
"Can be friends now?"
"No problem."
Kita smiled and strutted away, vanishing in the crowd down the hall.
"What nationality was that guy anyway?" Marillion asked Gyro.
"Nobody knows."
"I guess I have an apology to make too. I’m sorry for attacking you."
"Don’t worry your circuits about it. It’s all in the line of duty for me. Besides, I kicked your butt. If you had kicked mine, I would have had to throw you off the base."
Marillion looked shocked.
"I’m only kidding. " Gyro eyed the duffel bags, "Looks like you’ve come to stay."
Marillion nodded.
"Can I see your papers?"
Marillion opened a compartment on the side of his standard-issue metal belt and fumbled for the paperwork. He dropped and the picked up a 9-volt battery his 13-year-old little brother had given him as a sort of going-away present. Finally he found the mass of documents Gyro sought.
"We weren’t looking for any new applicants by the time I got the notice you were coming through. We’re running at capacity now. Your Marak bent a lot of rules to get you sent here. Frankly, I’m upset. At Marak, not at you. He never said you were a new transfer. Then again, Marak’s always been a sucker for charity cases."
Marillion’s eyes flared with fresh rage.
"Calm down. Learn how to take a joke. You’ll be a better person for it," He began ordering the documents," Let me put this in perspective for you. I’ve been a robot for 8 years, and that’s below average. This is no place to send a new transfer. New transfers should stay in familiar surroundings until they sort out their lives," he started reading, "What?!?"
"Is something wrong?"
"You’re only 18!"
"So?"
"Back home you’re barely eligible to drive! You’re not ready to live off world! You’re still a kid!"
"I can handle living up here!"
"This isn’t Disneyland. It’s a scientific base on the last frontier. People don’t come here to escape; they come to do research. I’m 43. I have an MBA. That’s average. What am I supposed to do with a teenager with only a GED to his name?"
"I’ll learn."
Gyro saw the hurt in Marillion’s yellow eyes.
"I know it must have been hard to transfer at your age. You were lying in some hospital dying from what was it?" he glanced at the papers, "Leukemia while most of the guys your age were getting laid. I can’t say I know the feeling first-hand; I transferred at 35, but I can see you haven’t put a lot of things behind you. You haven’t resolved your adolescent conflicts and you aren’t quite used to your new self. Don’t get me wrong. You’re doing fine, but by coming here you’re just way over your head."
"I can handle it! I can’t handle going back! I don’t miss a thing about my old life."
"I just don’t think you’re ready."
"I’m mature beyond my years!"
Gyro shook his head, "We all are."
"What’s wrong with wanting to be with your own kind? With people who can understand what you’ve been through and accept you for who you are?"
"There are Techno Sapiens’ clubs on Earth."
"I want a new beginning. No past for anyone else to remember me by. No reminders for myself. A fresh start. What’s wrong with that?"
"Is this really what you want?" he swept out his arms to indicate the whole base.
Marillion nodded, "Give me a chance."
"You have a lot of spirit. Maybe I should give Marak the benefit of the doubt."
Gyro picked up two of Marillion’s duffel bags, and motioned for him to follow.
"You mean I’m staying?"
"I’ll see what I can do tomorrow. It’s very late. You’ll stay with me until I can find you a place."
"Awright!"
Gyro shook his head.
© 1998 rayden@erols.com