saturday shorts
its about the yearning
The sign on copper plating beside the dark-glass doorway looked out of place beside the rest of the moderately slick unit. It had once read 'Dr Mallory Stone : Android repair' in clean letters. The Dr looked to have been scratched at haphazardly, and the screw on the bottom left corner was missing. The idea that it had once been buffed and shining was hidden underneath various levels of grime and pollution. On the right of the door was a larger window, inviting people to look in. There was a workshop inside. Nobody was to be seen, but tools and parts were left on the bench, a leg just out of sight and on a stand, a hand partially taken apart. Passerby took curious glances inwards before continuing on, along the pathways and bridges that hung over precarious depths.
From deeper inside, where the workshop turned into a home, an alarm beeped insistently, a shrill tone in the otherwise silent house. Mallory grunted, and with what seemed like great effort raised his arm and slapped at his phone, balanced on his bedside dresser. It shut off obligingly, and silence relished, stretching out across the room once more. Mallory laid still there for a moment, face shoved into his pillows, before pushing himself up. He took a few deep breaths of sweet vanilla air, before pushing himself fully out of bed.
The bathroom lights buzzed to life as Mallory entered, illuminating around the large mirror that dominated the space. He stared dubiously into his reflection as he always did, taking in sleep-puffy eyes and the beginnings of what could be stubble. His darker roots were visible underneath his bleached silver hair, and he squinted, parting it with sleep-fuzzy fingers. He'd have to get it redone. His eyes were a muddy sort of brown, that gained a blue sheen as everyones did with cybernetic contacts.
"First things first then." He grumbled, reaching for the blue and red case. What followed was an inordinately long amount of time spent putting in contacts for one who had been doing it for many years. He had to blink rapidly as his eyes adjusted, rolling them around in his sockets as they calibrated slowly. His vision sharpened into focus, and in front of him, a list of responsibilities for the day flickered into life. He took one glance, grimaced, and dismissed it with a swipe of his hand. The rest of the routine - brushing his hair into a modicum of presentability, shaving what little stubble he had, and splashing water over his face - went by fairly quickly.
It wasn't until Mallory was halfway through a bowl of cereal that he reopened his notification list. It was mostly the standard crap, can you repair my androids knee, why isn't she connecting to the wifi, all of the requests that people usually sent on the daily basis, along with a few stray 'can you give my android some genitals' questions which he deleted almost immediately. They could either go to a certified android provider or a shady lowercity tradepost for that. He did have a set appointment for the day, which was in an hours time, long enough for him to get some work done in the workshop before leaving. It was for Owen Gray, and his android Helix. He'd been visiting them steadily for a while now, due to Helix having a chronic problem with his elbow and knee joints. They were too shallow, and didn't fit right, leading to more friction than usual and therefore an increased need for oiling and taking apart. Mallory rather liked Helix, and very heavily disliked Owen, who was just the type of person that Mallory had worked with in his previous job. Rich, and able to do anything because of it.
He got changed into his formal work wear in preparation. Usually, he'd just wear jeans and a t shirt and call it done, but with his higher end clients...they tended to want him to look the part of their pristine clean cut world. It was a mold that was all too easy to fill with his sort of background. So, slacks it was, with a tan button up. Mallory pulled up a temperature chart on the surface of his closet by tapping gently at the sun icon. He considered for a second and then pulled out a coat. It looked like it was going to err on the side of chilly.
Walking out into the public part of his workshop, he turned a button, brightening the window and letting in more sunlight. He tended to keep it on dim mode because of more temperature sensitive gadgets that he sometimes left out. Stifling a yawn, he made a beeline towards the hand sitting at his desk. There was something wrong with the joints of the third and fourth finger, and while he'd sent the poor android off with a temporary attachment, this type of work was delicate and he didn't want it to take any longer than it had to. Mallory fell into the rhythm of it quickly, carefully deconstructing it, running diagnostics, searching for parts, for duplicates. Ambient music filtered through the workspace, helping his mind focus and not wander.
The alert flashing green in his vision was the only thing that could've snapped him out of it. Blinking, he stood and cracked his back, rolled his neck. The ensuing crackle of bone was only slightly worrying "Ah fuck, I've got to improve my posture." It was a something he'd said many times and never actually worked on.
Mallory swung his coat over his shoulders and grabbed his travel kit from underneath his desk. It had everything he would need for Helix's repair, and more, just in case something else had come up. He did a quick inventory, before hastily exiting.
Mallory didn't like walking along the rickety pathways. It was possibly the only thing he missed about the uppercity. The stability of it all, the harsh metal that never groaned in cold winters and never succumbed to bending and warping like the bridges sometimes did in the midcity. Scanning his card, he hopped on to the airbus which would take him up the levels almost directly to Gray's house. There weren't many people inside it. Not many people had any business going between levels. There were some androids standing beside distant humans, a few plugged in to the convenient mini chargers, a few clearly using the waiting time to do updates or clean out their systems. Mallory himself just closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the window, feeling the vibrations as the airbus dragged them up.
Walking through the uppercity didn't make Mallory feel out of place, or lesser. That was how some of the lower levels seemed to think, but Mallory felt lucky, watching all of the half dead people drag themselves to their government jobs, or alternatively watching the far too perky people that very clearly didn't have any need for jobs. Disgust settled low in his stomach and he hurried on, a bitter tang in his mouth.
Owen's house was one of the more pretentious ones. It had a wrought iron fence, and a garden for no reason but to take up space. It was another fist clenching detail, that those who lived up here could afford a sprawling garden, a house with more rooms than people, while the people below suffered in crowded spaces and the idea of air that didn't clog your lungs. A white marble staircase lead up to his door, which was the height of darkglass technology. It had all of the fancy security features to boot. Mallory pressed his hand against it, and the door scanned his handprint, blue flashing around his fingers before announcing somewhere into the house that 'Dr Mallory Stone' had arrived.
elytra
From deeper inside, where the workshop turned into a home, an alarm beeped insistently, a shrill tone in the otherwise silent house. Mallory grunted, and with what seemed like great effort raised his arm and slapped at his phone, balanced on his bedside dresser. It shut off obligingly, and silence relished, stretching out across the room once more. Mallory laid still there for a moment, face shoved into his pillows, before pushing himself up. He took a few deep breaths of sweet vanilla air, before pushing himself fully out of bed.
The bathroom lights buzzed to life as Mallory entered, illuminating around the large mirror that dominated the space. He stared dubiously into his reflection as he always did, taking in sleep-puffy eyes and the beginnings of what could be stubble. His darker roots were visible underneath his bleached silver hair, and he squinted, parting it with sleep-fuzzy fingers. He'd have to get it redone. His eyes were a muddy sort of brown, that gained a blue sheen as everyones did with cybernetic contacts.
"First things first then." He grumbled, reaching for the blue and red case. What followed was an inordinately long amount of time spent putting in contacts for one who had been doing it for many years. He had to blink rapidly as his eyes adjusted, rolling them around in his sockets as they calibrated slowly. His vision sharpened into focus, and in front of him, a list of responsibilities for the day flickered into life. He took one glance, grimaced, and dismissed it with a swipe of his hand. The rest of the routine - brushing his hair into a modicum of presentability, shaving what little stubble he had, and splashing water over his face - went by fairly quickly.
It wasn't until Mallory was halfway through a bowl of cereal that he reopened his notification list. It was mostly the standard crap, can you repair my androids knee, why isn't she connecting to the wifi, all of the requests that people usually sent on the daily basis, along with a few stray 'can you give my android some genitals' questions which he deleted almost immediately. They could either go to a certified android provider or a shady lowercity tradepost for that. He did have a set appointment for the day, which was in an hours time, long enough for him to get some work done in the workshop before leaving. It was for Owen Gray, and his android Helix. He'd been visiting them steadily for a while now, due to Helix having a chronic problem with his elbow and knee joints. They were too shallow, and didn't fit right, leading to more friction than usual and therefore an increased need for oiling and taking apart. Mallory rather liked Helix, and very heavily disliked Owen, who was just the type of person that Mallory had worked with in his previous job. Rich, and able to do anything because of it.
He got changed into his formal work wear in preparation. Usually, he'd just wear jeans and a t shirt and call it done, but with his higher end clients...they tended to want him to look the part of their pristine clean cut world. It was a mold that was all too easy to fill with his sort of background. So, slacks it was, with a tan button up. Mallory pulled up a temperature chart on the surface of his closet by tapping gently at the sun icon. He considered for a second and then pulled out a coat. It looked like it was going to err on the side of chilly.
Walking out into the public part of his workshop, he turned a button, brightening the window and letting in more sunlight. He tended to keep it on dim mode because of more temperature sensitive gadgets that he sometimes left out. Stifling a yawn, he made a beeline towards the hand sitting at his desk. There was something wrong with the joints of the third and fourth finger, and while he'd sent the poor android off with a temporary attachment, this type of work was delicate and he didn't want it to take any longer than it had to. Mallory fell into the rhythm of it quickly, carefully deconstructing it, running diagnostics, searching for parts, for duplicates. Ambient music filtered through the workspace, helping his mind focus and not wander.
The alert flashing green in his vision was the only thing that could've snapped him out of it. Blinking, he stood and cracked his back, rolled his neck. The ensuing crackle of bone was only slightly worrying "Ah fuck, I've got to improve my posture." It was a something he'd said many times and never actually worked on.
Mallory swung his coat over his shoulders and grabbed his travel kit from underneath his desk. It had everything he would need for Helix's repair, and more, just in case something else had come up. He did a quick inventory, before hastily exiting.
Mallory didn't like walking along the rickety pathways. It was possibly the only thing he missed about the uppercity. The stability of it all, the harsh metal that never groaned in cold winters and never succumbed to bending and warping like the bridges sometimes did in the midcity. Scanning his card, he hopped on to the airbus which would take him up the levels almost directly to Gray's house. There weren't many people inside it. Not many people had any business going between levels. There were some androids standing beside distant humans, a few plugged in to the convenient mini chargers, a few clearly using the waiting time to do updates or clean out their systems. Mallory himself just closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the window, feeling the vibrations as the airbus dragged them up.
Walking through the uppercity didn't make Mallory feel out of place, or lesser. That was how some of the lower levels seemed to think, but Mallory felt lucky, watching all of the half dead people drag themselves to their government jobs, or alternatively watching the far too perky people that very clearly didn't have any need for jobs. Disgust settled low in his stomach and he hurried on, a bitter tang in his mouth.
Owen's house was one of the more pretentious ones. It had a wrought iron fence, and a garden for no reason but to take up space. It was another fist clenching detail, that those who lived up here could afford a sprawling garden, a house with more rooms than people, while the people below suffered in crowded spaces and the idea of air that didn't clog your lungs. A white marble staircase lead up to his door, which was the height of darkglass technology. It had all of the fancy security features to boot. Mallory pressed his hand against it, and the door scanned his handprint, blue flashing around his fingers before announcing somewhere into the house that 'Dr Mallory Stone' had arrived.
elytra
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