Chance Encounters of the 23rd-Century Kind

Posted on Sun May 17th, 2020 @ 3:08am by Chief Helmsman Eden Bowers & Fordyce Kirschler PhD

Mission: Mission 11 - Prospecting
Location: New Larium
Timeline: MD 2 18:30 Hours
1018 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

They were somewhere in that transitional buffer zone between the questionable part of town and the area where respectable citizens were found when Ford spotted Eden Bowers. New Larium wasn't some enormous metropolis so running into crewmembers was inevitable. But the timing was...inconvenient. Maybe if they moved with the crowd, stuck to the shadows, didn't draw any attention to themsel-

"Dr. Kirschler, I believe Miss Bowers is trying to get your attention."

Briefly, Ford wanted to shove P.E.A.R.L. into traffic out of spite. Instead, he looked across the street; he returned the pilot's wave and gave a weak smile.

Fuck.

"Why, if it ain't Miss Eden," said Ford when they caught up to one another. He made a show of extending his hand in greeting. "We’ve howdied but we ain’t shook yet."

"Hello other Ford," She said with a smile and took his hand. Then she noticed something off. "Are you okay?" Eden asked softly. He seemed kind of different and this made her pause. There was something about his happy go lucky attitude that wasn't quite what it had been when she'd met him before with Jake.

"Uh, me? Happy as a hog in mud," replied Ford, almost reflexively, so that it sounded a little bit insincere. He could hear it in his own voice and heaved a sigh of defeat. Time to weave a tale of... Something. "I sent ol' P.E.A.R.L. here off on some errands while I engaged in... Well, some games of chance, if you will. And she turned up late at our rendezvous - whole danged internal chronometer's off! Them fella's down yonder is crooked as a barrel full of fish hooks, too, so ain't no tellin' what's done happened to her."

For her part, P.E.A.R.L. just stood there, engaged in the conversation but having little to say. Her analysis of Dr. Kirschler's facial expression seemed to trigger an algorithm somewhere though, and she added in Ford's vernacular but without the accent, "Correct, I have no idea what's done happened to me."

"Aww, well I'm sorry about that. I've always wanted to believe in people, but yeah, that makes it hard. Are you damaged at all?" Eden really had no idea how to tell, "Other than your memory of course? Self care is important, I've really been enjoying walking down here, I think I've put in many kilometers so far. But I was actually looking for Jake.
I'm probably walking on the other side of the city from him and we keep missing each other. You haven't seen him have you?"

Ford had been staring hard at P.E.A.R.L., like he could communicate telepathically with her. "Say what now? Ford? Oh. Oh, Armory Ford. Heh." He gave a little laugh. "I think I been hangin' out on the wrong side of town to run into a lawman like ol' Jake. Uh, ship's business, or pleasure?"

"Just seeing the sights." Eden replied looking back and forth between the two. Something was definitely off. "Bought Jake something and Stan. Gotta take care of my boys. Look, you seem a bit distracted. I don't want to keep you."

"My left tread has been damaged," P.E.A.R.L. said suddenly, the robotic equivalent of blurting something out. She pointed with precision down to the left side of her body and backed up a bit to reveal a torn portion of tread with a dark red stain. "Dr. Kirschler was searching for an available maintenance depot. Are you able to assist?"

"Miss Eden's prolly got better things to do," Ford said through gritted teeth. "She's lookin' for the other Ford. You deaf all the sudden, P.E.A.R.L.?"

"Sorry, I don't know anything about robots, I only fly the ship. Jake might though, when I find him. I'll let him know you're looking for help. Are . . . . you sure you're both going to be all right if I keep going?"

"Oh, don't worry about us," Ford said. He slapped P.E.A.R.L. on the back gently and smiled proudly, as if he'd invented and constructed her himself. "She's still got some snap in her garters. We'll make it to a maintenance depot and get her patched up, see what's wrong with her nogg-"

"I cannot account for 23-point-47 minutes of my journey," P.E.A.R.L. said to Eden, evidently prompted by some algorithm to interrupt Ford to participate in the conversation. "Self-diagnostic data shows that during this time period my geo-location hardware and internal data recorder malfunctioned." She tilted her head slightly and made an appropriately, if not comically, distressed face. "I was lost."

"I'm terribly sorry for that. I've been lost before, it's frightening. But I'm sure once you get checked out you'll be able to remember where you were and what you were doing. Good luck P.E.A.R.L. Have a good afternoon other Ford!" Eden said a little more cheerfully to him. She gave a half wave and wandered off in the direction she'd been heading when she met them.

Ford tipped his hat to her, waited for the woman to walk out of earshot, and then turned to P.E.A.R.L. with an exaggerated and incredulous look.

"You hit your head so damn hard you forgot how to keep your mouth shut in front of strangers?"

"Miss Eden is not a stranger, Dr. Kirschler. She is a colleague and chief helmsman of the starship Mary Rose."

"No shit?"

"She may have had relevant information regarding my disappearance," P.E.A.R.L. said. Without inflection it was hard to tell but the content made it seem like she was offering it in her defense. "Should we proceed to the nearest maintenance depot, Dr. Kirschler?"

Ford's eyes darted up and down the street, almost out of habit. "In a manner of speakin'..."


OFF:

Dr. Fordyce "Ford" Kirschler
Chief of Operations
SS Mary Rose

Eden Bowers
Chief Helmsmen
SS Mary Rose

 

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