Snap, Crackle, Pop!

Posted on Wed 19th Oct, 2016 @ 3:08am by

698 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Deck 641, Bits 'n Bytes
Timeline: MD 2, 1350

Tieran winked at the young girl who'd just spent an enormous stack of credits in his shop - all for music of questionable value, in his opinion - and handed her the distinctive blue bag that would tell everyone where she'd shopped. "Thanks for stopping in and making my day," he told her.

The girl, humanoid but of indeterminate origin, blushed a deep red and smiled at him before walking out of the store. He watched her go, thinking how easy most human races were to flatter into buying more than they intended. With no compunction, he'd just taken that girl's quarterly allowance. She could probably get more, if she wheedled her father. Anyway, it was no concern of his if she had to do without other things. He had sold her what she wanted, and that had indicated her complete lack of good taste.

Turning away from the counter, he looked around the almost empty shop. Apparently, it would be a poor business day, with all the strange things he'd heard reported by customers coming and going all morning. He'd already made his minimum and then a little extra, so he wasn't worried about going broke ... something that had plagued him in younger years. Shutting off thoughts of those times, and the reasons for them, he sized up the few customers and zeroed in on an elderly gentleman. He probably didn't know his elbow from a holo cube, so this should be easy.

Halfway to his target, he smelled something strange, and then disaster struck. Every device connected along the far wall, an area where his customers could try the available merchandise, began to pop, crackle or simply bang. Tieran rushed to the power switch and snapped it off, but the sizzling continued for several moments. Sensing someone near him, he looked up to see the old man he'd been hoping to bamboozle into purchasing things he didn't actually need, or even know how to use.

"That doesn't seem like a good sign," the man observed.

"Ya think?" the Andorian asked, sarcastically, using a phrase he'd picked up from watching Earth holographic movies of the 21st century.

The older man chuckled. "I do. That was quick movement on your part, though. Might have saved a bit or a byte." Pleased at having made a joke of the shop's name, the old man wandered away and out the door.

"That was intrinsic, blue guy!" a young man called from a few feet away. "I never saw anything like it. You do that on purpose? Maybe to get attention in here?"

Tieran gritted his teeth and said, "Not exactly. Can I help you with something?" He'd have to call an engineer. No telling how long this would take to fix. And what about his guarantee?

"Oh, yeah, I was hoping you had one of these." The young man handed th'Elex something he hadn't seen in twenty years. Tieran didn't think it was even made any more, and what in the world would this kid want with it?

"What do you want with one of these? I have the 5th generation platform right over here," he said and started in the direction of the latest holo cubes.

"No, blue guy, this is what I want. I have some of the old tech that only plays on this one. Your motto is if I want it, you got it, right?" The boy actually snickered.

"Normally, yes," Tieran said, again holding back his frustration and the anger that was beginning to seep in. "However, for the duration of this emergency, no. Why don't you come back next week, and I'll dig something out for you. Bring some of your old tech with you. We'll make sure it still works."

"Sure, sure, I can do that," the boy agreed, taking back his old cube. "But you better have it, or I get it at cost, right?"

"Next week, yes," Tieran agreed, wishing he could shoo the young man out of the store and deal with this unthinkable crisis. How much of his equipment was ruined, a total loss? Would it be enough to put him on the edge of the abyss into nothingness?

 

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